Welcome to Jackson

A soft groan escaped from Lucky's soar and slightly dry throat as he began to stir. He didn't know how long he'd been out or when he had even went to sleep to begin with. All Lucky knew was that he was lying in a real bed, which was interesting since it was something he hadn't done in weeks. And on top of that the smell in the air had changed drastically. No longer was he greeted with the smell of dirt, fungus, and timber. No this smell was different. This was a smell that he used to be more familiar with. It was the smell of rust, mold, and fresh garbage, in other words it was the smell of civilization. Lucky was able to notice all these things despite the fact that all of his senses were slightly dulled, likely due to some type of pain killer or tranquilizer in his system. And his hearing was still sharp enough to make out the sounds of shuffling at his bedside. Realizing he wasn't alone Lucky attempted to crack open his eyes to see who or what it was watching over him. When he opened his eyes his vision was blurry but he could just make out the outline of a person sitting in front of him, so Lucky quickly tried to blink away the grime and focused on the figure. When his vision finally cleared what he saw was a young red haired girl looking down at him intently. Seeing the girl must have kick started his memory because he instantly recognized her as the same girl that he had seen earlier in the forest. Which meant two things, one, she wasn't just a figment of his imagination. And two, based on the pain currently shooting through his body Lucky could surmise that she was no angel either.

After a moment of intense examination the girl noticed Lucky's stair and their eyes met. When they did the girls eyes widened and her mouth soon did the same forming a large smile. Something about her smile was oddly really comforting to Lucky. A moment later and she broke eye contact and spun around to face a much larger and based on the lines of gray hair mixed in with the rest of his hair he was a far older man sitting in a small folding chair a few feet away from them next to a doorway. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head lowered. The man looked like he was dosing, at least until the girl called out to him. "Joel, he's awake!" She shouted excitedly.

When she did call to him the older man instantly snapped to attention and rose up out of his seat in front of the door. Then he looked over towards Lucky's bed and he could see the man's face clearly now though he kind of wished he hadn't. The sour expression that was spread across the older man's grizzled features did just about anything but put Lucky's mind at ease. And what the man did after that instantly put Lucky on the edge of panic. Lucky noticed the man had reached into his back pocket to retrieve a side arm or some sort. An old revolver by the look of it and after stomping over towards Lucky's bedside the man now had it level with side of his head. "Talk!" The older man demanded.

Lucky could tell from his tone alone that the man meant business. What that business was at the moment was very much lost on him for the time being though. However the sudden aggression he was faced with sent Lucky's mind into overdrive as it tried to think its way through its current situation. "What is this?! He wants information?! What do I tell him?! Who are these people?! Did I get captured by the Hunters?! Where am I?! Do I need to get out of here!?" He thought to himself before trying to sit up from the bed he was laying in and it only caused his panic to elevate once he realized that he was strapped down to it. "Okay this really bad!" He thought.

"I said talk!" The man commanded as he pulled the hammer back on his weapon.

"Jesus Joel, would you quit it! You're freaking the guy out!" The red haired girl shouted as she leapt up from her seat and rapped herself around the large man's arm to pull the offending limb down and hold it there. Then without letting go of the man's arm she leaned over towards Lucky to speak with him directly. "What's your name, mines Ellie?"

"I…I'm Lucky, Lucky Ramirez!" Lucky responded hastily while trying not to give to much information to a possible enemy while still acting cooperatively enough to avoid getting his head blown off.

The smile on the girls face grew even wider before elbowing the larger man in the gut. "See Joel, I told you!"

The larger man didn't seem the least bit affected by the girls jab and just glared down at Lucky in what appeared to be disbelief. "There's no gosh dang way, it's impossible!" He told the girl.

"What's that suppose to mean Joel? You're the one who said the fireflies had found tons of people like me! And since they gave up looking it was only a matter of time until we met one right?" Ellie retorted which for whatever reason caused the older man to cringe.

Now that the shock of the situation was fading, confusion began to take over Lucky's mind. "Umm, I'm sorry but what are you guys talking about?" He asked.

"You were bitten." Joel said bluntly.

The man's words seemed to kick start the rest of Lucky's brain as the memories of what had transpired came flooding back to him. The hunter ambush, the infected, his fall from the cliff, and the pain coursing through his leg quickly reminded him of the most pressing issue. He really had been bitten! Lucky looked down at his leg and it was rapped up in red stained bandages. He tried to think of something to say but then Ellie popped back into his field of view. "But man is Lucky your given name or what?! I'm only asking because it really seems to fit you!" Ellie chimed in cheerfully.

