Scorched

This story is about how Jorge and Joan met.

## Plot

### Backstory and setting

*The Last of Us* takes place in the year 2033, twenty years after a fungal-based, brain-altering pandemic has spread and infected over 60% of the world's population. Since the outbreak, the world has gone into a state of panic and frenzy as officials try to fix and keep the situation under control. When the World Health Organization's attempts to procure a vaccine fail, the United States government does away with the bureaucrats in power and the establishment of civilian government. The country is turned into a police state under the control of homeland security and the military, and cities across the nation are placed under martial law one by one. Survivors of the pandemic are assigned to designated quarantine zones that are supposed to separate them from the infected and keep them safe.

Sometime within the twenty years leading up to the main events of the game, a paramilitary group calling themselves the Fireflies is established, with their main goal being the restoration of lawful government in the United States, as well as finding and producing a vaccine for the *Cordyceps* brain infection. The Fireflies attack the military on occasion and encourage uprisings.

### Characters

*Main article: Characters*
* **Joel** (Troy Baker) - The protagonist of the game. Joel is a survivor of the *Cordyceps* brain infection outbreak, taking residence in the Boston Quarantine Zone. Embittered and hardened by the death of his young daughter Sarah, Joel operates as a black market smuggler, dealing in contraband, taking numerous de-humanizing jobs over the years to survive in this new post-pandemic world. He has only few moral boundaries left to cross. Unfortunately for him, he is thrust into the middle of the nightmare that the world has become, when he is asked by the leader of the Fireflies, Marlene, to look after Ellie. Throughout the game, Joel slowly develops an unbreakable bond with Ellie and a desire to once again open up his emotions that he had suppressed for so many years.

* **Ellie** (Ashley Johnson) - The deuteragonist of the game. Ellie is a brave 14-year-old girl that has grown up in this harsh world and it is all she has ever known. Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps strain and because of this, the Fireflies, an anti-government organization, seek to reverse engineer a vaccine through her. She and Joel travel across the post-pandemic United States to reach the Fireflies. She helps the player through the game in many ways, lending a hand in combat and assisting through areas of the game that would otherwise be inaccessible. She frequently expresses curiosity about the remnants of a world that no longer exists.

* **Tess** (Annie Wersching) - Tess is Joel's 'partner-in-crime'. They operate in the black market of a city under martial law and have earned a reputation for their ruthless behavior. She and Joel have a trust that runs deeply between them. Tess goes with Joel to drop off Ellie to the Fireflies at the Capitol building in Boston, in exchange for getting back the guns that were stolen from them. Against all odds, the trio make it to the Capitol Building only to find that the Fireflies are dead, and Tess reveals that she was bitten by a runner an hour before. She holds off some soldiers after she makes Joel promise to bring Ellie to Tommy, Joel's little brother.

* **Bill** (W. Earl Brown) - Bill is a paranoid survivor who appears early in the game and helps Joel and Ellie. Bill takes refuge in a town that he has completely booby trapped. He seems to be a bit eccentric, perhaps deranged, but offers to aid Joel and Ellie in finding a car. He is excessively bitter towards Ellie due to the fact that she was hostile towards him from the start. Bill possesses gay pornography, and showed heavy emotion for his friend Frank's death, implying that he was romantically involved with Frank.

* **Marlene** (Merle Dandridge) - The leader of the Fireflies and Ellie's surrogate parent. In exchange for their guns back, Marlene tells Tess and Joel to take Ellie to the Fireflies at the Capitol building in Boston. To Marlene, every unethical action she takes can be justified because of her pursuit to save humanity from the infection. She is absent for most of the game and only reappears at the end, where she becomes the final antagonist.

* **Tommy** (Jeffrey Pierce) - Joel's brother and a former Firefly. The game starts with Tommy helping Joel and Sarah maneuver through the chaotic crowds of both civilians and infected during the initial outbreak. Tommy and Joel reunite later within the game and he reluctantly agrees to help his brother, establishing one of Joel and Ellie's reasons for coming to the University of Eastern Colorado. He is married to Maria.

* **David** (Nolan North) - A middle-age survivor and leader of a Cannibals group who appears later in the game and asks for help from Ellie. David is a very manipulative person, seeking to win people over with his superficial mild-mannered appearance, and attempts to convince Ellie to join him. Ellie doesn't buy his attitude and eventually breaks his finger. He finally reveals his true nature to Ellie and even attempts to kill her outright, sending a group of his men to capture her several times throughout the winter section of the game. To David, everything that has happened was for a reason; he believes faith brought him and Ellie to together, and that their encounter was meant to be. He has a very profound effect on Ellie throughout the rest of the game.

