Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog, Sony, and their creators.
A/N: Sorry for the delay on this story, but I was working on another one and go too long. I have already finished that one, so after I post the last chapter on that one, this one will go back to his original post as one chapter for a week. I don't want to complain but is a little sad that people that read stories on this fandom or any findom on this site don't leave at least one comment on a story. Some writers need inspiration for their work and need to know how people think about the story they write. I read a lot of stories here and I always leave a few comments on them, because I know that that is important for the writers. Yes this is a hobby and not one is obligated to do that, but it makes the writer feel good about their work. Anyway, thank you for reading and the next chapter will be up in two weeks.
Chapter 15: The hunter's Revenge
Sometime later. A red pick-up truck arrives at the warehouse where the hunter's base is. The hunter's boss and another man got out of it and walked toward the front doors. The boss man's leg still hurt, so the other man was helping him a little while he was walking. "Where is he?" The boss asked the hunter guard that was in front of the door. He was told on the radio about the fight in the building and that they captured one of the intruders.
"We brought him here as soon as we can boss … but he is not in a good shape… we also lost three more men in the incident and Billy is… not good," answered the hunter.
"Fuck!... I told them not to engage them… get out of the way…" he pushed the man away from the entrance and walked inside. Soon the boss and the other man were inside the warehouse, they walked toward the center of the place. "Where is the man responsible for all this?" he yelled as soon as he saw a few of his men standing around the place.
"We got him in the storeroom… but that motherfucker blew Tom, Marcus, and another man up… We brought Billy back, but the doctor said that he is not going to make it… he lost an arm and a lot of blood." said one of the hunters.
"Shit… that kid was only 17…" he moved forward and walked toward the storage room where they kept some of the prisoners when they captured them in town. "Was he alone? Did you see the others… a young girl per have?" he started asking while continuing his walk toward there.
A few of his men start to follow him. "No… we searched the area and didn't see anyone else, besides the building was all on fire… so if someone else was there… I don't think they survive that."
The boss stopped and looked at the one that was talking. "He did… is that not right?" he said in a harsh tone.
The man looks scared now. "Yeah… but-" he started to say but his boss interrupted him.
"I don't care what you think… I want a few men back there and search again… I don't want any more surprises or another incident like this. I know that there have to be more of them, including the girl that stabbed me, so I want them found." he said to the man, then turned around and entered the storage room.
Soon he entered the room, he saw Joel tie up on a metal fence that divides the place into two parts. They used it with other people before, so the fence was prepared for that. The boss walked close to the man and noticed that part of his clothes were burned and some part of his body too., especially his left arm and his chest. The burn didn't look too severe, but he knows that it still hurts a lot. The hunter boss walked toward him. Joel was with his head down and his eyes closed. His body was almost hinging unconscious, as his hands were tied up to the fence and over his head.
The boss hunter moved closer. "So this is the motherfucker that killed my men?" He grabs Joel's hair and pulls his head up. He has some blood and cuts on his face and part of his neck has burned a little. Joel stayed immobile, even after the hunter boss yanked his hair up.
"Yes boss… he is the one that blows the roof of that building and kills our men." said one of the hunters that were with him inside the room.
The hunter boss looked at his face and even with his eyes closed, he recognized him. "Yeah… he is one of them… he is the one that came shooting at us with a bike…" he looked at his bloody face for a few more minutes then let go of his hair and turned around to talk to the other hunter there. "Did he say something?" he asked them as he knew the man couldn't answer him himself.
One of the hunters answered him. "No… we found him like this in one of the lower floors after he blew up the roof of the building he was in."
"That is correct boss. We don't know how he managed that, but even with all his burn wounds he was still alive." said another one.
The boss turned his head and looked at the man that just spoke. "And if he survived... Don't you think that the other did too?." He looked at Joel's body again. "I saw that explosion a mile away, but it took time for me to get there as the truck didn't want to start." he turned and looked at them. "But all of you were there, so why did you find only him and not the others?" he asked them.
