Joel is alone. However after a fight for their life's he and a man named Jaden have found solace in the nightmare. However when a girl from his past shows up Joel and Jaden set off to help her.
I keep thinking of what I need for this mission. And as I recall my dream I think of what I was missing. I grab everything I think I'll need, my hunting knife- of course. I grab my boot knife, I stuff it into my boot. A few throwable knifes squeezed in my belt.
I need something better, bigger. The knifes work well for close encounters. But sometimes I don't want to get close. And this time I won't, as I found an axe. It was old and hidden in the shed behind our house, moss had grown up the side of it. The blade still somehow silver in parts. It was weighted, but not too heavy to be a hinder to my movement. "You almost done?" Joel asked, swinging in and tapping my shoulder. "Yeah. Just need to find some shit to wear."
The "shit" I found wasn't necessarily bad. My Converse, black slacks, a tan T-shirt, and a green V-neck over shirt. Enough to keep me warm, and enough to keep me mobile.
I learned from Joel, backpacks are real helpful to have. But I hate carrying one so I just stuff some shit in his and he doesn't ever seem to notice.
Wandering back inside the house I took a moment, guess no more home for a couple of weeks. Damn. "You sure you want to do this?" Joel asked, "I said yes didn't I?" "Well sure but-" "Then c'mon."
Out on the road towards Seattle I still didn't speak much to Ellie. I don't think she likes me all that much if I'm completely honest. In fact I swear she's been glaring at me.
Wandering down an overgrown road I'm reminded of the beauty in this chaos. The way nature has almost entirely reclaimed what humans took is beautifully horrifying. It's scary to know how the earth can just wipe us out and remove all traces of us. It's scary to know our time on earth is limited. But it's beautiful to see the way nature flourishes even in the darkest of times.
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It's been nearly a decade since we've really left home. We never got that far. We only go to the point in which we can turn back and get home in a days time. This will be the first time in nine years that I'll sleep somewhere other than our home.
I'm excited for the change, but at the same time terrified. It's been so long I've forgotten how it's like being completely exposed to everything and everyone like that. With Joel by my side though, I feel safe enough.
As we walked down some grass covered street, abandoned car shells littering the lanes, dried up tendrils stuck around, Joel ever so gently grabbed my hand. Holding it somewhat loosely. As if it was a suggestion. I held it without question. "So uh, how'd you guys meet?" Ellie asked, Joel let go of my hand. I think he's embarrassed. "Well, he helped me kill a clicker." That's not what happened in the slightest. Damn he's really embarrassed right now! "He's lying I killed a clicker and saved his life."
I'm not sure if I'm delusional but I'm pretty sure Joel's trying to present some sort of image of a perfect person to this girl. It's kind of cute to see him so embarrassed that he messes up. But kind of sad that he feels the need to hide the fact that he's human. Humans make mistakes that's just how they work.
"You almost got mauled? Shit what happened to the Joel I knew?" The Joel she knew? "Look I was distracted alright." Joel insisted, looking at the ground and avoiding eye contact.
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"By what? Your age?" Ellie snorted, she really does keep laying into him. They must be close for these types of insults to be taken as kind. "No by Jaden, err. I mean..." "You never told me that!" I shouted, he was looking at me? There's no way. I've always thought I found him not the other way around. "Th-" Joel was cut off as Ellie exclaimed, "He's embarrassed! This is actually interesting I've never seen you so well... shy."
I haven't ever seen him this shy neither. He's usually so composed and hard headed. Shelled like a turtle, it's nice to see this other side of him. I've never seen him so fatherly. "I'm not shy. I'm just nervous. Which is a normal thing to feel." Joel groaned, "Nervous of what?" "I don't like being piled on like this."
"Sorry I'm sorry it's just kinda funny." Ellie placed a hand on her stomach almost teasingly. "So Jaden. What's your deal?" She said, "Huh?" I flicked my head to her, that was a wild way to change the subject. "Where you from, how you been? Who are you?" I sighed, looking around for nothing as I came up with an answer. "So many questions... Well I grew up in Salt Lake City. Had a mom and dad. Older sister too. I'm uh... twenty-eight. And I dunno, I like painting. It's pretty nice. I don't like guns." "Why not?" I'm not in the mood to get into that. Talk about a buzz killer. "I just don't." I insisted. "W-" "I wouldn't push any further." Joel interjected. Ellie seemingly took this to heart and changed her question.
"Hm. What happened to your family?" That wasn't an easier question, fuck my life. "...They uh...killed by a couple a' raiders. Broke in when I was about fourteen. Killed them. But not quick enough." "Sorry." "It's fine you didn't know."
It always hurts to say that out loud. Just what happened, that they're really completely and utterly gone. Never to be seen again. I'll never speak to them again. No more jokes. No more laughing. No more talking. Nothing.
"On another note, what is it that you love about old man over here?" "Uh. He's all I have really. And honestly he's all I need." Joel flashed me a little smile. Not a full one. Just barely a smirk. He heard me. And he approved of it. "Cute. If a little corny." "Yeah I get that." "So is Joel like a full bottom?" I paused, my cheeks getting a little red. Joel scoffed. "I'm not answering that uh. That question." "Relax I'm just fucking with you." She smirked.
After a few hours we wound up in some town named something that starts with an H and ends with a M. The sign to the town is missing several letters in between those two. Chances are the metal characters are somewhere in the mess of clovers on the floor. "We sh-" out of nowhere someone ran up behind Ellie. Joel too. I didn't even get a word in before I was hit, the back of my head spinning as I watched the butt of a rifle knock me out cold.
