THE LAST OF US: REPERCUSSION
Chapter 1
Late Summer
"Now you see, this is called the backstroke." says Joel as he swims on his back. Ellie watched the movements of how to keep herself afloat, she takes a deep breath, walks into the water leans backwards, floats for a couple seconds and then begins swimming. "I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!" "You sure are kiddo... Thinking when you're ready I can show you some cool tricks." Joel says with a smile on his face. "Special tricks? What kind of tricks?" asks Ellie. "Ever hear of a cannonball?" Ellie looks at Joel confused. "You mean like what the pirates used?" "No, I mean like this." Joel says as he runs out of the water to the dock and jumps off. "Cannonball!" He lands close to Ellie splashing her. "No way! That was awesome!" Ellie says while laughing.
"Having fun you couple of kids?" asks Tommy as he walks up to the dock. "You know how long it's been since I've seen you enjoy yourself like this, Joel? I'll answer that for you, been a very long time. Hell, I remember when you were teaching me how to swim. Probably some of the worst memories I have." He starts laughing, and Joel teases back. Tommy turns to both Joel and Ellie "I tell you, it's great having you back around brother, knowing I've got my family around keeps me from worrying too much. And I can't leave out the newest addition." Ellie smiles. "That's sweet, and for the record, you guys are the closest thing I have to a real family; so thank you, for everything."
"Hey what time is it?" Joel asks Tommy. "It's a little after mid-day." Tommy answers "Shit, alright kiddo, we've got to go, I'm starting my shift soon." "Aw, can't I stay just a bit longer?" begs Ellie. "You know I have Maria up there watching the horses, she can stay and watch Ellie while we go back to town. I've got something that I need to discuss with you in private anyway." Tommy tells Joel. "I guess, just Ellie, be careful. I'll be home later." "Okay Joel, bye." Ellie enthusiastically replies.
Tommy informs Maria to come watch Ellie, and then motions Joel to come grab a horse. "You know, it's good to see you come back. Was starting to think you were all but lost." "What are you talking about?" Joel gives his brother a confused look. "I'm talking about you; ever since Sarah passed, you were never the same. To be honest I don't expect anybody to recover after going through a loss like that, but since Ellie has been around, you've been your old self again. For petes' sake Joel, you're glowing. It doesn't take a scientist to see when a man is happy. It's just good to have you back brother." "You know, I was skeptical at first when we first met, but after all we've been through, the more I was with her, she reminded me of Sarah. I know she will never be her, or even replace the part of my heart that Sarah has; but you are right. I am happy and it is because of her. I don't know what I'd do without her." Replies Joel.
"Anyway, onto what I wanted to talk to you about. There's been a few reports from our scouts that a pack of infected are heading this way, we need to figure out how we're going to handle them." Tommy tells Joel as they dismount the horses. "Well what did you have in mind?" asks Joel. "Well the safest way would be to divert them away from the town with fireworks. We set them up at different locations, various distances away, so when we light them up the infected will just follow the trail and hopefully keep away from the town..." "That's going to need a lot of effort to pull off." Interrupts Joel as they enter the council building. "I agree, quite frankly we can't supply that much manpower and resources to keep doing that, so there is another option but it can be dangerous." "These days what isn't dangerous?" remarks Joel. "Funny, but there is this mountain no more than three miles north of the town, we could get a few guys, load up in one of our cargo trucks, and lead them up the mountain, and with a little help; they'll just fall off the cliff and no longer be a problem. What do you think?" "That can work, especially if we use some of those fireworks to lead them off." says Joel while looking at the map on the table. "Alright, I'll schedule an overview and see if anybody will volunteer. I'll get back to you later." Says Tommy as he maps out the plan.
