Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"What are you doing, kiddo?"

"Holy shit." Ellie's precision tools clatter onto the desk and she quickly throws a greasy rag over the scattered parts. "Geez, Joel, ever heard of knocking?"

"I did, but didn't seem like you heard," Joel says with a shrug. "What're you working on?"

Ellie sweeps everything on her desk into a drawer and locks it up. "Just crafting. And don't you dare try to shiv this drawer. I'll know it's you."

Joel raises his hands in defense. "Okay."

"Swear to me," Ellie demands.

"I swear," he says with a chuckle.

"Okay," Ellie says and softens her voice. "So, did you need something?"

Joel reaches behind to scratch the back of his head. "Well, it looks like the meat we had stored went bad because the generator for the freezer broke, so I figured you'd be interested in a hunting trip."

Ellie's eyes dart over to the Samick hunting bow hanging on her wall. Typically she'd be the first in line to go hunting, but she was really hoping to finish fixing Joel's watch for his birthday.

"What do you say, kiddo?"

Ellie rubs her nose absentmindedly in thought. With three days left till Joel's birthday, though, she figures she still has time. "Sure, I'm down."

"Great. Jake will be waiting for you at the gate," Joel says and turns to leave Ellie's room.

"What? Jake?" Ellie protests.

Joel turns back around to face Ellie. "Now, Ellie, you know the rules. Nobody goes out alone."

"Right, but why Jake?"

"Because he volunteered to go with you," Joel says frankly.

Ellie may be close to voting age, but she can still roll her eyes in disgust as well as any teenager. "Of course he did," she mutters.

"You know he likes you."

"Yeah. No shit."

Joel lets out a small laugh and shakes his head.

"It's not funny," Ellie sulks. Her expression brings out the innocence Joel remembers from when Ellie first came into his life three years ago.

"Listen, I know you're not interested in Jake, but do me a favor and make sure you both come back alive?"

"Fine," Ellie sighs, but both she and Joel exchange a knowing smirk. They had only been in Oregon for a couple months since the Jackson County settlement got overrun with Infected, but they and everyone else who managed to escape proved to be far better at surviving than the residents of the Tillamook County settlement. "But why aren't you going with me this time?"

"This place ain't like Tommy's dam, so Tommy and I are helping with improving security. Can't let what happened in Jackson County happen here too," Joel answers grimly. "So you be careful out there, you hear? You know the drill."

"Got it."

Joel nods and leaves Ellie to it.

Before leaving her room, Ellie does a quick inventory check of her backpack. She's got her switchblade, which she transfers to the back pocket of her jeans, her walkman, her pistol (fully loaded) for emergencies, a few nail bombs, and some rags and alcohol — in case Jake gets himself hurt. Finally she grabs her bow and arrows and heads out the door.

To get to the gate Ellie walks across the compound that was formerly a distribution center. The small office trailer she leaves behind is one of many that have been converted to housing units. Joel's trailer is directly adjacent to her's, but smaller. He let her have the bigger one. Ellie glances up at the sky and notices some gray clouds in the distance. Aside from that, the air is brisk and refreshing and she can catch the scent of the sea. It reminds her of Boston, but without the stench of the slums. They are far from the big cities — whatever is left of them — and the only thing separating the survivors from the outside world is a chain-link fence, which is why Joel and Tommy had come up with a plan to place a barricade lined with stakes and barbed wire around the perimeter. It's a wonder this settlement had managed to slip under the radar from bandits and Infected alike for this long.

Jake waves to Ellie as she approaches the gate. He's the same age as Ellie but his scruffy beard makes him appear older. As Ellie gets closer, though, she notices his beard is trimmed and he looks a little too cleaned up for a hunting excursion. She's quite the opposite on the other hand. Her hair is in a haphazard ponytail and she can feel traces of WD-40 grease smeared on her face from tinkering with Joel's watch earlier. Does Jake think this is a date? Well, Ellie thinks he has a better chance getting up close and personal with a clicker. It's not that Jake isn't attractive, he's actually pretty good looking — and cleans up nicely. It had been obvious from the moment they arrived at Tillamook County that Jake had a crush on her. Ellie had to admit it was nice to finally know someone around her age, but she just wasn't interested in him like that. Ellie is nowhere near as glamorous as the models she's seen on dilapidated billboards and store windows, but she still considers herself at least above average, and she has to wonder if the fact that she's the only girl his age influences his interest in her. She understands loneliness, and certain needs for that matter, but that's no excuse for desperation. As annoying as it is, at least he's harmless and Ellie will just continue ignoring his hints.

