Author's Note: Straley, Montana is NOT a real city. I made it up for the sake of this story. Also, it's named after the game director of the original Last of Us game, Bruce Straley.

...

Now ready to begin their mission, Joel, Tommy and Dina mounted their horses and headed out.

Being the Sheriff of Jackson as well as the husband of it's Mayor, Tommy had little difficulty convincing Maria to allow them to take as many weapons and ammo they needed along with them. Not too much, as they could only carry so much at once in a squad of three and even if they could, they didn't wish to leave their home town vulnerable. They also took with them Ellie's switchblade and Jesse's lever-action rifle, as the two tragically wouldn't be needing them anymore.

Joel and his two allies all carried multiple guns on them, but the three had specific guns they were most fond of. Dina's go-to firearm of choice was an M1911 pistol, as it boasted good power and range for a pistol while still being faster than a rifle, and had a reliable design that wasn't likely to jam. Tommy had loved his scoped M14 rifle almost as much as his wife, certainly more than his, "Asshole older brother", or so he claims. There was a good reason for that. The M14 was semi-automatic, had excellent firepower, making great use of it's .308 ammunition, and while it still wasn't quite as accurate as it's spiritual WW2 father, the M1, it was more than accurate enough to kill enemies at long-range.

While Joel did intend to put his M16 Assault Rifle to good use, especially if Abby's group were carrying guns using the same 5.56 cartridge for him to take from their fresh corpses, he had always been fond of his .44 caliber Taurus Revolver. Similar to the benefits of Dina's pistol, the gun boasted great power and accuracy for a handgun, while still being faster to aim than a rifle. The gun's only real drawback was the fact that it was a revolver, meaning that every single bullet needed to be loaded in one-by-one. However, Joel had been using the gun for so many years, having good practice with it even before the CVI outbreak twenty-five years ago, he could load the gun with almost superhuman speed.

Their plan was to exit Wyoming through Montana, then head through the top of Idaho, then after arriving in Washington, making their way to Seattle.

For the most part, their journey wasn't particularly eventful. They spent the majority of their time awake riding, occasionally stopping for supplies whenever they encountered somewhere that seemed promising, such as an old supermarket for food, a drugstore for medicine, or a gun store for ammunition.

They also occasionally had to deal with bandits. Not too frequently, as they chose to primarily stick to the rural parts. Hunters were most common in abandoned Quarantine Zones in cities.

Every night, they would find a good spot to set up camp, then while eating their cans of beans, beef jerky, and other foods pertaining to their post-apocalypse cuisine, swap stories. Most of them were about Joel and Tommy, as they were so old compared to Dina, that they were practically living relics. Every once in a while, they would share stories of Jesse, and of Ellie.

"This one time,", Joel began. "She pulled something out of her backpack and said to me, 'This one's light on the reading, but it's got some interesting photos.'"

"Wait, you mean,", Dina asked. "Yeah, I turned around, and it wound up being a porn magazine.", Joel answered. "Oh, no way.", Dina said, laughing. "Oh, it gets better. She turned the page then goes, 'Woah! How the hell could he even walk around with that thing?'" Dina burst out laughing. "Oh my God!"

Joel continued, "Then she turns the pages again, and goes, 'Oh. Why are these all stuck together?'" Dina covered her mouth in shock. Joel continued, "That time, she was just messin' with me."

All three of them then chuckled for a bit, then Dina said, "I can't believe she's really gone." Joel looked down into the campfire. "Yeah, you're tellin' me, kiddo."

Tommy then pulled something out of his backpack. His two allies looked over at him, and saw that it was three bottles of Scotch. "Found this earlier today while we were looking for supplies. Seems like a good time to make a toast.", said Tommy. After the three of them had their respective bottles in hand, Tommy raised his drink, and said, "To all the good times we had with Ellie and Jesse, and to the hope that their in a happier place, now."

...

They weren't far from Washington, now. Just needed to make it through the Montana/Washington border. Along the edge of that border was the city of Straley. The Jackson trio had intended to avoid already due to the fact that it was likely occupied by Hunters.

Instead, upon viewing the city at a distance, they discovered something much, much worse than that. Unlike most other QZ's, the Straley QZ was still under full FEDRA control, and armed fully to the teeth. They could even see some tanks and APCs.

"Wha...what the fuck? I thought FEDRA was mostly gone?!", Dina asked her older allies. "They are. The only big zones they still got last I checked were up in New England.", said Joel, reminicing on his time there with Tess in Boston.

"Yeah, Boston, New York, D.C., a couple others around there. I got no idea why this one's still goin'.", said Tommy.

They then noticed a convoy of trucks and humvees heading their way. "We gotta go.", Tommy said as he galloped away with Joel and Dina close behind.

Once they reached a safe distance away from where the convoy stopped, Dina said, "Hey old guys, look!", Dina said.

