GUARDIAN, TLOU

Epilogue.

Looking up with wide eyes, Marlene begins to beg, raising one hand, "No, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Please. Let me go."

Joel sets his jaw, making up his mind as he lifts the gun, "You'd just come after her."

Bang!

***

A loud ringing echoes in Jo's brain.

She couldn't quite tell what it was. Maybe she had stood too close to the gun as Joel fired at Marlene, the loud shot leaving her ears sore.

Or perhaps it were an alarm?

Forty eight years Jo had been walking this earth, twenty of them in this hellish nightmare.

Family and friends had dropped like flies, and so it would only be symbolic that one had taken her down. One she had once saw as a friend herself.

Marlene was already gone now, lying lifeless in a pool of her own blood.

If only they had seen the raise of the darkened pistol, grasped beneath her dripping fingers before she fell to her fate, taking down another in the process.

Laughter sounded beside Jo, leaving her in a state of confusion.

Was this hell? Had the devil himself finally raised from the burning, fiery pits to point and mock at her devastating attempts of happiness?

No. Recognition came quicker to her than she thought it could.

It wasn't the boasting devil, it was her.

She was giggling like she once did as a child, only she was not alone this time.

Joel and Ellie's contagious laughter mixed together, creating the most beautiful melody Jo had came to hear.

It left her wishing she could replay it in her mind for every moment of her being, like a broken record player, in the far corner of her mind.

It was from that night, before they met Henry and Sam. Ellie had been reciting a joke she'd read but was intercepted by a smart-mouthed Joel.

That was Jo's favourite memory.

Crying pleads bounced off of the walls of the room her body lay in, but she was too far gone to notice.

She felt thankful that in these final moments, she could see the memory, one last time.

And without her knowing, as she ascended to another world a quiet whisper left her mouth.

"I love you, Joel and Ellie Miller."

It was rather unfortunate that those seven words left poor, old Joel choking on his own sobs, dreading having to tell his little girl of her mother's un-beating heart.

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A/N: hey guys, i just wanted to thank all of my kind readers for voting and commenting on my story!

I've been working on this fanfic for months now and it's sad to see it end and to say goodbye to Jo but I had to let her go (this was always going to have a tragic ending.)

I currently have other fanfics out, so if you're interested in any of the below fandoms please give them an experimental read and if you don't like them then just quietly remove them from your library (I wont be offended lol!)

• Teen wolf — 'Healer' — Derek H x Fem!oc

• The Vampire Diaries — 'The Balance' — Male!oc x Fem!oc (background)

• Harry Potter (& the marauders era) — 'Moonlight' — Fred x Fem!oc

• Shadow & Bone — 'Storm' — Nikolai x Fem!oc (coming soon)