-CHAPTER 5: NEWCOMERS-
-SPRING SAGA-
The group made their way through the city of Saratoga Springs. Even in the midst of the post-apocalyptic world, the area was peaceful. The city was located a few miles south of Salt Lake City and sat along the coast of Utah Lake, seemingly gigantic in size. The city was spacious, with wide streets and large houses making up the area. Other than the garbage littered around the area and vehicles left out of place, it felt like an ordinary neighborhood.
At the moment, Ellie and Maria sat down on the sidewalk, waiting for Joel and Tommy to return from scavenging the houses along the street. Ellie took note of the sizes of the houses. They were much bigger than some of the houses she had seen before. The smaller ones appeared broken down and dirty. The bigger houses appeared to be fine and stayed intact, despite the circumstances. Rich people must've owned these giant houses. I wonder how it's like to be rich.
"It must have been nice to live in this place. Especially before the infection started." Ellie stated. She turned to Maria, who was rubbing her forehead with her fingers. Ellie gave concern. "Hey, is everything alright?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Just a small headache, that's all." Maria assured her. She let out a deep sigh, as if something troubled her mind. Ellie asked if anything was wrong. Maria simply shrugged. "It's nothing important. I just reminded myself how one thing could ruin something that seemed so perfect. Like... how this entire apocalypse started from a few spores and almost destroyed humanity."
"Yeah... I know what you mean." Ellie agreed. "One thing can destroy something that seems so perfect. Like a lie..."
Meanwhile, Joel and Tommy scavenged through the last house on the street and made their way back to the girls. The duo didn't find much supplies, only bringing a can of beans, some ammunition and a few rags and tape for crafting items. For a wealthy area, one would expect a stash of supplies hidden in every building.
"Damn it. We've searched through almost the entire part of this neighborhood and barely found enough supplies to hold us over for the next few days. This place is practically stripped clean!" Tommy complained. He brushed his hair back in frustration. Ever since they abandoned Jackson, the group were steadily running out of supplies. At this rate, they would run out and eventually starve to death from the lack of food or get killed by a severe injury when there is no medical kit in their aid.
Joel simply ignored his brother's tantrum, instead keeping his focus on the object in his hands. It was a Savage Starlight comic he found in the last house. An issue Joel knew Ellie hadn't read yet. He hoped to give it to her as a form of apology after the tragic revelation of finding Marlene's dead body back in Salt Lake City. From that moment, Ellie had created a barrier between her and Joel. For the past few days, she refused to talk and always kept her back towards him. It may have been a simple gesture, but it killed Joel from the inside. He held immense regret for lying to Ellie and keeping the dark secret he desperately hid about the Fireflies for her sake. No matter how many times he apologized, Ellie wouldn't forgive what she considered his betrayal. Joel was lost, and would do anything to gain her trust back.
"We can manage somehow." Joel finally responded, rolling up the comic in his hand. Tommy gave him a questionable look and argued back.
"Do you realize how desperate our situation is becoming? If we don't figure something out, we'll be dead, Joel!" Tommy explained. He caught Joel disregarding him again, glancing over to the comic in his hands. Tommy furiously shook his head. "Look, I know things aren't going well between you and Ellie, and I understand how you feel. But you need to focus on keeping her alive. Besides, what makes you think a stupid comic will make her forgive you?"
"You don't know what this means!" Joel snapped, pointing the rolled-up comic in Tommy's face. He quickly calmed down and rolled open the comic, sighing as he stared at the cover. "I need my baby girl back."
Before Tommy could say anything, Joel turned around and continued his walk back to the girls. Tommy quietly followed behind him. He knew how stubborn his brother was, and in this case, would stop at nothing to revive his strained relationship with Ellie. From everything she'd been through, Tommy wondered if Ellie could return to her normal self. But Joel desperately needed her back. Even if she said a single word to him, Joel would be satisfied.
"How did the scavenging go?" Maria asked, standing up as the brothers returned. Tommy simply shook his head, causing Maria to frown. On the other hand, they watched as Joel walked over to Ellie and crouched beside her, holding the comic in his hands.
"Hey kiddo." Joel spoke. Ellie ignored him, keeping her attention towards the houses. "Uhm... I found another one of them comics you love reading. I think it's an issue you haven't read yet. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
Ellie continued to ignore him, turning her attention to her feet, which she began to sway from side to side. With the conversation going no where, Joel frantically pleaded with her.
"Please... please say something to me, Ellie. You have every right to be mad at me, but what can I do so you can forgive me? I miss talking to you. Hell, I even miss them jokes you've always told me. Just please... talk to me."
