A/N: Since Jackson has electricity run by a hydroelectric dam, I'm gonna hope for the best and give them some plumbing. Hope you don't mind. 333
Also, this may be a little longer than usual as so far, these first chapters have all been set in the same day! So, I'll be trying to finish the first day in this chapter. ( :
Jane sat outside on the hood of a car while Ellie stayed in the room for a few minutes longer. She gathered Jane's supplies and put it in the beige knapsack, swinging it over her shoulder as she proceeded to exit the house.
When she stepped outside, she was happy to smell fresh air instead of blood and rotting flesh. Ellie walked over to Jane and, just as she had done a few hours prior, plopped the knapsack onto her lap. "You forgot this." Jane nodded and put the bag on her back. She slid off the car and brushed off her pants. "Lead the way." There was a cold tone in the blonde's voice.
"Listen, about what happ-"
"Don't. Just, don't." Jane spat.
Ellie was reminded of the times Joel had denied her to speak about certain things. She remembered how he completely forbade the topic of Tess. When she wanted to talk about Sam and deal with her emotions, he prohibited speaking about the dead whatsoever.
In a way, she saw some of the older man in Jane.
They began their walk back to Jackson.
"Well, here we are." Ellie stood atop the rocks. She gestured with her arm over the city. Some of the lights were already on as the sun had begun to set, the sky painted a warm burnt orange. They were standing in the same place she and Joel stood when they returned four years ago. Jane grinned as she saw the city, briefly forgetting her anger towards the other girl. "That's.. wow. This, this is nothing like a quarantine zone." Ellie smiled at her excitement.
"It's nice. It's quiet and everybody is pretty happy. We deal with a few bandit raids and some Infected here and there but, it gets taken care of." Ellie glanced at Jane, who was looking up at the sky in awe, and grinned, then looked back at the city. "C'mon, let's get inside before sundown."
Jane nodded and hopped down the rocks with Ellie. After another few minutes of walking, they came to a large set of steel doors with barbed wire at the top. Ellie gave the door a few hard pounds. "Now, this isn't the main city entrance. This is the entrance to the plant but, I like coming through here better."
Ellie pounded on the door again, calling out "Maria! It's me, lemme in!"
"Alright, hold your horses!" A woman's voice chuckled. In a moment, the large doors opened and welcomed the two inside. Immediately, the click of guns could be heard as Maria and a few others noticed Jane trailing in behind Ellie.
Quickly, the brunette had to act. She jumped in front of Jane and held up her arms in caution. "Hey, hey. She's a.. a friend."
Maria's eyes darted between the two from behind her revolver. "Ellie, are you sure?"
In all honesty, Ellie wasn't so sure if Jane could be trusted what with her current emotional stability- or lack thereof but, she had to be helped either way.
Ellie glanced back at Jane and the two locked eyes. Jane gulped. Her expression was riddled with fear, her eyes pleaded with Ellie for help. Ellie nodded slowly and turned back to Maria.
"Absolutely."
"No." Jane grumbled.
"Either this or you stay on the outside with those fuckers." Ellie sighed in her argument with the blonde. The two stood on the porch of a red wood house. The paint was aging and peeling a bit off the house itself. Crickets chirped all around. The night sky was littered with stars and one shimmering moon. The harsh artificial light of the street lamp they stood under made them both a bit uncomfortable.
There was no spare house in the city as Tommy, whom Jane had met earlier after barrels upon barrels of weapons no longer aimed at her, hadn't yet given an order to expand and claim more of the Jackson County land. Jane didn't have a bed to her name. But, Ellie was kind enough to offer a spare bed in the house she and Joel claimed when Jackson became home.
Jane bit her lower lip and looked down at her shoes, digging the toe of her black sneakers into the dirt under her feet. As much as she didn't want to stay with Ellie, as much as the anger made her blood boil, she had nowhere else to flock to. "Fine."
"Fine?" Ellie questioned.
"Yeah, fine. I'll stay with you." Jane huffed. She wrinkled her nose as she breathed in, finally smelling the stench of the dried blood and dirt on her skin and clothing. "As long as I get to shower and find some clean clothes."
Ellie let her shoulders relax, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. She turned to the house and motioned for Jane to follow her. "C'mon, there's just one more person that has to give it the okay." She turned the knob and the front door swung open, revealing a quaint living room.
The house wasn't too large, only one level. There was a large brown leather couch pushed against the right wall. Two other chairs sat in front of it with a small wooden coffee table in the middle of the three objects. In front of them on the back wall was a cracked picture frame and a small closet. Beside them, a staircase. To the left, there sat a bookcase filled with different items, very few of them being books. There were a few knives, all different sizes, a gun here and there, pill bottles to last the term of anyone's lifetime, and some canned foods. A pipe leaned neatly against the right side of the bookcase. Also, on the left wall was a white door frame. Light poured in from the other room, presumably the kitchen, a delightful smell floating into the living room.
"Take a seat. I'll.. I'll be right back." Ellie muttered, walking apprehensively into the other room. Jane took a seat on the couch and sunk into the cushions. Finally allowing herself to relax even if for only a moment, she let out the longest sigh of comfort. Even the stinging of her wounds came second to the comfort this couch was blessing her with. Her eyes fluttered shut.
