The Last Of Us (Fanfic)

Joel Lives PT8

Nick initially refused to tell Tommy anything, thinking he would be just like any other guy he'd crossed before with a vendetta. The truth was that Nick didn't know where the smuggler was, as he decided to head back with Mel and Owen at the halfway point. While they had agreed when they were together, no one spoke about it and he wasn't even sure if Joel was still alive.

He was breathing heavily, his left eye swollen shut from the beating. Joey got the brunt of it at first as Tommy kept digging into his leg with his knife to make him scream. "They'll be here soon!" Nick whined desperately.

That didn't stop him, he kept going and said, "I'll hear 'em coming, I'm not too worried." He sat in another chair to take a break and wrap his busted knuckles with a rag.

"I'm only going to ask one more time. Where's. My. Brother?"

"Just tell him, man. Please, just tell him." Joey pleaded with Nick. His eyesight was starting to go blurry, and he felt cold.

"I don't know... I swear." He took a few deep breaths, "He probably already killed him."

"Who?"

Nick didn't answer initially, so Tommy stood up and walked over to Joey, taking his knife and pushing it deeper into his thigh. Joey screamed and they could hear the infected downstairs throwing themselves at the door Tommy had blocked.

"STOP! Just... I know someone who might know where they took the smuggler. She might even know if he's alive."

Tommy stopped, "Was she there?"

"Yes." Nick groaned.

"Which one was she?" He asked.

"Leah..."

Tommy walks over to Nick and smears some of Joey's blood on his nose. He picked the map up off the table and held it up to his face.

"Mark it. Better be the same place your friend points to."

Nick just nodded and used his nose to mark the TV station. "You'll find her there." He said.

He thought about sending him to the school, but it would still take a couple of hours for Jordan and his group to show. By that time, Tommy would've found out where to go anyway, especially with all their radio equipment there. He wanted to protect Jordan, and he figured that with how packed they usually kept the station, Leah might have a better chance.

"Good, now for that gate code."

<••••∆••••>

Ellie and Dina had finally found enough gas in downtown Seattle. It made sense that FEDRA had some for themselves in the lower levels of the courthouse, not that it had done them much good when the WLF took over. The city was a treasure trove of information that painted a picture of how they operated. The name she kept running across in notes and posters was of a man named Isaac. Even with the faded wanted posters, she could see the dedication in his eyes and it reminded her of Marlene. She refused to think of Marlene since she went back to St. Mary's in Salt Lake after she found out what Joel had done. Part of her knew, even before going back, that if Marlene were alive she would've already found her - she probably wouldn't have let her leave to begin with. She thought that that detail was what made her start to question Joel... But she also wanted to believe the man she knew cared for her, even if that meant believing that all she was to Marlene was a means to a cure. Now, she thought about how different it would have been; the fireflies would never have disbanded and probably would've settled somewhere after overthrowing FEDRA themselves.

'Maybe back in Boston,' Ellie thought. 'Or maybe she would've stayed in Salt Lake, that was nice enough. Well secluded from the government.'

"Ellie?"

She looked up to a concerned-looking Dina holding the gas can. "Are you with me?"

"Yeah."

"I called your name three times," Dina said, nervously.

"Yeah, sorry." Ellie laughed it off.

Dina knew how Ellie felt about her, but that didn't stop her from distancing herself emotionally. She wished Ellie would open up to her more, tell her what was going on in those moments she went quiet. But she couldn't push it, so she simply nodded and tied the gas can to Shimmer's side, hopped on, holding out her hand for Ellie.

Dina tried to keep it all as light-hearted as possible, knowing that once they got into the thick of it and found out the truth about Joel - it would become too real for Ellie. Dina didn't personally think Joel had made it so long, but she wasn't going to tell her that, she understood that Ellie needed to find out for herself. Dina was the same when it was her own sister missing.

She couldn't help thinking about it since they left Jackson, especially when they passed the last building she and her sister were together in. They were staying in a run-down, brick apartment building with a lot of other survivors, somewhere in Teton Village. Dina was fourteen and Talia had gone out for supplies later in the day with the idea that they'd be leaving the following morning. Dina wanted to go, but her sister made her promise to stay until she returned. That was the longest night of her life, she couldn't sleep but had to wait till sunrise before going after her. The following morning, she took her go bag and didn't care that she was breaking her promise by leaving the building and tracking her sister. She was prepared to get in trouble, as long as Talia was alive to do so. She hoped she just got caught in a building waiting for a hoard to pass by, or it got too dangerous for her to try and make it back and crashed somewhere.

Dina knew the general location of where her sister searched, she always stuck houses and mini-marts. She didn't like the idea of there being too many places for the infected to hide. One or two, Talia could handle, a few more if Dina was with her, but any more than that and she'd bail. Dina's sister was smart when it came to the sick - resilient even, that is what gave her hope that she was okay. Hours had passed when she found what remained of her sister's torn backpack. It lay just outside of a small house, by the mailbox. A few things were left in the dirt around it, like their picture, an Idaho keychain, and a pack of hair ties.

Dina's heart raced when she found it, and at that moment she knew that if she went inside that house, with the door left wide open, she would be changed forever.