"That's a fucked up idea."
"But it is an idea." (Y/N) shrugged as he continues his walk.
"How are you gonna sneak out knowing that Maria put the place on full lockdown?" Ellie follows him.
"Not sneaking. Horse riding."
Two days. Things were okay. Except for Ellie and (Y/N) who've been extra discreet.
They never once visited Joel. Only Ana did. And she said it was a favor for them. Joel knows that they're up to something, just not sure what it is yet.
'You two better not do anything stupid.'
~~
Now Joel is slowly healing up. He's getting up on his feet, with the migraine dying down, and the pain fading away.
Maria, Tommy and Ana try to escort him back to his house, but the old man has other plan in mind.
"I'm going to Ellie's first."
Well they can't argue with that. Of course she's the first priority. Until.
"Ellie and (Y/N) took the horse!" Not the best thing after you got discharged.
Chad rushed over to them, panting, exhausted.
"What!?"
"They showed up at the stable, and threatened to shoot Greg. So he gave it to them."
Now Maria's head is twice as big. And Joel felt like his migraine is returning.
"Damn it!"
"Prepare one for me. I'm gonna find them." Joel stomped past them, returning to his house, and grab his gears.
Surprisingly, no one was against him. Even more surprised when he was greeted by Tommy and Jesse who's also getting ready with their own horses.
"Can't let you go out there alone Joel. Not after what happened last time."
"Thanks..."
He gets on the horse, and ride them towards the gate where Maria is waiting by.
"Get those two idiots back in one piece."
"Yes ma'am." Jesse salute her, and they rode off.
~~
Somewhere in the woods, (Y/N) and Ellie ride through the snow covered forest.
"How come the infected show up around winter?"
"Kinda like hibernation ya know. The virus, cordyceps, hate cold. And they're incredibly restless during the winter season."
"Okay professor. How did you know all these?" Ellie isn't convinced by his theory.
"Take humans for instance. We shivered in the cold right?"
"Yeah..."
"And so does the infected. They shivered even during normal time, so the cold only makes them even hungrier, crazier, you get it."
"You got a point."
"Does your compliment comes with a kiss?" He daringly asks her.
Ellie blushed. Sure they kissed after that night. The relationship is evolving, and so does the boy's attitude.
"Maybe later. Don't forget why we're out here." (Y/N) fumed childishly, not getting his kiss. Yet.
"You wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?" She asks him again.
"We could lure them with sounds, but it'll make things worse for later. Try this direction," (Y/N) points up the hill. "There's this cabin I stayed before I got in Jackson. We could stay there for the night and get to it tomorrow."
"Cabin..."
"Yeah, cabin. Any problem?"
"No..."
~~
Arriving at the place that's familiar for both them.
But for Ellie, it's more personal. She and Joel had a history in the place, or more specifically, the room that they're in right now.
"You're not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain't your dad."
Ellie just standing there, looking around the room. (Y/N) noticed that she's definitely on to something. She's never good at hiding emotions anyway.
"Okay. You definitely got a problem here."
His speech snapped her out of her moody mind.
"Nothing, it's just some stupid memories."
(Y/N) raised his eyebrow, not sure about her statement.
"Bad?" He asks just to make sure.
"Worse..."
She dropped her bag by the side, and a sudden force pulled her, startling her.
(Y/N) swiped his arms around her waist, pulling her face to face.
"I can make you forget about it." He smirked. And Ellie chuckled at his rizzling attempt.
"Try to save some energy for tomorrow." She leaned in, kissing his lips. A moment before (Y/N) pulled away.
"You're the one that pushed me over the limit."
"Shut up and take your clothes off."
~~
The two kind of went overboard. At least Ellie did. Currently staying within each other's embrace on the bed. Some thoughts come up in (Y/N)'s mind.
"Just to be clear, we are dating right?" (Y/N) asks, which kind of surprised Ellie.
"What makes you think we're not?" She lifted her head from his chest, looking up to him.
