A/N: Thank you guys for 80K views! When I first started this book I never thought it would get this far. Thank you all for the support, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Down the narrow hallway that was no way intended for animals this size, the horses were soon spooked. Callus, bringing up the lead, reined back, scared of whatever laid ahead.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... What is it boy?" Joel asked the horse gently, soothing the poor thing as Y/N noticed his own buckle slightly underneath him.

"Sounds like runners." Ellie said, gesturing to the area ahead past the gate.

Y/N had his hand on his holster, fingers grasped against the steel of his pistol, as he made out of the sounds of the infected cries not far from them.

Joel stepped up beside the gate, before turning to the two kids, "Stay with the horses. I'll check it out."

"You sure?" Y/N asked, despite everything, he had grown to trust each of them, and was willing to help out, as always.

"Yes, I don't want them runnin' off. I'll be right back."

True to his word, Joel quickly opened the gate and proceeded through, the gate closing behind as it shut from the lack of force.

Y/N and Ellie waited patiently, each of them with their weapons at the ready should anything go amiss. But luckily for them, Joel quickly dispatched the infected that remained ahead of their path. When the last cry of the infected silence, and the gunfire stopped, only then did the two guide their horses in.

"Hey, I was thinking..." Ellie called out as they reached Joel in the middle of the larger room. "I would've wanted to be an astronaut."

"That a fact?" Joel said, taking in the room, he noticed a shutter gate with power lines running through, along with a control box of sorts upon the wall, and a note beside it.

"Yeah. Can you imagine being up there all by yourself?" Ellie asked to them both, wonder in her voice at the concept alone. Up there in space, with nothing but the stars around you.

Y/N pulled up alongside her, hands threading through the reins of his horse, as he noticed Joel pull the switch to the gate, and open it up.

"I can."

"Yeah?" Ellie gazed off to the side, her green eyes penetrating through some rotten wooden walls. "Would've been cool, is all I'm sayin'." Her greens then turned to her friend, as Joel climbed back on Callus. "What about you, Y/N?"

"Me?" Y/N asked, as they exited the building, "I don't know... ain't ever really thought about it?"

"Seriously?" Ellie scoffed humourlessly, shaking her head as Joel guided them forward. "C'mon, there's gotta be something you wanted to be growing up. How about an artist?"

"Ehhh..."

"Oh come on, you like drawing. Plus you're good at it. Really good.." Ellie turned to Joel, hand shaking at his shoulder. "You have seen his stuff right, Joel?"

"I haven't, believe it or not."

"It's just a hobby." Y/N defended himself, feeling his cheeks burn as her teasing face stared his way. "Nothing I'd wanna... professionalize?"

Ellie chuckled, hand to her mouth as she tried to stern it. "Professionalize? That's a big word coming from you."

"Shut up, princess."

"That's Astronaut-Princess to you."

Y/N groaned, and picked any old idea that sprung to his mind, "Fine, I'd be a... Cop."

"What — A fucking cop?"

"Fuck — I don't know." Y/N shook his head, feeling that familiar annoyance spark inside him. "What do you think I'd be?"

"Hmmm... well, you're a grunchy guy. Blunt, sarcastic at times — doesn't rival my charm though — and you prefer your own company than that of others." Ellie wasn't oblivious to the glare that was penetrating the back of her head. "But you're also curious, determined, and... humble?"

Y/N merely stared her down as they reached a set of steps that lead further into the campus area. "I think you're missing your calling as a fucking therapist."

"...Thank you?"

"That, or a clown. Wait, no. Forget the clown, you're the whole circus."

"Wow... You're a real original." Ellie cooed, rolling her eyes. "Though I'll admit, I haven't heard that one in a while."

"Why? Are you running out of people to listen to your bullshit?"

"Rude. Joel, he just called my jokes bullshit." Ellie scoffed, more annoyed than angry, as she glared at Y/N in a mock sense of hatred that Y/N quickly saw through. "This fucking guy."

"Now, kids..." Joel warned them.

