(Three Years Ago)

It was midday, about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Also, it was Ellie and Enid's birthdays. They decided that they were gonna have their birthdays on the same day, even though Enid was a year older than Ellie was.

Ellie wore a light yellow tank top and jeans, and her auburn hair tied to a ponytail and had bangs by her head.

Enid wore a dark blue tank top with a black flannel with the sleeves rolled up with dark jeans that had tears in the knees. Her now brown hair was partly tied into a bun with some bangs tucked behind her ears and the hair on the back of her head.

They waited at their campsite in the woods not that far from Jackson while Joel went ahead of them.

Ellie had the guitar that Joel had given them, trying to play Future Days. But the chords sounded off.

"That's starting to sound like something," Joel said as he walked back over to the two girls. "Ugh, I suck," Ellie groaned, looking

"You're getting better at it, El. Personally, I think I'm way better," Enid boasted, who sat down next to Ellie.

"Yeah, right! When you play, you sound like a train that's going off the rails," Ellie said with a scoff.

"The hell I am!" Enid exclaimed, pushing Ellie a bit.

Joel smiled at their playful banter. "Nah, you two just gotta build up your calluses, that's all," he said.

Ellie glanced down at the guitar. "Yeah," she said with a nod.

Enid nodded too. They were gonna try to remember that.

They looked up at Joel with smiles on their faces. "So, what're we doing?" Enid asked, leaning forward.

Joel smiled at the two girls. "All right, c'mon," he said to them.

"This it?" Ellie said excitedly. "Yep," Joel replied. "Oh, shit!" Enid laughed, smiling as she stood up from the log.

Ellie set the guitar behind her and stood up with Enid. Both of them couldn't wait to find out what Joel had found for their birthday.

"We're gonna start guessing," Ellie said.

"You want to spoil your surprise now?" Joel asked them.

"Mmm, maybe. Can you give us a hint?" Enid asked, bouncing a bit in excitement.

"Nope," Joel said instantly. "Aw, c'mon!" Enid whined.

"Okay, is it… a dinosaur?" Ellie guessed. "Stop trying to guess, I ain't telling you two," Joel stubbornly said, walking over to them.

Ellie laughed at this. "Alright, alright. Is it… an elephant?" She asked.

Joel groaned begrudgingly, covering his face.

He knew that they weren't going to stop until they got their answer.

"Is it a convertible?" Ellie asked, holding her hands out a bit.

"You're not gonna guess," Joel said. Enid smirked in a cheeky way.

"Wanna bet? Is it a puppy?" She asked him.

I'm

"You mean a litter?" Joel said confused. However, it was both Ellie and Enid that were confused.

"What's a litter?" Ellie wondered. "Yeah, can't you just call them buncha kittens?" Enid added, trying to make sense of the word.

Neither of them hadn't ever heard that word, nor what it actually meant. They jogged over to Joel, ready to get this started.

"I don't know why– it's called a litter!" Joel exclaimed, turning and jogging in the direction they came from

"Psh, that's so dumb," Ellie said, sputtering her lips. "Whoever came up with that is pretty dumb actually," Enid agreed.

They walked down the trail, following Joel. "Maybe a hot air balloon?" Ellie asked.

"More walkin', less talkin'" Joel replied, stubbornly not giving away the surprise.

"If it was that, we'd have seen it," Enid said, remembering reading about them in Jackson's school.

"Yeah, guess that's true," Ellie said with a shrug.

They walked down a small hill, and walked through two tall trees.

Joel stopped when they reached a rocky ledge that was blocked by a tree. He pushed the tree out of their path. Ellie and Enid start to shimmy their way across.

"Mind your steps," he tells them. "We got it," Ellie said as they shimmied.

As they almost made it, Joel extended his arm and pushed them into the water below them.

"Whoops," he said casually. Both Ellie and Enid screamed as they fell into the water.

As they resurfaced from the water, they tried to figure out what just happened.

"What the fuck?! Enid, did you do that?!" Ellie gasped.

"No, I didn't! I-" Enid stammered, but was cut off when she heard her father laughing from the ledge above them.

They turned to look up at him. "What is wrong with you?!" Ellie exclaimed, reeling her head back to glance up at him.

"You two should see your faces right now," he laughed, pointing down at them.

"What the fuck, Dad!? What if we had drowned!?" Enid shouted in disbelief, shaking her head from the water that dripped her face.

"You two aren't gonna drown," Joel said while shaking his head, "You gotta work on that confidence,"

"By pushing us in the water!?" Enid shouted, gently kicking the water.

Ellie and Enid looked at one another. "Yeah, keep laughing, old man. See what happens," Ellie said under her breath.

"It's this way," Joel said, pointing to the right.

"Ugh, you're the worst!" Enid groaned, starting to swim forward with Ellie by her side.

"Y'all's swimming is getting better! Remember now, don't just flail about, you gotta-" Joel started.

"Push the water with your whole arm. Blah, blah, blah," Ellie groaned.

"That's the hundredth time you told us this!" Enid shouted.

"Glad to know I'm getting through," Joel said as he walked over to the bank of the shore.

The girls swim over to where Joel was and they get out of the water.

Joel turned around and went ahead a bit. Then, he saw something in the distance.

"Ellie, Enid, c'mere. Take a look at this," he said quietly, resting his hand on his knees. Enid smirked over at Ellie for a minute.

"You wanna get 'im back?" She whispered. "You know it," Ellie whispered back with a nod.

The duo jog over to Joel. "What is it?" Enid whispered.

"You see that deer over there?" He said, waving them over.

There was a deer just ahead of them, eating some of the plants that grow on the trees.

