[in a 1968 talk show, two scientists are interviewed about what could be the next form of viral outbreak in the future, and when one of them, Dr Newman, postulates that it could come from a fungus...]
NDr Newman
[notices audience murmuring] Yes, that’s the usual response. Fungi seem harmless enough. Many species know otherwise. Because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control. Let me ask you, where do we get LSD from?
HHost
Where do you get it from? [audience laughs]
NNewman
It comes from ergot, a fungus. Psilocybin? Also a fungus. Viruses can make us ill, but fungi can alter our very minds. There’s a fungus that infects insects. Gets inside an ant, for example, travels through its circulatory system to the ant’s brain and then floods it with hallucinogens, thus bending the ant’s mind to its will. The fungus starts to direct the ant’s behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a puppeteer with a marionette. And it gets worse. The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant’s flesh with its own, but it doesn’t let its victim die. No, it... it keeps its puppet alive by preventing decomposition. How? Where do we get penicillin from?
HHost
Fungus? [points at host]
HHost
Dr. Schoenheist, you’re in distress.
SSchoenheist
Fungal infection of this kind is real, but not in humans.
NNewman
True, fungi cannot survive if its host’s internal temperature is over 94 degrees. And currently, there are no reasons for fungi to evolve to be able to withstand higher temperatures. But what if that were to change? What if, for instance, the world were to get slightly warmer? Well, now there is reason to evolve. One gene mutates and an Ascomycota, uh, candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus, any one of them could become capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control not of millions of us, but billions of us. Billions of puppets with poisoned minds permanently fixed on one unifying goal: to spread the infection to every last human alive by any means necessary. And there are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures. They don’t exist. It’s not even possible to make them.
HHost
So if that happens?
[Ellie just knifed a soldier in the knee, prompting everyone to spring up. The soldier points a gun at Joel, who is standing right in front of Ellie]
FSFEDRA Soldier
Get out of the fuckin' way!
Whoa! Whoa! [looks back at Ellie] We can fix this!
FSFEDRA Soldier
Move. Move.
[Joel remembers. The same scenario 20 years later, but with a different kid. The soldier prepares to fire...]
RRAAAHHHH!!!! [leaps at the soldier]
[Joel hammers away at the soldier. He continuously throws punches, letting out all of the rage from Sarah's death, whilst Ellie looks on in awe.]
[on September 24, 2003, Dr Ratna Pertiwi of the University of Indonesia is brought into the Indonesian Health Ministry to analyze a dead woman fully infected with ophiocordyceps fungi. She is distraught at what she saw, and Indonesian Army Lt-Gen Agus Hidayat calms her down with a cup of tea]
[the following dialogue are the official subtitles translated from Bahasa Indonesia]
RPDr Ratna Pertiwi
When did this happen?
LGLt Gen Agus Hidayat
Approximately 30 hours ago.
AAgus
A flour and grain factory on the west side of the city.
RRatna
A perfect substrate. And then?
AAgus
A normal woman, then suddenly violent. Attacked four coworkers, bit three of them. They locked her in a bathroom. The police came, she tried to attack them and they shot her.
RRatna
What happened to the people she bit?
AAgus
They were taken for observation. A few hours later, it became necessary according to procedure to execute them.
RRatna
[curious] Who bit her?
RRatna
So they're still out there. Any other workers missing?
AAgus
Fourteen. [pauses at seeing Ratna visibly distressed and place her teacup and saucer on the table as she breathes heavily] Ibu Ratna, we brought you here to help us keep this from spreading. We need a vaccine. Or a medicine.
RRatna
[recomposes herself] I have spent my life studying these things, so please listen carefully. There is no cure. There is no vaccine.
AAgus
[distraught] So what should we do?
RRatna
[long pause to ponder answer] Bomb. Start bombing. Bomb this city and everyone in it. [nearly in tears as General Agus is shocked at her recommendation] Excuse me, if someone can please drive me home? I would like to be with my family.
