Premium AIRBNB, but the FEE: Your Sanity

1st night at the house.

It turned out that the "only 22 miles" trip was a pipe dream after all, Because the survivor had worn Joel down after a mile and they were never gonna reach the airport because the sun was already well into setting.

Joel and Ellie agreed to stay the night at a house along the road.

"Troooooy! "Joel shouted, no longer concerned feeling scared about infected or fungoids. Ellie was holding onto Joel's backpack, her knife in the other hand. The woman was practically asleep standing.

Troy was throwing a chunk of asphalt in the air and then catching it. He skipped over and kneeled in front of Joel and Ellie and the woman. He rested his head on back of his palms, which were balanced up by the claws digging into the ground.

The clouds were gathering in the sky, growing much darker and unforgiving.

"We're gonna stay here tonight. You gonna post yourself right here or go into that house right next to us?" Joel's heart pounded in his chest, as the giant waited expectantly. He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to even think it. The moments kept dragging into minutes of defiant silence between the two.

"Joel! Let him stay with us, come on we're all tired and it's raining."

"Right, Ellie. As long as you're ok with it."

Troy got his magic pad out and wrote,

K DAD

Troy swung the pad a bit, mockingly. His head tilted just a little bit as a light chuckle escaped.

"My name's Joel, ok?! I'm not anybody's fucking dad. "

Troy laughed long at that-a schoolboy's laugh.

"Ellie, Troy has to clear the house for us before we can go inside. His job." He wriggled, adjusting for the survivor's deadweight, and then walked onto the lawn.

The house still had a truck in the driveway, so Joel knew that the chance that a fungoid was there would be quite high. It was a two-story building with a small unfenced yard. It was really the worst choice, but it was just right there.

Troy wouldn't open the door. He clicked and he pointed at it. Before Joel could react, and Ellie ran up beside Troy, and opened up the door a crack. She scampered right back behind Troy on the lawn. A clicker jumped out, but was barreled back in, as Troy reached his palm into the side of the hallway by Troy. He twisted himself elegantly inside like a corkscrew. Ellie heard the the skull being crushed, but then she heard it crunching again as the body was flung out towards her, into the front yard-without a head. It hit her hard and she yelped grossed out stepping back and falling on her ass. Troy was right there skewering the body multiple times before she even knew what was happening. Something so fast, the mind might not even process it at all.

"Ellie, lay down and focus on your breathing." Joel instructed calmly. He himself made sure the survivor was completely flat on the ground before he too got down.

Troy still had the body up, and was struggling to try and inspect it. He held it right next to his eyes, and then far away, and then chuckled merrily. Tossed it into the neighhboring yard. He looked around and saw a calm, serene setting. Joel saw Troy's wide eyes searching. Joel noticed how those searching eyes didn't even have a clue what it was even searching for.

Ellie knew that she had just been saved. The event was so fast, that she also, didn't know. The only way that she was somewhat sure that it did indeed occur, were all the strange sensations prickling her arms. She cleared her throat. "TROY, DO YOUR FUCKING job and clear this house. I need to sleep.

He was absolutely delighted. They heard him for the first time, start to cluck like a hen. Troy trudged slowly back to the house. He squeezed through the door sideways, resumed his search of their chosen house. In 5 minutes, Troy came ducked slowly sideways back out of the doorway, his claws splayed cutting into the wood for balance. Hisback his eyes shut tight. His arm muscles spasmed as he held his claws tightly to himself, walked out onto the lawn and kneeled-trying to be still.

"Ellie backup behind me a little further, gotta make sure we give him his space."

The tremors stopped when they were off the lawn.

"Is he ok Joel?"

"Are you ok Troy?"

He Troy nodding slightly at them, eyes shut tight. He motioned towards the door and backed away on his knees very very slowly, stretching as if he was tired. .

"He's tired too Ellie, see?" Ellie peeked over at Troy nervously, then around to the emptied street. She felt safe.

Ellie held onto Joel's jacket and walked with him into the house and out of the rain as Joel balanced the lady on his shoulder.

"Let me get them situated and I'll come back outside Troy."

Troy clicked.

The bedrooms were upstairs. The kitchen and living room were downstairs. One of the stairs was broken, and every door was wide open; because Troy had gone and checked all the rooms.

