Disclaimer :I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog, but all the Oc character are from my invention.
Chapter 12 : Trust and Treachery
The storm stops the next morning, so Joel and Bibi move out of the barn and start on their way to rescue Ellie and Liam. A few hours later, they are on the path that Bibi says will take them down the mountain and all the way to the place where she thinks the Fireflies are. But all the snow that's been falling down for the last few days is making travel difficult for them and the horses. Joel is following her since she's the one that knows where to go. Joel doesn't like that much, as he always went in front when he was with Ellie. For now, he doesn't have any choice but to follow the woman. He is lost in his thoughts when he hears the woman start to speak.
"The snow is getting deeper from this point forward - so it's better for us if we - get off the horses, to- lose the weight," says Bibi, trembling, trying to warm up her hands a little. Then she stops the horse and looks back at Joel. "Joel!… JOEL!"
Joel looks at her just like he's waking up from a trance. "What?"
Bibi shakes her head and starts to dismount the horse. "I said that the… snow is deeper from now on… so we need to get off the horses or they're going to get stuck… in the snow."
"Yeah, of course," he says while he starts to dismount from his.
Bibi grabs the horse's reins and starts to move forward. Joel does the same and starts to follow her. "How long - is it going to take - to get to that place?" Joel asks as soon as he gets beside her, trying to hide how cold he's feeling. "Because this definitely... is going to slow us down."
"I don't think we're far…now." She starts to look at their surroundings and the sky that's all gray, and continues. "But with the sky like this, it's going to be… difficult to know the time. If I'm correct, we're going to get there at night." Bibi continues walking and looking at the terrain.
Joel looks at her, not completely sure of her calculations. "Well, let's hope that they're still there," he says, looking forward and letting her take the lead.
"They will be… they will be…" she says in a lower, hopeful voice.
After a few minutes, Joel puts one hand in his pocket and takes something out. When he opens his hand, there's Ellie's ring.
The one he gave her at the cabin, where he asked her to marry him. He just stays looking at it while he continues walking in the snow, his mind traveling to another place and time.
- flashback-
Joel is lying in his bed with one hand behind his neck and the other rubbing Ellie's back. He has his eyes closed while half of Ellie is on his chest, rubbing his side with one hand. Both of them are naked under the blanket. He remembers that night, because he was feeling a little tired after a long session of wild sex. Ellie had just turned 20 a few months before that night. Also, it was a month before a group of hunters attacked the dam, and Joel volunteered himself to go out to find a guy to repair it.
"Joel!" Ellie says in a lower voice while she's playing with Joel's chest hair.
"Hum?"
"I was thinking… ummm… do you think that someday… we can be like Tommy and Maria?" She grabs a few chest hairs and twists them with her fingers.
"Like… Tommy and Maria?" Joel asks, a little clueless.
"You know… like a couple… I mean like-"
"I thought we're already a couple."
"Yeah… I know. But I mean like a permanent one… you know, like a married couple."
Joel opens his eyes and tries to look at her. "Ellie!... Are you not happy with what we have?"
Ellie lifts her head so she can look at his face. "That's not what I meant!... yeah, I'm happy, Joel. I love you, and nothing is going to change that. But-"
Joel looks at her face now. "But... you want more- right?" he finishes for her.
Ellie smiles at him. "Yeah!... don't you want that?... I want to feel free with our love. I mean, I want to hold your hand or kiss you when we're outside the house. I want to tell all those women that try to seduce you sometimes to get the fuck off, because you're mine. And I-"
"Ha, ha, ha… nobody is trying to seduce me."
"Yeah, they are… Nancy did, remember?... and I know that others do, too. I just want-"
Joel moves his hand from the back of his head and adjusts himself to a sitting position. "Ellie, the Nancy thing was like a year ago. I was never interested in her like that, or any woman in this town. I love you and only you. So you don't need to feel worried about that."
"Yeah, I know, I know… but sometimes I just feel jealous. And don't you want us to be permanent?... like Tommy and Maria? So that way, we don't have to hide our feelings. And maybe someday we can have children, too," says Ellie with a smile on her face.