"Yeah," Ellie said in a whisper, kneeling down a bit. Enid also knelt down a bit to look at the deer, smiling a bit.

"We see it," she said. Joel nodded at this.

"Looks like…" Ellie started, standing up. She and Enid pushed Joel off of the ledge and made him land in the water.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed. He resurfaced a few seconds after falling in the water.

"How's that feel?" Ellie called, holding her arms out.

"Refreshing," Joel sighed, looking up at them.

"That's a little thin we like to call, Sweet Revenge. It's not nice getting pushed in, is it?" Enid asked, pacing a bit with a bit smile on her face.

They watched as Joel floated on his back and he swam backwards.

"Well… Actually, we need to swim through this part anyway," Joel said.

"Hey, we got you back, you're angry and upset!" Ellie shouted, holding her arms out again.

"I'm VERY angry and upset! Now c'mon," he said, getting them to groan.

They both jumped in the water and resurfaced. "You two are gonna need to dive under here. Take a deep breath," Joel told them.

The dived in the water and they swam under some fallen debris and trees. They resurfaced again and they swam around a bit.

They get out and walk on another river bank.

Enid shook the water from her hands and hair. "Is it our sixth grade history history teacher wanting to apologize for being a massive dick?" Enid asked.

Joel looked over his shoulder to look at his daughter. "I beg your pardon?" He questioned, raising a brow.

"Agh, a friend of ours would argue whenever he called them terrorists. Not that Enid is one," Ellie said, flashing a grin at Enid.

"Hey! That's not funny. You know we got a lot of detention for that," Enid exclaimed, pushing her best friend a bit.

They hopped over a large fallen tree, where Joel waited for them.

"You know, you really need to stop letting people rile you two up," he said.

"It's harder when they're dicks," Ellie said with a sputter of her lips.

"Damn straight," Enid agreed. "Point still stands," Joel said, walking over to the next bank, "Another dive over here,"

They all jump in the water and swim to the other side.

There was a ledge that would lead them to Ellie and Enid's surprise.

"Is it… a new pair of sneakers?" Ellie asked, swimming around the small area.

"How many of those do you two have?" Joel wondered, turning to face them.

"Not enough to count. C'mon, Dad! Give us a clue!" Enid exclaimed, getting impatient. She swam around the cool water.

"Nope," Joel said, still adamant on keeping the surprise a secret.

"Clue!" Ellie shouted, swimming around. Joel then started to hum, which is something they did a long time ago to bug Joel.

"Hey! Stop it!" Ellie scolded playfully. Joel chuckled and he swam over to the ledge that had a moss-covered log.

Joel grabbed onto the ledge and pulled himself up. He stood up for a minute before kneeling down to help the girls out of the water.

"Ellie, you go first," Enid said. "Okay," Ellie said with a nod.

Ellie grabbed Joel's hand and he pulled her up. When Ellie was pulled out of the water, she and Joel leaned back down and helped Enid out of the water.

"Okay, fuck it. I'm done guessing," Ellie said with a smirk. "Yeah, me too," Enid sighed, stretching.

"Oh, good," Joel said as he hopped over the moss-covered log.

Ellie and Enid follow suit, hopping over the log. They landed in knee-deep grass.

"Wait, we got one more guess. Did you find us a massive comic book collection? Or a new DVD collection? How about music CDs?" Enid asked, hoping that it was them.

Joel sighed at Enid's question. "Yes," he replied.

"What? Which one is it?" Ellie asked. "Just… yes," he said again.

"How about laserdiscs? That's a thing, I think," Ellie wondered.

"Or so we've heard at least," Enid said with a shrug.

(Wyoming Natural Museum)

After a minute of silence, the trio continue their way down an open path. Through the trees, was a tall object; A very tall one.

They made it through the trees, where there was more water on the ground.

Right in front of the girls, stood a statue Tyrannosaurus Rex that was as tall as a skyscraper. It was modeled with its head raised up and its mouth open.

It had moss and plants growing on it.

"Holy shit, Joel," Ellie gasped excitedly, smiling huge when she saw the dinosaur.

"We're here," Joel said, seeing how elated they were.

"Holy shit, it IS a dinosaur! We were right the first time!" Enid laughed, unable to contain her excitement.

"That it is," Joel chuckled. "Joel!" Ellie exclaimed with a laugh.

"Surprise," Joel replied with a smile on his calloused, bearded face.

"Holy shit! It's a motherfucking dinosaur! Do you see it, Enid?" Ellie laughed, grabbing her best friends' arm.

"Fuck yeah, I see it!" Enid said, jogging through the water and she approached the Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was much, much taller than them.

Ellie followed her and Joel walked behind them.

Ellie took out her journal to commemorate this moment.

"King of the tyrant lizards. That's a big boy!" Ellie said in a deep yet playful tone before putting her journal away.

"A VERRRY big boy!" Enid laughed, reeling her head back to look up at the dinosaur.

Ellie then walked behind the T-Rex and she started to climb it, starting at its tail.

"Ellie, what are you doing?" Joel called, running around the front of it.

"I'm climbing a dinosaur! Enid, come on!" Ellie exclaimed, getting higher and higher on the dinosaur.

"Alright, wait up!" Enid shouted, jogging through the water and she reached the dinosaurs' tail.

Enid started to climb on the dinosaur. "Hey, Dad, look! We're climbing a dinosaur!" Enid laughed as she made it to where her best friend was.

"Yeah, I can see that! Just don't die fallin' off of one!" Joel exclaimed.

He watched the two girls climb up and up until they reached the dinosaurs' head.

