Chapter Text
Twenty-five years was a long time to forget people in an apocalypse. Friends from school become strangers that one cannot and will not be able to recognise in the eyes of an infected. Family is often gone but luckily (or not so much) never forgotten. Sam had not been able to connect with anyone in almost fifteen years.
Here and there, there was the random hook-up of a guy willing to take the edge off but never a proper connection.
She had long suspected it had to do with not meeting anyone from her previous life in all those years. Even at the beginning of this mess, she had ended up in a group of strangers filled with women and children and a few men that ended up making the wrong decisions.
It didn't take long for Sam to migrate to where she heard echoes of an intelligent life form residing. When she'd find a place to finally settle with people that didn't make clicking sounds, it would go up in flames in the span of a few weeks because the organization was terrible.
Sam never found it in her to blame them. The virus was something entirely new and no one knew how to deal with such a terrifying enemy.
Eventually, things escalated and Sam guessed most of the population had joined the ranks of the infected. Non-infected people were obviously at a disadvantage now that there seemed to be more of them but with time also came reinforced outposts and more secured quarantine zones.
Groups also began to see the light of day. The most notorious one was the Fireflies. At the time, Sam had been faced with two choices: FEDRA or the Fireflies. She was young, gullible and alone. She believed whatever shit the Fireflies forced down people's throat and decided to give it a try.
She made acquaintances but not friends. Never friends. As she grew older, she began to believe their belief for a cure for mankind was pure fantasy and that even it turned out to be true, humanity was too far gone to be saved.
Looking at herself in the mirror was a reminder of that everyday. The burn on her neck and the right side of her jaw had made her bitter and wary of anyone she met.
Killing became easier with time and smiling not so much. Hope disappeared with time, replaced by a growing numbness that she escaped by obeying orders.
Five years ago, that's when she heard it for the first time, back when she was still a Firefly stationed in Salt Lake City, Utah. It only came as a whisper when she passed in front of Marlene's room. At first it was just his name in passing and she tried to reason that lots of people were called Joel.
She was out on patrol when everything went down. There was a lot of them and suddenly only a few. Some that had survived the attack told the rest what had happened, with the doctor getting killed by a smuggler to get back a girl that was allegedly immune.
Sam had tried to argue, saying that the guy wouldn't have killed everyone to get back a little girl without a reason. She had received dirty looks and curses but nothing else. After going to the operating room, maybe out of morbid curiosity, she saw Abby and Owen next to the body of the doctor.
Death was an odd thing. It's not there at one second and the next it's everywhere. She felt sympathy for Abby. Her own dad's death had been tough on Sam even if it was before the Outbreak, so time was on her side. It's at that moment that she heard Owen tell her the name of the smuggler. His full name.
Joel Miller.
Stopping herself from gasping took a lot for Sam who needed to keep a facade. She couldn't mention that she knew him and that he was the first link from her past she had met in twenty years at the time. Despite her overwhelming desire to leave and try to find him, she remained rooted in place.
Not interacting with people didn't mean she wasn't paying attention to things. Abby had shown stubborness and determination in everything she started. If the Fireflies weren't already on the verge of being fully wiped out, she would have made a name for herself.
This mindset and her dead father at her feet only meant one thing: she would go after Joel eventually.
Whatever she had planned for Joel, Sam had every intention to make it into her little circle to stop it.
It took almost five years but she made it with Abby. She didn't talk much, which was fine. Sam had forced herself to smile at Mel's kind words, a small part of her feeling guilty about it. The part of her that was young and impressionable. She had suffered from her childish thinking and she became stronger.
Joining the WLF had been easy, even if she could hardly contain her distate for the leader, Isaac. He wasn't the only one that she despised. Some members of Abby's group were people Sam wished she could stab. Repeatedly. Like Nick or fucking Jordan.
Now she was in a cabin, freezing to death despite the fire burning in the chimney. She had tried to stay awake but the trip from the stadium to Jackson had been hard. Her feet were sore and burning from the freezing cold. She kept shivering, she was annoyed, and Jordan's comments hadn't helped with her mood.
She hoped Joel would be okay, and she was anxious to meet Sarah again after so many years. She remembered how she had been her babysitter most of the time when Joel was staying late at work. She truly enjoyed their company and Sarah's joy was always radiating so much that Sam couldn't help feeling happy around her.
Much to her annoyance, she did fall asleep at the worst time, dreaming of memories that should stay in the past. She gasped awake at people whispering close to her and grabbed her gun suddenly, pointing it at them.
They jerked back, not appearing as scared as they should have been after being held at gunpoint by someone waking up from a nightmare.
“What's going on?” she asked groggily, her mind still drowning in sleep.
