#tlou rewrite

[theetherealbloom]

UNEVEN ODDS — CH. 1

Chapter One: These Questions Take Shape

Summary: The Reader is dragged into the Last of Us universe and has no choice but to watch the events unfold live in front of her or will she be able to change what was already written?

Paring: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 6.1k

Warnings: Age-gap Romance, Violence, PTSD, Depression, Zombies, character death, swearing, angst, fluff, eventual SMUT, MY SCIENCE MIGHT BE WRONG, plot holes, rusty writing, alternate universe

A/N: I write?? Kind of?? Tbh, this self-indulgent for sure! We love maladaptive daydreaming :) Anyways, English isn’t my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes! Tbh I was just gonna write one chapter per episode but I got too excited :p 

Song: doomsday by Lizzy McAlpine

-> Next Chapter | Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

YOUR OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE – 2023

It’s been three years since the pandemic, COVID-19 has taken a toll on many people. Millions have died over the past few years and you were one of the lucky ones who got by, survived, and received the vaccine as soon it was available. The world slowly begins to open up and awake from its slumber during those years of uncertainty.

So what do you do now?

You work, continue with your quantum physics research and try and make sense of your life. Someday you’ll be able to be under the mercy of light to choose your fate and your need to find certainties and concrete science. For now, you enjoy the comforting sounds of characters conversing with each other.

Immediately as the show credits show, you fold your laptop close and prepare for bed. Episode 3 of the Last of Us was the most emotional so far, Bill and Frank’s story reminds you that love will transverse in every universe. With these tired eyes, you’ve seen enough for tonight. Your eyes slowly droop down and close, luring you into a deep sleep in a state of wishful thinking, hoping that you would have that kind of love in your life. But for now, the watercolor vivid dreams will suffice.

TLOU WORLD – 2023

You groggily wake up and find yourself on the floor. Slowly as you sit up, you use one of your hands to rub away the sleep, “What the hell,” you mumble. The anxiety begins to creep in, you recognize the coloring of the walls and the type of flooring used.

You look down at yourself to check what you’re wearing, no longer in your sleep clothes but traded away for cargo pants, a shirt, socks, and black boots. What’s more concerning was the familiar voices just outside the tattered room you were in.

“There’s not gonna be anything bad in here?”

A gruff response comes, “Just you.”

“Oh, funny.”

No. God, no way. This is not happening. This isn’t possible. You must be dreaming, right? You quickly stand up, and as soft footsteps come closer, you see Ellie staring at you with complete shock, “Holy shit!” she screams.

The thundering thumps of footsteps quickly make their way into the room as you stand there in complete shock. Your eyes widen in shock as you are now face to face with the characters you’ve grown to love from last night through your laptop screen right in front of you. This feels like a very cruel joke.

Dark brown eyes, salt and pepper hair, tan skin, and lines that appear as Joel frowns at you, unimpressed and suspicious. While Tess is completely covering Ellie, she narrows her eyes at you and says, “Raise your hands.”

Slowly you follow her command and raise both your hands, not wanting to increase the tension between you and them. Then you try your best to steady the trembling voice that wants to escape from you and directly look at Joel to say, “I’m not infected.”

“Show us your arm and neck.” He replies with his thick southern accent, and you bring your hand to the collar of your shirt to show them your neck and then lift the sleeves of your jacket to prove that you are being truthful.

The tension between the four of you still hadn’t dissipated despite proving that you didn’t have Cordyceps. “You got any weapons?” Tess asks and you shake your head, “No.”

Ellie groans in frustration, “Guys, I need to pee.” And you bite back a smile, her attitude, and unintentional humor. You clear your throat and say, “Um, you two could interrogate me in the other room so she can, uh, relieve herself.”

Ellie’s two protectors give each other a knowing side glance and proceed to lower their weapons that were aimed at you. You take a deep breath and then follow Joel as he first leaves the room while Tess watches and follows you from behind, making sure you don’t try anything funny.

You stand in the center of the room, with lush green grass, and flowers,  you tilt your head up to look at the stream of daylight hitting your face. You take note of the overgrown plants and trees, mother nature taking back what’s hers. Eco-brutalists would be ecstatic about all of this, minus the fungi zombies.

Tess breaks the silence and asks, “What’s your name?” You give them your name and ask for theirs, even though you didn’t need to however, it is the polite and fair thing to do. You turn your head to look at both of them. They reluctantly tell you to give them their names as you try and manage to swallow away the fear and secretly hope this was all a dream or maybe a fucked up prank. Tess raises one eyebrow at you, “Where are you from?”

You purse your lips to a thin line and wonder how the hell you were gonna answer that question, you then settle for a, “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated how?” Joel gruffly asks you and you give him a light shrug in response and he scoffs.

Your shoulders sag at his reaction to your words, “I’m not trying to be difficult, I swear.  It is complicated and hard to explain, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. And to be honest, I’m trying my best to wrap my head around this and find a way to explain it without sounding completely insane.”

Joel all but frowns at you but continues to ask, “You tryin’ to get to the QZ?” And without even thinking about it you shook your head in disagreement, and immediately followed your response with suspicion growing on their faces and a frown.

Tess looks at you in disbelief and says, “So, what the hell are you doing out in the city with all the infected running around? Going for a stroll?”

Not wanting to answer the question, you pivot to looking at his fractured hand and give him a light nod, gesturing to it, “Does it hurt?”

Tess glances at his hand and pushes Joel to sit on his chair, his hands shaking as he looks at his bloody knuckles. You also choose to sit on the plush cool green grass, the smell of earth fills your nostrils, and then watch the scene play out in front of you.

“Broken.” Tess states that Joel avoids eye contact with his partner in crime, “Maybe a hairline. It’ll heal fast.”

Tess looks down at the grimy floor and folded her hands in an attempt to calm herself, then raises her head as she whispers, “She made it through the fucking night, Joel.” He shakes his head at her, “It doesn’t matter. It’s gonna happen sooner or later. All right? We’re still close to the wall. We sneak both of them back into the QZ. We find a different way to get the battery.”

“This is our best shot,” Tess says unwaveringly with her decision while Joel scoffs, you watch them both like a tennis match and are surprised by the fact they didn’t even acknowledge your presence.  

“We take her back into the QZ, someone’s gonna notice her arm. They’re gonna scan her then they’ll kill her.”

He harshly whispers back at Tess, “Well, better them than us. You need to stop talking about this kid like she’s got some kind of life in front of her.”

It felt like extreme deja vu watching Joel and Tess argue, and on queue, Ellie walks back in and throws the magazine on the floor, and slides towards Tess. The kid plops down to sit next to you on the lush grass and you look at her with a small smile.

“You hungry?” Tess asks the both of you as she rummages through her backpack to find the energy bars, “You can share some of ours.”

“Thanks. Marlene sent me with my own.” Ellie says and takes out a chicken sandwich from her bag pocket. Tess looks at you, offering some and you politely decline, the older woman tilts her head and says, “When was the last time you ate?”

“Yesterday.” You say without a thought.

“You wanna try to explain’ how you got here? Cause when we checked, you sure as hell weren’t here. Or how the fuck did you manage to survive this long with nothing?” Tess says as she chews on the bark this world now calls food. You feel your palms sweat and pulse slightly increase, you take a deep breath and say, “This is gonna sound extremely bazaar and completely impossible but try to keep an open mind because literal infected are roaming around the streets so believe anything is now within the realm of possibility. Okay?”

You got a couple of hums with curious gazes and listened as you began to speak, “I’m possibly from a different universe or world where this is all just fiction and you’re characters based on a video game-made television series. No, I have zero ideas how I got here. I went to bed and fell asleep, and next thing I know, I woke up with this painful migraine and fatigue, different clothes and you three suddenly existing.”

You paused as you took in the group gaping at you and you sigh, “From where I came from, we had a similar thing happen, a pandemic. However, it was a virus, not Cordyceps. We called it COVID-19, it could be transmitted through an infected person's mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak or breathe. The outbreak started in December 2019 and 6.84 million people died in the last three years during that time. We were able to make a vaccine at a rapid rate since our technology had advanced, and we were able to distribute it globally, so in the current year which we both share, which is 2023, we’re slowly trying to find our footing again as the world opens up.”

You feel your eyes glaze over, and you then shut them as you continued, “I know it sounds fucking impossible, trust me, a lot thought so too. My scientific hypothesis is that the multiverse does exist and somehow sleep or dreaming is connected to it. I really don’t know, it was all just theoretical.”

“Prove it.”

You open your eyes and look at Joel, completely surprised he spoke, “What?”

Joel’s baritone voice and defensive stare felt like electricity through your bones, “I said, prove it.”

If there’s anything you were good at, it was reading a ton of books in a short period and memorizing the important details and plot points. Visual memory paired with the love you had for these characters had you rewatching the three episodes over and over again. Quietly, you thank the younger you for being so nerdy.

You look Joel dead in the eye and turn to the kid beside you quietly looking at you while eating her sandwich, “Your name is Ellie, you got bitten by an infected while you snuck into the mall and then Marlene found you soon afterward. Those two,” you point your thumb in their direction, “need to get you to the state house in exchange for a battery so they can go find Tommy who has been missing for almost a month.”

“Holy shit. She knows my name.” Ellie said with her mouth full of her food.

You turn back to look at Joel and Tess, and then glance at his broken wristwatch, “And, um, Joel, I know how your watch broke, I’m so– .”

“Stop.” Joel lowly says, his stare as cold as ice and distrusting of you. You avert your gaze, and a blanket of silence covers the room. Shakily Joel eats his bark of food and Tess stares at you and Ellie as she chews and swallows, “Is that chicken?”

“Yup. Marlene said they get it from smugglers.” Ellie then thoughtfully tilts her head, “Guess not you guys.”

That does it for Tess and stands up to walk towards you and the kid, “Hey, hey!” Joel says as he stands up after her but Tess holds her hand out to stop him and to signal it’s fine, “Why are you so important to Marlene? And don’t lie to me, or we’ll take you back.”

“Like she said,” the kid gestures to you, “If you take me back, you don’t get your battery.” Tess scoffs, “You heard that?” and Ellie shrugs at her, the older woman mock laughs, “Then you must’ve heard he wants to shoot you.”

Ellie looks toward Joel and he doesn’t deny it, he simply stares back at her.

“If you do that, it would be the dumbest shit you’ll ever do.” You mumble while frowning, Tess turns to you and harshly says, “Zip it, this doesn’t concern you.” And you take what she said in stride and don’t push it any further.

She then crouches down to talk to Ellie, “I’m gonna talk to you like you’re an adult. Okay?” She then takes Ellie’s silence as consent to continue, “Joel and I aren’t good people. We’re doing this for us because apparently, you’re worth something. But we don’t know what you’re worth if we don’t know what we have. So answer my question.”

Ellie rolls her eyes, rubs her face, and mumbles to herself, “She told me not to tell anybody and now I’m telling the first people that I…” She lets out a sigh and reluctantly speaks, “There’s a Firefly base camp somewhere out west with doctors. They’re working on a cure.”

Joel immediately groans in frustration, “I’ve heard this before.” Ellie continues, “And whatever happened to me,” and at the same time she and Joel say, “is the key to finding the vaccine.”

He sighs in exasperation, “That’s what this is? We’ve heard this a million times. Vaccines, miracle cures. None of it works. Ever.”

Ellie stands up, “Fuck you, man. I didn’t ask for this.”

“You and me both.” The grouch turns to his partner and says, “This isn’t gonna end well, Tess. We need to go back.”

You then remember after all those essays and news articles about your pandemic, the time when everything felt so hopeless and scary. You look at Joel and you see a reflection of your own, his fear and panic, “It’s possible.”

They both turn to you and you continue, “Theoretically, it’s possible to create a fungi vaccine, however, I’m not even sure you have the technology to produce it. And it would take finding out what Ellie truly is. Either Ellie’s immune system mutated and created antibodies to fight against the Cordyceps or something else… But either way, a vaccine or maybe a cure could be possible now because of her.”

Tess stands up, as do you, and looks at Ellie for a moment, then to Joel to say, “Let’s just finish it. It doesn’t matter if she is what the Fireflies or what an alien says.”

“I’m human.” You grumble and Tess ignores you, “If they believe that she is then we get what we want.”

Joel gives a glare at Ellie and then shifts his gaze to you, he sighs and shakes his head, “If she so much as twitches.”

Ellie proceeds to make gurgling noises and movements to pretend as if she’s turning into an infected. Tess turns to look at her and scolds in a motherly fashion, “Don’t.” You try and hold in your laugh and the young girl clears her throat, scratches the back of her neck, and mumbles, “Yeah… okay.”

Tess then turns to Joel, “Okay?”

Defeated, Joel swings his arms open and whispers, “Okay.”

The foreshadowing of the fact it will not be okay in the next few moments had you feeling nauseous. The churning fear begins to bubble inside of you, Tess is going to die, albeit a noble and honorable death, but it still would hurt Joel, and Ellie as she slowly grows more fond of the older woman. Then, it hit you, is it possible to change what already was written? Could you save them all? Well, you’re already here, might as well try.

The three of them begin to pack their belongings as you awkwardly stand there with your hands in your pockets and watch as they prepare for the journey to the State House. The sound of Joel picking up his gun catches Ellie’s interest, “Can I have a gun?”

“Absolutely not.”

“No.”

“Okay. Fine. Jesus. I’ll have to throw a fucking sandwich at them.” Ellie then shoves the leftover sandwich into her bag and Joel goes to the giant bookshelf, which is blocking the door, to the side, then peaks out of the door to check if it’s safe. You hear the sound of birds chirping and feel the warmth of the light flood in the abandoned building.

“It’s clear.”

Following Ellie from behind, you begin walking slowly toward the light and into the apocalyptic city. Your eyes take in the sight of tilted, destroyed, buildings, overgrown plants, trees, abandoned cars, and trucks. A hauntingly beautiful sight if you were being honest.

Ellie gasps in wonder as she takes it all in, “Woah.” Tess looks over at her and says, “Yeah, looks different in the daylight, huh?” Joel quickly scans the area, “We should get moving.” Tess begins to take the lead, followed by Ellie then you, while Joel trails from behind.

“It’s like a fucked up moon.” Ellie moves towards a crater and peers over it, “Is this where they bombed?”

“Yeah, they hit most of the big cities like this. They had to slow the spread somehow.” Tess says and Joel continues to walk past it, ignoring the crater and any kind of conversation. “Worked here, but it didn’t in most places.”

Unconsciously, you begin humming to the tune of a Linda Ronstadt song. The last song you ever heard before sleeping. Continuing up to a ruined building, with debris blocking your path, “So the State House is across there. It’s about a ten-minute walk if you could go straight.”

Ellie looks at both of them and you wonder how the fuck you were gonna defeat the clickers later on with no weapon, “So…”

“Long way or short way?” Joel asks Tess, she holds the straps of her backpack and the wind blows through her hair, “I mean, it’s a long way or the we’re-fucking-dead way.”

“Well, I vote a long way just based on that limited information,” Ellie says dryly, and Joel stares at her, a puzzled expression on his face, then his eyes lands on you, waiting for your input.

You frown at him, “No, don’t look at me like that. I’m not giving you any spoilers.” Joel clenches his jaw and turns to Tess, “We have to check it from the hotel first.” She begins to walk away, “Okay.”

You walk along the highway in somewhat comfortable silence, you carefully look to the ground and see a giraffe plushie, the symbolism doesn’t escape you, knowing all too well what it meant. Moss and different kinds of plants grow over the cracks of the road, you spot branches atop abandoned cars and dust covers the windows of each door.

Tess and Ellie begin conversing in front of the group, while you and Joel follow from a distance. You look at Joel and say, “I’m sorry if I overstepped a while ago. I couldn’t prove it unless I told you something only you knew.”

He looks at you in an emotion you can’t quite understand, but still responds in his grumpy demeanor, “Just don’t bring it up again.” You quickly nod, “Mhm, noted.”

It was quiet for a bit until, to your surprise, he asks you, “What did you do for work?” The smile was so difficult to hold back, you chuckle and raise your eyebrows, “I’m… well, was a Quantum physicist. You were a carpenter right?”

“It kinda’ freaks me out how you know that off the top of your head.” His Texan accent heavy as he spoke, you knew that it would take time to build his trust. His reserved and security-oriented nature would prove to be a challenge, but something you wholeheartedly would take on, “I’ll try not to do it as much, I’m sorry.”

“You apologize too much.”

“It’s a habit I’m trying to break, to be honest.” You chuckle nervously, putting your hands in the pockets of your cargo pants, and continue to walk, watching and hearing bits of conversation from Tess and Ellie.

“I thought you were some sort of’ performer, a singer maybe, with all that hummin’ you were doin’ awhile ago.”

That catches you off guard and you feel the confusion form on your face and you begin to feel your face feel warm, “What?” Joel continues, “You were hummin’ to Linda Ronstadt, right? Haven’t heard that song in a while.” You stared at him in complete disbelief, “You heard me humming?”

As he was about to reply, you and him managed to catch up to Ellie and Tess to overhear their conversation, “How old are you?” Ellie replies, “Fourteen.” Tess hums and smirks at the kid, “Wow. Well, I mean you got some balls on you, sister.”

“Thanks,” Ellies says and follows after Tess, climbing over the flipped rusted car. You follow their movements and Joel does too.

Tess curiously looks over her shoulder at Ellie and continues her walk forward, “Nobody is gonna come after you, right? Like Mom, Dad, boyfriend?”

“I’m an orphan, and, uh, no.” Ellie takes a look around her surroundings and lets her hand brush on the tall grass growing from the cracks of the pavement, “Everyone said the open city was crazy. Like, swarms of infected running around everywhere.”

Joel humors her, “Not exactly like that.” Tess smiles, “You know people like to tell stories.”

“So there aren’t super-infected that explode fungus spores on you?” Ellie curiously asks with a somewhat happy tone, as if all of this doesn’t scare her. Fearless is what you conclude, a trait that could be good when at its best but dangerous and reckless at its worse. “Shit, I hope not,” Tess says.

“Or ones with split-open heads that see in the dark like bats?” Ellie asks and that causes a shift in Tess, Joel, and your demeanor. Fucking clickers. And on queue, you hear the screeching of the devil’s spawn in the distance. The whole group stills and Ellie shakily asks, “What was that?”

Joel doesn’t reply, instead, he just says, “Let’s keep movin’.”

Joel pushes the doors of the hotel open, loudly shrieking as he does, and all three of you are greeted with the sight of the flooded hotel. It was almost swamp-like due to the green water, lily pads floating, and the ducks and frogs swimming.

Ellie takes a spin and looks at the view with a childlike wonder you wish you still had, “You’ve got to be kidding me! You ever stay in a place like this?” “Uh, no, a little out of our league.” Tess says and Joel looks at Ellie and asks, “How do you even know what this is?” Being the smartass that she throws him a look and says, “Have you heard of books?”

You chuckle as Joel shakes his head and walks down into the murky water, “Wait we’re going in there?” Ellie asks, and Tess nods, “Yeah, we gotta get to the stairwell on the other side.” The kid takes a step back, “Well, I don’t… I don’t know how to swim.” Joel lifts an eyebrow, “Seriously?”

“Do you think we have pools in the QZ?” Ellie says with narrowed eyes. “No, smart-ass. I mean…”, Joel does a little jump into the water, it does a small splash when he does. “I don’t know how I was supposed to know that,” Ellie says as she walks down the steps and into the water, you follow behind her and Tess.

You four wade through the green murky water, “This is so gross.” Ellie says with a huge smile on her face and you can’t help but laugh, “This is disgusting.” The fourteen-year-old spots the concierge desk and makes her way over, “Oh, check it out!”

You place both of your hands on your hips and  watch her mess with the call bell, “Ding, ding.” She begins to do her form of roleplay for her entertainment and to cure her boredom, “Yes sir. I would like your finest suite, please.”

“Yes, ma’am. Would you like me to take your luggage?”, she proceeds to answer her own question and pushes the hotel bell cart through the water, “Yes, ma’am. Right away ma’am…”

“You’re a weird kid.” Joel states, Ellie turns her head to look at him, “You’re a weird kid.” Something falls over, a sloshing sound indicating that it had fallen in front of Ellie causing her to jump back and bang the piano behind her and yelp, “Oh, fuck!”

You and Joel are quick to come to her side to see what it was. A skeleton lay there unmoving and rotten, your eyes raise to look at Ellie panting and clutching onto the hotel bell cart, “Oh, my god.” Joel kicks the skull and the kid mumbles, “Uh, sorry.”

Joel offers his hand to help Ellie back up and the sound of the honky-tonk piano creates sharp notes as she stands, Joel pulls back his hand once Ellie can manage on her own and begins to walk away.

You look to Joel, “How’s the hand?” He looks down at it as it shakes again, “It’ll heal.” Your face forms a frown and you shake your head, “That doesn’t answer my question.” Joel doesn’t respond and decides to continue and you simply follow.

“You okay?” Tess asks Ellie, and the young girl wades through the water like nothing happened, “Yep. Fucking Fabulous.”

After ten flights of stairs you finally made it to the top floor, Joel goes through the doorway first, while Tess takes a moment to catch her breath, “Fuck. Holy shit.” 

You’re a little breathless, but not as much as Tess since you were a bit younger than her. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.” Ellie says teasingly and Tess shoots her a look, “You try climbing ten fuckin’ floors with our knees. See how you feel.”

You turn right to a hallway, to see a giant obstruction made out of the rubble, “Well, when the fuck did that happen?” Tess tries to push the door to her right, only to be blocked. You try to check the door to the left to find the same outcome, you sigh “No.”

“All right, well, I mean, maybe I could climb up there. Work my way around and open it from the inside?” Ellie peers around the rocks, “Uh, no. Well, I’m the smallest, so it’d be easier for me to get through.” Tess hums, “But you die and we get nothing. You stay.”

“I could help.” You say a little meek, Tess is a little intimidating and you feel so out of place like you’re intruding. Technically, you aren’t supposed to be in this mess. She takes a good look at you and says, “Yeah, no.”

You deflate a little and avoid trying to argue, Tess turns to Joel and asks for help, “Can you give me a hand?” Joel pulls back Ellie with the strap of her backpack and she sighs, then Joel tugs your jacket sleeve to do the same. Your face warms a little bit, it’s the first time he’s ever touched you.

Joel boosts up Tess over the pile of rubble and she climbs over, “You good up there?” Tess analyzes the mess she needs to clean up and replies, “Yeah. It’s a bit of a mess, so I’m gonna need a few minutes.”

Joel turns around to face you and Ellie, he adjusts his gun and lets his back slide against the wall to sit down across from both of you. Ellie has her arms resting on her knees while you decide to sit comfortably cross-legged.

Ellie takes out her knife and decides to play with it, tossing it in her hands as if it were just a pen and not something that could easily cut her if she commits a mistake. You watch everything play out just like it did in the episode—character development.

“Nice knife,” Joel says as his eyes follow the movement of Ellie’s tossing. She only glances at him with acknowledgment. “Where’d you learn to do that?” he asks, you gotta hand it to him for trying to make an effort.

