Endure and Survive (Joel)

[Joel Archer]

"Get in here!" He called to her gruffly. He didn't know where she got off thinking she could do whatever she damn well pleased, but if she was with him she needed to let him be the adult. He had seen her going into that building without so much as a thought as to what might be in there. Hey, he was all for her being independent and brave, but not stupid. There was a damn difference. He came out of the apartment he had been searching and waited just outside for her, looking stern.

"Listen, if you want to travel with me, you gotta learn to follow directions. You can't just go blasting in everywhere you please without checking to see if it's safe. You don't know me, but I'm still the adult here. And I've dealt with plenty of these infected sons of bitches. So that makes me in charge, got it?"

He wouldn't tolerate a teenage girl being dumb, even though that was their natural state of being. He did want to keep her safe for some strange reason, so he would do what he could to make that happen. But she had to learn the chain of command here. He led the way into the apartment he had been searching and indicated the kitchen.

"They left a whole pantry full of food. Some has been scavenged, but there's some cans of beans in there."

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie frowned at being reprimanded and nodded. She could already tell that traveling with this guy was going to be a real challenge. She didn't do too good with taking orders and she doubted that she would be able to do everything he told her without some kind of smart-ass remark...but this comeback she chose to bite back on her tongue and not say a word. Rather she just nodded and adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. She hoped that Joel would eventually loosen up...but if he didn't she supposed she would just have to grin and bear it until they got to her parents.

"Is that all?" Ellie sighed, making a face.

In essence, Ellie knew that she should be grateful for what they have found, but there were times that her characteristic of being a picky eater came to light. It wasn't that she didn't like beans, it was just that she was hungrier than that. She could go for the beans with maybe some hamburger meat and bread. To her that sounded fan-freaking-tastic, but she had a feeling that her less than agreeable attitude wasn't helping Joel's bad mood. Gently she pushed past him and started pulling canned food from the cabinet. She found beans, some green beans, corn, but that was about it. Maybe they could mix it together and cook it that way.

"Do you know how to cook this shit?" she asked. "We should have shot a rabbit or something on our way down...hey...maybe you should let me carry a gun."

Ellie had never shot a single thing in her life. Even with magic, she chose a completely non-lethal form of entrapment...a gun was so permanent, but in this kind of environment, she knew that she had to cover Joel's ass just as he was covering hers. She did have a pocket knife that she carried on her person, but she doubted that would be a quick and effective way of dispatching infected. IE...she needed a fucking gun.

"We could cover each other."

[Joel Archer]

“See for yourself,” Joel answered with a gesture toward the pantry, his voice indifferent. He didn’t care what he ingested into his body, as long as it was edible. The days of fancy eating were long gone, and it didn’t bother him none. If he starved to death, at least it wouldn’t be at the hands of the damn infected. Every once in a while he remembered fleetingly what a restaurant steak tasted like when it was properly prepared, but it was no sense crying about it. He grabbed a can of beans and pulled his pocket knife out, puncturing a hole in the top and cutting around it to open the can. He looked in and sniffed it.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, if that’s what you’re worried about. This ain’t no Chez Louis, this is an abandoned house. We’ll be lucky to find clean water anywhere. And who said anything about cooking?”

He dumped a quarter of the can into his mouth and started chewing. His stomach had been rather empty, he had to admit. And he could tell that he wasn’t eating nearly enough, but what else could he do in this savage world? He held out the can to her when she said he should let her carry a gun. He smirked.

“Kid, there ain’t no way I’m letting you get your hands on a firearm of any kind. You aren’t trained, and well...you’re a kid. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. I’ll teach you other ways of protecting yourself.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie watched Joel eat and made a face...God that made her appetite vanish. She had never been good at eating canned food...it really made her miss Hogwarts. At least they had hot meals, though Ellie wasn't sure how long those gourmet meals would have lasted. Her hands searched through the cans until she found one that said it had canned peaches in some kind of sugary syrup. They were canned so that meant they wouldn't go bad...which also meant that Ellie could eat them. She would take peaches over old beans any day.

