Author's Notes: I had a feeling drunk Ellie would be a hit. That last chapter was by far my favorite to write so far, and it's good to have some happy chapters considering how dark it will get in later chapters.

This chapter does not have much of a plot, but it does feature some of my take on what life for Joel and Tommy was like before the outbreak. I wanted to focus on emotion in this chapter, which is not my strong point. If I did a good job conveying the emotions, let me know. If I didn't, also let me know, but kindly please.

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. I do not own the lyrics in this chapter. All credit goes to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Brand New Start

CH. 5: Anniversary

"That should do it." For the past week John had been trying to get the shower in Joel and Ellie's house to work. Although Jackson had running water, for some reason their shower did not want to work. They had been waiting eagerly for it to finally be up and running, and it looked like the time had come.

"Time for the moment of truth," Joel said as he reached out to the knob on the bathtub faucet. He turned the knob and water started to flow out, as it had been. The problem was that the shower would not come on. Joel flipped up the tab to switch to the shower, there was a slight delay, and water started raining down from the shower head.

"Yes!" Ellie shouted as she jumped with elation. The joy she felt was comparable to the joy one would feel during the first rainfall at the end of a long drought. "Finally, I can take an actual shower!"

"John, thanks a ton for getting this back to working order," Joel said as he shook John's hand. John was about Joel's age, and probably had the most neatly trimmed hair of anyone in the town. His hands were rough and calloused, indicating that he had spent a lot of time doing hard manual labor.

"Anything to help you out. You two enjoy that."

"We will," Ellie said jubilantly as John walked out of the bathroom.

"You ready to experience one of my favorite things of the pre-infection world?" Joel didn't need to ask, the answer was obvious.

"Is that a serious question, Joel? What do you think?"

Joel didn't respond to her question. Instead, he simply told her "Enjoy."

In her over-excited state she started to pull her shirt up before Joel had left the bathroom. He quickly put a hand up in front of his face so he wouldn't see anything he didn't want to. "Ellie! For Christ's sake wait until I'm not in the room!"

She pulled her shirt back down with extreme embarrassment. She was so eager to step into her first ever hot shower that she didn't register that Joel was still in the room. "Sorry. I'm just really excited."

"Yeah, well you almost put me in a very uncomfortable situation." He turned to walk out of the bathroom. "I'll be downstairs," he said as he closed the door behind him. As he walked down the hallway he could hear a loud sigh of contentment come from the bathroom, followed by her whistling. He smiled as he went down the stairs.

It was more than 45 minutes before she came downstairs. She was wearing a black T-shirt with a band logo that had mostly faded, but the design of cross-shaped tombstones with strings connected to large hands in the sky was somewhat visible. What the fuck does that symbolize? She had a white long-sleeved undershirt to cover the bite mark on her right forearm, as always, and khaki pants that were a bit too long.

"Well you were in there an awfully long time," Joel said as she came to sit on the couch with him.

"I would have stayed in longer but the water got cold," she said as she jumped onto the cushion next to him. "Let's get to the diner. Hopefully there's still some food left for us."

Joel shook his head. "I think we missed breakfast, we may have to fix some food for ourselves."

Ellie sighed in defeat. "Do we have bacon?" she asked pitifully.

Joel got up to look in the cabinets for what food they had. He opened the cabinet and a thorough scanning showed no bacon. "No bacon. But…" he pulled a can out of the cabinet. "…there is some corned beef hash."

Ellie looked at him, puzzled. "What the hell is that?"

"It's just beef and potatoes. It's pretty good."

"But no bacon in it?"

"Nope."

She flopped back down to a lying position on the couch. "Then I don't want it. There's gotta still be some food at the diner. Let's go."

Before Joel could respond there was a knock at the door. Ellie quickly jumped up to answer it. She opened the door to find Tommy and Maria standing there, each with a plate of food in their hands. "We brought you breakfast since y'all didn't show up at the diner," Tommy said.

"Never mind, Joel. Breakfast came to us." She motioned for the two to come in. The two walked in and set the plates down on the coffee table.

"We can't stay and chat because we've got stuff to do," Maria informed them. "We're going to be busy setting up for the party today."

Ellie and Joel both looked at her curiously. "Party?" Ellie asked.

