"The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry"

Robert Burns, 1785

6 months. That's how long it's been. That's how long it's been since Ellie, once again, had her innocence taken away. Again. But, she slowly progressed back into her old self once again. She still cracks the same corny jokes that Joel secretly loved. She still laughs and talks just like she used to. But, still. Every so often she would wake up screaming; not talking to anyone the next day. Spending time with Joel seemed to have healed her, though. Before the failed camping trip back in the fall, Joel and Ellie lived in a very small house located just outside of Tommy's settlement. Ellie was always asking about going inside the settlement, but Joel wasn't quite ready to…meet new people. He just wanted to spend time with her. Alone. Without curious idiots wondering why a 48-year-old man is so goddamn protective of a 15-year-old girl. So, through the wintertime, Ellie and Joel stayed just outside of Tommy's settlement until they thought it was time move in.

The thing is, no one has actually seen Joel or Ellie. If one person saw Joel, the other would see Ellie and vice versa. As if those two haven't been inseparable enough. Especially since the whole incident that happened back in the fall. Ellie hated thinking about it. But, she knew she couldn't ignore it forever. Eventually, she would have to deal with it. But, she knew Joel would be there to comfort her. He always was.

"Ugh, Joel? How much further? My feet are killing me," Ellie complained as she was trailing behind the large man.

"Just down this little hill and we'll be there."

To get to the town, the duo had to cross through the water treatment plant. Joel remembered Tommy calling it 'for security purposes'.

The pair kept walking until they got to the steel doors that led into the plant. A guard appeared instantly at the lookout that was at the top of the gate.

"What's your business here?" he asked sternly.

"We need to talk to Tommy," Joel said.

"Who are you and why do you need to talk to him?" the guard persisted.

"Now take it easy, I'm his brother and I-"

The metal gates opened with a loud creaking sound. Tommy walked out with Maria by his side.

"It's okay. He's with me," Tommy ordered the guard.

Joel gave Tommy a very slight thankful look.

"It's about damn time, Joel. Let's show you guys the town."

It was about a 10 minute walk from the plant to the town and Ellie just wanted to drop dead at this point. The group arrived at another pair of gates but these were much larger than the last one. Tommy pulled out the walkie-talkie that he always carried with him and instructed orders to someone on the other end. Ellie started to become nervous. She hasn't been around large groups of people before. It's always been her and Joel.

Joel was equally anxious. He didn't know these people. He didn't want to be around these people.

"Hey uh, Tommy? Where are we gonna be stayin' exactly?"

Tommy chuckled. "Don't worry, Joel. We've got that all figured out. Just follow us and we'll show you where you'll be stayin'".

Joel and Ellie follow Tommy and Maria to another set of large metal doors. Damn. Tommy has definitely got this security thing under control, Joel thinks to himself. Tommy reaches into his pocket and grabs a pair of keys. He unlocks the steel gate and the doors make a very loud and noticeable screeching sound. Ellie gets closer to Joel, taking his hand into hers and clutching it roughly. She is so honest to God scared. Ellie hasn't ever been around other people. Well, like this. In a place where she would be living. Joel grasped her hand tightly as well and they walked into the town together.

It was massive. You saw many cabins lining the right and left side of the town and in the middle you saw a small lake. On the far end of the settlement, there looked to be a dining hall. There was also a movie projector screen on the left side of the dining hall.

Some people started to appear on their porches and looked curiously at Joel and Ellie. Joel immediately felt uncomfortable. Especially since he saw some pretty ugly glares at Ellie. He grit his teeth together. Some people shook their head in disappointment and disgust. Other looked shocked and somewhat scared. Joel's face turned into a scowl when he saw a couple men look at Ellie in a wrong way. Ellie could feel his muscles tighten. She looked up at him and knew that something was wrong. She didn't question though. The last thing she wanted was a scene. She gripped his hand even tighter than before which made Joel relax in a weird way. She was the only thing in this entire fucking world that could make him calm down.

Tommy started walking towards the very back of the town. There was a small but quaint little cottage in the very back. It was a dark forest green color. It kinda looked like a cabin. Ellie got a little excited.

"Is this where we'll be staying?!"

"Yeah. I reckon it's a good spot for you two."

Joel gave an appreciative nod. "Thanks Tommy."

More and more people started to file out of their houses. It didn't really look like they were going anywhere. They were just sort of…observing. Wondering how such an odd couple came to be.

Joel ushered Ellie inside. "Come on, Ellie."

The house was a pretty decent size. It kind of reminded Ellie of a smaller version of the house that she ran to when Joel was trying to give her away to Tommy. She shivered at that memory. Just thinking about the horrible past that she'd endured made her cringe. On her left, there was a large family room and towards the back of the house, there was a tiny kitchen. A large staircase was parallel to the front door and led to the upstairs. Joel seemed to be fine with the new surroundings, it was nothing new to him, but Ellie was, well, a little uncomfortable. She hasn't ever been in something like this. She's never had some place to call home.

"Why don't we go check the upstairs?" Joel asked.

Ellie, being pulled out of her thoughts, looked up at Joel. "Oh yeah, sure."

Joel raised an eyebrow. "You okay? You've been kinda quiet every since we got here."

Ellie forced a smile. "Yeah. Yeah trust me. I'm fine. Just a little…tired. That's all," she lied.

Joel started up the stairs and looked back at the small girl. She seemed bemused and dazed. Like she was in another world of her own. He started to get a little worried but hoped that it would just pass in the morning. If only he knew what was going on in that little girl's mind…

Ahh I know! This chapter is kinda short and shitty but it was originally like 4,000 words or something crazy like that so I decided to split it into three. Ya know for the uhh, "emotional impact" if that's the correct term. So next part should be up by this weekend, hopefully. Again, please submit any ideas for new chapters! I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading!