Chapter 11: Hostage

Joel continued to run blindly down the hallways of Bill's safe house, trying to find an escape.

Bill, of course, had never really shown him where everything was, but he remembered a bit.

Let's hope that helps us, he thought, feeling Ellie trailing behind him.

"I'm bleeding," he heard Ellie mumble behind him, making him glance back.

From the way she was starting to act, he could tell that something was wrong.

But what? He wondered, thinking back to how she had been trying to get his attention.

"Ellie, we need to get out of here," he stated, stopping for a moment.

He glanced back to see that she was staring at the ground, a dazed look on her face.

Joel shook his head, continuing to pull her towards one of the rooms.

"What did they mean, Riley?" Ellie asked from behind him, "About-?"

He heard her sentence cut off, almost as if someone was talking to her.

What is going on? He thought with frustration and worry as he leaned Ellie against the wall inside a room.

His eyes scanned over her, and he saw that blood was coating her pants on her leg.

"Where she got cut," he mumbled, pulling the pants leg up a bit and seeing that the cut was bleeding.

Joel took his backpack off of his shoulders, reaching for the gauze; something caught his attention a moment later.

Something sharp was embedded in Ellie's leg, and as he pulled it out, his eyes widened in recognition.

Tranquilizer darts, he realized, starting to shake Ellie to keep her awake.

"Ellie, stay with me!" he demanded, and for a moment her eyes held recognition at seeing him.

Joel swore when Ellie's eyes closed and her body headed for the ground, making him have to catch her so she wouldn't hit her head.

"Perfect," he mumbled, looking towards the hallway when he heard voices.

Joel glanced between Ellie and another door, which most likely connected this room to the outside.

He quickly got up and ran for the exit.

I need to find a way to get Ellie out of there, he thought, hearing shouts as the hunters discovered what he had left behind.

Once he was outside, he closed the door and turned around, hearing the sounds of a struggle nearby.

That must be Bill, he thought, sneaking towards the sounds as he pulled out his pistol.

Peeking around the side of the building, Joel spotted Bill wrestling with two men. He aimed his pistol, and one of them fell.

The distraction gave Bill just enough time to finish off the other one.

Joel put his pistol back in his backpack, along with the pipe Ellie had given him to use. He walked over towards Bill.

"What are you doing here?" Bill asked in annoyance, although Joel could tell he was inwardly pleased he hadn't been left alone.

"Thought you could use some help," he answered, bending down to search through the men's supplies.

He slipped a few bullets and some antibiotic cream into his backpack.

Bill looked around for a moment, a somewhat confused expression on his face.

"Where's the girl?" he asked, making Joel sigh.

"Back in your safe house," Joel answered, "I need to get her out."

"Good luck with that," Bill said, starting to walk away.

"Bill," he interrupted, a warning in his voice, "you owe me."

Bill turned around, a somewhat angry and confused expression on his face.

"I told you that I didn't owe you anything anymore," he stated, making Joel motioned towards the two dead men on the ground.

Bill gave him a look, making Joel cross his arms.

"You can't be serious-" Bill started to retort, but Joel cut him off.

"You owe me now," he stated, making Bill give him an angry expression.

"Fine, but this is it," Bill said, shaking his head.

Joel leaned down, inspecting the dead men. Bill gave him a confused glance.

"What do you need me for anyway?" Bill asked, making him look up with a smirk.

"There are two people," he stated, motioning to the dead men on the ground as he started to explain his plan.


"We caught the girl, but the other two are nowhere to be seen," Ellie heard someone say through her half-consciousness.

"Joel? Riley?" she mumbled, holding her head as she felt a headache coming on.

She held her head as she opened her eyes, seeing a group of hunters instead.

What happened? She thought as she glared at them, and where is Joel?

"We at least have the girl; he won't leave without her," one of the men said, and Ellie guessed he was the leader.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said, staring at the ground, "we fight a lot. He might be half-way across the state with Fatty by now."

Ellie hoped her words were wrong; there was always a possibility that Joel had left, but she was starting to think that he wouldn't leave her behind.

He promised, she thought as she took a deep breath, spying two more guards entering the room and blocking the exit.

Both held guns, and she cringed when she realized that she was going to have a hard time getting out of this mess.

Maybe it would be better if Joel was half-way across the state by now, she thought, but felt sadness at it.

"Where is he?" one man interrogated, making her look away.

"I don't know," Ellie said, telling the truth, "but I probably wouldn't tell you if I did know either way."

She glanced over and saw her backpack leaning against the wall, out of her reach.

At least they don't know I have a switchblade, she thought as she still felt it in her pocket.

"I would advise you to tell us where he went, or else-" the leader of the group started to say, but Ellie cut him off.

"What, or else you're going to shoot me?" she asked, motioning to the guards around the room, "Personally I wouldn't care. I don't really have anything to head back to in Boston, and if you catch Joel you will probably just kill us both either way."

The leader seemed to lose his train of thought for a moment, almost as if what Ellie had just said was true.

"If you need a hint though, Joel is directionally challenged," she started to say, trying not to smile.

