Chapter 1

I do not own the last of us- I do not own the plot of the beginning scene. This story carries on from the end of the last of us. I don't own any of the characters. No copyright infringement intended. Badly written, rushed, unedited, but enjoy, since it is one of my favourite stories on the planet.

Ellie POV

I looked down at the large bite on my right wrist while Joel sorted out the car, opening the front bonnet and fumbling through it's contents. The large swelling of skin took over most of my flesh, my veins peeking out beneath them, a bluish colour which reminded me of sickness.

I remembered the day with Riley, the relief that we had escaped the infected, followed by the horror that we had not escaped unscatched.

Riley's calm words hung in my ears alongside the loud smashing of pots and scraps, anything that I had managed to find in that place in that time. If only I had convinced her to leave earlier on while we still had the chance… only where would I be now?

Without Joel, of course. Had I not been infected, Joel and Tess would never had been convinced by Marlene to smuggle me out from the city. Tess. Then I never would have met Sam, or Henry, for that fact.

I slid my finger across the bumps feeling the rough texture. One bite, so many memories. So much pain.

I was interrupted by a loud slam, the seat shuddering beneath me as Joel slammed the bonnet down.

'Well', Joel said, walking around to the side of the car where I sat, door open. 'Looks like we're walkin.''

He waited while I jumped down and slammed the car shut. The fact that the stupid car had broken down didn't bother me since the distance left to walk to Tommy's was a centimetre in comparison to what I had accomplished already.

'It should be a straight shot through here', Joel stated, walking ahead.

'Alright', I replied.

We approached a wired fence, Joel putting his boot down in between two wires, pulling them down and apart with his hands. The gap was just wide enough for me to squeeze through.

'It's kinda pretty, ain't it?'

'Yeah', I said, my voice disinterested. I had other things on my mind. Things like not being able to tell the truth from lies. The whole business with the fireflies didn't make any sense. It was all bullshit. If there were others like me then surely I would have stumbled into one by now. All these facts fit perfectly into place like a jigsaw puzzle, leaving Joel out of the picture. He and his words were the stray pieces that failed to fit in anywhere.

'Alright', he grunted, distracting me from my thoughts. 'Watch your head goin' through.'

I climbed through and took hold of the wires from the other end, holding it open wide so that Joel could get through from the other end. 'Here. Got it.'

He thanked me and together we ran down the grassy field sheltered by trees, Joel ahead of me by a couple of paces. He was right- It was pretty.

Joel grunted. 'I'm feelin' my age now.'

He continued to ramble on while we ran, maintaining a steady stride. 'I don't think I ever told you this, but Sarah and I used to take hikes like this.'

I hauled myself over a log blocking my path.

'I think the two of you would've been good friends. You really would have liked her. I know she would have liked you.'

'I bet I would've.' He climbed up onto a higher ledge as I followed on his heels.

Grass covered the bank as we sloped downwards, the sound of rushing water flooding my ears. We weren't far off now. Soon, I wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by the infected or having my throat ripped out by a clicker.

'Just a little bit further now.'

He pushed his way upwards, stepping on a log which gave him the stability he needed to jump up onto higher ground. Once he was at the top, the log edged downwards before collapsing horizontally to the ground.

'Oh shit', he grumbled, looking around before offering me his hand. I took it, getting as high up as I could before he pulled my feet off the ground. 'Here. I got you.'

He was up as soon as my knees hit the mud. 'Alright. Come on.'

I pushed upwards, weighing my thoughts. I knew that he could tell that I was being edgy, and even though he didn't complain, I could sense his curiosity. If I didn't say anything soon, he was going to ask and luckily for him, I was a terrible liar.

'Hey, wait', I called, rubbing my hands together nervously.

Sensing the uneasy tone of my voice, he stopped abruptly and turned, slowly walking back towards me, taking small, uneasy steps.

The pressure was killing me. How would I know if his words were the truth, or lies that flowed so easily from his lips. There were a few things from my past that I also needed to get off my chest.

'Urgh', I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air. I couldn't take it anymore. I paced nervously, turning my back on him, buying some time.

'Back in Boston.' I paused, facing him. 'Back when I was bitten.'

Joel looked at me, his eyes meeting mine with an expression that I couldn't quite understand.

'I wasn't alone. My best friend was there and she got bit too.' I shook my head. The memory still stung. 'We didn't know what to do. So she says 'let's just wait it out. You know, we can just be all poetic and lose our minds together.''

