Author's Notes: Alright now, things are gonna get a little hairy in this chapter. You've seen in the past that Hannah's kind of a hardhead, well you really don't know how much of a hardhead she can be. I won't go into a lot of detail, but she gets herself and Ellie into some deep doo-doo. Warning: Some of the stuff in this chapter may be mildly disturbing to some people, but it isn't too graphic.

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

Brand New Start

CH. 15: Trifle

"With the completed restoration of the Jackson police station and courthouse, this community will now have its first ever functioning justice system," Tommy proudly declared at a town gathering in the park. Now that the town had a functioning jail, they wouldn't have to resort to throwing people out of the town, essentially condemning them to die. "The Wild West days of Jackson are over. Order will now be kept peacefully, and effectively. I want to thank Joel, Earl, Houser, Dean, Jordan, and Colin for assisting me in restoring these essential buildings, and establishing the Jackson Police and legal system." The crowd applauded again as Tommy concluded his speech. He immediately went to Joel, who got the idea to restore those buildings in the first place. "Now we're another step closer to normal life. A proper justice system in a world like this… who'da thought that was possible?"

"If you'd asked me a year ago, I woulda said no way in hell," Joel replied.

"When do you think we'll get to actually test this system out?"

"I hope we never have to use it, but havin' this is a hell of a lot better than throwin' them outta town like the old west."

"Damn right it is."

Ellie and Hannah sat on the couch at the house. In recent weeks, Hannah hit a growth spurt, and now stood eye to eye with Ellie, maybe even slightly taller. Ellie was a little bitter than Hannah surpassed her in cup size, as any teenage girl would be, and she had let her know on multiple occasions. The two teased each other constantly, but Ellie was currently in the lead in their "battle".

Jeffrey walked back through the door with a box in his hand. He had gone to Paul's to make a barter deal, and he had returned with what he got. "How much did you get?" Hannah asked.

"Just some spring clothes mostly."

"Mostly? You mean you got something else?"

"You're gonna like this." Hannah perked up, and ran over to look in the box. "Hey, no peaking. Wait for me to get it out." Hannah backed off, slightly disappointed, as Jeffrey reached into the box. He pulled out something that made Hannah's eyes light up bright: a slingshot.

"Oh my God! You got another slingshot for me!"

"Consider it a late birthday present."

"Have you had a slingshot before?" Ellie asked.

"I had one for like eight years. It broke about this time last year and I was devastated. I loved that slingshot." She hugged her dad, thanking him for getting her another slingshot. "Thank you dad. Thank you so much."

"No problem dear."

She let go and turned back to Ellie. "I used to be a crack shot with a slingshot. I wonder if I still am."

"Go try it out," Jeffrey insisted.

"Here, come on let's go outside," Hannah said eagerly.

"Hold on, let me get some targets," Ellie said. She went into one of the cabinets and pulled out three empty bottles to use as targets. "Okay, ready."

Ellie finished setting the three bottles on the fence posts in their backyard. Hannah and Ellie stepped back about thirty feet away from the bottles, and Hannah reached into the bag of marbles to grab her first shot. "Lock and load," she said. She set the marble in the sling, and gave Ellie a brief lesson on accurate shooting with a slingshot. "You've probably seen people shoot a slingshot like this," she held the slingshot upright in her hand, and pulled the sling straight back. Ellie nodded. "This is wrong. You don't hold the slingshot upright, because it won't get an accurate shot at all. You turn it slightly sideways, so that your hand and the two prong things, I forget what they're called, make a triangle. Pull the sling back as far as you can until it's right at your eye, close the other one, aim and fire." She aimed for the bottle on the far left, took a steadying breath, and let a marble fly. Traveling at over a hundred feet per second, the marble shattered the bottle. "One down." She reached back into the bag and reloaded, taking much less time than the first shot. She fired, and again hit her target. "Two down." She reloaded again and set her sights on the third bottle. She was laser-focused, in the zone, the pinnacle of precision; nothing could stop her. She was just about to let the marble fly, when all of a sudden...

"BLARGRALGL!" Ellie yelled as Hannah fired, causing her to jump and send the marble way off course.