"No, you know what? I take it back, you'd fit right in as a cop."

"Only if I get my head therapist to pick my head apart." Y/N joked.

"Heh, you got it." Ellie agreed, before she turned to Joel, and asked a question she was dying to know herself. "Now that that's settled. What did you want to be growing up Joel?"

Suddenly, Joel looked like a deer in headlight, that much the two teens could see, as the man quickly moved to speak. "Oh... well, when I was a kid I used to want to be a... singer."

"...Shut up."

"...Seriously?"

"I'm serious." Joel admitted, huffing as he guided Callus.

"Sing something."

"Ah, no."

"Come on, we won't laugh."

"I don't think so."

"Joel... Please."

Y/N snorted, almost chuckling at the soft face of Ellie, "Joel, she said please. Now you have to."

"Nope."

"Man," Ellie pursed her lips, head down in a thought, "And I thought Y/N was the one with the shit stick."

Y/N was not amused, as they approached the top stairs that led further into the campus, the two horses quickly jumped over the barb-wired barriers that were placed all around the site. And unexpectedly ahead, in what appeared to be the square of the campus, was a trio of monkeys.

Yes, monkeys.

"Aw... are those monkeys?"

Y/N was surprised, but he guessed anything was possible. Even monkeys.

"Yeah, a whole mess of em."

They quickly scattered off at the noise and presence of the much larger animals, their animalistic cries and noises puncturing through the air.

Even Y/N had to admit he was kinda awed.

"That was kinda awesome." Ellie commented, the trio moving ahead and deeper into the complex. The site was overgrown, and further they went, the more it got.

"First time seeing a monkey?"

Y/N turned their way, nodding his head, "First time seeing a monkey."

They took their time, scavenging the place for supplies at every turn. Picking apart places that had holes blown through, wood rotten enough to duck under, and out in plain sight.

And it wasn't long until they found some evidence of their benefactors, or evidence of their presence at least.

"Hey, look. Fireflies."

The symbol of the Fireflies was painted on the brick wall of one of the campus buildings, black paint spray that was etched into stone.

It seemed they weren't far behind, after all.

"I see it."

"This is good. First sign of Fireflies." Ellie said, her voice masked in joy, but slight hesitance, despite the evidence, they had yet to see any guards, or lookouts.

"No living ones, anyway."

"You know that pessimistic attitude of yours is starting to piss me off?"

Y/N snorted, and guided his horse past them, "Believe me, princess, I'm well aware."

It wasn't long before they hit a snag in their journey. Obstacles and tracks, things that steered them away from their goal in sight. If he was being honest, Y/N had hoped for a straight shot after Pittsburgh, but life was never that easy.

It never was.

"Alright, let's try that gate." Joel did exactly that, and approached the electric gate that stood in their way. Pressing the green button that opened the gate, none of them were surprised when it didn't open.

"Figures."

Y/N looked from the gate, and then to the side door that entered into the large building to their right. It looked like it ran all way around the area, and possibly to the inside.

"What about through there?" Y/N asked, gesturing to the side door.

It was open and boarded with furniture, but there was a enough of a gap for people to squeeze through.

"Good idea." Joel complimented, stepping up beside the entrance, he went to go through but was stopped when one of them called out.

"I'll go with you." Y/N offered, climbing down from Nightwing, he had his rifle in hand, ready to move.

Joel looked at him, arms crossed, "You sure?"

"You don't know what you'll find in there." Y/N reasoned with him, pushing himself forward he moved to the entrance. "Besides, I need to stretch my legs."

"Alright then." Joel agreed, taking the lead, he first pushed ahead and went through, quickly followed by Y/N behind him.

"Watch yourself. Both of you." Ellie called out to them, as she stood guard looking after the horses.

"Yup."

"You too."

The two of them split off from Ellie and entered in through the building. Careful not to cause the furniture to collapse over their heads, they got in without a scratch, and searched their surroundings immediately.

—

"Shit, this place has seen better days." Y/N commented, rifle in hand as Joel took the lead.

