Jacket had fallen asleep shortly after his eyes closed, the classic's low volume soothing him like the lullabies he never recalled being sung to.

His nightmare had been a glaring contrast to the easing tunes of his Walkman.

He stood in the center of a black void, floating in its nothingness yet floating as if swimming in tar. No matter where he ran or how fast, nothing changed. His mask was now his head, a skull exuding embers from cracks like Cordyceps spores from ascocarps, his mouth a permanent grin lined with razor sharp teeth.

He called out for Aunt Tess first, then Joel second. He heard his own voice in the echo; corrupted and pale.

Suddenly the temple of his skull was shattered by a stray bullet from the dark void, yet in place of bone fragments, clusters of spores sprayed like blood and brains above him, drifting down like feathers to cover him in rapidly growing fungi until he couldn't move. He screamed for help before the plating burgeoned cover his mouth and nose. And finally, his panicked eyes searched for salvation, but found none as his vision was swarmed with fungal tendrils of darkness. Then he was blind.

For what felt like hours he felt only his beating heart and his frantic breaths vibrating in his ears.

Then cracks shattered the darkness, and dirty nails clawed away the plating before their fingers dug in to rip the fungi off completely, and suddenly he was staring his Aunt Tess in the face as she tore the infection to shreds with a fearless expression.

His hero.

He was himself again, flesh and breath and life. He couldn't voice his gratitude and love, so he only whispered her name. "Aunt Tess," he sighed out. She smiled motherly, hands cupping his cheeks, before pulling him into a hug. He cried into her chest while she held him.

"It's okay, Jackie," she whispered to him, her rare kisses planting on top of his head, "I got you. I got you." Then she pulled back, but he couldn't see her face for the blurring sheen of tears. "Get up, kiddo. You gotta get up. There's a long road ahead of you. Time to walk it."

"Wake up, Jacket."

His eyes opened as promptly as his hand gripped the one that shook his shoulders. He calmed seeing Joel looming over him with a soft look. His grip loosened.

"Wake up."

"Okay…" he mumbled. The big guy looked as tired as he did.

Jacket pushed himself off the armrests to his feet before stretching, his world one of bliss for moments. His hands reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes, but groaned when he realized he had done the same thing a million times before, and forgot he was wearing his mask. Joel chuckled at him before the amusement turned to something else he barely recognized from the man. Maybe concern? Probably caution.

"You mumble in your sleep," said a voice younger than he was used to. As both Joel and Jacket turned to look at the source, the latter remembered the past events of the day. Ellie sat with her legs up on her sofa chair and stared out the window to watch the rain spatter the glass and the pavement and buildings before turning to them.

Shit, he thought. What the fuck did you say this time, Jack?

He hoped she hadn't noticed his wary eyes because she specified her meaning, "Joel, I mean."

He sighed as Joel stared off, "Yeah, he has that habit." So I wasn't wrong in his apartment earlier. Something was bothering him, probably still is.

"I hate bad dreams," she commented, turning back to the rain. Jacket sat back down and joined her eyes in watching the drops race down. Joel returned to his couch.

Don't know anyone who likes them.

"Do you get them too? Often, I mean?"

The question damn near startled him, as if to show how unused he was to casual conversation with strangers. He hated his own reaction.

He couldn't see him, but Jacket felt Joel's eyes staring in their direction. He couldn't blame him; Jacket barely believed it himself. He managed to not completely push someone away out of fear or paranoia while the big guy was sleeping. "No."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. You know," Ellie started, swinging her feet down to the ground and leaning closer to the window, "I've never been this close before." He got nervous then, but before she could look past the mask and see it in his eyes she continued, "To the outside."

Oh.

"Look how dark it is."

Joel walked up to his side just as her last word was uttered, placing his hand on Jacket's chair as if a guardian or something. That's how he always knew Joel gave a shit about him, no matter how much he pretended he didn't at times, because someone like him had to keep watch over Jacket. He couldn't help himself, not with instincts like that screaming at him. But Jacket had to let him know he made a decision, that it wasn't Ellie's annoying persistence but his own choice in the matter. So he answered, "Gets hell of a lot darker some nights."

Joel's eyes wandered down to him, telltale signs of confusion showing in his bearded jaw loosening ever so slightly and his eyes hazel searching for an answer. He tried relaying reassurance in his own pale eyes, and it seemed to have come through as the slightest of nods bobbed Joel's head, and he walked off behind the two teenagers.

"You get out there a lot?" she gestured to the outside.

"When I have to."

She paused longer than normal, and he could tell something lingering was on her mind, "Can't be any worse out there. Can it?"

She looked to him for answers – or perhaps even comfort to abate her fears – and it made him uncomfortable.

Joel's impatience saved him as the man couldn't help the question that came out of his mouth in a demanding volume, "What on earth do the fireflies want with you?"

Right then and there, Jacket was no longer immersed in his musings with the girl, but with curiosity became analyzing of her. He considered an answer to her question while awaiting one from her to Joel's, noticing her hesitance all the while.

Like a savior of the socially anxious, the apartment door opened and called everyone's attention to it.

"Hey," said Aunt Tess.

Without his eyes leaving his aunt, Jacket accorded Ellie an answer he found more appropriate than anything direct, "Like I said… Some nights get a hell of a lot darker."

"Shit…" She sounded dismayed as he placed the Walkman in his backpack.

Aaand the guilt is back. Great.

"Sorry it took so long," Aunt Tess said as the door closed behind her. Joel gave her a nod of greeting and Jacket stood and walked over to her, leaving him and Ellie together.

"You're back," Jacket said, his eyes scrutinized her body for injuries, "Are you hurt?"

She smiled. "No, I'm good." The smile left her quickly though. He didn't like it. Felt like he was awaiting bad news. "How're you doing?"

That's… not what he expected. "Um… Fine, I guess."

Aunt Tess glanced behind him for a moment, "No trouble?"

He looked to where her eyes wandered and saw Ellie staring out the window again, and he understood. "No trouble."

She seemed surprised, but then so was he. Regardless, she took his word for it and they both walked over to the join the other pair.

"How was the trip?" Joel asked.

"Eventful. Soldiers fucking everywhere."

Jacket took the opportunity as he often did. "Must've been a hell of an orgy. Bet they got creative with the pistols and flashlights, right?"

She seemed more deadpan than amused, despite Ellie's giggling, "You're a riot, you know that?"

"I'll be here all day."

"Lucky us," commented Joel dryly.

"Dude, that's disgusting," said the young girl with amusement, much to the two adults' surprise (even Joel ignored Jacket flipping him the bird). When it faded, another lingering question snuck out of her mind, "How's Marlene?"

"She'll make it."

Joy. He didn't hold it against Ellie for trusting Marlene, but that didn't mean he would hate the woman any less.

His aunt noticed his musing of Marlene and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, addressing both her nephew and Joel, "I saw the merchandise…"

Hope she's not expecting a drumroll to go with that.

She smiled, "It's a lot. Wanna do this?"

"Didn't come along to back out when we can finally earn something more than Robert's death, cathartic as it probably was to you two."

His aunt had come to count on his support whenever she needed it, but she smiled all the same to have it, even now. However, she still turned to Joel; it was a democracy, after all.

"You heard Jacket," the elder man shrugged. "I ain't about to waste any more time or bullets without somethin' to show for it."

"Alright, then. Let's go."

Ellie followed the three into the room next door. Jacket closed it behind them.

Joel followed his aunt to the pattering window, "Don't you think it's a bit strange they're having us do their smugglin'?"

"'Bout time you noticed," Jacket commented, passing by a listening Ellie. "They seem to be doing worse in Boston than we thought."

"No kidding," his aunt answered. "Says something too, when you think about the military's propaganda all over the Q.Z. about how they're kicking ass out there. We're probably far from Marlene's first choice, or second for that matter."

