The Last of Us: Aftermath

2

In the morning, Joel awoke just after the sun rose. His duties would start when the bell rung in an hour or so. He dragged himself off of his hard bed and headed to his washroom. All of the bustle, though quiet, woke up Ellie who was still laying on Joel's couch. She stayed in bed staring at the yellowed ceiling. She peered around, studying Joel's room for the hundredth time. It was like a good movie, each time she looked, she'd find something different. This time, she spotted Joel's photo of him and his daughter, sarah, taped to the ceiling above his bed. She sighed contently.

Last night, Ellie didn't have any bad dreams about the past. Also, this morning she felt safe and happy. This didn't happen often, so she guessed it was Joel's company that made her feel safe. After all, she had been with him for this whole time. He was almost like a father figure to her, though she would never admit it to his face. After a while, the loud bell rang for duties. Ellie didn't have to do anything, if she didn't want to, though her help was highly appreciated. Joel came out of his washroom with a towel and was patting his face with it.

"Oh, morning Ellie." He smiled as he lowered the towel from his face. She sat up in bed and smiled back.
"Hey Joel. Do you reckon I could help out today if there's anything for me to do?" She asked, hoping for a yes.
"Yeah sure, as long as you're okay about it?" Joel sympathised. Ellie nodded and went to rinse her face in the washroom with the basin of water on the floor.
"I'll be in the meeting room as usual!" Joel called out, and Ellie heard the door shut.

Once she dried her face, she slipped on one of her new shirts that Tommy's wife, Maria lent her. They were slightly too big, which was to be expected, but she was extremely grateful for them. She grabbed her gun, knife and bow and arrows, placed them in her rucksack, then left Joel's room, locking the door after her. As she walked down the corridor, she felt a different kind of warmth. Not like the temperature, but inside she felt calm and at peace. Like a deer in the wild.

Ellie pushed the door to the meeting room open and everyone was crowding around the big wooden table.
"I need some brave, experienced volunteers to search the city one last time." She overheard Tommy say in his overpowering, yet kind voice from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned towards Joel, and he looked Tommy in the eyes.
"You can't, what about Ellie?" Tommy said firmly.
"I'll go with him" Ellie said bravely.
"Ellie..."
"For fucks sake I'm coming okay?" She said angrily now.
Tommy looked at her cautiously, then at Joel.
"I can look after her, it's just... I almost lost her before and I can't let that happen again." Joel said shakily, before signing loudly.
"Fine. If you think I can't come with you I'll go by myself." She said without thinking.

Ellie stormed out of the meeting room, hopped onto Callus and rose away into the woods. Joel ran after her.
"Fuck"
When he saw Callus was gone, he jumped onto a horse and went looking for her.
Ellie rode her horse all the way through the woods, but stopped Callus at the border of the city. She knew it was dangerous, but she was determined to prove them wrong. When she finally plucked up the courage to go, she heard horse hooves clacking nearby. She pulled her bow out as quickly as possible and drew an arrow. As she pulled the string, she realised who it was. She groaned and put her bow back.

"Ellie you can't just do that! What the fuck were you thinking?" Joel said angrily in a hushed tone. Ellie rolled her eyes at him and got off of her horse. She got low down to the ground and started making her way into the city.
"Ellie! Ellie!" Joel said frustratedly. He jumped off of his horse and grabbed her shoulder.
"Hey get the fuck off me!" She screamed. Joel shushed her.
"What's this all about Ellie?" He whispered not letting go.
She did a lengthy sigh.
"I'm 15 in a couple of days... I can't remember exactly, but it's definitely this week. I dunno, I guess I just wanna stop getting treated like a baby." She looked at Joel's expression, but couldn't read it.

Joel thought about Ellie being 15 and it reminded him of Sarah. She couldn't wait to be 15, but she never got to be due to the zombie outbreak. They were going to have a massive house party, but a couple of nights before her birthday, everything kicked off. He could still remember her expression when he told her she could have a house party.

"Oh awesome!" Sarah grinned widely. Joel smiled back.
"Can I invite Max?" She grinned cheekily. Joel chuckled.
"As long as there's no kissing!" He replied in a silly tone. She looked at him fondly and he felt so happy.

Joel shivered violently.
"Joel!" Ellie said hushed and hurriedly. There was a single zombie in the street wandering about. Joel grabbed Ellie and shoved her behind a bush. Ellie grabber her bow and arrow and before Joel could stop her, she shot the zombie right in the back of the head and it fell to the ground, dead. He finally had some expression back, bit it didn't seem to be good.
"He could have seen us!" She whispered. Joel patted her on the back once he realised what just happened.
"Well done" He smiled smally.

Joel grabbed a brick from the bush and there it out into the street. No zombies came out.
"I think we're okay" He said quietly. They both got back on their horses and rode forward.