“Abby's gone,” answered Mel while carressing her round belly.
That statement woke Sam right up, and she tucked her weapon close to her, itching to shoot someone.
“Where is she?” If she had left to find Joel on her own, she would have to try and slip away to get to him before she could.
“I just brought her out to show her the town an hour ago and she ran off,” explained Owen.
“What if she gets to him without us?” Sam hoped she didn't sound as concerned for Joel as she was.
“I'm more worried about the infected in those mountains.” If Sam was honest with him, she couldn't give two shits about her well being.
It was the sound of infected outside that stopped any further arguing. They rushed outside, and saw a hord making its way towards them, close to three people galloping on horses. To safety. They closed the gate to guarantee safety and Sam felt fire in her back as she marched up to the cabin again.
Her heart was pumping erratically. She was so sure of it. It was a quick glance but even in the blizzard, she was sure of it. It had to be.
The horses were led inside and she saw the back of one man's head. He had a ponytail and the way he was standing. She knew it. She also knew that accent. And that deep voice. She had to stop herself from leaping at him or get closer to him to grab them and run.
The group would shoot them faster than she could blink and given the calculating glance Abby was giving them as she ushered secret words to Owen could only mean one thing. She knew.
She tried to get Joel or Tommy to catch her eyes but they looked right through her like they didn't know her. She couldn't blame them, she had changed since then. Her brown hair was shorter while she always used to have it long. Sarah liked to call it her princess hair but she had to survive, and long hair was easier to grab than shoulder length hair.
Her eyes were also somehow different. Sam would catch her own reflection in the mirror, despite her hating it, and look back at a stranger. Her eyes were always so full of life, twinkling with amusement but now they were hard and unwilling to feel or share. The scar on her face was also a reason for her to hide her face more frequently than she would have liked back in the days. She hated having hair in her face.
She snapped back into reality at hearing Joel give his name and she cursed under her breath. It all moved so fast from there, with Abby shooting Joel in the knee with a shotgun. There was a guttural scream from Tommy who tried to get to his brother.
It only took a few seconds to come up with a plan. Then again, she was always working better under pressure.
She grabbed her gun, hearing Joel moan in pain his brother's name after he was beaten into unconsciousness. She knew no one was behind her so she wouldn't have any surprises. She grabbed Mel from behind just as the others were busy moving Joel to a sitting position against the window.
Sam flinched at the state of his leg, knowing there was no saving it. She hoped Tommy would wake up soon. Her plan was everything if not flawed.
Mel startled at the sudden movement and froze as soon as she felt the barrell of a gun pressed on her side. If she moved, Sam would shoot her in her pregnant belly. She didn't want that, but it was a great leverage sadly. If Mel tried to disarm her, she would risk being shot anyways. The others wouldn't dare try and shoot her with their pregnant friend in the way.
“Stop,” she ordered, looking over Mel's shoulder slightly. Every eye turned to her and widened unsurprisingly. Mel raised her hands in surrender and her breathing was laboured.
Good. She was scared.
“Sam, what the hell are you doing?” Owen demanded in frenzy.
“The only thing I was waiting for for five fucking years,” she said vaguely, before staring at Leah. “Tourniquet his leg.”
It was an order but the girl looked at Abby like she was waiting for her permission. No one moved but Abby was throwing daggers at her.
“I swear I will shoot her and her baby if you don't do as I say.”
“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Abby asked between her teeth. Sam could feel her anger from where she stood.
She saw Nora move ever so slightly on her left.
“Nora, I swear to God, if I see you reach for your gun, I'll put a hole in her stomach. All of you, move close to Abby, except for Leah. Take your belt and put the fucking garrot.”
The girl looked at Abby again but Owen yelled at her to do it quickly. She moved fast but Sam was careful not to lose sight of the bigger threat in front of her.
“Before you join the others, give him your gun,” she said to Leah before looking at the group again. “And all of you drop yours on the ground.”
“I'm not leaving this place until he's dead,” argued Abby. Her hands clenched on her shotgun as she was very obviously itching for a fight. Owen grabbed the weapon and tossed it with the rest anyways. “You can't stop this.”
“I've waited patiently for five years for this moment, just as much as you have. Having to play nice just for this.”
“He killed how many people back in Salt Lake City?” Mel argued but Sam merely chuckled.
“Like you guys are fucking angels. Humanity doesn't deserve jack shit, especially not from a little girl.” She saw Joel cock the gun Leah had given him and aim at them despite the pain painted on his features.
“One life isn't worth millions,” Nora argued suddenly. “You were one of us. You know what we could have accomplished.”
“And with what certainty? I'm sorry about your dad, Abby. Truly. But what's to say he would have succeeded?”
