Revival - The Last Of Us

Kansas City

Maeve's eyes peeled open as the sound of clattering reached her ears. 

She hadn't slept well, waking up constantly throughout the night.

She looked over at Ellie who hadn't stirred yet. 

She then turned to see Joel, whose eyes were already set on her.

"Morning." He said before turning back around to continue packing up.

"Morning." Maeve mimicked as she slowly stretched before standing up to roll up her sleeping bag. 

Joel smiled at the slight rasp in her voice.

After Maeve had began to help pack up, she hadn't noticed Ellie wake.

"What the fuck is that?" She heard Ellie say from behind them.

Maeve whipped her head around to see Ellie sniffing the coffee on the pot that Joel had been heating up.

Maeve laughed slightly.

"You don't like coffee?" Joel asked.

Ellie didn't answer as she looked back at Joel in disgust before closing the lid and laying back down. 

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After packing up, they were on the road again. 

Maeve sat in the back this time as Ellie sat in the passenger seat.

Joel sipped his coffee as Ellie eyed him. 

"Is that seriously what those Starbucks in the QZ used to sell?" She asked. 

"Well, theirs was a lot fresher than what Bill saved up, but, yeah, this is what they sold." Joel answered. 

"Smells like burnt shit." Ellie chided.

Maeve smiled as she continued to look out the window. 

Joel noticed her expression in the rearview as he began to sip very loudly, only making her smile grow more. 

"Eyes on the map." He told Ellie. 

"76 west and then, 70 west, for, like, ever." Ellie exaggerated. 

Maeve wasn't really listening as she was tuned in to her surroundings, the trees passing quickly through her vision, the sun hitting her face, heating her cheeks, the mountains in the back that she could barely make out. 

Her ears perked back into reality as she heard Joel mention his younger brother, Tommy.

"Tommy is what we used to call a 'joiner'. Dreams of becomin' a hero. So he enlisted in the Army right out of high school. A few months later, they ship him off to Desert Storm. It's what they called that war. It doesn't matter. Point is, being in the Army didn't make him feel much like a hero. Cut to 12 years later, outbreak happens. He convinces me to join a group making their way up to Boston, which I did, mostly to keep an eye on him, keep him alive. It's where we met Tess." 

The name stung Maeve, like the thorn of a rose. She clenched her jaw at the mention of Tess. What she could of done to save her. It's all your fault, a voice in her head rang out.

Joel took another sip of his coffee before continuing, "And that whole crew, we--Well for what it was, it worked. And then Tommy meets Marlene. She talks him into joining the Fireflies. Same mistake he made when he was 18. Wants to save the world. Pipe dream. Him, the Fireflies, all of them, delusional. 'Course last I heard, he quit the Fireflies, too. So now he's on his own out there and I gotta go get him."