AFTER EVERYTHING HE HAD JUST BEEN TOLD about those scattered memories, Joel had expected the next event in the lineup to be Outbreak Day, but the storytelling had been postponed following rattling upstairs and a pair of muffled voices.

Ralph furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at the ceiling, scooting away from Joel a tiny bit so he could reach for his gun, only to realize that he had never had the gull to take it off of Joel while he was asleep. He applauded himself for his sudden morality, but quickly changed his mind about it when someone was stomping down the stairs.

'Hold him down.' Lou ordered, leaning Joel's rifle up against the wall as Ellie hurried over to Ralph and dropped to her knees right in front of Joel. She tossed the blanket off of him hurriedly and looked at Ralph, raising a needle with a bit of thread attached to it.

Joel made a sound that sounded vaguely like a 'no!', but Ellie was already peeling his bloodied shirt back and looking at Ralph for a bit of assistance.

'Did you disinfect that?' He asked worriedly, watching as she held the needle close to his skin and squinted to see the ridges of the wound better. She looked back at him with wide eyes, and then over her shoulder to Lou, spoiling the surprise that no, she hadn't.

Ralph looked between the two of them, looking like he was about to launch into a lecture about first aid, but Joel was still attempting to dig his knee into Ellie's stomach to get her to back off.

Ralph reached forward, took the needle from her, and they swapped places from there. Ralph shifted to kneel in front of Joel's stomach, and Ellie scooted upwards to pin his hands down on top of his chest, intertwining her fingers with him as Ralph took a deep breath and, eventually, began to sew.

...

DAYS HAD PASSED SINCE THEN, and Ralph was really beginning to wish that they had just taken the extra time to find a bar of soap or something. Even if Lou had ran outside and scrubbed some snow on top of it, he was sure that would've done the job. Joel's stab mark was stitched up, sure, but it was turning green and purple and looked totally gross.

It also didn't help anyone's nerves that, since then, Joel had been in and out of consciousness constantly, and Ralph was doing the same exact thing due to his stubbornness about going to sleep. And that they were running out of food, and water.

It was silent in the basement, as it had been for a while, and Ralph was sleeping with his back against a desk and his arms crossed over his chest, still sitting upright, which was kind of creepy.

Ellie had finished her portion of Rabbit with her stomach still empty, growling at her like she was meant to do something about it. Next to her, she could tell Lou was feeling the same thing, and the two of them shared a frown.

Then, Lou nodded over her shoulder, and Ellie turned on her heel to look at the rifle against the wall, picking up what she was laying down almost immediately. Without even a second thought, Ellie nodded at her and leaned down to speak to Joel in a hushed voice.

'Hey, we'll be right back, okay?' She assured him, even though she highly doubted that he even knew what was going on or that he could hear anything that she was saying to him. Then, Ellie hopped to her feet and grabbed the barrel, swinging the gun over her shoulder and zipping up her jacket.

She wasn't sure if it was the scuff of footsteps or the zipping of her coat that made Ralph wake up, but the second he did, the puzzle pieces clicked and he was opening his mouth and shaking his head, still half asleep.

'No, you gotta stay here.' Lou said softly, kneeling in front of him and mimicking the way he was turning his head. He scrunched his face up and grumbled something that didn't make sense. 'You do, dad, you've gotta stay here, okay? Me and Ellie will be back before dark, I promise.'

'I'll go.' He insisted, and it was really laughable that he was trying to go out and hunt in the snow and freezing cold regarding the state that he was in.

'No, you have to stay.' She repeated quietly, trying her best to not disturb Joel's sleep. 'You have to take care of Joel, you have to sleep. If we see anything, we'll come right back here, and you can shoot the living hell out of it, alright? I promise, dad, promise.'

He sighed through his nose and shook his head again, but this time he didn't speak and just silently accepted it. Lou leaned forward on her knees and hugged him, quick and tight, and then got to her feet before he could say another word, hurrying out the door with Ellie by her side.

...

'YOU THINK HE'S EVER GONNA PUT A RING ON IT?' Ellie hopped over a rock that attempted to trip her and caught Lou by the arm when it succeeded on her behalf. 'Like, Joel?'

'Considering Joel's on his deathbed? Nah.' Lou said negatively, and Ellie frowned at her dark humor before Lou rolled her eyes and answered her question seriously. 'I mean, I don't really like to talk about it, 'cause he's my dad, y'know? It's weird to think about your dad dating people- Especially men, that was a total turn from him and mom... But, they like each other. It's clear.'

'Yeah, but do you think they're over gonna do anything about it?' Ellie stared up at the bright blue sky, watching a few squawking birds flee from their nests for a mysterious reason. She looked back down at Lou. 'Because if they don't, I think we might have to work some matchmaking magic, Lousie.'

'Eugh, don't call me Louise.' She scrunched her face up like she had eaten something sour, shaking her head. The use of that name wasn't the reason for that reaction, it was the usage of the term "matchmaking."

It reminded her of Henry, and she didn't want to think about him right now... Or ever again. 'I hate it when people call me Louise.'

'Sorry.' Ellie said half-assedly. 'Hey, why did Joel give Ralph a nickname for his nickname? Is that not weird?'

"Cause Joel's gay as shit, Ellie.' Lou laughed, and Ellie copied. 'Besides, I call you "El" sometimes.'