"And so she resorts to us black market smugglers. How the mighty have fallen." He walked to the bookcase.

"She's lost a lot of good men, beggars can't be choosers."

Joel sighed, "Let's just hope there's someone left alive to pay us."

"Someone'll be there." Aunt Tess, always reassuring and confident.

Jacket didn't have as much confidence in the Fireflies. "There'd better be," he grunted lightly as he pushed to slide the bookcase aside, and a tall hole in the wall revealed a dark room with a lift. "Or I'll find one of them to pay us."

Tess and Ellie shimmied into the next room. Joel stared at him, "Ladies first."

"My own inbred Hercules." He gave an exaggerated scoff, "Be still my beating heart!" He leisurely slid into the next room to escape Joel's glare and joined his aunt and Ellie on the lift. Joel leaned down to grip the handle of the generator's pull cord.

Jacket whispered to his aunt, "How much you wanna bet it's gonna take three pulls to get it going?"

"Enough, Jacket," she warned sternly.

And of course, by the third Joel pulled the cord the generator rumbled to life and the lift was active as was their wont in Joel's hands. Joel joined them the lift and pressed the blinking green button on the wall, "Who's waiting for us at the drop off?"

"She said there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city." They descended into the dark earth as Jacket's interest was piqued more and more. His aunt seemed to notice the oddity of that statement as well. "Girl must be important." Ellie didn't meet her gaze. "What is the deal with you? You some big-wig's daughter or something?"

"Something like that." The lift shuddered still as they reached underground, and Joel took point to lead them to the ladder that reached the outside. "How long is all this gonna take?"

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to them in a few hours."

"And that plan happens to account for the military being on alert?" Jacket asked.

His aunt nodded. "It does. Why?"

"Marlene said something about them riling up the Fireflies. They're gonna be expecting retaliation. I mean, we saw the bodies on the bridge. Remember how long it took for you to get here? I'm thinking they're not gonna go on defense just yet."

"Damn. You're right."

Jacket addressed Ellie without looking back, "Unless something goes really wrong, we should get you there in less than 12 hours at most. Expect a redacted time, maybe couple of hours less."

Ellie looked at Tess with an expression that was part surprised and part impressed. "What he said," Tess shrugged. "Now listen, Ellie. Once we're out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close."

Joel began to climb to the surface with Jacket at his heel, literally.

"Yeah. Of course."

"Good. If something goes wrong or things get a little hectic, stick close to Jacket. He's gonna move you outta danger quick and protect you in case we're held up for whatever reason, so you won't have to worry about anyone who happens to get close."

"Got it. Stick to Jack–"

"Hold up," Joel suddenly warned, stopping in his climb abruptly.

"Easy; almost ate your foot!" Jacket said, annoyed.

"Patrol up ahead, waitin' for 'em to pass." A couple of short seconds went by and the coast was clear, prompting Joel to climb onto the ground. "Alright, we're good. Come on up."

The elder man slid the board across the hole from whence they climbed once all four were up and about in the raining night.

Jacket let out a silent sigh as the rainfall struck him gently, wishing he could take off his mask and enjoy the cold drops on his face. He missed Tess' look at his direction, a knowing look that he didn't dare to show his face to even a kind and so-far respecting stranger like Ellie, even for rain. Another of Tess' regrets.

"This rain ain't gonna do us any good," Joel commented walking past them.

Speak for yourself, Jacket quipped internally.

"Holy shit…" came the voice with the habit of catching his immediate attention. "I'm actually outside."

"Never been in the rain before?" asked Tess.

"Not like this. Surrounded by the real world." She took a long inhalation of fresh air.

"Real world?" The woman smiled at how similar she sounded to a certain someone she knew.

"You get out here a lot?" she asked Jacket, more rhetoric than querying. "Damn. Maybe I should get into smuggling too."

"Just find a better side business than underground fighting. Not as beautiful an environment," he said, not having faced her once. Unless you like raining blood instead of water, and bones sticking out instead of grass blades and vine stalks.

"Noted," she smiled.

Jacket mimicked the expression to himself in irony. If only she heard his thoughts.

Then he remembered his habit of speak out loud to himself, and quickly stopped.

"But who knows," she continued unexpectedly, "Maybe the fighting and pain's what's gonna make it all the more precious. I'd say that's a better alternative to only appreciating it once it's gone but… eh, what do I know?"

That actually gave Jacket pause. He never thought about it that way. He met Aunt Tess' eyes, and saw she was just as surprised and impressed as he was.

They clambered out of the pooling ankle-height water into the sheltering box truck's cargo space.

"Where'd you say you spotted the patrol, J?"

Joel stepped out of the other end of the hold, "Went right through he–"

Thwack! came the butt of the rifle upside the back of Joel's head, tearing a groan of pain from his throat as he fell to the ground.

Two soldiers emerged, one from behind the corner of the box truck's hold and the second from behind them, both training their pistols on them. Jacket immediately held up his hands in surrender, surprising only Ellie with the immediate submission. "Don't do anything stupid," said the gas-masked female before she realized what she was looking at. "What the fuck?"

"Move," demanded the male soldier behind them.

"Turn around, on your knees." They joined Joel, kneeling in the wet mud with their hands on their heads.

"You scan 'em. I'll call it in."

"Yeah… You see the guy with the mask?" she whispered loudly.

"I saw, just call it in."

The soldier went to work by first shoving the scanner in Jacket's neck, "E-easy man! I ain't done nothing wrong!"

"Shut the fuck up."

Ellie was in disbelief at Jacket's behavior.

The soldier moved onto Tess, "Look the other way. We can make this worth your while."

"I said shut up."

"Oh shit," Jacket panicked. "Oh shit, oh shit!"

Ellie realized the immediate surrender and panic was just an act.

The soldier scanning them sighed, "Getting tired of this shit…"

His partner hummed in agreement before awaiting response from the radio.

Jacket couldn't help but notice as Joel was scanned Ellie's breathing rose slowly. Maybe his panicked act was getting the better of her. That was his thought anyway, before her time came to get scanned and she pulled out her switchblade, "Sorry!"

The soldier yelled as the blade dug into his leg. Jacket only saw him knock Ellie aside before his head spun around alongside his feet as he lunged at the soldier behind them, knocking her down and flourishing Harvest from its scabbard and across her throat in one motion. He got off her as she choked on her own blood and turned around quickly enough to see Joel forcing the soldier's gun back against the side of his own head and pull the trigger.

"Oh fuck!" exclaimed a shocked Ellie as she scurried backwards until she hit a crate. "I thought we were just gonna… hold them up or something."

"Quicker and safer to kill them," he stated uncaringly until he looked at her and saw her state. He felt then he should say something, but before he could he overheard his aunt.

"Oh, shit… Jackie, come look at this."

Jackie? He turned around frowning, dreading, "What's the matter?" She showed him the scanner. It took him a moment to register what his eyes were showing him. "What the fuck…? That bitch!"

Tess threw the scanner to Joel, who caught it easily. "Jesus Christ." He stared down in disbelief at the flashing screen before looking to Ellie, who seemed so far uncaring that she'd been found out, still shellshocked at the sight of the dead guards. "Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smugglin' an infected girl?" The two adults loomed over Ellie as she came to in the real world.

"That motherfucker…" whispered Jacket.

"I'm not infected," she protested weakly.

"No? So was this lying?" Joel growled and threw the scanner to the ground in front of her.

"Trusting Marlene fuckin' Booker?" The amazement was thick in the masked boy's voice.

"I can explain," Ellie claimed.

"I should've killed her…" His eyes found focus on the scanner half-buried in the mud, trying to calm his breathing in pace with the rain drops rippling the puddle, only to fan the flames.

"You'd better explain fast," said Tess, "cause this doesn't look so good from where we're standing."

