Silent Death - The Last Of Us

Chapter Three: Ellie?

I sit on the roof of our home, one of the windows opens to a almost flat piece of roof I like to sit on. In my boxers and a loose button-up slung on me like a rag. The sun was just beginning to rise and it's undoubtedly a little chilly out but I don't mind.

I don't think I've ever felt this safe in my life. It's peaceful out here, just him and I. Against the world, I wouldn't have it any other way. I climb back inside the house, looking at Joel. He's asleep on his back, no clothes.

We have a small fireplace so it wasn't all that cold in the house. It was warm enough for Joel to go nude so it must be working. I smile, laying back down in front of him as he wraps an arm around me almost immediately.
"Well good morning." I say,
"Mornin."

Getting up was pretty hard, the bed was so warm and comfortable it felt like an insult to get up. However as we went downstairs to find something to eat we discovered,
"We're running low on food." Joel says, rummaging through our bags and cupboards.
"I can go on a run."
"Into town or what?" I grab the bow and a couple arrows from their spot next to the front door.
"I'll be around. I'll be back when I get something worth bringing home." I slink out the door, the bow held in my right hand.

Since we've lived here we find decent game quite often. I've yet to have a hunting expedition end with me going home empty handed. If I don't find any meat I'll just pick some berries. Washington is full of blackberries, hundreds of them in large thorny bushes that can stretch several meters long.

However the berries were a last resort, they were nice. But they weren't nearly as good at sustaining us as meat was. So I found a decent spot, a little bit higher than the rest of the woods. A small dirt hill of sorts.

I hold the bow steady, hiding behind a branch I pull in front of me. I wait. A squirrel. Rabbit. Deer. Doesn't matter. Anything to eat. We once ate a raccoon, I promptly cried afterwards.

As I wait I hear the unmistakable sound of footsteps, quiet and steady. Someone sneaking up behind me. I pause for a moment, gently retrieving my knife before flipping around.

I swung, my knife flying through the air as my hit was blocked. I make eye contact with a girl.
Younger than myself, but not by much. Her eyes are wild with intent.

She blocks my knife with her own switchblade.

I pull my knife back, slashing it across the girls arm. She screamed as she stabs me through my palm, she places all her weight down onto the knife as I desperately hold the blade away from my torso. With the knife still stuck in my palm I kick her, sending her back and ripping the knife from my palm.

I stumble to my feet, I hide behind a tree as I begin to panic. I'm wounded. That already fucks me up, I can't use a hand with a hole in it. So I use my best ability to be as quiet as possible as I sneak back to my house. I've always been good at this. And I successfully manage to slink by the unknown girl as she looks around for me.

Once I got my bloodied hand on the doorknob I rush inside. Slamming the door shut behind me as an arrow hits it.
"What the hell's goin' on?" Joel asks beneath his breath as the two of us sink to the floor.
"Some girl. She fuckin' stabbed me." I groan, I looked at my hand as Joel peeks out of the window. Just barely enough to get a glimpse of the girl.
"Oh my god." Joel mumbles to himself,
"What the fuck!" I shout as Joel opens the door.
"Kid?" Joel says, I look past the door. Saw the girl. Now calmed down and looking at Joel with a strange expression.
"Joel." The girl said, lowering her weapon.
"I've missed you kiddo." Joel replied,
"I'm not a kid anymore."

That she wasn't. She had to be at least in her mid-twenties. She was pretty too. I could even see that.
"I need your help, I wouldn't ask if I had any other options." She said with a cold temperament. It seems she isn't that big of a fan of Joel. Or help.

"How'd you find us?"
"Wait... Us?" She says,
"Yeah, the guy you just stabbed is my...husband." Joel said, I wander out from behind him. Blood on my shirt, halfway through stitching my palm shut.
"Please don't do that again." I say.
"Sorry."

We pause for a moment, awkwardly before she looks at Joel once more. "How long have you guys been a thing?" She asks.
"Nine years." Joel replies. The girl pauses once more, looking at me again before she mumbled, "I'm Ellie, and you are?"
"Jaden." I said. Joel seems to trust her, and if he does so do I.
"What do you need help with?" Joel asked, motioning to the couch. I sat down, Joel wedging himself between Ellie and I.

"My uh, friend. Dina. She was taken, by some cult. I tried to go save her by myself. But there's just to many of those fuckers."
"How many are we talking?" Joel asks, I continue seeing my hand. I can still move it just fine, the blade of her knife wasn't all that thick or wide.

"At least a few hundred, they've all made a sort of camp somewhere in Seattle."
"Where in Seattle?" Ellie pauses, sighing before muttering,
"I don't know."
"Fuck." I say,
"What were you doin' in Seattle anyhow?" Joel asks,
"We we're trying to get away from everyone. I wanted to find somewhere just for us."

In the short time I've known Ellie I can already tell she's had a pretty hard life. She doesn't seem all that happy, can't blame her. But I did notice how she and Joel seem to have this bond. Wasn't sure of just what they are but it's clear they have this sort of surrogate father and daughter thing going on. It's kind of cute.