Author's Note - Hi guys, I recently decided that I wanted to have a go at what I think could have happened to Joel and Ellie after the end credits role in The Last of Us. I was inspired to write this after reading similar stories written by the author thehammerofthor. I seriously recommend that you go to read his trilogy labled "Aftermath" but also his standalone story titled "The Hope". The Hope is the biggest inspiration for this story and genuinly seems a plausible sequel to The Last of Us. Definitely give him a look-see. My story picks up where The Hope finishes but the first couple of paragraphs were written by Thor, I'll denote where my writing begins with a horizontal line.

Anyway, ramblings aside, here's the first chapter, please feel free to review it and give me feedback. All is welcome here as long as it is constructive. Enjoy!

u/4926075/thehammerofthor

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last of Us, it is proudly owned by the developers Naughty Dog.

The Last of Us: Lost in Darkness

An hour of fruitless walking brought her to the shore of a lake. A heavy mist hung over the glassy pane of the surface, still and tranquil in the cool morning air. The lake reminded her of Joel, as so many things did since his passing. She remembered her floundering efforts to swim, and his patient instruction led to her mastery of the sport.

The shore was lined with large, flat rocks. She stepped onto one of them, testing it's stability before setting the bow down and taking a seat on the rock. She swung the guitar around and pulled the notebook from her back pocket. It was filled with the chords and fingerings that Joel had managed to teach her. She was lousy at it so far, but improving, and the notebook had become as prized of possession as any in her backpack.

She strummed a few chords, searching for a few that would go well together. Joel had only ever sung her one song, right before giving her the guitar as a gift. She had been searching for its chords ever since, too stubborn to ask Joel to teach it to her. With each passing day, the memory of the song and it's melody faded just a bit more, so her search for the chords had become a dire mission for her.

Ellie played another chord and let it ring out. Another sound rose between the fading notes of the guitar. Footsteps. Her eyes drifted to the bow and arrow beside her.

A woman's voice came from somewhere behind her.

"Hello, Ellie."

Chapter 1: Nightmares

The voice froze her on the spot and sent an icy chill down her spine. She glanced down one more at the bow beside her, inching her hand closer to the sharp arrow beside it.

"I wouldn't even think about that, Ellie." The voice said. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

Ellie stopped her hand in place then slowly brought it back to the neck of the guitar.

"What do you want?" Ellie asked coldly, studying the strings and practicing the chords she had already memorised.

"Stand up." The voice demanded.

She sat still and silent for a moment before pulling the guitar strap over her head. Before she could put it down, Ellie was pulled backwards off the rock. The guitar slipped from her fingers and clattered noisily to the ground. She struggled against her captor, concerned for the state of the instrument. Her trainers left deep ruts in the earth as she was dragged to her feet.

"Let go of me, you fucker!" She protested, kicking and flailing her arms wildly in an attempt to escape.

She felt one of her closed fists smack into something solid and she yelped in pain. Her face was pushed into the dirt as a pair of unseen hands began removing her jacket and shirt. At that moment, as if they were still fresh wounds, all the painful memories and nightmares flooded into her mind. For the briefest of moment, the unknown attacker could have easily been David. Red hot tears began streaming from her eyes. Just the thought of his name still turned her stomach and made her head spin. Ellie felt sick. It had been almost three years since that snowy Colorado day but the fear still cut through her like David's machete so easily could have done. She was broken and damaged. But like hell was she going down without a fight.

"Steven, stop." The woman's voice commanded.

The man didn't loosen his grip on Ellie's clothes but he stopped what he was doing.

"Susan, we need to make sure she's the one. This can't be another dead end. We've been through too much to lose this now." Steven said, frantically checking the exposed flesh of Ellie's body.

He stopped dead when his gloved fingers ran over the bite mark on her arm. He recoiled at the touch but seemed to relax a bit. Susan had seen it too.

"It's her..." Susan breathed. "Let go of her."

Ellie felt Steven's grip on her and she struggled free of his hands. Her feet scrambled in the soft earth as she pushed her back up against a tree. Finally Ellie got a good look at her attackers. The man stood at around 6" tall, dressed head to toe in black military fatigues. His body from neck to stomach was protected by hardened body armour. Her hand throbbed again at the thought of the solid impact. An assault rifle hung menacingly by his side, attached by a piece of bungee cord to his shoulder. A balaclava covered all but his eyes as he stared at her. He reminded her of the soldiers that patrolled the Boston Quarantine Zone in Massachusetts. That all seemed so long ago, so far away. Finanlly, Ellie's eyes settled on Susan. She felt her blood begin to boil. The sandy blonde hair, her bluish-grey eyes. Ellie would never forget the woman that stood over Joel's corpse as bullets whizzed around her. The memory came flooding back to her, the black figures firing automatically at the townsfolk, Tommy and Maria dying together in a hail of lead, the wretched stench of diesel from the hulking APCs.

Susan took a step towards the cowering girl pressed up against a tree like a cornered rat, her eyes darting quickly between herself and Steven. She didn't blame Ellie for being afraid. Many had feared the black armour and military grade weapons her group bore. She crouched on one knee and offered the girl her hand.

"Ellie, you don't need to be afraid. We don't want to hurt you." Susan told her, as if butter wouldn't melt.

Yeah, you got that right. Ellie thought.

"H-how the fuck do you know my name?" Ellie asked, her stare never leaving Susan's face for a moment.

Susan shuffled closer to Ellie and took hold of her arm, rolling up the sleeve to reveal the bite marks once again.

"Do you have any idea what this means? About who you are?" Susan sighed. " I know you're immune, Ellie."

The colour faded from Ellie's face.

"You...you what?" She stammered.

"Three years." Susan continued. "Three years I have searched for you. You must have only been fifteen when I'd first heard the rumours of a little girl, immune to the infection."

"Yeah...well, I'm not so little anymore." Ellie said, snatching her arm back and rolling her sleeve down again.

"I guess you're right. You must be, what? 19?" Susan asked.

Ellie remained silent, trying not to let her hatred for this woman show on her face. She wasn't doing a good job.

"You know, Ellie, you and I aren't so different really." Susan said, taking a different approach. "You're obviously a strong individual. We need you, Ellie. This world needs you. Come with us and we can find a cure."

A single tear ran down Susan's cheek.

"A cure." She breathed.

Ellie inhaled deeply,, holding the oxygem in her lungs for a few seconds before exhaling it in a gust that caused her fringe to billow. Her hand reached down and touched the fabric between her fingers and the pocked bite mark. She could still feel the white lumps that had grown around it. She looked up at Susan's expectant face.

"No thanks." Ellie said quietly and defiantly.

Susan's face fell, Steven's right hand reached slowy down towards the pistol grip of his assault rifle.

"I don't think you understand, Ellie. We need you," Susan slowly got to her feet as Steven took a step forward. "This world needs you, and you're coming with us."

Steven cocked his assault rifle and let it swing by his side, instead pulling a police baton from his assault webbing. With a flick of his wrist, it extended out to a 40cm long rod. Ellie stared at it in horror and braced for the pain as Steven raised his arm.

As he was about to bring the metal baton down onto her, a familiar and terrifying sound caught on the wind. Cold sweat ran down her back as the sound grew nearer.

"Oh shit..." She whispered.

Click-Click-Click.

To be continued...

Afternote: Well, this is the first chapter of Lost in Darkness. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I know that it's a little on the short side at the moment but I definitely will pick up and progress the story the deeper into it we go. As I mentioned before, please review, PM and let me know what you think.

Special Thanks to thehammerofthor for my inspiration. Seriously, go and read his story "The Hope" for a bit more backstone to this.