* **Henry** (Brandon Scott) - An adept survivor, who, with his brother Sam, helps Joel and Ellie in Pittsburgh. He and Joel are initially hostile towards each other, but in the end begin to warm up to each other. However, he commits suicide after having to kill his infected brother.

* **Sam** (Nadji Jeter) - Henry's younger brother. Upon meeting, he and Ellie get along almost instantly and continue their easygoing relationship throughout the chapter. After he is bitten by an infected, Ellie is the last person Sam talks to before he turns. He is killed by Henry, who immediately commits suicide out of grief.

* **Sarah** (Hana Hayes) - Joel's daughter. She is killed in the prologue when a soldier was instructed to open fire on both her and Joel. Her death causes Joel to become cold, cynical, and brutal over the years.

v · d · e

### Plot summary

#### Prologue

The game begins in 2013 by introducing Joel, a single father living in Austin, Texas, with his 12-year-old daughter Sarah. On the night of his birthday, a sudden outbreak of a very severe brain infection originating from an unknown fungus rapidly spreads throughout the United States. As Joel and Sarah meet up with his brother Tommy, they attempt to flee the area. Joel and Sarah are briefly separated from Tommy, as the latter keeps the infected at bay. Joel and Sarah continue to flee, and they encounter a lone soldier who is ordered to open fire on them. He does, and Joel and Sarah fall down a hill, separated from each other by only a few feet. When the soldier is about to execute Joel, he is shot in the head by Tommy. Joel survives the attack with minor injuries, but Sarah was fatally wounded and dies in Joel's arms.

#### Summer

Following the prologue, the game cuts to twenty years later in the Summer of 2033. Joel is now a smuggler in a bleak, post-apocalyptic society in the Boston quarantine zone with his partner and friend Tess, where they frequently sneak out of the city illegally to trade with other survivors.

After coming back from a deal with another client, Tess explains to Joel that she was jumped on the way back from the deal by two men, who had the intention to kill her. The two set out to look for a local arms dealer named Robert, who had stolen guns from them. When they find him, he confesses that he had sold the guns because he owed them to the Fireflies. Angered by this revelation, Tess shoots Robert twice in the head, and the two decide to look for the Fireflies and explain what happened to retrieve their merchandise. Shortly after, they encounter Marlene, the head of the Fireflies, and she tells them that she will part with the guns and double the payment if they agree to smuggle something out of the city for her.

At the safehouse that Marlene takes them to, it is revealed that they will be smuggling a young girl by the name of Ellie. Tess and Joel split up, with Tess following Marlene back to her camp to confirm that she has their payment, and Joel escorting Ellie back to their own safehouse to wait for Tess.

When Tess returns, the three of them set off for the drop-off point that other Fireflies will be waiting at to receive Ellie, at the Capitol building. Before they get far, however, two patrolling military members ambush them and they are subject to a scan for CBI (*Cordyceps* brain infection) and they call for backup. Tess and Joel pass the CBI scan just fine, but before they get a look at Ellie's scan reading, Ellie panics, and she stabs the soldier with her switchblade. Going into combat, both Joel and Tess immediately kill both of them. It is then revealed that Ellie is infected, but Ellie claims that her bite is three weeks old, which is a unique condition as everyone turns within two days of being exposed to the fungus. Although still skeptical, the three escape together as backup arrives, and flee underground as soldiers pursue them.

Once the soldiers lose track of them, Ellie explains that Marlene believes what happened to her may be the key to

finding a cure. Joel is reluctant, but Tess believes there may be some truth to what she is saying, and urges him to consider finishing the drop off. The three fight their way through numerous infected to the Capitol building, only to find that the Fireflies that were supposed to meet them are slaughtered. Joel declares they tried and failed, and proposes they return home, but Tess reveals that she had been bitten on the way to the building. Tess begs Joel to bring Ellie to Tommy, as he used to be part of Marlene's group and may have an idea of how to bring her to the Fireflies. Tess stays behind alone to cover them against the approaching soldiers, as Joel reluctantly flees with Ellie.

