A/N: Confession time. I've been distracted. I haven't been very good at being timely with chapter updates, but I promise I have a good reason for it. A few weeks ago, I began writing my first novel. Writing on this site and seeing such positive reactions to my work has inspired me to give a shot at writing original content. I had never considered writing a novel, but a few weeks ago, an idea popped into my mind for an excellent setting and backstory for a novel, and that has been commanding a lot of my writing attention lately.

I want people to know that I haven't forgotten this fic. I know a lot of people have been anxiously checking for chapters, which I'm touched by, and I haven't been great at sitting down and writing them. Though I don't, I feel like I owe it to all of you, and to TLoU somehow, to see this story through, and I plan to. So as a note, if I end my chapter with "AFTERMATH: PART II WILL CONTINUE," that is a promise. This story will have an ending. I can't hope it'll be anywhere as profound as the ending to the actual game, but I will do my best. So please, bear with me. I'm splitting my attention in writing projects, and I will be trying my damndest to keep this story true to the characters and the world.

Alright. Here's chapter nine. I've set up chapter ten as a big one, so that should force me to write it sooner rather than later.

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

CHAPTER 9

STORIES

Days became weeks. Weeks became months. Summer was in full swing. The valley provided some reprieve from the baking sun, which meant high eighties instead of nineties. Trips to the swimming pond became a regular occurrence, and by now Ellie was quite the proficient swimmer. She'd spend hours in the pond, diving down to feel for rocks or twigs in the mucky bottom. She had insisted she keep honing her skills until she felt as natural in the water as she did on land.

She'd float on her back and stare at the sky, deciphering shapes from the drifting clouds above. Joel was never far off, always within reach, just in case. It was more for his sake than hers. Ellie had come to a resigned opinion of him. She settled on being honest with herself, and concluded that Joel had lied to her that day months ago on the ridge. She couldn't put into words what she felt towards him, but it strode the line between love and hate. Perhaps it was both. She hated him for lying, but loved him enough to understand that there must be a reason why he did it. At this point, the truth was just a burden, and for now she was willing not to bear it.

The town had been fairly quiet since their arrival. There hadn't been any bandit raids, and only a stray Infected or two stumbled their way near the perimeter. They were put down without much hassle. Life was easy, and its ease made it difficult, a daily challenge that weighed down on Joel and Ellie alike. Joel tried to fathom how he could return to a life not dissimilar from the one he'd known twenty one years ago. Ellie tried to fathom how she could have a life free of threat or strict regiment put in place by the preparatory schools in which she had always dwelt.

Ever since he had seen her scar, Grant had been reticent toward her. He wasn't talkative like he used to be, and oftentimes she'd catch him casting sideways glances at her, only to look away sharply upon meeting her eyes. She had hoped Grant would be someone she could confide in, perhaps even trust. She almost laughed at the thought now. He had distanced himself, quite conspicuously, and when she tried to pry her way in, she was met with a wall of intransigence. Eventually she relented.

She implored Joel to help her get a shift at a guard post, explaining her predicament at the stables, and with help from Tommy, she was given a couple shifts. Since she was the youngest and newest member of the watchmen, she was relegated to the shifts least desired by the other guards. These were often overnight or break-of-dawn shifts. Occasionally, one of the guards would take pity on her and trade shifts. Most often, it was Joel who did the trading. He'd give up his midday watch to her and take the overnight shift, with the intention of letting her get some sleep. She needed it more than he did after all. But, to his chagrin at first, she rarely slept those nights. Instead, he'd hear her scale the ladder and plop down next to him, with the broken-record excuse of "Couldn't sleep."

It was one of those nights where she joined him in the guard tower. The moon had begun its slide toward the western horizon, while morning's light still lay hidden below the east. The stars were innumerable and vibrant against the ink black canvas of the sky. Ellie stared at the heavens, eyes tracing the distant constellations Joel had taught her about.

"What's that one?" she asked, pointing at a box of stars with an appendage protruding from one corner.

"Oh, you're gonna love that one. That's Pegasus," he replied.