"Sorry boss… we tried to check the whole building but we had to get out of there as the fire was spreading fast," said one of them.
"Yes boss we only have time to grab the boy that was still in the fire stair when the roof exploded and him when we noticed that he was still alive." said another one.
"Yes, we bring them here as soon as we can, so the doc-" he stops when the boss gives him a glaring look.
"If you imbecile do what I told you and call me when you find them in that building, maybe we could have them all, and nothing of this would happen." He turned and looked at Joel again. "Anyway, if he was here... so is the girl that was with him." he moved away from him and got close to his men. "I want her found and any others that are with her… so I want any man that is in condition to fight out there looking for them."
One of the hunters looked at him with a scared expression. "Are you sure about that… boss? Because I don't think we have enough men now to send out."
"Yeah, I agreed with Tom boss, what if they come here looking for him? We can leave this place unguarded," Said the hunter's second in command before the boss hunter spoke again.
"Then just send two or three… and don't worry about things here, we will be ready if they decide to show up here looking for the old man…" he said as he walked away from them. Soon he got to the door of the storage room, he stopped. "Just one more thing, leave one guard in here and let me know as soon as he wakes up… I have some questions for him." With that, the man opened the door and walked out of the room.
His second in command looked at the others. "Jonson you stay here… the rest of you get your guns and start patrolling the perimeter. I will find two men to go back to that place and check the area," he said before walking out of the place too with the rest of the men following him.
The boss walked toward the doctor's office where he was attending to the boy that got injured in the incident. Soon he arrives there he opens the door and gets inside. He saw the doctor working on the kid on top of a table he has there.
"How is he doing... doc?" he asked the doctor as soon he got closer.
The doctor just grabs a sheet and covers the boy's body with it. "He lost a lot of blood… There was nothing I could do for him… sorry," he said moving away from the table where the body is with a sad expression.
"Fuck… he was just a kid…" the man walks close to where the body is and looks at it. "I don't know what went wrong here… First my brother and my men in that wood factory and now this... I swear to God... I will kill all these people for this. Especially that girl after me and my men have too much fun with her. I will make her suffer for what she does to me," he said while moving close to the wall of the office and punching it.
"I'm sorry for all you lost, But going on a revenge rampage is not a good idea," said the doctor while cleaning the blood from his hand. "I know that you and you men have to do things to survive, but after today and all the dead lately… I think that it is time for you and you men to change the way you're doing things," he looked at the boy's body on the table and lowered his head. "There is not much for us here now... so why not just pack what we can and get out of here and find a better place to be?" he said looking at the hunter's boss now.
The boss turned around and looked at him with a mad expression. "What the hell are you saying?" he yelled at him. "Change or way? Runaway and make a community to help others?" Is that what you are suggesting?" he said while moving close to the doctor.
The doctor backed away from him. "I am not telling you what to do, but you need to think about all this. I know the world changes, but you and your men don't have to be this way. None of us need to die, we can go and do other things. Besides we don't know how many they are and they already kill half of your men… they even kill you brother… so why we-" he stops when the hunter boss walks closer to him and grabs him by his shirt.
He pulled him toward the table where the dead kid was and pushed him closer to his body. "Look at him!..." he removes the sheet and pushes him toward his face. "LOOK AT HIM!.. He was just a boy. A boy that I found on the street was almost killed by the infected. I save him and so many others including you… Our way of life has got us saved and you want us to change? We do what we have to… and we're not going to change that. They killed my brother and half of my men… and you want us to run?"
The doctor was trembling and tried to get away from him. "Nothing of this will happen if you and-" he started, but the boss just pulled him away from the dead body and threw him to the floor.