"I don't know... I mean we fucked but, no one said anything about boyfriend girlfriend, or dating..." He sighed. "Forget what I ask. It was stupid."
Ellie chuckled at his reaction. Even all this time and he's still thinking that this is a dream or something not serious.
Ellie closed the distance between their faces, kissing him on the lips again.
"How about now? Still think we're not dating?"
"I still need a few more convincing."
They both laugh for bit, then continued the lips war with each other.
"Ellie!?"
They stopped, eyes went wide hearing that.
Not a good sign as the footsteps suddenly became louder and visible within their hearings.
Apparently Joel had guess it right. He knew they would need to stop somewhere. And when they arrived at the cabin, Shimmer was already inside, getting comfortable.
He rushed up the stairs to the same room that the couple are in.
"Joel!?"
'Shit!'
They get off the bed, scramble around the room to pick their clothes up.
"Ellie!" He burst in through the door, and the sight was, awkward...Very awkward.
Ellie has already put on the underwears, but she's still visible to some point.
"Close the fucking door!!" She throws her shoe in his direction but is deflected by the quick door that was slammed by Joel.
"Sorry!!"
Jesse and Tommy rushed up to him, confused at what's going on.
"What happened?"
Joel hold his hand up, signaling them to wait for a bit.
"You done?"
Silent. No answers.
Until two knocks, and Joel finally open the door again. This time, he was met with two fully clothed individuals. But Ellie has her accusing eyes on him.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Tommy starts.
"What do you think?" (Y/N) crossed his arms.
"We're trying to get to Seattle." Ellie blandly told him.
"Ellie, listen to yourself. You're going to Seattle, that's enemy's territory." Jesse being the first to protest.
"Well they came into our territory didn't they? Payback's gonna be a bitch."
"Did you two forget about what I said?" Joel joins in.
"Oh please. You're just salty cause we didn't bring you along." Technically, (Y/N)'s right.
"You can still come with us you know." Ellie's statement somehow puts Joel in a difficult position.
"You sure?"
"Well, we're gonna do something first before actually heading to Seattle. But now you're here, it makes thing easier. What do you say?"
"Joel?" Tommy and Jesse feel that something major is coming. The decision Joel makes will change Jackson for better or worse.
"Tommy." He turned towards his brother. "I'm going to Seattle."
"What..."
"Take care of Ana and Jason for me." (Y/N) tells Tommy, hoping that he would do it.
"Tommy?" Jesse stars besides the insecure Tommy. He has a big decision to make.
Either to stop his brother from traveling the country again like last time. With the possibility that he won't see him again.
Or stop him, beat him up, and lock him in Jackson. Which would not do Joel any good either.
Tommy let out a deep breath, coming to his own conclusion.
"You better be back for my birthday Joel. You owed me a song."
"I'll try." Joel replies.
"Don't try. Just get your ass back here in one piece."
~~
The next day, Tommy and Jesse left the cabin, returning to Jackson reluctantly.
"Are you sure about this?"
"No..."
Back in the cabin, Joel, Ellie, and (Y/N) are getting ready for their adventure up ahead.
Three people, two horses, one destination. One goal. And that's to fuck up the WLF.
They're currently traveling through the inner city.
"What were your plans before I arrived in the cabin?"
"Uh..." Ellie is speechless. Of course she is. The idea was (Y/N)'s to begin with.
"Find some infected. Have them bite me and Ellie." Now Joel is surprised. "Return to Jackson, show Maria the bite marks, then we'll be kicked out of Jackson."
"That's a fucked up plan..." Joel muttered.
"Exactly what I said. This boy is beyond crazy!" Ellie shouts out her displeasure.
"No. You said it's a fucked up idea. Joel said plan. Not the same."
"So... Are you two a thing?" The question is like any fathers would ask their daughters.
Okay. This is gonna be a long journey.
____________________________________________________________
Here. New chapter. Onward to Seattle, the city of rain. Or pain.