THE LAST OF US Part 3 Fanfic (EN)

3. Junkyard

A few days of travel passed after Ellie's nostalgic visit to the farm where she lived with Dina (final scene of The Last of Us Part 2). Unfortunately, she followed the path on foot, having lost her horse in an onslaught of runners the night before. At that moment, she was walking along a dirt road surrounded by green vegetation up to her waist. The sky was clear, and the sun smote in hellish heat. Ellie used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and huffed tiredly.

"Come on, it's supposed to be here somewhere..." she grumbled to herself.

She unzipped her backpack and pulled out a canteen. She unscrewed the cap and turned it in her mouth enthusiastically. A measly three drops fell on her tongue, serving only to make her thirstier.

"Are you kidding me?" Her arm dropped as she stared at the sun. "You could spare me a little, right?"

Forty minutes of more walking, and finally Ellie began to see a spot ahead. Dozens of piles of cars piled on top of each other on a lot surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire.

"Finally! Must be that junkyard Tommy mentioned. He said not to come this way, but saving a week of travel is saving a week of supplies" she thought to herself as she searched for an entrance. Ahead, at the main gate, was a large barricade outside. "Well, whatever's in there, they don't want it out. Better not draw attention."

She climbed the barricade set up by furniture and large pieces of corroded metal and dry wood, until she reached the top and stood in front of the barbed wire. Then she took off her red plaid shirt, tied at her waist, and positioned it to form a passageway between the barbs. As she was passing, her weight against the barricade strained the rusty fence, causing it to bend and throw Ellie off balance. A muffled scream of fright erupted as Ellie hit the fence, hanging upside down, her leg tangled in one of the wires. She looked around worriedly, looking for any suspicious movement, but everything remained quiet. She sighed in relief. She noticed his pants ripped from knee to heel, caught at the end next to her black All-Star. She used one hand to lean on the railing while the other helped unhook his pants.

"Fine, my pants are gone," she grumbled, staring at the damage. Then she looked at her blouse torn on the wire. "And my shirt too!" She took her knife and cut her pants into shorts. "At least it will help with the heat."

She turned to face the place. A wide space with a dirt floor and orange sand, dozens and more dozens of cars randomly scattered in piles and piles. The absence of vegetation left the air dry, and the sun reflected on the metal plates of the cars warmed the environment as if it were a forest of giant magnifying glasses. A few narrow aisles between the cars formed labyrinths that led to the fence that encircled the grounds.

The silence was deadly.

Further on, a small house, apparently the reception of the place in times before the pandemic. The windows were, in fact, large dirty stained-glass windows, one or two broken giving a view into the dark room inside. She entered one of them. Shards of glass on the floor burst as they met her feet. Automatically, there was a kind of grunt, but she couldn't identify the direction.

"Calm down, Ellie, it could have just been a mouse," she told herself, trying to reassure herself.

Carefully, she placed her other foot on an unglazed ledge. The inside consisted of benches, seats, and chests of drawers with magazines on top.

"I don't believe it!" Her eyes widened at the sight of a 10L half-gallon of water, leaning over a drinking fountain. She hurried over to it, putting her mouth under the faucet and opening it with pleasure, letting the water flood her insides. For an instant, she forgot about the dangers around her and reveled gloriously in deep gulps.