The Residents Of Jackson Were Certainly Nice. So Willing To Help Strangers, To Accept Refugees Even With

The residents of Jackson were certainly nice. So willing to help strangers, to accept refugees even with the risks that came alongside accepting people you don't know. They'd taken in Joel and Ellie, more than once. Gave them clothes, a home, food - gave Ellie the first taste she'd have of a normal life. No wonder Tommy had settled there, had decided to start a family. It was the closest to normal they'd ever get again.

" For a lot of these people, acting normal is coping. Everyone deals with things in... different ways, and most people aren't built for what this world demands. " Just because the world as you know it ends, doesn't mean people magically become violent, become killers. Most who do are only like it because something made them that way... Joel included.

He didn't know what happened to Hannah, that was something for the teen to share in her own time, on her own terms. But he did know that it likely wasn't easy for her. Hell, even Ellie had struggled for a while when they first came back to Jackson, reeling in the aftermath of whatever that asshole tried to do to her, and then with the loss of the fireflies.

" Tommy helped because he's a big softie at heart. He likes people, gets on with them. Wants to help everyone he can, " Joel's gaze travels, spotting said brother in the distance. Chatting away with a group of residents, laughing and smiling in that easy way he always had. Joel felt a twinge in his heart.

" Besides, he likes you. That helps. I can't speak for other people, but this world is... people want to help or hurt others, doesn't seem to be an inbetween anymore. But at least here there only seems to be help.. better than the world out there." Joel gestures towards the large walls.

" You're right though, Jury's still out on the cult thing. Guess we'll have to wait and see." His lips twitch, the closest thing to a smile Joel had offered anyone but Ellie or Tommy in a long time.

Oh, Joel knows what he's talking about, Hannah has heard enough - whispers and implied words alike - to never doubt Joel and Tommy have seen some crazy things in their lives and have had plenty of time to both react and, maybe, recover. She hums thoughtfully, considering his words and trying to feel comforted by them. "Everybody is being so nice to me here... It makes me feel a little crazy, like I'm all scared for nothing," she admits, crossing her arms to hug her chest, shield herself from the awkwardness, "I never thought I'd be around normal people again, you know? I just... expected to be dead by now, easy." It was almost easier, emotionally, to deal with being alone in the wilderness: at least there she knew how to feel and she felt that way most of the time. Here it was one surprise after another.

"I don't understand why Tommy helped me. What he gets out of it. I always meet people who either save me or want to slaughter me and there is no in between, and I don't understand." And that's kind of her big problem here, isn't it? Because trusting people led her there in the first place. Same as not understanding people before they show their true colors. "I'm still not sure this isn't a cult or something. I'm only giving it the benefit of the doubt because of Ellie."