The Last Of Us (Fanfic)

Joel Lives PT5

Joel lives PT5 [Fan-Fiction]

A couple days had passed since Ellie and Tommy's last conversation. Maria had placed her, Jesse, and Dina under a form of lockdown after Tommy had left that same night. He had taken a horse and a small pack of supplies with him, leaving behind a note for Maria to explain why he was doing this.

As expected, Ellie wasn't happy to find out what Tommy had done, and how he left her behind to take care of it himself. Maria sent some men out to try and bring him back, but he had covered his tracks to prevent them from doing so. However, they did return with Joel's watch which they had found in an abandoned campsite, next to a fire pit. Maria knew what his watch meant to him, knew he wouldn't take it off unless something happened. She put it in a box along with his revolver she had found back at the mansion, and put that in his house till he returned... Or at least until Tommy did. She wouldn't allow herself to think too hard about what her broth-in-law was going through, or what her husband was walking into. Instead, she tried to figure out a way to take care of it, to prevent him from getting himself killed.

Dina knew what this meant for Ellie, knew she was leaving one way or another, with or without her. She went to Ellie and they devised a plan, thinking they had to leave as soon as possible before Maria really kept them under lock and key. With or without a horse, they decided that they were leaving that night. But before they left, Ellie had to go to Joel's house to pick up a few things. It was a couple hours till sunset by the time they headed that way, through the cemetery in which Ellie hoped not to have to put his headstone there upon their return.

"I couldn't get to the horses, not after Tommy took one," Dina said," Now Maria's got the stables locked down."

Ellie sighed walking beside her, listening to the inconvenience they found themselves in. "F**king Tommy..." She replied, "We'll figure something else out on the way. A car, or a horse, or something."

"Okay."

"This makes getting to Seattle a lot harder."

"Then it's gonna be harder." Dina shrugged.

"You can still change your mind, you know..."

"I know."

"I just don't want you to feel like you have to," Ellie replied nervously. Ellie wanted her to go, but she didn't want to put her In danger. Part of her hoped she would decide to stay, but she knew how stubborn Dina could be.

Dina stopped Ellie from walking any further, "Ellie... You go, I go. End of story."

Ellie nodded in understanding before continuing on her way to Joel's house. "You need to get your backpack?" She asked.

"I hid it by the east gates, I figured we'd wanna slip out that way," Dina informed.

Getting to his front door felt surreal for Ellie, Like once she walked in she would see him standing at his kitchen island drinking a cup of coffee or Sitting in his olive-green chair reading some magazines with some movie playing in the background. She started to shake, knowing she had to open the door and find the house empty.

Dina offered to go inside and get whatever Ellie needed, but she wanted to do it herself.

She had to.

The house overall was clean, apart from his dirty dishes that sat at the kitchen table from earlier that morning. His familiar coffee mug that sat on the counter by the sink. She never understood his love for the bitter-tasting drink, maybe it reminded him of how it was before, maybe it made him feel normal again.
She looked at the few pictures she could find scattered around the house; the one in the dining room of one of their first Thanksgiving together, a holiday she had never truly celebrated before coming to Jackson. He and Tommy together drinking coffee by the stables. The picture she'd drawn of him, sitting on his mantle in a frame.