AN: Just an FYI, a few things… In case you haven't read the prequel stories "It all starts with something." & "Stuck in a Cabin" this story technically starts directly after they sleep with each other in the weed bunker from the game timewise. It's a modern setting with no infected or cordyceps virus. There is no extreme survival-like living style but there do be vague riots and wild protests and stuff.

That and that rabies is hella bad lol. Jackson is still a fort-like city built to fend off wild animals and if someone is bitten by an animal with rabies, they're super fucked. They get all crazed and shit before having a horrible death.

As for their "technology" they got radios, barely any mobile phones, cars and stuff but they still travel by horse in Jackson. Their ages also follow the canon story in TLOU Part 2.

P.S. TRIGGER WARNING for descriptive passages about gore and violence involving animals.

Winter - December

Twitching awake, Ellie groaned before rubbing her face. She shifted in place, feeling for her sides to find nothing and the lack of warmth that she fell asleep with. That made her eyes peel open before she spoke in a hazy voice, "Dina…?"

She sat up before noting that her all clothes were gone minus her bag and sweater. That made Ellie sigh again before she reluctantly got up. She then scavenged the floor for her clothes before dressing herself and making her way back up into the house.

The emptiness made her shiver before she called out again in a light voice. "Dina?" Ellie awkwardly explored the house before thankfully finding her in the bathroom. "There you are, I thought you left without me."

Dina quickly turned around and wiped her mouth with a tissue before throwing it away and giving her a small smile. "Hey, morning sleepy head."

"Hey beautiful…" Ellie grabbed her hips and pressed her body up against Dina's. She then hugged her affectionately before kissing her forehead. "Did you want to eat before we head out?"

"I'm not hungry." Dina quickly brushed off before sighing softly and running her hands up and down Ellie's arms. "You ready to go back yet? It looks like the blizzard passed."

She gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I guess so. We've been out for too long. Joel and the others are probably worried."

"Alright, let's head out then shall we?"

Dina nodded her head back toward the weed bunker and by the time they had their bags and stepped back outside into the wild, Ellie stopped when realized something.

"Wait, what's today again?"

"The nineteenth, why?"

Ellie's face immediately brightened up. "You want to do something naughty with me?"

That made Dina raise an eyebrow. "Naughty? As in…" She then eyed Ellie up and down, letting them linger at specific spots.

Her face immediately burned up. "Wha— no! No, I mean what do you think about ditching the patrol and going on a hike?"

Dina only shot her a confused look. "You've lost me."

Ellie vaguely pointed toward the old abandoned planetarium on the top of the mountain. "It might be a rough ride thanks to the weather but it should probably take us about a day to hike up there." She vaguely estimated before continuing, "There's this awesome meteor shower that's supposed to pass through in about two days. It's hella rare and I thought it'd be cool if we watched it together."

"Hmm…" Dina blinked before commenting, "That does sound cool."

"You don't have to say yes if you don't want to." Ellie quickly interjected, "I don't want you to feel like you have to. We're not exactly packed for a long run either."

Dina shook her head. "What are you saying? You're asking me out on a date, of course, I'll go. It sounds fun."

Her cheeks went pink. "Wha— that's not— I'm not—"

Giggling at her reaction, Dina shot her a teasing look. "So you're not asking me out on a date?"

Her jaw dropped this time. "N-No! I-I am, I just uh… I wanted you to know that you can change your mind 'cause, you know, the trouble we're bound to get into."

"I'm fully aware, you dork." Dina smiled softly before cupping Ellie's cheek. "You go. I go. End of story."

A bubbly smile filled Ellie's cheeks as she had a giddy grin. She quickly glanced down at Dina's lips before saying, "You really know how to steal a gal's heart."

Dina just smirked at her before cooly stating, "I can't steal what's already mine though now can I?" Ellie's face widened in shock but before she could react, Dina quickly pecked her lips. "C'mon, let's go." She then patted her cheek playfully before walking ahead.

