Alright, here's the second chapter. I'm currently working on a few other stories at the moment, but when I can, I'll try focusing on this too. Not to mention that I have finals for my first semester in about a week, so while I work on these, I'll also be studying for the tests as well.

I find it funny how teachers say it isn't hard for them to do certain problems, but that's because they've been doing this longer than we've been alive. They also tell us not to worry so much about the test, then they tell us that if we fail, we fail the course and have to take it all over again.

I hope the next two years pass quickly so I can get out of school. Then I can just worry about college.

Edit 1/15/14: Finished tests. Now I wait for the grades.

Edit: 2/27/14: I passed! Yay! But I'm failing a new class. Fuck.

Anyway, enough of my personal problems. Enjoy!

For the first few moments, I felt myself beginning to regain consciousness, and I fought it greatly, not wanting to wake up. I just wanted to stay in my soft cozy bed under my soft cozy blanket, laying on my soft cozy pillow.

But as I became more and more conscious, I realized that my "soft cozy bed" was really the cold stone floor. My "soft cozy blanket" was really a ripped curtain. And my "soft cozy pillow" was really, upon opening my eyes, Ellie's stomach.

As quick as I could, I lifted my head from Ellie's body, and upon doing so, struck the back of my head on a shelf behind me. While the force didn't knock me out, it did make me yell slightly, but even then, Ellie didn't wake.

After attempting care to the back of my skull, I looked back to Ellie. She was still out cold, but it looked like she was simply sleeping, though it had been several hours since she was knocked out, judging by the slowly brightening sunlight through the corner hole of the closet, indicating that it was morning.

Usually, when the morning began, I would go downstairs and my parents would be making the occasional breakfast you'd usually see in old family sitcoms from the 1950's: Pancakes with bacon, eggs, and a glass of orange juice.

The only thing that was missing was a kid named Billy wearing a baseball hat.

Unfortunately, the only thing I got when waking up on this morning was a strike to the back of my skull, and the fact that I murdered two people. But being with Ellie made up for all of that.

Well, ALMOST all of it. Not only was I feeling sick about what's happened, I was still in shock knowing that I was somehow sent into a video game away from my home world. It made me wonder for a moment if I was really in a video game or an alternate universe.

Then I slapped myself mentally, knowing that a video game is pretty much an alternate universe.

After waking up, nothing really happened for what felt like an hour, which was really two hours. I didn't know what the exact time was, but it had to have been almost noon by now.

However, being curious and all, I decided to go through Ellie's backpack not too long after waking. I wasn't going to take anything from her, but I just wanted to look inside and see what she actually had. She always had a shiv with her, and what consisted inside were nothing but a few comic books and bottles of water. No food, unfortunately, both for her and me. Since I puked out my entire "dinner" last night, I now had no food in my digestive system, meaning I was already feeling like starving, but I tried to ignore it and continued looking through the backpack.

However, when I got to the bottom of the bag, I came across what looked like some sort of small journal-like book. Picking it up, I noticed that there was no cover or anything rather than the word "Journal," and I assumed that I came across Ellie's diary.

I was usually a bit of a peeping Tom in diaries. Back in the 7th grade, I read my (at the time) girlfriend's diary. She never caught me, but I realized that one page explained her having sex with another kid at school.

She never wondered why I broke up with her. And why she was expelled. But she did know why she had a baby, and that was when I said inside, "Not my problem."

Getting back to "reality," I began to open the journal to the first page. The first words read:

"My name is Ellie. This is my story..."

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After what felt like an hour reading, I closed the book, sitting down with a face that showed pure shock and sadness.

The first entry began on November 25th, 2033, only a few months after Joel had agreed to take Ellie to the Fireflies. The next few chapters skip every other week or so, the second entry being December 10th of the same year. A few entries later, it finally gets to around the time where Joel and Ellie arrive back to Tommy's camp.

That was when everything went downhill. The next entry was sometime in June of 2034. From what I read, the camp was attacked by the bandits that ran with David. Children, young ones, were killed in cold blood without a chance.

Ellie was apparently the only "child" to escape from the camp. However...unfortunately...Joel had been killed from a gunshot. Ellie couldn't believe it, and neither could I. Joel survived 20 whole years from everything nature and man could throw at him, and one gunshot does him in. Completely unbelievable.

