The Last of Us part III Ellie's Redemption

Sister

In her two hours of scouting, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She was thinking of switching with Curtis then noticed his silhouette behind her.
"I was resting but I couldn't fall asleep." Curtis said as Ellie faced him. "Anyway two hours scouting will put that right. So no argument, rest up."
Ellie gave him the binoculars and patted him on the shoulder. "See you in two. But you see anything that looks strange or hear anything you wake me up. If I have a night terror leave me to handle it because I'll be fine. Just..." She pointed at the window. "You know what you're doing."
"Enjoy that comfy bed or I'll kick your butt, verbally of course." Curtis said giving her a no nonsense look.
"I'm looking forward to a good rest." She replied, waving her hand and giving him a wave as she left him to it.
Two hours passed again, Curtis had been wary, especially about this person Ellie had said spotted them. Was it too quiet? He went to wake Ellie then saw her sprawled over the king size bed getting some well earned rest.
He wanted her to rest a bit longer but knew if he did she'd spend the rest of the day in a strop with him for not sticking to their plan. It felt wrong to wake her.
"Five more minutes." He whispered, but before he could leave the room Ellie spoke in her sleep.
"Joel, I'm coming, I'm coming." She rolled over uneasily.
"Shit." Curtis decided to wake her. He shook her until she sat bolt upright almost knocking him over.
"Two hours." He said, holding her from falling off the bed.
Ellie put her hand to her chest and nodded.
"Sorry, I know you said if you were having a nightmare to leave you but..."
"It's okay, it's my turn to get up." She wiped sweat from her brow.
"You were talking to Joel in your sleep."
Ellie looked a bit frustrated but it subsided almost immediately. "I could hear him shouting and, and it doesn't matter, I forgot." She waved it off. "So nothing strange happened I guess."
"Eerily so yes, I keep thinking that person you saw went back for reinforcements to track us and they're watching us now."
"We stick to our plan, we try to speak to Horne. When we come across Bengals we try to talk first, if all else fails we fight. Go rest."
"Wake me Ellie, I nearly let you rest for longer but I knew if I did I'd have to deal with you being moody with me. I'll be just as moody if you don't wake me, I have to keep doing my share."
"Curtis don't be a dumbass." Ellie took the binoculars from him and went to the window.
Curtis shook his head in dismay then went to sleep.

Curtis was awoken by Ellie sharply.
"Go away mom, ten more minutes." He groaned.
"I'm not your fucking mom, I'm Ellie. Now get the hell up."
"Shit Ellie you don't have to be such a dick about it."
"Get up and come to the window now."
Ellie waited for him impatiently then he followed her to their scouting position. Before he even looked out the sounds he heard told him everything, and why Ellie had woken him so abruptly.
Infected. Dawn had barely broken, she had let him oversleep.
"Look." Ellie pointed outside, there was a horde of infected. "Good thing the horses are tied up indoors or we might be in serious shit."
The town was overrunning with them. "Where the hell did they all come from?" He asked.
"I don't know. When I was still with Dina I was holed up for a while in a situation like this on my own and I just had to sit it out. No way the two of us can deal with that many. Must be fifty or so, but they eventually got wiped out by soldiers who moved on too. It was all I could do to watch from the sidelines. I was an outsider and I wasn't safe on either side."
"I'd have done the same Ellie. But are you saying this is our only option to wait this out?" Curtis asked.
"For now yeah. We're good on food and water, We don't stand a chance against them. I'm brainstorming but we probably need a bit of luck, now that I believe in it normally, but if some Bengal soldiers arrive I'm going to try and help them, then talk to them. You'll stay here if that happens and if anything goes wrong try to help me. But if there's no chance for me don't show yourself."
"Bullshit Ellie! You might not value your life but I do. Can we talk about this?"
Ellie was rubbing her head and trying to stifle a yawn. "Talk."
"So we're stuck here for now right?"
"That's right."
"You let me oversleep and you're tired now so you're not thinking straight."
"Yes I am, I'm the one who has to think straight."
"Oh because I'm a kid. Go to bed because you're no good to either of us tired. Well talk then."
"Wait a damn minute Curtis..."
Curtis shoved her out of the room closing the door on her.
Ellie was trying to take on the lion's share of the work to make things easier for Curtis but she was making it harder for both of them. Curtis was a good kid, he was sharp too. She decided it was best for both of them for her to get some rest.
Her sleep was dreamless but she awoke feeling rested. That's all she could ask for because she couldn't remember the last time she felt good.
She opened the door Curtis had closed on her then stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.
"Be angry with me Ellie I don't care. I was right and you know why I said it." Curtis looked out of the window.
Ellie found something to feast on then joined him at the window briefly. Infected infested the town and they didn't look like going anywhere for a while.
