Endure and Survive
A Last of Us Fanfiction

Ellie scoffed and threw her arms up in the air, tired of the same bullshit over and over again. A little bit of trust would be nice.

"Come on, Joel, it's fine. It's not as if I'm going to be by myself out there."

"I said, no."

Damn, stubborn old man. She scowled and shook her head, letting her arms fall back to her side. It was near impossible to resist scoffing again, but somehow she managed. Not that Joel's protectiveness wasn't appreciated at times, especially after all they'd been through, but sometimes it was also so suffocating.

Sometimes it still peeved her, thinking about what Tess had told her about Sarah, back when Tess was still alive.

Before it was I'm not your daughter, so don't throw me away because I make you think of her. These days it feels more like I'm not your daughter, so you don't have to think you're going to lose me too if I have ANY freedom.

Joel isn't a bad guy as far as she's concerned, but he can be difficult to navigate at times, and some days feel like nothing but one big argument. Today is another one of those days.

"It's just a simple supply scouting errand. Willis and Clara are going to have my back, and both Kyle and Glen are going to be hiding just at the edge of town on stand-by in case we run into any trouble."

"Ellie-" There's that stupid tone again. That strained voice that's tired of arguing and thinks he's right no matter what. "How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"You wouldn't have to repeat anything if you just let me go along," she pointed out stubbornly. Joel sighed. She ignored it. "Tommy said he's perfectly fine with it-"

"Don't bring my little brother into this," Joel stressed, a frown creasing his face. "He may run this place, but that doesn't mean he get's the final say regarding everything."

"Oh, and you do?" Ellie challenged, not bothering to withhold evident frustration from her voice. "Well guess what, Joel? I'm perfectly capable of making my own choices, and right now, I'm choosing to go out there and do something to help out. I know how to defend myself from people and Infected."

Joel looked tense and ready to command her to stay, but they both knew he was losing the argument. He could tell her what he did or didn't want her to do all he wanted, but unless he planned to shove her in a closet and lock the door, she wasn't going to be dissuaded.

Deflating a little bit, Ellie sighed, not unsympathetic.

"I know that it worries you when I go out there, Joel, but we've both made it through worse, and we can't always hide behind locked gates. There are untapped supplies out there just waiting for someone to find them, and eventually people and Infected are going to wander through that we have to take care of before they reach this place and put everyone at risk. We won't be more than a day at most."

Joel turned his eyes elsewhere, confliction and worry written all over his face, but he finally relented.

"Alright, fine. If you want to go that badly, then go," he shooed away, looking kicked. "But if you hear or see any signs of trouble you might not be able to handle-"

"Relax, Joel," Ellie interrupted mirthfully. "I only spent how long learning how to survive from the expert?"

That at least seemed to lift his spirit a little bit, getting a small, if not bitter, smile out of the man.

"Remind me again how well those months went?"

"Come to think of it, I'd rather not if its all the same to you," Ellie mused under her breath, treading dangerously close to too many things and people she didn't want to think about right now.

Joel grimaced as he moved to sit on the couch, bracing his hands on his knees as he fell back. She sometimes forgot how old Joel was and the toll that just the last year had taken on him.

On them both.

"Well then, I'll be heading out," she told him, turning to leave.

"Be safe, baby girl," Joel called after her.

"Don't worry, I will," she returned over her shoulder, leaping down the few deck steps once she was outside and racing towards the gates on the south side of town.

Several horses stood around at the gates, four of them with their saddles occupied and one waiting just for her. She easily swung up into the saddle and gathered the reigns as the gates were opened.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't make it," Willis, a stocky black male, stated as he nudged his horse into a walk. "You actually managed to get him to agree?"

"It wasn't easy, believe me," Ellie muttered, "but I managed it, somehow."

"I'd bet you the last of my deer jerky he comes running to leash you back in before we make it past half a mile," Willis laughed.

"Don't even joke about that," Ellie criticized.

"Hitting too close to the truth, eh?" Clara, a tall Asian woman couldn't seem to help teasing. "That's not a bet I would take if I were you."

"That'd be a lot of deer meat to lose out on," Kyle, a scarred up pale blond, agreed.

