He had lost his horse upon entering Billings – the hunters stole it and were now doing whatever they wanted with it. Joel imagined that was either eating it – if they were desperate – or using it to kill even more innocent people. Whatever the case, he had to make his way on foot to Idaho Falls. It was a long trip, it would take him several weeks, but he'd get there.

As he left Billings behind he tried to force himself to leave everything else behind with it. But he didn't get very far before he walked by a movie poster and thought of Ellie. She always liked looking at these things, relics of a life she never knew - and probably never would.

He sighed and then carried on. "She's gone, Joel. It's for the best." He told himself.

Talking to himself was a habit he developed recently. It helped fill the silence.

He was about ten miles out of Billings and things were starting to become sparse. He knew he would have to stock up on supplies and then rely on the wilderness in order to make it to Idaho Falls. He had done it plenty of times before, so he wasn't worried. "Besides, now you only have to feed yourself." He said, trying to convince himself that it was a good thing.

As he left the final outlying city next to Billings he pulled out his map to make sure he was heading in the right direction. "If I follow the interstate I should hit Bozeman in a few days…" He grumbled as he pointed to the city on the map. He then looked for some decent sized cities along the way and quickly plotted a course so he could sleep indoors every night and hopefully scavenge for food along the way.

The first few days of his trek went by uneventfully. On the fourth day, only thirty miles out from Bozeman, he ran out of food and had to go hunting. He managed to shoot a large rabbit and ate well that night. On the sixth day he made it into the city and started looking for a place to bunker down so he could rest from the long walk.

Bozeman was a lot like Billings. There wasn't a QZ here, but it was another abandoned city, with cars and litter everywhere. There was the smell of death and disease that was almost everywhere throughout the states now. It looked empty, but he knew better and was on edge as he walked down the exit ramp and made his way into the city.

He wound his way through the cars and barricades and walked down the streets, making sure to stick to the sides so he wasn't in the view of anyone watching. He listened to the ambient noises of the town and looked up and down streets, trying to find a good spot to hide out as he rested. He didn't want to get into the residential area too much, because more infected tended to be in those areas. Of course, more hunters remained on the commercial streets. But he'd take his chances with the humans.

He found a few cans of food along the way and some other supplies he could put to use, but nothing of great import. Joel turned down towards a mall and several restaurants when he heard screaming. He tensed, immediately grabbed his gun and ducked into a building.

The yelling and screaming grew louder and soon he heard pounding footsteps. There were too many to hear how many people there were. A few second later he saw three young people run into the street and into a restaurant across from him. Joel looked it over and knew it wasn't a good place to hold up, there were too many entrances and just looking in he could see that there wasn't much cover.

"You idiots. You'll be sitting ducks in there." Joel commented and then watched as a dozen hunters ran into the streets. "Ah hell…" He cursed and ducked down even further so they wouldn't notice him.

"Surround them! They went in there!" One of the hunter called out to the others and Joel braced himself, waiting for the slaughter.

He could hear the three crying, giving away their position.

"Joel, what are you doing?! Help them!" Joel scowled and shook his head swiftly, hoping to get Ellie's voice out of his head. "They're going to die. You can help them."

"Quiet, Ellie!" He said in a harsh whisper and jerked his head again.

"No! Help them!"

"There are too many hunters." He insisted firmly. He ignored the fact that he was arguing with himself. Maybe he was finally losing his mind, but he didn't care.

"You've fought more." The voice insisted and Joel cringed and began hating himself a little.

"Damn." He cursed and then pulled out his rifle and pointed it over the edge of the window. With three shots in succession he offed three of the hunters. They immediately turned around and looked at him. He spun and darted deeper into the restaurant as he began reloading his rifle. He came to a stop in the kitchen and hid in an overturned refrigerator. Again he peeked his rifle over and fired three more times, but he missed on the third.

"Light him up!" A hunter called and Joel heard the tell-tale flare of fire and immediately rolled out of the way. He didn't move quite fast enough and the shattered glass hit his arm and his side burned lightly at the burst of flame.

'Seven more.' Joel thought to himself as ducked and walked out the other exit of the kitchen to get a new angle on the hunters. This allowed him to look back outside and he saw there were still two over around the others he was trying to save. He would hurl his own Molotov over there, but it would probably end up hurting the innocents, rather than helping them.

Spotting an upturned table in the dining room he hid behind it, so it blocked him from the kitchen, and then used his last three bullets to take out the two hunters bothering the trio. "You're welcome." He grumbled as he heard the five hunters behind him start coming at him. He ran to the window and hurdled over it to get some distance between him and them.

As he ran he reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the molotovs he'd prepared and lit it up. He threw it behind him and was glad to hear it hit one of the hunters. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw that the splash had hit two more as well. Then, with a couple more shots of his revolver, the rest were taken care of.

The street fell into silence and Joel just sighed a bit. "Ya happy?" He asked, but for once, his imaginary Ellie was silent.

"Oh my god! You killed them all." A young man exclaimed as he and the other two emerged from the restaurant, clinging to each other. Joel slowly turned back to face them and shrugged.

"Yeah." He grumbled and then started looting the bodies. He had expected the three to move right along, but instead they hovered near him and followed him from body to body. "Can I help you?" He asked, making his annoyance clear.

"Thank you for saving us." A young woman spoke. She seemed to be the youngest of the three, probably in her mid-twenties.

"Yeah. Now, carry on. Don't let me bother you." Joel said, unsure of how he could make himself much clearer. He reloaded his guns so they'd be ready if he needed them and as he did the trio continued staring at him.

