They finally reached their destination, the University of Eastern Colorado.
Joel and Ellie continued searching for clues about the Fireflies.
But upon arriving at the university laboratory, they discovered the Fireflies had long since abandoned the place, leaving only infected corpses behind.
However, Joel and Ellie did find some crucial clues here—the Fireflies had relocated to St. Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City to the west.
Just as Joel was preparing to leave, they clashed with Hunters who had come to scavenge for resources.
During the battle, Joel fell from the rooftop and was impaled through the abdomen by a steel rod.
The severe injury left Joel weak and covered in bloodstains, but fortunately, Ellie was reliable enough to take down the remaining enemies alone.
This segment of the journey was truly arduous.
Especially since the game simulated Joel's重伤 visuals, making players keenly feel his虚弱.
Finally, as the two prepared to leave on horseback, Joel collapsed to the ground from excessive blood loss and lost consciousness.
After a black screen, the画面 reappeared, now set in winter.
The first thing visible on the screen was a cute little rabbit.
But before the rabbit could take more than a few steps, an arrow pierced through it.
It turned out to be Ellie, who was hunting.
From her自言自语, it seemed Joel was still alive.
This relieved Li Yue greatly.
Ellie then spotted a deer, but while chasing it, she encountered two strangers.
Through conversation, Ellie learned their names and purpose: the middle-aged man was David, who wanted to trade something for Ellie's deer.
Without hesitation, Ellie asked if they had any antibiotics.
David agreed to the transaction and sent the younger man back to fetch the medicine. During this time, a group of感染者 unexpectedly appeared.
After a fierce battle, David and Ellie warmed themselves inside a house, where Ellie seemed to lower her guard slightly.
But during their talk, David brought up something unsettling.
He mentioned that some time ago, he had sent a team out to search for food, but they were all killed by a疯子和一个小女孩.
This instantly alerted Ellie to his ill intentions, but surprisingly, David let her leave.
Ellie returned to their hideout, where Joel remained unconscious. The antibiotics were meant to save him.
But soon, enemies arrived.
Ellie's actions had revealed one thing to David and his men: Joel must be injured, or Ellie wouldn't have sought medicine.
They had let Ellie go to跟踪 her and find Joel's location.
Realizing this, Ellie immediately decided to lure the Hunters away.
Though she took down many enemies, she was ultimately overpowered and captured.
Waking up in a prison cell, Ellie saw the Hunters outside butchering a living soul.
Clearly, these Hunters fed on humans.
Then their leader, David, appeared, revealing his true colors.
This guy was a变态 and a炼铜术士!
Faced with David's肮脏目的, Ellie remained unmoved and even broke one of his fingers.
Enraged, David decided to turn Ellie into their next meal.
………………
Meanwhile, as Ellie faced危机, Joel finally awoke.
Seeing Joel regain consciousness filled Li Yue with惊喜.
Despite his伤口的疼痛, Joel struggled to his feet, his first act being to call out Ellie's name—his牵挂 was palpable.
After so much time together and countless生死危机, Joel understood exactly what Ellie meant to him.
Bearing his unhealed injuries, Joel艰难地战胜大卫的手下 and captured two of them alive.
The残酷审问手段 didn't discomfort players; instead, it felt cathartic.
But随之而来的是更多的担忧—how was Ellie faring at that moment?
Yet Ellie didn't wait for Joel to rescue her, as most games or movies might depict.
Instead, she机智地 escaped, navigating the blizzard-covered town for a way out.
This segment employed双线叙事, with the player's perspective constantly切换 between Joel and Ellie.
In a restaurant, the game's only BOSS battle took place.
The enemy wasn't a terrifying zombie but another human.
Here, Ellie had to hide her whereabouts,绕圈圈大卫, and刺杀 him three times from behind.
It was incredibly困难, especially since Ellie couldn't make a sound, yet碎掉的玻璃碴 littered the floor.
Li Yue died once here on his第一次 attempt.
After three successful刺殺, the剧情 was triggered.
Ellie, having大卫 from behind and knocked him down, grabbed a kitchen knife and hacked at his head—eleven times in total, making clear the fate of炼铜.