"Guys, can we not talk about Joel being a hard ass? Let's just focus on what we came out here to do," Ellie pressed.

"Fine, fine," Willis shrugged, nudging his horse a little faster.

It didn't take them very long to reach the next town over, perhaps an hour and a half ride. Dismounting, they tethered the horses up, two staying behind to watch the animals and wait, while two went with Ellie to explore the place.

It wasn't the first time they had been through, but it always paid to be cautious. Several weeks earlier there had been a confrontation with a group of bandits camping out that ended with one person dead and two more wounded. Ellie hadn't been out with that group then, but she swore to herself that if there was anyone in this town who wanted to attack them, she'd be damn sure to make them regret it before either of her companions could be taken out.

She tightened her grip around her hunting rifle's carry strap, keeping her senses sharp for signs of anything hostile.

They searched through several buildings, not finding much in the way of things they had an immediate need for, but the pickings were almost always slim anyway. Maybe she had just spent too long on the road, walking from one side of the country to the other with Joel and trying to survive with just the two of them against the world, but she counted even the most seemingly insignificant finds to be lucky.

As the day started to drag on, luck didn't seem to be on their side today, a sizeable hoard of Infected sprinting out of the woodwork, forcing them to run. Something had obviously riled them, maybe other people in the area. She hoped it had been nothing more than a squirrel or a dog that spurred the Infected into action, because other people posed their own high level of risk, and she didn't want to have to worry about both in one day.

More than once, when they started to pull far enough ahead, they stopped and whirled around, her and Clara taking aim and firing while Willis watched the other side for more possible threats that might come from a different direction. When too many started to close in, they ran for it again, then turned and started firing.

They managed to take down most of the Infected, but at the sight of an empty house with a broken window to hop over and hide, they sprinted for cover before the stragglers of the hoard could catch up and hunt them down.

Leaping over the sill, they ducked down behind the wall and listened for the Infected to scream past, howling and clicking, closer and then drawing further away. When the sounds had become nothing more than a distant echo, they finally started to relax.

"Looks as if they've gone," Ellie panted, peeking her head up to be absolutely sure. No Infected in sight. "I guess now we can get back to-"

She cut her own words short when she thought she heard something in another room. It was subtle, nearly non-existent, but it had definitely been something, and she didn't think it was monkeys this time.

She looked to her companions and raised a finger to her lips, silently pointing across the way to what looked like a kitchen. She was sure that was where it came from.

Standing up slowly, she clicked back the rifle chamber and pointed it at the doorway, not knowing what to expect. It could be an animal, like maybe a rat. Or it could be another Infected, or a person. An animal or a person seemed most likely.

No matter what it was, she wasn't lowering her guard.

"Hello?" she called out, shoulders squared in readiness. She was still wired on adrenaline and had to work hard to keep herself steady. She thought she saw movement, however slight, and swallowed back nervousness. Whatever it was - alive or dead - if it decided to try and jump her, it was going to get a lead-punched hole straight through its face. "If you're living, you'd better come out right now, or give me an answer, or something. I know how to use this thing."

She left it up to interpretation what this thing could be. Maybe if whoever was there didn't know exactly what they were up against, they might be more inclined to reveal themselves.

She stayed away from the door rather than passing through it, giving a few seconds for a response. Finally she received one, the sound of a sarcastic male voice.

"Funny, I could say the same." They sounded young-ish. Maybe her own age. Maybe a little older. She couldn't be sure. At least she has an idea now of what she's working with. "Who gave you the authority to order others around?"

"I'm not the one hiding," she retorted, the irony of this statement not lost on her.

"Served me well up to this point," he replied simply.

"If you come out, I promise not to shoot you, so long as you don't try anything stupid," Ellie proposed.

"Oh, is that so?" The tone was hostile and mocking. "And what good are a stranger's promises?"

"Well I could just shoot you now if that's what you prefer. There's nothing stopping me."

Silence followed. Hopefully he realized she was right, because really this didn't need to be a long, dragged out incident, and she didn't want herself or anyone else ending up hurt if it could be avoided. She understood the distrust and didn't expect a lot, but she'd settle for reluctant neutrality if nothing else.