A harshly whispered 'What?' came from the kitchen. More whispers and mumbles followed. After what seemed to be hours but in fact was only a mere five minutes, heavy footsteps entered the living room. "Jane?" a gruff voice spoke.
Jane opened her eyes and saw a tall man. So this is Joel, she thought. Though he didn't look to be that aged, his hair was graying. He had deep wrinkles of stress etched into the skin of his forehead and cheeks. He wore a black t-shirt that hugged his shaped biceps and muscular torso. The blue jeans he wore were dirtied at the knees. The black boots on his feet made his footsteps heavier than he actually seemed to be.
Pulled from her thoughts at the realization that she'd been staring blankly at Joel for a solid minute, Jane hopped up from her place on the couch. Her blonde waves bounced slightly with her movement. "Th-That's me." She was nervous as all hell. He crossed his arms over his chest. Tired hazel eyes studied her image. Jane's face went red with embarrassment and she gulped back the lump in her throat. I must look a wreck.
"Ellie says you need some help. This true?" Jane nodded quickly, shoving her pride far into the corners of her conscious thoughts. "Yeah. I-I mean, yes, sir."
Joel took his lower lip between his teeth. The inner mechanisms of his mind turned in thought. After another period of a few hour-long minutes, he nodded toward her knapsack that sat next to her previous spot on the couch. "That," he knocked on the bookcase to his right, "goes here. I see that knife on your hip and it goes and stays here, too. Wash up and find some fresh clothes." He glanced at the girl behind him. Out of every stunt she'd ever pulled, he'd never expected something like this from Ellie. Sighing quietly, he finished, "Ellie will help you get.. settled in. Come back down when you're done. Dinner's almost ready."
Ellie opened the door to a seemingly well kept bathroom. The white tile of the floor and walls were clean, as was the mirror that hung above the sink. Ellie picked up a fluffy blue towel that hung over the side of the tub and offered it to Jane with a small grin on her face. "Maria and I only found these pretty recently. Managed to break into some store in the old city and try to make everybody feel a little more comfortable. One guy, Alan, he told me he hadn't seen a good towel in 20 years. Since.. since it happened."
Ellie paused for a moment, furrowing her brow and pursing her lips. Jane took notice of the yearning in her green irises. Ellie desperately wanted to experience how it was before. She wanted to see ice cream trucks for herself, giggle with friends over snacks, walk wherever she pleased without having to worry about living nightmares at every turn. Jane could feel the despair radiating off of the brunette. Putting her anger aside for a moment, she placed her hand comfortingly over Ellie's. Green met blue and a soft smile was offered. Ellie cleared her throat and leaned over the edge of the tub. Quickly, she tested the water flow a couple times before leaving hastily to let Jane clean up.
Jane peeled off the tattered clothes she'd spent months in. Very rarely was she given enough security to be able to wash herself, and time to wash the clothes was even more scarce. As she stepped under the lukewarm water, she nearly melted at the feeling of it trickling down her back. The water below her turned a murky mix of red and brown. The blood and dirt finally fell from her flesh. Almost instantly, she could feel the sting of even the tiniest of open wounds on her body. But, she didn't mind it. She was just grateful to be somewhat clean again.
This is the best I've felt in years. Jane closed her eyes and stood face up under the water. Every inch of her face moistened, cleaning all the filth out of every crevice.
Jane's happy grin fell as she opened her eyes and took her gaze to the floor of the shower. For the most part, the red in the water wasn't her blood.
I'm sorry, Em.
Jane came down the stairs in a new set of blue jeans and a white tank top. The only things on her feet were a pair of purple ankle socks. Her hair hung in wet waves around her face.
Joel stood by the counter and put what looked to be freshly picked vegetables on a blue plate. Jane was amazed at how delicious they smelled, how fresh and lovely they looked. She remembered the conversation she had with Maria earlier about life here in Jackson.
She'd been told about the life Maria and her father had made here. In private, Maria had even told Jane how Ellie changed since she first arrived. Ellie was one of the toughest people Maria had met. After some time living in Jackson, she'd softened inside the city's walls, having let go of at least a few of what seemed to be many traumatic experiences.
Soon enough, Ellie herself walked into the kitchen and took a spot across from where Jane had chosen to sit. Though Jane had relaxed, waves of anger still radiated off the blonde. Joel placed a few plates of food down before taking a spot at the head of the table. A few moments of silent eating passed until he decided to speak up, "So," he cleared his throat and set down his fork. "Where're you from, Jane?"
Jane cleared her throat as well and set down her cup of water. "Portland, sir. I, uh.. I left the quarantine zone a few months ago."
Joel raised a brow at this response. "You left? There's soldiers crawling all over the place. You can't just leave a quarantine zone." For a moment, Joel had almost chosen not to respond with that. He had left his quarantine zone many times to tip toe around downtown Boston so, his statement was incorrect. But, he decided to say it anyway, hoping to gather information on the girl's previous whereabouts.
Jane stared down at her almost empty plate, finding broccoli stems very interesting in that moment. "You can when it's burned to the ground."
Joel swallowed a reply and gave a solemn nod. Ellie spoke up, "And your family?"
"What about them?" Jane shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"Where are they?"
The blonde gulped. "Long gone."
Ellie did the same as Joel, even opting to slump a little in her chair.
Joel broke the silence.
"There's a few ground rules but, you can stay."