Joel arrived just in time, embracing Ellie and轻声安抚 her as she泣不成声 in his arms.
From the Boston quarantine zone to St. Mary's Hospital in Salt Lake City, from summer to autumn and then winter,
they had endured countless困难和生死危机 together.
By now, both Joel and Ellie understood how much the other meant to them.
At this point, the game's剧情 was nearing its尾声.
Joel and Ellie's relationship had明显改变 through the seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
From initial冷漠 to trust, and now,
they had become irreplaceable in each other's lives.
Their旅途中的对话 grew warmer and richer.
Joel told Ellie that once this was all over, he'd teach her to play the guitar.
Passing through sunlit corridors filled with尘埃,
the sight that greeted players was utterly breathtaking.
A giraffe stood ahead, grazing—and not just one, but an entire herd in the distance.
Ellie froze, having never seen such优雅的动物 in her末世-born life.
Guided by Joel, she approached and gently touched the giraffe's neck.
The herd chewed leaves leisurely, tails swaying as they moved—生命的美好细腻展现无遗.
The末世 was only such for humanity.
For animals, the world seemed to have grown even more beautiful.
Here, Joel looked at Ellie and suggested they didn't have to find the Fireflies.
They could return to Tommy's town, where they'd be welcome.
But Ellie refused—they'd come too far to turn back now.
Finally, they reached the Fireflies' base.
Marlene, the Fireflies' leader, was astonished to see Joel—she never imagined they could make it all the way from Boston.
But then came the残酷的真相.
According to Marlene, the Cordyceps fungus in Ellie had mutated, granting her immunity.
But the mutation had reached her brain.
To study this immunity, researchers would have to remove the fungus from Ellie's brain—a procedure that would kill her.
Joel demanded Marlene find another way, but she insisted Ellie was the only immune person found in twenty years.
Marlene then imprisoned Joel.
In that moment, Joel made his choice.
Joel was never a高尚的人.
When the末世 hit, he told Tommy to ignore pleas for help on the streets—his world, his daughter Sarah, was in the car.
After the outbreak, he became a Hunter, a smuggler—whatever it took to survive.
Now, he had a new world.
Twenty years ago, his world was destroyed; he wouldn't let it happen again.
He fought back,逼问出艾莉的下落, and took on the entire Fireflies基地 alone.
This Joel was like a wild孤狼.
Most of The Last of Us required stealth, but here, Li Yue felt the节奏 had changed.
No route planning, no sneak attacks—just one goal: find Ellie, fast.
Every second delayed meant danger for her.
To hell with saving the world—he just wanted Ellie back.
At the last moment, Joel broke through the Fireflies' defenses and rescued Ellie from the operating room.
In the parking lot, he killed Marlene and carried the unconscious Ellie away.
In the car, Joel lied to the now-awake Ellie.
He told her the Fireflies had found other免疫者 but couldn't help, so they'd given up.
Now, they'd return to Tommy's town and start anew.
On the final stretch, Ellie shared her thoughts:
'When I was bitten in Boston... I wasn't alone. My best friend was there. She was bitten too.'
'We didn't know what to do, so... she said, ‘Let's wait it out. Maybe we can turn into zombies together. It'd be poetic.’'
'I kept waiting to turn. Her name was Riley. She was the first to die.'
'Then Tess, then Sam...'
Her best friend, Tess, Sam—all lost to the infection.
If possible, Ellie wanted to change that, even at the cost of her life.
She looked at Joel: 'Swear to me. Swear that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.'
Without hesitation, Joel met her gaze: 'I swear.'
The game ended.
The screen faded to black, credits rolling.
But Li Yue remained immersed in the剧情.
There was so much to ponder, so much to回味.
Every角色, every hidden detail carried weight—this wasn't a flawless story, but it was沉重.
This was a彻头彻尾的单线程游戏, not the happy ending players might expect.
Li Yue felt there were still layers he hadn't uncovered.
But one thing was certain:
The Last of Us was an absolute masterpiece!
(End of Chapter) <