A/N: Hi readers! Just want to thank those who have offered feedback. This story has been able to catch some attention, which I'm hoping grows and motivates me to make these chapters more interesting and unique. Anyways, here is the next installment to Days Beyond Us!
-CHAPTER 2: BROKEN PARADISE-
-SPRING SAGA-
The entire community took awhile to calm down after the chaos. Volunteers helped clean up the mess of corpses that plagued the streets. Tommy and Maria had called a meeting with civilians who were part of the guard patrol to discuss the matter at hand. Beforehand, they inspected every inch of the wall surrounding the town. As Tommy expected, there was no signs of damage whatsoever. No guards had seen any infected enter the premise. Based on the evidence, it seemed the infected had been released from somewhere inside town.
"Do you really think we have a traitor in town?" Joel asked Tommy. The two were discussing the issue outside of Tommy's house, a day after the incident. It was late at night. The full moon had risen high into the sky, with the stars lighting up the view. The town's streets were lit up with the lampposts powered by the energy from the hydroelectric dam.
"It's the only option that makes sense. You've seen the walls. They're all intact. There's no way the infected found a way inside by themselves." Tommy answered. He looked down to the mysterious note they found yesterday by one of his men. "Remember when Richard found this strapped onto one of the infected? This here is evidence that someone is trying to sabotage our community."
"But why attack with the infected? Seems like too much work. It'd be easier if they barged in our front doors and shot us down."
"I don't know. All we need to think about is catching this culprit." Tommy began to rub his head in stress. This whole situation was giving him a headache. He never thought someone inside their community wanted to disrupt their peace. The town was a second chance at a normal life. Why would they want it gone? "Let's talk more about this in the morning. I need some shuteye."
The two said goodnight as Tommy went inside to join Maria. Joel walked over next door back to his house. As he reached the front, he noticed Ellie sitting on top of the porch roof. She had one leg hanging off the side, the other used to keep her support on the roof. On her lap was her diary, which now contained a few pages of entries from the past days, and was gaining another entry at this moment.
"Now what's that you're writing in?" Joel asked, walking closer to her for a better look.
"It's a diary that Maria gave me." Ellie responded, her eyes still focused on the pages. Joel chuckled. He'd never thought someone like Ellie would get into a "girly" obsession. Ellie noticed his reaction and objected. "Hey, you can laugh all you want. Writing in this thing is actually fucking cool."
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not making fun of you. I'm actually glad you found something to pass the time. You mind if I read what you have so far?"
"Haha, yeah right. You'd have to knock me out for that to happen."
Joel motioned her to come down. Ellie put her diary back into her bag and carefully climbed down from the porch roof, using the outer frames as a ladder. The two walked inside and prepared for a late night dinner. The townspeople hunted frequently and managed to bring many deer back in a matter of days. Tommy had given Joel a share of the venison for them to eat. After they ate, the two got ready for bed. Joel checked on Ellie in her bedroom. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, finishing up her diary entry.
Boy, she seems addicted to that thing. Joel thought.
"Joel, about what happened yesterday. That wasn't a normal infection attack, was it?" Ellie asked, noticing him at the doorway. Even at her age, she could understand situations like these. "Did someone try to attack us?"
"It's hard to tell, but from the looks of it, maybe." Joel answered. He walked to her bed and sat beside her. Ellie gave out a sigh, seemingly stressed. Joel questioned her. "Is something on your mind, kiddo?"
Ellie shrugged. "I'm just thinking about things. It's no big deal."
"Are you sure? Want to talk about it?" Joel asked. Ellie didn't answer, instead pondering whether she should bring up the subject about the Fireflies again. She really wanted to know what happened. But in her mind, she had a feeling it was best to leave it be, for both of their sake. Joel could see the hesitant look on her face and assured her. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."
As Joel got up to leave, Ellie hit him with a question. "You would do anything to protect me, no matter what the consequences, right?"
At first, Joel looked at her with a confused look. He thought it was strange for her to ask something with an answer so obvious. Ellie's eyes had a troubled look in her, as if yearning for comfort. Joel went up to her and kissed her on the forehead. "You're my baby girl. Of course I would. I swear."
"Okay."
The sound of gunfire sprung Joel awake in the middle of the night. He could hear bloodcurdling screams within the chaos outside. What in the world was going on? His first reaction was to check up on Ellie. Taking his bag along with him, he rushed to her room. His eyes widened, realizing she wasn't in bed.