[As Ellie and Sam play a game of soccer underground, Joel and Henry -- a self-described "FEDRA Collaborator" -- talk.]
If you were collaborating to take care of him, I... I shouldn't have said what I said. I don't know your situation. And I'm not saying you should let it go, but... all things considered, it seems kinda cruel. To send a whole army after you for that.
HHenry
You know, I wasn't, uh... exactly telling you the truth before. About me not killing someone. There was a man, a great man. Now, he was never afraid. Never selfish. And he was always forgiving. Have you ever met someone like that? The kinda man you'd follow anywhere. I mean, I wanted to. I would've. Yeah, but, uh... Sam, he, uh... he got sick. Leukemia. Yeah, anyway, um... There was one drug that worked and, well, big shock -- there wasn't much left of it. And it belonged to FEDRA. And if I wanted some, it was gonna take something big. So I gave them something big. That one great man. The leader of the Resistance movement in Kansas City. And Kathleen's brother. Yeah, so, you still think they should take it easy on me? Or am I the bad guy? I don't know what you're waiting on, man. I am the bad guy 'cause I did a bad guy thing. But you get it, though. You might not be her father, but you were someone's. See, I can tell.
[Joel stands.]
We've waited long enough.
[Joel is in the midst of discussing Tommy's group's run to Boston, pondering handing Ellie off to the group.]
Ellie. She got infected, but she didn't get sick. [off Tommy's incredulity] Tommy. Tommy, I saw her get bit myself. That was months ago. Months. She's immune.
[Tommy pulls up a chair and slowly sits next to his brother.]
TTommy
From the beginning.
It was Marlene. She hired us to smuggle her to some Fireflies. It went bad. Tess got bit. She made me swear to take the kid. It was her dying wish, what the hell was I supposed to do? We made it as far as KC, and then... y'know, she saved my life there, from another kid. Five years ago, I would've destroyed him, but she had to shoot him to save me. Fourteen years old. Because I was too slow, and too fucking deaf to hear him coming. I saw... I saw a man kill his own brother to save her, while I just watched. And today, I thought that dog was gonna tear her apart because it smelled something on her. And all I did was stand there. I couldn't... move. I couldn't think of anything to say, I just... I was so afraid. You think I can still handle things, but... But I'm not who I was. I'm weak. Lately, there are these moments where the fear comes up out of nowhere and my heart feels like it's stopped. And I have dreams, every night.
TTommy
What kinda dreams?
I don't know. I can't remember. I just know that, when I wake up... I've lost something. I'm failing in my sleep! It's all I do. It's all I've ever done, is fail her! Again and again and again...
TTommy
You want me to take her.
I'm just gonna get her killed, I know it. I know it. I have to leave her.
I mean, it's why you took off on me, right? To make up for the things we did. Well, here's your chance to bring your kid into a better world. You're younger than me, you're still strong, you said yourself -- you'll come back. You have to take her! You can't tell anyone, not even Maria. Tommy, you're the only one I trust. If anyone else sees those bites on her, what's under her skin, they'll... they'll shoot her! It's the last thing I'll ever ask of you. I swear.
[A long beat as Tommy weighs it over.]
TTommy
I'll take her out at dawn.
[Joel enters Ellie's room to find her sitting by the window, reading a 20-year old diary from the previous occupant]
Is this really all they had to worry about? Boys... movies... deciding which shirt goes with which skirt? It's bizarre.
I came here to talk to you.
No, why are you still here? If you're gonna ditch me, ditch me.
What exactly did you hear?
"I have to leave her, you have to take her." You know, I stood up for you today, because I thought... [she trails off]
I made this decision for your own good. You'll be way better off with Tommy. He knows the area better than I do -
[Stands up] Do you give a shit about me or not!?
Then what are you so afraid of? [long beat] I'm not her, you know. [another long beat, as Joel processes what she said] Maria told me about Sarah, and I -
[interrupting, in a quiet, angry tone] Don't. Don't say another word.
