The following day nears as the sun rises over the mountains and into the horizon shining brightly in the sky as we walk along the street I glance down at the ground kicking a few rocks in the process before glancing up still seeing Joel looking down at the ground as well his face mixed with rage and sadness before glancing behind himself double checking if we're still following closely behind him as I give him a small smile while he does the same before looking back to the front of the street.
Glancing to the side I notice Ellie looking at me with a hint of sadness in her eyes as she moves her gaze away from me the moment I caught her staring "I could feeling you staring you know." I giggled as she looked back at me with a small smile on her face "sorry." She mumbled "it's okay. You don't have to apologize." I giggled as she nodded at me "look, I-uh-I'm really sorry about Tess." She whispered "I-uh-it's fine. You-uh-you don't have to apologize it wasn't your fault." I replied "well, I feel like it is. For some reason. I-uh-I know that he feels like it is." She mumbled pointing to Joel walking a few feet in front of us.
"No he doesn't. It's just-they had a special connection with each other and he's just lost in his own mind but, when it comes to getting the job done. He's the perfect person for that." I replied as she nodded at me "hey! Keep up! I can't have you two fallin' behind." Joel exclaimed as he turned to look at us while we walked ahead with him behind us so he could keep an eye on us rather than not be able to see us.
"So, how did you wind up with Joel?" Ellie asked "uh--it was the day the outbreak started. I was taking a nap after school and I woke to this crashing sound from downstairs so, I went down to the living room but I didn't see anything so I made my way to the kitchen and I found my parents being ripped apart by one of the Infected. I--uh--I didn't know what to do so I ran outside and onto the street of my neighborhood. I was almost run over by Joel and his brother Tommy. They saved me." I said as I looked over at her.
"How-how old were you when it happened?" She asked me "I was thirteen." I replied with a hint of sadness in my voice "I'm so sorry that happened to you." She sympathetically muttered "nah, it's okay. I barely even remember them." I muttered while looking down at the ground feeling the tears begin to brim my eyes before looking back up at her "hey! Keep up. I can't watch you two from back there." Joel snapped once again as we both glanced at each other giggling softly before walking up to the front once again.
"So, how did the infection start?" Ellie asked as she glanced up at Joel then at me "no one knows for sure, but, best guess...Cordyceps mutated. And some of it got into the food supply. Probably a basic ingredient like flour or sugar. There were certain brands of food that were sold everywhere, all across the country, across the world. Bread, cereal...pancake mix. You eat enough of it, it'll get you infected. So the tainted food all hits the store shelves around the same time, Thursday. People bought it, ate some Thursday night or Friday morning. Day goes on...they started to get sick. Afternoon, evening, they got worse. Then they started bitin'. Friday night, September 26, 2003. And by Monday, everything was gone." Joel explained.
"That was the same night my parents died." I muttered while glancing up at Joel with a hint of sadness in my eyes "it makes more sense than monkeys. Thanks." Ellie replied "sure." Joel said as he nodded at us while I started to walk ahead but, before I could he put his hand out in front of me stopping me in my tracks "what?" I asked him "we'll cut across the woods here." He said "isn't the road easier?" Ellie asked him "yeah, it's just-there's stuff up there you shouldn't see." He muttered "well, now we have to see." I giggled "I don't want you to. I'm serious. Maddie!" He snapped as I began walking ahead of him "can it hurt us?" Ellie asked him as she followed closely behind me.
"No." He grumbled "you're too honest, man. Should've said axe murderer." Ellie chuckled as we walked ahead of him while I looked around not seeing anything "well, whatever it was...I think it's gone." I said glancing down at the ground stopping in my tracks seeing multiple skulls and clothes scattered across the empty space of field as I looked at each of them with tears brimming my eyes before glancing to the side at Joel as he walked up to us "about a week after Outbreak Day, soldiers...went through the countryside, evacuated the small towns. Told you you were goin' to a QZ, and you were...if there was room. If there wasn't-." Joel said.
"Th-these people weren't sick?" I whimpered "no, probably not." Joel mumbled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder gently pulling me into his chest "why kill them? Why not just leave 'em be?" Ellie asked him "dead people can't be infected." Joel replied as I wiped a few tears that had fallen down my face before pulling away from Joel's hold as I began to walk down the path with them following closely behind me.
