The Last Of Us (Fan-Fic)

Fall- Chapter Three- Part 4 Ranch House

I can hear the hunters reach the second floor. I follow one of the men into a bathroom and strangle him, making sure that no one was behind me. I use the same tactic on another man, this time in a bedroom. I take the man's machete and go back to the corridor where there's another man taking cover behind a shelf. I kill him quickly with the machete and then go down stairs, crouched as there are more men.

I make a Molotov quickly in case I am seen. I strangle one man in the kitchen, taking his ammo and another two men out in the dining room. Listening to my surroundings I hear no other hunters. "Alright... House is clear" I call out to Tommy and Ellie. "Let's get back to the horses" My brother replies. 

I open the door to the outside with my gun out, looking all around. "We're clear" I say after I see no one. Tommy comes out after me and Ellie last, she walks straight past me, not looking at me at all. "You want a hand up?" Tommy asks her, "I got it" She replies. Ellie takes the horse's leash off of the fence and gets on. Tommy does the same as I put my gun back onto my backpack and get on my horse as they both start to leave.

I follow after them as we follow the path back at a slower pace. As we cross shallow water I can't help but see Ellie's pain, I shake my head. "Easy... easy..." I say to my horse as we come to the cliffs edge. Up ahead there was a town with houses. What stood out most was the bright light, they were using the electricity the men at the dam had helped get back. "There she is" Tommy says proudly, "Kids'll be watching movies tonight" He adds.

"Where is this lab of theirs?" I ask Tommy. "It's all the way out - University of Eastern Colorado". "Go big horns" I joke, this makes my brother chuckle. 

"Ellie, get off your horse, give it on back to Tommy. I'm gonna hang on to this fella, if that's alright with you" I say, Ellie looks up, her sadness lifted. "Go on. Don't make me repeat myself?" I tell her, she was taking it all in and hadn't gotten off the horse yet. "What are you doing?" Tommy asks me. "Your wife kinda scares me" I admit, he laughs, "I don't want her coming after me". Ellie gets off the horse and gives the lead to Tommy. "Sorry for stealing your horse" She says. "Look, come back to town, let's discuss it at least". "Eh, you know me. My minds all made up" I say as I help Ellie up onto my horse.

"University Eastern Colorado" I say, "How do I find this lab?" I add. "It's in the science building, looks like a giant mirror, you can't miss it" Tommy tells me. I say it over in my head so I remember it. "You take care of that wife of yours" I say to Tommy. "There's a place for you here, you know". I nod, I guess this meant me and Tommy were on good terms now. I look back to Ellie and ask, "You good?". She nods with a smile, "I'm good". I return my eyes to my brother, "Adios, little brother" I say to him before riding off.

After about an hour we were a long way from Tommy's in what seemed like a neighbourhood. "OK, let me see if I get it straight. If you mess up your, fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?" She asks, "Right, it's called turnover" I tell her. "And if you clear the ten yards then you're back at... First down?". "First down, that's right". "Man, it's confusing" Ellie moans. "You just gotta play it a couple of times. It'll all make sense" I say to Ellie.

I had tried explaining the rules of sports to her for the last hour, it reminded me of when my dad taught me. We were riding around the outside of the university area, I decide to get off the horse and have a look around on foot. "Stay, Callus. What kind of name is Callus, anyways?" I ask Ellie. "Not my fault you forgot to ask Tommy his name" Ellie replies.

"Callus" I repeat, laughing at it. After looking for a while I find nothing we can use or any other way in. "Scoot" I say to Ellie as I jump up, back onto the horse. Some of the areas were restricted, someone had put up fences like Bill. "Hey, over there. Is that it?" Ellie asks, pointing at a large building, "Hmm. It does look like a giant mirror" I agree. I lead the horse into a building with a broken wall. "How many people you think are there? Fireflies, I mean". "Reckon it takes quite a crew to run that operation" Is my reply.

"You think there'll be other people my age?" She says, looking hopeful. I had to answer her truthfully, "Uh... I'm not sure" I finally say. 

We come to two metal doors. I start to pull them undone when the horse; Callus suddenly starts to cry out, so I shut the gates again. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... What is it boy?" I ask. There's suddenly a loud screaming, "Sounds like runners" Ellie points out. "Stay with the horse. I'll go check it out" I tell her, opening the gate, going through and then shutting it again behind me. "Are you sure?" Ellie asks.

"Yes. I don't want him runnin' off. I'll be right back" I reassure her. As I cross the room I see a homemade flame thrower, "Looks like someone jerry-rigged this thing" I say as I pick it up. To my surprise it already had petrol in it. I go to the power point and flip the switch, but the other door didn't move, "No juice" I say to myself. I pick up a note near it to see if it said where I can get more power for it:

We had to rig up the door to the generator
upstairs. PLEASE use it sparingly! We're
running out of gas.

I put the note back in it's place and dash upstairs. Before I do anything, I listen carefully and I could hear a lot of infected, and they were close, very close.