There was the L-word again. Lucky failed to see how this was a fortunate turn of events. He may not be at the bottom of a cliff licking his wounds anymore but he was still infected. "Sorry, I don't really see this as a fortunate out come for me. Aren't I still fairly screwed?" He asked her.

Ellie gave Lucky a slightly confused look and then realized he didn't know what he was and her smile returned. "Hey Lucky, do you know how long you've been out?" She asked him.

Lucky gave the girl a confused look. He wasn't quite sure since it's not like he was awake for it but, he took a look at a nearby window and noticed that sunlight was pouring in through it. The last waking memory he could recall was of being found in the woods in the early morning. Based on the angle the light was pouring in from he could surmise that it was either a little after morning or a little before sunset. "Umm, I guess it has been a few hour." He responded.

"Well sure if you consider an entire day a few hours." Ellie retorted with a shrug.

"An… An entire day? Wait you mean I've been out for over twenty-four hours!?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah and that's not even counting the time between you getting bit and us finding you. Which based on our reports on when you guys were likely ambushed would tack on nearly another twelve hours. Do you get what I'm telling you Lucky?" Ellie added with a questioning stare.

Lucky shook his head. He didn't get it. Their telling him he's been infected for nearly two days now but that's impossible right? Nobody lasts that long, he knew that from experience. "I don't understand." He told her.

Ellie let out a sigh before making her way over to the edge of the bed in front of Lucky's legs. "Alright I guess a visual aid may be more helpful here." She stated before pulling at the bandages and un-rapping them. "Tada!" Ellie cheered as pulled the last lair of cloth free to reveal a scared, blood stained, and fungus ridden leg. Besides the grotesque wound it had suffered, Lucky's leg was still very much how he remembered it looking. It was skinny, white, hairy, and rather muscular for its size. Even though there were clear signs of fungal infection around the bite, there were no signs of any spreading. Lucky had never seen anything like it. Every time he'd seen somebody get bitten in the past, it would begin to spread almost instantly.

Lucky now knew what the girl was trying to tell him but he didn't understand why. "Why haven't I turned?" He asked in a confused tone.

Ellie shrugged before responding. "I already told you, you're just lucky." She said jokingly causing Lucky to shoot her an annoyed glare. "Oh, would you relax I'm just fucking with you. Here maybe this will help." She said as she lifted up one of her hands which were both covered by brown leather gloves and she began to tug at the fingers of the presented hand's glove with her other hand in an attempt to remove it.

"Ellie!" Jeol said in warning tone while placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ellie shot the man a cold glare causing the brute to release his grip and take a step back. "Chill Joel, it's just us and who's he going to tell!?" She shouted before finally pulling her hand free and waving her scared palm in front of Lucky's for his eyes to see. Lucky's eyes widened and his jaw began to hang slightly ajar as he looked at the faded bite mark on the girl's hand. Based on the fungal outbreak around the rim of the edges of the wound it was clear it was an infected's doing. With that said the wound was old, very old. If Lucky had to wager a guess it would have to be at least a few years old and yet it didn't look like it was spreading at all. "So you get it now? You're just like me!" The girl explained as she slipped her glove back on to cover the mark.

Finally the picture was snapping together in Lucky's head. He had heard rumors of such people existing but to him that's all they were, just rumors. "Are you telling me that you're… we're…umm."

"Immune!" Ellie declared cheerfully.


Three Days Later

Lucky now finds himself laid out on an old couch in a small dusty and even older house while staring intently at a small television hooked up to a VCR. The sounds of cheerful singing filled the room. And he cheerfully sang along with the video. "Hakuna matata, it means no worries for the rest of your days. Hakuna matata, it isn't no passing crazy…" He was interrupted when he head the sound of knocking coming from his front door. The light and slightly rhythmic knocks gave him a fairly good idea of who it was. "Ellie!?" He said to himself before grabbing the nearby remote and tapping the pause button. Then he eased himself off the couch and since he was still suffering from his injuries he grabbed his makeshift crutch. Then he hobbled his wave over to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open revealing a very tiered looking Ellie. Her head and shoulders were sagging and her expression was a little grim. And she was hoisting her hunting rile and survival gear on her back which made it fairly easy to guess why. "You just get back from patrol?" Lucky asked her.

Ellie simply nodded before looking up to meet his gaze and giving him a weak smile. "May I come in?" She asked.

Lucky quickly motioned for her to enter. "Of course this is you're place after all right? Thanks again for letting me borrow it by the way."

