Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) All the TLOU parts and Characters are owned by Naughty Dog and its creators.
A/N: Okay, here is the second chapter of this short story, hope you like it.
Chapter 2: The old Hunter
Ellie was driving toward her motel room while continuing to talk to Bill on the phone. "So what news do you have that I am not going to like? I already have the suspicion that the focking David is behind all this, so what more bad news can you give me?"
"Well, we're not sure if that is him yet… so try not to stress out about it"
"Is him… Bill. I just know. He leaves all those bodies for me… I'm sure of that."
"Do you really think that?"
"What other reason does a vampire leave a lot of dead bodies in a warehouse where the police can find them this fast? I think he knew that I would come here to investigate those crimes. That is why I think he did it to leave me a message."
"Well, if that is the case I need to hurry and get there before he starts to hunt you down David is not a simple vampire… you know."
"Yeah… he is the fucking vampire that kill my father. But I don't think he will be stupid enough to try to come after me… even if this is a small town, he is not going to do something on the plain side, so that is why I need to know where he is hiding."
"Ellie you need to be careful, I don't think he is alone there. I read a few police reports about some missing people in the closer towns."
"Soooo… is he making a new nest of vampires here? For more reasons, we need to find him sooner. Is going to be Halloween soon and I bet that whatever he is planning has to be close to that."
"If that is the case… I think that this whole thing is a trap for you, so try not to do anything drastic until I get there… okay?"
"You're worrying too much… Bill. I can handle that asshole and all his vampire bodies myself."
"I don't think this will be like the last time you face him… and that doesn't work too well for you. Even when you stopped his plans, he almost killed you in the process."
"Just try to find out where he is hiding… I will do the rest." Ellie poses for a minute before continuing. "So what was the news you said that I will not like?"
"Oh… right. Hmmm… did you remember that old man from the David battle?"
"You mean that old crazy hunter that left David to escape?" said Ellie with a mad tone. "What was his name… oh yeah Joel… Joel Miller. He really thinks that he is a vampire hunter, but the only thing he did was let David escape." Ellie gives a hard grab to the well as she remembers the incident. "I don't want to see that asshole again… he is just trouble"
"Well, he did save your life that day… girl, so do not be so hard on him."
"I didn't need any savings… that day. He was just in may to finally stop David and he let him go away."
"Well, the bad news is that I think he is on the way there."
Ellie arrives just in time at the motel and parks her car before cracking into something as she hears what Bill just said. "That fucking asshole is coming here? Why?"
"I don't know… maybe he found out about the vampire there too."
That old man is not a vampire hunter… and I hope he never shows up here, I don't need him here to ruin my hunting… last he did last time."
"I don't think he is as bad as you think… you can use his help until I get there."
"I don't need his help… he really thinks that he is a good vampire hunter, but we barely know anything about him… so not thank you. I don't even care if he saves me."
"Just be careful… okay. If the vampire there is David he will try to kill you as soon as he finds out that you're after him again."
"Don't worry Bill… I almost killed that asshole last time… and I am not going to let him escape this time. Just keep me informed of what you found okay?" said Ellie while getting out of her car.
"Okay… but considering working with this Joel guy… and be careful… girl." With that, the call ended. Ellie opened the trunk and got the bags with the things she bought and walked toward the second floor of the motel.
Soon she gets to the front of her room door, Ellie looks around to check if there is no one there. Soon she opens the door and goes inside. Ellie turns the light on and drops the bags on the top of the bed and sits beside them. Okay… if that asshole is recruiting more vampires, I need to find his nest and stop him before he turns more people. Said Ellie before standing up. But as soon as she does, she hears the sink water turning on. Ellie quickly takes out her gun and points out toward the bathroom entrance. "Okay… whoever is in the bathroom come out slowly before I start shooting."
A minute later a man walked out with his hand raised in front of him. "Relax… girl. I don't come here to hurt you… just want to help you." said the man now in front of her.
Ellie looks at him with annoying eyes. "Fuck!... is you," she said without lowering her gun. "What the hell are you doing here old man? Do you have a death wish or something?"
"No that I remember, but anyway this is not the way to treat the person that saved your life last time."