Once they are in a safe spot and away from any infected, Joel tells Ellie to never bring Tess up and to keep their histories to themselves. He also tells her to do what he says, when he says it. And Joel makes Ellie repeat it, and she does. The subject is then over. Joel tells his initial idea, which is to visit an acquaintance that owes him a favor and procure a working car from him, which would make their trip to Tommy's a lot easier and quicker.

They acquire the ride, but is it cut short as they are ambushed and attacked by a group of hunters in Pittsburgh, forcing them to abandon the pick-up truck and escape on foot. Within the hunter's city, they meet a pair of brothers named Sam and Henry who are also trying to escape, and they agree to work together. In a confrontation with more hunters, Sam and Henry abandon Ellie and Joel and the two are once again, alone.

As they leave the city, the hunters continue to pursue them in the Humvee, chasing Joel and Ellie to the edge of a broken bridge. Ellie proposes that they jump off to escape. Joel doesn't want to because Ellie will drown because she can't swim. Ellie ignores him and jumps off, and angrily, Joel follows her. Once in the strong current, Joel latches onto Ellie but before they could do anything, Joel is knocked unconscious by his head slamming into a boulder in the water. He then is woken up by Ellie on the shore of a beach, where they are reunited with Sam and Henry. Angered, Joel shoves Sam down to the ground and points a gun at him, threatening to shoot him because they chose to abandon Ellie and Joel. Henry then explains himself why they had to leave (for Sam's safety), and also says that they found Joel and Ellie in the water. Ellie says that they would've drowned if it wasn't for them. He puts the gun down and they all continue their journey to the radio tower. Soon, they find an entrance to a sewer, and navigate through it to reach a suburban neighborhood. Up in the suburbs, they are attacked by another group of hunters, including a sniper. Joel manages to take them out, but the noise from the fight attracts hordes of infected, causing the group to flee from the suburbs.

Once they reached the radio tower, they spend the night indoors, talking about past memories before the outbreak. Joel, Ellie, and Henry are all in the main room talking while Sam is in the other. Ellie goes into the other room and Henry is seen taking stock of the food that they have. Ellie notices that Sam is particularly upset, and they have a deep conversation of religion, becoming infected, and their roles in the world. After they talk, they both say goodnight and spend the night in the radio tower. They all wake up, and Henry is making breakfast. Ellie decides wake Sam up for breakfast, only to discover that he had been bitten in their latest encounter with the infected, and had turned overnight. He attacks Ellie, and Joel goes to shoot Sam, but Henry shoots the gun out of his hand, concerned for his brother. Joel retrieves the gun again, despite the gun threat from Henry. A gunshot is heard and it turns out, Henry shot Sam. Henry, in a state of anger and grief, first places blame on Joel and points his gun at him. Joel tells him to take it easy, and that this is nobody's fault, but Henry changes his mind and chooses to shoot himself instead, ultimately committing suicide.

#### Fall

Joel and Ellie continue their journey to find Tommy. The two discuss Joel's relationship with his brother, which he admits is not ideal, and they soon reach a closed gate, a dam, which guarded by several armed people. As the woman interrogates Joel and Ellie, Tommy recognizes Joel and open the gates for him. He introduces the woman as his wife Maria, and they all head inside.

Inside, Maria brings Ellie to get some food, and Tommy gives Joel a tour of the power plant. Once they are alone, Joel tells Tommy about Ellie and her unique condition. Joel proposes that Tommy finishes the job, and he collects the payment from Marlene. He refuses to help, and the two begin to quarrel but their argument is cut short as a pack of bandits show up and attack their settlement. Joel and Tommy fight their way back to Maria and Ellie, and upon seeing his brother's apparent love for Ellie, Tommy makes up his mind and decides to help deliver Ellie to the Fireflies. He discusses this with Maria, who is evidently distraught and against their plan. Ellie listens in on the conversation, and picks up that Joel is going to be handing her off to Tommy. Upset by this, she steals a horse and takes off into the woods alone.

When Joel and Tommy learn of Ellie's disappearance, they each grab a horse and look for her together. After handling a few more bandits, they finally find her in an abandoned ranch house, where Ellie accuses Joel of planning to leave her with Tommy, and that he wanted to get rid of her the whole time. He argues that she would be safer with Tommy, and Ellie brings up Sarah, saying how she isn't her. This greatly upsets Joel and prompts him to say "you're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad, and we are going our separate ways." Before Ellie can respond, Tommy bursts into the room and tells them that bandits have invaded the house.