It was very high up. "Look at us! We're on a motherfucking dinosaur!" Ellie cheered, waving her arms in the air.

"Lookie! RRAAAAWWWRRR!!!" Enid shouted, imitating a dinosaur.

Joel saw where they were and he panicked a bit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What're you two doing!? Don't jump! Just… climb down," he shouted at them.

The two girls looked at one another. "There's only one way to get down!" Enid shouted back.

They waited a moment, trying to decide who should jump first.

"Cowabunga!" Enid exclaimed as she jumped off the dinosaur's nose, flailing her arms about.

"Roarr!" Ellie shouted as she jumped from the top, also flailing her arms.

Joel jumped back a bit as they landed in the water, wondering how they were able to hit that water without so much as an injury.

"Hey, hey–!" Joel exclaimed. The girls resurfaced with a deep breath, smiling at Joel.

"Did you see that?" Ellie asked lightheartedly. Joel sighed in disbelief and covered his face with a head shake.

"Yeah, I saw that," he said with a sigh.

"Wasn't that awesome?" Enid laughed, climbing out of the water.

"It's awesome you two didn't break anything," Joel said.

"That was awesome," Ellie giggled, getting out of the water.

(Lobby)

They shook the water from their arms and made their way to the entrance of the museum.

Joel opened the door and stepped inside. Ellie and Enid walked in behind him, where he waited for them at the entrance.

"Hey, what's this?" Ellie said, pulling something out from a stand.

"Huh? What'd you find?" Enid asked curiously.

It was a pamphlet from the museum with the words 'Giants of the Past' on the front.

"Oh, cool," Enid said with interest. "Uh… It's a book," Joel stammered.

Ellie turned the book over and held it up for Joel to see. "No, it's a dinosaur book," she corrected.

"Okay?" Joel replied with a shrug. "Aw, c'mon, Dad. It's got the most badass predators to walk this planet," Enid laughed, looking at the book with a smile.

Ellie grinned at her best friend. "Damn right," Ellie agreed, walking passed Joel.

Inside the museum, there were a few empty shelves, grass grew from the ground. In front of them was the skeleton of a tall dinosaur with long talons and claws and a long tail.

There were left over souvenirs sitting on the shelves that had dinosaur paintings on the walls.

They looked at a machine that sat next to the door. It was a machine that could make wax miniature figures of dinosaurs.

Ellie then finds a fedora hat hanging on one of the racks.

"Oh man!" Ellie exclaimed, taking the hat from the rack.

She then looked over at Joel, who stood a few feet away. "You wanna try it on?" She asked.

"I do not," Joel bluntly replied. "Your loss. How about you, Enid?" Ellie said with a shrug.

"Nope. That's all you. There might be another hat around here," Enid declined.

"Suit yourself. You two are definitely related," Ellie said, putting the hat on her head.

Enid grinned and looked at her father. They were definitely related in terms of stubbornness.

Ellie walked over to the dinosaur that had the long talons and she opened the pamphlet.

"Whoa, look at those talons," she commented. "Yeah, they're so long," Enid said, looking up at the dinosaur.

"That is a velociraptor," Joel said. "What? That can't be right. What is it, Ellie?" Enid asked, looking over Ellie's shoulder to look at the open book.

"It's a dee… Dee-oh-nin-y-chus," Ellie answered, having a hard time pronouncing it.

"Are you sure that it's what you say it is, Dad?" Enid asked, looking at him.

"Yep. Pretty sure it is a velociraptor. I mean at least that's what they are called in this movie I saw," he replied, looking at the skeleton then to the two girls.

"Alrighty then," Ellie sighed. Ellie and Enid walk behind a counter that leads into a small office.

Inside were empty shelves, empty boxes, papers covering a desk, a computer sat on it, a lamp, and a telephone.

Enid sat down on the desk and pressed her hands against the old wood and she swung her legs back and forth.

She pretended to hear the phone ring and she picked it up. "Hello, you've reached the Natural Museum of Science and History, how many I direct your call?" Enid said on the phone.

Ellie sat down in the chair that was next to the desk.

"Ellie, ya got a call," Enid jokes, handing Ellie the phone.

Ellie picked up the phone and she put it against her ear. "Oh, hello, sorry, the dinosaurs are busy right now," Ellie spoke on the phone.

Joel walked in and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. "What are you two doing?" He asked.

Enid and Ellie looked up at him and they smiled cheekily.

"Oh, wait, one of the dinosaurs just came in," Ellie said jokingly.

"Dad, you got a call," Enid said. Joel rolled his eyes.

"Very funny," he said. Ellie giggled and put the phone back on the receiver and she got up from the chair.

Enid jumped down from the desk and laughed. "It's actually pretty funny," she commented.

"Yeah, get it? It's cause you're old," Ellie added. "Oh, I get it," Joel replied, turning and walking away from the office.

Ellie and Enid walk out behind him, unable to wipe the grins off their faces.

There was never a day that they wouldn't poke at one another. They wouldn't do it to any of their other friends.

They had a special relationship that nobody would understand.

After leaving that office, they jogged down another dark hallway. On their right, was another display with much smaller dinosaur skeletons.

Enid turned her flashlight on so she could read their name.

"Hey, look. Compsognathus," she said, reading what the name was.

Ellie looked through the book and found the name of those tiny dinosaurs.

"Wow, big name for these little guys," Ellie said. "Yeah, they'd swarm you," Joel explained. Both girls look over at him.

"Was that in a movie too?" Ellie asked, turning to face him.

"Actually, yeah. It was a different one. See, there was a sequel. Wasn't as good," Joel explained with a shoulder shrug.

