THE
LAST
OF US
III

A/N- To complete it as a trilogy, I welcome you all to this story. Please sit back, relax, get a snack if you want. We'll do a little recap from the Last of Us II epilogue to refresh your memory. Enjoy :)

Play the Last of Us All Gone (Seasons).

Three Months Later...

The fallout from Tommy death's spread like wildfire. Jackson was in disarray without its founding leader. Maria was distraught behind all recognition and Ellie was with her nearly 24/7 to help take care of Sarah. Rylan stopped talking to Ellie, and he became reclusive into his work to help rebuild Jackson. Also, a newly appointed counsel rose to oversee the settlement's affairs and efforts.

Joel was holed up his house, only coming out when he needed to or when he came to the town cemetery to visit his little brother's grave which was decorated with numerous flowers and such.

In the simplest of terms, their family was fragmented. Rylan and Joel stood on their own while Ellie, Maria, and Sarah took care of each other. It was all just... very sad. Until now...

It was a bright and sunny day on the streets of Jackson, and Ellie was taking a walk with Sarah down the street when she spotted a depressed Rylan sitting against a tree trunk. "Hey Sarah, you remember Rylan, right?"

The three-year-old nodded. "Yep, he's nice."

"Let's go see him." Ellie decided as the two girls walked over to him to which he noticed as soon as they arrived. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to nap." He quipped, not bothering to give her eye contact and just staring at the grass between his legs.

"Why are you tired?" Sarah asked as the little blonde approached him.

"I'm tired... of being tired." Rylan responded, confusing the little one. "Ellie," He finally looked up at her. "I'm such a screw-up... when the chips are down, I always come up short with everyone."

"Yeah, probably." Ellie crossed her arms all sass like. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"Everything I did... back when Commander Devlin was chasing us, I did for you... and now."

"What?"

Rylan got back up on his feet and stared her down with a knowing smirk. "I want to do that again."

"That's what I thought." Ellie smirked as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

"Ewww!" Sarah was grossed out and that made the couple laugh.

"Let's go find Joel." Ellie declared as she picked up Sarah in her arms and they jogged to his house.

Soon, the three of them came to his front door and let themselves in. The interior was surprisingly well lit and the window curtains were all open. Joel never liked them open... it was then that they made themselves to the kitchen and they could hear laughter from two very familiar voices.

"He told me that story a hundred times..."

"You never heard it from my perspective."

"He was such a good man..."

"Yeah."

Now that was a weird sight, Maria and Joel were sitting at the table drinking coffee (a delicacy nowadays) just talking, albeit it was about the one thing they had in common and that was Tommy. It looked like they were helping each other deal with the grief. "Guys?"

"Mommy!" Sarah ran to her mother and grasped her leg with both arms.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Maria chuckled.

"We could ask you the same question..." Ellie's smile was directed at Joel to whom she got a stoic expression.

"We were just talking, that's all." The old man responded as he got up from the table. "Maria, think it's about dinnertime anyway. Anyone hungry?"

"Joel, let's just all eat here." She then turned to her daughter. "That sound alright honey? Dinner at Uncle Joel's house?"

"Yeah!" She replied excitedly as she brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Let's get cooking then." Ellie smiled at the reunion before her, and everyone got to work for their meal.

Joel suggested to do burgers on the grill outside, but then he remembered that he had no charcoal so that was out of the question. "Let's make pasgetti!" Little Sarah voted with glee.

"Oh yeah, I nice hot plate of pasgetti sounds really yummy right now." Rylan teased the girl's mispronunciation as Maria opened a cupboard and pulled out a box of pasta noodles. "That's enough for me, anyone else want some?" The brunette joked to the others.

They all chuckled at that and Joel got a big metal pot out to fill with boiling water. "Better make that two pounds Maria. They both look hungry for it."

"Starvin' actually." Rylan chirped as he knelt down to Sarah's level. "Hey Sarah, you ever heard of the tornado?"

"Huh?" Sarah cutely tilted her head at that. "What you mean?"

"It's when you take your fork and spin it in the spaghetti to pick it up and eat it." Rylan taught her. "I call it a tornado, I'll show you."

