The Last of Us Part II (A Complete Rewrite)

02. Outpost 8

Ellie slammed her side into the door, planting her feet firmly into the ground as the infected put their weight onto the metal from the other side. She could feel the door giving way, yet as she held on for dear life, there were rhythmic knocks on the door, paced out at first, but getting impatient. Then a voice called out to her.

Ellie's eyes flew open. She realised she was in her bed, her blanket curled off to one side and one foot sticking out of the bed. Breathing a sigh of relief, she sat up. She looked at her clock. It was just past eight.

"Ellie? Wake up!" Someone was at the door.

"What the fuck," she muttered. "I'm coming!" she yelled back when the knocking wouldn't stop. "Jesus." She opened it to find Dina.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Dina said, eyeing Ellie's demeanor.

"Shut up. What are you doing here?"

"Jesse got sick last night so he's not going to make it with me today. Maria said I could take you."

"To your outpost? What about mine?" Ellie asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Well, she said she'd have someone else cover it."

"Do I get a say in any of this?"

"No."

"Fine. Give me a minute." Ellie closed the door and yawned. She looked at her slightly untidy house. One of these days she would get around to cleaning it up but... today was not the day.

Changing her clothes, she looked around for her bag, at last finding it lying under her table. It had been with her for years now, and she'd made suitable modifications to it. There was a holder to secure her rifle on one side, and another weapon on the other. She used the bag as a quiver whenever she took the bow with her. But right now, the rifle would suffice. Multiple compartments allowed her to separate things like food and medicine, as well as pick up new stuff she came across.

She belted her pistol and knife holsters and headed to the door, finding Dina sitting on the steps outside.

"Ready to go?" Dina asked.

"Sure."

They began walking towards the stables. All scouts were provided with horses, and Graham looked after them. He was known in the town to be able to tame nearly any horse, and that had worked well for the community over the years. He had a way with the beasts, and no one else had come to Maria's mind when the position of stablemaster had come up.

"Are you wearing yesterday's clothes?" Dina asked as the two of them trudged along the streets.

"There's nothing wrong with them. They smell fine."

"Of course, I can smell the roses from here." The two of them laughed.

Ellie suddenly felt pain shoot up her side.

"It still hurts?" Dina asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I never knew you could get hurt in a snowfight," Ellie replied, massaging the bruise.

"It wasn't your fault really. Even I would've slipped on that surface. Besides, it's not like we didn't fuck them up."

"We definitely won that round."

"Oh yes, we did," Dina said, nodding her head.

They opened the enclosure adjacent to the stables. In the summer, Graham let the horses roam around in the large open area. However, with the winter well settled in, it felt safer to keep them warm inside.

"You girls heading out?" he asked when he saw them approaching.

"Outpost 8," Dina replied.

"That one's far off. And the road isn't great. Remember to walk the horses carefully. I don't want to have to put down any of them."