Ellie lowered her head and closed her eyes. Hearing Joel's plea made her feel guilty, but reminded her of his own selfishness. To her, Joel only wanted her to speak to him again like before. But he still seemed not to understand the weight of her situation. In a short span of two weeks, Ellie had witnessed a town brutally murdered, became victim to violent and aggressive predators, discovered the dark secret concerning Marlene's death and realized how an important choice over becoming a possible cure was taken away from her. Ellie felt insignificant. She could only wonder what her true purpose was in her life.
Did I simply enter this world, with my purpose only to endure all these shitty situations?
Keeping her mouth shut, Ellie stood up and walked away, leaving Joel on the sidewalk, disheartened yet again.
After Tommy and Maria attempted to comfort Joel, the group continued scavenging through Saratoga Springs. They searched through more buildings, with no change of luck in finding supplies. With the sun beginning to set, how would they survive the night with barely anything in their disposal? Feeling tired and hopeless, the group set towards a house to rest for the night. As they reached the front entrance, they heard rustling from the bushes beside them.
"Did you guys hear that?" Tommy asked them. All of a sudden, a shot was fired from above. Tommy shouted in pain as he was hit in the shoulder. Before Maria could rush to his side, a woman jumped out from the bush and threw her onto the ground, pinning her down with a crowbar. At the same time, a man ran out from behind the house and tackled Joel, beginning to throw punches at him.
"Get off of him!" Ellie shouted. She pulled out her switchblade and lunged at the man attacking Joel, only to be slapped away from him. The man noticed Ellie and stopped attacking Joel, surprised to see a young girl with the group.
"What in the world? A child?" the man spoke in confusion. Taking the opportunity, Joel rolled the man over so he was on top and began throwing punches at him. He would have kept going if the woman holding Maria hadn't gone over and hit Joel from the back of the head with her crowbar, knocking him into unconsciousness.
"Hello... sir...wake up."
Joel slowly awoken from his slumber. Looking around him, he found himself resting within a large tent, big enough to fit a small group of people. He was alone with a man who crouched beside him. The scenario seemed all too familiar. Joel's defensive instincts set in as he crawled away from him and looked for a weapon to attack.
"Now calm down! I'm not here to hurt you." the man spoke in a low, deep voice. Joel assumed he was a Reaper at first, but on closer inspection, he appeared normal. The man appeared to have dark skin, shaven hair with a scraggy beard and dressed in a clean, gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie around his neck, which seemed odd to Joel. Who would wear something so classy during the apocalypse?
"Who are you? Where am I? Where is my group?" Joel frantically demanded.
"Don't worry. They are outside with the others." the man assured him. He rose his arm towards Joel in a formal fashion, offering a handshake. "My name is Bruce. We somewhat met each other back in the neighborhood earlier. I was the one who sneaked up and tackled you."
At first, Joel was hesitant. The man seemed nice enough. He even dressed and acted formally. But this all could have been a well-hidden ruse, something Joel didn't want to fall victim to again. Joel decided to play along and shook Bruce's hand. "The name's Joel."
"Oh, I'm already aware who you are. The little girl told me your name."
Joel raised a brow in curiosity. Little girl? Did he mean Ellie? Bruce noted his confused look and chuckled. He decided to bring Joel outside to meet the others. As they exited the tent, Joel received his first glimpse of their camp. It was located in a clearing away from the neighborhood and close to Utah Lake's coast. Around them were a row of tents propped up. Next to them was a large stash of supplies, ranging from food, water, weapons and clothes. A few feet away from the camp were a circle of people huddled around a campfire, laughing the night away. The sight lightened Joel's mood. It had been awhile since he saw people enjoying themselves.
"Well, if it isn't the old Texas Ranger! How was the nap, brother?" Tommy exclaimed, glad to see Joel was fine. He offered a seat next to him. Beside Tommy sat Maria and Ellie, who were roasting marshmallows with each other. Joel noted Ellie's expression. She looked amazed watching the white and fluffy treat cook above the flames, which caused Joel to smile. Tommy quickly handed him a warm drink. "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better."
Joel took a whiff of the drink, realizing it was a fresh cup of lemon tea. He drank the liquid, allowing it to soothe his body in warmth. From all he'd been through the past days, it was a welcome relief. Thank the heavens. That feels good.