"Okay!" Sarah was definitely excited to learn something new as she ran to her mommy's side and tugged her shirt. "Mom, can I set the table?"

"Sure honey, get the paper ones right in there." Maria nodded towards a cabinet next to the sink where paper plates resided. Those would work fine, and that would make dishes nonexistent after dinner which was welcomed. "Hey Joel, where's Ellie?"

"Huh?" Joel looked around and so did Rylan when they all realized that the redhead had left the kitchen. "Must be in the bathroom," He quickly deduced. "hey boy, go on and check on Ellie."

"Yes sir..." Rylan sighed, still not appreciating that 'boy' label. Hell he was 19, more than old enough to grow outta that. Nevertheless, Rylan walked off in serach off Ellie, the first stop was the bathroom down the hall. That door was closed, so he assumed she was in there. So he knocked, and he called out to her. "Ellie, you in there?"

*retch* *Retch!*

"Ellie, you okay? You sick?" Rylan knocked on the door again to get her attention. It definitely sounded like she was throwing up. "Hey, Ellie!" He tried to go inside only to find that she locked the door.

"I'll... I'll be right out." He heard her from inside. "Just a minute..."

"Alright, if you say so. ...Umm, if you're not feeling up to it I can tell everyone else-!"

"No, no! It's fine babe." Ellie quickly responded as she suddenly opened the bathroom door and came out. "I'm okay. Let's eat."

"Okay... you probably made some room after that." He gave her an up and down, scanning her with his one eye. "Ellie, what have I told you about being weird?" He joked.

Ellie scoffed. "You're the weird one. Seriously? 'tornado'?" She smiled at him.

"Just wanted to pasta time with Sarah."

"Oh my god..." Ellie groaned at the forced pun. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me?" He gave her a sneaky kiss on her freckled cheek and took her hand. "You're sure you're okay?" He got a quick nod from her and then she led them both back to the kitchen. "Found her."

Joel set the pot of water now filled up to the appropriate amount on the stove, waiting for it to come to a boil. "Thought you fell in, baby girl." Joel grinned as he wiped his hands on the sides of his shirt.

"Nah, I'm fine Joel." Ellie replied when she looked out the window and realized it was still a beautiful evening. "Hey, you remember that game we talked about a while ago? Football right? You guys wanna play?"

"Now that's something I haven't heard in a while." Maria chimed in. "I miss those Sundays..."

Rylan looked at Ellie raising his eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. It's a nice day out and we got some time before-!"

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

It loud banging was coming from the front door of the house. It sounded frantic as it went on, awaiting for an answer. "Who the hell could that be?" Joel wondered as he pushed past everyone else. He made his way down the hall and towards the door.

Maria took an educated guess. "Maybe it's Harvey again? But I don't really know what'd he want at this hour."

Rylan and Ellie peered down the hall to see Joel opening the door, only to reveal that of all people to expect there it was none other than Bill. "Finally! Thought I might had to break the door down."

"Bill? What are ya doin' here?" Joel quickly inquired as he let the large man in and closed the door behind him. "It's been at least a year since we seen ya."

"Yeah, sounds about right..." Bill panted as he tried to catch his breathe. "Mind if I sat down? I'm a little winded..."

"Uh yeah, here take the couch." Joel lead him to their adjacent living room, and Bill plopped himself on the couch and took in some deep breathes. "You okay? You look like you ran here."

"That's 'cause I did Joel. Parked my train as close as I could here. Then I booked it to Jackson... sorry if this is short notice."

"What are ya talkin' about? Bill?" Joel sat himself by the nearby armchair as he awaited for his friend's response.

"...I need a favor." Of course he needed a favor.

Joel scoffed at this. "Sure you do... Y'know we were just about to eat dinner. You want some?"

"Appreciate it, but I can't stay too long. Gotta get back to the others and check on the train, it's important and I gotta get it ready."

"Ready for what?"

"A run. Biggest supply move I've ever done. And I need people that I know and trust to help me with this. Joel please, after this one, me and you will be set for life. This is my last go." Bill revealed. "And I'm askin' ya this one last time."