They fight their way out of the ranch, and start to head back to the dam on horseback. Joel thinks back to his argument with Ellie, and in a change of heart, he announces that he has decided to continue the journey with Ellie himself. He tells her to return the horse she took, and the two ride off together as they part ways with Tommy.

Together, they head for the University of Eastern Colorado, as Tommy told them the Fireflies' lab is located there. As they search the school buildings for the lab, it becomes increasingly obvious that the school had been abandoned for quite some time. When they finally find a recorder that tells them of the current whereabouts of the Fireflies, they are spotted by another group of survivors that start attack them. As Joel and Ellie try to escape from the school grounds, Joel is attacked and pushed over a railing by one of the attackers. They both fall two stories down, and Joel is impaled through the stomach with a metal beam, which leaves him severely wounded and struggling to walk. Ellie encourages him to walk as she fends off anybody who gets in their way.They eventually escape to their horse outside. She helps him get on, and they ride away from the school together. A while later, Ellie looks back and declares that they're safe for now, but Joel is still severely wounded and bleeding, and unable to hold on any longer. He falls unconscious from blood loss, leaving Ellie panicked and unsure of what to do.

#### Winter

Ellie is out hunting in the snow by herself. She shoots a rabbit with an arrow before noticing a buck in the distance; she leaves the rabbit with Callus and follows it quietly. She manages to shoot it twice, following the blood trail to an abandoned shack, where the stag finally succumbed to its wounds. She is then approached by two men by the names of David and James, who offer to trade supplies with her in exchange for the deer. Ellie is extremely cautious and frantically asks them for some antibiotics, and James leaves to retrieve it as David stays with her. David attempts to befriend Ellie, but she is skeptical of his seemingly good nature, and refuses to reveal any information about herself. She takes his rifle away from him while James retrieves the medicine. Before long, they hear infected approaching. David then pulls out a pistol and asks for his rifle back but she says no. They then work together to fight them off.

When they are safe from infected again, David reveals that the group of men who attacked her and Joel at the university were part of his group. Sensing that she is in trouble, Ellie reaches for her weapon, but finds that she is outnumbered, as James had returned with the antibiotics. David tells James to let her go and to give her the medicine, which he does. Ellie flees with Callus back to the garage of an abandoned house, where Joel is resting. He is still very weak and ill. She gives him the antibiotics, and falls asleep next to him. When she wakes up, she discovers that David's group had tracked her down, and she has no choice but to leave Joel behind as she attempts to draw them away from him. She takes off on Callus, who is shot shortly after the men chase them. Ellie escapes on foot and avoids them for the most part, but David catches up to her, and knocks her unconscious.

Ellie wakes up in a cage, and the first thing she sees is James butchering a human body, which frightens her. David approaches her and once again attempts to get on her good side, claiming that he can convince the others to keep her alive. Ellie still does not trust him, and breaks his finger in an attempt to grab the keys to the cage from him. He grabs her arm and slams her up against the door of the cage, wounding her. Finally out of patience and temper, David leaves the room and darkly threatens to have her cut up into "little pieces".

Meanwhile, Joel finally wakes up and notices Ellie is missing. He desperately looks for her, killing the rest of the men that had tracked Ellie back to the house. He captures two and tortures them until they give up the location of the resort David had taken Ellie, then kills both of them and set out looking for her.

Back at the resort, James roughly wakes Ellie up, and hauls her up to the butcher table with David. Ellie fights against both of the men and she bites David in the struggle. Before David could throw the butcher knife down to her, Ellie reveals that she is infected. As James and David stand shocked, she grabs the butcher knife from them and buries it into James' neck, narrowly escaping as David shoots at her. As she navigates around the resort and tries to find a way out, she soon ends up in a restaurant, where David has her trapped. The restaurant catches on fire as Ellie sneaks around the restaurant, trying to stab David with her switchblade before he catches her. They fight for a while, but are both knocked unconscious in the struggle.

Outside, Joel has finally arrived at the resort, and is scouring the area looking for her. He soon notices the burning restaurant and attempts to head inside to investigate.