[approaching him] I'm sorry about your daughter, Joel. But I have lost people too.
You have no idea what loss is.
Everybody I have cared for has either died, or left me... [shoves him hard, her voice rising to a shout] Everybody, fucking except for you! So don't tell me I'd be safe with somebody else, because the truth is I'd just be more scared!
[beat]
You're right. You're not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain't your dad. Now come dawn, we're going our separate ways.
[Ellie and Riley are attempting to cope with having been bitten. Riley has her gun by her side.]
RRiley
The way I see it, we've got two options. One: We take the easy way out. It's quick, painless... No. No, I don't like Option One. Option Two: We just keep going.
What are you talking about, Riley? It's over.
RRiley
It will be. But not yet. It ends this way for everyone sooner or later, right? Some of us just... get there faster than others. But we don't quit. Whether... it's two minutes, or two days... we don't give that up. I don't wanna give that up. We can just be all poetic and shit and lose our minds together.
RRiley
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
DDavid
You know, you really shouldn't be out here all on your own.
From where I'm sitting, you shouldn't be out here on your own.
DDavid
Fair enough. So what's your name?
[Ellie stays silent.]
DDavid
It's hard to trust strangers, I know -- but I honestly mean you no harm. And for what it's worth? There's room for you in our group, if you want.
You inviting me to your hunger club? Thanks.
DDavid
It's true, we're hungry. But... we're still here. I'm a decent man, just trying to take care of the people who rely on me.
DDavid
Wasn't my choice; it was theirs, but... yes.
They chose to follow you. Is this some weird cult thing?
DDavid
Uh... Well, you sorta kinda got me there, I am a preacher. But just pretty standard Bible stuff. [off Ellie's look] What?
The whole world ended and you still believe that shit.
DDavid
I actually started believing after the world ended. Before that, I was a teacher -- Math. Taught kids about your age.
So you went from teacher to preacher because, what, it fucking rhymes?
DDavid
Well, I found God after the apocalypse, which is either the best time or the worst time to find Him. Hard to say. But when the Pittsburgh QZ fell in '17, Fireflies and FEDRA... I left with a few others and that's how I ended up with our flock.
You're a long way from Pittsburgh.
DDavid
Yep, we'd settle somewhere and then raiders would come, so we'd move again. And as we wandered, we picked up new people along the way until... we ended up here.
Well, your luck had to run out sooner or later.
DDavid
Hm? "Luck"? There's no such thing as luck. No, I... I believe everything happens for a reason. [off Ellie's more incredulous look] It does! It does, I can prove it to you.
DDavid
We didn't expect this winter to be so cruel; nothing'll grow, grain's been hard to find... So I sent four of our people to a nearby town to, to scavenge what they could. And only three of 'em came back. And the one that didn't was a father; he had a daughter just like you, and her dad was taken from her. Turns out, he was murdered by this crazy man -- and get this... That crazy man was travelling with a little girl.
[Ellie shifts.]
DDavid
You see? Everything happens for a reason.
[Ellie is locked in a cell with David, whom she has just discovered is a cannibal. She regards a bowl of mystery meat suspiciously.]
DDavid
For what it's worth, this is just deer meat, I swear.
You're gonna chop me up into little pieces.
DDavid
I'd rather not. Please, just tell me your name.
[Ellie glares daggers into him.]
DDavid
If you wanna judge me...
Judge you?! You're eating people, you sick fuck!
[She kicks the bowl away.]
DDavid
...Yes. There are only a few of us that know, but I would've told you. Sooner or later. I guess "sooner".
DDavid
Well, yes, we all are. That's sort of the point. It was a last resort, you think it doesn't shame me? But what was I supposed to do? Let them starve, these people who put their lives in my hands? Who e-- expect me to keep them safe? Who love me?
