Madalyn1000: Thank you! It's nice to finally be able to move forward with this!

Cass87 (Guest): Glad you enjoyed it! The scene certainly took a lot of thinking beforehand, and I'm glad that it was well received!

Tactus501st: Thanks! :)

lonelyaura: I personally believed that I would get at least one review like this, and I respect that you were able to tell me everything honestly. It's partially my fault, because I haven't explained everything yet. There is still a lot we don't know about what happened to Ellie between the time skip, and I haven't gotten to explaining all of Kevin's backstory either. Yes, he is similar to Ellie and has very similar backstory events, but it's my fault for not explaining yet. So, in the next few chapters I will try to clear everything up. I'm not sure if it will help or even make a difference, but I hope it does. And yes, the scene was more "lighthearted" than in the game; that's what I originally first started out to do with this fanfiction. I'm not good with writing dark themes, so mainly that's my fault as well. On the up-side, I'm glad that this fanfiction has kept your interest! That was one of my main worries when I started it, so I'm glad to know it worked out alright. As for Callus… yeah that will be answered in this chapter, but will be open for interpretation.

LadyLucina28: I know you reviewed a while back, but that's still very interesting! It's nice to see someone else's interpretation.

Note: this chapter is for everyone who thought I forgot about Riley and Sarah :)

Chapter 36: Broken

Kevin knew that there was much to learn about what had happened to Ellie while he had been injured. He knew practically the whole side of Joel's story – Joel had filled him in on his capture and the rest he had learned from Ellie – but what had happened to her, as well as the circumstances of how she had known so much about their captors, remained a mystery.

For now, anyway, I don't want to force her to tell me, he thought, wanting to respect her aloofness about the subject. He still had a lot to tell her as well and figured that they would both be able to talk when the time was right. Right now, everything was much too new in order to do that.

He had finally calmed down enough for them to leave the Steakhouse. He had wasted all the bullets in the pistol to do it, but he was finally thinking clearly again. Not entirely put back together and not entirely forgetting, but he was able to move forward a bit.

Kevin had decided long ago that having Callus around had been one of the best gifts of his entire life. The horse had stayed with them through a lot, and he knew that everyone was wishing that he would have been with them now.

They had made it to the outer border of the town, heading in an unknown direction in order to find shelter (everyone had agreed that they would like to get away from the town as fast as they could). Ellie stopped them before they could go any further though, seemingly remembering something.

"There's a small house around here, one that they converted into a stable," her words reminded him again of how much she knew. "They put Callus in there with another horse. We could take that one with us too."

Joel hadn't argued the usefulness of finally having two horses. They had set out for the house-turned-stable, going off-course for a few steps before they finally found it. They entered through the front door when Joel had finished checking for any immediate dangers, but his doubtful look already told Kevin everything he needed to know.

The inside of the house was small, just like Ellie had said. It was only a floor, with a living room and combined kitchen connected to a single bedroom. There was a back door, which they found broken from its hinges. The rest of the house was empty, and hoof prints that were half-way filled with snow led from the back door, away from the house.

"Looks like they kicked the door off the hinges," Joel explained as he bent down next to the fraying edges of wood. Indents covered the rest of the door, most likely where several stray hits had landed. Several possibilities ran through his mind, the most obvious one being that the horses could have run off.

"We can't catch up to them?" Ellie's voice held some sadness as she looked at the older man. He knew that regrets were going through her mind, but she wouldn't have been able to do anything different.

"No, they would be too far away by now. We don't even know if they would be calm enough to recognize us. It's too much of a risk." Joel shook his head and turned around, walking towards the front door. Ellie followed after a moment of silence. Kevin turned to follow them, spotting a small trail of red in one of the hoof prints' trail. If anyone else had seen it, they never said anything.

The three had stumbled upon a small, run-down cabin a few hours past nighttime. The blizzard had picked up in its fury, forcing them to take shelter. It seemed as though the cabin had recent past occupants, but Kevin didn't want to think of what had happened.

Joel quickly set to work making a fire while Ellie took refuge in the smaller of the two bedrooms. She left the door open, probably afraid of shutting it. Kevin sat quietly on the couch, knowing that she had already fallen asleep within the first half hour.

The fire blazed in the stone fireplace, reminding him of the basement that he had caught only a short glimpse of. Its hues of orange and red danced, mocking him with the shapes of the flames, reminding him of everything he had done. Joel sat silently beside him, eyes staring at the mantle of the fireplace. The boy said nothing, cursing the growing feeling of emotional pain and regret inside of him. Finally, he knew he couldn't take the silence.

"I'm sorry," it came out as a whisper as everything came back to him. One of the last conversations he had with Joel before he had been injured was a fight; the other had been on the brink of reconciliation. "I shouldn't have run off back at the dam, I shouldn't have yelled at you, I should have done more to help, I shouldn't have run after David…" Everything came tumbling out one after another until he had been reduced to tears. His words became more jumbled as he tried to apologize for everything he had and hadn't done.

Joel simply pulled him close, allowing him to rest his head against the man's shoulder. "It's alright. I'm sorry too." The words were all he felt he needed to hear as the pain started to dull. Some sense of relief flooded him; that maybe he hadn't messed up too badly.

Several hours later, both of them were still awake, neither being able to surrender to sleep. Kevin looked over at where Ellie, hopefully, slumbered peacefully. "She's going to have nightmares," he stated, feeling as though it were a fact. Guilt surfaced again as he knew it was partially his fault. He had reminded her of a time that she had wanted to forget.

