"A town meeting?" Ellie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah…" Joel muttered in response.
Ellie snorted. A town meeting? Really? That was pretty pointless in her opinion. What's the point of getting the entire town together?
Ellie sighed and tried to protest. "Joel…we're not actually gonna go, right?"
"Ellie, Tommy wants us to go to it. And, I don't wanna have him harpin' me about it so we're going to it, got it?"
She looked down at her feet and sighed again; having run out of objections "Okay."
The two of walked down the steps of their cozy little house and strode along the gravel path. Ellie continued to kick the small rocks along the gravel path that led to the center of the town. Joel walks until he finds Tommy.
"Listen, how long is this thing gonna take? I don't wanna be out here for long. I think you can understand why..."
Tommy raises an eyebrow. "Just follow me, you'll be fine. We'll explain what's goin' on when we get there.
Ellie quietly walks beside Joel on their way to the town square where the meeting was being held. Though she was slightly intimidated by the people who still continued to watch Ellie and Joel as they walked, Ellie held her head higher, showing them that she wasn't afraid of them. There were far worse things to be afraid of then petty townspeople.
The three of them walked in silence until they saw the small town square, which was parallel to the tiny lake that was also in the middle of the town. Joel thought it would probably be best if they sat in the back of the large group of people; it would be ideal for them not to be noticed.
Tommy got up on the small platform and began to talk.
"Now we're gonna need more people guarding the perimeter down at the power plant. We've been dealin' with even more raids."
Joel listened somewhat carefully, but Ellie tuned it all out. She just wanted to get the hell out of there and go back home with Joel. She still didn't feel easy being around all of the new people, and especially the new kids. She's known the feeling of being in a new territory with other kids who don't take a liking of her.
She started picking at the grass that she was sitting on out of boredom until she looked up and saw someone looking at her and Joel.
Who was that? Has she seen them before? They look sort of familiar...
Her eyes widened when she recognized the couple. It was the two people she met at breakfast with Joel a couple weeks ago. The pretty woman and the angry man.
The woman looked over, smiled, and waved at Ellie. The man continued to be focusing on Tommy's words. The woman's eyes shifted to Joel and stared at him.
Ellie crinkled her nose at the woman.
What the hell is her problem?
After Tommy was finished speaking and the people started to disperse, Tommy made his way over to Joel.
"Hey, look. I need a favor. The power still continues to go out back at the plant and we need some people to work with the machines and all. I'm countin' on you to help me."
Joel let out an exasperated breath. "Tommy..."
"Look, I agreed to let you stay here and all you've been doin' is stayin' cooped up in you house with that girl of yours. Might as well make yourself somewhat useful 'round here."
Joel contemplated the option and sighed. "Fine. But I don't want anyone comin' in or out of our house, you understand?"
Tommy nodded is head in acknowledgement.
"I'll make sure no one gets into your house. But, don't you think Ellie should have some sort of supervision?"
Joel chuckled. "No, no she's perfectly capable of handling herself. I'll just have to explain things to her so she doesn't freak out."
Ellie saw Tommy walk up to Joel and started talking to him. She started towards Joel when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned and looked.
"Ellie, right?" It was the woman from the breakfast.
"Uh, yeah."
The woman smiled. "I'm Tanya. We've actually met before. I think it was-"
"At breakfast," Ellie finished her sentence. "Yeah, I remember."
The woman had bright eyes and smiled warmly. "That's right! Hey, do you think I could talk to your father-I mean, friend, for a little bit?"
Ellie didn't like the way she said the word friend, like in a patronizing tone. "Uh, sure but I think he's busy right now," she said motioning to Joel and Tommy having a conversation.
"Oh, okay, well, just tell him Tanya would like to speak with him, would ya sweetheart?"
"Um, sure."
She smiled back in return and winked. "Great, thanks hun."
The familiar man that she was always with walked over.
"Tanya, come on. Let's get out of here and go home."
The woman moved her gaze from Ellie and looked back at the man.
"Okay, John. I'll catch up with you." She looked back down at Ellie. "Don't forget!" she said in a cheery voice and winked again. She trotted of with John, walking in the opposite direction.
Ellie raised and eyebrow and scoffed.
What the fuck is with her? Why the hell does she care about Joel at all?
She saw Joel coming over to her.
"Hey, Joel. I gotta tell you something."
He brought his hand to the back of his head, the way he always did when he was about to give some bad news. He avoided eye contact with her and she noticed.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"Um, Ellie. We gotta talk."
"So you're telling me you have to leave for half the day? Every day? What the fuck, Joel?" Ellie yelled. What the fuck did he think he was doing? She didn't want to stay at home all alone. Granted, she was perfectly proficient of being on her own. She's proved that countless times in the past. But, being around all of these strangers made her uncomfortable. She sat down on her bed in the small room that they shared.
"Now, now Ellie its not every day. It's just when Tommy needs some help workin' the machines. Apparently they go out often and they don't have many adults to tend and repair them, so Tommy thought that I would be a good person for the job."
She rolled her eyes. "Joel, what if something happens to you-"
"Ellie, nothing is gonna happen to me, okay? Relax. I'm still alive after all this time, right?"
He did have a point. Still, the thought of losing him…
He could see the worry still evident in her face. He knelt down and forced her to look at him.
"Listen, I won't get into any trouble, okay? I just want to make sure you are safe. That's all that matters."
"Ugh, and you don't think your safety matters, either?" she retorted.
"No, that's not what I sai-"
"Look your safety matters just as much to me as my safety does to you, okay? So, it's even." Her facial expression told Joel that it was end of the discussion. He sighed in defeat.
"Alright, I promise to be careful."
"Yeah, well let's hope you don't go back on this promise," she muttered under her breath. Joel seemed to have heard the sly remark but didn't retaliate. It hit him hard; even though he knew she understood why he did it, that doesn't change the fact that it still hurts her.
Joel moved over to his bed to lie down when Ellie's voice perked up one last time for the night.
"Oh, um hey. I forgot to tell you somethin'. Do you remember that girl that we met a couple weeks back?"
Joel half-laughed. "You mind bein' a little bit more specific there, kiddo?"
Ellie blushingly smiled. "I mean, remember back when we had breakfast the first time we were here? And that couple sat across from us?"
He turned his head slightly towards her in recognition. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I remember her. Why do ya ask?"
"Well, she came up to me today while you were talking to Tommy after the town meeting. She said she wanted to talk to, well, you." Her eyes finally lifted to meet Joel's gaze. His face turned to a very confused look.
"Me? Why the hell would she wanna talk to me?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. But, it apparently seemed pretty important. I think she might have a crush on you," she said in a more serious tone than she wanted to.
Joel merely laughed. "Okay, Ellie. Goodnight."
Once again, she was at a loss when it came to argue with Joel. Maybe soon he'll figure it out.
"Goodnight, Joel," she replied in a whisper.
I'm so glad that I FINALLY got this up! It's been a pretty long hiatus but I am back! More to come soon! Thanks for reading!