Author's Note:

This is a cross-fiction of The Last of Us and the Avengers game, with Ellie as the lead character. I focus on character interaction, emotions, with a substantial amount of action and adventure. It's not done yet, but should end up upwards of fifteen chapters.

This is a continuation of my last work, Footsteps in the Snow. You can find the link here ([this website url]s/13712154/1/Footsteps-in-the-Snow), but also there is a summary below if you want the skinny.

Enjoy.

Footsteps in the Snow summary:

Immediately after TLOU2, Ellie spends a year wandering before returning to Jackson. Despite her pain, she's resolved that her last purpose is to seek out the Fireflies and see if a cure can still be made with her as a subject, even if it costs her her life. Dina, now married to a man named Dale, discourages Ellie from going again, but she is determined. At Maria's urging, Ellie takes a younger patroller, Clint, with her.

The two develop a tentative friendship, but when Ellie discovers that Clint has developed feelings for her, she attempts to leave him. He catches up with her, and after a turbulent argument, she accepts the unconventional friendship and they continue on. As they travel, Ellie is dealt more emotional blows due to the violent nature of the world they live in. At one point, she leaves Clint behind. He succeeds in tracking her down to an isolated cave on a mountainside. Inexplicably, Ellie shoots Clint, but his intervention causes her to bring him back to the others they were traveling with, and after that, to continue their journey.

A few close calls take them across the Western United States, and eventually to Catalina, where Ellie runs into Abby again. With some urging, they exchange forgiveness with each other, managing to establish a neutral relationship.

From there, Ellie is taken by the Fireflies to Sacramento, where doctors from across the Pacific in Japan work with the Fireflies and Ellie. Despite Ellie's long held fear, it turns out the doctors do not need to kill her to make a cure. Once the first newly-infected subject survives as a result of the prototypical cure, himself becoming immune, Ellie is allowed to go. Surprising Ellie, Abby requests that she and Lev be allowed to come with her back to Jackson, purportedly for Lev's benefit, so he be allowed to enjoy a more peaceful, civilian life somewhere safe.

Clint is killed on the way back to Jackson during an ambush. Back in Jackson, Ellie finally opens herself up to the support she needed all along from Dina, Maria, and others. Abby and Lev make peace with Dina, and begin to adapt to Jackson life. Maedlyn—a southern charmer Ellie had encountered on her last visit to Jackson—forgives Ellie for choosing her foolhardy mission over her, and a romance buds between them.

Finally, there is a small attack outside Jackson, and May, Clint's last and closest relation alive, is bitten and infected. Ellie is distraught, and arrives at the medical wing to discover that, due to the arrival of the first shipment of the cure from Sacramento, May was able to survive. Heartened and hope renewed, Ellie promises Clint's memory and the universe that she's not going to give up on life yet.

Ellie nestles further into the pillow, the fabric under her face still cool from the morning air. The room is slowly growing brighter, but she's tucked under warm covers in a soft bed, experiencing sublime comfort.

Normally she'd be up by now, but it's her day off and sleeping in is one of her favorite hobbies. She smiles, exhaling slowly in satisfaction.

A finger jabs her back.

The smile fades and she grunts.

The finger jabs her again.

"Mm mm," she denies.

The finger starts tracing circles on her back. Ellie pulls away from it.

"Lover…" comes a sing-song voice with a Southern twang.

Ellie grunts longer.

The voice breaks out into full, soft singing. "Lover, where's my lover, I can't find her, in this bed…"

It's one of Maedlyn's favorite songs.

"Sleeping," Ellie replies gravely.

"Sleeping people don't talk."

"No, they don't," Ellie agrees.

"But how can I sleep when you're in front of me all enticing like that?"

Ellie doesn't even summon the energy to respond, she just kind of mumbles hummingly.

It's quiet for a moment. Maedlyn's going to start getting grumpy.

"My hair's down," she points out, "you can't say no to me."

"I can't see it," says Ellie.

There's a rustling and a mass of hair falls over Ellie's face. They lay like that for a moment.

"I'm going to strangle you," says Ellie.

"Well, that's unladylike—"

But Ellie is getting up and coming for her.

"Oh shit!" says Maedlyn, trying vainly to evade.

Ellie grabs her around the middle and pulls her in before she can jump out of the bed. Ellie sinks her teeth into her waist like she likes and Maedlyn positively squeals.

With a little wriggling, Maedlyn manages to get free and skips across her little one room apartment, almost stumbling and bumping back against the kitchen counter, facing Ellie. She covers her naked body with false modesty.

"That you would handle a lady in such a fashion," she accuses.

Ellie is sitting at the edge of the bed now, having accepted Maedlyn's victory in waking her. "You say that like you wouldn't be more upset if I didn't."

"Hmm, well…"

Maedlyn's body is positively glowing in the sunlight from the second story window. She'd not said what she'd said about her hair being down for no reason. It's a bright strawberry red, wavy after washing, but she always straightens it. It's wavy now, running over her pale, freckled shoulders. She's wearing her permanent mischievous smile, turning back and forth just slightly, watching Ellie.

Ellie's cheeks are warm. She's getting that drunken feeling from taking Maedlyn in, and that never escapes Maedlyn's notice. The redheaded girl giggles.

"Eyes closed now," chides Maedlyn, as if it would be inappropriate for Ellie to see her nude.

