"Thanks again for helping me ..." Sophie said quietly, she still wasn't one-hundred percent trusting of these people, but the fact that they're looking after Ellie speaks volumes.

The group had left North Platte, later than they wanted to because of the storm, but now they were currently following one of the roads that should help take them to Keystone.

"Don't mention it," Ellie smiled as she walked along-side Sophie, Matt and Joel were right in front, "Seriously ... Joel is still pretty grumpy ..."

Matt chuckled at that comment and looked over to Joel, "We should be there when it gets dark," he said, hoping that might cheer Joel up.

Joel hummed, the main reason he was 'grumpy' was the fact they had to now transport another kid that reminded him of his own kid and how Matt did a complete 180 and agreed with Ellie.

"We can take a quick break up here," Joel grunted as he nodded towards a group of abandoned cars, "If anyone needs to go, this is the best chance to."

"Can I search some of the cars?" Ellie asked as she didn't need the toilet right now.

"Sure, why not." Joel answered swiftly.

As the group walked, the sun was shining down upon them, "So ... Why are you three together?" Sophie asked as she looked over to Ellie.

"They promised someone they'd take care of me," Ellie answered, not wanting to divulge the actual plan or her immunity – Who knows how she might react? "We've travelled from Boston."

"Oh ... That's quite far," Sophie commented, she had expected to hear a different story.

"What about you?" Ellie asked, "Have you always lived in Keystone?"

Sophie nodded, "Yeah, I was born there ..." She answered, Ellie could see that she desperately wanted to get back there, "It was established just after the outbreak, the original founders didn't want to go to a Quarantine Zone, so they just reinforced the town with the people that stayed."

"There's quite a few towns out there like that," Matt commented as they neared the group of abandoned cars, "How do people get into the town?"

"I don't know most of it, but I do know that they're separated from the rest as a form of quarantine, just in case," Sophie explained.

"Huh ..." Matt hummed as the group came to a stop at the small gathering of abandoned cars, "Well, break time, imma use the loo,"

Matt proceeded to walk off without any further questions, but Sophie did give Ellie a confused look, "Why does he speak so weird?" Sophie asked, "And what's a loo?"

Ellie laughed to herself as she remembered her first interaction with Matt, "He's British, that's all," She explained.

Before Sophie could further question, Joel stepped forward, "I'm going to take a look inside that truck, you two can take a look in the rest, if you want," He said as he started to walk away, trying not to look at Sophie for two long.

"Looks like its just us!" Ellie smiled as he gestured for Sophie to follow, "May as well start looting,"

Ellie led Sophie towards the nearest car which was red, so that might've been another reason why Ellie chose this particular car.

It didn't take long for Matt to come back from his toilet break and went over to Joel, who was busying himself by looting through the compartments at the front of the truck, "Joel," Matt said, wanting to get his attention, "I'm sorry for agreeing so quickly ... But we couldn't just leave her there, y'know?"

Joel climbed out of the truck and stood in front of Matt, "I know that!" Joel growled, "But we need to start being more realistic – I hate saying it, but we can't help everyone we come across!" The Joel before meeting Matt and Ellie would've carried on because he needed to survive, the Joel now was much more conflicted about it all, they still need to get Ellie to the fireflies and now they've got another girl with them? Things are getting complicated.

"I'm not saying we should!" Matt shot back, "But we couldn't leave her there with a stab wound!" He explained, his voicing getting louder than he meant it to get, "It would've been different if it was two grown ass men – They can easily fend for themselves ..."

Joel looked at Matt for a moment. He's been struggling internally what they should do with Ellie and he managed to convince himself that she'd be better off with Tommy – He knows the fireflies and the area, there isn't anyone better to complete the job!

Then they found this girl ... First it was Ellie fucking up his head by reminding him about Sarah, the way she laughs, the terrible jokes ... Sophie is definitely more of a look alike. Why can't that part of his life just stay buried?

"You're right ..." Joel nodded, he didn't want to start an argument, "Let's just ... Get Sophie to Keystone and be on our way."

Matt returned with a careful nod, "Course, it shouldn't take us much longer to get there," he said, hoping they could just help this girl and move forward without any problems. But Matt was right, they shouldn't be far from Keystone now.

Once they get Sophie back home, they can resupply and then continue forward, another week and they should be in Wyoming. Another two and they should be at Tommy's.

"Well, that was a waste of time ..." Ellie sighed as she walked up to Joel and Matt with Sophie, "We didn't find anything."

