I adore The Last Of Us! SoI thought it would be nice to do something random with Joel and Ellie, I love their relationship throughout the game.

Parts of this fanfiction aren't brought up until later on in the game, but I wanted them to have a cute moment together.

Prologue

Ellie and Joel had been travelling for weeks, their journey hadn't been the kind to them. Heartbreak and loss was normal in the Apocalyptic world, but would their love of music bring them closer together?

-The Last Of Us is owned by Naughty Dog/ Sony Computer Entertainment

-Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver

-I'm working on a long fanfiction based around TLOU2 right now, it's called A Place To Call Home.

-I've got short fanfiction called Farm House, it's based after the events at St Mary's Hospital.

Keep safe and enjoy!

Somewhere in Pittsburgh.

The deaths of Henry and Sam were still fresh in Ellie's mind, she really liked those guys. They had met in such a random way trying to escape The Hunters, they had been through so much together. Travelling through the underground sewer system and fighting off those disgusting Clickers, exploring the ruined suburbs. Everything they had done together seemed like distant memory now to Ellie, she was going to miss them both. Especially Sam, his jokes and playful nature made the journey a little bit more bearable for her.

Joel had buried Henry and Sam together before they left the house they had been holding up in for the night, it was the decent thing to do instead of leaving their bodies to rot in an abandoned house for years. But that was weeks ago, they had travelled miles since then. Joel had decided that they were going to travel to Jackson County in Wyoming, his Brother Tommy was holding up in community there.

Ellie didn't really know much about Tommy, but Joel had mentioned that they had argued the last time they had seen each other. Ellie had listen to Joel telling Henry that he once rented two Harley motorcycles and went on a cross-country ride for Tommy's birthday. They both seemed close once, it was sad how they didn't see each other anymore.

It had been raining heavily for most of the day, but the sky soon cleared and the sun came out. Ellie sneezed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her hoody, she was soaked through. They needed to find somewhere to shelter before it got dark, but luckily for them they had stumbled upon a City. There was a sign that read Welcome to Harrisonburg on the highway outside of the City, Ellie knew they were in Virginia now.

Joel told Ellie to stay close to him, there were chances that Runners or Clickers could be around these parts. Not to mention people, they were the worse kind of monsters. Ellie switched her little torch on and shone it along the road while they continued to walk together, she could see an abandoned car not far ahead of them.

" Do you want to check it out?" Ellie asked.

" Yeah, maybe." Joel replied.

Ellie quickened her walking pace, but she soon heard Joel telling her to slow down. She protested about it at first, but she knew he was right. Slowing down so Joel could catch up with her she admired the sunset in the distance, the pinks and oranges looked beautiful against the darkening sky. She could now see the outlines of the buildings of the City, they were getting closer now.

Stopping by the abandon car Joel opened the front door of the car and looked inside of it, there was a terrible smell wafting from the inside of car. Ellie peered through the car's window and shone her torch on the backseat of the car, she could see rotting corpse sprawled out on the backseat. The body was wearing a blue striped hoody and stonewashed jeans, their blonde hair was tied back with a pink scrunchie.

" Gross!" Ellie said.

" Ellie, get away from there!" Joel said.

" You don't have to tell me twice..." Ellie sighed.

Ellie stepped away from the car's window and walked around to the other side of the car, she found a blue backpack on the ground. She crouched next to backpack and unzipped it, she found photographs and other personal belongings inside the bag. There was a teddy bear key ring with the name Janie written across a heart of it's chest attached to the bag's zip, she rummaged through the bag and found four energy bars.

" Hey Joel, I found some energy bars in this girl's backpack." Ellie said, she took the bars from the bag and zipped it back up. " The body in the back of the car had a name, her name was Janie. Can we put her backpack on the backseat with her? You know because they're her belongings, it's a mark of respect kind of thing."

" Sure, pass it over." Joel replied.

Ellie picked the backpack up from the ground and carried it around the car, she then handed it to him. Joel carefully placed the backpack next to the corpse on the backseat, he then covered her body up afterwards with a blanket. After that Joel searched through the glove box, he found a map and a box of matches.

Joel got out of the car and put the box of matches in his jacket pocket before he closed the car's door, he hadn't really found much but the map he had found may come in useful. Ellie shone her torch along the highway ahead of them, it would be dark soon. She heard Joel telling her that they should keep moving, she agreed with him and walked by his side along the highway.

It wasn't long until Ellie and Joel were entering the City, it was dusk now. Some of the buildings were still standing and others looked like they had been beaten by the elements over the decades, the smell of decay lingered in the air. Ellie shone her torch on a store's window while they walked passed it, the window had been smashed and the store had been raided years ago by the looks of it.

