Joel awoke to the sound of birds chirping. He knew that meant he would never get back to sleep. It was still dark out. Joel continued to lay in bed and continued listening to the sounds of morning. As the sun began to rise, he slowly rose and stretched.

As Joel descended the stairs, he was greeted by a new sound. He turned to see Ellie sitting at the kitchen table.

The slowly rising sun gleamed through the window, illuminating Ellie and the kitchen. She continued to restart to the song she'd been listening to the night before and tried to copy the notes on her guitar.

Joel gazed proudly from the base of the stairs.

Ellie strummed the wrong chord again. "Dammit," she said as she restarted the song again. She glanced up and saw Joel. He put up hand in greeting. Ellie quickly turned off the song. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just couldn't sleep."

Joel walked to the table. "Nightmares again?"

Ellie nodded.

Joel reached over and touched her arm. "You want to talk about them?"

Ellie opened her mouth to answer. For the faintest second, Joel thought he saw a look of fear in her eyes.

"No," Ellie said as she turned away from him. She looked out the window. Half of her face was cast in shadow.

Joel nodded, understanding the difficulties of confronting nightmares. He pointed at her guitar. "You think you got that all figured out?"

Ellie shrugged and turned toward him, illuminating her face once again. "Sort of," she said. "I figured out that you turn the tuners one way, the sound goes higher. Turn it the other way, and it goes lower."

Joel pulled up a chair. "Good first start. The true word is a 'tone'. The 'tone' changes."

"I don't even know the right words," Ellie grumbled, leaning back and away from the table. She sighed. "How am I going to do this?"

Joel knew that she was talking about more than just the guitar. "Well," he said, leaning forward "It'll take time and it'll take work."

"It's just so complicated, you know?" Ellie said. She leaned forward and stared at the table. "Does it ever get easier? Does it ever feel safe without a gun in your belt?"

Joel hesitated. Talk of weapons, especially guns, always made him uncomfortable. They brought back many bad memories.

"You'd just come after her." BANG.

"Joel?" Ellie called, as if from a distance.

Joel blinked a few times.

Ellie continued to snap her fingers in front of him. "Are you still with me?"

Joel swallowed. No more guns. No more killing. Not for her. "Yeah," he nodded. "Just tired. I can't answer your question, Ellie. It's different for everyone."

Ellie turned and stared out the window.

Joel remained silent, pondering his own words. He rose and grabbed his guitar before sitting down at the table again, strumming a few strings on Ellie's guitar to get her attention.

Ellie turned to him.

"Life does become a little more natural, Ellie," Joel promised. "You just have to give it time."

Ellie nodded and said nothing.

Joel grabbed his guitar and propped it up on his knees. "Now, let's teach you how to play that guitar."

A few hours later, they heard a knock on their door. Both Joel and Ellie were startled by the sound.

They both relaxed when they heard Tommy's voice. "Joel, I know you're awake. Come to the door."

Joel shook his head and placed his guitar on the table. Ellie placed hers next to it and followed him to the door. Tommy and Joey were standing outside. Both were wearing the same outfit from the day before.

"Told you they were awake," Tommy said to Joey. He addressed the girl next to Joel. "How are you Ellie?"

Ellie shrugged. "Tired. I'm ready to find something to do."

"We may be able to help with that," Tommy said with a laugh. He took a step forward. "Joel, turn around."

Joel folded his arms. "We played this game when we were kids, Tommy. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Tommy folded his arms as well. "You can question your own stupidity all you want. I'm just asking you to turn around," he replied calmly. A mischievous look crossed his face. "I've got something for you."

Joel sighed and turned to face Ellie.

Ellie folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I wonder if it'll be brown or browner."

"Shut it," Joel grunted.

Tommy reached over, moved Joey back a few steps, and grabbed a cup from the ground. He hesitated, handed the cup to Joey, and winked at Ellie.

Ellie gave him a confused look.

Tommy reached out his hand and flicked his finger hard into Joel's left earlobe.

Joel reacted by quickly turning around, grabbing Tommy, and putting him into a headlock.

As Ellie and Joey cracked up laughing, Joel bent down and spoke in Tommy's ear. "That was a bad idea, little brother."

Tommy glanced at Joey. "Hand me that cup," he said quickly. Tommy took the cup from Joey and slowly brought it up to Joel's nose.

Joel sniffed. "That sure as hell better be coffee," he growled, releasing Tommy.

Tommy slowly offered Joel the cup. "Welcome home, Joel."

Joel slowly drank out of the cup. Twenty years. I never thought coffee could taste so good.

As Joel slowly drank his coffee, he saw that Ellie had moved to stand by Joey. He decided to stay silent.

"What is it with old people and coffee?" Ellie asked Joey quietly.

"I have no clue. I never liked it," Joey replied. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a couple of cans of Special Cola. "I prefer this."

Joey tossed a can to Ellie.

Ellie caught it, opened it, and downed the soda in one sitting.

Joey laughed.

Tommy and Joel watched the exchange with smiles on their faces.

Tommy leaned close to Joel. "How long has it been since she's had soda?" he asked his older brother.