"That's okay," Joel reassured, trying to make her feel better, "These were probably looted years ago ... I found nothing either."

Ellie felt relieved at Joel's change in mood, guessing that the conversation she 'accidentally' overheard had helped, "Come on, let's get moving," Matt said as he gestured to the road they needed to continue to follow.

The group began walking, and soon walked past a sign that told them they were getting close to Keystone.

"Oh! Sophie, wanna hear a joke?" Ellie grinned devilishly.

Matt and Joel, shared a look, it was already time for this.

"Sure," Sophie chuckled as she noticed how giddy Ellie appeared.

"Okay so ..." Ellie giggled to herself as she briefly looked over to Matt, "Why did the chicken cross the road ...?"

--------

"Look, the town is just up ahead," Matt said as in the distance one of the gateways of the town could be seen.

"We made better time than I expected," Joel commented, the sun was only just beginning to set, so they still had an hour before things went dark.

The town was only slightly away from the main road they had been following, so now they were travelling over a dirt path. Trees, long grass, and weeds were plentiful, but a wide path had been cleared out to allow easy access in and out of the town.

"Oh I forgot to ask," Matt started as he turned slightly to look at Sophie – The four of them were walking in a line, Joel and Matt on the sides with Ellie and Sophie in the middle, "How long were you ... Trapped for?"

Sophie cringed a bit, "I think ... Two weeks?" She said, clearly unsure of herself, "I lost track of time ..."

"Well, it don't matter now," Joel said as he gave her a small smile, having changed his attitude, "You're home now."

Sophie smiled.

"Should we be worried that more people are standing on the wall?" Ellie pointed out.

The town was very similar to the Trading Settlement they had been to before, it had a large wall surrounding it, and on top of the wall were people with more by the second climbing on top.

"Probably think we're hunters or something," Matt told as they continued to walk to the town, "I guess Sophie could talk to them? They might not be receptive to us ... Probably think we're trying to trade you two or something." Ellie cringed at that, remembering what those two men at the farmhouse had been talking about.

"Let's keep our hands where they can see them," Joel said as they reached the gateway.

All four of them made sure to keep their hands empty and visible as someone, who manned the gate, spoke up, "Sophie?! Is that you?" The man yelled as he was surrounded by a handful of armed men and women, who had their weapons trained on the group.

The man that spoke had brown skin, black hair that reached down to his shoulders and wore camouflaged hunting attire – Obviously something he did a lot considering he looked to be in his 40s, "What do these bastards want?! They want to trade you and the other girl?" He asked.

Matt chuckled as he was right about what the people would think, "No! They helped me!" Sophie defended her new friends, "I managed to escape but ... If it wasn't for these then ... I'd be dead ..."

The man paused and looked at Sophie, then to the others that stood next to her. He said something to the rest of the people on the wall, who lowered their weapons. Then he disappeared behind the wall, leaving only a few on top.

"That went ... Well?" Ellie questioned as she was unsure what would happen now.

"Well it went better than I was expecting," Joel answered honestly.

Soon the gate opened and out came two individuals, one was the man that had spoken to them and the other was a woman who had short brown hair and creamy white skin, the most defining feature was a scar that resided across her lips.

"Sophie ..." The man said as the two walked in front of the group, "We're so glad you're safe!"

"Thank you ..." Sophie smiled, she was finally home, "It was these three that helped me ..."

Sophie gestured to the three that accompanied her, so Matt stepped forward and started talking, "My name's Matt, this is Joel, and that is Ellie," He introduced them, "We found her in North Platte in one of the houses ... She was stabbed in the leg, so I cleaned it and rebandaged it ..." He explained before continuing, "Once she told us that she lived here, we figured we could escort her, make sure she wasn't kidnapped again."

The woman smiled, "This was a great thing you three have done," she said, "My name is Rose and this is Mark."

The man, Mark, smiled as he was glad to have Sophie back in the town, "We're so glad you're back ... But we shouldn't waste anymore time, let's get you to your mother." Mark said before looking to the others, "Me and Rose run the defence of the town, so we'll allow you to stay and figure out what you'd like to do. I'll get someone to take you to a suitable place to stay for now."

The two leaders turned and started walking back into the town with the group following behind closely. As they enter, the gate closes behind them and Mark walks up to one of the guards nearby and says, "Tom, take these three to one of the temporary houses," He said.

