"No guards. No nothing."

Despite the obvious, the central grounds of the university bore a distinct feeling of emptiness in the air. Ransacked FEDRA tents, abandoned lookout towers, and an uneasy feeling that they all felt in the pit of their stomachs.

Where the fuck were the Fireflies?

"Yeah... I'd get expect to see someone by now." Joel responded to Ellie's comment, searching around the area, all while the glass mirror of a building overlooked them. "Let's get inside..."

Ellie sighed back, shoulders slumping as Joel guided their horse forward. She looked to Y/N besides them, who was carefully guiding Nightwing alongside. Months they'd been on the road, one step at a time, and so close to their destination.

It couldn't all be for nothing.

"You ever been to one of these?"

Looking back at him, Ellie was brought out of her own head when the sound of Y/N's voice pierced the air.

"What?" Joel sounded surprise, from what Ellie could tell. "A university?"

"Yeah."

Joel chuckled, and shook his head, "No, not as a student at least."

"Why not?" Ellie perked up, shuffling in her seat behind Joel. She was eager to learn more about Joel, despite being together so long, there was only so much she knew.

"Uhh..." Joel hesitated, "I had Sarah when I was pretty young."

"Oh, were you married?"

Joel grunted, yanking the reins of Callus as they came to a cross of a road, and a gate not far from them down a slope that led into a small courtyard. And inside that courtyard, was a way into the building.

"For a while."

Ellie got curious, too curious for her own good.

"What happened?"

"OK."

Joel didn't feel comfortable enough sharing that aspect of his life. Understandable so.

"Too much?"

"Too much."

They searched the grounds, coming up with a few loose supplies and ammo. Nothing too much, but enough to get by. Besides, once they found the Fireflies, they'd be loaded.

Hopefully.

"Hey," Y/N opened up, and Ellie noticed him pointing to a scaffolding not far from them. "That scaffolding connects to that building there."

The buildings were close by and seemed to have makeshift wooden boards between each building as a walkway. And one of them was connected to the roof of the glass building.

"If you gimme a boast up there, I can get a lay of the land. See what I can see."

Ellie wasn't too sure about splitting up, especially after the last encounter and the fact that they were so close to their goal. But Joel, however, thought it was good enough, as he nodded and led their horse towards the scaffolding.

"Good idea."

The three of them trodded over, and came to a stop once they made it. The scaffolding of rotten wood led up to the roof. With makeshift stairwell, it should be well enough for him to climb.

"Once you get up there, holler if you see anything." Joel explained as he got off Callus and went over to the scaffolding, and got into position.

"Yeah, I got it." Y/N said, following him over. "Once I'm done I'll head to glass building's roof and make my way down. And hopefully I'll run into you guys."

Ellie smirked slightly, watching as Joel boasted Y/N up. "Hopefully, Y/N is that optimism I'm hearing?" She chuckled, eyes full of joy. "Did you hit your head in there or something?"

Expecting the usual sass, Ellie was surprised when she heard nothing of the sort. In fact, she detected a sense of awkwardness in that voice of his.

"Something like that."

They watched him climb up and onto the wooden platform, before staring back down at them.

"See you in a few."

Ellie called after him, as Joel got back and began guiding them towards the gate that led to the building.

"Be careful!"

"I will!"

Huffing, Ellie turned back to Joel, as the older man dismounted once again and moved to grab a dumpster from the side of the courtyard, to use to climb over the gate.

"You sure he's gonna be okay?" Ellie asked him, eyes showing of concern.

Joel grunted as he moved the dumpster, "Kid'll be fine, Ellie. No use worrying."

"Yeah..." Ellie sighed, gazing into the saddle below here, before settling her sights back at the scaffolding that laid out afar, to find Y/N gone, and moved to the rooftop. "I know."

—

"Why do I always do this to myself?" Y/N muttered as he stared down at the ground from his position on the roof. "I'm afraid of heights, and yet I keep putting myself in high places..."

He removed his gaze from the ground below, and instead, focused on the area he could see around him. And to be frank, it wasn't much.