"You didn't hear about it? Whole town's been talking about it all week."

Ellie and Joel looked at each other, then back at Maria. "Haven't heard a thing," Joel told her.

"Today is the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the 'Jackson Constitution.'"

Ellie found that news particularly exciting. "Oh, wow. So this community is ten years old?"

"Technically it took two years from my father starting to build the town up to actually establishing the Constitution. So it was twelve years since its inception, ten years since it was officially established."

"Ten years of second chances," Tommy added. "That was the whole reason why her father set this place up. It really is beautiful what we've done here: all the lives we've saved, all the hope we've given people. We've created a community where people don't have to live in fear anymore. This is the last place left on Earth where people can say that they don't live in fear every day. None of this would have been possible without the brilliant mind of the late Roy Flemming. I remember speakin' to him when he was on his deathbed, and he told me 'No matter what happens, always keep believin' in second chances. You do that, and you can save what's left of mankind.' He's lookin' down on us now with a big smile, seein' that after ten years all the hard work he did wasn't in vain. What we're doin' here today is all for him."

Ellie found herself about to cry at Tommy's soliloquy. She looked up at Maria and said "I bet your father is extremely proud of you for keeping this place running for ten years."

She nodded slowly. "Even though he's not with us anymore, he still oversees everything and helps me to do that. I couldn't keep this place running without his guidance." She smiled at Ellie, who smiled back. "Okay, we need to head out and start setting everything up. We'll see you guys this evening." Maria and Tommy waved goodbye as they walked out of the house.

Ellie and Joel waved back. "Thanks for the breakfast," Joel called out.

"No problem," Tommy replied as he closed the door.

"Wow, ten years," Ellie remarked. "That's a long time."

"Maybe for you, but remember that I'm fifty. So for me it's nothin'."

"Old fart," she teased.

"Yup, that's me."

After breakfast Ellie went over to Jeffrey and Hannah's house to see if they were going to the party. She hoped they were going simply because it's such a special occasion for the town, but mostly because she wanted to spend more time with Hannah. She knocked on their door and waited a few seconds without getting an answer. She knocked again and waited. She was about to knock a third time when Jeffrey opened the door. "Hello, Ellie."

"Hey. Is Hannah here?"

"She's in her room right now.

"Are you guys coming to the party today?"

"We'd like to, but no."

Ellie was severely disappointed. "Awh, why not?"

"Hannah's still serving her punishment for what happened with the vodka a week ago. Don't think she's quite learned her lesson yet."

Ellie stood in silence for a few seconds before saying anything. "Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint you. When I feel she's learned, you two can see each other again. It's got nothing to do with you, I think you're a magnificent young girl and Hannah really likes you. I just don't trust her at the moment."

Ellie nodded understandingly. "I understand."

"You enjoy the party tonight," Jeffrey said as he went back in the house.

Ellie was really looking forward to spending the party with Hannah, but that wasn't going to happen.

As Joel and Ellie approached the park where the party was being held, Ellie noticed a large pile of wood in the center of the park. She assumed it was for a bonfire. She also saw poles with black boxes on top scattered around the perimeter. She wasn't sure what they were for.

"Those things, what are they?" she asked Joel.

"Those are speakers. Somehow they found working ones."

Ellie thought about what they could possibly use speakers for. "Do you think there'll be music at this party?"

When Ellie asked that, Joel thought about how much he missed music. "That would be nice."

As they walked into the park they responded to the greetings they were given by the townspeople. Ellie saw Danni, who she met on the first day she got to Jackson, through the crowd. Danni saw her too, and smiled and waved to her. Ellie waved back. Suddenly there was a loud ringing coming through the speakers followed by Tommy's voice.

"People of Jackson: thank you all for coming to the town's tenth anniversary celebration!" His voice was met with rousing applause from the town. "There were many people involved with the founding of this community. I'd like to turn the microphone over to one of the men pivotal to creating what we have today. Please give a hand for Mr. Mark Houser."

