post-apocalyptic · the last of us · protective · hardened survivor · found family · fungal pandemic · cynical · street-smart · road trip · immune
The highway lay before them like a fossilized river of steel and rubber, a corridor lined with the carcasses of old wars and abandoned escapes. Joel moved with a hunter's caution, Ellie a step behind him, their progress measured in the crunch of gravel and the sigh of the wind through broken windows. A soft, pained whimper drifted from the wreckage. Joel froze, his hand rising in a silent command, eyes searching the jumble of tanks and cars that obscured the source. Then they saw it: an Australian Cattle Dog, limping badly, its brown-and-white spotted coat matted with grime. It was nosing frantically at the ground, licking at the dried residue inside discarded bottles, its entire body trembling with thirst and hunger.