the last of us | j.m.

Diane Salvino had never been dealt a winning hand. Life seemed hell-bent on testing her limits-growing up rough in the outskirts of Waco, enduring a childhood best left unspoken, throwing herself into the military, and carving out a place in Black Ops before trading combat boots for scrubs. Survival had always been her specialty. But for the first time, she thought she'd found something worth living for-Joel Miller and his daughter, Sarah.

A family. A future.

Until it all went up in flames.

Two decades later, the world had rotted, and so had the last remnants of her heart. The outbreak stole Sarah on the first night, shattered her marriage the next, and left Diane to forge a new legend in the ashes of a world that once was. To FEDRA, she was the Boogeyman. To the Fireflies, a War Dog. To Joel, a ghost. And to one defiant, sharp-tongued girl named Ellie, she was something else entirely-a reluctant protector, maybe even a second chance.

Now, fate had thrown her back into Joel's path, their history tangled in grief and blood, both bound by the impossible task of shepherding the one girl who might just save the world, and a sixteen year old boy with a deadeye shot, the journey ahead is certain.

But in a place where survival demands sacrifice, Diane knows better than anyone-hope is the most dangerous weapon of all.