Joel awoke with a soft grunt. He was in a foreign bed. The air smelt like disinfectant. Where the hell am I? He thought to himself as the memories slowly faded into his mind. Ellie. Drowning. Fireflies. Ellie. Ellie. Ellie. He sat up to see Marlene sitting next to his bed, dressed in a black tank top and khaki slacks. Her face was smeared with dirt. A confused look spread across his face as he tried to work out was going on. Where is Ellie? "Welcome to the fireflies." She said calmly. "Sorry bout the…" she pointed the security guard standing at the foot of his bed. Armed. Damn. "They didn't know who you were." Joel outstretched his arm, desperate to know if Ellie was safe.
"And Ellie?" he asked in a husky voice."She's alright. They brought her back." Marlene replied. Joel breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down for a second. "You came all this way." Marlene said, an air of fascination in her voice. "How'd you do it?' she asked.
"It was her." Joel replied, his mind drifting to all the times he'd saved her, especially when he'd been unable to protect her. He grunted again. "She fought like hell to get here." She had, and he was so proud. No-one could ever replace Sarah but Ellie came pretty close. He just wanted to see her, to make sure she was ok. "Maybe it was meant to be." He pondered, sitting up. Marlene stood up as Joel attempted to get off the bed.
"I lost most of my crew, crossing the country." Marlene announced. "I pretty much lost everything. And then you show up and we find you just in time to save her." She paused for a second. "Maybe it was meant to be." She agreed, with a slight nod of her head.
"Take me to her." Joel said, attempting to get up. He wanted to see her so bad, to tell her how proud he was of her, to take her back to Tommy's, to teach her to swim, to play the guitar, to watch her grow up.
"You don't have to worry about her anymore." Marlene said coldly. "We'll take care of-."
"I worry," Joel cut her off. "Just let me see her. Please." He asked. Marlene crossed her arms.
"You can't." She said firmly. "She's being prepped for surgery."
Surgery? What surgery? "What the hell you do mean, surgery?"
"The doctors tell me that the cordyceps, the growth inside her, has somehow mutated. It's why she's immune." Joel could feel the guard coming in closer to him, as though he posed a threat. Joel could feel himself getting angry, but most of all scared. What if something goes wrong?
"Once they remove it they'll be able to reverse engineer a vaccine."
A vaccine. Not a cure, but prevention. Joel thought. Its already too late for that.
"A vaccine." She repeated.
"But it grows all over the brain." Joel though out loud, putting two and two together. They can't do that to her.
"It does." She agreed.
No, No, No. "Find someone else."
"There is no-one else."
"Listen, you are gonna show me-" Joel begun, the guard grabbed him to try and restrain him and kneed him in the back. Joel fell to the ground.
"Stop." Marlene ordered. "I get it. Whatever it is you think you're going through right now is nothing to what I have been through."
The hell it ain't. Joel thought, still on the ground.
"I knew her since she was born. I promised her mother I would look after her."
Joel looked up. "Then why are you letting this happen?" He asked.
"Because this isn't about me." Marlene replied. "Or even her. There is no other choice here."
Joel tried to stand up, a sharp pain shot through him. He leant back on the nearby chair to support himself. "Yeah. You keep telling yourself that bullshit."
"March him outta here. He tries anything, shoot him." Marlene ordered gruffly. "Don't waste this gift Joel." She walked over to the door and exited, leaving Joel to the guard.
"Get up." The guard said.
How can I find her, How can I save her?
"I said get up." The guard pointed the gun straight at Joel. He obeyed, standing up with a wince. "Go on. Move." Joel begun to slowly walk out the room. "I said move." The guard pushed Joel. "Gimme an excuse."
"Which way?" Joel asked, the guard pointed to the right with his gun. Joel began to walk again. He passed his backpack and noted it's location. Suddenly he stopped walking. "What the fuck you doin'? Keep walking." The guard said, aiming his gun. "I said keep walking!" He attempted to shoot, Joel blocked him and twisted his arm, took the gun, bashed him in the nose and held the gun to the guards weak spot. "Where is the operating room?" Joel demanded. "I ain't got time for this." He pulled the trigger. "Where? Where?!" He shot the guard again. "Top floor. Far end." The guard wheezed. Joel nodded and blew the guards brains out. He heard a voice call out, "Gunshots! Search the floor." And he knew he needed to get a move on. "Oh shit." He sighed and began running.