Revival - The Last Of Us

The Bostonian Museum

After climbing many flights of stairs, they seemed to reach the level that Tess and Joel needed to get to.

Joel walked out in front, making sure the area was clear before Maeve, Ellie, and Tess followed.

"Fuck. Holy shit." Tess said as she cleared the landing, being exhausted from the climbing.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Ellie said as she walked through the foyer, completely fine.

"You try climbing ten fuckin' floors with our knees. See how ya feel." Tess retorted.

They continued to walk until they reached a hallway full of ruins, blocking the path that the group needed to take. 

"Well, when the fuck did that happen?" Tess said, inspecting to see if there was any way around the rubble.

"All right, well, I mean, maybe I could climb up there, work my way around, and open it from the inside?" Tess suggested. 

"I could do it." Maeve said quickly, noticing how easy it would be for her to fit right through the mess.

"No." Ellie and Joel both said in sync.

"You die, and we both get nothing. You stay." Tess said.

Maeve nodded her head, understanding where Tess was coming from. 

"Can you give me a hand?" She said to Joel, who came over to help her up.

"You good up there?" Joel asked as Tess got up.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a mess, so I'm gonna need a few minutes." Tess replied.

Joel looked back between the two girls before heading over to the wall, sitting down.

Maeve and Ellie sat down as well. 

An awkward silence ensued as Ellie began to fiddle with her switchblade. 

The whole situation made Maeve nervous as she started picking at her lip. 

Joel broke the silence, "Nice knife." 

Ellie just looked towards him, continuing to flip the blade. 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" He asked, still trying to make conversation. 

"The circus." Ellie replied sarcastically.

Maeve nudged her, trying to tell her to be nice.

Ellie sighed before reluctantly asking, "Where are you from?"

"Texas." He said after a moment.

"That's a big state." Maeve said, continuing to pick at her lip. 

"It is." Joel said, nodding towards Maeve before Ellie asked another question. 

"What about Tess?" 

"Detroit. It's in Michigan." He answered.

"I go to school. I know where Detroit is." Ellie replied in a snarky tone. 

After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Ellie began

"So you two like a--"

"Pass." Joel said, cutting Ellie off. 

"How'd you end up in Boston?" She redirected.

"Pass. No more questions about me." He said again.

Very closed off. Maeve noted. 

Ellie thought for a moment before speaking again, "How long do infected live?"

"I thought you went to school." He said, picking up the same tone that Ellie had earlier.