This story MAY contain depictions of violence and possible sexual themes. TRIGGER WARNING: Story may contain suicide/suicide attempts. Reader discretion is advised.

A/N: This is my first story on this site. Leave some reviews and let me know what you think! In this story, I'll be using the image of Ellie that we saw in 'The Last Of Us Part II Reveal Trailer'. This will be set four years after the 'The Last Of Us' with Ellie and Joel still living in Jackson. So, Ellie is 18.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Last Of Us' or any of the game's content. I am simply playing around in that fictional world.

And with that, enjoy!

"What the fuck?"

Ellie stared in bewilderment at the decrepit bedroom before her. Only moments ago she had checked this room. Every drawer was shut, the closet door was locked. It hadn't been touched. And as she returned from clearing the rest of the house to snatch whatever she and Joel could use, she discovers the room had been torn apart in the time she was gone.

Every drawer was opened with useless papers and other miscellaneous items pouring out of it. From the closet, t shirts and button downs had been pulled out and tossed across the room in a hurry, only a few hangers were bare, signaling some clothing items had been taken.

Instinctively, Ellie reached for her handgun snug on her hip. She whipped it out, spun on her heel, and stood her ground, inching down the hall of the empty townhouse. A discolored pink rug beneath her feet muffled her footsteps. The smell of old wood wafted through the whole home. Years of aging hadn't been too tough on the place but wood will be wood and as she paused for a moment in the hall, Ellie could hear a loud creak coming from behind the door only a few feet in front of her on the right.

Ellie steadied her hand as she pressed it against the door, careful not to make a sound as she tried to listen to what was happening inside.

"Shit, shit, shit.. C'mon!" Jane whimpered. Time was running low and her hands were shaking too much for her to rifle through items at a quick enough pace. "Condoms, floss, socks.. Fuck!" She cursed herself, shoving the drawer closed with a 'bam!'.

Jane stood up, straightening her figure as she paced back and forth in the bedroom. She'd already gone through most of the house and couldn't seem to find one damn first aid kit. Within all three bedrooms, a kitchen, a basement, a living room, and two bathrooms, she only gathered a couple antibiotics, some peroxide, and some shirts that could be used as makeshift bandages. All she had left to check was the garage she spotted when she had rushed inside, but was there even time left for that? The teen grabbed her blonde, slightly blood stained, shoulder length hair, fisting it as she mumbled, trying to figure out how much time she had left to ransack the other houses neighboring this one.

Would he make it? Was there time? They wouldn't move if she wasn't yet back with what they needed.. would they?

Ellie pulled her ear back from the door, chuckling quietly at the frazzled words of whoever stood behind it. Go time.

She took a strong stance before lifting her boot, kicking open the door with such force she could hear the lock crack and part of the door frame fly across the room. "Hands in the fuckin' air!" She boomed. Her gun was raised and aimed right at the figure before her. She gulped as she took in the image of the person stood before her.

The girl had well kept blonde waves that ended just past her shoulders. Her skin was tan from the summer sun. The piercing blue eyes stood out amongst the colors she held. She sported a brown tank top that hugged her matured figure, outlining the curve of her waist. Her blue skinny jeans lay clad against strong legs. A knife lay in a sheath placed conveniently through a belt loop on her right hip. There was a beige knapsack on the floor, an array of items peeking out from the undone fold. Ellie took notice that the girl's clothes had been covered with a streak of blood, as if it had been sprayed in a hurry across her, so wildly that it had dampened her chest and hair as well.

She was stunning, to say the least. But she ransacked the fucking house.

Ellie refocused, her hands gripping even tighter to her weapon. The stranger gulped, her hands raised next to her head. Ellie motioned with a nod to the mess of stuff that was littered around the desk against the wall. "You did that?" The blonde gulped, glancing over at the mess she had made, almost wanting to shake her head and try to lie her way out of this. She opted to nod truthfully, deciding now was not the best time to play any tricks. "Knife, on the ground. Now." Ellie ordered, her gaze unfaltering. The order was obeyed and the previously sheathed knife was tossed to the floor. It landed with a soft thud on the rug.

"What's your na-"

"Jane. M-My name is Jane." Her raised hands were trembling even more than before now. Jane finally looked directly at the girl holding the gun, noting she looked to be the same age as herself. Behind the weapon stood a girl with light brown hair and icy green orbs. She had cuts on her cheek and forehead, a very thin layer of blood smeared across her cheek. It was so thin that the color mixed in with her freckles, her face looking ever rosier than it was naturally. Half of her hair was pulled up. A few strands hung in her face. The short hair that didn't make it up was stuck to her neck with sweat. A black backpack hung on her shoulders.