Inside the restaurant, Ellie regains consciousness first, and spots David's machete under a bench. As she attempts to retrieve it, David wakes up also. He kicks her several times and pins her to the ground, not knowing the machete is still within her reach. He threatens Ellie by saying, "You have no idea what I'm capable of." Ellie finally grabs a hold of the machete and violently hacks David to death with it. Joel finally makes his way into the building and takes the weapon from her. She is at first afraid that it is one of David's men, saying, "Don't fucking touch me!" And Joel brings Ellie back to her senses. She sobs in Joel's arms as he tells her some reassuring words. The two both leave, and the camera pans down towards the bloodied handle of the machete, which is still buried in David's face.

#### Spring

On April 28, 2034, Joel spots the Saint Mary's Hospital mentioned in the Firefly's recorder and points it out to Ellie, who seems distracted and a little distant. They make their way through a highway of abandoned cars and soon reach a decaying bus station. Joel boosts Ellie up onto a platform; she drops a ladder down for him, but sees something in the distance and hurries off without waiting for him. Confused and worried, Joel follows suit as quickly as he could, and soon discovers that a group of giraffes had roamed into the deserted city, one of which was grazing on the vegetation that had grown around the decaying building they were standing in.

The two take turns petting the giraffe, then lean over the balcony to marvel at the sight of the herd. As they turn to exit the building, Joel realizes they have the option to simply leave all they set out to do behind, and return to Tommy's dam to live out a simpler life. He brings this up to her, but Ellie, determined to reach the hospital and see their mission through, insists that everything they've done up to this point "can't be for nothing" and sets off ahead of him with determination.

Soon, they reach an area set up with medical tents. Joel recalls that shortly after the outbreak, he ended up in a similar location and witnessed broken families everywhere. For the first time, Ellie brings up Sarah without angering Joel, and she offers him a photo of him and his daughter that she secretly took while visiting Tommy's dam. Joel finally accepts that no matter how hard you try, you can't escape your past, and thanks Ellie for it.

They make their way into an underground tunnel, much of which has been flooded and infested with the infected. They help each other through the debris, but soon reach an area with a loose platform. Joel falls off and into a broken down bus, where he becomes trapped. As Ellie breaks through a bus window to try and get him out, she is knocked into the water. Joel escapes through the window and drags Ellie out of the water, who is now unconscious. As he frantically tries to resuscitate her, a Firefly patrol approaches them and train their weapons on Joel, ordering him to put his hands in the air. He ignores them in his state of panic, still trying to rescue Ellie, and is knocked out by one of the Fireflies.

Joel wakes up in a hospital bed with Marlene by his side. She welcomes him to the Fireflies, and reassures him that they have rescued Ellie as well. When he asks to see her, she reveals that they are already preparing her for surgery - a surgical process to remove the mutated infection within her, and reverse engineer a vaccine from it. The truth dawns on Joel as he points out that the infection grows all over the brain, meaning Ellie will have to die in order for them to successfully extract it. He demands that they find someone else for it. The tension in the room grows and Marlene and Joel begin fighting about Ellie's fate. A Firefly in the room knocks him to the ground. Marlene justifies that there is no other option for them, and orders Ethan to march him out, and that if he tries anything, to shoot him. As he is escorted out, Joel spots his backpack and belongings on a counter, and quickly attacks Ethan. He learns that Ellie is located in an operating room on the top floor before killing him, and quickly retrieves his things to save her. The gunshots alert and attract the attention of other Fireflies, and they soon discover Joel has escaped and is on the loose.

Joel fights his way to the operating room alone, where a surgeon and his two assistants stand around Ellie, who is not awake. They back away as Joel approaches, but the doctor attempts to stop him from taking Ellie and is killed as a result, as well as the other two assistants. Joel removes Ellie from the operating table, and carries her out of the room as Fireflies close in on him. He runs throughout the floor, trying to find a way out. He eventually manages to reach an elevator just in time, dodging gunfire, and heads down to the underground parking lot, where he is stopped by Marlene. With her gun trained on Joel, she makes a final attempt to change his mind, reasoning that Ellie would rather die for the vaccine than escape with him. She says that she would eventually be torn to pieces by a pack of clickers, and says, "that if she hasn't been raped and murdered first." Joel thinks about her gruesome words. As she lowers her guard and tells him that he can still do the right thing, the scene cuts away to Joel driving away from the hospital, seemingly alone.

Joel drives in silence for some time, then a bit of stirring can be heard in the background as Ellie is seen waking up in the backseat. She asks him what happened, and Joel lies to her as he recalls the events that transpired in the parking lot; he had shot Marlene to prevent her from coming after Ellie, but tells her that the Fireflies have already stopped looking for a cure, and that she is not the only human immune to CBI. Ellie turns away silently in disappointment, and Joel apologizes as he continues to drive back to Tommy's dam.

