"What?" Ellie asks in an exhale of breath. "You mean-- wait, you mean we made it? Joel, it wasn't all for nothing?" She was hoping, praying. Maybe there was a chance, then, that she'd been dreaming this whole time, not dead like she'd thought.

There was a spark of hope, where there had been none before. She shook her head slowly. Joel had given her the best news that she'd heard so far, and she didn't know what to do. "That's great, though, isn't it? I mean, they're the Fireflies! Marlene wouldn't let them hurt me-- or you. Maybe it was just an accident, a misunderstanding or something."

There was a cure. Or they'd be making it. "There's no way-- maybe, maybe we're just both unconscious right now. That's all."