"Seriously—"

"Eyes closed!"

Ellie sighs and closes her eyes. Maedlyn once said if Ellie cares for her games at all, she'd better continue to play them.

There are footsteps and the sound of Maedlyn dressing herself. "Time to get up, now. Sun's up and there's things to do."

"Things?" says Ellie. "What things? Breakfast things?" She perks up.

"Oh, I imagine, but we mustn't eat before the girls!"

Ellie exhales in exasperation. "Oh, not the girls!"

"Don't say that like you don't love them. You can open now."

Maedlyn's all the way decent, slipped into her purple checkered dress. Ellie loves that one. She's tied her hair up expertly as usual, to Ellie's disappointment.

"How can you taunt me with your hair and not let me kiss it!"

Maedlyn giggles. "I'll let you kiss it later, I promise."

Ellie gets up casually then steps forward and gets her arms around Maedlyn's waist again.

"No!" Maedlyn shouts as if in protest.

Ellie plants several little kisses into her hair above her ears and lets her go. She smells divine.

Maedlyn retreats a couple steps and straightens herself up. "That's enough for now. Are you going to dress?"

"Nah," says Ellie, "think I'll go out like this." She reaches down and grabs her underwear. She pulls it on and the oval mirror on Maedlyn's wall catches her eye. She takes a look at herself.

No bags under her green eyes, that's good. Her shoulder length brownish auburn hair looks pretty good, too. She hasn't shampooed it in a couple days and it's got a nice sheen. Bit of a cow lick on the left side from sleep, though. She plays with it a little to no avail. She bites her lip. A ponytail would solve that but it's never been her look. Fuck it. She checks for the little scars that trace her face. Yep, still there.

Maedlyn comes up behind her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and resting her cheek on one. She gazes at Ellie's reflection along with her, and now she's the one with the dreamy look.

"Mm, really netted me a looker, didn't I?"

"Oh, stop."

"Mama says I've done very well."

"Okay, seriously," says Ellie, pulling her arm off her.

Maedlyn smiles. "Hurry, now. I've got all day with you and I don't want to waste it."

"Remember I have that thing with Abby today."

"Huh? Oh my god, you're talking about that nonsense, aren't you?"

"We don't know it's nonsense yet." Ellie pulls her jeans up.

"Are you kidding? What was it? Flashing lights in the forest? Oh!" says Maedlyn, filling a bucket with water from the faucet. "Perhaps it's aliens! You'd love that."

Ellie shoots her a look. "Maybe it is. Better hope I don't get abducted."

"Oh, don't even say that."

Maedlyn lugs the filled bucket out of the sink. "Well, let's not keep the girls waiting!"

When Maedlyn first told Ellie she'd wanted 'girls,' Ellie had scoffed.

"Dude, do you know how bad chickens stink?"

Maedlyn had shot her a look at that. "Ellie, you do recall I grew up in a farming village."

"Alright, what's so great about chickens?"

Maedlyn was nonplussed. "Ellie, that's like asking what's so great about friends. They're cute, they're fun, they're lovable, and they lay eggs!"

Ellie told her she'd need to be convinced of that.

Maedlyn's little apartment had no yard for chickens, but behind her place there's a longer one room building that an old widower, Taylor Lockridge, lives in. Maedlyn's convincing at the worst of times, but Taylor had been all too eager to agree to let her roost some on his flat roof. God help him, he loves them, too.

And what had this meant for Ellie? A month and a half of work. She'd built an entire wooden staircase, with Abby's help, to allow for hauling things up and down from the roof. She'd fenced the edges of the roof on all sides to prevent the birds from falling off. She'd built a massive coop since Maedlyn wanted no less than eight chickens.

"They need to socialize!"

And she'd hauled bag, after bag, after bag of earth and straw up there to make it a suitable henyard. To say nothing of watering and feeding them. But Maedlyn handles most of that. And she'd paid for Ellie's labors with countless requested meals, which, if Ellie were being honest, suited her well enough.

Abby had shared that benefit, spending many volunteer hours helping Ellie. It turns out she'd learned some construction fundamentals in the Fireflies that came in real handy. Ellie's pretty sure she would have screwed up the stairs without her.

Maedlyn hauls the bucket of water up the stairs in front of Ellie, opening the wood and chicken-wire gate with her free hand.

"Mommy's home!" she coos to the birds, which flock to her with a chorus of excited clucks.

Ellie smiles, shaking her head ruefully. She walks past where Maedlyn is crouched down, hands out to all the chickens greeting her. Ellie opens the cabinet she'd had to redesign twice to successfully keep the chickens from trying to peck their way into where the feed is kept. She pulls out a canvas sack.

Most of the chickens, eager for breakfast, head her way. They're up to ten, now. They'd lost one to disease, poor Paula. But none to hawks, an inevitable event that Ellie routinely fears since it will almost certainly result in Ellie somehow having to construct a roof over the whole blasted thing.

Ellie grabs a handful of mixed grains and begins strewing it about the area. As they turn about and start pecking away, Ellie looks them over with careful eyes. They get along for the most part, but there are fights now and then, and sometimes they inflict little wounds on each other's necks and rumps. She shoots a look at Henrietta, a Rhode Island Red that fancies herself the queen of the coop. She's a bit of a bitch. But for the most part they all look intact today.

