Chapter 1: Hunting

It had been a year, a year since the Fireflies, since the lab. Ellie and Joel had gotten back to Tommy's in late spring, and had time to get settled permanently. Ellie had decided that being in a community like Tommy's power plant was much nicer and more comfortable than being on the road. The things she loved most about it were the things she never really had in those months. Plumbing and electricity, Ellie loved watching movies, the amazing stories that she never got to experience. She would sit down on the couch with Joel, Tommy and Maria and eat dinner in front of the small screen. It was nice. Her favorite movie was The Godfather. Something about those sharply dressed gangsters just made her spine stand on edge. They were cool; Ellie liked all of the movies they had at the plant, which wasn't much. She would even watch the little kid movies with the children in the camp. The animated cartoons didn't look amazing on the small TV, but it was better than nothing. Joel and Tommy always liked the cowboy movies, being from Texas of course. Ellie liked them just fine, but she still liked the gangster movies better.

Among other things she had in the plant that she didn't have on the outside, the thing Ellie liked the most was the plumbing. Having grown up in an almost electrically devoid quarantine zone, it was amazing to not have to squat down into the bushes to use the bathroom. Joel had said that she was happier than a kid at Christmas when Tommy found a box of toilet paper, everyone was.

"What's Christmas anyway?" she had asked one day while they were eating.

"Christmas is…" Joel started "Well, Christmas a holiday that happens in December on Jesus's birthday."

"Jesus?" she asked hesitantly "Like the swear?"

"No" Tommy said "Jesus Christ was the son of God, our savior" he laughed.

"Yeah I bet humanity could use some saving right about now" Maria chuckled.

"Anyway" Joel went back to the holiday "On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus would get in his sleigh on the north pole and fly all around the world, putting presents under children's Christmas trees."

"Yeah right" Ellie said laughing. "How did the sleigh fly?"

"It was pulled" Tommy told her as he shifted his mashed potatoes around "By reindeer."

"Reindeer can't fly" Ellie said.

"Santa's reindeer could." Joel said "Now eat, and then off to bed. We're going hunting tomorrow."

"Really?" Ellie asked, hunting was one of the chores she was best at. She loved taking in the smell of the forest and being able to run past the trees as she tracked the next meal. She liked being the provider for the camp. It made her feel important, special, like people relied on her. It was a lot of responsibility, but it felt good when she heaved a big buck into camp with Joel and Tommy.

Maria's father had started the entire camp a while ago. Seeing as she and Tommy ran the plant, they got the biggest room in the sleeping areas. The men who ran the plant also slept in the rooms, at least those who were single. The workers who had families all lived down in the camp. Ellie and Joel each had their own rooms. Her room had enough space for a new bookshelf, one that she and Joel had put together themselves. Ellie's shelf was about half full already. Reading was one of the things that occupied most of her free time. When she wasn't out hunting, watching the perimeter or helping to improve the fence that surrounded the camp, Ellie was most likely reading. She read everything she could get her hands on. History books, school textbooks, novels, instruction manuals, comic books, especially Savage Starlight. Her favorite novel was Harry Potter, the only problem was that she had picked up the third book, and had no idea what happened before and had no way of finding out what was about to happen. That made her kind of angry. Tommy had read all of them when he was a kid, and remembered every small detail, but Ellie didn't want him to give anything away past book three. Among other things that were laid out in her room were: her hunting bow with her quiver of arrows, her 9mm pistol with plenty of extra rounds, all of her clothes (which wasn't a very large wardrobe) hung on hooks on the wall or were piled on the floor. And of course, the thing she couldn't live without, her backpack. The hunting bag had gone through everything she had, it was like an extension of her.

Joel's guitar was resting against the other wall while she kept it in the room for practice. She was struggling to remember the chords to Act Naturally by The Beatles, Ellie didn't know much about music prior to staying at the plant, but Joel had been teaching her how to play all of the songs he learned before the infection. The Beatles were Joel's favorite band and he would tell her about how people loved them for years before everything went to shit. Other bands Ellie had never heard of were: Credence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals. Ellie wasn't very good at playing the guitar, but she loved to hear Joel strum the guitar and mouth the words to the songs, trying his hardest not to sing and potentially embarrass himself. Ellie thought that he had a pretty good voice.

Ellie walked into her room after the discussion about Christmas. Joel and Tommy had said December, it was still early summer, it would be a while before Joel said they could chop down a tree. But her birthday was coming up too, so she didn't have to wait very long for any presents. Ellie walked over to the bed and pulled the tie from her ponytail, letting the brown hair fly loose. She knelt over and plopped down on the mattress. It was only the mattress, they were working on finding box springs for they're beds. Ellie liked having her own space after a year of traveling with Joel, huddled up in the corner of some room in an abandoned building, unable to sleep soundly for fear of clickers or Hunters.

