We're on the road again
The last of us fanfiction
By Zero2o1o
This is I guess you can call it a prequel to the Truth of things and Saying good bye, yeah it takes place way before the other two stories while Joel and Ellie were on their way back to Tommy's town in Jacksonville. This shows how Ellie first starts thinking of Joel as a father figure and begins respecting him more then just as a friend.
We're on the road again
Joel was leaning against the window as he drove down a empty road that had nothing but broken down cars and grass that was breaking through the concrete, he was thinking about what he had done in the hospital garage that was being used as the Fireflies's headquarters while they looked for a cure for the infection.
Joel wasn't proud that he had killed Marlene he had no other choice if he hadn't the leader of the Fireflies would of killed him and taken Ellie back to her scientists who had been about to harvest the cure that was in her spine "Joel you ok?" Ellie asked her guardian and some what surrogate father who looked at her from the corner of his left eye.
"Mmmmmmmm" Joel answered with a noncommittal hum cause he didn't feel like talking at that moment.
"Hey Joel?" Ellie called seeing Joel's right pointer finger tapping on the truck's brown leather steering wheel indicating to the fourteen year old girl he wasn't really in the mood any questions.
"Were you ever married?" Ellie kept right on asking hoping Joel wasn't going to snap at her for asking such a personal question.
"I was once" was all the reply Ellie got from the graying black haired middle age man who's brown eyes narrowed as he thought back to before the world went to hell.
"What happen to your wife?" Ellie asked some more feeling the need to get more information about Joel's marriage.
"She left me, in other words we got a divorce right around when Sarah was about eight or nine years old" Joel answered now out of no where wondering what had become of his ex-wife.
"Were you and Tess ever married?" Ellie inquired knowing bringing up her guardian's old partner was a sure way to piss him off or strike a sensitive nerve.
"Ha ha ha no we won't married…...we uh were just friends if you can call it that" Joel commented guessing these questions had been in his young ward's mind for a while.
You guys ever you know do it?" Ellie asked with serious interest before jerking forward cause Joel had slammed on the breaks.
"ELLIE!" Joel shouted his cheeks were now a light shade of red as he stared down his ward who looked right into his eyes.
"What?, I was just asking it's not like I care" the young girl remarked knowing that she was close to riding the rest of the way to Jacksonville in the back of the truck.
"For Christ sakes baby girl that's one question you just don't ever ask someone, it's way to personal" the graying black haired man told Ellie putting his foot back on the gas paddle.
"sorry Joel I didn't know you couldn't ask people those kinds of questions" Ellie apologized before unbuckling and turned around grabbing her backpack from the backseat.
"What are you up to now?" Joel asked wondering what kind of misdeed the fourteen year old girl was up too.
"I just remembered I found these old tapes in the town we passed through, here take a look you might like it" Ellie replied pulling out an old looking tape from her green backpack and handed it over to Joel who took it and read the title.
"Well I'll be damn this is a Damn Yankee tape, I use to listen to this band all the time when I was dating Sarah's mother" Joel told Ellie quickly popping out the old country music tape that had been in the cassette player and put the new tape in.
It took the old tape a few seconds to play, but when it did a soft playing guitar started coming out of the truck's speakers cause Joel had turned the volume all the way up so the music could take him back to a better time.
I was a loner crusin' with the wind
I wasn't lookin' when you pulled me in
I had to leave you like I always did
You knew damn well I'd come again
As the song played it send Joel back to when he was a young man who had a great girlfriend, lots of friends and a life that didn't involve killing others just so he and Ellie could survive.
Now I'm falling where I've never been
My resistance is wearing thin
Somewhere in the distance
Like a long lost friend
When the guitar got even louder Ellie covered her ears while Joel just rocked his head back and forth to the beat.
Whoa, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Lord, here I come again, come again
Ellie looked over at her guardian who was now totally in tune with the song and didn't seem like the same man she had been traveling with for all those months he actually seemed happy as he listened to this strange old music..
Been so long since I've seen you girl
Swear I've been around the world
Every room is an empty space
In the darkness I see your face
This song also had a deeper meaning to Joel then just a great song he used to listen to when he was hanging out with his buddies and his brother Tommy, this was the song that was playing while he and his ex-wife were conceiving Sarah shortly after they had gotten married, but Joel wasn't about to tell Ellie that.
When I finally get my hands on you
Tell you what I'm gonna do
Lay you down strip you bare
Make love to you till the morning comes around
To this point Ellie had thought this song was just some love ballot, but now she started to think that whoever sang this song was some kind of sexual deviant who went around and had sex with all the women he could and it disgust the fourteen year old girl.
