Chapter 2: First Contact
"Joel... you fuckin' lied to me!" Ellie screamed.
"Ellie I-!"
"You swore to me! You swore to me right in my face! I knew it! I fuckin' knew it! And I just...!" Ellie cried as she stormed off out of the office, slamming the door in the process.
"Ellie!" He was about to go after her, but Maria to his surprise stopped him.
"Joel, let me." She insisted. "I'll do my best to calm her down. She may not want to see you at the moment... Tommy?"
"Yeah, go ahead Maria." Tommy agreed. "Try to calm her down. We'll deal with this."
"I really should go talk to her..." Joel grumbled.
"Trust me..." Maria stepped through the door as she comforted him. "Listen to your brother..."
She left the dankly office room and closed the door behind her, intent on calming the young girl down to the best of her abilities. So, Tommy sat up and pulled out his pistol as he took Maria's position of holding the gun to Lesher's head.
"I'll miss ya baby!" He catcalled to her and continued his jokes. "So... You plan on winning Dad of the Year or something? I guess not!"
Joel's deadly glare turned to the Firefly before him. He pulled out his own pistol once more and he bashed the butt of his gun upside Lesher's head!
"RYA!" He swung and a spatter of blood lined the floor beside him as his body fell on his side.
"Fuck! You piece of-!" He heard two cocks from two different guns this time. Enough jokes for now he guessed.
Joel bellowed. "Give us one damn reason why we shouldn't kill you right now!"
"Because I got a message..." Lesher groaned. "The messenger always has a message..."
"What is it? Tell us already!" Tommy barked while getting infuriated as well.
"My boss wants me to tell you to bring the immune girl and the guy that killed Marlene, Queen Firefly if you're fancy." Lesher smirked. "That must be you and your girl, old man. ...You two better show your pretty faces by the front gates real soon. Gonna be a good amount of mean Fireflies swarming outside, I promise you that..."
"What's your boss's name? Who's in charge?!" Joel demanded.
"Shit... his name is Devlin. Alright?"
"Devlin...? Wait a second..." Tommy suddenly had a blast from the past.
"That it?" Joel raised an eyebrow.
Lesher sighed as he squirmed. "Yeah man, now get me outta here before I get real mad. ...Or at least bring back that blond bitc-!"
BANG!
Lesher's head was blown back as the bullet made its impact which instantly killed him. And Tommy's gun was still smoking from the shot fired...
"Ain't no one gonna talk about my wife like that in front of me." Tommy declared as he put away his weapon.
"You beat me to it, little brother." Joel praised his action. "That guy wasn't real smart and he annoying as hell."
Tommy replied. "I'll get somebody to clean this up later. Let's walk and talk."
He went over and opened the office door and started at a brisk pace while Joel quickly followed. "Get that body outta there." He told the guard that led Joel on his arrival there.
The Texan Brothers were on their way out of the dam and heading towards the outside and then eventually the outer gates. The workers and engineers were still clanking away, maintaining the turbines which provided the electricity to power Jackson, not even aware of what had just happened.
While they were still walking on their way, Joel addressed him. "Tommy, you know him right? This... Devlin?"
"Yeah, I do Joel." Tommy confirmed. "He ain't nothing but bad news... I know because he was my old squad-mate back in my Firefly days..."
"What happened?"
Tommy finally stopped outside the front door of the dam, recounting those days seems unbearable. "I can't say..."
Joel inquired. "Why?"
"You got your secrets, and I still got mine." Tommy shut down the conversation. "Nothing good will come out of it if I told you."
"Tommy, whatever it is-!"
"Don't... just drop it." He almost looked away but Joel could see his eyes were full of dread and regret. "Please..."
"Alright..." Joel nodded seeing as it would be useless to persist. "So what's the plan on meeting this Devlin guy? Ellie and I can take off before he even gets here..."
"That might be our only option... I'll get some guys together and we'll get ready to meet him."
Joel and Tommy then began to notice the sun was barely peeking above the hill to the East of them... what will this day have in store for them...?
Play the Last of Us OST Fleeting (Affection) on a second tab.
Ellie just ran... she ran and ran and ran... she just needed to put as much distance as possible between herself and Joel. She ran out of the dam, past the town, and into the fenced-in woods, where she hoped to find solitude on top of the cliffs where she always sat when she got out of school.