Ellie took out a sharp pocket knife from her pocket and opened the can. The smell of peaches filled her nose and immediately Ellie felt her stomach grumble painfully. She hadn't eaten for so long that she had forgotten just how hungry she was. She supposed it was a blessing...otherwise she would have been left laying down on her side in extreme pain. Ellie carefully tipped the can back, careful not to cut her mouth on the can, and started eating the peaches as quickly as her body would let her without choking. But no matter how much she ate her stomach ached for more. Her hands greedily snatched another can up and ripped the lid off before she was downing the second one into her mouth, no longer caring that the sticky juice was running down her chin.

After getting through her third can, Ellie's stomach was stuffed. If she dared to eat another bite she would probably puke. Now all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep. She yawned softly and sat down on the floor, pressing her back against the wall. She hoped that Joel wouldn't object to them staying in this apartment for the night. Ellie didn't think she could drag her exhausted body another two feet.

"I think I overdid...*hiccup*...it." she sighed.

[Joel Archer]

“You think?” He replied sarcastically. But as he watched her scarf down can after can of peaches, he didn’t have the heart to make her stop. The poor girl must have been starving, and he wouldn’t say no to that tiny frame of hers getting some sustenance. He would come eat some more later, when he was keeping watch over her. But for now, he could see that she was about to slip into some sort of food coma. And sleeping on the floor of a half-filled food pantry didn’t sound so fun to him.

He got up and walked over to her and lifted her up in his arms, encouraging her arms around his neck for support and he let her legs bend over his other forearm as he carried her to what he could only assume were bedrooms down the hallway. Sure enough, he came upon a room with a small twin bed in it and a purple comforter. Again, he was painfully reminded of Sarah, but he ignored it as he laid Ellie down in the bed.

“Get some sleep, you look like you need it. And when you get up, I’ll get some sleep. I’ll be in the kitchen packing up everything I can find if you need me.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie fell asleep the moment her body made contact with the bed. She hadn't been sleeping lately, mostly because she was too paranoid to truly close her eyes. But with Joel being downstairs she almost felt self. The man was going to watch over her...or so he said...and that meant she could rest for at least a couple of hours, uninterrupted.

She hadn't been aware that she had slept for so long. That what she had intended to be a couple of minutes was really a couple of hours...when she woke the sky was a complete inky black. Darker than sin. She hoped that Joel wasn't angry with her for sleeping so long. He could have woken her after all.

Gingerly, she slid from the bed, and stumbled towards the steps. But that's when she heard it...the sound of shattering glass and a man cursing. She knew that wasn't Joel's voice...these people sounded like they were from Europe. Where the Hell was Joel?

She took out a small pocket knife that she kept on her person and started inching her way down the stairs.

"Joel..." She whispered. "Joel!"

God where the Hell was he?! Her eyes darted from the bottom of the stairs to the living room. Joel's things were gone...that son of a bitch had abandoned her! Her eyes burned and her stomach turned as it filled with dread. He had let her here to die...

"HEY! I found someone!"

Fuck! Before another thought came into her mind, Ellie quickly rammed her knife into one of the men's legs but that didn't stop him from grabbing her around the waist and throwing her into a wall.

"Crazy bitch fucking stabbed me! Kill her!"

[Joel Archer]

Damn him for falling asleep at all. At least his instincts had been strong enough to wake him when danger was nearby. And luckily, he had woken with enough time to hear the intruders were coming. He grabbed his bag quickly, and any evidence that people had been here, and he went and hid in the hall closet. He watched them as they came in, through the slats in the closet. He surveyed them with eyes that had grown accustomed to finding details that others missed. He noticed what weapons they carried, and that they had an air of crime wafting off of them like a stench. He could tell they were looters, and not just for the sake of survival. These people were bad news. He was only glad that Ellie was sleeping now.

