Night laid upon Los Angeles, with a large amount of light shining from the quarantine zone. The night sky was covered with thousands of stars, glowing brightly onto Earth. It was a quiet scene throughout the afternoon. No noise except for the chirping of birds and mantises. The evening was a different scene.

Ellie had fallen asleep as she got bored inside the house. She slept in the bedroom across of Joel's, where the bed looked like it belonged to one of the children. It was an old but soft bed that had some spring still in it. Her bag was under the pillow, and her weapons were sitting beside her. The sleep that she had was peaceful. There was nothing to bother her for the most part.

Suddenly, somebody shook her awake. Ellie's reaction was to sit up immediately. She pushed the being and reached for her hunting rifle. Before she could aim, she realized that it was Joel, who had puffy and baggy eyes.

"Ellie," Joel surrendered willingly, "It's me."

"Why'd you wake me up?" She balanced herself by placing an arm on the bed, "Did you get enough sleep?"

"Shh..." He lifted his finger on front of him.

"What is it?" Ellie whispered, rubbing her eyes once more.

"We got a patrol outside." He answered.

Her eyes widened and perked. Quickly, Ellie got her bag and they went downstairs in a hurry. They approached the door but stopped when light flickered through the window. They dropped down and hid behind the kitchen counter that was made of marble.

A low and tired voice spoke loudly outside the house. "Why do we have to do this? I bet ten bucks that the drones caught two runners."

"It's captain's orders." His companion reiterated. "Besides, we're at home stretch. Other patrols picked up nothing in the other villages."

"We're just lucky we haven't ran into any goddamn 'Masks'... bastards showing up everywhere."

"Amen to that man." He sighed, "Seems that we won't be finding anything here."

"Looks like I'll be keeping my money today." He expressed happily.

"I'll take the low house and you take the fancy one. Let's meet back here and get a ride to HQ."

"Copy that." The soldier followed, moving to the large, white house.

Joel and Ellie were still hiding behind the counter, waiting for an opportunity. He had his arm tucked over Ellie, showing that he would rather get shot first. She was trying to breath calmly and silently, while he was peeking over the countertop for the officer that was investigating.

"Bright plans?" She inquired, getting her pistol out.

"Empty, you?" He added. "I'd be open to those right now."

"How are your acting skills nowadays?"

"Rusty, why?"

"C'mon, Joel." She looked at him, "Just this once."

The soldier opened the door, waving his flashlight all over the place. The man was clearly built and healthy, with a great structure and strong arms. The armour that he was wearing was heavy and thick, enough to withstand a few bullets. He was stepping slowly, feeling comfortable but still watching out for any infected. His gun was still in his holster, ready to be picked up at any moment. When he reached the kitchen, he noticed a bag that was on the floor. At an instant, he waved his flashlight to a man sitting beside the cupboard.

"Hands up!" The soldier raised his gun. "Goddamn, Jim! We got a person over here!"

"Please don't shoot!" Joel raised his hands to the air and begged. "I just need a place to stay!"

"You have to come with me, sir. All you have to do is - " The man was interrupted by Ellie who jumped on the man's back. "Son of a!"

Ellie struggled trying to stay on him. Her hands kept on slipping every time the man swayed in every direction. Before she knew it, he rammed his back onto the wall, dropping Ellie to the ground. Instantly, he drew his gun out and aimed at the child. Joel tackled the man to the ground before he could shoot any shots.

While Joel and the soldier were tussling on the ground, Ellie slowly got up, cracking her back in the process. The companion entered the room with his rifle out. In a moment's notice, Ellie grabbed her pistol and started shooting to distract him from Joel.

Joel saw the tactical knife on his vest. He got it out in a hurry and stabbed the soldier, blood spurting out into his face. He fell to the floor while Ellie was still occupied with his companion.

"Give up you two! No matter how this ends, you two are both royally screwed!" He warned.

"Fuck off!" Ellie answered, leaning away from the countertop and firing the pistol.

Joel dragged himself behind the marble table beside Ellie. There was a rag that was hanging from his bag and wiped his face with it. She stopped shooting for a moment and squatted next to him.

"You good?" She checked, peeking over before bullets came to her direction. "Motherfucker,"

"Stop checking, dammit. You'll get yourself killed." He argued, getting the hunting rifle behind her back, "You don't mind me borrowing this, right?"

"Let's just get this shit done." She rolled her eyes.

