(Two Years Ago)
Ellie: Age 17
Enid: Age 18
It was late in the day, Ellie and Enid had gone onto patrol with Tommy.
Each having a loaded rifle hanging over their shoulders.
Ellie wore a white shirt with blue sleeves. Enid wore a light Grey shirt with a maroon colored jacket with white laces.
Tommy was leading this patrol to take care of the lingering infected that were in the area.
Ellie walked aimlessly in the route that they normally took, not saying a word.
Enid noticed this and nudged her on the shoulder.
"Hey, Ellie? Ellie." she said, a hand on her shoulder and she shook her a bit.
Ellie shook her head and looked at Enid, looking a bit puzzled. "Huh?" she asked.
"Are you with us?" Tommy said for the both of them, holding a hunting rifle in his hands.
"Oh… yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Ellie nodded.
"Good. Thought I lost you there for a second." Enid said, giving her a smile.
Ellie smiled a little at her girlfriend before the three of them walked ahead.
"Anyway, this silent treatment. Man, I mean, I'd forget my own birthday if she didn't remind me when it was." Tommy said, referring to when Maria got pissed with him about forgetting her birthday.
"You should apologize to her." Ellie suggested.
"Yeah, she'll forgive you for what happened, surely." Enid agreed, readjusting the rifle that hung on her right shoulder.
Maria was a stubborn woman, for sure, but she was also quick to forgive Tommy for all of his wrong doings.
"I just said-" he started before saying, "Okay. What's going on?"
"Nothing." Ellie distantly said, "Why?"
"El, c'mon. We know when you're off. I mean, you have been for the last few days." Enid said, looking back at her.
They make it to the top of the route.
Ellie sighed and said, "Just got some stuff on my mind."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Enid asked her in concern.
Ellie looked down at her feet and sighed, showing that she wasn't up for it right at that moment.
"Okay, we're not gonna force you. Come to either of us if you want to talk about it." Enid said, having self-respect for Ellie's private thoughts.
She gave her old friend/girlfriend a quick yet comforting hug.
"Okay." Ellie quietly said as she hugged Enid back.
"Got stragglers." Tommy informed them. Ellie and Enid broke the hug and went to catch up with Tommy.
"How many?" Ellie asked, looking over the edge of the cliff.
"Looks to be a handful." Tommy answered.
Enid could barely see where the infected were, they were tiny dots from what they could see.
Tommy began to shoot at the stragglers.
After shooting a couple of runners down, he held the gun with one hand.
"Any of you want to give this a whirl?" Tommy offered, turning towards the girls.
"You sure?" Ellie asked. "I'm feeling generous." Tommy inquired, making them chuckled.
"Let's take turns with it." Enid suggested, "Besides, I wanna see your shooting skills in action. Let's see if they've gotten any better."
"Don't you start with me." Ellie chuckled, giving a quick kiss on the cheek to Enid. Enid grinned at this affection from her girlfriend.
She then held up the rifle and looked through the scope.
"See that sign there? Red one? Try hitting that." Tommy instructed, "Good way to draw 'em out of wherever they're hiding." Ellie pulled the trigger, shooting at the sign. She missed it.
"Gotta aim a bit higher. Leave the bullet room to drop." Tommy instructed.
"I see." Ellie said, focusing on the sign. She fired a couple of more times but she missed it both times.
"Agh, shit." she swore in frustration.
"Make sure to compensate for the bullet drop." Tommy reminded, being patient with her.
Just as Tommy said, some runners came swarming out of their hiding spot.
"Runners at 2 o'clock." Enid said, seeing the runners.
It took a few times to get it but she managed to shoot down all seven of the runners.
"That's all of them." Tommy said. Ellie and Enid turn to look at their surrogate uncle.
"Usually more over this way if you wanna keep shootin'. Or why not let Enid take it for a whirl?" Tommy asked.
"Alright. I'm sure she can handle it, right Enid?" Ellie asked, handing her the rifle. "I can so handle it.
Don't even worry about it." Enid said, rolling her eyes playfully.
The three of them walked upwards to where Tommy was talking about.
"Got any idea of where they're coming from?" Ellie wondered.
"Hordes like to move through this area in winter." Tommy answered, "They always end up leaving behind a few stragglers."
"So, they go the same routes every year?" Enid asked, holding the rifle gently in her hands.
"It's more like a migration or something." Tommy answered.
They came to the side of a cliff where it over-looked a large body of water. "What's that about?" Ellie asked.
"Well… when the barometric pressure reaches a certain temperature… shit, I don't fuckin' know." Tommy sighed, unable to think of the correct answer.
