AN: Hi, thank you for clicking on my story and taking the time to read it. I am a 26 year old software engineer and as such this not the type of "writing" that I normally do. However, The Last of Us left such an impression on me I couldn't stop thinking about it and thus wanted to write about it. I haven't done any creative writing since... I dunno, probably ninth grade. I've actually really enjoyed writing this, as it exercises a completely different part of my brain than I'm used to. I have tried my best to keep Ellie and Joel in character, however I noticed a change in the "chemistry" between the two in the final chapter of the game and as such, this story is how I imagined what could have transpired to cause such alterations leading up to Salt Lake.
I decided to start this right after the Winter chapter ends because in my opinion the entire chapter was extremely powerful and emotional. I felt like it really took Ellie and Joel's relationship to the next level and given the intensity, I wanted to start here. Please excuse me for the first few chapters are longer than I anticipated and a bit slower, but I really wanted to focus on the immediate events following the David scene and how it changes Ellie and Joel. For now, I have posted the first four chapters and depending on feedback I may write more, having the story end just outside the city limits of Salt Lake. I'm hoping for this to be the only AN, although I may leave one at the end. As always, I appreciate constructive criticism and I hope you enjoy this. Thank you!
Legal stuff: I do not take credit for any of the characters or content relating to The Last of Us as it is 100% the property of Naughty Dog.
The fire continued to rage within the restaurant. Getting out was imperative, as sooner rather than later the entire building would be reduced to ash. The building and the monster lying on the floor with a machete buried deep into its skull would soon be completely wiped from existence, vanquished by the flames. But not to her. Not to him. This entire experience would stay with them, they both knew it.
Joel wrapped his right arm around Ellie as they approached the front door to finally make their exit from the inferno that was the restaurant. Ellie, still shaken up from the traumatic event just minutes before, clung to his side with her head pressed against his torso. Joel hastily peered out the window to determine if it was safe to simply stumble out the front door. For all he knew there could still be remaining cannibals from David's group waiting outside who saw him enter.
"Alright, we're clear," Joel said quietly.
Joel pushed the door open and stepped out into the biting cold. The sun was beginning its slow descent into the western horizon and the temperature had dropped significantly. The wind was howling and both of them could immediately feel the cold going to work on their sore, blood caked hands.
"Fuck. We've got to get back. We aint gonna make it out here in this," Joel said, the words struggling to leave his lips as he battled the cold.
Ellie hadn't said a word yet, completely engrossed in her thoughts while her mind raced about. She couldn't believe what had just happened to her. She's witnessed the actions Joel and her performed in order to survive, actions that were only permissible because of the current state of the broken world they now lived in, but this shook her to her very core.
"Ellie! C'mon, stay with me... I'm gettin' us outta here," Joel said, concern palpable in his voice.
"Ack... yeah, yeah I'm here," she responded slowly as she winced in pain.
Her response relieved him. The sound of her voice provided him with the slightest bit of warmth, however he could sense an enormous amount of pain and discomfort behind her barely audible words.
She clung to him even harder. She clenched her fingers and attempted to form a fist as she dug them deeper into his torso. The harder she grabbed, the closer to him she felt. Joel noticed the tightening of her grasp, it was even a bit painful as she tugged near the healing puncture wound that incapacitated him for the better part of a month. The skin around the stitches still felt raw and the biting cold did not help. Despite the discomfort, he dared not protest and only tried to bring her closer to shield her from the wind that sliced through their veins.
The adrenaline, the most pure and natural of painkillers, was beginning to wear off. With the addition of the howling wind and freezing temperature, every bump, bruise, cut and broken bone began to hurt that much more.
Ellie collapsed to the ground, keeled over grasping her left side.
"Aahh, fuck!" she yelped.
David, that sorry excuse of a human being had broken one of her ribs during the struggle. She only ever broke a few fingers during her time at the military school in Boston, nothing like a rib. The pain was unlike any other. The once simple act of breathing became labored.
"Ellie!" Joel clamored as he immediately stopped, feeling the dead weight on his side.