She replies with a monotone voice, “The circus.” 

Joel looks away exasperated and completely done with her bullshit. You try and hide your smile, but the slight crease in your eyes gives away your amusement. Ellie folds her knife, and as Joel sighs, the kid decides to give an olive branch, “Where are you from?”

“Texas.” He replies, and Ellie continues, “What about Tess?”

“Detroit. It’s in Michigan.”

If there’s anything she hated most, was the fact people underestimate her intelligence, she rolls her eyes and Ellie’s reply comes out harsh, “I go to school. I know where Detroit is.”

Her response causes a wave of silence between the three of you. Your eyes drift from Joel to Ellie, she then decides it’s your turn to be interrogated, “Are you from the future?”

Your mouth twists a little to the right before deciding on a good enough answer, “Sort of? Your technology stopped advancing in 2003, so, I guess I am?” This piques her interest, “So, what’s it like over there?”

You pick the dirt off the underside of your fingernails, a little nervous, or if not nervous then cautious, as you respond, “Almost the same. Our technology is way different though.”

“Different how?” She asks.

You give her a soft smile and respond, “Well, for starters, we have touch screens for phones, laptops, tablets, you name it, it probably has a touch screen.”

“No way,” Ellie says with her eyes full of amazement and wonder, “What else?”

You give a hum as you teasingly tell her, “I don’t know… it might blow your tiny little mind.” She blows a raspberry in your face and you stick your tongue out in retaliation.

“Come on! Wait, you said we were just characters in some kind of story?” She says dramatically and tugs the sleeve of your jacket and continues, “What did you mean by that?”

Your eyes shift to look at Joel, who has his full attention on you; simply waiting. You blink owlishly at him, once, then twice before settling on a response, “Yeah, um, it recently aired.”

“So, do you know the future? Like our future? What’s about to happen? Will we be able to make a cure or a vaccine?” You couldn’t keep up with her rapid questions, and your mouth slightly parts open. Should you tell them? 

Can you change the fact Tess is practically minutes away from death? That Joel is about to make the worst mistake of his life? That Bill and Frank are… that they…

Luckily, you didn’t need to answer Ellie, Joel who senses your unease, steps in for you, “Ellie, stop askin’ her about her life, she doesn’t wanna give anythin’ up.” You look at him apologetically and shut your eyes for a while. This migraine keeps bothering you, a sharp, heavy, thump in the side of your brain hasn’t gone away. You tell yourself that it eventually will. Maybe.

Ellie focuses her attention back to Joel, “So you two like a…”

“Pass.” He says.

Ellie continues, “How’d you end up in Boston?”

“Pass. No more questions about me.” Ellie rolls her eyes at him and racks her brain for a different question, “How long do infected live?” Joel mocks Ellie in reply, “Oh, I thought you went to school.”

“It’s a really shitty one.” She snarkily replies. You smile at their banter with your eyes closed, enjoying the conversation that they have going on. Joel thinks for a moment before answering her, “Well, some last about a month or two. But there’s other’s been walkin’ about 20 years.”

Ellie fidgets with her knife again, “You ever kill one?”

You hear the slight sorrow in his voice, “Yeah, I’ve killed lots of them.” Ellie asks the most human question as she looks at the older man, “Was it hard? Like, knowing they were people once?”

You open your eyes to watch his gaze look away from the kid, memories come back to him, what he’s done and will continue to do, and he nods, “Sometimes.”

“What about that guy last night?” She asks, and you frown while he gives Ellie a stern look. You knew Ellie liked the fact Joel hurt the FEDRA guard to protect her. She loved it. Luckily Joel doesn’t have to respond, you could hear the sound of something approaching you. The loyalist immediately stands up, and you and Ellie get up to stand next to Joel, he puts his finger to the trigger of his gun, ready to protect you both from whatever is out there.

“You can put the gun down, Joel,” Tess calls out from a distance, and a tingle of jealousy moves through your bones like electricity. She knew him so well, to the point where she knew what he was going to do before doing it. They both loved each other without admitting it, and it hurts you. They never stood a chance. 

You hear the quiet rumble of Tess pushing away the debris to open the door, the loud creak of metal reveals her face, and it’s full of worry. Joel reads her like a book, “What now?” Then Tess nods her head, signaling to follow her.

As you make your way upstairs, you take notice of the abandoned wine glass and dishes, the dust that coats every inch of the hotel, and the fallen chairs. Tess pulls back a plastic curtain for you and Ellie to walk through, only to be greeted by the view of hundreds of infected down below.

“There’s so many,” Ellie comments in disbelief, you can hear the cries and wailing of each Runner as they roll and crawl. The young girl leans a little forward to get a better view. Tess nods, “The last time we were here they were still deep inside the buildings. Then I guess enough people came through looking for the QZ they went inside seeking shelter, and that’s how they get more and more of the city bit by city year after year.”

As the clouds pass by, the sun shines through a little, overwhelming light shines over the infected, they screech and roll away, like a domino effect. “They’re connected,” Ellie says, and Tess nods in confirmation, “More than you know. The fungus also grows underground. Long fibers like wires, some of them stretching over a mile.”

If you weren’t so focused on listening to Tess explain the cordyceps, you would have felt Joel staring at you the whole time, observing how you were taking all of the information being shared. You were surprisingly calm, despite the fact zombies are now real and you could die. And possibly a little worried like you were anticipating something bad was going to happen.

Tess continues, “Now you step on a patch of cordyceps in one place and you can wake a dozen infected from somewhere else. Now they know where you are, now they come. You’re not immune from being ripped apart. You understand? It’s important. I’m trying to keep you alive.”

Ellie nods and you do too, even if the question wasn’t directed at you. “So we’re not going that way.” She states, and Tess agrees, “No.”

“What do we do then? Short way?” Ellie asks and Joel looks at Tess, and speaks the dreaded words you’ve heard before, “Museum.”

A/N: Trust me, I’m working double time on the next one if this is received well :,) Thank you for reading! See ya in the next chapter <3

Next Chapter ->

#joel miller x y/n #joel miller x reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x poc!reader #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal #tlou #tlou remake #tlou rewrite #tlou series #joel miller x reader series #joel miller x reader tlou #tlouhbo #the last of us rewrite #joel miller x modern reader #joel miller x reader au

[writersblockedx]

Loose Ends: Chapter One

Chapter One: Insects

Based off - Episode One Pairing - Joel Miller x Fem!Reader Warnings - General violence, language, a good bit of angst  Words - 6.3k

A/n - Hello! Welcome to my the last of us rewrite! I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to write this as I’ve never tried to start a rewrite without having watched the full series first. I’m hopping everything I’ve planned for the reader’s character works out and I hope you enjoy it!

⇨ Next Chapter Read on: AO3 Wattpad

Masterlist

There was a hasher side to having the job Y/n did. But, the bad things were lucky they didn't weigh out the good. She had a job that not many could replace. At least, not yet. She may not occupy the great muscle that soldiers did but she held knowledge above a college level. Without, any sort of school system left standing, Y/n was a rarity many had fought over. Though, she found herself settled in Boston for the last ten years.

A very long, a very complicated ten years.

She wiped the used needle, putting it back in its box of the remaining free that they had no choice but to keep using over and over. The woman turned, halted by the figure standing in the doorway between the hall and her makeshift office. She shifted and her expression turned sour as a huff fell from her lips, "I thought you were avoiding me."

Joel was leant against the door frame, hands in his pockets ever so lazily. "Apparently Doctor Davis is unavailable." He informed as his gaze guided along her. "And I'm in need of pharmaceutical resources."

She shook her head, "Doctor Davis was demoted because he failed inventory. Lost some painkillers and couldn't explain it. We came to the conclusion a smuggler was behind it." The man tensed. "Whatever it is you want Joel, I'm not helping you."

"What about a check-up?" He pressed.

"You want a check-up?" She gestured to a group behind him, analysing some lab work, yet they lacked the lab coat that hung around Y/n's shoulders. "Get one of the junior doctors to do it for you."

Joel glanced back at them and scoffed, "You mean your little science projects?" He raised a brow which seemed to taunt the woman.

She walked from the middle of the room towards the door. And even with him towering over her, her stern expression didn't dare to break. "I'm not giving you anything, I'm not helping you. So whatever has brought you here after a year, I can't do-"

"It's Tommy." He interjected, his gaze falling down to meet hers. Her lips shut. "Its been three weeks. He hasn't responded."

Y/n thought on it for a moment but the second her eyes met with Joel's, he knew it was a lost cause. "That's got nothing to do with me anymore, just like you don't."

He peered behind him, catching sight of the working group once again. He looked back and leaned in slightly, his words only a hushed whisper, "I know you don't owe me anything, but-"

"You're right." She cut him off like her tongue were a knife. "I don't owe you anything. I'm sure you or Tess will figure something out." It took Y/n a lot, but she looked him in the eye and she swore all she could see was a flicker of a memory she had forced herself to forget. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got somewhere to be."

But Joel nodded and took the rejection in his stride as he turned his back to her and exited the building.

Y/n wasn't lying. She had somewhere to be. Somewhere she needed to be desperately in fact. She left the building with a bag of her usual medical supplies. This was her third time sneaking around in the last week; she was surprised no guards had started to catch on. Then again, as Joel had once put, the white lab coat she wore seemed to open every door and drew any attention away from her.

She took the same route. Though, as organised with Marlene, never the same time. Y/n's lab coat couldn't quite hide her from everything, she still had to be smart. She slipped into the Fireflies building, unnoticed and, seemingly, safely.

There were a few people dotted around, all of them tightly focused on their individual tasks.Y/n didn't have to walk far until coming across Marlene, likely planning within the space of her own head. "Hey," The woman greeted, wandering around the table where maps were laid out. She jolted a little, only settling when her gazed settled on Y/n. "Jesus, what's up with you?"

Marlene huffed as she looked back to the papers scattered beneath her, "Got some new resources coming in before we move." She informed.

"Since when did that put you on edge?" The other girl questioned.

She finally pulled her gaze from her maps, finding her palms settling on her hips. "Since it's a new smuggler whose delivering."

Y/n nodded her head in realisation, "Ah, right." She uttered before her eyes pulled to a door situated across from them. "You spoke to her yet?"

Marlene looked to the door too, "Yeah. Once we get this stuff, we're gone." Y/n met the gaze of her friend and found a glint of regret surged through her pupils. "You can still come if you want."

She flashed an apathetic smile, "You know I can't." As much as she may have wished she could. "I'm the only doctor they've got left in this zone."

"What happened to Davis?"

Y/n could have laughed. In fact, she almost did, "Helping Joel smuggle painkillers." By the expression Marlene wore, she wasn't all that surprised by such. "I'd go with you if I could, but you can get her out of here and you keep her safe better than anyone else ever could."

Marlene shifted in her stance, her expression softening, "You can still come with us. We'll find somewhere with better medical supplies, somewhere that's safe-"

"Marlene," The girl cut in. "Nowhere is 100% safe, I think here is the best place for me." She went on, taking a cautious step forward as her voice lowered, suddenly aware of the ears which could be listening in. "There will be other scientists, other medics, whatever you need will be out there to maybe do something." She assured.

"We'll miss you." She sent a smile which was easily returned.

"I know." Y/n was already walking out the room as she continued, "How long have I got to do vitals?"

"Dealer should be here in five."

Y/n nodded in understanding and fully turned, heading for the room Ellie was still stuck in. As she had been doing for two weeks now, the girl entered the room with her bag of medical supplies and a smile she hoped would comfort the kidnapped girl. Ellie wore the same clothes she came in. Yet, now, she was freed from the chain which once kept her here, along with having her bag returned to her.

At the sound of the door opening, Ellie stood, relaxing only a little when Y/n walked further into the room. "You're still here." She observed with knitted brows as if she hadn't expected it.

Y/n unzipped her bag, pulling out the damaged and remaining supplies she had. "What? You miss me?"

"That lady-" She gestured her head towards the doorway.

"Marlene?" Y/n questioned.

To which, Ellie nodded and continued, "Said I was leaving. I wasn't expecting the FEDRA doctor to come with me."

"I'm not coming with you." She broke to the younger girl.

Something of which seemed to insight panic, "You're not?"

Still, with that comforting smile which wasn't doing a brilliant job, Y/n shook her head. "I can't." She started walking further into the room. "Come on, sit, I still need to check your vitals before you go."

Ellie wasn't certain but she took to the floor as Y/n did. The woman reached for the blood pressure machine and as she always did, she turned to find Ellie had already rolled up her sleeve. "What will you do now then?" Inquired the girl.

Y/n didn't look away as she strapped the machine around her arm, turning it on as it started to squeeze against her skin. "Nothing different." She answered mindlessly.

She waited until the machine relaxed around her arm before continuing, "You know they tell stories about you at military school."

The older woman barely looked up from jotting down the results as she answered, "And do you bother to believe them?"

Ellie shrugged, "Some are a bit far-fetched." She thought aloud with a hum as Y/n reached for a thermometer. And, as had become routine, Ellie looked to the side as Y/n scanned her ear. "Mainly the ones that call you a murderer."

She chuckled, "And what are they becoming in military school I wonder." The thermometer beeped and Y/n pulled it back. Once again, noting down the results. "I wish I could come with you, you know." She admitted.

"Then why don't you?"

Y/n thought on it for a moment. She thought about avoiding the answer all together but that curious glint in Ellie's eyes seemed to insight her. "Because them stories you've heard, they travel further then your little military school."

The younger girl was about to give a reply when the mutterings from outside the door got louder. At first, Y/n wasn't going to pay much attention to them. That was until she caught the words woven between the sudden sharp tones. "This wasn't what we agreed." Yelled Marlene.

A sickening scoff was sounded, "Oh, was it not?" Taunted another voice. Y/n wasn't certain, but she made an assumption it was the new smuggler. Obviously not one to be trusted by the sound of things.

She glanced back to Ellie who was listening just as intently as she were. "Stay here." Y/n instructed.

Ellie watched with wide eyes as the woman slowly crept closer to the doorway, keeping low to the floor as to not give away her location. Well, more importantly, as to not give away Ellie's location. She peered her head around the doorway, lucky to find most backs faced her. The smuggler and his fellow guard dogs were talking to Marlene and a few other loitering fireflies.

"Look, I don't know what your plan is here, but either you're going to get what we actually agreed on or we're gonna have a problem." Said Marlene.

She scanned the various smugglers. Their ripped and ragged clothes. And then the pistols which hung from their belts, accompanied with shivs and other blades. A part of her worried for the woman who was facing the group, but Y/n knew Marlene could handle herself. And while she was certain Ellie could too, she took the decision to protect her.

With a sharp inhale, Y/n delicately pressed the door shut, holding her back against it. She met Ellie who had still yet to move from her spot. "You got a gun in that backpack of yours?" She questioned, quietly, gesturing to the bag which was near the girl.

The girl didn't speak. Instead, she rummaged through the bag and pulled out a very small pocket knife. Not a gun, not a dagger, just a small, blunt pocket knife. Y/n could have sworn they were dead there and then.

"I don't think that's how this is gonna work!" Snapped the male voice, immediately followed by the sound of gunshots.

Y/n stiffed and her gaze jumped to Ellie. She gestured her head for the girl to come next to her. She followed, scurrying across the wooden floor as her back leant aginst the door like Y/n's did.  The sounds of bodies getting hit and thrown jumbled with groans of pain. Y/n reached out her palm as Ellie passed the only thing they had to protect themselves. She had no plan on moving from this room. She would wait it out. The only problem which plagued her was if they dared to look in the locked room.

Alas, long moments passed of holding their breath before the gun shots dwindled out. The sound of movement was limited to the sound of body's dropping and suddenly, the only noise from outside their room was the mumbles and groans that Y/n struggled to make out. "Is it over?" Whispered Ellie from her side.

The younger girl was looking up at her for assurance that she was unable to give. So Y/n kept her gaze to the floor as she focused on every sound she could catch. "I don't know yet."

The groaning continued and Y/n thought about escaping the comfort of the room which was keeping them hidden. Then came the footsteps. More than just a pair and that was enough to keep her body and Ellie's behind the door. "Shit," She heard Marlene curse. Another voice replied in a soothing tone which told her the girl was safe.

"It's Marlene." Ellie noted, worry glazing her pupils as the two looked to one another.

"I know." Y/n huffed.

"Well, aren't we going to do something?"

The expression written over the woman's face gave Ellie her answer. She wasn't going to do something. Not yet, anyway. So in an act of desperation, Ellie snatched her pocket knife back and busted the door open.

"Ellie, don't!" Her voice screeched. Y/n scurried to her feet, attempting to grasp the young girl, but she had slipped from her fingers.

Though by the time the words had slipped from her tongue, Ellie had been thrown to the floor again and Y/n found herself faced with the barrel of a gun. A gun that was held by Joel Miller. "Y/n?" Questioned Joel as if he didn't quite believe it.

And, in a similar fashion, she did the same, "Joel?" Their eyes both snapped to the end of the hallway where Marlene was stumbling with a gunshot wound, held in a steady position by Kim.

Then Y/n's eyes jumped to Ellie and her expression simply read: Told you so. Y/n looked passed the gun that was still held at her head, "Ellie? You okay?" She asked, glancing between the weapon and the teenage girl.

She hummed something along the lines of a, "Yeah." before reaching out for the pocket knife, almost bruising her fingers as Joel stepped on it, keeping it from use.

"Ellie." Called Marlene. At first, the girl seemed too captivated with sending a death glare to Joel that she hadn't dared to turn away. "Ellie." Marlene repeated, more stern and forceful than before, prompting her to finally look away.

Her eyes found Marlene's face first, then they jolted to the blood which was drowning her t-shirt. "Oh, shit!"

Marlene hovered a hand in front of her as if silently saying it was okay. "No, it's okay. I'll be alright." She lowered her gun. "You can't be stupid like this."

"Trust me," Y/n spoke up. "I'd tried to stop her." The two were like scolding parents with a disruptive child.

Y/n only caught a glance, but a glance was enough to process the puzzled, tender emotion that was painted over Joel's face. Even if he had yet to move that gun from her. "So this is who Robert screwed us over with?" Came another voice as they rounded the corner: Tess. "The Che Guevara of Boston and the FEDRA medic turned firefly?" She scoffed as if it were laughable. "War must be going pretty shitty for you to buying from scumbags like him."

Y/n found her eyes rolled but her lips stayed tied shut while Marlene replied, "Yeah, it kinda has been. Merch was bad and he didn't take fuck off for an answer." Which would explain the voices her and Ellie had overheard before the gunshot started.

"What about you?" Y/n's gaze jumped between Joel and Tess. "The hell are you doing here?"

Tess snapped back before Joel could, "None of your business."

"Give me my knife." Demanded the voice from below.

The voice of which had been ignored. "What do you need a car battery for?" Joel interrogated.

Ellie moved when she shouldn't have. Maybe the fact she was ignored had prompted her on as she reached for her knife anyway. Thus, leading to the gun once pointed at Y/n to point at her. Marlene and Kim both raised their weapons. And with nothing else, Y/n swiftly pulled the shiv from Joel's belt, swinging it around his throat.

It hovered over his skin just as the gun hovered over Ellie's forehead. "Don't point it at her." She stated in a slow, firm tone which had seemed to send a shiver down Joel's spine.

He didn't dare move. So he gave a harsh whisper in reply, "Then where the fuck am I meant to point it?"

"I don't care." She said. "Just not at her."

So, with that, Joel's hand moved. Rather than point to Marlene or Kim, Y/n felt it prod below her ribs. Sharp and prominent that it made the thought of breathing fearsome. "Why do you need the car battery?" He asked again.

This time, Y/n felt obliged to answer, "For a much better reason than you do." He pushed the gun further into her skin and she tensed.

Luckily, Marlene swept in to continue, "Tommy's just one man." She felt the gun relax slightly at the mention of Joel's brother. "It's our business to know things."

"To know things." The man reiterated. "You're the cause of it. You turned my own brother against me."

"Not the only reason." Y/n mumbled, expecting that to cause Joel to push the gun against her skin again. Alas, it seemed to just keep his lips sewn shut.

Within the silence, Kim brought everyone back to current matters at hand, "That was a lot of gun fire. FEDRA's gonna be on their way." As if they didn't already have enough to deal with.

"I know." Marlene nodded.

Y/n looked over Joel's shoulder, "What do we do now?" It was obvious Marlene was stuck in a thought. A thought of which she didn't seemed to like. "Marlene?"

She sighed but let on such thought, "We were going to move Ellie out of the zone tonight. But we won't make it anywhere like this. Not for a while." She explained. "So now I'm thinking, you're gonna do it."

The shock from both parties encouraged them to pull away as the shiv left Joel's neck and the gun left Y/n's ribs. Spontaneously, together, there came a chorus of negative responses:

"What? Marlene-"

"I'm not going with them!"

"The hell we are."

Glances were shared between the three of them; all of which opposed this very stupid idea. "Who is she?" Tess inquired, considering this deal.

"To you, she's cargo." Suppose that was how they were sure to look at this.

"We don't smuggle people." Said Joel.

Kim looked over at Marlene and offered, "I can do it."

That was instantly shut down by the wounded woman, "Kim you don't have a fucking ear on your fucking head." And that plan went out the window just as quickly as it had come in. "There's a team of fireflies waiting for her at the old State House. We were going with a whole squadron for that very reason. But now I don't have a squadron or a truck. FEDRA's five minutes away. What I do have is you."

Maybe it was practical, but it was still a stupid idea with how delicate they must handle this situation. "Why can't Y/n take me?" Ellie queried.

Tess had scoffed at the idea of that as she stared at the doctor, "Because she's got no idea how to survive without these walls which keep her precious prestige."

She could only reply to Tess with a deadly glare that did nothing. But as she looked back to Joel, she spoke up, "I know what you're both capable off." A glint passed through the man's eyes that she couldn't pinpoint. "For better or for worse."

"What are they capable of?" Came that vulnerable voice from below.

Y/n's gaze flickered to Ellie before back to Joel, "We can give you what you need to find Tommy, not just the battery."

Marlene backed that up, "Just get her to that house safely."

It seemed they were on the brink of a deal when Ellie had to throw in a curve ball. "I'm not going without one of you." She was peering over at Marlene and Y/n, that worry still lingering in her pupils which sparked guilt.

"I'll just slow you down." Marlene pointed out, still having that gushing red pool at the fabric of her shirt.

So then eyes landed to Y/n. The automatic answer of 'I can't' didn't seem to follow. Not when she was facing Ellie's desperation to feel secure with someone she could trust. And it took her a long moment before she sucked it up, "Okay, I'll go with you." She decided.

"Y/n-" Marlene was about to remind her of what she already knew, about what could be awaiting her out there if she wasn't careful.

"It's okay." Y/n assured.

"Well this will be a first." Critiqued Tess. Again, something that had earnt her a glare from Y/n as she was left with nothing else to respond with.

The couple soon met eyes, Joel nodding his head before they trailed over to have a silent conversation. Y/n took that as her chance to move over to Ellie, handing the knife back over to her. "Talk it through but please remember I'm bleeding out over here!" Yelled Marlene.

