The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter Twenty-Four

Link's pov

The tunnels are long and dark with pipes running along the walls. There's corners to lurk behind and I hear distant scurrying echo in other hallways. I don't think it's rats unless they're some big ass rats.

Henry walks next to me, leading us around the moldy maze like he has been for hours. Straight shot my ass. He doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. When I see the same fire extinguisher I saw half an hour ago, I dig my fingers into his shoulder and turn him around.

"Give it to me," I demand.

"We're almost out-"

"Now!"

I snatch the map from his outstretched hand and scoff. Then I stare him dead in the eye and flip it upside down to the correct way. He doesn't know how to read a fucking map. He's been leading us in circles for hours heading in the wrong direction. I should shoot him but I don't want to be stuck with Sam. I can't be responsible for another person, especially a deaf kid.

"Princess," I say while glaring at Henry. "You know how to read a map?" She's smart and I trust her more than this idiot in front of me. I probably trust her more than I should.

"Yes."

"Good. Take it."

She studies it for a moment, looking up occasionally to find landmarks.

"We're on the wrong side of the city." She glares at him too and he takes another step back.

"Guys I'm sorry-"

"Oh shut it," she snaps. Damn. "It's that way."

She walks right up against me for the light and points us in the correct direction. Her finger traces where we are, giving me an idea of what's ahead before I can see it.

I hear quick shuffling to the left and flash my light down the tunnel, catching a figure. It pokes its head around the corner and ducks back. I'd rather giant rats.

"Stalker," I whisper. Stalkers are little shits. They're stage two infections, right after runners. They lurk in the dark and run fast like runners with strength comparable to a clicker's. And they're smart. The fungus is starting to grow out of their skulls and they'll become clickers eventually.

"Get your knife out," I tell Zelda. Most of the time, a stalker will be on you before you have a chance to shoot.

I switch out my rifle for a pistol and a knife. "Check the corners. They like to hide and pounce like fucking cats." I used to like cats too.

Zelda is staying calmer than normal. She's come a long way since I picked her up in the QZ. She's learning when I was worried she wouldn't get it.

I ready myself before we go into what looks like a utility room. There's a fucker in here, I know it. I hear it breathing. Probably two from the more distant shuffle. They're waiting.

Sure enough, I'm grabbed when I walk into the room. I keep it back as it snaps at my face and neck. Its eyes are whitewashed and a growth splits its face in two. I jam my knife into its throat and turn my attention to Zelda. She's fighting one off too. Then she stabs it in the neck like I told her and kicks it so it falls and writhes on the floor as it bleeds out. She gapes at me and her bloody knife.

"You okay?" I ask without thinking, dragging my gaze over her body, searching for bites.

She nods and glances at her bloody knife again. "Yeah."

I'm surprised she did so good. She's not very tall and she's on the skinnier side but she still fought off a stalker and killed it without help. I still think she's a little shit sometimes. Maybe a badass too.

We keep moving until we come to a closed door. The exit is through here and down another tunnel. I go inside and scan the room with my gun and flashlight. There's toys and drawings on the walls. Kids.

"Stay there," I tell the others when I hear a noise come from inside. If I'm right, I don't want Zelda or Sam to see.

A shape in my peripheral runs past and hides behind some boxes. I walk over slowly, finding two stalkers, both kids. They hiss and growl while shuffling away from me. I shoot them both through the head, ending their suffering. It's fucking unfair.

"What was it?" Zelda asks as she walks into the room. So much for her listening.

"Nothing," I lie. "We should go." I spare one more glance at the dead kids.

She didn't even scream.

Sam has Henry's flashlight and he looks at all the toys with a smile. He's so innocent. He wanted to see my knife without knowing how many people I killed with it. That particular one still belonged to the man when I killed him with it. And now I use it to open cans of peaches for Zelda.

She kneels down next to Sam and picks through toys with him. They trade his board back and forth, talking to each other. I'm starting to lose hearing in my left ear from guns, I can't imagine being completely deaf. Listening can be the difference between life and death.

They pick up broken crayons and write their names on the wall. Sam gives one to Henry for him to write his name and Zelda holds a blue one out to me.

"I'm not writing my name on the fucking wall."

"Please?" The hell is this face she's giving me? It's like puppy eyes. Her green eyes are already huge and now she's pleading with them. Fuck.

I snatch the crayon from her fingers and scribble my name next to hers on the grimy wall.

"Your handwriting is terrible," she snickers. Her handwriting is pretty I guess. Mine is almost unreadable.

"I haven't written in five years, you little shit." I expect the name calling to make her upset but instead she laughs. I almost smile at the cheerful sound and I look away before I have the chance to stare.

Yeah she's pretty. And she's still a job. She's cargo. And I'm still unlovable.