The Last of Us

Chapter I

August 2013

Joel's POV

I've been on the phone arguing with my brother, Tommy, for what seems like hours now.

"He's the contractor-" I'm cut off by Tommy "h-he's the contractor okay?" He's still arguing. I make my way into the family room and I see my daughter, Sarah asleep on the couch.

"Listen can we talk about this later?" I say as I hang up with Tommy. Sarah yawns, and sits up. 

"Hey." 

"Ah- Scoot."

"Fun day at work huh?"

"What are you still doin' up?" I rub my forehead "it's late."

"Oh Crud. What time is it?"

"It's way past your bedtime."

"But it's still today." She reaches under the couch.

"Honey please not right now. I do not have the energy for this." She stands up and hands me a box.

"Here."

"What's this?"

"Your birthday." I take the box and look at her, opening the box.

"You...kept complainin' about your broken watch... So I figured. Y'know? You like it?" I set the box down and take out the watch.

I fiddle with the watch a bit and I speak up, wanting to play a little joke on my daughter.

"Honey this is-"

"What?"

"It's nice but I-..." I keep fiddling with the watch on my wrist. "I think it's stuck..it's not-" Sarah looks worried.

"What? No no no no no." She looks at the watch and notices it's not broken. "Oh ha ha."

"Where did you get the money for this?"

"Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs." She says lying on the couch.

"Oh good. You can start helpin' with the mortgage then."

"Stsh- yeah you wish." She says as I turn on the tv.

A few hours later, I look to my side and I see Sarah sleeping. I pick her up, carry her to her bed, and tuck her in "goodnight baby girl." I head into my office.

Sarah's POV

I'm woken up by the ringing of the phone by my bedside. It must be at least 2:00 in the morning. I answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Sarah, honey I need you to get your daddy on the phone." It's uncle Tommy.

"U- uncle Tommy? What time is it?"

"I need to talk to your dad right now. There's some-" the line goes dead.

"U-uncle Tommy? Hello?" I put the phone down and get out of my bed, slowly walking to my door. I open it and start to walk towards the stairs "Dad?" I call out. No answer. "Daddy?" I walk into a room and the tv is on. "You in here?" The news on the TV is talking about a gas leak. "Looks near here." I mumble to myself, moments after that, I hear a loud explosion. I immediately look out the window, and I see the explosion. This gets me even more worried. "Dad?" I practically yell. I walk out the door and down the stairs. "Dad!?" I yell again. "What is goin' on?"

I get downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I hear his phone vibrate.

"That's his phone." I walk to it and pick it up. "8 missed calls. Where the hell are you? Call me. On my way. I put his phone down. As I'm walking to the office I hear a strange noise that startles me. I open the door to the office and my dad runs in from the sliding doors that lead outside. He shuts them.