The Last Of Us | kaiju paradise

chapter 1

I was working in the cafeteria, as that's my common job. I make the food and serve everyone breakfast and lunch. Today was burgers, and I'd like to think I make amazing burgers. I season the burgers, unlike most people. As I cook the burgers, my close friend and co-worker, Wilson walks in. I wave and he waves back, a warm smile on his face. I wonder what he's doing here so early.

"Hey, Wil!"

"Hi, Y/n. How are you?"

"Doing good, how about you? What brings you here before lunch, hm?" I tease him with a grin. "Couldn't wait to taste my amazing food?"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "No, your food is always good. No judge needed."

"Aw, why, thank you!"

"I've come because we have an emergency in sector two. I'm advising you to lock down and don't worry too much, I'll be outside protecting the entrance in case anything happens."

A frown etched my face and I sighed, taking the burgers off the grill and putting them in the buns, finishing lunch preparation. These types of burgers were made so it didn't take a long time for them to thoroughly cook so we wouldn't have to worry if we needed a quick snack. We also have cake, ice cream and other foods, although it is a limited variety. We have burgers, cake, ice cream cones and ice cream sandwiches, regular sandwiches, lemons for water and lemonade, fries, watermelon, ect.

"Alright, thanks for the warning. Stay safe out there."

"I will, you too."

As he left, I pulled down the metal door that would cover the front, like a concession stand, and locked it. I walked to the entrance door in the back and locked it as well. I was grateful I had weapons on hand, as we had weapons scattered around the facility in case of emergencies like this. But we've never had many problems, except for the shitty wiring.

I sat on the floor for a while, waiting for it to be clear. Then, I heard loud crashing and a scream, obviously from Wilson. I grabbed my heavy metal bat and quickly unlocked the door, running out. Wilson was now on the floor, bleeding from his arm and his left eye, his arm wound more severe than his eye. There was a deformed body by the bathroom entrance, he didn't know what it was but assumed it was the thing that attacked him.

"Holy shit! Wilson what happened? What is that thing?"

I run over and help him up, examining his wounds. He would be okay but that shoulder wound looked nasty, I hope it doesn't get infected. Wilson breaths heavily, trying to catch his breath. He looks terrified.

"God— I don't know. I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom so I opened it and some furry creature came running at me and attacked me! I don't know what it was but it is huge."

I looked back at the body once more, he was right, whatever it is, it had to be over 6 feet. I got up to go and look at it, but he stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"No, leave it there. The clean up crew will come dispose of its body, I already called for them."

But I was still worried. What was it? Would more come? Would there be more attacks? I have so many questions. How did it get in anyways? The facility is heavily guarded and is literally underground. I hoped that this wouldn't happen again, we don't need more wounded workers.

"Alright. C'mon then." I helped him up and he put an arm around my shoulder to help stable himself, since standing up would further worsen his shoulder if he tried to get up. I helped him back into the cafe and sat him down on a table, I hurried to a shelf in the cafe and grabbed a medkit. I went back over and opened the box, pulling out rubbing alcohol for cleaning his wound and gauze.

"Be warmed, this will hurt." I told him as I removed his jacket and pushed up his shoulder sleeve carefully. He didn't say anything, but watched as I poured the rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball before gently placing it on his wound and cleaning his wound. He clenched his teeth and fists, clearly in pain because of the burning feeling. Afterwards I examined the now clean wound, his shoulder had identical deep wound markings in his shoulder, cutting open his skin. He would definitely need stitches, I looked up at him and slightly grimaced at the thought.

"Wilson, this wound is bad. You need more than cleaning and gauze. You need stitches, but there's only so much that stitches can do for you. You might have to be released fr—"

"No! If I need stitches give me the damn stitches! I'm not leaving you guys just because I got hurt. I've been through worse than this and you guys need me! I am not letting that happen. We will not speak of how terrible the wound is. We will tell them it needed stitches but is a minor wound and I'll be okay." He glared up at me with a stubborn look on his face. Wilson loved his team more than anything and wouldn't just leave because he got hurt.   Everyone gets hurt sometimes but they never get released from the team, so why would they suggest he should?

I don't respond, looking into the hallway to see the clean up crew taking hold of the body and carrying it away. A  few minutes later the rest of the crew came in, coming over with worried looks. They had heard what happened to Wilson it seemed.

"Shit, man. You okay?" Xavier's eyes gazed at his wound then back up at him worriedly. "That looks pretty bad."

"Yeah." Owen agreed.

I look at them with a smile. "He'll be okay. He just needs stitches and wrap them in gauze." I tell them, pulling it put from the box. "Lunch is already finished, burgers today. They're on the counter, feel free to help yourself. I made plenty. Drinks in the fridge or the vending machine as always."

"Thanks, Y/n! You make the best food."

"Of course." I chuckle. "It is my job after all, and I didn't take culinary classes for nothing on the surface."

As everyone eats, I think about my family on the surface. I wonder how they're doing. None of us have gone to the surface since we joined the facility, Its been years. There's just a separate and very well protected room where they live normally and sleep, no one can get in unless they have a card. When it's light and they need a nap, they prefer to sleep in the pink laser barricade. We had no idea where it came from but it seemed to protect us. But when its black out or power outage, the barriers disappear. No power, no barricade. I would need to figure out what keeps making our generators go out or go low power mode at random, usually night.

We'd have to stay awake throughout the blackouts and powerouts. We would all have weapons in case of attack. I never really thought about it much— attacks were not common here. I've heard about it every now and then of a rumor of a creature that was large and pitch black with glowing markings and goggles. Rumor was, if you saw it, you were already dead. It's an extremely powerful creature but I'd never really believed the stories. After what I witnessed today, I'm starting to wonder if those rumors were true.

I sigh and put my face to my hands, taking a deep breath. I was really starting to regret coming here.. but i had no choice. With the outbreaks on the surface, Laminax needed more workers. I wanted to take my family with me but they refused and told me it was for the best.

"God... what I'd do to see my little brother again." I mutter under my breath, deep guilt settling in. They were probably gone by now, if we are being real— in this reality, it's quite literally an apocalypse. I wanted to see my family more than anything, i hope they were safe and that they found a way out of there. If anything, the surface was covered in fumes and puddles of who knows what.

"One day I'll make my way back to the surface."