OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. Over 5000 words (5150 to be exact :D)! This concludes the first part of the story! Don't worry guys. I will be writing the sequel very soon! I just want a new beginning! hahaha. So this story isn't going to dissapear so no need to worry! Have fun reading. Hopefully you'll love it.

Keep an eye for my next story!

"The Better Survivor" is going to be the next story title. Once again, to repeat myself, it will continue from THIS story!

Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! I loved them! I look forward to your reviews!

I must say, for my first story, I think of this story as successful!

I love you guys so much. Thank you so so much!

I'm just repeating myself but... MAKE SURE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE SEQUEL!

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So without a further ado, here's the chapter!

Jelloe

Chapter 10 – Joel –Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

"Put down the gun." I glared at him and tried to stay calm, "Just let her go. We'll walk our ways." I scanned around for a distraction, but there was nothing. We were about one hundred feet away. He was across from the other side of the river with Ellie. No way in hell would I have a perfect and clear shot. I knew going outside was a bad idea. I never wanted to do this. We're survivors. We can't take these chances anymore. It's all because of Sarah. I wouldn't be doing this if Ellie wasn't threatened to die.

The pale man chuckled and sneered with his gun pointed at Ellie's head, "You think I'd really do that?"

"What's your deal with us?" I asked, "You got kids in your own settlement."

His voice had a whispering and pugnacious tone, "That deal is none of your business. Boss gives his orders. We follow." His expression showed that he was enjoying every part of our talk.

I growled at what he said and clenched my teeth, "You gonna follow an order that gets children and innocent people killed?"

"As matter of fact…" He took an icy deep breath and said, "I am the leader. We just need supplies. Happy I told you now? Mind if we take any?"

"Like hell we will."

He chuckled and continued to have one arm grappled onto Ellie with the gun pointed to her head. I looked at Ellie who was glaring at him and trying to find an opening to take him down.

"I'll just keep this short. I'll be merciful today." He glared at me and slammed the butt of his gun onto Ellie's head and chuckled.

"Ellie!" I took a step forward.

"Don't you come any closer mister. You want one of you to die?" He pointed the gun towards me, then back at her, then back at me. Smiling.

I continued to try and aim at the man's face.

"Why haven't you fired yet? You too scared something might happen? I'd like to play a little game someday. Done it to many people already. Until that day, I'd advise you not to fuck with our territory ever again. Saw this bitch and another creepin' up in our territory." He threw his gun into the river, turned around, and chucked, "You guys are going to die someday. Why not sooner?"

"You're fucking crazy." My hands were shaking and swaying from anger. I still couldn't get a perfect aim to his head. I swam across the river going to Ellie's direction – adrenaline pumping through my body.

"She's one crazy bitch you know. You should reckon just leave her one day. These kids know their ways." He continued to walk away. I took out my gun and pointed towards where he walked. The crazy bitch continued to just walk away. I couldn't take the chances of meeting him again. I tried my best to aim for his head and pulled the trigger.

-BANG-

A trail of blood flew into the air. It barely skimmed his arm. "Ouch." He frowned as he wiped his arm, "Great shot there sir." He turned around again and took a deep breath. He shaped his fingers and hand so they were finger guns and slowly put them up. I couldn't bring Ellie anywhere to safety. There wasn't any cover to go behind. But what in God's name was he doing standing there pretending he had guns?

"So I was going to leave you be… But that really, really hurt." He continued to frown, "Oh? What's wrong? Am I too far away? You'd be a great survivor if you could actually shoot this far. I already have to pick up my voice…" He raised his finger guns all the way aiming for my head. "I'm a better survivor than you." He sneered with a flared nose, and pretended to fire.

-BANG-

A sharp sting ran through the back of my right knee. Blood trailed down and I kneeled down looking behind me. Two men came running towards me who were frail and weak. I tried my best to get up and fired back. They were close enough. I shot one in the head and he fell to the floor. My right knee stung savagely, but I continued to fire at the second person. I got him on the chest and by the second shot, he pummeled to the floor – motionless. I kneeled down again and clenched onto the back of my right knee. I felt warm blood trailing out and I applied pressure. The bullet burned my flesh from the speed – making a swelling and stinging pain. I grimaced as I continued to clench onto my right knee. I looked at Ellie and checked her pulse – still alive. I took a deep breath in relief. I turned around to find the pale man smiling excitedly.