"You're just a coward… you always were. Our way saves your life and the only thing I ask from you is to keep me people healthy. You've been part of all this since I rescued you from those infected in the hole of that town you were in and now you're getting all moral?" he walked close to him. "They killed my brother and half of my men, yes… But I will make sure that all of them die a painful death… and if somebody is against that or wants to leave, I will kill them myself… and that includes you," he kicked the doctor on his side before walking away from him. The boss hunter walked to the door and opened it, but before he walked out he looked at the doctor again. "I keep you alive because you're good at your job, but that will change if you give me your opinion again. Now I will send someone to take the kid out of here and bury him in the back yard… and if you appreciate your life so much. I suggest that you do what I said and not talk to me like that again." With that, the boss walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
The doctor looks at the door and waits to hear him walk away before he starts to get up. Killing is like a circle in life… and all bad things you do in life always come back to you like a carma. He whispered while grabbing his side in pain.
Soon the boss gets out of the room, he walks toward the center of the warehouse, where most of his men hang out when they are not hunting people or infected in the town. The warehouse was not big and it was used for the military when they came to help people. It was abandoned when things went bad with the infected. But the place and their surrender area still have his military fortification perimeter. The hunter made a living room in the middle of the warehouse, while the rest served as sleeping quarters and storage places. The hunter boss started to feel the pain in his leg, as he walked toward the middle of the place and sat on a couch there.
After a few minutes, his second in command saw him and walked toward him. Soon he got close to his boss, he spoke. "So, what is the plan boss? I check the men here and we only have 15 men left."
The boss just leaned his head back and closed his eyes trying not to think about the pain in his leg. "Don't worry about that, those men will be enough to kill those assholes that came here to ruin our fun," he opened his eyes and looked at him. "I don't even think that there are so many of them. I bet that they're probably 3 or 4 and we already have that old man in the storage room… and if he is their leader… they will probably come for him," he said while closing his eyes again.
His second in command moved closer to him. "And you think it was a good idea to send two men out there? What would happen if the intruder found them? Losing more men will be bad for us." he said with a worried tone.
The hunter's boss opened his eyes again and looked at him. "Ahhh don't worry about them, I just want to know if someone else was killed there… I know that old man meant something to the girl that killed my brother… so when she comes looking for him, I will kill him in front of her… Then we're going to have some fun with her before killing her."
"And how do you know that she will come for him?" he asked with curiosity.
"Because if she is not dead, and I hope not… she will search the whole town looking for him and this place is like a Christmas tree in the middle of a dark forest. She will find this place as soon as they see the lights and know that we are here. And when they come here we'll be waiting for them." he looked at him with a grin on his face.
The hunter looked at him but didn't know what to say. He knew that he wanted his revenge and so did the rest of his men. They already lost half of the group including their boss brother, so they will do everything to get their revenge. "I just hope that there are not too many… So what is the plan?"
The man looked at him and smiled. "Just get the men well armed and ready to fight…"
xXx
Sometime later in another place in town. Ellie was on the roof looking at Joel's face after he grabbed the plank and pushed it over the roof edge and down the building. "JOEL!... What are you doing?" she yells with all her strength.
"Giving you a chance…" he turned his head as gunfire could be heard on the other side of the roof. Joel turned his head back again and looked at her. "Just run kiddo… get to the bike and get out of here."
"NOOO! I'm not going to leave you…"
"Is okay… baby girl… everything is going to be fine… and always remember that I love you." With that Ellie watched Joel turn around and go into the smoke and while firing his gun toward the hunters.
Ellie can't believe what he was doing. He was sacrificing himself for her and she can't let him do that. Ellie looked around in panic and tried to find a way to get back to that building but without the plank it was impossible. So she gets up on the edge of the building and looks at the smoke for any sign of Joel. But before she can do something, a big explosion occurs on the roof of the other building.
The impact of the explosion sent Ellie flying back into the roof. She landed on the concrete hitting her head hard. After a minute, she tried to move and get up, but the pain was too much. She can feel blood on her head, but before she can move her arms to get up, a figure appears beside her.
"Did you think that you could save him?" Ellie opened her eyes wide when she heard that voice… David's voice. "You couldn't save him as much as you can't save yourself."
Ellie looked at him unbelieving that he was there. "You are dead… I kill you.'"