Joel beckoned Ellie to follow him into a nearby alleyway while he switched on his clip-on torch, the alleyway was dark and damp. There were over turned trash cans and rats scuttling around them, it smell like human waste mixed with rotten food. Ellie shone her torch up the side of the building and checked out some fire escapes, the metal ladders were broken on some of the floors.

" Where are we going?" Ellie asked.

" I'm not sure yet, but most stores have upstairs apartments." Joel replied.

" You mean like that apartment above that store back in Lincoln?" Ellie asked, she followed closely behind him. " Remember? The one in Bill's town? I wonder if Bill ever noticed his missing porno mag?"

" For your sake Ellie, I hope not..." Joel replied.

" I'm not scared of Bill, he'd have to catch me first. His waistline as probably doubled by now anyway." Ellie laughed slightly. " He's probably got a hidden stash of porno magazines somewhere in his church, totally gross!"

Ellie shone her torch into the back alleyway behind the store, there was a pile of black trash bags next to an open doorway. Joel took out his Revolver and peered through the doorway, he told Ellie to stay close. Ellie gave him a nod and pulled out her switchblade, she entered the building and Joel closed the door behind them.

Ellie looked up the staircase and shone her torch up the stairs, the building was silent. There were small wonky picture frames on the wall and she could see what looked like a open suitcase at the top of the stairs, she heard Joel telling her to stay close behind him. She agreed with him, anything or anyone could be in that upstairs apartment.

The stairs creaked beneath Joel's footsteps, he was trying to keep quiet as possible. Ellie followed close behind him, she pulled her wet hood down on her hoody so she could get a better look at where they were going. When they got to the top of the stairs the door to the apartment was open, there were scattered clothes leading into the apartment and dried bloody finger prints on the cream coloured door frame.

" Whoever lived here seemed to be in a hurry, don't wander too far..." Joel whispered.

Ellie kicked some of the clothes out of the way while she followed Joel inside, the apartment was dark. Joel closed the door behind them but he kept his guard up, Ellie wandered ahead of him. She shone her torch around the living room area and stopped when she got to the kitchen, she opened a few of the cupboards. She took her backpack off and placed it down by her feet, she smiled to herself when she saw a cupboard full of canned goods.

" Score!" Ellie whispered, she took a big can of baked beans from the cupboard and showed them to Joel. " Holy shit, we've got beans! Hold onto your underwear, old man... we're gonna be tooting tonight!"

" That's great kiddo, but keep it down..." Joel said quickly, he beckoned her to stay in the kitchen. " I'm going to check out the bedroom. Stay there, I won't be long."

" Sure thing Joel, take your time." Ellie said.

Ellie shone her torch on the can and read the label, it was out of date but she didn't care. She couldn't help smiling over her find, but her smile soon faded when she heard a low groaning sound. Her gaze wandered over to a closed closet across from the kitchen, she placed the can down on the kitchen's counter and shone her torch on the closet.

The closet's door rattled, it sounded like something was moving around inside of it. Her grip tightened around her switchblade while she crept forward, she was ready for whatever was inside of that closet. But without warning the closet's door slowly opened with a creak, there standing inside of the closet was an Infected person. It had it's back to Ellie, it spazzed now and again while it mournfully moaned.

The Infected person was wearing a floral dress, it was female. Long dark tatty hair half way down her back and blood dripping from her finger tips, she must have locked herself in there or something before the infection took hold of her. Ellie raised her switchblade and stopped dead when she heard something smash in the other room, the Infected person soon had it's sights set on Ellie.

" Fuck..." Ellie muttered.

The Infected person ran at Ellie, the switchblade was knocked from her hand while she stumbled backwards onto the floor. Ellie screamed for Joel as she fought the Infected person off, she grabbed hold of it's neck and tried to push it off her with her feet against its chest. It snarled and drooled all over Ellie's neck, it was like a feral dog after it's breakfast.

" Get off me asshole!" Ellie yelled.

" Ellie!" Joel yelled.

Joel soon appeared and hurried over to help Ellie, he kicked the Infected person off Ellie easily. Ellie managed to crawl away from it, she grabbed her switchblade from the floor and watched Joel punch the Infected person in the face. Joel punched the Infected person a few more time before he began smashing it's face against the wall, it's face soon caved in and it's lifeless body fell to the floor with a thud. Wiping some blood away from his knuckles with a rag he looked over at Ellie, his breathing was heavy.

" Are you okay, kiddo?" Joel asked, he approached her with a concerned expression on his face. " Where the hell did that thing come from?!"

" It was in the closet..." Ellie replied. " The fucking closet of all places, you can't make this shit up!"

