Welcome! This story picks up right where the game leaves off. I'm not worried too, too much about being very accurate to the whole DLC thing as I've not seen/played it. Big thanks to The Last Of Us Wikia for keeping all the helpful information in one place if I forget details.

All characters and world do not belong to me. They are the property of NaughtyDog, I'm just having fun here!

Swear to me!

I swear.

… Okay.

The last time I checked, swearing wasn't a synonym for lying. I guess Joel didn't use the same dictionary as me. I looked sideways at him as we ate together in the mess hall, then ducked my head before he could catch my gaze. As far as I knew, he thought everything was fine with us. Well, as fine as they had ever been.

"You been sleeping okay?" Maria gently prodded with a concerned half-smile.

If by "okay," she meant lying in bed with my eyes wide open seeing grotesque shapes dancing in the pitch black, or waking up in a cold sweat two or three times a night with a weapon in my hand, or shuddering when I remembered the feeling of shoving my blade into a living thing's body, then yes. I turned my attention back to my food, appetite gone, and shrugged. "Yeah," I replied.

"I know it's not much, but what we've got is yours, and if there's anything we can do to make you more comfortable…"

"No, no, it's fine," I stammered. "It's just…" I glanced at Joel, this time looking him in the eye. His face was cleaner than it had been in months. Cleaner than it had been since I'd known him, that's for sure. But it still held the familiar steadiness behind his strong jaw and multiplying wrinkles.

He broke my gaze and turned to Maria, who was watching us intently. "Everything's fine, Maria, thank you. It just takes a bit of gettin' used to, gettin' a full night's sleep and wakin' up when there ain't nobody tryin' to kill ya."

Maria nodded. "Well you have all the time in the world to get used to it. You can stay with us as long as you wish."

Joel grunted thankfully and we kept eating in silence.

The last few days had passed like the most boring scene in a movie stuck on repeat. Joel and I spent most of our time inside, catching up on sleep and food, and just remembering what it was like to sit in one place for more than an hour without having to look over our shoulders. We usually did anyway, though.

We didn't talk much, just sat. Sometimes we'd take turns flipping a pebble at one another or making drawings out of the other person's scribble. Joel once mentioned off-hand, "You gotta good eye, kid. Steady hand for drawing, too." I didn't really know what he meant by that or why he brought it up, so I decided not to answer.

It was better this way, just the two of us with nothing to say. Whenever Tommy or Maria was around, I always felt the need to think of something to say, and I think Joel did too because he talked more than usual around them. But maybe that was because he thought I was boring and just wanted somebody to talk to. I didn't care, mostly.

One morning, after finishing breakfast in the mess hall, Maria came up to me uncertainly. She was normally a very confident woman, knowing what she wants and not backing down for anybody's business. I guess kids make her feel uncomfortable, I wondered, still surprised that people saw me as a kid. I had gone through as much crap as most people there, and more crap than some.

"Hey Ellie." I nodded back at her in greeting. I hadn't spoken yet today, and some days it was almost a game to see how long I could go without saying something. "Joel tells me you're an artist?" she said a little too brightly. I shrugged. "We could use your help repainting some of the buildings out here… especially the guard towers. Would you mind lending a hand?" Shaking my head, I took my plate to the kitchen and let myself be guided carefully outside by the short blond-haired woman.

"We've got a few people helping, but it'd be nice to have somebody with a little... artistic intuition," Maria said kindly, albeit awkwardly. I took the can and paintbrush she offered and turned to the building, but paused, the blood draining from my face. On the wall was a perfect silhouette of Sam, face frozen in an infected snarl, eyes unfamiliar and distant. My heart stopped and then pounded twice as fast, trying to make up for that one lost beat. I blinked, and realized the silhouette wasn't Sam; it was just a blood stain. A few of the other members of the community looked at me sideways as I steadied my heart rate and began smearing the brown paint over the dried, dark red blood.

I'd seen blood before. Lots of it. The bandits attacked this place often, only to get their brains blasted out against the buildings. I knew that. No need to panic. So why was my hand shaking?

Not a full hour had passed when somebody called at the main gate to let them in. Shortly afterward, a scout I recognized as Perry Stramford came riding through the gate, asking urgently where Tommy was. As he passed by, I caught his eye and was about to nod in acknowledgement when the look in his eye stopped me. The hair on my arms and legs stood up and my spine tingled. Something was wrong.