He smiled at her. "Yes… you did… but here I'm… always watching over your shoulder… always waiting for the time that we will be together again…"
"No… that is never going to happen…" Ellie tries again to get up, but David grabs her by the hair and pulls her up. "Argggg… let me go you motherfucker asshole… you're not real." She screams but Davide just pulls her toward the edge of the building.
Ellie struggles all the way in pain and soon they arrive there he pulls her up and makes her see Joel on the other part of the buildings. David laughs while Ellie's eyes open wilder.
"Did you still think that he is going to save you?" He pushed her down to her knees and made her look at the fire. "He can't help you anymore… because you let him die..." the voice changed to the one she heard in the wood factory. She turned her head and looked at the man behind her, but it wasn't David anymore; it was the hunter boss.
"You… motherfucker… I will kill you..." she yelled at him with some pain in her voice.
"I doubt that… and you know why? Because you don't have anybody… you're all alone now and no one is going to help you. I will find that girl and make her mine and when I get tired of her I just kill her and find a new one… this world is full of innocent girls that I can get my hands on… she is not the first one or the last one I will take." he said with some laughing tone.
Ellie tries to free herself, but the man just gets her up and pushes her forward to the edge of the roof. "I WILL STOP YOU!" she yelled with all her might.
"Oh… really? You don't even have the strength to save him!" He pushed Ellie until she was closer to the edge of the building roof, so she could see what was in front of her. Soon Ellie notices what he wants her to see, her eyes open wider in horror. It was Joel's body on the roof of the other building. He was covered in flames. He was so burned out, that she couldn't recognize his face.
"JOEL!…. NOOOOOOO!"
Ellie opened her eyes violently at the horror she has just seen. Ellie looks at the ceiling and notices that she was inside a room, what she just saw was only a bad dream. But it feels so real, that she can still smell the smoke and feel the heat from the fire. Elle's body felt like shit, it hurt everywhere and her throat felt like she just swallowed a lot of dust. Slowly she moved her head to look where she was, but the place was almost dark and the only illumination that came from a distant place in the room. Ellie tries to move her body to get up and see where she was, but her body does not respond well and it hurts when she breathes too. After a few minutes, she said Joel's name as loudly as she could, trying to think that he was there and all that happened before was just a nightmare.
Some stood up from a chair there and walked toward her. "Hey… you need to calm down… it is not good for you to talk or move yet… you take a lot of smoke in and have a few cuts around your body." said a familiar voice beside her.
Ellie moved her head to the side and toward the voice. A voice she recognizes from before. "Thomas?… is that you?" she asks with some difficulty.
"Yes… is me… now relax and try not to move." The old man walked close to where she was laying on the floor. "You inhale a lot of smoke… and that is not good," he said as soon as he knelt beside her.
Ellie looked around and tried to see where she was. "I will… be fine…but… but… where is Joel?" she asked while slowly sitting up.
The man helped her a little, she did not have to do all the effort. "I don't know… I was hoping that you would tell me where he go… I came with him looking for you, but he left me in the car a few miles from the town and came by himself," said the old man while checking if she had other injuries besides the bruises on her arms and face.
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "He is not here?" she asked with a panicked voice.
"I'm afraid not… I was lucky to find you on that building roof beside the one in flames. You're unconscious, and I saw some bruises and blood on your head, so I picked you up and brog you here... but I never saw Joel there... So what happened?" he asked with a sad tone.
Ellie tried to get up from the floor again, but the pain in her body was too much. "I came here to kill that bastard that went after you granddaughter, but his men found me…" tiers start to fall down from her eyes as she starts to remember what happened in that building. "But after Joel found me and saved me, we went to hide in another building until the night came, but they found us again and…" with some difficulty the old man helped her up to her feet.
The man stays by her side holding her steady so she doesn't fall down. "Easy girl… you are weak and hurt, so why don't you stay lying on the floor is-" he stops when Ellie tries to get away from him.