"Joel - I... I can't fucking walk," Ellie whimpered.
"It's okay, I gotcha, I gotcha," Joel paternally responded.
He bent down to pick her up, careful not to aggravate her left side. He noticed her rubbing her ribs and wincing each time she touched them. He tucked one arm under her legs and placed the other beneath her back as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Joel remained steadfast in his mission to get back to the house with the basement, even if it meant staying in this town that Ellie now considered the innermost ring of hell. It was the only place either of them knew and at the very least would provide some warmth and a much needed reprieve from the elements.
Ellie's gaze never left Joel's face. She stared up at him as the mere sight of his eyes brought her comfort. She watched each breath he took leave his mouth and tried to sync her breathing with his. Her mind continued to dance about and she thought what would have happened if he somehow died before finding her. What if David's group found him lying helpless in that basement recovering from his wound? What if he was dead? What if, he didn't come back for her? That thought itself, more than the cold, sent a shiver down her spine and her eyes began to swell with tears.
Joel briefly glanced down and noticed Ellie intensely staring at him. Her gaze so powerful, it was slightly intimidating and forced his eyes to look away. He thought about Sarah, carrying her through the streets of Austin at the start of the outbreak. The image of Sarah glaring up at him for safety and comfort would haunt him for the rest of his life. The image of her lifeless body, with nothing but empty eyes gazing towards the sky was forever engraved in his mind. He would never forget, that in the end, he failed her.
Their eyes finally met. Joel looked down at Ellie and noticed her eyes begin to crystallize with tears. Acknowledging her gaze with his seemed to be the final straw as tears then strolled down her cut and blood stained cheeks.
Joel's pace slowed and he witnessed something he had yet to see in Ellie. Complete, unabated fear and vulnerability. He couldn't even begin to rationalize what happened to her.
"She's alive. She's David's newest pet!" the voice of the man he interrogated earlier spoke in is head. He didn't want to think about what that meant, but deep down he knew, despite his every effort to erase the thought.
Rage began to boil deep in his gut. He felt guilty and almost personally responsible for letting this happen, even though he knew it was a ridiculous thought. This feisty, spunky, fourteen year old little girl, who had shown more strength and bravery than most men he knew in his lifetime, was finally broken. She saved his life. She nursed him back to health from the brink of death. She fired a bullet point blank into the head of another human being to save him. Despite all the things she had done, she still retained a child-like wonder and fire. Had that fire finally burnt out? He began to think about what would have happened had she not killed David herself and he hadn't showed up at that moment. What if she didn't make it? What if, he entered that blazing restaurant to find her little frame lying lifeless on the ground? That thought itself, more than the cold, sent a shiver down his spine and he struggled to hold back the building of tears behind his eyes.
My little girl. How could this happen to my little girl?
The words "my little girl" exited his mind as fast as they had entered. The mere fact those three words arose made him long for Sarah.
I will not fail you, he thought. He wasn't entirely sure if he was internally speaking to Sarah or Ellie and a strong sense of guilt washed over him as he tried to collect himself.
Joel finally looked up, ready to continue trudging through the bone chilling wind and snow. He could make out the house with the basement just ahead. They were close.
"Shit," he said.
"Wha - What now?" Ellie softly replied with concern.
"Look, straight ahead."
For the first time since Joel picked her up, Ellie let her gaze leave his face and she peered down the street.
"Ahh fuck... We - We're so close," she muttered quietly as she buried her face into his shoulder.
Two more of David's men stood at the entrance to the house. In all likelihood they had no idea that the majority of their group and leader were now dead.
The nearest one had what appeared to be a rifle flung over his shoulder while the other leaned up against the wall, arms crossed with a pistol holstered at his side. The two men appeared to be talking to each other. A faint laugh was heard from the nearest one as they kept each other occupied with conversation and jokes to pass the time and ease the pain of the cold.
Still holding Ellie, Joel crouched down and quietly made his way behind an old abandoned car about twenty feet in front of him.
