AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, thanks for getting this far. I've been really touched by the story and the characters and the settings of The Last of Us and replays aren't enough for me anymore. I want that first-time vibe again, so I've decided to explore them in this form. This serves, for me, as a direct continuation of the game. So direct, in fact, that it begins whilst the game is still going, so I'm sure some of the dialogue will be recognisable. I've planned the story out. For me, the story of the cure is finished, and there is a new plot going to emerge slowly in the first few chapters. In so far as how long this will be, I'm not sure. As short or as long as it needs to be to tell the story. I hope you like it. Favorite, follow, read, review, but most importantly - enjoy! ;)

ELLIE I

"I struggled for a long time with survivin'," Joel said, fingers brushing lightly against his watch. "No matter what – you keep finding something to fight for. Now I know that's not what you wanna hear right now, but –"

"Swear to me," she said. Ellie stared deep into those brown eyes. "Swear to me that everything that you said about the Fireflies is true." She could feel her heart beating faster, breathing heavier, as if she had been running. Joel shifted his stance, she noticed. Was he moving in disbelief at the question, or wondering if he owed her the truth? There was a long silence, until –

"I swear."

She thought hard. She wanted to argue with him, to beat her fists hard against his chest, she wanted to be angry… but Ellie wasn't angry. Ellie didn't know what she felt; for the longest amount of time there had been something heavy on her shoulders, weighing her down; now it was gone.

"Okay."

Joel nodded and looked ahead. Loose rocks peppered with brown and dying grass. "This is us, kid. Home stretch. Take my hand."

Ellie watched as Joel walked over the gravel, stumbling a little as it groaned under his weight. One wrong step and they would break a leg, maybe worse. She nodded and followed him closely. She held out her hand, and he gripped it tightly.

The treacherous way down seemed more intense with the silence between the two. From Salt Lake City back to Jackson, there had been many terse situations. Ellie could feel the electricity now in the air. Joel's silence spoke to her, whispered at her guilt. He's lying to me. She wondered if Marlene would be angry that he left; she wondered if the blood spray on the hospital gown she woke up in was somebody Marlene knew. Most of all, Ellie wondered if Marlene was dead. It's my fault if she is. If she died trying to find me. Isn't it? There was a relief in Joel's affirmation, but Ellie knew there was an uncertainty too.

"The walls sure are big," Ellie said eventually, running her hand along the cool metal that bordered the city. "Were they here before?"

"Nah, the survivors will have put 'em up. Probably Tommy's group."

"I forgot how long it'd been."

"Leaves were dead when we left, and they're just coming back now, so I'd say 'bout – uh – six months. Seven months. Fall to spring."

The conversation still seemed light. The silence was telling but there was nothing lost between the two, Ellie thought. She smiled a little at the thought, Joel just ahead of her – as always. His coat was dark and green, under it a bulletproof vest. Until Salt Lake City, Ellie had been wearing a vest too, and now it was just the latest in a long line of entities to leave her without a word.

"Joel," she said, pace slowing. "What's next? What do we do now?"

His head turned left while he listened to her, and back. "I dunno. We get to relax for a while. You could read me some more of them bad jokes."

She laughed, remembering. "You still have it?"

"It was in my backpack, unfortunately. Shoulda burned it when I had the chance," he said, smiling at her.

She laughed. "Never. What else can we do?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "Maybe I'll teach you to swim. Next time you can freeze your ass off carrying me on a little barge."

"That's how I know there's no god."

"Huh?"

"Shit world design," she said and jogged up a little, walking beside him. The barricade stretched all the way round the settlement, she knew, but the settlement itself was only a small portion of what was once the city of Jackson. Ellie thought a lot about what cities had looked like back then, the time when light from cars had lit up the sidewalks; when grass hadn't coiled its way through every pavement and building, roping buildings that had once stretched up, up, up into the clouds down, binding them to earth.

Joel laughed. "Something like that."