Tom nodded as he walked up to the group, "Follow me."

"Sophie, you gonna be okay?" Ellie asked, not really wanting to be separated from her friend so soon.

Sophie nodded, "Yeah, of course!" She smiled, giving Ellie a new type of energy, likely because she had been set free and allowed to return home after weeks of torment, "I'll come round to visit soon! I'm sure my mom would like to see you guys ..."

Ellie smiled back as the three followed the man named Tom. Near the wall was a large building that had a sign that read, Barracks, that must be where guards would stay before a long wall duty.

They walked past the building though and behind it were four small shacks, obviously to keep new-comers in and separated from the rest of the town. With the barracks directly in front of the temporary houses, it was for quarantining and defence reasons, they didn't want any surprises coming their way.

Tom led them to one of the shacks, "You guys will be staying here for the time being," He said as he opened the door, "It's just for safety reasons." Tom explained before adding, "We'll make sure someone brings over some fresh food."

Joel nodded, "Thank you,"

"Oh and don't try and sneak away," Tom warned, "You did a mighty good job by saving Sophie, the town has been worried sick, but that doesn't mean you can just walk around free and armed." He explained, making sure they understood, "Which by the way, we're letting you keep your weapons because of Sophie, so don't make us regret it."

"Understood," Matt nodded, "We don't plan to stay for long anyway, we need to get back on the road."

Tom nodded, they seemed trustworthy enough. Either way, it wasn't his job to babysit them, that would be up to the people stationed in the Barracks in case one of these tried something, "Well, I'll be back on wall duty," Tom waved them off as he began to walk away, "If you need anything just head on over to the barracks."

Ellie was the first to enter the shack with Joel and Matt behind her. It was small, there was just enough room for the three of them. One single bed right in the corner.

"Wellllll I'll take the bed," Ellie grinned as she casually strolls over to the bed and sits down, claiming it as her own.

"Looks like it's the floor for me and you again," Matt said as he took his bag off and placed it on the floor with Joel doing the same. The two men then sat on the floor in front of the bed, their backs resting against the wall.

"We never have a choice, Matt," Joel joked as he tried to get comfortable.

"Why can't you two just take another shack?" Ellie questioned, "There's three more out there."

Matt shook his head, "As nice as it would be to sleep in a bed, it's better if we stay together."

Joel nodded immediately, "Yeah, can't be too sure when it comes to hospitality."

"At least we're somewhere safe," Ellie smiled, "Do you think we could trade with them?"

"Probably," Matt hummed as he let his head fall back and rest against the wall, "I just want some of that fresh food,"

"It'll beat the food we make," Joel chuckled, "Cans and some Jerky ..."

"Hopefully its like the food from that trading settlement we visited!" Ellie dreamed as her belly rumbled, remembering the absolutely delicious meal they all ate in the bar.

"We'll have to wait and see," Matt commented as his own belly let out a low growl for sustenance, "I'm sure it'll be great, from the look of it the town is really sustainable."

"All right," Joel raised his hand to stop the conversation, "Enough talk of food, it's making me crazy!"

The group shared a chuckle, they did have food in their bags they could easily dig into, but as they were told about the Fresh Food they would be receiving made them all want to hold out until it came.

Suddenly, two knocks sounded from the door which then opened.

Sophie stepped inside with a large tray that held food on top, "Sorry I took so long!" She smiled as another woman came in behind her with another tray of food, "Me and my Mom brought some food!"

"Sophie you are the best!!" Ellie cheered as she moved up and watched as Sophie and her mom carefully placed the two trays onto the bottom of the bed because the shack was lacking in the table and chairs department so the bed would have to do.

Sophie's mom looked eerily similar to Sophie, she had the same blonde hair but it was more curled at the ends, "Thank you so much for bringing me back my Sophie," She smiled, "I thought it was only right to bring you the best food we can offer!"

The two trays were filled with food, plenty of fresh bread along with freshly made jam and butter to spread on top. There was plenty of scrambled eggs as well, along with some potatoes that had been cut and boiled.

To top it off, there was a jug of milk with some glasses.

"We just did what was right, ma'am," Joel answered, he felt his stomach lurch at the sudden appearance of some great food.

Sophie's mom smiled and chuckled at the shock on their faces, "You can call me Amber," She said, then gestured to the tray of food, "Don't wait on us, we've already eaten ... Dig in."

Ellie was the first to take some food, taking some bread and a knife, "What's this sticky looking stuff?" She asked as she poked it with a knife.

