Ellie was sat on a log practicing the guitar as Joel and Dylan approached her.
"That's starting to sound like something." Joel smiled.
Ellie looked up at the two men in her life.
"Ugh, I suck." Ellie replied.
"Nah...Just need to build up your calluses. That's all." Joel informed.
"Yeah, El. That song is sounding better every day you practice." Dylan reassured.
"Yeah." Ellie said as she looked at her fingers.
Joel stood before Ellie with a smile.
"All right, c'mon." Joel stated.
"This it?" Ellie asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Dylan replied with a grin.
Ellie placed the guitar behind her, leaning it up against the log she was sat on.
"Oh, shit!" Ellie said, excited.
Ellie and Dylan followed after Joel as they began to set out for Ellie's birthday surprise.
"I'm gonna start guessing." Ellie informed.
"You want to spoil your surprise now?" Joel asked.
"I dunno...Is it...a dinosaur?" Ellie asked.
"Stop trying to guess. I ain't telling you." Joel replied.
"All right. Is it...an elephant?" Ellie asked.
Dylan chuckled at his sister and shook his head.
"Ugh..." Joel sighed.
"You're never gonna get it, El." Dylan grinned.
"Wait, you know what it is? But it's our birthday?" Ellie asked.
"Dylan got his surprise yesterday with the new guitar, skateboard, sneakers and painting supplies he asked for. Today we have your birthday surprise." Joel replied.
"Okay...Is it a convertible?" Ellie asked.
"You're not gonna guess." Joel replied.
"Is it a puppy? Is it a lot of kittens?" Ellie asked.
"You mean a litter?" Dylan asked.
"What's a litter?" Ellie asked.
"A bunch of kittens." Joel replied.
The trio continued on their way to Ellie's birthday surprise, moving deeper into the forest. The three made it to a small ledge. Joel pulled back the tree's branches, allowing the twins to head over first. Dylan took Ellie's hand and held on tight, making sure his sister didn't slip.
"Mind your step." Joel said as the twins made their way over.
"We got it." Ellie replied as they carefully moved past Joel.
"Oops." Joel said as he shoved the twins into the lake.
Ellie and Dylan fell into the lake and Dylan helped Ellie up as they emerged from the water. Upon hearing Joel's laughter, the twins turned to see him enjoying the moment.
"What is wrong with you?!" Ellie asked, annoyed.
"You should see your faces right now." Joel chuckled.
"What if we drowned?" Dylan asked.
"You're not gonna drown. You gotta work on that confidence, kiddos." Joel replied with a chuckle.
"Yeah, keep laughing, old man. See what happens." Ellie stated.
"It's this way." Joel informed as he pointed ahead of them.
"You're the worst!" Ellie replied.
Ellie and Dylan began to swim to shore.
"Your swimming's getting better. Remember now, don't just flail about, you gotta---" Joel said.
"'--push the water with your whole arm.'" The twins replied in unison.
"Blah blah blah." Ellie mocked.
"Glad to know I'm getting through." Joel smirked as the twins made it to shore.
Ellie and Dylan followed after Joel. Joel began to lower himself as he saw something in the distance.
"Kids, c'mere. Take a look at this. You see that deer over there?" Joel asked.
"Where?" Ellie asked.
"See it? Just through there, look." Joel pointed at the deer.
The twins joined Joel as they looked across the water at the deer.
"Yeah." Dylan replied.
Dylan looked to his sister and winked as he nodded his head in Joel's direction.
"I see it..." Ellie said and nodded back to Dylan.
"Yeah." Joel replied, unaware of what the twins had planned.
"Looks like..." Ellie said before pushing Joel.
"Whoa!" Joel said as he fell back into the water.
Joel emerged from the water and the twins looked down at him wearing huge smiles.
"How's that feel?" Ellie asked.
"Refreshing." Joel replied with a smirk.
"Yeah, it's not nice getting pushed in, is it?" Dylan asked.
"Well...Actually, we need to swing through this part anyway." Joel replied.
"We got you back, you're angry and upset." Ellie stated.
"I am very angry and upset. Now come on." Joel smiled at the twins as he began to swim back.
"Ugh!" The twins said annoyed.
The twins jumped into the lake, following after Joel.
"You're gonna need to dive under here. Take a deep breath." Joel informed as they reached a fallen tree blocking their path.