"…I should've fucking killed her when I HAD THE CHANCE!" Jacket burst out and marched past his aunt and Joel, lifting Ellie by her arm and placing Harvest's blade against her neck, throwing her against the top of the crate as his razor-toothed mask bulked imposingly. "You little bitch! I knew I shouldn't have fucking trusted the cunt with handling a toothpick around me! A mistake I committed twice, with her and with you! Guess you were content with sticking your teeth in our backs instead! Fuckin' trusted Marlene Booker!? I'll show the whore what's waiting for her once I get my hands on her! I'll flay her a-fucking-live!"

Her terrified eyes pleaded just as loudly as her words, "Don't kill me, please! Just let me explain!" Her breath was more panicked than Jacket's act, and that spoke volumes, volumes of the fear seeping so deep into her body she didn't even dare to squirm under him or try to escape, too petrified by the knife at her throat like a cold threat that could at any moment become bloody action, and open her neck.

"Let her talk," Joel said strongly behind him. Tess was just as enraged, though her anger is one of silence more often than not. Few things made her lose her composure. Even this wasn't enough

"Oh you'd fuckin' better, you little shit!" He gave a chuckle without humor, "Trusting Marlene fuckin' Booker; okay!" He took a deep breath. "Okay… This better be good."

As if the blade and iron grip and mask wasn't enough to intimidate her, his furious pale eyes struck a deep fear she didn't know she held for anyone or anything other than the infected. "Pull up my right sleeve!"

"What?"

"Look at it!"

He glared for a moment before his grip loosened just enough to slide her red sleeve down before it clamped down on her upper arm. His eyes only glanced for a moment before he did a double take, "What the fuck…"

Joel and Tess walked to their side and inspected the source of his shock. The former waved it off, "I don't care how she got infected."

But it wasn't right, he thought. Around the bite had aberrant growths while missing the ones that should've been present. "No, look at it, Joel."

He did, but he just wasn't seeing it. "What?"

"Does that look normal?"

"It's three weeks old," Ellie cried out. Jacket was taken aback.

"No. No more lies," said Tess, coldly, "Everyone turns within two days. One more truthless word and I'll have him take your tongue."

"It's three weeks, I swear!" Ellie squirmed under Jacket. Then she exclaimed, "No!" as soon as the bowie knife began sliding across the skin of her neck, before she realized she could still breathe and he merely lowered the knife, and she saw the fury leave his eyes and his furrowed brows turned to shock.

She'd never been so powerless before in her life, and found in the new fear instilled in her a hoping to whatever god was out there, if any, that Joel or Tess give her the benefit of the doubt and pull him off her. Not once did it occur to her that in any world would Jacket be the one to believe her.

Her panicked breaths began to calm.

"She's not lying."

Tess' eyes immediately jerked to him, and Joel stared at him dumbfounded, "What?"

Ellie felt herself relax little by little.

"Look at it…" His iron grip loosened and he stood straight, pulling Ellie to sit on the crate with a gentleness that contrasted his previous anger like blood in water. Despite everything, it comforted her just a little bit as he inspected her bite. He believed her. "I've seen a hundred bites, not a single one looks like this."

"So every bite looks the same, not a single one is unique?"

He faced Joel. "I'm saying every bite has a pattern. It wouldn't be an infection's symptom otherwise, genius. These growths just don't align at all with what we've known, some for twenty years and others our entire lives. What the fuck gives her the right to claim she's unique if she's not?"

"Jacket's right," Tess interjected, much to everyone's surprise. "I've seen a woman who was bitten two hours before I got to her. Her bite only got worse by the minute, and by the time I laid eyes on her… Ellie's shouldn't look that clean. Did you come across an infected while I was gone?"

"Not one," he answered.

"Then that can't be recent. She's telling the truth."

Ellie gave a long sigh of relief, "Thank fuck."

Joel, stubborn as always, shook his head, "I ain't buyin' it…" He froze then, staring off in the distance, and while Jacket hadn't seen what he was seeing, he heard it. The rumbling engine and the crackling of weighty wheels digging into the gravel road.

A jeep. "Shit…"

"Run," Joel said in repressed urgency, before shouting, "Run!"

Tess immediately turned to Jacket, "Go! Go! Move!"

In turn, he pulled Ellie down from the crate and in front of him, urging her along to the urban ditch of long ago ruined sewers and jumped down with her. The water splashed up to their knees and the nearing jeep stopped before the clunking sound of its doors opening reached them. "Holy shit!" one of the new arrivals said at the sight of the bodies left in their wake.

As the second voice reported in their comrades' deaths, the group crouched underneath the remnants of a trailer and hid behind cover from the searching spotlights. Jacket sheathed Harvest.

"Follow me," said Aunt Tess, "Quickly. Alright, Ellie. When I give the signal, we run."

"Signal. Run. Got it."

And they did. A scared Ellie stuck to the masked teenager like glue as ordered with good pace. They vaulted further into the ruins of the former sewers, all moving quickly. Ellie began struggling to keep up.

Maybe it had to do with whether or not she dared to. She wasn't left unaffected by his fury.

The sewage pipe that ran under the road above saved her as he waited for the rest of the group to enter. She entered last and he followed behind her.

Once Joel jumped out the other end of the pipe after Tess, the latter pointed out soldiers patrolling and searching from the asphalt cliffs that persevered the majority of the roads' destruction. Ellie hesitated to jump down once she saw them.

"We got you. Jump down," he reassured. It was enough.

Joel took to peek around the corner where their destination demanded they go further in. "Just stay back."

"This is the part where you stick to Jacket. Alright, Ellie?" said Tess.

She nodded. Jacket tapped her on the shoulder from behind, "I'm your turtle shell, Ellie." The words confused her until he loomed above her from behind like a floating shell. "Don't worry about going too slow. I'll warn you during sprints, and we go at your pace. Got it?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She felt a whole lot more comfortable now with his confidence and assurances. He looked like he could keep them. She didn't want to think about what came after this.

"Alright." Tess whispered loudly to Joel, "Jacket's taking point from here on out."

He nodded.

"Keep your head down, Ellie," Jacket said as they crouched over to the wall underneath one of the soldiers. He leaned past her head to peek at another tunnel. "Now."

They made it past unseen, Joel and Tess following suit. For the next half hour they scoured their way through old buildings and past soldiers and sewers alike, some places a mismatched mixture of the three, but the smugglers, Jacket especially, traversed it all with ease and knowing.

Finally they stopped at a ruin deeper than anything Ellie saw before, reaching too far down for her comfort, the only thing keeping her going the fact that there was a pipe down there that must have led to some underground complex. "Are they gonna follow us down here?"

Jacket stayed silent like expected. Joel was the one to answer, "We ain't stickin' around to find out."

"Keep quiet and lay low, you two," Jacket advised, though it came out demanding. Tess was already used to sneaking with Jacket and so knew sneaking better than Joel and Ellie, so she was doing just fine in his book.

"That was too damn close, Tess." Joel sighed before glancing up at Ellie as he made his way down to the pipe, "You better be worth it, kid."

Jacket didn't miss Ellie's nervosity.

"Hang on," said the older man, "Think this leads somewhere."

"We know," said Tess. "We've been here before. Leads to stairs and a hole in the wall we can squeeze through."

He stared at the nephew and aunt with surprise, "You two've been busy."

"How else would you leech off our hard work?" quipped Jacket.

"Charming."

Once they reached past the stairs and into the aforementioned hole in the wall, more soldiers were heard.

"G.I. up ahead, Joel."

He stopped in his crouch, "You sure?"

Jacket nodded.

"I don't hear anything," said Ellie.

"I do."

Sure enough, above them came soldiers and a jeep driving by, though none saw them and they snuck past easily below them into another underground complex.

"Should be a supply room up ahead," Jacket told Joel, leading him past the massive tunnel that bore into the brick wall. "Did some shoddy repair job on the door in case any desperate scavvers came far enough out here in military zone. Should be enough to fool them into thinking it's too sturdy to force open."