DDavid
You don't believe that. I don't think your friend would, either. Didn't he take another man's life to save yours?
He was defending himself.
DDavid
He was defending you. But you knew that. You see a lot. So do I. And you know what I see when I look at you? Me. You remind me of me. You're a natural leader, you're smart, loyal... violent.
You don't know anything about me.
DDavid
But I do. If I let you out of that cage right now? Put that knife of yours in your hand? You'd stick me in a second. You have a violent heart, and I should know. I've always had a violent heart. And I struggled with it for a long time, but then the world ended and I was shown the truth.
DDavid
No. By Cordyceps. What does Cordyceps do, is it evil? No! It's fruitful, it multiplies; it feeds and protects its children, and it secures its future with violence if it must. And they would follow us... Lord knows I could use the help. Look what's happened. Think of what we could do together, as strong as we are? We'd make this place perfect. We'd grow, spread out, and we'd do whatever we needed for our people. [he approaches the cage, covering Ellie's with his own] Imagine the life we could give them. Imagine the life we could build.
[Ellie takes the bait... Then breaks his finger. Tries taking his keys. He punches her, walks towards the door.]
DDavid
You little cunt. Let's see what I go tell the others now.
Tell them that Ellie is the little girl who broke your FUCKING FINGER!
DDavid
How did you put it, hm? "Tiny little pieces"?
[Joel and Ellie enter an abandoned medical facility]
No. Army. They put these places up all around. First few days after the outbreak. Emergency medical camps. Obviously didn't last. They had me in one just like this.
No, she was gone already.
Oh. So what was wrong with you?
[points to the scar on his head] It was for this.
Ah, the guy who shot and missed? I figure that would've happened later.
Well, I gotta hand it to the army people, they were way better at stitching you up than I was...
It was me. [Ellie turns to look back at him] I was the guy who shot and missed.
[Ellie looks horrified. Joel takes the rifle off his back and perches on a concrete barrier. Ellie comes and sits beside him]
There's no story. Sarah died, and I couldn't see the point anymore. Simple as that. And I wasn't scared either. I was ready. I couldn't have been more ready. And when I... when I... [motions] went to pull the trigger, I flinched. Still don't know why. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is -
I know why you're telling me all this.
[beat]
So time heals all wounds, I guess?
[turns to look at her] It wasn't time that did it.
[Ellie looks at him, stunned, as she realises what he meant]
[tearfully] I'm glad that... that didn't work out.
We should probably get going.
[The surviving Fireflies are standing around the graves of the people Joel killed, while Abby Anderson stares at the giraffes in the distance]
MManny
Why would he do this?
NNora
I heard rumours. It was some kid he took that was supposedly -
MMel
[cutting her off] That wasn't true.
MMel
Something. Not. True. Because it isn't possible.
NNora
No. Probably not. And even if it were, it doesn't fucking matter anyway. Not without-
OOwen
Enough. You want to worry about something, worry about us.
MMel
So what do we do? Do we look for other Fireflies?
MManny
Where? This place was the Fireflies.
OOwen
Ed has a brother who runs an outfit in Seattle. A guy named Isaac. Supposedly, he'd take us all in.
AAbby
Not until we find Joel. [They all turn to look at her] We're finding him. [Sees the look on Owen's face]. Yes we are. Yes we are!
OOwen
Alright, let's talk about how. Because here's what we got. He's a smuggler, his name's Joel - or Joe, there's some confusion about that...
AAbby
Fifties, greying, beard, six foot tall, scar on his right temple. [chuckles bitterly] Oh yeah, they say he's handsome. I forgot. With a three-day jump on us. We should have gone after him.
OOwen
He drove away, Abby. In our only working vehicle.
MMel
And we were trying to save the wounded.
AAbby
But we didn't save anyone, did we?
NNora
It's not fucking fair.
AAbby
No. None of this is fucking fair.
OOwen
Abby. [he approaches her] Maybe... Maybe the Seattle crew has resources. They could help us get some sort of lead.
