The Last of Us

Chapter LVII

SPRING

Joel's POV

I've been calling Ellie's name forever. "Ellie!" I shout and she looks at me.

"What?" She asks.

"Did you hear me?" I snap.

"No." She mumbles, avoiding eye contact.

"Look. Hospital. This is where we get off. Let's go, kiddo." Ellie walks to me. "Heh. You feel that breeze, huh? I tell you, on a day like this, I'd just sit on my porch, pick away at my six-string." We walk down the highway. "Yeah, once we're done with this whole thing, I'm gonna teach you how to play guitar. Yeah, I reckon you'd really like that." She looks at me. "Whaddaya say, huh?" She doesn't answer me. "Ellie, I'm talking to you."

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, that sounds great." She looks down at the ground and we keep walking. Why is she so distant?

We walk along the highway. I walk into a trailer and loot some things. I pick up a picture of a family. I look and I see little kids feet. "God..." I walk out and Ellie is looking at a picture of an airplane on a bus.

"I dreamt about flying the other night." Ellie exclaims.
"Oh yeah?" I ask.

"Yeah." She responds, rather quickly.

"Go on, tell me about it." She scratches her head.

"So, I'm on this big plane full of people. And everyone's screaming and yelling 'cause the planes going down. So I walk to the cockpit, open the door, but there's no pilot. I try to use the controls but... I obviously have no clue how to fly a plane. And right before we crash, I wake up. I've never been on a plane. Isn't that weird?"

"Hmpf. Well, you know, dreams are weird." I keep walking down the highway. I get to a Main Street. "Look at that. Another city, another abandoned quarantine zone." I point out. Of course Ellie doesn't answer, so I keep walking. I lift myself onto a car and then onto a bus and I look forward. "There's that hospital the Firefly mentioned. Come on, kiddo." I jump down and walk into a Train Station. "Maybe if we cut through here." I walk to a wall and I see a ladder. "Well, we sure could use that ladder. I bend down to lift her up. "Here we go." I fold my hands and wait for her. She doesn't come. "Ellie." I sigh. "Ellie." I say a little louder.

"What?" She says softly.

"The ladder." I say, pointing to it. "C'mon."

"Right..." She says getting up and walking to me. I fold my hands and bend down by the wall. She steps onto my hands and I push her up. "Okay..." I hear her whisper and she starts moving the ladder. She looks behind her. "Oh my god." She drops the ladder.

"Whoa." I say as the latter falls to the ground. "What is it?" She doesn't answer. "Ellie?" Still no answer. "Ellie!" No answer again. I pick up the ladder and I lay it against the wall and climb up it.

She's by a window. "Oh... You gotta see this!" She sprints away.

"What is it?" I walk to the window and I don't see anything. I follow her up some steps. She's looking out another window. "What the hell is-?" She runs away again and I look out the same window. Nothing. I follow her through a door and she looks astonished.

"Are you kidding me?" She says. I still don't see anything. I follow her. "C'mon. Hurry up." I look out another widow. Nothing. I follow her through some more doors. And I walk next to her. I look forward and there's a giraffe. "You see this?" She asks. I slowly walk towards it. "Shh.. Don't scare it."

"I won't. I won't." I walk to it and reach my hand out.

"What are you doing?" Ellie asks, panicked.

"It's alright." I pet its neck. "C'mere, c'mere." I motion Ellie to come to me. "Hurry up, c'mon." I say softly and she walks to the giraffe and she pets it also.

"Hey there." She says quietly, and soothing. She smiles and looks at me. "So fucking cool." The giraffe walks away. "Aww, where's it off to? Here, c'mon. Let's go." I follow her.

I walk up two flights of stairs and she opens a door. I follow her through it. I look and there's at least 8 of them. "Oh man... Wow. Look at those things." She walks down some more stairs and I follow. She leans against some cement and I stand next to her.

"So.." I look at her. "This everything you were hoping for?" She looks at me and laughs softly.

"It's got its ups and downs. But.." She inhales. "You can't deny the view though." We keep looking out and I sigh of relief. I pull away and walk to a door, going to open it but I keep my hand on it for a while. I turn and look at Ellie, who's still looking at the view. She pulls away and walks to me.

"We don't have to do this. You know that, right?" I say.

"Wh..what's the other option?" Ellie questions, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Go back to Tommy's." I start. "Just... Be done with this whole damn thing."

"After all we've been through. Everything that I've done." She inhales. "It can't be for nothing." She walks past me and through the door. I think for a while and follow. "Look, I know you mean well... But there's no half-way with this. Once we're done, we'll go where ever you want. Okay?"

We walk down some stairs. "Well, I ain't leavin' without ya, so let's go wrap this thing up." I respond. We walk through a door and into a room and I loot a lot. Then we exit and get back outside. "Well, this place takes me back."

"How so?" Ellie asks.

"It was right after everything went down. I ended up in a triage just like this." I continue walking. "Man, everywhere you looked, you just... Saw families torn apart. The whole damn world seem to have turned upside down in a blink."

"Is that after you lost Sarah?" I take a deep breath.

"Yes, it was." I respond softly.

"I... Can't imagine losing someone you love like that. Losing everything that you know. I'm sorry, Joel."

"That's okay, Ellie." I answer, smiling softly.

We keep walking and I see a bus. "Hey, I got something for you." Ellie tells me and I turn to her. "Here. Maria showed this to me and I uh.. I stole it. I hope you don't mind." She puts her arm out and I take the thing in her hand. It's the picture of Sarah and I at her soccer game that Tommy had. I put it in my pocket.

"Well, no matter how hard you try, I guess you can't escape your past. Thank you." I go into the bus and jump through the window. I keep going forward and go towards the east tunnel.

"This time it's gonna be different. I just know it." Ellie says as we walk.

"What do you mean?" I question.

"They're gonna be there - the Fireflies. I'm sure of it." Ellie responds as we walk up some stairs and onto a truck then onto a bus, and jump down. I hear infected.

A/N

Ooh dang this chapter was kinda long haha. I took a break and now I want to update again. But I know I won't want to later. I might update one more time. And it might be a long chapter.

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