Of course she knew what she was saying was a lie, but the group of hunters didn't know Joel personally, so they didn't know that.

"If you tell him you're in one direction, he'll think you mean a different one," she said as she continued, staring at the floor.

Her gaze travelled and she saw one of the guards near the door seem angry, while the guard beside him was snickering and nudging him in the arm. She resisted the urge to smirk.

Maybe he's directionally challenged too, Ellie thought, thinking of what else to say.

"He does have a pistol though, but we ran out of bullets," she continued, lying about the last part. They had plenty of bullets, or at least she hoped so.

"I did give him a pipe, so that might be a problem-" Ellie never got to finish what she said; something hard colliding with her jaw made her head whip to the side.

"Enough!" she heard the leader shout angrily, although it sounded a bit weird to her because of the pain, "Tell us where he is!"

She would have answered, but coughing up blood made her unable to. Her vision swam a bit before becoming slightly normal.

Ellie guessed she was hallucinating, but it seemed as if one of the guards by the door had stepped forward to help her, only to be stopped by the other one.

"Wait!" a familiar voice shouted, making her glance over to see the man Joel had knocked out earlier; a red cut was now healing on his head.

The leader of the group was now pointing his gun at the man, making Ellie start to reach for her switchblade.

He's done nothing wrong; he tried to help me, she thought, but stopped her reach when the man spoke again.

"She can be useful," the man stated, and the leader of the group gave him a thoughtful expression.

"What do you mean, Sean?" the leader asked, making Ellie glance over at the man.

Sean, so that's his name, she thought and then sighed, does anyone have last names anymore?

"She was able to trick me," Sean stated, motioning towards her, "How much more would she be able to deceive others?"

Ellie felt a sick feeling enter her, and she pressed her head to the floor.

So, they're just going to use me, she thought, wondering why she felt surprised.

She brought her head up to stare at the leader, and saw that he was staring at her.

I really don't like you, she thought, biting her lip to avoid speaking her thoughts.

"For once, you're right Sean," the leader said, walking over towards her, "After all, she is just a child."

Ellie felt anger at his words, but bit down on her lip harder, knowing that consequences would come if she lost it now.

"Actually, I'm older than a kid," she stated, trying to stay calm, but glaring at the leader nonetheless.

She didn't like how close he was getting, and she thought that he smelled worse than the safe house.

Worse than Fatty possibly, she thought, resisting the urge to plug her nose.

"What did you need with Fatty anyway?" she asked, hoping she could get into the most annoying question spree so far.

"He's owed us quite a lot over the years," the leader spoke, no longer interested in her. She shook her head.

"Seems like everyone owes someone something," she muttered, and would have laughed if the situation would have been better.

The taste of blood in her mouth made her feel sick again.

"That's how it is out here," the leader said as he paced the floor, "How old are you?"

Well, there goes no talking to strangers, she thought with a shake of her head.

"Fourteen," Ellie answered, and then continued, "but I have no idea why I would tell someone like you that."

The leader ignored her comment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Fourteen," he repeated, "So you do have no experience of this world."

"It's practically new to me," she muttered, then when she realized what he had said continued, "How do you know that?"

He didn't answer her question, which made her angry. It seemed a lot of people knew more about her than she liked.

"When Joel gets here, he's going to kick your-" Ellie started to say, but was interrupted by one of the guards near the door.

"Actually, your friend isn't going to be coming anytime soon," the guard stated, making her turn around to glare at him.

On further inspection, she realized it seemed that his 'uniform' didn't quite fit him. Both of the guards by the door had hoods on their heads, as well as gas masks covering their faces.

Aren't you self-conscious, she thought, thinking of retorting.

"And why do you say that?" she asked, glaring at the man.

The other guard walked forward, interrupting what his companion was going to say.

"We caught them sneaking around outside. They were taken care of accordingly," the guard said, making her eyes widen.

"Taken care of?" she repeated, her voice closing off. She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order.

"You took care of them?!" the leader demanded, looking angry, "One of those men owed us!"

Ellie stared at the ground, feeling confused.

Joel wouldn't go down that easy, she thought, trying to convince herself otherwise, but he is only human-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gun being loaded, and she glanced over to see the leader pointing the gun at the skinnier guard.

"This safe house and all the supplies in it should be payment enough," the guard stated, making her suddenly grow angry at him.

"You're sick!" she shouted at him, "This is some daily occurrence for you, isn't it?! Killing off people without a second thought!"

Ellie stood up, taking her switchblade from her pocket and running at him, hoping that she could at least injure him.

He deserves it, she thought as she swung the switchblade at him.

The guard reacted quickly, grabbing her arm and then throwing her to the ground. She glared at him, feeling her eyes start to blur with tears.

"He can't be dead," she said as she stared at him, hoping he would just tell her the truth.

What if that is the truth? She wondered, what would I do then?

The guard looked away from her, not giving her an answer. She bit her lip, refusing to cry in front of him.

She heard the sound of guns being loaded, and glanced around to see them pointed at her; all except the one guard she had attacked.

"Sean said you could be useful, but remember you can be disposed of at any time," the leader said, making her glare at him.

