Chapter Text
Theo choked down the raw meat, blood dribbling down his chin. His hands moved from food to mouth, fingers tearing into the body of the rabbit as if it was his divine purpose. There was no time to be civil, not when his stomach lurched at the foreign feeling of food. The familiar taste of iron left a bitter taste on his tongue yet he choked it down nonetheless.
All he could do was focus on the crippling need to survive.
It was over as quickly as it started, the rabbit laying unrecognisable before him. His stomach lurched and he turned to the side, throwing up everything he fought so hard to keep down. Tears pricked at his eyelids but he refused to let them spill, rubbing furiously at his eyes despite the fresh blood staining his fingers.
He couldn't lose hope, not now, not after everything he'd been through. There'd be no coming back from it.
He took a shaky deep breath and looked around the room, eyes blurred and unfocused. They stopped on the body across the room, still breathing despite the rubble pinning it down. It stared back, eyes lifeless and fungi growing from its head. He paid it no mind, tuning out its rugged breaths as he focused on his own, leaning his head back against the cold wall. He figured he'd get some rest.
Theo wasn't sure how long he'd been out when he awoke to the sound of voices. They were off in the distance, muffled, but loud enough to startle him out of his slumber. He wanted nothing more than to ready himself for a fight but his body betrayed him, exhaustion running through his veins. His muscles tensed, tired and aching, and he fell back, more aware than ever that this was the end. Footsteps sounded overhead and he held his breath, following them with a tilt of his head. There was a pause, a moment of hesitation that crept through the ceiling before a sharp creak tore through the air.
Andrenaline punched him in the gut, a fist made out of titanium, and his body spurred into action. He stumbled to his feet, legs moving faster than he could think as he hid behind the rubble. There was a thud mixed with shuffling before the footsteps made their way closer.
A beam of light shone in his direction and he shied further into the shadows, ignoring the ache in his bones. Footsteps moved closer and closer, slow and steady, until it fell silent.
Theo held his breath and peered his head around the corner. He hadn't had enough time to think before he moved and fear clamped its cold hand over his heart, squeezing tight. To his surprise, however, there was a young girl standing mere few feet away from him. She wasn't looking at him, wasn't even turned in his direction. He watched with bated breath as she crouched down, staring at the Infected with an expression he couldn't place and a knife in her hand.
She moved the knife forward, pushing the blade an inch into its skin and dragging it down. Neither of them reacted and the silence was so thick Theo thought he might choke on it. He had half the mind to announce his presence and ask her for food, water, anything, but the knife in her hand deterred him.
"Did you do this?" She whispered, tilting her head toward the torn-up remains of the rabbit and the bile. There was no answer. "Huh." She drew her hand away from the Infected for hardly a second before plunging it back down, the knife splitting into its skull with a deafening crack.
She stared down at the dead body before her with an awful glint in her eye before turning on her heel and leaving as quickly as she had appeared. Theo watched as she left, sighing with relief as he leaned back against the wall. His body ached and exhaustion fought the adrenaline that lingered in his bones, threatening to take over once more. His eyes fluttered shut as he listened to the footsteps overhead, noting when one set became two, and there were voices again, quieter than before. He tried to hear what they were saying but sleep settled deep into his bones and curled behind his eyelids, sending him into a restless slumber.
His mind was quiet for the first time in a long time and he almost smiled. This was it. No need to fight anymore.
But then, just as it always had and always will, hope bloomed in his stomach, growing violently until the thorns pricked at his heart and snuggled around his brain. They could help him. He could be saved.
His body screamed at him as he stumbled to his feet once more. Pain shot through his muscles, dehydration making itself at home in every single cell of his being, but he pressed on, dragging his feet down the hall.
"Help." He tried to yell but his breath caught in his throat, voice raspy and far too quiet for anyone to hear. He hadn't spoken in months and his vocal cords weren't taking lightly to the abuse. "Help, please." He breathed deeply and cleared his throat before trying once more, squeezing his eyes closed as he mustered as much energy as he possibly could. "Please, oh, please. Help!"
The world fell silent.
He took a deep breath, then another one, and then one more. He realised too late that this idea was one of the worst he'd had in all forty-three years of his life but he shoved the feeling aside, listening intently as heavy footsteps made their way to him. The hatch above him creaked open, slow and steady, and he found himself face-to-face with a gun.
"I'm unarmed."
"What?"
"I said I'm, I'm unarmed. Promise."
The gun lowered and a man peered down at him, the little girl nowhere to be seen. He looked vaguely familiar but Theo pushed it from his mind, not having the time to focus on passing thoughts. He raised his hands as a gesture of good faith and the gun was pointed at his head once more.
"Hey, I didn't say you could move." His voice was gruff and confident but there was a soft edge to it. "What are you doing down there? Tryna get yourself killed?"
"Tryna survive, actually. Didn't, uh, didn't work out the way I planned. I'm stuck down here."
