Hey, guys!
Here's the updated version of chapter four!
Enjoy!
Ellie's POV
It's been a week since the tragic events at Tommy's dam. At this point, I really don't know how I feel about it. At first, I was extremely depressed about losing everything. But thinking back on it now, maybe it was meant to be. I mean, how long would we actually have been safe there? Whatever the reasons were, the fact is that Joel and I are extremely lucky to be alive. If we'd been in there just five minutes earlier we'd have been dead along with all of our friends...or worse. God knows what those bastards do to the people they capture. I'm happy I won't be finding out anytime soon.
This morning, Joel told me it was time to get back up on our feet again. Luckily, my leg had healed up enough to where I could walk around pretty well. Every once in awhile I have to take a break though, for obvious reasons. After lying in that bed for seven days, it was nice to start moving around again. Some people consider lying around doing nothing an absolute luxury. To me, its the closest thing to hell. I'd rather fight off a bloater than sit around doing absolutely nothing. In this world, that mindset is a huge advantage. I'm lucky to have it.
As we walked away from our temporary settlement, I got the feeling it was the last bit of comfortable shelter we were gonna see for a long time. This didn't really bother me though. It was nice being safe for a little while, but I really cherish the moments I have with Joel when we travel together, especially when we walk through the woods. Man, I love the woods.
To me, the woods aren't just a place where trees grow freely, and the animals roam about here and there. The woods are the little bit of beauty that's left in this world. Think about it like this. The cities were created for people, by people. Now, they're just places of death and despair. Everywhere you look, its the ruins of what people back then thought of as true beauty. I see now that material possessions don't last. Don't get me wrong, they're good for awhile and can give you temporary joy. But eventually, they turn to dust. Now look at the woods. Created by nature for everybody thats wise enough to keep it close to their heart. You see, when the woods die, they come back to life again, making it a never ending cycle. The woods are the stronghold of the Earth.
My relationship with Joel is like the woods. Its the one thing I cherish more than anything because not even a worldwide infection can separate us. Look, we have our bad times, everyone does. But like the woods, we do whatever is necessary to fix our problems. Because of that, our relationship is unbreakable.
That's why I love the woods.
"Hey Ellie, you comin'?"
I looked up at him, startled a little. "Sorry, I was just journaling."
"Its fine, we should get movin' though."
"Got it." I put the journal in my bag and stood up from my meditation zone. I gently placed my hand on the tree I had been leaning against and I smiled to myself. The woods gave me so much comfort, I only wish we could stay forever. But Joel was right, we had to get moving. "Hey Joel, where exactly are we going?"
He turned towards me and took a very honest tone with me. "Y'know Ellie, at this point I really don't know. We have a few options though."
"Go on."
"Well, we could return to a quarantine zone..."
"Ha! Hell no."
He chuckled a little. "I agree. Really our only other option is just to keep survivin' and livin' off the land."
I nodded slightly. "Ok. I guess we'll have to live off the "Fatta the lan'! Right, George?""
Joel raised an eyebrow at my humor. "Of mice and men?"
"Bingo! Up top." Joel awkwardly gave into my high-five.
"I forgot you liked to read a lot."
"I try to read whenever I can. I used to do it a lot more before I met Marlene."
"Yeah." Joel didn't really have much to say about Marlene. It seemed like he tried to avoid the topic as much as possible. Truthfully, he has never said what happened to her, but I think I figured it out for myself. I always just accepted the things Joel said to me on the hill that day, but I have a feeling there's more to the story than what he decided to share. Maybe one day he'll have the courage to tell me what really happened at Saint Mary's Hospital.
We'd been walking for about three hours. Luckily, it was still bright outside so we could keep moving. Honestly, I had no idea where we were. All I knew is that we'd found a river and we'd been following it ever since we left the house.
A little ways forward, Joel put his hand up, signaling to stop.
"What are you-"
"Shh." Joel, now with his hand on his revolver, scanned the area. He took a few steps forward, I followed. A couple more steps and...
"What the fuck was that?" A scream in the distance made me jump a little. I'd heard that scream before.
"Infected."
The scream rang out once more. But this time, it sounded about three times closer than it was before. "Joel, they're coming."
"I know, I know." We took a few more cautious steps forward until one more shriek came from behind us. I saw at least five infected running straight for us.
"Joel..." I said nervously. He turned around and saw what I'd been looking at.
"Ellie...run...RUN!" We immediately started sprinting as fast as we could. We only made it a little ways before my leg started to hurt again. I went from a sprint to a limp, and then to a fall right onto my knees.