Ellie stops. One of the chickens isn't really eating, only pecking her or there. She frowns. They're keen after the birds' behavior since chickens fall ill very quickly. It's Lucy, the plump Orpington with the golden plumage. She keeps looking up at Ellie instead of eating. Ellie squats down.

"What's wrong, girl?"

Lucy swivels her head a few times, then flaps her wings and jumps at Ellie.

It surprises Ellie and she nearly falls over, but Lucy just lands in her lap. She sits herself down and leans into Ellie's belly.

"Oh, did you miss me?" Ellie scratches that spot under her neck that she likes. She makes clucking sounds of satisfaction. "I'm sorry, I've been working…"

Maedlyn's giving Ellie this infuriating smile. Ellie looks back in a way that says don't push it.

Ellie tends to Lucy for a couple minutes then picks her back up and puts her down, where she seems content to begin gorging herself as well. She's a champion egg layer.

Ellie puts the food back and locks it. She walks toward Maedlyn, on the way pointing a finger at Henrietta. "Don't fuck with Lucy, or you're gonna be cordon bleu."

Maedlyn's wearing a beam of unabated happiness, squatting and leaning against the coop with Charlotte in her lap, a handsome Plymouth Rock with a stark rippling of black and white plumage.

"I told you you'd love them…" Maedlyn teases.

"Some of them," Ellie replies.

Maedlyn's smile fades a bit. "When did you say you had that thing with Abby?"

"I said about nine, I don't know—"

Ellie stops because as she looks down the stairs, Abby's right there in her gear.

Ellie's not used to looking down at Abby. She's managed to regrow her thin, blonde braid to about shoulder blade length. She's wearing a snug gray t-shirt and dark cargo pants. Jesus, if anything she's still getting buffer. The Fireflies military training really put some kind of discipline into her. She teases Ellie about lifting weights with her sometime, but Ellie just replies that she's good where she's at.

She's come a long way from how she looked when Ellie found her on that beach, dying on a beam in a field of condemned corpses. Jackson has been good for her; she looks hale. Something of that day never quite left her, though. Ellie can still see it, when she looks close. Something around the eyes. But she's never said it, not even to Abby.

Abby's blue eyes carry a certain sardonicism that Ellie suspects she gets more of than other people. "For the record," says Abby, "it's almost nine thirty. I came by later because I knew you'd sleep in."

"Not as long as I wanted…" Ellie shoots a glance back but Maedlyn is unsympathetic. "Alright, let me get my gear."

Maedlyn pops up, still holding Charlotte. "Hi, Abby! Did you want to come up and see the girls?"

"Uh," Abby hesitates. "I would, really, but uh… these are new boots."

"Oh, psh," replies Maedlyn. "How long you gonna keep me from El?"

"Well," says Abby, "it's really how long is Ellie gonna keep me from Lev, we're supposed to go hiking later. This is all Ellie's idea."

"Yeah," says Maedlyn, "sure sounds like one. You guys gonna go catch some aliens?"

Abby's eyes widen. "Aliens?" She looks at Ellie. "That's what you think, now?"

"I never said that," says Ellie, reaching the bottom of the stairs and heading back toward Maedlyn's. "She came up with that."

"Still, that's pretty good." Abby shoots Maedlyn a look. "Sure you don't want to come? This could be first contact."

Maedlyn laughs.

"Seriously, probably a couple hours to Mission Ridge and back," says Abby.

The conversation continues but Ellie can hear it as she climbs the steps back to Maedlyn's. It's cool, but her short sleeve button down, undershirt and jeans will do fine. She checks her pack for supplies and it's topped up. She holsters her pistol—with the fine, lacquered wood and brass patterned grip Maedlyn gifted her—and magnum on the other hip. Her shotgun is at her place but she wouldn't bring that anyway. It's in all likelihood unnecessary and it would just make Maedlyn nervous. She does throw her bow over her shoulder though.

When she gets back they're talking about Lev and Wendy.

"Oh," says Abby, "the two are basically inseparable these days. She's over all the time."

"Too much?" Maedlyn asks.

"No," says Abby, struggling with it a little. "No. She's very talkative, though."

"Hmm, maybe y'all should have dinner at my Mama's place sometime."

"That sounds nice."

"Oh, you definitely should, then. She adores company. She'd probably have Ellie and me five days a week if she could."

There's a lull and they both look at Ellie, who's just standing there. There's an awkward moment. "It's true," says Ellie. She smacks Abby's shoulder. "Ready to rock?"

Abby cocks an eyebrow. "Well, who are you talking to?" she says as if that answers the question. She turns and starts walking in the direction of the stable.

"Bye, love!" calls Maedlyn. "Be back soon!"

"Bye, babe," Ellie replies over her shoulder as she follows Abby.

The trees of the Jackson highlands rock gently in the breeze. It's grown warmer, but the shade makes for comfortable weather. The sky is a bright blue.

Ellie rocks gently on Starbeam's back. The trail is wide here, and Abby rides in parallel with her on her horse Wendy, not to be confused with Lev's girlfriend. They haven't said anything in a while. It's pleasant, but Ellie decides to break the silence.

She breaks out into a jaunty whistle in the tune of an old country song. She glances about, carefree and satisfied.