“I don't care about certainty,” Abby yelled, losing her temper and her patience. “He killed my dad.”
“And I don't care. You're not killing him. Mind you, I'll kill one of you if Tommy is dead, so I can understand the need for revenge but hey... let's say I'm just a hypocrite.”
The biggest problem to try and find out if Tommy was still alive was the fact that she could hardly crouch to check or allow anyone to get close to her. She was pretty sure most of them wouldn't try anything because she had grown a reputation of being trigger happy sometimes. She turned to Joel who was pale but squinting his eyes at her, like he remembered her but couldn't quite place her in a timeline.
There was a pool of blood under his leg that was growing worringly.
“Sorry, but I don't exactly have a choice and I have to make sure. He'll be fine.” Joel looked confused before she gave a swift kick in Tommy's ribs. The man grunted, still uncounscious, but the reaction brought relief to Sam.
Abby tried to lunge at her suddenly but a shot rang at her feet and Sam was pretty sure it didn't come from her gun.
“Stay... back...” Joel choked out. Sam nodded at him, grateful.
“Now, Abby. The way I see it, you have two options. Either you leave before the whole town is on top of you, because I doubt that these two disappearing will go unnoticed or we can stay here, gazing into each other's souls in what I believe is what we call a Mexican standoff. But trust me, I'll kill at least half of you and use mama here as a shield to kill the rest. If Joel doesn't do that already.”
She was seething in anger. The others were too but they were powerless and control had slipped from their fingers the moment she had her gun pointed at Mel.
“Abby. We have to go,” Owen tried to reason with her.
“No. He's right there.”
“We'll get another chance. But you can't risk all of us.”
“You want what I want, right?” she argued, facing him.
“Yes. But not at this cost.”
Despite the obvious hatred burning in their eyes, Owen nodded at Sam to indicate their choice. She didn't relax despite that. She moved closer to Joel so that they could go out the same way they had come in. She watched them walk out without their weapons and hoped the infected would take care of future problems.
In a perfect world, Abby would let it go but Sam knew better. If anything, she had poured oil on an already giant and burning fire. Therefore, realistically, she was aware that they would come back eventually.
Owen kept glancing back at Mel and Sam had to instruct that she would release her as soon as they passed the gates. She also advised them to go fast because more than the town, the infected were the biggest problem, and one that wouldn't be reasoned with. Without weapons, they didn't have the luxury to stay around to come back after Joel for now.
Maybe they would go back to Seattle. Sam hoped that was the case. It would buy them some time.
Sam pushed Mel towards the exit when she saw the group out the gates. Before the pregnant woman could run to her friends, Sam demanded the gun that she kept so safely tucked in her pants.
“We'll die without at least one gun,” she tried to argue. Sam only smiled sweetly.
“You'll figure it out.” She extended her hand and the woman gave it up reluctantly.
“How could you do this? Betraying your friends.”
“I swear to you it won't keep me awake at night since I hardly consider you my friends. Go before my finger starts to twitch.”
As soon as she does, Sam runs to Joel, keeping her gun close in case they come back. She wouldn't put it above Abby to try something even if it meant she would risk her life. Sam was hopeful people in town would be here soon and she would be spared any other problems.
Her knees hit the floor painfully and she cups Joel's face in her hands. He's deathly pale and his breathing is labored. The amount of blood he lost is not as alarming as it would have been without the tourniquet but bringing him back to the town was an idea that would be better executed sooner rather than later.
Joel was a big man compared to her lean, petite form and she doubted she could move him, much less get him on a horse. He was barely conscious and he could barely focus for her longer than a few seconds.She left his side to join Tommy who was still out cold.
She grabbed him by the shoulders and slapped his cheeks gently and then, when it did nothing, she did it more forcefully up until the moment the door opened and Sam barely had the time to point the gun at the newcomer.
The girl instantly raised her gun at her, throwing worried glances at Joel. Of course it's also at that moment Tommy decided to wake up. He pushed Sam on her back. She yelped and dropped her gun suddenly. It didn't help that he had seen her with the group that had attacked them, so she understood the reaction.
“Tommy, hey,” she said, raising her hands in surrender. “It's me. It's Sam.”
“I don't know any Sam.” The girl ran to Joel, calling his name repeatedly.
“Rude. I know it's been 25 years but come on. Am I that forgettable?”
Realisation shined in his eyes and the gun lowered by an inch. “Samara Frost?”
“It's good to see you, Tommy,” she smiled fondly, good memories of a past buried so long ago.
“But... why were you with them? And where are they?”
“We can discuss that after we get him help. I got them to tourniquet his leg but it's not going to last forever. They're gone for now. But they'll come back for him.”
The gun in her face was gone now.
“And now that I helped, probably for me too.”