As the trio made their way through the swamp that had formed in front of the capitol, Joel conferred with Tess as to what they would do next.
"Tess, we need to be sure that Marlene'll holds up her end of the deal."
"She's got honor, Joel. We give her people the girl, she'll give us the guns."
"And how are you so sure?"
"We both know her, Joel. She doesn't give a damn what our kind does, so long as it doesn't get in the way."
Finally, they reached the large wooden doors that led inside. Despite being in serious need of some varnish, they looked as though 30-some years of disaster had not affected them one bit.
Tess took the lead. "Now remember, Joel, these folks are trigger-happy and they don't like to be spooked. So I need you on your best behavior. Don't insult them, and don't look them in the eye. I'll do the talking."
The doors swung open, a musty smell blew in their faces...and there was nothing but silence.
Because in the lobby, where there were supposed to be two dozen Fireflies armed to the teeth waiting for them, a whole bunch of corpses lying in their own blood greeted them instead.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Tess ran over to the nearest body and started searching it frantically.
"Tess, we're shit out of luck. Now can we go home, please?"
"You've gotta to be fucking kidding, Joel. We've come all this way, we're seeing this shit through."
"Tess, this is not our problem. We don't need to get involved in whatever the hell these idiots got themselves into."
"But, Joel..."
"It is over, Tess! Now, we tried our best. Let's just go home."
"And what about the girl, Joel? Are we just gonna leave her here?"
"Marlene can take her for all I care. We nearly lost our lives because of that bitch. And when I find her, she will give us our guns back, or so help me..."
Ellie spoke up. "Uh, guys?"
A loud, rumbling sound could be heard outside. Joel and Tess recognized it right away.
"Shit, it's FDRA!"
"Joel, we need to get her out of here."
"And then what, Tess?"
"We need a car. Bill'll have one."
"And how the hell do you know that?"
"He owes me for the last delivery. Now shut the hell up and let's get moving."
Racing upstairs, they could hear the commander ordering his men to bust down the doors. "Remember, men, no prisoners. Anything that moves that isn't us, shoot it."