Asthma (The Last Of Us)

Heartbreak

(TJ's P.O.V.)
I watch dad lift up the window before climbing out onto the roof. Then Ellie, Tess and myself followed him. Stepping out I heard the whistling of the wind. Behind me I hear Tess grunting as she drop herself to sit down. Taking of the backpack dad hands Ellie a bandage for the new bite mark "Put this around your arm". "Thanks" Ellie replied taking the rag from him. I scan my eyes over Tess her leg and ankle, which she is holding tightly. Tess takes of her shoe while dad grabes some tape. "Over there?" I heard Ellie from behind me. I turn and look over my shoulder and see her point to the building opposite of ours. "Yes, I know it looks scary" Dad answered talking about the wooden plank that was laid between the building as a bridge. "That was scary" Ellie replied indicitating the clicker attack, "this is wood" and walks over it without hesitation or fear. I turn my attentiom back to my father. Who immediatly nods for me to follow Ellie. "Back to babysitting duties" I sigh and roll my eyes and turn on my heel and walk across the creaky board. I saunter over to Ellie who looks out ahead of her. A gentle glow of the sun cast on her face. "Everything you hoped for?" I asked her and sit on the ledge, "jury's still out" Ellie replied shrugging her shoulders, "but you can't deny that view". I look back to the view. Clouds speckled the sky, buildings crowd the overgrown city below, the capital dome sits prominatly in the middle. "C'mon, let's get there before its dark" Tess orders as her and dad walk past us.