Ellie doubled over with laughter, but Hannah had a very different reaction. She reached into her bag of ammo, grabbed a handful of marbles, and threw them all at Ellie. "I was in the zone and you ruined it!"

"I scared you and you know it," Ellie said through her laughter.

"I wasn't scared I was... mildly startled," Hannah said. She nearly jumped out of her shoes, but she was trying to protect her dignity.

"Bullshit. Admit it, I got you."

Hannah didn't want to give Ellie the satisfaction she was looking for, but she had to admit that Ellie did give her a good scare. "Fine you got me. Now let me finish off this bottle."

"Alright, I'm sorry."

"You should be," she said, mostly jokingly but also somewhat serious. She reached into the bag and pulled out one of the few marbles that was left, and loaded the slingshot. She had the bottle in her sights, she took a steadying breath...

"You won't hit it." Hannah ignored her friend, and concentrated solely on the bottle. Again, she took in a breath... "Those first two were luck, you won't get this."

Hannah gritted her teeth trying to resist the urge to tackle Ellie. "Ellie, shut up or else you'll make me lose my balance and accidentally shoot you."

"You wouldn't shoot me, Hannah," Ellie said, still trying to antagonize her friend.

Hannah paused to try and think of a witty comeback, but it eluded her. "Yeah, you're right. Now please... quiet."

"Okay, I'll be quiet this time, I swear."

Throughout the most recent exchange Hannah had not let the bottle out of her sights. She steadied herself, praying that Ellie would keep her big mouth shut... and let it fly. The marble hit the target dead center, shattering the bottle like the first two. "Ha! Showed you, didn't I?"

"Not bad at all," Ellie said, not wanting Hannah to know that she was genuinely impressed. "Now, have fun cleaning up these marbles." She turned to go back into the house.

"Ellie, come on. Help me pick them up."

"Why? You threw them at me."

"Pleeeaaase..."

Ellie deliberated Hannah's pleas for help picking up the marbles. It would be the good thing to do... but she made the mess, so she should have to clean it up. "Nah," she said quickly, and went back inside.

Hannah sighed in defeat. "I don't know why I expected any different." She bent down and started picking up the marbles she had thrown.

Hannah sat on the couch holding the slingshot. She was almost fondling it, and had not set it down since she first got it. Joel and Jeffrey were out on a hunting trip with Tommy, and would be for most of the afternoon. Ellie walked down the stairs after finishing her shower and sat down next to her best friend. "You know, I used to actually put my accuracy to use."

"How so?" Ellie asked.

"I would uh... I would hide out in the park and shoot people when they weren't looking. I did that for a span of maybe two years and never once got caught. I would be in and out before they knew I was ever there."

Ellie was impressed at Hannah's stealth capabilities. "You're pretty sneaky I see."

"Yeah, but that was years ago. I think I stopped doing that when I was like ten and I was a lot smaller then. I wonder if I can still pull it off."

"Hannah, you can't just go around shooting random people with a slingshot-"

Hannah cut her off. "I'm not planning on shooting random people, I know exactly who my targets would be. Butch and his boys spend a lot of time in the park; I was gonna go for them."

Ellie was shocked that Hannah would try something like that. Butch was the leader of a small group of young thugs who were exceptionally dangerous. Though they were all still teenagers, they behaved like hardened criminals. "Hannah, you've made a lot of questionable decisions in the past, but this crosses the line. If they catch you, they won't hold back. They'll kill you, Hannah."

"So I won't get caught, it's easy."

Ellie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had always known that Hannah didn't have the most sound judgement, but she must have a death wish to think about trifling with a band of thugs. "Hannah, listen to me. You'd have to be suicidal to try that."

"Maybe if I do it alone, but what if I have a spotter with me?" She looked at Ellie with an inviting look, implying she wanted her to tag along.

Ellie stood up off the couch and took a step back. "No fucking way. You are not bringing me into that."

"Why are you so worried? It's just a game... a little harmless troublemaking."

"Hannah, there's nothing harmless about messing with those guys. Like I said... THEY WILL KILL YOU."

"Only if we get caught, which we won't as long as you follow my lead."