Enid then looked through the scope of the rifle, keeping her focus on the land in front of her.
"Let's see what you've got, E. Would hate to have you fuck up." Ellie teased.
"Oh, hardy har. I'm getting better. Just you wait." Enid scoffed, still looking through the scope.
"Check out that shed." Tommy tells Enid.
Enid aimed the gun towards the shed.
"Looks like they're moving downwind." Tommy said, taking note of the runner's movements. "Why?" Ellie asked.
"A dead animal, I think." Tommy answered, "Look up by the truck there." Enid turns and aims the gun in the direction of the truck.
There was a dead deer laying by the truck and the runners were eating it.
"Looks like someone's hungry." Enid commented cooly.
She pulled the trigger and it struck down the runner dead.
"Wow, you're a natural. Just like Ellie here." Tommy praised, impressed with their shooting skills.
Enid pulled back to reload the rifle before holding it up again.
Three more runners made their appearance at the sound of the loud gunshot.
"Enid, down there," Ellie said, seeing where the runners were.
"Got it." Enid nodded as she focused through the scope.
Enid took a couple of shots but missed both times.
"Agh, dammit." she cursed, reloading the rifle again.
"Remember to let the bullet drop when you fire." Tommy said, reminding his niece.
"Alright. I got this." Enid replied, doing as Tommy said.
She shot down all three runners as well as Ellie did.
"Damn, whatcha think?" Enid asked, holding the rifle.
"Beautiful. You two are born naturals." Tommy praised, patting them on the back.
"Yep, who's the better shot here? Huh, who?" Enid teased, giving Ellie a playful nudge.
"Oh very funny." Ellie chuckled. "Hold up. I got two more." Tommy said, noticing two more runners.
Enid held up the rifle and aimed it at the runners, who were at a ski lodge a few miles down.
She pulled the trigger, striking both runners dead.
"Wow, I'm impressed." Tommy chuckled, "Looks clear. Bet there's some this way."
They walk away from the cliff side and to where the ski lodge was.
"That something by the ski-lodge?" Tommy asked, standing on the cliff that overlooked the lodge.
"Would you like to take this one, El? Maybe you can redeem yourself." Enid asked, giving a teasing smile.
"Oh fuck off." Ellie replied, taking the rifle.
"C'mon, you know I'm just fucking with you." Enid replied, hands on her hips.
"Psh, when are you not?" Ellie said, knowing Enid too well.
Ellie looked through the scope again.
"By that tower. You see it?" Tommy said, seeing them through his pair of binoculars.
Ellie took a shot at one, making a headshot.
"Wow, nice shootin' Tex." Enid said in a Texan accent.
"Alright, I know you ain't makin' fun of me." Tommy said, snickering at Enid's impersonation.
"Psh, naaaah." Enid replied, giving him a shove.
"Yeah, her impersonations are terrible." Ellie said, still looking through the scope as she took down another runner.
"Fuck you, they're the best." Enid argued, crossing her arms.
"E, you're not that good and we both know it." Ellie said, shooting down another runner.
"Yeah, yeah," Enid pouted, knowing that Ellie was right.
Her impressions were not that good no matter how hard she tried.
"Gonna have to tell Joel about this." Tommy said, referring to their shooting skills, "Couple more out there."
Ellie shot at the runners but missed them a couple of times.
"Hope Joel's been stirring that stew. Probably just left it to burn on the bottom. He's god at killin', but he ain't good at cookin'." Tommy said, making a crack on how Joel cooks.
"Did he do that with a lot of food? I mean, he's cooking isn't that bad from what Ellie and I have tried." Enid asked, looking at Tommy with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah. Whatever he made something, it wasn't that good. Such as soup, oatmeal, you name it." Tommy answered, "I'm not seeing anymore."
"Yeah, me neither." Ellie said, holding the rifle in her hands.
"Well, at least for now." Enid replied, rubbing the back of her neck.
Tommy steps away from the cliff and turns around to head back, "Alright, let's head in. See if Joel's back."
"Sure." Ellie said. "Right behind ya." Enid said.
The girls follow Tommy through the woods for a minute before stopping, obviously wanting his rifle back since he was holding Ellie's while her and Enid used his.
"Hand her over." Tommy said, referring to his rifle with his hands out.
Ellie and Tommy switched rifles.
"Hey, thanks for that." Ellie commented as she threw her rifle over her shoulder.
"Yeah, it was fun." Enid added, readjusting her backpack, "It's just what we needed."
"Sure." Tommy replied, moving some trees so Ellie and Enid could walk through.