"Really…" said Ellie without moving her gun away. As I remember, you interfered in my hunting and let the vampire lord escape." Ellie makes a gesture with the gun to indicate to the man to move away from the bathroom entrance.
Joel moves slowly. "I'm sorry that he escaped… but if I don't take you out of there you will be dead now. Look, I'm not your enemy here… I just want to help you."
"And you think that I'm going to trust you right? I don't even know who you're… we don't have any information about you… except that you proclaim yourself a vampire hunter."
The man shook his head in a disappointed way. "Sorry, that was my mistake… I should stay when I rescue you but have a few things to do and-"
"Things like what? Things that take you a few years to resolve? Who are you anyway?"
"Can you put down your gun? I will feel a little better if you do."
"Yeah… I bet you do. Is better if you start talking or get out of here."
"Things are a little more complicated than that… but this vampire you're hunting down is dangerous. So if you're going after him, you will need my help… Ellie."
"Don't call me by my name… old man, I'm not your friend… we're not bodies… or allies or anything like that and if you came here to interfere in my hunt again, you're going to regret it this time," she said, still pointing her gun at him.
"You should put more trust in the people that are trying to help you. I didn't come here to interfere with your job. I came here to help you…" slowly Joel down his hand and looked at her. "You make the mistake of trying to stop him alone… I know this type of vampire and you can't face him alone. I don't know if you see this through, but all of this is a trap to get you." he said while trying to get closer to her.
"Stop right there!" said Ellie pointing her gun toward his head. "I don't care what you think and of course, I know this is a trap, but I can use it to find out where he is hiding… I will get him this time… so I suggest that you go back to the place you came from and leave me-" Ellie stopped when she saw the man moving faster toward her.
"Watch out…" said the old man before he tackled her toward the bed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ellie quickly protests while trying to move Joel out of her...
Joel raises his head and looks at her face. "Saving you…life… again," he quickly grabbed her body with his hands and rolled with her to the other side of the bed and into the floor before two guys entered the room through the window.
"Where are you little princes… we came for you." said one of the men that entered through the window.
"I don't know who you're, but you got into the wrong room," said Joel while standing up from the floor.
"And who the hell are you?" asked the other vampire.
"I don't think you want to know… but I had a little surprise for you two. " Joel moves his hand to his back and takes out two pistols and quickly starts shooting at the two intrudes.
The two vampires moved fast to both sides of the bed dodging the bullets. "We don't know who the hell are you, but if you think that those bullets can kill us you're a wrong old man." The two vampires move from side to side and dodge the bullets as they move closer to Joel. Soon one of them gets too close to him, Joel moves fast and kicks the vampire in the stomach, and sending him flying toward one of the walls. At that moment the other one jumps on top of the bed and launches himself toward Joel, but soon he flies out of the bed, Ellie points her gun from under him and shoots him, sending him backward toward the other side of the bed.
Ellie stood up from the floor and looked at Joel who was still fighting with the other one. "Now who is saving who?" she said while moving closer to the one that Joel was fighting and pulling him back. Joel uses the distraction to take out his knife and stabs the vampire in his heart. The vampire screams louder before it starts to become dust.
"You bitch…" said the one she sent flying to the other side of the room and quickly ran toward her. Ellie quickly turns to her side and uses the gun in her other hand and shoots.
"You know that conventional bullets are not going to kill him… right?"
"Of course, I know… I just wanted to slow him down… to get some time to do this." Ellie takes out from her back pocket a silver knife. Then she moves to intercept the vampire guy and stabs him in his heart with the knife.
"Arrrggg Rrr!" The vampire started to scream as his skin started to turn black until slowly his body became ashes.
"Two down… see I don't need you-" Ellie stopped when another one get into the room while breaking the door. He looked at the two black dust on the floor.
"You little cunt… you will pay for this…" the vampire man jumped into the bed and went after Ellie but Joel opened his long coat, took a few knives out of it, and threw them toward the vampire. He hit him in a few different parts of his body, making him get out of bed.
The vampire looks now toward Joel. "You motherfucker… I'm going to enjoy sucking your blood." The vampire runs toward Joel, but he takes out a big knife and stabs him in the chest as soon as he gets close to him. "Aaaaarrrgggg!" the man starts to scream too before turning into ashes.
