2I do not own The Last of Us or any of the characters.
Lost and Found
Eric looked up from his book as he heard a bottle shatter in the distance. Within seconds, his aunt and uncle ran into the room, his uncle shoving a backpack into his hands, his hunting rifle strapped to one side and his bow strapped to the other, his quiver stitched to the front, filled with arrows, and his hunting knife. However, just as he did, the front door exploded inward two rooms over. Eric's aunt and uncle both grabbed their shotguns as his uncle shoved him toward the door in the other direction. Without another word, Eric turned to run, hearing guns begin to go off behind him. He sprinted to the cabin's basement and sprinted down the stairs three steps at a time. He reached the bottom just as the basement doors' lock was shot out, and the doors were ripped upward. He turned, all but diving behind pile of crates, several empty cardboard boxes falling onto him, hiding him from view, though he had managed to land so that he had a small sliver of space to see out through.
"Man, look at this place," a voice said as several men with hunting rifles and shotguns walked down into the basement, all of them looking around at the deer, rabbits, and various guns lying around. "Jackpot."
"Gotta love out-of-the-way cabins," another laughed. "Nobody cares if some couple in the middle of the woods goes missing."
The three looked around for a bit, one walking over to inspect the cardboard boxes before turning and walking back to the others. They all walked up the stairs and Eric stood, pushing the boxes off of himself before moving to the stairs, looking up them, then to the stairs leading out the cellar door. There weren't any guards outside, so Eric quickly grabbed a box of bullets for his rifle and shoved it into his backpack, pulled his backpack on, and slipped his knife into his pocket, sheath and all. He climbed the stairs quickly, then stayed low as he crept around the cabin toward the stables. He reached them and stroked his horse on the side of the neck to quiet her before grabbing a saddle and putting it on, strapping it and grabbing a set of reins just as a pair of arms grabbed him, lifting him. He kicked his right foot backward instantly, feeling a knee buckle under his foot and dropped to the ground, turning and grabbing his knife, stabbing the man in the chest. His eyes widened as blood ran out around the knife, his scream of agony going silent, then fell backward as Eric ripped the knife out.
Eric turned, leaping onto his horse's saddle and flicked the reins, driving his heels into the horse's side hard. It snorted and charged out of the stables just as someone finally got outside to investigate the scream. The horse crashed into the man, knocking him onto his back, then charged down the road away from the cabin as several gunshots rang out. After a few minutes, once the shooting had stopped and the shouting had faded, Eric let his horse begin to slow down and felt his throat close up and tears run down his face as he began to sob. He covered his mouth to muffle himself, trying and failing to stop crying. He rode for hours, his sobs eventually tapering off, then fell silent. Finally, his horse slowed to a stop as he reached an interstate highway. He looked around, not really knowing what else to do. He wanted to go back, but he doubted it was safe anymore. He didn't know any other people who were alive and uninfected, besides the men who had invaded the cabin, and he had no idea what to do. He had been taught to survive, but he had never really thought he'd need to. At least, not alone.
His eyes eventually found a blue sign announcing the highway was heading west from there, and all of the things about the old world his family had taught him began to drift back. Like the Grand Canyon. And Salt Lake, where it was apparently so easy to float that you could actually sleep in the water if you were careful. Both were out west. Wayout west. He sighed. He had no other ideas for what to do now. So, he turned his horse along the highway and flicked the reins, his horse beginning to move along at a quick trot.
Eric pulled his bow back, aiming at the rabbit carefully. Then, he let the arrow go, watching it speed through the trees and drive itself through the rabbit's eye, killing it and sticking it into the ground. He walked over and knelt, pulling the arrow free of the ground, then pulling it out of the rabbit, slipping the arrow into his quiver again before looking around. He'd gone a long way in a month. At least, compared to what he'd ever traveled before. He was just west of Pittsburgh, now.
He frowned, sniffing. He could smell smoke. He followed the smell silently, stuffing the rabbit's body between himself and his backpack, tightening the shoulder straps at the bottom to hold it there, then pulled another arrow out, knocking it and preparing himself to let it fly if necessary. After a moment, he stepped around a tree, pulling his arrow back, only to instantly let the tension back out of the bow, eyes wide as he stared at a girl about his age. Her brown hair was in a messy ponytail, she had on a long-sleeved blue shirt under a short-sleeved red shirt with an orange circle on the front that had several curved gaps through it, a pair of jeans, and a pair of converse. Her right sleeve was pulled up at the moment, however, exposing a bite mark with several small blisters around it. Except, it was a scar. Besides the blisters, it was healed.
"Uh...hi," Eric said.
"Who...who are you?" the girl asked.
"I...I'm Eric," Eric said, frowning. "You were bitten."
"U-Uh, n-no!" the girl said, hurriedly pulling her sleeve down. "This wasn't an infected! This was just some crazy guy that-"
"It looks different," Eric said, frowning.
"What?" She asked.
