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TWO YEARS EARLIER
Saint Mary's Hospital. Nighttime. Ellie wandered the dark corridors of the abandoned hospital, her footsteps echoing through the hollow, crumbling walls. Ellie walked slowly, dragging her fingers along the chipped paint and cold metal railings.
The air was stale, filled with dust and the weight of something left unfinished. The hospital felt haunted by memories, both of the past and her own.
She's been avoiding the truth for a long time now, but tonight feels different. There's a kind of electricity in the air, and her heart pounded with an unsettling sense of dread.
"What is this? Left a lot of stuff behind..." she said entering inside one of the rooms "Oh."
She spotted something on the floor ahead of her - a recorder, dusty but intact. She crouched down, picked it up, and with a hesitant breath, tapped the play button. Ellie listened to the firefly on the recording as she took a seat outside the hospital, near the small fire she made.
"Most people have left already. I don't know which group I'm going to join... I was one of the ones that wanted to go after the smuggler and the girls. They said... Even if we found her, or by some miracle found someone else that's immune, it'd make no difference. 'Cause the only person who could develop a vaccine is dead. "
Ellie's face tightened. She tapped the rewind button, her pulse rising.
"...by some miracle found someone else that's immune, it'd make no difference. " she tensed up and tapped the button again
"...miracle found someone else that's immune, it'd make no difference. 'Cause the only person"
The sound of footsteps interrupted her. Ellie's head snapped up, eyes widening as she heard someone approaching fast. Joel bursted into view, panic on his face.
"Ellie! Come here." He pulled her into a tight hug, his voice edged with anger and relief. "The hell were you thinkin'? Running off in the middle of the night like that. You talk to me. You don't just leave me a goddamn note-"
Ellie's body went rigid in his arms, her hands pressed against his chest as she pushed him away with sudden force.
"Tell me... what happened here." Her voice shook with something deeper than anger, a wound that's been festering for years. "If you lie to me one more time, I'm gone. You will never see me again. But if you tell me the truth... I'll go back to Jackson. No matter what it is. Just say it, Joel."
