Ellie yawned as she sat up, her body having finally roused itself from slumber. The sunlight streaming in through the open window fell directly on her face, causing her to shield her rapidly blinking eyes until she had adjusted to the sudden intrusion. The other side of the bed was empty, and the blanket was neatly folded at the bottom.

Without looking at the clock, she knew that she had slept past her usual wake-up time. She pulled on her jeans and t-shirt. Her legs were sore from all the travel of the previous day, and her hands still ached from all the work. She tidied up the bed, something she had become particular about, and headed down the stairs.

Dina was in the kitchen, stirring the pot on the stove. The laundry was neatly stacked on a chair, and the washed utensils sat on the side of the sink. She seemed to be unaware of Ellie, so Ellie made the most of the opportunity by sneaking up on her and wrapping her arms around her from the back.

"Morning," she whispered in Dina's ear.

"I was beginning to wonder when you were going to get up," Dina said, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"Why didn't you wake me then? You didn't have to do everything on your own."

"You came in pretty late yesterday. So, I thought I'd let you sleep in. Something went wrong?"

"Slightly, but nothing too serious," Ellie answered. "I was leaving, when one of the generators blew up. I couldn't just leave it like that, so I had to repair it."

"What happened to it?"

"Something with the regulator. Managed to get it fixed before anything else broke down."

"Last time I went there, it gave me problems too," Dina told her. "I think I'm supposed to go there again next week. You can come with me and we'll check it out then."

"You got it." She looked around. "Did you finish doing everything in the house? I could've helped, you know?"

"And then told me how you were so productive after such a long and tedious scout, for the rest of the year? No thanks."

"Sometimes you're too smart for your own good," Ellie replied, grinning.

"I don't have to be very smart when you're the only other person in the house," Dina jested.

Ellie recoiled in mock shock. "Below the belt, Dina. Below the belt. You know I don't like people making fun of my stupidity."

Dina laughed. "You're a funny one. Alright, grab some plates for us."

"What are you making?"

"Your favourite. I made some juice too."

"Woah, that's a lot of stuff. You did do a whole lot in the morning." Ellie opened the cupboard and took out the plates.

"I can be very efficient when I need to."

"That I know," Ellie responded with a sly smile.

Dina chuckled. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ellie."

"Hey, I'm just being appreciative. If you don't want it, I'll take it elsewhere…"

"Don't you dare." She took a bite of her food. "Are you meeting Tommy and Maria today?"

"Yeah, I'll have to," Ellie answered. "I need to go tell them about yesterday. That reminds me, yours is tomorrow, right?"

"Uh huh," Dina answered while chewing. "I should be back by evening, but I'll have to leave early in the morning for that to happen."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Joel's coming over tonight after dinner to watch a movie. He said he got a new one. You're gonna sit for a while?"

"I might. But I'll go to bed sooner. Don't want to be tired before I even leave."

"Alright."

Once they had finished their late breakfast, Ellie picked up their plates and headed over to the sink to wash them. The window was open and it was a pleasant morning, with a light breeze that made her want to sit down on the porch and read. Or play the guitar. It was one of those days that had laziness written all over it.

"What's your plan for the rest of the day?" Ellie asked, shaking the water off the washed plates.

"I've got to see Graham. Sabre wasn't doing okay yesterday."

"What happened to him?"

"He's got the cold," Dina answered. "Graham had to keep him away from the rest, in case he managed to spread it. I'll spend some time with him."

"That sounds like a good idea. I need to go meet Jacob. My rifle's been giving me problems since yesterday. Think I managed to screw something up."

"Don't let Tommy find out. He'll lose his shit."

"Not even gonna try telling him," Ellie said. "Jacob owes me."

"He does," Dina agreed. "I'm gonna get going. See you in the evening?"

"Yep. I'll see you later."

Ellie quickly finished up the dishes, before pulling on a light jacket and heading out of the door. She'd head to Tommy and Maria's first, and then come back for her rifle.

A lot had changed in the town since Ellie and Dina had moved in together the previous year, or so it seemed to Ellie, now that the winter had passed. Although it had been far more merciful than the previous years, the blanket cover of snow made her detest it nonetheless. With spring arriving, it seemed like things were as they should have been.

The trees danced gently with the flowing breeze as Ellie headed over to their house. The constant chatter around made her feel at ease. She caught a glimpse of the kids playing in the park. It had been a while since she had spent time with them, and she missed it. Maybe one of those days, she would get out there. They seemed to have grown up so much from the first time she had seen them.

