Welcome to the first chapter of my story the Last of Us: The Journey Ahead. It basically follows the story with my OC inserted Jack Miller, the son of Joel Miller.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A loud banging on the door awoke the young man from his rest. Jack's eyes snapped open, he shot up from the couch, breathing heavily with his body drenched in a cold sweat. Jack quickly looked around the room in a panic, it took him a second to calm himself, realizing that he was in his home he took a deep breath and calmed down.

Jack sat down on the couch, he placed his feet on the hard floor and rubbed his eyes with his hands clearing any crust that may be in them. After he finished rubbing his eyes he looked down at his clothes, he had on a grey hoodie with a plain black shirt under it, he wore some simple blue jeans and a simple pair of hunting boots on his feet. He and Joel were tired when they came home from a job last night so he didn't feel like changing into sleepwear. So he just laid down on the couch and went to sleep.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Goddamnit," Jack turned his head to the door where the noise was coming from. Somebody was at the door. The banging made Jack groan, it seemed a little early to be expecting visitors and the sound was very annoying. Jack wanted to lay back down on the couch and go back to sleep but the banging on the door continued, keeping him from doing so.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Ugh," Jack groaned. He was about to get up and answer it, but Joel came out of his room and walked to the door to answer it before he could. "I'm coming," Joel grumbled.

Joel undid the lock then opened the door seeing Tess on the other side. He exhaled air out his nose at her presence and Jack just rolled his eyes. Neither he nor Jack was in the mood for company.

"And how was your morning?" Tess asked sarcastically as she entered the apartment without a word from Joel, as usual.

Tess looked at Jack who was stretching his arms, "How are you, Jack?"

"I'm fine," Jack answered as he finished stretching. Tess nodded then walked to the table where a bottle of Scotch rested with a couple of glasses beside it, picking up the bottle and pouring it into a glass.

"Want one?" Tess offered to pour a glass for Joel.

"No. I don't… want one." Joel refused Tess's offer.

Seeing that Jack wouldn't be getting any more sleep today he got up from his couch, onto his feet, walked over to the kitchen table, pulling up a chair and sitting down in it. "Can I have one?" Jack asked, which earned him looks from both her and Joel saying that the answer was a definite 'NO'.

"You're too young to drink, Jack," Tess said.

"Fair enough," Jack replied then noticed the bruises on Tess's face which sparked some concern in him, "Are you OK?" Jack asked.

"Yeah I'm fine Jack, don't worry," Tess reassured the teenager.

"OK, so what are you doing here, Tess?" Jack asked.

Tess glanced at the teenager, then said. "I have some interesting news."

"Which is-" Jack asked, tilting his head slightly, but was cut off by Joel.

"Where were you, Tess?" Joel asked her in a stern tone.

"West End District," Tess answered his question then raised the glass closer to her head. "Hey, we had a drop to make," She added before taking a sip from the glass.

"We. We had a drop to make," Joel stated, walking over to her and offering a rag to help with her bruises.

"Yeah, well, you both wanted to be left alone remember?" Tess argued, taking the rag from Joel, dabbing it on one of the bruises on her face.

"So judging by the bruises on your face I'm just gonna assume that the deal went bad and the client stole the goods," Jack supposed.

Tess chuckled at Jack's words and corrected him. "Actually, the deal went off without a hitch." Tess reached into her pocket and pulled out a deck of ration cards. "Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months - easy,"

"Sweet, nice job Tess," Jack commented, looking at the cards in Tess's hand.

"You wanna explain this?" Joel asked, gesturing to the bruises on Tess's face.

"I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" Tess admitted as Jole walked over to her. "Yeah they got a few good hits in but… look I managed."

Jole let out a sigh, then said. "Gimme that." Joel took the rag from her hand and started wiping the bruises.

"So are these assholes still with us?" Jack asked as Joel cleaned Tess's bruises with the rag.

"Now that's funny," Tess said, chuckling lightly at Jack's question.

"Did you find out who they were?" Joel asked in a serious tone.

"Yeah, look they were a couple of nobodies - they don't matter." Tess retorted, slapping Joel's hand away. "What matters is that Robert fucking sent them."

As soon as Tess mentioned the name, Robert to Jack and Joel it caught their attention.

"You mean our Robert?" Jack asked, surprised.

Tess nodded at them, "Yeah, he knows we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first."

"That son of a bitch, he's smart," Joel said, throwing the rag onto the cabinet.

"No," Tess said, walking over to Joel leaning on the cabinet facing him. "He's not smart enough. I know where he's hiding,"

"Really?" Jack questioned.

