AN: So here we have a post-apocalyptic AU that just wouldn't leave me alone and thus, this was born. Now the only zombie apocalypse type thing that I'm familiar with is the word of The Last of Us video game, so that world is what this fic is heavily based on.

You don't really have to be too familiar with it to understand this fic, or I don't think anyway. But a quick rundown is the "zombies" in the game are called infected and they're that way because of a cordyceps fungus that attacks the brain and there's different types: runners, clickers, stalkers, bloaters and you can get infected by getting bit or by breathing in the spores.

This honestly got a little longer than I originally intended and also took a life of it's own so yeah. I may or may add more to it later if y'all want, but for now it's just a oneshot. Now I'm just gonna stop rambling and yet you read it.

Disclaimer: I don't own arrow, sadly – I'd probably treat these characters better if I did. I also don't own The Last of Us – it belongs to the amazing people over at naughty dog.

life as we know it

She's scavenging through more abandoned buildings, looking for any traces of supplies she can find – food, bandages, bullets, anything that can be used to craft something useful – when she hears it. It's faint but she knows that she hears the sounds of footsteps coming up behind her and she also knows it's a female.

She's silently cursing herself, she's never been this sloppy before, usually so meticulous about her movements.

"Who are you?" the woman asks, her voice hardened and Laurel expects nothing less. This world would harden anyone. This world could also turn the nicest of people cold blooded. You'd have to be in order to survive.

"I could ask you the same question," Laurel spits back, slowly turning around to face the woman and is taken aback for just a moment. She finds herself staring at a dark haired woman with eyes to match about her age who's holding a bow with a notched arrow aimed at Laurel's face.

There's a small part of Laurel that wonders if she knows this woman, maybe she met her before the outbreak. Or maybe Laurel's just losing it and is making things up. But only a skilled archer could look that determined and that deadly with a bow.

Perhaps Laurel has met her but never knew it – she never really knew any of the archers she came in contact with throughout her vigilante activities. Well that and the fact that most of the archers and sword fighters were in the league of assassins and they all wore hoods.

Laurel sighs and tucks a loose strand of hair that's falling out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Look, I'm just a survivor, same as you…I don't mean you any harm. Besides if you really wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already."

And perhaps it'd be the other way around if I wanted to kill you….

Laurel knows that if she truly wanted to, she could easily have escaped, in the process of alerting every infected in the area – something she didn't want to do. But she couldn't understand why she didn't want to turn the infected on this woman, why she didn't want to escape, why she was drawn to her.

"You cannot be too sure in this world, especially with people," the dark haired archer slowly lowers her weapon but doesn't take her eyes off Laurel.

Laurel nods, knowing exactly what she means. Laurel's run into a group of people who are worse than any zombie she's had the displeasure of meeting. At least the infected are predictable – the humans not so much. Laurel's had to watch her sister die at the hands of those fucking hunters, so yeah she knows what this woman means.

She doesn't know what's happened to Thea or Felicity or even her parents but Laurel doesn't think their faith was any different. A small part of her wishes she at least had Thea – she always saw the girl as a sister and partially blames herself for not being there to even know what happened.

It almost makes her wish she'd stayed in the quarantined zone.

Almost.

She'd take the hunters over the military any day. Yeah the hunters are fucked up but the military is just plain ruthless – her mind flashes back to right as the outbreak reached Star and Central city and a military officer had shot Tommy right in front of her.

And he wasn't even fucking infected. They were both clean.

Of course she didn't think twice about blowing out the guy's eardrums and punching him until her fists ached.

You can't think about that now, Laurel. It's not like it matters anymore – not like you can actually change it.

"I guess this place is pretty cleared out," Laurel says, stealing a glance around them and pushing away the thoughts plaguing her. She doesn't know why she says it, but she does and she can't take it back now.

The building she's ducked inside to look for supplies has been picked cleaned and she's certain the rest of the buildings look the same.

"As it seems," the woman responds, surprising Laurel because she wasn't for sure if the woman would reply.

There's a part of Laurel that knows she should have already made a break for it but something keeps her rooted to the spot. Something is making her trust this stranger where normally she wouldn't. If there's one thing she's learned is you can't trust anyone anymore and yet here she is.

Which is how she explains why she tells this stranger her name. "I'm Laurel."

The woman tilts her behind and seems to size up Laurel before she responds. "Nyssa."