Blinking repeatedly, it took a second for Ellie's brain to reboot. "W-Wait— what about the hunt?"

Stopping in place, Dina turned to face her. "Just write a note. They'll be fine in the storage box and I'm sure someone will check up on us."

"Right."

"You better hurry slowpoke, at this rate, they'll find us before we even leave."

"Shit."

Ellie quickly dropped her bag before opening it up and pulling out her journal. She quickly scribbled down a short note with something along the lines of, the hunt is safe, we'll be back in about two days, don't worry about us, before ripping it out of her journal and writing down their names. She then looked for something to pin down her note before grabbing a random rock and putting it down on the storage box. Once she confirmed it was secure, she ran after Dina to the stable.

In no time, they were on their way to the planetarium on the mountain.

They fell into a comfortable silence and after a moment of riding, Ellie finally looked at Dina before asking. "So, how was your finals? I never got the chance to ask how you did."

Dina immediately groaned out loud. "Don't even get me started."

Ellie hissed. "That bad?"

She shook her head. "Not the way you're thinking. I know I did well on my exams but boy, did I fucking hate the TA in one of my classes."

"Yikes, what'd they do? You never mentioned this when we were there."

Dina just shrugged. "I didn't want to add to our stress." She flicked her hand outward before starting, "So, this one time, I got back my exam with a lower grade than I expected. After I read the corrections, I realized that I got dinged for the wrong thing and when I asked the professor about it, she said one of the TAs corrected it and apologized on their behalf before fixing it for me, which is cool and all, but then comes our second exam."

"Don't tell me…"

"Yep, I got marked down for some stupid shit again so this time, I walked over to the TA and basically called her out. That dickwad got embarrassed apparently and from that day on, I was on her radar."

Ellie shook her head at that. "She was probably just jealous that you're way hotter and smarter than her."

Dina grinned at her before agreeing, "I bet." She then patted Japan's mane before asking, "How about you? Any horrible TAs wreaking havoc?"

Humming on that note, Ellie rubbed her chin. "Well not exactly a bad TA, more like, she was a sweetheart but my professor sucked ass. He treated her like an errand boy! Hell, he even made her go buy coffee this one time."

"No fucking way."

"Yeah, dead ass! I'm not kidding, we were all worried about her and ended up ratting him out to the dean. I don't know what happened after but I think he got fired or some shit. We never saw him again after a while."

"Well shit, I hope he did, I swear, some professors don't deserve to be professors. You can tell when they don't give a shit about their students and it's like why the fuck are you teaching in the first place? If you don't want to commit your time and effort, don't do it."

"Right! Geez, like who do they think are? They want us to call them 'doctor' or whatever which is fine and all, like cool! Serious respect, but like why the fuck would I give it to you if you're being an asshole and aren't willing to answer our fucking question clearly without being snarky or giving me like ten more by the time they answer it!"

Dina groaned at that. "Don't even get me started with my electrical engineering professor."

"Oh boy."

"That jerk had a stick up his ass the entire time! His lessons sucked and his explanations didn't teach shit. Reading the textbook was more informative and coherent. Like legit, more than half the class left before thirty minutes even passed during the final."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah. It's a miracle I passed his class, to be honest."

Ellie chuckled with a smile before bragging, "You're too smart to flunk anything."

"I know," Dina agreed again with a playful smile, "I was born to build shit. When Uncle Eugene taught me to wire things as a kid, I was an all-natural."

"As expected of my girl."

"You know it." Dina winked and they rode in silence for a brief second before she turned to face her and asked, "How's your astronomy class going? Learn anything fun?"

"Define fun."

Scrunching her nose, Dina hummed before jutting her lips. "Anything that has nothing to do with math. I'm done with it for the year."

Laughing at that, Ellie agreed. "True." She then sat up straight before thinking, "Hmm… let's see…"

Their horses trotted through a river before she finally thought of something and snapped her fingers.

