Joel stood before a pool of blood. He was surrounded by bodies.

Infected. Military. Hunters. They all had featureless faces.

Joel knelt to examine all the bodies. He turned one over and screamed in agony.

This body was in perfect focus. Ellie lay motionless on the ground. Her face and body was covered in blood. She bore wounds of all variety. Knife wounds were inflicted in her chest. Bullet holes riddled her entire lower body. Her arms were mutilated as if Infected had ripped her apart piece-by-piece.

Joel cradled her body in his arms. He shut his eyes and opened them. The body began to rapidly change form. For the briefest moment, he was holding Sarah.

The body continued to flicker, changing from Ellie to Sarah and back to Ellie. "C'mon, baby girl. don't do this to me. Don't…"

Suddenly, the bodies were gone.

Joel heard the sound of shoes walking on liquid. He stood and turned to see Ellie's form walking away from him. She was no longer covered in wounds. With every step, the blood beneath her shoes splashed higher, covering her cloths and skin.

Joel stumbled back. "Ellie…"

Ellie turned toward Joel. There was no light in her eyes. When she looked at Joel, he saw only hatred.

The form of the traveling boy materialized beside her.

Ellie looked at the boy with happiness before returning to glare at Joel. "Goodbye, Joel," she said.

The boy wrapped his arm around Ellie and turned them away.

Joel sat up quickly and looked around, seeing that Ellie was gone. He relaxed slightly when he saw her backpack. She's close. But where… She'd better not be with that boy.

Joel stormed into the barn. "Kid!"

There was a soft shuffling. A few seconds later, Matthew emerged. As the boy was putting on his shirt, Joel noticed a healed bullet wound in his left shoulder.

"Where's Ellie?" Joel demanded.

"I don't know?" Matthew said, slightly concerned. He reached behind him and grabbed his backpack. "Did you check the roof of the house?"

Joel turned walked out of the barn without a word.

Behind him, Matthew tossed the ladder down and dropped to the floor. He joined Joel outside the barn.

Joel sighed in relief.

Ellie was sitting on the roof of the house, watching the sun rise. She had her guitar in her lap.

Matthew joined Joel and they started walking toward the house. "She must have had a nasty nightmare," the young man said casually as he pulled his hair into a ponytail. "She usually waits for me to wake up."

Joel glared at the boy but could find nothing to say.

Matthew checked his crossbow.

Joel looked up as Ellie turned and saw them. She turned away again, facing the sun.

Matthew winced as he placed his backpack around his shoulder.

Joel looked at him curiously.

Matthew smiled sheepishly. "My shoulder sometimes aches in the morning. It'll stop in a few hours."

"When did you get shot?" Joel asked, returning his gaze to Ellie.

Matthew clipped his crossbow to his waist. "April. Ellie and I attracted the attention of a military scout group. We managed to bluff our way into getting a ride."

Joel took out his weapon and ejected the clip before inserting it back into the gun. "Not a smart move to bluff your way into a ride with the military."

"Well, we were fine until they brought out the scanner," Matthew said rubbing his shoulder. "Still, I survived. Ellie's a pretty good doctor."

"Yeah, she is," Joel said without thinking. He shook his head and quickly changed the subject. "Was that the same truck that the two kids were driving?"

"It was an eventful couple of days," Matthew said. "Town from hell, the military, Tim and Clarisse, you…"

Joel turned quickly. "Exactly how much did Ellie tell you about me?"

"Not much," Matthew said.

Joel knew the boy was telling the truth.

Matthew waited for a moment and spoke slowly. "She traveled with you for a while. She trusted you. And at some point, she ended up hurt."

"Of course that's what she told you," Joel spat, turning away.

"I've had to piece most of it together myself," Matthew said passively. "Ellie can be a pretty private person. I think we keep the worst memories to ourselves."

Joel continued to walk, becoming uncomfortable with how the boy was reading into their lives.

"And all of us have things we want to hide," Matthew finished.

"For your sake," Joel said, stopping and turning to the boy again. "I would stay away from this subject."

"Yes, sir," Matthew said respectfully.

Ellie began to descend the roof.

"She admires you too," Matthew said from behind Joel. "I still see it."

Joel didn't reply.

The day grew hot as the sun rose. The trio stopped for lunch around midday.

Joel took out a map. "Alright. There's a town a few hours east of here. We should resupply there and make camp for the night."

Matthew shifted uncomfortably.

"Is there a problem?" Joel asked.

Matthew shook his head. "Not if it's the best move."

"After tonight, we'll have to go slower," Joel finished.

Ellie looked at the map. "That's a lot of open terrain," she argued. "What's the issue?"