Ellie felt the weight of everything crash down on her; Joel was dead and she was going to be used for the hunters as bait.

Not anymore, she thought, standing up.

"Go ahead and shoot me," she stated, and she saw the guard she had attacked pull something from his backpack.

A pistol? She thought in confusion, remembering seeing them with a different kind of gun before. Her eyes widened in realization as she recognized the weapon.

"Joel-?" she started to ask, but then realized what trouble she had put him in.

Gunfire erupted a moment later, and Ellie instinctively ran for cover, which happened to look something like a bar table.

She still had her switchblade, but she realized that her backpack was on the other side of the room.

Great job, Ellie, she thought with frustration as she peeked her head out from behind the counter.

She couldn't tell who was who since everyone was dressed similarly, but she found Sean shooting a gun next to one of the guards, which she guessed was Fatty.

But where is Joel? She wondered, and as she scanned the scene realized that she couldn't see him, or the leader of the group.

She waited behind the counter until the gunfire stopped, and peeked her head out just as a head went rolling onto the floor.

She glanced over at Bill, who was removing his face mask and had his machete in hand.

"Never thought I would be glad to see you, Fatty," she said, starting to smile.

Her smile went away quickly when she realized she only saw Fatty and Sean.

"Joel?" she asked, glancing around the room. She started to walk forward, but was yanked harshly from behind.

She struggled for a moment, feeling an arm wrap tightly around her neck, which made her stop.

A moment later, she heard the click of a gun and felt the metal being pressed against her head.

Wonderful, she thought in annoyance, now I'm a hostage.

Ellie saw Sean's eyes widen in shock, as well as Fatty turning around to see the situation. No one else seemed to be in the room besides them and the person who was holding a gun to her head.

"Make one move," the leader of the group said, bumping her head with the gun's bottom, "and her lights go out."

"I should have known you wouldn't die so easily," she muttered at the leader, getting a harder hit to the head.

"Let her go," she heard Sean's voice fill with desperation, "She's only a kid."

Ellie felt something wet start to run down her face, and she realized that her head was bleeding now.

"I've had too much overkill on my brain today," she muttered, feeling a headache coming on.

Her gaze wandered over towards the dead bodies, and she wished she would have counted them beforehand.

Joel could be among them, she thought, then trying to steer her thoughts away from the unpleasant idea.

"What could you gain from killing her?" Fatty asked, motioning towards them, "She's a little-"

"Shut it, Fatty," she interrupted, feeling anger at what he had been about to say. She felt the arm around her neck tighten a bit, and a pained noise left her mouth.

"What could I gain?" the leader asked, and she thought he sounded half-hysterical, "Well, for starters, you could give me back what you owe me."

Fatty looked hesitant, and Ellie knew that whatever it was must have been important.

"And I could always use Sean's idea, among other things," the leader stated, and Ellie realized that she had slipped her switchblade back into her pocket before getting caught.

I could use that, she thought and her hand started to reach for it, but pain spread across her leg when her attacker kicked it, making her feel it bleed again.

Ellie felt her vision start to swim again, as well as the headache starting and some lightheadedness. She felt her vision darken for a moment, and then felt the weight of the leader's arm around her neck leave.

She felt herself start to fall, but she never hit the ground. She opened her eyes to see Joel helping her over towards a wall, letting her lean against it.

"Don't do that again," she muttered, not looking at him, "I actually thought you were dead."

"I know, but I had to do something to stop you from getting yourself killed," Joel stated, and Ellie saw him go and retrieve her backpack.

"I was doing just fine," she muttered, feeling weakened as she felt Joel start to bandage her up again.

Sean was over in a corner, apparently talking to Fatty, and she saw him glance over at her with a worried expression. She hinted at a smile, and he left shortly after.

That just left Fatty and Joel with her.

"You always seem to be bandaging me up," she said as she stared at Joel, "I'll probably die of blood loss before we get to California."

"Not while I'm still here," she heard Joel mutter, and then saw him nod towards Fatty, who then left the room shortly after.

"Where did he go?" she asked, feeling confused.

"We got all the parts, he just needs to make the car now," Joel stated, making her smile a bit.

She saw Joel put away the bandages, and saw that they were already getting low.

"I keep getting myself into weird situations," she muttered, and saw Joel nod.

Ellie sighed, thinking back to what she had seen earlier.

"Riley…" she muttered, not realizing Joel had been listening.

"You said that name earlier," he stated, but didn't continue. She realized that he was curious, but she didn't feel like explaining right then.

Besides, I don't know all the pieces, she thought, there are still gaps.

She heard Joel sigh when she kept closing her eyes, nearly nodding off to sleep.

"You get some rest," Joel said as he stood up, "Bill should be done with the car in a few days."

Ellie nodded, drifting off to sleep soon after.


I actually think I am starting to improve with Joel's POV a bit (don't worry; it will hopefully get better as we continue). I am going to try and finish this fanfiction by the time the game comes out, or at least finish the "journey" part of it. Just to tell you, there will be seasons and time skips in this fanfiction, so not all of the time Joel and Ellie spend together will be written (just most of it). Either way, please tell me what you thought of this chapter and any thoughts or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9