Fandom Tale of Two Survivors { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Idaho

Alex felt Nate take his hand and he looked at him, feeling it pulled close and the kiss to the back of it. "Okay." He replied and grabbed their packs to get food in their stomachs. He grabbed the corn, there was enough for breakfast so he figured they should finish it off. He handed a spoon to Nate and took his, taking a bite of the corn before offering some to him.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Idaho

He was trying not to feel so lethargic, but he could not help it. It felt like all his energy got sucked away, and he couldn’t find it again. “Thanks.” He took the spoon and started eating. Nate needed to do better. It was not fair to Alex that he was being like this. Alex didn’t do anything to deserve this. “So, we find Jackson. We join them, hopefully, and we get our farmhouse. We are assuming they have these. Then you obtain wheat to make us bread. Then what?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Idaho

Alex smiled as he nodded, looking at Nate. "You're welcome." He said as he took a bite from the corn. He looked up at Nate and thought for a moment. "Well, we don't know how this place works, maybe we can find something there to do?" He suggested as he sighed softly. "Who knows what we'll find there."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Idaho

Nate was struggling with not knowing. Before, he thought he knew what they were doing. He thought they knew the destination and the end result. He had a hypothesis, and he convinced himself that he was right. He was not sure that he could trust that again. He nodded anyway as he ate. “Yeah. Maybe we will.” That worry was just too much for him to move past. What if they were walking into another trap? What if it was just as bad or worse than Seattle? Just like Alex said, they didn't know how it worked. They didn't know anything.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Idaho

Alex didn't know what they'd find in Jackson, but he was hoping it was nothing like Seattle. He took a couple more bites from the corn before wiping his spoon and tucking it away. He sighed, looking out into the trees. "We should be there soon. But we won't leave each other's side this time. Zero feet?" Alex said, as he looked back at Nate, a small smile on his face as he tried to be hopeful that they'd find something worth everything they'd lost.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Idaho

Nate also finished eating before he turned his attention to Alex when he heard that sigh. Was something wrong? He hoped that something wasn’t wrong. Was it him? It was probably him. He had been this whole time. He waited and listened. “Zero feet,” Nate confirmed with his own little smile. They were never ever being apart again. Any time they were not attached, things went badly. He did not want that to happen anymore. He did not have the power in his mind to be able to do it. “Alright. Shall we do this last stretch then?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Idaho

Alex smiled, hearing that confirmation, and he took the food and spoon and put them away. "Let's get moving." He agreed, taking Nate's hand and stood up, aiming to bring him up too. Once they were up, he got their blankets and put those away, swinging his pack onto his back and smiled, taking Nate's hand once again. "To our farmhouse?" He asked, turning to head towards Wyoming, and Jackson, and hopefully their farmhouse dream. Though it wasn't as big of a dream anymore, not when they were missing their family.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Idaho

Nate stood with Alex, finding strength in his smile. Finding strength in him. He picked up his pack and stood beside him. “To our farmhouse.” He held onto Alex’s hand and tried to remember all the things that Alex told him. Tried to remember why they were doing this. Who they were doing it for. It was so hard when it felt like all their hope died with their family. They would want them to keep going. All of the family. The family they lost before and the family they lost now. Everyone that Kaleb and Carlos lost. Everything meant something, and they had to find it. “To our dream.” He walked alongside him ready for that.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex smiled, hearing that and squeezed his hand gently. As they started walking, he heard Nate's voice. "To our dream." He agreed, as they walked through the forest. He didn't know what they were walking towards, but he hoped with everything inside of him that it was worth the pain and the heartbreak of what they'd gone through. He bit his lip as he walked, flicking his gaze over to Nate. Eventually they came to a thinned out part of forest and a field of grass, not nearly as long as the last one stretched out ahead of them. "Welcome to Wyoming."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Wyoming

“Wyoming.” Nate tried the state out in his mouth like it was meant to replicate another word. Maybe a word like ‘home.’ It did feel similar though not for long. He hoped that was not foretelling of an imminent future. It was likely fine. He hoped. He dreamed. He could bring those back. He could do it for Alex. At least he could try. “Oh,” he breathed as they entered the field of grass. “It reminds me of traveling with my mama. She always liked the grass. Said it was a promise of rain.” It hurt to say out loud. “Rain brought new life.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex smiled at Nate, hearing him. As they entered the field, he heard Nate's comment and squeezed his hand. "Rain is important. Your mama was a smart woman. New life, new home, new dreams." Alex said, heading through the field. Up ahead in the distance was a large building. "Looks like we have a building coming up ahead, see it?"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Nate smiled despite himself. He loved thinking about his mama. If ever there was a mama’s boy, it was him, and he knew it. There was nothing wrong with loving your mama. There was nothing wrong with knowing that she was always right. He followed Alex’s gaze as they walked. He pointed to the one he saw. “The longer one? Looks like one of those shopping malls. Kinda looks like we gotta go through it to get anywhere else. Unless we are walking all the way around.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex smiled, looking at him as he nodded. "Yes, the longer one. I believe we'll have to work our way through it." Alex said as they headed towards it. He was both eager and nervous about going through this building. So many things could go wrong, again. He didn't want to lose anymore of his friends. It really didn't long before they were walking up to the massive building. "Ready for this?"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Was he ready for this? No. No he could never be ready for this again. He hated going through places. They only ended in sadness and death. Every time. But if this was one of the last obstacles that they had to face, then yes. He could be ready. He paused and took Alex’s face in his hands and kissed him. “When I am with you, I can do anything.” He slid a hand into Alex’s and started moving. “Alright, building. Prepare to be conquered.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex looked at it, and then he felt Nate take his face in his hands and he kissed him back. "Same here." He whispered, feeling the hand slide into his own. He squeezed it before turning to the building. His free hand went to the handle and pulled it open, it was light inside, and seemed clear so far. "Here we go beautiful." Alex said softly, taking a step inside.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly| 21 | Current location ;; Wyoming