"I could kill that one too… so stop interfering with my-" she stopped when two more vampires entered through the window with swords in their hands.
"Hey look, the little girl came with her dad." said one of them.
"That is great… because now we can have a little snack before taking her to the boss."
Ellie moves close to the other side of the bed with her knife in her hand. "Oh… you're going to take me to your boss, but not in the way you think." Ellie was getting ready for the two of them when Joel spoke again.
"Ellie, we don't have time for this… We need to get out of here… now," he said while pointing his guns at the two vampires.
"You can go if you want… I just started." Ellie jumps into the bed and lunch herself toward one of the vampires. The vampire uses his sword to block Ellie's attack, but she dodges in time before the swine from the other vampire misses her head.
Ellie moves away from them and gets ready for their next move. "Just tell me where your boss is and maybe… just maybe I'll let you live."
The two vampires start to laugh. "We have to admit that for a human you have some courage… but that doesn't mean that you are not going to escape from us…" said the other one before moving toward her. Joel saw him and shot at him, making him stop before getting closer to Ellie and looking at him. "Wait for your turn old man … did you don't know that women go first?" he said before his face changed into the vampire one. "Go and get him… I will take care of the girl," he ordered the other vampire. The other
The other vampire smiled before launching himself toward Joel. He swings his sword at Joel but he blocks him with his long knife. "Ellie get out of here… is you what they want," he said while fighting the vampire.
Ellie starts to fight the other one that comes after her with her knife. She dodges his sword attack and kicks him away from her. "I can handle these two… so you're the one that needs to get out of here before you get hurt." After a few moves, Ellie manages to stab the vampire in his arm, but he kicks her, sending her flying toward the wall.
Joel quickly grabs his gun from the floor as soon as he gets away from the vampire and shoots at the one closer to Ellie, but the bullets only work to distract him. "They're not just them… more are coming" At that moment the door entrance was broken violently as two more vampires entered the room.
"Why are you taking so long?" said one of the new arrivals. "Oh look, the girl brings her grandfather to help her."
"Shot up you motherfockers idiot… we're not related," yell Ellie while continuing to fight the wounded vampire.
Joel turns toward the two new vampires and starts shooting at them. "We need to go… Now!" then two vampires jump quickly toward Joel moving fast in zig zag… to avoid the bullet's rain. Soon one of them got closer to him, he dropped his gun and caught the man in the air, and threw him toward the other one behind him. After that, Joel quickly turns around and throws a few of his hidden knives toward the other one stabbing the vampire in the chest and head killing him on the spot.
Ellie kicks the vampires that were closer to her away, but one of the others grabs her hand hard and makes her drop the knife. "I don't need that to kill you." She said before kicking the vampire in the face, but the other one moved behind her and grabbed her arms, and pulled them back.
"Got you now… you little bitch," said the vampire behind her as the one in front of her used his sword and stabbed her in her shoulder.
"Arrrggg!... you son of bitch…" Ellie yells as soon as the vampire removes his sword.
"Ellie!" Joel moves quickly and grabs the vampire sword that he just killed from the floor and quickly moves behind the vampire that stabs Ellie and uses the sword to cut his head off. Ellie uses that chance to butt-head the man behind her a few times and makes him release her. Joel quickly grabs her by the arm and pulls her away from the vampire. "Are you okay?" he asked while looking at her wound.
"I'm fine… I can still fight these assholes."
"Yeah I can see that, but it is time for us to go… Take this…" he said before passing the sword to her then he moved his hands to his back and took out two grenades."
"Are you serious?" she said as soon as she saw what he had in his hand. "You can't throw those here… they are innocent people in this motel."
"Just get out of the room." Ellie was going to protest, but the two vampires were moving toward them. "Just go… NOW!" Ellie quickly does as he said and jumps out the window. "Take this you mother fuckers… " he threw the two grenades toward them while jumping out of the window too. A few seconds later He grab Ellie and jumped down from the corridor and landed on top of her car in the parking lot before the grenade exploded. The explosion only was a bright ultraviolet light that illuminates the whole room. Disintegrating the three remaining vampires inside.