Buildings began to appear around them as they rounded the barrier, the terrain becoming the former town of Jackson. The barrier was still to the right and they continued on, though their pace was not quick, as if trying to make as little noise as possible. Ellie's eyes lingered on Joel's hand, never wavering too far from the 9mm pistol that hung on his belt.

Their speed had slowly decreased as they drew closer to Jackson's main gates, but now Joel halted completely, putting a hand out to stop Ellie. He drew his gun and tilted his head to the side in the way that he did when he was listening, listening very carefully. Ellie tried to listen to.

"What is it?" she asked. His face set in concentration and focus, he did not move. "Joel," she said and nudged his shoulder with a fist. "What is it? I don't hear anything."

He looked at her, and she knew what he was going to say. "Exactly," he said. "There should be sentries. At the least we should hear 'em."

It's the university all over again, Ellie thought. They had ridden into the university grounds on Callus, their horse. The Fireflies they had expected to find were all gone – only infected remained, until hunters had arrived in force.

"They were quiet when we got to the dam," Ellie added after a few moments of silence. "They just appeared above the gate."

Joel nodded and then looked around. The area they were in seemed to be the remnants of houses, untidy lawns that seemed back gardens. Porches that were rooted to the ground by grass seemed to all look the same, even with the light of day. He slowly walked up the path that split two rows of back-gardens, crouched and gun trained. I better –

"Get your gun out," he finished. She smiled a little and retrieved the revolver from her backpack, then put it back on her shoulders. She kept up with Joel, as she always did, though she was never quite sure what he was doing. Joel, you're headed the wrong way. She had barely finished the thought when she understood what he was doing. He wrapped his hands around a huge green trash container on wheels, pulling it back towards the wall. The rumble of the wheels was barely audible running over the thick blanket of grass underneath, only the muffled din of it being pulled over small vines. Joel pushed it up against the barricade, and climbed up.

"You're not as tall as you think you are," she said. The barricade was larger still, and even Joel jumping wouldn't let him reach the top.

"I know," he said, laughing a little, "that's why I'm boosting you up to have a look."

"Oh. I hate being boosted," she sulked, climbing up onto the container with him.

"You'd think you'd be used to it by now." He held out his hands.

"Shitty level design," she muttered, hoisting herself up. He held her high instead of pushing her to grab, her intent wasn't to go over. She had a look around the inside and her stomach fell. Blood spray on some walls, drops and pools in others. There were no bodies, no people that she could see. The church was the tallest building in the new settlement, they had seen it before the descent. She wanted to look more, but she felt Joel lowering her, and then she heard the hooves in the distance too. They jumped off the dumpster and moved it around, using it for cover. "Shit shit shit," she whispered.

"Anythin'?" Joel said, voice dropped low and quiet, his southern drawl even more pronounced.

"Nothin'," she said, mocking his dialect. His eyes dropped to the watch on his wrist, as though checking the time. "One day you'll tell me why you keep a broken watch."

"Hush," he said. Voices merged with the sound of hooves in the background, all male. Ellie recognised the sound as hooves on cement, and knew which road they were coming down; it led into the complex. She wondered if the doors were open. Joel poked his head out slightly to see and brought it back down quickly. 'If you can't see them,' he had once advised to her, 'don't wait. They might be seeing you. Then you lose your advantage.' At least Joel was consistent.

The voices and the hooves drew nearer. Ellie began to worry, her heart beating faster. What if bandits had raided the camp, executed Tommy and his wife, Maria, and taken control of the dam? She wondered what Tommy's last thoughts would have been of, if he had been forced to listen to his wife dying, if –

– it was Tommy's voice she could hear. She looked at Joel, who seemed to be having the same thoughts.

"Is that…?" she asked quietly.