Joel greets various people as he makes his way down the road. He steps off the road at Drake's house. Sitting outside grooming his dog, is Drake. Wearing a long sleeve plaid shirt with jeans and boots to match; Drake is a guy that knows how to get certain items for a price. "Joel, my friend! How are we today?" "Hey Drake, same as usual. How's business been?" "Doing just fine, not gonna lie it's been a little slow, but that's business right? Truth is I'm just waiting on my guy to return with my inventory so I can collect this months orders." Says Drake as he brushes the dog hair off himself "Speaking of, did you get my order in that last shipment?" asks Joel. "Why yes I did. I'm terribly sorry for not informing you, when my guy returned a few days ago I was so concerned with getting my other orders listed for him, that I forgot to come by." "It's quite alright Drake, mind if we do business now?" asks Joel. "Sure can, come inside, make yourself at home." They enter his house and Drake goes into the other room while Joel has a look around. He looks at the photos on the wall. "Is this your family?" Joel calls out. Drake returns with a wooden guitar. "Yes they are, that's Anna, Jeremy, and my wife Karin." Drake points to each photo. "Still a nice place you got here, a lot better than that garage you call a store." Joel chuckles. "Hey if it works it works. Anyway here you go. Six string acoustic guitar in what counts nowadays as immaculate condition. And the replacement strings to go with." Says Drake as he hands the guitar to Joel. He looks it over plays with the strings for a couple seconds. "Alright, thanks. Hey, this faded smudge here, it almost looks like the fender logo. I used to own a fender. Very fine instrument indeed. Thanks again Drake." Joel hands Drake payment for the instrument, while shaking hands. "Have fun with it Joel, maybe we'll start up a band someday." Drake calls out as Joel walks out the door. "I'll hold you to it."
He makes his way to the other side of town where the gunsmith is. "Afternoon Neil, how's the Mrs.?" "She's been as good as always. What can I do for you?" said Neil with his deep stern voice. "I'm here to pick up my gear for my shift." Joel replies. "Oh yes, here." He grabs a bag with all the usual tools, and weapons that are necessary for maintaining and defending the wall surrounding the town. "I restitched your shoulder strap, cleaned your revolver, fixed your flashlight, and restocked ammunition and tools in your bag. You're good to go." Joel thanks Neil while checking everything in the bag. "You enjoy the rest of your day now."
Joel arrives at his house and heads up to Ellies room; passing blank photo frames and thinking how "empty" the house looks. He places the guitar on her bed before going to his room to change into his work uniform. A picture of he and Sarah is sitting on his bedside table. He sits on the bed and grabs the photo, thinking to himself how much he misses her, and how far he's come since her death. He lays down for a bit and doses off.
He awakens startled. "Oh man, when will these dreams stop." Images of him shooting Marlene play over and over in his mind. "I need something to take the edge off." He grabs his bag and exits the house; walking towards the east part of town where he is stationed on the wall.
"Afternoon Brett, any trouble during the couple days I took off?" Joel says to the manager of the wall. "Just one little dent if that's what you want to call it; I've got Lucas down there right now working on it if you want to give him a hand." Brett informs Joel. "Absolutely, has Tommy said anything to you today?" "Said something about a meeting before dark, something about dealing with a possible infected problem." says Brett as he and Joel walk towards the gate. "I'll let you know when its starting" Brett grabs his radio. "Hey Lucas, you there?" "Sure am boss, what's the news?" Replies Lucas. "Tommy is holding a meeting about an infected problem, figure it's got to be close by. Probably best if you get that dealt with soon, Joel will be there to help." "Yes sir." Brett puts his radio away. "Apart from that dent from those bloaters a day ago; there isn't much else to do other than usual monitoring of the wall. Looks like we've got an easy day so far." Brett tells Joel. "Let's hope it stays easy." Replies Joel.
Later, Joel is heading towards the fire station at the northeast corner of the city. The sun is setting, everybody in town is going to the meeting. People are discussing what the plan may be, what options are available and how many people it may take.
"Alright everybody, you're all here because I need your help. This town requires your help. Earlier today our scouts came back and told me that a pack of infected are heading this way. Now we need to make sure they don't make it here to our town. That is why I along with some help from a couple of you have devised a plan that would eliminate the issue for good. We need a group of men to take one of our transport trucks, grab their attention and lead them all the way up to this location on this map." Tommy says as he points to a large map pinned to the wall. "Its three miles out and on a cliff of the mountain you see just north of here. Once there we trick them into falling off the edge." "But what if they don't go off the edge?" a voice speaks up in the crowd. Tommy scans the room for the person who spoke up. "If it doesn't work, then we'll have to resort to dealing with them up close. I know that's not what any of you want, but the way I see it we don't have a choice." Says Tommy. "I'm going to need volunteers..." Only two people agree to it. "Come on people, let's deal with this before it becomes a bigger problem." Barks Tommy. Joel, Brett, Lucas, and two other men step forward. "Alright, we're done here. You five, come with me." Joel, Lucas, Brett and the rest follow Tommy to the garage of the station, I want this taken care of without a hitch, understand? Last thing we need is the people here to start acting like they were before they found this place. We need to keep this place alive." Tommy explains to the men while loading the truck with gear and fireworks. "Remember, I'm leaving the keys with Lucas, get up at the crack of dawn, so you can go ahead set everything up and then execute. Okay?" They all nod in agreements and shake hands.
