TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 280: In the Name of Love, Joel Would Do Even the Craziest Things (Patreon)

Luke frowned slightly.

“Did I ever say I was going to kill him?” He looked at Ellie. “Kid, you just told me you’ve never killed anyone, but you sure are quick to threaten people. That won’t do.”

“Time for your punishment.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Luke casually picked up a plastic ruler from the desk.

With a light flick of his wrist.

“Smack!”

The ruler struck the back of Ellie’s hand with perfect accuracy.

It didn’t hit hard.

It was more like the token punishment a teacher might give a misbehaving student.

Ellie winced and immediately yanked her hand back.

She stared at Luke in disbelief.

Was this guy insane?!

She wasn’t a little kid. Why was he treating her like some elementary school student who needed to be disciplined?

How childish!

Compared to being threatened with knives and guns, this petty, humiliating punishment somehow made Ellie feel even more embarrassed.

“You...”

Ellie remained stubborn, glaring fiercely at him.

“Oh?”

Luke raised an eyebrow at her defiant expression. “Still not convinced? Teachers don’t like disobedient students, you know.”

“Smack!”

The ruler came down accurately once again.

Ellie quickly hid her hand behind her back.

But no matter how she tried to dodge...

“Smack!”

“Smack!”

Luke’s ruler always managed to find the back of her hand.

Every strike was perfectly controlled. None of them hit particularly hard, but the sharp sting, combined with the fact that he was genuinely treating her like a naughty child being disciplined, gradually loosened the tension that had been wound so tightly inside her.

After several more strikes, Ellie was ducking and dodging in complete disarray, her freckled face filled with anger and indignation.

If Joel were here, he probably would have attacked Luke already.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t, so Luke had to discipline her in his place.

“What the hell do you want from me?!” Ellie finally snapped.

Only then did Luke stop and toss the ruler back onto the desk.

“Uncle Luke’s demands are simple, kid. Be a civilized, well-mannered young lady. Stop threatening to kill people every other sentence, and quit throwing around ‘fuck this’ and ‘fuck that’...”

“Otherwise, Uncle Luke is going to use this fifty-centimeter ruler to give the back of your hand a proper smacking.”

“And as long as you’re staying in the Commonwealth, you’ll have to follow my conditions.”

Luke clasped his hands behind his back. “As long as you keep your end of the deal, I’ll let you and Joel live normally in the Commonwealth...”

“As for the Fireflies, they won’t be able to cause much trouble here.”

“Deal?”

Ellie stared at him as her breathing gradually steadied.

It seemed this guy was just a weirdo with a twisted sense of humor, not some truly evil bastard.

“What... conditions?”

“Cooperate with my laboratory and undergo regular physical examinations. I know you’re immune. There’s something inside you that could hold the secret to saving what’s left of humanity.”

“Am I wrong?”

Ellie said nothing.

But at this point, there was no longer any reason to hide it. This man already knew everything.

She slowly nodded.

“...I really am immune.” She rubbed the slightly reddened back of her hand, her voice a little hoarse. “Even if I get infected, I won’t turn into one of those monsters...”

“But the Firefly Lab was just using us!”

“Joel told me they had their own agenda! And I’m not the only immune person in the world!”

“That’s why we escaped from the lab!”

“But the Fireflies wouldn’t leave us alone... so we had no choice but to fight back!”

The buffs above Ellie’s head showed that she wasn’t lying this time.

Now that was interesting.

It seemed Joel had never told Ellie the truth. To keep her from finding out, he had never told her that he had nearly slaughtered his way through the entire lab just to take her back from the operating table.

Ellie had no reason to doubt Joel.

She believed the Fireflies were nothing more than a group of liars trying to use them, so escaping from the lab had naturally seemed like the right thing to do.

She had been kept in the dark all along.

Luke shook his head thoughtfully. “Is that really what happened?”

“Then let me ask you something. During your entire journey, have you ever met anyone else who was immune like you?”

Ellie froze.

Then she shook her head.

“N-No, I haven’t!” she answered instinctively. “But Joel said...”

“The truth is a lot more complicated than you think. Sometimes family will make incredibly difficult choices for each other.”

“I have a friend,” Luke said, referring to Ada, “who can dig up all kinds of secrets. There are plenty of things in this world that people would rather keep buried.”

Luke decided to play dirty for once.

He dropped a bombshell that could shake Ellie’s trust in Joel.

“Do you know what Joel did?”

Ellie’s pupils contracted slightly.

“If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t think I was wrong to be cautious.”

“I’m a merciful leader. I protect my people.”

“But there’s one condition. They have to contribute through their work, or offer something else of value in return.”

“What I’m asking from you is simple. Undergo regular examinations and stay in the Commonwealth. We’ll investigate the possibility of developing a cure without ever putting your life at risk.”

“I agree!” Ellie answered almost immediately.

If they really could develop a cure, she would choose to save humanity.

Compared to that, her own life felt insignificant.

But she quickly caught the implication behind Luke’s words.

“But what did you mean before... about the truth behind Joel?”

Luke explained, “The Fireflies have placed a bounty on both of you, but it isn’t simply because they lost someone who was immune.”

“The real reason is that one of their key leaders, along with their lead surgeon, Jerry, was killed.”

“Nearly everyone at that lab, an entire camp’s worth of people, was slaughtered.”

“And the man responsible for all of it was your dear father, Joel.”

“Impossible!”

Ellie rejected it instinctively.

“Joel wouldn’t do that! He wouldn’t! That’s a massacre! He only saved me!”

“You’re lying! You’re trying to turn me against him!”

She shook her head violently, her eyes filled with resistance.

She couldn’t accept it.

In Ellie’s heart, Joel was her unwavering protector. Everything they had done had been in self-defense.

Joel wasn’t a murderer.

He certainly wasn’t a butcher.

He told awful jokes and even went out of his way to find old comic books for her.

How could that Joel possibly have slaughtered an entire lab?

Luke didn’t argue with her.

“Believe whatever you want. The fact that I didn’t have Joel killed outright is already me showing restraint. Until he passes the assessment, he can only stay at the outpost. Even if he’s eventually allowed into the Commonwealth, he’ll have to live on the outskirts and take on more dangerous assignments.”

“If, and I mean if, he really did slaughter an entire lab, then is what I’m doing really unreasonable?”

Most people who had played The Last of Us didn’t think Joel was innocent. They simply felt that he shouldn’t have died in such a careless and brutal way.

Ellie had no answer.

“No. Joel wouldn’t do something like that!”

“In the name of love, Joel would do even the craziest things.”

Luke patted Ellie on the shoulder.

This time, she didn’t pull away.