Slowly both of them sat up on the roof of her car while Joel was still holding Ellie in his arms. Ellie looks up. "Jesus… old man… you should tool me," she said before noticing her position was on his arm. Quickly Elie moves away from his embrace and jumps down from the car roof. "Jesus l look what you did to my car."
Joel jumped down too and looked at her shoulder and saw the blood there. "That looks deep… you need medical attention… and fast."
"Don't worry, I get worse… I can still… Arrrggg!" she cries out as soon as she moves her arm.
"Yeah, I can see that." Joel starts to pull Ellie away from the car when he sees another vampire and a few men with guns getting out of a van close to them.
"Kill the old man… but we need the girl alive." said the vampire to the others.
Joel quickly grabs Ellie's body in his arm and moves behind Ellie's car before the men start shooting at them. At that moment a few people that were staying in the motel started to open the door to see what was going on.
Ellie looks at them while pressing her hand on her wound. "We need to get out of here… there are too many people that are going to get hurt if we stay."
Joel takes his gun out and starts shooting at them to distract them. "Can you run?"
"Yeah, but run where? You just destroyed my car, and we can't let them lose. "
"We are not prepared to fight them all and you're wounded." Joel takes a smoke grenade from his side and throws it toward them. "Let's go, my car is on the back." He said before grabbing Ellie's good arm and starting to move in the opposite direction. Soon they start to get away and a police siren can be heard in the distance. "Now is our chance to get out of here." He helps Ellie by putting her good arm on his shoulder and starts to run toward the back of the building.
The men continued shooting at them but quickly stopped as soon as they noticed that the police were coming. "Let's get out of here… we don't need to attract more attention." said the leader of the group before moving into the van. The other men move after him and get in too. In a few minutes, the van drives off from the parking lot and goes away.
Soon Joel and Ellie get to the back of the motel building, Joel helps Ellie into his car and closes the door.
"You drive a 1975 Mustang?" asked Ellie as soon he opened the driving door and get inside.
"What? You don't like vintage cars?… Now put on your seatbelt, we need to get out of here fast," soon Ellie was strapped in, and Joel started the car and drove away.
"I didn't need to run, you know… I'm a police officer," said Ellie while checking her wound.
"Yeah… you can stay and try to explain all that happened there to the police… they are really going to believe that you just fight a few vampire guys and kill them," He said secretly while continuing driving. "We can't go to a hospital either, they will call the police too."
"So where are you going to take me?"
Joel turned his head and looked at her. "How bad is it?"
"It goes deep but does not hit any muscle or artery… so I guess it is not so bad."
"Well, you already are losing too much blood… but don't worry I'll fix you up soon enough."
Ellie looks at him with curious eyes. "Why are you helping me after all the things I said? And how do you find me here anyway?"
"Find you were a coincidence I guess… I was looking for a vampire when I got the information about some mystery cases in this town. So I decided to come to investigate… then I saw you in the warehouse… and…"
"Have you been following me?" Ellie asked, trying to figure out why this old man was following her. "Why you're hunting vampires… you seem to-"
"Too old?" he finished for her.
"Yeah… no offense of course… I just thought that all the old vampire hunters were dead."
"Well, it's a long story… but I can tell you that I'm not here to get in your way. I want to kill him too… So why not just join forces and kill the bastard?"
Ellie turns her head and looks to the front. "I almost killed him last time… but you're interfering cost me that… So why do you think that I can trust you now?" she said with a sad tone.
"I'm sorry about that," Joel said sadly. "You may not remember well what happened there, but If I wasn't there to help you out you would be dead by now… You can blame me all you want… but I was not going to let him kill you. I beam after him after that, but the bastard gets underground and I lose him until now."
"I don't remember you saving me… just remember you letting him escape… and I hate you for that."
"Yeah, I can see that… Look, we don't have to be friends if you don't like it, but you need my help to kill him. You can't beat him alone… he is more powerful than you think."
"I don't have any choice… I need to kill that bastard… I know he is not just another vampire, that is why I need to kill him alone. But first I need to find out why he is here and what he is planning. I know that he is planning something for Halloween and I need to stop him."
