Plot: After a series of tragic loss Joel Miller travels far and wide surviving on his wits and experience. Always moving forward despite the unforgiving environment he encounters because a quest keeps him going in his journey.
Note: From the game The Last of Us and the live action TV series.
Music: THE LAST OF US Part II Ambient Music 🎵 Road To Jackson (LoU 2 OST | Soundtrack) by z3n Pnk
CHAPTER 6
If a truth burns down a relationship, a family, a community, or a society, it was only ever held together by lies. And to that I say, let it burn. I never want to live in a world where our need for 'comfort' supersedes our need to stand on a foundation only truth can provide.
~Mark Groves~
ONE OF US
Joel and Maya step into the open gate of the clubhouse just as the assembly finishes a prayer with a chorus of 'Amen!' People sat back down in chairs, benches, on the floor or along the broad window sills. Across the large hall six people sit behind a long table at one side of the room; four men and two women who are the council members. Each zone has an elected council person so they can help manage the area under them and deliberate on community issues.
Joel was a little surprised at how big the community is. He walks closely behind Maya where she quietly goes behind the assembly. They sit on top of a long and sturdy-looking table pushed at the far end corner of the hall. They could observe the proceedings from their spot and she could translate what's happening for Joel without disturbing the people.
"Welcome to the meeting. We are convened to talk about an old issue of this community which is the issue of Carl Santiago. Last year the accused assaulted a trainee and since then there have been three other situations where some form of assault and battery had occurred. The council and the assembly had already deliberated on these four cases. The judgment was to assign Carl on indefinite sentry duty at the Mall.
"Today two incidents occurred at the Mall; Carl assaulted an acquitted who is a guest of our Quartermaster. Carl ignored a direct order to stand down by the Quartermaster or the Q two times. The Quartermaster subdued Carl twice…"
Joel was surprised the people clap when they heard that part.
"…and placed him under arrest for one count of attempted assault and battery and two counts of insubordination. The accused has been sentenced for five days of imprisonment."
"What? Five days only?"
"Why?"
"That kid is a menace!"
"Can we just kick him out?"
"No more jail time! Kick him out!"
"They're the relatives and friends that Carl assaulted." Maya whispers for Joel's understanding. "Obviously they're not happy with the jail time I gave Carl." Maya sighs.
"Please quiet down, people! We are just reading the case." The man in the middle waves the agitated attendees down. "We will call the witnesses on the situation this morning. Manny, please come forward." As the bald man steps forward, the seated people made way for him.
"For the benefit of our guest and new addition to the community I will be speaking in English. Yeah!" Manny laughed with the others and the mood lightened greatly. "I was doing the morning routine patrol at the Mall along with my team…" Manny mentions his group as he points out their names. "Our Q, Maya, walks out the hall from the cinema escorting the acquitted Joel Miller. There he is sitting with our Q over there," Manny gestures to them at the back. People turn to them, then whispers a little among themselves. "The Q orders us to fall back, so we followed her command…."
Joel was glad Manny speaks English so he could indulge in a little people watching. By doing so he could get a pulse on what kind of people they are by their mannerisms, individual behaviors, tone of voice and even in their manner of clothing. Manny seem to enjoy embellishing his story for the benefit and entertainment of the people. It made Joel smile as they react to the bald man's accounting of the incident this morning.
xXXXx
Armory E-
"Joel?"
"Yeah, coming." He wipes his hands with the well-used rag that he uses for this purpose. Outside Maya stands by the banister. "Hi. I was just cleaning my rifle."
"I see!" Maya could see the parts on the seat of the only chair in the room. "Did you try to get some sleep too?"
"Yeah, a nap. How about you?"
"No, I took care of stuff that got backlogged."
"Oh. Could I have helped?"
"It's okay. It's not too heavy. It's just the usual thing; gathering grass to feed the goats, feed the chickens, collect the eggs. Thank you for washing the dishes, by the way."
"No biggie. I'll bounce back tomorrow."
"You had a rough right." Maya suddenly became serious. "Did they hurt you when you were up there?"
"No. Surprisingly."
"Good. I don't like cruelty. We don't tolerate cruelty. We already live in a cruel world." Maya came forward. "Here. I'm not sure if you had other clothes. I have a couple of shirts for you. They're clean."
"Thank you. They're nice." He gave her a rueful smirk. "Uh, yeah I traveled light, you know." Maya returns his smile.
"No need to worry. There's more at the Mall. Just so you know, the Mall is Armory A."
"Oh. So there are other armories?"
