Disclaimer: I do not own the Last of Us. The game, story and characters belong to Naughty Dog.
This is a story taking place about nearly a year after the events of the Last of Us. Originally this story started with something bad happening at Tommy's settlement but that's been done a lot in these stories so I've decided to just start off at a point where its already happened.
This story focuses mainly on four characters; three actual canon characters and one OC I've added in there to help move the story along. It is a mixture of playing around the emotions of the characters and also an adventure-filled story. I hope you all enjoy this story.
"Think that house up there has anything good?"
"Our best guess yet," Joel replied shortly as he switched his gaze to the beaten-down building that rested beside many others. However, compared to the others which were all totalled beyond any hope of being able to search, this one at least had an open door and they could see in through it. Two-stories so the odds of finding something good were plausible, "Let's give it a try." He informed Ellie.
She nodded in return and the two made their way into the house.
They didn't even bother to say which way they were going. Ellie trudged up the stairs whilst Joel stayed down both scrimmaging around for anything that could be used.
Upstairs, Ellie had found some ammo which was always good to find and she even managed to discover a medical kit. Stowing them away in her bag, she called down to Joel, "Find anything good?"
"Unless you count empty cans as good, then we've hit the motherload," He responded sarcastically though Ellie somewhat felt as if he were just being plain honest.
She shrugged out her thoughts and headed to the windowsill, picking up an empty can of food. She tossed it back with a sigh before something caught her attention.
In the distance she began making out three blurry figures and when they came into focus, she recognized them as members of a camp she and Joel recently snuck past to get through here. Immediately she ducked down, pulling out her rifle as she approached the stairs, "Joel?" She hissed down.
"I see them," Came his short reply, "Stay upstairs, try and get a surprise shot at them." He ordered her before taking place beside the door.
The sound of them speaking began to increase and he readied his pistol to aim for the head before the sound of a bang went off and a gurgling noise was heard followed by a gasp. He smirked to himself. Looks like Ellie got her mark.
He spun out, shooting immediately as a bullet pierced through the arm of one of the two remaining thugs. Unfortunately that hand didn't hold a gun and he found himself barely dodging a bullet. He heard another shot and the thump of a body followed. As he hopped out once more, he shot once more, getting the remaining thug right in the neck.
Ellie sighed in relief as the last goon fell to the ground. It may have seemed easy but she could never be too sure. You could meet someone with no experience or the greatest gunslinger in the universe. She stood up from her crouching position, brushing dirt off her jeans.
For the past few months, things had been tough ever since what Joel described as 'shit hitting the fan' had happened. They had been safe at Jackson County, at Tommy's settlement. A roof over their heads, food to eat, time to relax. But one day it changed when Joel had shaken her awake, saying something about an ambush. She tried to block out what happened that night. She remembered the smell of smoke, the image of fire and the large amount of blood that was spilled that day.
Tommy and his wife managed to escape and the two split ways with herself and Joel, promising to meet up in Las Vegas where apparently it was safe and accepted survivors. Joel didn't really give much detail on the place, except that it was a cool place to play cards. And so the duo seemed to find themselves on another journey.
Ellie herself had grown over the last nine months. She was now fifteen years old (something she stated proudly to Joel whenever he started using the 'I am an adult' argument). She had changed that much except she had grown a few inches in height. She was still nothing compared to Joel's tall frame but it was an improvement from how short she used to be.
Her skills increased as well. Her and Joel often parted ways to look for supplies and it wasn't rare to meet an infected or even the occasion clicker. Her marksmanship rose and she had a better target hit. Joel had even began trying to show her how to swim, giving her some tips. He never tried anything like placing her in the water, just occasionally he would drop something that could help her out.
Joel. A light smile tugged on her face as she thought of the man who had become the father she never had. Their relationship had taken a turn for the better and hadn't strained upon the events of the Fireflies. Upon thinking of the organization, she frowned and sighed.
She didn't believe a single word he said. It didn't seem right. He may have said he told her the truth countless times but she just felt like something happened that he wasn't telling her.
The sound of a gunshot alerted her from downstairs and she rushed to the stairs, "Joel?" She called down before making her descend.
To her dismay, she saw herself looking at Joel who was lying on the ground, bleeding from his stomach while a gangly young man stood over him, holding a pistol with shaky hands with a look of amazement.
He clearly wasn't experienced and was a newbie who gotten lucky.
It didn't take long for a bullet to go right through his brain and for him to take his last breath. Ellie rushed towards Joel, "Joel?! Joel?!" She yelled. He was unconscious and was bleeding by the second. She pressed a hand to the wound while the other took out the medical pack.
She gulped. It wouldn't be enough. She couldn't save him again, she didn't have the supplies needed to do so. This could not be happening. Joel couldn't be dying. He had to be fine.
Tears began pricking up in her eyes. Ellie rarely cried. Emotions were a no-go, there was no time for it and yet, here she was, struggling to hold them back. She continued to put pressure on the wound. She had to do something.
