What does that mean, Joel? [ Finally, she stops obstinately avoiding his gaze and stands her ground, turning and looking sour. ] "So far?" Uh, yeah, I'm here and alive, so obviously I've been fine so far. I'm gonna keep being fine. I'm not stupid.

[ "I'm alive thanks to you. Liar." She swipes at her nose with the back of her sleeve and stares back out at the water again where the ripples of Joel's effort are fading. ]

What is it you want me to do, huh? Sit around and play checkers with a bunch of kids who don't know shit about how things really are?

[ At first, it'd been fine. She'd been more able to do just that, to enjoy the movies and semblance of a 'normal life' without such a massive chip on her shoulder. Sure enough, though, the knowledge of the outside world and her own memories crept in like a sickness. She's reminded of it, too, every time she feels a phantom itch at the bite on her arm. The other people living with them don't know about her being immune. Joel and Tommy had agreed to keep that information on a very strict need-to-know basis, just in case.

Ellie still remembers the day she'd been passed off to Tess and Joel, when they'd holed up in an apartment before making their break from the QZ. "It can't be much worse out there. Can it?"

Stupid. Fucking stupid. And naive. ]