Empty comeback

"Do you think there's a way back?"

"I don't know. It's… It's complicated."

"Don't say that, dude, I looked up to you. If it didn't work out with you, I dare it does with Julia and me."

"Don't be silly." He let out a short, melancholy laugh. "You guys are amazing. In my case, I had outside problems, you know."

"The thing with your brother, right? And how are you doing with it?"

"It's the usual, we can't stop." He leaned his elbows on the wall and sighed. "He always complained when I didn't work hard anyway."

"Is that why you're here watching the gate today?"

"For this too. Certain vigils soothe me. Help me get my mind back on track."

"Hey, Tommy! There's someone approaching" said the boy, pointing his gun.

"Strange, it's limping, coming straight at us..."

"Must be a runner, I'll put an end to it."

"Wait…" Tommy squinted. "Oh my God, Ellie!" Even limping, he ran down the stairs, nearly falling several times. Jackson echoed his screams. "Open the gates, quickly!"

A huddle of people rushed to the great wooden gate to open it.

"Come on, help her! Or will the cripple here have to do everything himself?!" he snapped, as a young man and a young woman ran to meet Ellie, lifting her onto their shoulders.

Her clothes were soaked with blood, her face was haggard and she had difficulty to walk. Her malnourished body was practically carried by the soldiers.

"Damn it, Ellie! You're a mess," said Tommy as he approached her.

"Have you looked in the mirror today, Tommy?" The voice was barely a whisper of her mouth.

"Your belly…" She put the hand, which immediately turned red.

"That fucking stitch again." One of her eyes was closed in pain.

"What happened to you? Ellie?! Hey, girl!" She didn't respond and her head was hanging to her body. "Damn it! Take her to the clinic now!"

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"She lost a lot of blood, and two fingers too. She is malnourished and..."

"And what else?!" asked Tommy eagerly.

"It's weird, I'm not sure."

"Spit it out, doctor!"

"She was bitten. In the left hand. The same hand where she lost her fingers. At first, I thought it was an infected. But her bite is already healing, if it was an infected, she would have already shifted. To be honest, I don't know how she's still alive."

"Yeah, doctor... She's a tough cookie."

"Anyway, she needs a few days resting. And it would be nice to have guards just in case. We don't want an infected surprise inside Jackson."

"Relax, doctor, I'll take it from here. Thanks for everything." He greeted the doctor, who nodded and headed for the door. "Oh, one more thing, doctor, let's just leave this biting thing between us, okay? We don't want to cause unnecessary panic." Again, the doctor nodded and left the room.

"Am I grounded now?" Ellie's voice came weak from her bed.

"Indeed! The most action you can have right now is a dose of Savage Starlight on the toilet."

"How disgusting, Tommy!"

"And isn't where comic books are read?"

"Reminds me never to borrow a comic of yours." They laughed awkwardly.

"You really scared us, huh? Dina will kill you when she sees you like this."

"If it's up to her, she won't see me again at all."

"Why?"

"I left her. I was an idiot!" She turned her head to the wall. "Again."

"What did you do?"

"I couldn't let it go, Tommy." The melancholy gaze on emptiness. "I went after her."

"Was she…was she the one who did this to you?! That crazy motherfucker!" He got up in a frenzy and kicked a chair. His leg throbbed in pain, but he was furious to the point of not caring. "She'll get what she deserves!"

"She already had it!"

"Did you kill her?!" His gaze was simmering, the veins in his forehead standing out. Ellie remained silent, staring at him. "I swear to God, Ellie, if she's alive, I'll go after that damn bastard myself."

"It's done, Tommy!" Ellie interrupted him. "It's done!"

"You got it?"

"I already said it's done, dammit." She gripped the sheet with her remaining fingers. Her eyes hid.

Tommy took a deep breath looking at the ceiling, then lifted the chair he had just kicked over and sat down. After a short silence, he leaned into Ellie.

"Thank you. Seriously, Ellie." He sighed. "Finally… Joel can rest in peace." Ellie seemed to be quite annoyed by this. "That way they'll learn to never mess with Jackson again."

"There's no one left to come to Jackson, we made sure of that ourselves, Tommy" Ellie continued, her face twisted.

"It's true, the sons of a bitch got what they deserved" Tommy added. "Well, finally a relief. I think I'll take the opportunity to make things right with Maria. She didn't approve of our decision."

"Dina didn't either." Her chest felt like lead.