Out of the humvees came twenty soldiers, and once they marched over to the trucks, out came about fifteen prisoners. While the majority of the guards kept the prisoners in-place at gunpoint, two of the guards walked by a shallow pond, throwing land-mines in it in the process. The sight of the mines being thrown in the pond in front of themselves visibly frightened the prisoners, exciting the soldiers.

The soldier who seemed to be in charge then shouted, "Alright here's the deal, we were ordered to just shoot you fucks, but since we're generous, we decided that you all at least deserved something resembling a chance, so here it is.", he said, gesturing towards the now mine-infested pond. "Run through the pond. You don't blow up, you get to live and run free."

The prisoners all stood in place, shaking with terror. "Well? What are you all waiting for?", the ranking officer asked as he fired his machine gun at one of the prisoners, instantly killing them. "Fucking GO!"

Taking the only chance they had, the prisoners ran, the majority of them blowing up in a bloody, red mess of gore. Most of the soldiers reacted with laughter, some reacted with groans as they bet on the wrong horses and now had to give up some ration cards.

Three prisoners had made it to the other side of the pond intact. They briefly celebrated, only to be gunned down by the humvees moments later, prompting more laughter from the soldiers.

"Oh f-fuck, I think I'm gonna be sick.", said Dina in a shaky voice. "Sorry you had to see that, kiddo.", Tommy said in a calming voice as he laid a hand on her shoulder. Joel merely shot an angry stare at the massacre. He knew very well how evil FEDRA could be. "Can we get going now, please?", Dina asked, still breathing heavily.

With that, they re-mounted their horses, and rode away. Continuing their path to Seattle.

...

A few days later, they made camp for the night, and did their usual routine of eating their dinner and trading stories. Eventually, Dina asked, "Hey, Joel, we don't have to talk about this if you don't wanna, but can you tell me a bit about...your daughter? From before all this?"

Tommy's eyes widened, slightly. "Nah, kid, I don't think that's-" Joel cut him off. "It's okay, Tommy." After a brief pause, Joel continued, "Her name was Sarah."

"That's a really pretty name.", Dina said. Joel smiled, then said, "I didn't deserve her. Not for one second of my sorry damn life. She was loving, kind, full of joy. Hardly anything ever got her down. And she was selfless, to a degree you don't see in most. Kinda to a point where it don't make no sense to be. Probably got that from her uncle."

Tommy chuckled a bit, then Joel said, "You saw that picture of her, didn't you? In my house back in Jackson?" Dina nodded, then Joel continued, "Her team didn't actually win that game, it was a participation trophy."

"Oh?", said Dina. Joel continued, "The teams were evenly tied Sarah had the ball, and was gonna win the game, but when she saw that one of the other girls was on the ground crying because her ankle was twisted, she passed the ball to one of her teammates, then ran over to help her off of the field. The girl wasn't even one of hers. It was one of the rival team girls. Sarah didn't give a damn, though. She went and helped her anyway, and it cost em' the game. Some of her teammates gave her hell for it, but she didn't care, she had fun, and knew she did the right thing. Then we got that picture taken, then went for some Whataburger after that for dinner. It was one of the best nights of my life."

Dina stared at Joel for a bit, then said, "I'm sorry she's not here with us, Joel. Sounds like she would've been a good friend." Joel replied, "Oh she would'a liked you for sure. Ellie, too." Then Dina said, "Only, I have to ask...what the fuck's a Wha-ta-burger?"

Joel and Tommy laughed for a bit, then Tommy answered, "It was a pre-outbreak restaurant. It was alright, but I was more of a Dairy-Queen guy, myself. They had this real nice dessert there called Blizzards-"

Tommy was cut off when he felt cold metal against his temple and the sound of a gruff voice say, "Any sudden moves and you all fucking die! Capiche?"

Nine hunters managed to sneak up on them using the cover of darkness that night provided. The leader of them pointed his pistol at Dina, and commanded, "You! Get up! I wanna take a look at you!"

Joel and Tommy dared not move, rather, they silently looked around at all of their hostiles. Reluctantly, Dina stood up, and after staring at her for a bit, one of the hunters said, "turn around, bitch." Dina complied, and after gazing at her backside for a bit, most of the hunters whistled and chuckled, eager for what would come next.

Joel and Tommy looked back over to each other, and nodded.

The leader of the hunter squad then commanded, "Your fat ass looks real nice in those jeans, but they gotta come off, sweetheart."

"Oh, God...", Dina thought as she unbuttoned her jeans. She began to pull the zipper down when she suddenly heard the sounds of gunfire, causing her to quickly dive behind nearby cover to avoid getting shot. She unholstered her pistol and waited for a break in fire to pop out of cover. When she did, she was amazed to see that all of the hunters were dead, save for one who was on the ground bleeding from a shot to the stomach, which pierced his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down.