"Did you know that black holes are formed when a star collapses and is so dense that its gravitational pull is so strong that light can't escape?" She paused before continuing when Dina nodded. "And that they all rotate at a thousand rotations per second and would rip you apart in a fraction of a second! You'd get pulled, stretched, and torn apart in a process called spaghettification." Ellie gushed out of nowhere with a bright smile.

Dina just shot her look while chuckling. "Spaghettification?"

"Yup!" She grinned before adding, "And then that a minute here would equal seven hundred over years there because the gravitational pull is way slower compared to Earth."

"Huh, interesting." Dina hummed before randomly asking, "What if we're in a black hole right now?"

Ellie immediately turned her way and looked her in the eyes. "Exactly! Maybe we are. You'd never know! For all we know, this could be at the center of a black hole."

Snorting at that, Dina countered back. "So the Milky Way is just a sham?"

"Maybe," she shrugged before adding. "Maybe, the Milky Way is in a black hole and then the mini black holes that we've discovered are just like… this main hole's pimples. Black heads if you will."

Dina immediately started laughing at that. "Pimples? Really?"

"Why not? The space is so vast and filled with so many unknowns. We'll never be able to truly understand it. Earth will probably be long gone by the time we figure out how to live on some other planet."

The smile never left Dina's face. "Geez, you're such a nerd! I can't believe I'm stuck with you."

Rolling her eyes playfully, Ellie shot her a smug look. "Hey, you're the one with exquisite taste. Not my fault you fucked up."

Chuckling at that, Dina wiggled her eyebrows before going with it. "And there's nothing else I'd like to fuck."

Ellie's mouth flattened as a blush crept up on her cheeks. "Why you… I hate you."

Dina just smiled before throwing her a wink. "Love you too."

Grumbling to herself, Ellie rolled her eyes before looking straight ahead and mumbling. "Yeah yeah… love you too."

"Huh? What was that? I didn't quite catch that."

"Nothing." She then ushered Shimmer to go a little faster.

"What? C'mon," Dina quickly followed after Ellie, "What did you say?" She teased before expanding, "Now you got me curious. I could have sworn you said a certain three words…"

"Fuck you."

"That's only two."

"Go fuck yourself."

"I will if you want." She teased once again before remarking, "You should probably watch me though, gotta make sure I do it right."

Ellie's face widened. "Oh my god— Dina!"

Her reaction immediately made Dina laugh out loud. She cracked up so hard that it brought tears to her eyes, making her grab hold of her stomach to brace herself. Ellie just dragged out a groan before glaring at her. After a second, she squared her look before smirking.

"Yeah, well, at least I wasn't the one begging to be fucked last night!" Now that silenced Dina. Her face widened in shock and Ellie ate up her dumbfounded look that was tickled with a little pink before she let out a happy chortle and rode ahead. "That's what I thought!"

Dina finally blinked before scoffing. "Ellie!" She then broke out into a huge grin before chasing after her. "Just you wait, I'm gonna fuck you up when we get back!"

"Hah! Sure you will. Sureeee you will."

The rest of their ride was a mix of teasing and peaceful silence. They caught up on random things in their lives such as recent hobbies or obsessions or even books they were reading or music they were listening to recently. Anything really but, as the sun fell, the weather was growing increasingly worrisome. However, thankfully, they were close to their destination.

"Good girl…" Ellie cooed at Shimmer before patting her mane. "We're almost there."

Frowning slightly, Dina steadied her horse. "Ellie, the weather's not looking so good."

Turning to face her, Ellie sighed. "I know but we're almost there. We just gotta reach the top and—"

Dina's horse suddenly bucked. "Woah—"

Gasping softly, Ellie yanked at Shimmer's reins. "Dina!"

"Woah there!" Dina tried cooing, "Calm down Japan, what's wrong? Why are you—"

The sound of a low growl made them both flinch.

"What the—"

They both turned to face some glowing eyes. In seconds, multiple pairs of eyes crept up from the shadows as the growling grew louder and louder. They could both hear the aggression in the air, making Ellie gasp as her jaw fell while the color in Dina's face drained as she quickly reached for her rifle.