"Yeah, we got this." Dylan replied as he looked from Joel to Ellie.
The trio took a deep breath and swam under the fallen tree, emerging the other side and swimming to shore.
"Is it...my 6th grade history teacher wanting to apologise for being a massive dick?" Ellie asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Joel asked.
"Dylan and I would argue whenever he called the Fireflies terrorists." Ellie replied.
"We got a lot of detention." Dylan smiled.
"You know, you really need to stop letting people rile you up." Joel informed.
"It's hard when they're dicks." Dylan replied.
"Point still stands." Joel informed.
As the trio made it to the other side of the lake, the three headed back into the water.
"Another dive over here." Joel informed.
"Where are you taking me?" Ellie asked.
The trio dived under the water heading through a small tunnel to the other side. As Ellie emerged from the water, she began to ask more questions.
"Is it...a new pair of sneakers?" Ellie asked.
"How many of those do you have?" Joel asked.
"Not enough." Ellie replied.
"Yeah, that's why she keeps ruining mine." Dylan informed.
Ellie splashed Dylan with water and poked her tongue out at him. Dylan laughed at his sister and shook his head. The twins watched as Joel pulled himself up to shore, he then pulled the pair of them up one at a time.
"Okay. Fuck it. I'm done guessing." Ellie said.
"Oh, good." Joel replied.
"But like...is it a massive comic book collection...no, wait...a new DVD collection?" Ellie asked as they continued through the forest.
"Yes." Joel sighed.
"Which one?" Ellie asked.
"Just yes." Joel replied.
Dylan laughed at Joel's response and looked back to his sister with a smile.
"How about laserdiscs. I heard that's a thing." Ellie stated.
Dylan shook his head and they continued through the forest to a clearing.
"Holy shit, Joel." Ellie said as she looked at the statue before her.
A huge statue of a T-Rex stood before her, a huge smile covered her face as she looked back at her brother and Joel.
"We're here." Joel informed.
"Oh my God, it is a dinosaur!" Ellie smiled.
"That it is." Dylan smiled as he watched Ellie's face light up. He loved seeing his sister happy, especially seeing that smile on her face after everything they had been through meant a lot to him.
"Joel!" Ellie said.
"Surprise." Joel replied with a grin.
"Holy shit...It's a motherfucking dinosaur!" Ellie said with a grin.
Ellie looked at the information stand before the statue.
"'King of the tyrant lizards' That's a big boy." Ellie said.
Dylan moved over to Ellie's side.
"Hey, El. I bet we could climb it." Dylan smiled at Ellie.
Dylan and Ellie began to climb up the T-Rex's tail.
"What are you doing?" Joel asked as he watched the twins, "Kids, be careful."
"We're climbing a dinosaur!" Dylan replied with a huge smile.
"Yeah, I can see that, just don't die falling off of one." Joel replied.
The twins made it to the head of the T-Rex. Ellie stood at the front and looked out at the view with a huge smile.
"Look at me, I'm on a motherfucking dinosaur!" Ellie grinned.
"Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing?" Joel asked the twins.
"I say we jump." Dylan said to his sister.
"Oh, hell yeah!" Ellie replied with a smile.
"Don't jump, just climb down." Joel informed, unaware of the twins plan.
Ellie and Dylan jumped.
"Ahhh!" The twins yelled in excitement.
"Hey, hey hey!" Joel said as he watched the twins fall into the water.
The twins emerged from the water with big grins on their faces.
"Did you see that?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, I saw that." Joel replied.
"Wasn't it awesome?" Ellie asked.
"It's awesome that you didn't break anything." Joel replied.
"Uh, that was awesome." Ellie said as she smiled at Dylan.
Dylan and Ellie got out of the water and followed after Joel.
"'Wyoming Museum of Science and History.' How'd you find this place?" Ellie asked.
"Maria told Dylan about it. Figured it'd be right up your alley. He came to check it out with Tommy and me." Joel replied.
"Figured right." Ellie smiled.
Joel opened the door to the museum and Ellie looked at the flyers by the doorway.
"What's this?" Ellie asked as she picked one up.
"Uh. It's a book." Joel replied.
"It's a dinosaur book!" Ellie corrected.
"Okay?" Joel replied.
"All right." Ellie said.
Ellie and Dylan began to look around the place. Ellie found a dinosaur and opened up her book.