AAbby
You'll help me find him?
OOwen
Yes. We'll help you find him. Then, we'll help you kill him.
[Abby nods, solemnly. Her eyes filling with tears, she approaches a cross, and places the Firefly pendant in her hands over it. There is a long pause as she looks over it, and her expression goes from grief to anger]
AAbby
When we kill him... We kill him slowly.
[Ellie and Jesse are walking through the town on their way to their patrol, and Ellie notices all the preparations going on]
JJesse
Council put the entire town on alert. Last night, Kylie and Max found a pile of dead infected near Seven Cabins. Frozen stiff.
JJesse
They didn't think anything of it, until 30 live ones broke through from underneath the corpses. They're using their own dead like insulation.
JJesse
Yeah. Sprinted back on their horses. Sent a squad out to clear the infected, but now we're thinking we don't know how many are underneath the snow. Could be 30 more. Could be a thousand more.
A thousand? Get the fuck outta here.
JJesse
[chuckling] Ah yes, certainty masquerading as knowledge. It's very Ellie of you.
JJesse
Also, somebody told the council a ghost story about the world's smartest infected, and now everybody's spooked out of their minds.
[irritated] It wasn't a ghost story. You know, no offence man, I'm gonna do my patrol with Joel.
JJesse
Umm... yes, offence, 'cuz that's the one person you've been avoiding like the plague.
Well, we're better now, okay?
JJesse
As of when? Cuz last night-
[shouting] Yeah, I know what happened last night. Can you shut the fu... [catches herself and calms down] My shit with Joel is complicated. I know that. From the outside, it probably looks really bad. It has been really bad. But I'm still me, and he's still Joel, and we... And nothing's ever gonna change that, ever. So you can all stop talking about us, worrying about us, and thinking about us, alright?
JJesse
So you two hashed it out? [Ellie gives him a look that says "what did I just say?"] Uh... alright.
[At the Jackson Hole council meeting]
RRachel
I said that Joel meant so much to so many of us. But he wasn't the only one. I lost my sister that day. A lot of people in here buried family. And now you wanna send, what, you're saying 16 of our best? Well, while they're gone, who's gonna be on the wall if Raiders come? A wall that's barely mended. And none of you up there can promise us that all 16 will come back. So, my heart is with you, Tommy, and Ellie. But we are too hurt, and it is too soon.
MMaria
Thank you, Rachel. [she gets down from her chair] Next is Carlisle.
[Carlisle gets up and clears his throat].
CCarlisle
I'll be quick, cuz this one's simple to me. People came and killed Joel. So why wouldn't we wanna take our vengeance? Well, because we're not supposed to. Forgive, and be forgiven. No grudges, no revenge. And I'm not even a Christian. I've always seen wisdom in that. That's what separates us from the Raiders and the murderers. Our capacity for mercy.
SSeth
Those sons of bitches don't deserve our mercy.
[Ellie looks at him, surprised that he of all people would speak up in Joel's favour]
CCarlisle
Well, of course they don't deserve it. That's what makes it mercy.
SSeth
Well, to hell with that! [rising] And to hell with you for saying it, Carlisle!"
MMaria
You're not on the list!
SSeth
[shouting] No! What the hell are we all talking about, here? Boo-hoo, it's not fair. What, we gotta forgive everybody when they show up and piss in our eye? They came into our house! They took one of ours! My God, somebody shoots your brother, you wanna take the locks off your doors!? Grow up! You idiots, they'll come back. They'll come back because we didn't make 'em pay! And when they come back, they'll be laughing! And you'll all deserve it. Bunch of... goddamn victims. [He sits down].
[Maria crosses Carlisle's name off her list, leaving only Ellie].
