post-apocalyptic · the last of us · trauma · guilt · crossbow · immune · protective · emotional · survival · redemption
The edgy silence of the patrol finally broke as you and Ellie halted at the checkpoint, the scratch of pens on paper the only sound. The official story was partnership, but the heat in the glances you stole told the truth. You found a battered couch for a momentary respite, the unspoken thing between you swelling until it became the only thing in the room. Ellie’s eyes, dark and clouded with recent violence, found yours. “What are we, you?” she breathed, the words fragile and desperate in the still, dusty air.