They quickly backtracked the way they came, with June occasionally stopping to re-set traps. Joel marveled at her ingenuity. He had some exposure of traps from Bill, but these were far more sneaky, and some downright lethal. No wonder this woman had survived for as long as she had. He continued to follow her closely for the next ten minutes, keeping only the places she walked. He still did not trust this woman, so he kept his eyes trained on her every move.

Eventually they reached a hillside with a small cave.

"In here." She said as she darted in, "watch your head."

"Alright."

The light was dim in the cave, and the ceiling got lower and lower. Eventually she came to a fork in the cave, turning to her left she pushed away some ivy and slipped into a secret passageway.

"You think you will fit?"

"I think I can." He said breathing out all his air in order to squeeze through.

They continued down this path a little ways, all the while the light became dimmer, and the ceiling lower.

"How good of a swimmer are ya?"

"Pretty good, why..." Before Joel could finish he noticed a small pool of water at the end of the cave.

June walked over to a small nook in the wall and pulled out a ratty old bag. She then tossed it down in front of Joel and unzipped it.

"Luckily I managed to raid a well stocked sports store before I came here."

She pulled out two pairs of goggles, a thin guideline, and a small air tank. She then returned the bag back to its hiding place. She stood there for a moment with both goggles in her hand, one bright pink pair, and another black. The black were obviously the better pair, but with a smirk on her face she shook her head and then tossed him the black pair.

"So I want you tie that to your belt loop. Any time you feel like you need air just give it a light tug. Okay? All you have to do when you use this is push the button." She demonstrated by holding the small tank on its side and took in a breath. "Unfortunately I only have one tank and its small. So try to stay calm, and swim fast... Oh, and you're not infected or have any weird thing happening with ya do you?"

He shook his head, and readjusted his goggle strap.

"Okay, well lets go. We will be swimming through two tunnel systems. We will hit a middle cave system, I'll tug on the line when we need to ascend."

He nodded again and followed her down into the water. She quickly tied the line around her wrist, took in a breath and dove down into the water. The water was murky, and the light was dim. He could barely see five feet in front of them. The tunnel went on for what seemed to be thirty feet. By the time they reached the first chamber Joel had to tug the line for air. She quickly turned and placed the mouthpiece over his mouth and pointed to the button. He took the air and released the trigger, she took a quick bit of air after him and then continued to swim. She picked up her pace as they reached the second tunnel. This one was far tighter than the last and with even less light than before. As they reached the end she gave the line a quick tug and she quickly led them to the surface. They both gasped as they reached the surface.

"Not bad, now we only have one more to go through. Up here." She said as she lifted herself out of the water and walked to a small nook in the cave wall. She pulled out a small crank flashlight and tested it. "So," she began as she cranked the flashlight to charge it. "This next tunnel is going to be pitch black and then we will need to read for the marker on the ground for the next tunnel. This can get a little stressful, seeing as there is a lot more silt in this next waterway, so just try to relax."

He nodded at this and followed her down into the next pool of water. As soon as they dove down he immediately noticed that the water was colder than the last chamber they were in, and that she was right, it was pitch black." All he could see was the dim beam of light from her flashlight. As they exited the tunnel he watched her scan her light over several tunnel entrances in the next chamber. He quickly tugged on the line and she turned to him giving him the air tank. She quickly turned and began to fan at the ground lifting the silt, then shining her light at the cave floor. He tugged the line again when he got his air and she turned and took a puff of air. When she did this however, he could tell from her crinkled brow that something was wrong. She repeatedly pressed the trigger on the tank, then removed the tank and shook it slightly. He could see signs of panic. He had to act quick, so he reached forward and pulled her in and locked lips with her, and gave her air. He felt her body calm and she slowly pushed away. She gave him a quick thumbs up and turned back to her work. She swam to the next tunnel and fanned at the ground. Shining her light she found a blue arrow pointing to the next tunnel. She then quickly pulled the line and they swam through and to the final chamber. With their desperation for air she did not need to pull the line to tell him to ascend.

They both gasped for air once they reached the surface.

"Oh my god that was dangerous! Fucking air tank!" June wailed though her gasps.