They were faced with metal double doors standing steadfast and strong between them and the supplies.

Joel frowned, staring at it dumbfounded, "This is your idea of a shoddy repair job?"

He walked over before suddenly kicking at the hinges of the left door, and lo, it came off like a cardboard box, smashing loudly against the ground. Unexpectedly, Tess jogged past.

"What, did you forget your spare set of bandanas?"

They followed inside, Ellie quietly observing again.

"No, I forgot to give you this." She threw him something small which he caught mid-air.

"Oh, sweet! A twinkie!" He immediately went about to eat it, turning away from the three and lifting his mask to his nose before shoveling it into his mouth.

Bullshit! thought Ellie. I though the shelf life thing was a myth!

"And here I thought the no expiration thing was a hoax," muttered Joel, unaware of the echoed thoughts in Ellie. "You think the same goes for Kinder Eggs?"

"Hey!" slobbered Jacket with a mouth full, mask lowered on his face again, "We don't joke about those things, they're dangerous! You should be doing crack-cocaine like a red, white, and blue blooded American!"

"Like you know what being an American means," Joel frowned. "Banter?"

Tess shook her head, playing the exasperated caretaker of the two children in her charge, but other times she participated in the… banter… as much as her nephew. The reason she didn't this time was their cargo, Ellie. She'll allow them to relax but only under her supervision, and she won't expose her own throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm an educated and literate person, Mr. Country Mixtape! Maybe if you read up some more on the effects inbreeding instead of watching NASCAR it wouldn't be a problem with you."

Joel scratched his beard with an erect middle finger.

Ellie couldn't help her chuckle despite having no idea was an ass-car was, and suddenly the two men registered her presence again, mending their guard up again. Joel took to it more seriously, mentally cursing himself for letting his guard down like that. Jacket became reclusive.

As the two men went about collecting the supplies and ammo, Tess had already done so for herself and walked to Ellie, "Come on, we'll wait for 'em by the tunnel." Along the way she couldn't help but both fear and regret the repulsion they met her with.

The sewer grate groaned as Joel pushed it open. The rest jumped out to finally land in the real outside, outside of the Q.Z. and military influence alike. The outside they all knew and traversed countless times. Urban jungles are the world now, with vegetation and flora blooming out of every crack in the stone pavements, brick walls, tiled roofs, and every structure with a gap, as if hewn stone and aggressive flora were two sides of the same coin. As if to allude to his parallel between the urban and the jungle of it all, waterfalls formed out of the pooled rain fording down the destroyed highways and bent signs, rivers running down sloping, echelon roads. The skyscrapers in the distance were half-building, half-trees with concrete trunks by this point.

Wild and unruly and natural, yet the deliberately built human structures gave it a feeling of… purpose. And it had; overcoming all that was human and an affront to the balance of nature.

A fitting environment, thought Jacket, looking to Ellie who sat on the ground and breathed out in relief of finally being free from their hunters. She was a wild and unruly element, natural enough to fool him and the other two in his group, but now unknown… yet she was immune. She too had a purpose. But was she worth the risk of overtaking his aunt and Joel, his world, just as nature overtook the city and the human world in retribution?

Tess slammed the grate shut behind him, waking Jacket up from his staring around.

"Alright, they're gone," said Joel.

His aunt kneeled by the girl, "Look, what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the Fireflies, what then?"

"Marlene… She said that they have their own quarantine zone. With doctors there, still trying to find a cure."

"Yeah, we've heard that one before, huh, Tess?" Mocked Joel a bit immaturely thought Jacket (though it was just another form of the very same doubt Jacket harbored).

Ellie seemed to repress her annoyance, "And that… whatever happened to me was the key to finding a vaccine."

"Oh, Jesus."

"It's what she said."

"Oh I'm sure she did."

Ellie's face contorted into anger one second, and the next she was on her feet raising her voice at him, "Hey, fuck you, man. I didn't ask for this."

"Enough," came the muffled baritone of Jacket's voice, "Both of you. Joel, please shut the f– hell up with the smarmy comments. I get that you have doubts, trust me. I share them. But we all saw the bite and we can agree it's not normal–"

"I didn't agree to nothing–"

"And we took this job regardless. So how about giving her the benefit of the doubt, huh? I mean, for god's sake, how many of the Old World scientists claimed with tangible proof that they could find the cure to Cordyceps? She could have adapted having been born in a world where Cordyceps is commonplace."

As much as he loved Joel, Jacket was never as aggravated as when he was treated like a kid again by him, with Joel just shaking his head and ignoring his words, and turned to Tess instead as if to tell her to get a hold on her unruly kid, "Tess, what the hell are we doing here?"

"Jacket's right," she said.

"I can't believe–" He cut himself off with a sigh.

"What if it's true, Joel?"

Jacket had to remind himself and his clenched fists it was Joel and not some audacious nimrod with a deathwish as he grabbed her by the arm and practically pulled her over to point at the city's ruins that formed the grim and great view in front of them, "Do I need to remind you what is out there?"

Tess glanced at Ellie before staring him in the eyes, "I get it."

Jacket's eyebrows rose. Well… if there was anyone brave enough to bring Joel's kid up…

Tess walked off beneath the highway, and Jacket made his way to her side. Joel and Ellie followed one more quickly than the other. She pointed to the leaning skyscraper in the sky, "This way. If we cut through downtown, we can hit the capitol building by sunrise."

Joel gave some comment, but both knew better than to pay mind when he was in a mood.

She lowered her voice to a whispering volume, "Scout ahead, would ya, kiddo?"

"Sure thing, A.T."

She stopped him by the arm, "Hey. Moment you hear anything, make your way back, okay?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he smiled that half-smile she knew.

She nodded with parallel expression, but the concern was there as always.

He made out of the water and jogged ahead on quieter, solid ground. His feet carried him up the road beside the highway as he leapt and jumped across the cracks in the ground. They lost sight of him quickly.

As they made their way to him, Ellie caught up to her pace, preferring Tess adjacent than Joel. She asked the girl, "How's your arm?"

It took her off guard, "Huh?"

Tess sighed, "Look, I get that I was a bit… cold back there–"

"N-no, It's okay. I understand. I mean, I don't but… I'm just glad Jacket didn't carve me open."

She nodded and looked like she wanted to say something to her about it, but instead said, "I got something to dull the pain in your arm a little. I've seen him fight and I know he's got a grip to be feared."

Ellie chuckled with some small measure of unease, "Yeah… He definitely does. B-but I'm good, thanks."

"You know what?" said Tess. "When you're ready, just talk to him."

"Talk to him?"

"Keep your voice down or he'll hear you."

"Talk to him?" Ellie whispered it as if the very suggestion was ridiculous and completely unfounded. Perhaps it was to her.

"Yeah. Just…" Tess leaned closer, her voice lowered, "Cut him some slack. Beside, he's probably more terrified of the idea than you are."

Ellie looked dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because he's one of the very few good ones I know."

The conversation was cut short as the trio caught sight of Jacket making his way back. "Coast is clear so far. Entrance to the city shouldn't bring trouble. Can't speak for what's inside."

"Good work."

Jacket went past them and to Joel, offering him some 9mm he'd found in one of the cars. Instead of ignoring him or bickering, to Ellie's surprise, they'd gone from mutually antagonizing to a tactical team-spirit attitude. Jacket was counting the amount of bullets he was giving to Joel in exchange for alcohol and bandages; the latter's voice devoid of any negativity. There was only calm.

Ellie didn't know if she should be flattered or concerned that she managed to bring out the other side of the two.

They clambered up the same cracks Jacket jumped, and Ellie found herself short of breath. Both from traversing the ruined road and the sight that welcomed her when she made it up to the even surface.

"Holy moley. I guess this is what these buildings look like up close. They're so damn tall."