As Tommy handed off the microphone to Houser, the people of Jackson gave an ovation considerably greater than what Tommy received. Houser settled them down and began his speech. "It was twelve years ago, on a morning like any other. We had been traveling all through the night, and in the wee hours of the morning we stumbled upon this very town. It had long been abandoned and forgotten, yet it still seemed alive somehow. It called out to us, especially a man by the name of Roy Flemming. Some of you may remember him, and all of you know his daughter, Maria. When we got to the town he said 'This is where we change the world.' He told us his plan, and how he thought we could actually put together a safe haven in this God-forsaken world. Everybody laughed at him, even his own daughter, except for me. I stood behind him all the way, regardless of all the people talking about how we've lost our minds. After two years of breaking our backs and pushing our wits to the end, we accomplished what people said was nothing but folly. Still, Roy was not satisfied. He thought that there was still something the town was missing. Suddenly he realized what it was. 'A Constitution' he said. Again, everybody laughed at him, but he had proven that his judgment could be trusted. Everybody in the group put their heads together to create what would solidify this town as the last refuge on the planet, and the Jackson Constitution was written. Tragically, less than a month after seeing his vision become reality, Roy Flemming passed away. This gathering today is not only to celebrate second chances, but to honor the man who believed in second chances enough to create this community. At the end of the festivities we will light the bonfire, to symbolize the burning away of all the fear that people once felt. Before we begin, however, I'd like to take a moment to honor the man responsible for creating this safe haven."

The town participated in a brief moment of silence to pay tribute to the great man who built this town. After about ten seconds, Houser spoke again.

"Thank you. Now, let the celebration begin." The town erupted in applause as cheesy country music started being played on the speakers. Some of the people started dancing, but it was clear that after more than twenty years after the apocalypse, nobody actually knew how to dance.

Joel put his hands on Ellie's shoulders to tell her something. "You go on and do your thing, I'm gonna go talk to Tommy."

"Okay." After Joel walked away, Ellie simply went over to a bench and sat down.

Tommy turned around to see Joel approaching from behind. He initiated the conversation he knew Joel was about to start. "After everything went down all those years ago, I didn't think we would ever be able to have a normal life again. While it isn't quite normal yet, I don't think it can get any closer. People can live like they did before the outbreak." Tommy sighed, reminiscing about life before the outbreak. "You know what I miss most? Our ranch back in Texas. Remember all the shit we would get into when we were kids?"

Joel laughed, remembering some of the trouble he and Tommy used to get into. "Scarin' the Rogers's horses with firecrackers."

"Puttin' a snake in the Donaldson's mailbox," Tommy added. The laughing started to die down when Tommy had a sobering thought. "I don't think I need to ask you what you miss the most."

Joel was also not laughing anymore. The answer was obviously Sarah, only twelve when he lost her. "I still see her face everywhere. The memory of that night is still as vivid as when it happened." The scene played out in his mind again, as it had very often since it happened. "Starin' down that soldier's barrel…"

"Listen buddy, we've just been through hell. We just need – " The soldier raised his rifle at them. "Oh shit!"

"…He opened fire…"

Bullets whistled at them, missing Joel but striking his daughter being carried in his arms. Her blood-curdling scream pierced the night.

Tears were streaming down his face as he retold the story of how his daughter was killed. "…I held her in my arms, beggin' her to stay with me. God, her screams…"

"You're gonna be okay! Stay with me baby!" he pleaded as Sarah's cries of agony cut through him like a knife.

"…And then she was gone."

"Sarah." Her cries had stopped, and he stared into her lifeless gray eyes. "Baby…" She did not respond. "Don't do this to me, baby girl. Don't do this to me baby."

He wiped the tears from his eyes. He was not ashamed of being seen crying in public. "The worst part of that whole ordeal was…" He took a deep breath. He was finding this very difficult to say. His words were hard to understand through his sobbing. "…s-she died a-a-afraid. I t-tried to comfort her b-but s-she was so scared. She knew she was going to d-d-die and I c-couldn't do anything to c-comfort her."

Tommy put his arm around Joel's shoulders. "You shouldn't be dwellin' on that tonight."

Joel looked his brother in the eyes and could see tears welling up in his as well. "Yeah, you're right." Joel thought it was time to change the subject. "Ellie… has been a Godsend. Let me be clear that she will never replace Sarah in my heart, but she… she fills the void that Sarah left. I'm grateful for every minute I spend with her. She's changed my life."

