Beyond The Last of Us
"Okay." The words burned across Ellie's lips, leaving a trace of disgust in her stomach. She knew he was lying. Even though Joel spoke his words with confidence, the silence strayed far too long. Joel shifted, and stood for a second. He spoke first, ending the silence.
"We should get goin'." He mentioned, turning around and started to walk slowly towards the dam entrance. Ellie couldn't give a care in the world on whether she died that second. She just thought to herself about what truly happened at Salt Lake.
'What really happened?' She thought. She moved past Joel, not speaking a word, guiding her own route to the dam's entrance.
Ellie shot up, hopping off from the sofa, frightened and screaming. She'd had another nightmare, which wasn't a surprise. She'd been having nightmares for the past two weeks, night after night, since she had arrived at Tommy's. It had only gotten worse as time went by. Her body was aching from a couple of bruises she'd earned herself a while back while she laid on the floor. She got up & managed her way to the bedroom, where Joel usually slept, as shines of light ran through the window, warm against her skin, the early rays of twilight from the sun. Ellie had her own cabin, and it wasn't even very far from Joel's cabin, but since the winter, she wasn't able to leave Joel's side. Now, he was the only person she trusted with her life, knowing that he could keep her from the rest of the evil of the world. She opened up the bedroom door, and too her surprise Joel wasn't there, lying in his bed.
'Fuck, fuck, where'd he go?' She thought. Usually after her daily nightmares, she'd wake up pretty early, and would have to crawl into bed with Joel, where she'd feel safest.
"Um… I better go look for him, right? Right." The last time Ellie was here, months ago, a couple hunters attacked. It'd be best to make sure the village was still okay, to make sure Joel was okay at made a quick jog to her sofa and grabbed her knife from underneath the cushion, along with her pistol. Checking her magazine, she was dissatisfied with little ammunition she had left.
'Great, four bullets. Hopefully I won't need them.'
The town itself was pretty great. The past two weeks, she hadn't heard from a clicker, runner, stalker, or bloater. No recent attacks or signs of hunters. Maybe the fact that things were so quiet bothered her a little. Last year, she'd been with Joel, on the outside, defending or attacking, scavenging or shooting. She missed it sometimes, although the thought of missing that type of life was absurd.
She decided to check around the town kitchen, an old restaurant. It seemed to be the most vibrant place in the town, the area that came most to life during the day. It was barely morning though right now, so she expected no one there, if not Joel. She walked through the restaurant door, and saw the old man sitting on a stool, against the counter. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"Hey, Joel." Ellie said, yawning, and smiling in a sign of relief.
'At least he's okay.'
Joel almost fell out of his chair. He didn't really expect anyone to accompany him, so her voice kind of caught him off guard. He turned and sighed, to his relief it was just Ellie.
"Mornin' Kiddo, you sleep well?" Joel's voice was gruff, and low, the voice of a loved one to Ellie. She loved it.
"Yeah, I did." She lied, yawning mid-sentence, and then recovered herself. "You?"
"Same as always." Joel replied, wiping his eyes.
"Why are you up so early? Had me worried there was an attack or something." Ellie said, roughly exhaling.
Joel let out a small chuckle, leaving a small smile on his face. "Woke up a bit too early…" He said, distantly, leaving a silence in-between them for a while, while he stared into nothingness, his thoughts taking him over. He finally came back to reality, "Figured I'd get some fresh air." He sighed, looking at Ellie's clothing, "You plan on changing?"
They were dirty, worn out, and torn, the same grey cameo shirt and a long shirt underneath, tied in with some jeans, covered in an infected's blood. Ellie had clean clothes, but never got to changing or washing them the ones she was wearing already. She always seemed to be distracted by something about Jackson, or meeting someone new at the village.
"Yeah, I guess I can today."
"Well, okay." Joel said, pulling up a grin. Whenever Joel smiled, Ellie couldn't help but smile also, the muscles in her cheeks tugging upwards, forcing a smile.
"Well, I-I'll see you around." Ellie said, softly.
"Okay," Joel replied, "Be safe. Don't go on the outside 'til a couple hours from now, 'til everyone's up."
"Of course, I wouldn't do such a thing." Ellie laughed, pulling out the best mischievous grin she could manage, and proceeded outside, leaving the old man in his former peace.
She stared at all the tall trees surrounding the town, and a fresh smell of pine hit her nose. She smiled, looking around, seeing the guards in their towers, and aged buildings. The old mechanic shop was where the town trader settled, and the restaurant being the town's kitchen. The only thing that was re-turned to its former use was the old school building. Watch towers were spaced all around the city, a placement guard for each one. Every few hours, volunteers or people who were assigned would switch to their time on watch duty. Great thing about this place was there was no curfew. If she wanted to be alone, she could always go outside, within visible distance of the guards, or wait until midnight, when usually most people weren't up, and she'd have the entirety of the town to her lonesome.
