Oh Man... I gotta say. It was tough writing this chapter. I actually got kinda sad lol...

Thanks to all you guys who stayed with me! I really appreciate it! This is my first fanfiction and boy, I can kinda tell that my writing is kinda sorta improving? Looking back at my first chapter, I noticed that it was crap compared to my later chapters hahaha... So this story now takes place back to where they came back from their hike! Tons of action and sadness will be involved. Hopefully it won't depress any of you guys after hahha

Thanks to all you people who stood with me on my FIRST CHAPTER. it was so crap haha...

Hoping for the reviews... If you guys like my story, feel free to favorite/follow!

Thanks once again!

Jelloe

So without further ado...

Chapter 9 – Ellie – Paradise

"We'll be fine. Don't this like a million times right?" I took a deep breath as I crouched down with Joel.

"A million times doesn't cut it." Joel murmured.

"Well I guess it all comes down to good ol' luck am I right?"

"You bet." Joel began to move out of the small shack and slowly crept his way from building to building – praying that we don't get caught by a clicker or runner.

I followed him, mimicking all his movements and his tactics on evasion. Within thirty minutes, he already took down three clickers - stabbing them with his shivs and listening to their clicking coming to a stop. The thrashing of it would cease knowing that they were dead. I myself, even took down two runners with my switchblade. Sneaking up on them always made me want to throw up. You never know their response – If they're going to turn around or not. But the smell was the worst: the acrid, rotten egg smell always made me want to gag. Their blood was no longer red, but it was black. Right when I took down my second one, my arms and sleeves blackened with runner goo. Two buildings were on the street, and we knew that we had to go inside them when the time came.

"I think we're done here." Joel said with a big sigh. He grunted silently as he stood up. "Time to head on into the buildings."

I nodded and followed right behind him. He then paused again and turned around, "Go and tell the guards to come out. Silently. Tell them to stay put outside and keep us cover when we're in there."

"On it." I began to run back towards the shack to tell the guards. As I reached the small shack, guards began to stand up.

"Oh man. There were more than expected." I wasn't sure, but my expressions told them that we might be fucked.

"How many were on this first street?" One of the guards asked.

"Joel already killed three clickers. He killed so many runners that I couldn't even count. I even killed two runners."

Parents began to sigh to show their loss of hope. I saw the children with their parents – their faces dug into their parent's pant leg really made me feel somber. I turned around and began to walk. "We got this."

That was a lie. I was totally about to shit my pants. I jogged to where Joel was and prepared myself to enter my first room. "Ready?" Joel asked.

"Yeah." Even though that was also a lie, what else would I say?

"Let's get a move on." Joel took out his shotgun and cocked it.

I took out my switch blade as well as my knife. From now on, I knew that I had to watch my own back as well. We went through the same protocols – Check downstairs before going upstairs. Joel and I crouched behind a sofa – trying to figure out where all the infected are on the first floor. His eyes were closed and concentrated. I kept silent as I looked around for a hint that the bottom floor is safe.

Joel got up and nodded. We slowly walked upstairs, praying that we wouldn't get jumped by any of the infected. The stairs made a creaking sound as we took each step. The silence consumed us and just made us even more anticipated to what would be upstairs. My breathing grew heavier and heavier. I clenched my dulled switchblade and tried to peek over Joel's shoulder. The floors continued to creak even as we left the flight of stairs. This house has reached its limit. Joel moved as silently as he could to the nearest wall and leaned against it. I did the same as well. He quickly looked past the wall and slowly began to creep into the room, but nothing was there. That was until we heard a whimpering sound.

"M-m-mom?" A little boy was hid inside of a cabinet.

"Oh God. Sam," I looked at him astonishingly, "You're alright."

"Where's my mom…?" Sam was whimpering, trying to keep calm. But you could tell that he's been crying for a while already. The bloodshot eyes and tears still traced his eyes and face. Sam's body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Hey kid. We're going to get you out ok?" Joel tried his best to soothingly convince Sam, "We're not going to hurt yo-"

"Is my mom dead?" Sam's eyes widened

"What's your mother's name?"

"Her name's… Emma." The little boy snorted and swallowed, "Is she alive?"

I looked at Joel and whispered, "She's either missing or dead. What do we do?"

"Hey kid," Joel pointed a finger, "Where'd you get that blood?"

"I… Don't know… But is my Mom alri-"

Joel ran up to him and snatched his hand without hesitation. Sam began to scream and squeal trying to let go of his hand. Joel examined his hand and arm meticulously, but he didn't let go.

"Fuck." Joel grabbed the child by the back and pushed him down onto the ground, "You're bit." Joel stared at me wild eyed. My mouth opened a little with shock as he showed me the bitten wound. No doubt that it was a bite mark: just like the one I had. Right on his wrist.