Children!? he says to himself. Joel tries to hide the expression as soon as he hears that. Ellie has mentioned it a few times, that she wants to have children someday. But Joel convinced her that it was too early to think about that. He lost Sarah when the infection started, and that almost destroyed him. Having another child in a world like this and losing it is terrifying to him. Besides, he is almost 54 and Ellie is 20; having a kid now is going to be hard for both of them. "Ellie, we don't need to be married to be happy - you already said that you're happy with what we have, right? So why do we need to risk what we have now?"
"Yeah, I am, Joel… but being married to you would be cool and make me happier…" She looks away so he can't see the few tears forming in her eyes. "Okay, it's a little late, so it's better if we get some sleep." She moves away from him and lays on the other side of the bed with her back facing him.
Joel looks at her and knows that she is sad, but he knows that she's not going to say anything. They've had this conversation a few times and it always ends the same way. He doesn't know why she wants that so badly. Maybe because she never had a real family and wants to start one. He knows that people don't need to be married to fall in love or be happy. But he knows that that is important to her, and Joel only wants to make her happy. So he starts planning on how to make her dream come true. He already found a ring, he just needs more time to plan the way to ask her, and make sure that his brother or Maria won't get mad about it.
Joel moves behind her and puts one arm around her waist and his head on her neck. He gives her a little kiss there and speaks in her ear. "You're mad at me, kiddo?" asks Joel in a lower voice.
"No!... yes!... I don't know… I just want to get some sleep, Joel, I'm tired."
"Yeah, I know that I'm difficult sometimes. But don't worry, kiddo, I'll find the way to tell them about us, I promise. I just need more time, okay?" Joel gives her a kiss on the cheek this time and starts to move away from her. "Good night, kiddo." But before he gets to the other side of the bed, Ellie grabs his arm and turns to look at him.
"Joel!... don't go." Joel moves back to his previous position and cuddles behind her. Ellie grabs the arm that he put around her and interlaces his fingers with hers.
"Don't worry, kiddo, I ain't going anywhere." He holds her tight, then puts his head on her shoulder and kisses her on the neck again.
"Joel!" she says slowly.
"Hum?"
Ellie moves to face him. "If you want to make it up to me… I need you to make love to me… again!"
Joel opens his eyes and looks at the ring. He doesn't know how long he's been looking at it, but he is going to make sure that Ellie has it back. I'm going to find you, kiddo, I promise.
(Back in the mercenary camp)
James walks close to the truck where the mechanic are working. "Hey, Brandon, are you any closer to fixing the truck?... if you don't know yet, we need to get out of here as soon as possible," says the leader of the mercenaries.
"Well, I fixed the part that was damaged, but it's going to take me at least 5 hours to put it back together," answers Brandon while he cleans his hand with an old T-shirt.
The boss looks at him furiously. "What?... 5 more hours?... you were supposed to finish that this morning."
"Sir, even if Brandon fixes the truck, it's not going to work much anyway. With all the snow that's been falling for the last few days, all the roads and paths are going to be blocked. So it's going to be impossible to get out of here in that," answers Billy.
James looks at the man, surprised. "Well, that is good to know… Billy." Then he turns to look at Brandon again. "Just finish the truck, okay!" Then he turn backs back to Billy. "And you tell the others to pack all they can - we're going to get out of here before the sun goes down." Then he walks away. After a few minutes, he arrives at the room where Ellie is. When he opens the door, he sees Ellie sitting on an old mattress that they have in there, with her back against the wall.
Ellie looks up at him as soon as he enters the room. "If you came to ask more questions, I already told you that I don't know what the Fireflies want with me. Also, being with my hands tied behind my back is starting to hurt."
James kneels in front of her. "Well, that's too bad, because you're going to get more pain if you don't start to to tell me what I need. Or maybe you prefer me to hurt the boy… ummm… yeah, maybe that can work, too."