Joel was too tired to respond.

"Come on this way."

She led him to the side of the pool, where a constant flow of cold water was coming in. There was no light in this cave, and he could only assume that this cave was small due to the deafening sound from the water pooling in.

"Here come on." She pulled herself up and shined her light in front of him. "Careful its slippery."

He took her extended hand, and stood up straight. Which was a mistake because of the low ceiling.

"Shit. Oww."

"Oh sorry, never really had to worry about the low ceiling in here."

He rubbed his forehead, and could feel blood.

"Well, on a plus side we are done swimming. Here come this way."

Again she came to a point the wall where she pushed away some loose tree roots and revealed a way out. The sound of running water got louder and louder, till eventually they cleared the cave and revealed they were behind a waterfall.

Joel stood there for a moment and took in the scenery in a moment of awe.

"Pretty right?" June said casually, standing off to the side, as she rinsed off.

All of the mud was now off her skin. He could see that she had fair skin, and noticed she was pretty thin. But not in a unhealthy way, no she was lean, with not a spare once of fat on her.

"Come here and quickly rinse off. That shit we just swam through is all the runoff from the forest above. Really don't want to think about what's in there."

He did as she said willingly, he felt a layer of slick grime all over his skin, and could feel lumps of sediment in his clothes.

"Hey, um. When you do that could you turn away. I'm going to strip down. I usually leave my suit here."

"Okay, " he quickly responded.

"You may want to do the same. I should have something that will fit you. Again I really went to town at that sports gear shop. Came in really handy with the winters here. Have to wear four layers of clothes after that swim during the winter. Not a fan of hypothermia."

Joel shivered at the thought of swimming in this water in the winter. It was cold now. He could not imagine what it was like in the winter.

"So how'd you come across this cave system?"

"My fiancé was a spelunking enthusiast."

When she mentioned her fiancé, he knew she meant Rene. He had heard from Ellie's constant reading out loud of June's Journal. He knew that Rene was the lead researcher, an expert in Micro Biology and Entomology, and the manager of their lab. He was also the first to be killed. He wanted to avoid this topic at all costs, and he especially wanted to get to Ellie as soon as possible. It has to be nearly an hour since they left her.

"Hey," she called from the outside of the cave. I am leaving you a change of clothes here, I think they should fit. They may be a little on the hot side, but at least they aren't dirty. I'll be waiting out here for you."

As soon as he heard her slip around the cave wall he began to strip down. He rinsed everything through, even his boots. He wrung out his clothes and wrapped his jeans around his waist. looking to the pile she left, he noticed a towel on top of a dark gray pair of flannel pajama bottoms, and a basic white shirt, which looked to be fresh out of its package. He quickly dried off and got dressed.

"You ready?"

He heard her ask from around the corner.

"Yeah."

"They fit?"

"Yup, kinda snug, but appreciate it none the less."

"Eh, no worries, I am one of those few people who still believe in hospitality. However, those are going to suck once we get up into the canopy." She then pointed up to the top of the tree line.

Looking close Joel noticed something strange. There was a strange gleam to the trees, almost as if they were reflecting from something.

"Come on this way, now hold tight to the tree okay."

She then led him up toward a large redwood and pointed to several bent rebar pins, hiding under vines, that were evenly placed around the trunk like a spiral staircase.

"Just lean into the tree."

Joel really did not know what to say. He was not afraid of heights, but this was almost too much for him. But he did not have a choice.

"Okay." He said as he took in a breath and followed. They were surprisingly sturdy, granted they were a pretty thick gage of rebar, so no wonder. They climbed up a few stories when they reached the first couple of branches.

"Here, watch out." She said grabbing at a rope.

As she pulled a ladder shot down and she grabbed the rung and made her way in. Following her he found that she had taken him to some sort of crazy tree house.

"What do you think?"

He stood for a moment taking it all in. The walls were made of this almost see through glass, which was where that reflection he saw earlier came from. By far the one thing he noticed first was just how clean this place was. Over the past twenty years houses were left to disrepair. But this place looked immaculate, a bit rustic albeit, but clean none the less.

"Pretty nifty."

"I'll give ya the tour later, let's get Ellie."

