Fandom The Day The World Changed { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

“That’s not at all reassuring, but thank you anyway.” Soren patted the soldier on the shoulder and leaned in. “Keep it up. You’re doing great out here.” Then he moved away, trying to figure out what exactly they were going to do. “So if the lower levels are closed off, does that mean we aren’t searching for the research anymore? Did they find it? I feel like we would have heard if they found the rest of it. And no one has heard from the units down there.” Soren didn’t like this at all. Those people were probably dead, becoming whatever everyone else was, or fighting for their lives. He turned to Josh. “Okay, Way I see it, our options are stand around twiddling our thumbs until someone tells us what the Powers That Be have decided or we take matters into our own hands.” He peered nervously at the door to the stairs. “I don’t want to go down there. That was horrible the first time. It’s going to be so much worse now, I can just feel it. But I don’t know what other choice we have. There are people down there still. So what do you say we grab some capable people, we grab some radios, and we go on a rescue mission? And if we know it’s going south, we leave.”

Hayden leaned against the wall, giving Jacob a little of his own space now that they were in less dire need of pulling him out of whatever was wrong with him. Love. Who was he to say? He loved Josh the moment they met, even if it was as friends. Fast friends. Faster best friends. “When you think about him, you want to smile, right? Just a little maybe. Maybe a lot. You see his face in you mind, and you want to smile, because the face you are looking at has this wonderful personality attached to it. Maybe he jokes and that makes you laugh. Maybe he makes silly faces or has crazy ideas or has this desire to save the world. You love that about him. It draws you to him.” Hayden took in a deep breath. “Now you think about tonight. Getting to see him again. And you can feel that in your stomach right? Maybe your chest. Everything changes the moment you start anticipating when you’ll get to see him again.” He felt it too. “Okay, now think about what he’s doing. Think about that uniform he’s wearing and the… the stains.” He kept his eyes firmly open. “And think about every one of those people who are going to try to hurt him. Kill him. And what he’s going to have to do to save himself and those around him.” He gripped his leg tight. “And think about what could happen to him, and how much you don’t know. How much you’re going to have to sit here and wait and hope.” Hayden turned his attention to examine Jacob’s face. “Now how do you feel?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

“Of course sir. You’re welcome.” The soldier replied before he heard the words and nodded. “T- Thank you sir.” He said before he turned away. Josh watched the two and smiled. He turned to Soren when he heard him and swallowed hard. This is what they were meant to do. “That sounds like a good plan sir. Save who we can.” Josh agreed, though he was a little nervous to go back down there.. again. But knowing they could leave the basement the moment it got bad, was nice to hear.

Jacob shifted so he was against the bed and pulled his legs to his chest. He looked at Hayden and thought. He closed his eyes and pictured Soren in his head, a smile crossing his face. He thought about getting to see him tonight, his stomach fluttered and his heart clenched at the thought. He remembered how Soren jumped between him and two different infected. How he helped him cook and held him last night as he slept. All those happy moments, made him smile bigger. Then he frowned at the thought of the uniform, the stains, people screeching and trying to hurt him. And Jacob would never know. He just had to sit and wait. That made his face drop into a deeper frown. He felt fear rising up in his throat, clawing at him and his heart raced as his stomach felt like it was nauseous. He opened his eyes when he heard Hayden’s question. How did it make him feel. “Well.. the first part made me happy, excited, my stomach fluttered and my heart clenched but then the second part drew out a fear I’ve never felt before. That’s.. love?” Jacob asked. He’d never felt this way before but it was exciting, scary and something he didn’t want to lose.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren really didn’t want to do this. This was dangerous, and they did not know enough about anything to handle it well. He didn’t know how much worse it was going to be in those lower levels, but they had to do something. He knew there were still people stuck down there that needed to be saved. He knew they didn’t get all the doctors and nurses out. He knew they didn’t get all of the soldiers out. “Garret!” He whipped around and moved to another officer. “When did the last unit go down there?” The man looked up and his face gave them enough answers. “Uh, couple of hours ago.” Soren swore under is breath and nodded. “Okay, I need a team. A bigger team than the handful we’ve been sending. I need weapons, and I need ammo. And I need as many headsets as we can manage.” Garret nodded and began to turn away before Soren stopped him with a hand that turned him back around. “I need everyone to be strong up here, got me? Because the second we fall, so does everyone else.” Garret turned away and began his tasks. Soren pointed out a few different people and called them over before walking them to several large crates of supplies. “Grab what you need, friends. I have a feeling it’s a lot.”

