There will be a little bit of Tess's backstory in this chapter. I do think Tess would blame Ellie a little bit for Joel's death.

Eh. There was a lot of guesses with Tess's character. I'm just going off of her first encounter with Ellie and her attitude towards the Fireflies. So yeah.

"I've never been outside of a quarantine zone like this before. It's fucking awesome!" Ellie exclaimed excitedly walking over a stream after Tess. Tess sighed, still trying not to think about Joel. "Aw, fireflies! I mean real ones." Ellie pointed to a swarm by a tree. "You've really never been out in the wild like this?" Tess asked her. Ellie scoffed. "I've been in quarantine zones pretty much my whole life. I actually just came to Boston last year. I've only been outside the QZ twice including yesterday."

"And you're in military school? How the hell did you get away with that?" Tess looked back at the teen wondering if she was underestimating her. "I had a uh...friend. It was kind of her expertise. She was a lousy thief though." Ellie mused. Tess nodded. "Nice job back there with the gun, by the way. How'd you know you weren't going to blow my head off?" Ellie walked ahead. "I kind of didn't."

Tess let out a hiss of air, alarming Ellie. "I mean, I had a clear shot is all so..." Her voice trailed off slowly and she wandered if Tess was upset with her. They reached a large fence. "Here we are. Bill's town. Help me look for a way over, Ellie." Tess looked around the length of the fence until Ellie pointed out the opening at the top of the fence gate. "Hey Tess, why don't you give me a boost and I'll unchained the fence?" Tess reluctantly walked over. "Okay, careful." Tess lifted Ellie up over the opening. Ellie quickly unchained the fence and pushed open the gate with a "Voila!" Tess let out a small laugh. "Alright kid let's get going."

"Did you live anywhere before Boston?" Ellie asked after a while. Tess hesitated before answering. "Uh honestly I traveled a lot before the outbreak. I was a bit older than you actually. Skipped college and decided to travel the country." She reminisced. Ellie look puzzled. "Is college like a military school?" Tess let out a laugh. Man, this kid was young. "No. Well maybe. You still learn math, science, reading, and shit but without the guns. You could choose what you wanted to study sometimes. But college isn't- wasn't for me. So I took off."

"Did you have any family?" Tess sighed and Ellie got the hint. "Too much. Sorry. So who is this Bill guy?" Ellie asked hopping another fence. "An old business partner. He's a good guy. Just...paranoid. We're getting a car from him."

"I guess it helps to be. So let's say we get a car from this buddy of yours. Then what?" Ellie asked. "Then we go find Tommy."

"Marlene said he's Joel's brother?"

"Yup. And more importantly he's a firefly. He'll point us in the right direction. He lives far away which is why we need the car."

"Hey look," Ellie said as the entered what looked like a garden. "Gnomes. I had a book filled with these. I thought they were cute. Not fairies though. They creep me out." Tess laughed a little. "Alrighty then. Come on." The duo wandered into the middle of a street and wandered into an old bar/arcade. "Oh look at that...No fucking way." Ellie walked up to a game machine called "The Turning". "You've played this before?" Tess asked watching Ellie smash buttons. "No well, kind of. But my friend, the lousy thief, she knew everything about this game. Apparently there was this character called 'Angel Knives' who would uh...punch a hole through your stomach and kick your head off."

"I spent a lot of time playing these too when I was your age." Tess said. They left the store through the back. In the middle of the large street was a sign. "Mandatory Evacuation. To where?" Ellie read. "Quarantine zones. Where else? Some places got a heads up before the infection took its toll." Tess explained.

"Did you?"

"Nope." Ellie sighed. "Must be hard. Leaving your stuff behind like that." Ellie couldn't imagine parting with the few valuable items she had. "That wasn't usually the hard part, Ellie."

"Well. This place is very quaint." Ellie muttered after a while. Tess turned to look at Ellie quizzically. "Quaint?" Ellie shrugged. "I don't know how else you'd describe it" Tess laughed. "How about empty?" Ellie chuckled. "I guess that would be another way." They walked into a corner store, Ellie occasionally stopping to look at trinkets and such. "This place is awesome."

They walked into a diner and Ellie groaned loudly. "What's wrong?" Tess asked her worriedly. Ellie shook her head. "Nothing it's just...there's all this music here and no one is around to listen to it." Ellie looked through a pile of records and picked one up. "See this is good right here." She showed it to Tess. "Etta James? That's before my time so what on Earth do you know about that?" Ellie snickered. "Oh just a little bit. I got you babe." Ellie sang.

They walked through an ally until Tess put her arm in front of Ellie. "Hey what are-" Tess signaled for Ellie to be quiet. Suddenly they heard the cry of an infected rushing towards them. Ellie took out her gun but the clicker surprisingly blew up into pieces.

"Bill's traps." Tess muttered. "Stay close and be careful.' Ellie nodded.