As they stepped inside, it was almost like it was before everything happened. Before they met and lost their brothers. Before he let Alex fall into the hands of people who were so bad. It was almost like they were traveling the towns together, gathering supplies for survival, looking for beans to eat later. It was almost like it was okay. “Ooh, gross.” Something was off about this place, and Nate wasn’t sure what it was. He wasn’t even sure why he said that, because there wasn’t anything immediately wrong with the area. Not like many of the places they had been through.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan and Cameron Harris
Former Seraphite, Former Firefly | 19, 23 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex walked inside, and heard Nate's comment. He looked around, trying to see what was gross about this building. It looked fine to him as he moved through, squeezing Nate's hand gently. "Come on, I think I see a way through to a lounge this way." He said, pointing to a closed door. Alex didn't know what exactly was going to be beyond the door, but he just wanted to get through the building.

Cameron had come to Jackson with Emmett a year ago. They'd left San Francisco three years ago when the Fireflies were starting to care more about defeating FEDRA rather than finding a cure. Especially after the loss of the little girl in Utah and the death of Marlene, the main leader of the organization in Boston, though her reach was everywhere in the country. He'd heard about Jackson from another Firefly who knew Tommy. He convinced Emmett to leave San Francisco and they traveled for a year before they headed to Wyoming. Right now, Cameron was exploring, under the guise of taking a patrol from another pair. He managed to convince his partner to come with him, and right now they were working through the rooms of the hotel, towards the lounge near the center. He looked back at his partner, nodding and gesturing towards the kitchen. 'Gonna check it out.' and then he slowly started moving.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews and Emmett Adler
Former Firefly| 21, 24 | Current location ;; Wyoming

It just didn’t feel right. Come on Nate, you know this. This should have been something that he understood. It felt like there was something rolling around in the back of his head that his mama would absolutely hurt him for not remembering. He could feel her judgement now. “Nathaniel Evan Matthews, you should always be on the lookout for these kinds of signs.” He could see her saying that as they stood in a room. An old bedroom? He followed Alex as he tried to remember what it was.

Emmett, self-appointed Keeper of the Lore, agreed to ‘patrol’ with Cameron purely because he loved him. And because he sometimes missed adventure. And because Cam wanted to explore instead of patrol, and that always brought about the best stories. Emmett loved stories. He especially loved when they found notes that were long since lost to the people who originally wrote them who knew how many years ago. The tales of time were abundant in the world. He nodded to confirm understanding Cam’s intentions, and though he planned on following him that way, was instantly distracted by what appeared to be claw marks on the wall. He deviated from the path to inspect those instead.
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan and Cameron Harris
Former Seraphite, Former Firefly | 19, 23 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex didn't sense anything off, his eyes looking around the room as they moved. As they walked through the old bedroom, he saw a hole in the wall that seemed to go somewhere. Alex gestured to Nate and he slipped through into a hallway. It was dark and he narrowed his eyes, something was wrong here. "Nate. Mask on." He said. Alex didn't trust whatever was up there, it was too dark to tell if there were spores but he didn't want to risk it. Then he heard a gunshot and froze. "Nate. Come on!" He slipped on his mask and ran down the hall, the sound of infected and shots getting louder.

Cameron looked back at Emmett and smiled, seeing that nod. He headed through the kitchen, and as he vaulted over the counter, he froze. Standing before him crouched and trembling as if in pain was a runner. And then a clicking screech up ahead, clicker. Oh no. He looked back but didn't see Emmett. Okay, he could do this. Cameron crept up on the runner and grabbed it before it saw him, stabbing it's neck before dropping it to the ground. A screech on the other side of him showed another runner he hadn't seen coming towards him. He pulled his pistol and aimed, firing at the runner and dropping. The loud gunshot echoed, calling infected towards him.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews and Emmett Adler
Former Firefly| 21, 24 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Nate was not really listening to Alex as he was moving forward. There was just something that felt off about this place. Like there was something that he should remember to look for and wasn’t recalling. Masks? Was that what he was trying to remember? Spores? Spores. Spores… He was pulling out his mask, considering the implications of potential spores, when the sound of gun fire exploded through his brain. He snapped his head up and watched as Alex disappeared down the hall. No. No nono not again. He couldn’t do this again. He wanted to turn around and leave, but Alex was already gone, and they had broken five feet, and he was really not handling any of this well. “Cameron!” The word bellowed from somewhere afar, and Nate narrowed his brows as he tentatively stepped towards the hole. “Cameron, how did you find an entire horde?!” A flash of a memory from long ago. But the voice wasn’t familiar. He stepped inside and moved quickly just in time to find several runners of his own now frenzied in the halls. He raised his knife and slashed as the one that ran at him, barely downing it before the other was on him as well.