Hayden pushed out the images that came with his words. The ones he was trying not to see anymore. They were going to come anyway, so he might as well use them for a good purpose. “Yeah. Maybe. Maybe the beginnings.” He reached out a hand and took one of Jacob’s. “You got it bad that fast? I’m impressed.” He smiled, trying to be reassuring. “What did he do to win you over? I always thought it was going to take someone magical to come in and have to fight for your affection, because you were a whole other level, you know? No one was good enough for my cool older brother.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh listened to Soren, heard him talking to Garret. Right. Bigger team, because having these small teams wasn’t working. He followed Soren over to the large supply crates. Josh put a full clip in his rifle, and grabbed two more. He grabbed a headset and radio and got that set up. What else did they need? He waited for the rest of the team to be ready. And then it was time to go back to the basement.

Jacob felt Hayden take one of his hands and he smiled softly. “I’m not sure when it happened, but he put himself between two different infected, he helped me cook and when I had a nightmare, he helped me through that too, holding me and talking to me to help me fall asleep. I guess.. he just swept in and saved my life, god that sounds like a fairy tale Disney story.” Jacob said with a laugh. “But I don’t know.. it just feels right.” Jacob admitted. “And thanks by the way.. for thinking I’m cool.” ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

The team was still too small. They didn’t want to send too many down there ‘in case of tragedy.’ “You know what I think about this ‘in case of tragedy’ malarky?” Soren growled under his breath just to Josh while he was shoving supplies into his pockets. “I think it’s gonna be a real tragedy when they send us down there with only ten people and everyone dies. Us, the people trapped down there. Everyone.” He held his rifle up and closed his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. “If you believe in a god, now’s the time to pray. Tell your loved ones you love them from afar, send out all those positive thoughts and vibes and what have you, and take this moment to hope to whatever means something to you that we make it back to our people.” With his eyes closed, he saw Jacob as silly as that was. The world was moving very quickly to a horrible place, and he just had a whole awakening that he did not want to let go of. He was going to make it back there. He had to. “Let’s go save the world.” He pushed open the door to the stairwell and they all moved down.

“I think that’s sweet.” Hayden loved fairytales even if they were considered girly. There was nothing wrong with a great story like that. “Of course, you’re cool. Don’t tell Logan, but you’re my favorite brother.” He laughed. “Also don’t tell Kyra, because she probably would try to fight you for that even though she’s my sister.” He shook his head, pushing past thoughts about his sister. “But I do. Think it’s sweet. I kinda feel like that’s what Josh did to me too. So maybe that’s just how love works. Someone comes in, and he’s the one. No questions. No doubts. He’s the one.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh turned his head when he heard Soren growl under his breath to him. His body froze for a moment at the comment, then he swallowed down his fear and he thought of Hayden. He was going to make it back to him. He knew it. Deep down. His people. Protect them, make it back to them. Back to him. Josh followed Soren to the stairwell door and headed down the stairs. He was nervous as to what they would find there, but he was going to save who he could.

