The Last of Us

Prologue

It had been 10 years since the outbreak. 10 years since life changed for humanity. 10 years since the days in which the only thing that spread faster than the reports of infected was panic. 10 years since civilization ended and living became surviving.

Lauren had been 10 years old when that happened, so it was safe to say that part of her memories of the old life many people talked about were based on stories more than her own memories.

Her first memory of the new world, though, was one of those that she preferred not to talk about. She still had nightmares of that first night, of her and her family being ambushed by infected while trying to escape the city. She had lost her baby sister that night and her mother a couple of weeks after, and 10 years later, the pain and sadness hadn't gone away. In fact, through the years, the pain and sadness had been fueled by new losses.

During the fist couple of years, Lauren had tried to make friends at the quarantine zones but all of those people had ended up getting infected, dying or being moved to other quarantine zones. So, Lauren gave up on friendship for a long time.

Until she arrived to the Boston quarantine zone, alone, with nothing but a gun, a knife and a cold, hardened heart.

She was only 16 but she was better prepared for the new world than any other adult she had met. She was smart and knew better than to create attachments with people. She refused to be part of the military boarding school and was moved from home to home inside the quarantine until she ended up with the Hansens, a big family with even bigger hearts that melted a little of the hard exterior Lauren had built to herself.

Dinah, who was a year younger than Lauren, was part of that family, and she insisted until she became friends with Lauren. She introduced her to Normani and Ally, girls from the quarantine that Dinah had grown up with.

Lauren let them in. She had learned not to open her heart but she couldn't help but let them in after years of Dinah taking her to spend time with them.

Ally was the oldest of the group and just as Lauren was warming up to her, she was taken to the quarantine's military hospital to work there. They barely had time to see her after that but Lauren was glad Ally was there. She was too nice to survive in that messed up word in any other way.

Lauren, though, wasn't too nice or too innocent. She knew exactly what the new world was made of. She had been reminded constantly of what not to do. So, she had met people and offered herself for small jobs.

Take this letter to this person. Send this message to this other person.

Lauren would take any chance to be on the move, even if she couldn't leave the quarantine zone.

She had made a reputation for herself. She was a survivor. She could handle herself and was resourceful enough to be alive and not infected after each job.

Soon, people were asking her to smuggle things from and into the quarantine zone.

Going outside wasn't easy and Lauren had a few close calls, but she did it anyway. The more dangerous the job was, the more ration cards and goods she got. That meant that, for her, living was as close as comfortable as it was possible when you're inside a quarantine zone, ruled by the military.

Dinah and Normani weren't happy with Lauren risking her life but understood why she did it and soon they joined her when she had to finish a specially dangerous job.

They were well known in the zone although people wouldn't say their names aloud.

Lauren, Normani and Dinah. Professional smugglers, dangerous survivors.