That seemed enough to draw their ever so important conversation to a close. "Alright, here's the deal." Tess started as she spun on her heels to face the group. "The three of us will get her to your crew at the state house but before we hand her over, they give us everything that we want. If not, we kill her. There and then." As in true Tess fashion.

And, almost too quickly, "Deal." Agreed Marlene.

"Really?" Ellie uttered. "That fast?"

"You are all that matters." Marlene said. "My team will not jeopardise that."

Y/n helped the girl back up to her feet, "Come on, lets get your stuff." She gave one more glance to Joel and Tess before wandering back into the room.

Ellie grabbed her backpack and Y/n stuffed her medical supplies back into her bag. By the time they exited the room, Marlene was by the doorway, offering a pistol to Y/n. "Just in case." She uttered.

She glanced between the weapon and the woman who had grown to become her friend. "Do I get one?" Ellie beamed.

In synch, they both snapped back, "No." Before Y/n took the offer, shoving it in the waistband of her jeans.

"You stay safe out there." Was the last thing Marlene said to her before her and Ellie were trailing behind the smugglers. Joel took one last stare and Y/n overheard Marlene as she practically threatened the man, "Don't fuck this up."

There came no reply from Joel. Instead, he must have nodded his head and continued on with the rest of them. They tread through the pouring rain. Pace in their step as they walked against the curfew. Ellie was smart. Any whiff of a solider and she had her face hidden. Right up until they entered an apartment complex.

Tess led the way, stopping at what Y/n assumed to be their apartment, unlocking it. She slipped in first and held the door open. Ellie wandered in first, her curious eyes translating between this new surrounding. And Y/n followed her. Which was when Tess moved. "Give us a minute." She stepped back through the doorway, and before either of them could realise what was happening, the door was slammed right in their faces.

"What the fuck!" Exclaimed the young girl, while Y/n found it to be expected. Tess had never particularly warmed to her.

Ellie huffed as her back hit the wall. Y/n took further steps into this apartment that wasn't her own, but seemed to have speckles of her memory. Most memories which had Joel attached to them. The blanket they had once shared, the old board games she had been adamant they kept, the books which words were rich, but their pages were lacking in such as they started to tear. As Y/n kept walking, her eyes fell to the paper insect that hung by the window.

The cutout butterfly glistened against the street lights, it's colours reflecting into the room. It was a haunting memory of someone Y/n was still certain came as a comfort to Joel. "Do you trust them?" Ellie questioned, finally moving from the wall she had once been leaning against.

Y/n peered away from the butterfly, "I trust Joel's need to find his brother." Their voices still lingered outside. When the girl looked to Ellie, she was sat in a deadpanned expression, urging for more information. To which, Y/n obliged. "For now, I trust them. I'll let you know if it changes."

Ellie started snooping herself. Though, not for what parts of her might still linger in this room, but for what she could use as leverage. Something better than a blunt pocket knife, she hoped. "How do you know 'em?" She wondered as her fingertips tranced a bookshelf by the window.

"Old friends." Y/n uttered and Ellie hummed in response as if she didn't quite believe her but didn't bother to pester further into the topic.

"Tess!" Yelled Joel's voice from the other side of the wall. Y/n turned, facing the door which was still closed on them. Then she looked to Ellie who was flicking through a music book. "Tess!" He repeated.

Soon after, he entered the room, clearly not in any better of a mood. He threw his bag to the side and headed for the couch without muttering a woad. "So?" Ellie spoke up. "Who's Bill and Frank?"

His eyes widened slightly before meeting Y/n who had seated herself in the armchair by the window. "Didn't I tell you she's good at eavesdropping?" The woman raised a brow.

Ellie continued on: "The radios a smuggling code, right?"

Again, Joel looked to Y/n for an answer. "Or that's she catches on quickly?"

"60s song they don't have anything new, 70s they've got new stuff." She went on, reading from a note tucked into the thick book. Joel stood from the coach. "What's 80s?"

He snatched it from her hold and threw it to the battered coffee table which was somehow still standing. Then he returned back to the coach, getting comfy against the fabric once again. Y/n was just about to turn her head to the window, when Ellie piped up again. "What are you doing?" She was standing over Joel.

"Killing time." He said without taking a peak back at her.

"Well what am I suppose to do?" She snapped.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Ellie spun, facing Y/n who didn't have any excuse for Joel's unwelcoming ways. She took the book back, dragging a chair over to where Y/n was sitting. "Your watch is broken." She pointed out as if Joel were unaware.

That time, his eyes pulled open, meeting Y/n. They both thought the same thing but neither of them made a move to voice it. Ellie huffed harshly as she sat down, "Why were you friends with him again?" She asked.

Y/n stole one more peak at the man who had shut his eyes again, though was still obviously listening, and she chose it best not to answer. Her gaze pulled to the window as she attempted to wash away the thoughts of the day. She wasn't sure yet if she had just made the worse decision she could, but leaving this zone was the biggest risk she could possibly take. Only time would tell if that risk was going to come back to haunt her.

Hours must have passed. The sun set and curfew was soon enforced. Ellie had shut the song book and joined Y/n in staring out the window like it was the most entertaining thing in the world. Somewhere along the lines, Joel stared to stir back awake. Ellie noticed first, "You mumble in your sleep."

Y/n turned her head, confused as she expected Ellie to be talking to her, only to find her eyes centred on Joel. The man pulled himself up and the young girl continued on with her words, "I've never been on the other side of the wall. Look how dark it is. You guys go out there a lot?"

"I guess." Joel answered, still in between the state of dreams and consciousness.

"When was the last time?"

His eyes flickered to Y/n before he said anything, "A year. Maybe." He shook his head, seeping into a different topic, "What's it matter?"

Ellie shrugged, "You know where to go. So were gonna be okay?"

Silence passed and neither of the adults in the room knew how to answer that question. It seemed a matter of false hope or reality. "Yeah," Y/n finally uttered. "We'll be fine." Or so she prayed they would be.

"What's the deal with you anyway?" Queried Joel. "You some kind of bigwigs daughters or something?"

Y/n replied before giving Ellie the chance, "Since when did you ask questions?" She snapped like the words meant something.

Joel shifted at that, standing from the couch in an act of opposition. "Sorry," He spat back. "I won't do it again." Y/n watched as he turned his back to her, wandering over to the kitchen tables. Suddenly, she was wishing she had given the chance for Ellie to speak first, a guiltly feeling burdened her gut that she knew wasn't going away any time soon.

"Oh, the radio came on while you were sleeping." Uttered the younger girl once tension had sizzled slightly.

Joel snapped back around as Y/n scolded her, knowing where this was going, "Ellie-"

But it was no use, "What?" The man rushed. "What was the song?"

"He kept saying like 'wake me up before you go-go'."

Joel looked down, "Shit." He muttered to himself.

And such had ever so easily given him away. A smile tugged at Ellie's lips as she said, "Gotcha." It was with that when Joel finally caught on too. "80s means trouble. Code broken."

"I did warn you." Y/n added.

The man was about to point his finger and scold the girl just like Y/n usually did when the door swung open again. Tess walked in and all three of them stayed silent. "The spot under Lancaster looks good." She informed before pointing to Ellie. "You got a jacket in your pack?" She nodded and then Tess glanced over to Y/n. "What about you, prestige? Got something other than that lab coat?" Her response was a silent one, the answer given to Tess by the expression which was written over her face. "Of course, you haven't."

Joel was already moving as he spoke, "I'll go get you one from the war-"

Some material hit her chest before he could finish.  The man stopped, seeing as Tess had thrown her one from her bag anyway. No one dared to say anything. Y/n slipped from her lab coat to Tess' jacket within the matter of a moment before she announced, "Let's go." And with that, the rather dysfunctional group exited the apartment, uncertain as to when they would return.

The streets were littered more than usual. Soldiers lined the roads, their guns aimed and trucks patrolling the area. Each of them stayed clear of the light, weaving and tangling through the bodies which could easily catch sight of any of them. They were lucky to get so far. Though, once they were outside of the wall, loitering on the outskirts, it may as well not have been worth it.

Tess led the way, turning a corner they didn't realise was going screw them over. "What the hell?" They all stopped at the voice they didn't recognise as one of their own. They turned, a soldier starring at each of them, all while his zipper was undone.

"Shit," Y/n mumbled, instinctively nudging closer to Ellie.

The man scurried to make himself some-what presentable before addressing the group. "Hey, hey! Don't move!" He threatened and they are raised their hands at the sight of the rifle he grasped. And then he uncovered the front of his helmet, "You got to be shitting me."

Y/n looked to Joel; of course, she should have known. "Okay let's talk this out-"

"Turn around!" Suppose he wasn't in a talking mood. "Get on your fucking knees!" He demanded when none one of them moved.

"Now, hold on-" Joel tried again.

And again, he failed. "What did I fucking tell you man? Stay the fuck home."

Y/n glancd to the man, "Glad to know you shared that information with the group." She huffed.

"Get on your knees!" He ordered again.

This time, Tess moved. "Just get on your knees." The woman said. And they followed her, dropping to the dirt and mud. "Listen you let us do this run, we'll split the cards with you."

"Oh, will you?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

But Tesss' plan hadn't worked. He laughed and gave her the sarcastic reply of, "I'm so blessed." Which was followed by, "Put your hands on your head. Eyes forward."

"Really man?" Y/n looked across the line to Tess who was being tested.

Shit. Her eyes widened, soon to meet an equally worrisome Ellie. "Yep." Said the soldier. "We're doing this by the book." The machine beeped and Y/n knew her and Joel were all that stood between Ellie's life and the soldier.

"Alright, how about three-quarters?" Tess still nagged.

"Joel?" Y/n leaned over, her voice low in hopes to not gain the soldier's attention.

He looked between her and Tess a few times before finally listening, "What?"

"Unauthorised exit." Continued the guard.

"I didn't tell you everything." Y/n spoke up to Joel, lucky the guard was too focused on the beeping machine in front of him.

Joel's brows became knitted, struggling to follow her words in such dire situation. "They'll hang you for that." Informed the soldier as he moved behind the man.

"Fine!" Said Joel, bypassing Y/n's words for a moment. "Everything from this run and half off on the pills."

The machine beeped, followed by a scoff from the soldier. "Half of?" He reiterated like it was pitiful. He moved to behind Y/n as he responded, "All off!"

Y/n slowly brought her eyes to meet the man next to her. Her pupils empty as she knew what awaited them. And in that moment of complete uncertainty, she could only say one thing. "Joel." Her words were drowning in the type of fear he had only ever heard her say once before. And that's when he realised something was truly wrong.

The machine beeped behind her head before the soldier moved on to Ellie. Y/n couldn't take another breath. Not until she heard the soldier groan and stumble. The four stood to their feet, watching as the blunt pocket knife was soon shoved into the man's thigh. "Ellie!" Y/n snapped.

And while the girl had lept for Ellie, Joel lept for the guard. The rifle was soon pointed right at him. "Woah woah, we can fix this." Said Joel in the calmest tone he could muster in that moment.

The soldier gave one order: "Move."

And Joel didn't listen to it. He jumped forward, tackling him to the ground. The rifle was thrown to one side. Once given the upper hand, Joel started punching. And punching. He didn't stop until the breath from the guard's mouth did.

He slowed. He realised. And then he rose, turning to face what was left. Y/n was holding Ellie who seemed curious at the violence which had occurred. Not scared, just curious. He looked up and down between that sight and his bloody hand. There were thoughts plaguing his mind. Enough that  it had pulled Y/n forward, as softly, she called, "Joel?"

It was more of a question, a prompt for assurance which wasn't given in return. She stepped closer to him until he was only looking at her. "Are you okay?"

He never got the chance to answer. "Joel! Joel!" Screamed a panicked voice from behind them.

Tess was showing the machine, the blinking red machine which meant infected. "I'm not sick!" Ellie claimed.

"Tess, you don't get it." Y/n went on as she jumped to protect Ellie once again.

"Look!" The younger girl yelled, rolling up her sleeve and the wound which painted her forearm. "This is three weeks old!" Tess inspected it herself. "Nobody lasts more than a day. This look a day old to you?"

Y/n went on to add, "You have to trust us Tess. Why else would the fireflies and a doctor be working together?" Tess seemed to be coming around to the idea. "Why are we all trying so hard to keep her fucking safe? Huh? We need to go, alright?"

The sirens made clear of that plan of action. Y/n took a hold of Ellie and Tess started to lead the way once again. "Joel!" Y/n yelled and the man glanced at her. "Come on, we gotta go!"

It took him a moment. He stared between the body and the girls which were already leaving before he started walking, grabbing the rifle as he did so. He joined the side of the woman he once loved as they followed the one he did love and the dead girl walking.

--

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#the last of us #the last of us rewrite #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller oneshot #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfic #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #the last of us x reader #the last of us imagine #tlou #tlou fanfiction #tlou imagine #tlou x reader #ellie williams #marlene tlou #tlou rewrite #loose ends

[actual-changeling]

It is not until they return to Jackson that her past starts catching up to her.

Ellie expected the Silver Lake nightmares, the faces of Tess and Sam, of Henry and Riley, and everyone else she should have saved but didn't, to haunt her, but despite all the recent chaos, she never gave any thought to the cruelties of her childhood. They're safe here, something they both have to get used to, however, logically knowing that no one in Jackson will try to hurt her is, after all, very different from getting her gut instinct to believe the same; her trust has never been freely given, and for good reason.

She can deal with the constant paranoid itch in the back of her neck and the urge to settle in the corner of every room she is in with the door in clear sight, and adjusting to the constant influx of sudden, unexpected noises is deeply uncomfortable but doable, although it makes her miss the wide stretches of quiet forest filled with nothing but their soft bickering. Every adult gets cataloged as a potential danger, a threat to her, to those she cares about, and not flinching back from every loud voice is harder than it should be.

Unsurprisingly, everything is easier when Joel is around.

There is comfort in his rage the same way she finds comfort in the feeling of her blade or the weight of a gun in her hand. It is a promise of protection, of security, and it offers her a kind of control she seldomly had as a child - not that she has too much of it now either. On the road, the world was a coherent stretch of all-encompassing fear surrounding them, and Joel put himself between her and the hands trying to tear her apart more times than she can count.

Her gut instinct is harder to convince sometimes, and so she watches his hands, not necessarily with distrust but with a mild curiosity, and it makes her notice a lot of things. Like the fact that the very first thing he always does is take a deep breath, sometimes several if he needs to, and only faces the problem or person once he can talk without shaking. He curls his hands into fists and then unfurls them in the same second, more of a nervous tick than the desire to use them, and after watching him do it for a while, the tension snapping into her heart like a rubberband loosens as her brain stops recognizing hands as a potential source of pain. They're Joel's hands, safe hands, and he has never once used them to hurt her, and he never would.

She has seen them with bruised knuckles and bloodied skin, has seen them take lives and cause harm to people who very much deserved it, yet it feels impossible to believe sometimes when he tucks a strand of her hair back with fingertips barely grazing her temple, his movements slow and deliberate. There is an intrinsic gentleness with which he reaches out to her, hands carefully wrapping around hers, squeezing with enough pressure to be grounding without getting anywhere near painful, and when he cups her face with burning palms to press a kiss to her forehead, she lays hers on top of them to keep them in place.

Ellie intertwines their fingers to pull him closer whenever she can, mindful of his right one and the jolts of distant pain he sometimes gets, and Joel rubs circles into the back of her hand like he always does; her safety is in his hands, and nothing could ever make her let go.

#alex writes tlou #the last of us #tlou #joel and ellie #joel miller #ellie williams #ficlet #idk if i like this one at all it feels bad to post but also i really want to and have been rewriting the same 300 words for days now so #i hope y'all enjoy it

[ellies-enrichment]

space was cool - markiplier

#if there was a way that i could change all thats been wrecked #rewrite the regrets #lets leave no stone unturned #lets stay bright til we're burned #its so cooooooooooool #and so pretty :( #webbed #the last of us part 2 #tlou part 2

[lauronk]

For the word game:

BUS

hahaha how did i know someone would send me this one lol and i am back to actively working on bus fic now that i worked jelly fic out of my system

because that word is in a super short sentence i'll include more than one:

"Dude, we made this whole trip already. On a bus. With strangers. I think we can manage a measly car trip."

#on the road again (there i go) #bus fic #i swear i'm working on it #i want the next part out by the end of the month #it just needs lots of rewrites #and i've kinda been Going Through It™ lately so i've been laying down and having internal crises a lot #but i'm upright now #fanfic struggles #the last of us fanfiction #tlou fanfiction #wip ask game

[socksual-innuendos]

You know I'd been on the fence about how HBO had made Tess a momma before the world went to shit but after she's taken over my mind I think it works well as a way to contrast Joel and put her on equal footing to him in regards to "parental pain" in the apocalypse. Tess, unfortunately, is such a small role that nothing deeper gets to be explored with her and her death, while something that happens early and fast, I think sets a good tone for Joel's flaws later on.

I guess long rant with somewhat headcanons/assumptions of what their pre-show life entailed.

I see a lot of people assume that had Tess lived, she'd have gotten maternal, attached to Ellie and that she'd aid Joel in saving her at the end. I don't really understand that. She's the practical one. "The Brains". Joel's whole schtick is that the end of the world made him terribly codependant. We see it when he's hell bent to get to Tommy and we see it when he lies to Ellie, because he'd do anything to keep his cloth daughter close and dear. He's fiercely loyal and protective to a fault, to the point of smothering someone not aware of it.

This is what Tommy/Maria were warning Ellie of. Tess had enough of a head on her shoulders to control and keep it from strangling her. Its not that he's being intentionally malicious, but his fear of losing the thing he's emotionally dependant on will make him do malicious things. I do fully believe he was a raider/not a good person independent of Tess after things went to shit. Whatever you want to call it, "doing what needed to be done" for his brother/their survival, but he was still willing to kill and more for their protection and to provide.

I think for whatever the complexities of their relationship, being Tess' muscle meant he had his Thing to latch onto once Tommy was gone. "I never asked you to feel the same..." perhaps it wasnt so much that he didnt return her feelings so much as she realized what he did return would never be more than him clinging to a life line, stunted emotionally, and unable to keep a balanced relationship that she wanted. She accepted he couldnt meet the expectation, and he became her dog.

All that to say is when we get to the end of the show, and we see that Joel found "who he can save", we are made to feel warmth in that he and this orphaned girl have found family and hope in each other through all the loss....and while it is good, and I like that Joel will do whatever he needs to for his charge, I think its a mighty injustice to the writing and his character to say it wasn't also driven by a flaw of his that can be a sleeping giant of bad traits.....

But then you look outside of just the story were given, and ask "what if it was Tess who survived" or "What if all three made their way west". I dont think this would have ended with the same (mostly) feel good moment if a torn parent finding a way to love like that again.

Tess is the brains. She is the practical one. She is much more aware. Its needed of her to keep contacts and run smuggling rings inside a QZ. Her demons are different than Joel's, and making her a mother in her backstory allows her to be on the same footing as him when making that journey with Ellie.

We see her warm to Ellie much faster than Joel. I don't think this is simply just "maternal instinct" kicking in. It'd be an injustice to boil their friendly interactions down to such. Tess knows when she needs to be a hardass, but she also knows when she wants to let her guard down and be a person. Ellie is cargo, Ellie is precious, Ellie also realizes what her job is and does not seem to want to bolt now that shes outside. And for that, Tess can see her as some teenager being a teenager, and because Tess hasnt entirely walled off her humanity, she jokes and talks with this kid before they make the agreed upon hand off. Its not maternal at this point, it is simply beating the time while doing business.

In this, Tess' demons are different. She does not emotionally wall herself off and then cling to the one person she formed a relationship with. She's much more emotionally aware. She's intelligent. Her dying wish is that Joel does something worth while for once, for the both of them. "We're shitty people"/"We're not good people" seems this sits on her mind.

I think Tess is aware what the end of the world has made of her, and not only does she regret it I believe she also resents how well she slid into this role. She survives, and it is just that. Even if she can smile still, she wants more. We see it with her friendship with Bill and Frank. We see it in the line implying she wanted more with Joel. Instead she realizes the best she can do in this world is a raider and smuggler with a partner who is as close to good enough in this world as she's going to get.

I think if Tess survived instead of Joel the ending would be simple. She takes Ellie west, she gets attached to this witty orphaned girl, becomes protective of her, and feels something more for the first time since the world ended.....

And when they reach the fireflies, she gives Ellie away.

This had gone from a business deal with protected cargo to a shepherd leading his sacrifical lamb (even if Tess never thought this to be literal). I think despite her being sure in her decision, Tess lives the rest of her days hoping to hear news of a cure. Without success this was just another selfish act, an endeavor to make her feel better and redeemed. Hope and good deeds clouding her judgement when she should have listened to her gut screaming to save this child. If there is no cure, not even a direction for obtaining one, then another innocent life was taken by her direct action.

I think worse however is if Tess and Joel both survive to the end. They both bond with Ellie, they see more in each other, flashes of the past are more vibrant now. The feeling is strong, but like that of a phantom limb...

Joel's attachment becomes an issue. I feel like Tess would have anticipated this, but not anticipate that Ellie would have to die for a cure. She certainly would not anticipate that Joel would bite her hand.

HBO canon states she killed her husband when the world ended. Joel could never fill those shoes, but it didnt make the action any easier. In this, Tess' story has come full circle. She kills her partner and cannot do right by the child shes come to love dearly.

Only this time the emptiness and pain feels different. Back when the world ended she didnt know if she would survive. But its decades into the apocalypse, she's become a survivor and quite good at it, but now she's not entirely certain she wants to.

#tess servopoulos #joel miller #tlou hbo #i need you all to know the last half of this was deleted when i tried to save it and i had to rewrite all of it on a fuckin #phone keyboard #im going to go kill the tumblr app people now for making this happen #words never sound good the second time rhey come out

[timelesslords]

never let you down again

one shot | post episode 8 | 4.2k

Ellie looks empty.

Joel’s trying not to panic because that won’t help anything, least of all her, but something is wrong. Deeply, seriously, wrong in a way he’s not sure he knows how to fix. In a way that maybe you can’t fix. He starts to feel the now-familiar squeeze of panic in his chest and he shoves it away. He can’t afford that right now.

Breathe, he reminds himself. Breathe. Breathe and walk and get her as far away from that resort as they can manage. Put as much space between them and that burning building as they can. From Ellie and whoever’s blood is still splattered all over her face.

***

Or, the Joel POV of my hurt/comfort post episode 8 one shot

read on ao3

#me? rewriting my fics from an alternate pov? its more likely than you think #tlou #tlou fanfiction #tlou fic #the last of us fanfiction #when we are in need #ellie and joel #tlou ellie #joel miller

[spacedlexi]

thinking more about tlou hbo and that ep2 cold open

while it was very good and effectively frightening.... with how theyve handled fedra/the fireflies so far im a little nervous they might be setting it up for the fireflies to be 100% in the wrong later instead of it being less clear cut like it was in the game...