But his stomach filled with dread when one guy yelled out that he found someone, and Joel turned his gaze to Ellie just in time to see her stab him. As soon as he had her against the wall, Joel leapt into action. He slammed open the door to the closet and took the gun out of the back of his jeans, immediately pointing it at the man who held Ellie against the wall. His eyes were cold as he stared at the man, his gun aimed and ready with no sign of shaking. He was ruthless when it came to Ellie's safety at the moment, since he didn't have anything else to lose. She had also showed gumption when she stabbed the man quickly, and he immediately admired that quality in her. When he spoke, his voice left no room for argument.

"Let her go now and I'll think about letting you live without a bullet in your thigh to match the stab wound."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other man reaching slowly for a weapon, and Joel shot a bullet at him, purposely grazing his shoulder. "Uh uh, I don't think so precious. You'll kindly tell your friend here to let my little girl go now, or you'll all be a nice appetizer for them human chasers out there."

[Ellie Brooks]

The adrenaline was pumping through Ellie's body at such an alarming rate, she was shaking. She could not die like this! The man had his arm around her neck and even with him loosening his grip, Ellie felt like she was suffocating. She wanted to go back to Joel, she NEEDED to get away from this smelly scumbag!

She grabbed her knife again and rammed it into the mans side, pulling it out and quickly running to Joel as he let her go to scream in agony. Her heartbeat was in her ears and she quickly scurried behind a sofa, hoping that somehow it would shield her from the horrible men that were trying to kill them.

Ellie closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear anymore of the outside world. She didn't want to hear the gunshots, the screams, she just wanted to remain ignorant of it all. But she couldn't and as she looked down at her hands and saw that she had blood all over them, her stomach turned. She was going to be sick.

Swallowing hard she squeezed her eyes shut as tight as possible in hopes that it would fend off the impending nausea...for the most part it worked. She didn't know why she was getting so worked up...but then she realized. She had never had to hurt anything, technically, living before. All of the things she had killed had already been gone to this world. This had been the first PERSON she had ever really assaulted before. And it didn't feel as good as she thought it would.

[Joel Archer]

Stupid people didn't quit. That was the only good thing going for them. They kept on going with their stupid, and it didn't matter if they knew things would end badly, they just wanted to continually do stupid shit. So when the man that had held Ellie went after her, even after she had stabbed him a second time, Joel shot him in the neck before he had a chance to get to her. He watched with satisfaction as a stream of blood shot out of the wound, and he was down on the ground and dead within seconds, not minutes. The other man ran at Joel. At least he had tried to be faster, he had to give him points for that. But he also got a headshot, which sprayed blood and brains out of the back of his head. He didn't have time to appreciate his handiwork, however. He went directly to where Ellie had taken refuge behind a couch.

He knelt down beside her and took her hands in his own large, rough ones. He kept her low with him so she wouldn't see. "I'm taking you outside where you will wait for me to grab the bags and we will leave this place. You are not to take one look behind you, you got me? They can't hurt no one."

He didn't say another word, didn't wait to see if she would be sick or cry or whatever normal people might do at such a scene, he just stood her up, shielded her as best he could, and walked her outside, out of view. He handed her the gun. "Don't use this. I'm handing it to you just in case, but don't use it. I'll be back with enough time that if something comes, I'll use it. I hope you're hearing' what I'm saying', cause you aren't allowed to go back in there."

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie wasn't aware of much when Joel pulled her up and led her outside. She couldn't think clearly and she felt like she was going to throw up. She knew that he told her not to look back, but she couldn't stop herself. And when he had disappeared inside she took a chance and saw them. Two lifeless bodies on the ground with a large pool of blood slowly spreading around. Ellie had never seen so much blood before and it made her legs shake.