"It's strawberry jam," Amber answered, "We grow our own strawberries here so it was made fresh this morning."

"You spread it on the bread," Matt told as he took a piece and a knife and spread some of the jam on top, "Like that."

Joel instead went for the scrambled eggs first, "Feels like I'm in heaven with a meal like this ..."

"This is soooo good," Ellie agreed with a mouthful of bread and jam.

"Ellie ..." Sophie chuckled as she rolled her eyes. Even though she was only travelling with them for a day or so, they had grown on the young girl.

"Don't talk and chew," Joel chastised.

Ellie swallowed the food in her mouth, "Sorry ..." She mumbled, "But still, its fucking amazing though!"

Amber and Sophie giggled.

"Bloodyell it's better than amazing ..." Matt commented as he finished off another bread and am sandwich.

Ellie cleared her throat and then smirked, "Quite, this is the most delectable meal I've had in ages~" She said, trying her best to mimic a posh British accent.

"She's getting better at that ..." Joel commented.

The group shared a laugh as the three continued to eat.

Things were peaceful, for now.

--------

"That was some great food," Matt sighed in content as he had a hand on his belly, "Thank you."

Joel placed the trays on top of each other and put the empty jug on top of that, along with the glasses, "Ma'am that was perfect." He complimented.

Ellie quickly finished off the last drop of milk that was in her glass and placed it on the trays, "Yeah! I wish we could eat like that every day!" She smiled.

Amber and Sophie smiled at their satisfaction, happy that the people who brought her daughter back were happy, "No, I should thank you three," She said, the smile not faltering for a moment, "If it wasn't for you ... Sophie might not have made it home ... The roads can be so dangerous."

"It's true ..." Sophie added, "I managed to escape those hunters, but ... I don't think I would've made it much further if you three hadn't helped me, so ... Thank you!"

"What are friends for?" Ellie beamed at the two stood at the end of the bed.

"Don't worry about it," Joel returned a smile, "You're home now, so they can't hurt you."

"I will admit that we were unsure on what to do at first," Matt started as he scratched his face, "But once you said that your town wasn't far we couldn't just leave you there!"

Before anything else could be said, an alarm started blaring throughout the town, "What's that?!" Ellie panicked at the sudden loud noise, "Are we under attack??"

Matt and Joel stood up in response.

Amber growled, "Hunters probably," she scowled when she said hunters, "They've been getting more frequently recently."

Matt turned to Joel, "I suppose we should earn our keep," He suggested which earned him a smirk from Joel, "Ellie, you stay with Amber and Sophie, me and Joel are gonna help defend."

"Matt – What – Wait!" Ellie fumbled her words, "I can help!"

Ellie stood up, wanting to go with the two, "We know you can, Ellie," Joel tried to reassure, "But we don't want to risk you if we don't have too."

"You'll be safe with us," Amber smiled as she tapped her holster that had a pistol ready to go, "We'll wait for them here."

Ellie looked down, she wanted to go with them, they look out for each other right? But she let out a groan and decided to do what they said, "Fine." She crossed her armed, "But you two better come back!"

"Yes ma'am," Matt and Joel joked at the same time.

"Great minds think alike," Matt smiled as he turned, grabbed his bag and walked out of the shack with Joel in tow, who also made sure to get his backpack. Ellie would be safe with Sophie and Amber, chances were the hunters wouldn't be able to get past the town's walls.

The two could clearly see the guards rushing around like crazy, it was a good thing they were close to the barracks.

As they walked past the barracks and towards the main gate, they saw Mark giving out orders, "Mark!" Matt shouted, "We're here to help."

Matt and Joel walked closer after the two men Mark was talking to ran off to take positions, "Good, we need all the men we can get!" Mark said, "Can I get you two to stay on this wall? We're being attacked from both sides!"

Mark seemed panicked, it looked like they had only experienced attacks from the one side, "You can count on us," Joel answered as he pulled out his rifle with Matt doing the same.

"Good, good," Mark nodded, "Tom will be working with you, he has a radio," he explained before he started to walk backwards, "Get us on the radio if there's any problems!"

And with that Mark ran off to the opposing gate, far in the distance, "Come on then!" Matt said as he started rushing towards a ladder that would take them to the top of the wall, gunshots were already ringing out as a firefight had started.

As soon as Matt reached the top, he ducked into cover. Joel did the exact same.