Later that night Joel walks into the house to find Ellie sitting on the stairs holding the guitar. "You fucker." Says Ellie while smiling ear to ear. "How did you get it?" "I know a guy" Joel replies. "Go on, let's see what you got." Joel leans against the wall folding his arms. Ellie, obviously confused with the instrument, fumbles with it before plucking at each individual string, each at different tone than the last. "Here, let me show you something." "Finally!" Ellie jokes. Joel sits next to Ellie and grabs the guitar, explains how to hold it, what each string stands for and the techniques for getting different notes from different hand positions. He then starts playing an old tune that he used to play. "Here, think you can handle it now?" Asks Joel as he hands back the guitar to Ellie. "Gimme, I got this." She replies. "So what sounds good for tonight? I'm feeling some spaghetti." Says Joel out loud as he enters the house. "Ellie? Ellie? Did you hear me?" "Yeah, sorry, I just got lost into this. How does this sound?" She plays a simple 3 note tune. "Not bad, I can see you're a quick learner with that. Keep it up and I'll take you to Maria so you can learn to write music if you want." Joel replies. Joel walks back to the kitchen and starts preparing the food. Ellie can be heard humming along to the notes she plays, each time each note sounding smoother and cleaner than the last. "Soups on kiddo." Joel calls out. Ellie puts the guitar next to the table before sitting at the table. "Oh my god, it smells so delicious!" says Ellie as she digs into her food. Minutes later she's slouched in her chair holding her abdomen. "It's like I died and went to heaven where I could eat until I explode." Joel chuckles. Then he sits forward. "Listen Ellie, remember earlier when you said that my brother and I are the closest thing you have to a family?" "Yeah, was I wrong to say that?" Ellie replies. "No, no. its just that.. I know we didn't start off the best way, and we really never clicked at first.. I want you to know that I really care about you. Probably just as much as I did for Sarah. And.." ""It's okay Joel, I care about you too, you're more than just some delivery boy, and more than a friend to me." Ellie interrupts. "What I'm trying to say is that I.." "Lets just say it at the same time Joel." "I love you" they both say simultaneously. Ellie smiles ear to ear while a tear runs down her cheek. They hug and then cleanup.
"Let me see that, I know something that I think you'll like." Ellie hands Joel the guitar while they're sitting on the couch. He starts playing a tune. After a few seconds he starts lightly singing. "I didn't know you could sing?" Ellie teases. "Yeah a little, but its been far too long. It wasn't that bad, was it?" "Could use some work.." Joel grins. "We best be hitting the hay soon." He says as he stands up. "Why?" "Because I've got a long day tomorrow. Got an infected pack to deal with." "Let me come! I can help!" "Absolutely not." Joel replies. "Why not?" Ellie asks. "Because one, we're not out there anymore, in here you don't have to worry about this sort of stuff yet, just enjoy yourself. Live a little. And two, you should know by now how Tommy and Maria handle things here. You may know your way around fighting, but you're still a kid and that goes against Tommy and Maria. Please just promise me you'll stay inside these walls and enjoy yourself. How about practicing that guitar? Who knows, maybe you'll surprise me tomorrow when I get back." Joel explains. "When are you leaving?" Ellie asks; a little frustrated. "Crack of dawn, need all the time we can get, don't know how long it'll take." He replies. They talk a bit more before heading to bed.
CHAPTER 2
Joel is awake, anxiety kept him up all night. From the amount of care he has for Ellie to the concern for today's plan, along with more snippets of his actions in Salt Lake City; he had a hard time finding sleep. He peeks into Ellie's room to see her curled up under the covers, snoring loudly. He stands at her bedside and gently moves a few strands of her hair out of her face. He rubs her shoulder for a second before whispering that he'll be back later. He pulls the blanket up over her and gently pats her head. She twitches but doesn't wake up. He exits the room and the house and makes his way to the fire station.
"Remember, once we get there attention we need to keep them in sight so they follow us to the mountain, don't need any stragglers to head to the town." Joel informs everybody in the truck.
