borderline - the last of us.

16. endure and survive.

CROUCHED BEHIND THE CAR IN NAUSEATING ANTICIPATION, the group awaited a response from Joel up in the house- A signal, a yell, a wave, whatever. Just anything to let them know that the gunshot they had heard wasn't a fatal one.

'What if he's dead?' Henry gasped suddenly, sweating and shaking and grabbing onto the edge of Ralph's sleeve. He shook his head as if he was trying to shake the thought out of his mind and think about something more or less pleasant.

'He's not dead, alright? He's Joel, that guy's a fucking miracle.' Ralph assured him, placing his hand on top of Henry's to reassure him for no longer than a second before gently prying his fingers off of his jacket. 'Besides, if he was dead, we'd still be getting shot at.'

'Yeah... Yeah, alright, yeah, fair point.' Henry nodded, his nerves calmed a little bit. They waited in the silence for a little longer, until they heard Joel's voice screaming at them from the house. They all rose to their feet, craning their necks to try and hear him better, and Ellie took the moment of safety to flock to Lou, tugging her into a hug and taking her revolver back. Ralph would've ran to Lou too, if he could run with his hip in such a state.

A hand tugged on the back of Ralph's belt, and he could tell from the fact that they had to reach up to do so that it was Sam. Ralph turned on his heel, looking over to where the younger boy was pointing, and his heart immediately dropped.

'Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, oh, shit, oh fuck!' Henry whispered frantically, looking at the squad of cars that were headed straight for them. Despite being on the verge of pissing his pants, his brain was working well enough for him to wrap Ralph's arm around his shoulder, stepping in for Joel as The Human Crutch, and help him as the five of them ran for their lives.

Henry and Ralph were noticeably slower than the rest of the group, and Ellie hung back with them to fire useless shots at the huge truck speeding right towards them, crushing cars in its wake like bugs under a boot.

Thanks be to whatever God may or may not exist, Joel fired a shot right at the driver of the truck, breaking through the windshield and killing them in one fell swoop. The truck swerved off the road, crashing into an old, abandoned house and making a wreck of it.

Running to take cover behind another spare truck or rusty car, Ralph and Henry were on the bad side of things when the house burst up into flames alarmingly close to them, causing Henry to stumble back in surprise and both of them fall to the ground.

Instantly, there were hands tugging at them, desperately trying to get them to their feet while they still had time. For the most part, it worked. Even though it took the manpower of two teenage girls, Ralph was ushered behind a van and was with the rest of the group in no time.

His ear was ringing, and the light had almost blinded him, and his hip hurt, and so did his ankle, and he was tired- But, he was mostly alright.

'Dead end, Henry.' A voice called out cheerfully, most likely that of Kathleen. The sound of guns reloading and car doors slamming were heard in the background as she continued to shout at him, making Ralph's heart pound ten times faster inside of his chest. 'Gonna step on out? Save us some time? ...No? That's alright, doesn't matter.'

Henry looked over his shoulder, staring at Sam as he held hands with Lou and huddled himself towards Ellie, clearly terrified. He stared at Ralph as he kept his hand resting on his daughter's shoulder, the most comfort he could provide her with right now.

'...I'll come out!' Henry yelled back at her, regretting it instantly. 'Just let the kids go!'

'No, sorry.' Kathleen said, even though she didn't sound sorry about it at all. 'The girls are with the men who killed Bryan, Sam's with you, and your friend back there isn't helping your case all that much. I want both of you, or else.'