Tess looked at Jack and nodded. "Yeah, an old warehouse in Area 5, but I can't say for how long, though,"

"Well, I'm ready now. Yeah?" Joel said.

"Yeah, I say let's go get that fucker right now before he slips through our fingers," Jack said.

Tess turned to look at Jack with concern written all over her face, "Umm… Jack, how about you stay here? I don't think you're skilled enough for this and I don't wanna see you get hurt,"

Jack rolled his eyes at Tess. "Tess, I appreciate your concern for me really I do, but I can handle myself just fine,"

"Tess, if the kid wants to come then he can come," Joel said which made her turn around to face him.

"You should be more concerned about Jack than me Joel, after all, he is your son," Tess stated.

"Oh really?" Jack scoffed, "Because most times it doesn't feel like it."

Jack was the spitting image of Joel, but his eye color was blue which was inherited from his mother and had some of her personality. Ever since Jack was born his Dad, Joel hasn't been much of one to him. When it came down to it, Joel pretty much avoided the responsibility and so did his mom. Joel's brother Tommy pretty much raised him until he and Jack's mom, Catherine decided to join Marlene and the fireflies, where they were going Jack couldn't follow and Joel wouldn't go with them so Jack's mom begged Joel to take care of him which he reluctantly agreed to do. Joel had a personal reason that he avoided raising his son, it was a reason that wasn't known to Jack.

Saying that made Joel turn to face Jack with anger, "Jack, don't forget you're only here because I promised your mom I would look after you, but that doesn't mean much else,"

"Whatever, I'm coming and y'all ain't stopping me," Jack said before storming out of the apartment.

Tess turned back to Joel, she didn't say anything at first but then said. "Come on!" And exiting the apartment, Joel followed behind her locking the door.

The group exited through the door out of the building and walked out to the streets of the Quarantine Zone.

"The checkpoint's still open," Tess informed them.

"Only got a few hours left until curfew," Joel said.

"Then we better get moving, otherwise we're gonna lose that asshole," Jack stated.

"Stay close to us Jack," Tess requested.

"Don't worry, I will," Jack reassured.

With that in mind, the group walked out of the alley and into the main street when they did the P.A. System blared to life. "Attention. Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory."

Jack too noticed that the Ration Distribution Center was closed. A long line was waiting at the door inside with a single Fedra soldier guarding it, armed with a standard assault rifle.

"Huh, the Ration Lines closed. Guess they're running out of rations again," Jack took note.

The line was growing restless but Jack had other things on his mind right now so he turned to follow Joel and Tess. As they were walking a building where Jack noticed some FEDRA Soldiers in Hazmat suits dragging some people out of a building and lining them up against the wall so they could be analyzed for any case of infection.

"Seems like more people are getting infected," Tess said.

"Horrifying if you ask me, so many people getting infected so quickly," Jack said.

"That just means more people are sneakin' out," Joel replied.

The group arrived at the checkpoint. All they had to do was make it through then everything should be easy.

"I got us all new papers so they shouldn't give us much static," Tess told them as they were getting close to the checkpoint.

The group approached the Checkpoint but was stopped by a soldier, it was required that all civilians carry ID when crossing a checkpoint. Otherwise, bad stuff will happen if they don't. Joel walked up, handed the soldier their ID's, and waited as he looked at them.

"What's your business here?" The soldier asked.

"Got the day off. Visiting a friend," Joel explained so they could get past the gate. The soldier looked at the papers for a second then took notice of the teen behind them.

"Wait, shouldn't he be at school?" The soldier asked, pointing his finger at Jack.

Joel was about to say something but Tess beat him to it. "He got sick, nothing serious, but he's taking a few days off."

"Whatever, just move on through." The Soldier said, handing back the papers.

"Thanks," Joel said, taking the papers back from the guard. Everything seemed like it was gonna be easy. But, before any of them could pass through the Checkpoint a truck exploded, in front of them. Gunshots followed from the explosion, the fedra soldiers returned fire against the unknown shooters.

"Fireflies!" A soldier shouted.

In order to ensure the civilian's safety, the fedra soldier immediately closed the gates of the Checkpoint. "Get outta here! Go!" The soldier yelled at the three.

"Guys, come on, let's get out of here," Tess said.

They didn't need to be told twice, Jack and Joel quickly turned around, following behind Tess. The group ran into the Smugglers Den. It was a hangout for smugglers and the root for their tunnel that led outside of the zone. It was how the smugglers managed to smuggle their goods without Fedra noticing them. Since the checkpoint was closed now the tunnels were the next option.

"Fuck… so much for the easy route," Tess spat frustratingly.

"What do we do now?" Jack asked.

