Author's Notes: Once again, thanks everyone for the feedback. All of it is taken to heart and I use it all to help improve my writing.

I had some trouble with this chapter because I had almost none of it thought out beforehand and basically made it up as I went along. The end result is definitely a lesser work than the first two chapters, but it's mostly just an introduction to some of the characters. The next chapter will be better, as I have the majority of it already thought out.

Lastly, I want to address a comment someone made in a review about how the last chapter was "cute." If anybody is expecting this to be a cute story, they're going to be disappointed. It will get very dark at times and, yes, people will die in this story. The early chapters are definitely lighthearted, but don't expect it to last.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Of Us or the characters in this chapter, except the ones I introduce. All credit goes to Naughty Dog.

Brand New Start

CH. 3: Tour

"Here, come sit with me," Ellie told her new friend as they re-entered the diner. She was glad that Hannah was able to forgive her for her outburst. I hate my emotions sometimes, but at least she understood.

"Sounds good." The girls interlocked their arms as Ellie ushered them over to the booth where she, Joel, Tommy, and Maria had been sitting.

"Hey Joel, I'm back," she said as she sat back down in the booth, followed by Hannah. As Hannah sat down she shot a smile at Joel, hoping to make a good first impression.

"You made a new friend, I see." Joel did not meet Hannah at the party the evening before, but he was happy to see Ellie making friends around town.

"Joel, this is Hannah. We met last night." After being introduced, she put on a bigger smile and waved at Joel.

Joel smiled and waved back. "It's a pleasure. You're familiar with these two I assume?" Joel asked as he gestured towards Tommy and Maria.

"Yeah, of course. My dad and I have lived here for a long time."

"Hannah, I don't think I've ever seen you socialize with anyone in all the years you've been here," Tommy told her. She had been in Jackson since nearly the beginning, and always kept to herself. "Some particular reason you can talk to Ellie but not anybody else?"

Hannah shrugged her shoulders at the question, and she and Ellie locked eyes for a moment. "I don't know. There's just something about her… we connect in a way that I don't with the other kids." She smiled at Ellie, and Ellie smiled back. "I've been kind of nervous about talking to the other kids in town but I just… felt like I could talk to her easily."

Maria had known Hannah for a long time, and was glad to see her finally coming out of her shell. "Well, I'm glad you've found a friend here."

"Yeah, so am I. I really need someone around here to talk to. My dad's always been a little bit worried that I always stayed in my own world, I think he'll really be happy." As she said that her dad came up the booth.

"There you are. I saw you walking out with that new girl but didn't see you walk back in and I was looking for you." He turned his attention to Ellie and Joel. "How do you do? My name's Jeffrey and I'm Hannah's father." The man was about six feet tall and a little bit younger than Joel. He was starting to go bald in the front but his hair covered his ears in the back.

Ellie took the liberty of introducing herself and Joel. "I'm Ellie and this is Joel." Joel gave a slight wave as Ellie said his name.

Jeffrey then turned his attention solely to Ellie. "You know, you're the first person I've ever seen my daughter go up and talk to. You must have a real gift."

For a split second Ellie thought he meant her immunity. She realized how stupid that thought was as soon as it entered her mind. No, idiot. He's talking about a gift with other people. "Thanks. I'm surprised I'm the first, your daughter's real pleasant to talk to."

Jeffrey chuckled to himself a bit. "I always thought so, which is why I never understood why she never tried to make friends with anyone. I'm glad to see someone who my daughter feels comfortable with." He turned to Joel. "Joel, how about tonight I take you out tonight and give you a little orientation for guard duty?"

Joel looked at Ellie briefly. He didn't want to leave her alone for long on only their second night at Jackson. "I don't know. How long would we be out?"

"I don't actually have guard duty today. I'd just be showing you around, so I could probably have you back after maybe 2 hours."

He turned to Ellie. "You think you'd be okay with me being gone for a couple hours?"

Ellie turned to Hannah, and Hannah understood that she was implying that the two could hang out while they were gone. She smiled and nodded at Ellie. "Yeah, and could Hannah come over to our house while you guys are gone?"

"If it's okay with Jeffrey," he told her.

"I got no problem with it," he answered without hesitation.

"Cool!" exclaimed Ellie.

Tommy looked at the plates of the two newest residents of Jackson and noticed that they were done eating. "Now that you guys are done, you ready for the grand tour?"

Joel and Ellie looked at each other, then turned to Tommy and nodded, completely synchronized.

"Yeah," they said in unison.

Tommy gestured for Maria to stand up and let him out, and she obeyed. "Great. First I'll take you into the kitchen to introduce you to the people responsible for what you just ate." Ellie was particularly eager to meet the chefs. She had never enjoyed eating as much as she did that morning, even though the one she ate the evening before provided stiff competition. They wandered to the back of the building and entered through a door with a sign that read "Kitchen Staff Only." Tommy was willing to allow an exception this time.