"Yes. I'll give you a tour tomorrow. By the way the meeting's at seven. Let's have an early dinner. Sometimes these things go late."
"Oh yeah, the meeting. Can I still take a bath?"
"Yeah! Go ahead but you have to make do with the simple soap though, but it does the job. Do you want hot water?"
"No. Tap water is fine for now. I'm sure it's gonna take a lot of work."
"I'll need to show you how I gather rain water so you'll know how to operate and follow the system I made when the rains come, you know."
"Looking forward to that."
"I'll leave you to your bath."
"See you downstairs." Joel nods in parting. A smile pulls from his lips as he sniffs the freshness from the garment. He looks back at the closed door as he places the cotton shirts on the bed.
xXXXx
Clubhouse-
"Thank you Manny and your men for giving us a clear recounting of the events. But before we deliberate on Carl, may we talk to our Quartermaster's guest?"
"Joel, they want to ask you some questions." Maya spoke quietly.
"Oh shit." Joel's whisper made some people chortle which spread in the hall. Maya's whisper 'it's okay' made him slowly get down from the table. Hooking his thumbs in his belt helps minimize their slight trembling. "Hi. I'm Joel. Joel Miller from Texas, USA." People gave him a nod and some retuned the greeting softly. That made him breathe deep in slight relief.
"I'm Albert, council member. Why are you here, Joel?"
"I'm here because... because I would like...I'd like to have a new life. A second chance." He took a deep breath again. "I'm here because of the kindness of a man called Rick and the kindness of a woman called Maya."
Almost a hundred pair of eyes turns to Maya who looks away, face serene. But out of the majority of smiling people only a handful were not; that's Rina's lot.
"A friend of Maya told me about her because she had been kind to him a long time ago…."
"Joel…"
He took the picture from Maya, glad that she put it into a plastic envelope. It is their only printed copy. "This is the reason why I fought your men. This is the only copy of the proof that my story is true." He held it up to the assembled for everyone to see. "This is Rick and that's Rick and Maya together."
"Oh! Pictures! May we see that?" Albert holds out a hand.
"Sure." Joel leans forward so Patty can take the picture. The young woman skirts the assembled people. "Rick couldn't walk properly. He got into a bit of problem with his walking stick and he would have fallen if Maya hadn't been there to stop it. Maya made sure he was comfortable. They started talking, they became friends."
"Rick and I like to talk about books." Maya nods to back up Joel's story. She was relieved that Patty avoided Rina's group. Joel follows Maya's attention and noticed they sit away from the main assembly and people don't seem to want to sit near them either. Joel briefly exchange glances with Lee. The man even stands apart from his new family.
"Where is this city?" One of the council members asks, a woman with braided hair.
"That's New York." Joel replies back.
"Ah…" Albert looks at Maya with a smile, points at Maya with Rick. "This was almost twenty years ago? Wow… nothing's changed." With a shy smile Maya waves the teasing away as the assembly chuckles and giggles.
A councilwoman with short hair raises her hand and points at Joel. "Why were you in New York city?"
"I….uh, completed a job there and I was about to head to another in the same city."
"What kind of job?" asked the same woman.
"Umm, smuggling."
"What did you smuggle?"
"Uh, Canadian whiskey." Joel said. "I've been doing it for years."
"What other things have you smuggled?" The question came from Council man 3.
"Food, weapons, ammunitions, medicine,,,people,"
"Whoa! I'm speechless." Council man 2 jaw drops.
"That makes sense now." Council man 3 laughs nervously, quite impressed, while the people chuckles in agreement at his reaction.
"What did you do before all this?"
"I used to be a patrolman in Texas but when all this happened I became a smuggler." Joel was amused when his answer seemed to have been approved by Manny and his men by thumping their chests.
"Joel, how did you know her friend?" After Albert gave the picture back to Patty the girl stayed with Maya on the table.
Joel shrugs. "I didn't. It was just by accident. I was hiding in another building, going to spend a night there out of the rain when I overheard some people. They were cannibals."
"How did you know?" The councilman pats the air to calm the people down.
"I didn't at that time but I've encountered their kind before. They abducted my companion when she was looking for some food. I was hurt that time. We fought off some thugs when I fell and got impaled…here," Joel lifts the dark blue shirt Maya gave him and shows them the scar on his back and his stomach. "To here."
The assembled not only saw the scar from Joel's impalement but also the various and numerous scars he got through the years on his chest and his back. Their reactions were from quiet shock, jaw drop, hand on mouth, even a sign of the cross. Exclamations of perhaps similar words of 'shit', 'fuck', 'goddamn!' were heard in their language.