Ellie and Dina's house wasn't big, but it was everything they had wanted. Ellie recalled the first time Dina had brought up the subject. They were having dinner together when it happened, and it had taken Ellie all of a second to realise that she wanted it too. After that, it seemed like things had just fallen into place for them. Tommy and Maria had a house that hadn't been used in a few years, so the two girls made it their own. It was close to Joel's as well, so they saw a lot more of him. Once a week, he would come over, or the two would go to his and watch a movie. It had become a ritual.

There had been more newcomers to Jackson as well. Tommy and Maria had been forced to rethink the town's development to accommodate the influx, but they had had help by one of the newer members who was an architect. Houses were being built, and groups were sent out to secure areas outside the walls for expansion. The people, however, were as close-knit as ever.

As Ellie closed in to Tommy and Maria's, she spotted Luna, the town's dog. Arin had found her as a puppy a few miles north of Jackson a few months ago. Her mother was nowhere to be found, so he had brought her back and since then, she had been part of the community. The kids loved her, so there was no dearth of treats coming her way.

Ellie took a quick detour and crouched in front of Luna. "Hey, girl," she said, scratching the dog behind her ears. She smiled as Luna wagged her tail from side to side, closing her eyes as she enjoyed Ellie's affection. Her fur felt smooth to touch, silky to Ellie's blistered hands. A smile was plastered on her face.

"Hey, Ellie," a female voice said.

For an instant, Ellie couldn't believe her ears, thinking that she had heard Luna speak. Then she realized the voice had come from behind her, so she turned around.

"Maria, hey," Ellie greeted the older woman. "I was just on my way to see you two."

"Got distracted?"

She looked at Luna and shrugged. "Can't say no to that face."

Maria laughed. "I can't either. Come on, Tommy's home too and you've got things to tell us."


As they entered the house, they found Tommy seated on the couch, his legs resting on the table in front of him.

"No legs on my furniture, Tommy," Maria told him.

"Sorry," he mumbled in response, hastily retreating from his comfortable position. "You found Ellie, too."

"I thought I'd drop by and talk to you two," Ellie said.

"Sure. Alex told us about you comin' in late last night. What happened?"

Ellie told them about the busted generator, taking extra care to leave out the part about the rifle. She knew it was one of his favourites, to the point of being unreasonable about its wellbeing.

"I should've known that was gonna happen," Tommy said. "It's been giving us problems for a while now. Thought it would last longer though. I'll take one of the guys up there and get it fixed next week."

"Any infected?" Maria asked.

"Less than normal," Ellie answered. "Just saw one and that was it."

"Surprising. Not that I'm complaining. Anything else we should know?"

Ellie shook her head. "I haven't seen any of the other groups around."

"Yeah, I made sure the territory was properly distributed between us," Tommy explained. "Don't need any more fights happenin'." After the New Town debacle, the town had been wary with outsiders.

"How are you and Dina doing?" Maria asked.

"We're good. She went to see Saber. Said he was sick."

"Graham said he was," Tommy said. "He should be up and about in a couple of days. Wonder why he caught it though. The weather's been fine lately."

"You never know what happens with them." Maria gazed out of the window. "Let's hope the weather stay this way," she said.

"It will. How about some coffee?" Tommy asked. "I'm makin' some for myself anyway."

"You ask me this question every time I come over," Ellie complained.

"I hear ya, but I got some really good coffee and I think it's completely different from what you've had. Try it."

"I don't-"

"Try it," Tommy interrupted her. Without giving her a chance to reply, he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Sometimes I wonder what gets into him," Ellie told Maria.

"He just wants you to enjoy the things he does. If you don't like it, I'll drink it. Coffee never goes to waste in this house"

"You're a lifesaver, Maria."

Tommy returned with two mugs. He deposited one in front of Ellie and took a sip of his own, watching intently as she picked hers up and tried it.

Ellie prepared herself for making her usual disgusted face as the taste hit her tongue, but stopped herself. That coffee was unlike she had ever tried before. It didn't have the raw, powdery taste to it that she disliked.

"Holy shit, this is good," she admitted to his delight.

"I told you!" he said triumphantly. He turned to Maria. "Joel's gonna kill me if he finds out he wasn't here when Ellie actually drank the coffee."