As Jane's focus teared away from the gun once again, she took in what this girl was wearing. A blue button up with all buttons undone was placed over a grey t-shirt. Black jeans that fit a little loosely and converse on her feet. Her eyes widened only for a moment as she noticed the soles of the sneakers were stained with blood. "Hey. Hey, eyes on me." Jane quickly refocused her attention on the face behind the gun.

"Jane, I don't know if you fuckin' knew, but I cleared this house. And you took what I came to get. So," Ellie took small side steps towards the knapsack. "I'm gonna take what I need and be on my way." Ellie leaned down, the gun's barrel still focused on Jane. The minute Ellie touched one of the t-shirts...

"NO!" Jane shrieked, diving from the line of fire towards the knapsack. "Don't touch it!" She landed on her hip and kicked out Ellie's feet from underneath her. As Ellie fell on her rear with a thud, Jane scrambled to close the bag. "Goddammit-" Ellie was back on her feet in an instant.

She reached for Jane's hair and gripped her scalp. Jane's head was yanked back, a yelp spilling from her lips, her arm flying up. She managed to whack the gun from Ellie's tight grip. It slid across the floor and hit the wall about five feet away. Ellie released Jane's hair in a rough push and dove for the gun. The moment she pointed it at Jane once again, the blonde's hand was only inches from her knife. "Don't fuckin' move! Touch the knife and I'll blow your head off!"

Jane's eyes were wide with fear as she glanced between the gun and the knife. She pursed her lips together. In defeat, she pulled her hand back from the weapon. Ellie scrambled to get up, stomping back to Jane and pushing her by the back of her head.

"Open the bag. Open it!" Ellie shoved Jane to her knees and pressed the barrel of the weapon to the back of her head. As Jane quickly opened the bag and turned it over, allowing the contents to spill across the rug, Ellie saw a large scrape across Jane's upper back. It was dirty, peeking out from the tear in Jane's shirt, and still quite fresh, but the blood had dried around it. She guessed whatever happened with the blood splattered across the front of her body also caused this.

Suddenly, Ellie softened slightly.

Some tears had fallen from Jane's stained cheeks onto the light carpet beneath them. She cried silently. A blank expression graced her face.

Jane had lost hope that her group would wait for her. This girl had slowed her down too much and was now stealing her supplies. Even if she did make it back in time before they moved, they'd be angry because she'd return without their much needed aid. Once she was done spreading out the supplies over the floor, she felt the gun press a little softer against her skull.

Then, a hand was placed on her back. Directly over a fresh wound.

"What's this from?"

Jane hissed at the stinging sensation evoked by the girl's touch, hunching over and whimpering once again. Ellie quickly removed her hand, feeling some sort of need to ease the pain she'd caused. She kept her gun in hand as she knelt down besides Jane.

"To make things easier, call me Ellie. What's that from?" Ellie spoke, a hint of worry in her tone. Since returning to Jackson with Joel a few years back, she learned to be more compassionate. Jackson wasn't a ruthless environment like Boston and sure didn't have people as paranoid as Bill or sick as David. Infected came rarely, giving everyone time to sit back and be civilized people, something a lot of them hadn't had in a long time. Ellie, though tough and hardened, learned to trust and care. She had even made friends with some people near her age. But, after Riley, Ellie could feel a small pang in her stomach if she ever got close to one of them. So, she never did.

But here she was, trying to talk to an injured girl, trying to help. She may not have been in Jackson at this very moment, but their values don't disappear once you leave the walls.

She heard Jane sniffle. "I fell." Ellie glanced at the wound again. "Fell how? You don't get that bad of a wound from tripping over a rock." She joked.

Jane clenched her eyes shut. She didn't want to relive what happened only hours ago. "I uh.. I was in a car with a few other people. We ran into some Infected and skidded off the main road. My door, um, unlatched and swung open somehow and the seat belts were broken so I went flying once we hit a bump. I slid on my back on the street for a couple seconds."

"What happened after that? You should be resting, not out here looting places." Jane listened to Ellie's words. She shook her head and sat up slowly, trying not to move in any way that could pull at the scrape. "The others ran to a house a few blocks away from here, away from lots of Infected. When they ran away, one of 'em, my friend Emmett, shouted at me to go get anything that could help." Jane wiped the tears from her cheeks, sitting up. "Come to think of it, his leg wasn't working well then. Sure as hell isn't working now."

Ellie sighed. She mulled over what to do, coming to the decision that she couldn't kill Jane. While killing in cold blood was not foreign to her what with her past, she couldn't bring herself to keep the barrel against Jane's head and pull the trigger.

"That scrape is deeper than you think, Jane. Let's just.. get you patched up, I guess."