"Ladies first." Tommy said politely. Both of them walked through the shrubbery, and they continued on down the pathway.
"So, I'm not supposed to say anything. But Joel's worried about you, Ellie." Tommy said, walking behind them.
Enid looked at him for a second before looking at Ellie.
"There's nothing to worry about." Ellie said quietly.
"Ellie, there's obviously something up. Like Uncle Tommy said, you can always be open with us. You've never kept anything hidden from me before." Enid said sincerely.
"She's right. If you don't talk to Joel, he's going to think something's wrong." Tommy said, jogging ahead of them.
"Enid, you know that I talk to you and Joel." Ellie pointed out.
"With Joel, you gotta do more than hi and bye." Tommy says.
"Yeah, I agree. Be more open with him. And if you feel the need to talk, you know you can talk to me." Enid replied, taking a hold of Ellie's hand.
"Okay, I'll try." Ellie sighed, reciprocating the hand gesture.
The trio make it up to their base, which was a lodge from the looks of it.
In front of it, were four horses that had been lent out to them so they wouldn't have to walk all the way back to Jackson.
Ellie and Enid walk through the front door and see Joel sitting at the bar with a guitar sitting across his lap.
The late afternoon sun illuminated into the lobby and everything in its path.
It gave a warm glow that touched their exposed skin.
Joel looks up at the trio coming in and smiles a bit, holding their guitar in his lap.
"That was y'all shootin' out there, right?" he asked.
"Uh, just some stragglers." Tommy answered, "Ellie and Enid got to try out my scope."
The girls sat down at the table, side-by-side.
"How did you two like it?" Joel asked them with a grin.
"Yeah, it feels good." Ellie replied, giving a simple nod.
"Yeah, it was fun getting to take down those fuckers." Enid added, leaning back against the chair.
Tommy took a seat in the chair in front of them, setting his rifle down on the table.
"I see that neither of you have gotten around to changing the strings yet." Joel said, referring to their guitar that they shared.
Joel got up from the bar stool with the guitar in his hand and he walked over to the table.
Ellie and Enid glanced at one another, neither one of them knowing this.
"Really? We didn't know we were supposed to." Ellie says for the both of them.
"Yeah, you uh… We'll get you guys some new ones." Joel tells them.
Tommy reached over to the guitar and grabbed it with a hefty sigh.
"There's that music store down there." he retorts, placing the guitar across his lap.
"Yeah, I bet they got some good shit." Enid wondered.
"That area's long overdue for a sweep anyway." Tommy said, "I can keep watch."
"What'd you say, kiddos?" Joel asked, looking at the girls.
Ellie shrugged and said, "Sure. What about you, Enid?"
"Let's go. I'm up for it." Enid agreed, her tone light.
Tommy then started to play the guitar, gesturing for Joel to get up.
"Guess, that's our cue." Joel said, walking towards the front door.
Ellie and Enid both get up from their chairs to follow Joel. Ellie waited a minute before walking out.
"You coming, El?" Enid asked, turning to look back at her girlfriend.
"Y-Yeah. I'll meet you guys outside." Ellie replied, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Alright. Don't take long." Enid replied, giving Ellie a kiss on the cheek, much to her delight.
Enid went outside and walked to her horse, which was a pallimino stallion.
She stood by her horse and put her hand on its shoulder.
It took a few minutes for Ellie to walk out to meet Joel and Enid.
"Alright, let's go." Ellie said, going to her horse, who she calls Shimmer.
Her horse was a chestnut mare.
"It's about time." Enid said, pretending to complain. Ellie rolled her eyes and walked over to Enid, giving her a kiss.
"I didn't take that long." Ellie said. "Sure, I'll believe you for now." Enid replied.
Afterwards, they each mounted their horses so they could head out.
Joel takes the lead for the three of them. "So… you two and Tommy crossed anything when you two were out?" Joel asked, trotting forward.
Enid gently kicked her horse to get him to start moving; the horse began to trot forward.
"Just the few we saw by the ridge. You?" Ellie asked, having her horse jump over a log with Enid behind her.
"Y'know, I found two runners in a house." Joel answered.
"Wow. Well, we found some runners out by that shed back there." Enid said, making her horse speed up to a canter.
The three rode in silence for the next few minutes as they all rode through the woods.
Joel was the first to break the silence.
"Jesse tells me you guys are handling your own quite well on the group patrols.
He was even recommending you two for paired patrols. But I think you two are still a bit young for it." Joel says, not only referring to her and Enid patrolling together but with the others in the town.
"I'm a better shot than almost all of them. Even Enid here." Ellie said.
