A/N: Flashback chapters will become much more frequent from now on, there's a lot to cover. Also, big thanks to every reader who reaches this point, I appreciate every single view :)

Chapter 36: Night Shift

The stables appeared in the distance after some time walking, hopefully Danny would be there, and hopefully he would let him spend the night. The empty streets were as menacing to him as before, so as soon as he reached the wooden door, he opened it and rushed inside.

As soon as he closed the door, Danny's familiar, friendly voice reached him from a stall, Ray's stall. "Who's there?"

"It's me"

Danny's head popped-out of Ray's former stall, he immediately noticed that Jack was carrying his backpack "What happened?"

"I need a place to stay for tonight" he approached Danny "I don't want to be rude or anything... but this was the only place I could think of"

"Don't worry... what happened with Joel and Ellie?"

"It's something between Joel and me, no offence, but I don't feel like talking about it wet"

"Ok... well, come in"

Jack got into the stall, the smell of horse shit was still strong (but bearable), there weren't any trace of hay and everything he was used to see in a stall was gone "cleaning?"

"Yes, I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with this place, so feel free to stay here for as long as you need"

"It wont be long, I promise" Joel couldn't be mad at him forever, he would be back at the house in a couple of days for sure.

Danny nodded and left him alone in the stall "I'm leaving, I need some rest. Take care of the guys for me"

"Thank you" Danny left the stable, leaving him alone with the horses. He left his backpack on the floor and left the stall.

Although he might take a coulpe of hours, he decided he would check on each individual horse. He didn't had much left to do until his shift that night.

Ellie spent the next hour wondering how to approach this situation. Joel was now at the kitchen, she had to say something. She was not going to dissapoint this time, she was determined to be at the watchtower that night. Either she remains silent and sneaks out without telling him or she convinces him to let her do it.

Jack's words kept creeping into her thoughts 'You really think your saying matters, don't you?' He was somewhat right, Joel wasn't her father, she was not bound by blood to him. But after everything they been through (Jack was unaware of most of it), she couldn't just dismiss him. There was a relationship binding them together and she couldn't ignore it. No, if she wanted to do this, she needed his permission.

"Joel..." she walked into the kitchen, Joel was holding a little object, a little green man holding a gun "what's that?"

"We used to call them 'army men'...a toy, kids used a bunch of these to fight imaginary battles" at least he saunded relaxed now, a good thing.

"Sounds fun... from where did it come from?" Joel extended his arm towards her, he was holding a napkin with a message written on it, apparently from Jack. 'From Esther'

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with her" she slightly raised her voice. The mere mention of that woman annoyed her.

"I don't" Joel carefully placed the little guy on the counter "but we share a couple of words with each other from time to time. I told you, remember?"

"Yeah, months ago... and you followed that by saying you wanted nothing to do with her"

"You think this will culminate with me having to choose between you and someone I barely know?" The ghost of a smile appeared on his face as the little girl took a seat next to him.

"Of course not"

"Listen, kiddo... quoting someone very important to me: 'we are in this together, everything else is secondary'. You still remember how we felt our first week here?"

"It sucked"

"But we pulled through" he was right, it was really dumb to feel like someone could ever replace her. He proved time and time again that was impossible "let's move on, okay?"

She nodded "so why did she give you that?"

"It's for you, she thought you would find it interesting" he handed the little dude to her.

She examined it more in detail, but something was off about him "you said 'army men'... so this is supposed to be a soldier, right?"

"Yes"

"But it looks nothing like a soldier, I've seen photos of how soldiers looked like" they were hulking beasts carrying a lot of equipment, this little green guy was only using a shirt and was carrying a normal pistol.

"This is based on how soldiers looked like a long time ago, long before the outbreak. From the Second World War , probably"

She heard a couple of mentions to wars and conflicts from before the outbreak, but no one ever gave any details. So hearing that shocked her a little bit.

"World!? And the second? So... for a period of time everyone everywhere just agreed on killing each other... twice"

"It was not like that. And I really don't want to go over the details now. But yes, a lot of nations were involved, but it happened even before I was born"

"Still... wow"

This time a real smile appeared on his face "yeah" his face turned serious "but you don't really want to talk about that now"

She was struggling to figure out a way to approach this. Being direct already failed before, but maybe now it would be more effective.