"I don't know what to tell you - I really don't know what the Fireflies want with the kid or me. I jus-"
*Smack*
James backhands Ellie across her face, making her head turn to the side. When she turns her head to look at the man, he has a mad expression. Ellie tastes some of the blood that comes out of her busted lip. The man stands up and looks down at her. "I told you to stop lying." The man moves away while Ellie stays looking at him, waiting for his next move. She tries to stay calm, even feeling the pain in her face. She's had her hands tied behind her back for so long that they're starting to hurt, too. The man stays in front of her for a moment, then he speaks again. "Look, I have a deal with these Fireflies… to find a boy in these mountains. They didn't give us the description of the boy or any explanation, just the age that he's supposed to be and a picture of his mom."
Ellie looks at the man with surprised eyes. Why are the Fireflies looking for the boy? The only reason I can think of is that the boy has to be immune like me or something like that. But how do they know this boy is the one they're looking for? she says to herself, then she speaks. "You say that they're looking for a boy, right? So how do you know it's him?" asks Ellie with some curiosity.
The man stops and looks at her. "We're not sure if this boy is the one they're looking for. But we've been looking around this mountain for the last year, and never found one until now. So we called them as soon as we found him and told them that we found a boy and a young woman in a slave camp. They didn't believe us at first, but later, they said that they need to check the boy to confirm it's him. Then when I told them about you and mentioned your name, they were eager to come here quick and pick you up fast." The man moves away from Ellie, but continues. "I was intrigued about why they want you more than the kid, and when I asked for a better deal for you, they just cut the transmission and didn't call again."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because they're sending soldiers here to get you and the kid."
"So I presume that they're not going to pay you for us… right?" Ellie smiles at that, even if she shouldn't, because it's not going to be good for her if the Fireflies get their hands on her.
The man looks at her with a mad expression. "You think that this is going to end good for you?" He kneels in front of her again and grabs her face. Ellie tries to shake his hand off, but can't.
"I lost a few men in this ridiculous quest, and if they're not going to pay us, I'm going to make sure that they don't get either of you two."
Before he does something else, a man enters the room in a hurry. "Hey, boss, Marcus intercepted another transmission. And he wants to talk with you as soon as possible," says the man.
James turns to look at the man. "Tell him that I'll be there in a minute... and go tell Brandon that I need that truck fixed... ASAP?"
"Yes sir!" answers the man and then moves away.
James turns again to face Ellie. "This is not over - if I can't get what I want… from the Fireflies? Maybe I can get it from someone else." He pushes Ellie down on the mattress and stands up. He gives her a last look, then walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ellie looks at the door and tries to think of what to do next.
(A few hours later in the forest)
It takes all day for Bibi and Joel to get down the mountain. They didn't talk much during the travel, only the necessities and what they're going to do when they get to the place. After Bibi finds the trail that takes them to a hill close to the valley where the old wood refinery is, they dismount from the horses and walk the rest of the way until they get to a little cliff.
Bibi stops and moves to the saddlebag, takes out the binoculars, and walks close to the cliff. As soon as she gets to the border, Bibi starts looking down, searching for the place. After a few minutes, Joel walks away from his horse and gets beside her.
"Did you find the place?" asks Joel while he looks down into the valley.
"Not yet... there's a lot of snow down there, and it's going to be dark soon," she says while continuing to search. And after a minute, she fixes her sight on one spot. "I found it," she says, passing the binoculars to Joel. Joel takes it and starts looking. "Just follow those big trees to the right and you'll see it," says Bibi, trying to make Joel look in the direction she says.
"Yeah, I see it now… the place is still a little far. It's going to take us more than an hour to get there."
"Yeah, probably more if it starts snowing again… and looking at the sky, that's going to be soon."
Joel lowers the binoculars and looks at her. "Well, then it's better for us to get there before that." He gives the binoculars back to Bibi and starts to walk back to his horse. "Do you know this area?" asks Joel.
"My dad and I found this place when we started to travel through this forest. That was before we found the cabin," Bibi says with a sad tone. Then she moves close to the horse and gets up. She moves the horse to the side, and starts moving toward the path that takes them down the hill. Joel does the same and follows her.
"So do you know a close place where we can leave the horses?... It's better if we leave them far away, so that way, we can go in there without them noticing us."
"Well, I think I know a perfect place close to the river. We can leave the horses there so they don't freeze to death," she says while they continue down the hill.