How could he do this to her...? After almost a year of traversing of what felt like hell now! What about Tess?! What about Sam and Henry?! Did they die for nothing?!
But what about Marlene...?
Did he...? She never would've let them go... Did Joel... kill her too?
No. Why did he have to... "She would've come after me... right...?"
"Fuck you Joel..."
Ellie's sprint slowed down to a brisk jog... then a sluggish walk and then she noticed her heart was beating a mile a minute. But then it finally went back to its regular rhythm when she found her spot to dangle her legs off the nearby cliff which overlooked the town and had the woods to her back.
It was always so peaceful up here... there were some birds chirping, and crickets were applauding, the morning dew dampened the leg bottoms of her jeans and shoes. So, she dragged herself past the last tree, only to find herself surprised to see another person next to the spot where she always sat...
Who was he? He looked familiar... Was he in a class with her or something?
Curiosity got the better of her and she did her best to wipe away the tears. "Hey."
The boy turned around and seemed to tense up at the sight of her, but he soon relaxed. "Oh, hey..."
"Mind if I sit down there? It's kind of my thing." Ellie requested, she really wanted to ask him to leave so that she could be alone but... that would be a very dick move on her part, he was here first after all.
"Yeah, sure." The boy patted the earth right next to him as he continued to gaze at the horizon.
Ellie moved a little closer and she got a better look at him. The boy definitely was in her school and looked familiar; she just couldn't recall his name. Although, she noticed that he had short dark brown hair with matching eyes. He had a few freckles on his face and arms, and he was a little pale-looking in her opinion. He wore a dark brown long-sleeved sweater, a black wool vest, and jeans.
It was still summer, but Ellie noticed that it had been quite chilly this morning. She shivered as she sat down right next to the boy, both of them mirroring each other's gaze towards the eventual rise of the sun. Oddly enough, the silence wasn't really awkward... kind of nice but after a minute or two it got boring... maybe talking to him would get her mind off of-!
"Your eyes are red..." He almost made her jump with the interruption of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Ellie spat as she wiped her eyes again and turned her body away from him.
"Misery loves company, you know?" He commented sympathetically while finally introducing himself. "I'm Rylan, good to meet another kid with my taste in scenery."
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the pronunciation of his name, it so similar to... hers... She threw that thought into the back of her mind but put her guard partially back down, so she turned herself back to face slightly towards him. "Ellie."
She could see the corner of his mouth twitch at the small victory of getting her name. "I know it's none of my business, but my mom always told me connecting with people is real important. ...I'm not real good at it though, according to my track record."
"Uh-huh. So... what then?"
Rylan turned his head towards her. "If you need to vent, I'll listen."
Ellie sniffed. "I don't need to vent about anything."
Rylan retreated back into himself. "Right... sorry."
Wait what was he sorry for? He just said he'd listen if Ellie wanted to talk. She shouldn't be mad at him for that; after all he is still sort of a stranger, maybe...
"Oh!"
Rylan's ears perked up. "What's up?"
"You sit in front of me in like most of my classes." Ellie remembered. That's why the back of his head looked familiar. "You're the smartass!"
"Is that a compliment?" He felt confused.
"You telling the students and even the teachers off every time you raised your hand, it was the only time I stayed awake during the lectures." Ellie grinned.
"I wasn't telling them off, I was correcting them." Rylan clarified. "I just pay attention while other people like you take a nap. Not my fault. ...And I'm not a smartass."
"Aw whatever..." Ellie shrugged him off. Maybe she couldn't stand a chance against him in school, but how about...
"You know what this is?" Ellie pulled out a small book and showed it to Rylan. Why was she showing this to him? Maybe this will get her mind off of...
"What is that? A joke book?" He guessed right.
"My personal Bible." Ellie smirked as she flipped through the pages of her No Pun Intended Book.
"Ah..." He smiled back. "Didn't expect a live show this morning. ...This going to be so bad, isn't it?"
"If by bad you mean good then hell yeah! Alright, first one up to bat. What is a Pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?"
He came up with his first thought. "Arrgh, R?"
"Naw, tis' the C!"
"Haha, okay I'll give you that one."
"I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now."