"I have a shift tonight, Joel. Like it or not, no one else can fill the vacant"

"I can" he didn't hesitate.

"You already have your own schedule"

"I can fill both"

"No, you can't"

"You clearly forgot who you're dealing with here" her biggest desire right now was to contribute, at least a little bit. She was not going to lose against Joel's stubborness. She never did before, after all.

"Joel, I want to do this myself"

"I can't let you"

"What can I do to convince you?"

"Nothing" this back and forth was not leading anywhere.

She couldn't deny she was getting a little bit irritated. "I can do this"

"I know... my answer is still the same, though"

"Joel!" That came off like a whine, she hated herself for that.

He stood up "I'm tired, I think I'll..."

"No! Joel,no... sit down...please"

"This conversation is over, Ellie"

He just left, not looking back at her. What now? She could just leave without telling him, but they both knew she wouldn't. This made her go back in time, the first time they had a real disagreement, at the dam; back when Joel wanted to get rid of her, now it was the other way around.

She went upstairs, this was not over. Joel's door was closed, Ellie didn't know if he was just avoiding her or if he really was tired, and she didn't care.

"Joel! C'mon, I'm not going anywhere" she said, mercilessly banging his door.

Joel voice came from the other side "stop" he didn't open the door.

"Not until you agree that it's a good idea for me to take some responsibilities"

He opened the door, ending the constant banging, "not like this"

"How many people have died during a shift?"

"Too many"

"One guy"

"One too many" although he said it with authority, something appeared in his eyes that gave her hope, a glimpse of doubt. His position was not as strong as he thought.

"I'd be with Jack, remember? Probably the only guy in this town they would not kill. I'll be safe as long I'm with him"

"Or endangered"

"This is just the paranoia speaking"

"No... no" now she definitely saw some doubt on him, questioning his own reasoning in a way that would be impossible a year ago.

"Two letters, Joel. An 'O' followed by a 'K' ; say them and you can forget about this, leave this little debate behind" Joel was considering it, what she said about Jack really got to it was just 'defend my unsustainable position for as long as I can' with him.

"I just want to protect you."

"And that's why you're great" this was it, his brain was working at full speed, coming up with the best possible course of action. Whatever he decide now, it's going to be his definitive position "So?"

"Ellie..."

"I know it's difficult for you, but life isn't easy"

Joel seemed angry, he couldn't escape this.

"I'm...I..."

"What?"

"Ellie... just..." he was tired and there were no more excuses.

"Joel" this was it, he was going to break "what's gonna be?"

The darkness of the night was coming, he could see it from up there, an orange bright light at his right, a deep blue sky at his left.

Jack looked at his backpack, already hungry. He had a can of something (Danny didn't tell him what it was) in there, but no, he couldn't waste it so soon.

He had replaced the two guards at the watchtower only a couple of minutes ago. They didn't seem happy when he told the it was only him; fortunately they were tired, so they didn't ask too many questions.

Hopefully Joel would reconsider his position. Ellie was not a defenseless little kid, she was perfect for this Joel was comfortable enough knowing she would spend her days there running errands and taking care of horses. He couldn't just accept a change or a risk.

Some time passed, everything seemed normal. The walkie-talkie on his waist remained silent, meaning there was nothing out of the order in Jackson. Everything was fine.

He checked the bandages on his hand once again, they were fine. He was worried they would make shooting difficult. But fortunately he could hold a rifle just fine.

"Hey" a voice coming from behind made him jump.

Ellie's head was popping out from the edge. Just like him, she was carrying her own rifle and backpack.

"No way Joel let you come here"

"Why not?"

"He knows, right?" The last this he needed was even more problems with him.

"Yes, he knows I'm here"

How was that possible? He didn't know. But it was irrelevant, the important thing was that she was there.

"Okay... let's focus now, alright? We'll discuss your miracle powers of persuasion later"

Ellie nodded, she seemed happy to be there. "Let's see what all the fuss is about"

"Believe me, by the end, you'll be shocked you ever wanted to do this voluntarily"

"Nice encouraging words" She left her backpack next to his on the floor and loaded her rifle. Getting prepared for the long night ahead of her.