Joel didn't say anything regarding the sleeping girl. His gaze wandered to the boy. "And what about you?"

Kevin shook his head, knowing he wouldn't have nightmares. He would just remember, time and time again, of what he had been forced to do. Both today and so many months ago.

"I thought that after everything that has happened, that I would be more destroyed than this," he mused, knowing that he was just thinking out loud now. "Everyone in this world has suffered, and maybe I'm just more broken than I think, but I just don't know how to think anymore. That seems about right: we're like shattered glass. Broken, and it takes more than glue to stick us back together."

Joel allowed him his audible musings, either comforted or used to them by now. Another thought came into his mind, one that he had thought about many times before.

"You know, I thought it was the worst thing ever to be immune," he whispered, not quite sure where he was going with the conversation. "When I couldn't get infected, but everyone else I cared for did; it was like a curse. I thought when I started out on this journey that it was going to be easy; that I would just go with Marlene and 'save the world.'" He laughed softly at the words. "But now, I'm not so sure what to do. I don't want to see anyone else die, but…"

"You can decide what to do tomorrow." Joel's statement drained all the strength from him. "It's just a few tests, so there should be nothing to worry about, but in the end, remember that it's your choice."

It's my decision, he thought, closing his eyes, then if it's my decision, I…

When Ellie had regained enough consciousness to think, she recognized the room she was in: the arcade at the mall. That could only mean…

"Riley!" she called out for her friend once more, feeling desperate this time. The memories were still fresh in her mind, causing paranoia to seep in. The only sounds in the room were the occasional noises from the arcade games and her breathing. After several more silent moments of waiting, she knew she couldn't take the silence anymore. She ran out of the arcade, searching the hallways desperately for her friend. "Please, someone just answer me!"

Her shout echoed throughout the mall. Despite the open expanse of the two floors, she felt cornered. She ran towards the only thing she could think of: the light.

The majority of the mall was darker than she remembered, warping into something that hadn't been there the last time. Broken glass littered the floor as she passed the many run-down stores. There were no Infected to chase her this time, nothing to drive her forward except for the invisible shadows of memory that chased her.

She finally made it to the blinding source of light: the carousel in the middle of the mall. Two figures waited for her there: one sitting excitedly on a bay horse and the other standing near the controls.

"Riley…" she started, not quite sure what to say. Her friend looked over at her with a smile, motioning with her hand.

"Come on, she's been bothering me for weeks about riding this." Her dark-haired friend pointed over at Sarah. Her brown gaze then softened. "You'll feel better if you have something to do, too."

Ellie let out a sigh, walking over the fence and slowly making her way onto one of the horses behind Sarah's. Riley joined on the horse beside her once the start button was pressed, and the horses started their routine canter.

"You said when this all started that I had to fix the problem," she started, feeling lost, "but I still don't know what you meant. My memories are all mixed up and I don't know what to do anymore."

Riley remained silent as the blonde girl in front of them looked back towards them. "You still don't know the answer?" Joel's daughter turned towards her friend, "Riley, I think she needs a hint."

"Seriously?" Riley's question was more of a joke; it seemed like both of them were hiding things from her.

"Yeah, like it those old detective board games daddy and I used to play. Whenever something got too hard, we could get a hint."

Yeah, it's really hard right now, Ellie thought as she glanced down at the horse she was riding on. It reminded her a lot of Callus, which then reminded her of how she had to lose the horse twice. Was that what was going to happen? Would she have to lose everything she cared about again? And what about Kevin…?

"When I said you had to 'fix the problem,'" Riley made quotes with her fingers as she looked over at the red-haired girl. "Maybe I technically worded it wrong."

"That's a first for you," Ellie laughed a bit at the comment, trying to lighten the sickening weight she felt in her chest. Riley laughed with her, while Sarah was quiet on her horse, giving them time to talk things through.

"Yeah, I know." Her friend became serious again after that. "There's something that you've forgotten Ellie. Until you find what that is, then you're going to have to keep going."

Her friend's words confused her. "Something that I've forgotten? That's crazy though. I know that Joel and I camped out in Salt Lake City because it was getting too dark to continue." Did the forgotten 'memory' have something to do with how she had 'gotten' into this second journey?

Riley's expression became conflicted, like she didn't know what else to say. Suddenly, Sarah piped up from her horse.

"If you can't find the answer for yourself, then he can help you," the blonde smiled back at them, "that's what he's here for, after all."

"He?" Ellie looked at the girl, still feeling slightly confused. It did seem like something in the back of her memory was trying to surface though.

"Yeah, that's right!" Riley nodded. "You can just ask him!"

"Who are you talking about?" She still didn't understand, but it had to have something to do with someone she knew. Her dark-haired friend answered again.

"He is-" her friend's voice faded all of a sudden, like someone had muted her. Ellie had been able to lip-read what her friend said next; the word causing her eyes to widen.

Kevin.

Alright, so I had the first part of this chapter done a while ago, but got stumped on the second part with Ellie. It was originally going to be split into two chapters, but I figured that the second part seemed too short to do that. As for what happened to Callus, yeah I can't give him a horrible-ish fate (I'd feel too bad doing that, especially the horrible way he went out in the game) so I left it for you guys to decide. Next chapter we're coming back to Salt Lake City, and more mysteries about Kevin's backstory and what happened to Ellie during the winter chapter will be revealed! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9