"Did you like the deer, Ellie?" Maria smiles cheerfully, knocking on the door a little before stepping inside of the room where Joel and I sleep. She sits down on the edge of his bed glancing around the room a little bit, noticing that I'm reading my comic and watching TV.
The room is lit by a few candles scattered across the tables. It reminds me of an old bunker in here, surrounded by metal frames and solid concrete. The windows are boarded up nice and tight so no one can peek in, Joel has the desk on his side of the room that's covered in scrap paper, bullets and gears for repairing our weapons, whereas I have the TV on a night stand. Now that Tommy's gotten the power up and running again after having problems with the generator we can watch movies again.
My heart tightens.
"Yeah, it's been awhile since I had deer." I glance up at the screen to catch the interesting parts of the film, while multitasking by reading some of the comic books Joel found for me a few days ago.
The last time I had deer was when David captured me in the winter. At least I think it was deer; to this day I'm not quite sure what I ate. All I know is that I hope this winter will be nothing like last winter's.
It was brutal; Joel got impaled and was critically injured for the longest time imaginable. He has an ugly scar from it too. Since there were only two of us I sure as Hell wasn't giving up on him so I was forced to go out with Callus and find food for the three of us. It was hard, but I couldn't let him die.
She smiles softly once again; looking down at her feet and hesitating immensely, unsure if she should speak up or keep quiet about what's on her mind.
I wonder what's been eating away at her lately. She seems more distant from me which is a first, she was the only person I even liked when we arrived here.
The flames flicker on the candles, disorientating our shadows across the walls and threatening to blow out and leave the two of us in the darkness. The room grows a little colder; it usually does that at night but for some reason it feels like it's been getting colder lately.
Silence between the both of us lingers in the frigid air, nothing but the volume on the TV and the muffled sound of voices from the next room over can be heard. I turn another page of my comic book, glancing up at the TV screen once again to watch the interesting parts. Wrapping myself up in the thick blanket I have lying around while wincing in pain from moving my aching ribs around.
"You know, Joel's been acting different lately, and try not to move so much with broken ribs, honey." She began, trying to hold my eye contact but she continues to look down.
My heart throbs wildly. Just hearing his name alone makes it beat fast.
Huh? He's still the same as ever, right?
Confused, I sit up, moving the comic aside and looking at her oddly.
"What do you mean weird? And, I'll try."
"Well, he just seems like he needs to loosen up a bit, he's cracking down hard on Tommy lately and I'm a bit worried." She forces out a small smile, meeting my eyes once more while glancing at the door in case one of them shows up while we talk.
She has a good point…
Joel's been glaring at him since we got back and they're always off talking in private when then usually leads to Maria breaking them up; or me. After dinner they left to go on a short walk so they could "sort things out." So far it's been an hour and I'm kinda worried that Joel killed him and tossed him in a ditch somewhere.
"He gets like that sometimes." I assure her, remembering how he was when Tess gave up her life to save the two of us in the beginning.
I didn't know Tess that long, but she believed me way before Joel did. If it wasn't for her convincing him that it was true I don't think he'd ever like me enough to keep me safe.
She gazes off to the side for a second.
"I suppose... You busy tomorrow? I could use some help training the younger horses." She offers, meeting my eyes with a smile and knowing my one weakness; animals.
I can't contain my excitement; and Maria can tell. My heart pounds even faster while a huge grin spreads across my face, ignoring the TV and my comic book.
"I'd love to, how early are we getting up?"
She laughs, knowing that would get my attention.
"Pretty early, I outta let you sleep. The boys should be back later on tonight. I hope they didn't go too far." She gets up off of Joel's bed, brushing past the candle that flickers intensely once more.
Tommy and Maria have a few farm animals, horses being one of them since we use them to travel from time to time. There are also cows, pigs and few chickens running around. It honestly feels like we've stepped back in time; or so Joel says. I wouldn't know anything about life before this shit started flying around; I learn most of it from Joel.
"Oh, and Ellie one more thing." She began, placing her hand on the open door, looking over her shoulder straight into my eyes.
I tense up a little, why is she looking at me like that?
"Yeah?" Curiously I question her, feeling a little nervous.
"Say out of trouble; okay?" She smiles, heading out of the door and shutting it behind her before I could even say anything.
Okay then?
"Depends." I mutter to myself, laying back down on the comfy bed and opening my comic book up again; continuing where I left off.