"I can't see shit from up here!" Y/N shouted down to the two, rifle in hands he used the scope to get a measure of the land. "I'm gonna have to get to the glass building for a better view."

All he could make out were the iron fences and green foliage that covered the general area. He was too low to get an actually reading on the place.

"Understood!" Joel shouted back, and Y/N noticed he had opened the gate instead of climbing over it, the dumpster having collided against the gate. "We'll meet you inside!"

Y/N lowered his rifle, and sighed. He took to the wooden platform that crossed the buildings, and made his way over. All the while, not taking his eyes off the path in front of him.

'I fucking hate heights...'

He pushed in ahead, hurrying to get there and done with. Though he did realise the fact that he was only gonna get higher as he rushed ahead.

That fact was not lost on him, at all.

Making it to the roof after having traversed the the woodworks, he finally got a clear view of the surrounding area. The rooftop itself was intact, as well as the air conditioning units and other stuff apparently left standing. Tents and mattresses, rain catchers, left over supplies.

And yet, there were no fireflies to be found.

Y/N quickly grabbed his rifle and searched the area, his scope zeroing in on anything of interest. He spotted some infected roaming around, nothing too much. Runners and Clickers, he reckoned were either strays or the people that had once lived here.

Turing towards the outer perimeter, another gate that led in and out, he soon caught the flash of a light. And then another, and another.

"Shit."

He spotted the familiar getup of the Hunters, ruthless bastards were everywhere and now here? Y/N pulled his gaze from his scope and lowered his rifle. They were a far way out, a good twenty minutes if he had to guess.

They'd have to finish this place quick.

Making his way to the door that led down to the stairwell, he tugged on the door handle, only for to be locked.

"You gotta be fucking with me." Y/N pulled on the door handle harder, and yet it was fucking useless. "C'mon! I ain't ever asked for much, is an unlocked door too much for you!?"

But alas, the metal door was locked. Looking around, he tried to find something he could use to pry the door open, only to come up short. Before he spotted a set of yellow cable wires rolled up.

Immediately a very stupid idea entered his mind.

"What the fuck did Ellie say was in that comic book of hers? Endure and Survive? Yeah. I'll endure, and survive, no problem."

He then looked down at the ground from the top of the building, and gulped as fear override his rational side, at how high he really was.

"Yeaaaah... totally." Y/N stepped back, wobbling as he did. Jesus Christ, he hated himself for such a fear. "Agh, fuck it."

Hands wrapping round the yellow cable wire he had grabbed from the roof, he tightened it to an air conditioning vent, and tugged on it.

"See, Y/N," He muttered, edging his feet close to the end as he carried the cable over. "This is why you're gonna die one day, 'cause you're doing stupid shit like this."

Hands shaking more now, he tightened his grip on the cable.

"And now I'm talking to myself — fuck."

And mentally prepared himself one last time.

"This is such a bad idea — AH!"

Y/N immediately stepped off the ledge, and the immediate fear left his lips as he screamed. The ground beneath him had gone, replaced by the air in which he breathed. In the back of his mind, he cursed his own idiocy once more.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck!"

—

THUD!!!

"What the fuck!?" Ellie jumped on her feet, exclaiming as she did so. Turning to where the sound came from, she and Joel rushed into the room that was the source of their minor scare.

The two of them had been searching through the building, and had turned up empty on this floor. No sign of the Fireflies except their gear and left over notes.

And now this sudden noise.

"Keep your guard up." Joel cautioned her, his side arm up and aimed as they entered the room. "Could be infected, or... — Oh, what the hell."

It was then the two noticed the large cracked window, and more importantly, the teenager hanging on the outside of it, their hands tightly secured around a yellow cable acting as their rappel.

And from what they could tell, he did not look happy.

"Get this fucking window open!"

Ellie would have laughed at the muffled sound of the Y/N's scared voice through the window, if it wasn't for the fact that he had scared the shit out of her in the process.

Oh, and not to mention the obvious fact that he could've gotten himself killed with that stunt.

"Just hang in there." Joel advised him as he tried to unlock the window.

"HANG IN THERE?!?!?"

