A/N: My insincerest apologies for leaving you all on a cliffhanger last chapter. I thought a bit of drama was called for, since things have been relatively low-key as of late. A lot of you were anxious to see how Ellie was going to get out of this one. Well, time to find out. Sadly, I think it's more innocuous than most people are expecting, but oh well. Here's the chapter!

DISCLAIMER/LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO: I do not own The Last of Us, it is Naughty Dog's property.

CHAPTER 8

LESSONS

Ellie peered through the crack in the door, but there wasn't much to see. Just a sliver of the next room. She grabbed the handle and shook vigorously, throwing her weight into the door, but it wouldn't budge. It just so happened that the window was stuck shut, so that wasn't an option either. She was trapped.

She put an ear to the smooth wood of the door, but couldn't hear much through it. All sound was muffled, and if Grant was talking to someone, what he was saying was indecipherable.

"Grant! I'm not infected! You gotta believe me!" she waited for a response, but nothing came. "Grant! Please!" She heard footsteps approach the door. "Grant?"

"What you mean you're not infected? What's with that bite, then? Huh?"

"I can explain everything, just let me out, pl-"

"No! You're stayin' in there 'til I figure out what to do with you. We don't suffer Infected within the walls."

For the first time since coming to Jackson, Ellie was truly afraid. She didn't think Grant was capable of hurting a fly, but this world had made worse things out of better people. His heavy footsteps grew distant as he returned to the front room. Ellie walked over and slid down the wall. All she could do was wait.

Twenty minutes later she heard some commotion coming from the direction of the front room. She crossed over to the door and listened once more. Voices. Two, maybe three people now. Their conversation was muffled, but the timbre of one of the voices was instantly recognizable to her as Joel. Her heart rate slowed just a bit at the knowledge of his presence.

The volume of the voices raised, and it was evident tempers were starting to flare. Ellie hoped to herself that Joel wouldn't snap and kill Grant, but quickly realized how foolish that thought was. Joel had a temper, but killing people in a fit of rage? That seemed a bit extreme. The sound of footsteps approached outside.

She pounded on the door. "Joel! Get me out of here!"

The deadbolt rattled and then clanked open. Joel stood in the doorway, then stepped aside to let her exit. In the adjoining room stood Tommy and Grant. The look on Grant's face was equal parts suspicion and fear.

"I sure hope you know what you're doin'," he said to Joel.

"I do. I told you, she's immune. Ain't no threat to you or anyone. But for the sake of everyone's peace of mind, let's keep her condition on the down-low. We clear?"

Grant regarded her warily and didn't say a word.

"Are we clear?" Joel repeated sternly.

"Crystal," Grant replied.

"Good. Now, we ain't gonna have a problem with her workin' here, are we Grant?"

His gaze hadn't left Ellie. "No."

Joel studied him for a moment and turned to Ellie. "Alright. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay. Grant, I'm gonna take Ellie home for the day and give everyone a chance to level their heads. She'll be back in the mornin'."

He nodded. "Probably for the best."

Ellie turned and noticed Tommy, who was looking on but hadn't spoken a word. He was avoiding eye contact, which seemed a bit strange to her, but she brushed it off.

They went to the front of the stables, where Joel told Ellie to wait while he had a word with Tommy. She sat down on the bench in what could be considered the lobby. Joel took Tommy outside and around back, where he was sure they were out of earshot.

"Tommy, not a word to Grant. About… you know…"

"No reason to tell the truth. What good could come of it?"

Joel didn't appreciate Tommy's tone. "None. No good could come of it. Now, I told him the same story I told Ellie, and as far as we're concerned, that is the truth. Got it?"

Tommy looked away. "Sure."

Joel's gaze narrowed. "I'm serious, Tommy."

"Joel, I fuckin' know, okay? I'm uncomfortable enough with the fact that you feel like you can't tell her the truth. Replacin' it with a lie don't make it any easier."

Joel sighed. "I know. I ain't… proud of myself, okay? But this is the bed I made, and I'm gonna lie in it. Come hell or high water."