We walk across the leaf covered street. The Capital building stands in the distance. Although limping Tess walks ahead of us with a fast pace. I have trouble keeping up and silently curse out fast walking people under my breath. Along the street abdoned overgrown cars sit on the curb. I question if they still can run or that they have any fuel left. As we arrive at the capitol, I look up at the crawling weed that climbs up the white stone walls. The ornate architecture is covered in dirt due to not being cleaned in years. We squat by a car and look over the grounds for any signs of clickers or the people Marlene told us about. "So are we playing hide a seek with them or?" I asked and look around. The two adults ignore my statement. "Where the fuck are they?" Tess softly sneered. Dad shakes his head before looking back at us briefly. Then stands to walk through the dead brush onto the street. Steadily approaching the military truck that stood a few feet infront of the entrance to the capitol. I look over the hood of the car to see if anything was out there, luckily the coast was still clear. I watch dad pull the truck door open, immediatly pointing the gun to the inside. Even from my position, I can still see the blood stained interior. Dad turns to us and raises his hand, telling us to stay put, before walking around the truck. Eventually, after waiting for to long, Tess walks forward towards dad. Both me and Ellie hot on her heels. "Joel?" Tess asked as we approach, "what the fuck is going on?". "I don't know" Dad sighs andnlowered his hand after opening the trailer door of the truck. I look inside and see that its completely empty. I walk around the truck and see two freshly mangled bodies. The stank that came from them made me choke up and gag. I turn my head away and spot a  speckled trail of blood on the steps. "They went inside" I tell everyone as I try to get fresh air into my nose, instead of the smell of the bodies. Suddenly Tess pushes past me, holding Ellie's wrist tightly and leads her up the steps. "Tess!" Dad angrily yells for her to stop. But she refuses and continues. "Yes, lets go inside with potential clickers. Smart idea-" I didn't get to finish my sentece when dad grabs me and basically hurls me forward to follow Tess. Dad opens the door after it had closed behind Tess and Ellie and the two of us stride inside. "Holy shit" Ellie gasped as she saw the dead bodies laying all over the place. Pools of blood underneath their heads. I count a dozen dead, who are scattered over the marble floor. Black boxes, tactical gear and industrial lamps are dispursed around the voyer. "I mean there's gotta be a fuckin radio or somethin', right?" Tess breathes out anxiously and paces to one of the boxes. Going through the remaining supplies but finding nothing of interest. I watch her wearily, something was off about her reaction to all of this. "Who killed them? FEDRA?" Ellie asked looking to my father, "no" he replied and turns a body with his foot. Fungus veins cross the face of the deceased man. "One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone lost" he explained to Ellie and myself, before turning back to converse with Tess who was still banging boxes closed in frustration, "what are you doing?". "Where did Marlene say that she was taking you?" Tess asked Ellie, not answering my father's question, "Ellie!". "Uh" the teenager began, "I don't know. Just West" she shruggs. "Just West? Fuck. Well, I mean one of them's gotta have a map on them, right?" Tess sighs and turns to walk to one of the bodies. "Joel, can you help me?". "No" dad loudly stated, "Tess. Its over". Both me and Ellie stand awkwardly as the two adults argue. "We are going home". "That's not my fucking home!" Tess yells angrily and glares at dad. Then looks away to collect herself before standing back up. "I'm staying" she stated in a matter of fact tone, "I mean... our luck had to run out sooner or later". Dad's brow furrows not understanding her. Then realisation hit me. "No" I said barely above a whisper. Disbelief crosses my face as I refuse to beliefe I was right. She can't be infecred. Tess doesn't answer me and looks towards dad. "Show me" he orders her to show us the mark, "Joel" she softly began and takes a step towards him. Resulting in him flinching back, raising his arms. Tess takes a step back before reluctantly pulling her collar back, showing us the mark. A bite crosses through her red and blotchy skin. Veiny leasions spiral down her collarbone. I begin to feel tears prick in my eyes as I knew what this meant. "Take your bandage off" Tess tells Ellie, who complies. "Look" Tess said grabbing Ellie's arm, showing the clean bitemark. Compared to Tess's bite, Ellie's looked healed. I watch as her hand trembles as she tries to convince my father about Ellie. "I need you to get her to Bill and Frank's". Dad shakes his head no, "no, no, no, I can't. They won't take her". "They will, because you will convince them. Yes, you will" Tess continues, "I, I never ask you for anything, not to feel the way I felt. No- you shut the fuck up" she snaps as dad tries to cutt her off, "I don't have time". My lip trembles as I see tears softly trail down Tess's face. "You get her there. You keep her alive. And you set everything right". Tess sounds as sad as she looks. Suddenly the loud gasp echoes through the building as a clicker wakes up, scaring Ellie to back away. Immediatly dad walks forward and shoot it without emotion. It goes limp, and its hand lays on a patch of green moss. Mycelium creeps up and wraps around the hand. I watch as the fungus grips the skin. A shakey breath leaves my throat realising what is going to happen. "How many?" Tess asked him after dad came back to check outside, "all of them" he answered quickly, "maybe a minute". My heart is racing a million beats per second and Im frozen to the ground, as my breath quickens. Tess grabs a gun from the ground before bashing the cap of a gasoline canister before pushing it over. Gasoline liauid pools around my feet. "What are you doing?" Ellie asked her, "making sure they don't follow you" Tess replied and does the same move with a second gasoline barrel. Before opening a box of grenades and throwing them on the ground. My breath quickens even more and I have no way of breathing easily. Tess notices my panicked state and quickly comes over. Her hand goes into the pocket of my jacket to retrieve my inhaler. She shakes it as her other hand craddles my cheek. A soft loving, yet saddened, smile makes her way onto her face. Before she offers me the inhaler. Pressing it down so I can inhale the medicine. After regaining my breath I push my head against her hand, not wanting to leave. I see her opening her mouth to talk, but she knows I am not one for aweet words. I rather wanted the physical love. She knew this and pulled me in for a tight hug. I returned it and didn't want to let go as tears began to stream over my face. I was shaking in my boots, my heart was screaming in agony. I felt Tess lift her head and whisper my father's name. I knew what this meant. "No, please" I whimper and look up at her. But soon enough feel dad grab my arm, trying to pull me away from Tess... from my mother. "No!" I yell and hit his arms away. "TJ we've got to go" dad tells me and grabs a hold of my arm again, while my mother stands still, not trying to keep me here. I kept on fighting against my father, but he was much larger and stronger and just basically picked me up as I screamed at him "No! Don't leave my mother like that!".

Published: 7th of March 2024

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