I wasn't lookin' when you pulled me in
Whoa, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Lord, here I come again
Come again, come again, I said, "Lord"
"God Joel how can you listen to this? , it's mostly about how this guy wants to find an old girlfriend and fuck her senseless" Ellie shouted over the music wanting to be heard.
"It's 's not about that Ellie, it's about a man who has been gone along time and is happy to see his girlfriend again after all that time he was away" Joel replied remembering that was the very same thing Sarah had told him when she first heard this Damn Yankee song.
I wasn't lookin' when you pulled me in
Whoa, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Lord, here I come again
Ellie just rolled her green eyes she would never understand why Joel enjoyed this kind of music, it was loud and seemed mostly to be about sex.
I wasn't lookin' when you pulled me in
Whoa, oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Lord, here I come again
Once the song was done another one started after it only this was loud from the beginning and Ellie really regretted ever looking at that damn tape and after another two songs Ellie couldn't take the loud rock music anymore so she shut it off.
"Hey I was enjoying that!" Joel complained looking angrily at the young girl who kept her hand over the volume to keep him from turning the music back on.
"Well it was giving me a fucking headache" Ellie snapped daring her guardian to try to turn the rock 'n' roll back on.
Joel complained and cursed both angry and annoyed he couldn't listen to Damn Yankee anymore "hey I got this tape that says Johnny Cash, is he a rock 'n' roller too?" Ellie asked holding up another tape up to Joel who took it and put it in the cassette player.
"No he was a country singer way before I was born" Joel explained hitting play and listen to the sweet sound of Walk the line.
"I like this one he an't loud and annoying like them Damn Yankees" the brown haired teenager mocked getting a few low grumbles out of Joel but all that did was make Ellie very lightly chuckle
"you an't got no heart for rock 'n' roll baby girl" the middle age man told his ward who just rolled her eyes again.
"Excuse me for not wanting to listen to music that gonna to destroy my eardrums" Ellie bitched only getting a sarcastic scoff from her surrogate father.
The two didn't speak for a while they just listened to Johnny Cash's song a boy named Sue till they reached a small town that was for the most part totally void of any kind of life like the Hunter or the infected "we're stay here for the night" Joel commented pulling up to a old blue two story house that had almost no broken windows.
"Whoa look at this place" Ellie said stunned at how nice the house was even after being empty for who knew how many years.
"Kind of looks like my old house back in Texas, even has the same paint job" the middle age man told his ward while he got out of the truck and looked up at the house.
"Hey the sign says the Lenovo's lived here for as long as they could" Ellie said walking onto the front deck and pointed at some fading and chipped paint written on the front of the house
"What you think happen to the Lenovo's?" The teenage girl asked as she followed Joel into the old house.
"Who knows, maybe they up and left after they realize no one was coming to help them or maybe a" but Joel stopped when he heard a loud groaning noise that was the signal that a runner was nearby "shit Ellie stay close" the graying black haired man told Ellie crouching down and slowly made his way farther into the house Joel drew his Smith & Wesson Model 39 and cocked it at a dead pace so that the runner to hear.
As he did this Ellie pulled out her Taurus Millennium PRO PT145 SSP and cocked it too taking care not to make as little noise as possible "how many do you think there are?" Ellie asked checking her gun's clip to see how many bullets she had left in it.
"I think it's just the one, but I rather not take any chances to have more show up" Joel replied putting his Smith & Wesson Model 39 back where he got it and pulled out his bow and arrow.
After a half a minute the two humans found the runner it was standing in the middle of the living room just staring at the wall groaning and moaning as it did so "you stay right there and cover my back in case more of these fuckers show up" Joel ordered Ellie in a whisper not wanting the runner to know they were there till it was to late.
"Yeah no problem" Ellie replied facing the door and aimed her gun at it to make sure no infected showed up while Joel killed the runner.
Joel drew a arrow and put it on the string and pulled back on it "say good night you son of a bitch" the graying black haired man thought before releasing the arrow sending it into the runner's brain which caused the infected human to let out a loud pain filled scream and then fall over dead.
"Fuck Joel nice shot" Ellie said looking at the dead runner that was lying on the living room floor a pool of infected blood forming around it's head
"Thanks Ellie" Joel replied walking over to the dead runner and pulled the arrow out of the runner's head then put it back in his backpack.
"You know the routine Ellie start looking for anything we can use" Joel said getting a thumbs up from his ward who walked away to look for supplies.
