Chapter Seventeen
Communism
Fran had never been on a horse, it wasn't as magical as she'd assumed it would be. She was stuck behind Ellie, hand's close to her chest as they moved in a group. Joel had been given his own horse to ride on, his face stoic as they rode up to the compound that the people had originally come from.
The compound looked like it's own little QZ on the outside, but instead of thick concrete, the gate was made out of wood. It was tall and intimidating as they made their way towards it, one of the people raising a flag to get them to open it up.
When the gate was open, Fran couldn't help the confused and shocked feeling she felt coursing through her.
People. So many people.
They made their way inside slowly, Fran seeing a group of kids making snowmen - all giggling as they did it. Their parents close-by to keep an eye on them. At the sight of the newcomers, all eyes were on them.
All the eyes made Fran shrink in on herself, looking forward to Joel who had stopped his own horse; eyes on a man in the distance.
"Tommy!" The man in question turned at the sound of his name, Fran watching as Joel got off his horse, rushing towards his brother.
She watched them embrace eachother tightly, her heart sinking slightly in her chest at the sight. While she was happy for him, truly happy that Tommy was okay and that the brothers were reunited, she couldn't help the envy from simmering in her chest.
She'd never have that with her own sister.
Her sister was dead.
She heard the two laugh, unaware of Ellie who had looked at her. The look on Fran's face was enough to let Ellie know she felt similar.
Tommy was then looking from Joel, to the two people on the horse staring right at him. He muttered something that they couldn't hear from the distance; and Joel was turning to them quickly, gesturing for them to come over.
Ellie got down off of the horse first, Fran following in her steps as someone took the horse from them, moving them towards the stables. She felt awkward approaching Tommy; they'd been looking for him for so long that seeing him in the flesh didn't feel real.
"I'm Ellie," Ellie was quick to introduce herself, looking to Fran to do the same.
Fran sent him a sheepish smile, holding out her hand for him to shake, "Fran."
"Nice to meet you both," Tommy said, shaking her hand while sending Joel a look. It was clear he was confused on why the two were there with his brother, but he wasn't about to voice it, "are y'all hungry?"
"Starving," Ellie cut in before Joel could shake his head, trying to appear more put together than he actually was.
Tommy led them then to the building set out for eating, calling it the cafeteria as he entered. It was a nice building, very warm inside. The fairy lights hung around were also a nice touch. They were given a glass of water each as well as a plate of food, and sat in front of Tommy, who had been joined by a woman named Maria.
While the three probably should've been kind and started conversation, the need for a full meal was a lot stronger. Joel and Ellie quickly got to eating, needing it way more than they realised. Fran was slower with her food, enjoying having some fresh water in between bites.
"There's more if you need it." Maria told them with a smile, trying to be kind, but she felt like she was watching wild animals eat a meal for the first time in months.
"Thank you, ma'am." Joel said in between mouthfuls, gesturing to Fran and Ellie as he spoke, "It's been a while since we've had a proper meal."
"Actually, I don't think I've ever had a proper meal." Ellie said, eyes not leaving her plate as she spoke with a full mouth, "This is fսck¡n' amazing."
The cursing made both Fran and Joel send her a look, Fran bumped her arm, shaking her head at the rude behaviour, while Joel turned to his brother, apologising on her behalf.
"Manners," Fran said quietly to Ellie, a small laugh from somewhere behind her a catching her attention. Her head turned in the direction, the back of a little boys head thrown back in a chuckle as his mother ticked him.
She could've sworn she saw a glimmer of orange paint on the side of his head - her heart stopped for a moment.
Sam.
He would've loved this place - all the children he could be around, the bright colours... he deserved to be here.
"What?" Ellie's voice cut through the thoughts that were starting to make Fran's stomach churn.
"What's wrong with you?" Joel asked Ellie, but his eyes were on Fran as she turned back into her seat with a pale face, her fork now down on her plate. The feeling of sick in her stomach bigger than her need to eat.
"What about her manners?" Ellie argued with Joel, talking about the girl who Ellie had caught staring at them; unaware of the inner conflict going on with the woman next to her.
"She was just curious." Maria cut in for Joel, "Kids around here don't usually look or talk like you."
"Right... well, maybe I'll teach them." Ellie said, going back to her food.
A hand on Fran's arm just out of sight grabbed her attention, eyes going to Joel. His eyes asking if she was okay. The woman sent him a small nod, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip, unaware of Tommy who had been watching the reaction with pinched brows.
