Ellie and Jesse keep talking while we make our way. I see Ellie glance at me, then down at my shaking hand, then back at Jesse. I don't respond to her looks and just keep going. I meant what I said to Ellie and I hope she thinks about it. Sure, the killers will get justice for what they did to Joel, but after everything we've been through I don't know how much longer we can keep going. Especially with Dina needing care. Killing Henry and Steven, and burning down the Haros did not help me in the long run, and this mission may not help Ellie in the long run, but all I know is that I need to be here with her for the process and hopefully at some point she will find the thing that helps her heal. Ellie is mine, so I'm with her.
We climb onto a truck and we look out through the foggy horizon where we can point out the Ferris wheel in the distance, "There's the Ferris wheel. That's where the aquarium is." Ellie says as she puts away the map.
"Heres hoping Tommy has the same info." Jesse says and we jump down. Our only way is through the disgusting street water, "Damn. Looks like we'll be swimming." Jesse says and we jump into the water.
"I don't think I'll ever smell nice." I say when we get out of the water.
"Yeah you're signature scent really is a hot pile of garbage." Ellie jokes and I give her a small smile. When we cross over the pond, the new area we enter has infected inside, "Pst. Infected." Ellie whispers to us and we prepare to either fight or sneak past them. I try to listen closely and I hear the clicking of a clicker and the grunts of runners. Looks like we're fighting. We start to try and sneak but there's stalkers in the area so they spot us quickly. A few run at us. Ellie shoots them while I pick up a machete off the ground and attack the stalker running at me. Jesse shoots his gun at the incoming infected.
"I don't hear anything. You think we're clear?" Jesse asks.
"Yeah. Think so." Ellie replies back and leads us forward through the destroyed building. We jump over a barricade that has broken fence over it onto a ramp that leads up. We're about to keep moving when we hear more infected screaming behind us.
"We got more!" Jesse says and I pull out my gun to see a runner and three stalkers jump over the barricade. Ellie handles the runner and stalker while Jesse and I take care of the remaining two stalkers.
"God I hate those things. Never know where they fucking are." I breath out when we finish them off.
"Yeah, let's go before more creep up on us." Jesse says and we move, "This place looks like a dead end."
"Yeah... I think you're right." Ellie replies as she goes down and picks up a note off the edge. We head out of the destroyed building and go back to the main road with the pond to find our way to the Ferris wheel.
"Go Team Jackson." Jesse says.
"Yeah fuck these motherfuckers." Ellie says and she walks over to high five Jesse. She walks over to me and raises her hand with a small smile. I return it and clasp my hand into hers for a high five. She intertwines our fingers in the air then slowly releases my hand. Jesse walks over to me and smiles with his hand raised. I return the high five and we keep moving to jump down into the water once again. The building next to us says Kingstons Bookstore. We have to dive underwater, but we're able to find a way up to it.
"Dead end." Ellie says as she looks around the corner. Jesse points to a small hole at the top of the wall.
"Think you can get in there?"
Ellie shrugs her shoulders, "Let's see." Jesse gives her a boost up and she's able to fit. He boosts me up next and I stay so I can reach down and help him up as well. Once we're through I look around the destroyed building and see some books and other supplies.
"I would've come, you know. If you told me you were leaving." Jesse says.
"I just... I didn't think you'd be okay with all of this." Ellie tells him.
"I looked up to Joel... what happened to him was messed up. I would've come."
"Joel liked you a lot too, you know. He used to think I had a crush on you." When Ellie says this I snort a little bit. I remember Joel telling me over morning coffee about his old suspicions over Ellie and Jesse before he found out she was dating Cat. Told me that's why he doesn't trust his 'keen eye' anymore.
"Really?" Jesse replies humourlessly.
"I mean... you're handsome and whatever... but I'm not into your type."
"What? Asians?" I full on snort at this and crawl through a barricaded bookcase. When I look to the left I see one of the cards that Ellie likes to collect, so I grab it.
"Yeah... that's obviously what I meant." Ellie says.
I go over to Ellie and hand her the card, "You got this one?"
Ellie shakes her head and smiles, "No. Thanks babe." I smile and continue searching the place.
"At least Joel was able to guess your type after Lia came." Jesse says.