They entered and caught sight of five chefs. The first one they were introduced to was Randy. He was one of the men responsible for the bacon, and Tommy told them he raises and slaughters the pigs himself. He was around sixty years old, with scraggly gray hair coming down past his shoulders and a thick gray beard that came to his chest. He was heavy set, Ellie drew comparisons to how Bill was built, but he wasn't quite as tall as Bill was.

The second person they met was Randy's son, Branson. He was in his mid-thirties and had short black hair and a thick beard, though not as thick as his father's. He was tall and heavily muscled, which was a surprise to Ellie because most of the people she had seen in her life were skinny. He stood eye-to-eye with Joel, but was considerably thicker. I guess not living off of fucking rations your whole life really does make a difference. He worked with his father raising and slaughtering the pigs for food.

They moved onto the next person, an older woman by the name of Allyson. Maria had mentioned she was the one who made the biscuits. She was a little older than Joel, with hair that was mostly gray and piercing hazel eyes. Ellie could tell that when she was younger she must have been exceptionally beautiful. She still retained a fairness about her appearance, hinting that she was still clinging to that youthful beauty.

The last two were introduced together. They were twin males by the names of Stephen and Christopher. They were short, standing only a few inches taller than Ellie, with fairly average builds. They were in their early twenties, and Ellie felt that they must have been infants when the Cordyceps outbreak began. Ellie noticed something particularly stunning about their eyes. They both had one blue and one brown eye. She had never seen that before, and was quite mesmerized by them.

As Tommy led them out of the kitchen, Ellie gave them all a big "thank you" for the meal, and smiled at them all as she walked out. Joel and Ellie followed Tommy outside and to the house directly adjacent to the diner. The house had a large garage, Joel imagined whoever lived there had probably stocked up on a lot of supplies. Tommy knocked on the garage door and called out to the owner of the house.

"Paul, you in there?"

"Yeah," he called out from the garage, "give me just a second."

Tommy turned to Joel and Ellie. "Paul runs the barter market in the town. People trade surplus supplies for luxuries or vice versa."

"Oh, that's interesting," Ellie said.

The garage door lifted and they were greeted by a man who appeared to be in his seventies. He had a very rugged appearance, with disheveled hair and a thick beard, and a face adorned with scars. "Oh! These must be the new people I heard about yesterday."

"Name's Joel and this is Ellie. Nice to meet you Paul."

Paul extended his hand to Joel and gave him a firm handshake. "Always a pleasure to see new faces around town." He then moved to give Ellie and equally firm handshake, crushing her small hand. She did a good job of not letting him know he was causing pain. "Pleasure to you too, missy."

"Easy on the girl, Paul!" Joel called out. "She's tough, but she's still fragile." Ellie turned to Joel with a mildly offended look on her face.

Paul turned to Ellie. "Sorry. Look, I'd like to chat, but I was actually about to make my way over to Travis's house to collect some clothing. But we'll definitely talk some other time."

"Take it easy, Paul," Tommy told him as he left.

They turned to follow Tommy down a street perpendicular to the one they were on. Ellie could see what she thought was a church with a large cemetery. "That's a church, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tommy answered. "As you can probably guess it ain't used much these days. We really only use it for the occasional funeral." That somber note caused Ellie's mood to change. Churches were supposed to be places people went for comfort. There's nothing comforting about having to bury a loved one. She could see that most of the graves were marked with a proper headstone, but there were about a dozen and a half marked simply with wooden crosses. She was able to determine that those were people who died after the town had been resettled.

At the end of that street were the stables. The sight of the horses picked Ellie's spirits right back up. They saw a man outside the stables washing one of the horses, Tommy introduced him as Andrew. He was the husband of Allyson who Joel and Ellie met back at the diner. He was around sixty years old and was nearly bald. He was fairly short and a little on the heavy side.

As they got closer, Andrew stopped washing his horse and walked over to Ellie. "You. I remember you."

She was understandably a little confused. This was the first time she had met him, so she didn't know how he could remember her. "Um… I don't remember you?"

"You're the one who stole my horse at the dam last fall."

When he said that, she felt both guilty and embarrassed. "Oh… yeah, sorry about that. I was just… not thinking then."

"I don't take too kindly to people running off with my horses."

She reached her right arm across her body and grabbed onto her left elbow, and put on the best puppy-dog face she could. "So, I guess that means I'm not allowed to take a horse out any more?"

Andrew waited a little while before responding. "Nah," he said. "I'm all about turning the other cheek. I'll let you take a horse out if you want, but you'll have to earn my trust first."

"Thank you," she said as she smiled.

"Alright, I'll let you get back to work now," Tommy told him as he continued the tour.

"Thanks, Tommy. And nice to finally meet the new folk."

"There's one more person you need to meet. She's probably the most important woman in the town besides Maria."

Joel was intrigued. "Who is this woman? What's she do?"

"Her name's Brenda, and she's the town's only doctor. It's amazing what she can do without all the technology doctors used to have. You ever get sick or hurt, she's the one you go to." Her house was near the main gate of the town. The building had a porch in front with a deck overhead. The front door opened to an open room with two beds near the back. There was a side door leading to another room with a staircase along the wall leading to the second floor. In one of the beds lay a young boy about six years old and who Ellie assumed were his parents beside the bed.