#### Epilogue

Back in Jackson County, Joel is looking under the hood of their vehicle, and a still dejected Ellie lightly traces her infected bite wound as she thinks about their trip to the Fireflies' lab. Joel declares that they will be walking from this point, and the two continue to make their way to Tommy's settlement on foot. On the way there, Ellie stops Joel and confronts him about his version of events that transpired earlier. She expresses her survivor's guilt, mentioning all of their friends who have died and succumbed to CBI, and wonders if she could have done more to end the pandemic. She asks Joel to swear to her that everything he told her about the Fireflies is true, and he does. She hesitantly accepts his answer.

#### Receiving a guitar

In the weeks after their arrival, Ellie and Joel settle into life in Jackson. At some point, Ellie chemically removes her bite mark on her arm, scarring her forearm but making it easier to conceal her immunity.

One evening Joel visits Ellie's home, a converted garage in his backyard. Joel knocks and calls for Ellie from the doorway, but Ellie does not hear him because she is drawing and listening to her Walkman. He enters, and nudges her chair with his foot to get her attention. Ellie is startled, and chides Joel that he "almost gave [her] a heart attack."

Ellie asks Joel why he is visiting, and Joel says he is just checking in. He mentions that people in Jackson are impressed with how Ellie has been helping out. As they talk, it becomes clear that there is still some tension between Ellie and Joel, indicating she is unsatisfied with Joel's answers about the Fireflies ending their search for a cure. Joel starts to tell Ellie about a joke Tommy told him that he thought she would like, but he can't remember it. Ellie interrupts him, noting that it is late and she needs to get up early. Joel says he will get out of her hair, but he has something to show her. He steps outside, and returns soon after with a gift.

"What's this?" Ellie asks.

"Some folks call this thing here a gee-tar." Joel says, dramatizing his Texan accent. He asks Ellie if she would like to hear something, and she says yes. Joel says she needs to promise not to laugh, which she does. Joel sings *Future Days* by Pearl Jam for her. The lyrics, which include lines of seeing "future days/Days of you and me" seem to resonate with Ellie, and she softens listening to Joel sing.

When Joel finishes the song, Ellie says that it "didn't suck." Joel chuckles and says he will take what he can get. He then holds out the guitar to Ellie, and says it is hers. Ellie initially tries to refuse, saying that she doesn't know anything about playing guitar, but Joel reminds her that he promised to teach her. Ellie is touched that he remembered, and accepts the guitar. Joel says they can have their first lesson tomorrow night, and Ellie agrees.

Joel makes to leave, but Ellie stops him as he reaches the door, asking if he remembered the joke. Joel thinks for a moment, then smiles and asks "What is the downside to eating a clock?" Ellie shrugs, not knowing the answer. Joel provides the punchline, "It's time consuming." Ellie smiles and says that is dumb. Joel chuckles and agrees. He lingers a moment longer, then wishes her goodnight and shuts the door. Ellie looks pensive for a moment. She then plucks at the strings of her new guitar.

#### The birthday gift

From 2034 to early 2038, Ellie lives in Jackson, becoming acquainted with Dina, another resident of the community. Ellie and Dina's friendship develops and, along with Jesse, they help other Jackson residents patrol the outskirts to defend against hordes of infected and any wandering marauders that could pose a threat. At some point, Ellie gets a tattoo of a moth on her right forearm from her ex-girlfriend Cat.

On her sixteenth birthday in 2035, Joel takes Ellie on a three-day journey to an abandoned museum elsewhere in Wyoming. During the trip, she practices her guitar, with Joel encouraging her and insisting she will get better once she develops calluses on her fingertips to make playing less strenuous. As they near the museum, he pushes her into a river, laughing at her surprised reaction but also observing that her swimming is improving. Ellie chides him for doing so and later does likewise to him while the pair are watching a nearby deer. Once at the museum, the full-sized statue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex near the entrance leaves Ellie in awe. To Joel's concern, she climbs to the top of it's head, roars and then jumps into the water below. Climbing from the pool, she heads inside with Joel and the two look around at all the other dinosaur statues.

