borderline - the last of us.

40. okay.

BANDAGED HAND ON THE CENTER CONSOLE, Ralph watched the trees zoom past him in silence, as he had been for what felt like the past year. Next to him, Joel was silent too, his hand also on the centre console, intertwined loosely with Ralph's as he drove with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw.

They hadn't spoken to each other the entire car ride. Nobody had spoken. They just sat in silence, looking out the windows and thinking things over, wondering if there was some way they could take it all back, make up for it. At least Lou was concerned about that.

Speaking of Lou, there was movement in the back seat, and Ralph turned in his chair to see Ellie shuffling around in her makeshift bed with Lou seated next to her and helping her to sit upright.

'You're alright, Ellie.' Ralph assured hastily, offering the little girl a half-smile as she observed the car and the two people in the front of it. 'You're with us.'

At that, she was relieved, confusion fading into eventual acceptance as she laid down again, resting her head onto Lou's knee and sighing, barely audible.

'Take it slow,' Joel advised, watching the two teenagers in the rearview mirror. He looked over at Ralph hesitantly, mouth drawn into an anxious line at even the thought of Ellie knowing what had happened, not wanting to have to traumatize another little girl in only the span of a day. Ralph patted his hand. 'Drugs are still wearing off.'

'We were with the Fireflies, and then...' Ellie looked up at Lou, craning her neck a little bit, only to see that the girl she was piled on top of was barely acknowledging her existence. Lou was resting her head on the window and staring out of it like she had better things to think of. 'What drugs?'

'They were running some tests on you two.' Joel sighed quietly, eyebrows turned upwards as he frowned at the space ahead of him. 'Turns out there's a lot more like you, Ellie. People that are immune. Dozens of them... The doctors, they couldn't make any of it work. They've actually s...'

Something came to Joel's mind. A big enough deal for his teeth to grind together and his words to trail off, grip tightening on the steering wheel. The hand that held Ralph's flexed, as if he was going to pull away but changed his mind at the last possible second, deciding that holding on even tighter would make himself feel better.

'They've stopped looking for a cure.' Ralph finished Joel's sentence with a small, comforting smile directed at the man on his left.

'...Where are my clothes?' Ellie mumbled, still nodding dazedly at the initial information dump. Lou had her clothes back, it made Ellie rather jealous.

'Raiders attacked the hospital,' Ralph said, and Lou's head perked up to look at the seat ahead of her, frowning. She wondered if he had thought of this story beforehand, or if he was making it up on the spot. It felt like a rather stupid thing to be concerned about, after witnessing everything, but Ralph barely ever lied. At least to her. Or maybe that was what she thought. 'We barely got you guys outta there. We can try find you some new ones on the way.'

'Were people hurt?' At that question, Ralph stopped speaking, bringing his unbloodied hand up to scratch his jaw.

'Yes.' Joel replied softly, staring at the road ahead and blinking every so often, only to fight off tears.

'Is Marlene okay?' She asked hopefully, eyes flicking between the two men that sat in front of her, watching the backs of their heads.

'...We're going home now, Ellie.' Ralph said, turning in his seat to look over his shoulder and smile back at her. He knew that he wouldn't be able to convince Ellie that Marlene was okay, and he didn't want to. False hope is a weapon of mass destruction, someone said that to him once. Besides, he didn't think he'd have it in him even if he wanted to lie. He was too proud of what he had done. 'That's all that matters, right?'