"… the surrounding area," said the man. "If you can, take them alive. I won't have them trying to raid my goddamn town and –"

Joel stood up and began to walk down the path that led back onto the main residential block, with all of the front gardens, Ellie hurried behind him. "Tommy," he said, announcing himself. The men seemed startled and reached for their guns, but they recognised the pair on sight. Ellie recognised a few of their faces, and looked for Maria, though she wasn't there. She hoped she was okay.

Ellie had last left the dam on horse, angry at Joel for planning to leave her with a stranger. Angry at everyone who had every left her; her mother, Riley, Marlene, Tess. After Joel had caught up, they had left from a cabin and headed for the university; she had never said goodbye to Maria. She hoped to see her again.

"Joel," Tommy said, his voice half delight, half confusion. "I gotta admit I didn't expect to see ya again." His eyes lingered on Ellie for half a second, but she did not miss it. "You either, little lady."

He seemed older, his eyes had once wrinkled at the sides when he smiled, but now they seemed permanent. His blonde hair had dimmed a little, though not greyed. "You look like shit," Ellie said. He laughed and nodded.

They walk out onto the road. "We'll have time for reminiscing later," Tommy said. "There's been an attack. They rung the bells, we heard 'em from the dam – did you hear 'em?" They shook their head. "Never mind. Doesn't matter. They stopped after a while, but usually they'd give us an indicator that it was a mistake. Now we got nothing. Something's gone wrong. Infected, hunters. I don't know."

Tommy clutched the rifle in his hands tightly, though they seemed to shake. He was worried about Maria too – but she was a strong woman, Ellie knew she'd be fine. Rounded up the other survivors and taken them somewhere safe.

"Ellie had a look inside," Joel said. "I boosted her up. There's no one movin' in there." They began to walk, the horses at a steady trot. The road took them around the barricade a little more, and then they would find the entrance. Ellie could already see the unmanned turrets on the towers at each side of the entrance over the barrier. They overlooked the most open part of town, Ellie figured, so that they could easily repel scavengers. 'Till now, I guess.

Joel still had his gun out, so Ellie kept hers out too.

"God damn it. That's what I was afraid of," he said. "Town protocol says that if they run into big trouble then they go into the basement of the church. That's where they'll be. Hopefully they took the bastards down with them. Any bodies?" Joel looked at Ellie and she shook her head. "Not sure what to make of that. Stay alert. Roger, Dex, go ahead and sweep the entrance."

Two men not on horseback nodded and hurried ahead, moving at a surprising speed for two crouched men, rifles at the ready. They seemed older than Tommy, but he was still pretty young, so that wasn't saying much. The beard was what aged Joel, and Tommy didn't sport any facial hair. You don't get old bold people, Ellie thought. You get old people, and you get bold people, but not both. They kept moving despite the men sweeping ahead. There was just an uneasy silence as they kept on down the road. Joel and Ellie hung at the side of the caravan, still closest to the wall. He changed his 9mm for the hunting rifle slung over his back. "Expecting long-distance trouble?"

He looked at Ellie, eyebrow raised. "Always."

When they reached the entrance, the giant metal gates were dented, and a set of giant ladders that almost reached the top of the wall were mounted against it. There were three other ladders, paint flaked and metal rusting, that had probably fallen after being placed. There was a chainsaw too, and a small portable generator to match. They had tried to chainsaw the locks on the entrances first, it seemed, and failed, resolving to just use ladders.

"This is a crappy entrance point for an assault," Joel said.

Tommy was looking at the scene and didn't turn around for a few moments. He swung his legs around and dismounted from the horse, rubbing the back of its head when he reached the floor. He wore brown khakis, and underneath his bulletproof vest Ellie could see a deep blue shirt slashed by two giant stripes of white. He must have been hot in there, and sweat beads dripped on his brow. The sun was still steadily beating down, the few white clouds that were present were fat and content and not going anywhere in the still wind. Ellie didn't know much about seasons, but it was hotter than was normal at this time of year.

He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and nodded, "Yeah. This was probably a diversion. I hope – I hope Maria saw through it."