Abby looks over at her sharply as soon as she starts whistling, like Ellie knew she would. She doesn't have to look to know Abby's eyebrow is cocked, jaw muscles tight.

Ellie looks her way casually, and stops whistling as if surprised at her expression. "What's wrong? You don't like that one? What about Bob Dylan? I could do that."

It's a pretty good act if Ellie says so herself, but Abby is unamused. She just rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "And I was the one who recommended you take patrol lead."

"What's the problem? People love getting me as partner."

"Okay, Ellie, very funny. Whistling? Seriously? Do you even know the last time this area was cleared?"

"Yeah, six days ago. Come on, patrol is borderline boring these days."

"Boring?" Abby says a little loudly.

"Alright, alright," says Ellie, waving her hand, "I know. Come on, you know me. Head on a swivel, all that. I'm not gonna get caught by surprise. Someone's gotta keep the mood up, though, right?"

Abby's not arguing, but her eyebrow is still cocked. "I thought it was fine."

"Come on! We're not on patrol, this is for fun."

Abby doesn't look convinced.

"Look," says Ellie, "you play the stoic soldier, and I tell funny jokes. I balance us out."

"So funny."

"Yeah! Hey, why does the scuba diver like to swim with dolphins?"

Abby offers a long sigh, but she actually thinks about it. "Because it's easier than playing volleyball with them?"

"Eh, not bad," says Ellie. She leans in for emphasis. "Because it makes him feel like he has a porpoise."

Abby starts to shake her head ruefully but then a laugh escapes her. "That is so god damn dumb."

"I know, it's great!"

"Kind of messed up, too. It's like, existential."

"Yeah, that's why I like it."

Quiet resumes and it's just the sound of the horses' hooves on packed earth.

Ellie has a stoic side, too, but she meant what she said. They do kind of balance each other out. Abby's reliable, but not much of a joker. And a motherfucker in a fight. Between the two of them, Ellie's hard pressed to imagine a likely threat they couldn't handle. As a matter of fact, if things were to go sideways, she's not sure there's a person she'd rather have by her side.

Except maybe Clint. Or Jesse.

Or Joel.

An old, familiar blanket of feeling settles over her shoulders, and she no longer feels like whistling. The features on her face fall, especially around her eyes, but she keeps up the veneer of a smile. She's gotten a lot of practice in town.

Seeming to sense something, Abby glances her way. "What's up?"

Ellie was hoping she wouldn't notice. She just shakes her head.

It's been a while now since she's cried. Maybe it means she's due. But she's not going to cry in front of Abby. For both their sakes.

"I'll give it to you," says Abby, "the balance thing."

"Huh?" says Ellie. She expected the conversation to be over.

Abby's watching the road. She screws up her lips for a second, like she does when she doesn't want to say something but she's using her willpower. "Back in Seattle, when I was new, I tried to fly under the radar for a long time. I didn't want… I didn't want to be seen, I just wanted a job, food, and a place to sleep. And Owen, and the others. I got away with it, for a while.

"For a long time I bunked with Leah, which was fine. Then after a mission went sideways I—" Abby winces subtly, "I caught Isaac's eye. After that he had a say in everything I did. And one of the first things he did was bunk me with Manny."

"With a dude?" Ellie asks.

Abby looks her way, brow furrowed, face solemn.

Ellie shrinks inside, memories of that winter in Seattle washing over her for the thousandth time. She hadn't killed Manny. Tommy had, though. Abby had told her.

"With a friend," says Abby. "You never knew him. He was a bastard in a fight, but on every other occasion he was a real joker. Charming. Isaac said I needed a 'counterbalance.' That's literally how he put it. And he was right. If it weren't for Manny, I'd have only grown more cynical with time, I think. He was an optimist, despite what he'd tell you. Drove me up the wall…"

Abby doesn't speak for a few moments and Ellie realizes she's lost in thought. Probably thinking about her old friends. And better times. Ellie winces, pinching her eyes shut and shaking away thoughts.

"You know," Abby continues, "the first time I laid eyes on Jackson, I was stunned."

Ellie's brow twitches. This is the part of the story that haunts her. The part where Abby kills Joel. And Abby knows it. She moves along quickly.

"I never had anything against the city. Maybe that's a useless thing to say…" Abby runs a thumb over her lips, clearly nervous. "Anyway, I… I just thought it was amazing what you guys had built down there. The size. The security. And after you told me about it, in Sacramento… It sounded like a place you could build a home. A real home, like people deserve. And I wanted that, for Lev."

"Just Lev?" Ellie asks.

Abby glances her way sharply, that old, vulnerable look on her face that she'd get any time their shared past came up. But Ellie's eyes aren't judgmental. She's past that. She waits.

"No," Abby admits. "I wanted that for me, too. The Fireflies changed for me, after..." She stares in one direction for a few moments, surely thinking of her dad, who Joel had killed. "Anyway, I fulfilled my promise, and I was ready to go. Ready to put that life down. Only thing is, of all people, you were my ticket to what felt like next."

Ellie shakes her head performatively. "Imagine that."

Abby scoffs. "I was sure you—you and me, was going to be the biggest obstacle. I had this image of you in my head—"

Against her will, Ellie is back in that theater basement, clutching her shotgun in bloodied hands, lips peeled back over clenched teeth, ready any second to blast Abby's guts open to the air. She winces and turns away.