What kind of trouble, running away again trouble or just the classic "stay out of trouble. You know what I mean so I'm not going to classify what kind of trouble." Trouble? Jeez. She can be confusing at times.
The room is still lit by a few candles that are by the boarded up window sitting neatly on top of a desk. Joel has papers sprawled out everywhere around it as well; it's a mess, so I'm not intrigued by it to go snooping through.
It's probably just some stupid letter he's writing. I've seen him just sit down and write without asking why, usually I'm a one to look at what he's saying but, I can guarantee that if he caught me I'd be fucked.
Whatever, I flip another page as the flame flickers in the room. It's been several minutes since Maria stopped in; I hope they're alright.
My ribs still ache, Maria bandaged me up with some gauze and handed me some morphine and a needle for when the pain gets worse. She said it won't heal for a couple weeks; lucky me.
It's extremely quiet and completely dead silent, the crickets chirp a tiny bit outside the concrete building while the steady humming noise of the generator next door is played all throughout the night.
I should go to sleep soon so that way I don't wake up agitated again.
Just as I'm about to get up to blow out the candles; the door opens once again, Joel walks through slamming the door behind him and sitting at the desk angrily. Not even saying a word to me at all.
Shit, what happened to him?
"You okay?" I question him, while he curses under his breath; resting his head against the table, still ignoring me purposely.
Okay then, I only asked…
"Not now Ellie." He snaps, rummaging through the papers on his desk while holding a pencil. His eyes are fixated on the piece of paper while he deeply breathes in and out with a vengeance almost.
Wow. Rude much.
Hesitating, I sit there carefully; watching his body language so I don't get my ass handed to me as he begins to write paragraphs on the paper.
The candle beside him flickers violently as he speeds along, mumbling and cursing under his breath. While the rest of the room silently slinks away as if it's terrified of him.
Should I even try to talk to him still?
My heart hurts knowing that he's in pain, the least I can do is try, right?
I push the comic book away once again, slowly getting off the bed and walking towards him. He glances over his shoulder looking right at me with a dark, menacing glare.
Shit…
I freeze instantly, not daring to take another step closer.
"Go to sleep, I'll sleep tonight too, eventually..." He growls once again, causing me to back off a little with a hint of fear.
He usually gets like this, this isn't the first time; nor will it be the last.
"Okay... What happened to you...?" I mutter under my breath, turning around and heading back to my bed on the opposite wall.
"Nothing Ellie. Just go to sleep, its late." He drops his pencil beside him on the desk, deeply sighing and gazing into the flame of the candlestick that's being held up by the candle holder on top of his desk. Clearly something happened.
Okay... Shit.
I sigh; I don't want to get yelled at right now. I crawl back onto my bed and placing the comic book down on the end table beside me, grabbing my thick blanket and wrapping my body up tightly in it to keep warm.
Seriously, did Tommy say something to him or what? Why's he acting like this now?
My heart silently beats against my broken ribs, causing me enough pain to almost cry.
Maria did bring me morphine, but I don't want to use it all. We don't have that much anymore so I think I'll save it…
I lay there looking up at the cracked ceiling, the flame from the candles flickers wildly while Joel scribbles more letters onto the paper angrily.
I'm sure he'll tell me tomorrow.
I try closing my eyes, but the room's lit up enough that the orange fades through my eyelids; making it nearly impossible to sleep.
I should at least try...
Rolling over, I pull my blankets up over my head and curl up in the opposite direction of the light. Trying to get some form of darkness so I can at least sleep for a couple hours while Joel writes away for some strange reason.
I'll ask him tomorrow if he doesn't say anything... Better yet; I'll just read it later.
I smile, the thought of simply bugging him in the smallest ways possible pleases me greatly. I just love it when he's angry it's cute and adorable. He thinks he can hurt me but I know he won't.
I feel myself slowly drifting off to sleep, ignoring the stabbing pain in my ribs while vivid images start projecting through my mind about events that happened today.
A couple hours pass back quickly; subconsciously I can pick up on movement around my body which is odd.
"Ellie...?" I hear a soft whisper in the dead of the night, groggily opening my eyes I can make out Joel standing in front of me standing by the side of my bed. With a sigh of relief he touches my face with his hand, brushing back the loose strands from my hair behind my ear.
My heart explodes with happiness, pounding lightly while sneers a tiny bit, noticing my heart rate.
What does he want all of a sudden, wasn't he just angry and pissed off?