"Who's Pegasus?"

"A horse with wings."

"You're fucking with me," she said in disbelief.

"Serious. He's from Greek mythology, a winged horse that could fly."

"Aw, cool! Man… wish I could ride a horse with wings. That'd be awesome. So, how'd he end up in the stars?"

Joel shrugged. "Beats me. Mythology has its ways of explainin' these things, but they aren't exactly based in reality. Makes for a good story, though."

They sat quietly for a few more minutes, silently gazing at the stars. Joel felt Ellie's head come to rest against his shoulder.

"Don't go noddin' off now."

"I won't, I'm still awake," she replied. "Tell me a story."

"What kind of story?"

"I dunno… dealer's choice. Uh… how'd you meet Tess?" She felt him cringe slightly at that name. "Or… uh…"

"Nah, it's fine. It wasn't long after I arrived in Boston. I had spent years workin' my way from place to place searchin' for a Quarantine Zone that was still inhabited."

"With your fellow hunters, I take it?"

He dismissed the question. "Boston was our last gasp. We had gone through so many cities. Knoxville, Charlotte, Richmond, D.C…. ghost towns, all of 'em. Even New York City had long since fallen, and it was a hotbed for Infected by then. We barely made it out of there alive. Man, that was once a city like you wouldn't believe… anyways, I'm gettin' away from myself here. We didn't know what we were gonna do if Boston was abandoned. Keep movin' I guess, but it was more or less our last hope. We had moved our way up the eastern seaboard, trudgin' through hell itself at times, only to find QZ after QZ overrun or completely abandoned. When we saw the lights of Boston, our hearts rose in our chests. Once we were allowed into the QZ, we all basically went our separate ways."

He paused to take a drink from his canteen. Ellie sat quietly, listening intently. "It didn't take me long to realize how valuable smugglin' was as a profession. There were always clients, both from the military and private citizens alike. I knew it was something that gave me the best chance of stayin' alive. It provided a steady flow of ration cards, and could get me friends in high places. Once my mind was made up, I looked for a partner. There were only a couple top dogs that more or less ran the smugglin' business. Tess was one. Low-life sack of shit named Robert was another. There were others, but it was clear that if I wanted to succeed, I'd pair up with one of these two. Choice was easy. Robert was a spineless coward, king of an empire he controlled through backdoor deals and an air of false bravado. Tess… well, for one, she was a hell of a lot better lookin' than Robert…"

Ellie seized the moment to interject. "Okay, this has been bugging me since I met you guys. Were you two… you know…"

Joel smirked at her. "Wouldn't you like to know."

She smirked right back. "I knew it."

"Anyway, I approached Tess. Told her we'd make a good team. I guess I was either convincin' enough or good lookin' enough for her to go for it. And that's that."

Ellie looked at him coyly for awhile, but her gaze transitioned to solemnity before long. "Look, I know I've said this a million times, but… I'm really sorry about Tess."

"That's okay, Ellie."

"It's just… well, if she was someone who… made you happy, or… agh, I dunno what I'm trying to say. Just… you deserve someone who does that. Makes you happy. And I'm sorry. I can't help but feel-"

"Stop blamin' yourself." The firmness of his words caught her off-guard. "Look… I don't blame you for what happened to Tess. I might have, at first… and I sorta took it out on you. For that, I should be the one apologizin', so I'm sorry. Now let it go."

"Okay. For what it's worth, I forgive you. For taking it out on me, I mean. I understand, and things worked out alright between us after all."

They shared another moment of silence, but it wasn't a strained silence. It was a silence of comfort and familiarity. A silence born of soundless understanding and the superfluity of words.

Joel finally broke it. "Do you think you'll ever be able to tell me what happened? Last winter, I mean?"

"What do you mean, what happened? You know what happened," she said evenly.

"Not all of it. I don't know what brought you to… to where I found you in that restaurant. What happened before that, with those people in the town, while I was out." Her head was turned away from him, and remained there. "Can you tell me what happened?"

