The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter One

Zelda's pov

Daddy, what's happening?

We're going somewhere safe.

Safe from what? Daddy? Daddy, don't leave me! Let go of me! Daddy!

I'll find you!

I gasp and sit up abruptly, waking up from my nightmare. It's still dark and I'm covered in a cold sweat, making my hair stick to my neck uncomfortably.

Clutching my locket to calm myself, I slow my breathing. It was just a dream. A dream but I still don't escape the nightmare when I wake. It's almost better to endure the dreams.

I slowly rest my head on my pillow again, my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I relive the emotions I felt when the events in my nightmare occurred. No matter how much time passes, I still feel like that terrified little girl when I wake up.

With my thin and mostly useless blanket wrapped around me, I try to stop trembling and sleep again. I have a long day tomorrow as I usually do and I have to be well rested.

***

I wake up again just as the sunlight creeps in around the edges of my covered windows. It definitely wasn't the most restful sleep, but it'll have to do. I have to be at the infirmary soon to play nurse like I do every day. I comfort people mostly before they die. There's the few I can help by sewing a wound closed or giving them a dose of penicillin. Still, supplies are scarce and only used on those who can make a full recovery and work. I wish it wasn't like this but we need more able-bodied men than old women barely hanging on.

I eat half a can of peaches before I leave my makeshift apartment that really only contains a cot and broken furniture. It's still the only home I have and I'm lucky enough to have shelter in the first place.

I keep my head down as I swiftly walk through the streets. The broken and tired people don't pay me much attention as they trade their ration cards for cigarettes and sex. Humanity is as rare a commodity as clean bandages. I've learned how to stay out of sight by wearing baggy clothes to hide my body and not slowing down between destinations. I was attacked once by a man when I first arrived here at fifteen. I learned very quickly that I'm easy prey and I have to avoid attention at all times. I consider myself lucky though. A large man named Daruk, whether he took pity on me or a liking, has kept his eye on me. His protection has kept me out of trouble since most people here know him. He's loveable to those close to him but very intimidating due to his size and rough voice and I haven't had a problem with any men in five years.

The all too familiar smell if iron and decay fills my nose upon entering the infirmary. The bodies of the people who passed in the night are in the hallway waiting to be taken and burned. I don't bother counting anymore. It's always too many. Daruk will be here soon to take them to the Pit and I make my way to the gym. The infirmary used to be a school and we keep the cots in the gymnasium. Anyone in quarantine gets put in a classroom until they die. There's some diseases that penicillin doesn't fix.

There's a wailing pregnant woman in the far corner with no one tending to her. She'll be my patient. I use the tiniest amount of hand sanitizer I can spare as I make my way over to her.

"Deep breaths and try to relax," I say calmly as I palpate her swollen belly. I'm relieved to find that the baby is head down. "When did you start to have contractions?"

"Last night!" she cries. I wish there was more I could do for her fear and discomfort.

"I'm just going to check okay?" I say as I remove her grimy blanket. She brings her knees up and I look under her dirty and torn dress. The baby is crowning. "Is this your first?"

"No! My other babies died!" Most children don't make it, especially infants. They're susceptible to infections and their mothers often don't eat enough to feed them properly. It's just another terrible thing in this world we're stuck in.

I deliver the baby, wrapping it in the cleanest blanket I can find. I'm relieved it's born breathing. The mother is severely malnourished but the baby is a good size and has strong lungs. It's moments like these that give me slivers of hope for our grim future. Maybe someday babies will survive again.

I'm rinsing my hands when I hear screaming coming from the hallway. I peek my head out, scared of what horror I'll witness. Screaming is never a good thing and yet it's a common occurrence. There's a man twitching on the floor, his limbs tense and eyes rolled back. A fellow nurse is calling for soldiers to take care of the infected man. People have been sneaking out and coming back with bites. I wish they'd stay outside if they get bit instead of coming back and putting the rest of us at risk.

A soldier rushes over and shoots the man through the head without asking any questions. I jump at the shot and my hands shake. I've seen many people get shot but the shock is always the same. Still, there's nothing you can do for an infected person except put them out of their misery. No one should be allowed to turn into a monster.

At the end of my shift, I pass Daruk on my way out. He moves bodies to the Pit all day and burns them. The pile from this morning is already gone so I can only assume he's here to get the infected man from earlier.

"Hi Daruk," I greet the huge man. As terrible as the world is, having a friend makes it a little more bearable.

"Zelda!" he says in his deep gravelly voice with a smile. How does one stay so positive? "How are you?"

"I'm alright. Today was a little brighter than most. I delivered a baby and I think he'll make it."

He claps his huge hands together. "That's excellent! We only have the little things to keep us going, don't we?"

"Yes we do," I agree. "It's been a long day though and I think I'll be going home now."

"Remember to go straight home and keep your head down," he reminds me while placing a heavy yet comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I will. See you later."

I collect my ration cards and walk my usual route through the streets back to my apartment. I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched but I don't see anyone when I look around. I blame the creepy feeling on paranoia from seeing that infected man earlier.

I eat the rest of my peaches from this morning when I get home. I'm running low on food. I'll go to the pantry tomorrow to cash in my ration cards. I could go now but I'm already home and I'm tired even though it's still early. Still too early for the curfew. Everyone has to be inside by nightfall and if you're found out past then, you'll be shot on sight. I'll hear gunshots occasionally at night but mostly everyone follows the rule. That or they're good at hiding.

I lay down on my back and play with my locket. It has a picture of my mother inside. She passed away when I was little, back when the worst thing that could happen to me was being out of my favorite cereal. She died before the world went to hell and sometimes I'm envious she doesn't have to live in these times. She died at home with her husband and daughter to breast cancer, not a fungal infection that makes people bloodthirsty. She's lucky she didn't have to see what happened. She didn't have to watch her daughter turn into a shell of who she used to be.

Sleep comes slowly as it usually does, my mind constantly plagued with bad memories and pointless hopes. It's hard to sleep when you know that when you wake up, it'll be worse. The never ending nightmare no one deserved.

***

A hand clamps over my mouth a few hours later, startling me awake. I'd been in a nightmare not moments before and now a rough hand is stifling any sounds I try to make, keeping my head pinned to the pillow.

"Don't make a sound."