"How high did you fall?" Asked councilman 2 after he himself had recovered. He is taller than the rest even when seated.
"From a second floor balcony." Some people winces and some exclaim in horror, some look up the ceiling and then down as if measuring the height and then when they realize how high it was they shake their head. Some even make the sign of the cross in disbelief.
"So as I was saying," Joel continues after he lowers the shirt. "At first I thought they were thugs but when they started talking about how many days one person can last them I got concerned." Some of the assembled people looked like they're going to be sick. Joel leans a hip on the large table that Maya and Patty were sitting on. "When the cannibals left I decided to investigate. They'll sneak around first and when they found their quarry they'll bring more cannibals for the hunt."
"That's so scary." The short-haired councilwoman gasps.
"Rick almost blew my head off with a shotgun." Joel chuckles at the memory. "At first he didn't trust me which is understandable. I offered to take him away from there but he couldn't walk because his scoliosis has progressed badly. He couldn't lift himself on to his wheelchair. He was also terribly malnourished and underweight. Rick was basically waiting for his death." Joel took a deep breath. "There was another person in the hall across from him but the guy's old and cannot help Rick in lifting him only feeding him."
Patty gave quick pokes at Joel's bicep, eager face up to him. "What did you do to the cannibals?"
"Shh!" Maya lightly grabs Patty's arm as the assembled laughs softly at Patty's impatience. She looks back at them with an embarrassed smile.
Joel smiles at the girl. "Hold your horses, kiddo. Well, I ambushed them. I laid traps for them. Do you know how to make traps, kid?" Patty shakes her head. "I'll teach 'ya." He looks up the people, face once more serious. "They came back on the next day. There were seven of them including the three from the previous night. They must have been desperate for food because they'll even take a sick person."
Something is happening. Frowning, everyone looks back to the council table as something seems to be going on there. Rina is leaning on the table almost hissing in the faces of the two of the six council members nearest her.
"Why are we doing story time? Is this a children's story time? What if the man was just spinning tales for him to get accepted?"
"Rina, stop that." Nose flaring Lee fought the urge to pull and grab the woman by the waist and drag her ass out but if he does that she'll scream in his face and makes a bigger scene. Lee couldn't help notice Patty and even Maya look so relaxed and comfortable talking with Joel. His daughter now translates for Joel as the man keenly observes what's been happening at the table. Patty shoots annoyed stares at the council table especially at Rina.
"I don't understand why my cousin has been jailed while that man who shot Carl's friend is walking around and drinking fucking Coke with the security people?"
"Rina, lower your voice." Albert sounds a little irritated.
"Do you want us to free your cousin or not?" Another council member leaned in.
In her anger Rina failed to listen to the last council member's words. "If my cousin is going to be jailed then that man should be jailed too! Why is it hard to understand?"
"That man did not attack four people, your cousin did!" The short-haired councilwoman threw up her hands.
"I heard he beat up five men and shot Jerry! Isn't that enough reason to jail him?"
"Our village president pardoned him; he witnessed the incident and testified for Joel Miller. The men who got beaten up admitted that they were unnecessarily rough on Mr. Miller. Jerry has demanded penance and Mr. Miller has agreed, and Joel is under the supervision of our Quartermaster. He is a strong and capable individual. …."
"Maybe the village president…"
"Let me finish!" Albert almost hit the table with the flat of his palm but caught himself. He took a breath to calm himself. "You heard, the man was looking for our Quartermaster. He had a mission, he had a special message to deliver to Maya from her friend."
"Special? Just a printed picture?" Rina gestures dismissingly.
"Rina, that printed picture is more than that; it is a closure. We all lost people, people that meant something to us. Sometimes we never knew what ever happened to them." The braided-haired councilwoman nods to Maya with a sad smile.
One council member, the man who sits beside Albert spoke up. "And because of that thought he came all the way here. It takes a strong person to travel that far and survive all that danger. I was observing Joel and I don't think he is dangerous to us." The man showed Joel a thumbs up and the people clap their agreement. "He should stay as one of us."
"We all need to get some closure about someone that was a part of our life…." The council member sitting at the far end of the table spoke softly. "One of us."
"One of us!" Then another councilmember gave a thumbs up. The clapping became a little loud.
"Well, that is a quorum, a majority vote." Albert added his own thumbs up to the vote. "The council is in agreement: Joel Miller is acquitted of the previous case against him and he is accepted as a member of the community. You are one of us now! Welcome!"
Joel is stunned as he looks back at Maya and Patty. Maya nods with a smile and Patty did a high five with him. "Wow! Thank you. What can I say?"
