CHAPTER 1

"Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you said about the fireflies is true." Ellie proclaimed

Joel just stood there, speechless for a second. He didn't expect her to say something like that. Nevertheless, he knew he couldn't tell her the truth in fear of how she might react, so he simply followed her demands.

"I swear."

She knew deep down that Joel was lying to her. But after all that time she spent with him, she started to trust him and realized that he was all that she had left. After a moment of processing Joel's response, she gently nodded her head and said, "Okay."

He quickly turned around and sighed in relief.

"Alright. Let's get moving then. We should try to get to Tommy's before any infected show up."

"Sure thing."

They continuously walked for what seemed like forever until they finally reached the outskirts of Jackson City, where Tommy and Maria were living. However, it wasn't what they expected.

"Jesus Christ..." said Joel.

"Holy shit Joel! What the hell happened here?"

"No idea. I reckon there may have been some raids after we left. But no matter, we have to find Tommy and Maria."

One by one, they began searching the houses throughout the city looking for some sign of life, but to no avail. But they were able to scrounge up a whole bunch of supplies, just in case they needed it, which they were happy about. When Joel came out of the ninth house, he saw Ellie with those big green eyes staring right in his direction with a sad look on her face.

" Man this place is a shit hole. So what do we do now?"

"We try to go find Tommy and Maria. Plus this place doesn't seem that safe to live in anymore..."

Ellie snickered. "Yeah, no shit."

Joel let out a small chuckle at that response. The kid was really starting to grow on him. He was starting to see her as his new daughter. His new spark of hope in his life. But he didn't really know if she felt the same way, and that's what worried him.

"C'mon kiddo. Let's get a move on."

"Right behind you."

As they were walking through the forest, they heard the sounds of groaning and clicking. They looked at each other and knew exactly what was approaching. Infected.

"Can't we ever catch a break?" Ellie said.

"Don't worry. I only see 2 clickers and a couple of runners. You stay here. I'll let you know when the coast is clear. Ha. It'll be just like old times."

Ellie let out a soft giggle at the remark. Slowly and quietly, Joel took out the runners with his handy bow and arrow which just left the clickers. He then snuck behind them and stabbed each clicker in the neck with a shiv. He stood up and looked around before telling Ellie to come to him.

Joel was looking in the opposite direction. Just as she was making her way towards him, a hunter snatched her up and started sprinting away. Ellie screamed at the top of her lungs.

"JOEL!"

The sound of her scream caught his attention and just as he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a man carrying Ellie over his shoulder. He immediately trailed behind them in pursuit.

"Fucking hunters! I'm coming Ellie. Let go of her you son of a bitch!"

As he kept sprinting, he noticed them start to disappear and realized that he was starting to lose a lot of his energy. When he looked back up, they were gone, and he had no idea what to do but keep running in hopes of finding her.

When the hunter realized that Joel was no longer following them, he quickly stopped and threw Ellie to the ground.

"Oh fuck!" she said in pain.

She could feel herself slowly drifting to sleep, but she knew that she couldn't let that happen with that fucking hunter in front of her.

He got on top of her and started talking. "Hey little girl. Do you want to have some fun?"

All the memories from winter came flashing back and she was scared to death.

"Get off of me you motherfucker! Let me go! I don't want to do anything with you."

She bit his arm to try to get him off her but it didn't work and it just made him more angry. She saw him pull out his shotgun and tried to get it away, but it was no use. He was just too strong.

He lined up the gun, pointing it straight at Ellie's forehead. "You messed with the wrong guy. You know that kid, huh?"

No matter how much this seemed like what happened with David, she couldn't let it get to her. She had to defend herself. But that was the problem. She didn't have anything to defend herself. She started to cry knowing what was about to happen. She was extremely upset because if she died, she would leave Joel behind and she knew that would break his heart. She knew that he loved her, and although she never admitted it to him, she loved him like a father too.

"You're times up little girl! Daddy's not going to save you."

And with that, it all went dark with a loud BANG.

Ellie was surprised to look up and realize that she was still alive. As she got up, she noticed the hunter's dead body on the ground and a teenager, who looked just a bit older than her, standing on top of him with a shotgun. He then turned to look at her and spoke.

"Hey! You okay?" the stranger asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for the help and all, but...who are you?"

"Oh sorry. My name is AJ. How about you?"

"Ellie."

"Well Ellie, I think we should get moving before any more of those hunters show up. My motorcycle's right there."

"Alright but..."

"Yeah?"

"My...uhhh...dad. He's still out there. He was looking for me." She couldn't believe what she just said. She just called Joel her dad. It felt weird to her, but at the same time, it felt nice because she finally found someone that she could stay with for the rest of her life.

"Oh. Okay no problem. Just come with me and hang on tight. Just let me know if you see him. We'll find him. Don't worry."

"Yeah...I hope so."

So they rode off, and after about half an hour, they stumbled across a figure that Ellie quickly recognized and pointed out to AJ. She hopped off the motorcycle and ran up to the figure. It was Joel. He was breathing, but she could tell that he was exhausted.

"Joel?" She said.

His eyes opened wide and when he saw those big green eyes and that red hair in front of him, he couldn't help but smile with joy.

"Hey baby girl! How'd you find me?"

She pointed to the boy on the motorcycle.

"Him. His name is AJ. He saved my life. He killed the hunter that took me."

Joel looked at the boy and gave him a smirk.

"Thanks kid. Hey, you know any place around here that we can stay for a while?"

Ellie and Joel both looked at AJ simultaneously expecting a positive answer.

"Well..you guys can stay with me I guess. I've been living by myself for a while and could use the company."

"Great!" Ellie said with a smile on her face. She didn't realize at first, but she actually liked AJ and thought he was kind of cute.

"Well let's get moving then. We don't want to stay out here too long." said Joel.

AJ and Ellie simply nodded. Ellie and Joel got onto the motorcycle. It was a tight fit but there was just enough room for the three of them to sit on it. And so, they headed towards AJ's house where they hoped to get some rest. At least, for a little while.