"Ellie!?" Joel shouted frantically. He searched around the house, finding no signs of her. Returning to her bedroom, she found her window was open all along. Climbing out, he looked around their house as gunfire and screaming continued to erupt.
Where the hell is she?
"Get the hell away from her!" a voice shouted. He soon heard a ruckus coming from Tommy's house. Joel sprinted into their home and checked all around, eventually heading upstairs to their bedroom. He found Tommy holding a man at gunpoint against the wall, with Maria watching from behind. In an instant, Tommy put a bullet in their chest. The man's body slumped onto the floor as they died from blood loss. Tommy looked back to Maria. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine." Maria assured him.
"Tommy! What the hell is happening?" Joel demanded. Tommy shook his head. Apparently the town was being attacked again. But not by the infected. This time, it appeared to be a group of bandits.
"This guy cannot be military. He lunged at us like a wild animal." Tommy commented as he and the others looked over the dead body in front of them. This bandit sported a strange attire, unlike others they had seen before. Their entire wardrobe appeared just like any other bandit, but the feature that stood out was the black, military ballistic mask covering their face. Only it was in the shape of a skull.
"Who the hell are these people?" Joel breathed in shocked. He began to worry about Ellie, who was somewhere in town by herself with these men on the prowl. "Did any of you see Ellie? She wasn't in her bedroom."
"You're saying she ran off somewhere? Goddamnit!" Tommy spoke in frustration. Thing's had become too hectic for his taste. Before any of them could speak, more gunfire and screaming was heard outside. "Shit. It sounds like a massacre out there. Joel, you go find your girl. Maria and I will round-up as much citizens as we can and we'll meet you south outside of town."
"Be careful, then." Joel said.
The trio rushed out of the house and went their separate ways. As Joel rushed down the street, he passed by other citizens rushing out their homes in panic. The gunfire seemed to originate from the other side of town, giving him a few minutes to search for Ellie before the bandits spread to their part of the neighborhood. Ellie's actions frustrated him. How could she run off, knowing what danger was lurking?
As Joel passed by a house on a corner, he heard the sounds of a distressed woman sobbing. He investigated the back of the house and found a family of bodies lying there, motionless. Blood sprayed the grass and covered it in dark red. In the middle of the yard, was a lone woman in her mid-thirties. She lied on her back, covering the blood that poured out of the bullet wound in her stomach with her hands. Crouching beside her in shock, was Ellie.
"Ellie! What are you doing here?" Joel demanded, running up to her.
"I...I heard a noise. I wanted to check what happened." Ellie spoke. She had a guilty look on her face. "I couldn't save them. I...I was too late."
Just then, a bandit ran out of the house. Joel quickly noticed them and fired a few rounds from his revolver into their chest, disabling them as they fell to the ground. Joel got a closer look, noticing the bandit wore the same skull mask as the one back in Tommy's house. Beside their body was an assault rifle they dropped.
"Who are these people?" Joel muttered, knowing these bandits weren't a force to be reckoned with. Suddenly, more gunfire erupted from the distance. The attackers were getting closer. Joel turned to Ellie as he loaded his revolver. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"
"But what about her? We can't just leave her like this" Ellie said, pointing to the dying woman beside her. Joel pointed his gun to the woman as she closed her eyes, accepting death. Ellie looked away as Joel ended the woman's suffering.
"Oh fuck." Ellie whispered to herself.
"Now let's go!" Joel demanded. Before they left, he took the assault rifle the bandit dropped. There wasn't much ammo left, but it would help them fight their way through town. He stored his revolver into his pocket and handed Ellie his hunting rifle, knowing how good of a shot she was. The two made their way to the streets and were already spotted by a group of bandits on the other end. As Joel expected, they all sported ballistic skull masks.
"Hey! Let's get those two rats over there!" one of the bandits shouted, pointing at them. Joel and Ellie rushed their way through the neighborhood yards, jumping over the fences to avoid the bandits.
"What do these assholes want with us?" Ellie shouted. Joel had no idea. All he wanted to do was get her far away from these monsters and meet up with Tommy.
The duo made it halfway across town. Reaching a street intersection, they both hid behind a parked vehicle. Joel poked his head from behind, noticing a trio of bandits on the sidewalk. They walked around nonchalantly, waiting for their orders. In front of them, were rows of lifeless bodies. Presumably, they lined up the innocent people and executed them one by one.
"I can't believe these bastards did this." Ellie snarled. Her grip on the hunting rifle tightened. Joel came up with a plan to eliminate them. As he sneaked over to the other side of the street, Ellie aimed at one of the bandits and waited for Joel's signal. When Joel was in place, he signaled Ellie to fire.