They arrive at the destination. "Now we wait." Says Joel. They wait for quite some time before Joel decides to check the area out to see if the infected are lingering around nearby. He listens but doesn't hear anything, so he decides to go a bit farther into the woods to try to find them. He hears a small branch snap to his left. He gets down and tries to listen. He hears heavy breathing and faint moans. He moves a little closer and hides behind one of the trees close by. "Shit." He says. Quickly starts counting them. "One, two… thirteen. I've got to get back." He carefully backs away from the infected and reaches the truck. "Guys I found them, but we've got a lot more to deal with than we thought." Joel alerts the other men. "What do we do?" asks Lucas. "Turn this truck around, we have to inform Tommy that we are not prepared for this." Lucas fires up the truck, and begins to turn the truck around. Shrieks of terror come from the woods. "No goddammit, no!" Joel panics. "Let's go! Let's go!" Infected come charging out of the woods by the numbers.
They get a good distance between them and the infected before Joel realizes what they're doing. "Slow down!" Joel commands. "Are you nuts! We can't handle this! You said so yourself!" shouts the driver. "I know what I said. But we're going to lead them straight back to town if we don't do anything. You know as well as I that once they hear something, they're gonna chase after it until they either get it, or something else catches their attention." "Let's hope they find something else." the driver replies. Joel getting furious now, grabs Lucas and slams his face into the steering wheel. "Goddammit you slow this truck down now or I swear that I'll throw you out of this truck and leave you here to be that person that catches their attention." He stops the truck. They wait until the infected catch up before they get going again.
They reach the mountain to execute the plan. "Alright, speed up so we have some time to light these fireworks. They reach the spot, Joel and Brett jump out and both start lighting the fireworks before hiding behind the truck. The fireworks go off and the infected run towards it. One, two, three, four.. all thirteen run straight off the edge. Joel and Brett look over the edge to a grisly sight. "Job well done." Brett says "Yep, job well done. Lucas! Grab those guys and make sure there aren't any left coming up the mountain." Joel replies.
Few moments later Lucas returns being very quiet. "Lucas, Lucas. What is it?" Joel asks. Lucas signals him to keep quiet and then points towards the woods. Joel carefully moves towards the woods and can hear clickers and a bloater lurking. "They must've been drawn by the noise, where's the other guys at?" Joel whispers to Brett and Lucas." "I told them to stay low and hide." Replies Lucas. "Ok, this is what we're going to do, we're gonna do the same thing and see if it'll work for them too, do we have anymore fireworks?" asks Joel. "Yeah, they're in the back of the truck." Replies Brett. "Lucas, think you can get them? Remember DON'T MAKE A SOUND." Lucas carefully gets to the truck and opens the driver door. A slight squeak is heard and the clickers start moving towards the sound. "Lucas, speed it up." Joel whispers. Lucas disappears from Joel's sight for a few seconds, then returns carrying the fireworks. He looks through the windows checking to see if the infected are close, he doesn't see anything. He carefully steps out of the truck but realizes he needs the lighter. He steps back on the step board and reaches to the passenger side of the dashboard. Almost can reach it, he stands on the tip of his toes to try to better his reach. Just as he grabs it his foot slides out and he falls knee first onto the floor of the vehicle with a loud thud. The infected are alerted to this and start charging towards the truck. Lucas fumbles trying to get out and almost gets nabbed by a clicker. Joel and Brett start firing their weapons at the infected. Joel saves Lucas from the clicker by driving his knife through its head. "Get up! Help us clear them!" Joel yells to Lucas. Joel returns to help back up Brett. Lucas drops the fireworks and runs toward the back of the truck. A bloater emerges from behind the truck, hits Lucas, knocking him backwards a few feet. Joel sees the bloater and looks over to see Lucas unconscious on the ground. "Bloater, focus on it!" Joel yells to Brett. Brett starts unloading his clip into the bloater while Joel runs over to Lucas and tries to carry him away from the bloater. But the bloater is too close. He pulls out his shotgun and puts two shots into it, nothing. Brett puts more bullets into it which draws its attention. Joel quickly reloads and fires one shot into the back of it. It turns around and just before Joel is able to pull the trigger, the bloater swings at him, hurling him to the ground knocked out cold.