"Hey, Ellie!" Jake greets her.

"Hey," Ellie says in return but doesn't stop walking. "Let's try to make this quick. There are some dark clouds ahead."

"Oh, yeah. Right down to business," Jake agrees and quickly falls in line beside her. He's also got his backpack and he's equipped with a hunting rifle, but it's more for caution than actual hunting. Stealth is the name of the game whenever anyone ventures out. No need to be alerting any nearby infected or bandits of their whereabouts. "I hope we find something. Not looking forward to having beans for dinner."

"I don't really mind beans."

"Really? I think you and Frank are the only ones who actually like those beans."

"Huh, guess we're meant to bean together then."

Jake groans at the pun but also can't help laughing. "Wow, that was terrible."

"Thanks, I've bean waiting to use that one."

"Ha. Ha. What else you got?"

"That's it. That's all I got." Ellie quickens her pace and trudges ahead.

Jake gets the hint and the two continue down the road till it joins a main road. Even though there haven't been any signs of bandits for months, they stick to the shoulder so they can take cover in the woods quickly if necessary. After just a little more than a mile, they leave the road and follow a trail into the forest. It's about another mile before they come across their first game sighting.

"I got this," Ellie calls it in a whisper and nocks an arrow. She estimates the rabbit to be about twenty yards out, so she adjusts her sight accordingly. With her left eye shut, her left hand brings her bow up and her right hand draws the string back in one fluid motion. She looks through the sight, adjusting her aim ever so slightly until the dot and string are aligned and covering the rabbit, then releases the arrow. The rabbit is thrown on its side as the arrow impales it and Ellie says, "Boosh!"

"Nice shot," says Jake.

"Thanks," Ellie says as she retrieves her prize. She pulls the arrow out from the rabbit and holds the rabbit up for examination. "Not much, but better than nothing."

Jake and Ellie continue their hike and after a few hours have only managed to add two more rabbits and a squirrel to their inventory by the time they reach the edge of the forest. Ahead of them the trees give way to an old brick building surrounded by tall overgrown grass. Across the building is a structure that appears to consist of stacked animal heads.

"Whoa," says Jake, standing at the foot of the totem pole.

Ellie follows the path across the yard, surveying the area. "Prescott Dormitory," she reads on a sign covered in dirt.

"Old school. Literally. Wanna check it out?"

Both Ellie and Jake know they should stick to their objective, but neither of them can deny their curiosity when it comes to exploring things before their time, before the cordyceps brain infection outbreak. It's one of their few shared interests.

"I mean, why not? You never know. We might find something useful," Ellie reasoned.

"And even if we don't, no one has to know."

"Well, I definitely won't be spilling the beans."

Jake shoots Ellie an unamused look.

"Okay, for real, that's all I got. Let's try this side entrance."

Although the exterior appears to be undisturbed, except for vines that have made their way up the facades and the grime that covers the windows, they approach the entrance cautiously, listening carefully for any clicking, groans, or anything that might sound like trouble. In fact, Ellie suspects if there are any Infected inside the building, they'd probably be bloaters by now, like the ones Joel encountered in the dorms at the University of Eastern Colorado.

"I don't hear anything," Jake reports.

"Me neither. Okay, I'm gonna try the door."

Jake shoulders the rifle and prepares to shoot anything that comes out the door. He, too, is aware that if an Infected emerges from within, it'll be in too advanced of a stage for a stealth attack and will need to be put down fast. He's never encountered an advanced stage Infected, but he's heard stories.

Ellie grabs the door handle and pulls. There's a little resistance from the air pressure trapped inside, then the door gives way on hinges that protest loudly. Ellie clicks the flashlight attached to her backpack on and slowly peers inside with Jake still covering her. The air inside is stuffy but still — their arrival doesn't seem to have aroused any movement. Before her is a flight of stairs that leads down to the basement floor. Ellie picks up the brick laying by the door, probably the one used to prop it open during its glory days, and heaves it inside. The brick lands and topples down the stairs — still nothing. What a relief. Jake and Ellie let the breaths they've been holding out and Jake lowers his rifle.