"Eat lead." she scowled.
Ellie shot a bullet through the side of a bandit's head. As the other two panicked over their dead comrade, Joel sneaked behind them and sprayed bullets into them.
"Nice one." Ellie complimented, walking out from cover. She looked over to the dead bandits, noticing their head attire. "What's up with the skull masks? Seems weird."
"Let's get a move on." Joel said. He motioned Ellie to follow him as they made their way to the town's exit.
As they reached the front of the exit, shock filled them as they found a military truck blocking the way, with a large group of bandits waiting in front of it. The two ducked behind a car and noticed a lone bandit lining up a row of innocent people against the town's walls. Joel took a closer look and realized who it was.
"That son of a bitch!" Joel growled. It was Richard. The man who had been helping protect their community was now executing everyone on the spot. Tommy was right after all. There was a traitor in town and they hid their act by joining the watch patrol. It was a simple ruse, but it worked and no one expected it.
"All of you are obsolete." Richard spoke. "None of you have evolved to adapt in this world like us. Therefore, you must be eradicated."
Joel and Ellie could only watch as Richard began to execute the row of people one by one, pointing a pistol to their heads and exploding their brains out. One man argued to him, saying Richard would soon get his comeuppance for betraying the entire town. A woman begged for her kids to be spared, but Richard ignored her and killed them on the spot.
"We have to stop him." Ellie said as she began pointing her rifle towards Richard. Joel stopped her, pushing the barrel of the gun back down. "What are you doing? We can't just watch this asshole killing everybody!"
"It's too risky. We're outnumbered and they have stronger firepower than us. They'll drop us dead before we can save anyone." Joel explained to her. At first, Ellie wanted to protest, but he had a fair reason. Reluctantly, she lowered her rifle, cursing under her breath.
As Richard looked over his handiwork, he signaled the other bandits. They began opening the back of the truck. Suddenly, a pack of Runners were released and spread out into the streets, some going into town, while others feasted on the dead bodies. Joel and Ellie locked themselves into the vehicle they hid behind, avoiding detection from the infected.
"Ross, this is the Reapers reporting from Jackson County. Our cleansing is complete." Richard spoke into a walkie-talkie. He and the other bandits climbed into the military truck and drove out of town, heading south.
"Those shitheads! It was them all along." Ellie snapped. She connected the bandits to the infected attack the day before. It all made sense. Joel told her to stay quiet from the infected. She questioned him. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"We need to get out of here. Find a safe place to hide. Jackson County is lost." Joel explained. Ellie lowered her head down and gave a saddened look. This couldn't be happening again, was it? They had only settled into their new lives for a few weeks and now they had to return to fighting for themselves? The duo just couldn't catch a break in their life, could they? Ellie asked Joel what their plan was. "We run and gun it to the exit. Go as fast as you can and shoot any infected that get in our way. Make all your shots count."
"Lead the way." Ellie said. Joel looked out the car window and waited for an opportunity for them to rush past the infected. He counted down from three with his fingers and swiftly opened the car door as they both made a break for it. A few Runners noticed and charged towards them. Joel and Ellie killed them with their firepower and sprinted past the town's exit and into the woods of Wyoming, leaving behind what was left of Jackson County.
It was now home to the infected.
"Joel, I'm exhausted. Can we rest for awhile?" Ellie complained. Her feet began to ache as they traversed through the woods for hours. A thin smoke of mist covered the area as the dim light of early dawn shot through the trees. Ellie had insisted on resting for the past hour, but Joel wanted to keep moving forward. The two were still in shock from what happened in Jackson County the night before. Ellie had wanted to talk about it, but with Joel focused on moving ahead, she didn't have the opportunity to. Having enough of his attitude, she stopped in her tracks and called to him.
"We need to stop and clear our heads, Joel. Do you even know where we are going?" Ellie said with a stern tone. She crossed her arms as Joel looked back to her. "We haven't even seen Tommy or Maria."
"I know that. But we have to keep going. I need to get you somewhere safe." Joel explained, only to receive a stressed out sigh from Ellie. He raised a brow at her. "What's wrong?"
"How is it that we were the only ones that survived?" Ellie asked. Events like this always bothered her. Through some sheer luck, the two of them managed to face death-defying situations head on and come out almost completely unscathed, as if they were invincible. "I watched so many people back there die, Joel. What makes us so special?"
