The Last of Us

I woke, slightly groggy, to the sound of a phone ringing. I looked at the clock, it was four-thirty in the morning. I groaned and wondered why my Dad hadn't picked it up yet. Yawning, I stretched briefly and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Sarah, sweetie, this is your Uncle Tommy, is your dad there? It's really important.”

“Uncle Tommy, what's wrong?” I asked, sitting up in bed, concern forming a crease in my brow. 

“I'll explain later, it's—”

“Hello? Uncle Tommy?...” all that replied was the dial tone, beeping eerily on the other end. I hung up the phone and hopped out of bed, opening my door and walking down the hall to my dad's room. 

“Dad? Are you in here?” I called, pushing open his door, the TV was left on, the news channel doing a segment on some breaking news in the area. 

“It is urgent that residents evacuate the city and get to the quarantine zone—”

"There's a gas leak!-"

"There appears to be some commotion-"

"Lady, get out of there!"

A rolling wave of flames came up behind the reporter that the screen went fuzzy, a sharp vibration ran through the house and the glass in the windows vibrated. I looked out the window, a cloud of flames rolled up out of a break in the buildings and trees in the city, the hospital went up in flames.

I gasped “Oh man...”

I ran out of my Dad'd room and jogged down the stairs, looking for him in a panic, he was nowhere to be seen."

“Dad?” I called, walking through the living room into he kitchen, then I noticed his cellphone flashing on the breakfast table. I scooped it up into my hands, unlocking it, he had three missed calls and four texts. 

“Where are you? Call me, Joel, if you don't call me soon, I'm coming over.” I read them, setting his phone back down and turning around. Seeing his office doors propped open, maybe that's where he was...

I walked towards the door and pushed it open a little more “Dad?”

The sliding glass door flew open and shut just as quickly. “Dad?” I whispered in surprise “hat's going on?”

“Sarah, did anyone come in here?” he asked, his voice tight with fear, digging through his desk drawer until he pulled out a silver revolver that glittered a deadly white in the moonlight pouring through the glass door. 

"No..." I replied slowly "who would come in here?"

"Stay away from the door!"

"Dad... You're kinda freaking me out." my voice shook in fear. "what's going on?"

"The Coopers..." he said in a dangerously low, concentrated tone, "somethin' ain't right with them, I think they're sick..."

"What kind of sick?" I wondered in fear “Dad!” I shrieked when Jimmy Cooper, our neighbor, stumbled through our backyard. His shirt torn and stained with blood. He had no pupils, plain voids, he threw his body against the glass door until it broke and he fell in, several dagger-like blades of glass stabbed through his torso but had no effect. 

“Jimmy, I'm warning you, don't come any closer...” Dad said, gesturing for Jimmy to stay back, pointing the gun at his head.  Jimmy hissed and threw himself at my dad, and he shot him in the forehead. I screamed and hid behind dad, my breathing hectic, I peeked out enough to see the blood.

"You shot him...” I exclaimed. My voice raising a octave. “I... I saw him just this morning.” I hiccuped. 

“I know Babygirl, he was sick... Listen to me, something bad is going on, we are going to get out of here, do you understand me?"

I nodded helplessly, feeling a spark of determination "Yep."

He pulled be behind him out the front door, he didn't stop to pack anything, he shoved the revolver into his waistband and led me outside into the front yard. Uncle Tommy was there, his jeep parked in the drive, he was just walking around the front when we approached him.

“Did you hear what's going on? - Christ, you're covered in blood!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Don't worry, it ain't mine..." Dad muttered "let's just go."

He put me in the backseat, and climbed in the passenger's side. Uncle Tommy started backing out onto the road. 

I was concerned, for everything really. This was the first time in all my life I'd ever really given thought to how I would die. It's not something that was pleasant to think about, and I would rather avoid the topic all together.   I was worried about my dad's safety and my Uncle Tommy. What was happening? What was going to happen? Where were we going?...