"NO!... I can't stay here and do anything… I need to find Joel… he was on the roof of the building on fire… but I know that he must find a way to get out of there before the explosion… I know he did," she said while sobbing and coughing a few times.
"An explosion?… Shit, girl… Are you sure that Joel was in that building on fire?" he watches Ellie moving her head up and down slowly. "Oh, God… I'm so sorry… Ellie, but that building was half in flame when I got there. I was lucky to find you on the other one, but if Joel was on the one on fire, I don't see the way he-" he was interrupted by Ellie's sudden screaming.
"NO!..." said Ellie while pushing him away from her. "He is not dead… I know he is not…" she coughs again and again. The old man gets close to her and puts his hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving.
"I'm so sorry… I don't mean to upset you… maybe you're right, maybe he wasn't there when the fire started…" Tomas moved his hand on her back and hugged her. Even if Ellie didn't want to, she started to cry on his chest. She never does that with anyone except Joel, but right now she can't stop herself.
"Oh, Joel… I'm so sorry… all this is my fault... " she said his name a few more times while continuing to cry. " But, I know that you're alive… I know, because you promise me to never leave me." Ellie buried her face on the man's chest while continuing to cry.
"Is okay Ellie… I know you-" he was going to say her dad, but for what she told him Joel wasn't her father or at least her real one. "I saw that Joel is a man that can take care of himself, so if he gets out of that building before it goes on fire. Maybe I can go out and search the area and see if I can find him while you rest," after he says that Ellie moved away from him slowly.
"No way I'm going to stay here and wait… I'm going with you…" she said with a firm voice. Joel is out there somewhere I know… he must be hurt and need my help, so I'm going…" Ellie is hoping that the hunter doesn't have him. She wants to think that he got out of the building before got on fire and is hiding somewhere. She also knows that the hunters are looking for them, so she needs to find him before those hunters do.
The old man looked at her with sad eyes. He saw how that building was on fire and if Joel was there it is probably that he was still alive. "Look, I know you want to find him, but you're hurt, so let me be the one to go and look-" he started but got interrupted by Ellie.
"I'm totally fine… so don't start with the crap about I'm hurt and I'm just a girl because I don't care about any of that shit…" Ellie turns around and starts looking for her backpack. "Where is my stuff? I have my backpack on me when we try to get away from those hunters…" Ellie was determined to find Joel and even if those hunters have him, she will go to their hideout and get him back.
The man turned his head to the side and looked at it. "Is over there…'' he said while pointing to a small table in the corner of the room. "Sorry if I was hard on you, but I worry about your health and I know that your old man doesn't want you to expose yourself to a dangerous situation."
Ellie looked at the place and walked toward it to get her things with some difficulty. "I know that I'm not grateful enough for… you know, saving my life and bringing me here and all that… But I do," said Ellie while opening her backpack and checking what she has there. "How did you find me anyway?" she asked while closing the backpack and turning around to look at him.
The man moved around the room looking for something there. "Well, I just saw the light of the fire from a distance… So as soon as I arrived at the town main road, I hid the car behind a building and walked in the direction of the fire," he saw what he was looking for and started walking toward it. "I knew that that had to be something to do with you and Joel, so I try to get there as soon as I can to help you both…"
Ellie grabbed a bottle of water that was on the table and drank some. "Thanks for coming to help us… and I'm sorry about the car… but it was the only solution at the time since I can't drive the bike."
"No… you don't need to worry about that… I know why you came here and I should be the one to be thankful for that. I'm just sorry that I did not arrive in time to help you… but Joel didn't want me to come and let me behind."
Ellie grabbed her backpack and put it on. "I do not do it just for you granddaughter… people like that should not be around hurting people…" she caught a few times, before looking at the old man.
The old man looks at her and admires her determination. Even in her condition, she wants to get out and look for her partner or whatever Joel is to her and that is something else. "I know… I know this is a crude world… and people that only want to do the right thing die, while people like them, just stay around contaminating this world." Ellie looks at him, then walks toward the door of the place. "Wait!" he said to her to stop her. "I know that you want to go with me, but you can't go… in your condition… so please let me do this."