Emmett swung his reinforced pipe at one runner and then another as he moved quickly, trying to find Cam. Why exactly did he let himself get distracted? That was a terrible idea. Since the sound barrier was already broken, he pulled out his pistol as well and started shooting. One down. Another. They just kept coming. Finally he found himself in the kitchen. “Are you-“ Yes, where all the infected were. He hopped across a counter and ran to Cam’s side. “Babe, why are we suddenly surrounded by every infected to have ever lived?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan and Cameron Harris
Former Seraphite, Former Firefly | 19, 23 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex slammed open two big doors, entering a large lounge area with runners and clickers. He pulled his bow up and fired at each one, and if they came too close, he slashed with his knife. He dropped one about the time he heard a gun shot close to his head. Alex looked back to see a body drop behind him and his eyes flicked up to see a black haired man with the gun in his hand. Alex nodded his head once before firing at a clicker headed his way. Cameron looked over the counter at the two men as he heard Emmett's voice. "It's not my fault! Apparently no one's cleared this place out in forever!" Cameron defended as he fired at more and more clickers and runners. "We need to get to them, if we're closer together, at least then we can watch each other's backs!" Cam suggested.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews and Emmett Adler
Former Firefly| 21, 24 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Nate should have moved to the lounge area to work with Alex and also the two other people who were there trying to survive the sudden onslaught of infected. He should have moved quickly that way and not allow the science curiosity to take over. But alas, his weakness was true. Something was wrong down this hall. Something he knew he should have seen the signs for. How had he become so rusty? Probably when he stopped doing what he always did after the death of literally everyone who ever mattered other than Alex. Yeah, yeah that not cool. That was going to need some coping he was not prepared to do. He placed a hand on a wall. A wall that was covered in… He turned right back around and ran as fast as he could, slashing at runners as he went and ran through those doors into the lounge. Emmett shot one and then another. Slammed his pipe into one and then another. “Please tell me there aren’t many more!” He reached around and rammed the pipe into the head of a clicker that was coming up on Cam from behind. He looked at Alex. “Nice bow. Haven’t used one of those in a long time.” The horde was starting to thin as Nate came running in. “Oh man oh man oh man there’s a big big big guy.” He opened his hands up wide. “Biiiiig guy.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan and Cameron Harris
Former Seraphite, Former Firefly | 19, 23 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Alex looked back and didn't see Nate, but he was too busy fighting infected to go looking. Cameron was shooting as many infected as he could, reloading and firing several times. Both Alex and Cam were noticing that the infected was starting to thin as he shot another with an arrow. "Thanks!" Alex said, hearing the other man's comment about his bow as he fired another arrow into a clicker right about the time that Nate came running in. "What?!" Cameron asked, his eyes wide as he looked at the hall. "Okay, we need to get rid of the last few stragglers and take stock of our stuff if there's a big guy around." Cameron said as he shot another runner that had been coming up to them.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews and Emmett Adler
Former Firefly| 21, 24 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Emmett sighed. “A horde and a bloater. We haven’t fought a bloater in a how long, Cam?” He took out another runner though there weren’t many more. “Not since we have been here, I don’t think.” Nate, who was still in the midst of an adrenaline rush from running all the way back and trying not to die horrifically by many, many infected, turned to the other person. Cam. Cameron. Huh. Was it? He couldn’t tell. It could have been his glasses. They were smudgy and dirty. Not that he had the time to clean them. This was the plight of his life. “So, the bloater is down the hall and in a room, and he for sure could hear all of this, because he sounded like he was getting restless.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan and Cameron Harris
Former Seraphite, Former Firefly | 19, 23 | Current location ;; Wyoming

Cameron looked at Emmett and sighed heavily, as he took out the last runner. "I think the last one we took on was in.. Utah before we made it here." Cam said, trying to remember exactly when they'd fought one last. He looked over at the other two, eyes narrowed as he took a moment to breathe. "Alright, should probably get names so we don't keep calling, hey you during a fight with big guy over there." Cameron said, looking at the two men. "I'm Cameron, that's my partner Emmett. And you two are?" Cam asked as Alex nodded. "Alexander, but I prefer Alex. This is my partner Nate." Alex said, smiling at the two. "Nate? Wait. Nathaniel?" Cameron asked, looking right at Nate. "Is that you?"​