Secrets And Hope {The Last Of Us Fanfiction}

XVII

Desolated and isolated were the two words that came to Nora's mind when describing Livingstone. Ransacked shops and overgrown with thick foliage that danced in the gentle winds. The two walked in silence, not a squeak or sound came from either of them as their eyes cast out into their surroundings. Guns at the ready for any potential threat.

"This place is too quiet," Nora shook her head as she broke the silence, her fingers gripping tighter around the cold metal of her gun.

"Mmm..." Joel grunted as he too looked around at their surroundings, "I agree. Lets find some cover. We're too out in the open,"

The two sank lower towards the ground as they made their way over to a shade of the buildings, allowing themselves some form of cover to any potential threat. They walked for what seemed like forever before they heard distant chatting. With a raise of Joel's hand, the two crouched down and hid behind an abandoned car. Seeing a couple of men in the distance holding rifles tightly within their grasps, Nora and Joel's eyes meet with a knowing glance. With a slight nod, they both split in separate directions and crept slowly closer to the two men. With light footwork, Joel remained low until he reached the final car that came between the men and himself. Seeing Nora in position, Joel counted down with his fingers, and together they silently took the men down.

Nora straightened slightly with relief, but Joel shook his head, gesturing to remain low, "There may be more around,"

Giving an understanding nod, she crouched down and followed Joel as they continued to make their way through the streets of Livingstone, their eyes peeled for the one thing they had come for. The supplies.

The town looked ransacked, as if the hunters made a party out of destroying anything they could find that wasn't deemed useful. Shattered glass scattered the floor along with plasterboard and broken bricks. One wrong step and they could have alerted those around them of their presence.

The further into the town they walked, the closer they got to the voices of more hunters, and they knew the only way to find their supplies was to find the hunters. Hearts pounding, Nora's eyes widened the closer they got. Gradually drawing nearer, they stopped behind a car once more as they found the entrance to the hunters stronghold.

Seeing Nora's nerves playing up, Joel put his hand on her arm, "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah i'm okay," Nora's eyes met with his as she nodded, "Let's get those supplies,"

Joel returned the nod as he gave her cheek a quick stroke, then looked over the cars bonnet to inspect the area, "We need to get through that door. Do you think we could silently get rid of those hunters?"

Nora inspected the entrance herself, seeing 3 hunters standing around a fire pit. Crouching back down behind the car, she once more nodded, "Let's wait to see if one moves, we'll take out two and one of us take out the last one?"

"Sounds good to me,"

The plan was running smoothly as one of the hunters began to walk away from the pit, Nora and Joel moved in. Killing two of the hunters left Joel to kill the final one as he snuck up behind him and wrapped his arm firmly around his neck. As the last breath was drawn, he slowly lowered him down to the ground. With a wave of his hand, he coaxed Nora over, and the two stood either side of the door. Nora's hand grasped firmly on the handle, and with a deep inhale of air, she swiftly opened it allowing Joel to swing inside, finger lingering over the trigger of his gun. Seeing no one inside, he gestured Nora to follow behind. Keeping as low and as quiet as possible, the two made their way through the lengthy hallway of the stronghold. At the end was a door, peeking through the small windows, they saw a courtyard with many hunters eating, drinking and having a laugh, completely unaware of their presence.

"Dammit, there's a lot of 'em," Joel whispered as his eyes scanned the courtyard, "Not much cover either,"

With a moment to think, Nora took a deep breath before standing back. Joel watched with a furrow of his brow as she prepared herself, and in that very moment, she kicked the door down. Joel's face immediately fell as he saw her pull both her pistols out and started shooting as she ran into the courtyard.

"Nora!" He called after her, "Shit!"

Knowing he couldn't leave her on her own, he followed suit and ran into the courtyard, guns blazing. As quickly as his feet could move, he ran over to Nora where she hid behind a low brick wall.

"Goddammit woman," He hissed, "Are you fucking crazy?!"

"Well, I didn't see we had much choice," She looked over to him with a nervous chuckle, bullets flying passed and hitting the wall in front of them, "Let's just get rid of these bastards, get these supplies and get gone,"

"I saw a horse and cart at the other side of the courtyard. We need to give ourselves enough time to load it all and go," Joel informed, and with that, the two began to fight back. One by one, the hunters fell. And inch by inch, they cornered the final few until finally, they all dropped like flies. The gunfire seized when there were no more in the courtyard, and with a second to catch their breath, the two lowered their guns, "Right, lets go,"

Opening the door, Joel's eyes cast across the stacks of guns and food, all in which were stolen not just from Tommy's settlement, but from other settlements around the area. Without wasting a single moment, Joel moved over to the supplies and began to grab as much as he could, "Lets get this loaded quickly, I think whoever heard us will be on their way,"

Nora nodded and grabbed the crates of ammunition that was set down on the floor of the supplies room, and she carried it out as she followed behind Joel. Placing it down on the horse drawn cart, she turned back around and went to head back inside. The had managed to get quite a bit of food and weaponry supplies loaded onto the cart but knew that to be well stocked, they needed more. Joel was gathering things together but froze when a voice called out.

"Drop it!"

Joel slowly let go of the crate and turned his head to see a hunter's arm around Nora's neck and a pistol pointing firmly against her head. Her eyes were wide as they met Joel's, begging for help as fear struck her eyes like lightening, and her breath quickened.

"Put your guns on the floor," The hunter instructed, but as Joel hesitated, the hunter yelled, "Now!"

Nora flinched and whimpered out slightly against the yell, and Joel immediately began to unload the guns he had within his holster. Unarmed, another hunter came up behind him and kicked him down to the ground. With a grunt, Joel tumbled to his knee and was pinned down face first against the ground. Seeing him weak and vulnerable, Nora knew she had to do something. Once their attention was diverted, Nora's hand crept slowly down to her thigh where she grabbed her knife, and drove it into the hunters abdomen. He cried out desperately against the fiery pain as he let go and fell to the ground. Catching them by surprise, she then kicked the other hunter in the face, pushing him off from Joel. Now free from restraint, Joel rushed up to his knees and wrapped his arm around the hunters neck, strangulating him until his last breath drew from his lips, like an exhausted spluttering out its fumes.

"Joel, we need to go now," Nora held out her hand, and Joel's giant hand dwarfed hers as he grasped it tight. The two ran hand in hand as they made their way to the horse and cart. Clambering up, Joel cracked the reins and the horse reared with a start. In that very second, the courtyard began to fill with hunters, guns firing at them as the horse bolted as fast as it could away from the bullets.

"Ah shit!" Joel jumped, a hand rushing down to his thigh as he cupped a fresh bullet hole. Seeing what had just happened, Nora took control of the reins and made their way as quickly as they possibly could out of Livingstone.