"One of the ladders is still up," said one of the other men on horses. Ellie didn't recognise him, though his face was partially obscured by the shadow cast by his fedora. "May be there's still some of them in there. Waitin' for us."

Tommy shrugged. "More likely that Dex and Roger put it up because they don't got a key." He reached into his pocket and brought out a giant wheel of keys, from Ellie's distance it seemed a solid mass of writhing metal. They jingled lightly as he searched through them, old keys and new keys, small and large, silver and red. Ellie grew bored watching them and looked around.

From behind her she heard Joel rasp quietly, "Don't stray. Stay where I can see you." She nodded without turning back. Through a glassless window she peered, looking in. She overlooked a worktop, looking into an open-plan room from the kitchen. There were scissors on the worktop closest to her. She smiled and looked back, Joel wasn't looking in her direction directly, but she could tell he was still watching. She reached inside and grabbed the scissors, tucked them into the front of her trousers. I'll give them to Joel as a surprise, she thought, half-laughing. Sometimes he picked up the strangest things. But Ellie could see the use in scissors.

There was a thick metal clang sound and rung out low and deep. Ellie turned quickly, startled, and saw Tommy sliding a big key out of the last padlock, and the last segment of wrought metal chain fell to the floor. A few men had dismounted from their horses, helping Tommy loose the chains. Joel stood back, eyes half on Ellie, half sweeping the other side of the road, overlooking the shops. He was still holding his hunting rifle. It was lucky Joel was a good shot, as it had no scope. Not that they had ever needed one – if they were far enough away to snipe, they were far enough away to avoid.

Joel waved Ellie back and she jogged back over to him. "Keep ready," he said, checking the clip from his own.

"I always do," she said, and they moved in. The atmosphere among the small group of six changed quickly, the remaining two came down from their mounts and trained their rifles at the ready. The sound of ammo rounds being restored clicked about for a few moments, and they moved in, Joel and Ellie at the rear. The gates screeched as they slid them along the ground, but only wide enough to admit them one at a time. The man in the fedora held the gates as Ellie passed through, dipping his hat to her as she passed. Weirdo.

Ellie held her gun by her side, darting around as Joel swept the immediate surrounding area, hunting rifle trained ahead of him. He peered into buildings around him, the only sound the light footsteps of the group branching out. The sun light up the entire area, but it only served to make things seem darker. The shadows that were cast seemed darker, longer. The sun dragged itself across the sky and Ellie saw shadows creep with it. "Joel," she said. "I think there's –"

Gunshots boomed and exploded in the area, a fire fight erupting from the silence. Ellie felt her collar tugged and was on the ground, Joel standing over her. She crawled into cover behind him and readied her gun. The hunters fired from ahead of the street using old cars as cover, Joel and she stood at the side of a house. Joel peeped out from the side and fired his gun once. There was a scream in the distance, a woman, as the bullet burst through their clothing. Ellie doubted they were wearing armour.

There was a crack from behind her and she span, seeing a figure with an outstretched gun, and firing it once. He fell to the ground and she kept her eyes trained ahead. Joel turned and saw the body, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did good, baby girl," he said, smiling. She stared at the body for a few minutes, and then saw it move again. She raised her revolver again and marched over to it. The man reached for his shotgun and she put a bullet in his head. Around the corner of the house she heard more whispers. She peaked around it and saw them – they lifted a rifle and fired, though she snapped her head back quickly.

"Ellie, quick," she heard Joel say, waving at her. She rushed back and vaulted into the house through a window, and he followed her. They crouched down and watched as they saw their shapes move around the corner. Joel led her forward in the house and another shot rang out hard from behind them. One of them at the window, Joel and her fired at him. One of the bullets caught him in the shoulder and he fell, though another took his place. They ran up the old wooden stairs with shots raining on them. Upstairs, Joel looked – three doors.