She wasn't wrong, though once they were even taller, as now several had crashed down into the ground or tipped onto another, leaving what parts of the buildings had fallen to hang on the teetering edge, some almost literally, of staying up in the sky where they belonged or crashing down to crumble itself and everything beneath it.

"So what happened here?"

"Ruthless altruism," said Tess. "They bombed the areas around the Q.Z. to hell, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible. It even worked, for a little while."

Joel gave a chuckle, and Jacket suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his hand for them to do the same. Ellie, perplexed, glanced between the two adults. As if she spoke the question out loud, Jacket said warningly, "A hateful wind…"

"What?" she asked, and just as the last breath of the word left her lips, a bolt of lightning scarred the sky and thundered, and the wind that followed carried a bestial screech, short as it lasted to their ears. "Uhhh, what the hell was that?"

"A hateful wind," Tess answered dryly.

"How far would you say, Jacket?" asked Joel.

"Too far to be directly in our path. But that's only the one that we heard, and sounds like something or someone aggravated it."

"He's right," added Tess, "Keep your guard up, might still be more closer than we think."

Ellie asked, "What, uh… what do I do if we come across any? Only got my switchblade, just so you know."

"Same as before, stick to Jacket."

She did so wordlessly. They walked uphill on ruined ground to stand at the edge of a massive hole boring into the earth, several busses and cars littering the crater. "Jesus," said Jacket slowly, "that is a fucking drop of drops."

"Yeah, no kidding," she muttered in awe.

She jumped a little when Tess flicked his ear and he flinched violently, "Ow!"

"Well, there's the capitol building," Joel pointed to their right in the distance.

"Your eyes haven't failed you yet," quipped Jacket, rubbing his ear.

"Neither has my right hook."

"Bet you can't say the same about your erection."

"Would you clowns come here already? You too, Ellie." Tess called out, and they turned around to see her walking to the building beside them.

They were finally shielded from the rain when they got into the leaning building. Past the first door and they found a soldier without half a face lying on his side, covered in blood.

"He's been ripped apart," said Tess. "Body's pretty fresh."

"Is that bad?"

That gave Jacket pause. The body's been ripped apart and it's pretty fresh. Is that bad? He glanced subtly at Ellie. She's not retarded, is she?

"Maybe," answered a more polite-minded (or tongued) Tess, to the girl's question. "Let's not stick around."

And that's why he and Joel let her do the talking.

They walked past the bloodied corpse and up a floor through the stairs, entering the hallway to a disgusting sight.

"Oh, goddammit," groaned Jacket.

"Jesus, what happened to its face?" asked Ellie, and that truly shocked Jacket.

"You've seriously never seen a clicker before?"

She shook her head, "No. Not once."

Huh… More sheltered than I expected. Or hoped.

"That's what years of infection'll do to you," Tess explained.

"So, what, they're blind?"

"Sort of. They see using… what was it called?" She tried to remember what Jacket told her from one of his books. "Echolocation."

"Nice save," he commented.

"Thanks. They see using sound, basically."

"Like bats?"

"Like bats. When you hear one clicking, you gotta hide; that's how they see you."

Joel opened his mouth but Jacket cut him off, "Yeah, yeah, shut up, I know."

He grabbed the shoulder of a dead clicker, overgrown against the wall and door with fungi, before tearing it loose and throwing the body to the side.

"It was your turn," said Joel. Jacket mocked him.

The smash came suddenly when he rammed himself into the door, Joel and Tess advancing with guns raised, as they'd done so many times.

Room was clear and they lowered their pistols. The concrete trembling startled them.

"Whole building feels like it's about to fall apart," said Joel.

Not long passed before another locked door blocked their path. Even Joel struggled with this one, and Tess ordered Jacket to help. Once, twice, and the door was forced ajar. Joel glanced at the cabinet that'd blocked the door fall down with a loud groan, and saw Jacket flourish Harvest from his holster looking wide-eyed behind him, "Clicker!"

He turned around quickly enough to come face to face with a teethed-cleft faced, croaking monster as it knocked him to the ground and furiously swung at him.

Jacket swung Harvest in an arc and the blade severed its head cleanly. He struggled to rise and Jacket kicked it off him, body and head severing to land in two beside Joel before giving him a hand.

"You alright?" asked a concerned Jacket.

He nodded. "Thanks…"

"Of course."

"You sure you're okay?" Ellie breathed softly.

"'Is nothing," he bit out, breath labored.

Joel being an asshole again was a good sign.

"Jacket, look for supplies; Joel, you're on overwatch in case any more turn up from the sound."

They played their roles perfectly. The former scoured every cabinet and countertop, hands as deft as his eyes and smell, and yet for everything good those experimental military supplements the government fucked around with did him, he didn't anticipate Ellie's presence, through senses or expectation.

Her intense exhale made him damn-near jump. "Ah, that was intense!"

He couldn't figure why she even still wanted to be near him, much less make conversation, "No kidding…"

"You didn't seem nervous."

"Wasn't. Doesn't mean it wasn't intense." After a minute he found everything to be found, and called out, "Clear!" The two adults joined the room. "Patch yourself up before you bruise," he told Joel, handing him one of the bandages he got in exchange for the 9mm bullets. He tried to refuse, but Jacket wouldn't have it, "Just take it."

"Thanks..."

He nodded and they continued on. As was expected of the ruin of a building, it proved a maze to tread, corners around corners, room after room, and jumping down and climbing up.

Still, they went a good while before another clicker showed up. This time it'd been after they climbed up a ledge. Tess and Jacket lent Joel a hand to lift him up the edge and to his feet, so the clicking came unexpectedly, but Jacket heard it before it spotted them. He warned with a whisper and they ran into the next room to hide behind a table. Its croaking and clicking loudened as it ran, following them into the same room but failed to sense them.

Jacket met his aunt's eyes, and nodded. He snuck with light feet around the table with his hand on Harvest's hilt flat against the small of his back, and the glass bottle Tess threw in the opposite direction shattered. It screeched at the sound long enough for him to slide his bowie knife out of its scabbard and harvest the clicker.

Its head thumped against the ground, practically saying, "All clear," and they cropped up like grass from behind the counter.

"Nice swing," said Tess with a smile.

"I seriously don't understand how you don't just lie down and die from fear when getting close to one of those things," said Ellie. He but held up his knife and shook it. "Well, I guess the big ass knife helps."

To everyone's surprise, including his own, he chuckled genuinely.

When only silence followed, Tess made her thoughts known, "Think that's it. Ellie, you alright?"

"Other than shitting my pants, I'm fine."

"Alright, let's keep going."

When they continued on, Jacket learned more and more about Ellie from her actions. For example, it was obvious from when they made their way out of a window and onto the suspended platforms that she was afraid of heights, if her shallow breathing was any indication. It had started when they ascended the building. One of the platforms creaking and almost collapsing didn't help.

"I won't let you fall," Tess said, and it was true. She was keeping as much of an eye on her as herself. Ellie nodded gratefully and proceeded.

Her relief was palpable when they found a way inside again. In Jacket's case, he was put more on edge than before since he began hearing something akin to moans, and not the exciting kind you'd hear in some corners of the underground world in the Q.Z. That, accompanied by the unmistakable croaking of clickers, and you had a cocktail of motivation more than enough to drive them into jump onto the unstable platform again. But they waded on nonetheless because that's who they were and what they did.

Joel found a revolver from the body of a dead soldier so near the sounds even they heard it loud and clear.

"Runners," Tess said.

"And one clicker," Jacket pointed out. "Come on; let's check it out, J."

"Right behind you," Joel drawled. He turned to Tess, "Stay with the girl."

Jacket's jump down was quieter than Joel's. Once in the deadly pit of infected, they moved like a pair of headhunters, the latter on light distractions to isolate lone strays and the former harvesting them. They worked fairly quickly, but would've been way quicker if Tess had been with them and taken care of tactics, as a few hiccups appeared where they had been forced to hide to avoid getting swarmed. Also unfortunately, their view from the floor above had been less than useful, so they went in blind.