"You know what I mean."

Meanwhile, Ellie did not look impressed, her face was ashen and her eyes narrowed in a glare "What the fuck are you doing, Y/N?"

"I'm competing for the Olympics!" Y/N shouted back as Joel managed to open the window. "The fuck you think I'm doing?"

He immediately went through the window, and was sent flying to the ground, his grip on the cable had faltered. Getting up from the ground, he grunted, and soon noticed the stares of both Joel and Ellie.

"What?"

—

After being abused both psychically and verbally, Y/N followed after the two of them, rubbing his shoulder sore from the attack.

"So, you guys run into any Fireflies?"

"Not yet."

Ellie had finally stopped glaring his way, and decided it was best to let it go. "What about you? You see anything up there?"

Y/N pursed his lips, as the three of them entered into a hallway surrounded by numerous science labs.

"A couple infected roaming around, no Fireflies." Y/N explained, rifle in hand as they searched the place. "And uh, saw some guys not too far out. Maybe a few hundred yards."

Joel turned his way, "Hunters?"

"Looked like it, yeah." Y/N said, "We better wrap this up quick."

Ellie gnarled on her bottom lip, "What is with these assholes? You think they'd cut their losses."

"Maybe they're a bit unhappy we killed their friends." Y/N pointed out the obvious.

Joel scoffed, taking the lead as they neared "Yeah... Well either way, they're persistent, I'll give em that."

Moving on through the rooms, they found no people in sight, and not even bodies as per usual.

Something was definitely wrong here.

"Yoohoo! Fireflies?" Ellie called out, her voice echoing through the classrooms. "Cure for mankind over here! Anyone?"

"Let's keep it down until we figure out what's going on." Joel warned her.

"Sheesh, with all that noise Y/N made, might as well sounded the dinner bell."

"I was high up," Y/N defended himself, glaring at Ellie's giggling form, "And I'm pretty sure I broke something too." He grasped at his face.

Ellie smiled cheekily, "Yeah, your voice box."

"Shut up."

The three of them exited this part of the building into an open walkway of sorts. Below it was a small area and even a tree planted with orange leaves. The small indoor area has a line of wires running down from walkway.

Instantly, Y/N avoided looking down.

They moved onwards, making their way through another door and into a lobby of sorts. Elevators on the left were closed and shut, while a stairwell was in front. They soon noticed some gear left behind on a wooden pallet.

Y/N noticed Joel picking up a manifest of some kind, while Ellie searched the wooden pallet, before turning his gaze away to guard the area.

"Nothing useful." Ellie slumped her shoulders, pulling back from the pallet as Y/N walked up next to her.

Joel threw the manifest back on the pallet, feeling dejected at their luck, "Ain't nothing here but a bunch of medical mumbo-jumbo."

"I don't get it." Y/N said, lowering his rifle in defeat, "Looks like they all just packed up and left."

THUD!

The three of them jumped slightly, and turned their gazes to the ceiling above them from where the noise came from.

"Maybe not all of them."

They moved onto the stairs and made their way up to the next floor.

"Stay close."

Through the familiar classrooms they had seen before, the group searched for any supplies they could find, and importantly, the Fireflies.

For wherever they may be..

"There are no bodies." Ellie pointed out, eyes to the ground before looking at Joel. "That's good, right?"

Joel agreed, "If we find out where they went."

"Maybe they all went on vacation." Y/N muttered sarcastically.

"Yeah, right." Ellie shared in the humour, rolling her eyes. "Maybe they went to a snow side resort, or the beach."

"Either way, anywhere's better than this shit hole."

"On that, we agree."

THUD!

"Shit."

They turned back and noticed a light fall over, the yellow wiring connected to it having been disturbed.

"Um... So it's definitely clickers, right?" Ellie asked nervously, hand on her pistol.

"No. Clickers don't hide."

Y/N bit his lip, hand on his pistol as he let his rifle hang, "But... stalkers do."

"Fuck..."

Moving onwards, they made it to another door on the floor. Joel led and opened it up, only to reveal a monkey staring right at them, it's hands in a trash can.

