AFTER A long night of not sleeping, Jane was forced to leave the spare house with Joel, leaving Ellie inside for Tommy to collect. Jane refused to speak a word to the man, as he loaded their bags onto a horse in the stables.

Joel sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, J. I really am. But you gotta understand it's hard for me to keep you both safe. I'm gettin' older, I'm not as good as I used to be. Okay?" He paused, looking at Jane who's head was lowered to the floor, "Hey, kid?"

Jane kicked the hay on the floor with her feet, purposefully ignoring Joel as punishment.

"I know your hearing aid is workin' perfectly fine." Joel continued, sarcasm laced through his voice. After a moment, he crouched down in front of Jane, a concerned frown appearing on his face. He signed, "Jane, you gotta understand that I did this for us. To keep you safe from what's out there."

Jane looked at him for a moment, remembering his cries from last night. She couldn't hate him, although she wanted to. Joel stood up, accepting the silent reply from Jane. The girl muttered, "Joel?"

"So, you can hear me." Joel replied sarcastically, as he turned around. He softened his facial expressions, trying to figure out what the girl wanted to ask.

Jane blurted out, "I'm not leaving without Ellie."

Joel sighed "Jane-"

"No." Jane interrupted stubbornly, "I'm not leaving without her. If you want to go, go. I'll stay with Uncle Tommy."

Joel hesitated, a small smile appearing on his face, "You really do like her, don't you, kid?"

Jane nodded, "She's my best friend."

Joel tutted, "The things I do for you-"

The stable door creaked open, as Tommy and the girl walked towards the horses. Ellie questioned, "Have you come to say goodbye to me or something?"

"No." Joel replied quickly, as he glanced at Jane, "We came here to steal one of these horses and go. Anyway, that was 30 minutes ago and, I guess Jane convinced me that you deserve a choice. I still think you'd be better off with Tommy-"

"Let's go." Ellie interrupted, as she climbed onto the horse with Jane's help.

***

After being on a horse for a couple of hours, the three arrived at the Firefly base-camp. Jane had a pit in her stomach for the entire journey, fearing that her life without Ellie would never be the same.

"Whoa!" Jane raised her voice in surprise, as she pointed to a few animals in the distance.

Ellie chuckled, "Look at them go."

"First time seein' a monkey?" Joel questioned, pressuring the answer was yes, as he tied the rope to the tree. As Joel sorted out the horse, the two girls strolled towards the building, leaving Joel to lag behind.

"Thank you." Ellie breathed, "I don't think I ever got the chance to say it."

"For what?" Jane questioned curiously, a smile appearing on her uncontrollably.

"You convinced Joel to take me back." Ellie explained, as she nudged Jane's arm, "That was really cool of you to do that."

"Cool?" Jane repeated in admiration, "You think I'm cool?"

"Obviously." Ellie smiled, "I mean, you carry around a fucking baseball bat for starters. And you're... you're a good friend- most people would've just left. And you stayed."

Jane smiled to herself, as she looked down at the floor she walked on. She looked at Ellie, "I think you're cool, too-"

"Get your guns out." Joel interrupted, as he overtook the girls to walk in-front. Jane scoffed, retrieving her bat as she gave Joel a sarcastic look. Ellie smirked at the girl, loading her pistol smugly.

Jane followed Joel, as she looked around the building; documents of paper had been scattered across the floor, whilst Ellie looked at hospital equipment.

Ellie informed, "There were definitely doctors here."

Jane frowned, pausing beside Ellie before picking up a piece of wrinkled paper beside the equipment. Jane squinted in confusion, before passing the note to Joel, "What's this?"

"A packing list." Joel explained, as he read the note, "Something you make before moving."

Ellie questioned curiously, "They just left?"

Suddenly, a clash thudded from the second floor, causing the three to look up in panic. Jane answered, "Maybe not all of them."

The three made it to the second floor, realising it was only monkeys making the noise. The animals scattered out of the windows quickly, leaving the trio in silence. Jane observed the room, which was in absolute chaos.

Joel spoke, "Well, at least it ain't Clickers."

"Yeah, no Fireflies either." Ellie added, as she explored the room, "Maybe with all this research, they turned into fuckin' monkeys."

"Joel." Jane whispered, as she peered out of the window, spotting four armed men below.

Joel looked out of the window, also noticing the men were much younger and healthier than himself. He insisted, "Out the back."

The two girls jogged after Joel, who insisted on leaving quickly. They escaped out of the back exit, before running low towards the horse. Ellie quickly grabbed the rope, which attached the horse to the tree, whilst Joel loaded their bags onto the saddle.

Jane noticed one of the armed men run out of the building, heading towards Joel, who's back was turned towards the horse. Jane's voice shook, "Joel!"

Joel had moved out the way just in time, the raider swinging the bat towards his head. Joel shoved the man into the tree stump, grabbing his neck tightly in his grasp. Jane watched Ellie, as she aimed a gun at the man, unable to pull the trigger just in case she missed. Joel choked the raider, before a crunching sound came from his neck. Jane's eyes widened at the man's body on the floor, his neck tilted abnormally to the right.

Jane breathed quickly, looking at Joel who turned around. Her eyes traveled down to his torso, crimson red blood oozing out of this shirt. A wooden knife had plunged itself into his stomach, as Joel looked down to notice it. His adrenaline had worn off, as Joel let out a wince of pain.

Jane stood in shock, as Ellie quickly helped Joel onto the horse. He grunted in pain, as Jane watched the three raiders run out of the building. She gripped onto her bat tightly, as she raised it bravely.

"Jane!" Ellie yelled, as she grabbed the girl's waist, pulling her up onto the straddle. Shots fired at the three, as Joel gathered the strength to steer the horse away.

Moments later, the three had made it away from the raiders, as Ellie checked behind them. She informed, "I don't think they're following us. I think we're safe... Joel?"

Loosing consciousness, Joel had collapsed off of the horse, thudding into the thick snow. Jane and Ellie jumped off of the horse, gathering either side of the man.

Jane took off her jacket, firmly placing it on the wound, but Joel kept his eyes firmly shut. Jane's voice became shaky, as she panicked quickly, "Joel? We need to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the wound. Joel, remember what Tess taught me back in the QZ?"

Ellie looked at Jane, a tear falling down her cheek as she listened to Joel's silence response. Ellie muttered, "He's not waking up. Joel, please. We can't do this without you. Wake up, Joel. Jane, what do we do?"

"We, uh, need some..." Jane tried to think of what Tess had taught her, though her mind fogged over with worries. Jane's hands shook in front of her, as they were stained with Joel's blood. She let out a sob, shaking her head in defeat, "Joel, please."

"Jane, think." Ellie panicked, as she held the girl's hands tightly in reassurance. She continued, "What did Tess tell you?"

Jane listed shakily, "Apply pressure to the wound. Disinfect to prevent any diseases. Stitch the wound...Fuck! Uh, take the patient somewhere to heal... Ellie, we need to take him to an empty building!"