"Oh fuck—" Dina's breath hitched, "Ellie— RUN!"

"Shit, Dina—" Before Ellie could react, one of the wolves from the pack lunged out, attacking Dina. Her heart dropped as she gasped out loud.

"Oh fuck—" Her horse went crazy and in seconds, Dina was knocked off her horse.

Ellie's heart dropped as she quickly pulled out her rifle and pulled Shimmer's reins around. "DINA!"

Dina crashed down onto the ground with a painful grunt. She winced before quickly rolling out of the way when her horse ran past her. She barely collected herself with a heavy huff before falling backward when a wolf lept at her.

Quickly readying her gun, Ellie aimed before shooting the wolf just before it pounced at Dina. Dina let out a heavy breath as her eyes flickered up. The pack of wolves split into two groups, some going after her horse and the rest all eyeing her. She grunted before quickly readying her rifle.

"Ellie!" The panic in her voice was clear as she shot a couple of shots.

"DINA!" Ellie quickly started shooting at the wolves before flattering when Shimmer cried in protest. She ended up getting thrown off her horse before slamming into the floor. Shimmer ran off in some direction and Ellie quickly forced herself up.

The wolves began attacking them relentlessly, some rushing toward Ellie while the rest pounced at Dina. It was hard to count them all but there had to have been at least twenty of them at the minimum. Ellie started rapid firing at the ones running her way as she forced her way around through the thick snow. Some wolves dodged while others fell to the floor but it didn't matter since there were too many of them. She needed to get to Dina's side.

"ELLIE!"

Ellie immediately jerked her head over to Dina. She was being overwhelmed and one of the wolves pounced on her, forcing her to hold up her rifle, shielding herself from its sharp fangs.

"DINA!" Ellie shouted at the top of her lungs again before foregoing killing the ones in front of her. She focused on shooting at the ones close to Dina as she rushed to her side. When some wolves got a little too close to her, she ended up hitting the wolves in her vicinity with the shaft of her rifle before losing her footing in the snow. "FUCK, god dammit!"

Dina shouted in frustration. "Fuck!" She grunted before kicking the wolf off her body and shooting it in the head. She quickly shuffled backward, creating some space to catch her ground, before readying her gun again. She took out a few more wolves, blasting a hole through their heads and necks, causing blood to splatter all over the snow. Eventually, she ran out of bullets with no time to reload. Another wolf pounced at her and Dina ended up blocking it with her rifle again. She gritted her teeth as she fought off the wolf with shaky hands before turning her head away when it snarled at her face. "ELLIE!"

"Dina!" Ellie shouted again before jumping forward. She emptied her rifle before dropping it to her side and pulling out her pistol. She quickly emptied her clip before getting blindsided by a wolf jumping at her leg. She shouted in pain before falling hard. "Fuck—" She quickly reloaded before pointing at the fucker with her pistol and shooting it point blank, blowing its brains and getting blood splattered all over her clothes.

"Shit—" Dina struggled to keep her hold before dropping the gun on her right side. She pushed the left side up, forcing the wolf back up enough so that she could pull out her knife and stab its side. She shouted in frustration before yelling as she repeatedly stabbed it until it stopped moving. She then quickly brought up her knee, knocking the wolf aside, before grunting when another wolf pounced at her. She grunted in irritation before she almost threw up when she smelled its breath. She gagged before finally noticing something. "Oh no—" She tore her face away when a white foam dripped down from its jaw onto the snow. "E-ELLIE! THEY'RE INFECTED!"

"What—" Ellie finally looked down at the wolf she just shot. She eyed its jaw, finally noting the white foam before looking back at Dina. "No…" She rushed forward, trudging through the snow and finishing off the stragglers when her magazine ran out. "FUCK!" She then tucked away her gun before running as fast as she could to Dina's side.