"I want my mom!" Sam began to thrash around as Joel pinned him to the ground, "I want my mom! I want my mom!" Sam cried and cried, whimpering, and desperate. "Please tell me she's safe. Please!"

"We don't know kid." Joel said softly. Joel's face seemed to soften. His lips were pursed and it was as if he was trying to hold back tears. He avoided Sam's eyes who were wild and desperate for one of us to give an actual answer.

"I don't want her to die. I don't want her to die." Sam continued to whimper.

"I'm sorry kid," Joel began to raise his gun, "I want you to picture something for me. Close your eyes."

I stared at Joel. Was he really going to do it? What would I be doing right now?

"Picture yourself… Playing with your friends and family." Joel stared at Sam's back as he continued to speak.

Sam stopped thrashing around.

Joel really was going to do it. I need to say something. Quick. He can't die. Not like this.

"You guys are having the best day of your life. All the bad people are gone. It's safe to finally go outside and play. Imagine that you finally got to explore more of this world."

Joel looked down at his crouched knees. And put his gun up. There really is nothing that I could do. He really was bit. He's just a child.

"You got to eat as many things as you wanted. You didn't have to eat all the bad food."

He continued to hold his gun right behind the child's head.

"I want you to imagine that place. Would you be happy?" Joel whispered in a soothing voice towards Sam. This wasn't Joel at all. But then again, he never did have to deal with a five year old getting bitten.

"Yeah. My mom and dad are there. My friends too… Kate, Richard, Luke, Eric… We're all playing tag!" Sam giggled a little bit, "And Richard's poking Kate! Kate got cooties!"

"You want to go there right?" Joel asked. His voice began to grow more silent.

"Yeah. Yeah I would."

"You can."

"How?"

"You're thinking about it right now right? That means you're already there. You're in paradise."

"I am?"

"Yes you are."

"That's so cool…"

-BANG-

Sam grunted and his muscles seemed to have twitched before the bullet reached his head. I grimaced and looked down. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, "Everything's going to be ok…"

I counted to ten and opened my eyes. Joel was still in the same position as before and he closed his eyes.

"C'mon" I said to him, "Death is something we see almost every day."

"Not like this Ellie."

"I know, but we need to keep moving."

"Just give me a second."

"Got it." I turned around and walked down. The creaking floors seemed to have been louder than ever. Each step I took made me feel miserable. As I reached the first floor, I noticed that we haven't even checked out the home yet. I looked around, exploring the kitchen as I waited for Joel's return.

"Wait a second… How did he get bit…?" My eyes widened as I began to think more. "If his mom is missing and he kept on wondering if she was alive… Oh fuck."

I ran around the room trying to catch a glimpse of a body. I ran around the house and quickly looked around.

"Is anyone here…?"

I heard it. I quickly sprinted towards the voice and found a woman laying down against a wall of the living room. "Oh my god." I quickly ran up to her but she put her hand in front of my body not allowing me to go any further.

"Don't come any closer." It was Emma.

"Emma. What…?" I looked around the living room and found a dead runner laying down face first onto the floor.

"That thing attacked my son. I can't let that happen." Emma grinned, "He's alright right? I told him to hide."

I paused to look at her. Her face was pale and blood was soaked everywhere on her shirt. Her eyes grew weaker each moment and I knew she wasn't going to last any longer.

"Yeah I'm a mess aren't I?" Emma forced another grin, "Sam… He's safe… right?"

I stared at her stunned. I had to make a choice. Do I lie? I began to panic inside my head. Then I finally took the guts to say something that made me feel comfortable.

"He's… Already in a safe place. You don't need to worry." I tried to smile as I stared at Emma. Her soft, maternal face made me choke as I talked. The weak mother finally closed her eyes.

"That's good… That's good… I know what you're going to do to me. Just don't be leaving a mess for my son to see."

I forced back my tears but my nose was clogged. I tried my best not to show it, "Don't worry. He's already in a safe place."

I took out my gun hidden underneath the back of my shirt. I took it out and aimed at her head. I closed my eyes, and let my finger pull back.

-BANG-

I had my eyes remain closed, trying to hold back the tears. I clenched my eyes, but I finally began to sense myself crying. My chest grew heavy and I sat down. I didn't dare open my eyes to see Emma. I'll never forget that soft face. The face that accepted her death with a welcoming smile. She was willing to die just for her child. I never knew a person like that.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's going to be alright. They're both in a better place now." Joel walked in and knelt down in front of me.

"I just wish that I had a mother like that. I just feel so lonely sometimes. I miss my mom. I miss Riley. I miss Marlene." Tears continued to flow through my eyes.

"I know baby, I know." Joel hugged me, "It's going to be fine. You can let it out. We have some time. It's alright."