Joel went to the kitchen to see if he could find any food or medic supplies "nice" the middle age graying black haired man cheered when he found a few cans of refried and green beans along with a first aid kit
"You find anything?" Ellie called from the other room cross around hall while she looked for anything they could use.
"Eeyup" the middle age man called back putting the cans in his backpack then he went into another room to see if he could found anything else.
After a while Joel and Ellie met back up in the living room to show each other what they had found "not a bad haul uuuhhhhh?" Ellie asked showing her guardian the few bullets, a couple rags and a bottle of alcohol she had gotten.
"Good job kiddo" Joel answered showing the young girl the stuff he found while he was looking around the house.
"By the way Joel what was you're ex-wife's name?" Ellie asked remembering that she never found that out back in the truck.
"Oh uh her name was Connie Dredd" the graying black haired man answered while he used his knife to open a can of refried beans then opened the can of green beans for Ellie who took it and started eating.
Once Joel and Ellie were done eating they went up stairs and found a bedroom they could stay in for the night.
You know Joel I never thanked you for everything you've done for me over the time we've traveled together" Ellie told the middle age man as she grabbed an old blanket and laid down on the floor.
"Think nothing of it baby girl it's the least I could do" Joel replied leaning up against the wall that was across from the bedroom door and shut his eyes to get some sleep while at the same standing guard.
"Hey Joel what did Sarah want to be when she grew up?" Ellie asked lying on her back and looked over at Joel who had his arms across his chest.
"I think she wanted to be some kind of animal doctor" the sleeping middle age man replied not opening his eyes at all "that's cool" Ellie commented before going to sleep.
It wasn't easy for Joel to fall asleep he had one to many close calls to know better then to fall asleep all the way "poor Ellie I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell you the truth about Marlene and how she had planned to kill you" Joel thought looking over at the sleeping teenage girl and thought about how she would react when he told her what he had been to save her life.
Ellie awoke to the sounds of someone messing with some tools, she figured it was just Joel making one of his home made knives or upgrading one of his many different weapons he had picked up in their journey.
"Mornin baby girl, how did you sleep last night?" Joel greeted his young ward who was sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her green eyes.
"Some, what are you doing Joel?" Ellie replied before noticing that the middle aged man was messing with the sniper scope that was on his M-1917 Enfield rifle.
"Hust fixing the damn sight, you haven't been messing with my rifle have you?" Joel stated staring curiously at the teenage girl who wasn't making eye contact anymore.
"(Sigh) damnit Ellie I've told you once I've told you a million times don't mess with my rifle unless you have too" Joel scorned Ellie not mad at her just a little upset was all.
"Sorry Joel I must of bumped the scope yesterday while I was getting my backpack to show you those tapes" Ellie apologized guessing that was the only way she could of messed with Joel's rifle scope.
"It's fine Ellie just be more careful ok" the graying black haired man commented going back to fixing the scope.
"So what's for breakfast?" Ellie asked wanting to know if they had any food if at all "we have a couple cans of peaches, a can of green bean and a can refried beans" Joel replied grabbing a can and tossed it to the teenage girl who opened it and started eating.
Joel ate too knowing that he had to find some more food cause Tommy's town was still three or four days away by car.
"What's the matter Joel?" Ellie asked noticing the worried look on her guardian's face "I was just thinking that we got to find more food other wise we won't make it to my brother's alive" Joel replied putting his can of peaches on the floor next to him.
"You could always go hunt down a deer, I mean you would have better luck then I would" the young teenager commented remembering how she had almost been killed by a huge group of infected then that crazy fucker Robert who was the leader of cannibals
"I'm not sure where I'd find a deer around here, but that's not a bad idea" Joel said packing away the tools he had gotten out and then went back to eating his peaches
"Is something bothering you kiddo?" Joel inquired when he saw his ward just staring at her can of peaches "it's just...just not fair the closest thing I've ever had to a dad is a man I barely know, I wish...I could ask my dad why he left my mom?, why he wasn't there for her funeral, his own wife's fucking funeral!" the young woman replied fighting back the tears that were welling in the corners of her green eyes.
Joel let out a long sight he wasn't very good with dealing with situations like this, he never had to deal with this with Sarah when the thought of his daughter crossed his mind a sharpe pain hit him in the gut something that hadn't happen in many months "listen Ellie I'm not sure why you're father left and I can't promise that we can find him to get an answer from him, but I won't ever leave your side you're stuck with me till the end" Joel told the young teenager giving her a smile even though he had a pain in the pit of his stomach when he thought about Sarah.
