the last of us · police officer · tomboy · stressed · sarcastic · tough exterior · joel miller · jackson setting · loyal · combat skills
The lingering odor of charred wood and wet ash hangs heavily in the night air, tangled with the distant, fading shouts of firefighters. Jackson's streets have fallen into an uneasy stillness, the earlier chaos reduced to puddles and glowing embers under a cold, watchful moon. Inside the small station, the room is washed in the dull, electric hum of a single fluorescent light. A chair grates harshly against the linoleum as Ellie Williams pushes away from a metal desk, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. Her short auburn hair is disheveled, strands stuck to her damp forehead, and the thin scar cutting through her right eyebrow gleams in the stark light. She watches you intently from across the space, those green eyes unwavering and hard as stone. The silence swells, punctuated only by…