"These doors were already open? How'd he?" Ellie was distracted by the survivor.

Joel and Ellie got the woman onto the bed. The lady let out a long sigh.

"Ellie, lock your door and don't come out until I say."

She nodded quickly, hopping joyously onto the bed. She couldn't believe how wonderful it felt. She got to work getting rid of all the cobwebs in the room and on the bedposts.

Joel announced that he was coming outside. Troy was at his full height now.

"So, friend." Joel tiredly tried to find pleasant words as he stared at the bulge of this massive creature. Joel was just struggling to find a neutral face. Because Troy was palpably malicious. Troy kneeled very eerily slowly and got himself face to face with Joel. His red eyes shone brightly in the dark.

He was openly clear with Joel now; why he wanted to come into this house. His eyes were unblinking, going from Joel to the upper level, and he was breathing somewhat fast, as they both continued to stand there.

Troy took out a can of food and let it dangle from his claws, just pressing the tip of Joel's nose.

Joel said passively, "Ok. Ground rules. Don't ever go upstairs. Ever. Period. Got it?"

Troy nodded.

"Don't try to scare them. Ever. If they ask you to do something, you do it. If they tell you not to do something, then you fucking listen. Or I'll fucking kill you."

Troy knelt down and nodded again at Joel like a sincere friend. Then he got his pad out and stood back up. He put the pad up to his mouth with his claw, and then using the tooth of his tongue, he scribbled quickly and knelt back down. He held the pad out, covering his mouth with it.

M N

Joel grabbed it and looked closely as the sun was down, he nodded and put the pad back out. Troy snatched it up faster than any human could and continued to scribble with his tongue onto the pad. He knelt down again and with his claws, held the pad up to cover over his eyes.

SHUT THEM UP

Joel felt his legs tremble so hard; he fell to the ground. Troy smiled and bit into his claw.

Troy put the can of food in his bag and walked to the house, spinning himself down into the main entrance with Joel right behind him. Troy opened and closed the door a second time. Joel then had to try and force the door open because Troy was holding it closed on the other side with his tongue.

Ellie asked from the stairs, "Joel is that you?" Troy made the sound of an infected clicker and paused. Then he let out a strange clicking laugh. Joel finally managed to get the door open. Troy was already in the living room. His body blocked Joels view, but Joel could somewhat hear that Troy was quickly, silently moving all the bookshelves to block a large window.

He walked to the foot of the stairs, and said, "Ellie we're both here, it's fine. Please be quiet until I come in there. He looked over at Troy's progress and heard Ellie again, "But Joel I saw something through the window."

Joel and Troy raced up the stairs, with Troy's arm puncturing the ceiling at the door first. He let out a sigh that turned into a whine as his arms shook.

"Me first Troy."

"I'm coming in Ellie, and then Troy."

Joel opened the door and saw Ellie by the window. She was frozen, so Joel pulled her away. She already had her eyes closed.
"Get in here Troy."

Troy ducked hard and corkscrewed himself inside. He moved on his knees as he worked. He took the mattress-that the lady was on-from the bed, and put the bedframe against the window. He turned, looked, and clicked loudly at Joel, who was making sure that the woman's face and body were covered with a sheet, as well as hugging Ellie tightly to his chest, her head shielded in his hand. Then Troy disappeared noisily and reappeared with his pad. He was somewhat crouching, his closed eyes, holding the pad at Joel. Joel had picked up Ellie and was rocking her, cradling the back of her head.

MOVE 2 HALLWAY.

"OK Troy." Joel agreed. "Ellie we gotta move the woman back out to the hallway."

"Not without the mattress Joel." Ellie demanded. Troy giggled.

Joel and Ellie dragged the body on the queen-sized mattress into the hallway and then they hunched into the corner of the stairs. Troy clucked like a mother hen, but he was also making a soft guttural threatening intermittent scream of boundless rage. It was causing Ellie's breath to freeze in her throat.

Troy grabbed the large TV from the bedroom, climbed over the mattress, sliding the tv on its edge at the top and put it in the window of the other bedroom. There was a bookshelf covering the window at the end of the hall, already. He then hopped onto the wall above the stairs with one claw going through the other side of the house. He stepped onto the last broken stair and they heard him as he slammed the front door so hard it felt like it rocked the house.

