The Last of Us

Chapter III

SUMMER

20 YEARS LATER

Joel's POV

I wake up, breathing fast. Nightmares. I hear someone knock on the door and I get up and open it. It's Tess.

"How was your morning?" She asks while she pours some whiskey into a glass cup. She looks at me, "Want one?"

"No. I don't...want one."

"Well, I have some interesting news for you." She takes a sip and sets it on the counter.

"Where were you, Tess?" I look at her.

"West End district." She takes another sip. "Hey, we had a drop to make." She sips again.

"We." I snap, walking towards her. "We had a drop to make."

"Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone remember?" I hand her a wet rag and walk away.

"So I'll take one guess. The whole deal went South, and the Client made off with our pills. Is that about right?" I turn to see Tess laughing.

"Deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months - easy." She says reaching in her pocket to pull out some ration cards and set them down. I look at her and motion to her cheek, "You want to explain this?" She shrugs. "I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" She puts the cloth to her cheek. "Yeah, they got a few hits in. But... Look, I managed." 

"Gimme that." I take the cloth from her and tilt her head up, putting it on her cheek. "Are these assholes still with us?" 

"Now that's funny." She laughs slightly, and gives me a half smile.

"Did you at least find out who they were?" I move her head to the side. She grabs my wrist and pushes it away.

"Yeah, look they were a couple of nobodies - they don't matter. What matters is that Robert fucking sent them."

"Our Robert?"

"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." She walks over to me. I lock eyes with her and she leans in slightly, whispering, "I know where he's hiding."

"Like hell you do."

"Old warehouse in area 5 - can't say for how long though." She shrugs.

"Well, I'm ready now. Yeah?" We walk towards the door.

"Oh. I can do now."

We walk out of my apartment.

"The checkpoint's still open."

"Only got a few hours left until curfew."

"We better hurry up then." Then we walk, and Tess unlocks a gate. We walk out. I see a military truck driving through the street and I hear speakers turn on and the voice of a woman.

'Attention. Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personal is mandatory.'

I hear Tess. "Look at that. Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again." I look to where she's pointing and there are a bunch of wanted signs on the wall.

I look to my side and see someone get pushed out of a house.

"You leave me alone." I hear.

"Down on the ground."

"Okay, okay. Jesus."

"I said get down."

"Well, what're you gonna do. I didn't do anything wrong." I hear a kick.

"This is such fucking bullshit. I bet those uniforms over there, they don't get half the rations."

"Hands on your fucking head. Do it."

"Keep your voice down. What's wrong with you?"

"Alright. Scan 'em."

"Whatever. I don't even care anymore. Let 'em take me."

"Just...be quiet."

I hear Tess again. "Seems like more people are gettin' infected." We continue walking.

"He's clean." I hear behind me.

"That just means more people are sneakin' out." I say, and we keep walking.

"Clean." I hear again, further behind me now.

"I got us all new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there." We walk towards another gate, showing a checkpoint. We walk to the two men on the gate, and I hand one our IDs.

"What's your business here?" He says.

"Got the day off. Visiting a friend."

"All right. Move on."

"Thanks." Just as were about to leave and an explosion happens right behind the gates, and the guards close them. 

"Get outta here. Go!" One yells to us.

"Close it up."

"Fireflies!"

"Fuckin' shoot 'em!"

"They're running! Call for backup!"

"Joel, come on, let's get outta here." Tess says pulling me away from the gate. I turn around and hear the alarms blaring, followed by another, louder, announcement. 

'Attention. Checkpoint 5 is now closed until further notice. All civilians must clear the surrounding area immediately.'

I hear Tess once again. "Joel, let's go. C'mon." And we both start to run away from the scene.

"Goddamn fireflies." I keep running and Tess gets to a door. "Looks like the coast is clear. C'mon." We go into the building and I shut the door behind me.

Tess sighs. "Fuck...so much for the easy route." She looks at me. "Patch yourself up alright." She hands me some gauze and I patch myself up, just minor scratches.

"They're gonna close all the checkpoints. We're gonna have to go around the outside." We walk and turn.

"Outside the wall?"

"Or we could just let Robert go." We continue walking. I let out a soft laugh.

"Cute."

We keep walking. A guy sitting down says; "Hey, Tess. You see that shit?" Tess answers, "I was there. Hey, how's the east tunnel looking?" The man answers, "It's clear. I just used it. No patrols. Where you off to?" Tess answers again, "Gonna pay Robert a visit."  We walk down a long and dark corridor.

"You too?" He asks again.

"Who else is looking for him?" She asks.

"Uh, Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him." He answers.

"Marlene? What do the Fireflies need with Robert?" Tess questions.

The man lets out a soft laugh. "You think she'd tell me?"

"Well what did you tell her?" We keep walking, me not speaking at all.

"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding."

"Good man. Hey, you stay out of trouble alright? Military's gonna be out in force soon."

"Yeah - see you around." And the man leaves us. We continue to walk down the corridor.

A/N

Well, it's 20 years later. And Joel's aging. We just met the character Tess. Sorry for the bad ending. But what's gonna happen next?? Keep reading to find out. I'm updating a lot so you're welcome. Haha.

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