AN: I'm back bitches! I know, it's only been a little while since I uploaded the final chapter to The Last Of Us: Past and Present, but I felt it was necessary to say that. I'll probably be saying that a lot more. But anyway, you're not here to listen to me blabber on about the story I'm going be writing, you're here to read the story itself, so I won't hold you back anymore. Without further ado, I give you the sequel to The Last Of Us: Past and Present; The Last Of Us: The Road.

Chapter 1:

Tommy took a deep breath, doing his best to stay silent and calm. From where he was, crouched under the window of a two-story house in a small gated community, he could see a large sized pack of bandits moving. They were obviously scavenging for supplies. Tommy closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. The air was chilly, and Tommy knew it was once again fall. The air inside of the house was dusty and dirty. Sweat seemed to cling to every part of Tommy's torso, making his shirt stick to his body. The bandits were speaking in loud voices, and Tommy knew they were getting close to the house.

Carefully, Tommy pulled back the bolt of the rifle. He removed a bullet from his back pocket and slid it into the barrel. The bolt clacked back into place, and Tommy lined up his sights. The whole world around him suddenly seemed to stop. Tommy held his breath as he lined up one of the bandit's heads in the sights. He exhaled quietly, before putting his finger on the trigger and applying pressure. There was a loud bang, like an explosion, and blood flew from the head of the bandit. The others dove for cover, and Tommy quickly reloaded. The fight had begun.

Joel walked calmly towards the manor, taking calm, deep breaths. He was on his way there to meet up with Maria, who would be going with him on the run. Maria, every time he was around her, heard her name or thought about her he would feel a pang of guilt and sadness. If he hadn't let the Wolf stab him, if he had been conscious, he could have made him stay. And now her husband and his brother was gone, most likely dead.

Several times Joel had been tempted to go looking for Tommy. But the thought of getting into any kind of trouble always caused him to draw away. He didn't want to get hurt out there and not be able to get back to Ellie. And besides, it was more difficult for him to do anything with just one arm. Joel huffed as he drew nearer to the manor. He didn't want to have to do this-go on the run with Maria. He didn't want to feel the guilt that came with being with Maria. She never told him it was his fault, Joel doubted she blamed him. But he blamed himself, and the hurt look that was constantly in her eyes just added to it.

Joel shook his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He needed to stop thinking about it, or he'd find himself in tears, or having a nervous breakdown or something. With a heavy sigh, Joel gripped the knob of the front door of the manor and pushed it open. Inside he was met by Jesus, who clapped him on the shoulder. "Well good morning Joel! Good to see you're still walking among the living...okay. Bad Joke."

"By far the worst." Jesus chuckled. "Just head on over to the dining hall. Maria's in there loading up." Joel nodded his head and began to move there. As he walked, he looked around himself. He spotted Jamie making his way down from the second floor, and the man waved. "Going out on a run Joel?" Joel nodded his head. Jamie grinned. "Cool. You should keep your eyes peeled for any comic books or something for Ellie. As far as I know her reading material's been stretched pretty thin." Joel nodded his head. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Alright. See you later man." Then Jamie was jogging off towards the front of the manor.

When Joel reached the dining hall, he nodded to Maria and began looking through the supplies scattered about the table. He took his pack from his shoulder, laid it down on the table and opened it up. He grabbed a medkit, and a roll of gauze from the table, and several clips for his 9mm. Once he had his backpack over his shoulders again, he motioned for Maria to follow, then walked through the door.

As the two made their way through Jackson, Joel found his thoughts going back (once again) to Tommy. It had been a little over a month and a half since the confrontation they'd had with the Wolf out at that warehouse. Joel rubbed a hand through his hair. After several deep breaths, he shoved Tommy from his mind and clenched his fists. He just needed to keep his mind focused while he was on this run. Once they were done he could find a quiet place where he could cry in peace.

Tommy's legs pumped heavily. Sweat poured down his body, almost as if he had just stepped out of a shower. His muscles ached. His head throbbed. He felt like shit.

Just keep running...just keep running, he thought. But he was so tired, so tired. He just wanted to drop down and let the bandits take him out. He didn't want to keep running, he didn't even think he could run for much longer. Behind him, he could hear the bandits chasing him through the woods. He had a good amount of space in between them, but every time he thought he'd lost them, and stopped for a breather, he'd hear them again. They just wouldn't give up.

When Tommy caught sight of the small house, nestled in the woods, he veered off and began running for it. When he reached the front door, he didn't stop, he slammed right into it and went crashing into the house. He slammed the door behind him, and took several deep breaths. He looked around him. The inside of the house was dank and dark. He took several steps forward, cringing with every step he made that would cause a floorboard to squeak.

Tommy was just past the stairs, when something heavy slammed into him. He was knocked off of his feet, onto his back. It was a very large dog. Tommy's rifle went skidding across the floor. Tommy put his hand against the dog's neck and tried as best as he could to get the thing off of him. But it was no use. No matter how hard he tried, Tommy just couldn't keep the thing off of him. The dog barked, and snapped at Tommy's neck with it's powerful jaws. Spittle flew from it's mouth and hit Tommy's face.

He couldn't believe it. He'd fought hordes of infected, been in, probably, hundreds of firefights, and had evaded death so many times. And he was about to be killed by a goddamned dog.

AN: So, yeah, just yesterday I uploaded the final chapter of The Last Of Us: Past and Present. So if you haven't finished that yet, you shouldn't be reading this. But if you have, good to see you've returned, I've missed you for the last twenty-four hours. But anyway, what do you guys think? Is Tommy about to get his face mauled off by a dog? How bad has Joel beaten himself up about his brother's "death"? What's Ellie doing? Well, you'll find all of these things out and more next time on The Last of us: The Road.

~Exangellion