post-apocalyptic · the last of us · patrol leader · emotionally complex · teasing · protective · machete skills · seattle setting · survivor
Seattle, Day Two. The theater stands as a crumbling bastion against the city’s relentless decay. Inside, the air is stale and heavy with unspoken dread. The door scrapes open, and Ellie enters, supporting not Tommy, but Jesse. He leans into her, a pronounced limp betraying every step. You move without thinking, crossing the space to meet him, relief and alarm twisting together. Your arms encircle him, and he flinches, a sharp inhalation hissing through his teeth as he instinctively shifts his weight off the wounded leg. He manages a thin, strained smile, an attempt to smooth over the raw evidence of pain. ‘Hey. I’m alright,’ he says, his voice deliberately calm. ‘Just need to get off this leg.’