"Hey check it out!" Tess looked back at Ellie. She was holding up a bow and two arrows. "I'm a pretty good shot with this thing." She said convincingly. "Okay, be careful where you point that thing. Come on. Through here." Tess pushed open a metal door with a creak and fell off-balance sharply. She was suddenly dragged through the air, upside down. "Oh fuck!" Ellie shouted from the doorway. She ran over to Tess, not sure of what to do.

"The fridge is the counterweight, Ellie! I need you to cut it down. Can you do that?" Ellie nodded and quickly ran over. She climbed on top of the fridge and began fumbling with the ties. "These one of Bill's traps too? Sorry but your friend is starting to seem like a huge dick!" Ellie shouted from the other side of the room. "Hurry, Ellie!" Tess thought she heard infected in the distance.

"Just cut the rope and it will bring me down!" Tess shouted. "Tess?" Ellie and Tess heard the runners and stalkers at the same time. "Shit. Here we go." Tess took out her pistol and fired at the infected the best she could before having to fight one off face to face. She punched the runner roughly across the face before shooting it close range with her gun. "How are you doing over there Ellie?" Tess kept firing at infected. She was going to need ammo soon. "I'm going as fast as I can!" Ellie complained.

"Anytime now!" Tess was then pulled upwards and the fridge Ellie was on fell to the ground. "Fuck!" Ellie exclaimed. "You okay?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay you can do it. Concentrate!"

"Here's some ammo!" Ellie smoothly tossed the packet to Tess. Tess now had to focus on protecting Ellie. Finally, Ellie cut the rope and Tess fell down roughly.

"Tess, watch out!" Tess was tackled by a runner. She struggled trying to get it off of her until the swift blow of a machete killed it. Bill reached down to grab her. "Off your ass and on your feet, Tess." Tess got up and ran after him, making sure Ellie was safely following. Bill shut the gate to the room they were just in. "This isn't going to hold them."

"Oh shit." Ellie shot at infected coming from an alley behind them. "Which way, Bill?!" Bill ran towards another alley and entered an abandoned laundromat, shooting at the infected inside. Tess was pushed against the wall by a runner but Ellie stabbed it in the back giving Tess a chance to shoot it in the head. They ran through a truck and reach one of Bill's "hideouts". Bill sealed the door behind them. Everyone was breathing heavily trying to catch their breath.

"Man," Ellie was pacing the room. "That was close." Bill walked towards her. "Thanks for the heroics and all." Bill stared at her harshly. "Uh...Ellie," Ellie held out her hand as an introduction. In one swift move, Bill put one link of a handcuff on her, and the other on a pipe attached to the wall.

"Bill!" Tess shouted. He turned around and faced her with his gun aimed. "Turn around and get on your knees." He shouted roughly. Tess slowly did as he commanded. "Any bites? Sprouts?" Bill checked her arms and back. "Damn it no, Bill!"

"I swear to god if I see so much as a twi-" His sentence was cut short with a clang and Tess looked around to see Ellie swinging the pipe that was on the wall at him. "Ellie, stop!" Tess commanded, pulling Bill back from the teen. She looked at Bill. "Are you done?" It was more of a command than a statement. Bill scoffed. "Am I done?! You come into my house, set off my traps, damn near break my shooting arm- Tess who is this brat and why is she following you?" Ellie fumed.

"I am none of your goddamn business and we're here because you owe Tess and Joel some favors and you can start," She held up her wrist that was still cuffed. "By taking these off!" Tess sighed. Bill groaned. "I owe Joel and Tess? Is this a joke?"

Tess crossed her arms. "I'm taking her to the Fireflies, Bill. I need a car." Bill rolled his eyes. "Oh Tess needs a car!" He mocked in a sing-song voice. "Tess, I like you. I like you a hell of a lot better than I like Joel but what makes you think I'd just up and give you a car? And the Fireflies. Tess, you're smarter than that. What's Marlene giving you, huh?"

"Guns. But things changed, Bill."

"And Joel just agreed to tuck his tail and let you leave? What, trouble in paradise?" Bill laughed at his own joke. "Joel is dead, Bill." Tess admitted. She felt herself grow sick just admitting what had happened. "Don't ask how. Are you going to help me or not?" Tess stared Bill down. He paused for a moment taking in the news. "Like I said, even if I had a car, why would I give it to you? Might as well take my guns, my food!"

Ellie sucked her teeth. "Looks like you could lose some of that food."

Bill pointed his machete at Ellie. "Listen here, you little shit-"

"No fuck you! You handcuffed me!" Tess walked over and put her hands on Ellie's shoulders. "I need you to stay quiet, Ellie. Let me handle this." Tess looked her in the eyes. Ellie stared at her blankly but slowly nodded and folded her arms over her chest.

"Whatever favors I owe you ain't worth this much." Bill said. "They are." Tess hissed. The two adults stared each other down.

"Fine. Follow me. Grab whatever supplies you may want from here. And stay right on my ass."

"Hard to miss it." Ellie quietly mumbled.

Bam. Chapter 2. Things will start to deviate from the game more in the next chapter. Woot woot. Leave reviews please!