'Yeah, but that's only sometimes. Joel calls Ralph "Al" all the time and it just- Aaaargh!' She groaned frustratedly, her hands forming into claws as she shook her fists back and forward. 'They make me so angry! Why can't they just, like, get married and buy a house and live happily ever after!?'

'Shut up!' Lou hissed at her, even though her laughter was probably louder than Ellie's complaining. 'You'll scare all the animals away, douchebag.'

'Hey, speaking of...' Ellie's voice had dropped to a sudden whisper, and she waved at Lou to duck down as she flipped the gun over her shoulder and held it out in front of her cautiously.

A long way ahead of them was a light brown deer, ducked behind a numerous amount of trees, innocent and unsuspecting of the two girls that were planning its demise right in front of it.

Slowly, Ellie lowered her head to the eyepiece of the rifle and held the firearm steady. She waited for a moment, and the echo of the shot made Lou flinch a little. The deer stumbled, it was either a shot to the head or the neck, and then ran deeper into the woods, in the opposite direction of the two little assholes that had shot it.

And, of course, the two little assholes followed.

...

LOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SHE WAS EXPECTING when she had ditched Ellie to go follow after their afternoon meal of helpless deer, but she was not expecting to find two men looming over their prey with determined looks on their faces.

One of them was taller than the other, with a grey hat on his head, a beard on his face and a rifle in his hands.

The man next to him looked very different, but the fact that he was carrying a gun did not differ. He was either a redhead or blonde, Lou couldn't tell in this lighting, and he had a mustache and a greying beard. He was very pale, the snow probably didn't show off his tan very well, and his face was bright pink with the cold air when he turned to look at Lou.

She could do nothing but stare back at him, hoping that Ellie would just get a move on and shoot them in their faces before the man across from her came to his senses and shot her right in the face instead. But then, something strange happened.

He smiled at her. It was before he had even looked her up and down, even processed what she might be here for, even asked her anything about herself or what she was doing all the way out here by herself.

All he saw was a frightened, young face and that was enough to bring a smile to his. He opened his mouth as if he was about to speak to her, but Lou's knight in shining armor cut things short.

'Get away from her!' Ellie demanded, rifle held out in front of her as she stepped out of the trees and slowly walked over to Lou, ushering the older girl behind her. This had caught the attention of the second man, who had had his back turned up until now, and he was rightfully caught off guard by the both of them and Ellie's next order. 'Drop your rifles, now!'

The one who had smiled was the first to obey, swinging it off his shoulder and dropping it to the snow next to the deer carcass he was standing over. His friend followed.

'Turn and face us, slow. Any sudden moves, I put one right between your eyes. Ditto for buddy boy.' It took Lou a moment to realize it, but whilst Ellie was speaking to these strangers and bossing them around, she was using the voice that she typically used for her Joel impression. Whether it was to scare them more or to help her pretend that she had the same kind of experience and control that Joel did, Lou didn't know.

'...You're quite the hunter.' He nodded at Ellie. 'We didn't even hear you coming.'

'Turn around and walk away. Go!'

'Okay, all I ask is ten seconds of your time,' The man continued despite Ellie's orders, shaking his head as if he was trying to distract her. It worked. 'My name is David. This is my friend, James... We're from a larger group: Women, children, and we're all very, very hungry.'

'...We're from a large group too!' Lou lied over Ellie's shoulder, looking between David, James and the deer awkwardly. 'We're also hungry.'

'Well, even so,' He spoke to Lou with a small smile, 'You two can't drag this back on your own. We're not asking for charity, we can trade you for some of the deer. What do you need? We have boots-'

'Medicine?' Ellie asked hopefully, lowering the barrel slightly as she questioned them. 'Like, for infections?'

'We do, back in our village. You two are welcome to follow us.'

'I'm not following you anywhere, neither is she.' Ellie nodded her head at James. 'Buddy boy can go get it. He comes back, you get half the deer. Anyone else shows up, I put one-!'

'-Put one right between my eyes.' David interrupted, tapping the tip of his finger against his temple as he looked between the two girls in front of him with a strange, infatuated glimmer in his eyes. Ellie had to nod her head for him to snap out of whatever he was thinking, turning to his friend and beginning to mumble instructions to him. After a hesitant, second thought, James walked away, heading in the direction of a few distant buildings.

'Ten steps back.' Ellie ordered him, rifle held high as she started to walk towards David with an unusual amount of power in her steps. He did as he was told almost instantly, careful to leave the animal on the ground untouched as he went.

Then, Ellie and Lou crouched in front of the firearms on the floor. The Zhenya girl snatched James' gun without a second thought as Ellie continuously reloaded the one that David owned, wasting bullet after bullet.

'That your dad's gun?' He asked Ellie rather randomly, attempting to make small talk at a terrible time. 'He the one that's sick? Is that why you're out here on your own? This your friend?'

Ellie glared at him as she got to her feet.

'Well, look, it's a four-mile round trip back to our settlement. It's gonna be... A while before James gets back. I have some oil and matches in my pack.' He pointed to one of the shacks behind them, the ones that James disappeared behind. 'We could take shelter, start a fire.'

Ellie and Lou shared a look, squinting at each other to try and get a read on what the other was thinking, before Lou faced forward.

'Bring him with us.' She nodded at the deer on the ground. David smiled at her again, and then did what she had asked.

...

NOTES!
trigger warning david

updating from web again soz for formatting

david kys challenhe GOOOOOO
david die
david burn
david cease to exist