borderline - the last of us.

09. haha, cumberland.

SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS, ten miles west of Boston, Ellie was sitting under a tree with her knees bunched up to her chest, Joel's jacket draped over her legs. The man himself was kneeling across from her, searching through his backpack after tossing her a bag of berries to eat.

Her, Lou, and Ralph had been berry-picking the previous night to try and lighten the mood and also fill up their stomachs a little, but it didn't help all that much. Just Ralph telling them what was and wasn't edible, and then putting them into their pockets with frowns on their faces.

Halfway through chomping down on a gooseberry, as Ralph had called it, Ellie got fed up with the silent treatment she was getting and began to speak to Joel. 'Look, I've been thinking about-'

'I don't want your sorries.' He swung his backpack over his shoulder.

'I wasn't gonna say I'm sorry. I was gonna say that I've been thinking about what happened.' She barked back at him, now the only person in the group who was able to speak back to him so freely without the fear of her head being torn off. 'Nobody made you or Tess take me. Nobody made you make Ralph and Lou come with us. Nobody made you go along with this plan. You needed a truck battery or whatever and you made a choice. So don't think you can blame any of us for something that isn't our fault. Especially not Ralph. Not after he saved our asses with those frickin' monsters.'

He watched her for a moment, processing everything he had been told, and then gave one brisk, subtle nod of the head. With that, Ellie was satisfied and began to climb to her feet as he retrieved his gun.

She handed his jacket back. 'How much longer?'

'Five-hour hike.' He said, looking around. 'Do you know which way those two went?'

'Up, I think.' She pointed to the dirt slope that led upwards, the one that stretched off from the main trail. Around fifteen minutes ago, Lou had announced that she needed to piss, and Ralph decided to go with her in case someone, or something, got her. And also so she didn't end up pissing on poison ivy.

'Really? I thought they went right.' Joel mumbled to himself, looking in the direction he had mistaken them for going in. Then, he gave a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. 'We'll find them on the way.'

'You sure?' Ellie looked at him.

'I'm sure.'

...

EVEN A BROKEN CLOCK WAS RIGHT TWICE A DAY, and Joel was right to be confident that they'd find the Zhenyas because they did. Apparently, Lou had snatched up Joel's map and read the trail he had marked out and she wanted to get a head start on them. She never really had to piss in the first place. Traitor.

They had been walking for what felt like years now, and they were on an open, dirt road when Ellie popped into the gap between Ralph and Joel and began to question the veteran.

'You've gone this way a lot? No infected?' She waddled next to him, grinning up at his mean-looking face.

'Not often, no.' Joel replied dryly, still thinking about the fact that this fourteen-year-old had scolded the shit out of him earlier.

'What are you looking out for?' Ellie continued as Lou slipped next to Ralph and began walking alongside him. He reached down and ruffled her hair while she laughed and swatted him away.

'Uh... People.' Joel noticed it, watching the father and daughter with a strange look on his face. One of remembrance. Like it made him remember something or someone.

'...Are Barry and Fredrick nice?' Lou leaned forward to ask Joel.

'Bill and Frank. And, yeah, Frank is.' The four of them fell into silence, continuing their journey until Ellie furrowed her eyebrows and snatched Ralph's arm. Wearing a t-shirt next to the girl who tried to stab him maybe wasn't the best idea, because he was fully expecting her to dig that blade into his arm and leave him bleeding. Surprisingly, she didn't.