The words rebound off his ears at first. Tess and Sarah are here. It's such a ridiculous, wildly impossible thing to hear Ellie say that all Joel does for a moment or two is just stare at her blankly.

Again, he shifts on the spot; he shifts his weight from his right foot to his left foot. Tess. And Sarah. The mere thought of their names conjures up things he don't want to think about. Tess shoving him hard, telling him to go, fucking go, terror written all over her hard expression. Him ordering Ellie to get a move on while walking slowly backwards, staring at Tess, grief starting to claw its way up his chest.

And Sarah, oh Jesus, Sarah. Her empty, lifeless eyes staring up at him while she lay in his arms. The cold, numb shock that had sliced into him at realising why she was staring up at him like that. How suddenly heavy and limp her body was as he pulled her to him, despairing grief rising up his throat like bile while he rocked back and forth, sobbing, holding her.

As quick as those thoughts appear in his mind, he just as quickly squashes back down on them. He sets his jaw, clenches it tight. Takes a half-step back, his eyes hardening.

"The hell do you mean by that?" he answers, his tone suddenly low, almost dangerous.

Why the fuck would Ellie say something like that?