"So are you going to come out?" she prompted, fidgeting uneasily at the lack of response.

She saw a brief rustle of movement again, a hood-shadowed face slightly peeking around the corner, before the figure finally stepped out from cover.

It's hard to say for sure, but he looks like he might be shorter than her by several inches, and thinner as well. He's dressed in graying jeans and an old, weathered, black hoodie that's pulled up to cover his head. From what glimpse she can see, she thinks his hair might be brown, and his skin pale like hers. In-hand looks like a long blade, something that appears to be a sword or thin machete with a black spine and handle.

None of these things particularly stick out to her as noteworthy beyond any other encounter with strangers that she's had. They're just typical.

What does strike her as unusual is his face. One eye on the right is closed and scarred, and it crosses her mind that he might have lost it entirely due to injury. The entire left side of his face is covered by an ugly scar all the way from his forehead to his jawline. Again, she wonders if he can see out of that side either, but he's looking straight at her with a single blue hue, and he briefly surveys the other two behind her, so he must still be able to see with it.

His expression is a scowl, and for some reason she doesn't think its only because he's being faced with strangers that have guns. Maybe she's wrong, but he looks like an unpleasant person.

He's sizing them up silently, she realizes, calculating his chances if it comes down to a fight. She'd rather it didn't, and she doesn't think he could win, but size isn't everything and she's taken down many people larger than herself before. She hopes he doesn't think he can take them, otherwise a fight is inevitable.

"What do you want?" he demands harshly, standing just within the doorway, probably so if she does open fire, he has somewhere to go.

"We're just looking for supplies. We ran into some Infected in the streets and came in here to hide until they lost track of us." No use in lying, but she was certainly not going to tell him much beyond that.

"I could figure that out for myself with all the god damn noise you were making." It sounded accusatory. Definitely seemed like her suspicion's about him being unpleasant were right on the mark. He kind of reminded her of dealing with Bill, although at least this guy hadn't handcuffed her to a pole yet.

"And what about you?" she challenged, deciding she wasn't going to lower her weapon just yet. "What are you doing here?"

He rolled his eye as if it was the dumbest question he'd ever heard. "I don't know, why don't you take a guess?" When she frowned at him, he went on to huff, "Same. Looking for supplies and hiding from Infected, before you came barging in. Now kindly turn your asses around and leave, before I force the issue."

"That's an awfully big threat against someone holding a gun," Willis commented before Ellie could.

"Not if I'm faster with my blade."

"You so much as try it and I'll put one between your eyes before you can blink," Ellie promised. What a ballsy little shit! Shifting where she stood, her arms starting to tire from holding the rifle up, she continued on, "Look, we don't want trouble if you don't. We didn't even know you were in here. Do we honestly look like senseless murderers to you?"

The boy narrowed his eye into a glare, unimpressed and distrustful. "Doesn't matter what you look like, whether you're a cold killer or a bunch of bumbling morons drawing Infected like moths to a flame. It doesn't make you any less of a threat, and if you think I'm going to warm up to you because you can babble out a few pretty words about your innocence or competency, you're sooner going to suffocate holding your breath on it."

The way they guy said it was starting to tick her off, though she wasn't about to shoot someone only because they were annoying.

"It doesn't matter to me if you want to distrust us and I'm certainly not going to try changing your mind, but we're only here because we were trying to get away from danger, same as you. I was trying to be diplomatic because that seemed like the best approach for you just as well as for us, so up yours."

Still, she couldn't entirely fault him for it. She knew what it was like before, being alone and coming across total strangers who could very well be any kind of dangerous, and of course for all their attempted sweet-talking they'd turned out to be some band of psycho cannibals.

She still has nightmares from that.

It wasn't as if she'd exactly made it a point to be very polite when faced with a group of strangers either, so maybe she was being a little too harsh getting offended.

At least that's what she started to consider until the boy opened up his mouth again, face twisting into an ugly snarl.

"Tch. Yeah, fuck you too, princess," he sneered. "If you're expecting a bow or a curtsy, sorry to tell you, you've come to the wrong kingdom. You turn around and walk back out that window now, and maybe no one's going to get gutted today, got it?"