"Guess we're good," says Ellie. "Here, you hold the door. I'm gonna get that brick back."

Jake does as he's told and waits for Ellie to prop the door open. They certainly don't want to accidentally get locked in. They could probably easily blast their way through, but why not just save themselves the trouble and the ammo.

With brick in place, Jake also turns his flashlight on and the two make their way inside. The stairs lead to another door that opens easily and they find themselves in a short corridor. Judging by all the dick graffiti and crude jokes scrawled all over the posters on the walls, they can assume this was the boys' floor. While Jake is trying to make out some of the graffiti by the door, Ellie turns the corner ahead and gasps.

"Spores!"

"Shit," Jake says, swinging his backpack around to whip out his mask.

Thanks to her immunity, Ellie doesn't need a mask and is unaffected, but she still covers her mouth anyway. She crouches down for a closer look and finds the source of the spores, an unfortunate victim of the infection covered in fungal growth, just a few feet away. The corpse is long decomposed beyond recognition, but the spores have spread abundantly over this section of the dorm. Jake crouches beside her, the mask making his breath annoyingly raspy.

"Of course there'd be spores here. It's the basement floor, and it's boys. The two nastiest things ever," Ellie remarks.

"Hey, I'm actually a pretty tidy person."

Ellie ignores Jake's comment and shines her flashlight down the hall. Jake does the same and his beam lands on fungus sprouting from beneath the dorm room doors further down the hall.

"They must have tried to quarantine themselves," Jake guesses.

"Let's go back and try that main entrance."

They retrace their steps and firmly close the doors behind them, then once outside Ellie takes her knife out and carves into the door, "SPORES INSIDE." They cross the yard to the other entrance and take the same precautions before opening the door. This time the door swings open, albeit on creaky hinges, and the daylight spills in, revealing another short corridor similar to the one on the boys' floor. Again, Ellie throws the brick inside and it bounces off the wall at the far end where the dorm splits into two wings. Fortunately the result is the same — nothing but the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. No matter how many times Ellie has encountered the Infected, she doesn't think there'll ever come a time when she's not still scared.

"I got it this time," Jake, still masked, says and steps inside to retrieve the brick. If there are more spores, he might as well put his mask to use since he's already got it on. Once at the end of the corridor, Jake points his flashlight down both wings of the hall. Seeing practically no graffiti, and more importantly no signs of fungal growth, he takes his mask off. "No spores here," he shouts and picks up the brick. "That makes girls not only tidier, but also smarter than boys."

"Obviously. How'd you finally figure that out?" Ellie asks, taking the brick from Jake and wedging it into the door.

"They got the hell outta here alive when the infection broke out, unlike those guys we found."

"Just 'cuz they're not here doesn't mean they're not dead."

"True. If they were placed in the Portland QZ, they're probably most likely dead."

"Is that where you were before?"

"No, my family was in Seattle. But Frank came from Portland. He said the infection got in and the military sealed off the exits to try to contain it. The only reason why he didn't get trapped in the zone was because he had snuck out to harvest his weed."

"Shit, that sucks for Portland."

Jake and Ellie advance into the dorm and decide to search the left wing first. They try each door they pass, Ellie on the right side and Jake on the left side, but to their dismay, they're all locked. The door at the end of the hall, however, is not locked. Through the door, the dorm splits into two sections.

"I'll take this side," Ellie says, heading to the right.

"Okay, I'll see what's in here," Jake says, going the other way.

Ellie finds herself in a room that she presumes must've been a sort of mini kitchen. There's a counter that runs along the wall on the right side of the room and a broken vending machine that's already been looted nestled in the back left corner niche. A rectangular brown stain on the counter indicates a microwave probably once inhabited that spot. The floor is littered with trash that spilled out from a trash bin that's been knocked over. Ellie rummages through the trash with her foot, kicking around wrappers, crushed aluminum cans and plastic bottles, old magazines, and copies of a newspaper called the Blackwell Totem. Flipping over one such newspaper uncovers a charred black notebook with stickers all over the cover. Intrigued, Ellie picks up the notebook and flips it open. It appears to be a journal, judging by the first few pages. Most of the pages are burnt off or ruined due to water damage, probably from putting out the fire that was apparently consuming the notebook, but from what Ellie can make out, the owner seemed pretty excited about getting into Blackwell Academy. Flipping towards the back, Ellie finds numerous photos that are also severely damaged, but some have managed to survive. One of the surviving photos Ellie is particularly drawn to, though slightly warped and discolored, is of a lighthouse.

