The Last Of Us: Part I - Darker Days (Male Reader)

Chapter 14 - A Recollection of the Past

A/N: I live for Y/N and Ellie's banter!

"So where's this tower?"

The surrounding area was overgrown. Covered by the evergreen trees and shrubbery that reclaimed the world back to the natural order of things. The wreckage of a van was not far off, rotten out and long rusted from the exposure of the ages. Just in the distance, Y/N could make out a house, and where there was one, there was bound to be a neighbourhood.

"We're close." Henry reassured them, "C'mon. Let's go."

The group began to move out, Henry taking the lead with Sam, while Y/N stayed in the middle, his limp more evident now to the others, while Ellie matched his stride beside him, and Joel guarded the rear, watching for anything and anyone out to get them.

"That was a close one, huh?" Sam spoke up when the group stopped at the wreckage of the van, taking their time to look it through, but alas, found nothing of value.

"Yeah," Henry chuckled, as he searched the wreck before turning to his brother. "Not one of our finest moments, but we made it out."

"We were lucky--" Y/N said, pulling himself to a stop when an arc of pain shot through his leg. Grimacing, he turned to the brothers, "I doubt it'd go any smoother a second time."

Such a Debbie Downer!

But that aside...

"You wanna stop?" Ellie asked him, noticing his grimace, and the rigid movement of his left leg. The limp was worsening, and they had no idea to the extent of the wound, but him.

The boy's skin was paling slightly, and she doubted their time in the sewer had helped, especially with outrunning the infected. She could count on her hand the amount of times Y/N had almost tripped or collapsed from simply jogging in his condition.

Y/N could just picture the sympathy and pity in her eyes.

"No, no." Y/N shook his head as they came out of the clearing of overgrowth, their sights revealing the array of houses before them, and in the distance, they could just make out the radio tower past the autumn leaves and trees. "I'm good to keep going."

Stubborn fool.

"Hey, look at that." Henry broke the two out of their conversation and pointed north, the hightail of a radio mass could be seen clearly in view. They were close. "Yup, what'd I tell you, huh?"

"Let's find a way around it." Joel announced himself as he moved up past Y/N and Ellie. Taking the time to look over the place. A street to their left led further down, past an abandoned car and a small boarded up house.

Turning back to Ellie, he asked, "What about you. How you holdin' up?"

Ellie settled for a small sigh, before nervously massaging her hand with the length of her finger tips, "Business as usual, right? When I was with Henry and Y/N, I took out a couple of infected by myself. You'd be proud."

"Yeah?" It sounded like both a question and a statement, but either way, he could tell there was at least a little bit of surprise in his voice, if not pride as well in that moment.

"...Saved my ass, too." Y/N admitted as they rounded a bend in between the houses and stopped at a narrow street.

The collection of houses between were mostly boarded up, and for a second it reminded him of the school, before he shut it down and continued on.

"Again."

Ellie's smug voice was something that never ceased to annoy him.

"Don't push it."