Chapter VII: Recovery
"Joel."
"What?"
"What the hell happened there?! Who was that guy?"
Ellie was surprised to see Joel suddenly fall silent, as he sat on his bed and a look of deep contemplation fell over him like a blanket. She had no clue what'd happened when she'd burst in on that interaction; Initially, she construed the mysterious stranger to be his assailant, but after he'd told her not to shoot, she was completely in the dark as to what had happened.
"Alright, well..." She muttered. "At least tell me who those dead bodies were. Did he do all that?"
Joel grit his teeth, as if unsure of how to answer.
"I... am not really sure. They seemed to recognize me when I said my name- Fuck. From now on, I'm not giving out my name freely like that ever again. I can't believe I let my guard down like that..."
"Joel! What did they do?"
Joel eyed Ellie, and for the first time she could see the emotional turmoil in his eyes- he was clearly hiding something from her, though she couldn't possibly know what.
"They shot me in the leg, as you... can see. That woman I'd saved in the snow... she seemed set on killing me gruesomely."
"Jesus!" Ellie muttered, feeling a wave of anxiety wash over her. "Who the fuck are these people?"
"Language, Ellie."
"What?! Joel, these people tried to kill you! We need to find out who they are and where they came from, so we can kill them first!"
"ELLIE!"
Ellie was surprised to suddenly hear the bolster in Joel's voice, and immediately quieted down. Rarely did he ever raise his voice at her, but from the look in his eyes, she could tell he was not joking around.
"We are not going down that path. And we sure as hell don't have the manpower to go out hunting down other groups. Let's just... leave this for now, and we'll talk with the others about how to go from here."
Ellie was begrudgingly silent, unsatisfied with his answer. Nonetheless, she dropped the topic, at least for the moment.
"So... what happened next?"
Joel was silent for a few more moments, before responding.
"I... remember a flashbang rolling onto the floor, and then- I went blind and deaf for a few moments. I think he-"
"The stranger?"
"...Yes. He came in and... shot 'em all. Stabbed a few. It was... He took 'em all down alone... It..."
He didn't want to say what was on his mind.
It was exactly how he, Joel, used to fight.
That revelation seemed to shake him, and he became unresponsive. Ellie was still worried about whatever he was hiding, but she was too emotionally exhausted at the moment to press him further. She was just glad he had come home, alive.
"Alright, well... want me to get your mind off things?"
Despite feeling hollow ever since the lodge, Joel looked up as Ellie got up from her seat, walking across the room to pick up the guitar leaning against his dresser. She came back over and sat down, tuning the guitar as Joel watched her. She looked back up at him, a slight smile surfacing on her face.
"Here, I'll play you a little tune."
(Music: "Dry Dirt (Stripped)", by The Bones of J.R. Jones)
"Fucking cunts."
I watched with jealous resentment as I peered through the binoculars, observing the daily life of the townspeople. From the view I had, I was able to see at least a quarter of the township; Buildings and roads lined up in organized rows, kids playing in the streets, couples walking around the town hand in hand...
There came that exhausting feeling again. The feeling of biting loneliness. Sitting here on this hilltop, watching the joy of life carry on down in that city, souls who likely did not know the perils that lived outside their walls.
How irritating.
I moved my binoculars to observe their defense. All in all, it was like a fortress; Metal walls lined every part of the outer portion of the town, with floodlights at every other section. Armed guards patrolled every portion of the town, spread out almost evenly amongst the palisades as they patrolled routinely. Even if I wanted to, I wasn't sure if I could even breach this settlement.
How incredibly lucky these people were; I had no doubt in my mind that at least half these happy-go-lucky sons of bitches had never stepped foot outside those walls. Never seen death and decay, never smelled the stench of blood or felt the biting cold of the wilderness at night, with no walls nor roof to cover their heads.
How incredibly naive they likely were.
As I laid on the hill, having already set up a modest hideout further down the hill, inside of an abandoned lodge, I decided it was a good time to break out a snack. I reached into my backpack, taking out a small ration of jerky I'd salted and dried out yesterday, and took a few bites as I continued watching the townspeople go about their business.
