Joel opened the large, heavy metal door that led to the rest of the building. He looked across the large room and saw a stairwell. He took down a couple of patrolling guards and stole their weapons as he headed for the staircase. He quickly skipped the steps but started to run up the steps when he heard Ellie's screams. Joel opened his mouth to yell back to her, but decided to keep his mouth shut in case of getting caught. He looked for the sector that he heard the screams from.

If I remember correctly, it was Sector E. Where the hell is it?

Joel ran to the end of the hall until he got to the cell. Joel shoved open the door to find where Ellie was, but then felt the butt of a large gun hit his head.

Joel, once again found himself locked in a cell, but this room was more humid and had a vulgar smell in it. Instead of being zip tied to a chair, Joel was chained to a wall. His arms had long and painful chains that burnished against his skin whenever he moved them. His head was still fuzzy but he remembered barging in the room to try to find Ellie. His head shot up and looked all around. She was nowhere to be seen.

Goddammit! I was so fucking close.

He looked to his left and saw a small, metal table that seemed to have medical supplies, pieces of cloth, and handcuffs all placed on top of it. Joel's heart started to pound. He struggled against the chains, trying to see if they had a weak spot.

Shit. These chains aren't moving.

He looked around the room. It had the same, unnerving green glow to it but this room was different. It had bloodstains all over the floor.

Jesus Christ. This is a torture room.

He heard the metal door starting to open and he saw the one man that he completely loathed.

"Well, hello, Joel," Dylan said in his usual condescending voice. Joel didn't say a word.

"Joel, we really don't appreciate trouble, here. You're becoming a nuisance. Interrupting our sessions. That little youngster you've brought here, she's a feisty one. I'd bet you'd know something about that?"

Joel finally lifted his gaze from the ground and met Dylan's burning eyes.

"I ain't anything like you are. What the hell did you do to her?" he asked threateningly.

Dylan got up and slowly walked over to the metal table and grabbed a pair of pliers. He then walked back over to Joel and yanked his jaw open harshly. Dylan reached in a pulled out one of Joel's back molars. Joel screamed in misery.

"Fuck!"

Blood rapidly started to stream out of Joel's mouth. Dylan slapped Joel across the face, which caused Joel to scream louder even more.

"You won't speak unless you're spoken to. See 'round here we have rules. But, I'm willin' to cut you a deal. If you agree to leave without her, we'll let you go. She'll be out of your hands. You'll be free of her. But, if you fail to oblige, well, we'll give you quite a show."

Joel watched as Dylan walked to the other side of the room and away from the back wall to which Joel was chained. Joel's mouth ached immensely as he opened his mouth to ask a question.

"What the hell do you mean?" Joel asked in a half-angry and half-confused tone.

Dylan chuckled. "You'll see."

Joel relaxed his arms as Dylan left the room. Those two words echoed in his mind.

You'll see.

He wasn't sure as to what Dylan meant by that, but he had some sort of idea. He just prayed it wasn't what he thought it was.

After what seemed like hours, Dylan opened the door. He walked over to Joel in (what Joel thought) was a sinisterly fashion.

"So, have you made up your mind yet?" he asked with a fake smile. Joel knew that this guy was full of shit, he could tell just by hearing him talk and watching him act. But, he didn't really know what this guy was capable of.

Joel squinted his eyes. "I'm not goin' anywhere without that little girl."

Dylan laughed. "Oh so you're kind of a, uh, on the move guy?"

Joel was so confused. "A what?"

Dylan shook his head. "Never mind. It'll all make sense in a little bit. That little slice of yours belongs to us now. Our property."

Joel shook at the word 'property'. "What the hell are you gonna do to her?" he asked nervously.

"Hmm. You know what? Why don't we show you? I think you'll enjoy the little performance that we've decided to put on for you. Bring her in."

The heavy metal door creaked open. A large man brought in a small, frail, white figure by the right arm. Joel didn't recognize at first what it was. The figure seemed to be so skinny. Their shoulder blades stuck out it was so scrawny. Another man brought in the figure by it's left arm. Both of the men dropped the creature to the ground. It then turned around and looked up at Joel in his eyes.

"Ellie," Joel hardly managed to whisper.

Her eyes were sunken in so much that you could barely tell if they were even there any more. Her eyes were rimmed red from crying and had black circles under them. She also seemed to have a number of bruises all over her face. Her face was sad and dreary and also looked ashamed. Her wrists were red and irritated from what seemed to be handcuff marks. She was so fucking pale, Joel almost screamed. Her hair was out of its signature ponytail and was down to her shoulders all matted and tangled. She had endless cuts on her face and arms. She was stripped down to only her underwear and had a very thin shirt on that obviously wasn't hers. It was stained with blood. Joel then looked at the place he dreaded. On her inner thighs, there were bruises, cuts, and dried blood.

"Joel?!" she asked confused but also somewhat pleased. She got up and quickly ran over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Joel gasped at how cold she was.

"Ellie? Baby, what happened?"