Jacob laughed, looking at Hayden. “I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me. Mostly because I don’t want to fight your sister. Betting with her was intense enough.” Jacob commented. He tilted his head a little and smiled. “He’s the one.” Jacob repeated and he nodded. The more he thought of Soren, of how he felt around him and how he felt thinking of him coming home tonight, just reaffirmed that he was the one. Though some little part of Jacob echoed inside him. Telling him that Soren didn’t feel the same way but Jacob tried to ignore it, which sort of worked.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

When they made it to the bottom, Soren paused. He looked back at Josh and the eight other people who came with them. “We are looking for survivors of our lost units and the medical personnel who got trapped down here. We are looking for research about this infection. Anything with this cordyceps thing, symptoms, trials. Anything with any information that someone can use to make this better. We are not in here to clear it out. We are not in here to die. We are a recon team. We can deal with the rest of it later.” He pointed to his headset. “Everyone’s got one. Keep in touch with everyone always. Chain of command is as follows without question. I am first as Unit Leader. Then it falls to Smith here as second.” He gestured towards Josh. “Then Finney and Lenk. Then the rest of you. Trust each other.” Then he opened the door and waved everyone in.

“No joke. She can be so scary.” Her high levels of energy were unparalleled, and her passion often felt like being berated and lectured. He missed her. Hayden really missed her. He wished that he had not dropped the phone yesterday. He wished that he could have talked to her more during that call. “Do you-“ he sucked in a deep breath. “Do you think she’s okay? And… and my mom?” As much as he wanted to push aside the fears, they were always there. They were creeping. He needed someone to tell him it was going to be okay, and as much as he loved and trusted Josh, when he closed his eyes, it was so often Josh’s bat that broke them.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh looked at Soren as they reached the bottom, then he listened to him. Find research, nothing more. He blinked, nodded and held his head up when he heard Soren say he was the second in the command chain. It made him rather proud to hear that. And then it was time. Josh walked through into the basement, trying to take controlled breaths because the smell was atrocious. He held his gun ready as he looked around. A screech from his right had him turning and aiming. He shot what looked like a fellow soldier but it was clear he’d been infected. Josh moved forward into the room he found be case in. Further in was another door, but it was stuck. Huh. He slammed his shoulder against it, it gave a little. Once more, and the door got shoved open enough he could fit through. ‘Sir. I’ve got survivors back here.’ Josh spoke into the headset. In the small back area, which looked like a small research office, were two men and a woman, hiding in the corner. The door had been blocked with a desk. “Are any of you bitten?” He asked. “N- No.. when we heard the th- things we blocked ourselves in here.” The woman said, her voice shaking. They really weren’t bitten. They’d managed to survive.

Jacob looked over at Hayden, nodding in agreement. Then he heard the deep breath. Jacob stretched a hand out to take one of Hayden’s and squeezed it. “I’m sure they’re both fine and working their way back here.” He said, offering a reassuring smile.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

This was the stuff of nightmares. This was what horror movies were trying to replicate but never were able to capture. This was real. Real people were slaughtered everywhere. Real people were dead. But, some of those dead bodies that they saw the day before were gone. No, wait. Not some. A lot. In fact, he didn’t see any of the same bodies as the day before. Where were those bodies? Were they not dead? For the ones who were dead, he started checking them. For sure dead. And most of them appeared to be soldiers. This must have been from when they sent people while they were gone. He paused when he heard the words over the radio. Thank god they found some survivors. He was about to tell him to wait right there so that more of the soldiers could help escort them out when another voice came in. “Shoot them.” It was a command but not from him. “Excuse me?” Who thought they could do that? The man repeated, “Shoot them,” and just as Soren thought he was going to have to chew out some newbie who thought they knew better, it occurred to him who was talking. No. “Cap, they’re survivors. That’s why we came down-“ “I told you to shoot them.” “But they aren’t- Josh, are they hurt? Are they bitten?” Soren was desperate. He was already all but running that way to see for himself.

Hayden took in another deep breath. If Jacob thought they were okay, then they had to be okay. Okay. He nodded. “Okay.” But how did he know? He didn’t. He was sure. That was as close as they could be, right? Okay. But what if they weren’t? What if they were dead or dying or trapped somewhere terrible? What if they were fighting for their lives? What if they were becoming monsters too? His stomach churned, and he threw a hand up to his mouth as everything spiraled inside.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Shoot them.. Josh was still reeling from the command. He heard the two voices go back and forth and barely heard Soren’s question. “N- No they aren’t bitten. They look fine. They said they barricaded themselves in once they heard the uh others.” He tried to explain. Shoot them.. He didn’t want to. He.. was supposed to be saving them. Josh heard footsteps coming closer as he looked at his gun then at the three people terrified and backed against the wall. As far away from the door as they could be. He didn’t know who to listen to.