Rylan stifled a chuckle. "I actually never heard that one..." She continued the onslaught of punny humor.
"You know what's not right?"
"...What? Left?"
Ellie gave a toothy grin. "Yeah! Hahaha, that's awesome!"
"What else you got?" Rylan knew this was entertainment.
"Oh! Here's a good one. ...I was struggling to figure out how lightning works, then it struck me."
"I get it." He had to retaliate now. "Ellie, your puns may be cheesy, but I think they're pretty gouda."
"Oh my god, hahaha! That's even more awesome, I love it." Ellie was really happy for the first time in a while. "Hey, how come we never really met before?"
"Well to be honest, I like to keep to myself in school. And I'm always up here in the mornings. Afternoons, I go out hunting." Rylan explained. "I've only been here for... I don't know, since last winter."
Ellie put away her Pun Book, saving the rest of the jokes for later maybe. "You get to go out hunting? Lucky! Joel won't let me do anything..."
Her demeanor suddenly sagged and her mind wandered back to the revelation at the dam... sadness invaded her face.
"Joel your older brother or something?" He asked. "Or..."
"He's my... I don't know... guardian?" Father figure...
"Oh... he's why you're sad then?"
"I really don't want to talk about it..." Ellie knew her circumstances are just beyond anything she could explain to him. "No offense."
"None taken." Rylan nodded but then pointed. "Hey, look at that..."
That was when the sun finally peaked up over the hill they were watching. Conveniently, the cliff they were on was facing the East. And they had a spectacular view of the sunrise...
Ellie smiled as she fully appreciated it. "Wow..."
Little did they know that this new day would be the start of a long life-threatening adventure...
End Fleeting (Affection) OST-
It was seemingly apparent that Maria had lost track of Ellie, her trail disappeared when she ran into the woods and up towards the cliffs. She wasn't feeling good lately, she was pale and she threw up a couple times this morning...
"Must be a stomach bug..." Maria deduced.
Not in much shape to continue the pursuit, she annoyingly remembered how she had those, 'I hate you' declarations with her parents back in the Old Times before the Cordyceps. Ellie will eventually come around. She fought too hard to get here; she wouldn't just leave everything... no way.
So Maria doubled back at the dam's entrance to meet back with her husband and Joel, dismayed that she would more than likely have to deal with that rude Firefly... that was when she saw Joel run past her.
He shouted as he kept running. "You find Ellie? Where's she at?!"
Maria called back. "She took another hike in the woods. She'll be fine!"
Damn! Joel mentally thought, no time to double back. Get as many supplies as he could carry, find her, and then get the hell out of dodge. He made a beeline for his house...
"Why is he in such a rush?" Maria wondered until she kept going only to find Tommy up on the scaffolding which allowed them to overlook the outer wall of the dam.
Who was watching Lesher then?
"Honey! What's going on?" She called up to them.
Suddenly, she noticed that there were three men with rifles on either side of him aiming their guns over the wall at something...
Alarmed, Maria made her way to Tommy's side, and quickly she was right next to her husband, sharing the same shocked look as him at the scene before them...
A contingent of Firefly soldiers, at least 100 of them... stood in formation in front of the dam... and with them ten men on their knees gagged and tied up, they were hostages in an execution line...
Tommy whispered to her. "They captured our morning hunting team..."
"Where's the messenger we got?" Maria asked wondering if they could do some sort of exchange.
But before Tommy could respond, a man adorning a black trench coat and a megaphone stepped forward next to the captured hunter farthest on the right, there's no mistaking it...
"Devlin..." Tommy gasped.
Commander Devlin brought the megaphone up to his mouth. "How you doing Tommy boy? How's your little piece of paradise fairing?"
"What do you want?!" Tommy had to shout back just so he could hear him. "I don't run with the Fireflies no more!"
"I know, I know." Devlin chuckled. "I was just wondering if you could help me out a little. Just like old times."
Tommy decided to play along, keep him talking. "What's your problem?"
"I'm looking for someone, two somebodies as a matter of fact." He smirked. "A little girl, and an old man..."
Shit.
"Could you be more specific?" Please be anyone else...
"Their names are Joel and Ellie."
Goddammit!
"Never heard of them!" Tommy denied.