"No kidding." Joel muttered, taking in the sights.

The building was like much of the world. Run down, overgrown, wood and plaster rotting inside and out. Rows of classrooms, dorm rooms and even a reception stood out to them as they trailed the building. They picked up any supplies they could, making their way through, until they made it to a hallway.

Suddenly, Joel gestured for Y/N to stop, using his hand to hold him back.

"Spores, you know the drill."

He did know the drill, Y/N had done it many times. He quickly reached for his bag and grabbed his gas mask, as Joel did the same. Placing on his face, and securing the straps, he couldn't remember the last time he had worn it. Gas filter pumping through, and vision slightly muffed by the mask, the two of them proceeded ahead.

"With the spores, there's probably gonna be a lot of infected down there." Y/N explained, gesturing to the hole in the floor.

Joel nodded, looking from the hole and to Y/N, "Well it's a good thing you came along." He quickly jumped down into the hole.

"Huh," Y/N kneeled down, and placed a hand on the rotten wood. "I knew there was a reason you kept me around."

He dropped down, and his feet planted firmly on the ground. Looking up, he immediately spotted an infected through an open window of the room that peered off.

'I hate being right. I hate being right.'

The place was ash and blackened, it wouldn't be so far fetched to believe that something had burnt down. Still, that hardly mattered. Joel moved on ahead, and got into cover, with Y/N quickly following him.

They didn't bother speaking, they knew what they had to do. Find a way through, get that gate unlocked, and find the Fireflies. A couple infected weren't going to stop them.

Not if they had anything to say about it.

Y/N quietly vaulted over the open the window, and looked around. He saw a clicker through his clouded vision, and heard it just as well. It was shambling down the hallway, away from them.

Acting quickly, he sneaked over, his steps as light as a cat, and silenced it. Grabbing it from behind, he slit its throat with his knife and slowly dropped it to the floor. Placing his knife back in his holster, he turned back and took note of Joel doing the same.

Moving on ahead, the two of them quickly snuck down a hallway, taking notes of the form rooms and infected nearby. They couldn't see much because of the spores, but the sounds were everything.

"Y/N, here." Joel whispered, gesturing to the end of the hallway.

Y/N turned to what Joel was gesturing to, and noticed a double door that led out of the dorm section, and into the wider building. Hopefully a way out of the spore area, and out into the courtyard with Ellie.

On the opposite side, they hoped.

"This is gonna be loud. Watch my back."

Y/N did exactly that, and snuck over for some cover near the door, and propped his rifle on a knocked over table. His scope peering down the hallway, waiting for any infected to enter his crosshair.

"Ready."

Thuuud.

'Shit.'

Y/N thought, as the noise began to draw infected. Their cries echoed through the form, and he saw his first infected. A clicker. He aimed at its head, and pulled the trigger, causing it to explode in a mist of red.

Thuuuuud.

Another two clickers emerged from their rooms and began screeching down the hallway, right into his choke point. Y/N zeroed in on the first clicker, and fired, the bullet slashing through it's torso and killing it. Pulling the bolt of his rifle back, the empty brass dropped to the floor, he primed the bolt forward, and fired again, this time shooting the clicker in the mushroom head.

"Joel, anytime now."

Bang, bang, bang!

"Almost got it."

Y/N reloaded his rifle, slapping a fresh magazine into it, and focused on the hallway with his scope. Through the muffled view of his mask, he noticed another figure through the mist, and zeroed in on it with his scope, only to become paralysed with what he saw.

"Joel, hurry the fuck up!"

"I'm trying!" Joel shouted back, putting all his force into, the door gave way a lot more.

"There's a fucking bloater on our asses!"

Y/N fired a round at it, but it just soaked it up, and in response it roared at them, and began to charge.

"I think I just pissed it off!" Y/N exclaimed, pulling the bolt of his rifle back. "Joel—"

"Got it!"

Joel barrelled through the door as it gave way, and collapsed to the floor, and quickly Y/N followed suit behind him, rushing through the door. When Joel got to his feet, the two spotted the bloater about to overrun them, and so they quickly barged the furniture in front of the door, and locked it.