"Shit. You just killed two of my men." He seemed to have been enjoying this.

"What the fuck are you?" I glared at him trying to hold in the piercing pain of my right leg. The pain was still swelling from the burn.

"I think you already know. Joel. All those raids we did. It seems like you switched sides!" He put up his hands.

The face. The eyes. The nose. No doubt. Now that I realized it, I knew who he was. "Larry. How are you still ali-"

"Like I said. I'm a better survivor than you." He turned around, "We'll talk when we go back… Friend." He crossed his arm. I began to lose focus and couldn't even hold onto my gun. I was losing too much blood.

"I… We thought you were dea-"

-WHAM-

5 Hours ago

I grumbled as I woke up to the morning birds outside. I looked around to find Ellie Sitting by the wall writing in her diary.

"Hey." She said candidly.

"Mornin'" I replied back as I yawned.

"You know what I haven't noticed you do lately?" Ellie continued to write in her diary.

"What's that?"

"Your nightmares. Ever since after winter. You went silent." She was focused on her writing.

"What time is it?" I tried to shake the sleepiness out of my head.

"Check your watch."

I looked down at it. "My watch is broken."

"No. Your batteries are just dead. Found some down in the factory today. Here" She laid down two small round batteries and a screwdriver, "Knock yourself out."

"Ellie. Let's go through this. Even if this is Joel and Maria's place, it's not safe goin' there alone."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just put them in. I'm not sure if they still got any juice left though."

"Ain't gonna work. You gotta know what the actual time is." I acknowledged the battery as I got up and put them in my backpack. "How'd you know that my watch didn't have batteries in 'em?"

"Winter." She repeated herself and continued to write in her battery.

I stared at her blankly and looked back at my watch. I took out the batteries on the day Sarah died. I sighed, got up, and picked up my backpack to get breakfast from the dining quarters.

"You eaten yet?"

"Waiting for you." She was still writing.

"Let's go" I strapped my backpack around me and walked outside with Ellie following. I took a deep breath of the warm spring air and cracked my neck.

"Ew." Ellie said from behind.

"They should grow coffee." I muttered to myself.

"What's the whole fuss about coffee? You've been complaining about that drink almost every morning."

"The taste is…" I tried to think of a word.

"Nostalgic?" She asked.

"Yeah… Since when did you learn these big words?" I turned around questioning her with my arms to my hips

"Dictionary and thesaurus. Neat words in here. Could come in handy you know." She took out a book that was about the size of a textbook.

"That looks pretty heavy."

"Complaining are for pussies."

"Learning some bad words now are you?"

"The guards over there taught me. I learned this new word that makes fun of black people or something… I think it's called ni-"

"Woah there ma'am. Don't be using that swear now."

"How come?"

"That's the worst one out there. Especially for you know… Dark skinned people."

"Well they also said that there's one for whites and Asians as well… I think the Asians are called chi-"

"Ellie."

"Ok, ok. I promise I won't use those words. Geez." She crossed her arms and started to walk pass me. "Hey I gotta go to Sarah for my checkup. Get me some food."

"Will do." I replied as I walked her jog towards the first aid grounds.

As I walked slowly towards the dining quarters, guards and parents waved at me warmly. I nodded back. Yesterday was quite a day for her. When I got me and Ellie's food, I saw Tommy sitting with the guard I talked to yesterday. I walked up and sat down across from Tommy. He didn't have any food and he seemed tired. I looked around to see other guards eyeing him and Maria, who was across the other side of the room, sitting with parents, and drinking water. I placed Ellie's food next to mine and began to eat.

There was a good thirty seconds of silence until I asked a question. "The hell happened with you last night?" I asked as I chowed down on my meal.

"Maria's pissed off and gave a good bitchin' last night about what happened yesterday."

"So what exactly happened when we were gone?"