Jacob heard the deep breath and looked at Hayden. Then he saw his hand go over his mouth. “Hayden.. buddy. They’re fine. I know they are. But do you want to go to the bathroom or I can grab you a bucket just in case?” Jacob asked, shifting to sit beside Hayden and rubbing his back.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

“They aren’t bitten,” Soren repeated probably far too forcefully when talking to his commander. This was supposed to be his rescue mission. They were saving the people stuck down here, right? Right? That’s what they were meant to be doing. Right? “Soren, are you questioning my orders?” “No, sir, I am-“ Soren skidded to a halt as he finally made it to the room. He stood in the doorway, staring wide eyed at these people who were survivors. Terrified survivors. “Cap- Commander! We don’t know-“ “We don’t know it they’re infected. We got some information back. It came through crops. Through grain.” Soren stared at them, these poor people who had been stuck down here for what, days? “We don’t know if they’re infected. They are a risk we cannot take. Shoot. Them.”

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Counting bodies on the floor. Too many to count as they piled around him. Moms and dads. Neighbors and children. People you see walking down the street. In stores. At your favorite places like the aquarium. Like the shop you work at. Holding coffee your partner makes. Made. Now he’s too busy adding bodies to the mound. Him and his heroes. Bodies of people who are too sick to be saved. When he looked at Jacob, the veins popped across his face, reaching into his mouth. He whipped his head away. Breathed. “No. I’m fine.” Breathe. Breathe for me.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh looked at Soren when he came in, he was torn. But he heard that news. Grains? Crops? Did the potatoes last night.. were those contaminated? Were they all infected now? These people could be.. he had to.. it was an order. From their commander. Shoot them. So he did. He raised his gun.. and three shots rang through the small room. Josh let out a low rough sigh. “I- It’s done sir.” He said, his voice rough and a little hard. Josh moved further into the room and, ignoring the bodies, started searching the research desks. Nothing so far.

Jacob sighed, hearing that. “I know it’s hard to think about eating, but I’ve got a secret stash of ravioli that no one’s found yet. How does that sound for breakfast?” He asked, knowing Hayden didn’t eat last night.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

No. This was wrong. There had to be another way. There had to be a way to test people. This was- Soren blinked. “Good,” rang the man’s voice he used to worship. The man who was more like a father to him than any father of his ever was. “No survivors. Do I make myself clear?” The radio feed was silent of all who were on this circuit, and he knew for sure there were eight other people on this team. “Yes. Sir.” His voice was harsh. “Good,” their commander repeated. “Find that research. Whatever it takes.” The world went silent again, and Soren just stood there for a moment. Stood there and tried to believe that someone who was so good could be so callous. He was frozen for a long moment, and then he walked up to the three bodies on the floor. Were they even infected? They showed no signs. No veins. They hadn’t been twitching like some people claimed were early signs. No convulsions. They just looked like scared people. Innocent people. He rammed the butt of his rifle in the ground, hard and loud, before he got up and marched out of the room.