Chapter 3
"I did this for her, she deserves so much more than being part of your science experiment." Says Joel. "No, you did this for yourself, Joel." Says Marlene. "How do you think she will act when she finds out the truth? She will resent you, she will wish you were dead." She continues. "That's not true, after everything I've gone through, gone through for her, because of her. It couldn't just end, not like that." He replies. "How could you Joel? It's what I wanted. You just murdered people for your own selfish gain." Ellie appears.
Joel awakens, gasping while scanning the room. "Joel?" Ellie says as she approaches his bedside. "Where? What happened?" asks Joel. Tommy and Brett are also in the room. "You were attacked by that bloater if you remember. Don't worry, we got 'em. And Lucas is fine, or what fine can stand for these days." Says Brett. "How long has it been?" Joel asks Tommy. "About a day and a half, you had a nice lump on your head, but the doctors said you'll be alright." Tommy responds. Joel looks back at Ellie and then back to Tommy and Brett. "Anything happen while I was out?" "Nothing, it's been… quiet. You know it's not too often that you can sit back and relax for a bit." Tommy replied. "When do you think he can come home?" Ellie interrupts. Joel smiles at Ellie. "I reckon the docs say he's good to go when he wants, but lets have them check him over just to be sure." Tommy replies.
Tommy and Brett leave the room as Ellie grabs the guitar from the seat she was sitting at in the corner of the room. "I've been practicing, I think you'll like this." She starts by playing the basic notes she was learning at the house before. Then she flows into a very soft melodic tone. "Now that was beautiful baby girl. Tell me, how'd you come up with that?" Joel asks. "I was just playing around with hand position. When you played that one song I noticed how your hands at different spots gave different sounds... So, are you okay?" she replies. Joel looks confused. "Reckon so if the doctors say I'm okay." "No, you were mumbling real bad while you were sleeping, sounded like a bad dream." Ellie says "Its just old memories from my past, they come and go." He responds.
Couple days later Joel tells Ellie that he will be with Tommy for the day so she can do what she pleases. He meets up with Tommy at the wall, patrolling it. "Hey there brother, what's got you up bright and early?" Tommy asks. "About to ask you the same thing. I heard from Brett that you're gonna be leading a party to make a run today, I want in." "Woah there, I know you're capable of it, but are you sure you can handle it today? It's only been a couple of days since you were knocked out cold…" "I've been through worse." Joel interrupts. "I know you have, but you don't have to be like that anymore. We're safe here." Tommy replies. "Look, I can't sit here and watch while everybody else does their part to keep this town up and alive. I can handle this Tommy." Tommy nods.
"Alright, what's this town we're searching?" Joel asks Tommy. They along with the rest of the small group are in a supply truck driving down an overgrown interstate. Tommy pulls out an atlas and points to a town on the map. "There, you should remember it, we ran through it after all that trouble we had trying to get out of Denver." Joel thinks for a couple seconds. "Fort Collins?" He grabs the map to double check. "That place was a hell hole then, don't imagine it to be any better now." "Don't worry, I sent a couple scouts ahead of us yesterday to ensure its not crawling with infected or bandits. I told them to meet us here." Tommy points to a town park not too far away from the town. Once we are there we'll meet with the scouts, and then proceed."
They reach the town park. "Alright men, scout the area, make sure we don't get snuck up on." Tommy orders. "Didn't you say your men were supposed to be here?" Joel asks as he surveys the area. "They'll be here." Tommy replies.
A couple hours go by and the scouts still haven't shown up. "Somethings wrong Tommy, even you know they shouldn't be this late. If I'm right, we've got about five hours of sun left before dark. We need to figure out where they are." Joel tells Tommy. Tommy sighs. "You're right, everybody! Joel and I are going to check the town out and see if we can find our boys. I need the rest of you to guard this truck and wait for us, understand?" They all nod in agreement. "Let's get a move on." Says Tommy.