"Jesus."

The animal ran off at the sight of humans, causing its friends behind them to follow suit, scurrying off into the night.

"Well," Joel turned to the two teens, "At least it ain't clickers."

"Or stalkers."

Joel nodded, "Or stalkers."

"No Fireflies either." Ellie lamented, stepping into the room and kicking aside the trash can, "Well, maybe in all that research they turned into fucking monkeys."

Y/N chuckled, as Joel spoke up, "Just keep searching, we'll find something."

Immediately after they finished searching the rest of the rooms, they happened upon the final area, a door barricaded by a desk behind it, blocking it off. Joel quickly pushed it open, his shoulder strength making quick work of it. Once it was open, the three entered in.

It was a small office space, a built in desk with a window that overlooked the indoor part of the building, and for the first time on entering the place, a body was sat in a chair. Long since dead and now decayed to the bone.

Joel spotted one of those familiar voice recorders on the desk, and picked it up, before he pressed play and listened in on what they assumed this dead guy left for them to hear.

"If you're looking for the Fireflies, they've all left."

Ellie looked up from a chair she was sat in, a leg crossed over and reading a file in her small hands, "Yeah, no shit."

"I'm dead. Or I will be soon. Got me some time to reflect." Joel pressed the tape forward, skipping it. "...been years that felt like we were... fucking thing was a giant waste of ti- not going to do this anymore."

Y/N leant against the desk, looking out the window to see if he could spot anything. He turned to the voice recorder in Joel's hand and frowned, "This guy gonna get to the point or what?"

"...looking for the others, they've all returned to Saint Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City. You'll find them there. Still trying to save the world. Good luck with that."

At last, they had their answer. Salt Lake City.

"Do you know where that is?" Ellie asked Joel.

"I know the city."

"Is it far?

Joel shook his head, "It ain't close. I mean on horseback—"

Y/N interrupted the two, leaping off the desk as he noticed the familiar sight of a flashlight through the window, "We've got company."

"Fireflies?"

Y/N brought up his rifle and fired a round through the window, hitting the hunter in the chest and killing him. "No." He got down just as more hunters came crushing through into the indoor courtyard, and fired at them, bullets cracking through the glass.

"What the fuck is wrong with these guys?" Ellie questioned as the three of them snuck back out into the hallway.

"It don't matter," Joel said, bringing up the lead as he got out his shotgun. "We know where to go. Let's get the hell outta here."

Sneaking through the hallways, they soon happened upon the hunters looking for them.

Joel threw a smoke bomb in their path, and it immediately exploded causing them to cough and wheeze, unable to see. The three of them got out of cover and took them down quick enough. Firing through the smoke, Y/N took down another that ran at him with a piece of wood, before they moved out.

Gunfire becoming the norm, they managed to get back down the stairs back to the lobby with the elevators. More hunters were waiting for them. Y/N followed the two into cover, propping his rifle up, he aimed and fired, donning one in the shoulder, staggering him over, and pulling back the bolt, he fired again, hitting him in the chest, and the hunter fell dead.

Joel and Ellie finished off the others, Joel with his shotgun blowing a guy's head off, and Ellie, who took the initiative and snuck around their cover, and unloaded her pistol on the last guy, a dozen bullets taking him down.

Rushing out past the doors and out into the open walkway, Joel led the team to the door as Y/N took rear and Ellie was in the middle. Joel went for the door that was closed, but before he even had a chance to open it, the door bursted open, knocking Joel back and crashing into the class under barrier, as three guys ran out.

"Got you asshole!"

While Joel was occupied with a hunter strangling him, the other two rushed at Y/N and Ellie, taking them by surprise with the door rush. A hunter wrestled with Y/N having just grabbed his rifle before he could aim. He fought back, trying to wrestle back, before he let go with his one hand and reached for his knife, and immediately sunk it into the man's leg, causing him to scream and let go of the rifle.

Y/N relaxed the rifle in his hands and shoved the barrel in the hunter's face, and pulled the trigger. The man's body dropped to the floor, as their head exploded in a mist of red.

