The Last Of Us

Chapter Seventeen : Consternation

"Hey, it's okay." Jake breathes into my ear.

A whimper escapes my mouth as gather all the courage that's left in me, using my hands to push myself up in a sitting position. I wipe the tears from my skin with the sleeve of my T-shirt. I turn my head around facing towards Jake. His eyes glossy and a bit red in the mild ray of the sunlight that is piercing through the small glass windows at the top of this storage room , looking as horrified as mine. A line of dampness on both of his cheeks. I sniff as I try to fully gain control on my body,forcing myself to stand up, using the wall as my support.

"Let's take what we have to and get out of here." I plead, rubbing the sweat off from my forehead.

"I can do it myself. You can just stay here. You have seen enough." He says.

"No. I have seen a lot already. And i was just petrified for a minute."
I pick up my bag and look at him. He is definitely going to say against it. " Because I didn't expect anything like this." I add.

"But-" i shut him up by giving him a glare.

I pull my scarf and wrap it around, using it to block the disgusting,rotting odor. I take small steps forward to the bodies which seems to be a family. Two bodies, one of a girl and the other of a boy. Both look like they were young, almost ten I guess. The two bodies were in a sitting position by the corner wall, their skiny hands intertwined tightly, head tilted and the skin pale, rotted, maggots feeding themselves off from the flesh. They both share matching holes on their forehead. The crimson blood that oozed out has dried throughout the days. 'What had these poor, innocent souls did to die this way?' I ask myself as grief overwhelms me.

I pace around the room and another body of a woman, a bit away in the darkness falls into my sight. I take my flashlight out,turning it on and flashing it towards the body. Condition of the body is same as the children's, matching bullet hole on her forehead, thick,dried, crimson blood and maggots feeding themselves. This may have been their mother, but who shot them? I face away, the tornado of emotions, crashing everything in my mind mixing up with the overwhelming melancholy causing havoc.

I pace forward, flashing the light in front at the shelves. I stop in front of a few boxes of cereals,cookies and some other random stuff. I pull the boxes and rest them on the floor, tearing the boxes and shoving everything I can in my bag. I realize my bag is full and extra bags are with Jake. I sigh as I stand up to walk and find Jake but a thud catches my attention. I immediately look towards the direction from where the sound came.

"Jake?" I call out in low voice and for either Jake's voice or a snarl.

A few seconds pass and pin-drop silence takes over the place. I reach back for my knife from my belt and bring it forward, grasping it tightly to attack any second. A take one step at a time, focusing and preparing myself for whatever is in front. I take small steps and light noises of movement comes to my ears. I keep the flashlight downwards on the floor, bringing my knife closer and soon a pair of legs appears. Before I jerk forward to attack i shine the light on the figure and the figure stops moving, and turns around.

"What the hell?" He yells but not too loud right when he turns.

He's eyes wide, his hands in front of him trying to shield himself and blocking the light. I move the light and put the knife back while examining the terrified expression that he has on his face at the moment.

"Do you have a death wish? If not, stop lurking in the shadows like an infected." I say as I take a step closer to him,fixing my gaze on what he was doing but before I could reach him, i stop.

A man's body on the floor, pale,rotting skin with maggots. Thick, red, dried blood pooled around the man's head. I observe the surrounding and see a gun in one of his hand and a paper in his clenched hand that is clinging to his chest. The wall beside him has blood splattered all across the wall with brain matter everywhere. I gasp when I realize that he has a gun and there are three other bodies that has bullet holes in their forehead. Oh God, maybe he killed his family and killed himself afterwards. Jake bends down as he reaches for the paper from the man's hand and stands up. He unfolds the paper gently, making sure he doesn't tear it up. He looks closely at the paper in his hand, his expression changes and he looks perturbed by whatever he is reading.