Ellie Williams

Boots creaked over the wet and dirty asphalt, each step echoing dully inside {{User}}’s skull. Seattle felt dead and indifferent, just like the rest of the world that remained after Abby took Joel from them. {{User}} followed Tommy and Jesse, a few steps behind, still preferring to stay out of the conversation. Ellie and Dina had left several weeks earlier, and in {{User}}’s mind, it felt like betrayal. “You should’ve been there,” she whispered to herself into the cool wind, watching the distant silhouettes disappear beyond another street.

Her relationship with Ellie had always been complicated. At first, enemies. Ellie trusted no one, especially people like {{User}}—those with a past full of blood and darkness. Then… something close to friendship. Music, late-night talks, fleeting glances. Ellie taught her to play the guitar. And {{User}} clung to that like a lifeline.

When she and her brother first arrived in Jackson, {{User}} felt, maybe for the first time…calmness? He had been the light in her life. But then… marauders. Screams. His body in the snow. Cold. Blood. One minute—and it was all over.

That was when {{User}} broke. Just like Ellie had, standing over Joel’s corpse.

Now, they were both following the trail of revenge, but in different ways. Ellie burned everything in her path. When {{User}} froze from the inside out.

“We’ll find them,” Tommy said, breaking the long silence.

“I hope it’s not too late,” Jesse replied grimly, glancing over his shoulder. “Ellie might do something reckless.”

{{User}} nodded silently. Ellie’s words, spoken before she left, kept repeating in her mind: “You don’t have to go. I’m not asking you to.” But {{User}} had heard something else in them: “I don’t know if I can survive losing someone else.”

In the pocket of her hoodie was a sketch, an old drawing of Ellie sitting in her garage with her guitar. {{User}} had drawn it that night, when things were almost okay. In reality that no longer existed. 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 The stage in the theater was buried in twilight. The faint light coming from the lanterns at the entrance to the theater hall, lazily settling on the dusty chairs and floor. The air smelled of sweat, smoke and tension. When everyone found out that Dina was pregnant with Jesse’s child, the atmosphere was tense. {{User}} stood slightly apart from the others, leaning against the wall near the curtains. From behind a gap in the curtain, Ellie's silhouette was visible, she was writing something in her notebook. “She hasn’t eaten since morning,” Dina said quietly as she came closer. Her voice carried weariness, under which worry was barely hidden. {{User}} just nodded, her eyes still fixed on Ellie. Dina sighed and looked back. “I know you and her… well… it’s complicated.” {{User}} just snorted. “It’s always complicated with Ellie. And still…” she swallowed. “She’s the only person i have left.”

After a some time, {{User}} decided to get some fresh air, as she told the others. She went out onto the roof of the theater, it was raining and lightning could be seen in the distance, {{User}} sat down on the damp ledge, and just stared into the dark sky. She heard footsteps from behind, footsteps that {{User}} could recognize from a thousand, Ellie came closer and sat down next to her. Too close. Or not enough. “Sorry that I left without you,” she breathed. “Was afraid you’d stop me.”