"Joel!" He turned around and ran towards me, his gun at the ready. He was just about to reach me when a clicker came from his right and shoved him against a tree. The clicker was slashing and biting, desperately trying to get at his flesh. I was able to draw my gun and take down of few of the runners that had been chasing us, but it wasn't long before I ran out of ammo. Unfortunately for me, there was one more runner that I hadn't hit who was charging straight for me.
"Joel! I'm out of bullets!" He quickly threw me his 9 mm pistol in which, of course, I didn't catch. I stumbled limply over to the gun, but I didn't make it in time. The runner reached me just as I was about to grab the gun. It tackled me and pinned me against the ground. With my arm on its neck, I tried desperately to hold it back from biting me. The memories of Sam came back to me. "Get off me you son of a bitch!" I tried reaching for the gun once more, but it was just out of my reach. I also tried reaching for my knife, but I couldn't get my hand into my back pocket.
My strength was just about to give out when I heard an unfamiliar gunshot. It came from where Joel had been holding off the clicker, so I only assumed it was Joel. I quickly glanced in his direction and I noticed another figure standing near him. I couldn't make out who it was because of the damn runner still trying to tear me apart. The figure quickly rushed over to me and held two revolvers to the runners head. Without hesitation, the figure pulled both triggers and the runner's body flopped lifelessly over me. Frantically, I shoved the body off of me, still confused at what the hell just happened.
I quickly grabbed the 9 mm pistol and limped over to Joel, who had his revolver aimed at the stranger. I did the same and aimed the 9 mm right for the strangers head.
"Why the hell are you two pointing your guns at me?" He spoked in a very calm tone, but still with a tiny sense of anger in his voice.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Shootin' your guns that close to our heads? You could have killed us you son of a bitch!" Joel, on the other hand, spoke in an enraged tone, one I'd heard several times before.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fucking save both of your asses!"
"You almost blew our fucking heads off! What kind of asshole is dumb enough to fire a gun that close to someone's head?!"
Now they were screaming at each other. I still had my gun drawn, but after a couple of seconds I lowered it and got in between the two of them.
"Both of you shut the fuck up before I break my foot up in both of your asses!" That shut them up alright. They stared at me, both a little shocked at the tone I had just taken. Truthfully, I was a little shocked myself. "Both of you, lower your guns." They eyed each other one more time, but gave in to my orders. It felt good to have authority over Joel for once. I turned towards the stranger. "Now that everything has settled down a little, who the hell are you?"
"I've been following you two for the past week, making sure you guys weren't going to do anything stupid."
"Why the hell would you care what we do?" Joel, still pissed off, took the situation back under his control.
"Look, you two are the first normal people I've seen in a long time. Everybody these days is either infected or trying to kill you. I thought that if our paths crossed along the way, maybe you'd let me help you guys out."
"I think we're fine by ourselves."
"Listen, old man, I respect your confidence, I really do. But trust me, you're not gonna last too long in this area without my help. I've been here a lot longer than you two have. I know where water is and I know where its safe to stay during the night. Trust me, you need my help."
"Joel, maybe he's right." Joel turned to me. As I looked into his eyes, I was reminded of everything we'd been through together. Especially the matter of Henry and Sam. Without them, and without me saying we should trust them, we would have never gotten out of that city.
Joel sighed to himself a little, then slightly nodded. "Alright, fine. But if you try anything, I'll break every bone in your body."
He nodded, showing a little sign of fear, but still maintaining his confidence. "Its getting late. We need to get to one of my shelters before night fall. Its not too far from here. You guys up for a little jog?"
I nodded, "Alright. Let's go." The three of us started jogging to the stranger's shelter. The stranger led the way with me behind, and then Joel behind me. None of us spoke a word, still a little awkward from the argument. In the time of silence, I was able to take a better look at the guy. He looked to be a little taller than me, with dark brown, fringed hair. Everything about him seemed very confident, almost as if he was a born leader. His clothing style was very laid back, like Joel and I. He wore some old, black converse, with some dark-colored jeans, a white tee shirt, and to finish it off, a light blue hoodie. However, there was one other feature that caught my interest. He had a pretty noticeable scar across his left temple. It made me wonder, but not enough to say anything.
All in all, the guy seemed like an arrogant asshole. I didn't care what happened to him, as long as Joel and I weren't separated by death or some other bullshit this guy might've been trying to pull on us.