"Hey, I heard that. Besides, we each have more experience than most of the new recruits who-" Enid started but Joel cut her off.
"Hey, if you two think you're ready, then I trust the two of you." Joel said, learning to trust the girls.
"Okay, thanks." Ellie said.
"Just do me a favor and start with the shorter routes for now. Y'know, see how you two handle them." Joel said to them.
Ellie and Enid didn't argue with him and replied, "Alright. No problem."
They continued to ride through the woods, making a few right turns.
"You two remember those Savage Starlight comics that you two are into?" Joel asks them.
Both girls smiled at hearing this, they loved the hell out of those comics.
"Yeah?" Ellie asked. "What'd you find?" Enid wondered, having both hands on the reins.
"Tommy and I found some when we were moving through that school the other day." Joel tells them.
Enid's eyes lit up in joviality and she asked, "That's fucking awesome. Didja like 'em?"
"Oh, you know, it's not really my cup of tea." Joel replied, "Dr. Daniela is pretty."
"She's a savage. Ain't that right, E?" Ellie asked, glancing back at Enid.
"Hell yeah, man. She's the most badass warrior in the galaxy." Enid chuckled.
"What she does to Captain Ryan in that death match-" Joel replied, riding ahead of them.
"Yeah, I mean… He definitely deserved it, but…" Ellie sighed.
"It was a hella nice twist of how they made their escape, though." Enid chuckled, getting her horse down a small ledge.
Enid and Ellie were both enthused about Joel actually reading those comics.
They were always a nice find whenever the trio was traveling across the country and the girls would get lost in the futuristic world that the comic was set in.
They galloped through a stream that was next to what looked like the small town where that music store was located.
"Music store's up that way. We're gonna have to leave the horses here." Joel tells them.
"Yeah." Ellie agreed, walking Shimmer out of the water.
"Sounds good." Enid agreed, gently pulling on the reins to her horse.
They stopped by a road that had guardrails on the side of it.
Ellie pushed herself off of Shimmer while Enid got off of hers, whom she named Dusty.
Ellie jumped up onto the guardrail to get onto the road. "Hey Dusty, don't get into trouble with Shimmer there." Enid called, jogging to the guard rail.
"Shimmer's a saint compared to Dusty there." Ellie joked, tying her horse to the guard rail.
"But he usually gets into trouble with Shimmer, hence why I'm saying that," Enid said, climbing over the guardrail.
"I'll believe it when I see it." Ellie replied in a chuckle, turning around to face her girlfriend.
When they get onto the road, Joel tells them where the music store is.
They could see the sign of it just up ahead. It had an image of a guitar at the top of the sign.
They weren't too far.
"Yeah, we see it." Ellie said, jogging ahead to follow Joel. Enid followed suit towards a hotel.
"Guessing we're gonna have to go through here." Enid sighed, walking up to the door.
"Yeah, looks like it." Ellie replied, using her body to push on the doors.
However, the doors were blocked by something therefore, she couldn't open it.
"Damn it." she cursed, moving away from the door.
"There should be another way through." Enid sighed, turning around to jog where Joel was.
He stood by a van with a moving trailer attached to it.
There was a tree in the middle of it because of years of mother nature taking over.
"You two need a boost?" Joel asked them.
"We got it." Ellie said, climbing over the trailer with ease.
Enid climbed over after her. When they got to the other side, they both saw that the road had been caved in and it was too high for them to climb up.
"Um, I don't think we can go this way." Ellie said to Joel. "What?" he asked, a bit confused.
"It's too high up." Enid said, walking back up to the van.
Joel climbed atop of the van to see what they were talking about.
"Damn, used to be able to swim across this…" Joel sighed.
"Okay, so… now what?" Ellie said, sputtering her lips. "Well, maybe we can cut through the hotel." Enid suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea." Joel said, agreeing with the idea.
"Yeah, sounds good to me." Ellie said, grabbing some Austringer Trading Card, "Sweet… Hey, Enid, found another card over here."
"Oh, fuck yeah. Is it the one we've been looking for?" Enid replied, standing by the van.
"Yep, it is. Already worth coming here." Ellie replied, flipping the card over to read the back.
"What's it say?" Enid asked inquisitively.
"Maxence Pierre." Ellie replied. "Oh, sweet. Can't wait to play another round with you." Enid said, a smile on her face.
"Why, so I can beat you again?" Ellie wondered, catching up with them.
"Nope, so I can beat you this time." Enid replied.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see that happen." Ellie chuckled, climbing back over the van with Enid behind her.
"Found a weird hero card in that ditch." Ellie tells Joel as the trio jogged up to the hotel entrance.
