(Summer 2035)

It would have been a few months since Joel, Ellie, and Enid had made it back to Tommy's. Things have been pretty good during that time.

The trio had found a two story house that was in great condition. Ellie and Enid had moved into the garage that was in the backyard, making it a place of their own while Joel remained in the house.

They've also made a few good friends while they were there.

Enid would often go with Joel and Tommy on their patrols to give Ellie some space, which was fine with both of them.

Right now, they were on a patrol for any stragglers in the area. They, of course, had to go on horseback.

Enid had found a horse she had fallen in love with, which was a palomino stallion she named Dusty. Ellie had found a light brown horse she named Shimmer.

While the horses waited out in the garage, Joel, Enid, and Tommy resided inside a house.

Enid had found a guitar, much to her delight. It looked like it was in good condition other than some dirt on it.

Joel had taken the guitar and sat down in an old, ragged chair that sat in the living room. Enid kept her eyes open for any stragglers. Tommy sat down on the coffee table in front of him.

"We don't know what happened. I was just supposed to take them to the Firefly's and walk away. You go halfway across the country with someone... She needed her immunity to mean somethin'. Enid knew how much this meant to her. Maybe I was startin' to buy into that whole... cure business. Maybe we just wanted to do right by her. And we made it. We had found the Firefly's. They were actually going to make a cure... The only catch... it would kill her," Joel explained to Tommy as he cleaned a metal butterfly on the guitar fingerboard.


(Flashback)

They open the door and see Ellie laying on the operating table, surrounded by three doctors.

"Sweet Jesus..." Joel mumbled, standing in the doorway. "Doctor?" the female doctor gasped.

The head surgeon, walked in front of Ellie, holding his arms up cautiously.

"What are you two doing in here? I won't let you take her. This is our future; Think of all the lives we'll save," he said, holding a scalpel in front of him.

Both Joel and Enid stood in the doorway, both glaring at the doctors.


(Present Time)

Tommy was in shock. He had no idea that they'd go to extreme measures in that hospital.

From the garage, Enid could hear her father talking about what happened in that hospital.

"Goddamn. That's... That's a lot. What does Ellie know?" Tommy asked.

"Well, Enid and I told her that they were gonna run some tests. I told her... that her immunity meant nothing," Joel replied.

"And she believed you and Enid?" Tommy asked him.

"Didn't say otherwise. A part of Enid wanted to say somethin'," Joel said.

Enid then walked in. "Dad, Uncle Tommy, it's clear out there," Enid told them, getting them to look at her.

Tommy started to get up. "Well, guess that's our cue," he said, picking his jacket up and he walked to the garage.

Enid walked over to Joel, who was starting to get up. "How's that guitar looking?" she asked.

"It's comin' along real nice," Joel said, picking up his backpack and the guitar.

"Awesome. Ellie's gonna love this. She gets the first lesson," she replied, walking beside her dad out to the garage.

Joel and Tommy lift up the garage door, letting in the late sun.

"C'mon, Dusty, old boy," Enid said, leading Dusty out. When they were outside, they all mounted their horses.

Giving gentle kicks to their sides, the horses started to trot out of the neighborhood.

They rode passed some houses that they searched through. They had taken care of the infected that were in those houses.

"Go on, Dusty," Enid said, gently kicking Dusty, making him gallop.

They rode passed an old gas station and they saw some deer loping by them and into the woods.

A few minutes later, they make it to a yellow field that overlooked Jackson. It was a pretty sight.

"Almost there," Tommy said, riding ahead of them.

"Yep," Joel replied. "Finally," Enid said, sighing in relief. The sun felt very good on their skin.

As they got closer to the enclosed settlement, Enid slowed Dusty down to a trot.

"Hey, it's us!" Tommy called to his men. The gates open and the trio ride on through.

They ride up to the stables. Enid and Joel get off their horses and lead them to Tommy.

"It's okay, I got 'em. You two go on," Tommy said, taking the reins from Enid and Joel.

"You sure?" Joel asked. "Yeah," Tommy said.

"About what we were talkin' about earlier. I can't say I'd've done different. I'll take it to the grave, if I have to," Tommy said, looking at his brother and his niece.

"We'll see you later, Tommy. C'mon, Enid," Joel said, walking ahead. "Right behind ya. See ya, Uncle Tommy," Enid replied, waving him off.

They walked down the street to get to their house.


(The Garage)

Enid and Joel walk through the door and they see Ellie sitting at her desk, drawing in her notebook.

"Hello? Ellie?" Joel called. However, Ellie hadn't heard him.

"She's got her ear buds in. I'll get her," Enid said taking off her backpack and throwing it on the couch.

She walked up behind Ellie and wrapped her arms around Ellie's neck, getting the red-head to jump.

She looked behind her and saw Enid and Joel behind her. "Oh, Jesus. You nearly gave me a heart attack," Ellie said, taking her ear buds out.

"Well, you didn't hear us come in so I had to do it," Enid said with a nudge.