"Ellie - I'm gonna set ya down alright?"
"Yeah."
He gently set her down, safely hidden from the line of sight of the two men. Ellie leaned her back against the rear wheel of the car, turning her head towards Joel.
"What're ya thinkin?" Ellie asked.
"Not sure yet. But we gotta be fast."
The cold was beginning to take its toll on both of them. The sweat from the previous events began to freeze on their foreheads. Toes and fingers were slowly losing feeling as the wind seemed to continually creep deeper into their veins, slowly consuming them until death. They had to get back inside.
Joel looked in his pack and found a menial amount of supplies. He used so many earlier when fighting his way to Ellie that he hardly had anything left. He found a few bandages and five 9mm bullets for his pistol, but he knew that wasn't going to cut it at this distance, especially with the wind.
He reached deep into his pockets and felt a long cold metal object at the tips of his fingers. His eyes lit up. He quickly ripped his hand out of his left pocket and heaved a sigh, one part relief, one part agony. One bullet for his hunting rifle.
"Well... I uhh... I got one I left," he said.
"Better make it count," Ellie replied, her mouth almost giving way to a slight smile.
"No doubt 'bout that," Joel acknowledged.
Joel slid the bullet into place, pulled the lever back and cocked his rifle. He knelt down just behind the front wheel well of the car and brought the butt of the rifle to his shoulder. Peering through the scope, he brought the nearest lookout into sight and lined up his head. In most circumstances, this shot would have been old-hat. But this was different. The cold on his fingers and the blustering wind did not make this easy. However, mentally, Joel faced a much bigger obstacle. It was the magnitude of this shot. He had one bullet, he had to land it. He had to make it count. A hit, and Ellie gets that much closer to a warm place to recuperate.
Joel slowly lurched his finger toward the trigger. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in an attempt to relax his muscles to prevent any shivering that would throw off his aim. He snapped his eyes open.
"Fuck you," he spat. He pulled the trigger.
The sound of the rifle crackled down the street as it pierced through the howling wind. Joel poured every ounce of built up rage and anger he had into that one bullet. Time seemed to slow down, it felt like an eternity as he waited for the bullet to reach its destination. It was only a mere second, but in the heat of the moment it felt far too long. Then it happened.
The man's head smashed sideways as the bullet cored its way through the side of his skull. His body fell limp to the ground.
Ellie didn't even have to ask. She knew Joel hit pay dirt.
The other lookout jumped straight up in the air in shock and immediately pulled out his pistol. He frantically glanced around for several seconds before finally processing what just took place. He stared at his partner's lifeless body in the snow, looked up then ran behind the corner of the house in a panic. Joel could see him peeking around the corner trying to spot his attackers but knew the man had no clue as to where they were.
"And the other one?" Ellie asked.
"Hidin'... Behind the house."
"Did he see us?"
"I reckon' he didn't. He aint got a clue," Joel responded.
Despite being out of bullets, Joel was still peering through the scope of his rifle. He would be able to see the bastard should he move while contemplating his next step.
A few seconds passed and Joel noticed a pistol get thrown to the ground. The man walked around the corner with his hands up and began to yell loudly in each direction.
"It's not worth it!... Just - Just let me go, I will leave you be! ... Fuck it!" He turned up the street, away from the house, and sprinted away fearing for his life. Joel knew he would find no help, the rest of those cannibalistic bastards were dead and without their leader. Part of Joel wanted to chase after him and finish the job, but getting Ellie to safety was his primary concern.
Joel heaved a sigh of relief.
"Aight, we're good," he said.
"Did that fucker just run off? I... I guess we still got some luck left," Ellie said.
Joel gave a slight snicker and a nod in agreement.
"C'mere, I gotcha," Joel said as he walked over to Ellie to scoop her back up.
Ellie felt warmer, more comfortable in Joel's arms and the pain in her ribs seemed to dwindle ever so slightly.
Joel could feel the weight of Ellie's head resting against his chest. He felt warmer and more comfortable knowing she was close and safe.