"Hell. Guards were foolin' around. Probably weren't on their post. We'll talk to 'em today. Lost some people yesterday. Crazy shits happenin' lately Joel. I don't like this. We got three hours 'til we're up on duty today." Tommy's eyes were sagging, but the concern in his voice told me he was worried about everyone's safety.

"Hey. What's happening?" Ellie sat next to me and picked up a fork and began to eat.

"Just talking about yesterday." Tommy replied trying to stay awake.

"Oh." Ellie looked down at her meal and hesitated to eat more. The food was decent enough nowadays. Breakfast contained fresh milk from the cows, baked bread, eggs, banana, and water. Hard to scavenge for food. Nice to know our settlement grows and makes our own food now. "Man. I've never tried food this good."

"Ever been to one of those Michelin Star restaurants? Man. Been to one with my ex once. Best night ever." The guard sat there daydreaming while he was eating his food, "Guess I'll never get to eat food that great ever again."

"At least we know this shit's natural." Tommy murmured. He rubbed his eyes and started to eat as well. "Ain't synthetic no more. Some all natural egg and milk."

After fifteen minutes of silent eating, everyone finally finished. "Hey," Ellie said wiping her mouth, "Where can we get a guitar?"

I looked to Tommy and said, "I wanna teach her guitar. Got any to borrow?"

"I think we do. Old man down there plays and makes 'em." He pointed down an alleyway, "The Brown house."

"Got it." I got up, "C'mon Ellie."

Ellie stood up and started to run towards the brown house. "You promised to sing you know."

"Yeah, yeah." I caught up to her and we got into the store.

The brown house, on the outside, looked crude and somber. As for the inside, the wooden floor was nicely cleaned and guitars hanged around the room. "Oh man." Ellie walked through the room looking at all the guitars. She strummed one of the guitars, but the sound was off. Ellie grimaced at the odd sound and said, "The place I lived in had guards that played guitar you know. I always wanted to learn."

"Oh hey there! Didn't see you guys come in. You guys want a guitar?"

"Yeah."

"I'm probably the last guitar maker you'll ever meet. Better get a good look at me no?" The old man had a hunched back and walked towards Ellie and patted he head. He looked at me and asked, "Oh! This must be… Joe… right?"

"Joel." I corrected him. "I used to play guitar. Mind if we check this place out?"

"Why sure thing Jobe!"

Not paying attention to his misnomer, I began to look around the room and strummed different guitars. After about a half an hour of searching, we finally found one that sounded good. We brought it up to the counter and I took out my pack for a trade. The old man just stood there and smiled, staring at what I have to offer.

"You really do play the guitar. I must say. This guitar wasn't made by me. He was my father! Built it for me…" He smiled, "Got arthritis on my fingers now. Can't play anymore… You… You keep it." He smiled again, but more warmly this time, "Don't want to just leave this one behind now do I?" He took a deep breath. He turned around and went behind the counter to get some picks. "That's Brazilian rosewood you got there. My dad went there and cut some. Made it himself. Year was… 1936. He had a mission trip there. He planned on selling it for one-thousand dollars. During the great depression! Crazy bitch." He chuckled and continued his story after he placed the picks down. "This wood is thin as paper. The more it ages, the better is sounds. Treat it with care." He patted the guitar, picked it up, and passed it to me. "You saved our lives. This is the least I could do."

I hesitantly took it. "No wonder it sounded so great. It's Brazilian rosewood… I acknowledged the guitar and took a strap to strap it on. "Thanks… uhm…" I hinted for his name.

"Nick!" He smiled at me, "Just call me Nick. Sixty-four years old."

"Thank you Nick." I opened the door and walked out.

"C'mon! I wanna learn like right now! Let's go to our room! I'll wait for you there." Ellie took the guitar from my hands, strapped it around her body, and jogged to our house.

"Ellie be careful with that thing!" I called back. If she trips now, then that guitar's gonna break. I began to jog when Nick walked behind me.

"Oh… and Jobe?" He called back.

