Lilium || A The Last of Us story.

Day 1 of 6

"Ouch! Ellie, stop that," Joel winces as he rubs the back of his head. He turns to scold Ellie, who is dragging her feet through the crunchy frosted leaves as usual.

Tap.

Tap.

"Ellie!" Joel growls, yanking the headphones out of her ear. "What's your problem?" Ellie bites back, snatching the air in an attempt to retrieve her walkman.

"Quit hitting me with...what is that?" Joel reaches down and lifts red berries off the ground.

Ellie grabs her headphones back. "I haven't hit you with anything."

Tap.

Tap.

"JOEL!" Ellie hisses through her teeth, rubbing the side of her jaw.

Joel slowly raises his head, glancing up into the barren trees. "This is just my luck," he groans, nudging Ellie to alert her to the female swinging by her ankles. Her long chocolate brown hair swoops around her face, and Joel can see that she is wearing a muzzle, muffling the sounds of her cries.

Ellie lets out a hearty chuckle, but confusion quickly sets in. She stands beneath a woman who is turning red in the face, and it's clear that she's about to pass out. "Joel," Ellie calls out, "Her head looks like its about to explode."

Joel simply shrugs, "And?" he replies with disinterest. He's on a mission, and he's determined to stick to it. They've been sidetracked too many times already, and he has no intention of stopping for anyone - not even a girl who's hanging upside down from a tree.

Ellie reached into her pocket and withdrew her trusty blade, ready to begin her ascent up the towering tree. Her worn sneakers struggled to grip the damp bark as she shimmied upwards, determined to reach her goal.

Suddenly, Joel's voice cut through the air, demanding that she come down from her precarious perch. But Ellie was undeterred, grunting as she pulled herself higher and higher. "I can't just leave her hanging upside down," she muttered, her panting breaths punctuating her words. "As cool as it would be to see her eyes explode out of her head, I kinda feel bad for her."

"She's already passed out." Joel announced, feeling relief, silently hoping that she was dead.

She shimmied along the rough bark of the branch, scraping her stomach as she reached the knot of rope that held the girl's ankles. With vigor, Ellie began sawing away at the knot, panting and panicking to cut her loose.

Joel warned, "Ellie, she'll drop on her head and break her neck. Either way, she's dead." But Ellie was not deterred. She began to sob as she sawed away at the last of the threads that remained, almost losing her balance a few times.

Ignoring Joel's protests, she called down, "Catch her!" With a final cut, the girl was free, and Ellie's heart swelled with relief, as her body fell into Joels arms.

"Ellie leaped down from the tree and rushed to Joel, who had propped the unconscious girl against the trunk. 'Is she breathing?' she asked urgently.

"Yeah, she's breathing," Joel groaned, shouldering his backpack. "Leave her be, Ellie. I made sure she didn't break her neck."

But Ellie, true to her nature, ignored him. She reached around the girl's heavy head and cut the leather strap that held the muzzle in place. Joel rolled his eyes as the muzzle fell to the ground. He got to his knees and pulled out a soiled cloth that had been shoved into the girl's mouth, the dried crust of blood around her lips evidence of her struggle.

"Joel, please tell me she has a tongue," Ellie pleaded.

Joel shot her an irritated glance. "She has a tongue," he said, holding up his flask to the girl's mouth and offering her some hydration.