This is Not the Last of Us

Chapter 39

When Ellie's girlfriend heard the familiar knocks on the door, she immediately jumped to answer. She hurriedly moved the barricade and opened the door wide. Ellie was in the center, standing between Tommy and Jesse.

She rushed them all in and re-barricaded the door before she bum rushed Tommy into a hug. He squeezed her back and rubbed her back tenderly, before smiling and pulling away.

Dina was laying on the couch in the main foyer, and she smiled tiredly at all of them, "Welcome back."

"She don't look too hot." Tommy noticed.

"She's not." Jesse agreed. "We're planning on heading back to Jackson."

"What?" Ellie's girlfriend and Tommy demanded.

"We need to go back so Dina can be properly treated," Ellie started and stared at her girlfriend for support, "Abby be damned."

Tommy looked angry for a minute, but when he stared at all of the kids, there was a new feeling in his chest. He couldn't tell if it was pride, or relief.

"Abby be damned, then." Tommy said and scratched the back of his head.

"Let's rest tonight." Ellie's girlfriend suggested, she wasn't angered by the decision, just a little surprised that this was where they were going to end it, "We can head out when the rain dies down. It'll be easier for Dina that way."

"I can show you all the way I got through here." Tommy said in agreement, "Shouldn't take us too long to be out and find a car."

"Sounds good." Ellie agreed and clapped her hands together. "We'll handle it when we wake up then."

The next morning, Ellie found Tommy and Jesse discussing the fastest route to get Dina home. They were seated in some of the theater chairs and were staring at a map intensely.

"We can't go that way, the whole area is filled with snow." Jesse said.

"Nah, by the time we get there, all the snow'll be thawed."

The two stared up at Ellie as she walked across the stage.

"What are you guys doing up this early?" Ellie asked and sat down on the edge of the stage.

"Couldn't sleep." Tommy said plainly, "Want to get this plan in motion... For Dina's sake."

"Take a look at this with us?" Jesse suggested.

"Sure," Ellie said and plopped down next to them, "I'll bite."

Ellie's girlfriend was sitting in front of the radio, listening to every last alert over the speaker. She couldn't admit it to everyone else, but she didn't want to leave it like this. It felt like they had suffered all of this, all of it, for nothing if they turned back now.

The speaker continued, and she forced herself not to think about it too much. She was being selfish, Dina needed a place to rest that was guaranteed safe.

She exhaled sharply and ran a hand through her hair. Owen and Mel had returned to the WLF last night. She'd heard it on the radio.

She couldn't blame Ellie for not killing her. Ellie had explained that Mel had been pregnant. Looking a pregnant woman in the eyes and shooting her dead was something they couldn't think to do. Either of them.

Ellie's girlfriend stood and stared at herself in the mirrors. She leaned closer to them and stared at her face. She had definitely lost weight on the trip, her dark circles looked worse, and she just looked exhausted.

Looking at herself like that really brought it into perspective. She had chosen to suffer like this; she had chosen the sleepless nights on the trip, and the lack of food for it. She had chosen to wallow in her own suffering instead of even attempting to forgive. To move on.

Why had she even done this? Who did this make feel better?

Why had she killed Nora?

She was spiraling, and it was hard to stop it. The sound of shattering glass pulled her back real quick, however.

She pulled away from the mirrors and reached for her gun, she was the only one on the second floor. That meant that whatever shattered the window wasn't one of them. She approached the sound slowly, and when she ripped the door open, she was terrified to see Abby.

"Fuck...!" She whispered to herself.

There was a person behind Abby, a young boy with a scar on his face.

The three shared a look, and Ellie's girlfriend did the smartest thing she could think to do; she started to run downstairs.

"ELLIE!" She screamed as loud as she could.

She hadn't made it three steps before Abby grabbed her and slammed her against the wall full force.

"You were the one who told me not to come anywhere near Jackson. So why are Jordan, Leah, and Nora dead?"

Ellie's girlfriend sputtered under Abby's vice grip. She squirmed and tried to slide free as she gasped like a terrified child.

"Ghh... Gah!" Ellie's girlfriend rasped and clawed at Abby's hands.

"Abby!" The young boy protested, "You're going to kill her!"

"That's the point." Abby growled.

Had she not been loud enough? Why wasn't Ellie coming? How much longer until she died from suffocation?

Abby grunted when Lev squeezed her forearm and slammed her face into the floor. Ellie's girlfriend cried out in pain as she collided with the ground. She had been hurt before, but not like this. It felt like her jaw had snapped, or something on the top of her head had gotten smashed in. The second time her face got smashed into the floor, she could feel it in her skull and around her brain. The third time, her vision faded and she passed out.

Ellie and Tommy looked up when they heard a series of loud thuds above them. Jesse tensed and looked around.

"What in the fresh hell?" Tommy said and stood up.

The three of them marched up the steps and stared in horror. Abby had Ellie's girlfriend's head by the hair. Her face was all bloodied, and her breathing was ragged. She wasn't even conscious anymore.

"What the fuck?!" Ellie shouted and rushed Abby.

Abby immediately whipped out a gun, but instead of shooting Ellie, she shot Tommy and Jesse. Ellie stumbled and turned around. Jesse had a wound in his shoulder, and Tommy's wound had nicked his neck. Tommy was bleeding bad from it, and he seemed disoriented by the shot. Jesse stumbled and grunted, grasping the wound in his shoulder.

"You son of a bitch!" Ellie shouted and rushed her.

When she tackled Abby to the ground, she hadn't expected the floor to cave in on the two of them. Jesse and Tommy were still on the second floor, but Ellie, her girlfriend, and Abby all landed on the first floor.

They were all gasping from the shock the fall inflicted. Ellie's girlfriend grunted and sobbed, trying to pull herself up. Ellie rolled onto her side and pulled herself up, taking advantage of her adrenaline to scoop her girlfriend up and make a run for it. She found a spot to hide her in, and Ellie's girlfriend sputtered and coughed up bloody spit.

"Ellie," she rasped, "Ellie, don't fight her. Just run."

Ellie bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "I can't do that. I'll be back soon. I love you."

"Ellie!" Her girlfriend weakly cried to protest.