Swallowing hard she went to a nearby brush and retched into it, hoping that she would be done throwing up before Joel came back. She had a feeling he wouldn't take kindly to her reaction. Ellie knew that she had to clearly toughen up if she wanted to tag along with this guy. She didn't know if this would ever happen again and she severely hoped it wouldn't...but on the likely chance that it did she needed to be prepared, to be ready. What if there had been more and Joel had needed her help? She would have lost him and even though they had just met...that thought alone terrified and destroyed Ellie.

Her eyes watered as she straightened and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. Now her stomach felt horribly empty again and God only knew when they would find food like they had today. She supposed it was a good thing though...at least there was nothing left to barf up. Taking a deep, shuddered, breath Ellie sat herself on the porch of the apartment building to wait for Joel.

She was still holding his gun in her hand and when she looked down at it she almost felt her pulse quicken. There was something so much more permanent about a gun. She knew that there were spells that could kill and inflict damage...but it seemed so much cleaner that way. With a gun...there was a lot of blood and that just sickened Ellie and now she knew why Joel didn't want her to use it. Hell, now she was certain that she never wanted to use it.

[Joel Archer]

It didn't take him long to gather everything they had already collected before. The only thing he added to their stock was a blanket from the bed and a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom. They would have to find more provisions as they traveled along, because they couldn't stay here now. If those men had any friends, they would soon come searching. He went to the bodies of the men he had killed and searched them. He didn't have any qualms about stealing from the dead. It wasn't like dead people gave a fuck about what happened to them, they were dead. And in this world, it was almost better to be dead than to be running and fighting for a way to survive.

He made it out to Ellie in less than ten minutes and he pulled her up to stand.

"I hope that rest was enough, because we gotta get moving now."

He didn't ask her how she was doing, or waste time on small talk, he just grunted and started walking. Yes, his pulse was still racing from what had happened, he was not a complete robot. But there was nothing he could do about what happened, so he did his best to turn off his adrenaline, or rather to use it in a more productive way, to help them find relative safety and shelter.

"You with me?" He asked gruffly. That was about the extent his concern would allow.

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie kept her head bowed as they walked. She didn't understand how Joel could turn himself off like that...she felt like her entire world had been turned upside down and she was desperately worried that she would throw up again...but she just kept her mouth shut and followed Joel. She heard him speak to her, but she couldn't hear what he had said. All she wanted was to just continue walking in silence and not think about the pool of blood she had seen form around both the men that had tried to kill them. God...their bodies were still there...what if someone else found them? She couldn't help but wonder what those other survivors would think? Probably that some horrible person had shot at them...and that they hadn't deserved what they got...Ellie would be judged with Joel for what had happened. She wished she couldn't care...but then her thoughts when to what her father would have thought. He probably would have been grateful to Joel for saving her...but what had Ellie done? Nothing.

Her ears were kind of ringing...that was weird...and it was super hot out for some reason...oh well...she just needed to keep walking though it and follow Joel's example. He didn't seem bothered by any of this...Ellie just needed to have thicker skin. She had seen people die before...and she had heard awful horror stories of what went on in those horrid camps Richard Sullivan had been running. So why was this having such an effect on her? Maybe it was because she knew that in that second, if she had not stabbed that man, they were going to either snap her neck or use her as some kind of sex slave...and that was absolutely no way for her to continue life. Now she owed Joel more than life...she owed the man a life debt.

"Huh?" she said as she snapped back to reality. "Oh...yeah...M'here..."

[Joel Archer]

He heard her say she was “here”, but he knew she really wasn’t. He had not planned on showing her that side of himself tonight on the first day they knew each other, but what’s done was done. He did wonder though, if she was more upset about what had happened or if she was now frightened of him. He supposed he didn’t really care what some random girl thought of him, but he didn’t want to be seen as a killer so soon in their relationship/friendship/whatever-the-hell-this-was.

