Consequences
AN: Hello people of , Padres Fan is back in the game. Surprising as I never thought I would return to actually writing. But funny how things work out especially when you have seen and played something as thought-provoking as the Last of Us. So with some inspiration, I decided to pick up the laptop and try and type up a sequel of sorts. I do hope you enjoy this tale (or part of it, as many of my really old Inception fans know from my other tale. I might come back to that tale though, so stay tuned). Give a review if you feel like it and throw in some advice for this writer, he's a bit rusty. And now for our tale.
Prologue Pt. 1: The Fading Light
"Ian...Ian...Ian." Sixteen year-old Ian slowly opens his eyes to stare at the ceiling before him. He heaves out a weary sigh as he responds to the voice outside of his 'room', "Is there a good reason why you're waking me up, pops?"
A chuckle floats through the room before the inevitable reply arrives, "Well for one thing it's already the afternoon, so I'm figuring you might actually want to have some breakfast before the rest of the boys finish off with what's leftover from the haul we got yesterday."
Ian lets out a groan, "Ah man, those fuckers eat a shit-ton. Alright, gimme a sec to gather myself."
"Sounds good. Telling you about breakfast is not the only reason I'm waking you up. We're not going to be doing our usual patrol until later today. Marlene's gathering the higher-ups and the science team for a meeting to see where we go from here."
Ian rose his upper half to stare at his father, Jake, who was leaning on one side of the doorway. "Another meeting? Seems like you guys been having a lot more of those since Marlene arrived. What's up with that?"
Jake simply sighs and runs his hand through his black hair before responding, "Well honestly I don't really know what we're going to talk about, Ian. Things haven't been looking promising from all fronts these day, I guess." Jake seems to drift off for a moment, seemingly wanting to say more but holding back. He then gives Ian a tight smile. "Anyways, I gotta go or Kyle will having my fucking hide for being late. I'll catch up with you later for our patrol."
Ian perks up upon hearing Jake's statement and grins. "See you later, old man." By then, Jake has already left his place at the doorway and Ian is left alone to sort himself.
"Well I guess I better head to the cafeteria before breakfast is gone." With that thought in mind, Ian rises from his sleeping mat. "Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it's been hardy that's for sure.",Ian muses to himself. He takes in the place that has been his 'room' for the last couple of years. "I still think it's awkward as hell we sleep in a hospital. Place feels like death." St. Mary's Hospital was the Fireflies' headquarters as well as the science team's place of operation since they relocated from the University of Eastern Colorado. It was a logical place to set up camp but Ian never really felt comfortable having to actually rest here. Ian puts most of the blame on his father's squad for scaring the shit out of him by acting if the place was haunted.
Ian yawns as rays of sunlight hit his face through the small cracks of the vines. Pulling the blinds up, Ian forces himself to squint as his eyes adjust to the afternoon sun. "Damn, he wasn't kidding. Suppose I was asking for it, being up all night reading that book." Ian takes in the sight before him. The ruined city of Salt Lake City looms before him. The city, having been one of the earliest quarantine zones to be abandoned, was in a state that nature had finally felt comfortable living in it. Ian could hear the many noises of the creatures that had retaken the city and made it theirs. A flock of crows flew overhead, looking for their next meal while down near the old triage, a pack of giraffes grazed. "Never gets old seeing those things. Weird and awesome at the same time."
After a moment of admiring the view, Ian returns to his bedside. Rummaging through his bed-sheet, he pulls out the book that he has been reading religiously for the past couple of nights: H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. "I wonder how we would have handled that situation had that actually happened.", Ian ponders as he places the book in his backpack. "Not much better, I guess."
Standing back up, Ian turns to a shattered mirror to give him a look-over with the leftover shards that remained in the frame. Ian was as healthy as any sixteen year old kid in the post-apocalypse world could get. Of average height and build, Ian sported a look similar to his father: stark black hair and cerulean eyes. Moving closer to the mirror, Ian smirks as he sees a bit a stubble growing on the chin. "It's progress." Ian tells himself as he begins to clean up the room before he heads out. After being satisfied with the clean status of the room, Ian leaves and proceeds down the hallway that would eventually lead to the main staircase to the cafeteria down below. As Ian walked down the hallway, he overhears a conversation near the staircase. "It sounds like John and Karen. Wonder what's up?" He ventures forward to see an angered Karen and a beleaguered John at the stairwell arguing.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" John says tiredly as he puts out his arms in defeat.