Ellie threw her hands up beside her head in disbelief. "Oh my God, you've lost your fucking mind. You're actually serious about this, and you actually think I'm coming with you."

"Well aren't you?"

"No, I don't want any part of this stunt. Hannah, I've never seen you like this. You've always been on the edge, but this is so far beyond anything you've ever done before. I don't know what the hell's gotten into you Hannah. I don't know if getting your slingshot back has made you mad with power but you need to come to your fucking senses."

"Ellie, I used to do this all the time. Don't get so worked up."

"Hannah, I'm trying to be the voice of reason here, since you've clearly lost any sense of reason. If you're actually serious, then go ahead. Just leave me out of it. And also know that if you go out there, you may not come back."

Hannah listened to Ellie trying to reason with her. Ellie's points were all valid, but Hannah's new-found confidence from getting her hands on another slingshot made her ignorant to the dangers she was about to walk into. She grabbed the bag of ammo, grabbed her slingshot, and walked out the door without saying anything further to Ellie.

As Ellie watched her best friend walk out, hellbent on carrying out her sick idea of a "game", she felt a pit in her stomach from the fear. Nothing she could possibly say would be able to convince Hannah to make the smart choice, and she was afraid. She was horrified thinking about what might happen to Hannah. If Butch's gang caught her, they wouldn't let her off easy by just killing her outright, they'd make her suffer before they did. Ellie let out a sigh, and sat down on the couch bringing her knees in close to her body and wrapping her arms around her legs. All she could do was wait... and hope that Hannah would come back in one piece.

Hannah got to the courtyard in the park and positioned herself up against the low wall surrounding it. She looked into the courtyard and saw two members of Butch's gang. Hannah knew that there were more, but they weren't in sight at the time. The two boys were both facing away from her; neither one would be able to see her. She reached into her ammo bag, pulled out a marble, and loaded the slingshot. She did not pull the sling back completely, because she did not want to do any real damage. She aimed it at the back of one of their heads, and fired. As soon as she let the marble fly, she got down behind the wall and moved along it to get away from where she fired from. After she got down, she heard the boy scream "Fuck!" and she knew she hit her mark. "Who the fuck did that?!" she heard him shout.

"Who did what?" the other boy said.

"Something fucking hit me in the back of the head." She heard a pause, and then the voice said "This must have been it." He had found the marble.

"Hold on, there was that one girl that always had that slingshot..." Balls. "I think her name was uh... Hannah." Double balls, this is bad.

Hannah decided to abort, and she grabbed her weapon and ammo and quickly ran in between two houses nearby, looking back to make sure she wasn't seen. She got out of their line of sight, and it appeared that they did not see her. She snaked her way in and out of buildings so that if they were following her, she had a chance to lose them. She emerged back out on the street her house was on, and sprinted back there.

Ellie waited nervously for Hannah to get back. Hannah hadn't been gone long, but she was still worried about her. Her worry subsided when Hannah burst in through the door, and closed it quickly. Hannah leaned against the door panting heavily. "You okay?" Ellie asked.

Hannah didn't want Ellie to know that she almost got caught. "Yeah, I was just doing a lot of running to get back here."

"Why did you need to run?"

That question had made in unavoidable that she would have to bring it up. "I thought they got suspicious of me, so I got out of there. They didn't catch me though."

Ellie tried to resist the urge to say she told her so. She was concerned for Hannah. "Well... I'm glad you didn't and you're okay."

Hannah's heavy breathing had settled for the most part. "You were right Ellie, that was a stupid idea. I was really scared when they started looking for me."

Ellie couldn't resist it any longer. "I told you so. Hannah, do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

Hannah nodded. "I'm pretty lucky, that's for sure."

"Yeah. Don't ever do anything like that again. You really had me scared, Hannah."

Hannah looked at Ellie with regret for causing that much fear. "I'm sorry, Ellie." The two shared a hug, grateful that Hannah was okay.

Hannah and Ellie were taking a walk as the sun was going down, as they did every evening now that spring was in full effect.

"I threw the stick, Buckley went out to fetch it, and the fucking mutt just plopped down right when he got it."

"Ellie, that dog's ancient. Do you really think he'd want to play fetch?"