He felt her exhale deeply against him, and sensed hints of a quavering shudder from her diaphragm, the sort that preceded muffled crying. "I had never been so scared in my life."

The sentence hung on the air for awhile, as if she was watching it float away with the night breeze. Joel didn't dare prompt her to continue before she was ready to.

"I had no idea what to do. After you got hurt, I was lost. I was fucking… terrified. I had never stitched someone up before. My hands were shaking the whole time. I had to choke down some liquor I found to calm them. Once it was done, I stayed by your side for two days, swearing each breath would be your last. Hunger finally pulled me away, and I had to look for food. I'd get a bit here and there. A rabbit or squirrel. One day I was out and had just shot a rabbit… the one we ended up eating after… well, I was tying the rabbit up to Callus when this deer showed up seemingly out of nowhere. So I went after it, tracked it for awhile. A few shots later and it finally went down in the middle of an abandoned logging camp. Place was eerie as hell…"

She shuddered. Joel wrapped an arm around her for warmth and reassurance, and continued listening quietly.

"These two guys step out from behind a tree, offering to trade for some deer meat. Of course, I didn't trust them. Never trust anyone, right? So I kept an arrow trained on the guy in charge. David." She seethed, spitting the name from her lips as if it were poison.

"He offered supplies, food, clothing. I blurted out, probably a little too eagerly, that I needed medicine. Didn't specify why. Told them they could take the whole deer for it. The one guy ran back to their camp to fetch it, while the guy in charge stayed with me. We took shelter in a building, and soon after were fighting off a mob of Infected.

"We killed them all somehow, and afterward, David revealed to me that he knew who we were. Makes my skin crawl to think back to that conversation. Turns out, it was his guys we were jumped by at the university. Small world, I suppose. Anyway, I got out of there and came back to give you the medicine. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of voices outside. They had tracked me back to the house. I knew if you were to have a chance of surviving, I'd have to draw them away, so I did."

She reached over to take a drink from Joel's canteen. He saw her hand shaking. She composed herself again before continuing. "I got their attention by killing one of them, and then Callus and I rode out of there. There were so many of them. Finally, one of them put a bullet in Callus and we fell down a small cliff. I ran and hid. I was almost to the road back to the house when that fucker David knocked me out and threw me in cage."

A lump had begun to form in Joel's throat upon hearing all of this, fearing the worst, but he kept silent.

"When I woke up… the guy who was with David earlier was butchering a human body. I can still hear the sickening, wet thuds of limbs hitting the floor. David returned and… tried to convince me to join his little town of people eaters. He said that… that I was… special. He put his hand on mine, suggestively. I broke his goddamn finger for it. I think he had resolved right then to eat me rather than have me be his little… pet. The next day I was woken up by them throwing me on the butcher table, ready to cut me up into tiny pieces. I was able to bite David in the process. Fucker. Tried to buy time by telling him I'm infected, and by biting him, he was too. It worked. I killed his buddy and got out of there. The rest of it was all a blur. I… I killed so many..."

Joel pulled her in closer, trying to give her a foundation to stand upon.

"Finally, I climbed into that restaurant, but David met me at the door on the way out. There was a struggle after the worst game of hide-and-seek in history. He was pinning me, choking me. I was starting to pass out when I found his machete and… well… you know the rest…"

"Ellie…"

She continued, brushing him off. "It was the worst thing I've ever been through… but looking back now, I think I learned a lot about myself… what I'm… what I'm capable of."

Joel looked at her for a long time. Her stony gaze stayed fixed straight ahead. Finally, he spoke. "Ellie, I'm sorry. You don't know what I'd give to take that away, for that to never have happened. I think you're more capable than you know, even now. You're the reason I'm still here."

She offered no reply. Numerous times, it appeared she was about to speak, but no words emerged when her lips parted. She was tired, and in her fatigue, her mind held onto a word that she had been dismissing for quite some time. It was the burden she had chosen not to carry. Truth.

"Joel… why did you lie to me?"

AFTERMATH: PART II CONTINUES

WITH CHAPTER 10