Ellie and Joel heard the news through the communicator, and Joel hurriedly pressed the button.
"How bad?"
"Real bad."
"Where are you? Where's his boy?"
"We're at the south corner, behind the barns."
Ellie's eyes were round, and she swore under her breath. "Matt's with the folks in the dining hall. I'll find him."
"Fine, I'm headed to 'em. Maria?" Joel queried the walkie. "Where's the first aid kit?"
"It's in the engine room," Tommy's voice replied. "I'm there, I've got it."
Ellie slung her bow hurriedly over her back as she descended the stairs and made her way through the compound to the long hall, banging her fist on the door and shouting, "It's Ellie, we're in the clear!"
The door was unbolted and cracked open to reveal Matt's face. He let the door swing wide, and enveloped Ellie in a hug, bow and all.
"Ellie – you're okay..." he breathed, but Ellie squirmed free, and met his eyes.
"Your dad's been hurt."
His face registered shock. "How bad?"
"Come on." She simply beckoned him after her and broke into a jog, Matt right on her heels.
"Dear God, no," he murmured, rounding the corner of the stables and seeing a few men clustered around a figure crumbled to the ground.
Tommy straightened, and said in a low voice, "Alright, fellas, get back, give him some room."
Matt fell to his knees next to his father, who was lying contorted in pain, his neck and shoulder a mess of blood and dirt. He coughed weakly, and Matt laid a shaking hand over the open wounds, his fingers quickly becoming steeped in the dark blood.
"They came at the gate with a machine gun..." the injured man wheezed. "Just wasn't quick enough, I guess." He chuckled, and broke into a series of gurgling coughs. Tears sprang from Matt's eyes as he jerked his head up and down, regarding the men around him, Ellie, and his father lying prone in the dirt.
"Aren't you going to – somebody do something –" he choked. "Alcohol... bandages..."
"Just talk to him, son," Joel murmured, and Matt seized his father's hand. "Dad..."
"You listen to me." Matthew's bleary gaze met his son's, and he struggled to speak. "In spite of how I act, I've always been real... real –"
"It's alright, it's fine," Matt whispered. "I know, you only meant for me..." He trailed off as he recognized the vacancy in his father's staring eyes, the lifelessness of his form upon the ground. Matt scrambled to his feet in horror, regarding the group with a feral gaze, before throwing himself upon the ground, shaking the dead man violently, and screaming, "Dad! Dad, say something! Say something!"
"Son –" Joel began, approaching with a hand outstretched, like one might approach a wild animal, like he had approached Henry... "Take a minute, take a breath –"
Matt leapt to his feet again and stared at Joel, his chest heaving, his eyes shining as blue as the sky through his tears. And he started forward, enveloping the figure of Ellie in a crushing embrace. Ellie clung to him as he wept hot tears down her neck, gripped him harder than she ever remembered gripping anything other than a weapon, and squeezed her eyes shut as she saw Tommy beckon the bystanders to take the body of the dead man between them and bear it to a place for burial. Maria placed a brief hand on Matt's shoulder before moving off with the guys, and Matt pulled back at last, putting his hands on Ellie's cheeks, smearing them with his father's blood.
"He – he's gone," he choked, regarding the girl with hopeless sorrow. "And people have died before, that I've known," he continued, his voice rising in sorrow-stricken tones, "Just not him. Never him."
Ellie's eyes were full as she regarded her friend in his grief. "I'm – I'm so sorry," she murmured, her voice husky.
Matt clung to her again, choking, "Don't leave me too."
"Hey... Anna's here," Ellie whispered, shaking him slightly as she caught sight of the girl, her face pale, her eyes round with sorrow.
"Oh, gosh," she breathed, stepping closer as Matt straightened, and wiped his face.
"Dad – my dad –" Matt began, but Anna simply nodded, and stood on her toes to embrace him. He drew back, shaking his head, and mumbled something about going to help the men dig a grave, and stumbled off across the courtyard, holding his head in his hands.