A tiny snort of a laugh poked out of him before he could even fully registered what Jacob was saying. “Ravioli for breakfast? What are we? Little kids?” But he loved the idea. He wasn’t sure if he could eat, but he did love ravioli. His body was so tired still, and it occurred to him that the last time he ate was the morning before all of this happened. Pancakes made from the same pancake mix they’d had for ages. He was going to get some more after work the day before, but he didn’t feel like fighting the traffic getting to the store. So, instead, they used the older stuff. Now, his body gently shaking, he knew he was going to have to eat something or his body wasn’t going to make it.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh heard their commander. Good. Was it? Did he really do good? He didn’t feel like he did. Josh heard Soren’s harsh words and he winced a little, and as he was searching flinched at the sound of the butt of his rifle on the ground. Josh was searching through the second desk as he caught the sound of Soren marching out. Josh sighed long and low, as he found some documents and paperwork but nothing about whatever this is. And then he spied a small bag, a laptop bag and snagged it. Inside it were scans of brains, some looked normal, some looked like they were growing something. He shoved it all back in the bag and looked around some more. He found nothing else. “I’ve got a laptop bag with what looks like research on the infected brains. And some notes on the bitten people but nothing else.” He said, walking out of the room, and looked around before a screeching hit his ears and he fired at the infected coming at him. He didn’t see any other doors aside from the one he just came out of, so he walked back into the main room, unsure of where else he could check. The only other door he could see was the one that led into the lower levels.

“You know what? Today we can be. Because why not? Be a little crazy. Come on, what do you say?” Jacob asked as a big smile crossed his face. He knew his mom hadn’t been shopping in the last week, the potatoes had been bought like three weeks ago and hadn’t been touched. Her cabinets were kind of bare save for canned veggies and beans. Jacob stood up and held out a hand. “Join me for some ravioli?”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren moved through the first floor looking for his team. He found three, due to the shots they fired, before they told him that one was dead and the rest decided to go lower. He groaned at the lack of communication. They told him that they didn’t want to interrupt the conversation with the commander. He told them what the commander could do. “Join us for-“ he paused as he and the three others converged with Josh. “traveling down to the next level,” he finished outside the radio. He moved to the door that one of the other soldiers was opening when over the radio came a desperate call. “Sir! There’s a whole lot of them down here! And they’re-“ the voice ended with a scream so loud that everyone cringed. The voice cut out. He was going to assume there went at least one more. “Daniels, repeat.” Nothing. “Daniels! Ugh, move move lets go!”

Hayden laughed but nodded as he took the hand. “Okay, ravioli for breakfast.” He stood slowly, and he wobbled the entire time. He nearly fell from being so dizzy but caught Jacob’s arm. “I, uh, don’t feel great.” He hadn’t in very many hours. The lack of food was really getting to him.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

The lower levels. Ground Zero. The one place Josh never wanted to go. The scream had made Josh cringe and he shook his head. He had made a choice and now he had to follow his team, his leader. He moved with the rest, even as his mind screamed to run the other way. Run back to Hayden. Run back home. But he didn’t, he pushed forward like he was supposed to.

Jacob watched Hayden wobble and he felt the hand take his arm. Jacob shifted closer so Hayden could use him for support. “I’ve got you bud. Let’s get you downstairs and get some food in you. You should feel better after that.” Jacob said, ready to bring Hayden downstairs to the kitchen.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

This was what Soren was trying to tell people, but no one seemed to be listening. This place was too much for them to handle right now. If they were going to go in, they needed to take everyone in with them. They needed to find the survivors and get out. If they wanted to clear it out, which clearly the higher ups were wanting, then they needed to have given them more to work with. This was not enough. But he went anyway. He ran down those steps in the hopes of saving at least some of the soldiers who went down here. They should have waited. They should have gone together. They needed to be a cohesive unit. He pushed open the doors and held his breath. If they thought the smell of the floor above was bad, this was so much worse. The screeches were loud and constant. Right off the bat, people who looked like they were from a zombie apocalypse were running at them. So many of them.

Hayden clung to Jacob, because he was definitely going to fall if he didn’t. The stairs were rough, but he did it with only three missteps that could have caused his death but didn’t. He focused on walking and on Jacob’s voice. “Okay, see, I’m practically not an invalid,” he tried to joke when they made it to the first floor. He held his breath to hide the little gasp he didn’t mean to come out. He looked down.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh almost gagged on the smell as they entered the level. His heart stopped as he saw so many people running at them. Screeching loudly and constantly. “Soren! Th- There’s too many of them. We’re outnumbered!” Josh yelled, he had to. The screeching was so loud. He fired at everyone that came near him but it wasn’t going to do much in the end. There was too many. They didn’t have enough people. If they didn’t leave now, they might not ever leave the lower level.

