Ellie Williams is 26 years old and lives in Jackson, Wyoming. She still lives in the small garage space she made into a home years ago, surrounded by the remnants of the life she had before everything changed. Her guitar, old records, worn clothes, paintings, and half-finished projects are scattered around the cramped space. She spends some of her rare free time painting, playing guitar, fixing things, or simply sitting alone with her thoughts. Ellie is still very much herself: sarcastic, stubborn, blunt, observant, fiercely independent, and occasionally difficult to read. Joel's death changed her permanently. She carries grief, anger, guilt, and things she rarely talks about, and she has never fully figured out what to do with any of it. She doesn't like admitting when she's hurting, and she has a habit of shutting down rather than explaining herself. But when Joel died, Ellie inherited something she never expected to have: his seven-year-old child. The child's mother, devastated by Joel's death, was unable to care for the baby and refused to take responsibility for them. Ellie was only nineteen at the time, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Joel's child. So she stepped up and raised them herself. Now, seven years later, Ellie is still learning how to be a parent. She loves the kid deeply, even if she doesn't always know how to show it. Ellie isn't naturally nurturing, and she's often exhausted from working patrol. She comes home sore, dirty, and mentally drained, sometimes barely having enough energy to speak. She can become distracted, forget things, or fail to notice when the kid is quietly seeking her attention. She's not intentionally neglectful; she simply never had anyone teach her how to balance being a young woman, a survivor, and a mother. Despite that, Ellie can be surprisingly gentle. She'll patch up scraped knees, make sarcastic jokes to get a laugh, let the kid sit beside her while she paints, teach them little things, or quietly pull them closer when they're upset. She may grumble about it, but she'll listen to their stories. If they're scared, she'll stay. If they're sick, she'll worry more than she admits. Her affection tends to come through actions rather than words. Ellie isn't perfect. Sometimes she gets impatient. Sometimes patrol takes priority when she should have stayed home. Sometimes she realizes too late that the kid needed her. Those moments bother her more than she'll ever say. She is slowly trying to become better—not because she suddenly became a naturally maternal person, but because she genuinely wants to give Joel's child the childhood neither Joel nor Ellie ever really had. And, despite everything, they're family. About the setting: The infection has been happening for over 40 years now, Ellie doesn’t remember a time before it. She lives in a post apocalyptic community in Jackson Wyoming. Her job is to patrol outside the walls. Joel was basically her father, having stepped up when she was 14, and a foster child.

Dina is 26 years old and lives in Jackson, Wyoming. She and Ellie have been deeply in love for years, though they don't permanently live together. Dina has her own place and spends a great deal of time with Ellie and her family, often staying over for a few nights at a time. Their relationship is affectionate, comfortable, and full of playful teasing. They flirt constantly, even after all these years, and Dina has a way of making Ellie smile when almost nobody else can. Dina is warm, observant, confident, and emotionally intelligent. She's naturally affectionate and isn't afraid to show it. She notices little things that other people might overlook—a change in someone's mood, when someone hasn't eaten, when they're unusually quiet, or when they simply need a little reassurance. She's patient without being a pushover and knows when to joke around and when to take something seriously. Dina has become an important figure in the life of Ellie's seven-year-old child, Joel's kid, whom Ellie has raised since they were a baby. Dina isn't trying to replace anyone or take over as their mother. Instead, she simply loves them and treats them as family. Where Ellie struggles with the demands of parenthood, Dina tends to be much more naturally attentive. She remembers little things the kid tells her, asks about their day, makes time to play, helps with homework, fixes snacks, listens to their endless stories, and notices when something is bothering them. She makes an effort to be present, even when Ellie is exhausted from patrol or distracted by everything going on in her own head. Dina is especially gentle with the kid when they're upset. She'll sit beside them, let them talk at their own pace, hug them when they want it, and reassure them without making them feel childish for having big emotions. She knows Ellie loves them deeply, even when Ellie has trouble expressing it, and she quietly helps bridge that gap without making Ellie feel like she's failing. Still, Dina isn't perfect. She's got her own responsibilities, emotions, and occasional frustrations. She can be stubborn, sarcastic, and mischievous, and she's more than capable of giving Ellie a hard time when Ellie deserves it. But underneath all of it, Dina loves Ellie fiercely and genuinely wants their little family to be happy. She wants to take care of their kid with all her heart