"Then what about my cousin? What is your decision?"
"The Quartermaster's sentence stands. Five days of jail then he will return to his indefinite patrol at the Mall."
"What the fucking…why do you all side with that woman?"
"We do not 'side' with the Quartermaster. We agree on her decision based on our rules."
"Maybe you should also try to follow the rules then you wouldn't be in trouble." Councilman 2 snorts at Rina.
"You can accuse me of siding with her. I will tell you why, many of us live because she fought for us. You were not here when it happened so you wouldn't understand." The braided-hair council woman slung her long weapon behind her. She did not hesitate to agree with the others. "I was there. I fought side by side with Maya."
"Five days pass by quickly. Carl should weave baskets to avoid boredom." Council man 2 jokes, as he too, slings his weapon on his shoulder.
"We can extend the sentence to ten days…" Council man 3 smirks. "That way we wouldn't have to worry each day."
"I wanted to listen to Joel's story. You saw his scars? Man, that's epic. I wanna hear how he got them." Council man 4 looks blown away.
"People, where are you going? We're not yet done with the meeting! Settle down! Put your weapons on the side." Albert claps to get people's attention. The council people call their own people in order, laughing that they all seemed eager to go back on duty. "Guys, you can all shake Joel's hands later on because there's still something we need to talk about in the agenda. Sit down, please!"
"Yes, all of you sit down!" Everyone turns in shock at Rina who stands in front of the council table.
"Rina, stop it." Lee's second wife brushed off his hand.
"I am a member of this community but no one has listened to me! No one has made me feel welcome and accepted!"
"If we haven't listened to you your cousin would have been expelled from this community a long time ago. What you said was unfair, Rina." Albert walks towards the woman
"Someone suggested that my cousin get professional care. Who mentioned that?"
"I did." Maya spoke from her seat at the back.
"You?"
"Yes. Why were you surprised?" Maya got down from the table. She returns the katana between the layers of the obi around her waist and quickly tied the sageo cords to secure the sheath. Her actions were angry, her face a mask.
"Nothing."
Hand on her weapon Maya bows to the man and the rest of the council. "May I formally address the community, Elder Albert?"
"Of course, First." Albert firmly took Rina's arm and pull the woman away from the center of the room. Lee took over from Albert and kept a firm grip on the woman by his side.
Joel was shocked at the title and the change among them. All six bowed to Maya. Joel exchanges a surprised look with Patty. "First? What does it mean?"
"To those who do not know, Maya is one of the first and last surviving original elders of this community." Albert nods as Maya stops by the table.
"I care for each and everyone who are here. I have fought and bled for the people who are present in this gathering and for those who are up there manning and protecting our walls. I miss the ones who have fought with me and who have passed long since." Maya let the surge of grief pass before she continues. She shares nods to some people in the gathering.
"We vowed that this community would be a community of cooperation, understanding, lenience and hard work. It is not a perfect community but in these times we are trying our best to survive and thrive not only for us but for our children…" Maya turns and shot angry eyes on Rina. The woman couldn't maintain eye contact for long. "WE did not want these children to grow up in a cruel world but we also do not want them to become weak and barbaric. It is not easy to do but we try to apply these four main pillars. These guide us and make us remember what is out there and what it means if we do not uphold these rules." The assembly nods.
"Carl is a troubled child. Like him many of us could never recover the horrors we saw and experienced but we are individuals with individual needs. One of us mentioned that the university has some professors living in the grounds. It is far and it might take days to arrive there. Besides, we are not one hundred percent sure if the right person who can help Carl is there. Elder Albert and council, I have a suggestion; I would like to try and find someone who is already living there..." Maya looks up to the horizon, briefly got her bearing and points.
"You can't go there, Maya. It's dangerous." The councilwoman with short hair said.
"I can go there." Maya nods with certainty.
"You know someone living in the 'blind spot'?" Albert looks at the direction of the 'blind spot'.
"What's the 'blind spot'?" Joel asks. Patty began biting her nails when Maya pointed to the direction.
"It's part of our territory but we haven't the people and resources to secure it." Maya answered him. "It was not 'cleaned' yet."
"There are infected there, you mean?" Joel asks.
"There could be. It's near the outpost where you went to." Patty nods to Joel. "Mom, don't go there!"
"I know that place, egg. Your godmother lives in one of the villages. She's a psychiatrist."
"But…" Tears falling Patty goes to her mother.
"Don't worry, kid. Your mom's not going there alone." He winks at Patty. Then to Maya. "When do we go?"
xXXXx