The soldier kept on aimlessly shooting, making sure that they were pinned down to one position. Joel took his attention, diving towards his friend's dead body and lining up the hunting rifle's with his head. Ellie took the opportunity to run up to him and get a better angle. The soldier was caught up in a decision before it was too late. She fired her pistol and got him on the neck twice.

"Fuck!" The distorted voice of the man screamed. "God! No! Please, no!" He began to gargle his own blood.

Ellie wiped the blood that got on her face, "Shit," She looked to him, "that was dumb."

"We have to get moving." Joel stated, tossing the rifle to her. She caught it easily, checking the bullets, "Let's take the back. Front ain't too safe."

"What were they talking about? About those 'Masks'?" She asked while getting her backpack.

"No clue... and I reckon we shouldn't find out." Joel reloaded his revolver, "You good on ammo?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She thanked. From a distance, she heard a screech of tires collide with the hardened road. Her eyes grew larger and her first response was to run to Joel, "We have to move!"

"Wha - what?!" He tried to calm Ellie but she kept on pushing. "What's happening."

"Soldiers! We have to get a move on!" She insisted, as headlights entered the shadows of the house.

The two exited through the backdoor, which led to the backyard with thick grass walls and a playground. It was extremely overgrown, with tall grass all around the place. The walls grew thicker and longer by the day, with the plants expanding more. They rushed to the back, but quickly realized the wall was too high up.

"Give me a boost!" She ordered, and Joel went to one knee. She grunted, trying to climb over the wall. The leaves had sharp edges, which wounded her arms as she grabbed onto it. When she got over the wall, there was a broken rope that was laying down among the leaves.

"How do I get over?!" Joel raised. She got the rope and tied a constrictor knot to a branch of a tree that had grown inbetween the houses. It became sturdy and strong enough to hold its own. She threw the end of the rope over the wall, "What am I going to do with this?"

"Just goddamn climb, Joel!" She spoke with an irritated tone. As Joel climbed the wall, she got some binding from her bag and wrapped it around her arm as small pockets of blood poured out.

As soon as Joel climbed over, the soldiers got into the garden and opened fire on them. He fell to the ground and shielded Ellie with his body. A few dozen bullets pierced through the grass and over them. The noise they were creating was massive, echoing throughout the city. It sounded like fireworks on Fourth of July. When it stopped, they crouched, making sure they wouldn't get hit if it started again.

"You good?" Ellie exhaled continuously, finishing on the binding on her arm.

"Let's move." He insisted, leading the way while holding her arm.

The duo ran across the small village on the hill they were on. They could hear the additional footsteps being created by the soldiers that were behind them. They were much faster, however, since the pursuers were wearing heavier armour. They reached the streets with the soldiers still far behind them. Ellie placed her hands on her knees and rested a little, before Joel slapped her worryingly on the back.

"Ellie... Ellie we 'gotta move!" Joel shouted, pointing at the army truck to their right that was riding the waves in the distance.

"I'm right behind you!" She ran a little slower than Joel, but managed to keep up the pace.

They ran in a different direction, instead heading straight ahead. The street that they were running to was dry— with a large crater-like hole in the middle. There were pipes poking out of the floor. There were also some street posts that tumbled around it. Joel slowed down a little, placing his hand on Ellie's back and giving her a push.

"Into the hole!" He ordered.

"Into the hole?! Why here?!" She argued.

"Just get in Ellie!"

They dropped into the hole, where it was very dark and mossy. There were multiple rocks that were layered on one another, which they used to descend safely. Near the hole was a broken down train, which was half covered in water. The entire track was covered in water, with only the sides being low enough to walk on. At the end of both sides, there was no visibility beyond the shadows emitted by the hole.

Joel nudged Ellie into the train without saying a word. Their clothes were half-soaked into the water, with their pants taking the majority of it. To avoid being spotted, they hid on opposite ends of a train door, waiting for the soldiers to leave.

"Shit, they went down into the hole!" A soldier reported.

"They took down Mike and Jim! They're dead on top of the hill!" Another added.

One trooper opened their flashlight, leaned into the hole and started sweeping through the visible areas to see where they were. "I can't see a goddamn thing!"

"Leave 'em." Their companion stated, "Our luck is they run into a bunch of clickers."

"Captain won't be happy about this." The man turned off his flashlight. "Let's get back to HQ and send in some drones."

"How about the bodies?" She asked.

"Let's take them on the truck and get out of here. Before any clickers or 'Masks' show themselves."

"I'm not sticking out to find out." Someone signified. "Send in a relief patrol to switch for us. We've done enough tonight."

