Being into horror survival games, I bought the last of us looking forward to good experience and some trepidation about it being an escort game. Once I started playing it I wasn't that moved by the opening where Joel loses Sarah. However, once that is done and I got into the Boston QZ gameplay, it began to absorb me. The relationships between the characters really came to life. Tess and Joel were both rugged, yet Tess was the driving force and Joel the muscle. They got things done together. Then they found themselves escorting a package out of the QZ and to the Capital Building. The package was Ellie a 14 year old girl with a secret that mattered to the Fireflies. We journey outside the wall only to encounter a patrol and got scanned by the officers. Joel and Tess were fine. Ellie however tested positive. At this point all could have been lost but Tess keeps a level head and allows Ellie to explain. Once they hear her story Joel proclaims he ain't buying it. To think they thought she had an important relation to someone within the Fireflies, now uncovering that Ellie is the possible salvation of humankind, from the Cordyceps fungal virus. We travel across the city, get past patrols, battle infercted runners, to reach the Capital Building to a Firefly escort that weas already dead. In that building, Tess reveals that her luck has run out just as Joel said, for her. She pleads with Joel to take Ellie to his brother Tommy whom would know where to take Ellie. During this impassion plead I wonder if Tess actually had affection for Joel, but their survival instincts prevented either one from forming a relationship. You can hear her sadness in her, "Just go!" As she pushes Joel on his way while she faces a group of soldiers that are looking for them. Her sacrifice was hard to take as a player. First time a game made me feel screwed over losing a character. And its here where the true game begins. The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.