#hbo tlou #what tlou fandom has been arguing over for a decade #which is annoying bc whether or not the vaccine works isnt even the point of the ending #also i have to keep in mind that we're getting part 2 as well so theyll have to set.... all of That up..... #the show has been very good but the parts i didnt like i Really didnt like #2/2 eps with endings that made me go 😬 #im really afraid about sam and henry do NOT fuck them up craig #also in regards to my last hbo tlou post: #to the people saying 'it was SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable' would they have done that with a male character? im not so sure #just weird to assault ur female character in her last moments regardless of the 'welcome to the colony' vibe u were going for #i said i didnt care that they swapped out fedra for the zombies but also its weird how theyre handling fedra #and it wouldve been good to see more conflict between fedra and the fireflies outside the qz #it speaks #ok i think ive talked abt my biggest gripes #there are smaller ones but im being kind bc overall its been very good #also knowing that tess's character had already gone through rewrites for the og game im not surprised they took liberties with her scene #also while the show has been very good i do still think the story/characters/pacing were handled better in the game #which i like actually like the show has been nice for new viewers but also new stuff for og fans #and the game is still just a cut above so its worth checking out for any new fans #the performances in the game......are just so incredible #from everyone #and the game has so much more subtlety lol #joel looking at his watch directly he might as well have just taken out a pic of sarah and started crying #the unconscious touch of the watch hits me harder than him just looking at it... #oopsie im talking about the little grievances #bro i just love subtlety and i feel like its being lost these days #subtext my beloved

[outer-edges]

so....there may be....developments occurring.

#mattie talks fic #tlou #ellie williams #joel miller #okay so this chapter is actually way further along than previously thought #because i thought i was going to be rewriting the whole thing #and i'm actually going to be restructuring what i have written + adding things on + then finishing it off of course #WHICH MEANS! we have about 10k more words written for this chapter than i thought #now obviously a bunch of those are going to get cut to fit the retooling of it all #but im also adding more!! #so still looking at about 15k words for the final chapter probably. easily #look i've never claimed to know how to balance a narrative

[theetherealbloom]

UNEVEN ODDS - CH. 5

Chapter Five: Our Mistakes Were Bound To Be Made

Summary: The Reader is dragged into the Last of Us universe and has no choice but to watch the events unfold or will she be able to change what was already written?

Paring: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Age-gap Romance, Violence, ANGST, Swearing, Suicide, reader in this chapter thinking of unalive, tiny fluff, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Crying, Suggestive content, the pandemic, character death, Zombies, eventual SMUT, MY SCIENCE IS WONKY, probable plot holes, rusty writing, TLOU is dark please read at your own risk!

Word Count: 10.8k

A/N: HELLO! WOW UM YOU GUYS ARE SO KIND AND SWEET AND AHHHHH every time I write I get so fricken nERVOUS bcs I want to do it right and I heckin’ put a lot of pressure on myself every time I create something and I want it to be good and now I’m slowly beginning to realize I’m a perfectionist AHKJFHAHA But it’s so worth it, I always look forward to your comments and feedback and warms my heart to see you all enjoying the series so far! ALRIGHT go go go go!

(P.S. UHHH THIS GIF MAKES ME GO FERAL DASKJJFHASKDGH WHY AM I SMILING SO WIDE RN PLS I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HIM HNGGGG)

Song: hate to be lame (feat. FINNEAS) by Lizzy McAlpine Previous Chapter -> Next Chapter | Series Masterlist

TLOU WORLD - 2023

KANSAS CITY – MIDNIGHT

Joel has his large frame covering your body and you’re trying to steady your breathing. His fingers are still gripping your waist tightly, feeling them pressing onto your skin. You hear Henry speak in a commanding voice, “Eyes on me. Eyes on me.” You and Joel slowly bring your eyes to him, while yours are wide with fear like Ellie’s, Joel’s eyes are narrowed in anger. He’s pissed at himself right now.

Henry has the gun pointed at Ellie, who was kneeling with her hands up, he speaks again, “You don’t have to worry about what to say. We don’t want to hurt you. We wanna help you.” Joel only utters a single word, “Okay.” Henry shifts his weight, making it clear he’s never done this before, “Okay, um…” You try and speak up, “Henry, please put down the gun–” This takes him aback and he sputters in anger, “How the fuck do you know my name?” Your body flinches at the sound of his rising voice and fear of what he would do.

Joel’s gaze darkens, it was like as if a switch had flipped, his vein is close to popping out of his neck, he is the turbulence and wrath all at once, and he shouts at Henry, “Don’t fuckin’ talk to her like that. Only talk to me.” You and Ellie look at him, mouths slightly parting and blinking up at him in shock. There is a sudden pause that fills the fair, and Henry understands that you were important to him, just like the girl who was kneeling in front of him. He shifts his weight again to his other side and speaks calmly this time, “I don’t know what the next step is with something like this but if I lower my gun we didn’t hurt you so you don’t hurt us. Right?”

Joel stares at him with daggers in his eyes, and refuses to warm his tone as he replies, “That’s right.” Henry blinks twice and nervously says, “That’s a weird fucking tone, man.” Ellie is quick in trying to diffuse the situation, “That’s just the way he sounds. He has an asshole voice.” She turns to stare pointedly at him and says, “Joel, tell him he’s okay.” You softly say, “Joel, please.” A beat passes, but Joel doesn’t let up, his voice becomes colder, and stares unwaveringly as he looks at Henry, “Everything is great.”

Ellie lets out an exasperated sigh, “Dude.” While Henry lets out a curse, “Fuck!” His hands are shaking and you get to hear the rattle of the gun as he speaks, “Okay. Listen. I’m gonna trust you.” Henry lifts his arm to get Sam’s attention, the young boy turns his head to his older brother who begins to use sign language, “I’m going to trust him.” Sam signs back to him asking, “Are you sure?” And Henry reassures him, “Yes.” His voice rises again, “But if either of you guys try anything…” He points the gun closer to Ellie’s head, indicating what he means, “Yeah?”

Ellie replies with an unsteady, “Yeah.” And Sam steps off of you and Joel, no longer perched up above you. You feel his grip loosen a bit, but his presence is still there. Joel thinks for a second and asks Henry, “Can we sit up?” And he replies simply, “Yeah. Slow. Get up slow.”

You feel his hands leave your hips and slowly remove himself from you, and you and he sit up slowly, doing as you were told. Joel asks for verification, “Is your name, Henry?” He nods, “Yeah, my name’s Henry. That’s my brother, Sam. I’m the most wanted man in Kansas City. Although right now… my guess is you’re running a close second.” Henry lowers the gun from Ellie’s head, and the uneasiness of the situation dissipates a little bit. You feel your throat closing up as you stare at Sam and Henry, two characters whose futures were written with crayons and coloring books. It was misspelled and outside the lines, and you know their stories end in tragedy.

You, Joel, and Ellie sat across from Henry and Sam, in a fully formed circle. They had asked if you had any food and you nodded, grabbing the remaining packs of food from your bag. The lamp in the center illuminated the room, brushing aside the dark and making room for the bright. You were all chewing and eating quietly, discomfort hanging in the air, a scale waiting to tip off balance, this alliance that had been formed through force and tension.

While chewing, Henry decides to break the silence to ask, “Where’d you get these?” Ellie chirpily replies, “From Bill. He’s dead.” Your lips form into a frown at her words, even though you haven’t met Frank and Bill, the thought of them always causes your eyes to glaze over, your gaze now distant, over the memory of their love and how it ended. Not knowing what to say, the two brothers keep quiet at her statement.

Joel is busy glaring at Henry, unhappy and pissed at his presence, but his overwhelming sense of responsibility takes over and looks to the younger kid Sam, he crumples up the wrapper and gives his remaining food to him. He smiles and taps Henry’s shoulder, signing a thank you, and telling Joel, “He says thank you. I’m guessing you don’t have much, so this means a lot.”

Joel doesn’t say anything and he’s completely stoic, you decide to look at Sam and give him a small wave and you begin to move your hands and arms to sign and speak, “How old are you?” Everyone looks at you in surprise, not expecting what you had done, Henry raises an eyebrow, “You know ASL?” And you nod and signed as you spoke so Sam could also understand, “I’m close with my cousin, she’s deaf. I decided to take up classes early on so I could gossip to her about boys every time she came over after school without my parents finding out.”

Joel can’t take his eyes off of you, his compartmentalization is cracking and this close to shattering. He wonders how he got so lucky to have you with them, and this contrast with Joel’s abject terror at having to feel any sort of fondness or emotions towards you and Ellie. He’s trying to find a reason for him to be angry, to lash out at you for being so kind in an upside-down world, but he can’t bring himself to. 

Sam smiles and signs to you, “Eight.” Ellie smiles and says “Cool. I’m Ellie.” And you sign her name for him, and he nods in understanding, you also sign your name and he smiles at you, what a beautiful kid. Ellie then wacks Joel on the knee so he could be polite and introduce himself, he looks at the girl with a frown, and she persists him, he sighs, “I’m Joel. Look, you ate, we didn’t kill each other let’s call this a win-win and move on.” Henry cleans his hands and swallows the rest of his food, “Well, I’m betting that ya’ll came up here to get a view of the city and plan a way out. And when the sun’s up I’ll show you one.”

TLOU WORLD - 2023

OFFICE BUILDING, KANSAS CITY – DAY

“Welcome to Killa City.” Henry says as you three look out the large glass window, “No FEDRA.” Joel states and Henry confirms this, “Not as of ten days ago, no.” Joel has his arms crossed over his chest, while you stand beside him, he says, “We always heard KC FEDRA was…”

“Monsters? Savages? Yeah, you heard right.” Henry said and he recounts what happened in those walls, “Raped and tortured and murdered people for twenty years. And you know what happens when you do that to people? The moment they get the chance, they do it right back to you.” You shudder at the thought of that, for twenty years FEDRA raped, tortured, and murdered for sport, all because they had the opportunity and power to do as they pleased. “But your not FEDRA?” Joel asks him, Henry looks up at him, “No, worse. I’m a collaborator.”

“What’s a collaborator?” You ask, and Joel answers you, “He’s a rat. I don’t fuckin’ work with rats,” He’s turning and about to usher you away but Henry is swift as he retorts, “Yeah, you fucking do. Today you do because I live here and you don’t. That’s how I followed you here. I know this city, and that’s how I’m gonna help you get out.” Joel’s eyes narrow in suspicion, “Why help us?”

“I saw what you did. What you both did. The way you killed those men.” His eyes shift to look at you and Joel subtly steps in front of you to block him from staring at you, his protective instinct taking over, Henry stares at Joel again, “Now, I know where to go but I don’t know how to make it through alive. Not if it’s just me and Sam.”

“You seem capable enough. You’re armed.” Joel says and Henry shakes his head, “You’re wrong and wrong. Never killed anyone. And pointing an unloaded gun at both of you was the closest I’ve ever come to being violent. So that’s the deal. I show the way. You clear the way.”

A laugh from Ellie and Sam causes the three of you to bring your eyes to them. They’re reading Ellie’s pun book and giggling to themselves. Henry has made a major admission to the two of you, that their guns were not loaded. Joel faces the window again, trying to decide, and you hug yourself with both your arms and listen to Henry say, “Haven’t heard that in a long time.”

“So how are we getting out?” Joel asks reluctantly with both hands on his hips, he has no other option but to let Henry lead the way. He grabs a piece of paper, places it on the conference table, then uses a pencil and begins to draw a map of the area, he begins to explain how to cross the highway, “Highways, downtown.” He points to the center of the paper, “Us.” He circles a specific area of the map, “This whole area belongs to Kathleen.”

“She’s in charge?” Ellie questions next to you, “Leader of the resistance,” Henry confirms, “You can see the way we’re bounded by highways. They got people posted all around the inside perimeter. If we get close, we get caught. No question. So how do we get across?” Henry bangs on the table, the vibrations getting caught with Sam’s senses, he looks to Henry and signs to him, “How do we get across?” The young boy nods and writes across the Woody Woodpecker doodle pad, and he holds up the board, “Tunnels.”

Henry snaps his fingers, “Boom.” And Joel is perplexed as he questions, “Kansas City has a subway?” The older brother looks down before replying, “No, but they do have maintenance tunnels. There’s a bunch of buildings all put up by the same developers. And they share these tunnels, including… a bank building here.” He begins to draw on the sheet of paper again the graphite leaving marks on it, “So we enter the tunnels here travel underground, and pop up here. Westside North. Residential.” Joel has his mouth twisted to the side while you’re trying to process all the information being said by Henry, “There’s an embankment on the other side of the houses. We head down, pedestrian bridge over the river,” he claps his hand for emphasis, “free as a bird.”

“You’re right. That’s a great plan. So, what do you need me for?” Joel his voice was deep and stern as he asked, Henry, licks his lips nervously and takes a breath before replying, “You noticed anything strange about this city? I mean, other than the strange shit you’ve already seen.” You’re quick to reply, “There’s no infected above ground.”

“Bingo, damn she knows ASL and she’s observant, you’re pretty smart,” Henry says and you stare wide-eyed at his compliment, not knowing how to take it. Joel, however, is clenching his fist, and scowling at him. He clears his throat, uncomfortable and intimidated, “FEDRA drove them underground fifteen years ago and never let them come back up. It’s the only good thing those fascist motherfuckers ever did.”

“So you want us going into a tunnel?” Joel states and Henry quickly defends himself, “Everyone thinks that it’s full of Infected including Kathleen, which means that we’re not gonna be running into any of her people. But you see, what I know is it’s empty.” He smiles smugly and Joel is skeptical, “You’ve been down there?” Henry replies with a meek, “No,” Joel takes a deep, frustrated, breath, about to chew him out but Henry pushes on, “but the FEDRA guy that I worked with told me that it’s clean, completely clean. They cleared it out. All of it.”

“When?” Ellie asks this time, “Like three years ago.” Henry replies, and Joel tsked at him while placing both palms on the table, shaking his head in disapproval, he responds with, “Okay, maybe, there’s one or two but you handle it.” Joel looks up at him, “What if there’s more?” Ellie adds, “And one of those blind ones that sees like a bat?” Henry looks surprised, “Wait, you ran into a clicker?” The young girl acts brave, “Two of them.” He then says proving his point, “And you’re still alive. You see? You’re the right people. If it gets bad down there we turn around and run right back out the same way we came.” Joel pushes himself off the table, puffing his chest, “That’s your great plan?” Henry shoots back, “No, that’s my dicey-as-fuck plan. But as far as I could tell,” he shrugs, “it’s our only shot.”

Joel sighs and you hear a thumping sound from the table, it’s coming from Sam, and he signs, “What are they saying?” Henry looks to you for an answer, and immediately your gaze is fixed on Joel, the temper in his eyes cool down and soften, this tells you all you need to know, you look to Sam as you speak and sign to the young boy, “We’re going to help you escape.”

TLOU WORLD - 2023

BANK BUILDING, KANSAS CITY – DAY

The group makes their way across the street and into the abandoned bank. The tall glass windows made you restless, if one of the rebels drove by someone could spot you easily. Joel reads your mind as he says, “We need to get out of sight.” Henry takes a look around and spots the entrance, “Uh, I think it’s this way.” Joel nods and the group breaks into a jog to the right-side hallway of the bank building. The squeak of the door fills breaks the silence and the shine of flashlights chase away the darkness. All of you enter, and Henry says to Joel, “This should be it. You ready?” Joel shifts his gaze to Ellie and then you, “Get your gun out.”

Ellie smiles and pulls it out of her jacket pocket and you do the same, Joel begins to take the lead and you trail behind him. He pushes the large metal maintenance door, shining his flashlight and making sure it’s clear. “See, it’s empty. The plan is good.” Henry says optimistically, and you shake your head, pinching the bridge of your nose. You hear Joel shush him, “The plan is good? We’ve been down here for two seconds. We don’t know anything.” Henry leans back a little, tilting his head at Ellie and you, “You’re dad’s kind of a pessimist.” And in synchronized fashion, the two of them reply, “He’s not my dad.” While Joel says, “I’m not her dad.” You nearly laugh and hide your face with one of your hands as the other was currently holding the flashlight and gun. Henry doesn’t say anything and Joel begins to give instructions, “Just point your light forward and be ready to run.”

You walk a few paces behind Joel with Ellie right behind you, the sound of footsteps echoes in the tunnel, and with every step, you hear the sound of the cement beneath your boots. After what seems like an hour, you take a left, to a section of the tunnel, and stumble across a colorful entrance, one you instantly recognize from one of the scenes in the video game. A castle is painted at the entrance of the door, and blue covers the walls representing the sky, people were drawn on them, child-like in manner. Flowers were painted, along with hills and rainbows.

Ellie lets out a quiet, “Woah,” as your lights bounced around the walls to admire and inspect them. You see Sam about to open the door but Joel stops him while shaking his head, “No.” He goes first, pushing the heavy door, taking a peek with his gun out, and finding no infected.

The rest of the group follows him inside to find chairs, tables, toys, and books scattered around the room. You see the large goal painted on the wall and find a ball right next to it. Joel looks up to find the ventilation fan and says, “I heard about places like this. People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements.”

“What happened to them?” Ellie asks, and Joel looks at the whiteboard with the written house rules, “Maybe they didn’t follow the rules and they all got infected.” Ellie hums and walks over to one of the tables, Sam plops down on one of the chairs, and she messes around with him. Joel looks at a kid’s drawing on the wall, figures representing Danny and Ish. You look over his shoulder and then approached the wall, grabbing the drawing. Joel watches you and asks, “Do you know who they are?” You nod, “Yeah, Ish’s backstory might be different though. But the summary of it is that he established a community here with another guy named Danny, and Suzan and Kyle, with their kids. And several others, but at some point, a door was left open. Just like you said, someone forgot to follow the rules.” Joel sees you frowning and your eyes sad, “What happened to them?” You look up at him, “Ish, Suzan, and the kids escaped and made it out to the suburbs, after that their fate is unknown.”

You hear Ellie and Sam find a Savage Starlight comic and hear her excitement, “No way! I love these!” They begin to converse over the comic issues that they have, you shine your light around the room, looking through books and drawings. You hear Ellie speak again, “To the edge of the universe and back. Endure and Survive.” He begins to teach her how to sign the last two words, “Endure. Survive. Fuck yeah, man!” And they giggle and high-five.

“Keep it down. We’re not out yet.” Joel says and you’re busy grabbing one of the science books that was left behind, you hear Ellie groan, “Oh, c’mon. Can we just rest here for a while? There’s like actually shit to do here.” Henry pipes in, “Wouldn’t be so bad to wait the light out a bit. Safer in the shadows when we pop back out on the other side.” You also decide to mumble, not caring if they heard or not, “And let them be kids for a bit. It wouldn’t hurt them to have a little fun.”

Ellie looks at Joel, and seemingly outnumbered, he shrugs and lets them do whatever. The three of you sit at the table, next to Joel, while he and Henry watch both of the kids play. You are busy studying the book you found, was a bit outdated, but it still held the key information you needed to review, and for some reason, you’re having a hard time remembering important memories.

You hear Ellie and Sam having the most fun that they’ve had in years. Their life is a gorgeous broken gift, with billions of people waiting to be fixed. They were just kids who grew up strong enough to pick this armor up, and suddenly it fits. They grew up too quickly, but if only they knew, that the sunlight shines a little brighter, the weight of the world’s a little lighter all because of them. 

You hear Joel lowly speak, “If you were… collaboratin’ to take care of him I shouldn’t have said what I said. I don’t know you’re situation. And I’m not sayin’ they should let it go, but… All things considered, seems kinda cruel… to send a whole army after you for that.” You raise your eyes from the book, watching the two men, Henry looks down before he admits what information he was hiding, “You know, I wasn’t… exactly telling you two the truth before about me not killing someone.”

Joel turns to look at him with his mouth slightly parted while your eyes are simply waiting for him to continue, “There was a man, a great man. You know, he was never afraid, never selfish, and he was always forgiving. Have you ever met someone like that? Kind of man you’d follow anywhere.” Your leg begins to bounce up and down in anticipation while you slowly bring your eyes to Joel. He wasn’t that kind of man, and despite that, you knew deep down you follow him anywhere. Henry continues and your eyes dart back to him, “I mean, I wanted to. I would’ve. Yeah, but… Sam, he… he got sick. Leukemia.” Your leg stops bouncing after that, you completely go numb and breathing becomes a little harder. A pause between you three, a dose of reality that there were plenty of other illnesses and diseases besides the cordyceps they had to worry about. The quality and value of human lives have deteriorated over the twenty years in their world, and the decisions people have collectively made, to fight each other rather than together inevitably cause the apocalyptic world they have today. You know so little, yet fear so much. You aspire not to expire at the hand of some infectious disease. Children can no longer have proper childhoods, and no more clumsy start to adolescence, the moment they were brought into this world, they now also carry the burden of the past.

Henry continues, “Yeah, anyway… there was one drug that worked and, whoa, big shock. There wasn’t much left of it and it belonged to FEDRA. And if I wanted some it was gonna take something big. So I gave them something big. That one great man. The leader of the resistance movement in Kansas City. And Kathleen’s brother. Yeah, so… you still think they should take it easy on me? Or am I the bad guy?”

You rub the side of your face in exhaustion and stress, while Joel gives him a one-shoulder shrug, “I don’t know what you’re waitin’ on, man. The answer’s easy. I am the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing.” You shake your head, “What was his name?” He promptly responds, “Michael.” You continue, disagreeing with his statement, “No, it will never be that easy. You made a human decision. You took a risk because of your love for Sam at the cost of an uprising that wouldn’t have even happened if you hadn’t done what you did.” Henry only looks at you with guilt then he stares at Joel, “But you get it, though. You might not be her father, but you were someone’s.” Joel doesn’t deny it and simply looks down at the table while Henry goes on, “See, I could tell.” He shifts his gaze at you again, “You weren’t a parent, but I see how hard you try to be there for everyone.”

Joel looks at you for confirmation, but you merely blink with a gaze full of denial, you turn away and stand up from your chair while grabbing your flashlight, gun, and bag, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t matter. The sun is about to set, let’s go.” For the first time, you were the one to walk away.

TLOU WORLD – 2023

PARKING LOT OF THE BANK OF AMERICA, ON THE WAY TO THE SUBURBS, KANSAS CITY – NIGHT

The sound of the metal door opening fills your ears as you walk out of the stairwell, flashlights shine through the darkness as Joel asks, “Do you know where we are?” Henry replies with optimism, “Yep. The other side.” You begin to walk away from the parking lot and into the suburbs. You pull Joel to the side and tug on his arm, he leans down to your height before you could go on your tip toes, and you whisper, “Joel, I’m not sure Sam and Henry are gonna make it. So far it’s been good, and things might’ve changed but I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, ‘cause I can’t remember how it goes from here.”

