Ruin- A Last of Us Fanfiction

1

This is incredibly stupid, I think to myself as I push open the apartment door. Infected are swarming Salem and if I'm to meet one of the creatures in a confined area, I'll be dead within minutes. But if I don't get any supplies, in a few days it won't matter whether or not I meet up with an infected, I'll be dead anyway. I look down at the threshold of the house, debating, then I walk in. I'm careful to keep my footsteps as light and soundless as possible.

I walk from the entrance of the house to the kitchen. A sudden pang hits me as I see that the kitchen with its white cupboards and black trim looks hauntingly like my parents kitchen where I was living before... I close my eyes, instantly casting the thought aside as my stomach twists. I haven't thought about that house in over a decade and with the memories of the house are thoughts of my family and things as they were 20 years ago, things that are better left alone.

Giving my head a slight shake I, as carefully and quietly as possible, begin opening cupboards with my left arm, unable to lift my right arm past my breast bone. I find a knife in one of the drawers and I stick the weapon in my belt. The rest of the cupboards are bare, not that I was expecting much.

Continuing quietly, I head into a bedroom. I'm opening the closet when I hear the demented clicking. I silently curse myself as I realize I must have left the door open. Then I remind myself that Clickers, which is undoubtedly the creature who had made that sickening sound, are blind. If I can remain silent, I can hopefully get out of the apartment and find safety somewhere else.

Forgetting supplies, I focus all my energy on making it out of the apartment without alerting the Clicker to my presence. I make it out of the bedroom but have to stop dead when I see that the infected is a few feet from me. I reach to pull my knife from my belt, preparing to have to sneak up behind the Clicker and kill it. However, the weapon becomes caught on my belt loop. I tug on the handle, trying to free it when it slips from my sweaty fingers, flies a few inches from me, and slams against the counter.

I freeze as the Clicker turns its head. It lets out a grinding click and walks toward me. I take a step to the side, hoping to side-step the creature when, of course, a floorboard creaks beneath my foot.

The Clicker turns and looks straight at me. For several moments, we simply stare at each other, then the infected takes several steps forward, clicking the entire time. The Clickers use that horrible sound as a sort of homing device and unfortunately, the sound bounces off the human body differently that an empty room.

As if realizing this, the infected lets out an enraged wail and runs at me. I manage to side-step the creature and move toward the far wall. I begin racking my brain, trying to think of a plan. Seeing a bat near where the two walls meet, I run towards it. As focused as I am on bat, I don't notice that the Clicker has renewed its attack on me.

The infected collides with me and we both tumble to the ground. I roll a few inches away, and am trying to get to my feet when I realize that my ankle is being held taut. I look back and see the Clicker has my leg between its hands. Pulling my leg free, I manage to kick the infected once in the face. Not with enough force to break the skull, but hard enough to have done something because the Clicker retreats, letting out an angry wail. My leg hurts like someone just branded it, but I force myself to stand.

Taking the wooden bat from where it sits against the wall, I swing it at the Clicker's head. It takes a few hard hits but finally there's a crunch and blood and pus splatters the wall.

Breathing deeply, I slump against the wall allowing the bat to slip from my fingers. My leg still hurts like wildfire and its begun to itch. "Don't look," I tell myself. "It'd only make it worse."

I lean my head back as exhaustion floods my body. My heart is still beating at a mile a minute and I can hear my blood pulsing. I can't remember the last time I ate or slept. I allow my eyes to close and give into the numbing blackness.