"Don't worry, you'll settle down."

"I don't think so this time. She made it clear that she was not willing to wait for me." Tommy changed his face, he stared at Ellie for a moment.

"Ellie… I'm sorry I went after you that day. I didn't want to throw the responsibility at you. If only I could move right..."

"That's okay, Tommy, I needed that too. It wasn't your fault."

"I'll help you find Dina. Maria certainly knows something."

"Does she?" Ellie struggled to get up, but she failed miserably.

"Take it easy... You need to rest first. One step at a time, girl, and look, for me literally." He forced a joke and laughed lamely. "I'll leave you alone. Don't disturb the nurses." Ellie nodded with a half-smile, turned in the sheets and stared at the wall for the next few hours.

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"Look who's finally been released!" Tommy said with open arms and a wide smile.

"Hi, Tommy." Ellie hugged him awkwardly.

"That's it, girl, cheer! Are you going to tell me you already miss the food at the clinic?"

"That crap?! I'd rather lose the rest of my fingers" she replied sarcastically.

Tommy let out a big laugh.

"That's the spirit!"

"So, did she say anything?" she asked as she packed her clothes in the suitcase on top of the gurney.

"So…" Tommy looked away, scratching his head.

"Oh no! No 'so' me" she imitated Tommy's voice, mocking him. "You owe me that!"

"I know, I know! But you know things between me and Maria aren't in a good mood. If it was already difficult when we were together, imagine now."

"Fuck, Tommy!" She grabbed her backpack and marched toward the door.

"Hey, hey, easy!" He walked in front of her. "I didn't find out anything, but I managed to convince her to talk to you. She asked us to meet at her house."

"So, what are we waiting for?"

Both went to Maria's home. It was a huge house, two stories tall, with bluish wood walls lightly stripped by weather and rain. Orange leaves were on the roof and all over her yard. Ellie and Tommy were at the front door. She took a deep breath. Tommy was fidgeting, straightening his clothes, checking his breath and combing his hair.

"Tommy, not now!"

"I know, I know. But I don't have my heartthrob look anymore, I need to guarantee the rest." Ellie rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. Maria opened it, face closed, Chanel blond hair, a black velvet coat with a navy-blue belt around it. The three stared at each other in silence.

"Your ha…" Tommy was interrupted by a withering look from Maria, he choked, tested his voice on a cough, lowered his head and started again, "Your… Your hair looks amazing, Maria."

She simply ignored him, her eyes glaring at Ellie. She invited her in shortly and rudely, and so Ellie did. Tommy followed, but was stopped by one of Maria's hands.

"What are you doing, Tommy?"

"Uh…" Confused, he looked at Ellie and back at Maria. "You said to come back as soon as we got out of the hospital."

"I told you to bring her as soon as she left. Thank you. Now you can go," she ordered and turned away.

"Wait!" Tommy held the door. "I want to help Ellie wi..."

"Haven't you helped her too much in her situation with Dina?"

"Okay, Tommy, we'll talk later." Ellie comforted him.

Tommy's face withered and his eyes lost their shine as Maria slammed the door in his face.

"Aren't you being too hard on him?" asked Ellie.

"I am" she replied dryly and pointed to an armchair in the middle of the room.

"He likes you a lot." Ellie sat up.

"I know," Maria continued, her face closed, hard as iron.

"Maybe if you…"

"So, you want to give me relationship advice, Ellie?" Maria interrupted, crossing her arms.

"Wait, what?" Ellie frowned. "I'm just trying..."

"Trying what? Make a relationship worse?!"

"Whoa! Calm down there!" Ellie rose.

"Sit down there, young lady! You are in my house, in my city! You've done a lot of shit, and it's no use acting tough. Now you will listen to me!" shouted Maria, pointing a finger at her. Ellie strained her eyes and teeth. Just as she started to argue, Maria anticipated. "Leave Dina and the baby behind?! Alone?! Where were you with your fucking head?!" Ellie lost her ferocity instantly, her brows lightening and her eyes looked down. "I appreciate you bringing Tommy back, or at least part of him, but leaving your friends behind, Ellie, that's not you! I lost the respect I had for you and if you're thinking it's arguing that you get what..."

"I'm sorry…" The low, weak voice interrupted her.

"What did you say?!" Maria lost her train of thought and stared at her in confusion.

"I said I'm sorry."

"Wow…" She looked around, bewildered. "Ellie Williams apologizing, we are at the very end of the world."

