PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS - The last of us

chapter six

𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

(Chapter is unedited at the moment, I will be editing later tonight so be warned there might be some spelling or grammar mistakes.)

It was no secret that Ellie was concerned about her sister. Emily hadn't eaten in over a day and she hadn't had proper rest in weeks, you could see it in her face the exhaustion and dullness. Usually Emily would be running around the place, spotting little details on things and getting excited. Usually Emily was happy, a child. Lately, since her kidnapping she was just so down all the time, she hardly ate or slept. Ellie hopped that she would adjust to being out of the walls, that it wasn't a permanent thing but Emily was just slipping further away everyday.

Before long Emily had fallen asleep, her head resting in the crock of Tess' neck. Missing last nights sleep had finally caught up to the young girl, being exhausted in an apocalypse was never a good idea anyway.

At first Joel was secretly mad at the fact Tess was carrying Emily, it would only make things harder if they had run into trouble. However after awhile and seeing the girl fall asleep, he understood that it wasn't the girls fault, when Sarah was that age she relied on him a lot and often got tired. If Sarah had been here and was the same age as Emily then he'd do the same thing for her that Tess is to Emily.

Tess had also shared her own worry for the child in her arms. She was so fragile, even for a child. She knew however that this type of reaction would occur to a young child who is being faced with trauma, a child forced out of the safety of the walls, she just hoped it didn't last too long.

They had been walking a little while now and Emily still lay on Tess' shoulder, asleep. Ellie had kept the small talk going by asking questions about the infected and answering questions about her bite.

"Is she going to be okay? I mean she's not eating or sleeping that good. She just so young she doesn't deserve this." Ellie asked in a hushed tone to the woman holding Emily. Ellie knew Emily was tough but there's only so much trauma a six year old can go through.

"We'll look out for her, I'm sure she'll adjust after a little bit. It's got to be scary at her age being out here, especially if last time she was out here it didn't go well." Tess replied to Ellie.

Ellie just looked down in defeat, it was her fault Emily had got kidnapped in the first place. "Ellie?" Tess questioned and waited for Ellie to look up at her before continuing.

"Do you know if she has any mental disabilities? The way she acts, the way she has to have routine, the way she has comfort in that giraffe and can't be without it. I don't know it just seems like something more than trauma." Tess wondered out loud,,the little girl had so many signs of a disability but it was hard to separate the signs from trauma.

"I uh- I don't know. She's always been like it growing up, back in the QZ she had to have a plan of what was happening in the day so she could have a daily routine and without it she'd panic. She'd act out if something went differently or didn't follow her plan I guess I thought nothing of it until now, I should have realised." Ellie said sadly. Now that it has been pointed out everything made sense to Ellie, why Emily would often act younger than her age, why she needed routines, why she acted out sometimes.

"It's not on you kid, it's nothing to worry about it just means we'll have to be there for her a little more that's all. She'll be okay." Tess spoke before looking at Joel who had been walking behind them, not listening to a word of the conversation.

"Should we wake her up to eat? She hasn't eaten in over a day." Ellie asked looking up at her sister protectively.

"Probably the best idea, do you have any food in your pack?" Tess questioned to which Ellie nodded and opened Emily's pack, picking out a quarter of her sandwich from Marlene.