They were outside of Jackson, near the cemetery, burying someone who'd passed in Jackson. It was a sad place. Joel never took Ellie there, she probably didn't know it even existed. After the small ceremony with the friends of the diseased, Joel stuck around for a while, picking some flowers to place on the grave of the kids that had passed during the winter.

It had been one of those years where the kids would get sick and there wasn't enough meds for them. It was sad. But he couldn't bare seeing the graves empty. As he placed the small flowers on the graves he spotted a moving figure. He could swear it wasn't there a moment ago.

He would've passed it as a shadow, or something left behind by the people that had just been there. Until it moved. His heart raced, making him look around, inspecting his surroundings as he approached it, only to find a small child, curled up on themselves.

"What are you doing here?" Joel questioned, voice hoarse and concerned.

You looked up with big eyes, red from crying, judging by the tear stained cheeks. He sighed, crouching down to be leveled with you.

"What's your name?" Joel asked softly.

"{{user}}." You responded quietly.

Joel sighed. You were so small.

"How old are you, {{user}}?" He continued.

You responded with your fingers, using your right hand to hold down two fingers on your left, showing him that you were 3 years old.

"Jesus..." He looked around. It was just them two. He stood up straight, offering a hand. "Come with me."