"That was a close one." Joel admitted, and removed his gas mask as Y/N did the same.

The bloater charged into the door, it buckled, but was unable to break through. And instead it stared at them through the small shattered window pane of the door.

"The fuck you looking at?"

Y/N, being the teen he was, felt like it was judging them.

—

Further into the building and finally away from the infected and spores, the two caught a break. Rummaging through clean dorm rooms for any and all supplies, Y/N was the first to speak up after their ordeal.

With something personal that had been nagging at his mind for so long.

"Hey... Joel?"

Joel found himself turning at the sound of the teen's voice automatically. Being with Ellie and Y/N for so long, it had become a response he was likely never to be rid of. Looking at the teen, he frowned, noting the way the boy looked awkwardly on, hands fiddled at his side.

"Yeah?" Joel asked gruffly, returning his attention to the cupboard of a dorm he was searching through.

"...You ever have nightmares?"

The older man turned his gaze from the cupboard, the supplies completely forgotten about, as a new found curiosity found it's way to him.

"I do." Joel answered hesitantly. Who didn't? After all he had been through, after Sarah, after everything he had to do to survive, he had always had nightmares, and they weren't going away any time soon. "Why'd you ask?" Y/N looked away, focused on the shattered windows and light that peered into the world. "You having nightmares, too?"

Y/N bit his lip, a part of him wishing he hadn't said anything at all. He had been wanting to say something for a while now, to ask about it. Sure he would've asked Ellie, but Joel was... he was more mature, not that Ellie lacked it, but he reckoned Joel had more experience in the matter.

"Been having them a long time." Y/N confessed, leaning against the rotted wall of the building. "Every night, it's the same one, blurred and — and out of frame. Like I'm watching it underwater. Why do I... Why do I keep having em?"

Joel gulped, unsure of where to go with this, and decided it was best to get out in the open, "What sort of nightmares? What do you dream of?"

It was Y/N's time to gulp, his gaze focused on the floor beneath him. "Lots of different ones. Sam and Henry dying, Rachel — I see her burning alive — but most of all, I keep seeing my parents."

"You watched them die?" Joel asked softly, walking up beside the teen, as he looked through the window and away from Joel.

He didn't mind, the kid had to get this off his chest.

"Yeah," Y/N nodded, arms grasping the rotten wood that bent out the window, looking out into the bright day. "Mom got mauled by infected... saw her go down." He could picture it now, her screams, her begs, calling out for him to save her. "And my dad? Well he, uh, he went out on his own terms. Put a gun against his head and pulled the trigger..."

Joel listened carefully, not willing to interrupt his rant. He noticed Y/N's hands at his side, bawling into fists, trembling.

"He left me alone, and I couldn't blame him. Hell I wanted to do the same..." Y/N confessed. "I did... do the same. His blood on my clothes, brain matter and — and rain soaking me to the bone, I..." He quieted down, not willing to tear up. "Rachel found me not long after..."

Joel nodded at his words, taking it all in. He knew the kid had always been a loner. From their many months together, he knew. And that this Rachel lady, she had been his protector, his mentor, his family, in a way. She was there for him after he lost his parents.

"So, you know," Y/N breathed in, and then out, before quickly turning to Joel, bitting his lip, he continued. "I haven't slept one night in four years without reliving that moment..."

It was quite a bit to unpack, Joel admitted, after all this kid had been through. It seems there wasn't a man, woman, or child that hadn't been affected by this whole thing.

"Is it just the nightmares?" Joel asked carefully.

Y/N looked up, his face masked in confusion, "How do you mean?"

"Does it happen during the day, I mean." Joel clarified, "You see something, hear it, maybe even smell something that reminds you of them?"

The teenage boy lowered his head, thoughts began to speak back at him. He had, of course, many times. He'd seen the corpses in the sewer, it had awakened something in him. And other times before, back in Pittsburgh, even the littlest of moments caused him to experience vivid flashbacks.