The trio continued down the hall where the words, GIANTS OF THE PAST was written on the curved wall.

The next room had five bigger dinosaur skeletons. Above them, were skeletons of pterodactyls hanging above them.

"Oh, wow…" Enid giggled, walking backwards as she looked up at the ceiling.

Ellie walks over to the stegosaurus and put her hat on its head.

"Tiny head," she said goofily. "Dad, look," Enid commented with a giggle.

"That is a hat on a dinosaur," Joel sighed.

"Its a little thing we like to call a hatosaur," Enid said, getting on the platform, resting her elbow on the stegosaurus.

Joel rubbed his calloused face. That was cheesy in his eyes.

Enid climbed over the railing and walked over to the triceratops.

"Hey, El. Put the hat on this one," she said with a giggle.

Ellie didn't hesitate to jog over to the three-horned dinosaur and she climbed on the display and set the hat on the triceratops' horn.

"Is this gonna be a thing? Please don't let it be a thing," Joel

complained.

They were amused by Joel's annoyance from putting a hat on the dinosaur skeletons.

Ellie took the hat off the triceratops and held it for a minute.

She walked over and she put it on Enid's head. "Hey! Ellie!" Enid groaned, watching as Ellie put the hat on her head, "I said I didn't wanna wear it,"

"Guess I musta misheard you," Ellie teased her. Enid rolled her eyes.

"Very funny. *Looks at Joel* Here, let's do this," Enid said, taking the hat off.

She walked over to Joel and reached up to place the hat on his head.

"Hey, Dad!" She giggled. "Enid," he groaned when Enid put the hat on his head.

He groaned, obviously irritated. "Don't you dare take it off," Ellie said, pointing a finger at him.

"Our birthday, our rules," Ellie said, first pointing at herself and Enid before punching his shoulder gently.

Joel groaned again. He moved out of the way so they could get a closer look at the stegosaurus.

"Stegosaurus," Enid said, reading the plate with its name on it.

Ellie looked through the book and found info about it. "Whoa, says here that this one's brain is the sound of a walnut," she said.

"Oh, no way. Looks like you three have something in common," Joel replied, obviously teasing them.

"Oh. Ha, ha, ha. Good one," Ellie replied. Enid rolled her eyes with a scoff.

They went back over to the triceratops. "Hey, what does triceratops mean?" Enid asked, leaning on the railing with her hands.

"Oh, it means three-horned-face," Ellie said, reading the book.

"Hmm. You would not wanna be on the business end of that horn," Joel said, looking up at the triceratops.

"Yeah, I'd imagine not," Enid chuckled, turning away from the three-horned dinosaur.

She jogged down further until she approached another dinosaur skeleton. It had short legs, a thick skull, and had spikes on its back.

"Ellie, look at this one," she called, waving her over.

Ellie joined her and opened the book again. "The dimetrodon was an Apex predator," Ellie said, reading about this dinosaur.

"What's an Apex predator?" Joel asked. Ellie and Enid looked over and saw Joel standing a few feet from them.

"It's one of the most badass predators ever. It's up there with the awesome T-Rex!" Enid said with a laugh.

"Hmm. Pretty short for that," Joel said with a shrug.

"Wait, were you talking about us?" Ellie asked, looking at him.

Ellie jogged over towards the restrooms and saw something sitting on a bench.

She picked it up and saw it was a playing card she and Enid had been collecting.

"Oh, cool," Ellie chuckled. Enid saw what she was holding.

"Aw, sweet!" Enid laughed excitedly.

"Whatcha got there?" Joel asked them.

"These superhero cards… seems like they were popular," Ellie said, reading the card.

"Was Sarah ever a fan of these things, Dad?" Enid asked.

"Yeah, I believe so. Or maybe it was those little creature things? I forget," Joel said, scratching his head.

After 20-something years, people tend to forget certain things.

Ellie put the card in her pocket and she went into an open restroom that had a dusty mirror.

"Hey, Firefly Girl, look what I found," Ellie called after wiping the mirror clean from the dust.

Enid jogged into the bathroom with Joel behind her and she saw the mirror.

When she saw it, she smiled cheekily. "Oh-ho, up for another face challenge, huh?" She asked, walking over to Ellie.

"Why else would I tell ya about this," Ellie said, hands on her hips, "I'm gonna win this time,"

"You got it, chief. But I'll let you know that my skills at this have gotten much better," Enid said with a smug grin and she had her finger pointing at Ellie.

The two best friends started to make silly faces in the mirror. Enid crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, making a silly noise.

Ellie made a fish face in the mirror, crossing her eyes too.

This went on for another minute. It gave them a chance to be kids again after all the hell they've been through.

Joel watched them from the doorway with his arms crossed.

When they were finished, they all walked out of the restroom and back into where the dinosaurs were.

Ellie jogged over to the biggest dinosaur skeleton in this museum, which was the brachiosaurus.

She opened the book and read about this dinosaur. "'Brachiosaurus ate six hundred pounds of plants each day.' Oooh! Imagine the poops!" Ellie exclaimed.

Joel joined them and crossed his arms. "They had this one scene where, uh… Actually, one of the guys said: That's a big mound of shit,"

The girls laughed at this lightly. "Alright, what is this movie and when can we see it?" Enid asked with a smile.

Joel smiled back. "Tell ya what, when we get back to Jackson, movie night," he offered.

"Sounds awesome," Ellie agreed. After looking at the brachiosaurus, they then walk to a smaller dinosaur named the Gallimimus.

"Gallimimus' name means: Chicken Mimic," Ellie said, reading from the book.

Enid made a confused face as she read the book over Ellie's shoulder. "Psh, who names these?" Enid said.