Ellie got to her feet while she unzipped her hoody, she was still soaked through from the rain and now she had been drooled on by an Infected person. She threw her hoody at the Infected person and kicked it hard in the face, she muttered something under her breath about it being a dick. Joel told her to dry off and find something else to wear from the closet in the bedroom, he was going to get rid of the body.

Ellie grabbed her torch and left Joel in the living room while she headed to the bedroom, she closed the door behind her. The first thing she did was check the closet, she was going to be wary about closets from now on. She looked through the draws and found herself a faded red striped shirt to wear, she put it on before she joined Joel in the other room.

Joel had already tidy up a bit in the living room, he had set up the camp stove and lit a few candles on the coffee table. She notice her hoody was drip drying over the back of a chair, she was going to have to scrub her hoody with soap at some point to get rid of the smell of death breath. Joel threw a towel at her, the towel landed on her head. She cursed at Joel while she pulled it away from her head, he told her to take a seat while he sorted them some food out.

Ellie jumped on the couch near the coffee table, she settled down on it and kicked her sneakers off. Her socks were dirty and they had holes in them, that was nothing new. She grabbed a book from the floor near her and opened it up, it was about the history of Harrisonburg. There were pictures and notes written on some pages of the book, she was beginning to think that the owner of this apartment was a student once.

" What are you reading?" Joel asked.

" A book." Ellie replied.

" Don't be smart ass..." Joel chuckled.

" Then don't ask stupid questions." Ellie said.

Ellie looked over at Joel, she saw him crack a smile. She rolled over onto her side and leaned on her hand while she watched him pouring the beans into a saucepan, she was really hungry right now. Joel had placed two bowl down on the table with spoons in them, he stirred the beans now and again while he spoke with Ellie.

" Enlighten me, what's the book about?" Joel asked.

" It's about Harrisonburg, nothing exciting really. But did you know Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia." Ellie replied. " They have a University here, something about a liberal arts University. Sounds pretty cool, huh?"

" Really?" Joel asked while he cupped his hands together. " Are you planning on enrolling or something? If so you better get digging down the back of the couch, I'm not paying for your education."

" Fuck you!" Ellie smiled.

Ellie laughed and playful threw the book at Joel, she placed her feet down on the floor and accidentally kicked something with her foot. She look down at the floor and saw something poking out from underneath the couch, she careful pulled it out. It was wooden and not too heavy, it was beautifully made. It was a acoustic guitar, it was in good condition.

" Look what I've found!" Ellie said, she was pleased with her find. " It's a guitar!"

Ellie placed the guitar on her lap, she moved her finger tips up the fretboard and gently brushed her thumb against it's strings. She spoke to herself now and again, she then cursed when she hurt one of her fingers on the guitar's strings. The guitar was still in tune which was surprising, she continued to play with it until Joel spoke to her.

" You're playing it all wrong..." Joel said.

" Do you play?" Ellie asked.

" A little." Joel replied.

" Come on Daddo, show me what you've got!" Ellie said, she offered him the guitar. " Play something for me!"

" Ellie, please..." Joel sighed.

" Come on Joel, just one song!" Ellie said.

Joel ignored Ellie while he dished up their food, he pushed Ellie's bowl of beans across the table towards her before he switched off the camping stove. Ellie continued to bug him until he gave into her request, he took the guitar from her and rested it on his knee. He agreed to play one song just to shut her up, but it came with a price. Ellie had to eat all of her food and carry most of their supplies for the next two days, she immediately agreed to his deal. They even shook on it, the deal was now done.

" This is going to be so awesome!" Ellie smiled.

" Alright, settle down..." Joel said.

Ellie crossed her legs and took her bowl of beans from the table, she watched Joel tuning the guitar slightly. She spooned some of her food into her mouth, she was really excited to hear him play the guitar. Joel played a few cords before he cleared his throat, his gaze then fell onto Ellie. He went onto tell her that he hadn't played the guitar since his college years, but Ellie didn't mind. Joel began to play the guitar, the melody he was playing was beautiful and his voice was quite soothing.

Almost heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River

Life is old there, older than the trees

Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze

" Oh! I know this song!" Ellie said.

Ellie placed her bowl down on the coffee table and cleared her throat, she sat up straight on the couch with her hands cupped together on her lap. She listened to Joel singing and bobbed her head side to side, she began to sing along with Joel when he got to the chorus part of the song.

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

Ellie and Joel continued to sing together, they laughed at some parts of the song because Ellie kept changing the words. She couldn't remember all of the lyrics to the song and she thought it would be funny to improvise, but they were beginning to enjoy each other's company. Joel ended up playing more than one song and Ellie asked him more than once to teach her how to play the guitar, he told her when they found somewhere safe he'd teach all the cords.