"I don't know," Abby continues without paying notice, "I guess I thought I knew you. But lo and behold, who do I find myself travelling with, but a scrappy… competent… level headed…" She screws up her lips again, looking for words. "Wisecracking goofball of a leader, who wouldn't shy from danger at my expense—"

Abby stops suddenly. She's stiff, looking down the road, awkwardly trying to look natural.

Did you say too much? Ellie doesn't even try to hide her smile, Abby's too embarrassed to look at her. She decides to take it a step further. "You know, that was almost—"

"And Isaac was right," Abby interrupts swiftly, "God help me for saying it. But I could use a counterbalance. And you're good for that. And that's it, I'm not saying anything else."

Ellie snorts. "Okay." She can't help but smile. Abby's not one to talk for lengths of time. A flash of color catches Ellie's eye, and she turns to see a bluebird land on a nearby fir branch, surveying them. Just like that, Seattle and every blood tinged memory with it sinks back into the past. "I'll take it."

They ride on in silence for another ten minutes before they enter the area known as Mission Ridge, where Tyler swears he saw some impossible shit on patrol not long back. Colored, flashing lights. Now, Ellie thought it was as ridiculous as everyone else, but she likes to think she can tell when a person's lying, and he wasn't. And if that's the case, she had to see it for herself. Maybe it's some really rare natural phenomenon, like the northern lights or something.

Or maybe it's aliens.

Ellie smiles at the girlish fantasy. It sounds ridiculous, but that's what makes it interesting, right?

They continue riding for a while, but to Ellie's disappointment, no such phenomenon manifests itself.

"Ellie," says Abby.

Ellie glances her way.

"I'm beginning to think that Earl may have been right, and Tyler was just getting stoned on patrol again."

"Dude, A, Tyler's not that dumb. And B, that's not how weed works. Hallucinations and stuff. He saw something, and I—"

At the same time they hear a distant sound, like electrical arcing, and they instantly fall silent.

They gently pull the reins automatically, and their mounts stop. The horses' ears are twitching. They heard it, too, and it's clearly making them nervous.

"Ellie." Abby's brow is furrowed, eyes focused.

"Yeah?" Ellie is wearing a similar expression.

"You heard that, too."

"Yeah."

"Any operating theories on what that was?"

"None."

"I don't like that at all."

"Let's keep going," says Ellie.

Abby looks at her sharply, but doesn't say anything. Ellie snaps the reins and Starbeam resumes walking, ears still twitching. Abby follows suit.

Maybe fifteen seconds later it happens again. It's a loud zapping sound, but it's still fairly distant.

This time Abby pulls up, but Ellie keeps going.

"Ellie!" Abby calls.

Ellie looks over her shoulder.

Abby struggles for a second. "Why are you still going? What the fuck are we walking into?"

"I don't know, Abby, but it's our job to find out."

Teeth clenched, Abby exhales in aggravation, but snaps the reins, causing Wendy to continue walking.

After another hundred or so feet, they reach a break in the trees. The trail drops off to the right in a mid-grade, rocky slope, with scrubby bushes dotted along it. It goes down a couple hundred feet to where the tree line resumes. The forest stretches on to Arthur's and Howe's peaks in the distance. It's familiar country, it looks like the rest of the Jackson area. Nothing looks out of place.

"It was coming from around here, I think," says Ellie.

About a second later, fifty feet down the slope, there's a bright flash of many-colored light, and a zapping sound much louder than before.

"Shit!" curses Abby.

"Whoa!" shouts Ellie.

Both horses start and begin prancing nervously.

"Come on!" Abby shouts. She whips the reins and Wendy pulls into a gallup and Starbeam follows suit automatically as they race back down the trail.

They go maybe five hundred feet before Ellie pulls up. Abby notices and slows Wendy, bringing her back around. "Ellie, what are you doing?"

Ellie climbs off of Starbeam.

"Ellie!"

She knew Abby was going to protest, but she's of one mind about this. "We can't let the horses get spooked, but I need a closer look. I'm going on foot."

"The fuck you are!"

"Abby, we can't go back without knowing more. We don't know what that was, it could be a threat to Jackson."

"A threat to—" Abby cuts herself off, turning her head. "Don't use your job as an excuse for curiosity. Ellie, we don't know what that was, it could be dangerous!"

"Look, one more look, and we can go back. I won't get close, I'll stay on the trail." With that, Ellie turns and starts walking.

Abby curses under her breath and climbs off of Wendy.

The horses don't seem too happy about the arrangement, but just about nothing is going to keep Ellie from seeing that at least one more time.

Abby is still grumbling when she catches up to Ellie. She's simmering, but she doesn't say anything for almost a minute. Finally she spits something out.

"Ellie, has anything you've ever heard of served as some kind of explanation for what we just saw?"

Ellie thinks about it, and the answer is essentially no. Then she thinks of the cheeky response and bites it back.

"And if you say aliens," says Abby, "I'm gonna deck you."

"No, Abby," says Ellie, "and I'll give it to you, I am curious. I won't get close. From the sounds we heard, it seems to be centered in that area. For a second I was worried about fire, but there weren't any scorch marks, so I don't know. Everything looked normal. Maybe there's no physical effect."

"Yeah, you say that, until we find out years later that it gave us cancer or something."

"Abby, I get it, but you're being a little alarmist here."