"Allow me to introduce you to everybody," Bruce said, taking a seat beside Joel. He pointed over to the Wilson family, made up of three members. In the middle was Gordon, the father. He was a Caucasian man in his mid-forties, with a clean shaven beard, bald head and an aggravating look in his eyes. One could easily mistake him for a hunter out of context. Beside him were his children. Mark, the eldest son, was a male in his mid-twenties. He appeared tall, with a heavy build showing through his black sweater, had short, spiky blonde hair and held a pout on his face, making him appear angry all the time. Alice, a petite, young girl, with curly blonde hair, sat beside her brother quietly as she rested her head on top of her knees, watching the campfire flicker in peace.
"I still can't fathom you bringing these strangers into our camp, Bruce! You should have bunged them out when you had the chance!" Gordon called over to them in a raspy, British accent. His son, Mark, laughed at his father's remark and the two high-fived.
Bung us out? Isn't that a British term? Joel thought to himself. He assumed they were British, considering their accents and their snobbish behaviours.
"Gordon can be somewhat provoking, but he only does it to protect his kids." Bruce whispered to Joel. He turned over and pointed to the Parker family, who sat beside Maria and Ellie. Natalie, a mother in her early-forties, appeared much younger, at least to Joel, with her blue eyes that could relax a soul, her soft, light skin, and dark, polished shoulder-length hair. Beside was her teenage son, Kyle. He looked exactly like his mother, except he had short, messy hair with bangs swept to the sides, a small, lean body and wore a plain blue baseball shirt. Lying down beside him was his dog, Charlie, a male Shiba Inu with a red coat of fur. It relaxed on it's back, panting happily as is stared up in the night sky. At the moment, Natalie watched her son quietly draw in a notepad on his lap. She looked up to notice Joel staring at her and returned a heartwarming smile, causing him to look away in timidness.
"I like your dog. Can I pet him?" Ellie asked, watching as Charlie wagged it's tail across the grass. Kyle simply gave her a wavering look and resumed to his drawing. Ellie tilted her head in offence. "Fine, don't answer me, weirdo."
Joel was amused by Ellie's reaction. Atleast she tried to make friends here, unlike in Jackson County where she stayed home alone.
"How is that wound of yours doing, Tommy?" A woman asked as she took a seat beside Bruce, handing him a cup of tea she made. She had dark skin, similar to Bruce's, wore a white collar shirt and had her hair tied up in a bun sticking from behind her head.
"This is my wife, Jenny. She used to be a nurse and was able to patch up your brother after Mark accidentally shot him." Bruce explained to Joel, wrapping an arm around Jenny's shoulder. "By the way, I just want to apologize for attacking your group earlier. We'd thought you were hunters until we saw that girl of yours."
Bruce pointed to Ellie, who started to blow on her marshmallow as it caught on fire. It soon melted off her stick and fell on the ground, leaving a smoldering white goop on the grass. At first, she was disappointed, but soon laughed it off as Maria handed her another marshmallow. Seeing her enjoying herself made Joel happy, but wished he was a part of making that happen.
"So you and that Mark fellow attacked us, right? I remember seeing another woman with you. Where is she?" Joel asked Bruce. Suddenly, as if on cue, the woman returned to the group, dropping a few logs of wood for the campfire.
"You have no idea how long it took me to find good enough trees to chop down for firewood." the woman complained, wiping sweat from her forehead. The woman appeared to be physically fit, despite being only in her early-twenties. She wore black jeans with combat boots, a purple shirt and sported a black cap over her flowing, brunette hair. She handed a fire axe back to Bruce. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."
"Were you a fireman?" Joel asked in curiosity. Bruce chuckled and shook his head.
"No. I used to be a university professor in Colorado. The fire axe is simply for self-defence against the infected." Bruce explained. He decided to introduce Joel to the woman. "Joel, this is Roselyn. I'm sure you've already acquainted with each other already."
"Sorry about what happened earlier. It was nothing personal. I hope Lucy didn't hurt you too much." Roselyn apologized. Joel gave a confused look at the mention of Lucy. She pointed to the holster on her backpack, showing the crowbar she used to knock Joel out.
"You named your crowbar?" Tommy suddenly asked..
"Hey, don't judge me." Roselyn spoke back in an sassy tone, before taking a seat beside Ellie. "So what's for dinner?"
"We're making these things called S'mores." Ellie answered as she assembled the treat, mashing her marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. Joel gave a jealous look. Ellie appeared to be making friendly with the strange group of people, while ignoring him. Was she purposely doing this to punish him? How long was she going to keep up this charade?
At least she's enjoying herself. That's what you wanted anyway, right? For your girl to be happy.
"So Joel, now that you've met everyone in the group, mind telling us about yourself?" Bruce asked.