"You still collecting those things?" Joel asked them.
"There's no need to be jealous." Enid said. "I'll do my damndest." Joel replied, slowing his pace to a walk.
The trio make it to the front door of the hotel.
Joel was aware that the door wasn't opening so he looked for another way.
Then, a hole big enough for one of them to crawl through.
"You think one of you can fit under there?" Joel asked, kneeling down.
"Eh, it's worth a shot. I'll go and let you guys in." Ellie said, getting onto her belly so she could crawl through.
"Be careful, El." Enid reminded, looking under the hole. "I will." Ellie replied, army crawling her way through.
Fortunately, it didn't take her long to get through. She was inside of the hotel.
"Alright, I'm in. Hold on." Ellie said from the other side.
She searched around to find more supplies in the bedroom and the bathroom before she went to unlock the door.
(Inside the Hotel)
When Ellie opened the door, Joel had his hand resting on the door frame while Enid leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed, giving an impish grin.
"Well, hello." Ellie said with a chuckle.
"'Sup?" Enid said, walking in the door and giving Ellie a peck on the cheek.
"Howdy." Joel said, walking inside. He adjusted the straps that were on his backpack.
"You guys impressed?" Ellie asked, shutting the door behind them. "Yeah, I'd give that a 10/10." Enid said, popping her fingers.
"Joel?" Ellie asked, looking at the older man.
"Nope. You're just too skinny. You two need to eat more." Joel remarked.
"You're welcome." Ellie said, rolling her eyes.
The trio turned on their flashlights so that they could see the interior.
From what they could see, it wasn't as decrepit and run down as the rest of the buildings.
Needless to say, the rest of the corridor was blocked by large slabs of concrete and some wooden stakes therefore there wasn't any way to get through.
Ellie walked into the bathroom, her flashlight shining brightly on everything in her path.
"This place is giving me the creeps." Ellie commented, coming out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, you're not the only one. I'm actually a bit uneasy." Enid said, feeling a chill in the air.
Joel was at another doorway, hanging onto what looks like an old vending machine.
"I think I see a way through, but we got spores. You two put your masks on." Joel tells them, looking through the doorway. Ellie crossed her arms at this.
She didn't like wearing her mask whenever it was just her, Enid, and Joel around considering they're the only ones who know about her immunity.
"Do I have to?" she asked, complaining a bit. "Yeah, it's just us, Joel." Enid added.
"What if we run into someone?" Joel asked, putting his mask on. "Okay, fine." Ellie sighed.
Ellie and Enid both put their masks on over their faces to prevent them from breathing in the spores.
Joel moved the soda machine out of the way, revealing a hole big enough for them to go through.
They all squeezed through and it turns out that the hole led to one of the hotel rooms.
"Gotta be smart about this. Ellie, you stop wearing that mask and eventually you're gonna slip up in front of someone you shouldn't. You know Enid's an exception." Joel reminded Ellie.
"I've never slipped up." Ellie argued. "Yeah, and I never told anyone about it." Enid said, referring to Ellie's bite.
"Have you told anyone new, Ellie?" Joel asked, "Not Jesse or Dina or-"
"Of course not. Neither of us have said anything.
Enid's the only one who knows." Ellie replied, making note of when she first got bitten and that Enid was there when it happened.
"'Kay, good." Joel said, climbing over a piece of the wall.
The girls followed suit and it was another hotel room.
"You ever been in here before?" Ellie asked Joel as she picked up a few items from the floor.
"No. We've just patrolled the streets." Joel answered, "Feeling like a bit of an oversight now…"
"Hmm, maybe. It feels weird in here." Enid said, having an uneasy feeling.
She picked up about a box of ammo, which had about five bullets in it.
"What'd you find?" Ellie asked her.
"Just a box of ammo." Enid answered, putting the ammo in her bag.
"Good find." Ellie praised, going out into the hallway.
Joel had his shotgun out, weary of something.
They walk into another room where a guy was dead among the spores.
"Damn, looks like he was shot a while back." Enid said, resting her hands on her knees.
"Yeah, looks to be that way. Joel, when did the last patrol go through here?" Ellie asked.
"No, not sure." Joel replied. "Is it one of us?" Ellie asked.
"Nah, only people went missing from Jackson are them teenagers from last year." Joel answered, "This one's old. Probably just roamed in."
He then gets up and climbs on some debris that would lead them to the next area, which was the lounge area.
"This way." he said, waiting for the girls to follow.
They climbed over the debris and came upon another set of doors.
Then, the trio all felt alert as they heard infected on the other side.