"I'm sorry, okay?! No need to be sarcastic!"

"Listen, if you think it's just a lip-service to apologizing..."

"Damn it, Maria!" Ellie punched the nightstand beside her. "I lost everything! I lost Joel, I lost Jesse, and I chose to lose Dina and JJ. I can't even play my guitar anymore! I'm well aware of that, knowing that I lie down every night not knowing where the woman I love is and knowing that this is all my fault. I know all this shit, okay?! That's why I'm here… I want to find Dina to fix all this shit…" Ellie dropped her head and lost herself in dark memories. "I didn't have time to tell Joel how much I loved him. I won't make the same mistake. And you shouldn't either." She stared at her; her eyes filled with feeling.

Maria looked out the window and saw Tommy sitting on the curb, fiddling with the leaves.

"Dina left a few weeks ago, headed north towards Menvile. She pulled out a map and showed the route and destination."

"Menvile?" Ellie put her hand to the wound on her fingers in a tic as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name. "Dina said that in her childhood she and her sister would run away to Menvile. But Talia died before that." Maria stared at her in silence. "It doesn't make sense to go there with JJ, it would be taking a risk for nothing. Unless.... Is her sister alive?!" She widened her eyes.

"It's possible."

"But…" Her eyes zigzagged in thought as she brought her hand to her mouth. "Why would she lie about her sister to me?"

"Well, that's something you're going to have to ask her."

"How many soldiers did you send with her?"

"Three."

"Only three?! My God, Maria, she's with JJ!"

"You were the one who left her. I am the one who provided support, armaments, supplies and men for her protection. Unlike you, who were playing revenge, I have a city to run."

Ellie grabs the map hard, crumpling it as she glares at Maria in disgust.

"One horse and minimal ammo. I can't spend supplies on you anymore, Ellie."

"I know," she replied brusquely.

"And one more thing…" Maria took Ellie's arm. "Don't spoil things with Dina."

"Nor you with Tommy. She jerked her arm back violently and glared at her with a twisted nose. She turned away, opened the door and paused for a moment. "Thank you, Maria." She slammed the door.

Tommy got up quickly, despite the difficulties. He approached with a limp and asked anxiously:

"So! How was it like?"

"She gave me the address."

"That's it!" He clenched his fist in celebration. "When do we leave?"

"What?" she replied, not understanding.

"When do we leave?"

"I'm going alone, Tommy," Ellie replied, and picked up her pace.

"What?! No, no, no! Wait." He hurried to keep up with Ellie. "I can help you!"

"This is not open for discussion!" She quickened her pace even more.

"Calm down, Ellie." Tommy tried to keep up, but his limping leg wouldn't do it. "You can't go alone, it's too dangerous."

"I went to Santa Barbara alone; I can go to Dina." Ellie straightened her backpack and quickened her pace.

"Ellie, wait." Tommy tripped and fell. He hit his chest on the floor and was all embarrassed.

"Tommy!" Ellie bent down to help him.

"Don't!" Tommy pushed Ellie's hand away. "What a great joke I am. How am I going to help you if I can't even follow your steps? I lost my good eye, I couldn't avenge my brother, I screwed things up with Maria and I can't even fix the shit I did to you and Dina…" His voice trembled, he looked at the ground.

"Yeah, Tommy, you fucked up. But who doesn't fuck up anything in this shitty world?! From your deeds, it's amazing that you're still breathing. You've saved Joel countless times, from the infected, the assholes and even from himself. You helped Maria build it all here! Not to mention that the guys worship you, you're a hero for the city. Maria just needs some time." She held out a hand to help him.

"You're just trying to flatter me," he replied, leaning on Ellie to get up.

"And since when do I do something like that, Tommy?"

"It's true, you are the biggest asshole with everyone."

"Hey!" Ellie lightly punched Tommy in the rib.

"Ouch! I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

"And look, the thing with Dina wasn't your fault, okay? It was my decision to leave her behind." She lifted her hand to her missing fingers. "Your place is here, Tommy, helping to improve the city, training the recruits, organizing the tasks. Relieving instead of giving Maria problems."

"She thinks I'm the problem itself." He laughed embarrassedly. "And I don't even have my heartthrob look anymore for her to forgive me."

"Oh stop! Your charm was never your look, it was always in your perfumes," Ellie joked.

"I almost died once for a bottle of them. In fact, I nearly died three times from it." They laughed as they walked.