Dina jerked around as she tried pushing the wolf off of her in vain. She couldn't do it and that's when she saw another wolf out of the corner of her eyes. Her eyes widened and right when she almost got torn apart, Ellie came diving into the wolf. She quickly wrangled the creature, holding it by its body and neck, wrestling with the feral creature before shouting in frustration and pulling out her knife and slitting its neck. Blood went flying across the snow and Ellie quickly fumbled over to help Dina.

"Get your fucking paws off my girlfriend!"

She then rushed over and grabbed the wolf by its neck before yanking it off Dina, close to its jaw.

"Ellie!" Dina shouted in distress. "DON'T! You're going to get bit!"

Ellie tussled around with the wolf before grunting and stabbing its side. It was a bloody mess and she repeatedly stabbed it before gasping all of a sudden. In an instant, she jumped on top of Dina, covering her body.

"Ellie!?"

Dina's face fell as she watched an injured wolf that she had thought was dead come back to life. The mangled wolf opened its wide before viciously biting Ellie's left forearm.

"ELLIE!"

"Fuck—" Ellie grunted in pain before tearing it away from Dina and stabbing it through its skull. It finally stopped moving before she rushed back to check on Dina. "Dina— Dina, are you okay! Are you hurt? Did they bite you?"

Dina panted heavily before glancing back and forth between Ellie and the wolves. "I— you— it just—" She shakingly reached out to touch her skin. "It just bit you! Oh my god— Ellie, you're—"

"Hey! Hey hey hey!" Ellie quickly grabbed Dina's hands before trying to calm her down. "I'm not infected! I'm immune!"

"W-What? What do you mean—"

A howl in the distance made them both jump. Ellie snapped her head off to the side before looking back at Dina. "Fuck." They were both still panting heavily. "Dina, shit, can you run?"

Her tone of voice finally snapped Dina out of her head space. "Yeah— Yes."

Ellie immediately got up and pulled Dina onto her feet. "Let's fucking go! Go!"

They immediately started sprinting up the mountain trail. They gasped for air, cold air burning their lungs as the snowstorm finally picked up, blowing a layer of snow at their faces. As the snow danced along the wind, their line of sight was filling with blurring lines of white. Wolves continued to howl and bark as Dina desperately gasped for air as she trudged through the snow.

"Ellie!"

"I'm right here! Don't slow down!" Ellie took a glance behind her shoulder and saw a small pack of wolves chasing after them. She gritted her teeth before quickly pulling out her pistol and reloading her gun. She quickly pulled back the slider before shooting several warning shots.

Dina panted for air as she noticed a cliffside in the distance. "This way, hurry!" She then veered off to the right with Ellie hot on her trail.

"Fucking hell—" Ellie wheezed for air before they both came to a violent stop. She then quickly lowered her stance and cupped her hands together to help Dina up the cliff. "C'mon, go go go!" With a pained grunt, Dina threw her body over the ledge before she quickly turned around and extended her hand. Ellie quickly grabbed onto it and pulled herself up the cliff, narrowly escaping the pack of wolves.

The wolves stopped at the foot of the cliff, growling and snarling at the two, as Ellie flicked them off.

"Fuck off!" She then spat on the floor before turning around when she heard a gag. "Dina!" She ran over and helped her up. "On your feet!" She quickly swung Dina's arm over her shoulder before lugging them across the snow. "C'mon, we gotta get inside."

By some miracle, the planetarium was in their line of sight and despite how close it was, the blizzard made it feel like it was a mile away.

"Hey." She was just as breathless as Dina was. "What do you say we crash in that planetarium until the blizzard passes completely?"

Dina almost died in bliss as she coughed and gasped for air. "That sounds so fucking good."

In no time, they made it in front of the planetarium before Dina stumped on the ground. She fell over and Ellie grunted before quickly helping her up. "I got you." She then pulled Dina the rest of the way before letting her go against the wall so that she could hold herself up. "Got it?"

Dina just nodded as she continued to breathe heavily.

