Look For The Light

Road To Safety

Please see the Notes for this story. I love THE LAST OF US show and the video game! So here's my What-If fiction. I want Ellie and Joel to be happy, damnit! As always, I OWN NOTHING! This is just for fun!
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They had taken shelter in a decaying skyscraper to get out of the rain and rest. He observed his kids sign to each other about what happened earlier. The trip through the tunnels to get to the wall was no problem. It was getting past the guards that proved to be the first obstacle. He closed his eyes and remembered the fear that gripped his chest as his family was forced to their knees. He remembered begging to make a deal and work it out. When the guards turned to his children it was like something broke in him. Suddenly it wasn't Ellie or Jack at the soldier's mercy, it was Sarah. It took Tess pulling on him to realize that he was beating the guard into the ground. He feared the look of terror his children undoubtedly felt at his show of violence, but when he looked up, he was greeted with something completely different. Both Jack and Ellie looked fascinated by what he did. They looked at him like he was some sort of superhero.

Watching his kids discuss how awesome he looked or how the guard deserved it, made him feel worse. He felt unworthy of such admiration, and he felt like he failed them somehow. Tess sat next to him and cleaned his hand.

She smiled at the kids then turned to him. "You ok?"

"Just a hairline," he shrugged, "It'll heal fast."

"You did good, you know." She assured him. "You saved them. That's what's important."

"Yeah," he sighed, not quite believing her.

"I gotta pee!" Ellie called her parents.

"Me too!"

Tess chuckled then rummaged through her bag for a magazine. "Take a couple of pages." she nodded to an empty room next to them.

"Is there anything bad in there?" Ellie asked as she walked over.

"Just you." Joel smirked.

"Hilarious, Dad." She rolled her eyes and left to do her business.

Jack laughed and waited his turn. As everyone took their turn with the bathroom, Tess passed out food to snack on. They joked and made small talk about all the things they wanted to do once they reached Bill and Franks. When they finally rested, they packed up to continue on.

Ellie and Jack took the opportunity to ask questions about the world beyond the wall. Sure, they had been outside the wall, but the route they took was more sewers and residential with less buildings around. This environment was completely different with shops, deep craters in the streets, and buildings that reached the sky and leaned against each other.

"It doesn't seem so bad out here." Ellie stated once they left their shelter and her walking along the uneven road. "At school they made it seem like there were millions of Infected running around." she waved around her. "Looks empty to me."

"Well, they weren't completely wrong." Tess took point again leading the way.

"So there's no 10 foot giant mushroom guy that shoots spores all over his body?" Jack asked.

"God, I hope not!" Tess laughed.

The kids laughed too. "Or the monsters with mushrooms coming out of their heads and see in the dark like bats?" The kids continued to laugh, but their parents were noticeably silent. As if on cue a loud scream echoed in the distance as they climbed their way into another building.

"What was that?" Ellie asked as she edged closer to her mother.

"It sounded far away." Tess turned to Joel with concern in her eyes.