He looks at you with great concern, “What do you mean?” Your eyebrows tense and your eyes nervously move and shift as the words spill out of your mouth, talking in circles, “Henry might kill himself, but I don’t know why, something is stopping me from fully remembering, I was gonna tell you as soon as I could, but everything was happening so fast and at first I couldn’t recognize anything until the settlement we found… but I can’t… I’m trying my hardest, I swear but–” Joel grips your shoulders and you freeze, “Look at me.” You can feel your heartbeat racing, the anxiety running through your bloodstream and crippling your ability to breathe, “Hey… Hey. Look at me. It will be fine, we’ll figure it out, together.” Your eyes slowly fix on him as the both of you stood there, you know Joel doesn’t make promises, he isn’t at that point yet, but his sense of needing to care for you, to find a way to get rid of your distress, is slowly overpowering his practicality right now. He feels it within himself as his eyes are steadily on yours, trying to keep you grounded, here with him. Slowly, you come back to yourself and take a deep breath, mimicking his breathing.

The world was brighter before you had learned to dim it down, now you call it survival, breath is borrowed and our compass within you stands still. Beneath your brave and trusting feet, all revelations come to you in recovery, you start to nod at the man in front of you, who had his hand still gripped on your shoulders, “I’m fine. I’m okay. Let’s keep going.”

You hadn’t realized that the rest of the group had stopped a few steps ahead of you to give you and Joel the privacy you needed, he lets go and you follow him forward, Ellie only gives you a reassuring smile and you gently smile back at her. There are rows of houses sound asleep, and only streetlamps notice you, while you look for signals, for a clue.

Joel continues to lead the pack and you hear Henry comment from behind you, “No one is here. No one’s gonna be here because my plan worked.” You look up to the sky in annoyance as you, “Can you not say shit like that. It’ll jinx us.” And Joel clicks his tongue at him, “So much goddamn talkin’.” Ellie smirks at both of your attitudes while Henry points out, “I’m just sayin’, I deliver.” He raises his arm and directs, “Make this right, go down the street embankment behind the last house… and we’re out.”

Ellie peers at Henry questioning him, “So we cross the river, and then what? Where ya gonna go?” He ponders for a moment, “Don’t know yet.” And Ellie can’t help herself as she says to him, “Well, we’re goin’ to Wyoming.” Joel turns his head to glare at Ellie, she shrugs at him, “What? It’s a huge state. It can fit two more people.” He looks ahead, not wanting to argue with her, Henry senses Joel doesn’t want them joining, “Yeah. Maybe we just call this one a success and say our fond farewells.” Ellie replies, “No. He’ll change his mind. Trust me. This is how it goes.” Then she begins to mock Joel’s tone and voice, “He’s like, ‘No, Ellie. Never, ever, ever happening.’ And then I’m like,  ‘I’m gonna ask you a million more times.’ And he’s like–”

The sound of a bullet piercing through one of the rusting cars on the side of the street causes all five of you to flinch and duck your heads, you hear Ellie scream, “Fuck!” You’re all confused and puzzled, looking for the source of the sound. A second shot rings out and you all fully process you’re now in a potentially life-threatening situation. Joel shouts and covers you all, “Move! Move! Go!” You all run to hide behind a car, and get low on the ground, “Where the fuck is that coming from?” Henry asks and Joel hisses at him, “Shut up.”

Joel peeks to try and identify where the sniper is positioned, he sees a muzzle flash go off at the end of the road, the highest window of the last house, and he ducks back down. The sharp sound of glass shattering behind you. You hear Henry, “Shit. All right, fuck. Let’s move. Let’s go.” And proceeds to grab Sam by the wrist, attempting to run away, Joel yells at them for their naiveness, “What are you doin’?” He replies, “Gettin’ the fuck outta here!” But another gunshot rings out, hitting the rooftop of one of the nearby cars, Henry reacts and drags Sam back to the three of you, he asks panting, “What do we do?” Joel tries to peek again and luckily the guy misses and hits the car’s trunk.

After assessing the situation, Joel tucks his revolver back in his gun holster, “All right. Stay here.” Ellie whips her head to look at him and you do the same, all at once you both say, “What?” He brings his body to fully face the both of you, “If you don’t move, he’s not gonna hit you. I’m gonna go around, try to get in the house from the back, and then I’ll take him out.” Ellie brings up her valid concern, her voice filled with worry, “But if you go out there he’s gonna kill you.” Joel responds with confidence, “It’s dark and he has shit aim. Nobody’s gonna kill me.” She tries to argue, “Then he’s gonna kill us.”

A beat passes. Then Joel looks directly at Ellie, his eyes firm and steady, with no ounce of doubt, he asks her full of conviction, “Do you trust me?” Ellie swallows down her fear, blinks, and nods. “Birdie, watch over her,” Joel commands and leaves you no room or time to argue, he gets up and proceeds to make his way over to the house down the road.

You and Ellie anxiously watch from a distance, each second you’re secretly praying and wishing that nothing happens to him. Your heart is beating so loudly, the sound of drums beating and thumping non-stop, your worry so evident that you try and stop the oncoming tears that threaten to spill off your face. How quickly did you grow attached to someone who you once believed wasn’t even real? The truth is, the chances are you are alike, against the odds and the grain. Against what better judgment writes, you both ache like children for love. You have no stakes on the ground or an anchor tied down. There are no guarantees, you know nothing but your fears of attachment and neediness.

You toss your feelings away, letting them sink deep below the ocean floor in your chest. It doesn’t matter. You remind yourself and watch him make his way to the back of the house, no longer seeing the silhouette of his figure. Two more loud pops and then the gunfire stops, the four of you sit in quiet eerie silence. You couldn’t tell if minutes or an hour had passed, but a distant gunshot could be heard, this time not directed at any of you. 

You hear a revving car from a distance, and Joel distant yell but is unable to understand what he’s trying to communicate. Ellie’s ears perk up and you all stand to see lights appearing from a distance. Shit. You grab Ellie by the wrist and yell out, “Run!” You feel your whole body working; your leg muscles running warm, cold air entering your lungs and blood flowing into all your limbs. Your calves burned, and your breath formed clouds in the air. You look up at the house while sprinting, and from a distance you see Joel trying to take out the driver of the plow that was barreling through the cars. You and Ellie try to shoot while running, but it does essentially nothing to stop the truck.

The tensions heighten when Joel’s rifle jams and you three are helplessly trying to evade the plow. But this jam provides pause for Joel to collect his breath and re-aim, so the next shot he fires takes out the plow driver. The large truck crashes into a house, causing it to go ablaze and a loud explosion occurs. Ellie falls to the grown and you pick her right back up, quickly ushering her to Henry and Sam, who were hiding behind one of the old and rotting cars, you ask her, “You okay?” She replies with a small, “Yeah.” You hear a loud voice coming from a woman, assuming it’s Kathleen, “Dead end, Henry. Gonna step on out? Save us some time? No? That’s all right, it doesn’t matter.”

Henry looks at Sam, who’s terrified and shaking, he yells out, “I’ll come out! Just let the girl and the kids go!” Kathleen clicks her tongue and in a calm tone, she responds, “No. Sorry. Those two girls are with the man who killed Bryan. And Sam… Well, Sam’s with you.” Henry argues, “You don’t understand!” And the rebel leader pushes back, “But I do. I know why you did what you did. But did you ever stop to think that maybe he was supposed to die?” His voice chokes up as answered, “He’s just a fucking kid!” You can hear the way Kathleen rolls her eyes, “Well, kids die, Henry. They die all the time. You think the whole world revolves around him? That he’s worth… everything? Well, this is what happens when you fuck with fate.”

You couldn’t help yourself, the lightheadedness you feel, the built-up stress, the adrenaline within you, the gasoline that had turned into a flame, an anger that could match a bull’s, recklessly you shout at her, “I’m sorry about Michael, I am. But, Kathleen, can you fucking look past your revenge? Past your hate? Did you even fucking realize that none of this would have happened, your so-called freedom and victory over FEDRA would have never happened if your brother hadn’t died.”

“You have no idea what it’s fucking like! To be without him! He was everything!” She shrieks and you raise your voice louder, “I fucking do! To have everything you’ve known and loved taken away from you? To lose? I know it all too well. Kathleen, can’t you see? We all lost. All of us lost the day the outbreak happened.” There was a pause, and you hear the gears turning in their heads, you continue, “Will killing us bring them back from the dead, or will it just validate your anger? The world ended and all this time we’ve wasted trying to kill each other instead of working together to try and fix the obvious problem. And for what? Tell me. What good did it do?”

A collective silence fills the air, save for the only noise coming from the burning house across the street, Kathleen shakes her head and shifts her weight from one foot to the other, sealing her fate, “I don’t care.” 

You shake your head in disappointment, Henry grabs you by the wrist, “Get ready to take them and run.” You start to argue but reassures you, “Yes! Do it.” You grab Ellie’s hand while she holds Sam’s, ready to run. You hear Kathleen speak again, “It’s time, Henry. Enough!” He takes a deep breath before you watch him stand up, his hands in the air, walking into their view. Kathleen shrugs, “It ends the way it ends.” The click of a gun could be heard, and you anticipate the gunshot but instead hear a loud rumbling noise.

You peek past the cars to see the plow truck has damaged the basement of the house, caving a hole into the sewers below, and then you hear the familiar sound of groans and screeching. The Infected geyser up out of the hole, all at once, sprinting towards the rebels. The sounds of gunfire rang out and more infected came up out of the hole, they seemed infinite. Henry joins back to the three of you and hides behind the truck, a Clicker chases after him and stands atop the truck only for it to get shot by Joel. Henry grabs Sam and decides to run away, you and Ellie do the same. Only for you to get separated when a Clicker grabs Ellie, and Joel shoots it from the perch. The impact causes you both to fall, this is when you and Ellie spot an open car window. Knowing you won’t fit, you tell Ellie, “Go, I’ll help clear the way and then find another way to the house.” She nods and begins to crawl, and you raise your gun and fire at the infected, trying your best to protect Ellie, doing what Joel asked of you. Hearing the more shots from above, you knew Joel was also clearing the way for Ellie.

When she crawls through the window, your mind begins to race. You need to find cover and fast. Finding another car, you duck behind it, reloading your gun as you do. You shouldn’t draw attention, and make as minimal noise as possible. The screams of rebels being attacked fill your ears as well as cars ramming over dozens of Infected. A Clicker approaches you but you push down your fear and side-step it, twisting your body and then shooting twice at its head. It falls limp to the ground, a Runner tries to grab you but you manage to hit it with the butt of your gun, shooting it straight in the head.

You hear a large growl from the crater, and turn your body to look for the noise. Motherfucker. A Bloater begins to emerge from the underground, completely covered in fungal armor plating, its belly sagging and spores popping out from each part of its body. The massive beast tears into the army like it's made of paper people. No amount of bullets will do any damage to the Bloater, and you have zero molotov cocktails, the best course of action was to get Ellie and run. You spot and see Ellie hastily crawl out of the van, a child clicker screaming from the inside of the car. You dart your eyes to see where Ellie is going and spot Henry and Sam surrounded by two Infected.

You sprint your way over there, helping Ellie get rid of the first Clicker and Joel shooting the second one from a distance. A thin layer of sweat covers the back of your neck, and you can feel the aching of your back, as you fight off another Clicker, its mouth screeching at you and trying to bite you. Another loud pop of a gunshot rings out and the Clicker goes limp, you take a large breath and grab Ellie, along with Sam and Henry. The young girl yells out, “Come on… come on! Go… Go!”

You make it out past all the chaos to the front area of the last house, as you run, you hear Kathleen shout, “Stop!” All of you turn to face her, she has a gun pointed directly at Henry. Your heart is racing, and your breathing rate rises rapidly, you bring your eyes to an infected crawling from behind the fence, and Kathleen turns to see what you’re looking at. She was too slow to react, the child Clicker shrieked and jumped on top of her, and the leader of the rebellion fell to the ground screaming. The creature thrashes and mauls her alive as she’s screeching for her life. A car crash you couldn’t turn away from, as you watched her get bit, mumbling under your breath, “Comeuppance.”

Joel makes his way downstairs and outside the house to find all of you frozen, he yells to get his group's attention, “This way now! Move!” Joel is the last to follow, ensuring everyone’s safety. Even from a large distance, you could hear the hundreds of clickers making their way into Kansas City, ready to infect and destroy the foundations they have built.

TLOU WORLD – 2023

ABANDONED MOTEL SUITE, KANSAS CITY – NIGHT

With the fighting over, the five manage to find a safe refuge away from the carnage. A motel suite far away from the infected in the city, for now. The stars are a choir in the symphony of the black; they are lights that sing in limitless ways. Sometimes music is needed for the eyes, and the deeper the night, the sweeter the melody.

You, Joel, and Henry sit in the musty living room area. Henry is sitting on top of a bedside table, while Joel is sitting on the floor, one leg curled up to his chest while the other is stretched out, he has his back to the radiator, and you are next to him curled into a ball, elbows almost brushing, but they don’t. You can hear the chirping of crickets, indicating the bugs have come out to play and exchange stories. The only source of light is the yellow glow from the bedroom, you watch Ellie and Sam continue to read the comic book that they found from the settlement.

“You think they’ll be okay?” Henry asks, still eating the remaining food you’ve packed. Joel nods, “Yeah, I think. It’s easier when you’re a kid anyway.” There’s an audible gulp as he swallows, “You don’t have anybody else relying on you. That’s the hard part.” Henry nods, “Well… I guess we’re doing a good job then.” Joel agrees, “What’s that comic book say? Endure and survive?” And the other man confirms it, “Endure and survive. That’s shits redundant.” Joel gives a breathy laugh, “Yeah, it’s not great.” Henry chuckles with him, “Yeah, no.”

You get up from the floor, not having the heart to tell them how they were wrong. Those kids now felt an enormous amount of responsibility for one another. And to survive means to stave off death, but to endure means to emotionally harden oneself, and tolerate the pain of survival. You begin to walk out the door of the room and Joel calls your name but you don’t turn around, he calls for you again, “Where are you goin’?” You don’t look at him as you lie through your teeth, “I’m just gonna go look at the stars for a bit. I’ll be right outside the door.” You exit the room after that, quietly shutting the door, and sitting on the pavement that faces the parking lot.

You let out a loud sigh, close your eyes, and cover them with your hands. You’re completely worn out, your mind is full but you can't speak, these tired gears, and you’re here somewhere between, drained from the events of today. You remove your hands from your face and take the gun out of your holster, letting it lay flat on the palms of your hand. The heavyweight of your decision rests on a single action.

You nervously lift the left sleeve of your jacket, the bitemarks of the infection are there, but there is no sign of it spreading, no yellowing or puss seeping out of your skin. Your mouth partially opens in shock and confusion, with only one thought in your mind. What the fuck?

You pull the sleeve of your jacket down. This doesn’t make any fucking sense. Then again, you’re in a supposed fictional world with its main cast of characters. None of it should make sense. But you figured, the rules would apply to you as well, that you could get infected. You felt ignorant, humiliated, and painfully unmagical. You are old enough to distinguish a sorceress from a lonely girl, and magic from survival. You make every effort to leave the past alone; it is the result of living in the between, the weight of your found family, and the pull of gravity.

You slowly form your hypothesis in your head as to why you’re immune. Could it be because you weren’t supposed to be here in the first place? You recall something from your previous research notes, ‘In theory, it could be possible to analyze the state of every atom in a person’s body and transmit it to a new location, where the person could be reassembled atom by atom.’

You take a large inhale and rest your head on your hand, which means needing enough information and processing power by using a quantum system, and while measuring, there are multiple possibilities, until the measurement is conducted. But that processing power would have needed an immense amount of energy.

In the tug of war between the tide, you were swept ashore like bottles holding prayers. The courage you contained, and the flutter of your earnest heart, will fill the silent seas, and it has restored a part of your memory. Radiation has become a key factor in the multiple theories you’ve read over the years. So when your atoms had been reassembled, your body must have also mutated and adapted to kill foreign infections, including the Cordyceps.

You hear the sound of the door closing and you don’t need to guess who was there behind you. With the heavy footsteps and sound of the rustling jacket, he quietly groans as he sits next to you on the pavement, the smell of ash and smoke exuding from his being. Joel notices the gun, which was now on your lap but he remains silent, not knowing what to say or do, while you’re deciding if you should share what you’ve discovered with him. You didn’t even register that you were bouncing your leg up and down again until he cautiously and slowly placed his hand on your knee, which caused you to stop the action.

You tilt your head to look at him, and he sees the clear glaze around your eyes, this moment, where you recognize you have no idea what the future holds anymore and the story you’ve been silently telling yourself about what the future is going to be like, has fallen apart in a matter of minutes. It doesn’t get replaced with any new information, it’s simply vanished, an atmospheric tumult. You find no comfort in this discovery, it's like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark and mistaking one stair for another. Your foot slips through the air, and you have a sickening moment of gloomy astonishment as you struggle to reset your perspective. 

You are desperate for some kind of clue, this kind of fear of the unknown terrifies you, the sudden obliteration of expectation, the overwhelming feeling of frustration and fear builds up and rushes down like a rapid river stream. You bite down your lip to stop it from trembling and fold your hands to stop them from shaking. You’re trying to find the best way to avoid confrontation or conflict, but Joel still has his hand on your knee, not letting you get up and leave again without explaining yourself. You could be described as a great river, one which can carry everything along with them but with a hidden dammed-up reservoir of energy. You have very little access to it, due to feeling bad for rocking the boat. For this reason alone, you are generally tired all the time.

Take a deep breath to center yourself, willing yourself to not stutter, and you tell him word by word what you’ve discovered and the possibility of how you got into this world. He stays silent, listening to every word coming out of your mouth, even the science jargon he’s not used to. But what he does understand is, you’re immune just like Ellie. He’s still silent by the time you’re done, and you’re so nauseous that you might throw up on him. You turn away from him, waiting for him to lash out at you, scream and leave you behind. He takes his hand away from your knee, you feel the air in your lungs refusing to leave, and you shut your eyes, anticipating the warm body next to you to walk away.

Instead, he removes the gun from your lap and places it on the ground right next to him, then he holds your elbow cautiously and gently, and your eyes open in surprise, you watch him roll up your sleeve to see the bite completely faded, leaving an almost unnoticeable scar. He brings his eyes to yours and he anchors you down safely, there is rage in his eyes, and you quietly whisper, “Joel?”

You feel his hands squeezing your arm as he hissed at you, “Are you out of your goddamn mind? You should’ve known better than to go out there fightin’ all those infected. How could you be so reckless? What were you thinkin’?” You’re befuddled by his sudden lashing out, you narrow your eyes and try to uncover what he truly meant, and you try to calmly reply, “Joel, it’s okay... Next time, I’ll be more careful, and since I’m immune–” He talks over you, stern and unsmiling, “There will be no next time.” You pull back a little from him, “What? Are you serious? I’m immune and there was barely a scratch on me when the car–” He doesn’t let you finish your sentence, his voice so cold as he says, “You got hurt. Twice. Because of me. Of what I did and keep asking you to do and you would’ve ended up like–”

You frown and can’t help the questions in your mind spiral, what if your injury had gotten worse or you hadn’t been immune? You could have turned. Just like Tess. Does he believe you’re her replacement? That you could be like her? Or you could end up like her?

You blink at him, putting more distance between you two, there is a war inside of you, you are out of depth at this altitude, it’s suffocating you, and feel your walls cave in. Your throat closes up at the thought of him thinking you were like her, that you could ever be her replacement, and your voice is soft and vulnerable as you admit the words you never wanted to say, “Joel… I’m not her. I’m not Tess.” He flinches and recognizes the hurt in your tone, and his heart sinks to his stomach faster than a stone hitting the bottom of a lake. You turn away from him, not wanting to give in to his warmth and strong protective nature, “I’m not her.”

The absence of sound between you two is deafening and consuming all that it touches. In your mind, you beg for it to stop, the need to fill the gaps with a problem you both don’t need. With folded arms and tired eyes, you try your hardest not to cry. The heavy ache in his chest leaves him restless and unable to find the right words to say. Sensing that there was nothing left to say, you stand up and turn to walk away but Joel grabs your wrist and you bring yourself to look at him to see his eyes silently pleading for you to stay. You bite the inside of your cheek and sit back down, expecting Joel to let go but he doesn’t. This causes you to lift your eyes and find him with his mouth open, trying his best to communicate with you without his pride and anger getting in the way of something good.

“You’re right, you aren’t Tess.” He said with his voice low, and can’t help the tears spill out from the rim of your eyes, you whip your head away from him, trying to pull your wrist from his grasp but he doesn’t let up, “Joel, let go of me.” He doesn’t, instead, he holds you tighter and says, “You aren’t Tess, Birdie. You are so much more than that… You are one of the good in my life that I… Hummin’ bird, I don’t know what I’d do if…”

He has trouble continuing, him admitting fragments of what he said shook you to your core. You’re incredibly clever but it takes you a while to process what he meant, so you tilt your head and try to see past his defenses, with these tall invisible walls he keeps himself in. You try to understand his perspective, it is why your mouth forms an ‘o’, not a gasp but the start of, oh, of course. He doesn’t see you as her. But he is angry, yes, but not at you, at himself. He wasn’t able to fully protect you. He made the tough call of crashing the car into the laundromat and you got hurt in the process. And then specifically asked you to watch over Ellie for him and you got bitten because of what he asked you to do. 

You slowly lift your other hand to rest on his cheek, and he flinches, but after a moment he allows himself to relax, unsure and clumsy, you say, “Joel. I’m right here, okay? I’m not going anywhere. I’m fine. I’m alive. I’m here with you. See?” You feel the want of thrill, of taking a risk. The pleasure of feeling the rush as feel yourself grow warmer. You let it happen.

The cracks begin to show, he feels his restraint slipping away, brick by brick and piece by piece. His struggle is not anymore with you, but with himself, his fears and desires, and the cognitive dissonance arising within. God, he’s so afraid, he wants so badly for his selfishness to win, and chooses to flutter his eyes close, with your hand still on his cheek, gently stroking his face, and for once, he thinks to himself, just for tonight, he leans closer to your touch, letting you become his sanctuary.

TLOU WORLD – 2023

ABANDONED MOTEL SUITE, KANSAS CITY – DAY

You had fallen asleep on the dark green carpeted floor next to Joel, using both of your jackets as pillows. Joel had moved in his sleep again and curled himself around you. His heavy warm arms wrapped around your waist and the ghost of his breath on your neck.

A loud thump and the sound of Ellie screaming jolts you and Joel awake. You sit up and see Sam tackle Ellie out the door of their bedroom. She hits the carpet, trying to fight off Sam, who’s scratching and shrieking at her, he has turned into the first stage of the infection. Ellie’s yells are piercing through your ears and you crawl to reach for the gun next to you, only for Henry to snatch it before you.

“Nope!” Henry says as he aims the gun at you and Joel, and Ellie is shrieking your names, for you and Joel to save her. You and Joel have a look of pure rage as you both try and take a step forward only for Henry to shoot at the floor, causing both of you to flinch back. Ellie tries again, wailing and crying out your names, and it only takes a second, before Henry turns the gun and shoots Sam right through the head. Blood splatters on the wall and the young superhero goes limp on the ground.

