Left Forsaken: A The Last Of Us Story

Under The Wing

The crowd gathered awaiting the words of the Sargeant to be heard. A deafening silence crept among us; What were we expecting? What were we meant to hear? As soon as we saw the Sargeant walk in front of the crowd the silence almost pierced my eardrums. He stood straight ahead, his forehead held high, and his jaw tight. He looked over the crowd.

"We are living a difficult time now." He started, disturbing the suffocating silence. "We abandoned our homes, many of our friends and family lost. We are now here, refusing to back down even if tragedy has befallen us..."

"A lot of us survived," He paused and looked at the mass of people standing right in front of him. "A lot more than expected, and that's good. Means humanity has a chance - a big chance. The scientists are already searching for a solution to this infection. Which means we'll soon be back to our daily lifestyle. Yet, for now, we have to settle. Do not worry. We are all here to keep you safe; To serve and protect you." The United States' flag waved with pride as the Sargeant spoke these words. "We will defeat this tragedy, and it will go down in history as another one of humanity's victories!" His words made the crowd applaud and cheer in agreement, once they hushed down, he started, "But in order to prevail, you must prevent. Prevent any contact with anyone who might seem infected, going near the gates, and even more wandering out of the quarantine zone. It is treacherous. Food will be served to everyone, as well as water." He explained, then dismissed us.

. . .

It has been a few weeks now and just like the Sargeant had said, we have to settle and that's what we did. It took us a while, but we made this place feel just like home. We were living the "life" when the world outside was been torn apart. More and more people were infected by the day. Nobody knew what causes the infection or how exactly one gets infected...

Shots were constantly heard outside the quarantine zone, beyond the gates. The gunshots echoing through out the landscape, hitting every person's mind, just like it had hit the target. I recalled the Sargent's words on that day he called on us, "We are living a difficult time now." I guess that was putting it lightly.

We've had a few accidents here in the quarantine itself. Some people who made it by the health inspection seem to be infected. Even if they didn't show any signals of infection. Once the infection fully took effect on the host, it became aggressive and attacks anyone near by. Due to those infected that got in, non- infected got attacked, and most of them died. So ever since then the soldiers have kept a very close watch on us. The apprehensive atmosphere was so strong, so much that it no longer felt like home - it felt like prison.

Soon winter will fall upon us, and the freezing temperature will crawl onto our skin. Most say the cold weather may kill the infection, but I highly doubt it, if FEDRA hasn't done it yet, I fear winter won't either...

I took a long shaky breath as I looked out the window, all these things happening made me miss the time my only worries were getting a job, paying the bills, and getting Lillian to sleep.

I heard the shuffle of the blankets and looked over to see my daughter tossing on the bed. "Hey, kiddo... Can't sleep?" I told her, and she opened her eyes. The sadness in her gaze caused my heart to ache. I haven't seen her smile ever since the attacks have started in the quarantine. She constantly asks me, "Daddy, am I infected?" The fear in her voice... This situation has been hard for everyone, but especially for her.

"Yes." She replied. "I miss teddy."

"Ah," I sighed. "He is okay, darling. He's guarding our house from bad guys." I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"He always guarded me in my sleep..."

"Don't worry, baby girl, I am covering for teddy." I kissed her forehead. "No one will touch you as long as I am here."

She smiled faintly -barely there- if I wasn't paying attention, I'd miss it... Her eyes fluttered shut, and I smiled, "Good night, Lilly."

A/N:
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