Chapter 21

Joel was so astonished by the sniper he had just seen that for a split second, he had totally forgotten where he was and who was with him. Once he spotted AJ and Ellie in front of him, he immediately reacted, not knowing if they had spotted the sniper or not.

"Kids. We need to move! Get inside the restaurant!"

"But-"

"ELLIE! Now!"

"Okay. Jeez."

They started to jog not knowing how serious the threat Joel was talking about was. Joel knew they had no time to lose and dragged them right to the entrance. He had pulled AJ, Ellie, and himself into the restaurant just in time. He heard the impact of a gunshot from a rifle come into contact with the door right when they made it inside. He started breathing heavily.

"Dad, are you alright? What's happening?"

He took a moment to catch his breath before responding.

"I'm fine. I saw a sniper on the rooftops. Not sure if there are anymore out there. Had to get us in-...Ellie, where are you going? I'm talking to you."

"Oh. I'm not going anywhere. I just need to...check on something."

When they had got into the restaurant, she had immediately noticed how worn down it looked. It made sense to her though considering the fact that the last time she was in this restaurant, it was on fire. There was one thing on her mind after they had gotten inside. She walked over to the area where she had killed David. She was still able to see the stains of his blood on the floor. She could see flashes of that day in her mind. When she saw the blood, she started to get sick and could almost feel the vomit rising up her esophagus. Fortunately, she was able to control herself for the time being.

Joel was not willing to part ways with Ellie while they were in the restaurant. When she said that she needed to check something, he had a faint idea of what she was talking about, but followed her closely to make sure. When he realized that his suspicion was correct, he walked over to her and let out a long sigh.

"Now Ellie. You don't need to be looking at that."

She seemed lost in thought, and in fact, that was actually the case. She kept remembering the force at which she wielded the machete that day. She remembered slicing David's head repeatedly with no remorse. The only reason she had stopped was because Joel had come in and grabbed her. She kept thinking about the matter and questioning herself about who the real monster was: David or herself. She just wasn't sure anymore, and she needed to find out.

"Ellie? Ellie! Something on your mind kiddo?"

She shook her head and noticed Joel standing in front of her. She was a little startled but settled down realizing that at least she was safe this time.

"Uhh..actually..yeah."

"Alright. Go on then."

She sighed. "Dad...do you think that I'm a monster?"

He was startled by the question. He didn't expect her to ask him something like that. He knew it was a bad idea to come into the restaurant but they really didn't have much of a choice. And now she felt guilty after seeing the blood, which was the last thing he wanted at a time like this.

"What? Ellie. Of course not. Why would you even think that?"

She pointed at the dried blood on the ground. "What I did to him. It wasn't right. I went crazy. I never killed anyone like that before. And I'm just not really sure if he was the real monster, or if I was."

"Now listen here baby girl. This world turned to shit a long time ago. And so did the people in it. People do whatever they have to to survive. All you did was protect yourself. You had no choice. You knew exactly what he was going to do to you. Just trust me when I say, you're not a monster. You're just a person trying to survive in today's screwed up world."

"Yeah I guess."

She didn't seem too satisfied with his answer. He knew he had to do something. He had to make sure that she didn't think of herself as a monster. He had to make her feel proud of herself. He didn't like the idea, but he knew it was time to express his feelings to her. He cupped her face in his hands and made sure she was looking right at him before he started to speak again.

"Listen here. Now I'm not the type to express my feelings. You probably know that by now." She snickered. "But I think that this is important. I'm proud of you Ellie. I'm proud of everything you have done since I met you back in Boston. I've taught you so much and I've seen you grown so much over the span of our time together. So don't bring yourself down over this. You had no choice. You did what you had to do to survive, and that does not make you a monster. That makes you a strong human being that has finally learned to adapt to this cruel world. Understand?"

She started to tear up. For a moment, he thought that he had said something wrong, that is until she pecked him on the cheek.

"Got it. Thanks dad. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Glad to hear it."

They smiled at each other, sharing a special father-daughter moment before being interrupted by the sound of AJ's voice.

"Uhh guys...I hate to ruin your little moment...but what the fuck is that!?"

He was pointing at the window with a look of fear in his eye. Joel and Ellie ran over to him. They were concerned about why he was worrying so much. They were pretty sure they were safe inside the restaurant. That is until they saw a couple of the bandits holding RPG's pointed directly at the restaurant.

"Oh fuck." said Ellie.

They heard the sound of the bandits speaking outside. They were planning to shoot the building down with the RPG's. Only one door was clear to them and they figured that Joel, Ellie, and AJ were trapped inside the restaurant. It seemed like there was a new leader that they had chosen, but they couldn't make out who exactly it was.

"Alright men. When I give you the signal, I want you to bring that restaurant down to the ground. Make sure those fuckers are dead. They already killed David, Roger and James. We need to end this once and for all." He turned around and thought about something before turning back around to face them again. "Actually on second thought. Keep them alive. I want to have a little fun. These three fools deserve to suffer for everything they've done."

"Yes sir."

Joel noticed the soldiers look back up to the restaurant. They lifted the RPG's back up to their shoulders and took aim at the restaurant. He knew what was about to come their way and knew that they had to get out of that place fast.

"Alright kids. I think it's time we quit this place."

"And how do you suggest we do that? I don't see an alternate exit. We're fucking trapped Joel." said AJ.

Ellie started to remember the day of her escape and how she had gotten to the restaurant. She tried to go backwards in her memory. She then realized that she hadn't come through the front door the first time she was here. She had come through the window in the kitchen.

"No we're not! I know the way out. Come on."

She ran off into the kitchen and they tagged along knowing that Ellie was their best chance of getting out of that place alive. And there it was. The window that she had come through that day was still intact. She smiled and then looked back at them.

"Okay dad. Gimme a boost."

"Alright."

He boosted Ellie up and through the window. Then, he helped AJ up the same way. He then realized something. How exactly was he going to get up there? There was no one else there to boost him up. They really didn't think this through, not that they had a whole lot of time in the first place. He had to think quickly. He ran to a room in the back and found a bunch of wooden crates.

"Perfect."

He placed two crates on top of each other directly in front of the window. He then placed another crate in front of those two crates. He had just made steps for himself. He was proud of himself but knew that this wasn't really the time to celebrate. He climbed the crates and pulled himself up and through the window where Ellie and AJ were there to drop him gently onto the dumpster that was below the window on the outside of the restaurant. As Joel's feet hit the dumpster, they heard the sound of the restaurant being shot at with RPGs. They noticed the restaurant starting to shake and crumble and they knew that they had to get out of their quick in order to avoid being seen.

"Shit. We need to get outta here. This place ain't safe. Ellie, you remember the way?" asked AJ.

"Yeah. Through here. I think it's safe."

They started to run, but after a matter of mere seconds, they were halted by the sight of two bandits pointing their revolvers right at them. One of them began to speak.

"Looks like the two of you are out of luck."

Ellie looked at Joel and whispered.

"Two?"

They looked back simultaneously only to see a big blanket of white behind them.

A/N

Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. Sorry again for not being able to post the chapter this morning, but I hope you like it. As always, make sure to follow and review to hear more of the story.