She went back to her backpack and sat on the floor cross legged. She pulled out her notepad. "They're not going anywhere for now, neither are we. Well figure out a sensible plan A, B, C, D and anything else we can think of. But any chance we get of talking to a Bengal we have to take." Ellie looked at Curtis who didn't reply, continuing his window watching. "I'll admit putting myself in the line of soldiers fire isn't the best idea. So we'll figure things out together." Ellie still couldn't get a response from him. She sighed. "Okay Curtis I'm going to talk to you about something that happened with Joel and me. I got upset and this was just before I went to Salt Lake and refused to talk to him for two years. I will always regret it, I don't want to make these mistakes with you. I'm trying not to but I'm failing, and you wonder why I'm angry at myself a lot. I am not easy to be around or tolerate, shit, if anyone knows that it's me. So you keep looking out of the window and acting like a jerk too and I'll tell you what happened."
"The jerk is listening." Curtis replied.
Ellie nodded. "I was meant to be the cure for humanity, yeah I know right, me? You've heard this but I need to explain how it affected me to this day and why I need to let go of all the self loathing I have. Anyway you know this part but before that cure could be made Joel 'rescued' me by killing the surgeon who was going to make a vaccine, more Fireflies and my friend Marlene. I remember looking him in the eyes and asking him if what he said was true about there being no cure, he lied right to my face..."
"Yeah but he was trying to protect you Ellie, I told you this already."
"Let me finish. When I finally got him to confess the real reason he said he saved me because the cure would end in my death. For so long I refused to talk to him, my friend Jesse would always tell me how Joel would harass him if I was on patrol, like I needed wrapping in cotton wool. Even after all of this he was looking out for me, I didn't need it, but he hadn't given up on me. I still remember that time so angry at him, never thinking that there might not be enough time to put things right. The night me and Dina first kissed there was this complete idiot, telling both of us off, typical bigot, saying we shouldn't be doing this in a family environment. He had that look on his face, the look of an old, archaic man who doesn't understand the world has moved on, the look of an imbecile who's not afraid to let the world see it. Joel got involved defending me, I got mad at Joel..."
"You still couldn't forgive him."
"That's the thing Curtis, after I'd shouted at him in front of everyone I didn't feel good about it. I saw the pain in his face, pain I'd caused and it made me sad to see it, I wanted to teach him a lesson for what he did to me but seeing him like that, how all that time away from him had turned him into a broken man, I...I couldn't do it anymore. He'd lost Sarah, gained me, lost me. I needed to explain why what he did had hurt me, why I was so mad at him. He listened, I told him I was willing to forgive him, he said he'd like that. I said I'd see him around, but after we'd finished our separate patrols I was going to ask him to come over to watch a movie. Funnily enough it was called Curtis and Viper 2. To start the process of healing again for both of us, to be a family again. I was looking forward to speaking to Tommy again, we'd hardly talked much since although we were always civil. I wanted my dad back, my uncle Tommy. Maria always looked out for me, annoyingly so at times, a kind woman but completely no nonsense..."
"Like you is she?" Curtis snorted in laughter.
"Haha, anyway you'd like her. But that day was when he was killed and I was so angry for so long, I still am but I'm trying to be more forgiving, of myself too. I constantly make mistakes, but you tell me and I'll do my best to listen. I'm being honest I couldn't wait to get rid of you but I'm happy you're here now."
"I know and I was angry about that." Curtis replied. "I'm not angry at you now, just frustrated."
"I understand, I have that super positive effect on people, it's a gift I'm blessed with." Ellie frowned.
"What a gift it is. I have a question for you Ellie."
"Okay? What is it?"
"Curtis and Viper 2, did Curtis look like me?"
Ellie burst out laughing. "No, but maybe if we make it back to Jackson we'll watch it together."
"What about part 1?"
"I've only got part 2 but let's not worry about that, it's not important at the moment."
"Would I live with you Ellie?"
Ellie was surprised by this. "I don't know, maybe. Anything else you want to ask?"
"No, but I can see you're trying. You're shit at it Ellie, but by god you're trying and I'm loving you for it."
"As dad would have said, 'I'll take it'." Ellie smiled, for all her mistakes and failures Joel would have been proud of her, she was doing better than she thought.
"Seeing as we're waiting this out I'll tell you some more stories about my family and myself."
"Sounds great, but we have to keep watch too."
"You watch Ellie, I talk. After two hours we swap until either something happens or it's time to sleep."
"Okay Curtis I like that idea."
"Also how much food and water have we got to live on?" He asked.
"Eating just what we need we've got a good two weeks, but we have to be sensible."
"Okay, if we start getting low we have to have a plan for it Ellie."
"The plan will be to ride on, but that could end up in our death. I just want to wait it out for now."
"Tell me more stories later, not just about Joel, but Tommy, Dina, Jesse, Rich. I just want to know."
