Asthma (The Last Of Us)

Fucking Kansas City

(T.J.'s P.O.V.)
Take the next ramp and we're back on the road. Minute tops. 12 famous words said by my father right before we got lost in fucking Kansas City, of all places. "Where the fuck is the highway?!" I basically yelled shaking the map in frustration, "don't look at the state map. Look at the inset" dad ordered glancing at the map before weaving through the broken down cars. "Oh, thank Sherlock. You don't think I would look there if I knew where we are in that?!" I snapped back as I switched back to the inset side. "Are we heading north?" Ellie asked looking over my shoulder at the map aswell. "What the fuck?" Dad mumbled looking around. "Stop!" Ellie suddenly yelled. Tires screeching as dad braked to a stop. "Is that the QZ?" Ellie asked looking out the left side of the truck. A wide open gate stands tall. "Where the fuck is FEDRA?" Ellie asked, "I don't want to know" I answered not liking this one bit. Suddenly a loud voice called out "hey!". All of our faces turned towards him. A bloody man limps towards us. Instantly I freeze in my stool. Fear consuming me as my brain screamed that it was a trap. "Put your seatbelt on!" Dad ordered tugging his on. "Aren't we gonna help him?" Ellie asked innocently, "no!". Dad excellerates and the limping man dashes out of the way, as if nothing was wrong with him. "Dad!" I yelled seeing someone throw a cement block from ontop of a fire-escape. It lands square on the window, cracking it. Tires screeching as dad tried to avoid it. Then suddenly dad struggles to control the car due to driving over a spike strip. A man with a gun steps into view and shoots, immediatly dad swerves away and launches the car into a glass front of a building. Them the car comes to an immediate halt because it had crashed into stacked washing machines. "Are you teo okay?" Dad asked us hurriedly, "yeah" both me and Ellie reply out of breath. "You're not hurt? Nothin'?". "I don't think so-". Sudden gunfire made all of us dug to avoid the bullets. "Belts off. Fast!" Dad yells unbuckling himself. I do as I was told before opening the door and crawling out.

(Ellie's P.O.V.)

I follow after TJ. Glass shatters around us as more bullets rained around us. People continue to shoot at us from across the street. "Let's see you motherfuckers!" One of the calls. I watched Joel open the backdoor and pull out his rifle. "Give us your shit, you'll make it through this!" The man called out again. I watched as Joel looked around. "Hey, you see that hole?" He asked us both and me and TJ nodded, "can you squeeze through?". Again we nodded at him. "When I say go  yoi crawl to that wall, and you squeeze through, and you two don't come out until I say, okay?" Joel told us, sterness was evident in his voice. Thid was not up for debate. I nodded and he turned to TJ. "Taylor-Joy!" He loudly said using TJ's full name instead. Now she nodded aswell clearly understandimg the direness of the situation. We stay down - we stay low - we stay quiet. I was first, army-crawling to the wall while Joel covered for me. I squirmed myself through the wall before slamming my back to the wall. Waiting for TJ. Then it was TJ's turn. She does the exact same as I did. But unlike me, she got hit by a stray bullet, right before she was fully through the hole in the wall. She fell to the ground gripping her side "fuck" she groaned out of breath. I looked down at her hand and saw blood seeping through her fingers. I move to help her, but hear fast footsteps approaching. In fear I push myself back to my previous spot, watching the hole with wide-eyes. While TJ laid still on the ground, trying to control her breathing to not make a sound. But she was clearly in pain and it made her breath faster and un-controllable. I watched her, fear filling me as I realized this had probably caused an asthma attack. Tj tried keeping her mouth shut tightly to not cough loudly as the man crept passed the hole. The enemies shadow passes over the whole as he stalks through the room. I pull back and return my gaze to Tj who still struggled to breath. Glass crunched underneath the man's feet. Then a gunshot made both me and Tj flinch. I peer out the hole and see that Joel had killed the man. Tj realized it was safe and she let out a cough, trying to breath again. Joel looked through the hole, his face went wide, realizing his daughter got shot. But he had no way of getting here. He was to large to squeeze through the hole. "Ellie!" He called loudly gaining my attention. He then told me to grab one of her inhalers to give it to her so she cpuld get some air, while he shook off his flannel shirt. Telling me to wrap it around her side to make a make-shift bandage. To try and stop most of the bleeding before we could treat it. I did as I was told. Then suddenly I heard commotion on the other side again. I looked out and saw Joel fighting with a young guy who was screaming that we where going to pay for killing his friends. I grabbed my pistol and crawl out. I carefully step forward seeing the guy pinning Joel down. I hold up my gun and point it at him, before pulling the trigger. The man yelps and falls to the floor. Joel catches his breath and I feel myself begin to tremble. The woumded guy leans up and whinces in pain. I hold my gun at him. "No, no, no, no, no. It's okay! It's okay!" He yells lifting his hand up. Now begging me not to kill him. Instead Joel gets up, demanding me to give him the gun and ordering me to go back towards Tj. While I do so, the guy screams out, begging Joel not to shoot him. "No please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!". As soon as I go through the the hole in the wall, Joel shoots the gun. I look down at Tj, who now seemed to regrain most of her breath. It was now just slight heavy breathing, but she had it under control. She gave me a look filled with pity as she held her side, still laying on her side on the ground. "Ellie! I got to get in there. I can't get througj" Joel stated. I wipe a tear dry and move to push away some stuff. While Tj tries her best to get up from the ground with loud groans and pain. Joel shoves his way in before slamming the door completely closed. Then heads straight away to Tj to check her out. He kneels slightly lifting away his flannel shirt that was beginning to get soaked by blood. "It's deep. But a graze luckily" he stated looking up at her. Tj nods and mumbles under her breath "fucking Kansas City". "What now?" I asked, after we where able to lessen Tj's bleeding enough that she wouldn't bleed to death in a few minutes. "We go up. Hopefully, we spot a clear route out" Joel said walking off to the opposite door. Me and Tj following him. I noticed a bit of a limp in her step. I wondered if the wound caused pain that it made her limp. She gave me a weird look as she passed but didn't say anything. "Stay close" Joel said, "you don't need to tell me twice. I'm going to stay so close that you'll be my personal human shield" Tj joked, clearly not wanting tk get shot another time "guess the bleeding didn't stop her sense of humor" I replied.

We exit through an alleyway and walk up against the wall of the building. Before ducking behind a car on the street. Joel peers around the bumper to look out at the beat up gravitied army vehicle that drives by. Another white truck follows it, with an armed man standing in the bed of the truck. I heard one of them call out the name of the young guy, Joel killed. "Body! Body! They got fuckin' Bryan!". Joel creeps across the alley, pulling on the door to look inside the building. Before nodding at us. Me and Tj run to his side, slipping in the building after him. Tj groaning in pain from the running. "When we finally leave this fucking city. I ain't never coming back here" she once again said cursing out Kansas City.

Published: 18th of July 2024