-CHAPTER 3: GRIM-
-SPRING SAGA-
Pain covered his entire body as Joel slipped in and out of consciousness throughout the hours. His vision was blurry, but he could make out what was happening at times. At first, he was being dragged through the woods by a pair of men as his feet constantly rustled through the grass. Afterwards, he was thrown onto the ground and lied in the centre of a campsite within a small clearing. He could hear the shouts of Ellie cursing against their captors, but was out of his sight. Finally, he woke up inside one of the tents.
Joel groaned as his entire body ached from pain. He lied on his stomach across a worn-out mattress, the only thing that accompanied him inside the tent. He wondered how long he was out. As he slowly got onto his knees, he realized his backpack was gone and his hands were tightly bound behind him.
Great. Just fucking great.
Suddenly, Joel heard footsteps approaching the tent he was in, followed by a few men speaking to each other. He carefully listened to their conversation.
"So these were the two that killed three of our men back in Jackson?"
"Yeah, it has to be. They are one of the few who managed to escape. Everyone else in that pathetic little town is dead, remember? We killed them all, haha!"
"Shit, we've been through a lot of towns and killed a bunch of people, it's hard for me to keep track."
Joel gritted his teeth. These guys really were lunatics! How could they laugh, knowing they had the blood of a whole town on their hands? Not to mention, they seemed to have done this before in other locations. How many people did these murderers kill? Joel could assume they simply did this for the thrill of it, and not for the sake of surviving. He continued to listen to the bandit's conversation.
"What is Richard planning to do with these two?"
"Not sure. I know he's going to execute the crazy man soon. But he wants to spare the little girl for some reason. Says she has something the boss may be interested in."
What were they talking about? Did Ellie hide something from Joel this whole time? What could she have that interested these guys? He thought about it for a moment. Then he realized something. Did they notice the scar on her arm? Were these guys also looking for a cure as well? How did they even find out about the scar in the first place? That was if only...
"Speaking of that little girl, she sure seemed to squirm a lot last night. I've got to tell you, for someone her age, she sure has one hell of a body. I swear, I couldn't control myself when I ran my fingers across her slender legs."
"Hah! Come on, Gary! It's only been a day and you're already feeling up the lady? Fuck, the last one didn't even manage a week with you. The boss needs this girl alive, and that can't happen if you keep fondling the brat!"
"Don't worry about it. I stopped when I noticed this stupid scar across her arm. Plus she kept on kicking the shit out of me whenever I touched her. It was a big turnoff, believe me."
Fucking bastards. These fucking bastards.
Footsteps emerged as another man joined the conversation. He ordered them to scout the area while he would deal with the captive. Suddenly, the zipper to the tent opened up and a man sporting the familiar black skull mask climbed inside. Joel stared them down angrily and managed the strength to stand up and charge towards him, only to be knocked back down by a punch in the face. He coughed as blood started to drip down from his nose and cover the lower portion of his face. The man slowly removed the mask, revealing who he was.
"Richard..." Joel growled.
"It's nice to see you too." Richard responded, giving him a devilish smile. He went through his pocket and took out a clean handkerchief, throwing it onto Joel. He pointed around his own face. "You might want to clean that up. I don't want you to mess up my mattress."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Joel spit out. There was no hiding how completely furious he was right now. "How could you kill everyone back in Jackson? It was our home! Our second chance at a new life, and you blew it all away with your group of monsters."
"Face it, sooner or later that town was going to fall anyway," Richard spoke in his gruff voice. He began stroking his beard as he paced back and forth in the tent. "Besides, we did everyone back in town a favour. They weren't strong enough to survive in today's world. Might as well end it for them now and save them the trouble."
Joel's eyes widened as he listened to the nonsense that came out of Richard's mouth. A favour? How was massacring everyone in Jackson doing a favour? It was downright ruthless.
"You see, Joel. Us monsters have found a way to evolve and adapt into this world taken over by the infected. Are you familiar with the saying, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em? Our group has put a spin to that phrase." Richard took a moment to dig through his back pocket and pulled out a vial of golden liquid. He kissed the vial, before holding it up and staring at it in reverence. "We, the Reapers, have developed a special vaccine that has been able to stop the cordyceps from spreading around the host, but retain the physical enhancements and mental aggressiveness the infection granted. But it can only work if the host is already infected with the cordyceps in them."