The two woman stand there for a few more moments, staring at each other and with each passing moment, Laurel knows they're becoming more at risk of someone else catching them. Of that damned group of hunters finding them and killing them both. Of clickers or runners showing up and turning them.

"I think we should –"Laurel stops but stops when she hears a noise outside and the way Nyssa's head snaps up, Laurel knows she heard it too.

A loud, engine that sounds close….way too fucking close.

Damn it.

"Shit," Laurel almost hisses.

Nyssa turns back towards Laurel. "What?"

"I think it's those hunters," Laurel quickly explains. "And I think that's their armored truck and it has a 50 Cal attached to the top of it so we need to get the hell out of here: quickly and quietly."

That's how Laurel finds herself moving through yet again another abandoned city with Nyssa, a woman she's just met, but strangely trusts more than most people she's known in her life. Even before the world went to shit.

They move slowly, sticking more to the shadows and the rooftops, trying to not draw attention to themselves and thanks to Laurel's previous vigilante life and the training from Sara, the silent movements come easy to her.

Laurel stops suddenly when they make it to the edge of a fire escape – their exit directly in front of them. She can see the abandoned military check point in the distance.

She also hears the muffled sounds of voices, directly below them and signals silently to Nyssa. Laurel's a little bit taken about that Nyssa so easily understands Laurel's nonverbal commands. A small part of her can't help but wonder who she was before the outbreak. What she was before the outbreak.

Now is not the time, Lance, she mentally scolds herself.

"It's fucking empty," one man complains, stepping out of an open doorway of the building who's fire escape Laurel and Nyssa are perched on.

"And no signs of that blonde woman either," his campaign responds. "It's almost like she's a ninja or something."

"Don't be so stupid, she's here somewhere and we'll find her."

That's what you think.

And before Laurel thinks twice about it, she drops down from the fire escape to silently take care of them and only sees a dark blur of Nyssa following her.

After the two are taken care of and have been searched for any supplies they could have had; Laurel pocketing the little ammo the two had; she and Nyssa continue to make their way towards the city's boarder. Moving a little more quickly now, there's only a matter of time before the rest of the group notices what happened to their friends and Laurel doesn't want to stick around for the aftermath.

They're so close but the sounds of they're over here and I got them echo through the air. Laurel knows once the truck with the 50 Cal machine gun shows up, they're screwed. So she has to act fast and she doesn't even think twice – at this rate, if they want to get away unscathed, it's their only option.

So she tells Nyssa to run and braces herself before she lets out a scream. It's not long after that men are cowering away from her or shielding themselves from falling glass from the shattered windows of nearby buildings.

Laurel hasn't really used her ability since the outbreak, doesn't use it unless she absolutely have to – the noise is a goldmine for attracting any infected that's close by. But she'll take the chance if it means she doesn't have to deal with that fucking truck.

She never thought she'd be so thankful to be caught in that particle accelerator explosion years ago. Never thought she'd use it more than on metas or thugs littering around Star and Central City. And the occasional trip to Gotham.

Thank you Harrison Wells.

Laurel pushes away the thoughts as she pulls back and joins Nyssa in a sprint, trying to get away from this area as fast as they can.

Laurel steals a glance at Nyssa and she knows that Nyssa is wondering what the hell that was, but there's a time for it and it's not right now. Maybe once they're a safe distance away, if they do manage to get out of this, maybe Laurel will tell her.

The two woman continue walking in silence, even long after they've ditched the city and the roads to stick to the trees. After what is deemed a safe distance, they decide to stop and catch a breather.

"So," Nyssa says, slowly, allowing her breath to subside to a more normal pace. "What was that back there?"

Laurel sighs and leans against a nearby tree. "Years ago – before all this shit went down, Harrison Wells created this Particle Accelerator and it exploded and it affected me, just like it affected a lot of other people….I shouldn't have even been in Central City then...I mean, I originally made the trip to visit my mother, but at the last second I chickened out and started back for home. But," she trails off.

"You were still in a close enough radius to be affected by the blast," Nyssa gathers.

Laurel nods. "Yeah. A few months after that, I started showing symptoms of being a Meta so I went back to STARR labs and well, now none of it matters anymore, does it?"

"Perhaps not," Nyssa agrees, tucking a strand a hair behind her ear. "Although, I'm thankful for your ability since it did save us back there."