What had happened to Tess?
"And I want my gun back." Ellie continued on at the silence of the rest of the table.
"They also aren't armed." Maria told her again, this time a little more stern.
"You know what? Uh... I think maybe y'all got a little off on the wrong foot," Tommy cut in when realising Ellie was getting more agitated by the second.
"She was gonna have her guys kill us." Ellie argued; "one of them nearly blew Fran's head off!"
"Thanks for the reminder," Fran mumbled to herself, shaking her head as she looked over at Ellie.
"It's true though! They were like seconds away from-" Ellie tried to say to Fran.
"I am well aware," Fran cut her off for both her sake and Joel's, who she could tell was starting to feel a little embarrassed by the younger girls aggression.
"Well, we gotta be real careful about who we let in this place." Tommy told the two, "But it's all bark. We're just tryna scare off those who might wanna try us is all."
"Well, you got a couple of 90-year-olds shitting themselves out there." Ellie continued on, Joel now stepping in.
"Ellie," he was stern in his words, but the girl wasn't having it. Sure she was a little annoyed at the guns, but really she was a bit intimidated by Tommy.
Joel was the happiest Ellie had ever seen him when hugging Tommy earlier; she'd never been close to having a reaction like that with him. Tommy was just a harsh reminder that she was just cargo, and that their journey together was almost over.
"They say that you leave dead bodies around." Fran said to them, more out of interest rather than trying to create an argument. It was a horrible thing to take a persons life, and she wanted to know more to ensure that Ellie and her were safe being there. That they weren't gonna be one of the bodies.
"Those are the people who tried us," Maria answered the woman, earning a nod of understanding back from her.
"A bad reputation doesn't mean you're bad," Tommy then said to them.
"Not always, at least."
The tone at which Maria said it had Fran sending her a small glare. Maria's eyes however were on Joel.
It was clear what she meant by it, and Fran found it funny that this stranger could make that assumption about him. She didn't know anything about what Joel did. Granted, Fran didn't know much, but she knew enough to know it was to ensure his brother stayed alive. You keep going for family.
"Ma'am... we're grateful for your hospitality and all." Joel was quick to change the subject at Maria's glare, "But it'd be nice to have a moment here, maybe just for family."
"Well, um..." Tommy became awkward for a moment, taking Maria's hand into his own, her ring now on display, "Maria is family, actually."
"Oh, shit! Congrats." Ellie said to them in a little shock. Fran's face however stayed neutral, hiding the anger she felt on Joel's behalf.
He'd been through hell assuming that Tommy was dead, and Tommy was just here getting married and drinking coffee.
"Joel, Fran, say congrats." Ellie's whisper was enough for Fran to kick into gear.
"Congratulations. Vi meritate l'un l'altro." She had a smile on her face as she spoke, the second half definitely not supposed to be taken as a compliment, "Vaffanculo. Both of you!"
"What does that mean?" Maria asked with a smile.
"Slang for I'm happy for you," Fran lied. She knew that both Joel and Ellie knew that it really meant fuck you, Ellie having to hide her smile behind her glass of water. The actual meaning for Joel, while disrespectful to his brother, was also a clear indication that Fran knew his upset and frustration, that she was there.
"Yes, vaffanculo." Joel agreed, butchering the accent but the point was there.
Tommy seemed fine with the response, small smile on his face, "How 'bout a tour?"
Everyone seemed to be in agreement as they stood, the three new comers all taking their plates over to where they would be washed. The moment away from Tommy and Maria was weirdly needed for Joel, who was still trying to process the fact his brother was married and he had no idea.
"You alright?" Fran asked him quietly as she cleaned off the wasted food on her plate. Joel looked at her for a moment, before catching Ellie's eyes on him also. He wasn't, and she knew that; but he didn't want Ellie to hear.
So instead of answering, he changed the question, "what were you looking at that got you all spooked?"
Fran didn't answer either, just starting to play with the plastic ring on her finger once again. That was enough for Joel to know.
They headed back out, Ellie questioning them on their weird conversation that included just questions and no answers. Neither responded as they met Maria and Tommy once again, the two patiently waiting for them.
"We settled here about seven years ago." Maria started as she led them down the steps of the cafeteria and into the streets of the town known as Jackson, "Just a handful of us back then."
Seven years of a place not ran by FEDRA was a long time, especially in somewhere remote. It was a lot to take in considering they'd been basically on their own since Boston. They weren't used to being around this many people.
