I don't know if this is going to be a series. Maybe if I feel like it. `\_("-)_/`
Thank you and enjoy. I do not own anything from "The Last Of Us".


I knew this was a horrible idea.

I knew that letting her guide us through these god-forsaken woods for just a few minutes was a bad Idea. I mean she just 14 years old! And the world were living in is especially unforgiving. But I Just had to listen to her and let her lead for a few minutes. Me and My damn conscious.

Now Ellie and myself are lost in the middle of nowhere with little supplies and little protection from hunters, infected and the weather. God it just had to rain at a time like this.

"Well look at the bright side..."

I looked back at Ellie who now relinquished her position of navigator back to me skeptically.
When she doesn't speak for a few more seconds I try to prod the rest of the words out of her mouth.

"The bright side be'in ?"

"..." There's a cricket in the background.

"That's what I thought."

"Look I'm sorry for getting us lost Joel but I wanted to lead for a bit." Well it's certainly the last time I'm letting you lead.

"If I remember correctly you lead us in circles around the same patch of bushes 3 times." On the bright side of that we were able to gather some ripe raspberries.

"I thought I saw something around the bushes."

"Lets just get a move on and find some shelter from the rain."

We continued to hike for a good 3 miles till we heard gruff voices in the distance.

"Hey! Fucking watch it asshole! You almost shot me!"

"Sorry man, I told ya I have terrible aim with this piece a shit pistol."

There were 2 men who looked like hunters firing at makeshift targets in a steep ravine. It looked like they were out here alone but the fact that they were here at all means that we couldn't stay out in the open for long. When I took a closer look at them I noticed they were carrying a lot of supplies. I saw that they made a little camp complete with a fire and seating arrangements a few meters away from where they were shooting. They had something cooking in a pot over the fire and they had their stuffed backpacks laid out on the ground a few feet of where they were standing. Not to mention all the bullets they were wasting.

I told Ellie that we were going to relieve them of their luggage.

I gave Ellie my hunting rifle which now had a nice scope attached to it from which I scavenged from the last town we crossed. I told her that she were to stay where we were already crouched, behind a fallen tree that gave us a nice vantage view of the hunters, and to shoot the one on the right with the hoodie on the moment I snag his buddy on the left who had such awful aim with the pistol in his hands. She nodded in confirmation.

After a soft reassuring pat on the back I carefully slip down into the ravine whilst not making a sound thanks to my well-worn boots. I carefully made my way over to the unsuspecting hunters trusting Ellie not to miss her shot. They were still taking pot shots at whatever they were shooting at when I was about 10 meters away. They were cursing every time they missed a shot. 7 meters. The hunters were still oblivious to my approaching presence. When I was close enough that I could quickly grab the guy who was focused on aiming down the pistol sights I sprang from my right leg and took hold of the guy's neck.

Immediately after I got into contact with Mr. Awful Aim, I heard a loud crack beside me and then, thud.

After connecting a quick solid fist to the poor hunter's temple he was out cold. If I had been even a second slower the hunter could have gotten over the initial shock and surprise and aimed the gun in his hand at me. I've seen lots of guys who have lost their or other people's lives because of poor reactions and because they couldn't keep their heads. Survival of the Fittest was how this world ate, breathed, and slept.

Protection was a luxury. A luxury that was sought by many but was earned by so few.

I waved Ellie on over to me.


We kept walking till we stumble upon a hollow cave. The cave was the size of 2 large bedrooms and was discovered to be vacant after me and Ellie searched around for a minute to make sure that we wouldn't be welcomed with any surprises. We decide to camp there for the night and dry ourselves off till morning. I had Ellie gather some little branches while I started lighting a small fire. When Ellie came back with the twigs I stated feeding them to the little flame. I made it not too big so that it would attract unwanted attention but small enough to keep us warm with its heat.

When we were somewhat settled into our temporary camp that's when Ellie initiated our little ritual of her asking questions and me answering them.

"Hey Joel, have you ever seen a lion before?"

"No I haven't seen a lion before."

"Have you ever went skydiving before?"

"No I never went skydive'in before."

"Have you ever been in a monster truck before?"

"Yeah I've been in one or two before."

"What was it like?"

"It was nice."

"Was the roar of the engine loud?! Like VROOOOM VROOOM!"

"Now I said I was inside one of those monsters of a trucks but I've never driven one before. Just listening to one of those things rolling is enough to deafen someone, I can only imagine how loud it is to be inside one of those giants."

"Oh man! If I could just drive one of those bad boys for like 5 minutes I could die happy." Ellie then pretended to hold an imaginary steering wheel in front of her and then made gruff engine sounds. The action was quite hilarious.

"Hehe, whatever you say El." A smile was ever present when I said that.

This game of ours usually lasted until she fell asleep but tonight she decided, for some reason, to breach a sensitive topic.

"Hey Joel?"

"Hmm?"

"How many, uh... people have you lost during the outbreak that you, uh, cared about?"

If she had asked this when we had started our journey, I would have ignored the question and left it hang in the air to rot. To wither and die away with whatever sentiment was trying to show itself. But, after all we have endured together so far, after me saving her butt a few times and her looking out for mine. Even tho neither one of us would admit it. There's some semblance of a bond that tie me with my graying hairs and this little girl of 14 together.
Even when I tell myself she's just cargo that needs to be delivered she always has that innocence in her eyes that makes the bond just a little bit tighter. So I proceed to answer her question.

"One too many."