Quick note before we start:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters/places/anything mentioned from the Last of Us or anything else and everything belongs to its respective owners.

Chapter 1: One Messed-Up Dream

Joel had pointed out the signs telling them that they were in Salt Lake City, as well as nearing their destination; they could even see the hospital from the congested highway they had been traveling on.

Some part of her was saddened the closer they got to the hospital; she didn't know why the feeling was invading her, maybe some part was worried that after all was said and done, Joel would leave back to Boston. It seemed highly unlikely, considering the plans that they had started to make for after the tests, but some part of her still worried.

Would Joel choose to stay with the Fireflies? She wondered, it's too risky for Marlene to bring them back to Boston right now, considering the military might be looking for them. That means that if Joel really does leave, then I won't be able to see him for a while.

The part that had worried that Joel would leave had dwindled to nearly nothing, especially after their encounter with the giraffes.

He suggested to head back to Tommy's, to forget about the whole trip to the Fireflies, she had been half-tempted to say "yes", but after everything that had happened; everything that she had done on their journey, she knew it couldn't be for nothing.

After all, transporting her to the Fireflies had been their main goal in the first place, so she couldn't just abandon it, right?

Traversing through the streets and buildings that made a path to the hospital took longer than expected, and an encounter with a larger group of Infected in the underground tunnels had left them with little time left in the day.

Joel had decided that it was getting too dark out to continue for the day, even though they were close to their objective, he didn't want to take any risks. The next obstacle they had to face made him even more determined to wait until morning.

Water was now rushing in front of them in the form of rapids; debris and vehicles making a path towards their destination. Joel had argued that it looked unstable, and he had also reminded her that she couldn't swim.

"Well, now might be the right time to teach me then," she argued, not seeing the issue much.

Sure, they had to be careful, but they were close enough to their destination that they could get to it in the matter of an hour.

"No," Joel stated, shaking his head after seeing the condition of the rapids, "Not in this water."

She gave a frustrated sigh, not sure whether to be happy that they were spending another night together before the test, or annoyed that Joel was somewhat stalling.

Ellie had quickly got into routine, lying down on top of the truck that separated them from the water and using her backpack as a pillow. She knew that Joel would be doing the same a few feet away, and she closed her eyes in contentment.

Ellie usually didn't dream often, and when she did, they were usually something that she had wanted to do in her lifetime, or something that she might possibly be afraid of.

Like her dream about failing to fly a plane, or once she had a dream about an infectious scorpion that might have started the outbreak instead of the Cordyceps fungus. This dream seemed somewhat different though.

She found herself inside of the abandoned mall that she had traveled to a few months back with Riley; the same mall that both of them had got bitten in. She stared around in some amazement and sadness, not sure of what to do.

She thought about trying to wake up from her dream, but that usually didn't work. Then there was the ever constant feeling of something being a dream but you not actually knowing it until you wake up.

Might as well look around, she thought, shaking her head and taking a step forward.

"Are you forgetting someone already?" a voice asked from behind her, making her freeze in her place.

The voice sounded so familiar, bringing with it a feeling of shock and guilt. She turned around, already knowing who she would see.

"Riley?" she asked, almost not believing what she was seeing.

Ellie didn't really believe in the "ghost stories" that some of the other kids at the boarding school would tell. She didn't really believe in spirits that much, but here was her 'dead' friend standing right in front of her.

This was where she started to forget this was all just a dream.

"Who else did you think it would be? Winston?" her friend joked a bit, walking over towards her.

"No, it's just…" she trailed off, not sure of what to say. Riley's bite mark was still present, and she wasn't sure if she was seeing things correctly.

She tentatively rolled up her own right sleeve, seeing the mark of where she had been bitten.

It's been a lot longer than three weeks now, she thought, her gaze returning to her friend as she hid the mark under her sleeve once again.

"We got attacked by Runners. You were gone," she shook her head, still not finding any sense in this, "But now you're here."

Riley seemed to find some amusement in her words; a smirk appeared on her friend's face.

"Good to see you haven't forgotten about anything," her friend stated, "You are right about that."

Ellie shook her head, not believing that Riley was admitting that she was dead.

"Does that mean I'm dead?" she questioned, thinking it could have been possible; she could have rolled into the water and drowned while asleep; a quick and painless death. Riley stopped her thought process.

"No, you're not dead yet," her friend said, starting to walk through the hallways of the mall, "I would have had to smack your traveling partner if so."