In a few moments, the sounds of screeching tires and voices left the scene. Slowly, there was a long silence, with the both of them staring at the hole to see if anyone would come out. After a while, Ellie sighed deeply, sitting down onto the chair of the train.

"That was too close." He uttered, leaning into one of the poles. "You good?"

"I think so?" She replied with raising her eyebrows. Slowly, she removed the binding on her arm. Few spots bled as she dipped it into the water, "I'll be good," She tried to hold back the pain.

"It's best we stay out of the way of the streets." He suggested.

"We'll be eaten down here."

"Same goes for them. At least they haven't seen the shit we've seen." He reasoned.

"Yeah, right." She stood up. "Where to?"

He pointed to the opposite direction of where the train was, "If I'm right, that's the way to East Los Angeles. We can take a shortcut using the subway system and get out at one of the stations."

"It's a walk then."

Once more, Joel and Ellie walked along the side of the train line. It was the only part that wasn't submerged in water. They sticked near the rusted and wet railings, hoping that the path won't fall off into the water. He took the lead, as both of them turned on their flashlights as they went deeper into the cave.

"I don't hear any runners or clickers," He pointed out, "I think we're doing good."

Ellie raised her flashlight to the ceiling, where there were cracks with plants growing out of it, "Is this your first time in Los Angeles?"

"Nope, second time." He corrected, continuing to following the path. "There was a football game I wanted to watch live so I went here."

"You took Sarah with you." She assumed.

"Yup," He vaguely replied.

"When was that?"

"About 2009? 2010?" He guessed, still trying to remember, "It's been a really long time."

"Can't blame you,"

"Have you ever been to anywhere besides Boston?"

"First thirteen years I was in Boston... can't say I had too much fun." She admitted. "Well, I'd guess the entire world can say the same."

"People who build communities, they would disagree with you. Granted, they are scarce."

"Oh shit..." Ellie interrupted the conversation at the sight of the pathway being cut off. From then on, it was deep water as the subway curved to the left. "You've got to be shitting me."

"Care to go back?" He proposed.

"I don't see a reason to go back." She crouched near the water. She dipped her hand into the water, feeling the temperature. The small waves washed into her hand, flowing in a cold breeze, "It's freezing..."

Joel sunk a part of his shoes into the water, "It ain't that cold. Your exaggerating it."

"Well I can't swim, Joel, so I don't know how we're 'gonna get to where we need to go." She rested her hand on her forehead, slightly pressing on it.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and judging eyes, "You can swim. You haven't even gone for one in over a year."

"The lake was too much; I couldn't even handle the current."

"Lucky for us, there is no current." He dropped into the pool of water, giving of a cool exhale. He turned around and looked at her, "C'mon, let's get a move on."

"You sure you want to go through with this?" She restated, sitting on the edge of the path with her legs in the water already.

"I don't see a palette anywhere." Joel joked.

"I fucking hated those palettes." She said before jumping into the water.

When she got in, she immediately began to sink. Her first instinct was to flail her arms, which only helped by sinking her faster. Joel came from behind and placed his hands below her arms. He then lifted her back up forcefully and she finally started to calm as she shuddered loudly and continuously.

"Just relax, alright? You're doing good," He assured, "Just keep on using your legs. Use it to put you afloat."

"I am not okay with this!" She shouted, creating a echo throughout the subway. She started to rub her nose furiously while trying to maintain balance.

"I'll be right behind you and you keep on going. I'll help every time you start to sink." He promised, turning her the other way around. "Let's go."

Ellie followed the direction of the subway system. She struggled heavily trying to keep her head above the water. Most of the time, Joel kept on pushing her upwards so she won't accidentally eat the water. She tried to do some swimming moves, paddling using her arms. Joel generally followed the path that she was going on.

Joel found a wooden plank that was floating in the water. He barely grabbed it as it drifted past him, "Here, this'll help you." He placed the plank on her arms. "You doing better?"

"So much better, ugh..." She thanked, as she hanged her arms over the wooden object. All she had to do was paddle with her feet, which Joel didn't help in anymore.

As they progressed further in, there was another long broken down train that wasn't submerged into the water. There was also a support room beside it. However, the track-side platform had a higher elevation than the train. Ellie moved towards it, hoping to be able to walk on solid material. With the help of Joel pushing her back, she got onto the train's back cart. When she finished drying off a little bit of water, she turned to help him get on.

"You ready?" Ellie extended her hand.