"Yeah, this is the best solution we could come up with. We did have a whole building set aside for your squad when you arrived but, it would be far too large for a single person. Besides it doesn't really scream home, you know what I mean?" Ellie said as she stepped past Lucky into the house. The front door led directly into the homes living room so the moment Ellie stepped inside she had caught a glimpse of the television and what was playing and a brighter smile appeared on her face. "The Lion King huh?"

"Yeah, I've heard its good but I've never seen it before." Lucky responded.

"Oh, is it living up to your expectations?" Ellie asked in a playful tone.

"So far not so bad, that Scar is a real dick though." He says jokingly. "How about you, did you like it?"

Ellie shrugs. "It's alright I guess. Disney just isn't really my thing. Maybe their movies are just too family friendly for my tastes. I myself like to have a little bit more action. The Matrix is my personal favorite so far. Joel tells me that they made three of them but we could never find the second or the third installment which is a real bummer. Anyway Joel on the other hand swears by Disney." She explained.

This catches Lucky's interest. "Joel really?"

Ellie nods. "He really likes musicals. And the Lion King is one of his favorites. That's why we have a copy, it turns out that his brother found the original when he was digging through what was left of their old house and held onto it for him."

"Wow, never would have pegged Joel as a musical lover." Lucky stated while trying to stifle a laugh.

Ellie began to chuckle. "Yeah but don't tell anyone I said that or Joel might kill you!"

"My lips are sealed." Lucky stated as he made a zipping motion across his mouth causing them both to break into another laugh. When the laugher died down Lucky figured it was time to get down to business. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today Ellie?"

Ellie's expression dipped again and she let out a deep sigh before responding. "We ran into a few more of your squad members today." She said in a somber tone.

Lucky suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat. Only a handful of bodies had been found around the cliff side where his squad had been ambushed. And so far none of Lucky's other squad members had ever managed to make it to Jackson like he did. This could mean a few different things, for example they could have all fled into the woods and were now in hiding, or they had been captured by the hunters and were now being served on dinner plates, or they had been infected and just wondered off. And of course it could be any combination of these things as well. Since it was unclear, over the last few days Ellie along with a handful of other volunteers from the town had been patrolling around the ambush sight for any signs of the Hunters who attacked him and his squad along with his missing squad members. Unfortunately their search has only turned up corpses so far. "I'm guessing they were not in the best of shape?" Lucky asked grimly.

Ellie nodded before reaching into her jacket and pulling out three sets of dog tags. Then she handed the tags to Lucky for inspection. "They were all infected, their in a better place now." She stated dryly.

Lucky could tell the words were meant to comfort him but he could tell she didn't really believe in what she was saying. He thanked her anyway and read off the names to himself and breathed a sigh of relief. The three names listed on the tags were without a doubt, members of his squad but he knew none of them on a personal level. He could still hold onto some hope that Alex and… Hope were still alive somewhere. "Man Hope, another ironic name. Is this just a running joke in my life?" He wondered.

Lucky was broken free of his negative thoughts when Ellie called out to him. "Well Lucky thanks for your time. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you happier news. Now then I should probably get back to Joel's place. I haven't checked in since I got back from patrol and ever since I came back to the nest he has been treating me like a kid again." Ellie said half jokingly before turning and heading back towards the door.

Lucky nodded in understanding. After all he could remember how protective his mom use to get. Even when he was in military school if he didn't check in with her once a day she would talk his ear off the next. Then Lucky's eyes wondered back to the television and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Hey Ellie, are you sure you want to go so soon? I haven't watched the Matrix yet either you know? Once I'm done with the Lion King I figured I might give it a try. And it might help me enjoy the movie more if I have an expert on hand." Lucky explained.

At this point Ellie already had already pulled the door to the house half way open and she froze in her tracks. A wide smirk began spreading across her face which she hid before turning around to face Lucky. "I can see your point. I tell you what Lucky, why don't you keep watching the Lion King and I will go check in with Joel. While I'm there I can snag us some popcorn, it's been proven that popcorn can enhance any movie going experience by at least 10%." She said jokingly.

Lucky lifted one of his eyebrows. "You guys have popcorn here?" He asked.

"We grow corn here Lucky, among other things. So as long as you know the right people you'd be surprised just what you can get your hands on." Ellie said proudly before cracking the door open further. "Anyway see you in a bit," She then stepped out and closed the door behind her only for the door to crack open again and her head to peak in a moment later. "Oh and Lucky before I forget again there is something I wanted to say to you."

"Oh what is it?" Lucky asked in a curious tone.

"Welcome to Jackson." Ellie said happily before disappearing behind the door once again.