Still, all things considered, it went ruthlessly smooth, until a final hiccup.

When the final clicker was targeted, Jacket made the mistake of not watching his step, breaking the golden rule of a hunter, and stepped in water. The splash alerted the croaking beast, and it shrieked at him. But before he could even shake himself out of his frozen state, Joel charged in swinging with his 2X4 at its head, brutally knocking it down and beating its head in.

"Clear!" Joel called out all while pretending not to be pleased with himself and Jacket's reaction. Again, he noticed Ellie nervous, more than she ought to be considering he was the one that jumped down along with Joel. Thinking about it, is the thought of being around the infected more terrifying than being around Joel to her?

Another ten minutes later and they were making their way down underground from inside the building, the ground collapsed to extensively it reached a subway station. Along the way, Tess initiated conversation, addressing both guys, "You know, I was thinking… After we get back, we can take it easy for a little while."

Joel seemed amused and surprised alike, while Jacket only counted himself as the latter, "Who are you and what've you done to A.T.?"

"Yeah, yeah… but really, I mean it. All three of us can relax, finally. You can keep training and fighting and have more than enough time over for your books. Maybe you can even convince Joel to finally fight in the ring."

The Texan chuckled mockingly, "Yeah, I'm sure my ring-persona can only be a charming personality."

Jacket scoffed, "Dude, look me in the eyes and tell me the name 'Texan Thunder' doesn't strike arousal into the hearts of every sister and first cousin."

The times when he managed to make both Tess and Joel crack were extremely rare, but this was one of those times. Ellie knew enough etiquette to keep herself out of their private and personal conversations, but despite not hearing what they were saying, even she couldn't help her laughter as she heard Tess lose it, and Joel struggle to keep in his rumbling chuckles.

Joel finally sighed out, "One of these days, I'm gonna feed you my fist for one of those comments even if it means my life at Tess' hands."

"Alright, enough," said Tess calmly, smiling. "Jokes aside, what do you think?"

Joel liked the idea and voiced his agreement. "If you mean it and you're not just messing with us, I don't see why not."

Jacket nodded, "Of course, A.T. But how about we conclude our little deal with Bill before doing it? I don't want him hunting us down just so he can bitch about how tough it was to find and fix all those mixtapes."

"God forbid."

With that, it was decided.

They jumped down into the subway station, and the first sight that greeted them had Jacket almost exasperated.

"Honestly, with how amazing it's going for these guys, I'm not even surprised the first thing we found was a dead Firefly."

"No kidding," said Joel, though his tone conveyed as much of his concern as his following words did, "Here's hoping there's enough alive in their group to pay us."

"Like I said, there'd better be." Jacket stopped at another Firefly's body dead at the collapsed stairs, a note in his hand. He swiped it out of its macabre grip gently, eyes scanning the page and reading aloud, "Meet up with second Firefly team at Capitol Building. Girl, 5'3 (question mark). 14 years old, red hair. Huh… Not our guys, so at least that's a plus."

"More like not a minus," Joel mumbled.

"Just don't get ahead of yourself," he answered in a mildly annoyed tone. "God knows you love to do that 'cause you're just so eager to be negative." He threw the paper to the ground.

"What're you gonna do to me if you don't get paid?" Ellie surprised them with.

"What?" asked Tess, too perplexed and taken aback by the suddenness of the question. Jacket froze and Joel looked between the three of them in confusion.

Only then did the realization strike Jacket like a punch. Her nervousness when Joel told her she better be worth the trouble after they got caught by the military, her attempt at connecting under duress after he saved Joel, her apparent fear of heights by the suspended platforms after their effortlessly taking out the clicker, yet not taking a single step back from the edge of the giant crater the Old World bomb punched into the ground…

After how he put a blade at her throat, looming over her with his mask of terror and furious eyes, roaring in anger… How could she not be terrified of what might become of her should the Fireflies not appear.

He became to her what the fighters in the ring were to him as a child only starting out, yet worse.

In those moments when he terrorized her, Jacket was Ellie's grim reaper come too early, her Tartarus for the innocent of crime.

Had he not been there this day, she would never have felt those moments of terror…

Joel's question pulled him from his stupor, "What in the hell are you talking about, girl?"

Ellie only stared, so sure that her fears were founded. Why wouldn't she? Her voice trembled in equal measure of fear and anger. "Don't bullshit me, man."

"Hey," said Tess, "Listen, Ellie, nothing's gonna happen to you. You're the cargo, not the employer, okay? You don't owe us a thing. When we hand you off, you're just another bystander, far as we're concerned. You're not one of the Fireflies, unless Marlene was lying."

It didn't come as a surprise that Tess was the diplomatic one; the trio knew had those words come from either Joel or Jacket, there wouldn't stand a chance in the world of the girl believing them. Just the same was Joel's idiocy not a surprise to Tess or Jacket, even to the latter, that he would be the one to comment, "Wouldn't be the first time she'd lie."

Jacket knew better than to sabotage a diplomatic "incident".

"I'm not one of them," Ellie insisted desperately, though indignantly at the elder man.

"We won't hurt you," Jacket found the courage to say, more surprisingly without shaking, "If someone's gonna pay us in any way, it'll be our employers. It's not to be you. I promise."

She looked surprised, and nodded slowly.

Tess smiled at him, but he only felt he didn't deserve such a beautiful thing, before putting on her business-like composure, "Let's not stick around, okay? We're here to get you to safety, Ellie, so let's do it." This, they could all agree on. She ordered for Jacket to take point, and he'd already heard the faint sounds in the distance. Immediately he crouched and the rest parroted him.

His fears were confirmed once he passed under the hanging concrete, recognizing the sounds unmistakably along with the others. If none of them heard the sounds, however, the runner shambling past their vision assured them of what lies ahead.

Same as before, Ellie was to stick to Jacket whilst Tess watched the rear and Joel assisted the younger ones by staying closer. Jacket caught the sight of a Molotov in one of the lockers and grabbed it. Joel loaned him a lighter, and moved to choke out the runner while he threw the handheld hellfire (another of Jacket's overdramatic names, but he liked it nonetheless) in the most middle point of the infected, and they all ran or shambled into it to burn alive in horrible screeching.

"Jesus Christ," Ellie whispered, looking away under where he placed his hand against the cover they hid behind.

"They'll quiet down soon."

It wasn't reassuring, and maybe it wasn't meant to be, but true to his word the pained howls died out quickly and the girl sighed in relief.

That was her only reaction. For the rest, she watched with almost sickening fascination at how well the trio worked together. Tess called out infected to the other two, and Joel and Jacket took care of them cunningly, with distractions and disorientations. Once they were no longer outnumbered, the trio confidently yet with moderate caution, took out the rest.

They reached the end of the room and were met by a locked gate. Jacket spotted the ladder hanging off the edge above it. Joel boosted Tess to pull it down, and when she did it clanked loudly against the ground.

Clickers sounded their hunt with their trademark behind the group. "Climb quick, I'll watch behind," said Jacket.

Thankfully, everyone made it up safely. He took the precaution of pulling the ladder back up behind him.

They jumped down into the flooded train tracks and climbed above ground again by way of the pile of crumbled road.

They reached a crossroad and Joel asked, "Which way we goin', Tess?"

She gave it thought before Jacket pointed them to the right, "Should be there."

"Should be?"

"If reality is still reality, yes."

"He's right," said Tess, and glared at him when he quipped he always was.

They followed the given direction, and Ellie asked Jacket, "What'd you mean back there when you said the right way should be here if reality is still reality?"

"Guessed, basing off the moon's position."

"That's... smart."

He paused only in speech. "…Thanks."

They came across three runners not long after, and took them out easily. "These soldiers were recently infected," Tess observed from their lack of excess growths. "There's gotta be more nearby."