"Is this guy fucking stupid or what?" Clara muttered off to Ellie's side.

She couldn't help but agree, but she could still sympathize, just a little. Maybe the best thing to do really would be to simply turn and walk away from this. The boy hadn't actually made any moves against them, and he was even smaller than she was. Maybe he's hiding it, but for all his tough talk, he's probably scared, and she's not helping the situation.

"Alright, if that's what you want, we'll go," she decided, glancing at her companions and motioning back towards the window. They hesitated a moment, but moved to retreat all the same, while Ellie stepped backwards and kept her weapon drawn in case he decided to attack them for any reason. Willis and Carla made it through the window and were simply waiting for her, but she noticed that the boy didn't move from the doorway at all, standing stock still like a statue, unmoving and sturdy.

It wasn't anything particularly strange at face-value, but for some reason it nagged at her in a way she couldn't explain.

Then it clicked.

She thinks that he might not actually be alone, and that he isn't standing there by coincidence.

He's blocking them from getting at either someone or something else further in.

If he isn't budging, maybe he's protecting someone who can't simply get up and run away from danger, which he perceives them to be. Otherwise why wouldn't he have stayed hidden and snuck away? Instead he revealed himself, and there doesn't seem to be a good explanation for it.

Unless he's either completely cornered, or someone's hurt.

"You know, maybe we can help each other," she suggested off-hand. "We might have something you need that we could trade, or if you want, we could always stick around and team up while all of us are in the same place. If there are other people with you, we might be able to help them out too."

At the mention of other people, he narrowed his eye unhappily, if only slightly, confirming her suspicions.

"Do I need to repeat myself or should I just skip straight to impaling you?" he growled, curling his lips back. "Because either one can be arranged."

"Man, you just don't know when to quit, do you?" Ellie mumbled, frustrated. She made it a point to lower her gun away from him. "Look, if you've got a friend back there or something, I promise we have no intention of doing anything to hurt them or you. I know how it is and I don't blame you for being wary in the slightest, but if we were going to shoot you, believe me, we'd have already shot you."

He growled in irritation, looking ready to retort with some other biting remark, but Ellie saw something else moving and heard someone speak that wasn't him or anyone in her own group, though she had no idea exactly what they said.

Whoever they were, their coming closer to the doorway obviously made the boy upset and he deliberately moved to stand between that person and them, shielding their companion from view. It didn't work very well considering they were a little bit taller and merely moved around to his other side.

It was another girl, dressed similarly to him with long black hair, but her expression was a lot more pleasant, albeit more timid.

The girl and boy exchanged a few words silently, and Ellie strained her ears to hear what they were saying, unable to make sense of it. She realized it was another language entirely, one she didn't think she'd ever heard before.

Maybe the girl didn't speak English...?

"Hello."

Never mind.

"Um... I'm sorry... about him," she motioned with a slight flick of her head, missing the irate glance he gave her. "He can be a little abrasive sometimes... but he means well."

Ellie was sure she heard a muttered the Hell I mean well, but chose to ignore it and turn her focus on the girl, who seemed the more reasonable of the pair as far as she could tell.

"It's fine, really," Ellie assured. No use in taking it personally. She was just glad that things were ending in words instead of violence. Shrugging impulsively, she flicked her eyes down apologetically. "Sorry for pointing a gun at you guys."

Just so long as they didn't make her regret not pointing one at them.

"It's alright," the girl replied, gnawing her lip. They were both still tense. "Do you live around here?"

"Nearby," Ellie summed up simply. They didn't need to know exactly where or how nearby. Not yet, at least. Ellie wasn't worried about the girl, but she was already leery about the scar-faced jerk. "You?"

"Sort of," she replied. "We've been traveling and found this place a few days ago. Its where we've been staying for now, but..."

Ellie nodded understanding, glancing back at Carla and Willis, who were shifting their weight indecisively and watching the surrounding area for anything or anyone else that might make an appearance.

It was always possible that it wasn't only the two of them.

"So where are you guys headed?"

The girl opened her mouth, but the boy replied faster. "None of your damn business."

Ellie pursed her lips, resisting the urge to give a snappy retort right back. "Alright, fine. None of my business." She really didn't like him.