"Oh, ho ho ho," says Abby, grimacing, "do not test me right now."

They reach the ridge where they saw it the first time. It hasn't sounded since the last time.

"I think it—" Ellie starts.

There's another many-colored flash down the slope accompanied by the same sound. They freeze. It lasts for a little over a second in total. It's in a different spot from last time. There's a bush in that spot, and after it's over, the bush rustles for a moment, but that's all.

The wind blows up the hillside with a barely audible moan.

"There's your physical effect," says Abby.

"I mean, I guess, yeah. Didn't seem to do anything, though. Like the wind hit it. What determines how it happens? It's like random."

"Honestly, thinking about it is just making me want to grab you and run."

"Maybe it's just something that happens. Like a rare natural event."

"Then why have I never heard of it?"

"Yeah… seems more likely it's a machine or something. But what the hell kind of tech is that? And what for? Who could make something like that?"

"You know what, Ellie," says Abby, pointing, "I'm looking at that bush. It looks like a chunk was taken out of it. I'm wondering if—Ellie?"

Ellie looks up.

Abby's eyes go wide. "Ellie?!"

Then everything is light and color, there's a blaring zapping sound that hurts her ears, and gravity goes and flips on her.

It's black, and she's falling. She screams and it doesn't make any sound. She can't breathe.

Then there's more light and color, a rush of air, and she falls face first into dry dirt.

She spits, sucking in air and choking as she got some dirt in her mouth. She coughs a few times, spitting dust out of her mouth and pushing herself up off the ground. She's dizzy. Her hands are trembling. She gets up to all fours. She stays like that for a few moments, just breathing and getting her center of gravity back. Then she starts laughing.

"Holy shit." She rubs the dirt from her nose with her wrist. "Holy shit, Abby, what did that look like?"

But when she looks up, she's not in Wyoming.

All around her is red, dusty earth. There are buttes in the distance. It's all desert.

"Abby?" Ellie calls in a smaller, very different voice.

She climbs to her feet, stumbling a bit on the way. Her hands are still shaking.

This time, her voice breaks. "Abby?"

She looks around. There's a drop off of some kind not far from her, but other than that there's nothing. Not a soul. A chill goes through her.

The sun is hot but she wraps her arms around herself. This can't happen. This isn't real. This isn't real because this can't happen.

Her breathing is accelerating. She desperately needs to figure out what just happened, and she desperately doesn't want to accept that it happened at all.

"Abby?" she pleads.

She's tearing up. A quivery, fearful sound escapes her parted lips. Her cheek muscles are tight.

She's in danger of hyperventilating. There's a boulder nearby. She walks over to it and sits down against it in the shade. She tries to slow her breathing.

This is fucked up. She really fucked up. She should have listened to Abby. Where is Abby? Did it get her? What did it do to her? Where is she? It looks like the American southwest. But again, that's impossible. It—

Then she hears it. A loud, accelerating mechanical whirring, followed by a familiar sounding zap.

She freezes. It came from over the cliff edge. She stares at it for a while.

Something else catches her eye. At first it looks like a little shrub or something, but there's something off about it. The roots are pointed up.

She realizes it's a chunk of brush that's been pulled off and dropped on the ground, upside down. It looks like that bush on the hillside. She blinks a few times.

Shaking less now, she unwraps her arms from herself. Cautiously, she climbs to her feet, and approaches the cliff. When she sees what's on the other side, her body seizes up.

In a basin maybe a hundred feet below her, there's a sizable complex of high-tech steel buildings. Forklift-like vehicles move between them, and there are many people moving around working and standing guard. It's mostly smaller buildings, but there's a larger central one, topped by a tower—or, it's like a tower, but it almost looks like a machine itself. There are humongous cables running up and down it, along with four big spires of conductive-looking metal in the corners. She can't imagine what it—

The sound of heavy machinery begins to rumble from the tower. There's a crackling sound as electricity begins to arc from the metal spires. A light appears in the empty space between them, growing intensity and of many colors. There's a zapping sound and it peaks, then it disappears. The machinery spins back down.

Ellie stares for a few more seconds, then goes back to her rock for a while.

She doesn't have to dwell long on the coincidence. But it still doesn't make sense.

She just sits there for a while. At one point she notes that she should have some water. She takes out her canteen and takes a few sips, then puts it away. Then, she hears new sounds.

Something is approaching. She quickly and quietly hides behind the boulder, peeking out from her cover.

There are what sound like footfalls, but also the sounds of machinery. Eventually, it appears from behind some standing rocks fifty or so feet away.

At first she thinks it's a person wearing armor, but as it gets closer she can see the details. It's humanoid, but entirely metal. There are pistons and springs in its metal-plated legs. It's painted yellow and black. It has a face, but its eyes are soulless, its mouth unmoving. It moves like a human, but more stiffly.

It walks up to the chunk of bush. It stares at it for a second, then bends down and picks it up. It stands up, then looks around. It stares for a set period of time in one direction, turns fifteen degrees or so, and repeats. Ellie makes sure she's completely concealed when it looks her way.

Once it seems satisfied, it turns and starts walking back the way it came with the bush in hand.

After it's gone, Ellie moves back into the shaded side of the rock, sits down, and starts to think.

