"The last of her"

An original fanfiction, based on the Playstation 3 game by Naughty Dog; The last of us. An alternative ending.

Joel had rushed through countless areas of the broken down hospital, brutally murdering anyone who stood in his path, without a second thought. Joel wasn't your typical stone cold killer; He had a reason. The little girl...Ellie. Despite initially giving her the cold shoulder ruthlessly, his efforts to shut her out failed. He came to think of her as a daughter. Certainly no replacement for Sarah, but Joel had a place in his heart for Ellie. He had to protect her, even with his own life if it came down to it. He always knew there was something special about that little girl, and his hunch proved accurate when that patrol officer tested her for the apparent infection. She was the solution to the most horrific epidemic mankind has ever known, and likely ever will know. Sacrificing her life would mean saving the lives of countless numbers of innocent people. They could rebuild society, and humanity could start to heal its wounds, and the world might even start to function normally again. But Joel would never let such a thing happen to Ellie. He would never let them take away his little girl. Bolting up the flight of steps leading to the hallway that would bring him to the operation room in which, in a matter of seconds, Ellie would recieve her fatal operation. Joel was feeling weak and exhausted, and Marlenes men should be catching up with him soon, but he didn't give a shit. All he could do was sprint as fast as he could go, and pray to God that he wasn't too late by the time he reached the operating room. As Joel took those final steps towards the door and burst into the operating room, his worst nightmare was realized in a horrific sight Joel would never live to forget. He was too late. Ellie was already sleeping like a rock on that operating table, with her skull gruesomely split open, as blood slowly oozed onto the fabric covering her face. He rushed over to her corpse, panickedly. He wanted to believe this wasn't Ellie under the sterile material, or that the surgeon could still save her if he forced him to, but he wasn't stupid enough to think either of those. He pulled the fabric back forcefully to reveal her face. He grasped her cold lifeless face in his hands and tried desperately to get a response out of her, still in extreme denial. "Ellie! Its okay now, I'm here, I'm here baby girl.. Ellie, look at me, look at me... Say something! ELLIE! Please... Anything..." As the surgeons stared in confusion at him, the realization hit him that he was a mad man speaking to a corpse. Ellie wasn't in there anymore, She was... Gone. He couldn't save her now. Filled with a blind fury, Joel directed his revolver at the head brain surgeon, sterily gloved hands still covered in Ellies blood. "You... What the fuck have you done?! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!" Joel shouted with a rage he hasn't felt since that soldier had shot Sarah. "Don't shoot, please!" The head surgeon uttered, absolutely terrified. "Leave him alone, asshole!" Said another surgeon, with a tone of fear in her voice as well. Joel turned briefly and shot her in the face without hesitation, before doing the same to the other, leaving the third to huddle in fear. Joel felt hot tears stream down his cheeks for the first time in a very long time. He broke down and sobbed over Ellies dead body. "They killed her... They killed her..." He muttered to himself, between sobs. "I'm sorry baby girl... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you." He mumbled, holding onto Ellie's limp hand for dear life. He brushed Ellies auburn hair out of her face and kissed her forehead one last time. "...I'll be with you soon, Baby girl." Joel said under his breath, as he pressed his revolver to his own head, and pulled the trigger.