"Hey?" I yawn, stretching my arms in the air while he smiles softly, pulling his hand away from my face.
Why's he smiling? What's he doing here anyways, his bed's over there.
"About what happened at the Ranch..." He began, sitting down beside me on the bed, looking into my eyes.
"What part?" I smugly reply, considering a lot happened. From finding out he lied to me, almost being raped, and to Joel kissing me I'd say enough surprises happened today to last me a good year.
He sighs deeply, not an angry sigh; just a normal one, while pulling back the blanket I have on top of me slowly.
What are you doing...?
Trying to control my breathing, Joel's grin grows even wider. Showing me that I can't hide it at all.
"When Tommy left, I couldn't keep my hands off of you."
That sentence alone sends shivers down my spine, a faint smile spreads across my face and I guess he noticed it as well.
"What about it?"
Before I could say any more; Joel's fingers touch the side of my face again, his face inches away from mine while he trails his fingers gently down my neck.
"I still can't."
He pulls the blankets down a little further, gently leaning over me with my body between his knees that are resting on the bed. He starts kissing my lips with a loving touch; repeatedly. With each kiss he gives he gets a little more aggressive, letting his hands touch my body wherever he pleases while his lips trail down my neck.
My heart picks up again, pounding harshly against my chest and my sore ribs; I don't even care at this point about my ribs. They'll start to get better tomorrow.
W-what's going on here? Is this a dream...?
"Joel...?" I breathe, questioning his intentions a little while he silences me once more with his lips against mine.
"What?" The words barely escape his lips. He's clearly enjoying this too by the looks of it.
Before I could even answer, he pulls away sneering; he knows exactly what. His hands touch my sides gently watching out for my ribs, slowly lifting up my shirt and exposing my skin to the cold air around us.
I feel different from when Dan tried to force himself on top of me, time seems to just slow down so I can enjoy this moment with Joel. I don't think he sees me as his daughter anymore…
"You've changed." I barely manage to speak, he snickers a bit; pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it to the floor.
The candles flicker again from the sudden burst of air from throwing my shirt over, illuminating our shadows across the wall.
"So have you."
His lips attack mine once more, keeping me busy while his hands slip lower, unbuttoning my red pajama pants and slowly pulling them off without any hesitation.
This is a dream, I swear it is…
My heart pounds faster and faster as he breaks away from my lips, grinning wildly while I lay there looking up at him with curious eyes.
"Well, you're halfway there; you might as well continue." I tease him, letting him know that I caught on and he didn't distract me well enough while he undressed me.
He snickers again.
"I planned on it anyways." He smiles, pushing himself closer to me and taking control.
This is a dream. He went to bed... I just know it.
Before we can even get anywhere, the door opens to this room suddenly.
Fuck.
"What the fuck Joel-" Tommy hollers a little, Joel tenses up again; looking over his shoulder at his younger brother who's standing in front of the doorway with a shocked expression on his face and a couple other men standing behind him.
"Shit.." I mutter under my breath, while Joel returns his gaze to me.
He smiles softly, kissing my lips still, before pulling away.
"Couldn't let me start, huh?" Joel mutters to himself, kissing my lips softly once more before he gets off of me and zippers his pants back up again, tossing me my clothes from on the floor while Tommy just holds a paralyzing gaze with him.
This is really awkward…
"I'm not even goin' to fuckin' ask what the Hell you were tryin' to do with her."
"Yeah, don't." Joel agrees, flashing me a soft smile while I return it back to him, getting dressed quickly as I can.
"Well don't take your sweet ass time; a group of bandits broke into the cattle section and began burnin' the damn place down."
Huh?
Joel sighs again, placing his head in his hand and walking around the room towards the door.
"Let's fuckin' move then."
Tommy looks over at me with a stern gaze, before peeling his eyes off of me and focusing on his brother.
Why's he acting like this? I mean yeah, his older brother tried mounting a young girl… But still, why did he show up here last?
"Pack the shit you need, they killed half of my men and they're comin' straight for you and Ellie, Joel."
A/N - I am so sorry about the long wait guys; I have to put this one on hold for a bit to finish up my other series, plus School just started up again and I'm in grade 12... So I have no idea when I will have free time; I really wish I could continue finishing this series right now for all you c: but the people waiting on Burning Daylight have waited longer . sorry for the sudden cliff hanger! I'm not abandoning this story. just putting it on hold for a little bit :)