"Scientists," Joel replied. "Well, they're dumb," Ellie said, rolling her eyes.

The trio make their way over to a staircase that would take them to the next part of the museum.

Two more dinosaurs were displayed by the spiral staircase that looked as if they were about to fight.

Enid walked around the display and found another hat sitting on a bench behind it.

"Aw, sweet," she said, picking the hat up. She put it on her head.

"Aw, man, why didn't I see that?" Ellie groaned, seeing the hat on Enid's head.

"You weren't looking good enough, I guess," Enid teased with a shrug.

"Oh, shut up," Ellie said, playfully pushing her.

Enid laughed, loving how she was teasing her best friend.

She walked over to the Dimetrodon skeleton and she puts the hat on its head.

"Whatever floats your boat," Joel said as he walked behind them.

"This does!" Enid exclaimed as she jumped down from the display.

"Yep, floats it all day!" Ellie agreed, taking the hat off of the dinosaurs head.

After looking around a bit, they see another open doorway.

"Hey, let's go in there," Enid said, waving them towards the doorway.

Ellie follows behind her and she turns on her flashlight, revealing another display with a row of dinosaur skulls, comparing them by size.

On the wall was dinosaur feet prints, showing how big they were compared to the average human hand.

They saw that the velociraptor skull was tinier than Joel was talking about.

"Hey, look at this," Ellie said, waving Enid over. "What?" Enid said, jogging up next to Ellie.

"Vel… Velociraptor. Hey, Dad, this is the one you were talking about," Enid said, looking over her shoulder to look at her dad, who stood a few feet from them.

Joel was amazed at how small it really was. "Huh? It's so small. Don't trust the movies, I guess," he commented.

Going down the row, they looked at the Pachycephalosaurus, which had a thick skull.

"Look at how thick this one's skull is," Ellie said with a giggle.

"Kinda looks like Tommy," Joel commented.

Enid looked closely at the skull. "Yeah, it kinda does actually," Enid agreed, seeing that it does look like her uncle.

"Pfft, I'm telling him you two said that," Ellie laughed.

"Please don't. Catch it in the right lit, boom. Tommy," Joel said.

Enid laughed and walked through the next room. She saw another display of a bird-like dinosaur.

Ellie and Joel follow her and got a look at the bird-like

"Whoa, this one looks like a bird," she said, looking at all the feathers on it.

Ellie and Joel look at it too. "Yeah, it does," Ellie agreed with a grin.

"Well, paleontologists believed that birds were descended from dinosaurs," Joel explained.

Ellie rolled her eyes at him. "Well, excuse us, Mr. Professor," Ellie said mockingly.

"I happen to know a thing or two," Joel said. "Yeah, from a movie," Ellie pressed on.

"Keep going," he sighed. "We're just playin'. C'mon, let's see what's upstairs," Enid laughed, jogging up the spiral stairs.

"Hey, wait for us!" Ellie laughed, jogging up the stairs, "Joel, did you go to museums a lot?"

"Yeah, Sarah loved them," Joel replied, jogging passed them, "I swear that girl dragged me to every damn museum in Texas,"

They saw just how much Joel opened up about Sarah. It didn't bother him in the slighest to talk about her.

It gave Enid an idea who her late sister was exactly. They make it to the second floor.

(Second Floor)

They were able to reach the brachiosaurus' head. It was looking in their direction. Enid and Ellie leaned against the railing, pressing their hands on it.

That dinosaur looked similar to one of those giraffes they saw a couple of years ago.

Joel joined them and he smiled. "Looks like a giraffe," Ellie said.

"Yeah, it does, don't it," Joel replied quietly.

"Wow," Enid said, chuckling lightly. She leaned on the railing, arms crossed.

That was a memory that always made them happy.

Ellie and Enid watched as Joel took the hat off his head and he gently tossed it onto the dinosaurs' head.

It landed perfectly on its head. They all grinned in approval.

"I see the appeal," he said with a hearty chuckle. "What'd we tell ya?" Enid said, pushing away from the railing.

She turned around and saw another hallway. She walked towards it and pushed through the gate. The walls were covered in stars, giving Enid an idea of what was on the other side of that hallway.

(Space Museum)

She makes it to the end of the hallway and saw that it was an entire floor dedicated to space.

"Holy shit. Ellie! You gotta see this!" Enid gasped excitedly.

Enid's heart was racing wildly from excitement.

Ellie and Joel came running to where Enid was and Ellie's eyes instantly lit up.

"Did you know this was here?!" Ellie asked with an excited gasp, marveled by all of the space stuff.

Joel rubbed the back of his neck a bit nervously. "Eh, you two don't like it. We can head back," he sighed.

Ellie laughed in joviality while walking around. "Shut up!" Ellie laughed.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Enid agreed, doing a spin with her arms held out.

They walked over to a display that had a crank to where they could make the planets rotate around the sun.

"Whoa-ho, awesome!" Ellie said, grabbing the crank. She started to push it to make the planets move.

"Can you name all the planets, Dad?" Enid asked, reeling her head back to watch the display move. The sun lit up as she cranked it.

Joel glanced up at the moving display and walked around it.

"My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas," he said, confusing the girls.

"Uh, did you just have a stroke?" Ellie asked. "Yeah, you're confusing the hell out of us," Enid agreed.

"My: Mercury, very: Venus, mother: Mars-" he started.

The girls understood what he meant by that. Ellie stopped cranking the planets and walked over to the smaller models of many rockets.

Enid didn't hesitate to follow her. "Hey, Joel. Can you guess what the first animal to go to space is?" Ellie asked.