Joel looks at her, before turning his head back to the front and continuing driving. Ellie on the other hand needs some answer from the man, but she can wait for later. Half an hour later Joel takes a solitary road that gets into the forest.
"Where… are we going?" said Ellie with a weak tone. "I just hope that you're not trying to kidnap me… and take advantage of my conduction… because it will end badly for you," she said while getting weaker.
"Relax girl… I rent a cabin closer to here… we would be safe there until you recover and get a new plan of action." he continued driving for a few more minutes before arriving at the cabin he mentioned. Joel stops the car in front of it and turns off the engine. "Okay we're here," said Joel while turning his head and looking toward Ellie. He quickly saw the girl's eyes were closed. "Hey, Ellie!... Ellie!... shit!" He moves closer to her and quickly checks her pulse.
Ellie moves her head a little and looks toward him. "I'm… not dead… yet," she said with a weaker voice.
"Shit girl… don't scare me like that." Joel opens the door on his side and quickly moves to hers and opens the door. "C'mon… girl… let's fix you up…" Joel carefully picks her up into his arms and closes the car door with his foot and starts walking toward the entrance of the cabin.
"I can… walk… no… need to-" Ellie starts to protest, but Joel just keeps walking with her on his arm.
Soon Joel got to the door, he opened it. Joel enters the cabin and slowly put Ellie on top of the bed. "Don't… worry Ellie, you will be better in no time… just keep your hand pressing on the wound, while I get the things I need… I will be right back." Joel ran toward the bathroom and started looking for what he needed.
Ellie tried to move up, but the pain was now worse than before and her body felt so weak that stopped her from moving. "Those… mother fuckers are… going to… pay."
Joel walked back to the bed with the things he needed to attend to her wound. "Try not to move… you lost a lot of blood." The old man starts to take out what he needs and moves close to Ellie's body. He cut her shirt on the shoulder part where her wound was. "This is going to hurt… a lot," said Joel before opening an alcohol bottle and starting to put some in her wound.
"Arrrrrggggg!" Ellie screams louder as soon the liquid touch her skin. "Fuck… that… hurt." After a few minutes, Ellie loses consciousness.
"Sorry girl… but there is no other way to do this," said Joel while continuing working on her wound.
( A few hours later )
Ellie slowly opens her eyes and starts to look around until she sees the old hunter sitting in a chair close to the door with a shotgun in his hands. "What… the hell happened?" she asked while looking at him.
Joel slowly gets up and walks toward the bed. "You get stabbed with a sword, remember?… and you lose a lot of blood too, so I have to fix you up."
"Yeah, I remember that… I just lost my consciousness… not my memory." Ellie moves her hand toward her head. "How long have I been out?" Ellie tries to get up, but soon she feels the pain, so she lays back down. "Fuck!... it still hurts."
"Try not to move much… that wound will take some time to heal… so get some rest…" he said while lowering himself and checking the bandage. Soon he saw it was fine and he moved back. Don't worry, is not infected, you just need more time to heal."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Just a few hours… don't worry… we're safe here."
"Shit… that long? I need to call someone… and let him know… that I'm okay." she sat up slowly on the bed and started to look around. "Where is my phone?"
"Sorry, but your phone and your other things were still in your motel room, but if you're talking about your friend Bill, I already send him a text and let him know that you're okay."
Ellie turns her attention toward Joel. "Do you text him? How the fuck do you know his name or his number?"
Joel moved away and put his gun in the chair. "I know a lot of things about you two… don't get me wrong, but I've been in this business longer than you two and I've been following your steps since that day."
Ellie tries to move out of bed, but her body doesn't let her. "So you're telling me that you're some kind of stoker? Do you like to follow young women?"
Joel laughs at that while walking back to the bathroom. "No… even if I have to admit that you're an attractive woman. But no, I'm not your stoker. I just promise someone that I will keep an eye on you," he said from inside the bathroom.
"Oh… really? And who you promised that… Bill?"
After a few minutes, Joel walks out of the bathroom with a glass of water. "That doesn't matter now… but I can tell you that hunting vampires are something that you should not be doing… especially alone." Soon he gets closer to the bed. Joel extended his arm toward her. "Here… take this, it will help you with the pain."