Jacob would catch Hayden when he misstepped. “See that. Look at how good that was. You’re stronger than you look.” Jacob said as he led them through to the kitchen. He pulled a chair out with his foot and helped Hayden sit down. Then he grabbed two bowls, and a can of ravioli. He sit the can between them to start and he could always open another if needed. He heated them up and then set one bowl in front of Hayden and sat down with the other one. “It feels like back when we were younger. Doesn’t it?”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

The sound of all of them firing off their weapons, combat, and the yells and screams of his people being overwhelmed crashed into him like a freight train. For every two or three of the attackers that they dropped, two or three more came running at them. Also for every three that fell, one of their own fell. Of the ten that came down those steps, he could only see five standing. “Pull back! I don’t give a damn about research, pull out right now!” He backed up, taking another two shots and realizing he needed to swap to a new clip. He did not have time for that. He swung the rifle and smacked into one that fell into another as their numbers dropped to four. He raced back to the door, kicking at the ones that followed him. How were they going to keep this door barricaded? That was a problem that they were going to have to solve when got there. “Everybody out!” He clicked on his radio. “We’re coming back. We have a bag full of what we can only hope is enough.” He grimaced. “No survivors and a whole lot less of us.” He gritted his teeth. “I hope this is worth it.”

Hayden rolled his eyes. “You’re only saying that to make me feel better, and because you’re a nurse.” He paused and rested his head in his hands that were propped up with his elbows. “It’s working though.” He looked down at the bowl, and it took every ounce of him to only lean back a little at what he saw. He blinked several times and chose just to look away. He stared at the wall, willing it to dry out his eyes. “Yeah, it kind of does. We did a lot of silly things, didn’t we?” What if he didn’t look? This was ravioli. He loved that. He could eat it while looking at Jacob. Jacob was a calming presence. He felt like home. So he tried that. He ate while looking at his friend. His brother. It tasted delicious. “This is the life.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

His ears were ringing with the sounds, firing off at anything that moved and went after him. The moment he heard the order to pull back, he was backing up. There was no winning this. No way they’d all make it out. Josh stood at the door, shooting at any screeching infected, making sure the other two got out. “Soren!” He called, making sure the other man got out and then he followed suit, shutting the door. “How the hell do we barricade this?!” He asked, hearing the infected pounding at the door. He was at a loss, but they had to come up with something fast or this door was going to break open.

Jacob chuckled softly. “That’s why I’m a nurse. Because it works.” He said as he nodded. “We did, remember when Josh tried to climb the tree one day? He wouldn’t stop crying about his skinned knee and bruises until he had a bowl of ravioli in front of him. I think he was like 13? It was just before you two went into high school.” Jacob said with a chuckle, looking at Hayden while he ate with a smile.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren stood with him at the closed door. It was not going to hold them. They were only four now. “I- I don’t know!” He didn’t like not knowing. He didn’t like not being able to have the answers. This was not what he signed up to do. FEDRA was supposed to be a disaster management organization meant to support citizens and emergency personnel. This was not what they did. They were lucky that most of them had some sort of prior military experience. But right now, all of that was gone. He was panicking. He didn’t know how he was supposed to get them out alive. “Um, we could block with literally anything we can grab from the next floor up. Throw desks and chairs and tables down the stairs? Throw enough so that no one can get out.” Which would be dooming anyone down there who was not infected and still a survivor. But would they be able to save them anyway? “What do you think?” He needed someone else to tell him that it would work or that it wouldn’t. He needed someone else to tell him that they were going to make it out of this alive.