Ellie was turning sixteen soon, she had grown at least another two inches. Joel still towered over her however and it seemed like he always would. The teenager was filling out though, with all of the strenuous exercise involved in surviving in this world, Ellie's muscles were finely toned. She had small abdominal muscles being developed in her stomach. She looked at herself in the mirror. It had been two years since she left the zone and she had defiantly noticed the physical changes. Along with the height, she had let her hair had grown another inch and a half. She had noticed more 'embarrassing' changes as well. Her breasts had grown and she had needed to go up a few sizes. When she grew out of her old bras she was initially nervous, but after being able to confide in Maria on the subject, they had found new garments that fit her much more snuggly.

She drifted off to sleep fast, pressing her head to the soft pillow. Ellie had a dreamless sleep that night and it seemed like it was time to wake as soon as she had fallen to sleep. She woke on the first knock.

"Ellie?" Joel's voice rang out before he grabbed the knob. He opened the door and laughed "Let's go kiddo, hunt us some dinner."

"Uhhhh" Ellie groaned as she sat up. "Five more minutes"

"Yeah right" Joel said "Get dressed and grab your gear, me and Tommy'll be waiting in the mess hall"

Ellie got up and pulled her nightshirt off, along with her bra. She stopped in the mirror, examining her naked form. Satisfied with her abs, Ellie put on a new bra and a white Beatles tee shirt. She grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and looped the belt. She slipped her legs into the tight pants and grabbed her bow. She plucked the string to test it's tensile strength and set it down on the bed. The teen pulled fresh socks and her boots on, not wanting to ruin her sneakers.

She grabbed her backpack and slipped her arms through the straps. Ellie never left her room without having her pistol on her, Joel had taught her to always be prepared. While living the quiet life at the plant, she didn't have much time for practice with the 9mm. Though, she had a feel for the weapon after so much time with it. She made sure the safety was on and slipped it into the back of her waistband. Ellie snagged her bow and slipped the string over her shoulder. After the quiver was placed safely in the backpack, Ellie set off.

She opened the door and walked down the hall, muttering hello to Jim and Alex, two of the maintenance workers. Her boots squeaked on the tiled floor as she strutted into the dining hall. Joel and Tommy were sitting at a table in the corner, gnawing on peaches. Joel was wearing his much abused green plaid shirt. Tommy was clad in a tight black tee shirt that showed off his arm and chest muscles. Joel threw Ellie one of the fruits as she walked over "Eat, keep your strength up." She bit into the sweet peach and let the juice fill her mouth. She sat down on the bench and rubbed her eyes.

"A little tired today?"Tommy laughed.

"What time is it anyway?" Ellie said as she stretched her leg out.

"Around six" Joel said as he clutched the broken watch. Ellie understood why Joel kept the twenty year old watch, sentimentality and everything. It was Joel's curse that he never knew exact time.

"How long are we staying out?"

"Maybe till one" Joel said as he grabbed the rifle from the table and threw it around his shoulder. "Let's hunt us some deer." He started walking out of the mess. Ellie followed as she bit into her breakfast again. As Tommy got off of the bench, his radio buzzed to life. "Hey, boss man?" A voice rang out over the microphone.

Tommy pulled the radio from his belt "Go ahead."

"We got a perimeter problem over here, figured you should take care of it."

"Is it that important?" Tommy said as he tapped his foot against the floor. "I'm about to go hunting with my brother and my niece" he winked at Ellie. It was true, Ellie and Tommy had bonded over the past year, until a real uncle-niece actually developed.

"Two clickers got stuck on the electric fence." The voice said "Can Maria come down and take care of it instead?"

"Maria's teaching the five, six, and seven year olds how to read today" Tommy declared "I can take care of it, I'll be over in five" he put the walkie talkie back on his waist and sighed "I guess it's just you guys today. Maybe I can catch up later"

"That's okay" Joel said as he put his arm over Ellie's shoulder and smiled "It can be just the two of us today." He waved goodbye to Tommy as his brother strutted out of the room. "Let's go baby girl"

They walked out of the plant, breathing in the crisp, early summer air. It was a beautiful day, around seventy five degrees. Ellie felt comfortable in the white tee as the sunlight hit her. She fixed the strap on her bag and walked towards the gate.

"Two going out!" The gateman said as Joel and Ellie left the plant and walked out into the forest. The pair walked down the path by the river and into the forest.

"Nice day out today" Joel remarked as they passed the river, leaving the dam out of sight.

"Yeah" She said sighing, Tommy was usually the one who started all of the hunting conversations.

Joel grabbed the hunting rifle from his shoulder and pulled the bolt back on the gun. "Okay, so, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on." Ellie said as she climbed up a rock and jumped off.

"Don't give me that Ellie" Joel brushed past a tree and snapped off a branch. "Something's wrong, I can hear it in your voice. Now, I ain't really your dad, but I care about you. I want to help you out Ellie."

"It's just…" She stammered out, Ellie struggled for the words to say "I love you and Tommy, and Maria is great too, but I…"

"What?" Joel asked "Did someone say something to you?"

"Not that… I just…" Ellie was never like this, so lost for words "There's nobody at camp that I can really relate to, you know? Everyone there besides the little kids knew what life was like twenty years ago. It's just hard not having anybody your own age around."

"I know" Joel said as he took aim at a squirrel and fired. "Come on, we can make the most of today."

"Yeah, sure" Ellie said. Is there no one else my age left in this world? She thought as she walked on.