Your entire body is trembling, while Ellie is kneeling on the ground, looking at Sam’s lifeless body, you look at Henry, who is whimpering and sobbing, he blinks and watches his little brother’s blood stain the carpet, like spilling ink. Joel is heavily breathing and focuses on the young girl, “Ellie,” she turns numbly at him, “Are you okay?” He goes walk towards her, only for Henry to point the revolver at Joel’s head. Without a second thought, you step forward, protecting Joel from Henry. You raise your hands in front of you and plead, “Henry, easy, easy… Henry, please give me the gun.” His breath is shaking and erratic as he asks, “What did I do?” You try and calm him down, “Henry…” He doesn’t listen and still asks, “What did I do? What… what did I do?” He looks down at Sam’s limp and still body, the blood still pooling onto the carpet. A dark shade of maroon continued to seep out from his skull. “Sam?” He asks, lips quivering and his eyes full of fear, he looks back over to you, and you wail, “Henry, please don’t–”

He aims the pistol at his head, and you swore you saw before you blinked. There was no second thought, no going back or erasing. An avalanche now spent in white flag waking days. The loud pop, thud, and shriek follow in a sequence that will haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life, a memory wielded as a weapon. Every good intention is overshadowed by the stain of the past. Death is a blindfolded, bitter kiss. It's the finger put against your lips, emphasizing how they should have lived.

TLOU WORLD – 2023

OUTSIDE THE ABANDONED MOTEL SUITE, KANSAS CITY – DAY

You and Joel are outside, and the sound of shoveling dirt is a sound you’ve now grown to despise. The cold wind moves in only to meet the warmth of your blood, the only defense you have left. You feel it wash over your skin, again and again, only to be met by the beat of your aching heart. Fairness is a ghost, and its sightings take shape in such permanent truth. In the sullen silence, you were all taking turns shattering apart.

Ellie had gone back inside the motel room to get the rest of your things as you and Joel patted down the dirt, creating a small graveyard for the two brothers. If you could turn back the hourglass, you would. Reset every grain of sand, and give these two a proper chance at living the life they should have lived, you would. Your mind continues to spin webs of question marks and regrets as you stop your movements and stand there with instability. Ellie toses two backpacks on the ground, you watch her kneel on one knee and place the doodle pad on Sam’s grave, with ‘I’m Sorry’ written on it, the string of the pen is wrapped around the top and the pen is safely tucked in, making sure no one else will be able to write anything else.

Ellie stands up and asks Joel, “Which way’s west?” He only responds by tilting his head in the direction of it. She’s the first to walk away this time, a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut and bury her innocence. You and Joel say nothing as you stare at the note, and hear her call for you both, “Let’s go.”

You both drop your shovels and grab your things, catching up to Ellie. Your steady true north fades, the three of you walking toward where the sun sleeps and casting your silhouettes as you do. Maybe there’s no answer here, at least neither one of you are ready to hear. No string of words will justify it or a simple equation to show you the solution and answer. In the meantime, you learn that you don’t have all the answers, just a little light to call your own, though sometimes it pales in comparison to the overarching shadows. 

Previous Chapter -> Next Chapter

END NOTES:

I am a hundred percent sure this was the fastest chapter I’ve written and felt so much easier than Episode 4 ohMYGAHD

HOW ARE WE FEELING?? ARE YOU GUYS OKAY??? DRINK SOME WATER BREATHEEE

YAY YOU’RE IMMUNE CONGRATS AHHH *confetti canon*

Wait why r u not happy you’re immune- oh right, you don't know what's gonna happen to you now that you have that information and it doesn't add anything good— it just makes you feel bad lol that sucks (the sudden obliteration of expectation) cause you’ve been telling a narrative you’ve always known and it’s changed and you have no fricken clue what's next

DID I GO BACK AND FORTH WONDERING IF THE READER SHOULD BE IMMUNE: YEP, A LOT… IT KEPT ME UP TILL 4 AM AND I CHOSE THIS BCS tbh it makes sense (??) you’re already a hecking anomaly, might as well be immune too :> Also, I’d like to hope this decision helped the story progress further… I think

Did the science make sense?? I hope so, I researched a lot on quantum teleportation and its possibilities. In theory, yes it’s probable. If you can manage to send every information about the atoms in your body, then send it to a specific time and place, which would take a massive amount of energy and processing power to do, yes u can teleport hooray! I'm just gonna assume radiation plays a part in the energy aspect and then since fungal infections can’t withstand that amount of heat from the radiation and your body has adapted— yeah you get the rest. (You’re not glowing radiation, it's just your immune system can fight the fungi lol)

I know a lot of people are gonna be rolling their eyes and saying, “why am I immune, goSH, so cliCHE, Y/N? knOWS ASL TOO?? WHY AM I SO SPECIAL?? I want to get bitten and be useless and not connect with anY chAracters–” well pretty thing, you’re one of the main characters! Ofc you’re special, you freaking discovered how to get to the TLOU world, I can’t have you dying on me… yet… silly!

Joel is having internal conflict with literally with his feelings about Ellie and yOU <3 I hope I portrayed that properly and well enough. Lowkey needed to write the miscommunication part because that question of if you were just a replacement for Tess was brewing in the back of your mind. Joel being him can’t fully express his feelings properly, so you settle for the broken sentences he has to offer and piece together the shards to find clues of what he means. Later on, it will be easier for him but for now, you both take baby steps.

But God writing that part had so many revisions and played every single possible scenario in my head— constantly questioning if it was good enough. Like was the thing I was trying to do between the reader and Joel natural and seamless? Did this conflict get resolved at all? Did I do this too soon?? Idk I’m just trying my best and I’m a sucker for Joel giving in bit by bit T^T (i mean i didn't make them kiss yet so I'm assuming wasn’t so rUSHED)

This episode centered around Joel rethinking his relationship with Ellie and YOU hehe. But I did want to give Sam and Henry the spotlight they deserved as well. I tried my best to find the balance in all of this, I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone with this chapter :&lt;<

oKAY INTO EPISODE 6 I GO, time to rewatch the pain again T^T

Grace

TAGLIST:

@memento-mora @elijahssuit @tartiflvtte @lillylilly2 @kyuupidwrites @amethystwonder11 @syd-vixious @kidkrow666 @soulofapatrick @ponyboys-sunsets @superflymaterial @chaotic-imposter @vainbimbo @eva-stark @loki-an-idiot @littleshadow17 @undermoonlightwalk @afternoon-evening @notmysunnydale  @slurmp69 @gyllord @aerangi @mac5323 @friskynotebook @earth-to-lottie @chaotic-imposter @kodzuvk @hawkins-2000 @reallysparklychaos @trust-dreamcatcher @darkened-writer @memeorydotcom @welcomebackfelicia @rainbowpitofdoom @omg-its-typical-aesthetics-fan @marvelsimpcz @dorck26 @evienorville @munsons-queen @little-miss-bi @mxltifxnd0m @ohjoelmiller @coalix @taestrwbrry @avengersheart @gyllord @valentine-babe@missdragon-1 @ponyboys-sunsets @ipadkidsworld @otternanamilolo @issybee0611 @technicallysassyfox @cupcakemachete

#uneven odds joel miller #joel miller x reader series #joel miller x poc!reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x modern reader #unevenoddstaglist #unevenodds #uneven odds #alternate universe #joel miller x reader tlou #tlou rewrite #tlou remake #tlou series #tlou #tlou hbo

[writersblockedx]

Loose Ends: Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Relics 

Based off - Episode Two Pairing - Joel Miller x Fem!Reader Warnings - Implications of sex, violence, language (let me know if I’ve missed anything) Words - 12K

A/n - I’m planning on writing each chapter as each episode comes out. And I’m hoping to always have them posted on a Monday!

⇦ Prevous Chapter / Next Chapter ⇨ Read also on: AO3 Wattpad

Masterlist

2007 Sure it wasn't the squeaky clean hospital and labs she was once used to (despite the fact they were all suddenly much more aware of germs), but it was what to be expected. Y/n had what they could find or what they could make and she made due. Only problem being knowing exactly what you needed to save someone who was ill from something disconcerting the outbreak, and not having that something to hand.

Which was why she much preferred appointments like these. The less devastating ones. The ones which she could prescribe some on-demand painkillers. "Joel Miller?" She called, leant against her desk as dark-haired man stood between this office of hers and the doorway.

He flashed a grin, scanning his surroundings before his gaze fell to Y/n. "That would be me." The girl returned the smile, putting her notebook to the side which she had been reading from. When she looked back up, she found Joel walking further into the room, still seemingly amazed by what was around him. "See they brought in a load of nice, shiny supplies for the new doctor."

"Not just a doctor." Y/n spoke as she gestured to the hospital bed that was situated by the window, "Take a seat, please Joel." He did so, quietly as he observed her closely. She put on clear plastic gloves as she stood in front of the man, a grin still hanging from her lips as he looked up at her through narrowed eyes like he was trying to work something out. "I'm also a scientist."

"Scientist?" He reiterated. "But you're a doctor too right? You know how to do doctor-things?" He didn't realise until the words left his mouth how stupid he must have sounded. Especially in front of someone like her.

"Bachelor's degree in biomedical science. That's what makes me qualified enough today to treat you."  Joel nodded but chose to keep his lips shut this time in case words just slipped from his tongue without intention. "Now, what exactly am I treating today?"

Joel only needed to raise his hand, displaying the bruised and bulging wound which burdened his knuckles. "I mean, I don't have a biomedic-whatever, but I'm pretty sure it's broken." Y/n delicately took a hold of the battered hand, inspecting it.

She glanced back up at him and a smile grew at her lips. "Almost." She dropped his hand and wandered over to a supply cupboard, rummaging through it as she continued on. "Your actual hand isn't broken." She started to explain before returning to the man with several supplies he didn't bother to take note of.

"Okay, then what is?" He questioned.

Once more, Y/n took his hand. And with her index finger, she pointed to the dark purple, almost black swelling that lined two of his fingers. "This here. This is broken. Small bones on your fingers which will likely repair themselves over time." She informed, always making sure she stole a glance at him. And always finding that his eyes were already trained on her. "You don't have any need to write or anything?"

He shook his head, "Not anymore, no."

"Good. It shouldn't cause you too much trouble then." She said before her finger moved down to the man's knuckles which were too littered in cuts and dark circles. "This here, this part of your knuckle, looks to be sprained. Not bruised, probably just sprained."

When she looked to him, she found his brows raised. "Probably?"

"You see an  X-ray machine around here?"A lack of equipment the girl could deal with for appointments like these. "It's likely your hand will repair on its own. But, for now, I can tape your fingers up."

She was already reaching over to the supplies she had brought from the cupboard. Some cleaning wipes, a bit of cloth and tape. "And this 'll fix 'em?" Joel asked as the doctor took ahold of the two broken fingers.

Y/n placed them close together with the cloth on the back of the fingers. "It'll help your body fix them, yes." She said, tapping the two together carefully as to not harm the man more so.

A small snicker left Joel's lips, "It's a bit of tape." He thought aloud, meeting her pooling gaze that seemed to keep him trapped here with her - not that Joel was complaining.

"Trust me," She started in a hushed tone, "That's all you need."

She finished bandaging up his fingers, slowly removing her touch from his, leaving the man yearning for the feeling once again. "So, no painkillers?" He pushed his luck once her back was turned, scribbling something down that he couldn't see.

Though, his words had earnt a small laugh from the woman as she flicked her head back around at him, "No painkillers." She finished writing before finally turning to face him, a glint of curiosity in her eye. "But, if it looks to be getting infected, come right back here, alright?"

"And then you'll give me some painkillers?"

"Well, I won't be now." She replied with a grin hanging at her lips. "Could I ask you something Joel?"

The man wasn't sure where she was going with that. But, still, he hummed, nodded his head and mumbled something along the line of, "Sure."

And Y/n went with it. "How many hours of sleep are you getting?"

Truth was, Joel was expecting something more like when are you free? Or, what are you doing tonight? "Well, that depends. If the couple in the apartment next to me are feeling excitable, then 4 hours. If the roof looks like its about to crumble again, 3. And sometimes, though, only on rare occasions, 6 when none of the above takes place." He informed with a light-heartedness to his tone.

"So not enough sleep then?" She questioned.

Joel shrugged at that; he hadn't a clue how many hours people were supposed to get at the end of the world. "I mean, if you're offering to give some methods of relaxation, I wouldn't be opposed." The smirk on his lips was drooling in pride and truthfully, Y/n didn't want to break that pride.

"Not quite." The smirk faded. Y/n took a grasp of a murky bottle and wandered back over to the man. "There not painkillers, alright? But they should help with the sleeping." She advised, handing them over to Joel as he started to inspect them for himself. "I would also recommend requesting a new apartment too if it looks like the roof is about to cave in."

He didn't glance up from the bottle as he responded, "I've tried, don't you worry." The man finally stood, almost too close, shoving the pills into his back pocket. "Thanks for the check up, Doc."

"Of course." He was about turn and leave but Y/n couldn't seem to help herself. "And Joel," The man noted her hesitation. "I may not have a psychology degree, but if there's anything you want to talk about-"

He interjected before she could continue, "That's alright." A smile flashed at his lips. Though, it was one of which Y/n could tell was forced. Joel started walking, peering over as he spoke, "I'll be alright." He assured.

She never broke eye contact. Not even when she followed up with, "Just needing to find some relaxation methods?" And then, at Y/n's lips, there was that smirk. The same smirk Joel had once held.

The man stood in the door way, deabting for a long moment as to what his final words would be to this woman he already seemed to be awing over. "It'd be nice to start getting as much as my neighbours do." And like that, with one final grasp of eye contact, Joel turned his back and exited the building. With a stitched up hand, a bottle of sleeping pills and the yearning ideas of this doctor he left.

Y/n knew after that encounter that Joel Miller was someone she was going to see again.

Y/n awoke to the feeling of being watched. It took her a moment after her eyelids fluttered open to adjust to the sight looming over her. She noted the two figures. Though, it was only when she processed the rifle pointed between her eyes that she jumped. "Jesus, Joel!" She snapped, loud enough to stir the sleeping girl next to her.

Him and Tess were seated on two battered chairs, staring ever so menacingly at her and Ellie. Y/n pulled herself to sit up, Ellie doing the same as she turned to find the gun still pointed right at them. "Morning." She scoffed.

Though it wasn't until Ellie went to get up that the rifle followed her. Joel wasn't threatening Y/n, no, he was threatening Ellie, the girl with the infected bite, the girl who should be dead. Ellie sat back down nd Y/n's stare turned just as menacing as theirs. "Joel." She seethed, her gaze flickering to Tess, only to find she had no intention on helping her; what a surprise.

"Do I look like I'm infected?" Quipped the young girl who's only armour right now was Y/n's body.

"Show us your arm." Joel demanded.

Ellie looked to Y/n first as if silently asking permission. Only once the woman had nodded her head, did she roll her sleeve up, showcasing the white scar which painted her skin. It was rigid and bumpy, but it wasn't bright yellow or red, it wasn't what it should be. Both Joel and Tess suddenly took interest in the mark, "Yeah." Said Ellie. "It's not getting any worse, is it?"

Y/n tilted her head at the pair, "Why else do you think were moving her?" That question seemed to evoke thought as the two looked to another, a similar expression shared between them.

"If we're in open city, why aren't we getting swarmed?" Wondered Ellie as her innocent eyes scanned their surroundings.

"Don't worry about that." Joel snapped, determined to keep on topic.

Though, Ellie still raised a brow and said, "Well, I'm gonna." And Y/n couldn't disagree with that.

Tess looked to Y/n, hands in her pockets and settled in narrow eyes as the cogs in her brain started to turn. "What were you and Marlene doing with an infected kid?" She inquired.

With a gun still pointed at her, Y/n only felt inclined to answer. "Why do you think, Tess?" Her hand gestured to the girl. The perfectly normal, the perfectly healthy girl. "Does she look infected to you?" That didn't seem enough for either of them, still staring blankly. So Y/n huffed and continued to hand out information, "Look, Marlene found her after she got bit."

"And she didn't shoot her?" Joel uttered, harshly.

"Clearly not." Ellie answered before Y/n had the chance to.

"Marlene got a message to me when she realised Ellie was turning into one of them." Y/n went on to explain.

A scoff left Tess' lips, "And I bet FEDRA loved that their favourite doctor was working with the fireflies."

"You two aren't the only ones who know how to get around without being noticed." She replied as her expression turned stern. "I visited almost every other day to see if she was getting sick, checking her vitals, doing tests-"

Y/n was about to point out how Ellie was obviously not getting sick, but Tess cut in, "What tests?"

Her lips didn't move. A pause followed and neither Y/n or Tess looked like they were about to break. Then came Ellie's voice, "I need to pee." She voiced.

And so Tess leaned forward, not breaking her eye contact as even firmer, she asked, "What tests?"

There was no getting out this and Y/n knew it. The gun pointed at her head knew it too. "We'd get her to hold out her hand and keep it steady. Then she'd count to ten. Followed my blood pressure, temperature, every test that I could physically fit in that little bag over there." Y/n pointed to her backpack in the corner. While theirs were filled with food and weapons, all she had were basic medical supplies.

"Though," Ellie's voice rang again and Y/n knew what was about to follow was unlikely to help the current conversation. "I think what really impressed everyone was the fact I didn't turn into a fucking monster." Then she stood abruptly, the rifle following her. "Now, can I please?"

She didn't start walking until Tess said, "Fine." Then her eyes flickered to Y/n who still sat on the ground. "The adults can have a talk." She reached down, grasping a magazine which was soon thrown to the girl. "And here. Tear out a few pages."

Ellie caught in, stole one last glance before turning and wandering into another room. "There isn't gonna be anything bad in here, right?" She yelled.

"Just you." Joel commented as he and Tess stood from their seats.

A scoff came from Ellie, "Ha. Funny." And with that, she disappeared into the other room.

Y/n watched Ellie for as long as she could. Though, the woman wasn't sure if she did so in a want to protect the girl, or if she was just attempting to avoid what was about to come. Once Ellie exited the room completely, Y/n turned. And she turned slowly, finding the pair were towering over her. Lucky, Joel had ditched the rifle by now, letting it hang on the back of his chair. Not that it made his stare any less deathly.

Huffing, Y/n rose to her feet too, as if making herself known as one of the adults too. "What are you doing here, Y/n?" Joel questioned first.

"Didn't I just tell you?" She argued with a snap in her tone. "I'm here because she is." He gestured towards the room Ellie had wandered into. "And trust me," A scoff escaped her lips. "That was not apart of the plan."

"And what was the plan?" Asked Tess.

"None of your business."

"Alright," Tess shifted in her stance and Y/n grew nervous in the uncertainty of what was about to follow. "Whats actually up with her? Was she bitten?"

"Yes, but as you've both clearly just seen, she's not infected." Y/n reminded them.

But even with it right in front of them, they weren't convinced. "How do you know?" Tess pushed.

"How do I know?" A moment passed. Irritation bubbled in her gut. So much so, it urged her forward, a stern glare burning into the eyes of the other woman. "I may not be a smuggler, may not buy guns left, right and centre, but I do still have a biomedicine degree. And a forensic science honours degree and I was just about to get another one in neuroscience before the outbreak hit. I'm a certified genius whose been working as a doctor for the past 20 years. You'd think I know what the fuck I'm talking about."

This time, Tess was the one whose lips seemed sealed shut. A smile filled her expression in an attempt to fill the silence which followed. Y/n took a long exhale, letting her gaze wander, only to land on Joel's hand. The hand which was battered and bruised from killing the soldier. "Your hands broken." She soon pointed out before her eyes jumped back up to his.

Instinctively, his fist clenched. He shrugged it off in the face of Y/n, "It's just a hairline. It'll heal fast." He excused but if Y/n knew anything about Joel, it was his need to hide anyway any sign of weakness.

"Since when did you become a doctor?" She raised a brow at him and the man chose not to answer. Y/n was already walking over to her backpack as she continued on, "I didn't really have a chance to go home and pack, so all I have is this." She showcased the inside, the various machines and supplies. "If there's anything I can actually help with while were out here, it's making sure you all stay in one piece."

Joel's eyes flickered to Tess, silently asking if it were okay. She must have given an indication of permission as the man sat down and held out his palm. The girl kneeled down in front of him, grasping some wipes and tape as she started cleaning the blood which still littered his knuckles. "I think we should take her back to the QZ." Joel voiced, prompting both pairs of eyes to jolt to his. Though, Y/n found that Joel's gaze was centred on the other woman. "We find another way to get our battery."

"They'll kill her if you do that." Y/n told them.

And by the looks on their faces, that certainly wasn't a deal breaker for them. "Not really a priority for us." Joel replied.

"This is our best shot." Said Tess, leaning forward.

Y/n reached for the tape, having to cut it off with her bare teeth before applying it to Joel's fingers. "As long as you get her to that State House, I'll make sure Marlene gives you whatever you need."

Joel looked down at her, "You're talking about this kid as if she's got some kind of life in front of her."

And Y/n came with such a simple reply: "Because she does."

Timing seemed perfect as Ellie came back into the room, throwing the magazine to Tess. Y/n put her focus back to the man's hand, taping the two broken fingers together. "That should help it heal and make sure you don't do any further damage." Which, considering it was Joel, was likely to happen.

The woman shoved the supplies back into her bag, standing and walking back to where Ellie was seated. "You hungry?" Tess inquired as she sat back in her seat and rummaged through her own bag. "You can share some of ours."

"Thanks, but Marlene sent me with my own." And so Ellie pulled out a freshly baked sandwich as Joel and Tess chewed on their jerky.

With nothing but medical supplies, Ellie offered half her sandwich to Y/n. An offer of which she had accepted with much gratitude. "Is that chicken?" Tess thought aloud as the two savoured the food.

Ellie nodded, "Yeah." She seemed to look back at her sandwich to analyse it, "Marlene says she gets it from smugglers." Her eyes then jumped to the pair and her expression tightened. "Guess not you guys."

Her words only seemed to spark Tess as she stood from the chair, walking toward the two. In an act to combat whatever was about to follow, Y/n stood too. But Tess didn't look to Y/n, she just looked down at Ellie. "Why are you so important? And don't lie to me or we'll take you back." She threatened, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Not that such threat seemed to have any effect on the young girl. "You take me back, you don't get your battery."

"You heard that?"

Y/n glanced over at Joel as she reminded him once again, "I did warn you." Ellie may be young, but she was smart and definitely disliked the idea of not being in the know.

"Well then, you must have also heard that he wants to shoot you." Tess nodded her head back to the older man who didn't seem to break at such. Tess crouched down and Ellie nudged back a little, "I'm gonna talk to you like you're an adult, okay? Joel and I aren't good people like your nice doctor over here." Y/n stiffened, unsure as to where Tess was going with this lecture of her's. "We're doing this for us because apparently, you're worth something. But we don't know what you're worth if we don't know what we have. So, one of you is gonna answer my question."

The two looked to each other. Both as uncertain as each other. But Tess certainly wasn't one to give in. "She told us not to tell anybody..." Ellie whispered to herself, shaking her head.

To save the girl the torture of going against Marlene's orders, Y/n admitted it all instead. "I told Marlene about some doctors out West. They always had better supplies and lab environments than we did." She paused but Tess could read on her face there was more coming. Y/n just knew the reaction which was sure to follow. "They were able to start working on a cure-"

And that one. Just that one, four-letter word, ensured a reaction always. Whether positive and hopeful, or in the case of Joel Miller, pessimistic and dismissive. The second the word left Y/n's lips, a scoff came from his. "I've heard this before." His eyes were drawn on Y/n, referring to something only the two of them could recount.