"What do you mean? He knew she was into girls before me- she was dating Cat." I furrow my eyebrows at Jesse. Ellie too furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Jesse.
"He talked about you two before. Basically said as long as Lia was into girls you guys would be a thing." I smile at this and think about my last conversation with Joel. "I'm happy she has you". Well I'm happy to have her. We get to a kids section and we all stare confusedly at the mushrooms on the wall. Ellie takes out her journal and draws the wall quickly, "You guys have a favourite book as a kid?" Jesse asks.
"Yeah," Ellie replies "Battle Ghosts. It's about these space marines who fight off-"
"Ghosts?" Jesse cuts Ellie off.
"Alien ghosts." I still feel a little confused.
"Sounds... like something you'd like." Jesse chuckles, "What about you Lia?"
"Not really. We never had books to read at the Haros. My dad taught me to read, but the only stuff he had was his medical journals. I never read anything else until I got to Jackson. You?"
"Well... my mom only had this one kid's book. The Root Child. About this boy who turns into a forest to save his village. To keep things fresh, though... my mom would improvise different endings. This one time, the boy just let the whole village die. Gave me nightmares."
Ellie chuckles, "Dark... that's really sweet she did that."
"Yeah," Jesse chuckles, "mom's a sweetheart. She's gonna go crazy when she hears about this baby..."
"Sure, I could see that." Ellie says and I nod. Jesse's gonna be a really good dad. When I look over at Ellie she's staring at one of the kids books. The look of wanting in her eyes. Ellie would be a really good mom.
"So as soon as we survive this... I say as soon as we get back, we get drunk and play some board games."
"Oh yeah." Ellie raises her eyebrow.
"Yeah. I want to feel normal."
Ellie sighs, "That sounds great... Except I don't think Dina's going to be drinking."
"Well, she can stay sober."
"Great boyfriend you are." I tell him and he winks. On the top floor we find a few dead bodies. Their blood splattered all over the floor and walls, "this place is fucked." I whisper and Jesse agrees as he comes over to crouch and examine the bodies. Ellie creeps behind me to get a look.
"Let's get back to the street." Jesse says.
"Yeah." Ellie whispers before leading us to find a way out. To our left there is a ledge we can jump down from and we find light that leads us back out onto the streets.
"Don't let the boy escape!" We hear a man shout in the distance, "Got 'im! Sweep the area for survivors." another voice shouts after their dog took out the boy. We crouch down into the tall grass and see a few people.
"Think we should split up and take them out?" I ask.
"Yeah. It's a big area and they're pretty spread out. Just try to be quiet." Jesse replies. Ellie and I nod and we all break out to take them out. I head towards the tall building to the left while Ellie heads towards the dog and solider, and Jesse heads towards the lookout above. I crawl through the grass with my knife in my hand ready to either throw or stab the enemy. When I get closer to the building I see two guys in the area. One walks near me in the grass so I grab him and plunge my knife into their throat. The other guy is too far to grab, but close enough that I can throw my knife and kill him. I listen and scout the area for any more men, but it seems clear. I try to find Ellie and Jesse and spot Jesse in the distance closing in on the lookout above. The sound of a dog barking catches my attention and I see that it's picked up Ellie's sent. It isn't long though until an arrow flies out of the grass and into the solder's head. The dog starts barking and heads towards the area but Ellie is faster.
"I think that was the last one." Jesse tells us, "Yeah." Ellie replies and we start heading up to get a better view of where we have to go, "This place makes me appreciate Jackson." Jesse tells us, "Yeah. I can't wait to be back in my bed." I tell them, "And to see Leo. This is the longest we've ever been apart."
"We'll be home soon." Jesse says. After we've maneuvered through a few buildings and areas Jesse speaks up again, "Think Abby picked the aquarium since it is so damn hard to get too."
"Maybe." Ellie says. We finally get to the top of a building where we can get a good look at how much farther we have to go. The view in front of us looks impossible to get through with it being all water.
"How the hell are we crossin' this?" Jesse says. Ellie's about to reply but looks over to our right and on the road there's a bunch of cars driving along the highway.
"We could use that road?" Ellie suggests, "It's pretty fucking far."
"Or we use that?" Jesse says and we look down and see a boat on the water.
"Great. Well let's go get a fucking boat now." I say. We move to go through another obstacle of finding and stealing a boat.