crossed paths | the last of us

𝓿 ; 𝓽𝓵𝓸𝓾, 𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓼

- 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 -

THERE USED TO BE A TIME WHEN NOOR was able to fall asleep and wake up to her alarm for school. She didn't miss the alarm. She missed being able to fall asleep.

Nightmares weren't ever really a problem, even when she was a child. Sure, she had a few here and there; except now, they weren't nightmares, they were memories. And Noor replayed them in her head every night.

Ellie was fast asleep, gentle snores leaving her body as she cuddled into her sleeping bag. Joel was on his side yet again, arms crossed and it seemed as if he wasn't even sleeping sometimes. But Noor was wide awake. Wide awake from a memory she couldn't heal from. Sometimes, the night reminded her of it, it triggered it to resurface.

As she sat up with her back against a tree and Joel's jacket draped over her knees, she barely noticed the silent tear that streamed down her cheek. Wiping it away quickly, she looked at the two people as if they'd even notice it in the pitch black.
She wasn't sure what time it was, if the sun would even be coming up soon, but no matter how hard she tired, closing her eyes just made her relive it all.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Her claustrophobia started from that one box with six holes in it for air.

The scariest things about apocalypses were the Infected, the zombies, whatever you wanted to call them. But, Noor saw different kinds of monsters that made the Infected seem much nicer and even approachable. At least, with a Clicker you know what it wants; humans are unpredictable. They manipulate.

Noor was just that - manipulated.

She was only 18 years old, three years into the new world and all on her own. She learned a few survival tricks, but she lacked knowledge in people.

Growing up alone, with no friends and usually being the new kid in town made it impossible to meet people. That, and her anxiety always pulled her back from it. She was a social disaster. At least the new world provided less human interaction.

She had found herself out of a city she wasn't even sure if it was Los Angeles or California. Maybe it was Seattle? She didn't know. All places began to look the same at one point. At a certain moment, she came in contact with a few people that she encountered on her walk. They seemed just like her; hungry and lost.

"We're a larger group, you know. Maybe we could help each other out," said one of them. He seemed like their leader. An older man with light hair and a little bit of stubble on his chin and cheeks.

"How?" asked Noor, gulping down the last bit of saliva her mouth provided.

"We'll give you a few supplies, you'll give us some of your own. Like a trade, you know?"

"But, I don't have anything. You can check, if you don't believe me." She swung her backpack to show but he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That's alright," he smiled, almost convincingly for a young girl like her, "I believe you. Why don't you just come back with us? I promise, we don't bite."