"Nah, I don't have to guess. It was a monkey," Joel replied.

"Nope. According to our research, it was actually fruitflies in 1947. It was to see radiation exposure at high altitudes," Enid corrected him.

"Yep, they all lived through it," Ellie added with a shrug.

Both her and Ellie had been reading a lot in their spare time, so it was no surprise that they learned a thing or two about space.

"Daggum, you two are smart," Joel chuckled at how smart they really were.

"Thanks," Ellie said with a nod. "So, did they become super flies?" Joel asked.

"What? No," Ellie replied with a head shake.

Enid rolled her eyes and walked over to a model of the moon that could be moved.

She placed her hands on it and gave it a spin. "Hey, you know how many times we've been on the moon?" She asked.

"Uh… twice?" Joel wondered. "Six times. We're gonna make it seven, aren't we?" Ellie said.

"Hell yeah," Enid replied with a grin.

In front of them, sat a moon rover. This caught their interest and they jogged over to it.

Enid laughed as she climbed in the passenger side. "Awesome," she said.

Ellie climbed in the driver's side beside Enid. "Fuck yeah," She giggled.

Joel walked over and rested a foot on the rover, resting one hand on his hip and the other on his propped up knee.

"Where's the steering wheel?" He asked, looking it over.

Ellie and Enid glanced over at him.

"Rovers don't use steering wheels," Ellie said, correcting him, gently grasping the joystick.

"Yeah, they use joysticks," Enid said, shrugging her shoulders. Joel nodded at them and stepped back from the machine.

"So, is this the real one?" Joel asked.

"Considering they left the real ones on the moon, I would say no," Ellie said with a shrug, standing up from the rover.

Enid grinned and got off too with a jump. Their next destination is the space capsule that sat in front of them. It was covered in many vines. Grass surrounded the capsule

The girls jog over to the door of the capsule and they opened it. Inside, were three seats facing upwards with buttons above it.

"Whoa, cool!" Enid said, starting to crawl in.

Ellie was gonna climb in after her, but Joel stopped them.

"Now hold on a second," he said, pushing them back a bit. They looked up at him.

"What?" Ellie asked with a chuckle.

"You two are goin' into space. You're gonna need a helmet," he told them.

That set a spark in their heads. "Oh! Right! What were we thinking?" Ellie said, turning away from the capsule.

"Let's go find one, Captain Ellie," Enid said with a slap to her head.

They walked over to the display of helmets and found the perfect ones.

Ellie took the hat she was wearing off and she threw it on the floor.

They both grabbed a helmet and slid them on their heads. Perfect fit.

"How's it smell in those?" Joel asked them.

"Like space," Ellie answered. "And dust too," Enid said, walking back over to the space capsule with Ellie.

Joel waited for them at the entrance. "After you two," he said politely.

The girls crawled inside and laid down in the capsule, taking their backpacks off and leaving them by the capsule.. Ellie sat at the very left and Enid sat in the middle. Joel crawled in with a grunt, sitting on the very right.

"Whoa, so fucking cool!" Ellie laughed.

"Fuck yeah! Look at these buttons," Enid said, marveling at just how many buttons there were.

"Bwooh! Bwooh! Bwooh!" Ellie said, making a whooshing sound.

"Ssheww!" Enid made a sound to imitate the capsule taking off, pressing the buttons.

"Would you look at all of these buttons?" Joel sighed.

"Yeah, it's so badass," Ellie chuckled.

"Man… could you guys just imagine…" Enid said thoughtfully with a smile.

She and Ellie continued to make whooshing sounds, pretending to fly the capsule.

Joel dug through his pocket and he pulled out a tape, holding it between his middle and pointer finger.

"Happy birthday, kiddos," he said, grabbing their attention.

They looked over, seeing the tape he was holding.

"Huh? What is that?" Enid asked.

"This… is a thing that took a mighty effort to find. Take it," he said with a smile.

Ellie took out her Walkman, which had two headphone ports so they could listen to it at the same time.

Ellie put the tape in the small device and closed it. They plugged in their ear buds and put them in their ears.

Of course, they had to remove their helmets for a second so they could do that. Then they slid them back on.

As Ellie was about to press play, Joel tells them to close their eyes.

They nodded and closed their eyes. Ellie pressed play on the Walkman and both heard the actual launch from Apollo 11.

They glance at each other in surprise and at Joel, laughing joyfully.

They closed their eyes and felt as though they actually went to space, feeling the capsule shake.

By the time the tape ended, they couldn't stop smiling. Joel watched them, grinning a bit.

The girls looked over at him, smiling big.

"So I do okay?" He asked. "Are you fucking kidding?" Ellie asked happily.

"This is the best fucking thing ever," Enid agreed.

The trio laughed quietly. "You're welcome kiddos," he said.

They looked back up at the buttons again for a minute.

"So, Whatcha say we keep looking around, huh?" Joel asked, opening the capsule.

The girls take their helmets off of their heads and left them in the capsule. They take out their earbuds and put them away.

They all crawled out of the machine, pressing the buttons on the way out.

They picked up their backpacks and put them on.

"Hey, welcome to Earth," Joel said, holding out two space shuttle pins.

"Oh, cool," Enid said as they took the pins. After they looked at them for a minute before putting them on their backpacks.

After a bit, the trio had walked to a set of double doors that would lead them to the next area. Ellie tried opening it but it wasn't budging.

"Here, let me get it." Joel offered, pushing the doors open.

With one hard push, the door opened.

Ellie and Enid walk through the french doors. It led them to what looks like a balcony with more water below them, but it's what was left of the next floor.