A vaccine? Joel wondered if he was bluffing, but he got rid of his doubt when Richard showed him the infected scar across his shoulder. It was similar to Ellie's, except it had a needle shot in the middle of it where an injection possibly happened. Joel questioned him. "Why aren't you using the vaccine to save mankind then? Why is your group keeping it for themselves, instead of giving it to others?"
"Because we were the ones that found it!" Richard shouted down to him. He managed to drop the vial of vaccine onto the mattress out of anger. "We were smart enough to figure out our own way of surviving in this world, why should anyone else deserve it? For 20 years, humanity has tried to come up with a way out, and only until now we have discovered an answer. This is a sign that only the Reapers are fit to live in this world and everyone else should die!"
"So not only do you think that your group is special enough to live on in this world, but you also think it's your job to wipe everyone else out? You're insane, Richard!" Joel argued back, only to receive another punch from him.
"You think I'm the insane one?" Richard crouched down over and grabbed his chin, forcing Joel to face him. "Then what do you think of this idea? What if I told you we had plans in making that little girl of yours one of us?"
"Leave her out of this!" Joel snarled at him. He ended up getting punched again. He rolled to his side and coughed away the blood on his face. Joel had been punched countless times before, but the beating he was taking right now was the most brutal he endured. Was it because of the vaccine that gave Richard his strength?
"That girl of yours is special, Joel. I've seen the scar. Is she immune?" Richard asked him. Joel did not answer him and simply gave a vengeful look. "Well, whatever it is, our leader, Ross, has an assumption that the effects of the vaccine mixed with her mutated fungus could give mind-blowing results. She could become our deadliest killing machine if we're lucky!"
"Kill me if you have to, but let her go." Joel begged. He would do anything for Ellie's safety. Richard simply laughed at him in a mocking manner and smirked.
"If you insist."
Swiftly, Richard opened the tent and threw Joel out. He stumbled onto the ground, only to be yanked up by a pair of men and forced on his knees as they held him in place. Joel took the moment to look around the campsite. The rest of Richard's men were around the area. He noticed the ash pit in the centre and the smell of tobacco in the air, realizing they had been smoking the whole time. The military truck seen in Jackson County was parked a few feet away next to some trees. There was another tent beside the one Joel was held in. Between the tents were his and Ellie's backpacks. Joel could see the handle of a shiv sticking out from the holster.
"Where is my girl?" Joel demanded. Richard motioned his men to fetch her. They took Ellie out from the other tent as she struggled against them. Joel could only wince in shock to see the state she was in. Her hands were bound behind her back and a handkerchief was tied over her mouth, reducing her to speaking in muffles. Ellie gave the same, shocked reaction, seeing Joel's face covered in blood.
"She's been a strong girl, I'll be honest. She managed to hold back tears when one of my men took the time to play with her." Richard spoke, walking over to Ellie and stroking her hair. Joel became furious and struggled against his men, but they kicked him down onto his stomach. Richard walked over to him and pointed his pistol towards his head. He quickly turned back to Ellie. "Watch as the Reapers blow your man's head off!"
This was Joel and Ellie's most vulnerable moment. Never before have they felt this helpless their entire time being together. With Joel about to face death and Ellie forced to watch helplessly, it seemed like this was the last of their moments together. As Richard switched the barrel to his gun, both Joel and Ellie closed their eyes and waited for the shot to fire out.
BANG!
The sound of a body falling to the ground surprised Joel. Opening his eyes, he saw the lifeless body of Richard lying on the ground in front of him. The corpse stared back at him with a bullet wound in the center of his forehead.
"We've got a sniper!" Richard's men shouted. They panicked as they aimed their rifles around, trying to spot the hiding assailant. Soon afterwards, another shot fired from a different direction, this time hitting one of the Reapers in the chest, disabling them as they fell to the ground in agony. The Reapers decided to separate from the camp and search for the snipers. In the midst of the chaos, Joel quickly crawled over to his backpack and took out the shiv, anxiously cutting through the ropes that tied his hands. One of the Reapers saw what he was doing and walked towards him, aiming their pistol to take him out. Luckily, they were interrupted when Ellie tackled them, only to be pushed back onto the ground.
"Why the fuck are you so rowdy, little girl? All I wanted was a good time with you last night, but you kept pushing me away! I wasn't going to hurt you, I swear!" the Reaper screamed as they aimed their gun at her. By this time, Joel broke free from his bounds and tackled them down. He took away their gun and ripped the skull mask off their face, staring the man down.