"So let's move quickly, then," Joel advised.

They climbed over a truck that'd somehow managed to position its ends from building to building, blocking off the entire road, and jumped down to arrive at another a dead end, this one of debris and rubble. They were closed off. Joel did spot a garage door next to them, however, and waved for them to follow, grabbing the chain and pulling it methodically with strength. It ground and shook as if speaking its rust-denoted age that'd taken a toll on it.

"Shit…" Jacket whispered, hoping he was imagining the sounds that reached him.

His aunt turned to him, "What's wrong?"

He listened for a moment more, and quickly turned vigilant, "Double-time it; goddamn horde's screaming this way."

Not a second later and they began hearing it too. Joel grunted and the chain rattled like a steel serpent with every violent pull downward.

"Oh, they're coming!" Ellie said with small panic at the unfettered roars and croaks of monsters.

"Fuck this," the masked teenager decided and grabbed under the gate before lifting it, easing Joel's job and opening their escape route quicker.

Tess and Ellie crouched underneath and the former quickly grabbed the chain, allowing the two men to swing themselves into the next room as well, escaping by a hair's breadth and Jacket rolled on the ground away from the hand that reached for him. He stood up hurriedly beside his aunt as the group stared at the garage door, dreading if it'd hold or not against the onslaught of infected rattling and denting it.

When the rage died down and their fading tramples heralded the horde's passing, they breathed out in relief. Ellie turned to inspect Jacket's behind. "You might wanna check your back pocket for change…"

Jacket frowned and realized that his pants felt a little heavier, looking back before giving a comical squeal as he swatted at the severed hand gripping onto his back pocket by its fingers.

Tess laughed at him, adrenaline coursing through her veins, "What the hell was that?"

He sounded indignant while rubbing his derriere, "What can I say? I got a sensitive butt, especially once the rush dies down."

Joel sighed in exasperation and removed himself from the conversation before he could get pulled in.

"It went after your ass?" Ellie asked disbelievingly.

"Infected and human alike have tried…" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

The girl laughed at that, though it did little to allay his guilt. Still, it was a pleasant sound.

They moved further into the garage and past the truck that occupied it when Joel asked, "Okay, so how do we get out of this place?"

"I think I remember this place," he muttered off-handedly. The very garage was distinct to him, for some reason.

"You do," answered Tess.

Of course, he recalled, you took me here when I was a kid…

Joel called him and he looked over to see the man preparing at a workbench, and joined his side to watch as he upgraded the 9mm and revolver. It was nothing extensive, but no harm in learning the basics before the drastic jury-rigging starts.

"What're you guys doing?" Ellie asked.

They were thankful when Tess took her away from them to distract her from bothering them further. She told the girl they'd be searching for supplies and components for the gun upgrades, "Jacket's learning how to care for a gun. Said if he doesn't constantly make himself useful and learn new things he'll stagnate. Stagnation is a slow but sure death, way he talks about it."

"Pretty sure life is a slow death," the girl commented.

"Not if your life consists of bone-breaking ring-fights and running from hordes of runners and clickers."

"Fair enough," Ellie shrugged. "Is he always trying to do something?"

"To say he doesn't enjoy idle hands would be an understatement."

"Huh…"

Tess looked at her, "You seem surprised."

"I mean… the guy's violent, and when pissed off he's pretty fucking terrifying, but somehow it never occurred to me that he'd have a stick up his ass… uh, no offense."

She smiled as they went into the back of the truck, "The only reason he's not one for idle hands is so that ours can be."

"What's that mean?"

"He does everything he can to make my life and Joel's easier. He wants us to relax for once. Says we've done more than enough for him."

"The guy who makes a living in bone-breaking ring-fights thinks you smugglers need to relax?"

Tess chuckled with mirth, "I know, right? Smuggling's basically a vacation for him, he says, and acts like we're doing him a favor letting him help us during his free time. Not to mention he's the youngest of us three." But it faded slowly, "If only he'd realize the irony. But he's stubborn that way, always needs to owe us, just can't look at it any other way than him being a self-aware parasite."

There was a short silence where the inner workings of Ellie's mind mixed both idiocy and bravery in equal measure, setting the precedent of her asking, "He's your son?"

Tess' eyes snapped up to hers, turning from worried to ice-cold, before the cold oddly enough turned to something resembling… anticipation, hope maybe? "He told you that?"

"N-no, he just mentioned he was seventeen. And the way you talked about him just now…"

Tess' eyes chilled cold again, piercing, and for a moment the hazel of her eyes swam with as pale as Jacket's, with matching fury burning like ashen flames. Ellie knew in that moment that, if not mother and son they were definitely blood. Her words that followed only confirmed.

"No one can know we're related. Sure as shit not Marlene."

Somehow she managed to reassure her with confidence, "Hey, if she finds out, it won't be from me. Promise."

Tess nodded slowly. Not out of trust for Ellie, but rather trust out of what she'd do to her if she broke her word, possible cure to Cordyceps or not.

"Tell you what," Ellie proposed (she was just full of idiotically brave ideas today!), "If I finally grow some balls and work up the courage to talk to him while he's wearing that… thing, I'll do my best to make him relax and have fun. How does that sound?"

That gave Tess pause, and her mouth opened and closed while she tried to formulate words to ask, failing just as much as she failed formulating an understanding in her head, "Why?"

"When I talked to him, he seemed cold at first. Then, after we got to the apartment, he seemed… timid."

There was something in Tess' eyes; she believed Ellie, but was still interested in hearing her continue.

"Then he talked to me with more respect. He was still being short, but there was something in his eyes, I think… I dunno, I'm probably just imagining things–"

"Guilt."

Ellie's eyes widened, "So it's possible?"

"Probable, even. There's no way he isn't beating himself up over treating you the way he did. Doesn't make a difference that most would probably have shot you then and there, or that the way he acted was justified."

Why? she wanted to ask. The guy's an underground fighter and handles a blade like it's a part of his hand. He's probably killed more humans than infected with it, too. So what the hell does he care? Then common sense kicked in, and she stopped herself. She might've been friendly enough, but she wasn't going to risk coming off as nosy. Not when she's come this far with them. Besides, she came to the conclusion of the two being related by herself so anything she didn't suspect she'd leave them to decide if she should know. Ellie enjoyed privacy, and so should they.

But she still hadn't gotten an answer. "So? He is your kid?"

"He's family…" Tess stared before shaking her head, "but he's not my son."

She let it be. "You know… I think this talking's been working my courage up a bit more."

Tess smiled, "As well it should. Just look past the mask and you'll know he's not a bad kid. Just don't look past it literally. He's not... comfortable without his mask when with strangers."

Again, she repressed her questions and let it be with a nod. At the end of their talk, components and salvageable parts filled her hands. When the truck was combed thoroughly, they took it all back to the men of the group.

The metal parts clinked together as she poured the contents of her hand out on the workshop table, "This was all there was."

"Good work," Joel said absently.

"Thanks, A.T.," muttered Jacket.

"Don't forget to thank Ellie."

He hummed questioningly, before her name registered. He faced the girl, "Sorry, focused on the gun. Thank you."

She appreciated his eye contact; she noticed he struggled to, and that only made it feel all the more sincere. Even if he looked away a bit quick.

"Of course," she parroted back to him with a smile, the way he'd respond to Joel's gratitude.

Speaking of, the Texan man waved them off, "We're almost finished," before adding silently, "If only there'd been some tools around."

Sure enough, another two minutes and Joel concluded the lesson, Jacket a little more satisfied with his own efforts and a little more knowledgeable.

They proceeded through what was the first floor of the museum, and perhaps the most uninteresting as Jacket remembered it. Regardless, they searched it for supplies.

Tess asked Ellie, "So Marlene thinks you're immune?"

"Well, that's what she believes."