The two fall into another silence and Laurel finds that she rather enjoys it. She knows all about silence and how boring and even stressful it can be in this world. But with Nyssa, she's loses some of that stress and tension, she finally feels like she can relax. Like there's finally a person who she can trust to watch her back.

"Maybe we should see if we can find any shelter," Laurel suggests, after a while. "It's going to get dark soon."

Laurel still doesn't know how they managed to become lucky enough to find an old cabin nearby, but they did. And after checking it and deciding it's safe to hide in, after Laurel takes care of the clicker she found in an upstairs room.

It'll do for a while at least, anyway.

Laurel let's herself fall into one of the mismatched chairs, a sigh leaving her lips as a cloud of dust rises into the stiff air.

"Looks as if no one has been in a while," Nyssa comments, running a gloved finger along an equally dusty nearby table.

"Could be a good thing, there could be supplies left," Laurel responds, glancing over at the fireplace. "And that fireplace also won't hurt in case it gets colder later."

After a moment to relax, the two agree to search the place again. This time looking for food and supplies instead of any signs of infected. Laurel's pleasantly surprised when she manages to find a couple undented cans of peaches in one of the cabinets in the kitchen and decides that it's better than nothing. She still has a few other choices in her pack and hopes that maybe Nyssa will be able to catch something.

"Where are you headed?" Nyssa asks, once they've settled on the floor in front of the fireplace with the meager dinner of canned peaches and two rabbits that Nyssa had managed to catch when she went hunting around the cabin.

"Hell if I know," Laurel replies with a shrug, using her pocket knife to open the canned peaches. "Where is anyone going? What's even left of the world we once knew? Too many questions and not enough answers….Since I've left the Star City quarantined zone, every town I've come to has been nothing but a wasteland and I don't even know what I hope to find anymore."

"We can only take it one day at a time, I suppose," Nyssa reaches over and turns the rabbits over, letting the fire cook their underside.

"What about you?" Laurel asks long after their dinner has been cooked and divided between them. "Where are you headed?"

"Before….back when the Earth was still normal, I was looking for something, or someone….I do not think I ever really understood," Nyssa says, slowly, as if she isn't sure exactly what she's looking for or how to explain it.

"Did you ever find it?" Laurel knows it's crazy to ask, considering there's nothing worth looking for in this world anymore. But a part of her can't help but hang on to her last few strings of hope.

"I thought I had, but then…" Nyssa trails off and glances down at her food.

Nyssa never finishes her thought but Laurel can assume that she was going to say and then the outbreak happened. Everything that's happened to her lately has been because of the outbreak. Hell, everything that's happened in general lately has been because of the outbreak.

"Maybe we could find something together," Laurel says tentatively, unsure of how to broach the subject. "Maybe find somewhere to go."

"Like a settlement of sorts?" Nyssa raises an eyebrow and places some peaches into her mouth.

"I have heard the rumors of a group of survivors up north," Laurel explains, knowing how hopeful and crazy she sounds. "Of course, I know that they're probably just that, rumors. But I can't shake the feeling that something is out there, somewhere. Maybe I just hope that I can find somewhere somewhat safe to stay for long periods of time."

"I suppose the two of us teaming up would benefit the both of us," Nyssa agrees with a slight nod. "I thought I was better off alone, but perhaps I was wrong."

Laurel understands that, the past few months trying to cope with the possibility that her family was dead, along with her friends. She told herself that it was better to travel alone, to not get attached to someone she could lose but now? Now she's willingly to throw that mentality out the window because of Nyssa….

Maybe she's never going to understand why, or what's changed. But why question it, why question anything anymore? If they could all die tomorrow, what's the point in dwelling too much on what if's or waste time on opportunities.

Laurel chews on the rabbit meat and swallows before answering. "Strength in numbers and all that….besides, you're pretty good with that bow, and quite stealthy too."

"Is this you asking for lessons?"

Laurel shakes her head. "I think I'm good with my baton and gun….for now anyways."

"Not to mention that sonic scream of yours and you are a decent fighter as well," Nyssa compliments with a smile.

A smile which Laurel can't help but return.

There's just something about this woman that intrigues her, that unlocks something in Laurel that she thought was long gone. And she can't wait to uncover what exactly that is during her travels with Nyssa across the wasteland that was once the United States.

Laurel also knows that this adventure of her just got more entertaining and interesting and she wouldn't trade that for anything.