A/N: I was reading through this again and realized there was a transition that didn't make any sense. It was because I merged this chapter with another in the original draft. Sorry about that. This story will be from Ellie's POV unless otherwise stated.

Rated M mostly for language. I will give warning if it ends up being for more later on.

Lesbian relationships. Don't like, don't read. And I don't own any of the characters, they're owned by Naughty Dog.

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

2034 - SPRING

A light breeze rustles through the nearby terrain, shaking branches and making a whistling noise as it moves. I stare down at my right forearm, which is blistered and red from the infection that never fully took hold, while sitting in the driver's seat of the pickup. My mind tricks me into thinking I should feel pain as my fingers lightly rake over the mark, but I am confused when I only feel what seems to be another area of skin, just blemished.

There are dozens like me. There is no cure. How can that be?

The slam of the truck's hood shakes me out of my line of thought.

"Well." Joel says, before walking around the open driver's door to look at me. "Looks like we're walking."

I look up to see him wringing his hands together as if waiting for a response of some kind. Perhaps he is just cleaning them off. I hop off the driver's seat and shut the door, as he turns and starts walking toward a barbed wire fence.

"Should be a straight shot through here." Joel says, gesturing towards the area behind the fence.

"Alright." I say.

"Actually kinda pretty, ain't it?" Joel asks, putting a boot up onto a string of barbed wire.

"Yeah." I say.

I walk up and stop a couple feet from him.

"Alright." Joel says, before putting some force on the wire with his boot and grabbing another with his hands, pulling them apart so I can get through. "Now watch your head going through."

I crouch through the opening and work my way through. When I have made it through I assume his position on the other side and hold the wires in place.

"Here… got it." I say, grunting as he lets go on his side.

He groans as he crouches through the opening to the other side.

"Oh… Feeling my age now." He says.

I only hum in response as we continue our way up the trail.

"I don't think I ever told you but Sarah and I used to take hikes like this." Joel says, before hopping over a log.

I follow him over the log, deciding I'll remain silent and seeing if he'll continue.

"I think ah… I think the two of you would've been good friends." Joel says, hoisting himself onto a small cliff. "Think you really woulda liked her. I know she woulda liked you."

"Bet I would've." I say.

Joel's openness is unexpected to say the least. Is he being more open because… we've gone through hell with no resolution? I just don't understand. Can I trust what he said?

"Wow, look down there." Joel says, reaching a small river and waterfall that overlooks Jackson. "Just a little bit further now."

Jackson is bigger than I remember. It's only been about six months since we were last here, but it seems to have doubled in size. Perhaps I'm just remembering wrong. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in so short a time. Everything we went through. I never thought I'd be coming back here but I at least thought that I'd be helping to stop this fucked up world from continuing as it has.

Joel climbs onto a partially fallen tree, which fully collapses after him, to reach a cliff.

"Shit." He says, before turning around to offer me a hand. "Here. I got you."

I jump up and grab onto his outstretched hand and forearm, before he hoists me up.

"Alright. Come on." He says, turning to continue into Jackson.

I am about to follow but I just can't stop thinking and I need to talk to him before we get around a bunch of other people.

"Hey, wait." I say, fidgeting with my hands.

Talking isn't my forte, especially talking with Joel. I sigh a little frustrated with myself and my inability to find words with him.

"Back in Boston - back when I was bitten…" I say. "I wasn't alone. My best friend was there. And she got bit too."

Joel stands there, stoic as always.

"We didn't know what to do. So… She says, 'Let's just wait it out. Y'know. We can be all poetic and just lose our minds together.'" I say. "I'm still waiting for my turn."

"Ellie" Joel says.

"Her name was Riley and she was the first to die." I say, continuing before he can object too much. "And then it was Tess. And then Sam."

"None of that is on you." Joel says.

"No. You don't understand." I say, frustrated that I didn't seem to be making my point clearly.

"I struggled for a long time with survivin'. And you—" Joel says, before stopping for a second. "No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for."

I turn away from him. I'm tired of fighting. I don't have something to fight for anymore. My mission is what I fought for and he has told me that my mission is over. Abandoned and not complete. I thought I was a cure to help stop all of this. I don't want to just find another person. And another. And another. Until everyone is dead but me. How can someone live that way? What's the goddamn point?

"Now, I know that's not what you want to hear right now, but it's—" Joel continues.

