Chapter 7

"What's the deal with ya?" Joel inquired after a while of silence. Ellie had taken a step back as the two men stood face to face. Andy frowned his own. Ellie's reaction and the fact that he got them out had made him a bit more confident.
"The deal with me? What is it with you? I got you out!" he complained to him, taking a short look at Ellie on the side.
"Don't you even look at her!" Joel denied, placing himself right between the two of them. Andy took a step back, trying to calm Joel down.
"Woah, woah... I don't mean to praise myself, but hell! Cut me some slack!"
"Yeah? And what if I won't?"
"Joel!" Ellie interrupted again. She took a few steps closer, pushing Joel for a bit.
"He really is nice. Like I told you, they didn't..."
"Yeah, but they tried, didn't they?" Joel turned his head towards the girl, whose mind obviously filled with unpleasant memories. It took a while for Andy to notice what they were talking about.
"Actually.." Andy saw his chance, and neither of the two of them were happy to hear him speak at that moment.
"The lie that she told just a moment ago..." he continued while noticing that he wasn't interrupted. Ellie wasn't happy to hear him correct her story, but she listened for the sake of Andy and to get Joel forgive him.
"She was brave, she truly was. After punching Oliver and elbowing Matt and Mike I got the feeling she ain't one to be played with" he continued his tale. Joel wasn't too pleased with the attitude he was gaining after he got away from his dominating friends.
"Anyway, after the guys laid too many good ones at her, I couldn't watch it. I faked an alarm about a huge pack of deer, and I got them to stop. They were already quite tired of her, so she did a pretty good job. I just finished what she started" he finished the story, nodding a few times. He tried to see her better, even tough Joel did a good job trying to stand in front of her. After a moment of silence, he took a shy look into Joel's eyes and offered his hand.
"I'm Andy"
Joel didn't speak for a good while, as he tried to measure the guy again. He didn't give any attention to the hand he was offered. Ellie wasn't shouting over his story, so it must have been true, and he checked it by looking at her.
"He ain't lying, Joel. Plus he saved our guts" she explained, moving her eyes to Andy again. Joel didn't speak. He turned his head back to Andy, who finally put his hand down.
"He's not that much of a speaker... he's Joel" Ellie introduced him against his will, but he didn't fight back. Joel wasn't able to say a word, as the two of them sat down under the tree. They were behind his back, and he didn't want to turn.
"So how old are you?"
"I'm fourteen. And I'm Ellie, by the way"
"Oh, you're quite feisty to be fourteen. I'm 22 and even I can't fight like that"

Joel stood further away, gazing towards the village. He guarded there for a while, just in case Andy's pals tried to follow him or track them down. There didn't seem to be any further movement, and the village seemed to quiet down after the hassle a while ago. He turned around and put his rifle to his back, walking down to the rock he had leaned on earlier.
Joel finally sat down to the same place as before, and leaned towards the rock for a nicer position. Andy took a brief look at him, as Joel's eyes didn't leave him for one second after he had settled. The two of them stopped talking while Joel glanced at them, and Ellie felt a bit odd. They had talked the whole time, but it seemed like the father had joined the chat. It was quiet before Joel broke the silence.
"Why'd you help us?" Joel asked after the two of them had paused their conversation. Ellie stared at Joel. She had a good feeling about Andy, and couldn't help but feel ashamed for being parented by Joel that moment. It was odd from her to be trusting a stranger, but he had showed his loyalty back in the house. If he really was bad, he would've joined the others with their disgusting plans.
"Why wouldn't I? You were in trouble and I had a chance to get out of there with you" he answered, and laughed once. Even though he had become more secure about himself, Joel's piercing gaze didn't make him too comfortable. Andy was still thinking that Joel was Ellie's father, even though he found their relationship very odd. Either Joel was a distant, controlling parent, they had a huge fight going on or Ellie was just a complicated teenager. Andy leaned on the first option.

"Then why were you there in the first place?" Joel didn't stop inquiring the guy, who sighed out, gazing towards his own feet. Ellie interrupted again, since Joel was becoming more and more frustrated. He leaned to his knees and kept a serious face at Andy the whole time.
"Stop it! You used to be a hunter and you changed for the better afterwards! At least this guy is doing it like.. twenty years younger than you were back then!" she shouted at Joel. She wasn't too angry, but she hoped they could take Andy with them without further battles. A third person was always a third pair of arms and a weapon, and she knew that Joel thought so too.

Andy was quite happy to hear about Joel's past, since it made him look better compared to him.
"Ellie" Joel lowered his voice. Talking about his hunter times was always a very uncomfortable topic for him, and he wanted to leave it behind. Among with so many other things, he would change it if he could.
"So you should know what I'm talking about" Andy smiled weakly. He nodded a few times, lifting his eyes back to Joel. His smirk disgusted Joel and he was starting to lose it.
"I know what you people are like-"
"You mean we - like me and you?" Andy interrupted, but Joel had gotten enough of his lousy jokes. He bit his teeth together in anger, crawling up from the ground while holding his side with his left arm due the pain.
"That's it..." he grunted again, taking his pistol from the holster.
"Wait! Hey..." Andy started hesitating, as he tried to push himself inside the tree with all his leg power. Instead of calming down, Joel took the safety off and made the one step to reach Andy's feet. The boy shivered once, and pushed his knees against his chest. Ellie had backed down, getting up from the ground herself. She stumbled once and tried to figure out what to say.
"Joel.." was all that came out.
"Tell me what you're after" he inquired from Andy, who was no longer smiling. He felt like he should cut it out with the jokes and start acting more like an adult.
"I-I'm sorry, man..."
"Answer - the - question" Joel demanded while loading his gun. Andy was starting to feel like he was in real danger. Joel didn't seem like he was kidding and he seemed pretty crazy.
"Fuck, Joel!" Ellie shook her head while staring the pair of guys in front of her.
"Spit it out!" Joel shouted one last time as the gun was loaded and ready to go.
"I'm David's son!"