Their conversation was interrupted by Barry, who Joel and Ellie met at Brenda's house, coming to tell Tommy something. "Hey Tommy, I just talked to Dean and he says he's out for tomorrow."

"Dammit, that's three people who have backed out."

Joel had no idea what they were talking about. "Backed outta what?"

Tommy filled him in. "We found a structure a few miles up the road. We've been lookin' to turn it into an outpost but we need to make sure it's clear. I'm sorry to do this to ya, but we need ya to come along and help."

Joel was not sure that we wanted any part of it. "How long would it take?"

"About eight to ten hours. You'll be away from Ellie for a lot of the day."

Joel did not feel comfortable leaving Ellie alone for that long. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he was just worried that something bad would happen to him when he wasn't around. It was a fear he had since last winter. Any time he had spent away from Ellie was time he had spent worrying about her safety. He didn't want anything to happen to her if he wasn't around to protect her. Even though they were safe in Jackson, it was a fear he could not let go of easily. "I don't want to leave Ellie alone for that long."

"I'm sorry, but three people have already dropped out of this. She'll be fine, I promise."

Joel knew his brother was right. He had nothing to worry about. "You're right, again."

Ellie was sitting alone on the bench, like she did at their welcome party. Danni came over and sat down next to her. "Sitting by yourself again? You should be out and about socializing with people."

Ellie looked at Danni. "I had planned on spending the day with Hannah, but she's in the doghouse."

"Yeah, I heard the two of you got plowed last week," she said as she smiled.

Ellie looked embarrassed. "You heard, huh?"

"The whole town heard. Word travels fast around here – ooh! Look over there! At that guy!"

Danni pointed to a group of about 6 boys, appearing to be between the ages of 15 and 18. "Which one?" Ellie asked.

"Tall one with the ponytail."

Ellie caught sight of a guy who appeared to be sixteen years old. He was taller than Joel and had wavy hair that was put back in a ponytail about five inches in length. "What about him?"

The older girl blushed. "That's Derek. I… kinda have a thing for him."

Ellie smiled at her. "So go talk to him," she said.

Danni bashfully bowed her head. "I can't, I get nervous whenever I try to talk to him."

"Just… ask him to dance."

"I tried but I can't even go up to him. I've been waiting for him to ask me out."

Ellie leaned forward a bit. "How do you know he will ask you out?"

"I don't. I'm just hoping."

Derek turned towards the girls on the bench. "Wave to him," Ellie said, nudging her. Danni gave a quick and awkward wave which Derek returned, along with a wink, before he turned back to face the group of guys he was with. "That's a start." When Derek turned to walk over to the bench, Ellie thought of an idea. "Go stand over there and wait."

Danni followed Ellie's instructions and went to an open area in the crowd. Derek stopped in front of the bench to talk to Ellie. "Hey, what were you and Danni talking about?"

"Stuff," Ellie replied.

"What kind of stuff?"

"The stuff you talk about."

"Let's leave it at that I guess. I've been trying to find the courage to ask her to dance."

Ellie's face lit up slightly. This is going according to plan. "So go do it."

"I've been trying, but… she intimidates me."

Ellie laughed. "How could she possibly intimidate you?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess because she's older and more intelligent than me."

"How much older can she actually be?"

"I'm sixteen and she's eighteen."

Ellie looked over at Danni, then back at Derek. "Well look at it this way. Danni's a pretty girl, and I can see that there are some other 'eligible bachelors' around town, if you know what I mean. If you don't take your chance, you might not get another." A smirk donned her face.

He nodded. "I'll do it. Thanks… what's your name?"

"Ellie."

"Right, thanks Ellie."

He walked over to Danni and asked her to dance. Ellie couldn't hear what was being said, but she saw Danni offer her hands to Derek and the two went off and started dancing to the music. Ellie gave a slight fist pump that her plan had worked. Suddenly she heard a voice from next to her that startled her. "I saw that." It was Joel, and he took a seat next to her on the bench. "What qualifications do you have for givin' someone advice on how to ask someone out?"

Ellie blushed a little bit. "Back in the zone, I dated this guy for a while… a week… four days."

"And that makes you an expert on relationships?"

"I never said that," she said with a smile. Her smile faded when a thought entered her head. "I don't think I'll ever be in a relationship again."

Joel leaned slightly closer, listening intently. "What makes you say that?"