'So many great things to do.' She thought to herself. Ellie looked around the city, vast, and open, still early morning, and very few people wandering around. She'd see some strangers walking about the pathways of the village, people she had never met. They all smiled her way, and she smiled back, faking it, still not feeling comfortable enough to call this place home, or trust very much of the people around it. Even though Ellie had confronted most of the residents, or they'd confronted her, she still didn't trust anyone as much as she trusted Joel, Tommy, or Maria.
She yawned, and sighed, looking at the town's clock, a tall building that was near precise to current time, it reading 5:43.
'I guess I'll just head back to bed.' She thought to herself, while she began jogging back to Joel's cabin.
Ellie awoke again to the sounds of the outside, people talking, footsteps against the stone concrete crushing the leaves that were painting the ground, some people even laughing. Laughter was still an adjustment she needed to get used too. She laughed rarely since the winter, and even she knew she kind of lost her old personality. Maybe this place can rekindle her past self. She peered through the window to the same old thing she'd seen every morning; everyone was heading to the town kitchen for some breakfast. Ellie's stomach groaned loudly and she wrapped her arms around her body to contain the sound, starved, feeling empty inside.
'I guess I'll go too.' She thought while putting her pistol back under the sofa. She held her military knife in her hand, staring at it, the bright titanium metal gleaming against the rays of the sun, her clear reflection glowing off of the blade's thin structure, the knife that once used to be her mother's, passed down to her.
'I'll take you with me, just in case.' She thought, retracting the blade back and shoving it into her back pocket, grabbing her backpack by a force of habit, and running out of the cabin.
It wasn't that early in the day, actually. According to the town clock, it was 8:24, but it seemed like it was almost mid-day, the bright sun's heat hanging over Ellie's neck like a blowtorch. She looked around the city. Some people were at the traders, a group of kids her age all being led by the towns teacher. That's right, the town had a teacher. She taught everyone about the world before, technology, Jackson, the village and its founders, although Ellie didn't really want to know any of that type of stuff. It was basically torture, knowing how everyone before got to own happy lives, lead businesses, play video games. The closest she's ever gotten to playing a video game was imagining one. But that was around a year ago, with her friend Riley, and even that experience was amazing.
Ellie reached the town kitchen, and pulled open the door, and as soon as she did so, an uproar of conversations flared in her ears. The kitchen was loud, conversations about almost anything. Ellie overheard some men talking about how they missed the taste of fresh steak. What a luxury that must have been.
"Ellie!"
The shout came as a surprise and Ellie shivered, moving quickly, reaching for her back pocket, feeling the outline of her military knife. She shifted herself in the direction of the noise, but it was just Tommy, shouting from across a couple of seats, only thing in-between was some loud men, and tables. He was sitting with Joel and Maria, waving his hand for her to come over. She sighed in relief, every shout for her name reminded her of Joel in distress calling for help, another day on the outside, surviving, being attacked by either infected, Fireflies, or hunters. She dismissed the odd thought, jogged over, and sat down by Joel.
"How you doin', little lady?" Tommy said with a friendly grin.
"I'm good." said Ellie, returning back the sincerity with a small smile.
Joel pushed his plate over to Ellie, "I'm done, don't really feel like eating anymore, here you go kiddo'." Joel sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Tommy, a minute? Scootch, Ellie."
Ellie's anger grew, mental streams of fire just overwhelming her from the inside until she'd explode in insanity. Not only until she just arrived did have he have to leave. She wanted to be with him, but every single chance she got since they got to the town, it seemed as if he had been avoiding her.
'I have to help this guy, oh, I'm checking out the town, I'm gonna head outside, blah blah blah. Fuck you, Joel.
"Okay." Ellie sighed, releasing all of her anger in a waterfall of emotions, not knowing whether she was sad, angry, or fine. Joel and Tommy left the kitchen, leaving Ellie. She felt alone, although Maria was sitting right across from her.
Ellie hardly moved, statically sitting with the same unemotional face, and after a while, Maria caught the hint.
"What's wrong, Ellie? You've hardly touched your food. Somethin' on your mind?"
The silence stirred on.
"Ellie?"
"Oh. Um, no, I'm fine Maria, but thank you. I guess I just feel a little… upset." She emphasized the word upset more than any other.
"Upset, huh?" Maria said. "Why's that?"