"Whoa. Look at those talons." Ellie stated.
"That is a velociraptor." Joel informed.
"Actually, it's a dee... Dee-oh-nin-y-chus." Ellie corrected as she read from her book.
"Pretty sure these are velociraptors. Yeah. I mean, at least that's what they called them in this movie I saw." Joel replied.
"Hmm." Ellie hummed.
Ellie continued to walk around and found a hat.
"Oh man! You wanna try it on?" Ellie asked Joel.
"I do not." Joel replied.
"Your loss." Ellie said as she placed the hat on her head.
Ellie and Dylan explored behind the counter, entering the office behind it. Ellie jumped into the chair and pretended to answer the phone.
"Oh, hello, sorry, the dinosaurs are busy right now." Ellie said.
"What are you doing?" Joel asked as he leant on the doorframe of the office.
"Oh wait...one of the dinosaurs is here. Joel, it's for you." Ellie smirked.
"Very funny." Joel replied.
"It's pretty funny." Ellie giggled, "Do you get it? It's 'cause you're old."
"Oh, I get it." Joel replied.
Dylan nodded to his sister with a smile on his face.
"Okay." Ellie said.
The trio headed into the next room, finding more dinosaurs on display. Ellie approached a dinosaur and placed her heat on it.
"Joel! Look!" Ellie chuckled.
"That is...a hat on a dinosaur." Joel replied.
"It's called a hatosaur." Ellie informed with a grin before she jumped back up and retrieved her hat.
Ellie then moved to another dinosaur, placing her hat on its head.
"Tiny head." Ellie said with a smile.
Dylan smiled and shook his head at his sister.
"Is this gong to be a thing? Please don't let it be a thing." Joel asked.
Ellie chuckled as she removed the hat from the dinosaur. Ellie moved over to Joel.
"Hey, Joel!" Ellie said as she placed the hat on his head.
"Ellie." Joel said before he grumbled.
"Don't you dare take it off. My birthday, my rules." Ellie informed before punching Joel lightly in the chest.
"Ugh..." Joel sighed.
"Hey, you mean our birthday, our rules. But I agree with you, no taking off the hat, Joel." Dylan stated.
Ellie moved over to another dinosaur, taking out her book to see what she could learn.
"Triceratops means 'three-horned-face.'" Ellie read.
"You would not want to be on the business end of that horn." Joel informed.
Ellie and Dylan nodded before they moved on.
"Triceratops...At least there's one I recognise." Joel said to himself.
Ellie began to read out more information on another dinosaur.
"The dimetrodon was an apex predator." Ellie read.
"What's an apex predator?" Dylan asked.
"The most badass predator." Ellie replied.
"Hm. Pretty short for that." Joel replied.
"Wait, were you talking about me?" Ellie asked.
Dylan shook his head and placed his arm around Ellie's shoulders, moving her on to another dinosaur.
"Brachiosaurus ate six hundred pounds of plants each day. Imagine the poops!" Ellie said.
Dylan chuckled at his sister.
"They had this one scene where, uh...Actually, one of the guys said: 'That's a big mound of shit.'" Joel recalled.
The twins looked to Joel with grins on their faces.
"What is this movie and when can we see it?" Ellie asked.
"Tell ya what. When we get back to Jackson...movie night." Joel replied.
The trio moved on heading upstairs to the next part of the museum.
"Did you go to museums a lot?" Ellie asked Joel.
"Yeah. Yeah, Sarah loved them. I swear that girl dragged me to every damned museum in Texas." Joel replied.
Ellie began to look at the head of the brachiosaurus as Dylan and Joel joined her.
"Looks like a giraffe." Ellie said.
"Yeah it does, doesn't it." Joel replied.
Joel took off his hat and tossed it at the head of the dinosaur. The hat landing on top of it's head.
"I see the appeal." Joel said as he chuckled a little.
"Told ya." Ellie replied with a smile.
The trio pushed through, heading down a corridor into the space section. Ellie headed in first and gasped.
"Did you know this was here?!" Ellie asked.
"You don't like it. We can head back." Dylan replied.
"Shut up!" Ellie said as she hugged Dylan.
Ellie released Dylan and began to explore. She began to turn a handle, lighting up the solar system that began to spin around above her.
"Whoa! Hey Joel, can you name all the planets?" Ellie asked.
"My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas." Joel replied.