"Connie, is Brenda around?" Tommy asked the woman.

"She's getting something from upstairs." She turned to Joel and Ellie. "Who are they? I haven't seen them around."

"They're new in town. This is Joel and Ellie. Joel, Ellie, the woman's Connie, that's her husband, Barry, and their son Adrian."

Connie stood up to shake Joel and Ellie's hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you two. It's always nice seeing new faces come to town."

Tommy turned to Joel and Ellie. "You two hold on, I'll get Brenda down here." He walked about halfway up the steps and yelled up to her. "Brenda! Can you come down here for a sec?"

"Just a minute, Tommy," she called from the second floor.

Just then a young girl came in from the side room. "Did I hear there's new people in town?" she asked eagerly. She saw Joel and Ellie and ran over to them with excitement. "Hi! I'm Nicole, but you can call me Nicky." She was about ten years old with hair that seemed to never have been cut, as it nearly came down to her waist. "I think I heard you're Joel and you're Ellie?"

"Yeah," they replied together.

Tommy filled them in on what she did around town. "She was taken in by Brenda when she was born. Her mother died during the pregnancy and her father was killed by Hunters before that. Recently she's become Brenda's apprentice. She's learning some of the basic things about medicine and healing."

Joel looked down at her with a smile. "I guess that's something you should learn early if you're going to learn it."

Ellie felt strong empathy for Nicky. She had never met someone who, like herself, had never known either of their parents. Because of that she felt and instant connection with her. As Ellie looked at Nicky she could see that deep beneath her cheerful façade there was pain, but it was hidden well. She wondered what she could have gone through to feel pain. She had been living in this sanctuary her whole life, what could have made her feel that?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a woman coming down the stairs with a canteen in her hand. This must be Brenda. She was probably in her mid-sixties, and the way she carried herself showed that she was remarkably wise. She seemed to disregard Joel and Ellie and walked directly to the bed Adrian was lying in. She but the canteen on his head and told him "Keep this on your head; it'll bring the fever down." She walked over to Tommy, Joel, and Ellie. "Now then, new people. I always love meeting new people."

He gestured to Joel and Ellie. "This is my brother, Joel, and Ellie. They just got to town yesterday."

She gave Joel and Ellie each a quick hug with a large smile. "It's so nice to have you around town."

"Brenda's the most gentle, kind woman you'll probably ever meet. Rest assured if you ever get hurt, you're in good hands with her," Tommy informed them.

Brenda turned away and blushed with embarrassment. "Oh don't flatter me too much. I'm just a woman who enjoys taking care of people."

"And you do that better than anyone else." She blushed again. He gave Joel and Ellie a little bit of background on her. "Her grandmother was a nurse in Holland during World War Two. That's where she got her training from. She uses pretty much the same technology they had back then, maybe even less."

Joel was impressed, and he nodded at her to show it. "That's quite impressive."

They were interrupted by knocking at the door. "Come in," Brenda called out.

The door opened and a man walked in grabbing his hand, which was bleeding quite heavily. "I think I need stitches, I cut myself on some shears."

"Let me see." The man showed her his hand. There was a cut about two inches long on his palm, and she didn't need to look long to determine if he did need stitches. "Yeah, you'll need a few stitches alright."

"We'll get out of your hair while you work on him," Tommy said as he motioned to Joel and Ellie that they were leaving.

"Take care, Tommy. And so nice to meet you, Joel and Ellie."

"Nice to meet you to," Joel called out as he walked out the door.

Tommy looked at the gate after they stepped out. There was a building right inside that served as the headquarters for the guards. "That building just inside the gate is the guard station," he told them as he pointed at it. "All the adults in town take turns guarding. After Jeffrey gives you a little orientation I'll add your name to the rotation, Joel."

"Can you add my name?" Ellie asked excitedly.

Tommy shook his head. "Uh… no. Sorry, but you have to be sixteen to get your name added."

Ellie let out an exasperated sigh. "Why can't I be in the rotation? I'm a great shot and more than capable of handling myself," she pleaded. Tommy was not budging.

"Sorry. It's a town rule. Once you turn sixteen I'll make sure you get some time at guard duty."

She grumbled in defeat. "Fiiiine, I'll waaaiiiit."

Joel ruffled her hair playfully. "Alright, now, we're gonna head back to the house. Appreciate the tour."

Tommy shook his brother's hand before letting him and Ellie go back home. "It was my pleasure."

They walked part of the way back to the house in silence, until Ellie blurted out "Why didn't you talk to him?"

Joel looked at her confused. "'Bout what?"

"About me getting guard duty."

"Sorry, but Tommy said it's a town rule and I don't want to go against that."

She gave a defeated sigh. "I guess the rules are the rules. I wish he could make an exception though."

Joel put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll get a chance, kiddo."

That concludes chapter 3 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: Ellie tries something new, and pays for it.