She walked through the first door and across a narrow rope bridge. Looking over Joel took in the beautiful view of the forest and river below. They then reached this platform in the center of four other rope bridges with a cut out square in the middle.

"I'll need to reinforce the line on the left but it should be able to hold me and her. You think you can handle the crank mechanism?"

Seeing that it looked to be a basic pulley system, and being that he worked in construction prior to the world going to hell he figured he could manage. "Yeah I got this."

She quickly reinforced the main line with another rope and grabbed a jug of water and short basin.

"Alright lower me down. I will be leaving this water for the horses."

"Okay."

Joel unlocked the center platform and slowly lowered her down. It took a good ten minutes to get all the supplies and the whimpering Ellie loaded up onto the lift.

"Pull Joel."

The weight was significantly more with them and all the supplies. With each pull he felt the tension rise with the rope. As they grew closer he could see that Ellie was not moving, or talking.

"She okay?"

"Yeah, she just went into shock from the pain of moving. She will be fine."

This gave him more vigor to pull faster.

"Alright that's good, let's just lock this in place."

The lift jostled violently for a quick second, waking Ellie.

"What.. wow... what is this.. Owww!"

"Careful now. You need to keep still. Hey Joel you pick her up and I will get the supplies."

She picked up their packs first, and then walked to the bridge on the right. Here this way, she can stay in the library.

"Library?" He said quizzically taking slow wobbly steps onto the rope bridge.

"Yeah, I'm a nerd remember, can't live without my books."

She opened the door and ushered them in.

"Here let me move the pillows." June said rushing past and tossing the pillows aside.

He then lowered down the now sleeping Ellie, and remarked, "must of passed out again."

"Yeah... here. I'll get her cleaned up if you take in my supplies. Just take them down the center rope bridge into the kitchen. You can just leave them on the counter. Go ahead and grab a snack if you like."

She began to gently unlace Ellie's the boot of the broken ankle. As she pushed the sock down a little he could see all the skin was black and blue.

"Shhh... Poor thing, this is going to hurt for a while." June said half through her teeth.

Joel turned to leave the room, when June called to him.

"Hey can you bring back a jug of water and some towels... Oh, and does she have some spare clothes? There are blackberry thorns still stuck in her clothes."

"Yeah, she should have some in her bag there, I'll go get the water."

With that he turned on his heel and made his way to the main platform. Lifting up the massive bag full of honey jars, and two baskets of berries he cautiously made his way to the kitchen. Once inside he found a very modern designed room, with stainless steel counters, and simple straight cut wood cabinets. Finding the sink he turned the faucet, a large gush of water came out and continued to flow with an consistent flow.

"Must be coming from the river."

He searched the cabinets and found a small jug and basin, a bar of what he believed to be soap, and a small pile of towels. He walked as quickly as he could without spilling too much water back to the library. Once he opened the door he found June sitting on the edge of the bed with her well worn journal open on her lap. She had a gave expression on her face, and jumped when she heard his boot hit the floorboard. looking up she gave him a cross look, and said

"What exactly do you guys want with me? It can't be that you want to just return this to me can it?"

Joel stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"You are not with the fireflies are you? Because if..."

"No. We are not. We just want your help."

"Help with what." She said now raising her voice and standing.

"Look... Just look at her arm." Joel said pointing to Ellie's arm. "She is infected."

"What the fuck! And you brought her here!"

"No. No! She got bit almost three years ago. She seems to be immune."

June quickly reached for Ellie's arm and pulled up her sleeve.

"Oh my god." June said softly as she examined the scar closely.

"look, we are not with the fireflies, or with the government. We are just here to get her help. She has been fine except for when she catches a cold. They seem to last longer and longer each time. And... Well... From what you say in your journal you are the only one qualified to help her. So that is why we are here."

June took in a embarrassed quick breath with that last statement.

"So you read my journal from cover to cover then?"

Joel shrugged, he did not know what to say. He felt that apologizing would only make things worse here.

"Well, first thing first. I need to clean her up and re-set her ankle. I'm going to get some sticks to splint this. After we are done with Ellie we can talk about what you two have in mind."