I chocked on my saliva and I took some deep breaths. After about three minutes, I finally got up. "You gonna be ok now?" Joel got up as well.

I took a deep breath and I nodded. "Let's go."

We walked outside to see the guards greet us, "Hey you guys ok?"

"Been better, but we'll live" Joel answered for me.

"We checked the other house. No infected. We found Kate and Julia. They're safe. Max was found dead over by the factory, but we still can't find Emma and Sam. They in that house?"

Joel paused for a few seconds and lightly said, "Yeah."

The guards seemed to notice what was going on and didn't talk any further.

"We need to find Maria." Joel broke the long silence and decided to take action.

"We already found her." The guard said.

"Where is she?"

"Bitchin' at Tommy for ditching her." Some of the guards reluctantly snickered. Joel joined in and everyone started to chuckle a little bit.

"Bet they're gonna make up and get a good night's sleep if you know what I'm saying" The guard added on.

"I bet they will." Joel snickered for the last time and dropped it. "Ellie, let's go. Guards should go back to post. Guess we'll need a patrol down at the abandoned factory. No one comes in. You guys got that?"

All the guards nodded and began to assemble.

"Gee what time is it?" Joel looked down at his broken watch and sighed, "I need batteries."

I looked at him and looked back down at my feet as we walked to our room. I'm pretty much done for the day. Me and Joel walked silently back to our house and finally settled in. I began to write in my diary.

Dear Diary,

Have you ever thought what it would be like to have a mother that really cared about you? Yeah me neither… Today Emma and Sam passed away, but Emma didn't seem so afraid when I told her that he's in a "safe" place. It was like she was happy to die. Sadly, Sam died as well. But I'd really like to just disappear from this world once in a while. Just enjoy all the little things in life… I think that's what they said right? I really don't want to write anything for today. Joel was able to comfort me after I shot her. I'll never forget that warm smiling face right before I shot her. I never will forget it. Never.

"-Ellie? Ellie." Joel seemed to be trying to get my attention for some time. "Hey baby girl, you ok?"

Joel sat up next to me and seemed to have a concerned look on his face. I quickly closed my diary and put it away. I nodded back. "I understand what you're going through. A young girl like you shouldn't have so many friends and family that disappeared." I don't know what's he's trying to do. He's pretty bad at comforting and consoling people. But I acknowledged his effort and courage. "Yeah." I quickly replied, "I'm tired. Can we just go to bed?"

Joel nodded and got up. He closed the lights and we got into bed. The solid floor made my back ache. But I've been through worse. The sleeping bag helped and my pillow was soft. The night was silent and I quickly glanced outside to see guards on post. This was some day. I laid back down and began to think over what happened today. Sam… Emma… They're relationship. I really wish I had a relationship like that with my mother. I never even got to see her face. I sighed and moved around in my sleeping bag. I couldn't sleep. That mysterious pale man… I know that he has something to do with this. Why are they even trying to attack us? They have their own group to take care of. I really wanted to talk to Joel about something.

"Joel? You still awake?"

"Sure am" Joel replied

"Have you… ever just wanted to escape? From all this? Go back to how you used to live?"

Joel paused for a moment. "Boy, it would sure be nice."

I grinned a little bit, "I guess I'll never experience that will I?"

Joel sighed, "This world used to be so great. I wish you could see it like before. I really do."

"I really want to escape from this world."

"Really? And how will you do that?"

I sighed, "I was wondering…"

"What is it?" Joel asked

I took a deep breath and said, "If you'd teach me how to play swim."

"Oh yeah. You can't swim."

"So yes or no?" I asked.

"Sure. We can start tomorrow."

"Alright then." I said.

I started to shiver. "I fucking hate water Joel."

"I know that sweetheart." He paused for a moment, "You know what else you need to learn?"

"What?"

"Guitar."

"Ok Joel," I laughed, "let's make a deal. If I sing for you with the guitar, then you sing for me on the guitar. How about that?"

Joel chuckled, "In your dreams kid"

"Oh come on! I've never sang before. Look… aaaaaa," I tried to sing. I don't know any song. Looks like Joel has to teach me, "I don't even know any songs!"

"Knock it out Ellie, people might hear you" Joel said.

"Then accept the deal!"

"Fine. But if I just see a peep of laughter, I'm not gonna sing for you ever again."

"Sweet." I smiled.

"Alright time to get some rest Ellie. We're swimming tomorrow."

Oh great. Water.

"Then guitar?" I asked.

"Then guitar." Joel answered.

"Alright goodnight Joel."

"Goodnight Ellie."

I laid on my back. I really enjoy talking to Joel.

After today, I know that Joel really does care about me. Maria really was right.

Joel is my father

And I sure as hell am his daughter.

He's never given up on me

We'll always be together

No matter what.

We'll live

And we'll survive.