"Ellie, Enid, c'mere." Joel whispered, standing by the doors.
Joel carefully and quietly pushed open the door, the sound of the runners growing louder.
"We're on patrol, right?" Ellie whispered to Enid and Joel. "Yeah, let's get these fuckers." Enid whispered, pulling out her knife.
There was a stalker standing in the corner with it's back turned.
It gave Joel the opportunity to sneak up on it and stab it in the neck.
Enid saw another one standing in the room ahead of her.
Enid jumped on it, causing it to screech loudly. "Shut the fuck up." she whispered and she stabbed it in the side of its neck.
She pulled her knife across its throat so that she slit its throat, it died from the wound.
Ellie killed another runner in the corner, driving her knife into its throat. However, someone had alerted the infected.
The loud, sudden sound made them screech loudly and they started to charge towards the humans in there.
"Heads up!" Ellie yelled to them, slashing at one of the stalkers.
Enid manages to duck under another runner that tried grabbing her and she quickly pulls out her gun and shoots the runner at least three times.
Joel used his shotgun to blow the heads off of some. A runner tackled Enid to the ground before she had time to react.
"AGH! Get the fuck off of me!" she screamed, fighting to get the runner off of her as it was smacking at her face.
Ellie notices that her girlfriend is getting attacked. She rushed over there, knife in hand and at the ready.
"Get the fuck away from her!" Ellie growled, stabbing the runner in the back, pulling it off of her as Enid quickly shot it in the face.
"More infected! Coming from the balcony!" Joel called, seeing about five more runners jumping down from the balcony that was above them.
Ellie quickly picked up a piece of wood and swung it across a runners face. The force of the swing was enough to kill it.
Ellie ended up getting ambushed by a stalker, and it tried to bite her.
Enid had just finished killing a stalker when she noticed Ellie struggling against the infected.
"Get the fuck off of her, motherfucker!" Enid shouted, driving her knife into the stalker, killing it instantly.
Soon, it was quiet, indicating that there were no more infected around, or at least they thought.
They each reloaded their guns. "Enid, you clean?" Ellie pants, making sure that Enid wasn't bitten.
"Y-Yeah, I'm clean. No bites. You?" Enid asked, also out of breath.
"No bites." Ellie said, reassuring her girlfriend. Enid knew that Ellie was immune to the infection however, she still couldn't risk Ellie getting bitten again.
It'd only lead to disaster.
Not long after, clickers had made their appearance.
"More of them! Second floor!" Joel shouted in panic. One by one, the clickers jumped down from the second floor, making their usual screeching clicking sound.
The trio managed to fight their way through the horde of infected.
When one got ambushed, the other would come to save them.
After a bit, all of the infected were killed.
"Whoo, guys I think we did it." Ellie commented, trying to catch her breath.
"Yeah, that's gotta be the last of them." Enid replied, putting her gun back in her pocket.
"Think so." Joel sighed, "Good job, kiddos."
"So… after that charade, why don't we call off the hunt for those strings?" Ellie asked.
"That sounds good to me." Enid agreed. "Yeah, couldn't have said it better myself." Joel agreed, "But I think our only way out is forward now…"
Ellie and Enid looked around the dark room to find some supplies.
Enid had found a rag, a bottle of alcohol that was a quarter full.
Ellie found some ammo sitting on a table.
Joel waited for them by the set of double doors. After he gets them open, they go into the next room.
They had to turn on their flashlights considering it was dark in there.
"That looks like it might be something." Joel said, referring to a narrow passage in the wall that they would have to squeeze through.
"We're following you." Ellie said. "Lead the way." Enid added.
The trio started to squeeze through the narrow gap. First it was Joel, then Enid, then Ellie.
They ducked under a pipe that was in the wall.
However, when Ellie grabbed onto the pipe, it broke in two, causing Ellie and Enid to gasp in shock.
There was a deep rumbling sound from the other side of the wall.
Ellie and Enid look at each other with wide eyes, both having a look of fear on their faces.
Then, something big broke through the wall with all of its strength, shattering it into pieces.
Turns out it was a bloater, and it pulled Ellie out of the wall.
"Ellie!" Joel and Enid cried out.
The beast threw Ellie onto the floor, causing her to cry out from the impact of the floor, knocking her mask off in the process.
"Ellie!" Enid shouted, getting down to where she was as the bloater made its way towards them.
They started to back up, hand in hand. Then, Joel shot the bloater in the back, getting it away from them.
"C'mon! Get away from them!" Joel shouted, continuing to shoot the bloater.
The bloater turned around and charged after Joel, completely distracted.