"You must be Gary, I assume." Joel spoke in a threatening voice. He stared into the man's eyes sharply, as if piercing through their soul. "Listen to me. Sick individuals like you who enjoy feeling about young girls deserve to go to hell. I just so happen to have a one-way ticket with your name on it."
"Fuck your shit." the man spat his last words.
With no hesitation, Joel stuck the barrel of the gun into Gary's mouth and pulled the trigger. A pool of blood poured out from the back of his head. Joel breathed heavily, satisfied to having killed the man that exposed Ellie. He turned to his girl, who lied on her side in exhaustion.
"Ellie!" Joel called to her as his fatherly instincts switched on. He rushed over to Ellie and helped her sit up, untying the bounds around her hands and mouth. Joel tried speaking to her, but an emotionless expression covered her face, as if she was frozen in time. Joel tried to shake her out of the trance, to no avail. Hearing more gunshots off in the distance, Joel decided to get them out of the area. He grabbed their bags and helped Ellie up. "Come on, I need you to focus, baby. We have to get out of here."
Before they left the campsite, Joel quickly scavenged the area. He took their weapons stolen from the Reapers, along with their ammo. Remembering about his tent, he searched inside and picked up the vial of vaccine Richard dropped on his mattress.
This might be useful later.
Joel attempted to search for the keys to the military truck, with no luck. He heard the gunshots getting closer and decided to book it out of there. Grabbing Ellie's hand, the duo left the campsite and searched for a safe place to hide. As the two ran through the woods, less shots were heard, implying the group of Reapers were diminishing.
Surprisingly, Joel heard someone call his name in the distance. He didn't want to take the risk and continued running. As they passed by a tree, a person sneaked out from behind it and aimed their rifle at them, calling their name and demanding them to freeze. Hearing the gun being loaded, Joel reluctantly turned back and gave a look of surprise and relief.
"Tommy?" Is that you?"
Night fell upon the woods, enveloping it in darkness. The smoke of a campfire sprouted above the trees as Tommy tended to it with a stick. Beside him, Maria sat on the ground, holding her rifle against her shoulder as she watched the orange flames flicker with warmth. Across from them was Joel, sitting cross-legged with Ellie wrapped around his arm beside him, enveloped in a blanket as she slept soundly, resting her head against his shoulder.
Poor girl, Joel thought as he rubbed the side of her arm reassuringly. Quiet moments like this reminded him how young and innocent Ellie still was. She was born into this apocalyptic world and forced to face the violence and terror it offered.
Earlier that day, Joel snapped Ellie out of her trance after the incident with the Reapers. Her mind had taken awhile to settle in what happened. Her first reaction was to breakdown into Joel's arms, with Tommy and Maria watching in pity. Joel attempted to console her, only for Ellie to ignore him and repeat the following phrase in distress.
"Why, Joel? Why did it happen again!?"
The last time Joel saw her like this was a few months back in the winter. When Ellie was forced to take him under her care after a fatal injury, she was captured and taken in by a group of cannibals, lead by an insane man named David, who had an unusual desire for her. Joel still did not exactly see how terrible David was, but knew how much of an impact he left on Ellie, clearly traumatizing her. Nightmares kept Ellie company the weeks after the encounter, and Joel had to constantly comfort her afterwards, even during the early days of Spring. It had only been recently that she overcame those memories as they were pushed over by the wonderment of what happened to the Fireflies and her survivor's guilt.
And now, Joel had to prepare himself for the unpleasant dreams inevitable to come and haunt Ellie once again. Only this time, he knew they would be even worse. He was aware of the malicious acts the Reapers were capable of, experiencing it first-hand back at their camp. He knew bits and details to what Ellie went through, but her reaction clearly made it to be much worse than it actually was.
"I can't believe what she's been through," Maria spoke, breaking the silence between them. She stared over to Ellie, seeing how lulled she looked from her face. Maria sighed. "It isn't fair. Any girl like her shouldn't have to face these types of dilemmas. It's sickening to what those people did to her."
"Those bastards are going to pay for what they did. I'm going to make sure of it." Tommy spoke with certainty. He had a serious look on his face, holding a fresh grudge against the Reapers. They wiped out his community. They kept his brother and little girl captive and tortured them. He had every right to hate them.