"I hope you're prepared to deal with the weight of that," Tommy replied.

"I am."

Tommy stared at Joel for a moment. "Okay. But Joel… you have to tell her eventually. Ellie deserves the truth."

Joel's gaze moved to the distant rim of the valley. "I know."

"C'mon, Ellie's waitin'. Don't want to leave her alone with Grant for too long after all that."

Joel opened the door to the house and let Ellie brush past him. She trudged upstairs and went into her room. Joel slumped onto the easy chair and sighed, running a hand over his furrowed brow. He felt like a parent who had just picked their child up from school after getting a call from the principal's office. Sarah had been rather well-behaved, so he never had that experience with her, but it probably would have felt something like this. He felt like he should go talk to her. Not knowing what to say hadn't stopped him in the past, and he made his way upstairs.

He rapped his knuckles on her door and pushed it open. "Ellie?"

She was sitting on the windowsill with her right sleeve rolled up, running her fingers over the scar tissue and white bumps like he had seen her do several times before. She didn't look up when he entered.

"How're you doin'?" he asked.

"Fucking fantastic," she muttered.

Joel sighed. "Look, things will be fine with Grant. I explained everything to him." She continued tracing circling paths over the bite mark with her fingertips, offering no response. "Ellie, what is it?"

"Why did there have to be dozens more like me? Why did the Fireflies have to stop looking for a cure? Why did our whole… fucking cross-country trek have to be for nothing? It's fucking bullshit-"

"Ellie…"

"This was supposed to be my purpose. Why I'm here. Why I'm still alive. But it turns out it's just some fucking curse I'm forced to live with. It's not fucking fair!"

"You're right."

She looked up at him. "What?"

"You're right. It ain't fair. And I'm sorry, but that's life, Ellie. It don't give a rat's ass about what's fair and what ain't."

Her eyes returned to her arm. "It's still bullshit."

"You know what? It is. I know how you're feelin', Ellie. I've been through what you're going through right now. I know it's frustratin' as hell."

"After Sarah?"

"Mmm-hmm. I cursed the world. I cursed the Infected. I cursed God for lettin' it happen. But it didn't get me anywhere. Cursin' at the wind leaves you empty and with nothin' to show for it."

"So… how did you get past it?"

Joel pondered the question. "Time, I guess. Eventually, you just come to accept it and move on. Things like this… things you can't change, things you have no control over, ain't worth frettin' about. It's just wasted time and energy pourin' into somethin' that's beyond your control."

"I guess."

"And this is beyond your control. Look, you got bit and nothin' happened. You're still alive. As far as curses go, that ain't so bad is it?"

A weak smile appeared on Ellie's face. "I guess not."

Joel put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get through this, just like everything else the world has thrown at us. We'll get through it. To avoid these situations from happenin' again, we'll just have to be extra careful. Just be conscious of makin' sure your sleeves stay rolled down, okay?"

"It all happened so fast, and the adrenaline from the cut… it slowed my reflexes, I guess."

"I know. Look, it'll be alright. Grant will come around, and it'll be like nothin' happened."

"I hope so."

"Now… while we got some daylight left, I have a surprise for you."

She looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of surprise?"

"Wait here." He turned and left the room, returning a few moments later. He tossed something at her. A piece of fabric. She caught it and held it up, trying to make sense of what it was. It was a garment of some kind.

"What is it?"

"It's a swimsuit."

Ellie's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Ellie, it ain't that cold, I promise."

She looked on from the shoreline, quite wary of the dark, tranquil pool of water before her. Joel's body broke the vast plane of glass, ring-shaped ripples emanating from his body, growing ever larger. She was hesitant to remove the long-sleeved shirt covering the swimsuit.

"There's no one around, don't worry about the mark."

She dipped a toe in the water and recoiled immediately. "Ohhhh! I thought you said it wasn't that cold!"