"He went out to fetch, he just didn't bring it back. Him being so fucking fat doesn't help either.

Hannah abruptly changed the subject. "Ellie, why do you curse so much?"

Ellie was surprised that Hannah would ask that. When she thought about it though, she didn't remember ever hearing Hannah say a word worse than 'damn' or 'hell'. "Better question is why does it bother you so much?"

Hannah shrugged her shoulders. "It's not that it bothers me, it's just that... my dad raised me to not use language like that. I don' know why you use it so much."

Ellie chuckled, and put an arm around Hannah's shoulders. "Hannah... my dear Hannah... we live in a fucked up world, right?" Hannah nodded. "Do you really think proper language has a place in society anymore?"

Hannah shrugged her shoulders again. "I guess not."

"Come on, let an F-bomb go."

Hannah moved her lips the way she would to make the 'f' sound, but couldn't bring herself to say the word. "Ellie, I can't."

"Say it. It's freeing."

She waited some more, trying not to let her friend down. She closed her eyes, and real quickly said "Fuck." She waited to see if she did in fact feel freeing. "I don't like it."

Ellie chuckled. "You are such a goody-two-shoes."

Suddenly, both girls were grabbed from behind. Each girl was grabbed by two people: one restrained their arms, the other covered their face. They didn't have time to scream before they were dragged off the street and into the church. The girls faces were uncovered and they saw Butch standing in the church. The people holding onto the girls separated them, and Butch went directly to Hannah as she screamed "No! No! No!" He took out a roll of duct tape, and put a piece across her mouth to stop her from screaming. Hannah resisted and struggled, but once the tape was over her mouth, she gave up.

Ellie did not give up. "Don't you fucking touch her!" she screamed. "Keep your fucking hands off of her!"

Butch went over to Ellie and pulled out a large buck knife, holding it up to her neck. "You listen to me, bitch. All we're going to do is teach your friend her a lesson about fucking with the wrong people. You do not say a word. If I hear one word, one sound, one peep out of you... I slit your throat, and I slit your friend's throat. Do I make myself clear?"

"Fuck you!" she spat at him.

He responded by pressing the tip of the knife against her neck, just enough to break the skin. "Do...I...Make...Myself...Clear?" he growled. The pain in her neck told her that he was serious about his threats. She just nodded, as fear was starting to replace anger. "Good." He removed the tip of the knife from her neck, and observed the blood slowly trickling down.

"You better do what he fucking says, bitch," the boy holding her said. "He doesn't fuck around; when he says something he fucking means it."

"Indeed," Butch added. He then went over to Hannah, and put the knife back in its sheath. "Hey cutie," he said. "Heard about your little stunt with the slingshot. I have to say I'm impressed with you. Although, I can't tell if you're either really brave or really fucking stupid. I hope you didn't honestly think you'd get away with it, because if you did it means that you're stupid, and I would very much like to think higher of you." Hannah glared at him with a fire in her eyes. The hate and anger boiled in her veins, and she wanted to scream, but the tape on her mouth prevented her from doing so. "There's one thing about us that everyone should know. You fuck with us, we fuck back." A grin formed on his face, and he pressed his tongue against Hannah's cheek and began dragging it all over her face. Hannah squirmed erratically at the violation, causing a wave of laughter from the other four boys in the church.

"Squirm you little whore," one of the idle ones said.

Ellie wanted desperately to speak up or yell out, but she knew that if she did, she wouldn't live to tell about it. There were five of them and only one of her, there was no chance of victory for her. She gritted her teeth trying to fight back the urge to yell.

Butch finished licking all over Hannah, and stepped back laughing. "Oh, baby, don't try to act like you don't like it." The fire in her eyes intensified as she glared at him. "If you think that's bad, wait till you see this." He grabbed onto the collar of Hannah's shirt, and began ripping it right down the front. He ripped it almost the entire length of the shirt, stripping Hannah down to her bra. When he made a move to rip that off as well, Hannah kneed him as hard as she could, aiming for his crotch. She missed and connected with his thigh, to which he responded by cocking his hand back and backhanding her across the face, rocking his whole body with the swing and putting his full weight into that hand. The blow stunned Hannah, and she went limp, but did not lose consciousness.