"I've got plenty, hey do you like giraffes Curtis?"
"Yes, my mom had an old wildlife book."
"Tell me about your mom, dad, aunt and uncle first. I want stories about them all Curtis and I promise I have plenty for you, a giraffe story too." Ellie took to the window.
"Okay a story mom told me about when she was pregnant with me. It's the kind of story where if things hadn't gone as planned I wouldn't be here right now."
"Hey don't give away the ending, leave me in suspense." Ellie replied.
"Okay, here we go. This was when mom and dad were driving by pickup truck to the farm, to be closer to my aunt and uncle who lived in a nearby cottage. Obviously it was before the outbreak."
"Wow an automobile, who'd have thunk it only a matter of years later they'd become obsolete." Ellie replied.
"Yeah it was a black one with fire painted on it, they sold it a couple of years later for that banged up old van around the back of the farm you saw."
"Ah, yeah, I remember seeing it. So where were they driving from?"
"South Dakota where they were originally from. I have no idea what happened there, who runs the area or anything like that though."
"That's probably for the best." Ellie added.
"So dad had left the military and this was their new start in life. Raising animals and living off the land."
"Yeah I did that with Dina for a while."
"I remember you saying, you had cows and sheep right?" Curtis asked.
"A few goats too, but yeah that's the long and tall of it. We had our own crops too, it was hard, honest, good living." She reminisced.
"I'll miss it, yeah we had pigs and hens, when my family went missing the animals seemed to start disappearing too."
"I'll admit that's quite spooky, but Curtis I have to ask, and tell me to mind my own business if you want, but how could your family just go missing like that? It's just like they went missing, you didn't find any evidence whatsoever about what might have happened?"
"I did try to look for a clue as to what had happened, it's unfathomable I know. Don't think I never thought it was strange, I even thought they'd just walked out on me..."
"I don't believe that for a second." Ellie added.
"If they had been infected they'd have turned and I'd know it, but I never saw anything like that. Maybe they were kidnapped. But I don't want to think about that now."
"Of course Curtis, sorry."
"You didn't mean to upset me, you're my family now."
Ellie nodded.
"You're like that annoying sister I'd always wanted." Curtis chuckled.
"You wanted a sister huh?" Ellie was intrigued by this.
"I did so thanks for finally turning up. You don't mind me seeing you like as a sister do you? It's not too early in our relationship is it?"
"No, it's fine Curtis."
"Would you see me like a brother?"
"I never thought about it, but okay, I'll try." Ellie said.
"You'll try?!"
"Let me rephrase that. You're happy to see me as your new sister so I'm happy to see you as a new brother. Although I never had a sibling so I'll be pretty shit at it, at least to start with."
"That's fine Ellie, I can handle that."
"You know what the infected can wait a bit." Ellie went into the other room bringing a pillow back in each hand, she chucked one at Curtis who laughed, then she put hers down and laid on top of it. "I'm all ears."
"Curtis sat on his pillow, wriggling it into shape. "Give me a moment to get comfortable."
"Okay then, let's hear the rest of this story."
"Yeah, so they had bought the farm and a few months later I was born. I was helping out by the age of four. I was six when the outbreak happened but months before that is when my aunt died from the horse riding accident."
"If you'll pardon me asking but what exactly happened?"
"I'm not sure, my uncle would never tell me much, the grief I guess."
Ellie nodded in understanding.
"So just before the outbreak my uncle had been getting night terrors, kind of like what you get. He wouldn't tell me much about it but I remember him saying something about his wife coming back to him in his dreams, to dad. He said he knew it was her even though her face was faded out, she had been sitting on a mushroom then it began to rot and she would turn into a mushroom herself. Anyway this would reoccur then the night before the outbreak he never had a dream, apparently he rarely dreamed after that. Mom saw it as a warning we hadn't heeded, that we'd all be punished for it. She wasn't hugely religious, but it was odd he dreamed about mushrooms before the infection started."
"Who knows why it happened, I don't believe it was some divine punishment, that's all bullshit. So did anything else happen?" Ellie asked.
"We would always have mushrooms growing on the farm, the day of the outbreak they rotted away, but only them. The huge fencing was built around the farm and my aunt came to him again years later the night before he went missing. He made a big deal about it, she had been trying to tell him something he would tell us. Then she came to my dad the night before he went missing. She never came to mom, at least as far as I know and I never dreamed of her. I just wanted to know why she came, what the warnings meant and to get closure over what happened." Curtis left it at that.
Ellie stared at the floor for a long time before she replied.
"I'm sorry you never got your closure Curtis."
"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, but I'm just glad to finally get it off my chest. Thank you for listening, strange things happen to us all the time, I'm done trying to find a deeper meaning to it all."