Ellie turned to face them, leaning against the desk. "Hey," Ellie said.

"Hey," Joel replied. "Hey there," Enid greeted with a grin.

"Well, just thought we'd check in. Y'know, talking about how impressed they are with you, and how well both of you are helping out," Joel said.

"That's good," Ellie replied. "Well, I help you and Uncle Tommy a lot so," Enid said with a shoulder shrug.

Joel rubbed his beard for a minute. "Yeah. Tommy and I went riding the other day and he, uh... he told me a joke and I thought about you two," Joel said.

This was one time that Enid had stayed behind to help Ellie.

"Oh, really? What is it?" Enid asked, intrigued. "Oh, um, shoot, now I forgot. It was uh... somethin' about a clock... how do you--" he replied, trying to think of what the joke was.

Enid looked down at Ellie's sketchbook and saw what she was drawing. "This must've taken hours for you to do," Enid said, looking at Ellie with a grin.

Ellie looked back and then rememberd how late it was getting. "Oh, right. Look, um, it's pretty late, and we gotta get up in a few hours," Ellie said, shaking her head a bit.

Enid remembered that she was going with Ellie the next morning.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, and I'm gonna get out of your hair, I just, um... well, Enid had found something and I wanna show you this. Just gimme a sec," Joel said, leaving the room for a second.

"What is it?" Ellie asked. "You'll see," Enid replied, elbowing Ellie gently in the ribs.

Joel then comes back in with the guitar. "What's this?" Ellie asked.

"Some folks call this thing here a gee-tar," Joel replied.

Ellie smirked and replied, "Funny," "Do you wanna hear something?" Joel asked.

The girls look at one another. Joel did say that he would do that a while back.

"Okay," Ellie said with a nod. "Yeah, we didn't get it to just look at it," Enid said sarcastically.

He sat down on the coffee table. Enid sat down on the couch and Ellie sat back in the computer chair.

"Promise me that you two won't laugh," Joel said, holding the guitar in his lap.

"We won't laugh," Ellie said with a nod. "Cross our hearts and hope to die," Enid said, making two diagonal lines on her chest.

Joel tuned the guitar to where he needed it and he took a deep breath.

He tuned the guitar to where he needed it and he started to play; Then he started to sing.

"If I ever were to lose you

I'd surely lose myself

Everything I have found here

I've not found by myself

Try and sometimes you'll succeed

To make this man of me

All my stolen missing parts

I've no need for anymore

'Cause I believe

And I believe 'cause I can see

Our future days

Days of you and me,"

When he finished, he rested his arm on the side of the guitar.

"There you go," he said with a smile. Ellie and Enid were both impressed while they listened to Joel sing.

"Well, that didn't suck," Ellie said with a nod and grin. Enid glanced up at her with a impish grin. "What the hell are you talkin' about? That was pretty good actually," Enid said, smacking her best friends' knee.

"You're thinking the same as me," Ellie replied with a grin.

Joel laughed and stood up from the coffee table. "I'll take what I can get," he said, walking over to Ellie, "Here. She's both of y'all's,"

He gave the guitar to Ellie, who shook her head. "What? No, no, no. I don't know the first thing about this. Enid, why don't you take it?" Ellie said, taking the guitar.

"Ah, we agreed that you'd be the first to learn. I guess I can watch you," Enid said with a cheeky grin.

"I promised I'd teach the both of you how to play," Joel told them.

"Oh yeah, you did," Ellie replied, holding the guitar in her lap.

"So, what do you say? Tomorrow night, first lesson?" Joel offered, hands on his hips.

Ellie glanced over at Enid, who looked back at her. "Deal," Ellie and Enid said at the same time.

Joel grinned again. "Okay, okay," he said, walking towards the door.

"Oh, wait. Did you remember that joke? The one about the clock?" Enid asked curiously.

"Oh. What is the downside to eating a clock?" He asked, leaning against the doorway.

Ellie shrugged. "You got us," Enid said for the both of them.

"It's time consuming," Joel finished.

Enid giggled at the joke. Ellie smiled. "That's so dumb," Ellie commented, grinning.

Joel smiled at this before waving them goodnight. He then closes the door behind him.

Ellie looked down and tapped the strings. Enid looked over at the guitar.

"Aren't you happy we found that?" Enid asked her.

"Yeah. Thanks for finding it," Ellie nodded, resting an arm on the side of the guitar.

Enid stood up and stretched her arms. "You're welcome," she said, "I'm gonna get some sleep. You need to get some sleep too,"

"Psh. Alright, alright. I'm coming," Ellie said, putting the guitar on the couch.

They get their pjs on and they get into bed, wondering what the next day would bring.


After 11 years, I'm finally working on this story of the second game. I know this game didn't get a whole lot of praise because of the story direction it took. For the most part, I can see why, but it didn't go without the good side of things.

As for Abby's part, I'm not going to add because it's gonna waaay too long.

So far, it's gonna be really good. Stay tuned for this.