Karen spats out a reply, "I want you to admit this has been a fucking waste of time, John."
John weakly answers, "That's not true, Karen. We..." Karen cuts off his reply.
"That's a load of shit, John. We have. Look at us! We're losing this war, our friends all died in Boston saving Marlene's ass and she doesn't have anything to sho... Hey fucking look at me when I'm talking to yo..."
Karen goes silent as she follows John's gaze to down the hall to see Ian standing there, trying not to give off an awkward vibe for walking into a seemingly private conversation.
"Goddamn kid," she mutters under her breath and proceeds to walk up the stairwell that would lead to the science team floor.
"Man, I really walked into it today, didn't I?" Ian nervously thinks as he and John continue to stare at each other.
John says nothing until Karen's footsteps had finally subsided, "Uh, sorry you had to hear that, Ian. She's just been on edge since the Boston group returned."
Ian tries to not stammer as he responds, "It's nothing, John. It happens, you know?"
John sighs and rubs the back of his head as he stares at the floor. "Yeah, I guess so."
There is a moment of awkward silence between the Firefly and the youth before him. John's features are scrunched up, almost like he wants to say something else but is holding it back. After more self-debating, John heaves out a exhausted breath and returns his weary gaze to Ian.
"Listen um, I trust that what you heard will just be between us. Not even your old man should know about this. We clear?"
Ian nods apprehensively, "Crystal."
Without another word being said, John turns to the flight of stairs, presumably to follow Karen. Ian lets out the breath that he was holding for the longest time and quickly runs down the stairwell.
"The fuck was that about? John and Karen have never acted like that. And what were they saying about Marlene? Shit and to think this would be like any other day." Ian was so deep into his thoughts that he almost didn't notice that he had reached the door that would lead into the cafeteria. Pulling open the door, Ian enters the cafeteria. Usually when Ian is up earlier, the place is packed to the brim, but since Ian overslept, he had missed the breakfast rush. Now only a few Fireflies occupied the dining area. Most of them were too busy eating to notice Ian as he walked past them to reach the serving area. A young man is busy picking up dishes from the serving tables when he notices Ian reach one of the tables. He flashes a smile before returning to his work.
"This is new, Ian. What's with the tardiness? Usually I'm expecting you to be the first one here."
Ian's troubled mood is forgotten momentarily and he returns the smile, "Ah well, you see Tim, I've been busy reading this book of min..." Ian's explanation is cut off by laughter from Tim, the Fireflies' resident cook.
"You missed breakfast over a book? You're kidding. Now that's hilarious, dude." Ian gives Tim a frown but still continues the topic.
"No man, I'm not kidding you. This story is legit. Alien invasion, suspense, death, and angst. Perfect read I tell you." Ian says.
Tim chuckles a bit more before looking at Ian, "Oh I believe you, Ian. I just have no patience for that sort of stuff. I rather be working than goofing off reading about some sci-fi shit."
Ian scoffs at Tim. "Come on man, it isn't 'sci-fi shit', I promise you that."
Tim simply shrugs and returns to cleaning, "I guess I'll have to take your word on that then, cause it will be quite some time before you see me reading a book. By the way, leftovers are on that table behind to you. Better grab as much as you can. That's the last of our winter stock."
"Really? Why are you even talking about the winter stock like it's important?" Ian asks inquisitively.
Tim lets out an irritated sigh before answering. "Because we are simply running out of food. The game has yet to come back in mass. I have a feeling that it has to do with the recent increases of infected in this area. They are scaring off the local wildlife. We really need to re-sweep the whole area or otherwise we could find ourselves rationing supplies or worse."
Ian grimaces before speaking, "You don't think it's going to come to that, will it?"
