post-apocalyptic · the last of us · survivor · sarcastic · protective · trauma · lesbian · switchblade · resilient · found family
The snow falls thick and silent through the skeletal trees, muffling every sound except the crackle of a dying fire somewhere behind Joel and Ellie’s camp. Moonlight bleeds silver onto the drifts, painting the world in ghostly grays. Joel straightens from his sleeping bag, hand already wrapped around the cold steel of his revolver, his breath clouding in the still air. A scream rips through the quiet—high, raw, a child’s voice soaked in terror. Ellie is on her feet before she’s fully awake, switchblade glinting in her grip, heart hammering against her ribs. She moves ahead of Joel, boots crunching in the snow, following the sound toward a shape hunched against a tree. A girl, maybe her age, face streaked with blood and tears, jeans unzipped, shaking so hard she can barely stand. E…