The Last Of Us (Fanfic)

Joel Lives PT.12

Jesse barely had the time to turn around before the stalker was on him, pushing him under the water and making him unable to reach for the rifle on his back or the pistol on his side. Thrashing in the ankle-deep stagnant water struggling not to swallow it, or get bit, he tried to use his foot to push it off - or push it back enough to get one of his weapons.
The screams and gnashing of its teeth made Jesse strain as he reached for anything on the ground around him; the only thing his fingers could grab onto was a square glass bottle by the desk. Grabbing the bottleneck, he broke it over the stalker's head, stunning it long enough to use his leg to push it off and get to his feet. He tried to wipe the dirty water from his eyes as he aimed his pistol to the ground, noting that the stalker had moved and now his light was only flickering till it refused to turn back on. He walked towards the stairs to see with what little light was leaking in from the cracks in the flooring above and what was able to come through the door, but the storm clouds made it hard. He waited, knowing he couldn't leave the ledgers here and couldn't go upstairs without it coming after him; Jesse knew he had to take a stand, telling himself that this was something he'd done a hundred times before. How many buildings had he cleared in Jackson way worse than this over the last five and a half years, working his way up till he became a Patrol Leader? One-on-one was nothing to him, even in a new place. He stepped down from the bottom step and took a breath, slowly working his way through the room, hearing it move around beams and bookshelves. The water and its chattering were its only indicators as Jesse made his way around, sticking close to the walls and simply sliding his foot instead of taking big steps to give away his location. He noticed its eyes were gone, already more than halfway to clicker than stalker but it held onto the stalking traits as it evolved, and Jesse decided to use that to his advantage. Taking a pen from the desk and throwing it towards the stairs, he wanted to use the light from the open door to get a clear shot. It growled and moved towards the sound, still hiding behind a beam in the dark - Jesse could barely make out its crouched silhouette from where he stood. He took a small glass paperweight from off the desk and threw it towards the stairs making an audible 'glunk' sound that made the stalker pounce in its direction, stopping short when Jesse nudged the desk making it creak. It was on all fours when its head slowly turned in his direction. The clicking in its voice sent a shiver up Jesse's spine, but he just took a breath, raised his pistol and pulled the trigger right when it croaked and moved to pounce on him again.

Jesse gathered the ledgers and notes from the desk, searching the drawers quickly for anything else he might have missed, but was met with nothing besides a box of old protein bars. He didn't think it smart to risk it and waste the space in his pack, throwing them back in the bottom drawer.

He ran up the stairs preparing to head back to the gate when he heard his horse squeal in and the sound of runners yelling outside. He watched as they swiped at him and tried to pounce, making Jesse wince - he wanted to help him, but there were too many for him to take on alone without much cover or ammo. He ran off when a runner got on his back and bit into his neck, and luckily for Jesse, the rest of the infected followed close behind. Jesse sat behind the counter catching his breath while trying to gain his composure and went to radio Ellie and Dina to tell them the predicament he found himself in, but saw that during the struggle it had gotten damaged. He sighed, flinging it back into his bag, and stood up to make his way back to the F*CK FEDRA gate while it continued to rain.

After hours of running at a steady, pace he made it back to find the gate open but with no sign of Ellie or Dina. He caught his breath, drank some water, and walked towards the Serevena Hotel to find it crawling with WLF soldiers causing him to hide once again. Infected bodies littered the grounds on both sides of the gate, but he had to know if Ellie and Dina were among them. He crouched behind concrete blockades listening to their conversations as quietly as possible.

"Were they Scars?" A woman asked, hanging by one of the Humvees with a low radio playing in the background.

The man who stood beside her shook his head, "I don't think so, just some unfriendlies I guess."

The woman sighed, " I can't believe they're all dead... I mean I just talked to Joey this morning."

"Yeah, I don't know. At least they got one of em, we're supposed to stick around here in case the other heads for the gate." He said.

Jesse's breath hitched, they took one... Was it Dina? He had to find them before it was too late, but to do that he had to get past this patrol. He was about to dash behind another car but kicked a stone, garnering the attention of the two people by the Humvee.

"Someone there?" One called, he heard their footsteps getting closer but he had nowhere else to go, so he just stayed still. He looked around him and thought he could jump the railing along the road, maybe land in some brush and try to get away like that.

Before he made his move, a man came running out of the hotel, telling everyone to load up because there was a situation at the elementary school.

"What's going on?" The man asked, losing interest in him and rushing back to the vehicle.

"The girl got away, people were injured. Let's go."

Jesse listened to them drive away out of earshot and he sighed in relief, grateful that at the very least he knew where to start looking. He took another drink, gathered his composure, and then took off in a jog in the same direction after the WLF praying that he'd get there in time.

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Bit of a filler, but I hope it was enjoyable at the very least. Working on PT.13 - stay tuned!