Turning to Ellie, her pistol sung in the air before he had a chance to shoot, the hunter dropped dead with three rounds in their body, having tried to hit her with a baseball bat.

With the two of them dead, they both turned to Joel, only for eyes to widen in shock when Joel and his attacker were sent falling from the walkway, crashing down to the floor below, with Joel's scream of pain echoing through out the building.

"Oh shit... Oh man." Ellie gasped, panic taking over her as she descended a yellow tarp hanging from the now broken walkway.

"Joel!" Y/N shouted down to him, before he soon took notice of his condition. "Oh shit."

Following down after Ellie, he put his fear of heights away, rappelling down the yellow tarp, and his feet planted to the ground. The two then rushed over to Joel's side, and saw the damage that had been done.

There was a sharp piece of metal sticking out of his lower abdomen.

"What do you want us to do?" Ellie asked, crouched at Joel's side, her face brave but eyes filled with panic.

Y/N was much of the same.

"Move..."

"What?"

"Move!" Joel stressed, and immediately pulled his revolver from his holster, and fired as two hunters came rushing out from a double door towards them. He shot and killed the first one, leaving Y/N and Ellie to kill the last, firing into him with a dozen rounds. Turning back to their injured group member, the two crouched at his side.

"Oh man. Joel?"

"I'm gonna need you both to pull."

Y/N pursed his lips, shouldering his rifle behind his back for better access, "If we do that you're gonna lose a lot of blood."

"I'll be fine." Joel assured him. "Now pull."

Ellie looked to Y/N, and vice versa, before the two reached down and grabbed Joel by the shoulders, and pulled, hard.

"Alright, you ready? One, two, three!"

They lifted Joel off the sharp piece of metal, despite the shouting and anguish that left his lips, they persisted until he was free.

Collapsing onto the floor, his legs wobbling and body shaking, Joel clutched a hand at his bleeding wound.

"Just get to the damn horses."

"Okay."

The two teens led the way forward as Joel slugged behind, the two of them disregarding their panic, more focused on trying to get out alive.

"I don't see anyone. Let's go."

Past the double doors, they spotted a window into another classroom.

"Joel, how we doing?" Y/N asked him, eyes focused on his condition. His wound was bleeding out onto the floor, as he moved slowly forward.

"I'm fine... I'm fine."

Ellie pressed forward, pushing aside a wooden plank blocking the window, and vaulted over, as Y/N stood next to him, "Can you handle the window?"

"Yeah..."

Y/N vaulted over the window, and held out an arm for Joel. The man held on, and vaulted over the window, collapsing to the ground, he coughed and wheezed.

The two teens had never seen him in such a state before, and honestly, that scared them both to death.

"Jesus."

"Come on, move." Ellie urged Joel as Y/N helped him into cover behind a desk, dragging him along.

"I see you!" Gunshots pierced the air, and the two ducked, as a hunter rushed into the room, holding a shotgun in hand.

"Shit. Alright, Y/N stay here, I'm gonna flank this asshole." Ellie told him, rushing round the desk.

"Ellie — fuck." Y/N turned away, and focused on Joel. Reaching over, he cusped his hands over Joel's wound, and flinched at the blood that followed. "We're gonna have to stop the bleeding."

"Those were my friends you killed asshole!"

The hunter fired a shotgun shell into the desk, causing Y/N to flinch back, pulling his pistol out, he waited for Ellie, and soon enough a gunshot fired into the man from behind, hitting him in the shoulder. Ducking out of cover, Y/N followed up with two shots of his pistol, and immediately the man dropped dead.

"Ellie, we need to fucking move." Y/N exclaimed, placing his arm around Joel he hefted him up. "God, you're one heavy guy, Joel."

Joel chuckled, and coughed, as Y/N supported him and began helping him walk across the classroom, just as Ellie rushed back to them, and led them out.

"I'm okay." Joel reassured them, seeing their panicked looks, even as the pain hit him, and a sense of blackness was overcoming him.

"You're not okay, Joel!" Ellie fought back, as Y/N helped him forward. "Now come on!"