"He doesn't have to know. He'll make it his life's mission to make me try every kind he has at home."

Tommy laughed. He drank the rest before setting his mug down on the table and standing up, rubbing his legs. "Well, I'm off to check up on the constructions. You're coming?" he asked Maria.

"I'll join you later," she answered.

"I should head out too," Ellie said.

"Don't forget about dinner tomorrow night," Tommy reminded Ellie.

"I won't. Dina might not make it though."

"I know," Maria said. "Esther is coming as well."

"Oh?" Esther was one of the newer members. Joel had been seeing her for the past few weeks, but he hadn't told Ellie anything about it being serious.

"I thought it would be good to have here. Tommy thinks so too."

"Sure do," Tommy affirmed. "She's a good woman and it's about damn time Joel got together with someone. Anyway, John will be waiting for me. I'll see you at the site," he told Maria.

Ellie waved a goodbye and gulped down the rest of her coffee.

"Back home now?" Maria asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "I need to stop by the warehouse as well. Need some supplies."

"Well, if you're heading that way, could you do me a favour and get some bread?"

"I can. I'll drop it by on the way back. Do you need anything else?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit then," Ellie said before stepping out of the house. She found Tommy standing a few houses away. "You're still here?" she asked him.

"Waiting for John," he answered exasperatedly, jerking his thumb at the house behind him. "Do you have anything the day after?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking of going for a hunt, and we haven't gone together in a while. You wanna come?"

"Hell yeah. Count me in."

Tommy grinned. "Alright, we'll talk more tomorrow. Tell Dina I said hi."

"I will," Ellie said as she headed back towards home.


Ellie was in the kitchen when she heard the front door swing open.

"Hey, babe," she called out. "How'd it go?"

"It was good," Dina answered. She took off her jacket and hung it on the hook next to the doorway. "He'll get better. He seemed to like it when I was there."

"Well, he's been around you for a long time. It's natural that having you there calms him."

"Graham said the same thing. I'll take Jack tomorrow, if that's okay with you. No way Saber is in shape for it."

"Yeah, go ahead," Ellie said. "I'm going to be here, so, he's all yours. Tommy wanted to go hunting with me the day after. I'll need him then."

"That'll be good for you two. It's been a while since you two went out together."

"I know. Might be a good time to catch up with him, you know, one-on-one."

"So, he can tell you more about Esther?" Dina asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Shit, sometimes the way you read me is freaky," Ellie remarked, laughing. "But yeah, I want to know more about her."

"Look at you, doing a background check for Joel."

"Shut up." The two laughed.

"Is dinner ready?" Dina asked. "I'm so tired, I swear I could fall asleep right now."

"We can have it now, if you want. I just got done making it."

Dinner usually took a long time between them, but that evening, it was a quick affair. Both of them were ravenous, and Ellie was a good cook. The two of them wolfed down the food, washing it down with the juice remaining from the morning.

They had just finished dinner when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Ellie called out as she walked to the door and opened it.

"Hey kiddo. How's it going?" Joel asked. "I got us beers." He held out the bag.

"Come on in." Ellie took it and set it down on the kitchen table. "That's quite a few of them," she observed as she zipped it open.

"Figured with the three of us, we'd need more. Where's Dina?"

"She just went up to the bedroom. Should be down in a second. So, are we watching anything?" she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" Joel asked. "Open that zip."

Ellie followed his instructions and fished out a small case from the bag.

The case looked like someone had tied it to a horse and dragged it around the country. The title was hardly visible and Ellie had to squint and hold the case close to her eyes to read it. She turned it around and tried to go through the writing, but finally gave it up.

"Where do you even get these?" she asked.

Joel grinned, like he was proud of himself. "I got lucky with a trade a couple of days ago. Guy agreed to let me have this if I let him use my gun."

"And you let him?"

"It was too good to pass up, if you ask me."

"He could've done used it on you."

"No chance," Joel answered. "He'd have gotten three holes in him before he tried anythin' funny. Luckily, I didn't have to do any of that. He tried it on a few infected and gave me the CD."

Ellie nodded and opened two of the beers, handing one to him. "I didn't have a chance to ask you last time. How'd your date go?"

"Pretty good, actually. She came over for dinner and I cooked. We talked for a while, had some wine, and then she went back home."

"Romantic dinner, huh?" she teased. "Lucky gal."