"That section was already a gated community, so we built the rest of the wall out from there." Maria continued, pointing to a far off area for them all to look at, "Stopped most of the raiding parties, but we still find pockets of them."
"And you said Infected?" Joel questioned. All he could really think about was how many goddamn Christmas trees there were everywhere. To be able to live, happily, to the point you care about Christmas trees, was unheard of post outbreak.
"Yeah, but usually smaller colonies, wandered off from the cities." Tommy answered his brother, "All this open country out here... it's a turkey shoot. I still got my 700, but I found a variable power scope. Sub-MOA. Can headshot those fuckers from a half mile out."
It was quite sweet watching Tommy try and impress his older brother - Joel however didn't care much for it, still realising how well Tommy had been doing without him.
"Can you teach me how?" Ellie asked.
"No," both Joel and Fran said at the same time, making Tommy glance back at the three, especially how much Joel was acting like a parent. He didn't know how Ellie and Fran knew eachother, but guessing how Ellie hadn't called her 'mom' they weren't related.
"But-"
"No," Fran stated again then, arms over her chest as they were led down a new road.
"How do you keep this place quiet?" Joel moved on from the topic that clearly had Fran annoyed.
"Carefully." Maria responded this time, "Being in the middle of nowhere helps. Not advertising what we have, staying off the radio."
A disappointed and betrayed look from Joel was aimed at Tommy at that, Tommy's own guilty face avoiding the eye contact.
"House of worship, multifaith," Maria moved on quickly; not noticing the brothers reactions to her words "School."
"You have a school?" Fran asked then with furrowed brows, "how many kids a class?"
"Kids from different ages are in same classes, we've only got three teachers at the moment," Maria explained to her, "so they're a little overcrowded. Were you a teacher?"
"No," Fran shook her head, not offering anymore information.
"Okay..." Maria trailed off, pointing at more buildings, "Laundry. Old bank works as the jail, not that we've needed it."
"And you draw power from the dam?" Joel asked.
"Got that workin' a couple years ago. After that, sewage, plumbing, water heaters... lights." Maria was clearly proud of what had been made, and she had every right to be. It didn't feel right to Fran though that Joel had no idea about any of it.
She felt bad for the man who was still trying to take in all the information.
"This place actually fսckin' works." Ellie said, shaking her head as they made it to where the livestock was kept. It was strange to see actual animals in farms rather than the random ones in fields.
"Hey, Joel, check it. Baa." Ellie giggled as she pointed at the sheep, Fran smiling as they made loud baa's.
"Told you they were loud," Fran mumbled to Joel; him nudging his hip into hers instead of verbally commenting, still not up for a laugh due to all the new revelations.
"So are you, like, in charge?" Ellie asked Maria as they headed through the field of sheep's
"No one person's in charge." Maria explained, "I'm on the council. Democratically elected, serving 300 people, including children. Everyone pitches in. We rotate patrols, food prep, repairs, hunting, harvesting."
"Everything you see in our town... greenhouses, livestock, all shared." Tommy told her; gesturing around him, "Collective ownership."
"So, uh, communism." Joel concluded; the mention of the word making Tommy scoff.
"Nah. Nah, it ain't like that." He was quick to deny.
"It is that. Literally." Maria argued, making Tommy pause in his walk at the seemingly new information, "This is a commune. We're communists."
Fran couldn't help the breath of a laugh that came out at Tommy's reaction, his world view shattering in front of him.
Her eyes, however, then caught sight of a girl feeding the sheep. She was shorter than Fran, hair dark. Her back was turned, but from where Fran stood it almost looked exactly like Giulia from twenty years ago.
Her twin was stood right there and Fran couldn't seem to move from her spot.
She stayed there, mouth opening and closing silently as she watched the girl feed sheep. Something Giulia wouldn't have been caught dead doing, preferring a more glamorous life.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump, eyes turning to Joel and Tommy. The two were just looking at her with a little concern.
"That's Gemma," Tommy said, gesturing to the girl; "prefers sheep over the cows."
Not Giulia.
Giulia was dead.
"Oh," Fran whispered. Part of her was wishing that was her sister - Joel got his brother back, she would never be so lucky.
"I'm goin' to catch up with Tommy for a little while;" Joel said to her then, knowing that Fran didn't really care for who the girl was. She's been acting off since they'd arrived, he was just hoping she would be alright.
"Okay," Fran nodded, looking at the ground for a second. A squeeze from the hand on her shoulder made her look up again though, Joel not done.