"Hey, there's more museum stuff over there." Ellie says, pointing to the building across from them.

"Yeah, let's check it out. Might be more space stuff over there." Enid said, jogging to the edge of the balcony.

"Enid and I hadn't checked out that building." Joel replied walking onto the balcony.

"C'mon, let's go!" Ellie said with excitement.

"Yeah, time's wasting!" Enid agreed, looking down below to which she regrets.

Thankfully, they weren't as high off the ground like with the dinosaur.

"Just how do you two plan on getting over there?" Joel asked, seeing that there was water below them.

Afterwards, both girls leap off of the edge and into the water.

"AGH!" they both shouted.

"Ellie, Enid, god!" Joel cried out, having a heart attack yet again.

The girls resurfaced and took a deep breath.

"You two ever give anyone else this much grief?" Joel sighed, watching them swim around in the water.

"What? We're fine." Enid said, looking up at her father, who stood on the upper level.

She started swimming backwards as she gently kicked the water.

Ellie looked over at Enid, who floated on her back.

She had not idea that Enid was scared of heights until they were standing atop the T-Rex's head.

The two girls glance up at Joel, who was still up on the balcony.

"What the fuck you waiting for, old man? Get down here! The water feels nice!" Ellie called, growing impatient.

"No! Not happening!" Joel denied, crossing his arms.

"Hey, who's birthday is it?" Ellie called, gently paddling backwards in the cool water.

"You two can't keep doing that!" Joel scolded, more worried for their safety than anything.

"What'd we say before!? We want a good splash!" Enid said with a laugh.

"Yeah, a big one too!" Ellie agreed with her, "We got more exploring to do!"

Joel knew that they weren't going to quit until he gave in.

He wanted to make them happy and he wanted to forget all the shit that they've been through.

Therefore, he backed up a few feet before leaping into the water.

"Geronimo!" he yelled, landing in the water. It caused a big splash just like they wanted.

"Nice." Ellie praised. "I'd give that one a ten out of ten." Enid giggled, swimming to the staircase that led to another part of the museum.

In front of the museum, was a moss covered statue of a grizzly bear. Enid took a moment to admire it.

They all walk up to the front door to the mammal part of the museum after getting out of the water.

Ellie walks up to the front door and tries to open it.

But it wasn't budging. "It's not opening?" Enid asked her.

"Nah, it's locked. But, there's an entry way up there." Ellie replied, pointing up to an open window.

Enid looked at the window and nodded in agreement. It looked big enough for them to crawl through.

"Ah, I gotcha." Enid said, "Hey Joel, boost us in there." Joel was understandably uncertain about letting them go on their own.

"Um, I don't know." he replied, unsure about that.

"C'mon we'll get the door open for you. Plus, I got Enid with me." Ellie said, elbowing Enid in the ribs a bit.

Enid reacted by recoiling a bit with a giggle.

"Yeah, I'll be with her. There's no fucking way that we can chicken out now." Enid replied, wrapping an arm around Ellie's shoulders.

Joel couldn't help but sigh in defeat.

He walked over to the open window and locked his fingers together to boost them up.

"You go first, El. I'm right behind you." Enid said, to which Ellie nods in response.

After Ellie climbs through the window, Enid places her foot into Joel's hands so he could boost her up.

Enid climbs over the window and sees what's inside.

Turns out it was a Natural History Museum.

At the entrance was grass growing from the dirty white tile.

When she jumped down, the landing was a bit rough.

She didn't land on her feet but on her knees, which she hurt a bit.

"Agh, dammit!" she exclaimed, feeling her knees hit the floor. Ellie rushed to her aid instantly.

"Enid, are you okay?" she asked her, helping her up to her feet by her right arm.

"Gnh… yeah. Gotta work on my landing." Enid replied, rubbing her knees feverishly.

"You sure? You landed on your knees pretty hard." Ellie said, feeling concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Don't worry." Enid reassured.

"Okay. But looks like we'll have to find him another way." Ellie said, taking note of the debris and foliage covering the doors.

Enid glanced over and saw it too.

"Okay, Joel. Got some bad news. There's shit blocking the door." Ellie said loud enough for Joel to hear.

"We'll find another way to let you in!" Enid called, cupping her mouth to make herself sound louder.

"Alright, I'll walk around the outside!" Joel called. "Okay, be safe!" both girls called.

"You two be safe! Keep each other safe!" Joel replied, his voice muffled.

"There's dinosaurs around!" Ellie joked. "They're everywhere!" Enid added dramatically.

"Agh, shit. Maybe we oughta split up, find another way," Enid suggested.

"Yeah, sounds good. You let me know if you find anything," Ellie replied with a nod.

"Will do," Enid replied, giving her a hug.

The two went their separate ways so they could find another entry way.

Enid made her way into a dark entryway. She turned on her flashlight and she saw a display where a pack of wolves were hunting down a deer.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind Enid, making her quickly turn around.

"Oh fuck... Fuck!" Enid exclaimed, running to the door and she struggled to open the door, pounding it with her fists.

In the distance, there were the sounds of Princess barking, but they sounded echoey. Hearing that alone frightened the sixteen year old, blue-eyed girl.

She looked down at her hands, they were pale and cold and stained with blood.

Then, she heard the sound of that Princess's growling becoming louder and more clear.

Every impulse in her body was telling her to run, to get away from there. But she was stuck there.

She wanted to run but it was as if her feet were glued to the snow covered ground.

When she turned around, there was the dog. It didn't look like Princess at all, it was something much more terrifying.

She leapt at her with an echoey bark before Enid had seemingly woke up. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" she screamed as she woke from her nightmare, her face covered in tears.