Ellie then walked over to the ruined door before ramming her body against it. "C'mon." She slammed her body again and after a few tries, it creaked open. She quickly glanced inside and checked the surroundings. "All right, we're good." She then turned around and helped Dina inside. "C'mon."

Once they were in, Ellie pushed the door shut before blocking the handles with a nearby pipe. It was eerily quiet despite the raging winds in the background. Luckily… it wasn't as dark as it could have been so they could at least see each other's faces. She then stood straight up, catching her much-needed breath before glancing down at Dina. She didn't look good and she had a suspicion it wasn't because of the wolves. Something was wrong. She was more sluggish than usual and her behavior didn't seem right.

After Ellie caught her breath, she walked over to where Dina had sat down. She then eyed her cautiously before asking in a gentle voice. "You want to tell me what's going on with you?"

A shaky breath left Dina's lips. "What's going on with me?" She looked her square in the eyes before exasperating, "Ellie… I just saw you get bitten by a fucking rabid wolf!" She was still out of breath and panting for air.

Shaking her hands in denial, Ellie looked down at the floor with some guilt before saying, "I told you. I'm immune."

"Okay, you're immune?" Dina started in an accusatory voice. "C'mon." She shook her head in disbelief before looking down at the floor again.

Ellie's heart ached as she stared at the cracked tile on the floor. "I was bitten a long time ago…"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I was bitten!" Ellie repeated and exclaimed as she looked Dina straight in the eyes. She didn't look away before shrugging with her hands. "And… nothing happened."

Dina breathed some heavy gasps before her eyes fell on Ellie's right arm. After a second, she came to a realization. "The chemical burn…"

Ellie looked like a wounded child, scared of rejection as she nervously picked at her fingers. "Maria, Tommy, and Joel are the only ones who know…" She stared at her hands, rubbing her index finger before taking a baby step closer. "Now you know."

Rubbing her face, Dina couldn't look Ellie in the eyes.

"I can't…" Ellie paused for a second before speaking up for her past worries. "Get you infected if that's what you're worried about." She looked at Dina with her head held low before sighing and adding, "I can't make you immune either." She then bravely took a few steps closer before rubbing her boot on the ground and speaking with a hoarse voice. "Can you say something?"

Dina held back a sob as she practically cried. "Ellie…" She wiped away her tears before slowly raising her head. Taking a few more breaths, she finally caught Ellie's eyes before she confessed, "I think I'm pregnant."

It took a second to register before Ellie blinked awake. "What?"

Huffing a few times, Dina leaned back before joking with a forced laugh. "Don't worry, it's not yours."

Ellie turned away and took a few steps back before facing her again. "What are we su—" she stared at Dina in disbelief before looking down at the floor. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Nothing," Dina stated with a shake of her head. "I just need to rest for a second."

"Are you fucking kidding me…" Ellie turned away again before pacing around and eventually raising her voice. "How long have you known?"

Sighing a long breath, Dina did some mental math in her discombobulated state. "I was late a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks? We could've…" She held her tongue before saying the obvious. "We could've turned back! I wouldn't have asked you out to c'mere!"

Dina immediately lashed back at her with a weak cry. "I didn't know!" She sighed before adding, "I wasn't sure, okay? I didn't want to be a burden."

"Well, you're a burden now, aren't you?" The moment Ellie saw Dina's face flash with shock and hurt, she regretted every single word. Fuck. Not again. She sucked in a deep breath before turning away in shame. "I'm gonna…" She didn't know what to do with her hands, "Make sure this place is secure." She slowly retracted her steps before adding in a weak voice. "You just rest."

Fully turning away from Dina, Ellie rubbed her face before taking a deep breath. She quickly stormed off, trying to contain the panic and heat rising in her body. Her breath hitched before she gasped her air. She quickly covered her mouth, trying to hide her choked sobs, before looking down at her body. She was covered in blood and fuck, everything was so messed up.

She eventually let out a deep sigh before muttering to herself, "What do we do now…"