That assault pushed Ellie over the edge. "STOP!" she yelled out as loud as she could. All the boys turned to look at her, and she knew she had made a big mistake.

"Oh, you fucked up now, bitch!" the one holding her shouted.

Butch pulled the knife from his belt as he and another boy started walking towards her. "Grab her legs and hold her down," Butch instructed to him.

"No, stop! Please don't!" she screamed as she fought for her life. She kicked violently, hoping to strike one of the boys and try to break free. Her legs were restrained, and she was dragged to the ground; one boy sitting on her arms, the other holding down her legs. "Please! I didn't-" Butch pressed his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. She tried to bite him, but she was unable to.

He waved the knife in front of her face. "I told you what would happen if you made a sound! But you were stupid and didn't listen, so now I have to kill you!" Ellie made a quick last-ditch prayer that someone would come and save her. She was not ready to die, but there was no getting out of this. Butch brought the knife to her throat, ready to slash it open.

Just then, the last idle member let out a gasp as someone grabbed him from behind. Then a demanding voice yelled out "Let the girls go or I blow Terry's brain all over the fucking church!" It was Danni. Somehow she had known about the kidnapping and gotten into the church undetected.

Butch turned around to look at her, and saw that she was holding Terry around the neck with a revolver pressed up against the side of his head. He walked away from Ellie and over to her. "Danni, put the gun down and stop trying to act tough."

"Oh, you think I'm acting, that's cute."

"We all know you won't use-"

She took the gun away from Terry's head and aimed it at the floor in front of Butch's feet. She pulled the trigger and the bullet embedded itself in the floor les than an inch from Butch's feet, causing him to jump back. She held the revolver back to Terry's head. "You were saying..."

Butch's tone changed now that he was the one who's life was being threatened. He held his hands up in a surrendering position. "Uh... okay Danni-"

"Let the girls go NOW!" she yelled louder than the first time.

"Danni... just... be cool-" Butch pleaded. He was not so tough when the tables were turned.

"Don't fall for it Butch, she won't fucking do anything!" the boy holding Ellie's hands called out.

"Five!... Four!... Three!" Danni started counting down until when she would pull the trigger on Terry.

"Dude, she ain't fucking around!" the one holding Hannah said.

"Two!..." she pulled the hammer on the revolver back. "One!..."

"Let the girls go!" Butch yelled out. That got Danni to stop the countdown, but Butch's boys didn't comply right away.

"What?" the one sitting on Ellie's hands asked.

"You heard me, Ash. Let them go."

"Butch..." Ash held out his hand. "She's fucking bluffing. I can see through her like glass-"

"Are you willing to bet Terry's life, my life, or your life on that?!" Butch snapped.

Ash remained silent. While he really thought that Danni was only bluffing, he was not willing to risk his life or anybody's life if she was serious.

"That's what I thought. Now let... the girls...go."

The young men all looked around at each other, deciding whether or not to listen to Butch. Eventually Ash spoke up again. "You heard him." He got off Ellie's arms, and the one holding her legs did the same as the one holding onto Hannah let her go as well. The girls both ran behind Danni as Hannah held her shirt closed. Dannie released Terry and shoved him back to the rest of the group. She kept the gun raised and ready to use, and she saw the boys all put their hands up.

"Ellie, get Hannah covered up, get Tommy and his men over here, and take Hannah back home," Danni demanded.

"Here," Ellie said as she started removing one of her shirts. "I don't need to wear two shirts, you take this." She helped Hannah get into the shirt to cover up her midriff area. "Let's get this tape off." She ripped the duct tape off of Hannah's mouth, causing her to yelp in pain. Hannah kept her hands close to her body, and was whimpering from the shock. Ellie put her hands on Hannah's shoulders to help her out the door. "It's okay, Hannah. You're gonna be fine," she spoke words of comfort and encouragement as she and Hannah walked out of the church, leaving Danni alone with the group of thugs that nearly killed them.

"All of you, down on the fucking ground."

"Danni-" Butch tried to plead.

"On the ground now!" she yelled as she stepped closer, shaking the gun at them. She watched all five of them go to the ground. "Put your hands on your heads." They did as they were told, since Danni had shown that she meant business. "Now... I've got five bullets left in here, and there's five of you."