"I feel like Joel is avoiding me."
Maria frowned, Ellie's response catching her off guard.
"Why do you think that, sweetie?"
"I-It's nothing, Maria, honestly, it's… it's probably just me." Ellie said quickly, sharply cutting at Maria's response, leaving no silence in between their words. It was lie and the truth at the same time.
'Maybe I'm overreacting.'
She'd only thought that because she'd never wanted Joel's attention so much until after the winter. Since then, Joel had seemed like a father too her, being that she's never known her own.
"Don't worry." Maria said, smiling. Ellie couldn't tell whether Maria's smile was forced or not. "Joel and Tommy probably went to go talk about that supply run they're planning on."
Ellie's face shifted, from upset to confused, and her intestines squeezed into knots. Maria's words made Ellie feel like she was shot with a ice bullet in the stomach.
"…Supply Run?"
"Joel hasn't told you?"
Ellie's expression was questioning. "What supply run?"
Maria paused, wondering if she should tell anymore, or whether it was right too. Her blue eyes were clouded with distraught, and Ellie's eyes were fogging up with anger, confusion, and sadness all at once.
"Tommy and Joel, a couple others also, planned on running a supply run on the outside too clear the area of hunters, or do some hunting, and catch the town some food."
Ellie's muscles tightened.
'Clear the area of hunters…?'
'Why wouldn't he tell me?'
'What, he thinks I wouldn't care? That he can just walk out the gate and tell someone to let me know he said goodbye?'
Ellie knew the danger of hunters. Joel was strong, and hunters were nothing to him, but still, she was always by his side in dangerous situations, and he was by hers.
"Oh. That's… Cool." Ellie said, exaggerating each word more with anger and frustration.
Maria's concern was getting stronger. "How are you feelin', sweetie?"
Ellie tried her best to calm down, not knowing what to do or say. After a while, Ellie spoke up.
"I'm fine. I gotta get going, I-I have stuff to do. I'll see ya around, Maria." Ellie said in a soft tone.
Maria's blue eyes were filled with care and sincerity.
"Okay, Ellie, be careful-" Maria stopped talking mid-sentence. Ellie was already walking away.
Ellie stepped outside, looking around. She looked around her, oak trees surrounding the outside, just beyond the watchtowers. Once again, a fresh smell of pine hit her nose. She sighed, not knowing what to think. She slowly moved her feet, taking a step forward, pacing back and forth.
'This isn't helping.' She told herself. She started walking, not knowing where she wanted to go. She just walked, trying to calm herself down. A voice from what seemed as if it came out of nowhere sounded off.
"Hey, Ellie!" Someone exclaimed. Ellie stopped in her trace, and turned around. Veronica, a girl a bit younger than her was sitting on a bench, waving for her to come over. Ellie's emotions washed away, completely forgetting about the entire supply run situation for a while. Ellie ran over and gathered with Veronica.
"Hey, Veronica." Ellie said with a small grin. Even though Veronica and her had only known each other for two weeks, they'd become somewhat friends, basically the one of the people Ellie didn't really mind to be around, and they'd even gotten into a bit of trouble together. Veronica was thirteen, two years younger than Ellie.
"Whatcha up too?" Veronica smiled.
"Nerthin'." Ellie said, with a small grin.
Veronica chuckled, and pulled up a wider grin. "Mind if I walk with you, friend?" Veronica said.
"Don't see why not." Ellie sighed.
"So, we've gotten into some shit." Veronica said, in an upbeat tone.
"Yeah, we have." Ellie replied, laughing mid-sentence, which brought up a small smile on Veronica's bright expression.
"Although, I haven't really gotten to know you, besides for the fact that I know your name."
"Any questions?" Ellie asked. "You curious? Shoot." Ellie said, smiling.
"Well, how old are you and when's your birthday?"
"I'm fifteen, my birthday's in June."
"How'd ya get here, Ellie?"
"I got here with Joel, Tommy's brother, two weeks ago."
Veronica laughed. "You didn't tell me your dad is the brother of the camp leader! That makes you a big shot around here." Veronica grinned mischievously.
"We're not... Joel isn't… I'm not Joel's daughter." Ellie had gotten that a lot, and it always made her upset. She knew Joel loved her, and protected her with her life, but she felt like a replacement to Sarah sometimes.
"Oh, sorry." Veronica said quietly.
"I-It's fine… Anything else?" Ellie pulled up a fake smile to further convince Veronica not to worry about the accusation.
"Well… Um… What'd you do before you got here?"
Ellie froze in her footsteps, her face going blank, flashing back to a memory from a year ago.