Okay sorry for not updating in forever like I said in the update chapter, writer's block it sucks, but I think I've got the chapter down to my satisfaction so here it it is. There is one thing I do want to know however. I'm starting to feel that I might be undermining Ellie's character and just making her a stereotyped female character and I don't want her to become that so if you think that it's something that I should think about more and not make her like that please let me know. Anyway on to the chapter and as always please review.

Chapter 9

Ellie's POV

Next day

I woke up to the now familiar sight that is my bedroom. I got out of bed to the now standard routine of going to the bathroom and washing my face and then going downstairs to the kitchen where I'd eat breakfast though something was off. Joel would normally be here making breakfast he wasn't so I went back upstairs to check his room. I went up to his door and knocked on it but heard no response so I walked in only to see that he wasn't there. I then did the same with Jake and had the same result.

"Where the fuck are they?" I asked out loud. I then went back into kitchen and saw a note on the fridge.

"Ellie, me and Jake have gone out of town with Tommy and a group of others. Breakfast is in the cupboard under a plate. Make sure you get to school on time. We'll be back by the end of the day. Joel," the note read.

"You could've at least told me before hand," I said out loud although I probably would've begged to come along so that's probably why he didn't.

"I wonder what they've gone out to do. Oh well I guess I'll find out later today."

A few hours earlier

Jake's POV

I woke up earlier than usual to get ready for the trip outside the wall today, chances are they're bringing people to protect their leader as well so I have to be ready for a fight. I packed everything I could possibly need and use which turned out to be all I had to use. I was also dressed differently to say the least. Their leader said he'd kill me if it was the last thing he did, and I guess when you are a psycho you can tell when another is bluffing or not. And this guy wasn't bluffing. Something about him bothered me, it might be because he seems more psychotic than me. Either way I'd like to keep the skin on my neck. I was now wearing some black cargo pants and a dark blue hoodie with the zipped up and a small black pouch on the back of my waist which is where I was keeping all my knives for today, as well as my usual two strap bag, two pistol holsters with a pistol in each and some sports tape around my arms. On my face I was wearing a black bandana so that it covered my right eye and my hair was combed down so that it reached my eyebrows. My eyes, because of their distinct colour, was an easy way to identify me so I made sure they weren't really invisible. This isn't first time is used this get up, because back in the quarantine zone I was a smuggler I used this disguise to keep my identity hidden.

"Let's Just hope this disguise works this time," I said then walked out of the room. I went downstairs to see Joel waiting in the hallway.

"Going with that get up again?" Joel asked.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it," I replied.

"So what's the fake name this time."

"Alex Thompson."

"Right. Well you ready to go?" Joel asked and I nodded in response and we walked out the door and went to Tommy's house. When we arrived we knocked on his door and shortly after he appeared.

"Morning," Tommy said.

"Morning," Joel replied.

"You two ready?" Tommy asked and we nodded.

"What's with the get up kid?"

"The leader wants me dead and I don't intend on serving up my corpse on a silver platter," I replied.

"Right."

"Also call me Alex while we're doing this. To hide my identity."

" let's go then," Tommy said and we all then went to the gate of the town to see 12 other men in their late twenties and thirties waiting all geared up and ready to leave with horses by them. "All right is everyone ready?" Tommy asked loudly to get everyone's attention and there was a collective nod "These two are coming with us," Tommy said and the group exchanged glances.

"An old man and a little kid, great choice Tommy," someone let out and the whole group started laughing and me and Joel let out a groan of annoyances.

" This punk," I said and Tommy then cleared his throat to get their attention.

"This old man is my brother. Watch your mouths," Tommy said.

"Tommy no offence but these two will just drag us down and will be a liability to us." the same person said.

"This guy has some nerve."

"They walked all the way from Boston to here in under a year. And were both smugglers in the quarantine zone. Is that enough proof of their skill.

"I can believe that for him but not the kid he'll just drag us down."

"You want to experience first hand my abilities," I said in cockier voice than I intended.

"Don't get cocky kid, that's a losing fight."

"Then come at me if you're some confident. Or are you scared of a… little kid," I taunted and he was visibly more angry.

"Why you little"-

"That's enough," Tommy said "these two are coming and that's that."

"Guess you're stuck with me," I said and then they all mounted a horse. I then walked up to a horse and mounted horse "Just don't get caught and I won't have to kill you to stop them getting info out of you," I said and we all then began riding out of the gate.

After a few hours or so of riding we arrived at large clearing and dismounted our horses, tied them up and took positions. Me and Joel stood next to Tommy but a little bit behind him and the rest of them stood behind and to the side of us. Shortly after the other group arrived on foot and I quickly counted their numbers.

"twenty-five," I counted and they were all armed to the teeth. They were all a similar age group to our group with the exception the their leader Daniel and another girl who looked around my age. They all then got into a position except they seemed more carefully planned out then ours and not just one a whim.

"If we get into a fight it's very clearly not in our favour," I thought.

"Thank you for agreeing to come to negotiate," Tommy said as he stuck his hand out and Daniel took and shook it and though he tried to keep a neutral expression I could tell he felt uneasy about shaking Tommy's hand. "On to business then. I think it's in both of our settlement's interest if we didn't fight each other and worked together and organise trade with each other."