Just as about Ellie was going to answer, Dylan snatched Ellie's hair and pulled her to the other side of the room. Ellie yelped in pain.

"LET HER GO," Joel screamed.

Dylan didn't listen. He got a hold of a squirming Ellie and pinned her to floor. He got on top of her and looked Joel straight in the eye.

"Watch."

Joel moved back slightly. He wanted to look away but he couldn't. Goddammit.

Dylan kept pinning Ellie to the ground with his hands.

"Hey, hey. Shh. It's okay," Dylan cooed. Ellie froze in her place.

"No. No! Get off of me!" Ellie screamed in peril. "Get the fuck off of me!"

Dylan smacked her across the face to shut her up. Ellie looked over at Joel with a pleading look.

Joel. I'm doing this for you, Ellie thought.

Dylan wrapped his arms around to Ellie's back and ripped her shirt open from the back side. He was about to pull down her bottoms when he looked at Joel, who had his eyes closed.

"Ha. You're friend over here doesn't appreciate the show. I can change that, though."

Dylan got up off of Ellie and walked over to the metal table and picked up a scalpel. He walked over to Joel and jammed the scalpel into Joel's leg. He screeched in pain.

"Stop!" Ellie screamed. "Just fucking stop it!"

Dylan released the scalpel from Joel's leg and dropped on the floor. He looked back at Ellie.

"Look, just…you can have me. But, please, don't hurt him. Please," Ellie pleaded.

"Ellie-"

Dylan spun around.

"You heard what she said. We'll be having some fun, won't we?"

Joel struggled furiously against the chains. "No you motherfucker! Let her go! Let her go, goddamn you!"

Dylan knelt down and pulled out a small pocketknife. It looked like Ellie's.

Joel froze in his place.

Dylan pulled Ellie's head up so the light glowed on her fragile face. He put the knife to Ellie's neck.

"Watch or she will be punished."

Ellie whimpered as Dylan pinned her again on her back and worked on trying to get her small bottoms off. Ellie's mind started to race, trying to think of what to do. Then, an idea popped into her head. She looked straight at Joel. Right in his eyes. With her big green eyes. Joel became increasingly confused. It looked like she was about to give in. Joel noticed that Dylan had dropped Ellie's pocketknife and Ellie was eyeing it.

Smart girl, Joel thought.

Dylan was just about to pull off Ellie's shirt when Ellie reached for her pocketknife and slashed Dylan across the face. He fell back and screamed in pain. Ellie then lost control of her mind and started to kick him and beat him senseless. David flashed through her mind once, and she lost it once more. And this time, Joel wasn't there to take her into his arms. She burst into tears as she repeatedly kicked him in the groin, the stomach, and finally in the neck. She heard a loud crack and she knew he was gone. Her thin shirt had blood all over it. She looked almost exactly like she had before back in the winter only this time, she looked more broken. Destroyed. Devastated. Just as her innocence was slowly restoring, some asshole took it away. When was this cycle going to end?

Ellie walked over to Joel. She didn't say anything. She didn't do anything. She just stared at him with weary, sad eyes. They didn't have light in them anymore. Her personality was drained. It seemed like it was going to be gone forever. Joel looked at her. His arms were still chained to the wall, but the restriction wasn't with chains or handcuffs. Ellie was restricted of life and meaning it felt like. Everything just came down all at once. She fell to her knees and suppressed her head in Joel's broad chest. She didn't cry. She didn't whimper or speak. She just laid her head down on the only person that could protect her. The only human being with decency. The only person who cared. Joel didn't say anything either. He just placed his head on top of hers and comforted her with all of his might and strength. Ellie listened to his steady, familiar heartbeat. It always comforted her. So calming and relaxing. She sat there. Listening. Breathing silently. She was in such a state of shock that she couldn't cry anymore. But all she could do was just convene with the one person who cared about her.

After what seemed like hours, Ellie silently got up and got the keys that were in Dylan's back pocket. She unchained Joel and he got up and gave her a tight hug.

"I will never let this happen again, you hear me? I will always keep you in my protection. Never again will this happen," Joel said. Ellie, at this point was too drained and depleted to say anything. She doubted him but wanted to believe it.

Joel looked at Dylan. Abruptly, Joel dragged the dead body and chained him into the chains that Joel was in before. He took the scalpel and the pliers and stuck them in Dylan's eyes promptly in rage. Ellie let out a small cry.

"Joel? Can we please just get out of here? Please?" Her voice started to break.

He turned around and looked at her.

"Okay sweetie. Okay. We'll leave. Come on, baby. I gotcha." He took her hand and opened the door.

They managed to find the fire escape and they jumped out and landed on the hard gravel. Joel grabbed her hand again as they ran into the forest. They ran so fast they didn't even know where they were headed. They just wanted to get away from that goddamn place.

This fucking chapter. This chapter was so difficult to write guys, you have no idea. I would love to thank my good friend, Ariel for the inspiration for this chapter! You are truly an amazing writer and I thank you so much bby! Please check my profile for updates on next chapters and new stories!