Ellie turns around and looks at him. "I already told you that I'm going out there and trying to find him… but you can go back to your family… they will need you and is not fair to risk your life here and leave them alone if something happens here," she said with a sad voice. "But for me, I need to go out there and find Joel, so don't try to stop me?"
The man grabs something from a table and his own backpack. "Oh... don't worry I'm not even going to try to do that again. But I'm not going to let you go alone either." The man walked close to her and handled something he found on the way to the town. "Here, I found this in one of the cars on my way here. I don't know how to use it, but maybe you do." Ellie looks at the item in his hand and smiles.
Back on the hunter's hideout, a few hunters were outside the warehouse, watching the perimeter like they were expecting an attack from the intruders. But the boss and a few others were inside trying to make Joel talk after he woke up a few hours later.
A muscular man in front of Joel moves his hand and lifts his shim up before punching his face again. "C'mon you motherfucker... just tell us how many people are in your group?" After Joel spit some blood on the floor, he looked at the man in front of him and smiled.
"Is that... all… you… got?" said Joel in a mocking way. That caused the man to hit him again in the guts. Making Joel cough as he loses his air.
"I think the old fucker likes the pain..." said a second man in the room. "So give him some more bro…"
The doctor got close to the man that was hitting Joel and tried to stop him. "C'mon man... you can't do this, he's already suffering from his burn injuries... and giving him more pain is not going to make him talk." said the doctor in an act of compassion. "Besides, he won't be of any help if you kill him, so at least let me treat his wound."
The man looked at him with a mad expression, then pushed him away. "Get out of my way doc… this fucker is going to pay for killing our brothers." One of the men grabs the doctor's arm and pulls him away. Then the muscular man moved closer to Joel again and hit him in the face again.
After a few minutes, the boss moved closer to the doctor and stood in front of him. "I already told you to keep your opinion to yourself… if you open your mouth again is going to be your last, no matter how good you're at your job." The man turns around and walks closer to Joel and grabs his hair hard, so he can see his bloody face. "I don't know why you're defending this piece of shit anyway… he probably will kill you if you give him the chance," he said while looking at Joel.
"Yeah… he killed three of our men on that roof including the kid… so why do we have to go soft on him," said the man that was holding the doctor.
The man that was hitting Joel moved closer to his boss. "What are we going to do with him? It seems like he prefers to die than talk."
The boss looked at Joel trying to know what he was thinking or what he could do to make him talk. "Yeah… I don't think he will tell us anything by hitting him, but he has to have a weakness... I know there are only a few of them and I know that the girl that killed my brother is with them." the boss let go of his hair and moved away.
"Why not just kill him?" said one of the men
"Yeah… let's just hang him from one of the street signs like we did with the others, so his people can see him and know what is going to happen to them if they come here."
That sounds good, but I have a better idea. Maybe it will be better if we just let him live enough, so that way he can see how good we will take care of that girl that is with them." said the muscular man with a smile on his face.
Joel looks at the man and gives him a glare like he just wanted to take his head off. The boss moves closer to him again and grabs his neck. Joel is waning in pain as soon he feels his hand squeeze his burned skin there. "Oh... yes, that hit a nerve right?... I know that that girl means something to you... so I bet that you do not want something bad to happen to her... but don't worry old man, I am not going to kill you or her… at least not as fast as you wish for. I will let you live long enough, so you can watch when my men and I have a little fun with her first." The boss smiled at him, then let go of him and moved away.
One of his men looked at him with hungry eyes. "If we're getting a girl, I want to have her after you boss... I haven't laid with a woman in months."
The boss walks close to his men and smiles. "Don't worry boys, I think she can take three of us at the same time..." he said louder so Joel could hear him. Then continue walking toward the door suggesting his men follow him. "C'mon boys, let's get ready for these intruders…" he said while opening the door of the storage room. The doctor was the last one to walk out of the room giving Joel an "I'm so sorry" look before closing the door behind him.