The Last Of Us: Old Secrets, Fresh Wounds
"Swear to me Joel, swear that everything you said about the Fireflies was true"
Joel looked at the young girl in front of him. Her face still looked young but her eyes told a different story. Her look made him uneasy, it seemed as if she were trying to read the memories that had been playing through his mind, with her gaze. The events of what transpired at the Firefly hospital replaying through his mind. From the moment he awoke and found out what would happen to Ellie, and how they had escaped. The ring of the gunshot that took Marlene's life still ringing in his ears. He had killed before, but not someone he knew, and not so coldly. It was in those moments though that Joel saw Ellie as more than the girl he needed to keep safe to deliver. Joel now saw Ellie as a daughter, one that needs his protection. Ellie had become a second daughter to him, he would move Heaven and Earth to keep her safe.
Joel looked straight into Ellie's green eyes and answered, "I swear".
Ellie looked back at him, long and hard, her nose started to twitch slightly as she was on the verge of answering, she started to nod slightly. "okay".
Joel let out an inner sigh that Ellie had not pushed for details on why the operation had suddenly stopped, that she hadn't disbelieved his false truth. He still had a fear in the back of his mind that she'd figure something out or worse, that the fireflies would still search for them and take his little girl away.
Joel turned back around, looking over his shoulder with a small smile, "well we better get going, we still got quite a ways before we reach Tommy's".
Ellie nodded again and they set off. Down the crest of the small cliff that they had seen the town from. Joel leading the way, checking for loose rocks that might spell a slip or alert someone looked back to make sure Ellie was okay, she had her head down, Joel couldn't be sure if it was to keep her eyes on the trail to walk safe, or other reasons. Joel let out a sigh and looked over the edge of the trail to see how far they had left, the next walking path was around a ten foot drop from the edge he stood at. Joel grunted, they would most likely reach the town in time to camp for the night. That's when he heard the rustle, his eyes widened as he felt his footing shift and the ground broke at his feet and he tumbled down the side, hitting rocks on his way down, he could hear Ellie scream his name as he went down farther before landing, back first, onto the trail. Joel let out a loud groan, he knew the wind had been knocked out of him and he was now sore but other than that he seemed okay. With a grunt, he sat up, heavy footsteps were quickly approaching and he looked back. Ellie was running as fast as she could, a look of worry covered her face.
"Holy shit, Joel are you okay?" Ellie asked with worry.
"Yeah, just got bumped around, I've taken nastier spills. Still gonna leave me sore I reckon, sorry for the scare" he replied, standing up as he finished his sentence.
"Christ, Joel, your bleeding"
Joel looked and saw the gash on his arm, it covered a small area of his forearm, it wasn't deep, that was good. Ellie took off her backpack and pulled out the medical kit she had inside, spraying his wound with the disinfectant.
"god damn Ellie, that stings!" Joel hissed.
"well don't go falling down cliff's and I wouldn't have to hurt you, big baby" she scolded.
After she finished spraying the wound, she bound it with gauze, trying to use as little as possible, they needed every last bit to last. She finished binding his arm and put the kit away, slinging her backpack back on her shoulders. Joel noticed something she had in her pack before she had zipped it though, something he was all to familiar with, he saw a firefly pendant.
"Ellie, show me the pendant" Joel said gruffly.
"Joel, I don't-"
"Ellie, I saw it in your pack, now show me!" Joel interrupted
Ellie threw her pack at him before storming off "You look for it! Jesus Joel, is privacy to much to ask!"
Joel followed her with his eyes as she kept walking, her footsteps heavy with anger. Joel sighed heavily then followed her, making his pace faster to catch up to her.
"Ellie, your right. It's not my right to go through your things, here, take your pack" Joel said, holding out her pack by one strap.
Ellie walked over and took the pack from him. She slung it back on and turned away from him, her back facing him.
"It's not mine Joel" she murmured.
"What?" Joel questioned.
"The pendant... Its not mine, If that's what your worried about. I didn't join the Fireflies or anything. Look, I'll tell you later okay." Ellie said.
"Ellie, you don't have-"Joel started.
"No, I want to let you know. I want a story in return though, tell me about before things got so fucked up" Ellie interrupted.
Joel raised an eyebrow to her, nodding as he spoke, "I guess that's a fair trade".
Ellie's face lit up with the smile she gave Joel, his deep chuckle sounding off, he grabbed his side with a wince.
"Joel what's wrong!"
"I'm fine Ellie, I bruised some ribs I think, definitely not broken. I've broken enough to know that, just going to be very sore for a while. Now lets get into that town before the sun sets any lower. I don't want to travel in the dark".
Ellie nodded her agreement and walked along side Joel as they went farther down the path to the town.
It was dusk when Ellie and Joel reached the town. They made more noise than they would have liked but roaming around after dark was even more dangerous. Joel broke the latch on a door to a house, slowly opening the door, gun at the ready as he swung in, sweeping the room, motioning Ellie in as he checked other rooms of the house. Ellie walked in and checked around as well, it was always better to double check. She watched Joel go up a flight of stairs. Ellie sighted and cleared the bottom of the house, no one was in the house, human or infected. She shifted through some cans in the kitchen, empty of course. Not much was left over, most the world dead and still hard to find food.
Ellie heard something behind her and spun around, gun drawn, ready to fire. The noise seemed to have come from the door on the side of the stairs. Gun trained on the the door, Ellie moved towards the door. Her hand touched the handle, she steadied her breath, she opened the door quickly. The door had stairs, leading down in to a basement. Steeling herself, she walked down the stairs into the dark, fumbling for her flashlight. Clicking it on she swept it around the musty room.
Hearing the noise off to the right, Ellie flashed to the noise, her light illuminating a cat. Hardly much of a cat, it was barely out of being a kitten by looks,
"Awww your so cute! Come here kitty, here kitty, kitty, kitty" Ellie cooed.
She inched closer, the kitten noticed her movement and started to slink away, Ellie stood up, something inside her made her feel heartbroken.
No, come back, I just wanna pet you."
The kitten ran as she started to stand up, Ellie chased after it. Her light darting around wildly, missing a shelf, Ellie crashed into it, knocking things off. Ellie cursed as and rounded to see the kitten go behind a large box. Ellie smiled, the box was against two walls, she had the kitten cornered. She walked closer, trying to be as quiet as possible, only now she heard it, a low hum was almost atop her, a deep low hum.