"Well is there anything we can do to thank you?" The man asked again, holding the hand of the woman who hadn't spoken yet. That was already more information than Joel needed, so he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Yeah, you can carry on." He said, waving them on down the street, towards the mall.

"Well…What if there are more of those men?" The man asked and Joel sighed heavily and rubbed at his chin in frustration.

"Look, I don't do…whatever it is you want me to do. Ok? I work better by myself." He told them and then stood and began swiftly walking away. However, they still followed. 'God damn it…' He thought to himself as he came to another stop.

"We can pay you." The second girl finally spoke. "We're on our way to the QZ in Billings. We -."

"Don't bother. It ain't there." Joel said and put his hands on his hips, trying to think of something to say to make them leave him alone.

His words seemed to shock them and he couldn't imagine why. There were abandoned QZs all across the country. They weren't nearly as secure as they claimed they were. Especially with smugglers like him sneaking in and out. The fact that they were surprised made him think.

"Just where are you three from?" He asked, motioning to them weakly with one hand.

"We came from the QZ in Regina. But it was overrun by infected. They told us to come south to Billings." The man said and then shook his head. "Oh, we haven't even introduced ourselves. How rude. I'm Reed. This is my fiancé, Christine, and her sister Carly." He said, motioning to each of them respectively.

"Good fer you. Now…excuse me." Joel turned once again as he thought about their situation. They probably grew up in the QZ. While life was hard in them, they were definitely soft compared to the wilderness, especially if they didn't do anything reckless inside. These people would be completely unprepared for life outside.

"Well, can you teach us how to defend ourselves at least?" Reed asked hopefully. "There were at least ten guys out there and you just…took care of all of them. Like that!" He snapped to emphasize his point.

"You really think you could kill someone?" Joel asked intensely, letting the man look into his eyes and see the coldness, the harsh survivor within him. It took a little fire out from the man and Joel just nodded. "Didn't think so."

"Well, we can still pay you." Christine reminded and Joel shook his head.

"You ain't got anything I need." He said and dismissed them as he continued walking away.

"Well, what about company?" She asked as she quickly closed the gap between them. "How about this, you keep us safe, and we'll make sure there's food. That's fair right? You won't have to worry about finding food."

"I don't like company." Joel muttered and then looked down a street as he passed it. He saw nothing of interest so continued on.

"Oh come on, no one likes being alone all the time." Carly said and Joel slowed and turned back to look at them. Seeming to realize they crossed a line the trio came to a stop and took a step back.

Joel started walking again and this time they didn't follow. "See, Ellie? This is what happens when you help people." He grumbled as he started looking for a place to crash for the rest of the day.

He found a spot in a large apartment building. Midway through the night, however, he was wakened by poor whispers and heavy footsteps. "Oh god…" He rolled his eyes as he heard the trio outside the door to the apartment he'd picked. "Get in here before something finds you!" Joel shouted to them and quickly the door creaked open and shut as they shuffled in.

"Thank you." Reed said and Joel just shook his head and tried to go back to sleep. However, they were shifting so loudly that it made it too hard. So, he sat back up and leaned against the wall and watched the trio make elaborate beds. 'Totally impractical.' He thought disapprovingly.

"You know, if the hunters come back and we have to make a hasty retreat, you'll have to leave those behind." He informed as he reached for his backpack and readjusted it to use as a pillow. He laid back down and rested his hands on his chest.

"What are we supposed to do?" Reed asked and immediately Joel's eyes snapped open.

'What are you doing?'

'Killing time.'

'Well, what am I supposed to do?'

'I am sure you will figure that out.'

"Just…leave me alone."

The next morning Joel woke to the smell of cooked beans, which probably came out of his own pack. So much for providing their own food. "You know, I don't have enough to feed four mouths. Get your own food." He ordered as he rose.

"Oh don't worry, we found this in another apartment all on our own. But you're welcome to have some." Carly said smiling brightly to him.

Joel just sighed and started to acknowledge the fact that he wasn't getting rid of these people. "Look, if I told ya I knew a place where you could go and stay, would you get off my back?" He asked carefully.

"You mean another Quarantine Zone?" Carly asked hopefully.

"Somethin' like that." He leaned forward, grabbed the can of beans, and started eating.

"That would be amazing. We have no idea where to go, with Billings being out of the picture." Christina said with relief evident in her voice.

"Fine. But if you come with me, there are rules. You do what I say, when I say it. You don't ask questions – you don't hesitate. I say duck, you duck. I say run, you run like hell. Got it?" He asked, looking at each of his new wards intently. They each nodded solemnly. "Also, cut it out with the chit chat." He scowled a bit and wrinkled his brow to show his displeasure. "I don't need to know 'bout you, you don't need t'know about me."

"Surely we can know your name." Carly spot hesitantly, looking afraid that she was going to get her head bitten off.

Joel hesitated, but then decided that it would probably be necessary if he had to take them all the way back to Jackson. "Joel." He informed, and then continued on before they could say anything. "It's quite a ways to this place. We should get a move on. I move fast. Keep up." He ordered. He collected his things, and they were off.

With a bit of hope, Joel wondered if Tommy and Ellie were back yet.

So what do you think of chapter two? Sorry it took me so long to get it out, I had finals to deal with. Anyways, thank you, those of you who took the time to leave a review! I appreciate the feedback, especially because this is my first attempt in this genre. So, let m know what you thought. Thanks!