Ellie and Enid jumped to their feet when the bloater was far enough.
"Holy shit! Are you okay, El?" Enid asked, panicked from the way Ellie got grabbed like that.
"Agh, yeah. I think so. C'mon, we gotta help him!" Ellie said, taking out her pistol. Enid ended up pulling out a molotov and she lit it.
They could hear Joel fighting with the bloater. Enid threw the molotov at the bloater, setting it on fire.
The bloater yelled out from the burning sensation of the flames from the molotov.
They took out their rifles and began to shoot it.
The bloater had begun to shoot out some of its spores, causing the trio to flee.
However, the bloater charged after Ellie and Enid.
When they tried turning a corner, Ellie felt herself getting grabbed by the bloater.
"AGH!!!" she screamed, trying to fight off the monster.
It grabbed her by her jaw and face so it could rip her head apart.
However, Joel and Enid quickly came to her rescue. Enid quickly shot the bloater a few times while hacked away at it with his machete.
Because of their attempts, the bloater had dropped Ellie to the floor.
Enid instantly got to where Ellie was, having a look of fear on her face.
Before they could exchange words, they watched as Joel chopped off the bloater's arm before he stabbed it relently in order to kill it.
After it dies, Joel turns to where the girls were and he helps them up.
"C'mon." he says, helping them to their feet, "That was too damn close."
"Sure… but we fucking did it." Ellie said, glancing down at the dead bloater.
"Yeah… fuck yeah." Enid sighed, "You guys okay?"
"Other than being really old? Ain't nothing a solid night of sleep won't shake off." Joel replied, certainly feeling his age.
"Yeah, I'm good too. Man, I wanna get out of here." Ellie commented.
"Agh, you and me both." Enid agreed, popping her fingers.
The trio found another doorway where some furniture blocking it; Joel had to move it out of the way for them to go.
"What're you doing?" Ellie asked, watching what he was doing.
"There could be two more bloaters like the ones back there." Enid replied, feeling unsure of this.
"It'll be fine." Joel said, carefully opening the door while having his shotgun out.
Ellie and Enid also pull out their guns just in case there were more infected.
The doorway led into a hallway with a few elevators and a few extra rooms where the label was faded out.
There were no more spores around.
"Spores are clear." Joel said. Him and Enid took off their masks and put them back up.
"Quite a fight back there, huh?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah, we kicked their asses for sure." Enid replied, still having her handgun in her hand. "Yeah, it's not often we get a bloater around these parts." Joel said.
They walk into the room at the end of the hall where an abandoned drum set lay.
"Damn, Jesse and Dina are going to lose their shit when they hear about this." Ellie commented, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oh yeah, if I weren't with you guys, I'd surely lose my shit." Enid chucked.
"Oh, I guarantee it. You'd be pissed as hell with me." Ellie said, knowing how Enid is when she worries her.
"What's the deal with them two anyway?" Joel asked, referring to Jesse and Dina, "They're dating, aren't they? Just like you two?"
"They're on and off, why?" Ellie answered, walking around the gym area of the Inn.
"I hear that Jesse talks about you guys." Joel said.
"We're friends with him, Dad." Enid said, keeping up with Ellie.
"Now, now, now, I've got a pretty keen eye for these sort of things." Joel replied.
"Psh, not so keen with this one." Ellie said, rolling her eyes. "We'll see." Joel sighed.
The trio made their way through a locker room where some of the lockers were standing open.
"Don't hold your breath." Enid tells him.
The locker room was attached to a restroom which they had to walk through to get back to the hallway.
By this time, the sun was starting to set, illuminating everything in its path with it's orange-red rays.
There was also a warm feeling lingering in the air.
But at the same time, Enid and Ellie had an uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomachs.
The trio jogged up to another set of doors, which was blocked by furniture.
Luckily, Joel had found another door that the girls could squeeze through.
He opened it ajar and said, "Think you two can squeeze through here?"
They did so with Ellie going first then Enid. Ellie helped Enid out of the doorway.
They looked around and found out that they were in the cafe area of the Inn.
"See what it is?" Joel asked.
"Yeah." Ellie answered, using both hands to push a stove out of the way.
Enid helped her with it so it'd be easier.
Afterwards, the door was able to open just a bit more for Joel to get through.
"Okay, it's open." Enid tells him. They sauntered their way more into the sunset lit cafe, it's orange and red light shining through the windows.
Enid glanced down at the floor and felt her stomach sink. "Ellie… look." she said, pointing to the floor.
On the floor, was the skeletal remains of what looked like a survivor.
