This is Not the Last of Us

Chapter 12

Spring had finally come. The snow had fully melted and given way to beautiful greens and luscious new growths. They had traveled a good distance now, but the Winter still lived in all of their heads.

For the adults, it was a moment of great shame for them. Their failure to protect their children, and the fact that there was nothing they could do to make it better for them. Their daughters had been reduced to shells of themselves. They were less talkative and more reserved, they avoided talking about anything that may bring them discomfort. Both of them had begun to hide a little bit from the adults, almost as if they were ashamed.

As they traveled, the girls had at the very least found comfort in one another. They stuck together, even going so far as to share blankets and sleep next to one another. They often held hands as they walked, as if they were one person, joined at the hand.

The girls were currently staring at a deer that had been etched into the highway's cement median strip. Ellie was playing with (Y/N)'s fingers, almost absentmindedly. And (Y/N) was simply staring at the art, struck by the beautiful design on it. It looked as if it were galloping across the median, running towards something it would never reach.

"Girls!" Joel called them gently.

The two girls turned and saw the three men staring at them. Joel raised his arms as if saying 'what's the hold up'.

"Did you girls hear me?" Joel asked the both of them.

"Uh, no, sorry," Ellie answered for them, "What's up?"

"Look," Joel pointed at the highway sign that announced the hospital, "The hospital, Ellie. This is where we'll get off."

"Oh." Ellie said suddenly, she hadn't realized how close they were.

(Y/N) subconsciously rubbed Ellie's knuckles.

"Why don't we get going?" Seth offered with his signature bright smile. "We'll wanna get there before sundown."

The three men had been almost desperately trying to cheer the girls up for months without much luck. Seth was a doctor after all, he was familiar with the symptoms of PTSD. That being said, he wasn't a psychologist, he couldn't make their brains better for them. He understood they had to work through it on their own, but he felt it wouldn't hurt for the adults to try and 'ground' them in a sense.

Seth had tried everything; telling Ellie dumb jokes, trying to convince the girls to talk about it, making them special dinners with whatever he could find, and even telling them embarrassing stories about his own childhood.

It always worked — maybe for a few seconds, maybe a day, but never more than two days before they circled back to their isolating behavior. Seth wished he could understand them. If he could just get onto a relatable level with the two girls, maybe he could make it better for them. At the same time, he understood how impossible that was. How do you comfort two children that had been forcibly turned into murderers? Especially after what had happened there? The two of them had seen what humanity was capable of at its most depraved. Was it even something that could be forgotten?

And to make matters worse, his daughter had gotten a scar on her palm from squeezing one of the broken plates. It tore through her skin and caused a permanent injury on her. She would never be able to forget that moment of her life. It would always walk alongside her.

If only they had gotten there faster. Better yet — if only he had never gotten hurt at all. If he hadn't gotten hurt, then they would have never had to settle down in that town. The girls could have continued to live quiet, happy lives. They could have continued to hold their innocence in some regard.