The Last of Us: Endure and Survive

Chapter 31: The need to Move

"Ellie ... We've spoken about this," Joel sighed as he sat at the dining room table with Matt sat nearby, "We can't stay here much longer, if we're going to find the fireflies we need to head out soon,"

Ellie groaned quietly as he leaned against a wall. She did want to find the fireflies, but the true was the week that they had spent here was incredible, she didn't really want to leave, "You're right," She admitted because he was, "Can we come back? You know ... After it all?"

Matt looked over to Joel, the two men developed a strong liking to the town they had decided to briefly make home, "I don't see why not," The British man smiled at the idea, "It beats sleeping out in the open ... Or in some shitty houses,"

Ellie giggled at that, "We'll need to leave tomorrow then," Joel spoke up as he glanced out the window to see the sky becoming dark, "I'll meet up with Tommy, see if he can spare us some supplies for the road."

The older Texan man stood up and gave his back a brief stretch, "Get all the supplies together, the quicker we move out tomorrow, the better," He said as he was quick to leave the room, not giving anyone a reason to object or voice their opinions.

"I wonder why he's so eager to leave," Ellie wondered out loud as they heard the front door shut. The teen girl then made her way over to the dining room table, taking a seat next to the one Joel had abandoned.

"Well it'll be winter soon," Matt answered as he scratched his neck, "If we get stuck out on the road in winter then it's gonna be a right shit storm ..."

Ellie hummed, she knew winter would be a problem, but was it that big of a deal? "So ... We get to the fireflies before winter sets in?" She confirmed.

Matt nodded, "Yeah, worse case we could spend the winter with them," he shrugged, "But we need to avoid spending the winter out on the road or in some shoddy house ... Warmth is one thing we need, but food would be another problem,"

Ellie nodded in understanding, "So the stuff we normally need, which are pretty hard to find become even harder in winter ...?" She said, before adding, "That makes sense ..."

Matt sighed, "It makes other people desperate to," he explained, "Looting things will get harder if people are getting desperate ..."

"What about infected?" Ellie questioned, having not seen any infected in the winter months, "What happens to them?"

"They are still around, of course," Matt chuckled, "But depends on how bad the snow is, thankfully the snow affects them just as much as it affects us, but that just means we really need to plan out routes and shit a lot more thoroughly."

Ellie took in the information, basically, the already hard as shit survival they've been doing will be getting 100x worse in winter, "Great ... So more amazing adventures ..."

Matt let out another chuckle, "It's probably gonna get pretty bad," He admitted, "But if we all stick together and stay strong, anything is possible,"

Ellie gave a look of determination. She had already come this far, she wasn't going to give up when they were so close to the end, they just needed to push a little further.

Matt stood up, cracking his knuckles as he did, "Well, we should probably do what Joel said," he said, "Get all your shit together, saves us the hassle of doing it tomorrow,"

"Yes sir," Ellie stood up and gave a mock salute. She would never give that up, especially the rank he held when he was a part of the military.

"Hop to it ya short bastard," Matt chuckled as the teen hurried out the room with a smirk on her face.

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"I think his name should be Callus," Ellie commented as she sat behind Joel on the horse they were generously given. They were currently following one of the paths leading away from Jackson, Joel having bid goodbye to his brother, but not before making sure that they would come back after their mission was over.

"There are worse names ..." Matt shrugged as he walked alongside the horse, sure, he could probably fit on the horse with the duo, but then it slows the horse down, and the creature needs rests as well.

"We'll swap every few hours or so," Joel said, ignoring the name of the horse as he looked down to Matt.

"I don't see myself riding this for very long ..." Ellie shifted as she tried to get comfortable.

Unfortunately, Tommy and Maria were only able to spare one horse, and it was pretty reluctant at that. Horses were a very vital part of Jackson's operations – From patrolling to Farming, it was important they needed a good number of horses on standby.

"As long as we keep on track," Matt said, not really bothered about switching, "Winter will be closing in soon,"

"Ugh, don't remind me ..." Ellie groaned, she hated dealing with infected and hunters during the spring and summer! But now winter? That's going to get rough.

"We'll need to keep an extra stash of wood or anything flammable," Joel hummed, the horse shaking its head as it neighed, "Keep it as back-up in case we need it."

"Good idea," Matt nodded as he walked closer to the horse and stroked its mane, "I'll see if I can keep some in mine, but it'll probably be a good idea if we can all carry some, even only a little."

The group soon settled into a peaceful silence they carried on following the road in front of them. Further ahead it connected to a major highway which would make travelling to the University slightly easier.

Tommy had also told them about a few buildings they could use for shelter on the highway – It had been cleared by some of the patrol groups by Jackson, but unfortunately, as soon as they got half-way through, it was uncharted territory.

"I guess we need to savour the sun while we can ..." Ellie said as the sun warmed up the group, but only for a brief time. It was Autumn, so the air was crisp most of the time. It was another reminder to what was around the corner.

"I'm honestly missing that fresh food already ..." Matt chuckled, "It was nice not worrying about food for a few days, especially with what they were serving us."

"You're right about that," Joel nodded with smile, "Although some of your combinations were ... Weird,"

"It was funny when people were giving you some weird looks!" Ellie laughed.

"Didn't you like some of the things I made?" Matt shot back with a smirk.

"Maybe ..." Ellie looked away and said quietly.

"Still strange though," Joel added with a shrug.

"I'll make you something when I get the chance, and you'll have to eat it," Matt chuckled, "Then we'll see who's laughing!"

"Good lord ..." Joel mumbled, not sure what he just got himself into.

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