"Maria's gonna take Ellie to where we're stayin' tonight," Joel continued on; making Fran nod. It was a statement, but Fran knew that was also her que to go.
"Alright," She moved out of his grip; moving over to Ellie and Maria. Ellie thankful she wasn't gonna be left on her own with Maria.
"Shall we?" Maria asked with a smile, Fran just nodding her head, taking a final glance at the girl who was still feeding the sheep.
-
Fran was only supposed to take a quick shower, but the second the hot water hit her back she knew she was a goner. She hadn't felt the feeling of a hot shower since Bill and Franks, and even then she'd rushed because a small part of her feared Joel would just leave her behind.
Not to mention that they had shampoo. Fresh shampoo, that smelt of vanilla. She'd washed her hair several times just to get all of the grime out.
It felt weirdly normal, to be in an actual bathroom; to have normal people things like shampoo and body wash again. She never wanted to leave the misty room.
When she did finally lug herself out of the shower, body tired from everything she'd been through, the clothes that she had were gone and replaced. While a nice sentiment, she was stressed out about where her jeans had gone. The jeans that matched little Sam's and Ellie's.
She put on the new bra that was slightly big, a strange compliment she guessed; she threw on the shirt and jumper she'd been given; along with the new pair of jeans.
As soon as she was dressed she headed downstairs to see where Ellie was, only to see a small note left saying she'd gone to Maria across the road. She looked quickly through everything to see if Maria had left her jeans, anxiously playing with the plastic ring as she came up with nothing.
She headed across the road quickly knocking once before entering and seeing Ellie sat in a chair getting a haircut.
"Where did you put my clothes?" She asked Maria quickly.
"Rag pile." Maria responded, "I made sure nothing was in the pockets."
"My jeans were in there," Fran said as if it wasn't obvious.
"I know," Maria responded, confused by it, but Ellie understood instantly why she cared so much for them, quickly looking to Maria.
"They're just getting washed; right?" She asked her quickly, Maria nodding slowly in confusion as Ellie looked back to Fran, "you'll have them back soon!"
"Oh, we all share those clothes here;" Maria said to her, "or trade for them. We don't usually hold onto certain things unless they're coats, underwear, or shoes. Speaking of-"
"They're my jeans," Fran didn't want to be an asshole, but they meant a lot more to her than they would to any other stranger on this compound, "I need them."
"Those ones fit great!" Maria argued with a smile, "but if you insist, I'll find them for you tomorrow."
That seemed to ease Fran a little, perching herself on the counter in the kitchen as Maria moved to the other room, a coat in hand, "I traded this for you," Maria said, passing fran the coat.
"Thanks," She said quietly, laying it next to her on the counter, "you're cutting her hair?"
"Mhm," Maria hummed; picking up the scissors, "I'll do yours after if you like."
"I'm alright," Fran shook her head; trying to fight off how motherly Maria looked with Ellie; and how much that annoyed her.
"I was just telling Ellie how I put bad guys in Jail before the outbreak; but I always liked doing hair," Maria said to Fran then, curling a little more off of the back of Ellie's head, "Maybe it was a mom thing."
The sentence seemed a little out of the blue for Fran; but clearly she'd interrupted a conversation Ellie and Maria were having before she arrived.
"You were looking at the little memorial Tommy made?" She asked then, Fran's face falling as she realised Maria was a mother. That she'd lost her kid. Now Fran really felt like an asshole for how she'd been acting.
"Uh, yeah. I'm-I'm sorry about your kids." Ellie was quick to apologise, knowing she'd been caught snooping.
"It's okay. And kid. Just Kevin." She told her, a little sigh leaving her lips. "Sarah was Joel's daughter."
Joel's daughter.
Joel's daughter.
Fran and Ellie shared a look at the new information - Fran already knowing he'd had a kid; but it made a lot more sense now on why he'd been so keen to not get on with Ellie. Why he let Tess handle the conversations so early on.
Why he'd been so upset when Henry had made the comment he did.
"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have said anything." Maria said a little awkwardly now, the energy having been sucked out of the room.
"No; you shouldn't of," Fran mumbled; standing up and grabbing her coat, "is it alright if I explore for a bit?"
"Yeah, sure," Maria nodded, "we're heading to the building next to the cafeteria after this to see a movie, will we see you there?"
"Sure." Fran nodded, not looking at either of them as she headed out the door, practically slamming it behind her.
A/N
Next chap is a big one for Joel and Fran! Might upload it later if I have time <3 keep an eye out!