Ellie

Ellie's teeth chattered. The snow crunched beneath her shoes as she crouched behind a large tree. Silently, she nocked an arrow into her bow, her eyes focused on the deer as it scraped at the ground with its hooves, searching for food. Ellie's stomach growled. She had spent the day in the forest, clearing her thoughts of Joel and his new 'friend'. A lump rose in her throat and she swallowed it down quickly. She could not put a name to what she felt for Joel, but she knew that she did not like the way he flirted with the stable hand.

Just the thought of her girly laugh made her want to puke. She was so not Joel's type. Ellie had never experienced jealousy before, so she was coping by taking the day off from patrol duty and practicing her hunting skills. She wanted to prove that she could still look after herself, and bringing a buck back to Tommy's was a great way to get Joel to notice her. She knew she was not supposed to leave the compound on her own, so she had snuck out early this morning as the patrol changed shifts.

Tommy and Maria had been so accommodating to her and Joel over the last six months, since they arrived back from finding the Fireflies. They had settled in, been given chores and a house, and Ellie found herself becoming more and more tired of the attention Joel had been getting from the women around the town. His hair, flecked with grey, and his solid build was something that no one could fail to notice, not even Ellie. She felt something stir in her stomach that felt as if someone had released butterflies inside her.

The buck snorted as Ellie lifted her bow and took aim. It startled suddenly, darting back over a fallen log and out of sight. Ellie's ears pricked, she was sure she hadn't startled the buck.

Hands grabbed Ellie, covering her mouth. She shoved her elbow backwards, just like Joel had taught her, and connected with something solid. The man holding her grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. Ellie reached for her waistband, and her frozen fingers clasped around the handle of her small knife. Before she could turn the man kicked the back of her legs, and she sank into the cold snow, feeling the ice melt against her knees. Another kick landed between her shoulder blades, and Ellie found herself eating snow. The knife was wrestled from her grip as the man kept his weight on her back.

'Hello Ellie'.

It was David. Ellie gasped. That wasn't possible, Ellie had hacked at his face with his own machete last winter when he had tried to…

'Get off me you fucker!' Ellie squirmed beneath him, turning her head to the side so that she could breath. David chuckled, and Ellie felt his weight shift as he reached for his own knife. Ellie was panicking now; she couldn't move, trapped beneath the panting man she could feel his groin pushing on her back, and he was hard.

David leaned down; Ellie felt his warm, putrid breath on her ear. She looked at him. Scars, deep and red crisscrossed his face, marks that Ellie had slashed into him as she fought to keep her virginity and her life as the fire spread through the restaurant. She thought of Joel, how he had pulled her from her brutal attack, through all the emotion, neither of them though to check that he was dead.

'You cut me real deep Ellie; it's my turn to repay the favour.'

Joel

Joel stretched his arms, feeling the cold sink through his old flannel shirt; it was nearly noon and he had not yet seen Ellie. He threw down the shovel that he had been using to muck out the stables, leaving it in a pile of hay. This had to be the worst job they could find for him, and he bet his brother Tommy had a hand in it. Joel almost retched at the smell again, making a note to ask Maria where Tommy kept his good boots; nothing like treading into some fresh horse manure to show some brotherly love. Joel chuckled at the thought as he left the stables.

The sun shone above him through the clouds, making the snow glisten around him. Joel headed to find Maria to see if she had been working with Ellie today. Ellie had started to follow Maria around lately, learning the ins and outs of working in the compound with the other women. Joel heard foot steps behind him.

'Guess who!' the shill voice of a woman called. Joel sighed, but turned around, trying to put on a smile to hide his annoyance. Lucy was one of the residences of the compound, and she had been looking after Callus with the other horses since they arrived. Joel had to admit, she was good to look at, but beyond that he found her unappealing.

'Did you miss me?' Lucy asked him, as he stopped to greet her. Tommy had asked Joel, after another bar fight, if he could possibly make an effort to scowl less. The fight had broken out as Joel stepped in to stop a group of men groping the waitress, and was told that he had no authority here. That did not go down well. So, Joel had agreed, but only because he did not want to get Ellie and himself kicked out of the compound. He liked being able to shower again and enjoyed seeing Ellie eat as much as she pleased in the summer.

'Hey Luce, long time no see.' This wasn't entirely true, he had seen her yesterday. She missed his sarcasm.

'Did you want to join me for dinner tonight? I've got a nice bottle of moonshine that we could share and, uh, see where the evening takes us?' She smiled and bumped him with her hip. Joel dragged his eyes away from her ass, returning his thoughts to Ellie. Joel felt a stir in his groin, but he pushed it away. He told himself it was just from Lucy, but he knew it wasn't. He pressed on.

'No can do, I'm on patrol tonight.' This was another lie. He had actually planned on teaching Ellie guitar tonight, but maybe he would volunteer to do patrol after all.

'Ohh, maybe another night?'

'Maybe. Sorry, I'm looking for someone right now, I might catch you later.' Joel turned on his heel and left her standing in the snow looking sullen.

Joel soon found himself outside of the kitchen. Maria was covered in flour and laughing with the other girls. He didn't see Ellie.

'Hi Maria, have you seen Ellie?' his voice quietened the group. Some of the girls chatted and giggled behind their hands. One of the younger girls pretended to swoon. Joel ignored them.

Maria looked at him, puzzled, 'I thought she was with you?' Joel felt his stomach drop. She had been gone since before he woke. She was never away from him this long, and normally when she was away she was shadowing Maria.

'We need to find her'. He stated through clenched teeth.