I turned around and wondered what he was going to say. He gave a warm smile again and said, "Keep her safe"

I nodded and turned around. I jogged down the road and got into the house with Ellie inspecting and feeling the glossy touch of the guitar. "This is like the smoothest thing I've ever felt. Is this seriously wood?" She started knocking against it. She strummed with open strings and looked up. "What song are we learning today? I'm singing right? Oh wait. Can I whistle while I play…? Can I-"

"Ok slow down. Here give it here." I grabbed a stool and took the guitar from her hands. I began to think in my head what song to sing. A Christian song came up, but I didn't know if Ellie was religious or not.

"You… don't mind religious songs do you? This can be a pretty sweet song."

"I don't mind. I just wanna sing." She sat there anticipating for me to play, "You're singing right?"

I sighed. "Don't be telling Tommy or Maria. Got it?"

She nodded and smiled.

I sighed and tuned the acoustic guitar. It's been over ten years since I've held on. I felt the glossy finish and the metallic strings press against my hand. I put my fingers on different positions and strummed with once across with me hand.

"Woah! Cool!" Ellie's back bent forward and she put her hands on her chin.

I strummed some more from the song and as I strummed and plucked I said, "We can do a duet if you get good you know."

"Ok play something. You better teach me after though."

I took a deep breath and began to sing "Will the Circle be Unbroken"

"There are loved ones in the glory

Whose dear forms you often miss.

When you close your earthly story,

Will you join them in their bliss?

Will the circle be unbroken?

By and by, by and by?

Is a better home awaiting

In the sky, in the sky?

In the joyous days of childhood

Oft they told of wondrous love

Pointed to the dying Saviour;

Now they dwell with Him above.

You remember songs of heaven

Which you sang with childish voice.

Do you love the hymns they taught you?

Or are songs of earth your choice?

You can picture happy gatherings

Round the fireside long ago,

And you think of tearful partings

When they left you here below.

One by one their seats were emptied.

One by one they went away.

Now the family is parted.

Will it be complete one day?"

I strummed the last chord and closed my eyes imagining sitting on my front porch with the warm breeze of summer air as I strummed and plucked away on this song. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Ellie stared at me and opened her mouth. "Never in my life. That sounds so fucking awesome!"

I took off the guitar and put it around her. "Your turn to try. How about we just first take it easy and strum the chords of the song?"

Ellie nodded and waited for my orders. Just like any guitar teacher, I took her hands and placed them on different strings and I would tell her to strum. I had to admit, she was eager to learn and gifted as a guitarist. She strummed slow at first and thought hard If she knew something on her positioning from her fingers weren't right. After about two hours, She was already able to play the entire song on guitar without error.

"Good job Ellie. You memorized the guitar part." I applauded her for the first time, "Let's get down to singing. I want you to hum it first. You know how it goes right?"

She nodded and tried to hum. "That's pretty hard. Shit. Ok. I got it hold up. Hmm, hmm…" I crossed my arms and listened. If she forget how the tune went, I would help and hum for her. After a good half-hour, she was able to hum through the song while playing.

"Told you it's easy." I said. I took a deep breath, "Alright It's been two hours. Do you want to take a break or sing it now?"

"Fuck breaks. I want to sing now. Ok. Can you like… write down the words or something? I don't remember 'em."

"Sure thing. Take out your writing utensils."

"I got a better idea." Ellie got up, took out only a pencil and gave me it. "Write it on the wall Joel."

"Why would I do that…?" I asked

"Who knows," Ellie shrugged, "If this place someday gets settled and when both of us… die, they'll remember us! Write down the chords and everything too!"

"I don't like this ide-"

"Joel. Please?"

"No."

"I'll write it then." Ellie walked towards the wall and wrote in big words, "A Song Sung by Ellie and Joel"

I sighed. I can't believe she's doing this. She really is going overboard. Is Sarah telling me to spoil her or something? Then again, I'm actually enjoying this as well. "Fine." I started to say the lyrics and she wrote. After sometime, the whole wall was covered with lyrics. Ellie sighed and walked back to her seat. "Ok. I can do this."

She took it slowly and sang. She had a good voice. By the time she sang the third time, she already put her emotion into the song and sang on beat. As soon as she ended the song, I clapped for her and smiled. I smiled. Ellie smiled. It was a great moment for me and her. "Great job Ellie."