Tommy and Joel carefully make their way into the town. Noticing that most of the cars are arranged in a way to form a maze/blockade. They make their way deeper into the town to an old pharmacy with the door open, swaying with the wind. Inside they find the place picked clean, but they find fresh blood and a bag on the ground close to the rear door of the building. "This is ours, something bad happened here." Tommy whispers. "I don't like this, it's too quiet. I feel like we're being watched." Replies Joel. "Keep your eyes open." Tommy tells Joel. Joel makes his way to the second floor of the building. He enters an apartment and moves to the window. He pulls out his binoculars and scans the area. He quickly ducks down. Peeks back up and looks through his binoculars towards the department store a few blocks down. He sees a man with a rifle on the top floor hidden in the window. "Shit." He says to himself. He goes back downstairs. "Tommy! Tommy get up here!" Joel whispers to Tommy. They go upstairs and Joel shows Tommy the man with the rifle. "What do we do?" Tommy asks. Joel thinks for a moment. "We wait it out until night, when its dark we'll sneak up behind and take him out." "No! We could get information out of him! Lets sneak up, and grab him, maybe he'll know where our men are." Tommy reasons. Joel obviously doesn't want to do that, but he respects his brothers reasons and agrees to the plan with a nod.
Its pitch black outside, Joel and Tommy agree it's time to move. Joel rechecks with the binoculars to see if he can manage to make out the man. Its too dark, the moonlight isn't enough to see the man. They make their way out of the building, and cautiously backtrack a couple blocks to duck behind the buildings. They reach the department store and sneak inside. It's quiet. Joel's ears are ringing because of how quiet it is. They make their way up the stairs and reach the room where the man was. Tommy whispers that on three they'll charge in and take the guy. They charge in, but nobody is in the room. Tommy goes to check the other rooms as Joel goes to the window. It wasn't a rifle that the man had set up. It was a listening device used by policemen. Joel quickly looks out the window. "Where did you go?" he whispers to himself.
Tommy is checking all the rooms. He finds nothing or no sign of the man anywhere. A thud comes from one of the closet doors at the end of the hall. Tommy slowly approaches it, the thuds continue with every step. He reaches out and slowly opens the door when an infected lunges at him knocking them both to the ground. Tommy's weapon gets knocked out of his hand a couple feet away. He manages to kick the infected off and starts scrambling for the weapon. The infected grabs his foot and tries to pull him. Tommy kicks until his foot is free. He grabs his weapon, turns around, grabs the infected as it tries to lunge at him again and throws it to the ground. He starts bashing it in the head until he can't lift his arms and there's nothing left but a gruesome mess. He tries to catch his breath until a man emerges from the rear door and kicks Tommy in the face, resulting in Tommy being dazed. Joel already on his way down charges down the stairs and body slams the man into the wall. He throws in a few punches until the man gets a couple into Joels abdomen. Joel backs up to catch his breath when the man tackles him into the stairs. He starts bashing on Joel until Tommy reaches over and starts pulling on the man's leg. The man turns around and Joel kicks him in the back causing the man to go head first into the wall. He stumbles trying to get up. Joel grabs the man, lays a couple punches into him, and then knees him in the face, knocking him out.
"Tommy! Are you okay?" Joel asks Tommy as he tries to help him up off the floor. Tommy stumbles. "I'm fine, been so long since I've been out like this. My head is killing me." Replies Tommy. Joel seats Tommy on the stairs for the time being. "Now, what are we going to do with him?" asks Tommy. "We're going to get some answers." Joel replies. Joel drags the man up to the roof with the help of Tommy. Joel decides to use the rope he has in his bag to tie to the man. He ties the other end to a pipe and instructs Tommy to hold onto it.
The man is dangling by his feet off the side of the building. He is swaying slightly and awakens, gasping and trying to figure out where he is. "Listen here, I'm going to be completely straight with you right now, and I need you to listen very carefully. WHERE ARE OUR MEN?" Joel starts interrogating the man. The man stays quiet, still trying to shuffle his legs to get free. "You can keep doing that all you want, you'll still fall to your death. Now I'm gonna ask you again, WHERE ARE OUR MEN?" "Fuck off" says the man. Joel getting aggravated goes downstairs, into the room directly parallel from where the man is hanging. He opens the window and pulls his knife out. "We don't have time for this, speak before I cut this rope!"Joel barks. The man still doesn't talk. Joel pulls the man closer and quickly jabs the man in his right eye. The man screams in pain. Joel brings him back, struggles to pull the mans' hand towards him, and breaks his left wrist. The man screams again. "We can do this all night until all that's left is to kill you, TALK!" Joel says to the man. There's a pause, but Joel grabs the man and drives his knife into the back of the man's thigh, slicing down an inch. "Okay! Okay! Just please stop, just stop!" Begs the man while grunting and screaming from the pain. "They're in the police station, in our holding cells!" "WHERE?" barks Joel. "Down this street about four blocks, take the left and it'll be on your right! Just let me go, please!" Joel stares at the man for a second. "Sorry." Joel cuts the rope, causing the man to fall head first three stories down. Joel looks out the window to ensure the man is dead. The man doesn't move, and Joel returns to Tommy.