Tim doesn't reply and continues to clean. Ian, feeling the conversation had now run its course, quickly grabs some leftovers and proceeds to head out to the cafeteria. As Ian walks away, Tim mutters a remark under his breath, heard only by him. "Probably."
"Ian! Ian! Over here, kid!" Ian turns to the voice's place of origin and observes a man dressed in Firefly scout's clothing waving him over. Walking closer, Ian quickly recognizes him and gives a light smile before sitting down opposite of him on the table.
"Hey Ethan."
"Morning kid." It's all the man says before he resumes eating his meal.
Ethan was Jake's best friend as well as occasional friend to Ian as well. Ian would dare say that Ethan was the uncle that he never had. A burly man with a quick temper, Ethan was one of the Fireflies' finest scouts that had been sent with Marlene a couple years back to help with the Boston campaign. Before then, Ethan and Jake were brothers-in-arms and was a shoulder to lean on during the rough patch that both Jake and Ian experienced. He was the one man that they trusted fully next to Marlene herself. But as mentioned before, Ethan had left and when he had returned with the remnant of the Boston forces, he was not the same enthusiastic Ethan that had gone off with the leader of the Fireflies. Instead, Jake and Ian encountered a hardened and grizzled man who had seen far too much and yet continued on. For the last couple of months, they have constantly tried to break through his shell, to no avail. As Ian begins to eat his brunch, he wants to try again to break through the wall but his mind is currently swirling with recent events.
"What's with everyone acting so strangely since the Boston group arrived? Today's been especially bizarre too with pops, John, Karen, and even Tim being all doom and gloom. Seems like it all has to do with something that Marlene did. Man, I wish someone would tell what's really going on for once without being all 'oh it's top-secret, kid, sorry about that'." Ian muses as he slowly picks through the deer meat.
Ethan's voice breaks into Ian's thoughts. "Now this is a surprise. Usually you're pretty chummy on the get-go. What's with the silent treatment, Ian?"
Ian stares up from his plate to regard the man chewing a chunky piece of meat. He hesitates, unsure if he wants an answer the questions that now bother him. Ethan picks this up quickly and reassures Ian.
"Speak your mind, Ian. It's not like you haven't before."
"Here goes nothing." Ian mentally sighs before he begins, "Have you noticed that everyone has been behaving...differently?"
Ethan seems to consider the question before shrugging, "I suppose so, but what's so important about that?"
Ian's resolve falters by Ethan's unenthusiastic answer, so he stares at his meal.
"Ah, it's nothing." Ian mentally berates himself for asking, "So stupid...what the fuck was I hoping to get from Ethan? Should have kept it to myself."
Ethan's voice with a sarcastic tone breaks through his thoughts quickly though, "Of course it's nothing. Quit dicking around the subject and tell me what happened that's making you think this way."
Ian's voice hitches before he replies, "It just that, things have been off with everyone recently. I mean even today, Tim's concerned with our food running low, Karen and John arguing near the main staircase, and the old man wanting not talking about that meeting..."
"Meeting? I didn't hear about no meeting from Marlene." Ethan interrupts with mild surprise in his tone.
"Yeah, I guess Kyle and the rest of the consul wanted a more private meeting than the last one. Honestly, it sounds like bullshit to me and I wish he or someone would tell me what the hell is going on with those meetings. Keeps pops away from patrolling with me." Ian replies.
Ethan gives no response to what Ian had said and stares off into space. Ian is too busy to notice the non-reaction as he eats away at his meal. After a minute or so, Ethan seems to end an internal debate with a grunt. Scanning the room for any possible eavesdroppers listening to their conversation, Ethan returns his attention to Ian and speaks.
"I don't know why Jake feels like he needs to protect you from what going when all it's doing is making you blind to the situation that our group is in."
"What would the old man be protecting me from? What kind of shit are we in that we can't recover from this time?" Ian asks with raised eyebrows, hanging on Ethan's every word at the moment.
"Before I continue on, I need to say this: what I'm going to tell you is shit that the usual grunts here will never know about. They suspect but there's nothing concrete. Having been one of most loyal to Marlene back in Boston has its perks. The only reason I'm letting you on this is that we're family, Ian. Jake and you were always there for me back in the old days. I'm sorry that I haven't been myself since I got back. Truth is, I think I never really came back from that shithole we call Boston." Ethan pauses as his eyes turn wistful for a moment, before continuing.