Joel noticed what was going on. Her survivor's guilt was acting up again. He could see from the look she gave him. The man himself was used to this feeling, experiencing it through many years of the past, with the worst case involving Sarah. He sometimes forgot Ellie was still a young girl, and easily succumbed to it.
"Look, I've told you this already. None of that is on you." Joel tried to assure her. Ellie simply lowered her head, unsatisfied with his answer. It wasn't the type of assurance she was looking for. She wanted a clear reason.
"What if it was, Joel? Maybe it was on me this time?" Ellie said. She recalled to when the slaughter back in Jackson County started. After she sneaked out from their house to check on a noise she heard, she came across the family of the woman they killed out of mercy. They were all held at gunpoint in the backyard by one of the bandits and Ellie watched from behind the fence as they all were shot down in a matter of seconds. Their screams still haunted her memory.
"They had a kid, Joel. A small one, probably a baby. He was crying his eyes out beside his dad." Ellie shivered at the thought, and began to wonder if she could have saved them if she did anything.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Joel sympathized with her.
"What about those people on the wall? We could have saved them if you let me shot that bastard." Ellie complained. Joel was surprised by the sudden turn of negativity towards him. He thought she understood why they couldn't risk saving the others. He did it to keep her safe. But it seemed to fly over Ellie's head. "And think about Tommy and Maria! We wouldn't be in this situation having to find them if I didn't decide to run off earlier. They could be with us right now. For all we know, they could be dead like everyone else!"
"Now listen to me, it wasn't your fault those people died." Joel started to reason with Ellie. "You weren't the one that put a bullet in their heads, am I right? It was those savages with those skull masks. You shouldn't feel guilty for the actions they committed. It's because of them that led to all those people dying. Not you."
Ellie thought about what Joel spoke. It was true. She wasn't the one that directly caused their deaths. Knowing so, it lifted some of the guilt off her shoulders. She looked up to Joel and simply nodded to him.
The two decided to set up a small camp in the area for the next few hours. As they weren't prepared for the sudden attack, they didn't have many supplies with them. They only had their weapons with them and a small amount supplies for crafting. It took awhile for Joel to start up a campfire for warmth, as it was a bit chilly this early in the day. Ellie sat against a tree across from him, doing the only thing she could do to pass the time: write in her diary. She wrote down the events that transpired overnight, along with how she felt about it.
I feel so shitty right now. All I can think about is the people who had their lives taken
away from them so abruptly. It's not fair. I wish they could have survived like how Joel and I have.
They didn't even have the choice. Those assholes that killed them deserve to rot in hell.
I hope that Tommy and Maria are safe.
I just wonder what me and Joel will be doing next.
"Your still writing in that thing?" Joel suddenly called to her in a teasing manner. Ellie simply stuck her tongue out to him. Joel chuckled. He stood up and called her over to tend the fire. "Keep it alive, okay? Took me damn long enough to ignite this thing. I'll see if there is anything out here for us to eat."
"Okay." she responded. Joel left Ellie with the fire, bringing along their hunting rifle to find food. If he was lucky, he'd find them something large like a deer to fill their stomachs.
As he searched around the woods, he pondered about the group that massacred Jackson County. Recalling their actions, they weren't normal hunters who were fighting for survival. They seemed to be cold-blooded murderers who killed countless innocents as if it was a game. And they seemed to have access over the infected. What was their motive? Why did they wear skull masks? Was it a symbol for something? All he knew was that Richard was a part of them.
Fucking guy. Next time I see him I'll feed a bullet into his mouth. Joel thought.
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU CHICKENSHIT!" a voice shouted from the distance. Joel panicked. Ellie was in trouble! He rushed back to their camp, only to find her trapped within someone's grasp with a gun pointed to her head. They were joined with a few comrades of theirs.
And they all sported the familiar skull masks.
"No... please don't..." Joel pleaded. How did the group already find them? He stared at Ellie and could see the terror in her eyes. A surge of fury filled him to see his baby girl frightened and unable to do anything in risk of getting her killed. In desperation, Joel slowly lowered his rifle and backed away, sticking his hands up in the air.
"Joel..." Ellie whimpered to him. In an instant, the butt of a gun knocked Joel out, turning everything into darkness.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
A/N: With Jackson County having fallen, along with Joel and Ellie captured, what could happen next? Check the next chapter and find out! Please keep a close eye on this story and review if possible, as I always appreciate feedback!
Thanks for reading! Bye for now! :D
~I do not own any The Last of Us material. They are the respective property of Naughty Dog Inc~
