The Last Of Us (Fanfic)

Joel Lives PT9

It took a while to find the gas for the generator and the codes that would open the gates hidden in one of the mobile FEDRA offices. Everything was left to rot after the obvious war that left most of the city desolate with little supplies left to help sustain anyone passing through.
They knew the next place on their list was a hotel called the Serevena that they were using as a base not far from the gate. According to the faded billboards and road signs, it was something known for five stars, whatever that meant. The big red letters over the hill made them relax to know they were getting close to finding answers, but it also made it evident that it was about to get intense. For a moment, Ellie thought about making camp somewhere close to the hotel to leave Dina, who had been getting sick throughout the trip. She decided against it once they passed the bus blocking the road and witnessed a runner climb onto a dumpster and hop the fence to the hotel. Getting off shimmer, she inspected trying to understand why they would leave a breach like this. Then she noticed the drag marks from its original place.

"Someone moved this," she announced.

"You think it was recent?" Dina asked, drawing her weapon from its holster.

"Don't know, stay alert."

Ellie didn't bother tying Shimmer to anything, afraid more infected might come around and swarm him, she wanted to at least give him a chance if that were to happen. She watched out for Dina to make sure she was on point, noticing her getting a little pale and sweaty since making it past the last gate. It wouldn't be long till they needed to make camp and figure out where to go after they were through with this base.
The smell of fresh blood was what she noticed first, metallic and strong from inside the lobby just past the busted double doors. Peaking in, she counted three, two feeding and the one that just got in; she was about to go after them when Dina stopped her and pointed off to the left.

"Shit."

Dina picked up a small rock and flung it behind the desk in the corner, luckily it got the attention of only the one runner.
They took them out quickly, taking note of how fresh the bodies were; they tried to piece together exactly what happened. Noticing that they were sh*t and the infected had just filtered in afterward. They wandered upstairs to find what was left of Nick and Joey tied to those chairs. Ellie immediately recognized him and knew it had to have been Tommy who had done this, she recognized what he had done by pitting them against each other. She remembered from the stories Joel had told her.

Dina looked around the room after finding the bloody numbers on the floor by Joey and noticed the radio in the corner. "We should go, someone could be on their way here." She said, pointing.

"Yeah," Ellie replied, looking at Nick's face, memorizing it. She should feel good that one of them was gone, but she just felt dread. Did this mean Joel was dead and now Tommy was on a mission for revenge?

Dina put her hand on Ellie's shoulder, "Hey, we're getting closer to finding him." She said.

Ellie sighed and nodded, offering a forced half-smile.

They made their way back outside and through the next gate, chatting about food and making camp, looking at the windows on top floors for lookouts and snipers. The roads were so blocked that Shimmer had to jump over toppled barbed wire fences and cement barriers. Dina talked about how she was starting to sound like her mother when they jumped over another barrier, only this time hitting a trip wire that sent them flying in opposite directions. Shimmer stayed on the groung, whining loudly at the damage from the blast, but that ended with a gunshot while Ellie crawled to her rifle a few feet away.

•••••∆•••••

Dina entered the house, her whole body vibrating with dread with each step on the creaky floorboards. A thick layer of dust had covered the floor and was now disturbed by the four different pairs of footsteps that all seemed to be in a hurry. She followed them to the back of the house to a back bedroom. She stopped, looking into the shattered mirror on the wall that faced her, she saw the reflection of her sister's feet before she entered the room. She was unmoving.

Dina slid down the wall and pulled her legs up to her chest and wailed at what she knew would be on the other side of that wall. She pieced it all in her head, how they must have followed her, she got away at first before they cornered her in this house. Dina was unable to enter the room at first, but once she did she noticed the broken door and the drag marks on the floor. The disturbed bed... She could almost hear her screams once she saw the discarded g*n by the dresser. She knew Talia had fought back. She rounded the bed and saw her on the floor, the fear still present in her wide murky eyes that stared at the cracked ceiling. Dina noticed the bruises on her neck and clung to her, holding her to her chest and begging her to wake up. For hours she stayed that way - long after she ran out of tears and the temperature dropped at sunset.

She dug a grave in the backyard with a shovel she found in the garage. Wildflowers grew along the wooden fence and she thought Taliah would've liked them, remembering the meadow she favored back in New Mexico just outside the community. Two more graves were outside, a faded picture of a woman and a little girl sat between them; Dina hoped whoever dug them wouldn't mind an extra plot on the opposite side. Her sister would usually wear the Star of David around her neck which she found under the bed with its chain broken. Whoever had done this tore the necklace from Talia's neck during the struggle and Dina just held it in her fist, angry tears burning her eyes.

'If only she had gone with her.' She thought. 'If she had gone after her sooner, she may still be alive.' She was tormenting herself with all the what-ifs.

She buried the necklace under a large rock she used as a headstone. "I'm sorry." She cried.

That night, Dina slept beside Talia's grave and waited for those men to return with her sister's g*n beside her. Every noise made her jolt up in anticipation, but no one came, and eventually, she knew she had to move on.

She attempted to track them for a few days afterwards but lost them in a nearby town due to a hoard. Part of her hoped those people got caught up in it and torn apart, the thought gave her comfort but she knew it couldn't be that easy.

A week later, she was found by a long-haired man on horseback, he said he was from a community in Jackson. He asked if she was alone and all she could do was nod and for a while that's all she could bring herself to do. The hospitality overwhelmed and comforted her, the leader - Maria - had offered her a place to stay in her home till they found her somewhere permanent. She couldn't help but feel grief, wishing they had made it there sooner and wondered if they would've made it home together. Would her sister had continued waking up screaming or packing a bag incase things went south? Would they have left after a few weeks? She doubted it, liked to think that Talia would've liked it there and the people in it. She liked to picture her at a job, finding someone and settling down and maybe even having a family... She liked to think of her happy.

For a long time she couldn't find the words to tell her story. But once they came - that man who found her was the first she told and the first to comfort her in a radio tower lookout on the edge of town.

His name was Eugene.