Tommy drove too quickly down the dirt roads from our house, I looked out the windows as we passed the homes of our neighbors, people I loved like family, houses on fire, cars flipped in the driveways, it was terrible to look at.

“Take us to the highway out of town.” Joel commanded, his face straight and emotionless, but I could see the horror and fear burning in his eyes. But I didn't comment on it, my eyes are probably the same. 

“Got it.” Tommy answered with the same flat monotone. Only he didn't hide his concern as well.

“We need to get out of town as soon as possible, there was this one family that they found all mangled in their—”

“Tommy.” Joel interrupted his flatly.

Tommy paused “Oh, sorry.”

I looked out the right window, one of our friends who had lived in that same old farmhouse all his life, the house was going up in flames.

“That's old Pete's place...” Joel muttered, looking out the widow to hide his anxiety but I could see his reflection in the dim glass. 

“Let's hope the son of a bitch got out.” Tommy commented, resting a hand on my dads shoulder.

We drove a little farther until I saw a small family on the side of the road. A little boy and his parents look like they had gone through living H to get this far, they were waving frantically at us to stop as we drove.

“Keep driving.” Joel growled.

“But they have a kid—” Tommy protested.

“So do we.” Joel finished, glaring at Tommy, some silent agreement passed between then and the speedometer went up again. Tommy wore a pained expression.

"Hey! STOP!..." the man's voice faded behind us, his cries for help became distant, and I felt horrible guilt, wondering what would happen to them.

“We should have helped them...” I whispered.

“Sarah, honey, they might have been in the city, they could have been sick-"

“But didn't Jimmy work in the city?” I interrupted.

Joel cleared his throat “Yes, uh... Yes. He did.” then he looked out the side windows again. 

"...Are we sick?" I whispered slowly, looking at my hands lying limp in my lap, the idea of being sick with anything was terrible and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but if it couldn't be controlled... Something far worse than the stomach flu or a cold.

"...No" Dad paused for a moment "I think we're fine."

I sighed and sat up a little straighter as we entered town, driving towards the bridge out of town, as we pulled up behind a line of twenty other cars.

“Goddamn it!” Joel growled, pinching the bridge if his nose and squeezing his eyes shut in frustration.

“Everyone and their grandmother had the same goddamned idea!” he shouted in annoyance, glaring out the windshield.

Our headlights washed out duel triangles of light across the dark street, a little white Audi was parked a few yard ahead of us, the driver got out, yelling at the car ahead of him. Shaking his fist, shouting about the hold up... That's when I saw the first of them, a crazy man dressed in a blue hospital gown ran wildly across the street. His head still looked fairly normal except for the chunks of flesh missing from his cheek and forehead and the crimson stains on his lips. It ran across the street in a zig zag pattern, to the man standing outside his car, occupied with shouting profanities at the line ahead of him, and gripped his head in it's claws and shoved him the the ground, where he screamed for help.

The woman in the car screamed, a second creature ran out from the trees and shrubs alongside the left side of the road, launching itself into the car. The screaming stopped after a moment, then the mayhem broke out, people screaming and throwing their cars into reverse. Some ditched their vehicles, trapping others in their place to become a victim to the mutations.

“Tommy! Joel yelled, snapping Tommy out of his daze. My pulse thudding loudly, fear making my blood feel cold.

“Right!” Tommy shouted, and backed the car out, spinning around as another mutation threw itself at the back window of the Jeep, wiping out on the pavement.

"Turn left here!" Joel shouted, pointing as Tommy turned out into a street swarming with people, running through a car-sized gap between an overturned RV and a brick apartment.

“Damn it Tommy! DRIVE!” Joel yelled.

“I can't drive through them!” Tommy yelled back, battling himself with the decision. 

We moved slowly through the crowds, people blinded by the headlights, running into the grill and glaring at us in disbelief as the ran around the car. We drove quickly through the opening when it was clear, out into another street.

...We had no time to react, the blue pickup came out of nowhere, and slammed into us.