"Uhh...did you just have a stroke?" Dylan asked.
"My: Mercury, very: Venus, mother: Mars---" Joel replied.
"Ohh, okay. I get it. That's pretty cool." Dylan nodded.
Ellie moved over and began to look at some model rockets.
"Hey, Joel. Guess what the first animal to go to space was?" Ellie asked.
"I don't have to guess, it was a monkey." Joel replied.
"No, it was fruit flies! Yeah, in 1947. It was to see radiation exposure at high altitudes. They lived through it." Ellie corrected.
"Daggum, girl, you are smart." Joel smiled.
"Thanks." Ellie grinned.
"Did they become super flies?" Joel asked.
"What? No." Ellie replied.
Ellie looked to the moon and looked to Joel and Dylan.
"You know how many times we've been to the moon?" Ellie asked.
"Uh...Twice." Joel replied.
"Six times." Ellie revealed as she spun the moon.
"Are you sure?" Joel asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure! I'm gonna make it seven." Ellie replied with a smile.
Dylan chuckled at his sister and smiled, seeing her enjoy herself.
Ellie headed across the room and sat in the moon buggy. Dylan ran over and sat beside her.
"Fuck yeah." Ellie smiled.
"Where's the steering wheel?" Dylan asked.
"Rovers don't use steering wheels. They use joysticks." Ellie replied as she began to play with the joystick.
"Huh." Dylan said.
"Hang on. Is this the real one?" Joel asked as he joined the twins.
"Considering they left the real ones on the moon, I would say no." Ellie replied as she jumped off the buggy.
Dylan joined Ellie as she headed over to the space shuttle. Dylan handed Ellie a space helmet after Ellie and Joel opened it up.
"You'll need this for your space flight, El." Dylan smiled.
Ellie placed the helmet on her head and smiled at her brother.
"So cool. Thanks, D." Elie replied.
"What does it smell like in there?" Dylan asked.
"Like space...and dust." Ellie replied.
Ellie went to climb into the shuttle.
"After you." Joel said as Ellie threw her backpack into the shuttle, "Watch your head."
Ellie lowered herself into her seat.
"Whoa! What the heck!" Ellie said.
Joel hopped into the shuttle, sitting in the seat beside Ellie whilst Dylan stood in the doorway.
"Okay." Joel said as he got comfortable.
Ellie began to play with the buttons and controls.
"Bwwooh, bwwooh, bwwooh!" Ellie sounded.
"Wow." Joel said as he looked at all the controls.
"Ssheww!" Ellie sounded, "Wow!"
"Would you look at all these buttons." Joel said.
"It's so badass." Ellie smiled, "Man...Could you imagine just...Brrrrvvvvooaaahh!"
Joel began to reach into his shirt pocket, pulling out a cassette tape. Ellie looked to the tape.
"Happy birthday, kiddo." Joel smiled.
"What is this?" Ellie asked.
"This is a thing that took a mighty effort to find." Joel replied, "Take it."
Ellie took the tape and then dug inside her backpack, pulling out her cassette player. She placed the tape inside of it and took off her helmet. She placed her earphones in her ears and put her helmet back on. Joel placed his hand on Ellie's, grabbing her attention.
"Close your eyes. It'll be worth it." Joel informed.
"'Kay." Ellie replied as she closed her eyes and pressed play on her cassette player.
Ellie looked to Joel and smiled before she closed her eyes again. Dylan watched as his sister's smile grew on her face as she listened to the tape.
"What's on the tape?" Dylan asked.
"Space launch." Joel replied.
"Oh my God, Joel. You're amazing." Dylan informed.
As the tape finished, Ellie looked to Joel with the biggest grin on her face.
"I do okay?" Joel asked.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ellie asked.
Ellie and Joel laughed.
"Your welcome, kiddo." Joel smiled, "Whaddya say we keep looking around, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess." Ellie replied as she took off her helmet.
"Yeah." Joel said as he pulled himself out of the shuttle.
Ellie placed her cassette player back into her backpack before giving a button one last push.
"Bwwoooh!" Ellie sounded.
Ellie climbed out of the shuttle and Dylan stood by his sister.
"Hey. Welcome to Earth." Dylan said as he held out a pin of a space shuttle.
Ellie took the pin from Dylan with a smile.
"Yeah!" Ellie smiled.