My voice was weak. Joel crossed his arms across his chest. He released breath that he didn't seem to realize he had been holding.

'I'm still waiting for my turn.'

'Ellie-' He protested.

'Her name was Riley and she was the first to die. Then it was Tess… and Sam.'

Going into his room that day, I had not found Sam. Instead, I had found a monster who wore a pale, worn down version of his body like he had clicked the self destruct button. None of us had even known that he had been bitten. After Sam went Henry- a bullet to his own head, instant and painless. It was forming a pattern. We all went down like dominoes.

'None of that is on you', Joel said, his voice rough.

I shook my head. Somehow, he didn't seem to grasp what I was saying.

A thought rose in the back of my head. What if Joel had lied? What if the cure depended on me? The last signs of hope would vanish if I didn't help them. What would happen then?

The answer was clear. I would be next. After Henry… would come Ellie.

'You don't understand.'

'I struggled for a long time with survivin' and no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for.' His voice broke every now and then and I knew that this reminded him of his daughter, Sarah. For him, she had been among the first to go.

Even so, I interrupted his words with a snort.

'Now I know that's not what you want to hear right now but-'

'Swear to me', I interrupted again, looking at him pleadingly. 'Swear to me that everything that you said about the Fireflies was true.'

Joel took a breath, and shifted his weight onto his other leg. Next he pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. 'I swear.'

Did I believe him?

I nodded. 'Okay.'

O

An hour later, the path began to grow familiar. Joel and I had come this way, intending to simply pass on through the supposedly unoccupied power plant. Since that had not been the case, we had been considered as extremely lucky to stumble into Tommy.

'How much further?' I asked.

'We've been here before. you should know.' He chuckled. 'But not long, anyway.'

I groaned. 'You said that last time, Joel. I'm hungry.'

'We'll eat when we get to Tommy's.'

'Are we staying there? I mean, for while or something?'

'Something like that. I haven't exactly written out a plan made of steel, Ellie. We can still change our minds at any time.'

'Yeah, right.'

I was secretly relieved. I still didn't exactly know what to expect but being caught up inside the plant for a long period of time would bother me, no doubt about it.

It wasn't long before we reached the point where we needed to cross over the river. The bars were up again, a raft floating on the surface of the water.

'Ellie, we're gonna-'

'I know, I know', I muttered. 'Stand on the fucking raft while you push it over and you will scare the shit out of me while I'm thinking that I will fall off and drown.'

He laughed. 'Dramatic.'

'Tell me about it.' I shrugged.

He slid into the water, shivering at the icy temperature before swimming over to grab the raft. The wood looked old and more worn than it had done before, a fact that made me doubt it's sturdiness even more than I already had been.

He slammed the wood carelessly into the side of the concrete station which I was standing on the edge of.

'Here. Climb on.'

I sighed and jumped off the station and onto the wood, flinching as it creaked below me. My hands automatically moved to steady myself and curled around the edges of the raft.

'Shouldn't you be saying 'all aboard' or something?' I suggested.

He clicked his tongue. 'Childs play.'

It couldn't have been easy, but somehow, he managed to wedge the raft between the rocks on the other side, allowing me to climb onto the station on the opposite side.

'You've gotta-'

'Already on it.'

I gripped the wheel controlling the bars as hard as I could, my knuckles white, before cranking it round. The bars moved slowly, but eventually settled to the surface of the water. I was panting from the effort.

Joel scaled the bars and moved swiftly across them and I gave him a shove halfheartedly as he reached the other side.

'You should be more careful. You nearly fell, and you scared me', I added.

He patted my shoulder. 'It's you we should be worrying about, not me.'

I paused, sidetracked. 'What do you mean?'

'Uh… being small and all… barely able to handle a gun', he joked.

He could fool almost anyone, but certainly not me. Not when I caught him off guard anyway. I had sensed the false note in his voice before he had even opened his mouth.

The rest of the journey was slow and slightly uneasy. Since the awkward silence hanging in the air prevented us from speaking, we made the most of our extra breath and quickened our pace, jogging ahead.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we approached the steel doors of the powerplant. Most of the tension had passed, so I allowed myself to offer up conversation as normal.

'How should we do this?' I asked, looking up at the doors, briefly recalling the time that we probably would have been shot if not for Tommy standing on guard duty at that hour.

We slowed to a halt. Joel paused. 'I'm not sure...'

He settled for banging his gun twice on the doors, standing back quickly. I followed in his step and raised my head reluctantly.

Several faces glared down at us, all guns trained on our faces.