Joel? She thought, wondering how Riley knew about him, Maybe just because of Tommy being with the Fireflies for that short amount of time?

She decided not to dwell on that; it seemed a bit too confusing.

"How are you here?" she asked, motioning to her surroundings as they walked. Riley looked over at her with an amused smirk.

"We snuck out of the boarding school, remember?" her friend stated, making her shake her head.

"You know what I mean," she retorted, wanting a clear answer that would get rid of the mild headache that was forming.

"Yeah…" Riley trailed off as they passed the arcade, staying silent for a moment, "There's something you need to know."

"And how do you know about Joel anyways?" Ellie asked, not quite paying attention as she stared at the arcade, remembering the conversation they had a few months ago.

Time really does fly; she shook her head, her attention heading back to her friend.

"Let's just say that I know, alright? It would be too complicated to explain to you," Riley answered, making her sigh.

"Shouldn't you just wake me up or something?" she asked, but then realized the wrong message it might have sent to her friend, "Not that I don't like seeing you again, but we have to get to the hospital, and Joel will be mad if I sleep in."

"That's the thing I have to tell you about," Riley interrupted, not answering her question, "Something happened, and now you are no longer with Joel."

Ellie stopped walking; realizing that whatever her friend had just said made no sense whatsoever. She started to laugh a bit, earning an angry look from her friend.

"I'm serious Ellie!" Riley slightly scolded, making her laughing stop. Ellie shook her head, not quite understanding.

"I'm no longer with Joel?" she asked, "The only way that would happen is if I would have died, and you said I wasn't dead."

Riley blew out a frustrated breath while she tried to sort out her confusion.

"No, something happened…" Riley started again, but then shook her head, "He doesn't remember you, and you are no longer traveling with him."

"That's ridiculous!" she retorted, shaking her head in disbelief, "Joel couldn't forget me even if he tried, and we're going to travel again when the tests are done."

Everything Riley was saying was making her even more confused, and a pit of dread settled in her stomach at her friend's serious expression.

"Ellie, you need to listen to me," Riley commanded, and she sighed, finding no other choice, "You have to find a way to fix this."

"Fix what? My dream?" she questioned, getting somewhat annoyed, "This is all just a dream, so it's not real."

She started walking in the opposite direction, wanting to find the exit. She had wanted to see Riley for so long, but she never thought it would turn out like this with her best friend.

She's making no sense.

"Ellie!" Riley's voice faded, and she opened her eyes.

She lay in the same place for a few moments, feeling somewhat groggy from the sudden break in her sleep. She realized that it was light out, and birds were chirping somewhere in the distance.

Ellie sat up, feeling somewhat confused when she found herself lying inside of an empty drainage pipe in the forest.

The forest? That can't be right, she stood up, wondering where Joel had gone, we were in a city, last I remember.

"Man, I must have had one messed-up dream," she muttered, glancing at her surroundings.

She shook her head, figuring that Joel was probably out gathering supplies or something. She shouldered her backpack, realizing that it seemed somewhat lighter than the night before.

Setting it down, she realized that she only had her bow and a few arrows attached to the outside of the backpack.

My pistol's gone, she sighed, feeling somewhat annoyed, Joel might have run out of ammo and needed it, but he should have just woke me up.

She unzipped the largest pocket in the back of the backpack, her eyes widening when she realized what was missing.

"My comics are gone," she whispered, knowing Joel wouldn't have taken those. She looked around where she had woken up, hoping to find them lying around, but not finding a trace.

"If this is a joke Riley, I'm going to-" she started, storming off into the forest to try and find Joel.

She never got to finish her statement however; the sounds of a pistol clicking behind her made her turn around, whipping out her switchblade to defend herself against her attacker. She didn't expect her attacker to be Joel; pointing the pistol at her with no recognition.

Sorry if this chapter may seem a bit confusing, but I can hopefully explain more next chapter. Anyways, I know I should be working on the prequel to "Survivors", but I have a bit of writer's block on how to finish the first chapter and decided to post this instead (the first chapter for that will also be out soon). This is an alternate universe fanfiction, but I can't explain more into it until next chapter. I had been doing some research and figured out that since hackers got into the God of War: Ascension demo for the Last of Us, Naughty Dog had posted a report saying that Ellie was being removed from the game (obviously we know this is a joke because the game is out and Ellie is still in it). That's all I am going to say for now, but if you have read the article, then you might have a hint at what's coming next. Please tell me how I did in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9