"Hey, Ellie! Come look at this!" Jake shouts from the other room.

Ellie shoves the journal into her backpack to look at later back home and heads over to Jake. The room he's in has a TV, a small round table with chairs, and two couches. On one wall hangs a banner that says "GO BIGFOOTS!" Jake is crouched down in front of the TV and he's pulling out DVD cases from the TV stand.

"More movies for movie night!" he exclaims excitedly.

"Nice!"

Jake spreads the DVDs out on the floor for Ellie to see. "Have you seen any of these?"

"Oh! Back to the Future! I love that one!"

"Yeah? What's it about?"

"This kid that travels through time in a car."

"Cool. What about this one, Blade Runner? It sounds interesting."

"Nope, haven't seen that one," Ellie picks up the movie and skims the summary on the back, "but it does sound interesting."

"You like sci-fi, huh."

"I think it's pretty cool, yeah."

"Then maybe you'd be interested in this one, too." Jake hands Ellie a DVD titled Final Fantasy: Spirits Within.

"Hmm. Yeah, I'd watch it," she concludes after looking over the DVD.

Outside a distant rumble interrupts Jake and Ellie's discussion.

"Shit. I guess that's our cue to head back," Jake says.

Ellie helps him gather up the DVDs and puts them into his backpack, then the two move out. It's much darker outside than when they first entered the dorm and the wind has picked up, bringing the storm clouds right over to them. Ellie kicks the brick out from the door and closes it shut once Jake goes through. They start back towards the totem pole and are about to head into the woods when a twig snaps behind them.

Both Ellie and Jake quickly duck into the tall grass and remain still. After a moment, another twig snaps. Jake starts to bring up his rifle but Ellie shakes her head. If they can let whatever is out there pass by without noticing them, the better. They wait for a while longer, listening, but the only sound now are the trees rustling in the wind. Quietly, Ellie rises up from her position slowly until she can see just over the grass. Her eyes widen and she ducks back down.

Her mouth forms the words, "It's a deer!" and she reaches for an arrow and nocks it onto the string.

Now both Ellie and Jake are rising up slowly, Ellie with her bow drawn. The deer is sniffing the ground and shows no sign that it is aware of being targeted. Ellie takes her aim, the muscles in her upper back flexed, and lets the arrow fly.

Just as lightning flashes above them.

The deer starts and as a result, the arrow misses its mark, but it still pierces the deer right above its front leg.

"Shit!" Ellie curses and runs after the deer as it sprints away.

"Ellie, forget it! We gotta get back!"

"Just because I don't mind beans doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have some deer meat!"

"The storm is about to be right on top of us!"

"You can either help me bring this deer home or you can explain to Joel how you left me out here alone!"

"Ellie!"

Thunder drowns out Jake's voice and by now Ellie is almost out of sight. Jake has to hurry to catch up to her because truth be told, he'd be better off dead than coming back home without Ellie. Joel said so himself when Jake volunteered to go hunting. But more importantly, how would he prove himself to Ellie if he couldn't keep up with her? Speaking of whom, he's lost sight of her, and now torrential rain is pouring down, making visibility more difficult. But she can't be too far ahead of him. He hopes, at least.

The blood trail from the deer is quickly washing away, but because of its injury, it's not long before the deer's flight drags down to a laborious limp. Keeping just enough distance from the deer, Ellie stalks the deer through a town long forgotten and reclaimed by Mother Nature for several blocks, but she can't get a clear shot. Eventually the deer leads Ellie up a wooded hill, where it finally succumbs to the wound. Ellie again readies her bow and this time her shot is clean, putting the deer out of its misery.

