The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter Twenty-Six

Song Suggestions:

When It's All Over- RAIGN
Crazy in Love- Eden Project 

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Zelda's pov

We run until we can't hear the infected and the dying anymore. The plume of smoke from the burning house is still visible. I was so close to death and yet I'm still here. With Link.

My whole body trembles with adrenaline and excitement even as we go into a motel room far away from the danger. Link grabs my face and tilts my head back, inspecting my skin carefully. Then he pushes my hair back and looks under it. He's checking for bites and my stomach drops at the thought. Had I gotten bit, he'd be the one to shoot me. I doubt he'd hesitate either.

He pushes my sleeves up next and grabs both arms, flipping them when he's satisfied with the first side. All that's on me is blood that isn't mine.

He gently tugs my sleeves back down while looking me in the eye. Something about his gaze makes my heart jump off the deep end. What would it be like for him to hold my face but instead of looking for bites, he was pulling me in for a kiss. As sudden as the thought was, it's not unwelcome. I want to imagine more. I want to do more.

He wets his lips and looks at mine with his fingers lingering on my skin. I lean in slightly, desperate to be closer. His hands travel back up my arms and he squeezes gently.

"There's beds you and Sam can use," Henry says, oblivious to what he just interrupted when he came back into the room. Link steps back and my face falls with disappointment and my cheeks warm with embarrassment. I shouldn't want to feel like this about Link. His heart is too broken. If he even has one.

"I'll go make sure he's okay." I brush past both men into the room with Sam. He's playing with his toy on one of the beds.

Are you okay? I write on his board and do my best to smile when I hold it up. He shakes his head and takes the board.

I'm scared

My heart goes out for him. That was too traumatic for a child and he was forced to go through it.

You're safe now and everything is going to be okay

Now he smiles a little. Maybe he and Henry could come with us. There's strength in numbers and I could convince Father to keep them in his city. They'd be safe. Sam deserves to be somewhere safe, away from the horror.

We pass the board back and forth for a while, talking about our favorite things until he yawns every few minutes. I tell him he should go to sleep and tuck him in, snuggling his toy under the blanket with him. Just before I straighten, he puts his arms around me and squeezes. I hug him back. I haven't had a hug in a long time.

***

It's cloudy when I wake up. Sam is still sleeping, facing away from me. We should get up though. Link likes to get moving in the morning.

I swing my legs off the bed and stretch. Sam twitches a little in his sleep, probably from a dream. I wouldn't be surprised if he had nightmares last night after what we went through. I should've told him he could wake me up in case he had bad dreams.

"Time to get up," I say even though he can't hear me.

The second I touch his shoulder to wake him, he sits up and snarls at me. I shriek and step backwards out the doorway and he launches himself at me. I stumble and fall backwards into the main area with Link and Henry.

I cry as I keep Sam from biting me. He's snarling and growling like an animal, trying to get at my neck and arms. Out of the corner of my blurry eyes, I see Henry pointing a gun at Link. He tries to come for me and Henry shoots the floor in front of him, stopping him from saving me.