After he disappeared, I quickly put down my pail and brush and headed toward the mess hall, wondering if Joel would still be there. He wasn't. The kitchen crew was just finishing up the dishes, wiping down tables and turning the shift over to the lunch people. I asked somebody in what I hoped was a nonchalant manner if they had seen Joel. They hadn't. Useless idiots, I scowled.

My next thought was to check the woodshop; I knew in the back of my mind somewhere that Joel had been in carpentry before, and he had expressed a little more interest than usual when Tommy mentioned there being a shop. It was empty of all but an old man whittling away at a stub of wood. He must be inside, I thought, headed across the community toward the small room we shared. A panic was starting to set in. I had been getting better about spending time away from Joel, but now the familiar feeling was back. By now people were looking at me strangely and muttering. Or was it my imagination?

I sprinted up the last few steps to our shared room and burst through the door. Joel jerked from his place in the bed, knife drawn, eyes wild, and teeth bared in a snarl. When he saw it was just me, he took a deep breath and threw down his weapon with a sigh of disgust. "You startled me," he mumbled.

"Sorry." I shut the door behind me and locked it; second nature to me already. "What're you doing?"

"I was trying to get a couple winks in."

"Didn't sleep much last night?"

He shook his head and laid back down.

Suddenly I felt silly. Here I was, after having dashed like a madman throughout the community, just because Perry had looked at me funny. He probably was just having a bad day. Maybe he got attacked by bandits. Or worse, some runners. No wonder people were watching me and muttering. First I'm seeing dead people on the side of buildings, now I'm paranoid about a scout glancing at me before going to report to his superior. Get a grip, Ellie, I told myself.

Joel put an arm under his head and lifted an eyebrow at me, still standing indecisively by the door. "Didja want somethin', kiddo?"

I hesitated, then moved to lay down on my mattress next to his. "Nah, just needed to get away."

I woke up to an urgent pounding on the door. I hadn't realized I had drifted to sleep. From the look of the sun peering through the window, I had been asleep for the better chunk of two hours. Quickly I reached for my switchblade and scrambled to my feet. Joel was already standing up, a pistol in his hand, the other on the doorknob.

"Joel, open up!" Maria's whisper filtered through the cracks in the wall, and Joel only hesitated a moment before unlocking the door and pulling it open. The wiry woman slipped inside and shut the door after glancing behind her.

"What's going on?" Joel demanded.

Maria just looked at me silently. For the second time that day, the hairs on my limbs reached out to the air, sensing the tension. I felt sick.

"Maria, what is it?" Joel's voice was a low growl, and he took a step toward Maria, forcing her to look at him.

"Ellie has to go," she replied. "The Fireflies released information…"

I barely noticed the parade of emotions across Joel's face through the stampede of my own. "What did they say?" he growled again.

Maria looked at me once more, then back. Swallowing, she said quickly, "They said she's immune. They said she has the cure, and this whole thing could be over if we turn her in. They're offering a reward to anybody who has information on her whereabouts."

Joel swore, then swore again.

I could only think of one thing.

"You have to go, now!" Maria said. "There are already people who know; they're talking to Tommy, but he can only stall them for so long. They could come after you any minute."

Joel let out another expletive with a burst of air.

"Where can we go?" I asked. The question was directed at Joel, but Maria answered. Joel wasn't looking at me.

"I don't know. Anywhere! Anywhere there's not people. The entire world will be after you before long." Maria pursed her lips. "You're lucky I'm letting you go now; it'd be easier if I just turned you in right now."

At that, Joel snarled and made to brandish his pistol, but I lurched forward and grabbed his arm. "Thanks," I said. Maria nodded, then the woman cautiously slipped out the door the way she came.

As Joel and I descended the ladder in the back of the building, there was only one thing I could think of. We grabbed a pair of horses and whatever tack we could lay our hands on, then led them toward the side door, trying to stay as close to the barricade as we could. As we reached the exit, Joel halted, drew his bow, and skewered the man standing guard. He toppled with a hardly distinguishable gurgle and we hurried forward, mounting as soon as we were on the other side of the wall.

Urging our horses toward the concealing woods, there was one thought in my mind.

This is my life. It can never be anything else.