"Ungrateful bastards." I muttered angrily as I bit with gusto into the jerky. "Look at all of you, so fuckin' happy down there. I bet none of you have ever even killed a Clicker before. Heh. Now that is a tragedy."
2 days later...
"Uuuugh."
Ellie turned her head with a raised eyebrow as she heard Jesse groaning in exasperation.
"What're you complaining about now?"
Jesse looked to her with an expression of distaste.
"I'm so damn bored. Why is guard duty always like this? Where's the speaker that plays music? And why isn't there a six-pack up here? Can I go get one-"
"No." Ellie said concretely. "Look, we only have like 2 hours left before our shift is over, alright? Then we can hit up the bar and you can have as many six packs as your heart desires."
"Uh, you don't get six-packs at the bar?"
"Dude, shut up-"
Ellie's words faded slowly as she then noticed a momentary glint from a distant hill. At first, she wasn't sure if it was just the reflection of the nearby floodlight, but as she saw another clear glint, she readied her hunting rifle, aiming through the scope to better spot the source.
"What the..."
From her scope, she could just barely make out a shadowed silhouette, holding a pair of binoculars and looking over the town. Her senses immediately went on alert, but just as she was about to raise the alarm...
"Take this."
Jesse became confused as Ellie suddenly shoved the rifle into his hands, then began climbing down the ladder of the stand, much to Jesse's frustration.
"What?! Hey, Ellie! Oh, I see, so you can leave to do what you like, but I can't get a fuckin' six pack and speaker?!"
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon! I just have to check something out!"
"Oh, this is some bullshit!"
Ellie ignored his gripes, her mind singularly focused on the unseen scout spying on their settlement. While it could have been another faction sending scouts, she had a wriggling curiosity in the back of her mind as to whether it might be him...
The guy from the power facility, where Joel was attacked. If it were,
She would find out who he was, and what he was doing there.
"Ooh, this is interesting."
I had now made a comfortable spot on the hillside, lying stomach-down on the grass as I casually observed the city life of the settlement. Currently, I was watching a couple I'd had my eyes on since I first arrived here. Though I obviously couldn't make out what they were saying, it seemed as if the lady of the two had discovered some spicy affair between her boyfriend and some other woman, and now there was a clear shouting match happening next to a children's playground.
"Oh shit, now you're in trouble, buddy!" I cackled silently, enjoying the drama from afar. I took another bite of my dried jerky, though I began to tire of the same meal every day. I wondered what kind of food they had in the settlement, and brought my binoculars around the city to see if there were any restaurants.
After a few moments, I began to realize that there was no possible way to determine which buildings were for what purpose, and decided to go back to my people-watching. I noticed one of my other favorite people to watch, a group of young boys who hung out together often. I watched curiously as they headed towards a not-so-well-lit area of town, where the metal walls and building intersected.
"Oh?"
My curiosity was peaked as I saw one of them pull something out as the other boys gathered around, then light it up. They were noticeably laughing and chuckling as they passed around the burning item so each person could take a drag from it.
"Weird."
I moved my binoculars further across the town, focusing on a lone boy walking across the street. He sat down at one of the benches dotting the streets, and looked up at the sky. I watched him for minutes, and still he stared up at the sky above. Even from this distance, I could see the look of awe and wonder plain on his face. And-
(Music: "Sonder", by Jessica Curry)
I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming feeling of shock and awe; As if someone had opened up my mind to see the world in a different light. In those vivid moments, I dropped the binoculars in complete paralysis-
Everyone else was living a life as vivid and complex as mine.
And in another moment, the feeling dissipated. Yet still, I was left with the glowing feeling inside me, of that revelation. Unsure of how to deal with this intense and persistent feeling, I decided it was time to head in for the night. I'd had enough of these complex and unexplainable emotions for the day.
Picking up the binoculars, I let out a shaky sigh, and trodded down the hill towards the lodge where my hideout was.