"Swear to me." I interrupt him. "Swear to me that everything that you said about the Fireflies is true."

Something in me just knew he was lying before in the truck. Why would Marlene have been trying so hard to get her there? If there were so many immune, how had they not met anyone?

"I swear." Joel says, remaining steadfast.

Maybe Joel brought up Sarah to me because he's realized that I am the closest person to the daughter that he lost. I wonder if the Fireflies would've had to kill me for the cure and he couldn't let me go. I don't remember my parents but I imagine that it must be hard to lose a child; probably a lot like losing a best friend. 'Keep finding something to fight for'… maybe I am his something to fight for.

Maybe he can be mine.

"Okay." I say.

Joel and I walk down into Jackson in silence.

"Hey, Tommy." Joel says, seeing Tommy walking in the courtyard through the gate.

Tommy pauses and turns toward the gate.

"Joel. You made it back. Everything go ok?" Tommy asks, signaling to the front office to open the gate, I guess.

"Yes." Joel says, looking down at me. "And no. We found the Fireflies but they've stopped looking for a cure."

"Hmm." Tommy says, simply. "Hey, Ellie. Why don't you go wait in the temporary holding building over there while Joel and I talk some things over."

"Aww, come on." I say.

"Ellie." Joel says, warning.

Is he serious right now? I glare at him before stomping over to the small building. I can feel their eyes on me so I throw the door open harder than normal and slam it behind me. I walk over to the back corner of the room and toss my backpack onto the floor.

This is bullshit. I can listen to anything that they could possibly say. I've almost been killed a dozen times over in the past six months. What could they possibly have to talk about that is too delicate for me to hear?

I sit on the cot and lay on my side, not tired but not wanting to pace back and forth down the main walkway.

An uncertain amount of time passes before I hear the door open and decide to ignore it. If it's Joel, he can explain why he sent me in here and if not they'll probably be uninterested in me.

I feel a grasp on my shoulder. Who's touching me? The touch feels nothing like Joel's. I grab the wrist and throw them over my shoulder.

They slam into the aluminum wall before sliding down and hitting the floor, groaning. I jump onto her stomach and grab her throat, pinning her down. She grabs each of my forearms, to relieve a little of the pressure I'm exerting on her throat. I look down closer at her, blinking slowly before releasing my grip on her throat. She coughs a couple of times, leaning onto her elbows.

"Dude, what the fuck? Are you ok?" She asks.

Her eyes are filled with slight confusion as I register what she said.

"Am—" I start. "Am I ok? What do you mean? Are YOU ok? I nearly choked you to death."

She chuckles beneath me.

"What's funny?" I ask.

"Sorry. It's just that after everything I've been through, I can't imagine going out like that." She explains.

"Oh really. Self-proclaimed badass, huh?" I say, crossing her arms.

"Something like that." She says.

I wonder what this girl is talking about. I know I'm kind of strange and intimidating but it'd be nice to have a friend. Joel is great but talking to him is… difficult. She looks up at me quizzically. It's at this time that my cheeks flush, realizing I'm still straddling her. She only smirks in response.

"So what are you doing in here anyways?" I ask, using the cot to push off and stand before offering her a hand.

She briefly debates grabbing my hand before she accepts it and I pull her up.

"I've been assigned to become your best friend." She deadpans.

"Oh, really?" I ask, amused.

"I'm here to give you a tour of the compound. I'm one of two girls our age and your comfort was stressed as a concern by Tommy." She says.

"What if I want to be friends with the other girl?" I ask, leaning down to grab my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder.

"You can try. You seem real nice." She says, nonchalantly, massaging her throat gently for good measure.

"Can I know the name of my new best friend?" I ask with amused acceptance, walking to the door.

"Dina." She says. "You're Ellie, right?"

I nod a couple times.

"Alright, let's get going." She says.

I hold the door open for her before exiting myself.

"How chivalrous." Dina says.

I only nod as we walk to the inner gate.

"Well, you just came from the temporary holding building, so I'm sure you know that better than me." She starts, and I smirk at her candor. "Behind that is the garage, where the gas is stored and where they keep the cars tuned up and junk. They also store extra house supplies there for repairs. Let's see over to the left of the front gate is where we keep the vehicles."

She points over to the stables. "Back there is the stable for the horses. Part of the stables is used for storage for food for the horses, chickens and cows."