"I want to take a break now… I don't know if this is a good idea, but how about swimming?"

"You'll be fine."

I stopped clapping, but I could still here clapping from outside our room with some whooping.

"Great job Ellie!"

"You're so talented!"

"Beautiful voice!"

"It's been so long!"

I smiled again, "I guess you got yourself some fans."

I took a step outside to see our station group outside. Tommy was standing in front of them and said, "What are you guys doing here?"

"You do know that you're fifteen minutes late right?"

"Shit."

I looked behind and saw Sarah behind all the guards. She smiled at me and gave a thumbs up sign. She came up and whispered, "You're doing a great job. Really."

"This girl persuaded me for you guys to have a day off. Told Maria… She was silent. But I think she understood. Go on doing your business. We got someone to fill you in. We'll be fine! Go have some fun with her."

"So we're going swimming I guess?

"I need to help you guys-"

"Oh you're going to teach her how to swim? You can help us out there. We're low on berries and fire supplies. We'll get you an axe. Chop down a tree for us while you guys go have some fun."

I hesitated, but Ellie really was having some fun for the first time. I sighed. "Give me the axe. C'mon Ellie."

Ellie followed me as usual and Tommy gave me the axe. They opened the gate and we went up the small hill on the left to the trees. Not near the waterfall, there was a calm river to teach Ellie.

"We're cutting wood first." I said to her, "You had enough fun for now."

"Sure." Ellie clutched her axe and saw a tree for us to cut. I hacked at the tree until it finally fell down. Ellie was panting from the work from the tree. "Alright. Time to split it."

I put two hands on the axe handle and hacked at the tree that is now laying on the ground. A good hour went by, but I knew it was only about lunch time. Tommy packed us a sandwich for both of us to eat. Thank god they grow food and hunt. It's been awhile since I ate fresh meat. Ellie on the other hand, never ate a sandwich before.

"You seriously never ate a sandwich?"

"No." She chewed inspecting the sandwich in her hand, "Back before I met you, we ate canned beans and spam almost every single day. Once I met you, we hunted meat, gathered berries, and stuff, but I never actually ate a sandwich before."

Confused and doubting, I asked, "Oh I see. So when was the first time you ever seen a squirrel?"

"When we hunted. Obviously."

"That's odd" I thought, "When we went hiking, she said that was the first time she ever saw a squirrel. Might need to tell Sarah about this."

I nodded. "Ready? Let's swim."

She got up and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to like drown right?"

I nodded my head sideways, "I'll be in the water with you and support you. You'll be fine."

"Ok." She seemed to look worried.

"Look. It's right over there." The river was flowing down the mountain, but we walked as far from it making sure Ellie doesn't get caught in the rapids.

As we walked down, Ellie continued to sing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" until we got there.

"This is survival ok Ellie? You're going to have to wear your clothes. Walk in first. I'll be right behind you."

She stopped singing and took a big and calm breath. One step, two steps, three steps… The river was up to her shins. Four steps, five steps… Knees. By the time we got to her fifteenth step, the water was chest high. Perfect for her to hold her breath and swim without drowning.

"Ok. First step. I want you to calmly lie down on your back. Don't worry. I got you."

"Ok." She moved her head backward and breathed in a huge load of river water. "What the fuck?" She chocked and coughed.

"You moved you head backward. I want you to move your body. You can do it."

"How exactly do I do that?"

"You have to lift off your feet honey."

She took a deep breath and tried again. My hands were lightly on her back. "Ok. Done. Woah… that's a nice view. Look up."

I looked up and caught the nice blue sky patched across the mid-day air. "Sure is nice." I sighed and began to talk again. "Ok so can you tell what's happening right now Ellie? Your breathing and you sinking?"

Ellie breathed in and out. Each time she let air out, she began to sink and caused her to flail her arms. But as soon as she breathed in, she started to float again.

"Yeah. That's cool."

"Air's lighter than water. You're lungs are taking in air. Which is why you float. Ok stand back up now."

Ellie grunted and got herself to stand back up. "I want you to go underwater now ok?"

"Fuck."