[gets to her feet, takes a piece of paper and begins to read] I normally don't write things down, because I normally don't think before I talk. Which has gotten me in trouble before, a lot. And it's cost me in ways that sometimes couldn't be undone. But I can't afford that right now, because I know what I'm asking is a lot. I'm asking us to risk more people and resources, and at the worst possible time. And I want everyone to know it's not because I want revenge. It's not. It's not about revenge. [looking directly at Maria] What I want is what you used to give people. I want justice. Because it's either that, or we do nothing. That's what everyone else out there is going to do for us. Nothing. A whole world of people who won't lift a finger if something bad happens to me or you. We have a word for these people. They're called strangers. Well, I don't think we're strangers to each other. And I wanna know that I can count on you. And I swear, if anyone hurts any of you, or the people you love, you can count on me. [Gail smiles, unconvinced] That's what holds all this together. Not potluck dinners or New Year's Eve dances. Definitely not a wall, because that thing got busted through. But Jackson is still here! I'll accept whatever the council decides. But I am asking you, please... Do what it takes to see that justice is done. Not for me. Not even for Joel. I am asking you, please, do it for us.
[In the back of a FEDRA Troop Carrier in 2018, in the Seattle QZ]
JJanowicz
[laughing, in the middle of a story] Now, the thing about this one night - and you guys know me, like, I'm fuckin' easy on voters, right?
MMorello
That ain't what they say.
JJanowicz
Oh yeah? Well fuck them, because they'd rather have me than Greenberg.
PPatel
Ohhh, this is a Greenberg story.
[The others laugh]
JJanowicz
So, I got three voters against the wall. I caught 'em red-handed disseminating pamphlets.
JJanowicz
I thought it was. Turned out later, it was some religious crap, but I didn't fuckin' know that. So, I call for backup. Guess who shows up?
SSoldiers
[In unison] Greenberg!
JJanowicz
He pulls up, gets out of his truck, he's in a fuckin' mood, okay? I can already tell. And he's all like, [imitating Greenberg] "What are you fuckin' calling for? What, you can't handle three voters? What did these fuckin' pussies even do?" I say, "I caught them out here disseminating." And he goes, [imitating Greenberg] "What? You fuckin' perverts are out here jerking off and splooging on my streets?" [more laughter and a "holy shit!" from the other soldiers] I swear to God. So, one of the voters turns back to look at me, like, "Are you gonna tell him?" I look back at him like, "Fuck no." That's when the guy decides to open his mouth anyway and goes, "Well, actually, the word disseminate means..." and boom! Greenberg slams his head against the wall. There goes his teeth, just blood fuckin' everywhere. And... And Greenberg goes, "No-one asked you, jizz boy!"
[The squad all laugh some more]
BBurton
[nervously] Wh-why do you call them that? [Janowicz looks at him in confusion] The citizens. Why do you call them "voters"?
JJanowicz
I dunno. Cuz that's what we fucking call 'em. Who cares?
IDIsaac Dixon
[from the back of the carrier, looking up from under his riot helmet] Cuz we took away their rights. Took away their right to vote, and somebody started calling them "voters" to mock them. So now you know.
JJanowicz
[embarrassed] I didn't mean anything by it, Sergeant.
IDIsaac Dixon
Of course you didn't. You're thoughtless.
[Ellie and Dina are snuggling together after having sex for the first time]
DDina
I thought you were gone. And then all of a sudden, this future I was imagining... wasn't gonna happen. Where we're together, and we have a kid, and... I don't even know if you want that.
DDina
I'm sorry it took so long. I knew how you felt about me.
[surprised] How? I was hiding it really well.
DDina
[laughing] No, you kind of fucking weren't. I'm sorry! I wanted to.
DDina
When I was little, I told my mother I liked boys, and I liked girls. And she said, "No, you like boys." And it just... I got... stuck. Even after she died, it... I tried to make things work with Jesse, because I like him. I do, I think he's a really good guy. But he wasn't the one. Still kept trying anyway. Couldn't let myself just... be.
DDina
Not everyone's as brave as you.
I'm not brave. I'm just obvious.