Jacket was a little pleased and a little annoyed when he guessed correctly that Joel'd scoff or make some other dismissive noise. Tess ignored it.

"Well, how were you bitten? I mean, you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone."

Ellie admitted sheepishly, "Yeah… I'd sneak out. I was in a military boarding school."

"Now they're making Firefly sleeper agents out of kids," Jacket mocked Joel with a dead tone before focusing on their conversation as he continued searching.

"You'd sneak out?"

"You know… Explore the city. I was in the mall when I got bitten."

That raised a giant question mark over Jacket's head, and he turned around. It caught the girls' attention. "The mall? Thing's completely swarmed with infected. And forget the why of it; just how the hell did you manage to get in?"

"I… had my ways. Anyways, one of those… what you guys call runners… bit me, and that was that."

"I see," said Tess.

Jacket did too. His heartstrings tugged as he imagined the poor girl terrified as she stared at the bite mark on her forearm, panicking without a clue on what to do about it, dreading the moment she'd become one of the infected. He tried to shake the feeling; it wouldn't help anyone at this point, least of all Ellie. Jacket wouldn't wish pity for himself, and he doubted Ellie would.

"Were you with Marlene?" Tess continued with her questions, "When you were bit?"

"No, I went to her after for help."

"Knowing her I'm surprised she didn't shoot you." Jacket agreed.

"She almost did. I hope she's gonna be alright." Jacket didn't agree.

"I told you, she's gonna be fine," Tess said, and he couldn't find it in himself to feel betrayed or angry at her for trying to comfort the poor girl.

When they finished scavenging whatever they could find and reach, they continued on to the sloped, caved in ground leading to the second floor. Just before the adults took point and moved up, Ellie gasped when she accidentally elbowed a vase, and hadn't it been for Jacket stumbling to catch it it'd have shattered and alerted anything unsavory nearby. The sound of his rapid steps turned their heads.

Ellie looked at him wide-eyed, apologetic at his exasperated stare, "Oh, shit. Sorry, sorry, that was an accident!" Eyes softening, he nodded wordlessly.

"Tess!" Joel complained, annoyed.

"Sorry," Ellie repeated annoyed herself, and thanked Jacket.

Following their stride up, the second floor greeted them with old displays and rotten reminders of history. "What is this place?" she asked.

"Museum," Jacket answered simply.

Tess nodded, "Yeah, some of these things are hundreds of years old."

"Really? Wow." Her eyes wandered over the remnants of these historical reminders, each carrying an enigma for her to find out. As the group looked around, Ellie joined Jacket's side as he looked at one particular display of a ship. "What's that, a boat?" Her voice made clear her interest for the artifacts.

He glanced at her, surprised only for a moment that she approached him, before turning back to the ship figurine. "A ship. It's a handmade replica of a Man-O'-War. Or Man-Of-War, whichever."

"Sounds awesome."

"They were. First one was made in Europe, in a country called Portugal. These were warships, made to be feared and effective in naval combat."

"How big were they?"

"Somewhere around sixty meters long if I recall. Standard amount of cannons were fifty-six for each broadside. That means three decks of cannons and ammunition alongside the usual supplies."

"Damn…"

He hummed, "Mhm. One broadside could potentially devastate a coastal town or grouped enemy ships. That's not to mention using different kinds of munitions like heated cannonballs."

"You seem to know a lot."

He was silent for a short moment. "I read a lot. Books, comics, journals, diaries. Pretty much anything I can find. Fictional or educational. Doesn't matter if I find it in a library or a house."

"So you're a strong fighter, and smart?"

He shrugged, "…Knowledgeable, at least."

She smiled, "At least." She turned and pointed to their right, "What's that?"

He turned to look at the mannequin displayed with an old, blue frock coat with straps across its chest and buttons lining it. He remembered this one best of everything in the building, and he was actually happy she asked. "That's an old military uniform. Belonged to a local hero. Some kid, quiet, kept to himself, mostly. Bookish, but worked hard, and when the time came to fight he enlisted immediately." He'd never connected with any other kid back in the Q.Z. as he did someone who died hundreds of years ago, nor admired them. Thinking back on it now, maybe it was this kid who inspired him to the diligence he was proud of today. Well, that, and the nagging guilt if he didn't.

"Wasn't too much information on the plaque, so I don't know anything other than that he left a positive impression on his fellow soldiers and the area in Boston he grew up in. Everyone learned his name, no one forgot him. Became something of a patriotic figure. Died in a battle, but the name of it's faded along with his name on the plaque. Made a local hero and a war hero both."

"How can a guy be a hero and not have his name remembered?"

"Probably was, just that it's lost now to us. Like I said, plaque's faded."

"Huh. Some guy he must've been. Is that his… hero coat or something?"

"Hero coat?"

"I mean if people liked him they might've tailored him a unique one. Like a leader or something."

He shook his head, "Just a kid like any other at the time. I doubt you could've pointed him out of a crowd unless you asked his name. Folk outside the minutemen he was with didn't appreciate him until after he died, but he left an impression on his brothers in arms immediately. Most common color the American Patriots wore, his is no different except for the flaming saber-on-skull patch embroidered onto the right chest. Americans fought against British soldiers called Redcoats – for obvious reasons."

"So it was literally a red versus blue type of deal?" Ellie asked, turning back to him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded, and she looked back, "Talk about on the nose."

He was quiet for a small while before commenting, "At least there was clarity in the battlefield."

She shrugged, "Guess it'd hard to mistake an ally for an enemy when they're color coordinated. What kind of guns did they use?"

"Inferior to todays, obviously. Muskets were single shot and had to be reloaded more manually and slowly than the ones we got."

"More manually? What does that even mean?"

"Bullet casings contain gunpowder, right? And the bullet itself, of course. Muskets had to have gunpowder poured into the gun from the end of the barrel, pushed down with some type of long stick to put the gunpowder at the end of the gun. Then they finally put a big, round bullet inside, took aim and fired. All very systematic, not nearly as streamlined as modern guns."

Ellie was more and more impressed by his knowledge. Jacket really had a habit of surprising her in more ways than one.

There was a silence that filled the room after he finished, and the rain poured from the cracks in the ceiling and spattered against the floor like a broken hourglass. He felt like they were wasting time in deafening silence.

She'd meant to break it, but Tess' voice echoed before hers did, "Jacket, Ellie."

Jacket went almost too eagerly, and Ellie followed.

"Found a way, yet?" he asked.

Joel motioned past a door leading to a room that looked almost completely caved in but for the small hole they could no doubt crouch through. "Under here."

"Looks dangerous, especially since it looks like we have to move the beam."

"Since when has dangerous ever deterred you?"

He exaggerated a scoff, "Who said it did?"

Joel crouched and lifted the groaning beam to let Ellie pass through first, followed by Tess.

It had been Jacket's turn when the building rumbled and dust fell on top of him, and the kid gripped Joel and pulled him back to safety as the room completely caved, separating the men and the women.

"Jacket! Joel!"

"We're alright," answered the latter. "We'll make our way around to you."

Their blood froze in their veins as the harrowing sound of clickers sounded from the women's side of the rubble. "A.T.! Hide!" he hissed not-too loud.

"Shit!" exclaimed his aunt, "We'll find each other if we go around, now go!"

She disappeared along with a frantic Ellie as the infected sounded louder and louder and their running faded faster and faster. The last thing Jackie and Joel saw were the monsters rushing by their vision to hunt down Tess and Ellie.

"We have to get to them and I'm not wasting," Jacket stated, striding down the hallway, and Joel didn't need to speak his approval. His expression and nod said enough, and he followed.

Then came the silence, and following the worst sound that they could've heard, reverberating through every doorway in the museum like a mocking death letting them know they waited around corners they didn't know. They stopped dead in their tracks as clickers sounded their stalking call.

Jacket's composure didn't tremble, but his rasping Harvest did as he unsheathed it.