Chapter 10: Grant Thee Grace

A/N- Again I wish I could update quicker, but I've been busy and doing some hard thinking. Thanks a lot to the people who support this story so far! :) Let's keep going!

Joel, Ellie, and Claire had jogged through the forest for a few minutes now after they left Rylan and Carter back in the cabin. They were headed downhill this time, so this might be a faster trip then they thought. But still, this issue had to be resolved once and for all, the truth had to come out...

The two of them could hear the young blonde girl still talking to herself. "He's okay... he's going to be okay... He has to be... he has to..."

Joel knew that only Brad's corpse would prove Claire wrong enough to shock her out of denial, but that outburst she had with him back in the cabin... He didn't want this being another Sam/Henry situation all over again... God, he didn't want to remember that. "In the middle of the cornfield, that's where we need to go."

Several moments later of more half-walk half-jog, the three of them made it to the edge of the cornfield, still high and green, and also still wet from the storm that occurred there from yesterday.

"Through here." Joel waved them in as he created a gap. "Stick close. Alright?"

The two girls nodded as they had their guns drawn, in case they met any other strangers in this now infamous cornfield. They all dove in once more, Joel took the lead and his larger size created an easier path for the girls who followed right behind him. And as they traversed the stalks, Claire's heartbeat quickened, her muscles tensed, and her mind led her to horrible thoughts... of misery, grief, and loneliness. But she bit back the tears and sobs as of yet, and gasped as they came to a small clearing in the corn where that same rusty red tractor was parked.

Joel couldn't believe it. "He's gone!"

Ellie's eyes finally widened at the realization, her mind began to click. She wasn't stupid, anyone could see that, but the fact that this all seemed so coincidental... no it couldn't... Her hand drifted in to the bulge in her pocket then remembered that she had been here before! "Oh shit..."

Claire let out yelp of relief, there was still hope, maybe Joel was mistaken. "You see? You must have made a mistake! It was raining and dark when you were here last, right? He's still alive!"

No, no, no. Joel did not make a mistake. "Someone musta took his body. Maybe animals... or-!"

"There would be blood or stuff lying around if that happened." Claire quickly shot down as she pointed at the slightly muddy ground. "Look, footprints! I bet he wandered off a-and he went to l-look for us!"

No he didn't. Joel moved forward to inspect the scene as he scratched his head for more clues. And Ellie did her best to stealthy pull out the compass from her pocket. She had to get rid of this damn thing before-!

"Ah! Ow!" Ellie's foot caught on a hole in the dirt and she was about to fall over when Claire caught her. "Claire I-!"

But it was already too late... Claire had caught Ellie with the hand that held the compass and as she held her up, she registered what was in the fifteen year old's palm... "W-what...?"

"Claire?" Joel turned around to see Claire step back from Ellie and her eyes downcast as she took the compass out of the girl's hands and rolled it over in her fingers.

No mistaking it, this was the compass she had got him after he proposed to her. 'To My Sweetheart' She would not take her eyes off it. It was not covered in mud either, it was in pristine condition, not found here but with Ellie...

Play the Last of Us All Gone (Seasons) OST-

...

...

It was Ellie that spoke up. "Claire, are you okay...?"

The blonde girl just kept rolling the compass over and over between her fingers, not paying her any mind at all. It was like she was in her own little world...

"He... he loved this thing... *sniffle* cherished it..." Claire would not look up. "He was such a sweet guy, always happy, always tried to find the good in people... I know he never would've let this out of his sight... never..."

Ellie looked back at Joel and gave him a guilty expression, her eyes began to water themselves in shame. And Joel understood... but Claire snapped their attentions back to her. "Tell me, just... tell me what happened Ellie, please!" She sobbed.

As gingerly and sympathetically as she could Ellie told her what happened yesterday. "...After Rylan and I crossed the river, we were shot at by those bandits, and we dove in here to escape. ...We got separated for a second, and by the time I came back around, Rylan was being held at gunpoint by this guy..."

Claire's ears perked up at that as her gaze went up to the girl then back to the compass, she motioned for her to continue.

"Claire, it was so dark... and I thought he was going to hurt my friend so..." Ellie could still have blamed Rylan at the point, but no... this was a shitty situation and it needed to be resolved. "...so I shot him... it was me..."

Her entire body cringed at that, and tears began to spill over while she tried to compose herself. "Oh my... I... I don't feel good..."

"Is this true?" Joel needed to hear that again. "Ellie, did you kill Brad?"

"...Yes. But I didn't mean to, I thought he was a bandit trying to kill Rylan. It all happened so fast and it was so dark, you saw it last night, you both almost shot at us when we met up! But... Claire, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't know until I got back here and I... I didn't know. ...I'm so sorry."