"That was pretty brutal there Joel." Tommy says. "Yeah." Joel replies. Tommy forgot how Joel can be. "We need to see this police station before we make a move." Joel says. "I agree, lets cut down that ally." Tommy replies as he points out the window to an ally down the street.
They cut through a building directly across from the police station; stopping just before they exit the building. "Alright, place seems a little vacant to me." Joel whispers. They go up to a higher level to get a better angle of the place. There isn't any movement whatsoever in the courtyard. "You don't think he was the only guy in this town, do you?" whispers Tommy. "Doubt it, that guy had a listening device policemen would use back in the day. I'd say we keep the communication to a minimum, you remember our old signals?" replies Joel. Tommy nods. "Okay, this is what we're gonna do, I'm going to go down there and check the area, you cover me from here with my rifle, when I signal you come down. Then we'll get inside and find our men." Joel instructs. Tommy nods. "Gonna be just like the old days." Says Joel. "Great, more nightmares to add to the list." Tommy replies.
Chapter 4
Joel peeks outside, nothing, no voices, no movement. The sound of the wind and crickets filled his ears. For a moment, he thought about Ellie, the few times they would lay out in the backyard staring up at the night sky; counting stars, making wishes on falling stars. He even taught her about the constellations, how she would only see dots, but with his help she was able to see the stars. Joel shrugged the thoughts off. He cautiously makes his way through the tall grass, into the courtyard. While surveying the area he picks up a rock and throws it a good distance away from him. He waits to see if anybody will present themselves for the sound. He throws another one. Still nothing. He stands up, raises his right hand and places it on his head, signaling Tommy to come down.
They approach the door to the station. "Alright, you take left, I'll go right. Remember what we're dealing with." Joel says to Tommy. Tommy nods in agreement. Tommy slowly pushes the door open and Joel steps in eyeing the room. Nothing. Joel signals to stay low and quiet. They hear voices as they make their way down a corridor. "You're nothing but a little crying pussy! Did you really think you could get away from us? We've got ears all over this town. We could hear a clicker scratch its ass before it even gets into town!" says an unknown voice. Another voice is heard begging and pleading for the unknown voice to stop. "You can quit your crying now, not like anybody is ever going to find you. We'll find them way before they find you." The voice starts laughing. "You people are monsters!" Cries the other voice. Joel and Tommy quietly get closer until they can peek over a flipped desk to see an older gentleman in police body armor squatting in front of a holding cell containing the other one of Tommys' men. Joel signals to Tommy to go and take out the man while he distracts him. Tommy moves over to a couple of filing cabinets directly behind the man. He accidentally kicks a bullet casing. The man jumps up instantly. "What was that? Who is that?" he calls out. Right as he starts to walk toward the filing cabinets Joel throws a bottle laying close by at him. The man backs up trying to regain his sight. Tommy runs out, tackles him and jumps on him trying to choke him. The man punches Tommy in the face and they flip. Joel runs over to help Tommy. He grabs the man by the head, forcing with all his might until his neck snaps. He falls over dead. Tommy is gasping while Joel helps him up. "Tommy?" asks the man in the holding cell. Tommy grabs the keys off the now dead man and unlocks the door. "What happened James?" James explains how he and the other scout were searching a few stray buildings not far from the park when they heard footsteps. They had to hide under a car while a few guys walked past. When they got up they looked around and the other scout got shot in the chest. James dragged him inside of a building, the scout died while he was dragging him. So he took the supplies from his bag and left him there. The men eventually found him, beat him and brought him to the station where they've been pressing for information from him.
Joel peeks out a near window to see a dozen guys come running through the courtyard. "We gotta go, now! This way!" Joel leads them to the back of the station. "I know you're in here JOEL and TOMMY. You don't really think it would be this easy did you? Just walk in and out as you please? That's not how things are done in our town. You see.. " Joel motions for them to climb out of a window in the locker room. They cautiously put distance between themselves and the station. "We need to get back to the truck." Whispers Tommy. Joel acknowledges him.