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Now at Bill and Frank's we stop at the gate outside the area of houses "stay there." Joel said as he typed in the gate code before opening the gate as we head inside making our way to Bill's house opening the front door and heading inside "what the fuck?" Ellie muttered in awe at the sight of the beautiful home "Bill? Frank? You two stay there. Ya hear anything, you see anything...yell." Joel said as he walked towards the kitchen door "what if they're gone?" I fearfully asked him as he walked off while we stayed behind looking around at all the things they had "hey, I found this." Ellie said as she walked over to me with a letter and key in her hand.
Taking a seat at the dining table opening up the envelope and pulling out the letter she began reading through it before glancing up seeing Joel standing in the doorway "it's from Bill. To whomever...but probably Joel. I figured I fell under "whomever." Came with this." Ellie said as she slid the key to him "so they're dead?" Joel asked us "mm-hmm. You-you wanna?" I asked him while gesturing to the letter in Ellie's hand "go ahead. You do it." He replied as I grabbed it from her hands.
"August 29, 2023. If you find this...please do not come into the bedroom. We left a window open so the house wouldn't smell, but it will probably be a sight. I'm guessing you found this, Joel, because anyone else would've been electrocuted or blown up by one of my traps. Hehehehehehehhehe. Take anything you need. The bunker code is the same as the gate code but in reverse. Anyway...I never liked you, but still, it's like we're friends...almost. And I respect you. So, I'm gonna tell you something because you're probably the only person who will understand. I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong because there was one person worth saving. That's what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That's why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do. And god help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. I leave you all of my weapons and equipment. Use them to keep-." I said as I looked down at the letter in sadness.
Making Joel take it from my hands to look at it "stay here." He whispered as he walked out the front door in sadness before storming back into the dining room "show me your arm." He said as Ellie stood up pulling her sleeve up to reveal a slightly healed wound "I just finished makin' a truck battery. It's charging right now." He said "okay." Ellie replied "and I have a brother out in Wyoming. He's in some kind of trouble, and I'm heading out there to find him. He used to be a Firefly. And my guess is he knows where some of them are out there. Maybe they can get you to wherever this lab is." Joel said.
"All right. Uh, listen, about Tess, uh-." Ellie said "if I'm takin' you two with me, there's some rules you gotta follow. Rule one, you don't bring up Tess. Ever. Matter of fact, we can just keep our histories to ourselves. Rule two, you don't tell anyone about your...condition. They see that bite mark, they won't think it through. They'll just shoot you. Rule three, you do what I say when I say it. We clear?" He said "yes." I mumbled "repeat it." He muttered "what you say goes." I sighed "okay." He nodded before making his way into the garage.
"Ho-ly shit. This guy was a genius." Ellie mumbled "why was the music on?" I asked him "if he didn't reset the countdown every few weeks, this playlist would run over the radio." Joel replied "80s." Ellie nodded "grab some cans from over there. Nothin' dented or swollen." Joel said as she nodded at him "dude." Ellie whispered "no." Joel snapped "there's a wall of them." Ellie whined before walking off "Maddie." Joel nodded towards the wall of guns "I already have one though." I said "grab a spare. You run out of bullets for the first one you use the second one." He replied as I nodded at him grabbing a small handgun from off of the wall popping the clip out making sure it had enough ammo in it before popping it back in the bottom before sticking it in my back pocket.
"They have hot water! Im takin' a shower. And then you two are showering because seriously." Ellie exclaimed as she looked at us with a smirk on her face before heading back inside to shower.
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Shortly after I finish showering I head back into the dining room seeing Joel looking nicely suited "well, don't you look pretty." I smirked as he chuckled at me "shut up." He grumbled before we made our way back to the garage as I open the door hopping in the backseat giggling at the sight of Ellie messing around with everything in the car "it's your first time in a car?" I asked her in between giggles "it's like a spaceship." She replied "no, it's like a piece of shit Chevy S10, but it'll get us there...I think. Seatbelt." Joel said as I complied putting my seatbelt on while Ellie just looked at him in confusion.
"Hm?" She questioned while Joel pulled it out from the side holding it out to her "seatbelt." He muttered "so cool." She whispered as she buckled herself in before finally taking off out of the garage now heading out of town I stare out of the window watching as the sun begins to set over the horizon.