"Man why couldn't you have been my dad" Ellie commented before tossing away her empty can of peaches and started put her things away.
Joel sat there letting Ellie's words sink in, would he make a good father specially after everything that had happen to him over the last 20 years "sorry Ellie I don't think I would be much of a father" Joel apologized putting his backpack on his back and headed down stairs to the truck that was still parked outside.
"Well you be a better father then my good for nothing one" Ellie commented only wishing she could see her dad and ask him why he left, Joel just laughed he couldn't believe that this young girl looked up to him so highly even though they barely knew one another.
Two day later
Joel and Ellie's luck had turned for the best cause they had stopped in a town that had a super market that had enough food to get the two to Tommy's town in Jacksonville and even a gun store that had a safe that Ellie was able to get into thanks to the air vent that fed into it "well I'll be damn looks like our luck just hit a high note" Joel cheered while he looked over the great haul of the day.
"No shit, hey maybe there's a clothes store around here I could use some new shirts" Ellie commented smelling her red t-shirt and was disgusted by it's smell.
"Yeah that sounds like a good plan" the middle age man agreed wondering if he could find a Walmart cause he knew they also may have more food and weapons.
Joel and Ellie drove around the town looking for the super store "what are we doin?" Ellie asked looking at the different shops they past "we're looking for a place called Walmart, they should hopefully have some clothes and some more food" the middle age man replied while he looked for the store.
"Was Walmart just a normal store?" Ellie asked wanting to know more about the store "oh no Walmart was a huge chain with stores all over the country and they had everything from food to toys, video games, guns and clothes" the black haired man replied remembering going to the super store with Sarah all the time.
"Cool" the teenage girl commented before seeing a huge store with a sign that said Walmart "look Joel I think that's the place" she said before being told that she did a great job.
Joel parked the truck and he and his ward got out and went into the super store "wow this place is fucking huge" Ellie marveled amazed that people used to come to these stores to shop.
"Come on I think the clothes are this way" Joel laughed going right toward the other side of the Walmart "did you work for Walmart?, before you know the infection?" Ellie asked wanting to know what her guardian did before the world went to hell.
"I didn't, I helped make a Walmart a couple times though" Joel replied stoping when he heard a loud groan.
"Sshhh sounds like we're not the only ones here" the middle age man whispered crouching down and listened to work out where the infected was.
"You know how many there are?" The brown haired girl asked wondering just how screwed they could be if the infected came for them.
"Looks like three or four runners, a clicker and ahhhh shit there's a fucking blotter too" the middle age graying black haired man replied counting just how many infected there were and didn't like the way things were looking.
"Well fuck now what?" Ellie frowned before seeing her Joel pull out his flamethrower while smiling evilly at her.
"I'm goin to go and cook their asses you stay here and hide and watch my back" Joel answered standing up and rushed the infected setting them all on fire.
"Hahahahahahah burn you motherfucker burn" Joel laughed as he cooked the blotter's fat ass who screamed in pain "holy fucking shit Joel pyro crazy much?" Ellie joked coming out from her hiding spot.
"It got the job done didn't it?" The graying black haired man chuckled putting the flamethrower back on his backpack.
"Yeah but you burnt everything around them to nothing but ash" the teenage girl replied pointing at the smoking remains of whatever was around the infected.
"Just come on Ellie, lets go find you a new shirt" Ellie's guardian commented just chuckling a little and walked over to where some old shirts hung.
Ellie got a few shirts that didn't look to wore and after that she and Joel looked around the store to see if they could find anything they could use which they did, after that they left the Walmart making sure they didn't make to much noise cause they didn't want to run into anymore infected.
"Ok so now that we're picked up some supplies, are we heading to Tommy's place right?" Ellie stated while she looked at some of the CDs and tapes Joel picked up at the Walmart.
"That's the plan baby girl" Joel replied popping in a Rolling 'n' Stone CD into the new CD player "what's the plan when we get to Tommy's town?, will we stay at Tommy and Maria's place till we find a place of our own?" The teenage girl asked wanting to know what Joel had planned when they got to his brother's town.
"Yeah we're stay at Tommy's till we get a house" Joel answered making sure he kept his eyes on the road that had a few broken down cars on it.
As he drove down that empty road in the middle of no where Joel thought about the incredible journey he had been on with Ellie, he had lost a lot in that time one of them being Tess who had been his partner for so long that when he lost her he lost some more of his humanity, but at the same time he had gotten a new partner who showed him that he could still be a good man and maybe he could be a good dad again.
The end