"What happened to me-" Ellie went to start, but her words were cut short.

"Is the key to finding the cure." Joel finished for her. "That's what this? We've heard this a million times before. Vaccines. Miracle cures. None of it works." He stopped and his gaze met Y/n's again, practically stepping on that hope of hers until it faded into nothing. "Ever." He emphasised.

Ellie stood, abruptly. Even though she was much smaller, she had no trouble standing up to Joel. "Fuck you." She snapped. "I didn't ask for this."

"You and me both!"

Y/n stepped forward before the anger in the room could drown out the logic. "Look, I get that for the longest time, I had to have enough hope for the both of us. And yeah, some of it was bullshit and some of it was just a dead end. But this." She pointed back at Ellie. "This is real. And it's right in fucking front of you and you still deny it." The woman paused, suddenly aware of how close she was to Joel, how freely she was speaking and how intertwined it seemed their eyes were. So she gazed back at Tess too, "Both of you." She added, in hopes of covering up her mistake.

No one spoke. Not at first. It seemed everyone took a breath, everyone took a moment to fucking think for once instead of letting emotions guide them any which way. Y/n was awaiting their denial once more, their plans of killing Ellie or taking her back. Plans of which she knew she couldn't argue against anymore. She may be a genius, but there was no way she could protect the girl from those who held the guns and the muscle and the lack of morality when it came to hurting a young girl.

"Let's finish it." Y/n jolted around, staring at Tess in utter disbelief. A part of Y/n was convinced she had heard it wrong. "It doesn't matter if she is or isn't what the fireflies say. If they believe that she is, then we get what we want." And, in way, so did everyone else.

Joel looked between Tess, Ellie and Y/n. But he gave in, "If she so much as twitches-"

Ellie lacking such understanding of bad timing, decided it would be a good idea to do just that. Her shoulders tensed and she mustered out some croaky noises, somewhat resembling an infected. Y/n snapped her head to her, and in the most scolding mother voice she could gather, she said, "Ellie." It was a warning and a warning she listened to as she relaxed and the noises stopped.

Her head dropped and Y/n could have sworn she heard a, "Sorry." In her mumbles somewhere.

Y/n looked between Joel and Tess, brows raised as she asked, "Happy?"

It took them a moment, but Tess nodded, "Yeah."

"Then lets go."

They each disbanded, grabbing their individual bags, Joel making sure to grasp the rifle too. "Can I have a gun?" A voice queried behind Y/n.

In sync, there came multiple responses.

"Absolutely not."

"No!"

"Not happening."

All of which had done well to send Ellie a certain message. "Okay! Jesus!" She mumbled. "I'll just throw a fucking sandwich at them."

With that, they headed for the door. Everything they needed hung on their backs and once they left the room, security left them too.

They came out into the midst of fallen, rotting buildings, masked by the leaves which had littered the forgotten city. Y/n glanced back at Ellie, one hand on a bag strap as a smile came to her lips due to the amazement that fell to Ellie's expression. Y/n couldn't lie, despite all it's ugliness, there were parts of this new world that were natural in their beauty.

"Woah," Muttered Ellie as her feet dragged forward.

The other two gave the girl a look, peering between her utter stupefaction and the view settled in front of them. "Looks better in the daylight, huh?" Tess voiced.

Y/n nudged the young girl's shoulder, "Better than school?" She raised a brow.

Ellie took one last, long look at what was in front of her before nodding. "Definitely."

"We should get moving." Joel suggested. His stares around the city weren't in awe, but instead, they were stares of observation, of making sure there wasn't something lurking around the corner waiting to jump them all.

But they did as he said. Tess led the way, weaving through what was left of pavement and roads. "It's like a fucked up moon." Ellie said, bringing their gaze to the not-so-pretty part of the city. The gigantic creator hole in the middle of the road was certainly an eye-sore. "Is this where they bombed?" She questioned.

"Yeah." Tess answered as they slowed, all taking a peer over the hole. Well except, for Joel, who had just continued walking. "They hit most big cities like this. They had to slow the spread somehow." Y/n's gaze jumped back to Joel, various thoughts passed her mind. Various thoughts she didn't have the courage to voice. So rather, she started walking too. "Worked here. But it didn't in most places."

Not much further passed the hole, they came to the dead end. Two skyscrapers which had fallen in together, blocking the rest of the road. "Statehouse is across there." Y/n informed, slowly taking a glance at Tess who was already looking at her with her brows furrowed.

"Ten-minute walk if we go straight." The woman added. "If we could go straight."

"So?" Urged Ellie.

And for what seemed like the first time in the last twenty minutes, Joel added to the conversation, "Long way or short way?"

Tess tilted her head, "I mean, it's the long or the we're fucking dead way." No need to put it lightly.

"Well, I vote long way just based on that limited information." Ellie uttered.

Y/n nodded, "Looks like we all agree on something." She paused and glanced at Joel who was still silent. Though, his silence had been assumed agreement. "First time for everything."

"We have to check it from the hotel first." He planned. So it was the hotel they headed to.

Getting to the hotel meant going on the freeway. It was still littered with several cars. Many of which were nothing but junk now as they each slithered through them. Tess was still leading the way, Ellie now at her side, badgering the woman with questions. Y/n wouldn't have any complaints about such, apart from the fact that it then left her with Joel.

The two weren't side by side. Not really, close, but not side by side. They were silent. Any movements, any noise that came from either of them echoed. It was practically torture. And it didn't end until Joel finally spoke up. "Since when did you start working with the fireflies?"

There was an uncertainty to his voice. When Y/n glanced to him, there was an uncertainty in his pupils too. "I never had anything against them. If anything, I think a whole load of things would work better if we all actually worked together." She explained.

A scoff left the comfort of his lips, "And you really think that'll happen?"

Y/n kept walking, her gaze dropping to the ground, "I have hope, Joel, but I'm not delusional."

That seemed to prompt Ellie as she turned back around, walking backwards a little as a grin tugged at her lips. "Jurys still out on that one!" She giggled.

"Eyes forward you." Y/n instructed. "You don't wanna break your hand too, do you?" That seemed enough to urge the girl back around as she continued walking by Tess' side.

The pair seeped back into silence. Y/n's eyes were trained on the young girl in front of her, while Joel's kept stealing glances. It was as if they were learning new boundaries. Before now, their break up meant avoidance; couldn't avoid the woman who was living and surviving at his side now. For the first time in a long time, Y/n and Joel's goal matched. Sure, their motives for such goals were different, but it was a step.

"What happens when you go back?" Questioned Joel, breaking the suffocating quietness.

Her eyes met his, uncertain and wary. She shrugged, "I don't know." Her gaze drawn back to the road ahead. "I don't know if I can even go back." Y/n was sure there would be questions. Ones of which she probably couldn't answer, not without certain consequences.

"So what?" Joel pushed. "You've got to live somewhere."

"I know." A sigh left her lips. Between running away from that soldier and trying to survive, Y/n's future wasn't something her brain had the time to think about. "I think maybe- maybe I'll just stick by the kid."

Ellie was still stuck close by Tess' side, deep in a conversation. "I might be wrong here, but surely the certified genius should have a better role than the babysitter?" Y/n peered over at Joel and his raised brows.

"The certified genius isn't just babysitting, but protecting one of the best shots at the cure." She defended. And, as always, that word sparked a scoff from the man. "I'll be alright." Y/n said as if he must have been worried about her.

"Good." He uttered before nodding to the teenager walking in front. "She's gonna need you."

And without thinking, Y/n replied, "And you." When the words slipped from her lips, her eyes jolted to him. In a scramble to recover her slip-up, she went on, "I mean, I can fix broken bones, disease, whatever, but I'm a bit shitty at aiming a gun." Joel nodded as realisation sunk in. Though, he never replied. They didn't look back at one another, didn't say anything and instead, basked in the overwhelming silence.

Luckily enough, the silence didn't last for a prolonged time as they soon came up to the hotel.

Similar to the city, the structure of the building was still there. It was like a skeleton, with some lingering memories of what life used to be like: tables, chairs, even wine glasses still occupied parts of the hotel. But the main spectacle of this skeleton was the lobby. The lobby which was now more of a makeshift pond. A piano stuck in the middle of it, a reception desk which was surprisingly still standing and decaying walls.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ellie exclaimed with excitement as she scanned over the view. She glanced over at Y/n, a glint of interest in her pupils. "You ever stay in a place like this?"

A grin tugged at her lips and she shrugged, "Without the pond? Sure." Her old job, before the outbreak, had been one of travel and some fancy hotels. Fancy hotels with marshmallow mattresses that were a forgotten memory by now.

"How do you even know what this is?" Joel inquired.

"Have you heard of books?" That response left the man in a scowl, listing the many reasons as to why he still wanted to shoot the young girl. With that brewing, he started walking down the stairs which led into the green pond. "Wait- are we-" She turned to look at Y/n as if she didn't quite believe it. "Are we going in there?"

"Unless you see another way across." The doctor answered before following in Joels footsteps. Neither of them made it close to the pond before Ellie spoke up again.

"There's a stairwell on the other side we need to get to." Tess added as she too started to wander towards the stairs.

But Ellie still firm in her stance. "I- I don't know how to swim."

They are looked back at her if she had just loss several brain cells in one go. "Seriously?" Joel critiqued.

Ellie was still lost at what the man was getting at. So she continued to defend herself, "You think we have pools in the QZ?"

Joel only needed to jump off from the final step, his shoes thudding against the floor. The water reached up to his knees at best. It was only then did Ellie realise, muttering, "I don't know how I was meant to know that." And then she joined the rest of them in walking towards the end of the room.

Y/n shifted through the water, weaving her way through the odd bug and patches of grass which had grown atop the pond. She looked back as she noted the water splashing behind her, checking that Ellie was in fact still alfoat. "You alright?"

The young girl's head was frantically turning from place to place. "This is so gross." She noted with a strange glea in her tone that no one else seemed to understand. Joel and Y/n were almost at the other side when Ellie shouted, "Oh, check it out!"

They turned, Joel huffing as they did so, finding Ellie by a golden trolly and the reception desk. She leaned over, pressing the bell repeatedly adding her own sounds, "Ding-ding!" She sung. Then she straighted her back and pushed out her chest as her impression went on. "Yes sir I would like your finest suite, please." And then in a lower, harsher tone, she went on, "Yes Ms Y/l/n. Like me to take your luggage?" Ellie continued by pushing the trolly forward. "Ah, thank you, yes most appreciated." Said in the squeaky tone.

Y/n had been watching with nothing but a smile, catching the girl's gaze. "That's not what I sound like."

She kept pushing the trolley, "I think it was a good impression personally."

"You're such a weird kid." Said the man next to Y/n.

At which, Ellie's glea faded and she stiffened, "You're a weird kid." She combated. And Y/n looked away for a moment, to get a glimpse of Joel. Which was when, "Oh, fuck!"

She was already moving before she had realised what was wrong. It was only when the woman turned the corner, her eyes settled on the bones that floated in the water alongside Ellie. Y/n reached out a hand that Ellie took, walking around the dead body. "Are you okay?" The question was stern and concerned.

Something which only calmed when she answered, "Yeah, yeah."

Y/n's worrisome eyes flickered to Joel, "Lets get going." They joined back with Tess and finally made it across the pond and towards the stairwell.

They climbed up towards the tenth floor where they would be able to see if this path they wanted to take would be clear or not. Joel got to the top first, Y/n by his side, Ellie lingering right behind her and Tess scurrying to keep up. The man slowed, peeking around the corner until he entered the tenth floor.

Once he deemed it safe, he started walking, Y/n following after him. "Fuck." Complained Tess once she finally made it out, a sigh stuck in her breaths.

She leant against the wall for a moment as Ellie passed her, "Oh, come on," Ellie practically sung in return. "It wasn't that bad."

"You try climbing ten fucking floors with our knees. See how you feel." The woman snapped in return.

There came no reply from the young girl as they wandered through the hallway. Joel seemed certain of the way. Well, that was right before they turned once basic corner and were met with a dead end that wasn't expected. "Well when the fuck did that happen?" Tess thought aloud.

They each stared at the many rocks which had fallen in through the floor above, crashing ontop of another and making it impossible for them all to pass. "Try the doors maybe?" Y/n suggested, twisting the door nobs and finding them locked; they were suddenly left with few options.

Tess walked forward, eyeing the rocks like they were a puzzle. "Alright, well, maybe I could climb up there, work my way around, open it up from the inside." She planned, not so certain in herself.

"Doesn't sound very safe." Y/n commented under her breath.

At which, the other woman chuckled, turning to face her. "Since when did you give a fuck about my safety?"

Y/n chose not to answer that. "What about me?" Asked the voice at the side of Y/n. "I am the smallest, surely I should go-"

"Not happening." Y/n interjected before she could take it any further.

"She's right." Uttered Tess. "You go up there, you die, we get nothing." Then her eyes were pulled to the doctor and a mischievous smile rose to her lips. "But, prestige here, I'm sure you wouldn't mind helping, right? Gonna need someone to help me move the rocks."

Y/n knew that there was no refusing this. Tess was already walking over, Joel holding his palm out as he lifted her up. Which left the doctor glaring at what was awaiting her. "Oh come on, it's a few rocks. It's nothing compared to some of the infected."

With that, the girl huffed, stepping onto Joel's non-wounded palm as he pushed her up onto the rocks too. As if in an instant, the feeling of captivation consumed her. The rocks were at every turn, suffocating her. And all she had to keep her sane was Tess. "It's a mess up here!" She called back. "We're gonna need a few minutes."

And so Tess started dissecting the rocks she wanted to move, the ones she wanted to stay and then ordered Y/n to help. "Here, this side." She gestured to one of the larger rocks.

Y/n hovered her hands over it, not daring to break the path Tess had created so far. "Like this?" Tess nodded. They each grabbed either side and started pushing until it fell. A few small pebbles fell with it but nothing to drastic.

With that moved, it made a way for them to jump down. Tess shimmied through first, grunting and huffing as she fit her body through the hole they had created. Y/n would have followed straight after if her ears hadn't pricked at the sound of name. "You know Y/n says you're just old friends." Came Ellie's voice.

The woman looked back. She had only moved a couple of meters away and well, Ellie's voice had a tendency to echo. "What do you care about it?" Responded Joel in his usual stern tone.

"Because Y/n's is shit liar, that's why." There came a pause. Y/n glanced back to Tess who was still slowly working her way down. "So what were you really?" Another pause in which Joel seemed to refuse to answer. "You were like together weren't you?"

"Pass."

"So that's a yes?"

"No!"

Y/n knew her eavesdropping was likely wrong, but she couldn't help but feel curious about how her ex-boyfriend was dealing with this situation. "What happened?" Asked Ellie, clearly having no idea about boundaries.

Again, Joel replied, "Pass."

"Are you with Tess now?"

"Pass."

"Do you not wanna be with Tess because you're still in love with Y/n?"

"Hey, Prestige!" Another, thrid voice, snapped her from listening in. Y/n turned back to face Tess who now had both feet planted on the wall. Though, by the looks of things, she hadn't heard any of what Y/n had. Or she was just really good at hiding it. "You need some help down, or?"

Y/n was already shuffling to the edge, mumbling, "No." She did the same as Tess, shifting and moving until she was able to dangle from the rocks, jumping as her feet thudded against the floor. "Least we didn't die." Y/n shrugged, but the other woman was already walking around.

"Come on," She urged.

They didn't get far before they had to stop once again. The two emerged into the balcony, the muffled, distant sound of groans met them instantly. "Is that-?" Y/n already knew the probable answer.

"I think so." Tess muttered before the two wandered to the edge. They leaned over slightly, consuming the sight below. Hundreds over them, tossing and turning as they fought to spread their rancid disease.

"Shit." One word which captured all thoughts and feelings in that moment. Y/n shook her head, parting from the wall as she turned, finding her gaze settled on a door. A door which likely led to the hallway. "Here," Y/n instructed, urging Tess to follow her as they left the balcony.

The girl dragged herself along as they headed for the room which would lead to the pair inside it. They took one step into that room when the occupants on the other side jolted. Their footsteps heavy and the sound of something familiarly metallic rattled. "You can put the gun down, Joel!" Tess yelled before unlocking the door.

None of their expressions matched. And Joel could tell within one moment, within one look, something wasn't right. "What is it?"

Tess and Y/n simply looked back at one another, a daunting sense growing between them. They chose it not wise to explain. Instead, they led the way back out to the balcony where that view was awaiting Joel and Ellie. "There's so many." That was one way to describe it, definitely.

"Last time we were here, they were still deep inside the buildings." Tess informed.

Y/n glanced over, "Guess this means long way is out the window too?" Maybe that was already assumed.

"Which way do we go then?" Questioned Ellie with concerned pupils.

The adults all looked to one another. But it was Joel who came up with the suggestion: "Museum."

A new plan set in. They went back down the ten stories and wandered the haunting streets to find this new building. And this one would hopefully reveal a safe path for them to get to the Statehouse. It was similar to the rest of the city. The museum was tangled in leaves as newly grown trees comforted the walls on either side. But the more concerning decor of the museum was the fungi that infected the stairs, travelling onto the pavement and right into the door.

They all huffed at the sight, stopping right before their feet dared to brush against such fungi. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." Complained Ellie.

Tess pointed to the roof of the building, "There's a way across from the top floor."

"Well, then I guess it's fine." Ellie quipped in response, her tone dripping in sarcasm.

"Better than hundreds of infected." Y/n commented before looking over Ellie to Tess, raising a brow, "Right?" The expression Tess gave in return was lacking any slither of hope.

"We used to take it all the time." She tried to offer some assurance, but with that look on her face, it truly wasn't working. "It used to be fine." Emphasis on 'used to'.

Even a scoff came from the youngest girl, "Awesome."

Joel walked out in front of them all, getting the closest to the fungi. He leaned down slowly as he stared at it like he was expecting something. His fingers placed some pressure against it. Nothing. So he took his rifle by the wrong end, plummeting the blunt end into the fungi. It crunched as ash splurted out. And with that, his answers were gained, and Joel stood. "It's bone dry." He informed. "It could mean they're all finally dead in there."

Y/n peered over at the man, "Could?" It didn't fill her with great security.

"It's our best bet." Tess uttered. Like that, they seemed to collectively and rather silently, decide this was what they were going with. Tess and Joel shrugged off their bags, grasping a torch each, along with Tess grabbing her own gun.

Joel was holding up his torch as he looked to the two other girls who were still stood mindlessly, "Marlene pack you one of these or just sandwiches?"

Ellie nodded, reaching for her bag. "Yeah." She mumbled before pulling out her own.

It seemed it was only Y/n who lacked her own source of light. But what she did have was still tucked into the waistband of her jeans. Her hands reached around her back, pulling out the pistol Marlene had lent her. "You don't have one?" Joel was the first to observe.

Quietly, the girl shook her head. "Alright," Said Tess as she stood to her feet. "Then you don't go anywhere without one of us."

"Wasn't planning to, don't worry." She replied.

Tess then looked over at Ellie, "And if we come up against anything, you get behind us." She instructed.

She nodded sternly, "Yes." And with that, they faced the museum that seemed to tower over them. Tess grasped her pistol with one hand, the torch with the other, prompting Ellie as she pointed out, "I have a spare hand."

"Congratulations." Joel took the lead on this one, walking to the double doors as the other three trailed behind him. He dipped his head through, scanning to then look back and give that expression of 'it's clear' before stepping through.

They switched on their torches and wandered through. Maybe it was the darkness, but Y/n noted how much she had preferred the hotel. This place, it was a simple mess. If it weren't the fungi, you were stepping over past relics which once would have been bought for millions. And now, they were just a part of rubbish that would likely never be cleared out.

Each of them kept their eyes straight and their feet light as they crept into the several rooms which led to the stairs. Joel's torch lit the other side of the wall where the fungus seemed most prominent, with a body wrapped between it. "Yeah, cooked." Said Joel.

"Oh, finally." Tess responded from behind Y/n. "Some fucking luck." Though, they all doubted that luck would last long.

"I guess we should have gone his way in the first place." The man continued, following the fungus.

They were turning the corner when, "Oh, shit!" Y/n's eyes snapped to Ellie and then the blood-soaked, lifeless corpse which was lent up against the wall. Joel and Tess soon followed as they all gathered around this body. "What the fuck did that?"

That wasn't the question that they needed answering. "How do we know it's not still in here?" Y/n spoke, her voice suddenly lowering at the thought of the creatures which could still be roaming.

"Maybe he was attacked outside." Tess assumed. "Crawled through the doors. The door was open. I don't hear anything."

"Who would you hear?" Asked Ellie, much louder than the rest of them now. At that, they all jolted, firm in their glares as they silently told her to shut the fuck up. So then her voice lowered, and in a whisper, she repeated, "Who would you hear? Are you saying an infected did that?" Y/n's pupils boiled with a concerning terror as she shushed Ellie. Not that it had stopped the young girl. "Because I've been attacked by one and it wasn't like that."

"Okay from this point forward we are silent." Joel's gaze was mainly directed at Ellie, but he sent glances to both Tess and Y/n as he went on. "Not quiet. Silent." His breath was raspy with his hushed tone, his stare in itself threatening.

"Wha-"

He didn't let Ellie finish her breath, "No. No questions." He told her. "Just do it." Ellie may not have been happy about having to shut up, but it was that or further risking their safety.

Joel started walking first, weaving through the rooms, bodies and fungus as they followed. Y/n's grip on her pistol tightened in anticipation, her paced breaths soon becoming uneven as they took the first step to the next floor. As silent as possible, they proceeded up the grand stairs. Joel was only two steps from the second floor before the roof rumbled above him. A few pebbles dripped down, followed by ash and a grumbling noise which filled the space.

Each of them stood completely still. Each of them held their breath. Once, and only once, did the grumbling noise stop did Joel continue, climbing up to the second floor and continuing towards the third and final one. Though it was here where the bodies piled high - as did the fungi. Suddenly, it seemed impossible to step over it all. But Joel took his chances and Y/n found herself analysing his every step so she could make the same ones.

She had been hoping that Ellie, the young girl behind her, was doing the same. But as they reached their fifth step, a crunch erupted. Her and Joel tensed, snapping back around to the girl who looked ever so sheepish. While Joel wore a scowl, Y/n had a moulding sympathetic look on her face, which could simply read: it's okay. Even if, maybe it wasn't so.

When nothing seemed to jump up out at them, Joel continued up the stairs. Luckily, they made it to the top without any more stepping on the fungus, or making any harsh sounds. Joel slowly pushed the double doors open. They creaked and cracked before revealing the dusty room on the other side. Like the rest of the museum, it was filled with relics. But most of them seemed intact. Suppose not many infected made it this far up.