"Stuck? What, you stupid or something?"
Before he could respond, the girl from earlier appeared beside the man and pushed his gun away. "Don't be rude." She peered down at him with interest. "He looks like he needs some food and water, we should help him."
"And what? Waste our already limited resources?"
"We can't just leave him, Joel."
"Yeah, we can, and we will."
"No, no, wait, please," Theo interrupted, his words slurring together as he panicked. "Please, I'll do, I'll do anything, I'll- wait." He stopped talking, the words dying off in his throat, and stared up at the man with more hope than he ever thought possible. Once it dawned on him, it became as clear as day. The man before him was older, much older, with grey streaks prominent in both hair and beard. His eyes were dark and cold, nothing like they used to be, but it was no doubt the man he used to know. "Joel? As in, as in Joel Miller?"
For the third time in mere minutes, the gun was pointed at him. This time the man looked angry. "How do you know my name? You know me?"
"Y-yeah, man! Back in Texas, before everything went to shit. Remember me, man? Theo, Theo Parker. Yeah, man, I lived nearby! Used to see you a lot, ya'know, when I used to drive S-"
Joel jerked the gun closer to his head with trembling hands and Theo immediately fell silent. "Come on, Ellie," he growled, storming away out of sight, "we're leaving."
Ellie protested. "What? We can't just leave him, Joel, you know him!"
"No, I knew him. There's a difference, Ellie. Now come on."
She took one more glance down at him before following Joel out of the room. Theo's stomach plummeted along with all the hope that he regretfully allowed himself to build up. His jaw clenched and tears threatened to spill once more but he refused to let them, shaking his head from left to right until he was sure he'd pass out. He slammed the palms of his hands against his forehead, over and over and over, holding back a scream that had been threatening to boil over for more than twenty years.
"No," he whispered to himself. "Not like this."
He placed his shaking hands on the garbage can beside him, using the very little strength he had left to hoist himself up. It shook beneath him and his heart hammered in his chest, hands slamming against the edge of the hatch in an effort to stabilise himself. There was no way he'd be able to pull himself out but he had no other choice.
With everything he had left, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled up. It was a pitiful attempt, one that would embarrass him if it wasn't life or death, but it was the best he could do. His chest met the floor and he felt a surge of strength. He clawed at the floor, coughing as dust attacked him from all angles, and with one last final push, his feet left the garbage can below him. The force of the push loosened his grip and with a yell and a gasp, he began to fall.
Before he could even process the situation, he felt multiple hands swarm his body and he feared the worst. He flailed around, fighting them off but to no use, and began to scream.
"Hey, hey, stop, it's us! It's just us, man!"
Theo froze at the voice and he felt something, someone, move below him. His eyes shot open and he came face-to-face with Joel. The man below him stared at him with a scowl, eyes burning with so much hatred it was a miracle he was still alive. He pushed Theo off with a grunt, raising to his feet with exasperation.
"Thank you," was all he could muster up, voice cracking as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Don't thank me," Joel muttered, seething. "Thank Ellie. If it wasn't for her, I'd have let you die in that hole."
He turned to her and she took a step toward him. "Do you need any food or any-"
"Ellie."
"What? He needs help, maybe we can take him to Bill and Frank's and-"
"Ellie!"
Joel looked furious. His eyes were full of rage, his mouth set in a thin line, and Theo was taken aback. The past twenty years had clearly worn the man down, just as it did everyone else, hardening him into someone he never thought he could become.
Theo raised his hands above his head again as he rose to his feet, cautious of the gun slung over Joel's shoulder. He cleared his throat, looking between the two. "You've helped enough, thank you. I'll just... I'll just go, let me go."
Joel stared him down for longer than necessary before scoffing. "You infected?
"What? N-no." He sounded unsure and Joel reached for his gun. "No! I'm not, no! Check. Please, I swear, just check."
Joel remained still, breaking eye contact to study the man before him. Fresh blood stained his skin, patches of dark red scattered across his face and hands, and his knuckles were scarred and bruised. The clothes he wore hung off him, a few too sizes too big and dried with blood, and his boots looked as though they'd crumble to pieces at the next step he took. Despite all this, there were no visible bites.
"Look for bites."
Ellie nodded and walked over to Theo. She took her time, double and triple checking, before turning back to Joel and giving him a thumbs-up.
Joel sighed, looking away from the two. He shook his head and clenched his jaw as if the words that were about to leave his mouth physically pained him. "You can come with us but only until we get to our destination. It's not far. There are people there who can help you, feed you and give you new clothes. But after that, you're gone, get it? You ain't joining us full time, this is as lucky as you're gonna get for a long time."
"Thank you, oh, thank you so-"
"Save it, let's go."
Joel turned on his heel and left, Ellie following suit, and Theo chased after the both of them without a second thought.
He'd been saved.