A Place To Call Home

The Jackson Community

Ellie and Joel made their way down the steep embankment, they could see The Jackson Community in the distance. It's wooden walls protected the people who lived inside of it, Ellie could see the rooftops of the buildings inside of the wall from the hilltop. There were watch towers based around the wall of the community, it was well protected from outsiders and they also had some views of the surrounding perimeter beyond the community wall. Joel helped Ellie down a rocky part of the hill, she thanked him and walked headed of him. Joel followed not too far behind her, he kept his guard up just in case there were any Infected around these parts. It wasn't long until they found themselves on a pathway, it was leading them towards The Jackson Community. Ellie shielded her eyes from the sun, she could see mountains beyond the community. It was very scenic, it looked like a painting you'd see hanging in an Art Gallery.

" Whoa, do you see those mountains?" Ellie asked. 

" Yeah I do, you can't say it's not pretty around here." Joel replied.

" Totally, it feels like I'm dreaming!" Ellie said.

" Well you better wake up fast kiddo, we'll be there soon enough." Joel said.

Ellie looked over her shoulder at Joel, she gave him a smile before she quickened her walking pace. Joel told her to slow down, she laughed slightly while she joked about him being old and slow. But she soon slowed down and waited for him to catch up with her, she didn't want to leave him behind. They kept on walking until they reached the gates of the community, they then saw two armed men pointed rifles down at them. Ellie stopped and held her hands up in surrender at them while Joel spoke up to one of the men, he spoke calmly to them. 

" I'm here to see Tommy Miller, he's my Brother! " Joel said. " The name's Joel and this is Ellie, my Brother told me we'd both be welcome here after our journey!"

They heard voices coming from the other side of the gate, the gate's large doors slowly opened and Tommy walked through the gateway to greet them. Ellie eyed up the men standing in the gateway, they were both holding sniper rifles. Ellie lowered her hands and watched Tommy stop in front of Joel, he looked happy to see the both of them.

" Well well well, look what the cats dragged in!" Tommy said.

" Tommy, it's good to see you!" Joel said.

Joel hugged his younger Brother and patted his back, they were happy to see each other again. Ellie lingered behind Joel until Tommy noticed her, he gave her smile and offered her his hand. She shook Tommy's hand, but she wasn't expecting him to pull her into a hug. She awkwardly stood there for a brief moment before she hugged him back, she could get use to feeling loved by others.

" It's good to see you too Ellie, hopefully my big Brother has been taking good care of you." Tommy said, he pulled Ellie away from him. " You both looked tired, are you hungry?"

" I'm starving." Ellie replied.

" Alright, let's get you both something to eat." Tommy smiled.

Tommy patted Joel's shoulder and he told them to follow him, Ellie walked behind them while they walked through the gateway of the community. People greeted them as they walked passed them, it was weird being acknowledged by other people. The first thing Ellie saw were the horses, she hurried passed them both and entered the stable. Joel called after her but Tommy told him it was okay, he told him it was safe inside the barn. The scent of horse manure lingered in the air but that didn't bother Ellie, she looked around at her surroundings and smiled to herself. She could see a man saddling one of the horses and another man was cleaning one of the paddocks out, she hurried over to one of the horses before she ran her hand down it's neck. She checked beneath the horse and found out it was male, his coat was white as snow.