Another fact that I found strange was the fact that explained that Ellie had recently turned 14 in an entry just before. But Naughty Dog had explained that Ellie had already been 14 throughout the game, and was 15 by the end. But Ellie describes that she was to lie about her age for certain activities in her childhood, because for some reason, she had to be a certain age to be educated in schools.

It was very strange. I didn't exactly get why you had to be at a certain age to learn, but I didn't bother to question it, mostly because it wasn't exactly important at the very moment.

Before I were to get caught, I carefully and quietly placed the diary back into the backpack. While I did feel ashamed to have invaded Ellie's privacy, it was a bit nice to see a bit of her life that the game didn't tell.

For the next hour or two, I did nothing but sit in one of the corners of the short closet, just waiting and hoping that Ellie would wake soon. It had to have been around one or two o'clock before I began to feel a rather annoying sensation in my loins.

No, it wasn't my testicles begging to release. It was, rather, my bladder begging to release.

I just now noticed that the last time I really took a piss was yesterday morning...in fact, I don't know how long time really is between now and...the morning of my final school day. Had it been a day? A week? A year? A thousand years?

While I hate to include it, some My Little Pony fanfictions that I had once read online several years ago had included 24 hours in the pony world to be a whole year on Earth. While I didn't care about that fact then, I only now began to think about that time difference in my situation. It made me wonder how different the time in my world was to the time in this world. Was I really experiencing time going by regularly here while time at home was going by several days a second? Several years a second? Decades? Centuries?

The thought was interesting, but nonetheless, worrying, knowing that everyone I knew and loved back home could now be either several years older or six feet under and skeletons by now, even if not more than a day had passed.

I would've thought about this more, but I once again realized the feeling in my loins.

I need to piss now.

Slowly, I got up, trying my best to hold it in. As quick as I could, I made my way out of the closet, looking around and observing my surroundings to make sure there were no Clickers or bandits around. Once I was sure that the coast was clear, I left the closet, quickly running off behind a corner. Walking by the corner, I could see that the area was littered with decaying debris and plants growing through the cracks; a window was busted, plants and vines growing through; the sun shone through also, bringing a bit of artistic beauty to the apocalypse.

The end of the world can be beautiful sometimes.

As soon as I was assured that I was alone in a room I had entered, I quickly unzipped my pants, letting out my manhood. Aiming towards the wall, I let loose.

Normally, this would be restricted (obviously) in my world, but it's the apocalypse, so I can piss wherever I want. Joy.

As I felt the bladderial (I know it's a fake word) liquid pour from my bladder, out my shaft, and onto the wall, I sighed in immense relief, feeling like I haven't urinated in forever.

In a way, it's been 20 years since I did. Ha.

But soon enough, well over a minute passed before my bladder was fully drained of piss. I really don't want to use sailor talk much, but the only words I can think of calling it are piss, urine, pee, and not-lemonade.

When you find a good enough word to call it, we'll "talk."

Once the remaining urine dripped out, I reinserted my shaft back into my pants before zipping it back up. Backing up a bit, I took the time to admire my work done to the wall. While pissing, I decided to have some fun and try to spell out "Fuck the police." Unfortunately, I only managed to get up to the letter K, leaving just the word "Fuck."

Still, I somewhat made my mark. Unfortunately, you wouldn't really be able to see the word anyway because of the urine dripping down. This is why I prefer the snow to do my work.

Finished with my "duty," I left the room and had begun to head back to the closet to check on how Ellie was doing, whether she was awake or still unconscious. I hoped that she would wake up soon so I can get a clear view of where the hell I am.

As I walked to the closet, not knowing how far I actually walked from it, my mind began to ponder back to my world. The real world.

Or is it the real world?

It's difficult to tell. Dreams can feel real sometimes, but I never recall actually sleeping and waking up in one without waking in reality. That just seems completely unheard of to me.

Then again, some people have said that it's happened.

For a few moments, I focused on how I might have gotten here, why I'm here, and what I'm going to do until I get back.

If I get back.

However, just as I passed the corner leading towards the closet, I felt a mass pain hit against the side of my head, which flew towards the left in a forceful manner, like something had struck me. Of course, something did strike me.

The butt of a rifle, in fact, struck me right across the right side of my face, which would soon leave a mark in the future.