Joel smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's still spring. Water hasn't had much time to warm up yet. C'mon, you get used to it. See? I ain't freezin' to death."

"Well, yeah, but you've got a bit more… insulation than I do."

"Ellie."

"Fine!" She finally removed the long-sleeve shirt and tossed it on top of her jeans. Slowly, she began to enter the water. She wasn't even ankle deep when her teeth started chattering loudly. She hugged her elbows and shivered. "Ahh… this is h-h-horrible."

"C'mon, you big baby," Joel teased. Ellie glared at him. "Just jump all the way in. It'll be a shock at first but you'll get used to the water faster."

Ellie, not knowing any better, did as instructed. When her head resurfaced, she let out a loud shriek. "Ohhhhh what the fuck! Why would you make me do that? Worst idea ever!"

"Now, we'll practice in the shallow water until you're comfortable. Then we can venture out a bit further. Maybe swim to the other side."

"C-c-c-cool," she chattered.

Joel started her off with a basic back-float, supporting her body while offering instruction on how to stay afloat and move about using her limbs. She was rigid with tension and it took Joel awhile to get her to relax.

Eventually she mastered the back-float and Joel decided to move on to a basic dog paddle. Ellie was reluctant to submerge her face, and her early attempts at the dog paddle essentially consisted of her thrashing about to keep her face above the water.

"Ellie, you have to get comfortable with puttin' your face underwater. It's a big part of swimmin'. Gettin' comfortable with it is one of the most important things you'll need to learn."

"I know! It's just… I k-k-kind of… panic."

"Here, let's try something. I'm gonna hold you while you put your face underwater. That way, there's nothin' to be afraid of."

"O-k-k-kay," she said tentatively.

Joel held onto her and instructed her to dunk her face in the water. Almost immediately, she began coughing, and Joel lifted her out of the water with ease.

"What happened?"

"Water… got up… my nose," she sputtered between coughs.

"Well, you didn't try to breathe in, did you?"

She paused. "No..."

Joel chuckled. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do this time. When you go underwater, blow air out through your nose."

"Okay."

"I've got you, girl. You ready?"

"Yeah."

Joel let her submerge her face and watched as the bubbles began to surface around her head. She resurfaced after a few seconds and giggled with delight.

"Hey! No water up my nose!"

"Good job, kiddo. Now, eventually you'll have to learn how to go underwater without blowin' air through your nose the whole time. Your lungs can only hold so much, and if you're divin', you'll need all of the air they can hold."

"Got it."

"Now, since you know how to keep water from goin' up your nose, how about you try that dog paddle again?"

"Okay."

Joel watched her kick her legs and paddle with her arms, keeping her head above the water without frantically thrashing. A smile spread across her face when she realized it.

"I'm doing it!"

"Good job, kiddo!"

She paddled a lazy circle around Joel, always within his arm's reach, but swimming on her own. He let her swim about for a few more minutes until she was comfortable with it.

"Alright, I'd say you've got that down." He looked up at the lowering sun. "I think that's enough for the day. We'll keep takin' trips up here until you're swimmin' like a trout."

"Awww… can't we swim a bit longer?"

Joel laughed. "I practically had to drag your ass in here, and now you're gonna make me drag it back out?" Ellie splashed him playfully. "Ohhh… are you sure you wanna go down this road with me?" He sent a wave her direction with a sweep of his arm.

After a few more minutes of splashing, he finally coaxed her out of the water. He tossed her a towel they had found in the house and they began drying off. Ellie's eyes drifted to the scar on Joel's abdomen, and a shiver went down her spine, accentuating the cold she felt from the damp swimsuit under her clothes.

"Hey Joel?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks. For this. Teaching me how to swim."

Joel smiled. "You're welcome. I've been lookin' forward to this since… since that tunnel…" he trailed off. Suddenly, his attention was miles away. For a brief second, a look of guilt crossed his face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. "Let's, uh… let's get home, okay kiddo?"

"Okay."

AFTERMATH: PART II CONTINUES

WITH CHAPTER 9