"It could be clear, or it could be overrun with Infected," Joel explained. "The last time I went through there, it was with a large group of people. Unfortunately, we were joined by another large group. Some of them were infected. When they turned, twelve people were killed. Everybody scattered. Not even a third of the group made it to the next zone."

"So basically, it could be filled with Bloaters," Matthew summarized.

"At least we can sneak around the bloaters," Ellie said, taking a drink of her water.

"It's not just Bloaters that we have to worry about," Joel interrupted, folding up the map. "There are always people traveling between the zones. We could have to deal with any number of threats."

"Then I guess we'll have to be careful," Ellie said simply.

Joel glanced at her and she shook her head, confirming that his grim assessment had done nothing to change her mind about Matthew's mission.

Ellie turned to Matthew again. "Is there a time limit on getting to Boston?"

"I doubt it," the boy replied.

Joel saw a faint trace of sadness in his eyes.

Ellie walked beside Joel as Matthew once again took the lead. She had cut the sleeves off her blue shirt to expose her shoulders.

Ellie rolled up the shirt slightly at the bottom, exposing the skin above her waist. It did little to prevent the constant sweating from her forehead. "I hate summers in Texas," she grumbled.

"You wore sweatshirts when it was hotter than this," Joel observed.

Ellie stopped and turned to him. "Your point being?"

"Don't you think your showing…" Joel stopped and lowered his voice. "A little too much… skin?"

Ellie glanced at Matthew and realized that Joel wasn't talking about her bite. As she and Joel continued walking, Ellie grabbed the bottom of her shirt and tugged it up, exposing the skin from her waist to just below her ribcage.

Joel looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

Ellie finished by tying the shirt in a tight knot and raised her eyebrows. "What do you think?" she asked with a stretch. "Better?"

Joel ran a hand down his face. We lived in Jackson for three years and I never had to deal with this crap. "Ellie…" he warned.

Ellie smiled cruelly and raised her voice. "Hey, Matthew."

Matthew turned around, saw Ellie, and cracked up laughing.

Ellie glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"That's… so not you," Matthew replied.

"You never me have any fun," Ellie muttered under her breath. She untied her shirt and tugged it down as Joel allowed a small look of relief.

They reached the town just before sundown. It was large and spread out. The houses had large yards and sidewalks. The business buildings were also spread out. There were not many corners or alleys for cover.

Ellie stood next to Joel. "Have you ever been here?" she asked.

"My grandparents lived here," Joel said. He glanced at Matthew, who stood a few feet away, taking deep breaths. Joel chose to ignore the boy. "I used to visit with Tommy. There's a lot of houses on the outskirts."

"What about libraries?" Ellie asked.

"There should be one on the edge of town, near the river. Why?"

"I finished my book this morning," Ellie answered, throwing a concerned look in Matthew's direction.

They came to a long street with multiple houses.

Joel pointed ahead of them. "Most people would have gone into the city for supplies," he said. "We should search these first. We may actually find something."

Ellie took out her bow. "I'll take the two down the street. You guys can handle these three." She winked at Matthew and walked away without a word.

Matthew shook his head. "I think she wants you to kill me," he said to Joel with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Twenty minutes later, Joel and Matthew were sitting on a patch of grass across the street from several houses, going through their findings. Matthew zipped up his backpack as they saw Ellie cross into another house.

Joel kept his eyes fixed every house that Ellie was in, gripping his gun tightly in his hand.

Matthew continued glancing around uncomfortably.

"Why don't you like going into towns and villages?" Joel asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I've seen enough despair in this world that I don't have to be reminded how it ended for…" the young man stopped. He took a breath. "Well, I don't need see how it ended for those who didn't make it."

"I didn't think things like that would bother you," Joel said, letting his weapon go limp in his hand. "You've been out here a long time."

"I'd hate to think of what kind of person I would be if nothing in this world bothered me," Matthew responded quietly. He looked at Joel. "But then again, if I was that way, you and Ellie wouldn't trust me."

"I don't trust you," Joel growled. "I've made that pretty clear. I wouldn't put my life, or Ellie's, in your hands."

Matthew took the comment in stride and motioned to the house Ellie was just exiting. "She trusts you with her life," he said calmly. "She may not trust you with her feelings, but I'm not blinded to the fact that they exist."

"Her feelings aren't your concern," Joel said quietly.

"Sir, you seem to me as a threat," Matthew said, choosing his words carefully. He looked Joel in the eye. "Do you see me as a threat to her, or to you?"

Joel opened his mouth to reply when Ellie walked forward. She stopped in front of them. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Joel answered. "Let's get moving."