He decided that they did need a place to stay for the night, whether she had gotten enough rest earlier or not. If she was still tired, she would be a liability to him. But staying in a house like that was just stupid, and he should have known better. He decided that the time for personal space was now over if she was going to act like she was in shock. So he took her by the elbow and starting walking with their packs. He had a feeling that if that group had any family or other followers, that they wouldn’t be too far behind. He could take care of business, but he didn’t want to go looking for trouble either.

It was only about a ten minute walk before he saw the building. It was a shabby-looking apartment complex, one that looked from this distance to have those ladders on the outside serving as a fire escape. If they could get to the roof undetected and disable the ladders, maybe they could sleep up there without being bothered. He still wouldn’t feel comfortable without keeping watch, but at least Ellie would get to sleep somewhat.

“See that building straight ahead? We’re going there. I’d ask if you can make it there, but you really don’t have a choice. Got me? Stay with me, kid.”

[Ellie Brooks]

Ellie's legs felt like they were full of lead. She wasn't sure if she was physically exhausted or just emotionally. She has a feeling it was probably a tie. When Joel told her that he saw another apartment, all she could do was nod in compliance. She just wanted to lay down and imagine those bastards away. She could really use a hug too...but she knew that barking up that tree would get her nowhere. Ellie could tell that Joel was anything but the hugging type. Heck, he would probably knock her out if she even tried.

Her head bowed, she walked until they finally reached the apartment complex. It was empty...or seemed empty from what Ellie could tell. It was quiet and the sun was starting to sink away on the horizon. They had done a good job getting there before it went completely pitch black outside. With no street lights or electricity, night seemed even darker now.

She hung back to wait for Joel to check the building they were staying in, at least for the first five minutes. Soon she found her feet carrying her into another room of the small loft. It was a little girls bedroom. The princess wallpaper was a dead giveaway. Ellie hated pink and princesses...ever since she was little she remembered being that girl that would rather play with frogs and mud over baby dolls and barbies.

"Did your family get away?" She breathed tiredly. "Or are you out there trying to eat people too?"

Ellie always found herself wondering that whenever she was in people's houses. Who were they, where were they, how long had they survived? She felt it kept her more human. Taking a deep breath she walked back into the living room of the apartment and sat down on the sofa. Everything ached on her. Like she literally got the piss beat out of her. That was probably because one of those a-holes had grabbed her so roughly. She really owed Joel a thank you at some point...and then an apology, because she had honestly thought that he had abandoned her to die. She waited for him to come back from checking the apartment.

"Thanks..." she grumbled. "I thought...I thought you had left me there to die at first...but...thanks for saving me..."

Thanking this guy almost felt like a chore because he just...didn't seem to care about anything she had to say. But her parents had always taught her that when someone helped or was helping you that you needed to thank them. Regardless of how big of a pole they had shoved up their ass. 

[Joel Archer]

One thing he had learned in this shit world of theirs was to never be comfortable. He had checked every nook and cranny of this place and it seemed secure, but that would never make him happy enough. The only way he would feel safe would be if he were the last man standing. But as it was, this was probably as good as they were going to get. He bolted all of the doors and windows shut and triple checked every room to make sure they were alone. When he had walked back into the living room, he saw her sitting there on the couch. He wondered what she must make of all this, having been comfortable and with her family before, and now she was alone with some strange ass man who hated the world. He knew how he came off, and he didn't care. He was glad for his rough exterior. People learned quick not to mess with him. 

He was shutting the curtains tighter when he heard her say thank you and apologize for thinking he had abandoned her. He wasn't surprised. He actually thought it was good that she had her guard up. Never trust anyone in this world, that's what it came down to. He turned around and faced her, his arms crossed in a defense mechanism. He never knew how to take those words, they never really meant much to him. But with only each other to talk to and have a mutual protection going on, he supposed he would accept it without being a dick.

"I guess you owe me then," he said with a light smirk, the first time he had lowered his rough exterior. "Don't worry though, you can get some sleep before you have to pay me back."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and gestured to the hall. "I suppose the bedrooms are open. I think I'll take the couch, that way I can guard more easily."