Ellie pulled Dylan into a hug and kissed him on the cheek before she placed the pin on her bag. The twins followed after Joel, heading through a set of doors, heading outside to the next part of the museum.
"There's more museum stuff over there." Ellie pointed to the opposite building, which had water separating the two buildings.
"We never checked out that building." Joel informed.
"Let's go!" Ellie replied with a grin.
"And just how do you plan on getting over there?" Joel asked.
Suddenly, Ellie leapt into the water.
"Ahh!" Ellie yelled before she met the water.
"Ellie, God!!" Joel stated.
Ellie emerged from the water.
"You ever give anyone else this much grief?" Joel asked.
Dylan looked to Joel and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Ellie's twin brother, Dylan. She's been giving me grief since the womb." Dylan said, "But I've learned that if you can't beat her, join her, so..."
Dylan leapt into the water after Ellie. Dylan emerged from the water and smiled up at Joel.
"Get down here!" Ellie smiled.
"No!" Joel replied.
"Hey, whose birthday is it?" Ellie asked.
"You can't keep doing that!" Joel replied.
"We want a good splash!" Dylan informed as they began to swim backwards towards the stairs to the other building.
"We've got more exploring to do!" Ellie informed.
"Geronimo!" Joel said as he jumped into the water.
The twins chuckled at Joel's display, "Nice."
The twins made it to the other side and were soon joined by Joel. Ellie tried to open the door, but it was blocked on the other side. Ellie looked up seeing a broken window.
"Hey! Boost me in there." Ellie said.
"Yeah, I don't know..." Joel replied.
"I'll open the door for you." Ellie stated.
"Come on, we can't chicken out now! I'll go with her." Dylan informed.
Joel got into place and helped the twins up to the broken window.
"All right. There!" Joel said as he lifted Dylan up to the ledge, following after Ellie.
Ellie and Dylan looked to the door, finding it heavily barricaded.
"Okay, bad news. There's shit blocking the door!" Ellie informed Joel.
"Well, see if you can find me another way in. I'll walk around the outside!" Joel informed the twins.
"Okay, be safe!" Ellie stated.
"You be safe!" Joel replied.
"There are dinosaurs around!" Ellie informed.
Ellie and Dylan headed further into the building, finding a statue of a moose being taken down by a pack of wolves.
"Oof. Stay strong, buddy." Ellie said.
Ellie and Dylan looked around. Dylan found some writing on the wall, which read 'I killed them.'
"This guy needed a hug." Ellie said.
"Yeah, we best be careful. We don't know if he's still here." Dylan replied as he pulled out his pistol.
"You be careful with that." Ellie informed.
Ellie and Dylan headed further into the building. They switched on their flashlights as the light began to fade.
"It's dark in here..." Ellie stated.
"Yeah, stay close to me, sis." Dylan informed.
Suddenly, as the twins entered another room, they heard a sound in the distance.
"Shit." Ellie said quietly.
"Stay calm, El. Keep your gun in your hand." Dylan informed.
The twins quietly and carefully made their way through the building, hearing more noises.
"Come out, fucker." Dylan said quietly.
Ellie and Dylan headed through a small hole in the wall, following the noise. They found a corpse beside another hole in the wall, they ignored it and pressed on. Ellie jumped as she exited the hole.
"Ah!" Ellie flinched, "Stupid fake animals."
Dylan placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder, reassuring her. Ellie and Dylan jumped a low wall and were knocked down by a wild boar as it ran into them and into another part of the building.
"Shit." Ellie said.
"You okay?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, you?" Ellie replied.
"Yeah." Dylan said as he stood and helped Ellie up.
Ellie moved across the room and picked up her flashlight, which she had dropped from the fall. Ellie's light reached the wall, revealing the word liars. Dylan and Ellie looked to the wall as Ellie moved her light over it.
"Ellie! Dylan!" Joel called from behind the door.
"We're in here!" Ellie replied.
Joel barged through the door and looked to the twins, as the boar cried out. The twins turned off their flashlights as natural light poured in.
"The hell was that?" Joel asked.
"It's just some animal." Dylan replied.
Joel followed the twins gaze as he too looked up at the wall, seeing the fireflies symbol.
"Well, let's get a move on. I want to get a fire going before it gets too dark. C'mon." Joel informed.
The twins looked at the wall once more before following Joel outside.