𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 | 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐤

Chapter Ten

"Ellie." Joel spoke the girl's name, but got no answer. He glanced back at Y/N and Alicia, who were searching a few cars in front of him, before looking back at Ellie.

"Ellie!" Joel called out a bit louder, getting the young girl's attention. "D'ya hear me?"

"No." Ellie looked back at the older Miller. "What?"

"Well, I found this in there." Joel held up a can so Ellie could see it. "Beefaroni. Chef Boyardee."

"Oh, cool."

Joel looked down at his hands before walking up to Ellie. "And have you ever played this? Boggle? It's a word game."

Ellie hummed as she shook her head.

"Well, if you wanna beat me at somethin', it would be this." Joel smiled at her.

Ellie softly nodded before looking away.

"Well, all right then. We're getting close." Joel told Ellie. "Hospital that way. May be the one we're lookin' for."

"Got it." Ellie stood back up on her feet as Joel walked back the the couple. Ellie glanced around before grabbing her backpack and following him.

"Take this for me." Ellie took the sniper from Joel so he could put his backpack on his back.

"Thanks."

Ellie nodded before silently giving the gun back.

The two began to walk closer to Y/N and Alicia. "They had a guitar in that RV." Joel told Ellie. "It was all smashed up but got me thinkin' maybe I should find one. I haven't played in forever. In fact, I was thinkin' maybe I could teach you. I bet you'd be great at it."

Ellie hummed again with a small smile.

"Do you wanna learn how to play guitar?" Joel asked. After getting no answer, Joel repeated her name, making the girl hum.

"Oh, yeah." Ellie softly nodded. "That'd be great."

Joel nodded before looking at Y/N and Alicia, who were now just a car away. "Found somethin'?"

"Nope." Y/N sighed before continuing walking along the road. "Come on. You said that bullshit hospital was close, right?"

"Yeah. Just... follow the road for now." Joel told his son.

Eventually, the group stumbled on some rubble blocking the road. "Okay, so this is what I'm thinking--"

"Cut through that building to get around that stuff, find a skyscraper, go up and look around." Ellie cut the older man off.

"Actually, this time I was thinkin' we blast our way through that rubble. I found some dynamite in that RV back there." Joel told her.

"Really?" Ellie asked.

"No, so we're gonna cut through that building, find a skyscraper, go up and look around." Joel spoke. "But I had you goin', didn't I?"

Ellie glanced up at Joel before softly smiling.

Y/N shook his head with a sigh.

"Hey." Alicia stopped walking, making Y/N stop as well. "What's up?"

"Nothin'." Y/N looked away from her, only for Alicia to put her hands on his cheeks and making him look at her.

"What's up?" she asked again as she looked into his eyes.

"What if this doesn't work?" Y/N softly asked Alicia. "What if this is it? That this is just the new normal."

"Y/N..." Alicia trailed off as she looked into his boyfriend's eyes. "It'll work. And even if it won't, we have each other now. And we will stay together, no matter what."