The first thing she thought when she saw it was android, but that's only because of her inner sci-fi geek. But that's not what it was. Androids are robots with human-like intelligence. That wasn't an android, it was just a robot. And not particularly smart. Like maybe look behind the rock that's blocking your vision? But as far as she knows, it was still more advanced than anything they had pre-outbreak.

The tower is making the lights. The lights brought her and the bush here. The robot came to collect the bush. But she's not so easily collected.

Since the moments she arrived here, the terror of her finally-arrived insanity had been swelling until her head felt like it was going to burst. Only now, the pressure was starting to wane under the influence of observable cause and effect. This is starting to make a sense that she doesn't like, but it's a sense nonetheless. She just sits there for a while, digesting her situation.

The day isn't getting any cooler, she doesn't have unlimited water, and she arrives at the point where she needs to make a decision.

Walk out into the endless desert, or investigate the complex for answers.

She gets up and starts walking to where the robot came from.

It makes human enough footprints and she follows them. The ground slopes downward slightly. There are some vertical rock formations, but eventually she sees where the ground slopes down more steeply between two rock walls. It must lead to the basin below.

She creeps along one of the cliff walls until she sees what she fears. Peering around the ruddy rock, she sees two more robots standing vigilant at the entrance to the basin, both carrying futuristic rifle-type weapons. She has no idea what they're capable of and she has no interest in a fight at the moment. She screws up her lips. Getting in might be more difficult than she'd hoped.

Then, suddenly, they turn as one and simply walk away.

She frowns. That's pretty un-guardlike. But no other robots appear. She knows an opportunity when she sees it, and she advances.

As she gets closer she can see more of the complex. The guards are moving toward a mid-size building maybe fifty feet from the basin entrance, on the right. There's a small building maybe thirty feet the other way. There aren't many more robots around, she could probably get to it.

She makes the decision and lopes silently to the building on the left, closing the distance and crouching behind it. The doors to the other building open automatically, and the guards walk in. The doors close behind them. Moments later, they open again, and two more robots walk out. They walk at a casual pace back to the basin entrance, where they resume the stance of those they just relieved.

For a super future sci-fi operation, that was a pretty shit changing of the guard.

Ellie creeps to the other side of the building and peers out.

There are maybe a dozen more robots in view, carrying boxes and servicing machinery. Every building, corridor, pylon, seems to be invested with substantial tech. Panels open to expose heavy cords and circuitry. But unlike most of the old technology Ellie has seen, it all seems to be newly made and in working order.

Someone extremely powerful is running this operation.

She knows her skills, though, and she starts the infiltration.

There are plenty of pallets and stacked up equipment to hide behind. Incrementally, she creeps from one to the other, on her way to a wide garage-like opening that leads into the main building with the tower.

She spends a good amount of time waiting for her openings. The creepy robots are predictable enough. It would go a lot faster if she could ice them. It would be easy enough to sneak up on them, but she doesn't know how to disable them, or if she even can. She has to assume they're deadly. The guards are all carrying gnarly looking weapons, and she really wouldn't mind getting her hands on one, but again, she's not looking for a fight.

Finally she's on the last stretch to the bigger building. The garage has some vehicles in it, but between them, near the back, she can see a person wearing a lab coat. A real person. That's where it's going to get trickier.

One of the robots comes back to the pallet in front of her on its circular route, bends down, picks up another box, turns and continues walking. That's her cue.

She creeps the last twenty feet and slips into the garage. There are some overhead lights but the lighting is dim overall. There are huge, six wheeled APC looking vehicles that embarrass the heavy vehicles that FEDRA is fond of. She moves between them easily enough. At the moment, the garage seems to be empty. She sees the door that guy went through. She approaches it, listening.

She can hear distant voices, but none just on the other side of the door. It doesn't have any handles. She doesn't see any opening devices. She moves in front of it.

It opens automatically with a whoosh of hydraulics. She freezes up, but there's no one in sight.

There's a short corridor with two doors on the left, one on the right, and double doors at the end. The voices are on the other side of the double doors, and still not close. The doors have placards next to them. The one on the right says Locker Room. The first on the left reads Storage, Processing and Secondary Lab. The second reads Admin, Clerical, and Primary Lab. The double doors say Iterative Lab Delta. She steps in front of the Storage door. There's a panel next to it that flashes red. 'Credentials not met.'

She tenses up again but there's no apparent alarm.

She stops and takes stock. This is fucking insane.

Still.

She turns to the locker room.

This door opens and it's quiet inside. Even the lockers have electronic displays on them, Jesus. She reads the first one. Sanchez, Anissa. Geneticist Level Two.

Fucking Geneticist? Really?

This has a regular handle and she pulls it. It opens. There are a few coats and some gear inside. She feels them over and finds something in one of the breast pockets. It's a badge, with the face of a thirty something blonde woman with glasses.

She takes it and pockets it. It's still quiet in this area and she's on a lucky streak, but she can't count on that lasting. She walks back into the hallway in front of the Storage door. She reaches for the badge but she doesn't even need to, the door just opens. The panel reads 'Welcome back, Dr. Sanchez.' There's a longer, empty hallway. She keeps going.

There are a couple doors on the left and some stairs at the end. The first door reads Storage but she gets the credentials error again. She's a little surprised, but maybe only robots are allowed in storage. The second door says Processing and opens. It's still quiet, so she walks in.