"I've never seen her drink soda," Joel answered as he took another sip of his coffee. "She is going to be so crazy in about an hour."

Ellie belched and covered her mouth, turning away in embarrassment.

Joey was openly laughing now.

"Oh yeah," Tommy said, smiling. He grabbed Joel's shoulder. "Let's go for a walk."

Joel and Tommy began walking down the street side by side.

Joey and Ellie walked a few paces behind them, laughing and joking around.

After a particularly loud burst of laughter from Ellie, Joel and Tommy turned and saw that Joey had been soaked in soda. It was unclear why the can had exploded in his hand, but Joel caught a look on Ellie's face that called for some suspicion.

As they continued walking, they saw more and more people emerging from their houses and going about their day.

"Jackson's grown a lot in the last few months with the electricity back," Tommy was saying. "Still, keeping this place running is a twenty-four-seven gig. We can never get enough help. Maria and I are always sorting out who can do what."

"Sound's like a lot of responsibility," Joel admitted.

"As I said last night, we've got a team going out to scavenge, but we have to send our best shots with them in case there are Bandits or Infected around," Tommy continued. "Unfortunately, that leaves the Wall in less capable hands. If you and Ellie wouldn't mind, we could use some good shots. It seems you two impressed some of the regulars back at the Jackson Dam."

Joel looked back at Ellie and Joey, who were now discussing their tastes in music. Joel turned back to Tommy. "I'll take that job on the Wall," he said. "But I think it's wise if Ellie leaves that world behind."

Tommy nodded and glanced at back at Joey. "I get it. I've never even let Joey hold a gun. He's been helping his mom with heavy lifting. We'll find something for him eventually. But for now, I think I have an idea of where to put Ellie."

"Well, I like all kinds of music," Ellie was saying, continuing her debate with Joey.

The two of them fell silent as Joel and Tommy stopped in front of the shop they had been in the day before.

"We'll meet you back here in twenty minutes," Tommy said.

Ellie said goodbye to Joey before walking toward the door to the shop with Joel.

"Are you and Joey friends now?" Joel asked, stopping with his hand on the door to the shop.

"The twerp has his moments," Ellie shrugged. "What are we doing back here?"

"Well, you said you wanted something to do here," Joel replied. "Tommy thinks he found something."

The shopkeeper greeted them from behind the bar, wearing the same outfit as the day before. "Hello again," he said cheerfully. "Tommy said you'd stop by."

Joel stepped forward with Ellie. "The name is Joel. I'm Tommy's brother. This is—"

Ellie rolled her eyes and walked up to the shopkeeper, extending her hand. "Ellie," she said. "I'm Ellie."

The shopkeeper shook her hand. "Just who I wanted to see," he said, ignoring the attitude. "I wanted to talk to you about a job."

Ellie was surprised. She had heard about jobs from Joel but had never experienced one. Her life's job is survival. "What kind of job?" she asked cautiously.

The shopkeeper scratched his head. "It's the kind of job that has variety and is easier to do with two people. Every few months when we send out a scavenging party, they come back with whatever they find. Most of it ends up here. I've got my hands full with the day to day trading and sorting out the essentials. Guns, food, medical supplies, etcetera."

"And?" Ellie asked, waiting for him to get to the point.

The shopkeeper motioned to the other side of the shop. "The rest gets thrown over there. I can't even tell you what half of it is."

Ellie still wasn't sure where this was going. "Soooo… what do you want me to do?"

The shopkeeper laughed. "Frankly, I was hoping that you could organize it, inventory it, and get people to take it. It can get cluttered over there real quick."

Suddenly, that area of the store seemed a lot bigger to Ellie. This is going to suck. She looked at the shopkeeper. "What's in it for me?" she asked flatly.

Ellie noticed Joel shift uncomfortably next to her and he opened his mouth to comment on her rudeness.

The shopkeeper held up a hand. "It's alright," he said, looking at Ellie. "It's a valid question for these times. Tell you what. For every two weeks that you help me out, I'll let you pick out two items, excluding weaponry. Maybe even three items, depending on recent hulls."

"Deal," Ellie said after a moment's consideration. Joel and Ellie moved toward the door. Ellie stopped and turned around. "Why offer me the job? You don't even know me."

"One, everyone needs a job to stay sane," the shopkeeper replied with a small chuckle. "Two, you alphabetized the discs you knocked over. See you around ten-thirty tomorrow morning."

Joel and Ellie exited the shop and waited outside.

Tommy walked up to them ten minutes later. "How'd it go?" he asked.

Ellie shrugged. "I have a job, I think. I'm supposed to start tomorrow."

"Good. We could use all the help we can get," Tommy said. The walkie-talkie on his belt chimed. Tommy looked at Joel. "Second shift's about to start. I've got you in at third shift. Northwest wall. Shift starts at sunset and ends at midnight."

Joel nodded. "I'll see you then."

"You're welcome to hang out at our house tonight," Tommy said to Ellie. "I think Joey likes having someone to talk to. He doesn't exactly approach people."

"I'll think about it," Ellie replied.