"Mostly of Rachel..."

He just didn't know why.

"The woman that looked after you before?"

He had told them both briefly in passing about how she had saved him, clothed, sheltered him. That this woman had been a second chance for him. And to lose her in the most damned of ways. To blame yourself, well, let's just say Joel could relate to the kid more than he realised.

"Yeah..."

Y/N could see it now. Her face smiling and lush, eyes temperated and smile wide, staring back at him. And the voice, how could he forget that voice that called out to him every waking moment.

"Sometimes I hear her in my head." Y/N confessed, feeling himself cringe at saying it out loud. "Talking to me. Sometimes guiding me, sometimes taunting me..." He trailed off, unable to say anything more.

Everybody had scars, PTSD, nightmares, some just ran deeper than others.

"Truth is, the nightmares... these flashbacks, won't ever go away." Joel told him the truth, causing the teen to look at him, eyes focused. "They'll always be with you." Y/N lowered his head, as if in defeat, but reared it when Joel spoke. "But no matter what, we find a way to live with them."

Y/N bit his lip, his fists collapsing at his side, "You ever find a way?"

Joel hesitated, staring the kid down, before he quickly turned back to rummaging through the rooms for supplies, his words echoing through the room.

"I'll let you know when I do."

—

Pulling open the door, Y/N and Joel exited the building, a flight of stairs leading down into a courtyard. Not far from them, they noticed the gate.

And Ellie too.

"Y/N, Joel! Are you okay? What happened in there?"

"We're fine." Y/N reassured her quickly, hand up to placate her, as the two jogged on over. "Just a bunch more infected." He muttered.

Ellie immediately felt relieved, breathing out a breath she hadn't known she was Holden, before shaking her head and gesturing to the obstacle in their way, "Well here, come open the gate."

There was a trolly not far from the gate, and on it was the familiar sight of a generator, in decent condition too. They hoped it would start, or less they'd be quite fucked.

"Right." Joel said, gesturing to the trolly. "Y/N."

"Gotcha." Y/N walked round the side and took ahold of the end of the trolly, and the two began to move it. "All good out here?"

"Sure," Ellie beamed, flashing a smile. "All quiet, if you don't count the monkeys." She watched them pull the generator to the socket on the wall. "Say, what you took guys so long, anyway?"

Y/N grunted when the generator was put in place, rubbing at his hands he moved over to the gate while Joel did his thing, and watched Ellie through the bars of the gate.

"Told you, shit load of infected." Y/N sighed, rubbing his knees of the grim that stained his fingers. "That, and a big fucking bloater in tight quarters. Barely got out alive."

"Sheesh." Ellie felt bad enough for them. "That couldn't been easy."

"Damn near shit my pants." Y/N shivered, the thought of the bloater charging eight at him scared the life out of him.

"I was wondering what that smell was." Ellie said cheekily.

"Not funny."

Joel finished at the gate, bringing the generator back to life, "Alright, try it now."

Ellie immediately pressed the green button at the gate and it opened up, finally they could get on the move, "You guys did it."

"Yeah," Joel said, and gestured with his hand, "C'mon through."

Y/N took ahold of the reins once Ellie passed them to him, and climbed aboard Nightwing, as Joel climbed back on Callus, and the two horses took off on ahead.

"So," Ellie started, "You think those clickers were Fireflies?"

"No, no, I don't think so." Joel reassured her.

Y/N turned towards Ellie, "He's right, doubt those were the guys, they've been infected way too long."

"Then why would they have infected so close to the lab?"

Joel took the lead, "Well, Bill used them as a sign of defence... Maybe they're doing the same."

"Yeah... I could see that."

Despite the worry in her face, Ellie still had hope that Fireflies would be there. They had to be. Because if not, then what? What would they do without them.

Meanwhile...

"Wait, hold up. Who the fuck is Bill?"

Ellie smiled at Y/N, a slight giggle in her voice, "I'll tell you later."

"I'll hold you to that."

A/N: One more chapter to go until you know what happens :(