"Yes. Please enlighten us." Gordon spoke in sarcasm, taking a sip out from his whiskey.
Everyone around the campfire waited for him to answer. Joel simply shrugged. What exactly did they want to know about him? For most of his life, he was a hardcore survivalist who wanted to live and fought against the infected, just like everyone else. He began to ponder about what made him unique. He turned towards Ellie, who was the only one not looking at him waiting for an answer. At first, Joel frowned and felt disheartened to talk. But something inside him pushed him into using this introduction of himself as a solution to his problem.
"Uhm... I'm just a man trying to protect the people he loves. Just like everybody else in this world." Joel began to explain. He swished the cup of tea in his hands, carefully figuring out what to say. "Before this whole infection happened, I used to be a regular father who wanted to take care of his daughter." Joel let out a deep sigh. He couldn't believe he was going through with this. "Her... her name was Sarah. She died the day this whole infection broke out. So for the past twenty years, I did whatever I could to survive, whether good or bad. I had no idea what to do with myself. But then I met this young girl."
Ellie's heart skipped a beat, realizing what Joel was heading to. Sure enough, he talked about the entire journey he and Ellie made all the way from Boston, to where they were now. Joel recalled every moment in their journey. The happy times they shared. The desperate moments they struggled together. Although, he did omit the incident in Salt Lake City for her sake, he rambled about everything else while everybody eagerly listened to his story. As Ellie listened, she began to remember the strong bond she held with Joel beforehand and how she cherished him as a father. She suddenly felt stupid for omitting Joel from her life when he simply tried to keep her safe.
"I really like your story." Alice said in her quiet, innocent voice. The others agreed with her. As they spoke among themselves for a short while, Ellie stared back at Joel for the first time in days and gave him a small smile. Joel felt himself go weak.
I'm always here for you, baby girl.
"You guys have been through a lot. Especially you, Ellie." Natalie said to her. "You must be very lucky to have a man like Joel watching over you."
"Yeah. I guess I am." Ellie responded, keeping the smile on her face as she looked down timidly.
"I've been pondering about this for the whole night, and after hearing Joel's story I finally made up my mind." Bruce spoke up. He looked over to Joel, Tommy, Maria and Ellie. "Would the four of you be interested in joining us?"
Joel and Tommy looked at each other and pondered for a moment. They didn't want to become a burden to this group, but they seemed to have everything they needed to survive. They were nice enough as well, sparing their lives and taking them to their camp. After the fall of Jackson, everything seemed to go downhill for them. And now with this shining opportunity coming into their grasp, they couldn't bother to decline it.
"We'd be more than happy to join with you guys. Thank you." Tommy answered. The group seemed delighted to have new members join them, except for Gordon and Mark, who cursed under their breaths.
"That's fantastic to hear! Alright, so here is our plan." Bruce began to explain to Joel and Tommy. He told them about hearing rumours of a safe zone in Los Angeles, where there was an immense amount of supplies to sustain an entire country for the next ten years. Bruce and his group had been planning to head to the city, but ran out of gas for their vehicles and were forced to stay in Saratoga Springs for the time being until they found more fuel.
"A safe zone in Los Angeles? Sounds a bit too good to be true." Joel remarked. Tommy thought otherwise. The safe zone sounded promising. And it was their only option at the moment. Joel reluctantly agreed. "So all we need to do is find some gas and we're on our way?"
"Exactly." Bruce answered. He pointed towards the street off to the distance away from their camp. A yellow Hummer, owned by Gordon, and a silver Toyota, owned by Bruce, were parked beside each other. "There is even a spare truck we found with a working engine a few blocks away. If we find enough fuel, you two and your girls can use it as transportation."
"Sounds like a plan." Tommy said. He patted Joel on the shoulder and gave a smirk. After the chain of tragic events they'd been through, things were finally starting to look up for them.
Maybe they could have a bright future after all. Only time would tell.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
A/N: A new group has appeared! This is one of the moments I've been waiting for. With the addition of these characters, a new dynamic is thrown into the story, branching out many possible story arcs I have planned. There is only so much I can do with Joel and Ellie, but if I want to develop and expand them as characters, I need to add more interaction in this story. I like to think of this new group dynamic to be similar to what is seen in the Walking Dead series, which I'm also a huge fan of.
More detailed biographies of these characters, including Joel and Ellie, will be posted on my profile sometime during these week. Keep an eye out!
Thanks for your support! Bye for now! :D
~I do not own any The Last of Us material. They are the respective property of Naughty Dog Inc~