"So why have these recent meetings been popping up since we got here? You can simply blame it on just losing Boston, but it's more than that. It's been something that has been hanging over our group's head since it started. Hell, it's one of the reasons why we started it. To find the ever-elusive vaccine. Many doubted us. The feds certainly did. They tried to finish us off quickly in the beginning. And so we fought back. We overthrew quarantine zones and were searching for the vaccine. People believed in us. We believed in ourselves. We thought we were gonna do it. We were going to save everyone. Then twenty years happened. And now..." Ian notes Ethan's fists clench up as he continued talking.
"Now we aren't even the same Fireflies. A group that used to number in the thousands are now nothing more than a couple hundred, probably even less since we lost contacts with more of our east coast sections." Ian sits stunned with this revelation as Ethan takes a quick sip from a canteen.
"There's no way, Ethan...how can we be so few now?" Ian asks with confusion.
"You can blame the infected, hunters, the feds, lack of large amounts of food and clean water, but what's really killing us is time. Time people don't have for us anymore after twenty years of waiting for a vaccine. And who could blame them? Our 'brilliant' scientists haven't come up with shit. Their stay in Colorado went nowhere with those damn monkeys of theirs. Now they're back here and we're supposed to be guarding them as if they are important when the truth is that they haven't even gotten closer to cracking this than the ones who tried stopping the infection before the outbreak." Ethan answers flatly.
"So with us failing to find a way to stop the infection, people turned their back on us. We were set back by the betrayal of the Pittsburgh quarantine zone population but we thought it was just one bad case. Turns out that the rest of the quarantine zones we tried freeing and freed were comfortable with us not being around. Feds had fucking brainwashed them to doubt us. Boston was the final nail on the coffin as quarantine zone citizens watched us and sympathizers get rounded up or hunted down. And you know what? They did nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing. Just goes to show how you can be treated as goddamn heroes one decade and then be called ruthless terrorists the next." Ethan lets out a bitter laugh as Ian continues to listen, ignoring his now-cold food.
"You know what's worse too, Ian? We had it. We fucking had it."
"Had what?" Ian asks quickly.
Ethan returns his gaze to the young kid before him and his stare hardens, "What do you think? The cure."
"Bullshit." Ian scoffs.
"Call it whatever you want to Ian. I saw our salvation from the infection with my own eyes. She could have saved us all, Ian..."
"She?" Ian asks curiously.
"Yeah, a kid of a friend that Marlene knew way back. She had come to Marlene for help when she was bitten. We nearly shot her on sight once she showed off the bite area. But crazy enough, the kid didn't go down. She just kept on going." Ethan said.
"So why's she not here?" Ian remarks and scratches his head, trying to sort this altogether.
Ethan lets out a heavy sigh before answering the question, "After Marlene realized that the kid wasn't going to turn, she literally change our whole game-plan. We were already planning on abandoning the city, but this recent revelation made Marlene want to speed up the pace. A pace that the rest of us couldn't do. That's why she radioed for a group from here to pick up the girl. Of course, the timing to do this operation couldn't have been any worse. The feds finally got fed up with us and tried to finally finish our group in Boston off. They did a massive witch hunt for us, clearing out buildings and putting people in custody. Worse thing about it was the fact that most of them had fucking nothing to do with us. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It just made people more resentful of us and also willing to rat us and our sympathizers out. We tried fighting back but we were too few as it is and supplies were dwindling. Marlene wanted to personally escort the girl to St. Mary's with the Utah group, but she didn't want to abandon us while the feds hunted us down. She quickly arranged a deal with a smuggler who we bought guns off of in exchange for the safe passage of the girl to the Utah group. On the day the trade-off was suppose to happen, Marlene and the girl went with some of my guys to the drop-off point. When Marlene returned, she was bleeding out from a gunshot wound and being helped by a smuggler known as Tess if I remember. Marlene revealed that the smuggler she had originally planned to give the girl to had been killed by Tess and that she had now given the task to Tess and her partner. The rest of us weren't thrilled about it and many of us felt like we could do this ourselves. But with the feds hunting us down, Marlene didn't want to put the girl in harm's way while we tried to escape ourselves. So we let our last goddamn hope out of our own fucking hands and concentrated on getting out of the city alive. The feds hounded us until we had left the outskirts of Boston. But even after escaping the city, we had to deal with the damn infected and hunters all the way back here."