"Lucky dip," Joel said, and headed for the door straight ahead. He rammed the door with shoulder and hip, hands working the old doorknob. It gave way, breaking at the lock. The room was dark, windows boarded up. "There ain't many of 'em," Joel said. "Take out the ones coming for us, and we can get out of here." Gunshots hung in the distance, shouts from voices Ellie didn't recognise. She stared, silent, for a moment. "Tommy will be alright," Joel said.

He took a chair and jammed it through the handle of the door, locking it, and then flipped a table to serve as cover. "Come over here Ellie," he said. She was looking at pictures that hung on the walls. A baby held by two parents, an older brother standing at their side. "Ellie," he said again. She snapped back and came over beside him, readying her gun and reloading. There was no entrance save the barred door in front of them. Outside she heard voices.

"They're in the last one," said a female voice.

"We'll take them out," a male whispered back, though not quietly enough, "and then make our way back around to the church, flank them out with fire."

The door came under repeated blows, shouts deep calling from the outside. Joel swapped out his hunting rifle for a shotgun and Ellie took the rifle. They trained their sights on the entry, steadying their hand on the edge of the table. Ellie felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at Joel, who was still looking at the door. She nodded once and then felt the hand lift.

The chair snapped as the door flew open, three men lined up, and together Ellie and Joel mowed them down. The first's head snapped back from the impact, and the second stumbled at his side. The last tried to get into cover, Joel's shotgun rendered useless at such long range, but Ellie put a bullet in her collarbone. Blood jutted out with her scream, and she died. On the floor, one continued to writhe.

Ellie listened carefully to hear if there were any still on the stairs, out of sight. No body, she thought. She looked at Joel and he nodded. She could almost make out a smile buried deep in his unkempt facial hair. If she couldn't see the grin on his mouth, she discerned it from the crinkle of his eyes. Joel moved first, over to where the man was moaning softly and trying to run. Shotgun shells buried deep in his chest, he would not survive no matter what Joel decided to do.

"Please," the man pleaded. "Please… please…"

Joel took out his 9mm and fired a single bullet into his head.

"That was cold," Ellie said.

"Him or us."

Ellie nodded, and they moved back out.

The air was still loud with the sound of gunshots but it didn't take long to clear up the remnants of the hunter force. Joel and Ellie moved around, flanking them and taking them out without their knowledge, until eventually they merged with Tommy.

"They're in the church like you said," Joel said to Tommy.

They were careful on the way to the church, though it was quiet and no more hunters appeared. "The force was dying," Joel said to Ellie as they trailed at the back of the moving caravan of people towards the church. "That's why they came for us. They couldn't afford to just run. They'd lost too much already."

Ellie nodded. "You say it like it's a familiar situation."

"Like I said, I've been on both sides."

Joel wasn't a 'good guy', Ellie knew. She doubted there were any real good people in the world, didn't know if there ever were. It was everyone for themselves; everyone alone except Ellie. She had Joel. That made him a good guy to her. People were forced to do terrible things on the outside, but she and Joel hadn't been reduced to anything totally abhorrent. They didn't kill in cold blood. She wondered again about St. Mary's Hospital and if anything happened that she should know. She looked at Joel, who was walking in a stupor, and considered asking him. No, she thought. Not now. She thought then of David and of his group; reduced to killing and cannibalism, she felt angry. He was dead now, she thought. Gone. I killed the shit.

The patrolmen named Dex and Roger were ordered to sweep the inside of the church, whilst the remainder including Ellie and Joel made their way to the back of the church, the entrance to the basement. "If there's others they'll be here," Joel told her quietly, dropping his voice low and speaking close to her head. "Keep focused."

"I always do, Joel," she sighed happily.

