Song: Baby Storme - city is a graveyard.

Warnings: angst, flashbacks, mentions of blood, gore and death. Fluff, injury.

•••

'What's the fuck was that back there huh?' Ellie angrily follows Joel inside of their house. 'She needed your fucking help and instead you worried about me... I was fine!'

'Stay away from that girl, you hear?' He tells her.

'Why? She's not as bad as everyone says she is! She hasn't hurt anyone! Not willingly! I am so ducking ashamed of you, Tommy and Maria... she was hurt badly!'

'Not our problem...'

'She's still a member of Jackson, so matter of fact, she is our problem... she protected me out there, if she hadn't seen the damn runner, I wouldn't be here!'

'That girl is trouble, Ellie. I don't want you hanging around her anymore, I'll tell Tommy to take you off of the roster with her-'

'The hell you will! Matter of fact why don't we pair me with her all the time?' She counters, completely serious.

'Ellie-'

'Joel! Cat has been lying to everyone.. Y/n even warned me Cat will do the same with me... you'll see that she's not the bad egg out of the two...' Ellie turns to walk to the door again.

'Where are you going?'

'To check on her. Don't you dare fucking stop me'

She sighs when she reaches your little house and sees the red paint splattered across it. A slur she's not sure she'd repeat out loud, even if held at gunpoint.

She can't wrap her head around why people would be so incredibly mean. Sure if they believe the Amelia story they could be pissed but this? This is something nobody deserves.

About 75 percent of the population was wiped from the earth and yet people find this kind of hatred to be acceptable. She wonders how far this actually goes.

'Hey Ells, what are you- oh no. Not again..' Jesse sighs.

'This happened before?' Ellie asks.

'Oh yeah, usually when we clean it up, the very next day it's back again, they're not creative enough to even change it..' he sighs. 'What are you doing here though?'

'I uh, came to check on her.. she was in pretty bad shape... runners got us at the end of the patrol...I don't think she was but but she fell on her shoulder, it looked kind of weird so I figured I'd go check or something...' she puts the nose of her shoe in the ground, aimlessly picking it while explaining what she's doing here after so blatantly telling him she wasn't going to enjoy the patrol.

'If my friend wasn't hurt I would tease you but-'

'FUCK!' Comes your scream from within the house, Both Jesse and Ellie rush through the front door.

•••

'You can do it... it will all be over in a second... c'mon..' you whisper to yourself as you ready to put back the dislocated shoulder that fall caused.

Jesse isn't in Jackson, probably out on patrol as well. So you're left to do this on your own. You gently place your shoulder against the doorframe, take a deep breath and push.

'FUCK!' You yell out when you feel the amount of pain going through your body.

You sink to the floor almost immediately, feeling dizzy and seeing the spots starting to cover your vision. You take slow and deep breaths, anything to stay awake.

Tears start pooling in your eyes as your head thuds against the wall behind you. Your hand still clutches your shoulder, a light shake stuck in your limbs from the sudden amount of pain.

You're not bit, thankfully. You rid yourself from the blood and did a thorough check to make sure. Then the shoulder just didn't sit right. You didn't even really feel it until you realized it was dislocated.. you blame it on adrenaline.

You wipe the escaping tears. Why did you have to have such a nice talk with Ellie in the way back only to have it slammed back in your face that you're the outcast here?

It wasn't always like this. You got along fine with Tommy and Maria before hurricane Cat came through town. You actually were quite loved, you and Cat both.

Every time you think back to it though, your mind travels further to the breakup. To the faces people made at you when you walked past. Then the whole ordeal with Amelia, that didn't exactly help your case.

Now it didn't exactly stop there, your house once in a while gets a nice red text written all over it. The paint always still fresh and dripping right onto the deck. Just like today when you came back, you matched the red perfectly.

You don't even react to it anymore, it happens so often that you wonder if they have a secret paint factory somewhere..

You try to act like everything they do to destroy you doesn't bother you, but it stings. The way Joel, Maria and Tommy looked at you with such disgust made you shrink into yourself.

You get that they're worried about Ellie, but there was no room for any of that worry to go to you. Hence you're now stuck on your own, just like always.

You hope Ellie might stick around, but you doubt it. One day couldn't have changed anything, could it?

'Y/n!' Jesse yells as he enters first. He immediately kneels beside you in the hallway, checking you over for anything.

'You okay?' Ellie comes into view and you can't help but turn your eyes away from her. 'Fine... just had tot pop my shoulder back in...'

'Let's get you off of the floor and onto the mattress okay?'

That's when Ellie finally looks around the place. The hallway isn't even that bad but the living room. There's nothing. Not a nice couch like she and Joel have, no tv, no table... just a mattress on the floor with a couple blankets. How could anyone live like this?

'I know it's shit..' you speak up once Jesse had laid you down. 'What you see is the extend of Cat... I should be happy I have this at all...' You sa, exhaustion dripping from your voice.

'Take a nap... we will stay here okay?' Jesse suggests and you nod at him. 'Okay..' you agree. Your eyes droop closed and Jesse stands up.

He nudged towards the kitchen and Ellie follows him, not not before taking a last look at you. Her heart breaks from the bruises and the unease evident on your face.

'It wasn't always like this...but the people of Jackson really fucking dropped her...'

'I can tell... isn't there anything we can do?'

'Ellie, I don't want to be the bad guy here, but yesterday you were one of them, it might take some time for her to warm up to the idea of someone other than me and Dina to help her...besides.. she refuses to get any help anymore..'

'Shit... fucking Cat.. why doesn't she try to leave?'

'I asked her that a few times..' Jesse leans against the kitchen counter. His arms lock over one another as he lets out an even longer sigh. 'She says that living like this is better than out there...'

'I can understand...' Ellie mutters. Her mind gives her a playback of what's out there. What she had to survive to get here makes her understand your reason.

Yet she can't shake the ugly feeling when she looks around. If only she had known- no.. that's shitty.. she shouldn't have even been like this in the first place.

'Did she fall on her head?'

'I don't really know, maybe?' She answers. 'Then I should stay and wake her from time to time... just to make sure-'

'I can do that... you've only just returned from patrol.. it's fine... just come back later... I've got her...' Ellie suggests and Jesse would laugh at her shyness if it wasn't for you laying on the mattress right down the hall.

He hopes of Ellie can change her mind, perhaps more people in Jackson can. Maybe you could finally have your life back again. But for now he will make sure you're okay. Or rather he will let Ellie do it until he gets back.  It could be a terrible idea, but something tells him you wouldn't actually mind Ellie watching you.