"Joel how is he closing the door. I don't get it?"

"You've seen him grab the magic pad Ellie. He can easily grab a doorknob, but it takes him a bit."

Troy mulled over things while eating the dead body on the neighboring front lawn.

When he was done, he threw the remains over to the next yard, cleaned himself up, knocked on the front door three times and then let himself back in, the front door closing almost silently behind him. He was dripping from the rain. He clucked like a mother hen.

He lay on the floor and got the radio out, and then sighed happily when he got out a metal tin. He used his tongue to compress the bud into a blunt, then lit a match and started inhaling. He heard Joel's footsteps down the stairs.

Joel went downstairs with his flashlight.

Joel heard some music start playing.

"Hey Troy, can I get everyone back into the room now?" Joel forced himself to sit on a chair in the kitchen. The tablet illuminated most of the living room. Troy was laying on his side, and Joel could see embers and smoke.

Troy replied with a quick little audible uh-huh-a human vocal sound.

"I need you to get some things, right now. Clean cloths, Bandages, tweezers, sleeping meds, electrolytes, tons of water, sanitary items like soap, shampoo, tampons…. Do you think you can find these on the airbase?"

Troy puffed out a huge cloud, the embers bright in the dark. Then he started to laugh merrily like a schoolboy. Joel visibly relaxed. Troy got up and left, closing the front door softly behind him.

"Alright Ellie come on down now, Troy's gone."

Ellie let out a deep, long sigh of relief.

"Hey did you really ask him to get tampons Joel?" She whispered gleefully.

"I sure did Ellie." He forced himself to smile genially.

"He's never gonna find that." She laughed. "Do you think he knows?"

"Oh hell no Ellie, of course he doesn't!"

She searched the pantry and found a few cans of chef boyardee, along with expired corn and expired beans.

She smiled, "Jackpot!" she announced to TroyJoel. Troy was in the living room and opened up his bag, taking out a small round metal container.

Joel took the woman up to the bedroom and then came back down to check the pantry with Ellie.

He cracked a large smile at the chef Boyardee. Ellie obligingly used her knife to open his and then she opened up her own can.

While they were eating they heard an explosive cracking sound in the distance.

The living room stunk, but the music was lively. Ellie checked out the tablet, which was brightly displaying a screen.

"I thought computers were a lot bigger than this? FEDRA said there's supposed to always be a clicky thing and some other clicky thing in order for it to work. But this doesn't have anything so how does it work?"

"I don't know, Ellie, and I would NOT even touch it. Please. For the love of GOD and all that is holy…"

"Sheesh, I wasn't gonna Joel. But it's so bright! It's like a flashlight."
"Ellie, help me get that woman back into the master bedroom. We got our work cut out for us."

Troy arrived a half hour later. He knocked twice, and brought in an extra-large backpack with all their supplies. He also had 15 of those 5 gallon water jugs attached to a chain, dragging behind him. He plopped it all on the living room floor and lay down dead still. Joel went over and inspected everything. He was impressed by the IV drip bags. Troy had clearly understood the assignment.

"Thanks Troy, this is exactly what we need. Ellie and I can take it from here. She's gonna come down and help me carry everything up. Listen for infected while we work."

Ellie hurried down and grabbed the 5 gallon water jug, trying to roll it swiftly up the stairs.

Troy scoffed, as he side-eyed her nonprogress. He wrote something on the pad and threw it hard at the back of her head. Joel surprisingly intercepted it, and it fell behind her.

"What's it say Joel?" Ellie asked, as she used all of her might to lift the water up one more flight of stairs.

Joel read the notepad, keeping his face absolutely neutral.

It read, PATHETIC

"Troy says Thanks For HELP"

"Ok." Ellie said tiredly and somewhat sarcastically. Troy giggled again. He brought out his blunt and prepared for another smoke in the living room. He then stared up above him, at the master bathroom, and listened with absolute focus.

Ellie had Joel pour some water onto a rag and she cleaned out the tub. The water was freezing.

"We can't, Joel." He plugged the drain of the tub and started to filled it up anyways.

