Pregnant!?! (The Last Of Us Fanfic)

Finding our footing

Joel POV

We've been running for what seems like hours before we finally stumble across the barn. Ellie has been going a little bit slower this last mile, her pregnancy and lack of stamina has a lot to do with it. I wish I could carry her, but she refuses and she says we'd be going slower, which is true.

I go into the barn first, making sure no one else is occupying it. When I turn around to let Ellie know it's clear, she's already coming in. She's tired and doesn't really care, so I'll leave her alone.

"Joel, where's the best place to sleep?" She asks. There's a hole in the roof so rain has leaked through, flooding half of the small barn. The lofts up top have fallen, and there's some hay laying around but it's mostly moldy.

I walk around, feeling parts of the ground to see what's dry and what's not. In the very back, where a stall used to be, is very dry.

"Ellie, this is where we'll rest. I'll try to make a fire to dry our clothes," I say to her as she walks over to the dry spot. She sits down on a wood beam as she rests, her breath catching up with her.

I set my backpack down, water squeezes out of it as it slumps to the ground. I'm so glad Rick was able to recover my bag and some supplies. I look into it and the matches that were left in it are soaked, nothing is gonna come out of them. Damn.

"Joel, just use some rocks like we used to," Ellie pipes up. I look to her and she's holding onto her stomach, she looks like she's in pain.

"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly.

"I'm fine, just a cramp. It's just like when you run and that lower part of your stomach knots up. Just like that," she says, still breathing a bit fast. She swears under her breath.

"Okay," I reply, she shoots me a look. It's her look to tell me she's fine even when I don't believe her.

I leave her be as I look around for dry things to use as a fire. A couple of beams have splintered into pieces that I can use as kindling, some of the bigger pieces can be used as a log or something. Some of the scattered hay is old and dry, perfect for a quick fire.

I gather a spot close to where we're sleeping and build a fire. I can feel Ellie's eyes burning into my back as I try to light it. I'm able to light it on my fourth strike with the two rocks I found. I instantly feel better.

"Good job, Joel," Ellie says to me. I turn around and give her a slight smile. Her emotions must be all over the place right now. She lost Finn who became such an important person in her life, and then her new friend, Rick.

"You sure you're okay?" I ask her. She nods and I can see the tears forming in her eyes.

"I'll be good, I'm just really exhausted so my body hasn't really processed anything yet," she says. I nod and stand up, taking off my thin long sleeve they dressed me in before everything happened. I miss my flannels.

Ellie also strips her black top, along with her black slacks. We need better clothes, we're basically dressed for a funeral. Our shoes come off, squeaking from the water that has destroyed them. Ellie sits next to the fire in her underwear, covering herself, especially her stomach.

I lay our clothes out so they can dry next to the fire, and our shoes. I put my bag close to it as well, hoping it can dry a bit. We don't even have a clue of what time it is. It could be 11pm or somewhere in the am's, we'll know when the sun comes again. I look to Ellie and sit by her, giving her space. The wind howls as we sit in silence.

Goosebumps raise on my arms as we sit next to the fire, it's still very cold at night as we're in Spring and this fire isn't warm enough to heat us completely. I can hear Ellie's teeth chatter as she shivers. Her eyes are closed but I can tell that she's still awake.