She put a hand on her forearm, but made sure to not reveal the bite mark. "Even though I can't turn, the Cordyceps is still inside me, right?"

Joel nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's right."

"And… it's spread through body fluids. So, I can never kiss anyone or, when I'm older…" What she was trying to say next was very uncomfortable in front of Joel. "Oh, this is awkward…"

"I know what you mean Ellie." Joel felt like he was talking to his daughter again. She had just gotten into dating before the outbreak, and she had gotten her heart broken once. He was there to comfort her, like he was for Ellie in that moment. He found himself making comparisons between Ellie and Sarah often. But no matter how much he tried to tell himself it was pointless, he still found himself doing it.

Ellie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "What do you think about that, Joel?"

Joel hadn't heard what she said, having been lost in thought. "Sorry, what?"

"About the possibility of me finding a guy who's also immune."

Joel had told her that there were more immune people, but he knew it was a lie. He didn't know if Ellie knew, and he wasn't ready to blow that cover yet. "I suppose anythin's possible."

Joel had not been paying much attention to the music playing over the speakers, but when he heard a familiar guitar intro everything else seemed to get toned out. "Oh boy," he said. He recognized the song as "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and his mind became flooded with memories.

"What is it?" Ellie asked.

"It's this song." Joel paused before saying anything else. "Brings back a lot of memories."

Ellie knew all about how memories could be triggered by something simple. "Memories of what?"

Joel hesitated before answering. "Of my mother. She was killed in a car crash when I was nineteen. This song reminds me of her."

After the guitar had played for a while, the lyrics started. My mama told me, when I was young. Come sit beside me, my only son. "My mother played this song every day for me. It comforts me like a mother's lullaby comforts an infant." And listen closely, to what I say. And if you do this, it'll help you some sunny day. Ah, yeah.

"The whole message of this song is a mother tellin' her son to just be simple and do anythin' that makes him happy. I think that's the best thing a mother can ever teach her kid." Oh take your time. Don't live too fast. Troubles will come, and they will pass. "After the accident, every time I heard this song I would think of her. I would think of how all she wanted of me was to just be a simple man. And how that all got screwed up by the fucking infection." You'll find a woman, and you'll find love. And don't forget, son, there is someone up above.

He stopped talking so he and Ellie could listen to the lyrics. And be a simple kind of man. And be something you love and understand. Baby, be a simple kind of man. After listening to Joel's story and listening to the song, Ellie thought about how great it must have been to have a mother to want something so simple out of her child. Ellie never had that opportunity, and she felt envious of Joel. She could only guess what a mother's love felt like; Joel knew firsthand what it felt like. Oh won't you do this for me son, if you can. As the last line of the chorus was sung, Ellie looked over at Joel and saw his lips moving along to the words, but no sound was coming out.

"Don't be afraid to sing, Joel," she said as she nudged him playfully.

Joel just ruffled her hair and said "Keep dreamin' kid." Ellie looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes and overly-exaggerated frown. "Don't even try. It ain't gonna work."

As the sun started to disappear behind the ridge, the whole town had gathered around the pile of wood that they would soon ignite to conclude the tenth anniversary celebration. Tommy held up a large piece of burning wood in one hand and the microphone in the other. He threw the burning branch into the pile and spoke into the microphone. "Let this symbolize the burning of our fear! And let hope replace it forever!" The crowd cheered as the fire spread among the pile of firewood, building into an energetic but controlled bonfire; the ultimate symbol of hope in a world where people had long abandoned the concept of hope.

Ellie and Joel were two of the last people to leave the party. By the time they got back to the house the sun had disappeared for the day, and Jackson was lit only by the streetlights placed regularly so there were no dark spots on the road.

"I had fun tonight," Ellie told Joel.

"I'm glad, kiddo." He took the key out of his pocket and stuck it in the lock of the door. They key slid in with no resistance like usual. "That ain't right," he said to himself. He thought about how that could possibly happen, and found that there was only one possible explanation. "Goddammit!" he grumbled.

Ellie was confused, as she should be. "What? What is it?"

Joel looked at her with anger in his eyes, but it was not directed at her. "Someone's broken into our house."

That concludes chapter 5 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: A thief is discovered in Jackson.

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