This room is a doozy. It's fifteen feet wide and at least fifty feet long. There are low stairs to a platform with several consoles going all the way down the room. Behind the consoles are tall metal cabinets, more closed electrical panels, and large vessels housing some dense, blue gas.

Opposite the consoles, there are several chambers set into the opposite wall, one per console, it looks like. They're ten by twelve or so, and separated by full glass walls with doors in them.

Ellie inspects one of the consoles. There's a display with a yellow hexagon on it, and the letters AIM below it. There are several buttons and switches, but she dare not touch anything. She'll never figure out how to use it and it's liable to set off some kind of alarm.

She turns and inspects the large glass vial behind her.

Its contents are a deep, almost ocean blue. It swirls in slow, endless ripples. It's not a gas, she realizes, but some kind of vapor.

Now she walks up to the glass door. There's another display. She's never in her life used this kind of advanced tech. She's seen it in some of the FEDRA officer's hands and on their gear, but it's not for people like her. And not in Jackson. Still, it's easy enough. There's a few options, and a large circle that reads Open. She touches it.

The screen reads 'Out of process. Open for inspection?' She touches it again and the glass doors open smartly. She walks inside.

At first glance the chambers looked like jail cells, but that's not quite right. There are some panels in here and some ventilation equipment, but not much else. There are no consoles in the room, no furniture or tools or anything. She can't really figure what it's for.

She hears the door to the area open and she sucks in a breath. There's almost nowhere to hide. A panel juts out from the wall but it doesn't go all the way to the floor. She flattens herself behind it anyway.

Heavy, booted footsteps stride directly to the entrance to the chamber. They pause for a moment, then the panel sounds again and the doors slide shut.

"You can come out, now," says a male voice. "You're not very well hidden."

A terrible feeling settles over Ellie. She's flushing and there's a pit in her stomach. This is it, she's trapped. Which leaves exactly one option.

She steps out from behind the panel, pulls her magnum and shoots him.

The bullet bounces off the glass and around the chamber. Ellie flinches and ducks, but it doesn't strike her. It left only a little white mark on the glass.

At first he looks like a monster, then she realizes he's wearing a mask under his hood. It's of a white skull, its eyes vacant and black.

"You thought that would work?" the man asks. "Still, I'm impressed you made it all the way in here."

He's wearing combat gear. A white breastplate of some kind over a thick, synthetic material stretched over his muscular torso.

He reaches up, pulls back his hood and lifts the mask off his face. He's got short brown hair, lots of stubble, and an arrogant smirk. His face and arms are scarred.

His eyes, she knows. The eyes of a predator. Eyes that don't hesitate to kill.

He looks her up and down. "Who are you?"

She says nothing.

He inspects her more slowly. "Jeans and a t-shirt. Interesting spy getup. You cross the desert in that?"

She remains silent.

"How did you get here…?" His eyes narrow in consideration. Slowly, a smile curls his lips, along with a knowing look in his eyes that she doesn't like. He glances at her magnum.

"Nice piece, too. Classic. I see it's broken in."

She says nothing, eyes narrowing. She does not like the feeling this guy is giving her.

His smile grows. He's thinking something he's not saying. "And I think I might know what it's for."

He looks around the chamber she's trapped in. She's still clutching the magnum, waiting for him to open the door.

He seems to make a decision and walks up the short stairs in front of the console.

A voice comes over the radio.

"Tony, what's going on in there?"

"I found her. Spoilers, it wasn't Anissa."

"What?"

"Some kid broke in."

"The fuck did you say? Some kid? Is she inhuman? Avenger?"

"Nah." He's operating the console. "I think she's from out of town."

"What are you talking about? Out of town? This is a dark facility, so that—"

The voice stops abruptly.

"Tony." It must be his name. Tony doesn't respond. "Tony, are you suggesting what I think you are?"

Tony still doesn't respond. An unnatural, simulated female voice sounds from a speaker. "Processing engaged. Initiating."

"Tony, did I just hear—Tony, you're not thinking of—"

"Oh, I am."

"What the fuck, Tony! If what you're suggesting is true, she's the first one! You know Monica wouldn't approve of that!"

"Yeah," says Tony, "and I'm pretty sick of hearing what Monica approves of."

A chill is running down Ellie's spine. She hears machinery start turning in the wall. The vent kicks on and her eyes snap to it.

"I mean," says Tony, "she walked in there herself, she's practically asking for it."

Ellie runs forward and pounds on the glass with the butt of her magnum. She hits it three times, but it won't give.

"Let me out of here!" she shrieks.

"Tony, this is fucked!" says the voice on the radio.

"Really? Cause I think it's pretty interesting." He's still watching her with that same arrogant smirk. "Hey, kid. A lot of people would say I'm doing you a favor. So do me one back, won't you?"

Ellie sucks air in and out in rapid gasps.

"Tell me what Terrigen smells like? I've always wondered."

The vents vibrate and that dense blue vapor starts pouring out of them.

Ellie screams.

"Let me out! Let me out!" She's pounding on the glass.

In only moments the man's face disappears behind the blue vapor. She coughs. She can't help but breathe it. She tries to cover her mouth with her shirt, but it doesn't help.

Her knee gives out and she goes down, still coughing, lungs burning.

It smells like being electrocuted.

Everything goes dark.