"They're gonna close all the checkpoints. We're gonna have to go around the outside." Tess said. "Come on,"

"Outside the wall?" Joel asked, surprised.

"Or we could just let Robert go," Tess said.

"Cute," Joel snorted, not wanting to let Robert get away from him.

As they were walking a smuggler spotted them, so he got up from the chair he was sitting in and approached them. "Hey, Tess. You see that shit?" He asked.

"I was there," Tess replied then asked. "So, how's the east tunnel looking?"

"It's clear. I just used it. No patrols." The smuggler assured them. "Where are you all off to?"

"Pay Robert a visit," Tess explained.

"You too?" he asked.

"Who else is looking for him?" Tess countered.

"Uh. Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him." The Smuggler explained.

"Marlene? What do the Fireflies need with Robert?" Tess asked.

"You'd think she'd tell me?" the Smuggler questioned.

"What did you tell her?" Tess asked.

"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding." The Smuggler said.

"Goodman. Hey, you stay out of trouble, alright? Militaries gonna be out in force soon." Tess told him.

"Yeah, see you around," The Smuggler said before he went his own way.

"Marlene lookin' for Robert? What do you make of that?" Tess asked, curiously.

"I don't like it," Joel replied, "We better find him before the Fireflies do,"

"Agreed," Jack said.

Tess, Joel, and Jack kept walking until they made it to the tunnel's entrance that was concealed by a TV cabinet. This wasn't just the tunnel entrance, most times Smugglers loved to drink here when they came back from a mission to celebrate their success. Joel and Tess sometimes partook in this when they completed a smuggling operation.

There they were met by another fellow smuggler who was sitting on a ruined couch. "Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Shit's stirring up out there," Tess said to the other smuggler, "How are we looking over here?"

"Ah, it's been quiet. No signs of military or infected." He told them.

"That's what I like to hear," Tess said, pleased.

That was a relief to hear to Jack, military soldiers weren't his biggest concern but infected were. He's killed his share of infected like many others have, but they always scare him. They're relentless and have horrifying appearances, so Jack prefers to kill them with his gun rather than his knife.

Tess and Joel went over to the TV cabinet, and pushed it to the right, revealing the tunnel entrance. She went down first, Joel went down second and Jack went down last. When they made it down Jack immediately covered his nose to block out the smell.

"Agh. God, this place reeks. They need to watch what they throw away down here. Worse than the last time I came through here." Joel said.

"God, tell me about it," Jack said, covering his nose.

Every time they came down here that smell filled their noses. The smell seemed to get worse with every visit. Their surroundings were pitch black making it hard to see but Tess flipped a light switch on, lighting their way.

"Let there be light," Tess said.

The trio headed to the small station where their gear was.

Jack found his black backpack sitting in the middle of the workbenches, he picked it up, placed it on the table, opened it, and quickly looked through it. The usual things were still there: His gasmask, knife in its holster, flashlight, a small box of ammo only half full, and his pistol. His eyes stopped at his pistol, he reached into his pack pulling it out and Jack looked at it for a second.

His pistol was a simple 1911 Semi-automatic with a light brown grip, with silver metal, and gold engraving 'Lang' on the sides. The pistol originally belonged to his Mom, Catherine. She didn't spend much time with him growing up, but when he was old enough she gave him her pistol as a 'supposed' gift when was old enough to handle one. His Uncle Tommy taught him how to use it before he left with his Mom and left him with his Dad, Joel.

"Not a lot of ammo," Joel said, checking the mag in his pistol seeing only a few bullets resting in it.

"Then make your shots count," Tess said, before continuing down the tunnel.

Joel turned to Jack and saw him staring down at his pistol, stoking the gold engraving on it, "Jack," Joel called but Jack ignored him.

"Jack," Joel said again but met with no response.

"Jack!" Joel yelled for the third time, making the teen jump back a little in surprise. The teen quickly turned to face Joel, "What?"

"Come on," Joel instructed.

"Oh right, give me a sec," Jack requested, Joel, nodded and followed behind Tess. Jack grabbed out his pistol holster putting it on his right thigh, and his knife holster attaching it to his belt. He quickly removed the mag from his gun seeing it only half full with bullets, but that would have to do for now. He put the mag back in, cocked his gun, put it in his holster, then zipped his pack, put it on his back, and ran to catch up with Joel and Tess but they didn't go anywhere.

"Alright, give me a boost," Tess requested Joel.

