The Last Of Us (Fan-Fic)

Summer- Chapter Two- Part 1 Quarantine Zone

* 20 Years Later *

Joel's POV:

I woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. Maybe that was good; I had another dream, or nightmare about Sarah last night. My room was dark, as always, the windows are all boarded up. I got to my feet as the knocking continued. "I'm coming" I called out as the knocking got louder. Staggering out of my room, I found myself slowly pacing across the floorboards to the door. Opening it up I found Tess standing with a cut on her face. I should have seen it coming. "How was your morning?" She asked sarcastically, walking into our ' house '.

I stayed silent as she poured herself a drink. "Want one?" She asked. "No" I refused, I didn't want to drown my sorrows at this time of day. "I don't... want one". "Well, I have some interesting news for you," She said, leaning against the white table. "Where were you, Tess?" I demanded. "West End district". I sighed and shook my head. "Hey, we had a drop to make" She reminded me. "We" I stated, pulling a clean cloth from the drawer. "We had a drop to make" I continued. "Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone remember?" She answered, snatching the cloth from me. I turned around stubbornly. "So, I'll take one guess. The whole deal went south, and the Client made off with our pills" I guessed. "Is that about right?" I asked as she laughed.

"Deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple months- easy". "You want to explain this?" I asked, gesturing at her cut. "I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these assholes, alright?" Tess explained, dabbing at her cut. "Yeah, they got a few good hits in. But..." She trailed off. "Look, I managed". "Gimme that," I said, taking the cloth off of her. I held her chin lightly and dabbed softly at the wound. "Are these assholes still with us?" I asked. "Now that's funny," She said back. "Did you at least find out who they were?". "Yeah, look they were a couple of nobodies- they don't matter. What matters is that Robert fucking sent them". My mouth hung open in horror for a second.

"Our Robert?" I asked. "He knows that we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first". "That son of a bitch, he's smart". "No. He's not smart enough. I know where he's hiding" She said in a low tone. "Like hell you do". "Old warehouse in Area 5- can't say for how long, though". "Well, I'm ready now. Yeah?" I challenged. "Oh. I can do now".

Tess and I set off, the town we are in is mostly abandoned except for the odd gang. Of course, some soldiers patrol the area as well. "The checkpoint's still open," She told me. "Only got a few hours left until curfew" I replied. "We better hurry up then". At that, we set off down the street. There were two people near a dumpster opposite to us, "Wait, are you serious?" One of them said. "I got served the damn papers this morning" Was the reply from the other person. "I've been selected for outside work duty" They continued. "It's such crap. Soldiers are supposed to handle the outside". Tess and I came to the iron gate; she opened it with the set of keys she had on her.

Through there was a narrow alleyway, the walls were covered in graffiti, and the ground was covered in junk. We came out the other side where a few soldiers were. "Attention. Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory" A female voice said through a speaker. All the shops were boarded up, and there were barricades on the road. "Look at that. Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again" Tess explained, staring at the building". "Hey, how much longer?" A woman shouted out to the soldiers. "Lady, when the rations arrive, we'll open the door. Alright?" They said back.

"Down on the ground," Someone said. "I hear it's another half ration week," Said another. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's three weeks in a row now" Called a man far behind us.

We went past another blocked off building with a young man kneeling on the ground. "I didn't do anything wrong" He explained. "Hands on your fucking head. Do it" The white man said. "Seems like more people are gettin' infected," Tess said. "That just means more people are sneakin' out" I replied as we headed for the checkpoint. I heard a woman's voice up ahead, I couldn't hear all that she was saying, but I did catch "Yeah. Way I heard it, they lined them up in the street and cut 'em up. Retribution and shit".