"Aw... Now how could you forget about your older brother like that?" Devlin mocked. "You were never really were a good liar to begin with, you know? Even back in the day."
"It ain't happening then!" Tommy proclaimed. "Whatever it is that you want, it's best that you just release the hostages, turn around, and walk away!"
"I can't do that Tommy boy." Devlin darkly responded. "We lived in this hell for over 20 years! I can't in good conscious turn my back on this. No sane man would!"
"We got your man!" Tommy attempted to bargain with a bluff. "Lesher's with us! We'll trade him for the hostages."
"...Surprised you didn't shoot him, but I suppose you can just keep him, he did his job..."
"We can talk things out then. Figure out some other way!" Tommy continued to stall.
"I've had enough of your bullshit Tommy boy!" Devlin hissed as stepped behind the first hostage and he took out the gag in his mouth.
Devlin lowered the megaphone so that his victim could speak. "Go on, tell'em your name."
The man was sobbing and sniffling, scared for his goddam life. He was just a young kid, probably not even 25 yet. "... M-my name's... J-j-jacob..."
Devlin brought the microphone back up. "Jacob, do you have anyone living in Jackson that you hold near and dear to your heart?"
He positioned the megaphone for him to response. "Y-yes! My wife... Margret..."
He pulled it back up. "Do you love your wife? Do you love Margaret?!"
"Yes I do!"
"THEN TELL HER!"
He yelped as the Commander nearly jammed the megaphone down his throat! "I love you, Margaret!"
"I DON'T THINK SHE HEARD YOU!" He screamed in his ear.
"I LOVE YOU, BABY! I LOVE YOU, MARGARET!" Jacob cried for his love to his wife so that all of the soldiers and the people in the dam could hear him.
"Now... say goodbye to her..."
"What?!" Jacob began to panic, he struggled to get free of his binding but to no avail. "No, no please!"
And without another moment's hesitation, Devin whipped out his .357 Magnum and...
BANG!
...quickly put an end to Jacob's life... leaving only nine hostages as his body slumped to the ground...
Tommy utterly horrified. "Jesus Christ..."
Maria and everyone else mirrored his reaction. "Oh my god..."
Commander Devlin holstered his revolver and continued on with 'negotiations'. "If you don't produce Joel and Ellie immediately, I will snuff the lights out of each of these men every two minutes you don't comply! That leaves you with 18 more minutes!"
The rest of the men were whimpering through their gags, they were brothers, fathers, and husbands, and they had death written on their faces...
"When I run out of hostages... we'll march in there ourselves and find them!" Devlin warned. "Understand?!"
"Joel and Ellie ain't here!" Tommy tried to partially lie as a last resort. "They left a while ago after you sent Lesher here!" Wasn't exactly a poor excuse but... Tommy would soon regret it...
"Is that so?" Devlin raised an eyebrow and smirked at his men. "If you're so insistent that they are NOT present..."
He gave the signal to his men...
"Then these men are just dead weight... FIRE AT WILL!"
Everyone in the dam went wide-eyed... especially Tommy. "NO!"
A firing squad that was parallel to the hostage execution line, fired a barrage of bullets, effectively killing all of them in an instant!
As those bodies fell, Devlin's army broke apart and assault rifles were being fired at will as the people in the dam ducked and hid behind the wall for cover.
"Get down!" Tommy tackled Maria to the ground to avoid being shot.
Tommy's men did their best to return fire, but there were just so many Firefly enemies that they were full of holes by the time they stood back up.
As bullets whistling by filled their ears, Tommy and Maria climbed back down to get their feet on dirt. They sprinted for it ordering everyone around to get inside the hydroelectric dam for refuge.
"Everyone get in the dam!" They barked in a fury, motioning everyone to get inside.
THUD!
The front gates were dented...
THUD!
Tommy was the last one to file inside, but just before he shut the door of the building with everyone in it...
THUD!
The gates were broken through as wheeled APC Tank with the Firefly insignia on the side just drove through it...
Jackson was being invaded... and this had become a war...
A/N- Will Ellie ever forgive Joel for what he did? Can they both escape from Jackson now? Will Tommy be able to protect his wife and hold his town? And what could be his secret concerning Devlin be? Find out what happens next in the fight against the Fireflies! Until next time.
Keep up those review please, and I'll keep updating! :)