They moved out from the classroom, and through another hallway, to a set of open double doors. Y/N recognised the layout, they'd be out soon enough.

"You're doing good, just keep at it."

Out into a wider area, a stairwell in the back, and a set of double doors below that led out. Y/N placed Joel against a counter, and the two teens pushed ahead to make sure it was clear.

"....agh." Joel collapsed against the counter, causing the two to turn back, concern flashing in their eyes more and more.

"Joel?"

"Be—hind... y-you."

"What?"

"Behind — you."

Joel fell forward, his vision blacking out, just as Y/N turned around, he spotted the three bandits rushing towards them from the bottom of the stairs.

"Shit! The kids' got guns!"

"Stay the fuck back!" Ellie opened fire on the first one she could, killing him before turning to a second that rushed at her.

"Fuck!" Y/N fired his own pistol at the third guy, taking him down quickly, and then turned to the other guy, only to see red when Ellie was struck in the face with a lead pipe, and knocked to the ground. "Ellie!"

Bang bang bang!

Y/N saw the hunter fall dead backwards onto the floor, rounds from Ellie's pistol having ended him.

Quickly moving to her side, he grabbed her arm and carefully pulled her up, "You alright?"

Ellie nodded, her hand squeezing his own before letting go, "I'm okay." And turned back, "Joel."

They both helped him up, supporting him forward as he struggled to keep standing.

"Put your arm around us. All right, let's go."

Arms securely around him, they staggered forward, limping under the weight, their heats beating in their chest, and blood in their ears beating even more.

"I swear to god, we get you out of here, you're so singing for us." Ellie said, as they got closer to their exit, trying her best to keep herself calm and focused.

Joel chuckled, as Y/N let go and reached for the door, "You wish."

"Come on." Y/N opened the inner door, and held it open, allowing Ellie to guide Joel out to the outer glass door. Collapsing against the door, Joel fell forward and door opened up, and out into the darker day he went.

"What the fuck!?"

Turning to the horses, a hunter stood there, holding their reins. Immediately they pulled a gun from the side, but was put down when Y/N shot him with his pistol.

"Here, here." Y/N went over to Callus, and gestured for Ellie. She brought Joel over, and stopped at the saddle. "Careful, careful. Get him on." The two helped him into the horse, boasting him. "Joel, for fuck's sake, you better keep your hands on that wound. Ellie, take Callus." He handed her the reins, and she climbed on.

"I got it."

Y/N rushed to Nightwing and climbed on, and suddenly yanked the reins for him to trod forward and fast. They followed after Ellie who led them out of the University, and out onto a road.

"I think we're safe." Ellie told them, looking behind them, they saw no more hunters.

"Ellie." Y/N warned her, his attention on Joel, who had slumped forward in his seat.

"Joel?" Ellie turned back to see Joel slumping forward and collapsing off of the horse. "Joel!"

Y/N climbed off Nightwing off and rushed to their side, Ellie looking over Joel, her hands at his shoulders as Y/N inspected the man's wound. The both of them shaking, a fear between them, as their newfound protector, their friend, a man they trusted, collapsed in the road, seemingly on death's door.

"Here — Y/N help me get him up." Ellie gasped out air, her hands shaking as she tried to pick Joel up, and Y/N at his feet. "Come on, get up, get up, get up."

Y/N started, looking at Joel's feet, and then to his wound, "Ellie—"

"You gotta tell us what to do, Joel." Ellie was in full panic mode, hands at Joel's shoulders, as Y/N looked on with a look in his eyes he had only experienced once. "Come on... You gotta get up."

The air left Joel's lips, and his vision clouded, leaving the two teens at his side, in a state of panic and disbelief, afraid and in denial, of what just happened.

"Joel!?"

A/N: Shiiiiit. So, up next I have planned is the Left Behind DLC which is set between now and the Winter section of the game. Though I'm curious what you guys want. Do you guys want me to do Left Behind, featuring flashbacks of Y/N's time with Rachel, or just skip onto Winter? And by skip? I mean complete the base game first and then do Left Behind after that's done. Lemme know in the comments!