It was evident because of the clothes and backpack they were wearing.
Ellie too looked at it, not seeing the clicker in the cafe with them.
"Ellie! Enid!" Joel cried, pushing them back behind him.
The clicker tried crawling towards them but Joel stepped on it and shot it in the head with his revolver.
"Shit." Ellie panted. "Thanks for the save." Enid said, still looking at the bodies.
"Guys, look. I think it's them." Enid said, taking note on the height of the corpses.
"Yeah… looks like it. The couple that ran away last year." Ellie agreed, her eyes drifting to Joel. Joel looks down at the teens before kneeling down to inspect them.
As Joel was inspecting the skeleton and clicker, there was a note sitting on a table that Ellie just happened to find.
She picked it up with both hands and read what the paper said.
"El, what is that?" Enid asked, her arms crossed as she looks at what Ellie is reading.
"Listen to this, Jackson is a wonderful place, but we got tired of hearing the stories of people suffering everywhere else. We wanted to save lives. We had good intentions. We didn't make it an hour before running into a horde. Now we're bitten. We've decided we're going to end our lives instead of turning. Please tell our family and friend's that we're sorry. Love Adam and Sidney." Ellie read, turning the paper over.
By this time, Joel had stood back up. Enid took the paper gently and read the rest of the page.
"I shot her. I can't take my own life. I'm a fucking coward. Adam." Enid read the grim writing, a sigh crawled up her throat as she finished reading it.
"Jesus…" Joel sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't the first time he had heard anything that grim.
It wasn't new to him. "If only they were immune, right?" Ellie wondered. "Yeah… if only." Enid sighed, walking over to the table to put the paper back down onto the table.
"Well, let's… go get Tommy, and we can get these bodies back to Jackson." Joel said, looking from the girls to the bodies.
Then, a thought crossed Ellie's mind, causing her to look down.
Then, Ellie brought up a subject that they hadn't discussed for the last 3 years.
"After you two took me out of the Firefly hospital." she said, making Enid freeze.
Joel slowly looked at the auburn headed girl.
Enid turned to look at Ellie as she walked to where Joel was, she saw that Ellie had a look of suspicion on her face.
"You guys said that there were dozens of people like me." Ellie said.
"Y-Yeah, that's what they told us." Joel replied for the both of them. Ellie wasn't convinced by his answer, "Enid?"
Enid rubbed the back of her neck and glanced down, "Yeah, they did. They said that… they tested on more people like you but none of them worked."
"I've never met another immune person before. Neither have you other than me, Enid. Have you, Joel?" Ellie said, making a good point.
"They could be hiding it." Joel replied, a bit distantly, "You do, Ellie."
Ellie crossed her arms and said, "Do you two believe it?"
Joel, narrowing his eyes a bit, turned towards Ellie all the way. "Is now really the time for this?" he asked, a bit impatient.
"We traveled across the entire country to bring me to the Fireflies. I had so many questions for them. Why did you guys pull me out of there while I was still unconscious?" Ellie asked them.
Enid held her breath from the guilt that she felt.
She hated herself for keeping the truth from the girl that she's known since they were little kids.
She even knows that Ellie is smart and will figure it out soon enough.
"Because we let them run their tests and when Enid and I saw that they were useless, we got us out of there." Joel answered, feeding into the lie even more.
"How do you two know they were useless? Maybe if you woulda given them more time, they could've figured something out-" Ellie argued.
"Ellie!" Joel cut her off, taking a step closer. He had a more stern look on his rugged face. "There. Was. No. Cure." he said slowly and firmly, now standing in front of Ellie.
Enid kept her mouth shut, not finding anything to say.
"There's nothing that could've helped these people or anybody else. Look, I know both of you wish things were different- I wish things were different. But they ain't." Joel said sternly as he looked at the two of them. .
Ellie looked as if she was on the verge of tears, hurting Enid even more. She walked over and placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder, getting Ellie to look at her.
She covers Enid's hand with her own and looks away in disappointment.
"We need to get these kids back to their families. Or is there something else you'd like to rehash." Joel said, not wanting to go further into it.
"Dad… can we not do this right now?" Enid said, a bit agitated.
"Right. C'mon, you two." Joel said, turning around walking out of the cafe.
Ellie and Enid look at each other for a brief moment, each having a heavy tension in their stares.
Enid bit her bottom lip and looked down. She felt her stomach twist to a nauseating level as the guilt overwhelmed her.
"Come on. Let's get out of here." Ellie sighed, walking ahead. Enid waited a second before walking too.
Next flashback, I'm gonna rewrite because it is in need of an update.