"It looks different," Eric repeated. "When my parents got bitten, they started to grow fungus around it before it even stopped bleeding. But yours is healed."
"Ellie, I managed to catch a..." an older man walked around a tree holding a pair of squirrels, only to drop them and draw a pistol, aiming at Eric. "Who are you?"
"I'm Eric," Eric introduced himself, hands raised, arrow in one hand and bow hanging from his fingers in the other. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was just hunting a rabbit nearby and smelled your fire, so I came to see who it was."
"Is there anyone with you?" Ellie asked. "I know you said your parents are gone, but...don't you have any brothers or sisters? Or any friends of the family?"
"I had an aunt and uncle," Eric said, gaze falling to the ground as his eyes began to water. "About a month ago, some men broke into our cabin and...I've been alone since. I didn't know what else to do, so I decided to go see the Grand Canyon, and Salt Lake."
"All by yourself?" Joel asked. "Not buying it."
"It's true," Eric said. "It's just me. Well, me and my horse, Epona."
"Epona?" Joel asked.
"Yeah," Eric nodded. "She's red with a white mane like the horse in one of the video games my parents found that still worked and gave me when I was little, so I named her after that one."
"Again, not buying it," Joel said. "No little kid would make it this far alone."
"Well, he does have a lot of arrows for his boy," Ellie said. "And a rifle."
"It don't matter what he's got for guns, he's a kid," Joel said.
"I was taught to survive in the wilderness since I was little," Eric said. "I was raised as a hunter. The old-world kind, not the ones who go around killing people and taking their stuff."
"Well, we could definitely use someone who knows that kind of stuff," Ellie said.
"Ellie, no!" Joel said.
"Come on, Joel!" Ellie said. "He's a kid and he's alone! You said it yourself. A little kid can't survive on their own, right? Well, then we have to take him with us!"
"No!" Joel said. "Even if that were true, there's a very specific reason why he can't come!"
"He already saw my bite," Ellie said. "I was looking at it when he found me."
Joel groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"She's immune, right?" Eric asked, Joel and Ellie both looking at him. "That's the only way I can think of that she'd have a bite mark that was able to heal without growing fungus."
"That's right," Ellie nodded. "Does that...bother you?"
"No," Eric said. "I think it's really cool."
Ellie smiled, then looked to Joel, who sighed heavily. "Fine. You can come with us. But you do what I say, when I say, understand?"
"Understood," Eric nodded.
"Good," Joel said. "Go get your horse and come back here. Then we'll see if we can find something to eat."
Eric nodded and slung his bow over his shoulder putting his arrow away before pulling the rabbit out from under his backpack and handed it to Ellie. She passed it to Joel and Eric turned, jogging away and back to Epona. However, when he got back a few minutes later, the fire had been put out, the rabbit was lying off to the side, and Ellie and Joel were both gone. Eric sighed heavily and turned to Epona.
"Sorry, girl," Eric said. "I guess it's still just the two of us."
Epona snorted and bumped the side of her head against his his, and he smiled, stroking her face for a moment. Then, he turned tot he fire, picking up a pair of sticks and rubbing them together until they caught fire before beginning to strip and clean the rabbit, cutting the meat up and skewering bits of it before sitting down and holding the meat over the fire to cook.
After about ten minutes, Ellie walked out of the trees with the squirrels Joel had had before and sat down beside him, glancing at the horse.
"I thought you left," Eric said, watching her.
"Joel wanted to," Ellie said. "He thought it was a trap. But I couldn't just leave you alone, so I came back. Do you know how to cook these?"
She held up the squirrels, and Eric nodded, passing her the stick and taking the animals. A couple minutes later, just as he was putting the last of the squirrel meat, what little there was, on a stick, Joel finally arrived, sighing heavily and staring at Ellie.
"Ellie, get up, we're leaving," Joel said.
"If you want to leave, go," Ellie said. "I'm not leaving Eric alone."
Joel shook his head, grumbling under his breath, and sat down across from them. Eric glanced at Ellie as she glanced at Epona for the millionth time. He smiled, reaching over and taking the stick from her.
"Go pet her," Eric said.
Ellie smiled and nodded, walking over to Epona, who lowered her head for Ellie to pet. Ellie smiled, stroking her face and neck, and Eric smiled.
"She likes you," Eric said.
"She's beautiful," Ellie said. "How old is she?"
"Fourteen," Eric said. "She was born the same day as me, according to my mom. She said that I was always trying to feed her my food growing up. I think Epona's about the fiftieth name, but it's the earliest I can remember. My aunt said I gave her a new name every time I saw her for a while, so they just let it be. Eventually Epona stuck."
Ellie smiled. "That's really cute."
Eric felt his cheeks warm slightly. "I guess."
Ellie eventually returned, sitting back down beside Eric and they all fell silent as he finished cooking the meat for them all, no one mentioning that there wasn't enough meat for them all.
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