Lightning flashes again and it's Ellie who jumps because it seems to have struck something close by, so close that the hair on Ellie's arm is standing on end from the electricity in the air despite being drenched to the bone. Ellie looks up into the canopy as singed pine needles fall from the tip of a tree that now resembles the burnt end of a matchstick. Beyond the tree, she notices a towering structure, one she recognizes instantly as the lighthouse in the photo she found. Maybe she and Jake could take shelter there till the storm passes.

"Ellie!"

Ellie turns around and sees Jake scrambling up the hill. "Jake! There's a lighthouse!"

"What?"

"Lighthouse!" Ellie yells, but lightning strikes again, immediately followed by an explosive thunderclap.

Jake shouts something but Ellie can't hear him, and before Ellie blacks out, the last thing she remembers is the thick creaking sound of snapping wood.

The sound of horns blaring stirs Max awake. She's on the bus to town, but there seems to be a traffic jam. Ah, the perks of living in a small town. When there's an accident, nobody is going anywhere. She could probably just get out and walk the rest of the way, seeing as they're close to the hospital.

Max gets up from her seat and starts walking to the front of the bus. "Hey, do you mind just letting me off here? I'll just walk," she says to the bus driver.

"Yeah, sure," the bus driver says and starts to reach for the door handle when they see a patient run out of the hospital covered in blood.

"What the hell?" the driver says aloud.

Other people start streaming out of the hospital with patients charging after them. One woman trips and falls to the ground, and a patient pounces on her. What happens next is unreal and Max can't believe her eyes.

"Oh my god," she says beneath her breath.

"Holy shit! Is he... eating her?"

Other passengers on the bus rush to the side windows to try to get a view of what's happening when a man appears at the door of the bus, frantically rapping on the glass with bloody hands.

"Hey! Let me in! Please, please, let me in!" he begs, but suddenly he's attacked as well and getting chunks of flesh torn from his neck.

Max backs away from the door in horror, too shocked to process what's going on.

The driver puts the bus into motion, not caring who or what is in the way, but other vehicles on the road are doing the same as people who appear rabid are attacking them. The bus collides with another truck and Max is knocked to the floor.

When Max opens her eyes, she finds herself in Ms. Grant's class. Ms. Grant is in the middle of a lecture on fungus, which elicits small snickers from the stoners in the back of the classroom every time Ms. Grant mentions mushrooms. Max looks at her hands and sees she's still a little shaken from the dream she just had, but what a relief it was just a dream. She figures this is what she gets for staying up late and watching too many of Warren's obscure zombie movies. Her eyes drift over to the clock. Lucky for her, the bell is about to ring. She makes a mental note not to forget to put Warren's flash drive in her bag so she can give it back to him the next time she sees him.

The bell frees the students from their desks and Max eagerly rushes outside. She's been slacking on taking pictures, but the storm from earlier has long passed and today is looking to be a perfect blue sky day and she plans on taking every bit of advantage of it. Also, now that there's the Everyday Heroes photo contest, the pressure is on, so she better snap to it. She laughs internally at herself. Okay, that was a lame pun. Good thing she's the only one who knows about it.

Around campus there are plenty of opportunities for photos. For example, Max thinks, the statue of good ol' founder Jeremiah Blackwell, standing prominently front and center, looks very becoming with that bird perched on top of his head. Max peers through the viewfinder of her Polaroid camera and takes the photo. The camera whirs and spits the photo out, then Max tucks it into her bag. Next Max comes across a squirrel inspecting some litter on the ground. She stoops down and takes a shot of this scene as well.

"Aw, nice try, but I don't think a trash digging rodent can be considered an Everyday Hero."

Max stands back up warily and faces the meanest bitch in school. "Can I help you, Victoria?"

"Yeah, you can move your lame hipster loser ass out of my way."

Max looks around at all the other paths Victoria could've taken, yet she deliberately chose the one she was on just to fuck with her. "You didn't have to come this way," she says and sarcastically takes a wide step to the side.

Victoria rolls her eyes. "I'll go whichever way I want," she says and shoulder-checks Max as she walks past.

It's infuriating how Victoria has this unfounded vendetta against her, but Max does nothing, like always. It's not worth it, she tells herself. Or maybe she just can't stand up for herself. Either way, Max decides she needs to get off campus for a bit. Victoria's toxicity has ruined her groove.