"This body is a filthy mess, we NEED THIS TUB. Yes, we can Ellie, just more slow so its-"
"Joel. I said NO."

"Ok Ellie, what do you think we should do?"

"A mat. A pillow. Beside the tub. Sponges, blankets. Mix the soap into the bathwater. Hurry."

"On it." Joel went down the hallway, into all the rooms, looking for a mat that could fit in that space. He found towels in the closet, and started taking them all out. He laid them beside the bathtub and then carried the woman's body over, gently laying her down, and covering her body with a thick blanket.

"Thank you, Joel."

"You're safe, lady." Joel said. The woman was non-responsive. Joel inspected her, extremely worried.

Ellie whispered gently into the woman's ear. "You're safe, darling. You are veeeery safe with us. Troy is protecting you, sweetheart."

"Joel, can you somehow keep these sponges warm?"

Yea. They waited with Joel holding as many sponges as he could. Ellie finally started on the side of the woman's face. Then the other side, then the forehead.

"Look at this," she breathed in awe. She couldn't even hear herself, because of how quietly she said it.

"You are safe," Ellie whispered again to the woman. Then she began singing it.

"You're a very safe random woman, yes you are. Your in the safest place that you could possibly be. You are safe random woman yes you are."

"Ellie you have to be quiet."

"Shut up Joel." Ellie said slowly and patiently. "I'm not loud."

Ellie continued crooning, as she wiped the collarbone, under the breasts, her arms, her torso."

Ellie had Joel attach the IV drip to her, sitting her up against the porcelain-with a bunch of pillows as a wall. Then she had Joel drain the tub, and bring up another five gallon drum. She played with the woman's hands, sometimes squeezing them, sometimes rubbing them, sometimes massaging them.

The woman's eyes blinked, but her face was still blank, and her focus was completely gone.

Joel was crying, watching how she continued to be unresponsive.

He breathed unsteadily.

"She's still in there Joel. Stop your fucking crying dammit! I know what the fuck I'm doing, THAT'S WHY I'M THE FUCKING BOSS."

"Yes Ellie." Joel cleared his throat, "You really are the fucking boss."

Ellie got Joel to support the woman and got to work on her inner folds, and her buttox. She started singing again, "You are safe random woman, yessss you are. Who? You, random stranger. She grabbed the woman's shoulders gently and began rocking her, repeating the verse. The woman's focus subtly shifted, and the barest hint of a smile appeared. It was so small. Joel was staring hard at her, and couldn't see it. But Ellie did. "Theeeeere you aaaare." She breathed, pinching the random lady's cheek lightly. Ellie laughed, and the woman's gaze now focused on the toilet, blinking twice, fast.

Ellie jumped out of her skin when she heard the door break down. The woman's focus completely left, her face blank.

Joel exclaimed, "Holy shit!" as he jumped as well.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Troy projected at them. His open eyes were smiling and sparkling in jolly delight.

Ellie placed a towel over the woman's head, tiredly slumping.

Troy was looking at the bedposts, with his crazed eyes, and he put his ear next to it.

He turned his face down at Ellie, no malice, completely non-plussed.

Ellie huffed.

The woman spoke. "Troy. You can never find me."

Ellie hid her face from Troy, crying silently, as she caressed the woman's hand.

Troy was looking everywhere, up and down, now way beyond confused.

Ellie went out of the bathroom, with her hand over her eyes.

"Troy, remember your job. GO. Patrol the block and come back."

He left, with the door frame completely broken, the bed now appeared to be falling into the floor.

Joel and Ellie decided to tackle the rest in the morning. Joel carried the woman's body to the bed. Ellie was right behind him barely managing to get up onto it.

They all relaxed into the bed.

Ellie awoke, like a hiccup, 30 minutes later. The rage in the house was becoming so palpable, that her stomach was simply…dropping fast all on its own. Joel was dead asleep, fidgeting slightly. He had put his hand atop of the random woman's hand, and she was also fast asleep. Ellie got up, and struggled against the rage, simply to get to the stairs just outside the bedroom.

Her breath was shaky. She called softly.

"Troy…can I talk to you?"

The response was immediate and very forcefully long and deliberate.

Hmmmmmm.

"You know Troy, that."
The rage was so powerful she was struggling to keep thinking.