"It felt good though. I think we get along well."

"Still can't believe you managed to meet her because you saved her from the infected. Almost sounds like it's out of a fairytale."

Joel chuckled. "I was thinkin' of taking her to the lake next week, spend some time with her in a good place. She's still new here, so she's never been there before."

"That's a good idea. Make sure she doesn't fall on the crossing."

"I'll keep a watch. Hey, Dina," he greeted as the girl came down the stairs. He gave her a hug.

"Hey Joel." Over the years, the two of them had grown closer as well, owing to the fact that Ellie would spend a lot of time with him. "I think I'm gonna go to bed," she told Ellie, yawning.

"This early?" Ellie asked. "I thought you'd sit with us for a while."

"I thought so too, but I guess I'm just really tired."

"Well, you'll probably be gone before I wake up, so…" She put her beer down and hugged her partner. "Don't do anything stupid and come home safe."

"I should be saying these things to you," Dina said, smiling. "Don't burn down the house while I'm not here."

"Ha ha." Ellie watched Dina retreat up the stairs before turning her attention to Joel. "Shall we watch?"

"After you," he answered.

Joel made himself comfortable on the couch, while Ellie inserted the CD into the player. It was an old one, so it would malfunction from time to time. And it was doing just that at the time.

"Not working?" Joel asked, noticing Ellie struggling to get it running.

"Yeah, it's not reading it."

"Here, let me do it." He took the CD from her, carefully blowing over the back. He pushed the disc in. "That's how you do it."

Ellie shrugged. She grabbed her beer from the table and sat down just as the movie began playing. "What's this about?"

"It's an old classic about a spy that has gadgets and goes around saving the world. You'll like it. This is one of the better movies from the series."

"Have you watched the others?"

"Well… yeah," Joel answered. "It's been running since I was a kid. My dad used to take me to watch them. Tommy was too young for the earlier movies, but once he got older, the two of us used to go."

"Must have been nice to just be able to go watch a movie at any time," Ellie said.

"It's better now. We don't get to watch them all the time, so I'd say it's far more exciting."

"That's true, Alright, it's starting. Let me watch."

The movie was entertaining, and had a fairly straightforward plot. It was by no means the best thing she'd ever watched, but she could see how much it meant to Joel that she was watching a movie from his past with him. The beer bottles began disappearing as the time passed by and by the end, there were only a couple left.

Ellie yawned once the credits came up. "Damn, that was good."

"It was," Joel agreed.

There was a momentary silence between them.

"So, should we call it a night?" Ellie asked.

"We could… or we could watch another. I have the CD in the bag, and I don't think we have anything for tomorrow."

A smile began spreading across her face. "Let's watch another."


The man stood on the side of the hill. The holster attached to his belt shook every time the wind blew past. A rifle was slung across his back, along with his bag. It was worn out from all the years of travel. His clothes were tainted with blood, albeit, not his. The tears in them were more apparent than he would have hoped for, but he had no expected the journey to be that tedious. His weapon of choice was the sharp knife that was currently in its sheath. It had been with him since the outbreak.

His stubble poked his fingers every time he tried to scratch the scab across his cheek. The other man had thought he was an easy target, but he had clearly never fought with someone who had nothing to lose. Until he had found something.

He looked down at the town. It was beautiful and he wondered to himself how he had never heard of it before. The walls were high and he could make out the guards stationed on the lookouts. There was enough electricity to power all the lights in there. It definitely looked like a home. But he wasn't there to seek shelter.

No.

He was there because of something that he thought was lost to him forever. Someone. A final hope for the meaning of his survival.

His hand tightly clutched the folder that he had fought so hard for. That he had had to shed blood for. That had led down to the very spot where he stood now. The scars on his hand told the tales of the experiments that were performed on him.

His eyes narrowed in on the gates. He had no idea what he was going to tell the guards, but they had to let him in. He had no idea what he was going to say to her either, or if she was even there. He was just relying on the words of a man. With a deep breath, he began walking down the slope.

All those years, and he never knew he had a daughter.

A/N: And with that, we come to the end of The Fern that Lived! Thank you to everyone who read this story. I'm going to miss writing chapters for this, but I think this is a good place to lay it to rest, so I can work on something new. Let me know what you thought of it :D

I have a Dina/Ellie story coming in a couple of weeks that I'm really excited about, so I hope I'll see you there! Until then, stay safe and wear a mask.