Looking over, they could see a large group of hunters slowly approaching the town – Some of them were using large metal shields to try and protect themselves from incoming fire.

"Ballsy bastards!" Matt said as he aimed his rifle and fired, managing to hit a hunter in the leg, "Why are they attacking? They've pretty much got no cover!"

It was strange, the hunters were essentially out in the open, the only thing that was protecting them were the large metal shields that they made, although, it was clear they wouldn't last long.

"They must be desperate!" Joel responded as he popped his head out and took down a hunter with a clean kill.

Matt and Joel continued to duck in and out of cover, taking shots, trying to thin out the attackers and protect the town, "Lucky they don't have a fucking Humvee," Matt joked as the attackers were managing to get closer to the gate.

"Don't joke about that ..." Joel breathed, hoping that they didn't have one of those waiting in the wings.

"They've reached the gate!" Someone yelled on the wall.

"Shit!" Matt complained as he was forced into cover, "They must be really desperate to try and attack this town ..."

There were countless bodies lying face down in the dirt, the men didn't have a chance to protect themselves, it was almost a slaughter. Still, a handful of men pushed forward and reached the front gate and tried pushing it open.

"Joel, you got a Molotov?" Matt asked.

"Always," Joel answered as he took off his bag and shuffled through it, eventually pulling out a bottle of alcohol that had a rag stuffed into it, "Here, be my guest."

Joel handed the Molotov to Matt, who pulled out a small lighter and lit the rag, "Order up!" Matt yelled as he stood up and threw the Molotov down, in front of the gate.

The handful of men began to scream as some of them were lit up in flames, but the ones that were reached back so they wouldn't catch on fire. That ended up being a bad idea as it lead them into the line of sight of the people on the wall.

The last few hunters were gunned down. The only things left on the field were over 20 dead bodies and countless weapons and pieces of metal dropped everywhere.

"Looks like a few got injured," Joel told as he looked further down the wall to see people getting bandaged.

"Hopefully no one died ..." Matt said, the battle didn't last long, but it sure took its toll, "Let's get back to Ellie."

Matt said as he started descending the ladder to get off the wall, Joel followed shortly after. Before the two could regroup with Ellie, Tom, who was the guard that led them to the shack, caught up with them, "Good shooting you two," He praised, "Just got a call from Mark, they cleared up the other gate as well."

"How many that side?" Matt questioned, assuming it was probably the same about that attacked this gate.

"He guessed about twenty," Tom told as he rubbed the back of his neck, "We think they got really desperate this time ... Thought we would've backed down during their suicide charge."

Joel hummed, he had saw use of that tactic before, it was risky and only places that didn't have much manpower fell for it, "Think that's your hunter problem dealt with, then?" He asked.

Tom shook his head, "Naw, chances are another group will come by and try and raid us,"

"Least you can show 'em you mean business," Matt smiled.

Tom hummed in agreement, "Right, you guys can get back to what you were doin'," he explained, "Mark will be around sooner or later to talk to you guys, I'm sure."

Matt and Joel gave the man a nod before they turned and carried on their way to the shack. It really wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, and besides, it had walls that surrounded it.

Matt opened the door to the shack and entered with Joel. Amber and Sophie were now sat on the bed, talking to Ellie, who was now very happy to see the two men.

"Matt! Joel!" Ellie cheered as she stood up and rushed to stand in front of them, "You're finally back! How did it go?"

"There was a shit ton of them," Matt told, earning a look of worry from the three women.

Joel then added, "But they never managed to get in,"

"They'll never learn, will they?" Amber sighed, the attacks were getting frequent in the past few weeks.

"They seemed really desperate this time around," Matt added, "It was like a ... Suicide charge ... They only had thin metal sheets to protect them from the bullets."

Ellie cringed, "So ... They basically ran into their death?"

Joel nodded, "Pretty much," he said.

"They're gone now ..." Sophie breathed, she had been pretty worried about the ordeal, she didn't want to go back there when she had just made it home, "So we're safe! ... Right?"

"Of course we are sweetie," Amber hugged her daughter, "You'll be safe now, the town is gonna make sure this never happens again."

Joel smiled at that interaction but then he realised something. Sophie was safe, now he needed to make sure Ellie stayed safe. The only person that can make sure that happens is Tommy.

Tommy ... I sure hope you're out there ... Ellie's gonna need you.

Better it be you than me ... You know the area ... You know the fireflies.

You'll know what to do better than me.

--------------------------