She points to the main building. "That's the office, which I'm sure you saw a lot of. That's where the switch for the front and inner gates is. They also did some wiring that connects the dam up here for electricity." I nod and keep my eyes moving from what she's talking about and her. "Behind the office is the armory. We're all allowed to keep some weapons in our homes but you might be on probation for a little while until we get to know you."

We reach the inner gate and she waves to someone in the office. He nods before the buzz sounds, signaling the gate opening. Dina and I walk through and the gate quickly closes behind us.

"Alright well here to the left is the mess hall where you can get 2 meals a day. Not the best food but it's apparently pretty nutritious, or that's what they tell us anyway. If you go through the kitchen there's this massive pantry thing, where we store food that we find on runs. That'll probably be what you and Joel do." She says.

"Runs?" I ask.

"Yeah. You seem like you know how to handle yourself." She says.

"Oh." I say, my cheeks burning.

"So who's the guy?" Dina asks.

"He's my…" I start. "Joel."

She hums in acknowledgement.

"Hi there." A deep voice says to the side of Dina. "How are you doing beautiful? Who's your friend?"

"Hey babe. This is Ellie." Dina says, smiling. "Ellie. This is Jesse. He does shifts in the watchtowers and goes out to scavenge, too. So what are you up to today?"

I nod, uninterested as they continue to talk.

I pay attention as little as possible, not wanting to intrude on a conversation that has nothing to do with me. I wonder if Joel will want to stay here or if he'll want to leave in a —

I feel a touch on my shoulder and turn my head toward it before looking at Dina.

"You really just zoned out on me, huh? We were only talking for like thirty seconds." She asks, chuckling.

"Yeah." I say, shrugging. "Didn't want to intrude."

"What do you mean? He came up to us." She says.

I hum noncommittally. "So where were we? The chickens I think."

"They're next to the pantry/mess hall, and behind them is where we keep the cows. We've only got a couple now but we're hoping for more." Dina goes back to guiding me around and eyeing me curiously. "Here in front of us is the community hall. They'll play these old movies, hold dances, and a couple other things, usually once a week or so. There is the monthly dance on Friday. You should come." She says.

"Sorry I don't know if it'll really be my thing." I say.

"You're not really living up to this badass persona that I first thought." Dina says, smiling.

"I'm not?" I ask.

"Nope. To me, you seem…" Dina paused, putting a finger to her lips in contemplation. "Genuine."

Genuine? Really? I eye her confused at her word choice and she only shrugs. This girl is interesting.

"So…" She continues. "Connected to the community center is the clinic. It's small. Has two rooms and a small waiting area and then a storage closet that only the doctor and Tommy have access to. There's one doctor and she doesn't work on Sundays I believe, except for emergencies but other than that you'll find her there most of the time. The garden is behind the community center and clinic. It's a decent size. I work there most days." She says, to which I nod. "Other than that, the only other thing to know is that the houses are divided into 3 blocks. A, B & C. North side is A. East side is B. And South side is C. You and Joel are number 37 which is in block A."

We walk in relative silence after she finishes, walking me toward my home. I don't really know what to make of Dina. She's definitely the most interesting person I've met in a while. I wonder if we'll stay long or if we'll be on the move again soon. I think Joel wants to stay so I like the idea of getting to know this girl.

"How long have you guys been out there?" Dina asks.

"About a year. I hope they don't put me in the kitchen. I'm useless with cooking." I say.

"I like a self aware woman." She says, smirking.

"Me too." I say, without really thinking.

We come to a stop in front of one of the homes.

"Here we are." She says.

"Oh yeah? This is me?" I ask.

"Yep, you and Joel, for as long as you want it." She says.

I give her a look before she smiles.

"Alright well don't choke anybody to death. They probably won't be able to stop you like I was." She says. "You know, you are kind of intimidating."

I sigh, wondering if I've already scared this girl away. I walk up towards the front door.

"Hey." She calls.

I turn back to look at her.

"I think it's hot." She says, smirking before turning around and walking away.

A/N: Wanted to start off light. This is the final scene of the first Last of Us more from Ellie's perspective and it moves on to the first time she meets Dina. There is a lot of speculation of whether Ellie knew Joel was lying to her at the end. I always had a feeling that she knew. Review if you desire.

Have a lovely day. I leave you with a quote.

"When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." - Avatar Aang (LOK)