(A/N): Been waiting to write these and I'm pretty excited.

Hope you enjoy this everyone! Especially you Lily!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Last Of Us. I am merely using an altered world inspired by the masterpiece created by Naughty Dog.

Journal Entries #1 & #2: Lily Nguyen

Date: March 12th 2015

I didn't think much would come of working with these people...but I have to admit that they've become like a family to me. Funny how things get so real after a mere few weeks of meeting them but that was the apocalypse for you; it brings people together because the need to survive is stronger than everything else.

I learned so much from Zoey and Emile that I knew enough to be able to actually partake in the experiments with my own agendas. Thus far, the samples that we recovered from the highway ended up being inconclusive because we just couldn't understand what the hell was accelerating the growth of the fungus so quickly.

The biggest issue was that the fungus appeared to be the normal strain until it reaches Stage 1 in which it either quadruples in growth speed or progress to Stage 2 and then drastically increases in speed. Whatever the hell was going on with this fungus...one thing was for sure.

It wasn't mother nature's doing. Someone was tampering with things they have no business tampering with.

I could only hope that we could find the answer soon because the sooner we do, the better the chance we have of ensuring that our little attempt at civilization would continue to flourish.

Time to get back to work...will write again once I get a break.

Date: March 20th 2015

...Did I seriously just go out and do that?

What I thought was supposed to be a meet up at the bar to head out for an expedition was really just a party. I wasn't really interested in the idea of it but considering that Emile, Zoey and I had been working basically non-stop since we came back from the battle on the highway, I guess it was pretty well-deserved.

It was also good to see everyone again. Despite losing two of their group, Jordan's friends were doing surprisingly well.

Flora is a strong girl; Vivian's death couldn't have sat well in her mind but she was handling it so well that one wouldn't be able to tell that she was crying about it. She's a lot like her older brother and within the last couple of weeks, I learned a lot about them after spending a lot of time with them.

Jordan was really distant at first and he definitely had a lot on his mind. I didn't blame him though; it couldn't have been easy to trek from Florida all the way here while taking care of his sister as well as himself. He was a good man to put so much at risk to protect her and he often put her before himself, which was both incredibly admirable and almost blindly stupid. He hardly took time for himself and every time he came to the post, he was looking for things for the compound. He was probably the only one who didn't do any personal trading. I got to sit down with him a few times here at the Valany and I managed to get him to open up...after getting a few drinks into him.

He told me that once the compound is in a great position, he would take Kyle and Mabry to look for Gilfer's Sanctuary up north. I had heard rumors of the place from people here at the post but no one that I knew had actually been there. Gilfer's Sanctuary probably didn't open themselves to trade to avoid bandit raids, especially with that huge group wandering the woods around that region. He also let me know how guilty he felt about having to kill Jessica. In fact, it was something that he He also let me know a lot of things about the group as a whole.

Francesca, who everyone affectionately referred to as Frani had taken up the mantle of becoming a marksman. She was already very interested in weapons and she often went to the range with Mabry so he could teach her how to shoot a rifle. She was surprisingly a natural at it despite her small size. She and Flora were probably closest to each other though she often looked at Jordan as her own older brother. She asks him for advice about many things and always looks out for him which was more testament to how the conditions of the world can bring people together.

Speaking of Mabry...he wasn't much of a talker. He was hands down the best shot amongst the entire group though Flora wasn't too far behind. Then again...Flora can't really hold a big rifle and fire it without falling on her ass. Mabry took up the role of guardian and watchman, often standing watch at the post whenever he was here and even at the compound when the group caught wind of wandering herds of infected. He seemed to be very good friends with Kyle and Jordan and was on good terms with the girls...though he didn't really show an indication of any interest in knowing them well. He probably became so close to Jordan because he was the one who accepted him into the group...along with Doan and Jessica.

Doan...I could honestly understand why Jordan felt so strongly for her. She was beautiful and had a heart of gold. He told me a lot about her kindness and how they first spoke to each other, which was essentially her expressing concern for him when he was really depressed. Considering all the shit that happened to him and the fact that he looks like he rarely gets good sleep, I wasn't surprised that she was there for him. I spoke to her enough to consider her a friend and everything he said about her was true...and then some. She kept the group in high spirits and she was quickly learning a lot of different skills. He talked about teaching her how to use a sword and one day, he would surprise her with her own once he got enough trading done. The most admirable thing about her I think however is just how well she was handling the apocalypse; she was the only one who didn't show any sign of insanity or depression. She was always in a great mood except when she was exhausted, which was understandable. She spent a lot of time with him however and they became very close friends, to the point where I saw the two of them together a lot of the time.

Considering how much he spoke about her as well as how high he held her in his thoughts, it was pretty obvious that he cared for her deeply...something I kept encouraging him to let her know. Now that she was making regular trips to the post and making a lot of friends, especially male ones, he was running out of time. I tried numerous times to help him get over his stupid fears but he just couldn't bring himself to do it because he didn't want to ruin the chemistry of the group by making things awkward. I understood how it could be a problem but at the same time, was it really worth it to bottle up his feelings like that in addition to having all of those other things on his brain?

He was strong...but I don't think he could stand to soldier through this much longer, especially with his PTSD.

Still...I could understand his feelings for her. If only he was as brave as Zack.

Zack...this guy was just silly at times but he's a good man. This post could not be running without him around and very few people were as understanding and raring to help as he was. It didn't surprise me that he and Jordan were best friends and it wasn't just because the two of them from Jamaica. They were kindred spirits because both of them knew the pain of loss and both of them knew the need to protect others. Often times, Zack was the one who called the shots for the scouts as well as the security forces. He was probably under the most stress of us all...but he had Zoey with him.

Those two were the power couple of the post without a doubt. I didn't really see them do anything but considering how easily Zoey was able to get Zack to do things like dance or follow her to other places, she had to be working some kind of magic on him. He really liked her as well; she was very mature and had an incredible mind behind that beautiful exterior. I didn't envy her at all because she was my closest friend apart from Jordan. She taught me a great deal about the infection and how it worked and she and I were often going out on expeditions to gather samples and also to test the river water to ensure it was still safe to drink. We went through a lot, including a few close encounters with some infected but she was really great with that crazy bow of hers and my crowbar was pretty good at getting the message across as well. It was a good thing we were so interested because Emile couldn't afford to leave the post anywhere near as much anymore because he gets a lot of patients. So I guess in essence, we were his assistants.

Emile was an incredible man; he was extremely intelligent and I actually had no idea how the fungus grew but he was able to tell the difference between the mutated strain and the normal one by basing his guess on calculations. If it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have known how to handle them on the highway. Whenever Zoey went out with Zack, I spent most of my time with him, learning as much as I could. Every now and again, Emile would take me to get food which he would then cook and share with me. The fact that he was able to cook so well also surprised me. I didn't think I would get along so well with him but after spending nearly two weeks with him, I grew to respect him and he quickly evolved into a good friend. He was always there to answer my questions and I could always count on him to cheer me up.

I really met some good people...I have yet to get to know Kyle and Maria very well but that was due to happen pretty soon anyway; Jordan planned a party for the group and I was invited but he needed some more time to get everything in place. If it wasn't these people...I probably would've refused but when Jordan took the time to visit just to invite me personally, there was no way I could say no.

I guess I really am beginning to settle in with them; I nearly wanted to leave to go on my own because I got tired of how boring the post was but now that I had my friends...

Maybe we could get through this.