Luck of The Unlucky (The Last of Us)

The Ride

Ellie drives for a few miles before the truck begins to sputter as the gas runs low. "Aw, man. What happened?" Ellie pouts as she pulls the truck to the side of an old dilapidated road. "Nothin' to worry about. We just ran out of gas." Joel says as he scans around and as his gaze meets a few cars down the road he pulls his bag out of the back, "Alright, you two stay with the truck, I'll fill this gas can up. If you hear or see anything you holler, alright?"

Ellie gives Joel an awkward salute, "Yes sir!" Joel simply shakes his head before turning to Y/N, who is sitting in the back looking outside the window. "Keep an eye on her alright?" Y/N just shrugs and responds with a quiet but simple, "Mhmm.." This makes Joel sigh as he head down the road.

The silence in the truck is almost palpable. Ellie turns her head to check on Y/N but his eyes stay glued to the window. She sighs as she turns back to the windshield. She see's Joel almost to the cars up ahead. She bites her lip and decides to unbuckle her seatbelt and begin to climb into the back of the truck.

"What're you doing?" Y/N says with his eyes not tearing from the outside. "Joining you back here, it's quiet and im bored." Ellie says while situating herself on the driver's side backseat. She kicks her leg on the center console and crosses her arms.

"Sooo..." she says as she eyes the back of his head. "So what..?" Y/N responds with a cold and distant tone. "I wanted to say that, im happy you tagged along." Ellie tries to clear the air as it grows hot and thick with tension.. or is it resentment. "Not like I had a choice now did I." Y/N's words fell hard on Ellie's shoulders.

Ellie twiddles her fingers together as she tries to break through to Y/N, but she feels a massive disconnect now than when they were back in Lincoln. "Hey.. listen, im sorry for what happened back there. I mean, back with Bill. I know he's a dick but hey, look at it this way.. with us you have a chance to start again.. like me.." Y/N for the first time since getting into the truck breaks his gaze from the window to meet Ellie's hazel eyes.

As her eyes look into his he feels a tingle run down his spine, not quite a shiver, but still pretty strong. His eyes meet the floorboard as his thoughts begin to consume him, but before he can get lost he is snapped back to Ellie's voice resonating in his head. "Hey, you and me okay? We got Joel, yeah. But we can watch each-other's backs when he isn't there." Ellie's voice cause him to meet her eyes once more.

"I-.. I'd like that.." Y/N's voice is shaking but finding trust in this girl. "Good! Just saying, it was getting boring with Joel, he's always grumpy, always bossing me around." Ellie words are met by Y/N's face changing to a smirk, she cocks her head to the side confused, as she turns to see what has changed his expression she jumps as she see's Joel by the Driver's window. "Grumpy huh?" Joel says with a squint in his eye.

"Uhhh!! Heh Joel! Umm how's it hanging.." her words are met by Joel shaking his head. "Truck's all filled up, i'll pick up the driving from here." Ellie shoots up towards the center console, "what!? No way, I just started getting use to it!" Joel starts the truck, with the truck's motor humming to new gas Joel starts driving down the road. "Nope, try to get some sleep, it'll be a few hours till we get where we're going."

"That actually sounds nice." Y/N chimes in with him resting his head against the side panel of the truck. "You guys are no fun." Ellie pouts as she leans back in her seat. Y/N shakes his as his eyes grow heavy, his vision blurs and the darkness envelopes him lulling him into a deep slumber.

     A scream? A yelp of sadness? His ears still can't make out most sounds. The ring.. that incessant ring.. his eyes reopen to Nick's face. A hole still oozing blood out the front, he tries to back away but is frozen. As he attempts to comprehend what just happened he feels a hand on his shoulder.