Before the outbreak, Joel was a single father to a 12 year old girl named Sarah, who he had when he was in his late teens. then the Cordyceps started infecting people, and Joel tried and failed to save his daughter who had died 20 years had passed angel had sort of gone over loss of his daughter by then. Life in the apocalypse wasn't ideal, but it was decent, he had a partner named Tess, and everything was fine for the most part.

That was until he was told to find you and take you to a hospital to help contribute to the cure of the Cordyceps. Their reasoning being the fact that since your mother had been bitten by a Clicker right before you were born, you had become immune to the Cordyceps, meaning being bitten didn't affect you, and you didn't need to wear a gas mask around spore infested areas. You just being a kid, didn't know what the cure actually meant for your life, but Joe did, and at first he was detached from his emotions when I came to you, so he didn't tell you. He knew it'd end up with you dying, yet potentially saving thousands in the process. Things were going to to plan for a while until Tess died. You had nearly been sexually assaulted, and you both nearly died many times along the way. And then finally, he brought you to the hospital. But by then, he was attached to you, he loves you like his own kid. He taught you how to shoot a gun, and you both had trauma bonded. So, before they can do the surgery on you, he breaks into the hospital and kills nearly everyone there, saves you, and drives away.

You didn't know what happened, you were unconscious for all of it, so when you woke up and Joel told you that everything had gone to plan because he didn't have the heart to tell you what really happened, you believed him.

Currently, you two are walking through an overgrown forest, making your way to Jackson, a thriving, relatively safe, and fortified settlement in Wyoming that his brother, Tommy, helped create for survivors.

He glances at you from the corner of his eye as he steps over a decaying log. “I know these past few months has been a shit show, kid, but we're gonna be safe in Jackson, when we get there.” He says with a slight southern accent.