Joel and Tommy had managed to draw their sidearms, and shoot ALL of the hunters down before they even had a chance to fire back, not wasting a single millisecond.

Noticing the still-living hunter on the ground, Joel marched over to him. "Hey-hey man! I'm sorry! You don't have to-" he was cut off when Joel fired a round into his neck, causing him to choke to death on his own blood.

Tommy laid a hand on Dina's shoulder. "You okay, kiddo?"

"Man, I owe you both 'till the end of time for that one. Damn...", said Dina. "That was too damn close.", said Joel as he holstered his revolver. "Pfft. Yeah, sure. You two pretty much annihilated those guys with no sweat. Seattle doesn't stand a chance.", said Dina.

...

Seraphite Island, Seattle.

Lev impatiently tapped his foot repeatedly on the wooden floor of the Prophet's House, eagerly awaiting the end of this sermon. He loved and respected the Prophet just as any true Seraphite should, but he couldn't wait to play with his older sister Yara like they usually did in the evenings. Whether it be practicing with the bow, or climbing trees, or swimming, (So long as it wasn't too far away from land, the ocean terrified him) Playing with Yara was always his favorite part of the day.

Noticing her little brother's impatience, Yara leaned over, and quietly whispered, "Hey, relax. He is almost finished."

The preacher, Elder Jeremiah, a muscular, six-foot-seven tall man, finally drew the sermon to a close with, "Now, at last, my friends, let us all pray."

"Our great Prophet...", he began with his head bowed.

"Our great Prophet...", the audience repeated with their heads also bowed.

"We know we are all inherently sinful..."

"We know we are all inherently sinful..."

"Which is why God punished us with the arrival of the Demons..."

"Which is why God punished us with the arrival of the Demons..."

"A great many years ago..."

"A great many years ago..."

"But we are eternally blessed..."

"But we are eternally blessed..."

"To have heard your wisdom and guidance..."

"To have heard your wisdom and guidance..."

"Which will aid in our quest..."

"Which will aid in our quest..."

"To build a better world..."

"To build a better world..."

"From the ashes of the sinful one."

"From the ashes of the sinful one."

"In your name, we pray. Amen."

"Amen."

Lev stood up along with the rest of the audience to exit, brushing his irritating long hair out of his face. He desperately wished he could just shave it off.

Once they made it outside, his sister asked him, "What do you wish to do once we've made it home? We could climb the trees again." Lev replied, "I was actually hoping we could practice with the bow again, tonight."

His sister frowned, slightly. "We don't need to do that every night. You are very skilled-"

Yara was cut off when Elder Jeremiah walked over to them. "Indeed, Lily is as skilled as she is devoted! No doubt The Prophet smiles upon her.", his loud, jovial voice boomed.

Despite the compliment, Lev grimaced slightly. He tried his best to mask his discomfort, but hearing the name he didn't truly believe to be his on a constant basis was no easy task.

"Elder Jeremiah, Sir!", said Yara. "Lily and I were just heading home." Elder Jeremiah replied, "Actually, young one, I need to speak with Lily alone for a while. About her future. You can head home, she will be there in time for supper, I promise."

The siblings were a bit surprised by this, but Yara said, "Alright, Sir. We understand. I will see you later Le-Lily!"

Yara and Lev's hearts skipped a beat at Yara almost exposing Lev's true identity by mistake. The Elder looked a bit skepitcal, but he then said, "You should rest, Yara. It had been a long day." Yara replied, "In-indeed, Sir.", she looked back at Lev for a few seconds, then at last walked away.

The Elder then laid a hand on Lev, making him feel a little uncomfortable. "Come now. We have much to discuss."

...

Lev was beginning to grow somewhat annoyed at how long he had to walk with him. "Why must we walk for so long?"

"Trust me, Lily. It is of great importance. Not to mention how beneficial the walking will be for your body.", Jeremiah answered.

At last, Lev and The Elder had reached a secluded beach almost an hour away from the village. "Alright, Lily. As you are aware, next week, you will turn thirteen, which means you will become a woman, and you will be assigned your role in our community."

"Indeed, Sir!", Lev said in an eager voice. He had been hoping that he would get to be a soldier, meaning that he would get to explore the old world city and fight the Wolves and Demons alongside his sister as well as other friends.

Instead, Lev was given the worst news of his young life. "Well, I've decided to tell you ahead of time: You are to be my bride!"

"...What?", Lev said, feeling his heart sink into his stomach and hoping he had somehow horribly misheard him.

"You are to be my wife. An Elder's wife! A great honor, indeed."

"No! No! This can't happen! I don't want this!", Lev thought as he began to breathe heavily almost involuntarily. Then, he received the order he would never forget.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Take off your clothes."