They reach the park, its quiet. The stay in the shrubbery close to the truck. "Where are our men?" Tommy whispers. Joel scans the area and hears faint footsteps. They're getting closer. Joel is unsure of whether to run or stay and fight. He turns to Tommy when their men appear from the other side of truck in the wooded area. They have two guys with them. Tommy recognizes the uniforms they're wearing. "Those men are fireflies Joel." Joel grew uneasy. Tommy walks out and approaches the men. He motions for Joel to come out. Joel's nerves are racing as he slowly steps out of the shrub. "This here is Jake and Danny, they helped our guys out when those men ambushed the truck." Whispers Tommy. Joel nods as a greeting. Joel can hear voices from behind them. "We need to go now!" Joel, Tommy, Jake and Danny climb in back while the rest climb up front in the truck to get it started. A few guys start emerging from the woods, Joel and the rest start laying down cover fire while the truck gets up to speed and eventually leaves the town out of sight.
"So, what brings you two all the way out here? Got a base set up nearby?" Tommy asks the fireflies. They both hesitate before answering no. "Its okay, I used to be a firefly, hell I was very close with Marlene at the time, but I had to leave." "Why did you leave?" Danny asks. "Well, I met my now wife and I wanted to start my life with her. You can't exactly spend your life with loved ones when you're gone to fight or called to relocate for months at a time. I'm sure you guys can understand why." They nod. "Well, you kind of answered it but, we're out here because of Marlene." Says Jake. "How's she been?" Tommy interrupts. Joel tenses up. "She's dead.." Tommy put his face in his hands, collecting himself. "How did she.." he begins. "Murdered, by some guy she brought into the hospital. That's why we're out here, our new leader wants him found." Joel starts to get nervous. Planning what to do if they start to reveal what he has done. Danny can see that Joel is uneasy. "Murdered, well atleast you and Ellie saw her before her untimely death." Tommy says to Joel. "Ellie?" asks Jake. Joel's eyes lit up and looks at Jake. "She's this girl that my brother here kind of adopted. They had business to attend to with Marlene a couple months ago." Tommy replies. Joel now has adrenaline pumping, his hands start to shake, his breathing is more apparent. "Marlene was murdered no more than a couple months ago." Says Danny. He looks at Joel again before whispering to Jake. Joel looks at Tommy. Joel shakes his head. The two fireflies reach behind their back and draw out their revolvers. "Before you take this the wrong way, just answer me these two questions…" Jake says to Tommy. "Is that Ellie girl the girl that is immune to the virus?" Joel stands up with his fists clenched. He kicks Danny, knocking the revolver out of his hands. Jake punches him a couple times in his sides before Joel grabs him, knees him in the face and pushes him off the back of the moving truck. He then grabs Danny, throws him on his back near the edge of the truck. Punches him once hard enough to leave him dazed, and then stomps on his neck and pushes him off the truck. Tommy is frozen.
"What the hell was that!?" yells Tommy. "Those guys weren't fireflies!" "What do you mean?" asks Tommy. Joel's anger is getting to him. He sits down, starts breaking down. "Dammit..." Joel starts breathing heavier and heavier with every second. Tommy can see there's something going on with Joel. "Joel, talk to me, What's going on?" Tommy asks. Joel looks up at him, then away. He collects himself briefly. "The fireflies are after Ellie and I..." he mutters. "What do you mean they're after you? You said they didn't need Ellie anymore because they already had a cure in the works when you two returned." Tommy questions. Joel looks back at him with guilt written across his face. Tommy knows when his brother has done something bad. He's seen that face before. "I killed Marlene, and got Ellie out of there before they did anything to her." Joel admits. Tommy sighs in shock and sits opposite of Joel. "I know what I did was wrong, you have to believe me, but Ellie doesn't deserve to be part of some experiment that may not even work. "So you betrayed the fireflies, not just by denying them what they fight for, but also by killing one of their leaders?" Tommy interrupts. "You realize that the other people in charge of the opposition will not let this go by any means.." Joel stares at Tommy while he is talking. "Look, I'm not going to tell you I agree with what you did, hell if I was in your position I would've done the same thing. There isn't much left in this world worth fighting for, and when you have it.. I don't see any reason to let it go." Joel looks at Tommy feeling relieved. "I don't think it'd be best if Ellie and I stayed. If they show up, I don't want to endanger you and everybody else back home." "I lost you once brother, I'm not losing you again. We'll figure out a way to solve this. I promise you that."