The moment I struck the ground, I began to hold the side of my injured face in pain, having it be the first time in my life that I experienced this type of pain. But I tried to suck it up as best as I could. Once I regained myself, I started to get up.

But then I was met with the same rifle pointing directly at my face. At first, I assumed it was a bandit, wanting to rob me of everything I had. But when I saw who was holding the rifle, my eyes widened.

'Ellie?' I thought in my head, not wanting to say it out loud and cause suspicion from her.

Holding the gun was Ellie, looking wide awake, but a bit tired also. She was holding the rifle with both hands, pointing its barrel directly between my eyes. At the moment I observed the gun, my whole body froze. I couldn't move or act.

"It wouldn't be a wise choice to move," Ellie spoke for the first time in half a day. For a moment, I didn't know exactly what to say.

But then for some reason, my mouth moved on its own, saying its own words.

"It's never wise when there's a gun being pointed at your head."

This wasn't the first time I did something and felt like I couldn't control it.

Ellie stared at me. For a moment, I expected her to chuckle a bit at my remark, even smirk just a little pinch. But nothing showed on her messy face but a frowned mouth and angry eyes glaring into my very soul.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?" she asked, getting right to the point. Her arms adjusted the gun a bit, frightening me a bit, but nonetheless, I replied to her questions.

"U-Uhm..." I said at first, still fazed by the pointed gun.

"...A...A-Alex...My name is Alex," I managed to speak.

For a moment, Ellie slightly lowered her weapon.

"Good. That's one question."

She raised the weapon again.

"Now answer the second question. Why the fuck are you here?"

I tried to answer the second question for a couple of seconds, but the way the rifle was pointed made me afraid. When I did manage to answer, the words I could get out were,

"I...I don't know."

"Bullshit," she replied immediately.

"I'm being honest! I don't know why I'm here! I just-woke up here! Then I heard some noise down here and saw you having a brawl between a couple of bandits. Then they knocked you out and...well, I kinda...killed them with a revolver before they could kill me. Once I did kill them, I checked to see if you were okay."

"And...?"

"...Well...your skull didn't seem to be cracked, despite...well, a fucking bat slamming into it, so that's a good thing. Do you feel any pain at all? Headache? Migraine?"

At this point, Ellie's weapon was lowered, no longer pointing at me, and I quietly sighed in relief.

"Just a bit of a headache. Doesn't seem to hurt much."

"Well..." I said after a couple seconds passed. "If it's not much, that's a good sign. But...you might not want to move around much until it...calms down a bit, you know?"

"Right."

I was smiling a little bit, seeing how the situation had managed to be calmed quite fast. For a moment, Ellie stood, looking off somewhere, before slowly leaning to the wall, sliding down and beginning to lower until she sat onto the floor. She looked to me again.

"How long have I been out for?" she asked me. For a few seconds, I thought about for how long she was out.

"About half a day," I replied. "You were knocked out just before sundown. It's noon right now, so yeah, about half a day."

It went silent again for a few seconds. Ellie looked to another wall opposite where she sat. When she spoke again, she asked a question that I did not expect.

"How do I know you didn't do anything to me? Take advantage of me or anything like that?"

For a moment or two, I thought for a reasonable response to the question without making any suspicion. Ellie awaited my response, but she didn't look quite patient. It was silent between the two of us, despite the sound of birds chirping outside. The lapse of silence lasted for only five seconds before I gave a response.

"...Not everyone on Earth is a monster, you know."

Ellie had a face that showed that she was unconvinced, but also taking my words into consideration. Nonetheless, she simply turned back to the wall opposite from her.

The two of us sat there for about a minute or two, not speaking to each other or even looking to each other. I was afraid I made her feel suspicious of me in a way. Especially in this world, that's not really a good way to make friends.

But then she held her hand out towards me, wanting to shake it.

"Ellie," she spoke out. "My name's Ellie."

I looked to her face for a second, then to her hand, then back to her face. Smiling a bit, I held my other hand out to her, ready to shake back. I answered with my name.

"Alex."

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I know, the ending is somewhat cheesy, and the chapter probably isn't that great, but I didn't want to spend a shitload of time on this.

I hope you liked the chapter. Please excuse the vast amounts of cheese. This amount belongs on a pizza...with pepperoni and ham. Mmm...