As they each wandered through, rumble started falling from the roof above. Until a large thud was heard and it must have finally caved in. Y/n jumped for Ellie, pulling her forward as Tess slid onto the floor to avoid any of the littering rocks attacking her. It was loud. Loud enough that anything outside of the museum was likely to have heard it. And as Y/n glanced away from Ellie, she found they were barricaded in.

"Everyone okay?" She whispered. There was no bother in being silent now that had just fallen, she had thought.

Ellie caught up with her breath as she responded, "Great."

Y/n looked to Tess who was sitting back up. The woman nodded. It was once they stood to their feet, when terror kicked it. Somewhere, from someplace on the floor they were now trapped it, there came the ever familiar shriek which echoed against the walls. One was in here with them. One was here, one of which they couldn't see and they had just lost their exit.

Y/n's arm reached over, hovering over Ellie's stomach, slowly gesturing for the girl to get behind her. Her gun rose, her knuckles turning white with how tight her grip had become. The infected kept screeching as they manoeuvred their way around. They watched as through a doorway, one of them made their way into the room. They dragged themselves over as the group slowly moved backwards as silent as they had been.

It seemed fine until another screech from another part of the museum alerted them. They jolted around to another doorway. There were two of them. The other crawled through the doorway and they moved back away from it again. Suddenly, they were cornered. Their backs hit the glass of a showcase box as they watched the two infected roam the floor.

Each of them listened closely as it travelled across the other side of the glass. It's grunts were haunting as it filled the very silence the group fought to keep. It rushed across from the glass. It was right in front of them. A moment passed in which they didn't know whether it was going to spot them. Maybe one of them had let out a breath too loud or shuffled their feet too much but it knew and it roared at them all.

Joel moved first, pulling the trigger on his gun as the creature tumbled backwards, away from Ellie. "Run!" He screamed.

Tess grasped Ellie's jacket as they stumbled the other way. Y/n found most of it a blurred as she worked out what to do. She saw the two girls face the second infected. And then gun shots followed. Y/n made the assumption that Tess would keep Ellie safe as she turned, facing Joel's back as he fought single handedly against the other infected. Which, within one glance, Y/n could tell he was losing.

The woman raised her pistol, shooting a few times at the monster before it faced her. She circled around it as it stumbled closer to her. That gave Joel the chance to get one bullet in the back of it's head, securing that it slowed down. But it was still alive, still clinging on, still fighting to kill them. "Go!" Joel ordered. Not loudly at all, but stern, very stern.

Y/n did so. She went one way, Joel went the other. A few steps into a hallway and suddenly she became remind of the warning Tess had given her. Don't go anywhere without someone else. The darkness was all around her. She was quiet on her feet as she wove through the narrow hallway to find somewhere with natural light that could guide her. All while trying to listen out for the dying infected.

She heard a gun shot not too far away, followed by the sound of glass shattering. She couldn't work out whether that was Joel, the infected, or Ellie and Tess. But still, she swirled, trying to make out the shadows as she wandered into the next room where there was a window. A wave of relief passed. Though, it hadn't lasted long.

Y/n's whole body jolted at the feeling of touch on her skin. Something, someone, pulled her back. One hand around her back, the other covering the gasp she had been sure to let out. Silence followed and she settled, connecting the feeling to Joel. Y/n's gaze was drawn up at him as he still wore that stern expression. The screeches erupted from behind them. And Y/n realised that was the reason as to why Joel had grabbed her.

Delicately, Joel lowered his hand from her mouth and Y/n didn't stop him. It glided along her waist until reaching her hand. There, his palm slipped over her's, taking a grasp of the pistol. His other hand slid around her waist. And with both arms seeming to cup her body, he reloaded the pistol. Once finished, the two looked to each, ever so close yet that didn't seem to faze them.

Joel nodded, silently saying it was time to move. Y/n leaned around the glass cage that they were hidden behind, finding herself stiff when the infected was only a few feet away. She didn't make a noise. And so, it carried on, without attacking her or Joel. The girl returned back around and looked to Joel for their next move.

She first felt his touch leave her, though he still held the pistol. The man crouched down and started to head towards the further part of the room. Not wanting to be left alone again, Y/n trailed on after him. A few steps in and Ellie came into view. She was hidden behind a display case, right where the infected was about to walk around. Joel and Y/n joined her and nodded their heads for the girl to follow them.

They tiptoed around the display case as to avoid the infected. Slow and steady. So close they had almost reached it but Joel hadn't been watching his feet enough. His toes crunched against some lingering shards of glass. While it wasn't a bang or a gun shot, it was enough. In an instant, they were on their feet. Y/n was able to get ahold of Ellie but Joel tumbled to the floor. The infected hovered over him and it seemed as if he was dead already.

The woman grasped the largest piece of glass she could. It slipped against her palm, slicing her hand first in her act of panic. But, she was far to terroised to take note. Instead, she leaned forward, pushing the sharpest point of the glass into the back of the infected's head. It slowed and gave Joel enough time to recover the pistol he had taken and reloaded. With that in his grasp, his finger tip didn't leave the trigger. Not until it was lifeless. Not until there were no bullet left.

Soon enough, the creature fell and the three scurried backwards. Ellie was tightly protected in Y/n's hands as Joel stood in front, right over the body.

Their moment of peace hadn't lasted long.

Another piercing shriek boomed through the room. They all turned. Defenceless. The second infected was running right for them and they had nothing. Well, they had Tess. The woman rushed through a space between the displays, shoving a 14th-century axe right into the infected's neck.

It hadn't killed it but it had stopped it. The creature waved it's arms around, willing to grab one of them as it croaked out. Joel was the one to move. He took ahold of the rifle he had once lost, aimed and shot. And he didn't stop until it was on the floor.

A long moment passed. Everyone caught up with their breaths and several shared glances were given. Until, in a huff, Y/n spoke up, "Is it over?" Her weary eyes looked around, looking to each of them.

"I fucking hope so." Snapped Ellie, loud enough that, if there were any more infected, it would have come after them by now.

"You all right?" Joel asked Tess who had just limped back up to her feet.

The woman nodded but it was stiff like she wasn't so lucky to be alive. "Twisted ankle, but yeah." Her gaze then jumped to Y/n. Specifically her hand. "What about you? That looks nasty."

Y/n hadn't even realised. Maybe it was the panic, maybe it was the radiating pain, but the harsh cut across the centre of her palm had gone unnoticed until now. It was gushing red. So much so, it seemed to have tinted her skin, pooling over her shirt and jacket. "Shit." She muttered before swinging her bag over and grabbing some cloth.

"You alright?" Tess repeated. This time, to Ellie.

"Well, I didn't shit my pants so." She shrugged off as Y/n wrapped her bleeding palm in the cloth. A sharp inhale left her lips at the sting of the feeling. One of which didn't start easing off until she tied the cloth together, putting her supplies back in her bag.

By the time she had looked over, Ellie's jacket was rolled up, showcasing the bite from the infected. "Shit!" She said again, this time harsher and louder.

"You fucking kidding me?" Ellie swore. "I mean, if it was gonna happen to one of us..."

Suppose she made a point. "Hey," Tess spoke up as they all glanced to her. "Lets get the fuck out of here." That they could all agree with.

They were led towards one of the back windows. Joel pulled it up, slipping through first and holding it up for the other to walk through. "Thanks," Y/n uttered as she stepped onto the roof, her eyes drawn to the view set in front of her.

Ellie proceeded behind the girl, rushing next to her side to catch the view for herself. Though, Y/n turned right back around at the sound of grunting and the words, "Oh, fuck." Tess, while she may have gotten through the window, was struggling.

Her ankle had forced her to sit as Joel joined her. "I can help." The girl offered. Well, it wasn't much of an offer, more of a warning that she was about to help.

Though, such was still declined, as Joel hovered his hand out. "No, no, it's alright. I've got it." He said and the woman shut her lips. "Just give me some of that tape would you?"

Y/n nodded but said nothing. She rummaged from her bag and retrieved the tape, passing it over with a stare caught between the two. Maybe it was wrong to, but she thought back to them questions Ellie was asking Joel earlier at the hotel. Maybe such questions were echoing in her mind also.

"Over there?" Ellie inquired from behind them all. Y/n was the one turn, searching for an excuse to look away.

She was pointing to the building across from this one. The one connected by a long piece of wood. "Yeah, I know it looks scary." Answered Joel.

Ellie was already stepping onto it as she replied, "That was scary, this is wood." And without a flicker of a worry she walked across. She turned when she reached the other building, a grin spread over lips as she looked to the doctor. "You coming?"

Y/n had to look back first. Look back to the man who was patching up Tess like he probably had done a million times before. Then she flashed a smile, one forced and tricky to uphold. "Yeah." She yelled back, tiptoeing across just as Ellie had.

At this new building, she couldn't hear the conversation happening between the couple. She could only watch Joel's sincere, worrisome expression as he ever so carefully taped up that broken ankle. For a moment, and Y/n swore to herself that it was only a moment, a flicker of a memory washed through her mind. A flicker of a memory which urged on feelings of regret.

"Oh. My. God." Said Ellie, snapping the woman out of her thoughts. She jumped back around to the girl who was smiling a devilish smile. "You're in love with him too." She stated as if it were fact.

"What-?" Y/n cut herself off, eyeing the couple once more. "I've got no idea what you're getting at Ellie."

"Yes you do." She argued as Y/n walked passed her. Not that such had stopped the young girl from trailing behind. "You know exactly what I'm getting at! So I was right? You and Joel were together?"

Y/n stopped and turned around, "Well we're not anymore so what does it matter?"

"Because you both obviously still want each other."

That was something she had scoffed out. They didn't spend years avoiding each other because there was still love there. No, they avoided each because- well, because that was what you were supposed to do after a break up. "Ellie, we don't."

"I think you need a new pair of eyes." She giggled at the idea and Y/n knew this wouldn't be the last time she heard about it.

Y/n moved passed Ellie, towards the other end of the building where a view stared back at them. The rest of the city. Still decaying and covered in speckles of green, but as Y/n had gathered, it was nice to see something of natural beauty growing again.

Her gaze hadn't moved when she felt Ellie join her side. But when another figure wandered up, coming to her other side, her eyes did jump. "Is it everything you hoped for?" Joel asked. His eyes weren't on Y/n, they weren't on Ellie, they were settled on what was in front of him and what awaited him.

Ellie shrugged, "Jurys still out." She said and Y/n chose it best to tear her gaze away from Joel before he cared to notice. "But, man, you can't deny that view."

"Think it's even prettier without all the skyscrapers and road rage." Y/n thought aloud. And, as if roles had just be revered, Joel was the one staring at her as she glazed off into the distance.

The man thought about giving something in response, but that idea was broken when another voice came. "Come on, let's get there before dark." Tess prompted, breaking them from their captivated views.

The other woman gave not a second to take in the view. As if a switch had been pulled, Tess was suddenly in full survival mode, not wanting to waste a moment they had. She went down the ladder first and no matter how delicately she placed her footings, it still urged groans of pain. The other three didn't dare comment. Instead, Y/n gently pushed Ellie forward as they all trailed down the ladder too.

Tess was right about wanting to get there before dark. Even with her ankle and the pain Y/n was certain was plaguing her, she led the group, fast in her pace. It took half the time to get to the StateHouse than it usually did. But even in that short space of time, Y/n wandered to herself about this change in mood. Prior to this, she was walking at the side of Ellie, bouncing back and fourth, explaining with great enthusiasm what the world used to be like. And now it seemed she was burdened with apathy.

Y/n was towards the back of the line, though she rushed forward slightly to reach Joel. And ever so quietly, she whispered over to him, "She normally like this?"

Joel looked back with knitted brows, "Like what?"

The doctor huffed and checked off the several attributes she knew all too well: "More irritable than usual? Desperate?" She spoke carefully as she always did. Beating around the idea rather than giving it directly to him on a plate.

But Joel was used to Y/n's careful words and could see right through it. "She's not infected, Y/n." He uttered, stern in his expression that it made Y/n regret saying anything.

Yet, the girl still went on, "Just keep an eye on it, alright?" She told him. Without another second, she walked passed, joining Ellie's side.

Y/n wouldn't push it. Tess was Joel's friend and not hers. Maybe if more symptoms started showing, she might. But for now, she would keep quiet and keep her mind on the task at hand: get Ellie to safety. Which was right where they were. The state house seemed quiet. The only thing to suggest the other fireflies were here was the truck parked right outside.

The four of them crouched down by some rocks, keeping a watch on the doors and the truck. "Where the fuck are they?" Tess had queried, hushed in her tone.

Joel turned back to face her, lightly shaking his head. He took a long moment to think before he stood to his feet and started walking. The others stood but made no move to follow Joel. Instead, they watched. He slung the door to the truck open first, his rifle shaking in his grip, only to find nothing but blood-soaked metal.

Though, that seemed enough for the man to spin around, holding his hand out. "Keep back." He instructed before continuing on.

Even if they weren't the ones searching the truck, Tess and Y/n still equipped their weapons. They waited a few moments, hearing the sound of the back doors pull up. It was then that Tess nodded her head, "Come on." She said, going against what Joel had told them as they wandered around the back. "Joel?" She called. "What the fuck is going on?"

The back of the truck was empty. "I don't know." Answered the man. And while their focus was pulled to the truck, Y/n's dwindled. Her eyes were pulled to the stairs of the Statehouse, noting the splotches of red which littered the concrete.

"They went inside." Y/n informed as all eyes landed to her and then the blood.

She swirled around, facing their puzzled looks. Tess was the one to move first. She huffed and seemed to snap. "Come on." She ordered, hooking her palm around Ellie's wrist and dragging her into the state house. "Come on." She repeated.

"Tess!" Joel had yelled but the woman seemed to have no intent on stopping.

Y/n rushed up with them and without a second thought, raised her weapon. And much quieter than Joel, but much more threatening, there came the hushed order of, "Tess." The woman stiffened and slowed. She turned with glossy eyes that were mustered between feelings of fury. "Let Ellie go. We're all going to go in there but not until you take your hands off her."

It took Tess a moment before shoving Ellie out her grip. Y/n took the young girl into her hold, scanning her once over to make sure she was okay. "Lets go." Said Tess as she went on as if nothing had happened.

In that moment, Y/n met Joel's eyes, a sense of realisation seemed to have dawned on him.

The three followed Tess into the building and they all took sight of what was left. Bodies and blood and devastation. The fireflies had been taken out. "Holy shit." Cursed the young girl.

They wandered further into the building and more and more bodies emerged. It seemed as if there were no survivors. "I mean there's gonna be like a fucking radio or something." Tess rambled on aloud. She rummaged through the many boxes, scurrying through the supplies they had left.

I mean, not mentioning the bodies, this place would be a gold mine to smugglers like Tess and Joel. "Who killed them?" Y/n heard Ellie question. "FEDRA?"

"No." Joel had uttered and Y/n turned to watch as the man's boot spun one of the bodies over. "One of them got bit." And there, on the lifeless corpse was the remnants of the infected, yellow vines and a red rash surrounding it. "The healthy ones fought the sick ones. They all lost."

"God, Marlene's gonna lose it." Y/n thought, giving a scan over all the bodies once more.

"Tess!" Called Joel as he walked over to the woman. "What you doing?" She was still scavenging like her life depended on it.

Though, of course, Tess didn't give an answer to Joel. Rather, she walked right passed him to where Ellie and Y/n were roaming. "Where was Marlene taking her? Huh?"

"West." Y/n informed, tense at the very firm stance Tess was giving. "That's where the doctors are." As long as they weren't all dead either.

"That it? Just west? That all you fucking know?" Y/n had no chance to respond to her outburst as the woman turned her back and started wandering around the boxes once more. "Well one of them's gotta have a map on them right?" She leaned over one of the bodies. "Joel? Can you help me-"

"No!" The atmosphere chilled. "Tess, it's over." And it seemed they all knew that but her. He started walking over to her as she gazed up from the body. "We are going home."

"That's not my fucking home!"

Joel backed off and everything went silent. All that remained was the echo of Tess' screams. It took a second before the woman climbed to her feet, facing the man she had stuck by for years now. "I'm staying." She said with more depth than it needed. "I mean, our luck had to run out sooner or later."

Y/n had already been well in the know, Joel in denial but Ellie, well Ellie had only suddenly come to the same conclusion. "Fuck. She's infected."

Now, the atmosphere wasn't just chilly, but it was as cold as fucking ice. "Show me." Joel requested in such a gentle tone.

She took a cautious step forward, "Joel-"

He took a rapid step back. The woman's fingers gripped at her shirt, pulling it down to reveal the yellow vines and the red rash. "Oops right?" She let her hand go, covering the mark. "Guessing it's not something you can save me from, right, doc?"

Y/n swallowed and wondered if maybe it had happened later, if maybe they had understood Ellie's blood and her genes, maybe Tess would have had something, some hope. Tess' gaze jumped to Ellie, "Take your bandage off."

And so, the girl followed, rolling up her sleeve and showcasing her arm. Her perfectly healthy, perfectly normal arm. No yellow vines. No red rash. Tess walked over, taking a tender hold of Ellie's hand, "Look, this is real." She uttered, knowing this was apart of her last words. "Get her to Bill and Frank's." Joel had shook his head at that plan but Tess kept going. "They'll take her off your hands."

"No, no, no." The man repeated. "I can't. They're not gonna take her-"

"They will because you're gonna convince them." Joel was quiet again. "I never- never ask you for anything, not to feel the way I felt-"

He attempted to interject, "No-"

But Tess wasn't having it. "Shut the fuck up cause I don't have time." Which would have explained the rush she was in prior to now. "This is your chance. You and Y/n. You get her there. You keep her alive. And you set everything right. All the shit we did. Please say yes, Joel, please." She was a begging, dying woman and Joel looked as if he had no choice.

A grunt came from behind them as one of the bodies started moving. They jumped out from their sentiment as Ellie, screamed, "Oh, fuck!" Both her and Y/n rushed away from it as Joel stormed forward, pistol in hand, shooting the infected right between its eyes.

But with that gunshot, further noise erupted. Noise of which they couldn't bare to ignore. Grunts and groans which echoed from outside of the State house. Joel jogged over to the front doors, getting one glance of the outside to know what was coming for them. More were coming. "How many?" Asked Tess once Joel had started walking back again.

"All of them."

A scoff slipped from Y/n's lips, "Fucking great." Her panicked pupils met Joels, "How long?"

"Maybe a minute." He rushed to the centre of the building again, terror started to consume his thoughts.

But it was Tess who made the next move. She picked up the rifle of a dead man, popping the top off one of the barrels. Kicking it down, as gasoline pooled over the floor. "What are you doing?" Ellie inquired.

The woman continued onto each of them, "Making sure they don't follow you." She replied, kicking down another.

Once all the barrels were down and the smell became intoxicating, she threw over grenades. They scattered the floor as the murmers of the infected slowly got louder and louder. With that, she walked to Joel, looking up at him with only inches between them and she whispered, "Joel, save who you can save."

He seemed to hold eye contact with Tess for as long as he could. His eyes glossy when he broke and glanced over to where Y/n was stood, holding Ellie close to her chest. But he was looking at Y/n when he said, "Go."

And she listened to him. She tightened her grasp on Ellie as they stormed out of the Statehouse. The girl cried, "No! We're not leaving her!" She screamed but it seemed just empty words now. Joel was the one who had to make the decision and it certainly was never an easy one.

And they got as far away as they could. When the statehouse inflamed, they knew apart of the many bodies of infected, there was Tess. But there was no time to mourn in the midst of an apocalypse. All they could do was run.

-

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#tlou #tlou rewrite #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #joel miller fanfic #ellie williams #joel miller fanfiction #the last of us #the last of us x reader #tlou x reader #the last of us imagine #tlou imagine #the last of us rewrite #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #tlou fanfic #loose ends #rewrite #fanfiction #imagine

[rewrite-canon]

i literally watched the first episode of the last of us yesterday with my family and i could not shut the fuck up about what’s accurate or inaccurate to the game like i literally pointed at the clock in sarah’s room and legitimately said “that clock looks accurate to the game” and i got looks from all of them, my dad had to literally pause it and tell me to shut up at one point (fair enough)

#i was just excited i swearrrrr 😭😭 #so embarrassing though my sister kept giving me this sideye like!! this is my hyperfixation u should know i dont like things a normal amount #ugh i want to watch alone next time #bc the show was so good ESPECIALLY the part that they filmed exactly like the game #ugh love #tlou #the last of us #the last of us hbo #tlou hbo #joel miller #sarah miller #tlou tv show #the last of us tv show #rewriting #pedro pascal is hot

[consultingzoologist]

“Ellie,” Joel says, so gentle. Still on his knees before her as if asking for forgiveness. It’s Tommy who should be asking for forgiveness. “We both know what happens now, I don’t want you to see – “ “What if I can stop it.”

Joel gets bitten. Ellie has a way to save him. Tommy has the worst family hiking trip of his life.

Or: what if Ellie's immunity has more to it

Do you like fics with premises that are a bit bonkers yonkers but are treated seriously? Do you like to rotate the theme of monstrosity and transformation in your head like a rotisserie chicken? Do you think man, I want a fic that sort of has the vibe of a supernatural TV show from the noughties and 2010s? Try this out!

#my fic #tlou #tlou fanfic #ellie's immunity #do you like vampiric elements and tommy having a terrible horrible no good hiking trip? try this! #feral ellie this feral ellie that time for feral joel #chapter 2 coming very soon #rewriting as we speak #also the surprise return of trans joel for the themes

[pedges]

i have been absent for so so long and this is months overdue but just to gauge interest: is anyone still interested in woke up married fic! i have been like out of the loop, and would like to continue, but i just want to be sure it’s something people want; if it’s not, i can move on to other things! just lmk, feedback is much appreciated <3

#joel miller x reader #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x you #tlou fanfiction #I also have been considering rewriting this first chapter so if I do continue there will be an updated version posted!

[softceleste]

🌹🌹🌹 for the ask game, ilysm!!!

I love you too! 🥺 💕💕💕

Debated if I should do 3 snippets or if I should stick to the OG sentence count, still not entirely sure which was nicer - have an out of context Collen pov though:

“I think this is my fault. Jonah and Effie.” It was safe to tell Balo that. Zander would dismiss it, Ches would spiral, but Balo? She just looks at him with those soft blue eyes, crossing the kitchen to pull him into a tight hug.

And a bonus 100% unedited one I just literally wrote that I was gonna dm you anyway to make up for it:

“We’re probably going to reach a new town today, if it’s unoccupied we’ll look for supplies.” Zander said, holding out the pile of metal plates for Ches to serve food onto. “If it isn’t, we’ll get out of there before we meet the inhabitants.” “You don’t want to say hi to the neighbors? Shame, I was hoping we’d make a new friend.” Ches laughed, scooping some eggs and fried bacon out of the pan. Zander rolls his eyes, but there was that hint of a smile on his lips that he always seemed to have when Ches teased him.

#also good morning Yo I love you! 💕💕💕💕💕 #both of these are tlou au because I’m a brat 😂 #answered #god fully expecting future me to rewrite that second one but shh

[chaosandthe-deadblog]

I CAN'T START A NEW LONGFIC I CANT I CANT

#red.txt #i wanna rewrite tlou but with silver and shadow