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, Tommy. We've all just been through hell. We need to stop and take a breather for now." Maria reminded him. She despised the Reapers as much as Tommy did. She recalled the attack in Jackson County a few days ago. Tommy and Maria had no chance to save anyone as they were all shot down by the Reapers. They managed to kill a few of them, but had to escape when they ran low on ammo. The two watched helplessly as they watched the community they worked years on building fall down in a single night. Maria sighed as she wiped away a tear from her face. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to my dad."
Tommy crouched down to her and embraced his wife. Even living in a world populated by monsters, the two didn't allow it to rip apart their marriage and still loved each other. He turned over to Joel and asked him a few questions. "Now, you told me these guys call themselves the Reapers. Did they tell you why they attacked our town? Are there still more of these men?"
"I believe so." Joel answered. He remembered the two Reaper's conversation back at their camp. They had a leader named Ross who was interested in using Ellie. With a leader, that meant there were more Reapers following his orders. The group that attacked Joel may have been a small portion to an army Ross lead. Joel wasn't completely sure though. Maybe he was being paranoid at the moment.
"This may sound far-fetched, but they made their own vaccine." Joel began digging through his pockets and took out the vial of golden liquid, showing it to Tommy and Maria. He swished it around for a moment. "They say it stops the infection from spreading and strengthens their mind and body. It's like out of those old Popeye cartoons. But it only works if the infection itself is already inside."
"So the injection must happen right after the cordyceps is in you?" Tommy asked. He took a moment to think about it. "Why not conjure up something that prevents the infection from spreading prior from it happening?"
"I'm no scientist, but it must be a lot more complicated than it sounds like." Maria commented. "These Reapers must be grateful they came up with some result."
"Doesn't matter though. All these bastards want is power, just like how the Fireflies wanted." Joel stated. He paused for a moment, looking back to Ellie, who still slept soundly beside him. He sighed. "Except they are much worse."
"We still need to plan what we're going to do next." Maria reminded them. With their home gone, the four of them needed to find a new place to stay. Joel yearned to find a place for Ellie and him to live a happy life, away from the terror of the world. They didn't have much options in their grasp. Where could they find a safe area exactly like Jackson? Most of the country was filled with infected and dangerous people.
"Our only option is to move on. Hopefully find another place for us to live." Tommy said as he shrugged. To him, it didn't matter where he was, as long his family was by his side. But he knew finding a new safe haven would be difficult. "We can try heading south, see if we're lucky."
Joel was hesitant with the idea. He was all for finding a new place for them, but out of all the directions Tommy chose, he wanted to go south? Heading off in this direction would eventually lead them to Salt Lake City, the place where he held the biggest lie he didn't want to reveal to Ellie. For some reason, thinking about the place made him feel uneasy. But what could go wrong, though? The Fireflies were no threat to them anymore. Joel shook the worry out of his head.
We'll be fine. Joel assured himself.
"By the way. I just want to thank you Tommy for rescuing us. You too, Maria. We probably would have been killed if you didn't find us." Joel said to them.
"Guess dealing with your pissy little brother all these years paid off, didn't it?" Tommy joked. He ended up getting pinched on the side by Maria.
"Your older brother is thanking you. Try to be mature." Maria lectured Tommy as he rubbed his sides. She nodded to Joel. "I'm just glad Ellie and you are safe."
Joel looked over to Ellie, watching as she rubbed her eyes, just waking up from her slumber. She seemed content at the moment, which relieved Joel. Before, it had taken him almost an hour to calm her down. No nightmares seemed to have attacked her, which was a good sign, for now.
"How are you feeling?" Joel asked her. Ellie didn't seem to answer, focusing her eyes on the flames of the campfire. Joel continued rubbing her side to soothe her. "Just tell me if you need anything, okay kiddo?"
"I want them all dead."
"What?" Joel pardoned her. Ellie spoke again, voicing in a monotonous tone.
"The Reapers. I want to kill all of them. I want them to suffer. I want to teach those men a lesson for what they did to everyone in Jackson County. To you. To me. I want revenge."
-TO BE CONTINUED-
A/N: Glad you guys have been enjoying the story so far. In my opinion, I feel this chapter took a dark turn. I even felt a little uncomfortable writing a certain part. I just couldn't believe what I was writing. But as I said, I'm not holding back on the shock value. Just wait what I have in store for the next chapter.
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~
