Y/N POV:
We walked down the main street following Tommy and Maria,
Trudging through the white snow past a large pine tree that had been decorated for Christmas,
"We settled here about seven years ago. Just a handful of us back then. That section was already a gated community, so we built the rest of the wall out from there. Stopped most of the raiding parties, but we still find pockets of them."
Maria explained,
pointing down the street
"And you said Infected?"
Joel asked,
"Yeah, but usually smaller colonies, wandered off from the cities. All this open country out here... it's a turkey shoot. Still got my seven hundred, but I found a variable power scope. Sub-MOA. Can headshot those fuckers from half a mile out."
Tommy explained
"Can you teach us how?"
Ellie asked, nudging me
"No, he can't." Joel butted in "How do you keep this place quiet?"
"Carefully. Being in the middle of nowhere helps. Not advertising what we have, staying off the radio."
She began pointing out landmarks
"House of worship, multifaith. School. Laundry. Old bank works as the jail, not that we've needed it."
"And you draw power from the dam?" Joel guessed.
"Got that workin' a couple years ago." Maria confirmed. "After that, sewage, plumbing, water heaters... lights." She smiled as she pointed to the fairy lights that lined the power poles.
"This place actually fuckin' works."
Ellie remarked,
We watched as Sheep were led past us through into the paddock.
"Hey, Joel, check it. Baa." Ellie smiled,
clapping her hands together to try and keep them warm, seeing this I grabbed her hands and began warming them up for her,
Not thinking much of it
"Uh, Thanks.."
she smiled looking away from me
"So, are you, like, in charge?"
I asked Maria, letting go of Ellie
"No one person's in charge. I'm on the council. Democratically elected, serving three hundred people, including children. Everyone pitches in. We rotate patrols, food prep, repairs, hunting, harvesting."
"Everything you see in our town, greenhouses, livestock, all shared. Collective ownership."
Tommy added.
"So, uh, communism."
Joel said,
"Nah, it ain't like that." Tommy scoffed
"It is that. Literally."
Maria almost laughed
"This is a commune.
We're communists."
I chuckled alongside Maria as I saw Tommy's shocked expression,
as we approached a stable
"No way!" Ellie exclaimed, rushing up to the stable,
"That's our newest one. Couple months old. You wanna pet her?"
Maria asked noticing Ellie's interest in the little brown foal
"Yeah, what's her name?" Ellie's face lit up, sporting her beautiful grin,
Causing my face to heat up
"Shimmer."
"Shimmer. You're so beautiful."
Ellie eagerly gave Shimmer a gentle scratch on her snout.
I slowly walked up behind Ellie, and patted the horse, smiling as Ellie met my gaze staring into my eyes for a moment,
Before we both quickly looked away
"Well, I'm sure they'd like a shower some new clothes. We can put them in the empty house across the street from us."
Maria suggested
"Yeah. It's a decent place. Pretty much untouched since '03, but it's got the heat goin' in it. Could do worse."
Tommy agreed
"Oh, trust me, we have been." Ellie chimed in
"We've been doin' fine."
Joel said getting defensive
Making Ellie's smile fade away replaced by a look of confusion
"Is it just me or is he grumpier than usual"
I whispered into Ellie's ear,
Earning a quiet chuckle from her.
"Well, I'll take Elle and (Y/N) over there if you two wanna catch up?"
Maria proposed
"Yeah, okay."
Joel nodded.
Me and Ellie shot Joel a look,
feeling anxious at the idea of being left alone with Maria
"Joel." I began to object
"You'll be fine."
he reassured and began walking off with Tommy.
"Oh my god"
I groaned under my breath
"Unbelievable" Ellie added, clearly just as annoyed as me
"Shall we?" Maria asked
"Uh, yeah." Ellie replied.
