As I started to walk towards the door I noticed that Joel was waiting for me on the other side. I could feel that something was wrong with him. The previous conversation he had with his brother was filled with anger, unlike any other I've seen. Sometimes I think that Joel doesn't fit here with the rest of the survivors. For example, when he isn't working, he's always outside, exploring and trying to find new ways to get through all this shit, the infected, the hunters and even the dumbshit cannibals. He still hasn't spoken with anyone besides me, Maria and Tommy. Sometimes I think that he will leave me here alone and go outside to explore at his own risk. The truth is… I don't want to be here without him.

-C'mon Ellie. – He said as he closed the door behind us and got putting an arm around my shoulders just so I could feel secure. – Let's check this town.

I smiled and started to walk by his side down the street. The houses were made of wood and actually looked like they were in good conditions but, when you looked closely you could see all the damage there. It was not material, it was personal. There were people on the porches. They all had their clothes ripped apart. As we walked, we saw a little kid lying down in the dirt. His house was right behind him and it was one of the better ones. Though, when you looked at him, you could see he was sad, bruised and probably hasn't taken a bath in some days or even weeks. I could feel Joel looking away and continuing to walk. We were only a few feet away from the kid when we heard someone yelling. It was a woman.

-No! – She yelled. – Stop!

I turned my head around and saw a woman with a long brown dress in front of the kid in a protective way. In front of them was a man with a gun pointed at them. His finger trembling on the trigger. I made Joel stop. It was like an image taken from some kind of old movie where the wife gets abused and the husband wanted to put an end to his family.

-Joel…

-I know.

Joel went running there and punched the man in the face shoving aside. He grabbed the woman's hand and helped her to get up from the ground. I couldn't really hear what they were saying but Joel quickly came over to me and turned me around and forced me to walk…I mean...try to walk.

-What…What happened?

-The boy was bitten, Ellie. – He was walking with his head down, avoiding eye contact with me.

-When? How?

-According to the woman, it was a few hours ago. She doesn't know how that happened but when he left to go play with some friends, he was completely fine, not even a scratch. – He took a deep breath and I saw a tremendous pain on his face. – When he came back a few minutes ago, his dad saw that he was bleeding from his arm. He asked how he did that but the kid didn't tell him. When he inspected it closer, there was a clear bite mark around the bleeding…

-Why did he go outside those walls?! – I yelled more in a way of suffering than any other thing. – He knows that the world is full of shit. Shit that will kill you. Shit like Clickers!

-Just….Leave it.

-Leave it and what? Let the kid die? – I asked looking at a sad Joel.

-Ellie…

We heard a gunshot, followed by a scream, followed by another gunshot. Joel and I looked back. We were now way further away from where we were before but we could still see the woman standing with the gun lowered and her hands trembling. In the ground was the corpse of her child and her husband. She looked at us and I clearly saw her face and her line of thinking. I couldn't do anything about it was the only thing I could see on her face. Tears started to stream down her face as I saw her pull the gun to her head.

-No… - I whispered as I saw her killing herself. I understand why she did it. I do. The feeling of guilt when she killed her family was tremendous and she couldn't live with it thus putting an end to her life.

I killed and saw people getting killed every day of my life but this was just too much for me. I was sobbing and I could feel the cold tears running down my face. Maybe I was just scared by the feeling that it might happen to me and that I'd have to end the life of someone close to me, that I'd have to end with Joel's life on my hands. I almost lost him once…I don't want it to happen again…ever.

Running from the walls came two large muscled men that had ak-47s on their back.
Joel slightly pushed me to the front and we started to walk again. I guess he didn't want the guys to see us because they would probably associate us to the killing and we'd end up killed or thrown back into the wild.
I wiped my tears with my sleeve and, like a miracle, right in front of me, I saw a working restaurant. I haven't eaten anything well prepared in a long time. The restaurant was almost full with only a table or two available.

-We should go there someday. – Joel said while looking at me with a small smile.

A/N: i'll try to publish a chapter every two days or something like. Even sooner if i can. I really hope you guys are liking it :)