"I am a brand-new business lady. Just getting my feet wet. So I have a lot of work to do, in order to get my company running."

She breathed shakily again. Her nervous system was going crazy.

"And you know, Troy; the only thing I knew about my business is that…your job is keeping me safe. But, like…what even is safe? Whats it mean-right?"
She cleared her throat, gathering her courage up.

"So. I was hoping…" She stood, hemming and hawing, with one foot dangling onto the next stair. "Nevermind-"

She shook her head, thinking that maybe tomorrow was better. She started to walk back to the room.

Another mmmmmm

But this time, not forced. And this time, intrigued.

She slowly crept down the stairs in the cold house. She felt that with each movement, she was pressing against a 500lb block. Troy was laying on the floor sideways, away from her.

She's in the kitchen, and finally, on the threshold of the living room. Staring widely at the dark, at a figure so large he can barely fit inside.

Troy?

Mmm?

Ellie noted the quickness of that response. She breathed a measured sigh.

She started to pace, slowly, around the kitchen table.

"A lot happened today, Troy. I didn't take my role seriously, but now that I have a client everything has changed. I know you might just kill us-and that you've probably killed maybe like…lots of cities worth of people, but I've been thinking. You've taken all of your victims Troy…but it's getting down to the last of us. That lady will not feel safe unless you help me. My company still needs a name, but now it serves a bigger purpose." She nodded her head, proud of herself.

"Right."

She stopped and lightly slapped her palms together, to drive her confidence and emphasize the words. Troy clucked again softly.

"Ellie's company saves survivors, Troy. We are the best of the best, in the most insanely dangerous circumstances. My business starts with ME. And it ends with me. My business can't run if my employees don't fucking listen to what I say.

If you guys would just FUCKING LISTEN;" She realized she was speaking a bit too loud, and hushed again, "I can take that shell of bones and muscles and blindness, and turn it into another thriving, extremely dangerously valuable…business. I can teach you Troy. You are so insanely smart, Troy. But."

He now turned to lay flat on his back. He faced upwards.

She whispered almost silently now, scared that he had moved. It was very hard for her to say this, and she finally spit it out haltingly-checking for movement after each word. "You. Could. NEVER. Figure. It. Out. On. Your. Own."

He chuckled, somewhat, turning away from her again, on his side.

The house felt so light to Ellie. She let out the smallest little sigh of relief, and sat down at the table, tapping her fingers against it.

"I'm a fucking BOSS. Troy. I'm a business. OWNER."

She pondered over the name for a second. "ELLIE'S BIZ." She wrote it on the table, and then realized something.

"Troy, I need you to write out a contract, if you want me to teach you such high level shit. If you agree to this contract, and join my company; I will do everything I can to keep you on your toes. Keep you gainfully employed, while I train you up as fast as possible."

He sat up, and started fishing into his backpack.

"Alright so, write this out; Ellie is my boss. And then sign your name."

He wrote rather slowly, and tossed the magic pad into the kitchen past her face. She went over and picked it up. When she turned around, the tablet was on the table, illuminating it. She saw the jagged lines, and went over to the sitting figure that was now facing towards her.

She was somewhat in shock at what she was seeing on this pad, with Troy's name in cursive. She started to trace over it again, smiling widely-but then he took it back and erased it before she was done. Her reflexes were so slow, comparatively, that she didn't even see how he could've done it. He put it neatly in her hands before she even realized-so that she saw a blank sheet. He lay flat on his back, facing away.

"…Troy…do you want me to bash your head in?"

M-hm. He started giggling hard.

"Alright motherfucker. Prepare for the biggest headache of your life." She punched the side of his head as hard as she could. Then she began a flurry of them all over his face.

They both laughed now as she launched a flurry of punches at his cheek, nose, and forehead. Then he headbutted her body into the hallway, laughing. She collided with the wall and let out a "wuff" sound as she toppled onto the ground. She rolled her eyes and got up.

"Nite Troy." She scuttered upstairs back to bed.

Joel's eyes flipped open as he felt an impulse break through the house.

MINE.

He heard Troy leaving and Ellie get back into bed.

"Ellie what the FUCK?!"

"Everything's fine Joel, I just reminded him who's the boss." Ellie said.