They stopped completely when they noticed the little light that was coming off one of the service areas near them. She saw a moving torch that was waving back and forth. To avoid being spotted, she hid behind a train seat while Joel stuck close to the train's wall.

"Why did Chip want us to sweep the area?" A woman claimed.

"She heard a scream in the subway." Her companion, a male with a deep and engaging voice, answered. "Doesn't seem to be a clicker, anyway."

"You think it's military?"

"I don't think so." He disagreed. "Military would be too stupid to go down here."

"It's probably a strangler that got out of the zone. Might as well finish the job."

"Damn right." He waved the torch to the train that was hardly connected to the service area. "Check the train. I'll check the break rooms."

"I 'gotcha."

Ellie looked back at Joel, staying static in the water. Before they could converse, the woman entered the train, swaying the structure. Ellie maintained her own balance as she leaned to Joel.

"Make a distraction and make it quick." She directed.

"On it." He murmured.

All she had to do was wait. The woman waved the torch around, looking in-between the cart seats. Ellie opened her switchblade, shifting her left arm forward to be ready to grab her. There were soft noises of splashing water near them, something the woman had to checked. She went up to one of the shattered windows and peeled outside, scanning the water for any bodies. Ellie snuck up behind her, grabbing her directly by the mouth and placing the blade on her neck.

"Scream and I slit your throat." She indicated, dragging her across the train floor. It created enough friction to be heard by her ally.

"Pam? You good?" He checked on.

Ellie neared the weapon, sliding it along her neck, "Answer honestly and I won't kill you."

Once her mouth was free, she responded nervously, "I'm good! I got nothing here!"

"You sure? You ain't lying?" He continued.

There was a pause, which made Ellie look at her, "What? Say something, asshole."

"Hey, uh, Isaac?"

"What is it?" He answered.

Pam suddenly reached for her front pocket, trying to grab the knife that she stored. Ellie easily slit her throat— as blood sprayed into her hand and some on her face. With the sudden death, Ellie dropped the body on the train floor, shaking the vehicle further.

"Shit," Isaac spoke loudly, "Pam?! You good?"

After a few seconds, she heard another thud on the floor. She wiped the blood of her face first before approaching the boarding platform. Joel was already standing there, standing beside the corpse of the man with a bleeding forehead.

"You seemed like you had a hard time." He noted.

"Shit happens." She grunted, looking at the mess that she made. "Where to now?"

Joel pointed at the hole in the terminal's wall, which led to a man-made tunnel with dirt sides. "I guess we follow that and go wherever it leads us."

"Sounds like a plan."

They carried their journey through the caves. They were still holding up well, with no major injuries having been sustained yet. The tunnel they were following had metal pipes poking out of the wall. There were also some engraved metal on the floor, providing as a path with torches lit up hanging from the walls. It led to one doorway which was made out of metal and wood linings.

"Where do you think this leads to?" He asked.

"Maybe the outside world... just maybe?" She hoped.

"Let's find out,"

Joel nudged the door, which led into a train terminal with multiple wooden boxes placed around the room. The lights were scarce, seemingly only showing up in the corners. There were multiple pillars that were still keeping the underground system from falling apart. However, they were instantly startled by the multiple people wearing robes and covered in masks. They took a dive behind the boxes, ducking to cover themselves. They seemed like they didn't noticed the two, as the groups of people conversed quietly.

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Joel muttered, looking at the surroundings. There were many things that seemed to indicate that they were there for a short-term. The crates they were hiding behind were filled with containers of tuna. "You have a clue who they are?"

"The 'Masks'?" She guessed.

"I would say you guessed right." He acknowledged.

Suddenly, a man entered the terminal via stairs in the room. There was a worried tone that reached out from his voice, "Everyone!" His voice echoed thunderously, "the goddamn traders arrived in town. Saw the full package. We have about three trucks."

"Where'd they get them?" The supposed commander questioned. He was wearing bulky armour with a print of hand pressed to the right chest.

"They were coming from the north, so I would guess from Seattle." The informant assumed.

"Hm? You guess?" The brawny commander spoke with a large rage in his voice. With one hand, he lifted his puny counterpart, "Could you guess what they could be carrying?! The WLF?! Maybe even the goddamn Scars?!"

Their exchange was ended abruptly when there was a banging on the metal door where Joel and Ellie entered through. Everyone stopped, staring directly at the door. It opened slowly, revealing a hand covered in black clothing holding a oblong-shaped weapon.

"Flashbang!" The operator warned.

The next thing Ellie saw was a bright light accompanied by a ringing noise.