Ethan takes another sip from his canteen and looks up at Ian wearily, sadness being seen in his eyes.
"We lost a lot of people along the way. Most of them I had known for over a decade. Not dying for a cause but for the simple reason of staying alive." Ethan scratches the stubble that is underneath his chin and sighs.
"When we arrived here back at St. Mary's, Marlene was expecting the girl to be here already. Turns out the group that was supposed to guide her back never returned. Marlene was devastated and we were at a loss. Our last hope was probably somewhere dead in the streets of God-knows-where. And this is where we now stand."
Ian is silent; taking in all the information that Ethan has just told him. "Holy shit, dad, why the hell didn't you tell me about this?"
After another minute of silence, Ian then speaks, "So what happens now?"
Ethan grumbles and leans back in his chair, "You know those meetings Jake's been having to go to? As you probably have figured out from what I've told you, the rest of the Firefly leadership isn't thrilled with the loss of Boston and the girl."
Ethan pauses, uncertain if he should continue, but presses on. "Because of this, there has been talk of Marlene stepping down."
Ian looks at Ethan like he had been punched in the gut. "What? Marlene stepping down? That definitely doesn't sound like her at all. If anything, the council want to take control from her regardless. The council must be out of their fucking minds."
Ethan gives Ian a hard stare before replying, "I wish I could feel the same way, Ian, I really do. But the facts don't lie: Our forces have diminished, our public support is gone, and the infected girl is missing and probably dead. There needs to be change whether we like it or not."
Ian quickly retorts, "Then who the hell is going to lead us? Don't tell me you believe its Kyle."
"Ian, I never said that..."
"But you know that's who the consul will pick if it's true. And you know what? The guy's an asshole."
"The 'asshole' has been head of the western Firefly military forces for sometime now. There's a reason for that, Ian." Ethan points out.
Ian scoffs, unconvinced, "Yeah sure. I'm sure that's going to thrill people to know the 'asshole' is going to run this whole deal."
Ethan begins to give Ian an annoyed look. "Listen Ian, I don't think I made myself clear. This is going to happen." Ethan leans back in his chair, "It's not like we have a choice either, Marlene's spirit seems to have been broken with the loss of that girl. She looks like she doesn't even want to be here anymore. We can't be lead by a reluctant leader. We need someone who has a clear conscience and Kyle's all we have, asshole he maybe."
Ian simply shakes his head, "I can't believe this is all happening."
Ethan sighs, "It's just life, Ian. We make decisions and must deal with the consequences that come with it. Even you in time will have to deal with hard choices and must deal with the aftermath."
Ethan's statement seems to end the conversation as Ian remains silent, contemplating all that has been told to him. With Ian's gaze looking elsewhere, Ethan glances at his watch and then begin to rise from his seat.
"My shift for patrol is starting soon. I'll leave you to your thoughts."
Ethan begins to turn to the cafeteria's exit and stops mid-walk. He turns back and calls to Ian. "Ian."
Ian's head motions in Ethan's direction but doesn't turn. "Yeah?"
"It was good talking with you again, kid. I'll make a better effort next time."
Ethan then resumes his walk out of the kitchen, leaving Ian alone in the cafeteria.
I have to admit this first chapter is rough. It will probably will be re-edited again sometime in the future should I continue this story. Just wanted to get this first chapter out in the open and see what you guys thought of it. It will follow the story's ending and then branch out on its own. And yes, Joel and Ellie will be in the story. As to how big of a part they will be now or later in the story remains to be seen. By the way, there were a lot of OC's in this chapter but there's a character that's actually in the game. Just a little something to throw out there. Anyways, read, review, and you guys continue to endure and survive out there. Later!