They were all dead. Joel froze for a time, taking in the sight. The Fireflies' corpses were scattered around the floor in messy pools of blood. Shot down by the military, most likely. As Tess and Ellie entered to find the massacre, he stood motionless, conflicted, unsure of what to do with himself. His eyes, bloodshot from increasing lack of sleep over the years, were slightly widened under his brow that furrowed in response to the awful, sickening feeling that grew inside of him, like he had been shot right in the middle of the stomach. His ears blocked out the voices of the others, he felt light headed, and couldn't move.

Tess cursed loudly at the sight, putting her head in her hands to think for a few seconds before looking over solemnly and regretfully at Ellie. The fourteen year old's face clearly showed distress, fear and worry, and she seemed to be frantically suggesting ways for them to fix the problem and get to the Firefly lab in her mind, though none had any chance of succeeding.

"What happens now?" She asked desperately. The two adults were her only means of transportation, so she ended up relying on them for a solution. This needed to be done. Tess inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Ellie, I'm not sure... son of a bitch." She sighed, then crouched down beside the nearest body. "Let's at least just search their bodies, wherever that lab of theirs is, they must have had a map, right?" She attempted to use a calm voice to reassure the panicking Ellie, but such a thing was almost impossible in this situation.

"I-I don't know, maybe." She replied. "But... but are you guys sure you're even up to it? Marlene told me it's pretty far out west. Like, really far west. She said it would take them at least a month to get me there." Guilty jade green eyes glanced between her two escorts, reminding herself that even if they were getting paid for the job, they might not be too keen on a trip across the country. Tess hesitated before looking the girl in the eyes sincerely, nodding slightly.

"I have to do this." Her tone was serious, but reassuring. "If their's any possibility that you're the cure, I have to." She paused, then looked to her partner for his opinion, fully prepared for him to say no. "Joel?" He was still stood there in the open doorway, staring blankly at the corpses with the handle in his tight grasp. He didn't respond. "Joel...?" She called again, eyes narrowing as she stood up. Something was very obviously wrong with him. She knew for a fact that Joel never got this tired after a fight with infected, at least not for this long. His behaviour and body language had been so much more distant to her than she was used to since they'd left the museum. "What the hell are you doing?" After a few more seconds of silence, he looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm not going." His voice was low and somewhat weak; unnaturally unlike him. Tess didn't use the convincing and factual argument she had put together in her head at whim, but stepped closer to him skeptically, scanning his face closely for any indications of illness or something else.

"Joel. What?" She huffed. The woman's patience was wearing thin. He closed his eyes momentarily whilst shutting the door behind them.

"I told you, I'm not going with you. I'm not going anywhere." His voice clearer this time, he made eye contact with her, hoping to send the soul ripping message without having to say it. "This is my last stop."

"The fuck are you-"

"Holy shit." Ellie's voice interrupted as she came to a realisation. That one, brief but significant cry of pain in the museum, the one that stood out among the grunts he had made while being attacked by the runners. The way he acted like that calm moment they both shared before reaching the Capital building was the last he would ever have with someone. How closed off he was to Tess compared to the familiar, trusting while sometimes gruff conversations she heard before. "He's infected." She heard the sharp intake of breath from Tess, and watched her expression shift from impatience to disbelief. Her head shook slowly as Joel's had. The latter just kept staring back at her, having come to terms with his death. But she hadn't.

"Joel." Tess repeated. "Let me see it."

"Tess-"

"Show me the fucking bite!" Her voice rose suddenly in exhausted, desperate anger. She took a moment, then returned the stare into his eyes, tears threatening to fall from her own, and her voice relaxed. "I won't be able to leave you if you don't." With some reluctance, Joel did as he was told, pulling the collar of his shirt away to reveal a repulsive, bloody and inflamed bite just under his throat. "Oh Christ." Tess choked. Saying it was worse than she'd assumed would be an incredible understatement. Looking at what had happened, knowing it was real, was very nearly unbearable.

"Tess, when I... When I was bitten, I thought maybe taking that girl to the Fireflies to make a cure wasn't such a bad idea, and that maybe if I-" Joel stopped, feeling a lump in his throat. "That maybe, just... They could do something to save me. It was a desperate, stupid idea. I wasn't thinking." He glanced at Ellie. "You don't need to do this. Just go home."

"You want me to accept that you're infected, leave you to shoot yourself and not even fucking try to take this chance at a cure?! A chance to redeem myself, Joel?" Tess almost screamed at him. "Don't ask me that."

"I won't let you risk your life over this, it isn't worth it."

"Isn't worth it? We're shitty people, Joel, it's been that way for a long time. And you know I've wanted that to change for a long time."

"We have done nothing wrong, we've just survived!"

"You might see it that way, but you are not taking this away from me. What can you do about it now, anyway?" The last part of her sentence left a cold, depressing silence between them that lasted for what felt like hours. The silence was broken by the sound of vehicles stopping outside the building and the shouting of military soldiers. They'd tracked them down.

"Shit. They're here." Joel was quick to brandish his pistol and check out the windows. He turned back to Tess and Ellie. "You have to go. Now."

"Wha- so we're really just leaving you here?!" Ellie protested, looking to Tess expectantly.

"Yes, you are." He replied. "I'll only be able to hold them off for so long, so you both need to run right now if you want to make it to the Fireflies. Tess, take her to Tommy's in Jackson county, you'll figure out how to get there." Tess paused, for a second considering staying to fight them with him and say goodbye, and he could tell from the look on her face. "Just go!" He yelled, making Tess flinch. "Just fucking go."

"...Ellie." She took a few steps back before moving to walk away. "We're leaving."

"But-" The younger girl stopped herself, understanding that if they didn't leave now, they would all be dead. "Yeah." She sighed, and followed Tess through the double doors behind them. Joel watched them leave with tears in his eyes. Turning around to face the entrance the soldiers were soon to bust their way through, and readying himself to shoot and kill as many as possible, he tried to make himself believe that when they were done with him, he would be at peace with his baby girl. He honestly, truly and pathetically wanted to believe it. But he couldn't.