Claire's world had finally crashed down on her. Brad was dead. She heard her killer's confession... so her arms fell to her sides and she just dropped the compass in the mud, like it was nothing more that a paperweight...

They could tell she was in great distress, doing her best to hold back the anger and the grief. "Do you... do you know what you've done to me? Do you have any idea?!"

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Claire..." Ellie pleaded to her for forgiveness.

Joel and Ellie both caught their breath when they saw Claire had moved her right hand to her gun and took it out, still avoiding eye contact with them. Her sobs had stopped and her sniffles had ceased. "...People like Brad aren't coming back, are they?! This is it, and now he's gone!"

Joel stepped forward so that he now stood beside Ellie, his hand on his holster, just in case. "Claire... put the gun down..."

"Why...?" She croaked as he noticed her trigger finger stroking dangerously on the side of her gun. "Why should I?"

"What you're thinking of ain't the answer." Joel attempted to console. "Now I know what's it's like... to lose someone, and it's hard, but... things happen and you have to move on... I'm sorry."

Claire looked up at the two with a new expression they had not seen before on her face: hate. "...Y-you both lied to me... you're still lying to me!"

"We're not lying! We swear!" Ellie immediately defended themselves.

"Then where is his body huh? ...What did you do with him?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH BRAD?" Claire at this point had become hysterical. "Was it a group effort? One of you pulls the trigger and loots his corpse, while the other dumps the body later, is that what this is?!"

Joel shouted back with his hand firmly grasped on the handle of his gun, prepared for the worst. "No! That's crazy talk!"

Claire then clutched her head in her hands, the barrel of her weapon, only inches away from the temple of her head. "You've both ruined everything!"

Joel grabbed Ellie shoulders and and forced her behind him as he stepped closer to the angry and grieving young woman. "Claire... I'm gonna take away the gun, alright? Just-!"

In a flash, Claire pointed her weapon, aimed directly at Joel's head as she screamed. "...Both of you... it's all your fault! It's all your FAULT!"

In truth, it really was no one's fault, how could any of them known this would have happened? But still, Claire's words echoed like those bellowed like Henry almost a year ago... but this time the gun ended up pointed in a different direction.

"Don't you do this!" Joel warned as the blond suddenly changed targets to her lover's murderer. "Don't make me-! Ellie!"

SWOOSH! "AHH! Ack...!"

...

...

Ellie and Joel both had their guns drawn when they realized that Claire had only staggered for a second. ...She just dropped her gun and fell to her knees as they all realized that the attack had come from an arrow that embedded itself in her back...

Joel kicked Claire's gun out of her reach as he pointed his gun at the culprit. "Come out! Ain't no use in hiding!"

Ellie gasped when they saw that Rylan had stepped out of the corn and into view with his hands and crossbow in the air, definitely not looking proud of himself. "It's just me, don't shoot."

"Rylan?! What the hell are you doing here?" Ellie exclaimed, she thought that Rylan was sick, but damn he looked pale. "Why'd you leave the cabin?"

"Boy, you better start explaining yourself, now!" Joel barked as he still had his gun aimed for the brunette.

"...A guy with blonde hair held me at gunpoint last night. Any regular bandit would have shot me, but he didn't... he hesitated." Rylan explained. "It just seemed all too coincidental, I had to make sure, and follow you guys."

"..nngghh.. *sob* *sob*" All three of them turned their attention towards the blonde girl on her knees. The pain in her back was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. "...He was never going to kill you... and you..." Her body slumped as she fell forward into the mud with a splat...

Joel immediately rushed to the girl's side and checked her pulse. "She's still alive, if we get her back to the cabin, we can still save her."

"Why?" Rylan questioned. "We got her boyfriend killed, and she tried to shoot you both."

"Rylan!" Ellie was appalled with his cold remark. "What the fuck? We can't be assholes to her now and just leave her to die!"

"That's quite a mouth you got on ya..."

All of the cornstalks around them began to rustle violently as the barrels of rifles and pistols poked out of the sides of the clearing they were in. Rylan had even raised his hands when he felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of his head as a man stepped out of the corn behind Rylan.

"...what else ya got?"

Joel and Ellie looked around in a panic and saw that they were surrounded by at least half a dozen other men. They were trapped, and if they made a move, they would be shot to pieces. "What the hell do you want?"

The man they identified as the leader of the gang gave a smug smile in victory. "Glad to see we can be civil about this, I hate to spill more blood than I need to."

It was Ellie who yelled at him next. "Who the fuck are you?!"

"Ah, my name's Grant honey." He tried his best to turn his sinister smile into a kinder smile, it didn't work... "Pleasure to meet you."

Grant was a man who looked like he was around Joel's age, but he wore a dark brown coat with blue jeans in addition to black mountain boots. He also had a deep and gravely voice, sounded like he smoked too many cigarettes back in his younger days. He was fit though, looked like he could give you a beating. His brown hair, green eyes, and scraggly thick beard only added to his intimidating demeanor yet somehow he had an air of civility.

