JANE'S BROWN curls had all been buzzed off an hour later, she thought Joel had done a pretty good job. Ellie was sat outside alone for the entire time, catching Joel's attention so he tried to cheer her up.

"Ellie." He called to her, though she didn't seem to hear, "Ellie?" She quickly turned around, snapping out of the trance she was in. Joel questioned, "D'ya hear me?"

"No." Ellie replied, "What?"

Joel held up a can of food, "I found this in the house. Beefaroni. Chef Boyardee."

"Oh, cool." Ellie tried to sound enthusiastic.

"And have you ever played this?" He continued, showing her a box, "Boggle. It's a word game."

Ellie shook her head, "Mm-mm."

"Well, if you wanna beat me at somethin', it would be this." Joel replied, turning to Jane sarcastically to try and lighten the mood, "Except for Jane, she can't spell for shit."

"I wonder why." Jane smiled to herself, appreciating Joel's efforts to cheer them both up. He took their silence as a hint to start making their way to the hospital, as the two girls lagged behind Joel slightly.

Ellie cleared her throat, "For the record, I like your new hair. It's... cool."

"Really?" Jane questioned, her face lighting up a little, "Thank you."

"Yeah." Ellie nodded, finally looking up from the floor, "You're really pretty, Jane."

The girl looked at her, almost bewildered at her words. Jane blushed slightly, "You think I'm pretty?"

"Of course." Ellie chuckled slightly.

The two girls caught up to Joel, who had lead them towards a building to try and get a better view of where they were. They all made it upstairs, noticing the gathering of giraffes in the distance, one of which had walked up to the building.

"Holy shit." Jane admired, "Joel, look."

Ellie whispered, "Don't scare it."

"I won't." Joel whispered, as he ripped off a few branches of leaves, "It's alright."

Joel passed them both a branch each, as the two fed the giraffe in front of them. Jane smiled widely, admiring the animal in front of her, before looking at Ellie- who she couldn't keep her eyes off of. Ellie laughed, for the first time since what had happened. Joel smiled at Ellie, before catching Jane do the same. She quickly looked away.

Joel cleared his throat, "Is it everything you hoped for?"

"It's got its ups and downs." Ellie replied, "But you can't deny that view."

"Look, I don't know exactly where this hospital is, but... it's just- Maybe there's nothing bad out there, but so far there's always been something bad." Joel explained, "We don't have to do this. I want you to know that."

"What do you mean?" Ellie questioned, "What else are we suppose to do?"

Joel replied, "Nothing. We go back to Tommy's and we forget about the whole damn thing."

"After everything we've been through... everything I've done." Ellie said, "It can't all be for nothing." She added, "I know you want to protect me, and you have. And when we're done, we'll go wherever you want. Tommy's, sheep ranch, the moon. I'll follow you anywhere you go. But we have to finish what we started."

The three made their way downstairs, walking towards the nearest hospital, hoping they could provide help. Joel led them through what seemed like old markets and empty tents.

"Was this a FEDRA thing?" Ellie asked, looking around.

"No." Joel replied, "Army. They put these places up all around the first few days after the outbreak. Emergency medical camps. They had me in one just like this."

Ellie questioned, "With Sarah?"

"No, she was gone already." Joel replied, as he pointed to the scar behind his ear, "It was for this."

"Ah, the guy who shot and missed." Ellie nodded, "I thought that happened later."

"No, the second day." Joel explained, as he sat down on a wall, "It was me. I was the guy who shot and missed."

Jane stopped walking, as she turned around to look at Joel. The two girls sat either side of him, Jane held his hand tightly.

"There's no story. Sarah died... and I couldn't see the point anymore. Obviously, Jane, you weren't around yet. But I wasn't scared either, I was ready. I couldn't have been more ready. When I... When I went to pull the trigger I flinched. I don't know why." Joel explained, "Anyway, the reason I'm telling you both all this-"

"I know why you're telling us this." Jane interrupted softly.

Ellie nodded, "So, time heals all wounds, I guess."

"It wasn't time that did it." Joel corrected, tears swelling in his eyes.

Ellie sighed, "I'm glad it didn't work out."

"Me too." Joel nodded.

The three made their way towards the hospital, as Ellie began reading puns. Jane couldn't help but notice Ellie's voice becoming muffled, her hearing abilities fading rapidly. She tugged on Joel's sleeve quickly,

"The batteries have died." Jane exclaimed.

"Shit, uh." Joel examined the hearing aid on the girl's ear, before signing, "We're about a block away from the hospital. I'll get you some new-"

"Joel!" Ellie shouted, grabbing his attention as they all looked at the floor. A small bomb had rolled right beneath their feet, as Joel protectively shielded them both as it exploded. Jane hit the floor with a thud, her vision blurry as she caught a glimpse of two males approaching them. She panicked, trying to crawl away, though one picked her up quickly.

"Joel!" She screamed in panic, as she squirmed in the men's arms. Tears flooded down her cheeks, she prayed it wouldn't happen again. She thought it was over...

a/n:
hi! VERY off topic but im currently writing a new story- The Summer I turned Pretty fanfic if any bodies interested!!
just letting you guys know my next plans of stories because this one is ending soon :(

P.S= it will be a gay fanfic as per usual because i love writing gay fanfics and being dramatic and causing my readers pain when straight boys get in the way😍

pls watch the summer i turned pretty (on prime) if you haven't already so i can see all of you again in my next book :)

(1 chapter left?!?!?)