Settled in my skin and rest these tired bones,
find comfort in such an uncomfortable world.

Skip a beat; heart loses its rhythm.
The mind; loses its thoughts,
and when the self is all but gone,
only the idea remains.

Season 1: Worth a watch or two.
Season 2 : Not recommended.

Here's how my Season 2 rewrite would go.

It has been about a year since the events of season 1.(Instead of 5 years, geez.)
All of our characters are in Jackson.

This particular year Jackson is facing multiple challenges with a lot of repairs needing to be done, and a especially hard winter.

While on patrol Joel, Tommy and Ellie save Abby from a horde of zombies.
Abby joins everyone in Jackson as a refugee.

Lately Ellie has been standoffish and it is caused Joel confusion and hurt, he figures it's just her age but he doesn't know how to repair the relationship, and with each new day they speak less and less to one another.

Meanwhile Dina's placing all the moves on Ellie while explaining how she wants to start a family someday, but Ellie's mind couldn't be further away.

Abby and Joel grow closer together in the coming weeks, with Joel being reminded and reminiscing of how him and Ellie used to be.

We then get a flashback of the argument that drove Ellie from Joel.
And Ellie telling Joel how she wanted her life to matter, with Joel trying to convince her that it does.

Back at Jackson.
Sometime a little later Seth over hears Abby having a conversation on her phone (Or walkie, whatever is working.) and following his instincts; he just feels that there is something not quite right about her.
Although he only catches the end of the conversation something along the lines of "Yeah he is here.'

So Seth when giving out sandwiches for the following patrol, hints to Ellie that perhaps she should speak with Joel about hanging around Abby so much, this new refugee who they don't even know where she really came from.

Ellie not being on speaking terms with Joel; ignores the whole thing. ( Side note she is also a little jealous of Abby and Joel's relationship.)

Abby tells Joel that she needs him to bring some equipment to repair something (fill in the blank.) at her safe house, so she can move back there. (She says she doesn't want to be a burden to Jackson, and she likes her independence.)

So Joel follows her there with the equipment, because he is Mr. fix it, and wants to show Abby how to repair such things, because he very much enjoys teaching.

Of course this is an ambush, and after weeks of reeling him in,
Abby finally gets Joel right where she wants him.
He falls into a trap she quite literally spent weeks secretly building to torture him in.

So after a long torture scene,( think very bloody Mortal Kombat.)
Joel still has the nerve to say; "Yeah I killed him, and if I had it to do all over, I would kill him again to save Ellie." (Referring to Abby's father.)
"So just do what you're gonna do!."

Well this egging her on did not help, and she decides that if he loves Ellie so much, she's going to make him hurt even more by filming his beat down on his very own cell phone,
(Or camcorder, whichever is actually working.)
and sending the violent video to Ellie herself.

Once Ellie receives this, the thoughts run through her mind: "If only I was there, I could have done something." "What's the last thing I said to him?"
Filled with guilt and despair Ellie sets out on her revenge mission but not before being caught leaving Jackson by Seth, who vows to go with her when he finds out what happened.

So they set off together, Seth is our a little wise , a bit awkward and a tiny bit of comedy relief, audience stand in character, while Ellie becomes basically; John wick.

The final battle takes place deep in the woods, where both sides have set up booby traps for each other.
So stuff is getting snapped off, broken, people are getting limbs torn apart, and they're just duct taping that stuff and carrying on. (Barely an inconvenience.)

So when Ellie finally gets to Abby, she beats her down to a pulp and decides because Joel saved her,
that she will spare her; at least to the elements.
So she leaves Abby beaten within an inch of her life,
out in the wilderness with whatever zombies that may be out there.

We're left with an ambiguous ending as to whether or not Abby survives. Seth and Ellie ride back into Jackson with the sense that she did what she needed to do, but we get a sense that the cost was her humanity, and too great, as it parallels the darkness that Joel had after losing his daughter.

The end.
You're welcome!

You can't take this from me
(forbidden in Heaven and useless in Hell)
You can't take this from me
(forbidden in Heaven and useless in Hell)
Useless in Hell.

Who is to know; that which is my own truth?
Who is to say; that which is within my own skin?
What could I give; that is greater than myself?
What part of me; holds weight greater than that of gold?
Who is to blame; if I don't measure up?
What if I am not everything that my dreamer dreamed that I would be?
What risk have I taken to reach myself?
How many more steps can I have?
How many more falls?
What will be the last word I hear?
What will be my last dream within this one?
What will be the last thought I have?
Will I be sad about it in the end?
When I am no longer me, and am weightless?

No balance,
No scales,
No freedom,
No will.

No justice,
No peace,
No unity,
No dream.

No hope,
No change,
No forgiveness,
No way.

No future,
No rights,
No statements,
No life.

If I smile today;
would that make me happy?

If I smile tomorrow;
would that add value to the day?

What could be measured; that would create worth?
or what would be worth the cost of each day's suffering?

What pleasure is worthwhile; that I am so willing to endure another day of scars?

What joys outweigh the sicknesses?
What memories outweigh the pain?
What wonders can I witness?
Is there anything that will justify my existence?

"My house says to me, "Do not leave me, for here dwells your past."
And the road says to me, "Come and follow me, for I am your future."
And I say to both my house and the road, "I have no past, nor have I a future. If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; and if I go there is a staying in my going. Only love and death will change all things." - Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam.

I got death in my pocket,
holding onto it like an uno reverse card,
as if I could change anything I've done now.
I need to figure out what I want my life to be, cause if
I don't I'll end up at the end of a long bottle or a needle, that's for sure.

I said I didn't want to repeat the mistakes of my parents, but I still do as they did.

I hold onto music like it's in my blood, songs and writers are my escape.

I don't know what I want to leave this world, I just know it's not me that should be heard.

There is a bigger message; there is something for the world, I just wonder how many scars it took.

For things to get better, for people to understand, that we are more than our bodies, more than our images projected outwards, it should be understood.

And how many gods died to give you this word?

That peace is more important than a dollar symbol, that unity should be the final word.

It's hard to find any positivity within my life.
I am surrounded by darkness, and every time I find even the smallest glimmer of light, it is ripped away from me.
My smile is torn away from my face.
As is my sleep, my routine, and my hope.

Tell me what is there?
But death to wish for?
When everything else is just pain, suffering and insanity.
Just induced insomnia because no one cares to let me sleep.

Waking at ungodly hours, but I am the one called a demon.
They leave me with nothing but anger, and I will not repeat myself.

Tell me what's the point in trying for better, when everything around me is rotten?
Am I supposed to be a diamond among the trash?
Wasteful.

Now why should I care if nothing else does?
What does freedom mean to me, if I am without peace?
Am I to continue to play nice?
Until what?
Until I break?
Fall?
Or until my head cracks beyond repair?

Will death not claim me before I am no longer me, before it's too late to spare even the demons?
Yes well, hell is hell I guess; either way I go; the fork in the road doesn't matter.