"You say you don't want to fight but your brought this many guards with you," Daniel said.

"Oh that's just a safety precaution."

"Speaking of your guards. Isn't he a little young," he said pointing at me.

"Crap, where the fuck is going with this," I thought to myself.

"Well he's capable enough," Tommy replied.

"Maybe he doesn't recognise me yet."

"What do you for food?" Tommy asked.

"We hunt and take food from people passing by."

"We have livestock and crops we can provide you with a more sustainable source of food."

"And how do you benefit from this?"

"We avoid war and keep our numbers high so we can sustain ourselves."

"And you don't want anything in exchange?"

"Only that you don't start a war with us."

"Hmm guess we need high numbers to sustain the plant as well as ourselves," I thought.

"Fine, I agree on one condition," Daniel said " A few days I led a group out for hunting, and we came across some people from your town. They killed most of the people in our group and one boy killed my two brothers. If you hand that boy over to us I'll agree to your terms, if not then I'll start a war with you," Daniel explained and Tommy then slightly turned his head towards me.

"Way to give it away Tommy," I thought.

"What are you going to do with this boy?"

"I simply want to return the favour," he said with a psychotic smile and smile I've seen on many faces in this world and even on myself. It didn't take more than two brain cells to figure out what he was implying and I knew he didn't mean a quick painless death, call it murder's intuition.

"Of course I refuse to that I can't let you kill a single on of us," Tommy said which honestly shocked me, a few days ago he was ready to kill me.

"Then it's war," Daniel said and reached behind him and pulled out his sword so I got out two knives from my pouch. I though he was gonna go for Tommy but instead he went for me so I quickly dodged out of the way. He then went for another swing which I blocked with the knives. "It's so obvious it was you. You made a mistake coming here," I then jumped away from him and threw the knives at him which barely missed.

"Things are never easy are they," I muttered under my breath and everyone then pulled out their weapons and bullets then began whizzing through the air and two people from our side were quickly finished. The rest of us then took cover behind trees and waited for our chance to return fire. The odd opening did come but the window was small before more shots came. I've only killed one person and they have more numbers and ours where slowly dwindling so this was going badly for us as it seems. I caught Joel's collected gaze on me and I had a pretty good idea as to what he was thinking. I was their target and I'm sure the psycho wants me alive for now, so they won't kill me even if they get the chance so I'm the best person to open them up. I nodded at Joel and pulled out a smoke bomb and waited for my next opening. When I saw it I came out from behind the tree and threw it at the enemy and smoke began to surround them and I started using Joel's sound trick. I started running into the smoke and heard them coughing and Joel moving into the fray. I killed as many as I could with knives until the smoke began to fade where I then left two nail bombs on the ground then ran out of the smoke and onto right side of the enemy behind a tree and I saw Joel on the other side. Screams of men being ripped to shreds by the nail bombs were heard and the smoke began to fade. Both Joel and I brought out a molotov and the remaining men were out in the open since they weren't able to find cover in the smoke, Joel and I then threw the molotovs at the remainder and any that managed to dodge were shot down "Finally they did something." I counted the bodies and only got twenty-three. I recounted and got the same number and then I tried to listen out for anyone and heard no one.

"We're clear," Joel signalled and we both came out from behind a tree and after no shots came the rest emerged from their cover.

"How did you know it was clear so quickly?" the guy that was making fun of us asked.

"We can hear people moving around very accurately and pinpoint their location. Like echolocation, seeing using sound," I answered "Bet you're glad we came along now."

"Two managed to get away," Joel said changing the topic.

"Alright well let's get back home now," Tommy said. I counted the casualties from our side and nine died and eleven horses died so some people will have to share. "Let's not tell anyone about this yet, don't wanna start a panic yet," Tommy said and there was a collective nod from the group.

We rod back in silence and it took us another few hours to get back to Jackson and once we did we put the horses away and me and Joel walked back home in silence and once we got close I saw Ellie sitting on the porch with a guitar in her lap. When she saw us she got up and ran towards Joel and hugged him.

"Where the hell were you? I was worried when I saw the note on the fridge," she said.

"Sorry baby girl," Joel replied and I wanted to puke at the scene. Joel, the emotionless, ruthless, hardened murder who killed anyone who even looked at him funny in the QZ was now hugging a little girl and calling her baby girl. What the fuck is going on?

"Better I leave now before I puke," I thought.

Ellie's POV

I let go of Joel and turned to Jake. If he hadn't lost his memory I would've hugged him to, maybe even kiss him, but since he had lost his memory he would think that it's weird so I had to hold back my emotion. But something else bothered me about Jake, his cloths, I feel like I've seen the exact get up before but I can't remember when and where and it wasn't bothering me. Jake then began walking towards the house without giving me a second look. It tore me up inside that I couldn't talk with him like how I expected after things that happened after the talk at the cliff. Why did life have to be so complicated? I though I would finally be able to move on, live happily with Jake and Joel, but the world had other plans. Just why? Hurry up and get fixed up Jake, I can't wait forever.