Ellie stood there for a long moment, watching his retreat, before doubling over and retching into the dirt. Anna grabbed her shoulders and stood there with her friend until the first violence of the vomiting was past, and then the two girls clung to each other for a long moment.
"I've got to help him," Ellie murmured at last, pulling away from Anna, and forcing her eyes open. She had shut them against the world, but now was confronted, yet again, with reality. Always reality.
"What're you going to do?" Anna fixed her with a concerned stare. "What can you do?"
"I don't know, but I've gotta to try something, he can't be alone tonight."
Anna's eyes were wide, somehow significant. "Are you going to sleep with him?"
"It's not like I can get knocked up again," Ellie muttered, her heart sending a pang through her core. "I'll just be with him. I don't know what'll help, but I'm gonna ask. He takes this stuff hard."
"And you don't?"
Ellie avoided Anna's gaze. "I don't let it get to me. Can't afford to. See you around." She pulled away, but Anna caught her hand. Ellie turned, her face a bit pale.
"Tell Matt I'm really sorry."
"I will."
And Ellie walked across the courtyard, picking her way through the clusters of men salvaging shells and clearing away other debris resulting from the bandit's attack. She clambered to the top of the wall near the main gate and saw outside, a group of men plying shovels. A few were keeping watch with shotguns, while the rest filled in the earth over an oblong lump that was the remains of Matthew. Tommy said a few words, the men wiped their brows and their eyes, and that was that. They dispersed slowly, and Ellie saw the dark-haired one linger, and drop to his knees next to the mound.
She took a deep breath and descended the stairs, slipping through the gate, and making her way slowly toward the grave. Matt didn't look up, even when she stood right beside him.
"Hey," Ellie said simply.
"Hey," he replied, his voice hoarse.
"Want company?"
He shrugged. "Sure."
Ellie got to her knees beside him, and sat back on her heels. "That was quick." She indicated the pile. "They don't waste time around here, that's for sure."
"I didn't know he was going to die," Matt whispered childishly. "That this was going to be it."
Ellie rocked back and forth a little, then sat down on the hard ground, pulling her sneaker-clad feet to the side.
"That's the way it goes, I guess."
Matt regarded her with a beautiful vulnerability. "How is it that you're so strong?"
Ellie gave a small smile. "It's easy right now. It's not me."
"But you're always strong... You never –" he broke off. "Not that I wish you'd be weak, but it's okay, you know. To show it... But it hurts."
"Yeah." Ellie's voice was a little rough. "Like hell."
"Did you know your parents?"
Ellie gave a short, odd laugh. "No. The closest thing to a mom I had was Marlene, and then she traded me off to Joel to smuggle me out of the city. I was raised in a military boarding school, until I ended up with them. The rest is history." She pursed her lips.
Matt sighed. "You might not... understand..." He seemed almost hesitant to accuse.
"I understand." Ellie said, stiffening. "Everyone I've ever cared about has either died or left me. Except Joel."
"And me," Matt said quietly. "Don't forget about me."
Ellie remained quiet for a long moment. "Yeah," she said at last.
The two sat in silence as the sun set, and as the insects of the night began to sing, filling the air with a wavering ambiance that began to lull Ellie into sleepiness. She and Matt had drifted close together, and he put his arm around her, Ellie's head leaning into the angle of his neck as he stared at the grave with fogged eyes. Shouting was heard: Ellie's name, and Matt's.
Ellie cursed, and straightened creakily. "Hold up, alright! We're coming!" she vociferated. Turning back to Matt, she took a deep breath. "They're gonna shut the gate."
"We'd better go, then," Matt replied, but made no move to stand. Ellie got to her feet, and looked down at him, her hands finding the warmth of her pockets.
"Come on," she said gently, prodding him with the toe of her shoe. "Matt- they're gonna close the gate."
"I know," he said in a strange voice. "Give me a minute." He shut his eyes, and his lips moved as if he was uttering a quiet prayer, and then he got to his feet, heaving a deep sigh. "Alright, let's go."