The girl glanced between him and Ellie, nervousness shining in her dark eyes. Drawing in a breath, she tried to stand up straighter and look a little less awkward.

"I'm Komeko," she introduced, prompting, "Mind if I ask your name?"

"Ellie," she gave up after a moment. "It's nice to meet you too." With a pause, she added, "Hopefully you can knock some sense into that one."

Mr. Scar-Face growled in disapproval, eye thinning into a slit. "Keep it up and I'll more than knock some sense into you."

Komeko frowned and turned to him, sounding like she was chastising in that same language as before. "Otouto! Ii kamo yo."

Whatever she had said was met with another frown, but it was noticeably lacking the same hostility as he had when scowling at Ellie and her group, looking more like a petulant child than a threatening teenager. His tone betrayed tame reluctance even if the words were foreign. "Demo... shitakunai..."

"Otouto."

The teen grumped and leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms and casting one last glare of dislike before averting his gaze elsewhere, once again his tone holding begrudging reluctance. "Hai..."

Seeming to have won some sort of argument, she smiled and looked back to Ellie.

"Sorry, don't mind him. He's just not very good with people yet, but he's not really all that bad," she defended, ignoring another unhappy grunt from her companion at the comment. "His name's Faulklin."

Though it was hard to keep her tone entirely neutral, Ellie regarded him in turn with another "It's good to meet you." Even if you are a jackass.

She was undeniably curious about them both. The guy - Faulklin - was definitely not someone she saw herself making friends with any time soon, but those scars he bore obviously had a story behind them. She hadn't ever seen scars quite like his.

That didn't seem like safe territory to ask about though. Instead she decided to probe about how they were speaking.

"What language was that? I haven't really run across a lot of people who speak anything other than English before." There had been a few people in the Boston Quarantine Zone growing up, but they were few and far in between, and it wasn't as if she'd had much exposure to what little of it there was, what with being stuck in Military School.

Komeko smiled softly. "Nihongo. It's Japanese. That's where I was born, during the early years of when the infection started, but compared to someone who lived there their entire lives, my knowledge of it is pretty limited. My family left it before I can even remember, and lived in a Quarantine Zone here since then." Her expression changed to look troubled as she added in a quiet voice, "At least...we did until recently."

Until recently, Ellie noted. "That's kind of cool. I know there are other countries, but I've never been that far." Sort of difficult without a means to get there, what with no planes and not very many ships. "So what happened?"

Komeko's eyes fell towards the floor. "It was overrun. Infected got in. It was no longer safe."

"Oh," Ellie breathed, seeing how Faulklin looked somewhere else too, like he was recalling something unpleasant he didn't want to think about. "I'm sorry."

Komeko shrugged, trying to put up a brave face. "It is what it is. We're still alive and together. That's what matters."

Ellie nodded faintly. "Well, if you want, my offer to help still stands. At least while we're here in town, you could always come with us... gotta be safer than being by yourselves."

"Yeah right," Faulklin scoffed, glowering condescendingly. "Or your stupidity will just get us killed."

Ellie didn't quite get a chance to come up with a comeback.

"Otouto! Yamete!"

"Nani? Boku wa sorera o shinrai shite imasen!" Faulklin snapped, looking petulant.

"Anata wa fushin min'na. Nīsan wa ukeiretadarou." Whatever Komeko was saying, it sounded thoughtful but scolding.

Faulklin sulked, visibly grinding his jaw and muttering unhappily. "Nīsan wa bakadesu..."

Komeko sighed, shaking her head. "We'd be happy to accept."

Ellie had to bite her tongue from saying well it sure doesn't seem like it. Maybe offering to team up with them wouldn't be such a great idea after all, but she didn't want to take it back now, mostly because of Komeko. She seemed nice, it was just too bad she came with such pissy baggage.

"Alright," she mused, looking between them. "Then let's try to make the most of it."

A/N: Although I did take two years of Japanese once upon a time I'm not terribly fluent at all and at least some of this is probably incorrect ^^; So apologies, but I try!

Also I don't know how far this fic is going to go or if I'm going to do a whole lot of writing for it, but here's this chapter for now anyway :3