[REWORK] The Last Of Us Part II x Male Reader OC

Finding Strings

TWO YEARS AGO

"Hey, you okay?" I said as I nudged Ellie who hasn't said anything for almost twenty minutes.
"You with us?" Tommy said from right beside me.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Ellie said so we kept walking.

Tommy, Ellie, and I were on our way to meet Joel at the ski lodge. Walking through some hills and stuff, the usual route.

"Anyway, the silent treatment... Man! I mean, I'd forget my own birthday if she didn't remind me when it was." Tommy said.
"Trust me, I've been there. Wouldn't have even realized that I turned eighteen if Ellie hadn't surprised me with the knife she gave me." I said and Ellie smiled.
"You should just apologize to her." Ellie said and Tommy looked at me with a confused face.
"I just said-- Okay..." Tommy said.
"What's up, El? What's on your mind?" I said to her.
"Nothing. Why?" Ellie said.
"I can read you like a book. What's up?" I said.
"Just got some dumb shit on my mind." Ellie said.
"You wanna talk about it?" I said.
"I'll be okay." Ellie said with a smile.
"Alright. Let me know if you do." I said and she nodded.

"Got stragglers." Tommy said as we saw some infected on the hillside a good few hundred meters away.
"How many?" Ellie asked.
"Just a handful." Tommy said.

Tommy and I took out our scoped rifles and took out an infected each. I've gotten pretty good with the scope ever since Tommy taught me how to use it properly.

"Hey, you wanna try it out?" I said to Ellie as I held out my rifle.
"Are you sure?" Ellie said as her tone of voice sounded happier.
"You're always begging me to. Now's your chance." I said with a smile.
"Okay." She said with a laugh as she grabbed my rifle.
"Tommy here's the one that taught me how to use it so I'll defer the training to him." I said with a chuckle.
"See that sign over there? Red one? Try hitting that. It's a good way to draw out them out from where they're hiding." Tommy said. Ellie looked through the scope and shot at the sign but the bullet hit beneath it.
"Aim a little higher. Gotta account for bullet drop." I said and Ellie aimed a little higher, hitting the sign. A couple infected ran towards the sign. It took her some effort but she managed to kill them all.
"Good shooting, babe." I said and Ellie chuckled softly.
"There you go. That's all of them. There's usually more this way if you wanna keep shooting." Tommy said as he walked off.
"Okay." Ellie said and we followed.

"Hordes like to come through here in the winter and usually leave behind a couple stragglers." Tommy said.
"They do the same routes every year?" Ellie asked.
"Like a migration or something." Tommy said.
"What's that about?" Ellie asked.
"Well... When the barometric pressure reaches a certain temperature... shit, I don't fuckin' know." Tommy said and we laughed softly.
"Infected are like animals. They're bound to act like them sooner or later." I said.

Tommy and I took out our binoculars.

"Check the shed. Seems like they're moving downhill." Tommy said.
"Why?" Ellie said as she looked through the scope.
"Hm... Oh, there's a dead deer by the truck. Guess they got hungry." I said.
"Gotcha. I like this thing." Ellie said as she shot at the infected.
"You still gotta give it back. Maybe we'll find you a scope of your own." I said.
"I'd like that." Ellie said as she killed the last of the stragglers.
"Shit, I'm impressed. We definitely need to get you a scope." I said and Ellie nudged me.
"Shut up." She said with a soft laugh.
"Alright, lets head in. See if Joel's back." Tommy said as he walked off ahead and Ellie handed me back my rifle.
"Thanks for that. It's just what I needed." Ellie said to me with a smile.
"Told you I could read you like a book." I said with a smile. Ellie gave me a kiss on the cheek and then we followed Tommy.

"I'm not supposed to say anything... But Joel's worried about you." Tommy said to Ellie.
"There's nothing to worry about." Ellie said.
"I'm sure there isn't. But you gotta talk to him or he's gonna think something's wrong." Tommy said.
"I talk to him." Ellie said.
"You gotta say more than hi and bye to him. He cares about you." I said.
"Okay. I will try." Ellie said with a sigh as we made it to the ski lodge.