Joel growled while he tried to stop the bleeding from Claire's back. "You'd do best if you just leave us the hell alone. We don't got nothing you want!"

"Well I beg to differ." Grant smiled as he pushed Rylan forward so that he would join with Ellie and the others. "You folks do have something I want..."

"Just leave us the hell alone you asshole!" Ellie hissed, tempted to draw her gun on him but decided against it.

Grant ignored the redhead and instead put away his pistol and crossed his arms. "I'm sure we can work something out. Your friend looks she needs a doctor. If ya hear what I have to say, then I'll fix her right up back in my camp."

"Yeah right." Rylan clenched his fists in frustration. "You think we're stupid or something?"

"Well if you like, I can have my boys shoot you here right now and be done with it. ...Or we can help each other out, your choice." Grant began to pace back and forth in front of them. "Like I said, I have a doctor in my camp a little ways back, and I can have her right as rain if you do me this kind favor."

Joel, Ellie, and Rylan looked around once more to still see the rifles of Grant's men still aimed at them. Even if they worked together, they could not get all of them without getting shot. Unfortunately for them, it seemed like they had to take Grant's offer, and he could be able to save Claire's life.

Joel had already broken off the tail of the arrow and did his best to wrap some bandages around the bleeding wound. Claire was still unresponsive as he looked back up at the bandit leader. "What do you want?"

"Good. Now we're getting somewhere." Grant grinned, and with a motion of his hands he ordered his men to lower their guns and come out of hiding.

Eight burly men revealed themselves in the clearing they were in, and they all respectively complied with their leader's orders although Joel took note that all of their fingers were still on their triggers. Grant then stopped pacing and addressed his 'new friends' with a proposition. "My scouts have told me that you all held up with a man named Carter in that cabin last night. ...Did you?"

"What do you mean?" Ellie inquired wondering what Grant would want from the cowboy other than for food agreement.

"I'm a man of good faith..." Grant explained. "I trust those who stand with me. But sometimes, people misplace my trust in them, and then they find reason to hurt you..." Grant seemed saddened. "Carter was once a good friend of mine... Hell, I'd like to think he still is. But... he is very sick."

"Sick?" Rylan questioned as he wiped the sweat from his brow, still feeling a little weak from this morning. "Sick how?"

"Sick in the head, it's a shame really." Grant revealed as he looked up in the sky. "Got this whole damn idea that I'm his enemy, it's a real pain in the ass."

"I don't care about any of that!" Joel roared at him. "This girl is bleedin' out here, she needs help now!"

Grant snapped his fingers and two of his men came forward and grabbed Claire's body out of Joel's reluctant arms. The two men nodded to their leader which he responded with a nod in return as they took off into the corn and out of sight. "...We'll do our best to help her. Thank you."

Joel got back up and stood with Ellie and Rylan, and pointed his finger at him. "We ain't doing shit until-!"

But Grant interrupted him. "I'm afraid you're going to have to hear me out on this one. ...Carter always had a soft spot for kids, so little girl what I want you to do is lower his guard and you big man if you can, tie him up. I want him alive."

Joel responded threateningly. "Fine. But I swear-!"

"No need for swearing my friend." Grant silenced him once more as he snapped his fingers again which prompted two more of his men to advance on Rylan and grab him!

"HEY! Let go! Get off of me!" Rylan exclaimed.

"Let Rylan go you chickenshits!" Ellie tried to help but the sounds of half a dozen guns aimed at them stopped her. "What are you doing?!"

"The kid is just insurance. Don't worry, I'll be by at about dinnertime with both him and the girl. But if you don't have Carter on a silver platter when we arrive..." Grant grimaced. "I'll kill them both, and I'm sure no one wants that, right?"

"Goddammit..." Joel mumbled as he and Ellie watched as a struggling Rylan was dragged back in the cornfield with his captor.

"Guys! Just-Mrggh!" His words were silenced by the meaty hand of the henchman, and then Rylan was gone again.

Grant made a motion with his hand again which signaled their retreat. "You both have yourselves a nice day, see you soon..."

And the bandits disappeared into the cornfield, and not another second had passed when Joel and Ellie sprang into action and shot a couple a rounds into the stalks where Grant ran into but to no avail. They were already gone...

"We have to find them!" Ellie shouted as she dived in to chase after them.

Joel was right behind her but honestly he had enough of this shit. "Let's just get the hell out of this goddamn cornfield!"

A/N- The bandit leader Grant has finally shown himself, what could he possibly have planned? What will he do to Rylan and Claire? And where did Brad's corpse go? What could be Joel and Ellie's next step? Find out more next time! :)