A trip to the lighthouse might do the trick. Max hasn't been there since before the move to Seattle and she bets she could capture some breathtaking shots, especially during the golden hour. For a moment Max considers walking there, but who is she kidding. With bus pass in hand, Max hurries to the bus stop just as the bus pulls up to exchange passengers. On the bus, she can't help but recall the strange dream she had in science class. She's had some pretty vivid dreams before, but something about this one still makes her feel uneasy. Max shrugs it off. At the end of the day, it's still just a dream. And zombies definitely aren't real.

When Max gets off at the lighthouse bus stop, nostalgia hits her hard as soon as she sees the trail across the street that leads into the woods and up to the lighthouse. Before she can begin to walk down memory lane, though, she's got to wait for the crosswalk signal, which is taking forever. She doesn't remember there being a traffic signal here before, but when two black cars race by she recalls how drivers ignored the speed limit in this area, and apparently still do. Just then, Max sees a girl emerge from the woods. She's walking backwards, looking back at the path like she's unsure where she came from. She doesn't even seem to be aware that she's about to walk right into the path of an oncoming red SUV.

"NO!" Max yells and takes a step forward with her right hand reached out for the girl, as if she could save her. As rubber screeches against the pavement, Max witnesses the girl's body fly through the air in slow motion and land several feet from the SUV, then something strange happens. The girl's body picks itself back up and flies backwards towards the SUV, which is also moving in reverse, then the girl runs back up the trail. Max blinks and finds herself left standing alone at the bus stop again.

Whoa! What the fuck…? Max thinks. That poor girl got hit… I held up my hand… and then I was back here.

Two black cars race by again. But wait, again? Again as in, they somehow miraculously drove a circuit around Arcadia Bay in less than a minute? Or again, as in, time rewound and this is the second time Max is seeing these cars. Again.

Again?

Max shuts her eyes. This is confusing.

When she opens her eyes, the girl is walking backwards down the trail. Again.

And that red SUV is speeding down the road. Again.

Shit, I must be crazy. I can't believe I'm about to do this, the thought flashes through Max's mind, but she extends her hand anyway and concentrates.

The red SUV is thrown in reverse, the girl runs back up the trail, and the two black cars race backwards.

Wowsers! I actually did it! I'm a human time machine! Max screams triumphantly in her head.

This time Max runs across the street as soon as the black cars zoom by, and right on cue the girl emerges from the trail.

"Hey!" Max calls out, reaching the other side just in time to prevent the girl from stepping onto the road in front of the SUV. She narrowly misses getting hit herself. Guess she didn't really think that through very well, but hey, they're both still alive.

The SUV blares its horn and Max throws both middle fingers up at it. Meanwhile the girl has spun around and is reaching for her back pocket when Max turns her attention to her.

"That was close," Max says. "You okay?"

The girls looks at Max in bewilderment.

Max regards the girl carefully. She looks like maybe she partied a little too hard the previous night. Max did remember hearing about how some of the students were going to sneak out for a bonfire at the lighthouse to welcome transfer students that arrived over the weekend. She never made it. "Um, rough night?"

The girl stares at Max as if she's lost her mind. "Aren't you worried those hunters will come back?" the girl asks.

"Hunters? Nah, that was just some prick." Max tries a different approach. "I'm Max," she says and holds out her hand.

The girl looks at Max's hand hesitantly, then shakes it with her own. "I'm Ellie."

A/N: The Prescott Dormitory is confusing af only because the game doesn't exactly match the floorplan. For the girls' floor, the game shows Max entering the dorm through an entrance that should be in that hall where the shower room is, but instead she ends up at the end of the hall where the (unaccessible in-game) TV lounge and vending sections are located. I thought okay, maybe the TV lounge/vending section is somehow somewhere between the entrance and that hallway, considering it's not even the same door, but when she exits through that same door at the end of the hall, you can already see the outside through the window portal. As for the boys' floor, Max and Chloe enter through the same "main" entrance (episode 4), yet end up on the end had they used the side entrance. Maybe it's assumed there are other ways through the dorms not shown in the floorplans, but I simplified it to side entrance is to boys' floor, front entrance is to girls' floor. Minor details, but I'm picky with details and try my best to get it right.