...Joel thought hard on these words. Bill was a friend, ever since the whole Devlin incident he had become one of their best friends and allies. But thinking farther back when he did business deals with him from Lincoln and smuggling them into Boston. It didn't always go as planned, he needed more information to make this decision. "What's the job?"

Bill's expression lightened up a bit as Rylan and Ellie decided to make themselves known and enter their conversation. "Yeah, what's the job?" Rylan mirrored.

Bill spared a glance towards the two kids and then back at Joel to begin explaining. "My train is filled to the brim with supplies. Medical kits, machines, everything you'd expect on the shopping list of a doctor."

"Doctor?" Ellie questioned.

"Dr. Kato Kojima, hope I'm sayin' that right. He's a fella at the end of the train line who says he can do the unthinkable." Bill then glanced at Rylan and Ellie. "...He says he can find a cure without someone who's immune. He just needs what I have on my train, and we're gonna get it to him."

"What...? You mean..." Rylan's voice trailed off as he looked at Ellie. "How is that possible?"

"You sure about this?" Joel piped up. "How do ya know this is real? Because I've heard this story before and it didn't exactly pan out."

"I seen it with my own eyes Joel." Bill assured him with a serious tone. "Tojo actually cleared up a Clicker's head, reverted it to a Stalker. He's close Joel, he's real close... we just got to help him out with the final push."

"This sounds too good to be true." Ellie shook her head. "Where does the train line end Bill?"

"Ever heard of a city called San Francisco? Actually got a look at the small army he had guarding him at a little place called Alcatraz. You know it?"

"Jesus Christ..." Joel rubbed his eyes. "Course it's on an island prison... this is, all happening too fast."

"Yeah well, it's pretty damn defendable. Now I got some people with me. But I'd feel a lot better if I had you guys come with me, get it? We'd cut across Utah then Nevada and then it's a straight shot to the Bay. Guys... we can do this. I promise ya, this Tojo is legit."

"I want to go." Rylan declared. "It's worth a shot."

"What? No, you don't have to." Ellie retorted.

"But I want to. And you should come too." Rylan expressed his desire. "Maybe this doctor could take some of our blood or something to help him out. Anything to progress his research. And did you hear what he said? All we got to do is guard a train."

"That's probably easier said than done. Are we gonna have to move the stuff across the water to the prison?" Joel asked as he thought long and hard over his position.

"He's got some men that'll wait for us on the coast. But yeah, we have to meet the doctor in person to get the payment. But you'll want to see what he's done so far. Makes the Fireflies look like a bunch of cavemen."

"You sure about this?" The bearded old man sighed. "What do we get outta all this?"

"I'm damn sure it'll work, because when it does... you and me will be first in line for the vaccine, how does that sound? Plus guns and food to carry back for Jackson." Bill persuaded.

"Well... alright then." Joel and Bill stood up as he offered him his hand to which he clasped it and firmly shook. "Looks like we got a train to move tomorrow." Joel felt like he had to get out of Jackson anyway, at least for a little while.

"You want us to go with you too?" Ellie questioned her guardian, usually he would be so overprotective that he wouldn't allow such a journey for her.

"You can both come if both want, besides I'd like the company." Joel smirked, the four of them ready for another adventure. "You'd probably just sneak on anyway..."

"Uncle Joel!" Sarah yelped as she whipped around from the kitchen and jumped in his arms, to which he caught her. "Mommy says dinner's ready."

"So you hungry baby girl?" Joel comforted as they dismissed their conversation so as to begin their meal.

Far away through a set of black binoculars, a man who wore a long-sleeved beige shirt and a black denim jacket with the sleeves cut off at the shoulders. He also adorned black gloves and a satchel that lay on his right side, in addition to pin-striped pants that are worn over his black boots. His green eyes locked on through the window of the house, and he adjusted his black cap and red bandanna on his neck to cover his face. He locked onto the group...

"I've finally found you..." His yellow Firefly sash reflected the setting sun's rays...

A/N- And the scene is set for the Last of Us III. Do you think Bill's claims are true? Will our heroes be able to get the job done and possibly save humanity? And who could be this mysterious character be spying on our group? Follow along with this story, review your guesses, and I'll see you next time. :)