"Danni, think about what you're doing," Butch begged. "If you shoot us, that'll make you a murderer. Is that what you wanna be?"

"You guys kidnapped, violated, and tried to kill two young girls. I could make a case that this was justifiable."

"But do you really want to?"

She deliberated on his question. She did not actually want to kill them, but wouldn't hesitate for a second if she had to. "No. But I will if I have to. So I suggest you be smart, and don't make even the slightest false move."

Ellie was taking Hannah back to the house. She had a large black bruise forming on her face from getting smacked, and she was still shaking and whimpering. "It's okay. Just relax and listen to me." Ellie had not stopped trying to calm her down since they left the church. As they were walking back to the house, Ellie saw Tommy out. "Tommy!" Ellie called out.

Tommy walked over to the girls with great concern. "Are you okay? What the hell happened to ya?"

"We got kidnapped by Butch and his boys. They... they did... bad things to us, and Hannah's in shock."

"Where are they now?"

"Danni's got them held up in the church."

Tommy took his radio off his belt. "I need four men at the church. Have weapons and handcuffs with you." He clipped the radio back onto his belt. "Ellie, take her to Brenda's and get her looked at."

"I'm taking her back home first. Her dad needs to know about this."

Tommy thought it would be best to take her straight to Brenda's house, but at the moment he was only concerned with dealing with Butch. "Alright."

Ellie got back to the house with Hannah, and she opened the door for her. "Hey, Hannah needs to be looked at." Hannah walked in with help from Ellie holding her hands tight to her body, shaking, and whimpering.

"Holy shit!" Jeffrey shouted when he saw the condition of his daughter. He, Ellie, and Joel all helped her onto the couch. "Hannah, baby, tell me what happened." Hannah did not speak, and continued whimpering.

"She can't talk; she's in shock. We were walking and we got kidnapped by Butch and his gang. They... molested and hit her, and then tried to kill us both."

Jeffrey put his hands on Hannah's face to try and calm her down. "Hannah, it's gonna be alright. You're home now." He turned to Ellie. "Does Tommy know about this?"

"Yeah. He and some others are going to make an arrest."

"Good. Joel, get a glass of water for her please."

"On it," he said. He ran quickly into the kitchen and filled up a glass with water, and brought it back out equally as fast. "Here you go."

Hannah took the glass and took a small sip. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get her to speak a little bit. "Thank you," she said faintly. Jeffrey was heartbroken seeing his daughter in the state she was in. She had been severely traumatized, and could possibly be damaged for years. "Daddy," she said just as faintly, and Jeffrey hugged her tight. "It's okay baby, I got you. It's gonna be okay."

Joel took Ellie aside, seeing the thin line of blood running down her neck. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up too." He led her to the kitchen where he got out a rag and began wiping the blood away. "You have any idea why they went after you girls like that?"

Ellie couldn't tell him the real reason. That would have to stay between her and Hannah. "They said... they said it was an initiation."

"An initiation for what?"

"I don't know, but Hannah was the target. We only got out with our lives because Danni came and rescued us. If it weren't for her we'd both be dead."

Joel sighed. "Well, we should all be thankful for her then."

"Yeah," Ellie said as she nodded.

There was a knock at the door. "Joel, can you get that?" Jeffrey, who was still tending to his daughter, asked.

Joel walked over to the door and opened it to find Tommy there. "Good news, they're all in custody," he reported.

"They better stay locked up for a long fucking time for doing this to my daughter," Jeffrey said.

"Don't worry, they will be. Looks like the new justice system's gonna be put to use after all."

"Good," Joel said.

"Y'all take care now," Tommy told them as he closed the door and left.

"Hannah, I'm so glad you're okay," Jeffrey said as he hugged his daughter tight.

Joel did the same to Ellie. "I'm glad you're okay too." It seemed to all of them that these close encounters always brought them closer together. They all feared that eventually, they would get too close and not make it out. This encounter was a sobering reminder to treasure every moment, because one day they might not be as lucky to get out alive as they were this time.

That concludes chapter 15 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: A violent crime has unexpected repercussions.

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