The back of the church was in a cemetery. Gravestones provided cover for hunters, so Tommy ordered that they separate and make sure there were no stragglers before they opened into the basement. "Last thing we need is an ambush," he whispered. They split up, carefully searching the bushes and the gravestones. They worked in groups of two. Ellie and Joel went together, searching the nearby undergrowth. She looked at the buildings around them too, squinting hard at their windows to make sure nobody was in cover. Ellie held her breath, feeling like she was being watched. At last, when the search was thorough enough, they felt safe enough to proceed.

"We made it, Ellie," Joel said beside her. He wasn't smiling, but there was a happiness in the air. They could help Tommy rebuild the town, forge a place in it. Joel would teach her to swim, to play games. He would one day sing to her. Tommy thudded on the metal shutter three times and then paused, and then three times again. There was a heavy pause, and then a bang from the other side. Tommy repeated the three-pause-three pattern and heard noises from the other side. There were six clangs as bolts were undone and then Tommy stood back, letting the door swing open. It wasn't Maria that answered, as Ellie expected.

"Fred," Tommy said and pulled him into an embrace. "I'm sorry we took so long." They patted each another's back. Ellie saw people inside crowd around the entrance, and the man with the fedora headed inside, clearly looking for someone.

"Tommy, we thought you were never going to get here. There are still some – not many – they –"

"We got 'em. We got those sons of bitches. You remember my brother, Joel?"

"Yeah, I remember him. Her too," he nodded at Ellie. She stared at him. There was an uneasiness in him, something he was keeping secret. Joel still had his hand on his rifle, she saw. He can feel it too. They had spent enough time in difficult situations for Ellie to be able to accurately gauge his stages of readiness. Stage three, she reckoned.

"Good. Where's Maria? I've gotta – what?"

Fred's expression shifted noticeably. His gait faltered and he looked down, an arm reaching up to scratch his shoulder. "Tommy, when they attacked they, she was in the middle of town – they…"

"No. No, no… where is she? WHERE IS SHE?!" He rushed past Fred, into the basement. It was light inside, Ellie could see from the outside. Joel made to follow and they both walked down the steps. Tommy was off inside, and Joel had to run in to keep up. Inside there were maybe six people left. Six of what had once been a hundred, a real settlement, now they were a group. Bodies were covered up with makeshift blankets. Clothing, sheets, curtains. Tommy was demanding to know when someone drew his gaze.

It was a man, older than even Joel. Tommy grabbed him by the collar. "Where the fuck is she?" Tommy's eyes was red and puffy, hair frayed and wet with sweat. The man did nothing, but his eyes betrayed him. Tommy threw him off and went down to a blanket. Out of it were brown boots that even Ellie recognised. Slowly, he pulled back the cover. Her face was ruined. A mess of blood, though Ellie could still make out the short blonde hair that usually slicked back over her head, to just before her spine. She had been shot. Ellie looked at Joel, who was staring blankly at his screaming, crying brother. His fingers rubbed his dysfunctional watch, and then he closed his eyes and lowered his head. Ellie didn't want to cry, she didn't, though she could feel it coming on. She tried hard not to. I won't cry. I didn't even know her. She thought about Riley.

Joel moved over to his brother and crouched down beside him, placing a hand on his back. Tommy flinched instantly, but didn't shrug it off. His head moved from side to side, up and down whilst he wailed. People tried hard to avert their eyes.

"I struggled for a long time with survivin'," Joel had said for felt like a long, long time ago. Ellie had known what he meant. Maybe Tommy did too. "No matter what – you keep finding something to fight for." He was right. Tommy had found something to fight for. For the settlement, for Maria. She was gone. She was a bloody red mess covered up by an old yellowing sheet. Tommy had lost what he was fighting for. It was all Ellie could do to not go over and hug Joel, for she was very much afraid of losing him too.

Afterword: Thanks for making it this far! It's a lot of fun to write these, though sometimes they take a while because they can get big. I hope you stick with me in this one. I'm trying to stay true to the themes of the book, expand upon them and say something of my own as well. These characters are ones to love to be around, and their story is one worth telling. Keep going! It's you guys that keep me doing this!