She found herself on the floor against the wall, having a panic attack. For a minute, she couldn't gather her surroundings.

Ellie had heard Enid's screams and she didn't hesitate to run to her aid.

She ran to where Enid was and she saw Enid having a panic attack.

"Enid! Enid, hey! It's alright. Enid." Ellie cried, quickly kneeling in front of Enid and she touched her tear-stained cheeks.

When Ellie touched her, she jumped from the contact. When Enid saw Ellie still sitting next to her in that museum, she tried to calm down. "It's alright… Breathe. Take a deep breathe." Ellie said in a soft voice.

"I can't! I-I can't!" Enid cried, gasping for air.

"Yes, you can. Look at me," Ellie assured. Enid looked up and she saw Ellie in front of her.

"There you go. You're okay. You're safe, okay?" Ellie said softly, wiping Enid's face. Enid took a deep breath, but she was still shaking.

Ellie sat down next to her, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Was it about you know?" Ellie asked, wondering if it was about her dog attack that happened a year ago.

"Y-Yeah, it was," Enid replied. Ellie looked over at her girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" she asked her. Enid glanced over at her and saw the look on Ellie's face.

She knew that look very well. "Y-Yeah, I'm okay," she said with nod.

"That's good… Now, let's get the hell out of here. Pretty sure Joel's found a way." Ellie replied, brushing the messy bangs from Enid's head.

"Alright. Let's go before I have another panic attack," Enid replied, giving Ellie a quick kiss on the lips before getting up.

Ellie followed suit not a second after and they walked out of the room.

Then, they saw some graffiti writing on the wall that said, "I killed for them,"

"This guy needed a hug." Ellie commented. "No shit about that." Enid replied.

There was a door on the left side of the graffiti and they walked through it.

It was dark in there so they had to turn on their flashlights. This next room had statues and taxidermied birds in it.

On the wall was more graffiti that read, "The four soldiers at the gate. The last one cried."

Neither one of the girls had a comment therefore they walked into the next room.

A distant, loud sound caused the girls to become alert.

"Shit, did you hear that?" Ellie asked as she pulled out her gun.

"Yeah, it came from over there." Enid replied, holding her gun tightly in her hands.

Something was in there with them, therefore, they had to stay on edge so that they wouldn't be ambushed.

As they carefully walked through the taxidermied animals, the sound made itself known again.

"Come out, fucker…" Ellie said in a whisper, sticking close to Enid.

"I got your back," Enid whispered to Ellie, who nodded.

They quietly made their way towards an opening that they could fit through.

They crawl through but remain crouched while going through this part.

Not long after, they had found another hole about the same size. There was the remains of a dead guy with supplies surrounding him.

While Ellie gathered said supplies up, Enid had found a letter laying on the dead guy.

"Ellie, check this out." she said, her eyes scanning over each word on the paper. "What is it?" Ellie replied, looking at the note with Ellie.

"We wanted to end suffering. We wanted to restore humanity. Each time we sacrificed part of ourselves, our leaders kept saying, 'It'll be worth it.'

Now we've disbanded. With nothing to show for our sins. I thought coming here might reignite something. Some purpose. My parents loved bringing me around here. It's one of my earliest memories from before the outbreak. Before all of the cruelty and savagery.

Those memories just made me angrier. I don't want to be in this world anymore. I can't look at the person I've become."

Again, neither girl had a comment to say about this note. It was a suicide note as anyone could see.

Whoever this person was didn't want to live out the rest of their lives as a monster.

Seeing this was now a common thing whenever they came out in this part, reminding them just how cruel and dangerous this world really is. It'd never change at this point.

Ellie crawls through the hole and turns to help Enid through. When they looked up, both of them were startled to see more of those taxidermied wolves standing above them.

"Ah! Stupid fake animals." Ellie scowled, walking away from them. Enid followed suit, not wanting to have another panic attack.

Each hopped over a small wall, only to get ambushed by a large pig that just happened to be in the museum.

"ACK!" Ellie yelled, falling over in shock. "FUCK!" Enid yelled as she stumbled backwards against the wall.

The pig paid no mind to them and bolted out of the room. "Agh, shit." Enid said, rubbing the back of her head.

Enid saw that Ellie rolled over onto her belly and she came to her aid.

"You okay, Ellie?" she asked her, helping her to her feet.

"Agh, yeah. What the fuck was that?" Ellie asked, picking up the flashlight she had dropped.

"Looked like a pig. Scared the shit out of me." Enid replied.

Ellie shined the flashlight up along the wall and saw a Firefly symbol graffitied on the wall with the word, "Liars." written underneath it.

Enid looked at the graffiti on the wall and felt the air escape from her lungs. "Ellie! Enid!" Joel called from the outside.

"We're in here!" Ellie called. Joel had bursted through the doors, letting in some bright sunlight. It illuminated the graffiti on the wall so that they could see it clearly.

Enid couldn't speak after seeing that and neither could Ellie. Seeing that only put them back into that mindset about the Fireflies.

Enid was still crushed by keeping this a secret.

"Let's get a move on, I want to get a fire started before it gets too dark." Joel said to them, nudging them.

Ellie and Enid looked at one another, each carrying a look of uncertainty. They then walked out side by side.

Enid glanced back at the symbol once more, knowing she had betrayed them despite having left them a long time ago and that she had betrayed her best friend/girlfriend.

She felt an overwhelming guilt rise inside of her chest. It wasn't on the same level she felt when she made it into the Firefly's.

Yeah, Ellie was hurt that she did this, but she had no idea how Ellie would react if she ever found out about what Enid and Joel did two years ago.