Suddenly the feeling of a hand on her shoulder could be felt before she was yanked back. Opening her mouth to yell, she found a hand pressed over her mouth, nothing being spoken to by her. She struggled against the hold but soon found a voice muttering in annoyance into her ear.
"Just keep calm and you and your friend might actually live through this day."
That did nothing to calm her nerves, especially when she saw a woman bend down towards Joel. At once she elbowed the person holding her in the ribs sharply and rushed forward, brandishing her rifle, "Get the fuck away from him!"
The woman looked at her, raising hands simply in defence. Ellie examined her, short, choppy blonde hair and grey eyes framed her head. Looked to be early thirties. She couldn't have been from that camp, no females were there. Maybe she was a wanderer and was expecting to loot Joel's corpse.
"Unless you want this man to die, kid, I advise you step back and let me do my job," Ignoring the gun pointed at her, she slung the backpack she wore off her shoulder and unzipped it, pulling out a first-aid kit. As she clicked it up, she turned and then added, "Can you please take that young girl out?"
"What if you kill him?" Ellie growled, her tone vicious.
"As we speak, I'm taking the bullet out. Unless I plan to shoot him again with it, I doubt that. Now please, some space?"
"You heard her, red," Ellie looked towards the other occupant in the room. She was surprised to see it was a girl her own age.
She had dirty-blonde hair and that seemed tied up in a messy ponytail-bun and also blue eyes that looked empty and cold and Ellie almost shivered as they bored into her own pair of green. She then looked up at her forehead where a pair of flight goggles rested comfortably there, the leather band black and one of the lenses cracked.
Suspicions ran high and she sent a glare towards the other girl who looked back at her calmly in return.
"How can I trust you?"
The girl sent a lazy grin at Ellie, "That's easy. You don't." And with that said, she spun on her heel, "Though you're welcome to search the Doc. Just be advised I'm the one with the weapons." She pointed at the large backpack she carried.
Ellie frowned, looking back at the other woman. She seemed too focused in helping Joel, now appearing to add disinfectant to the wound. He cringed in his unconscious state but relaxed moments later when she began bandaging his stomach.
Unless a gun was stowed away in the room, she didn't look to be carrying it. The backpack had all of its contents spilled out and nothing to be used as a weapon. With a sigh, she reluctantly followed the other girl out of the house but rested against the wall immediately beside the door, ready to rush in if need be.
"So, you got a name?" Ellie broke the silence between the two of them.
"Mia," She replied, "You?"
"I'm Ellie," Mia only nodded at that before returning her gaze to ahead of herself.
"That guy you're with will be fine, she won't kill him, especially since he has a kid with him," Mia then spoke, looking over at Ellie, "She likes kid." She added to explain.
Ellie slowly nodded. They were quiet for a few minutes, Ellie occasionally sticking her head in through the door just to see the woman helping Joel. She relaxed slightly. Maybe things would be okay.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a long jagged scar on Mia's arm. It looked old and to be honest, kind of cool.
"How'd you get that?" Curiosity got the better of Ellie as she inquired.
"Long story," Did everything this girl spoke have to be less than three words. Ellie sighed, leaning her head back on the wall, "So, what brings you two to the slums of the country?" Mia inquired then.
"Scavenging for supplies," Ellie said, tilting her head, "We were gonna pass by it soon, we just go where the wind takes us nowadays." She weakly chuckled, "But we got a little side-tracked. What's your story?"
"We wander, nothing else. No destination, no plans, we just travel," Wow, she actually could speak sentences. Mia reached up and adjusted the goggles over her forehead and looked inside the house, "Doc, you ready?"
"Soon, you both can come inside now," When Ellie entered, she looked over at Joel. He was still unconscious but had a large bandage wrapped around his stomach, not bleeding anymore, "He should be fine but I don't advise keeping him around here. When it gets late, more people turn up. We've set up camp in a tunnel not far from here. Safe from view. We can bring you and your friend there if you would like."
Ellie contemplated the idea. The two didn't seem to be evil or looking to kill them, the older one just saved Joel's life for heavens sake and now she was offering them a place to stay for a while. It didn't seem like they were going to betray them any longer.
With a sigh, she nodded, "Okay, fine. Just until he wakes up."
"Alright," She agreed and then she gently took one of Joel's arms and threw it around her shoulder. For a moment she staggered under the weight but soon gained composure, "One of you carry his bag, and one of you carry the other."
Mia took no time in grabbing the woman's, now even bothering to ask because she knew her new-found companion would want to take the one belonging to her friend.
Ellie kept a close eye on Joel as they all made their way out of the house. His head was bent and he was still not conscious as his feet dragged against the floor. His healer was displaying surprisingly strong strength as she carried him with little-to-no hesitation. As she shuffled along carrying both his and her own bag, she almost began to relax.
Almost.