Ellie takes a worn-out guidebook from the entrance and uses it to read up on all the different types of dinosaurs. She also finds numerous hats in the area and tries them on, and makes Joel wear one. Joel resists but Ellie makes him wear it, insisting he should because it is her birthday.

Later on, they climb to a higher floor, where a space exhibit is found. Having wanted to be an astronaut for years, Ellie remarks that it is her favorite room as she plays with the numerous interactive activities and reads up on the various space suits and rocket ships, impressing Joel with her knowledge. She eventually finds a space capsule that she climbs into. Joel joins her, in awe at all the technology still intact within it. Ellie wishes she could fly into space, prompting Joel to take out a cassette tape. Ellie asks what is on it but he insists she play and close her eyes while she does. As it starts, it is a recording of NASA's Apollo 11 launch. Ellie sits back, eyes closed, and allows herself to imagine flying into space and seeing the moon. Once the recording ends, Ellie thanks Joel for her best birthday present. Upon exiting the pod, Joel gives her a badge to signify her success in landing back down on earth.

Not wanting the day to end, Ellie insists the pair check out the other building in the museum. Joel reveals he hasn't cleared one of them of infected but Ellie swims and climbs inside anyway. While looking around, Ellie finds messages written on the wall from a man who apparently hid out there. She eventually finds his corpse and a suicide note, revealing he was a former Firefly and came to the museum in the hopes of "finding the light" only to lose all hope that humanity could be saved. She enters the next room and is tackled by a boar trapped there. Hearing her cry, Joel forces his way into the room. Ellie claims she is fine but stares at a Firefly insignia on the wall with the word "Liars" written below it. Joel coaxes her to leave and forget about the group.

#### Finding strings

A year later, Ellie is on patrol with Tommy, lost in thought about the fact that she is dating her friend Cat while wondering about Joel's possible reaction to that and confused how that is affecting her relationship with Dina. Tommy has her snipe far-away infected to take her mind off her worries. Once done, he asks why she seems uneasy with Joel but she dodges the question.

The two return to the lookout at the lodge where Joel is playing Ellie's guitar. He reveals her strings need changing, confusing Ellie, unaware the strings could wear down from extensive playing. Tommy suggests the pair search a music store in downtown while he keeps watch at the lodge. Despite some animosity, Ellie agrees.

While riding down, Joel talks about he found some issues of Ellie's *Savage Starlight* comics and read them, admitting their not exactly his favorite fiction but good reads all the same, brightening Ellie's mood. Once down the road, Ellie and Joel find their path to the store blocked, forcing them to cut through a nearby hotel. Inside, the pair find it filled with spores. Despite not needing a gas mask, Joel insists Ellie wear one in case they stumble upon other survivors. While inside, they take down numerous infected before a bloater ambushes them. The bloater nearly kills Ellie but Joel attacks it with his machete, chopping its arm off and slaying it, saving Ellie.

Finding their way into a diner, Ellie discovers two bodies on the floor, one shot dead and the other a mutated clicker. Joel quickly leaps forward, pinning the clicker down and shooting it dead, saving Ellie once more. Ellie thanks him and then reads a note next to one of the bodies. The note, and the fact the bodies were wearing backpacks marked with the Jackson community's signature "J", confirms the pair were two teenagers who ran away in an effort to find the Fireflies and help "save the world" only to be attacked and infected by a horde, causing their deaths. Further ridden with guilt, Ellie confronts Joel about what happened at the hospital in Salt Lake City. Joel insists there were other immune patients but Ellie calls his bluff to which Joel retorts that other immune people could be hiding such like he makes Ellie do. He then shuts down the conversation before Ellie can argue further. The pair then leave to fetch Tommy to help carry the corpses back to their families in Jackson.

#### Learning the truth

Soon after, Ellie returns on her own to St Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City, sneaking out in the middle of the night and leaving a note for Joel. While there, she finds it abandoned and discovers a tape recording left behind by Mel, a member of Fireflies, that stated she was the only one immune, and that the only doctor who could make a vaccine was dead. While sitting outside listening to the tape, Joel arrives on his horse and rushes to Ellie, hugging her while chiding her for running away. Ellie pushes him away and demands he tell her the truth, threatening to leave him forever if he lies once again. After much hesitation, Joel finally reveals the surgeons were willing to kill Ellie to make a vaccine, so he stopped them. The news devastates her and, although she agrees to ride back to Jackson, she declares she will sever her ties with Joel for good.