Pregnant!?! (The Last Of Us Fanfic)

You've got a job to do

Joel POV

"Let's go Joel!" 

It had been two days since I have seen or heard Ellie and it's killing me. My gunshot wound to my shoulder has barely started to heal, but the drugs they put in me have numbed the pain all together. 

"I'm comin' just give me a minute," I say to Rick and Wade who are just heading out the door. 

Wade wasn't the friendliest when I first got here, but Rick stood up for me. I have no idea why but he did. I passed out when Rick and Wade had their feud and Rick housed me in their room and babied me for a day, then today he said I was fine to work. Wade is still undecided about me but he's warmed up to me. Today we are fixing a house that caved in from snowfall last night. 

"Joel, there's only so much daylight," Rick says to me as I'm tying up my last boot. I chuckle, 

"And there's only so much time. Let's go," I tell them. 

We all put on our coats and at least twenty other men follow us out. The snow has been falling non-stop for a couple days now, heavy snow. It only makes it harder for Ellie and I to escape. Every time I get a chance to think about it, something gets pushed in my way. 

We're all walking over to the house when Rick asks me, 

"So Joel, what's your story?" 

"Story? I ain't got a good story. It is pretty much the same as everyone else...life screwed up twenty-two years ago and it's been hell since," I tell him. He chuckles. 

"That is too true, but what's the deal with that girl that came with you?" He asks, glancing at me. I look to my feet, watching the snow crunch beneath them. 

"Well, it is a very complicated story with her. All I can say with her permission is that I was asked to look after her. We came from Boston-" 

"From Boston?!" Rick cuts me off. "How the hell did you survive across the United States? Some people can't even survive across the Colorado border!" he tells me. 

"What state are we even in right now, Rick?" I ask. 

"Well, we are in Wyoming, in Albany technically," He tells me with a bit of hesitation. 

I notice Wade give him a look that I quite don't understand. Rick shakes his head, 

"It doesn't really matter anymore, really. We're not allowed to call this place Albany. Our community is called Broadripple and we are the toughest community there is, even if it is one of the coldest places on earth," Rick says with a laugh. I chuckle along with him, trying to read his body language. "But Joel, that girl really isn't your daughter?" He asks after we finish laughing. 

"Not really...I claim her as mine but we are not related by blood, surprisingly since we spilled so much of it," I say with a chuckle. Rick doesn't laugh along with me, he's reading me. I take a deep breath and we reach the house that caved in. 

The roof, luckily, didn't all fall down. Only the front part of it. This shouldn't be too hard to do. I look to Rick and Wade for some direction, but they stare blankly at the house. I'm about to ask if we're gonna fix it when Clara appears from behind the house. 

"You just need to fix the roof to where it can survive the winter and we can fix it permanently in the spring. The snow looks like it's not gonna stop so you guys better work quick," She tells us. 

"Why don't we just fix it permanently now so we don't have another job in the spring?" asks one of the men who came with us. 

Clara looks into the crowd blankly, searching for the man.