"Good Curtis, because there isn't one, at least in my opinion. Your family loved you, of that I'm certain. I won't even try to comprehend what happened to them."
"If my auntie comes to me then something bad will happen, if she does I'll tell you. I'll always love her, you'd have loved my family but if she comes to me then I'm going to be frightened for both of us."
"I think your family would have tolerated me for your sake, maybe I could help them come around with my sparkling personality and my friendly exterior." Ellie smiled.
"Mom, dad, auntie and uncle, if you can hear me somehow be by our side. Be there for Ellie, you'd have liked her even when she swears too much." Curtis put his palms to his mouth and closed his eyes.
"Joel would have liked you too Curtis, he'd have seen you as a good influence on me." Ellie replied.
Curtis laughed, although his eyes were welling up. "Sorry, give me a minute Ellie."
"It's fine, no one here is judging you, you would do the same for me." She replied.
Curtis nodded in agreement.
Ellie patted him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm going to check the window then we'll continue. I've got some stories if you want to take a break."
"Cool, yeah I want to know about Cat, you hardly mention her."
Ellie scratched her chin. "Yeah, yeah I've got a story with her, give me a few minutes to get it together."
Ellie looked back out of the window, nothing had changed as she'd expected and there was no signs of anyone hovering around the building although she checked all the windows. She saw to the horses and returned to Curtis who had pulled himself together.
"Okay you want to hear about Cat, right?"
"That's right."
"Sure, first you need to know her and Dina didn't like each other much, that sucked because it was an awkward situation for me. Dina never liked me hanging out with her, she certainly didn't like me having a relationship with Cat."
"A sexual relationship?" Curtis asked.
"Yeah, yeah but you don't need to know about." Ellie was starting to look flustered, she composed herself. " Only that we were a couple and I never understood why Dina was so against it because she was dating Jesse. At first I thought she didn't want me to be happy, obviously I was wrong. Cat did my tattoo and she would always ask me to invite Dina over but she never wanted to come. She never wanted me to bring Cat to hers either."
"Dina was clearly jealous, we know that, but I think she should have been nicer to Cat. You were best friends after all weren't you?"
"Yeah we were, we were...I wish we still were. Doesn't matter, she would spend a lot of time smoking weed with an ex Firefly called Eugene who worked with Tommy a lot. Smoking weed with Dina was our thing but then I'd get stoned with Cat. Jesse wouldn't smoke, he was too sensible for that and definitely wasn't a fan of us doing it."
"Maybe we can smoke some weed when we get back to Jackson." Curtis said. "Sounds fun, I'd like to try it."
"We should write a 'To-Do List' first thing smoke some weed, second thing watch Curtis and Viper 2. Maybe try one of Lacey's amazing meals, she's Rich's mom." Ellie knew she'd have to do a lot of apologizing if she got back to Jackson.
"Do it, let's get that list started."
"Now?" Ellie asked.
"Right now."
Ellie pulled out her notepad and wrote a list, showing it to Curtis. "We'll keep adding to it when we think of something okay?"
"Great, come on finish this story. Cat and Dina drama, I want to know how it ends."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Where was I? Oh yeah I was smoking weed with Cat one day when Rich came over, at the time he was dating Cat's sister Krissy but they split not long after that. That's not important though, so Rich smoked with us, he was telling us both how Dina was mad because she thought I was neglecting her and she had told Krissy she didn't think I wanted to be friends with her. That was completely untrue, I kissed Cat goodbye and that I'd see her later, then me and Rich went to see Dina. I was mad but typical Rich, he was telling me to not lose my temper. Dina and I had a standoff to start with. I told her to stop being silly because we'd always be best friends, we hugged and made up. It was great, everyone was laughing then Jesse turned up and told us he wasn't impressed that we'd been smoking. Eventually he let it go and he spent the night hanging out with us all too after Dina threatened to break up with him. Although he opened all the windows to get the weed smell out. But because I never went back to see Cat that night she broke up with me. We stayed friends but we hardly talked much after that." Ellie half grinned then shrugged. "My break up story with Cat."
"Man, that was Cat's loss."
"No, not really, I was hardly a catch for anyone, most importantly we stayed friends."
"Don't put yourself down, I don't like it. You stayed friends but didn't talk much, how does that work?" Curtis shrugged.
"I wasn't putting myself down, I think I just wasn't very confident back then. Yeah, we didn't talk much after that but we were still friendly, it's funny some people just kinda drift out of our lives. When I returned to Jackson after splitting with Dina, I saw Cat once, we had a brief catch up but it wasn't the same as when we were younger." Ellie pulled a face at Curtis and shrugged. "It's not a big deal though."
"I've never had any friends until you came along so I wouldn't know." Curtis smiled weakly.
"All you need to know is they're good people and you'd like them, just because I drifted away from them doesn't change that."
Curtis nodded, he understood what she was saying.