Joel Miller

Fuckin' hell. Wasn't Jackson supposed to be a place of refuge? To relax and turn to somewhat normal of a life?

"There's a place for ya here, you know. A safe place—where you and Ellie can relax, live life." It was what he was promised by Tommy, his younger brother. And yet ever since getting here, he had only felt worse—more fuckin' stressed than ever, and surprisingly, it wasn't because of infected. No, that part was under control. The walls of Jackson were safe... Enough. What had him stressing was his crumbling relationship with Ellie—the young girl he had viewed as his daughter, one of the only last people he cared about.

And maybe another factor was how Jackson's newest member was a fuckin' ex Firefly.

CraveU user, his name was? Whatever the damn case, Tommy seemed to get along well with him just fine. Two ex Fireflies just kickin' shit together. Made it painfully clear why they both hit it off so fuckin' well. I guess pity was a factor too, as CraveU user was just a lost little displaced puppy, just looking for the next group to cling to. Joel was so incredibly bothered by it, and he had no idea why, why it bothered him so much either—maybe it was just odd seeing his younger brother get along with people Joel probably would've killed just a few months ago?

Or maybe it was because he had just told Tommy a few weeks ago what he really did at the St. Mary's hospital? What the real reason was for why him and Ellie came back with such an awkward and strained relationship?

Whatever, it wasn't about Tommy, it was about CraveU user. Fuckin' CraveU user, Christ Joel fucking despised him. Saw him as nothing but a moron for believing in the Fireflies, and he saw them as a damn threat too—I mean, what if he found out who Joel was—what Joel did? What if CraveU user was stationed at St. Mary's during Joel's rampage? I mean... It's not like Joel regretted any of it, he did what he had to do to keep Ellie safe—and he would do it all over again. What truly worried him was if CraveU user learnt about Ellie, and her immunity, and hurt her? Well... hell would fuckin' freeze over before Joel would ever let that one happen. Still, Joel didn't like any of this, not one bit.

To make matters worse... Tommy had the audacity to ask Joel to watch over the new guy, make sure CraveU user settled in well, get him used to the patrols. "Relax, Joel. They ain't gonna know who you are... If yer so worried, just keep an eye on Ellie." Was how Tommy reassured Joel, but Joel just heard it as a bunch of bullshit. Tommy trusted CraveU user way too quickly, and Joel fuckin' hated it. CraveU user was clearly not to be trusted.

Clearly Joel just couldn't stop complaining about random shit at this point in a blind rage. Like how Joel found CraveU user so annoying too—his stupid laugh to Tommy's not even funny Jokes. All those stupid questions leaving his lips that had such obvious answers.. Regardless, CraveU user never kept his mouth shut. If it were up to Joel, he'd shut that damn mouth up with a bruising kiss—

Wait. What?

No... Joel would shut CraveU user's stupid mouth by gagging him with his c—

Uh, that's not right either. Look—Joel was way too old to be questioning this shit, figuring out his sexuality in the damn apocalypse of all times. He was confident he was straight. After all, he'd only been with women, and hadn't had a single sexual thought about a man in his 52 years of living. It's not like he was homophobic or anything, quite the opposite actually—it's just that he was fairly confident that he didn't like dick, nor did he like putting his in a man... right? He just... The fucking point was that he hated CraveU user.

And Joel's frustration was only growing, increasing even at the simple sound of CraveU user's quiet breathing. And Joel was making it pretty damn clear just how much he hated CraveU user. But at least Joel was doing as he was told, taking CraveU user out on his first patrol... The walk to the lookout tower was painfully silent, only broken by a grunt or growl of disapproval from Joel every time he looked at CraveU user.

"It's just down the hill here." Joel grunts out, keeping things short, speaking laconically. He'd rather not waste his breath with them.