»The doctors tell me, the cordyceps, the growth inside her, has somehow mutated. It's why she's immune. Once they remove it, they'll be able to reverse engineer a vaccine« She paused for a second to stress the weight of this word »A vaccine«

»But it grows all over the brain«

»It does«

Joel knew what this meant. But if she thought he would just allow this, she couldn't be more wrong. Not after everything that had happened, not after he had found meaning in life again, something to fight for.

»Find someone else« He snarled through gritted teeth.

Marlene looked uncertain. She looked over to the Firefly soldier who was with her, who had as little of a clue as her.

»And why would we do that?« she asked.

Joel didn't slow down »Listen, you're gonna show me where she is, or I'll...«

»Relax, old man« the soldier interrupted »They're not gonna kill her«

Joel's gaze darted towards him. As confused as he was, he still wouldn't allow himself to let his guard down.

»Joel, we have the best equipment imaginable here« Marlene said, after she slowly started to realize what he was up to »People have performed brain surgery before the outbreak as well, you know. It won't harm her in any way. By tomorrow she'll up and well again«

Joel pushed a massive heap of air out. »Take me to her«

»But...«

»I don't care what you say. If you're gonna perform surgery on her, at least let me be with her. I... I can't leave her alone. And I have to make sure she's well«

Marlene hesitated. This wasn't the Joel she knew. It had already been close to a miracle to her that he had actually taken up this arduous journey across the country, but now she witnessed what an actual miracle was. She had no clue what had happened along their path, but it must have ignited something inside him, because now there was no way she could stop Joel from caring for her. If she tried to, he'd probably run amok in the hospital.

So she let him pass, and since then, there hadn't been a single moment without him on her side.


Yesterday had been the most memorable day in Marlene's life. Not only did they now have the cure in their hands, but she had also seen two things that she had never deemed possible.

Ellie had a father. Marlene had promised her mother she would look after her. But apparently, there was no more need for that. Never in her life, had she seen her this happy.

And secondly, that father was no one else, than the most cruel and emotionless brute that the Boston QZ had had to offer. All this time, a caring and loving parent had slumbered inside Joel, and whatever they'd had to endure during their journey, it had awakened him.

Ellie was sitting on one of the hospital beds, telling her god-awful jokes, while Joel sat on a chair next to her, pretending to find them funny. In all the horror that was the world they lived in, there was still some good left. She had offered them to stay at the Firefly-base, but Joel had declined. He said he knew a better place where they could live. Marlene could imagine which place he meant.

She chuckled. Tommy really was a good man.