Ellie looked at his hand and saw two pills. "I Don't need painkillers… those will make me sleepy and I can't do that here. Is not like I don't trust you… well, I really don't. But I can lower my guard, not with all those vampires out there."
"Take them… you need the rest to heal if you want to get your strength back. As I said before, you lost too much blood and you need to recover that. Take the pills… they will help you to relax your body a little and take some of the pain away."
Ellie waits for a few minutes, but as soon the pain starts to bother her again she grabs the pills from Joel's hand and put them in her mouth. "I will take them, but I still don't trust you. I have a lot of questions for you and I need you to answer them." She drinks some of the water and swallows the pills.
"I will answer your questions when you get better…"
"I take your word on that… Now What Bill told you?" Ellie asked before giving him the glass back.
Joel takes it and walks toward the front window. He put the glass on a small table and looked outside. "Well, he asks me a lot of questions just to be sure that I was telling him the truth… After that, he said that he will be here tomorrow with your things."
"He doesn't tell you anything else?"
"Only that he will talk with you when he arrives… I will give him the address of this cabin… so you don't need to worry."
"Why do you help me now… after letting him escape last time?"
Joel turns his head and looks at her. "I don't think you will understand… but I have to choose between killing him and saving you…"
"Saving me? The only thing I remember was you showing up and stopping me from killing him… and letting him escape… So what part don't I understand?"
Joel takes the glass and walks back to the chair. He grabs his gun and sits. "I really admire your courage… and your dedication to your work… Ellie. I guess you have it in your blood, but if you act with vengeance thoughts that will cloud your mind and that will make you make mistakes…" he said while looking at her.
"You seem to know a lot about me… but I still know nothing about you… that is a little unfair."
"Yeah, sorry about that… but my life is a little complicated. I know why you're hunting him and you thought you had him last time, but he was just toying with you, and even though you hurt him at some point he was going to kill you."
"I don't know why you're not telling me who you're… but if you think that you know me… you're wrong."
"I know you more than you think… but I am not going to get into that now. I'm just going to tell you that if you want to kill that vampire… you need to use your head and not your heart."
"Stop talking like you know me at all… old man… Why are you even hunting vampires anyway? You look too old for that." slowly the effect of the pills started to affect her, so slowly she start to lie down on the bed again. "I hope that you don't try to stop me… when I wake up… because I won't until that mother fucker is dead." Ellie closed her eyes and a few minutes later she fell asleep.
"Don't worry kiddo… I will help you to avenge you, father… I promise," said Joel while loading his gun with ultraviolet bullets.
( In another place )
David has his second-in-command grabbed by his neck. "What the hell do you mean that she escaped?" he raises him from the floor and moves his face close to him. "I sent you with a group of your best men Mortis and you're telling me that she managed to escape?"
"Sorry Master… but she… wasn't alone… there was another… hunter… with her… and they manage to kill all the vampires I send for her"
"Another hunter? How can be another hunter here? Who the hell is this other hunter?"
"I don't know… master. But from what I saw, he was an old man, but well… skilled… and has some weapons that can kill us in an instant."
"Oh really!... and you let him escape too?" David throws him to the floor with brutal force. Then move closer to his body and pin him to the floor with his feet. "I want to know who that hunter is… and why he was helping the girl?" he looked toward the other two vampires in the room. "I ask for the girl to be brought here and the only thing I get is a group of my best vampire warriors dead and a few cowards with empty hands." David looks down at his second in command with furious eyes. "I will give you a second chance to bring me the girl before Halloween day. Also, I want the other hunter head… and if you fail me again Mortis… is going to be you last."
"Yes… master."
David moves his feet from the man's chest and walks back to his throne chair. "Now get out of here, before I change my mind and kill you all myself." Mortis gets up with the help of the others then, they walk out of the room. David grabs a glass of fresh blood from the small table beside his throne and takes a drink. "You get lucky this time… my little princess, but don't worry you will be mine soon enough. You ruin my plans last time we met and almost kill me too… but I will laugh in your father's grave when I make you my personal vampire slave."