"Just put your face in the water for now. As you touch water, be sure to breathe out so water doesn't go up your nose. That causes you to choke and lose air. You ready?"

Ellie turned pale. She took a deep breath again. I knew this wasn't comfortable for her. The chilling water and the current definitely made her feel uncomfortable.

"Ellie listen to me."

"What?"

"You're doing a good job." I assured her, "Now go face down under the water and breathe out. I'll count to three. One… Two… Three."

Ellie took a huge breath and put her face in the water. The bubbles she made were huge, but she is able have her face underwater. She put up her face and nodded. "That's easy. Look."

This time, she put her whole entire body inside and stood underwater for three seconds and got back up. "Good job. Time to swim. Now listen. If you were to get tired, I just want you to roll onto your back and breath slowly ok?"

She nodded. I explained to her about swimming and by the time the sun was coming down, she was almost able to master it. She still chocked on water, but she was able to swim. "I got one last challenge Ellie."

"What's that?"

"Swim to the other side, and swim back."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. She definitely didn't think that I would challenge her to that. But she calmed down immediately and took a deep breath. "Ok fine."

I sat on the bank and told her to swim. She immediately swam to the other side of the river and I smiled again. She learned how to play guitar and swim on the same day. She really is getting better. Her mood is much better than before. Sarah really was right.

That's when I saw it.

She continued to wave at me, faster and faster. Both her hands were up as if she knew someone was behind her. Something was actually behind her. The bushes were moving and before I could yell, a pale man grabbed onto her shirt. She screamed in surprise and kicked frantically. "Ellie!" I screamed. I lunged forwards, but two hands grabbed my back and pulled me back from the river. A skinny man punched me in the head. The heavy blow got me disoriented and hurt my head. I regained consciousness and got back up to see him standing with his fists balled together. I lunged towards him – hit his chest, then head, and kicked him to make him fall down. My hands felt numb from his hard skull. I kicked his head again so hard that blood began to flow down his nose. I grabbed onto his shirt, hit his head again and hurled him into the lake. I shook my hand, took my gun out of my pocket, and turned around – prepared to swim across the river to where Ellie is.

I was too late. The pale man had a gun around Ellie's head and grinning at me. A scar ran down his eye down to his face. Just like what Ellie had said. This was the man who set fire onto the factory.

"What do you want from us?" I asked glaring. He was too far away. The river separated us. "Fuck me." I cursed myself for not going across with Ellie. I looked at her. The arm was buckled against her throat.

"Don't you come any closer. I have a good grip you know. One move, and I'll snap her neck. Same goes with you cutie." He looked down at Ellie and tilted her head down. "Your skin's so beautiful. Did anyone tell you that?" The pale man made it loud enough for me to hear. Anger flushed through me. I heard Ellie scream and shout, "Fuck you! Get the fuck off me you shit!"

The pale man widened his eyes. "You taught her these bad, bad words. You're so bad little girl."

"Don't you fucking do anything to her!" I screamed at him. No one's going to touch her. I'll show him.

The pale man laughed as he enjoyed himself. "Oh poor, poor family. She's the only one left that you care about huh? What about you little girl? You miss your daddy? Want your ba-ba?" I saw Ellie struggling to get free, but she couldn't let go of his grip. Her hands were in his grip as well. Not allowing her to do anything.

"Can we just settle this like men? Just put down the gun." I began to lower mine.

"Hell no" He smiled and shot. The bullet was flew five inches from me on the ground. A piece of rock hit my shoulder. I put my gun up again.

I couldn't do anything.

Ellie's too far away.

This psycho is unpredictable.

I couldn't call for help.

"Put down the gun."

"Like hell I will."

"We'll walk our ways."

"Bullshit."

"Please just put down the gun."

"Jesus Christ. Why can't you just shut the fuck up and accept that your poor little daughter is going to die? Everyone dies now. Nothing special anymore." He grinned clenching the gun harder than before.

We're survivors. We should never have done this.

It was my fault. This was all my fault.

I controlled my breath and tried to remain calm.

"Put down the gun." Fear was flowing through me. My hands were shaking "Just let her go. We'll walk our ways."