“Has it really been that long?” Hayden asked as he tried to think back on these memories. “Thirteen. That was… eleven years ago?” Huh. Only half his lifetime ago. “How long have you been having to deal with us doing all sorts of stupid things like falling out of trees and skinning our knees and eating ravioli?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh just stared at Soren for a moment. “What do you mean you don’t know?! Okay. Look. Throwing everything down the stairs is the only option we have. And we better do it fast.” Josh said, hearing the door splinter a little. He ran up the stairs and to the first desk. “I’m gonna need help moving this desk!” He yelled. Another soldier, he forgot his name, helped move the desk and it clattered down the stairs and landed against the door. “A few more desks and some chairs should do it!”

Jacob chuckled hearing that. “Josh is twenty-four and he started getting adventurous around five. So nineteen years for him and probably fourteen for you? I can’t remember exactly when you two met, but I thought it was around age ten. Or I might be wrong.” Jacob said with a laugh, as he finished his ravioli.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren was not used to this kind of thing. He had been under a lot of pressure. He had been places where his decisions were going to be the reason that hundreds and thousands of people lived or died. He was normally so good under pressure. But not right now. Now he felt like everything was falling apart. This mission was supposed to be a retrieve and rescue mission. This was supposed to be one where they went in and turned around if it got ugly. How did they still lose so many people? Josh’s alarm or disappointment in him hurt probably more than it should. He was supposed to be better than this. He didn’t move until he heard the first desk come clattering down the stairs. He turned to the door and watched as that splinter grew bigger. This was going to have to work. So he ran up the stairs and joined the rest of them. “Assembly line this. You and I will shove it down the stairs when they get us the furniture.” And that was what they did to make this move faster. They were running out of time. He could hear the screams from below and the pounding on that door. Another desk. Another one. One , two, three, four, five chairs. The bigger the pile the better. How could anyone get past that?

Hayden took another bite as well, feeling the warmth fill his stomach. This was what he needed. This was a hug in fun food form. He just couldn’t look at it. That was okay. At least he learned that quickly enough. “So what you’re telling me is that for the majority of your life, you’ve had to put up with all this nonsense? How did you do it? How did we not drive you crazy?”
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[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Officer, ER & Trauma Nurse | 24, 30 | Current location ;; Washington State

Josh looked at Soren, he wasn’t disappointed but he was petrified. He didn’t want to be stuck here, he wanted to go home. Josh nodded and helped move the furniture down the stairs. As the pile grew bigger, the screeching was deafened. “That should do. Let’s go!” Josh said, looking at Soren. “Come on!” He said, turning to the first room and headed for the stairs. He waited at the other door for his team and leader.

Jacob looked over at Hayden and chuckled. “Yep. That sounds about right. And I think taking care of you two is what helped me realize I wanted to be a nurse. Helping people. And it didn’t drive me crazy, in fact it was nice, I guess.” He said with a smile. ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
Citizen of Seattle, FEDRA Officer | 24, 35 | Current location ;; Washington State

Soren followed after Josh as if he was their leader, and for the moment, he was. He stepped up when Soren hesitated. He took over when Soren couldn’t do it. That was why he got a field promotion. Soren moved as fast as he could, yelling things like “Back up to the top! And then we’re shutting this down. No one goes in or out any more. If you hear anyone say anything else, you tell them they’ve lost their minds.” As they reached the top of the stairs, he let them all move out first. “Unless it’s Cap, and then you let me handle him instead. Don’t tell your commander anything like that. That’s how you get fired.” He placed a hand on Josh’s shoulder in a brief moment of thanks, but he didn’t have time to have that conversation yet. Instead he jogged ahead to find the people who needed to listen. He gestured for Josh to follow. “Where is he? Where is the commander? Anyone know? Because I think we need to have a talk. No one is going down there anymore.”

Hayden took his last bite, willing it to last forever, and sighed. “Like right now. You helping me. I appreciate that. I-“ He paused, unsure how to say anything else. It was hard to realize that he was the problem. He kept Josh up for so long, and he was the one who was making everything difficult. “I’m trying. I promise. It’s just hard. But you’re making it so much easier. Thank you.”
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