Joel went over and got into position, "Alright,"

"You go first Jack," Tess requested,

"OK," Jack walked over to Joel, he put his foot in his hand and Joel boosted him up. After he was Tess went next and then she lifted Joel up. Then the group climbed up to the surface through a hidden exit under an old abandoned restaurant. When they were all out of the tunnel Joel hid the tunnel entrance with the door that's used to hide it. When he was done he got up and looked around the area, it looked quiet but you never know what could come out and attack you.

"Be careful," Joel warned them.

"Don't worry I will be," Jack reassured Joel.

"And when am I not?" Tess asked.

Joel scoffed and asked, "That a trick question?" but got no response.

The group walked outside where Jack stood in awe at the sight of being over the wall, "Wow, this is beautiful," Jack said aloud.

He's been outside the wall a couple of times now but he always loves seeing nature.

"I know," Tess said in agreement.

"Ya know it's been a while since we've been out here," Joel stated.

"It would be like we're on a date if Jack wasn't here," Tess replied.

"Well I am the romantic type," Joel said.

"You got your ways,"

"Ugh, can you guys not talk about this when I'm with y'all," Jack said disgusted by hearing Joel and Tess flirt with each other.

Tess turned her head to face Jack, "We're the adults here Jack, and if you don't like it when we're talking just cover your ears,"

"Ugh, whatever," Jack said then walked ahead of Tess and Joel.

They had to climb up into a building but the ladder they used was gone, finding it didn't take long, they put it back and climbed up into the building.

The group kept walking, stopping once to scavenge some useful things but not much, they kept moving talking about their next job with Bill until they were stopped by Tess. "Hold up, spores,"

The group grabbed out their gas masks and put them on their faces so they could go through the gas without breathing it in. If a person breathes in the gas then they will become infected.

They quietly progressed through the spore-filled building but stopped when they found a man pulled under debris with a broken mask. He saw them and reached out to them. "Help. My mask broke. Don't...leave me to turn please," The dying man begged them in a weak tone.

Jack kneeled to the man and saw the black cracks forming all over his skin, he was gonna turn soon. There was no way they could save him.

"Guys we can't leave him like this, we gotta do something," Jack declared.

Tess looked at Joel and asked, "What do we do?"

The man grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him close, "Kill me, please,"

"...Alright," Jack grabbed his knife out of his holster and brought the edge of it up to the man's head.

"Jack, if you want me or Joel could do it," Tess offered.

Jack shook his head in refusal, "No, i-it's fine," Jack stuttered a little. This was something he knew he had to do, if they left him then he'll turn and may infect somebody, this is an act of mercy. Jack has killed people before, in this world, a lot of people have killed either infected or people.

"Thank...you" The man thanked.

Jack closed his eyes then raised the blade before driving it into the man's head, he opened his eyes to see blood pouring from the guy. Jack removed his knife from the guys' head, wiping the blood off with the fabric of his jeans, then got up to face Tess and Joel. "There,"

They continued through the building but they didn't go far when they suddenly heard the sounds of infected, near them. Jack and the others quickly took cover behind the walls. Joel leaned out from the wall beside a door and listened close. The Infected were eating a guy, but a few more were in the building with them. He could hear one behind the door, he could even see it.

"How do you wanna handle it?" Tess whispered.

Joel gestured for Jack and Tess to stay where they are, they both complied with his request. Joel crouched and approached the infected person, being quiet so he can't alert it. He got close enough and grabbed it by the neck cutting off its ability to breathe. It kept attempting to break free by grabbing Joel's face, but Joel's grip remained strong. The infected then died of lack of air, Joel quietly placed it on the ground. "Alright, come on" Joel whispered to Jack and Tess.

The two quietly followed behind Joel as they quietly tried to avoid alerting the other two infected before they could kill them. "Jack pull out your knife," Joel requested.

"OK," Jack pulled out his knife and followed behind Joel. They stood in front of the other two infected who were unaware of their presence due to the thick gas and dark surroundings. "Kill the one on the right, I'll deal with the one on the left."

Jack quietly went behind the infected and readied himself to kill it.

"Now,"

Jack quickly grabbed the infected and plunged his knife into its neck. The infected put up a struggle before it succumbed to its wound. Jack stared at the infected he killed and was impressed, last time he had to kill an infected with his knife it put up a harder struggle and almost bit him but he managed to kill it.

Jack looked up to see his Dad finishing strangling the other infected to death. Jack let out a sigh of relief.

"Good job," Tess praised Jack.

"Thanks," Jack said, appreciatively.

"Come on let's keep moving," Joel said.

There would likely be more infected so the group quietly kept moving through the building until they found a way out. Thankfully none of them encountered any more infected in the building. Joel found a way out through a hole in the building that leads outside, they jumped down and removed their gas masks.

After that, the group keeps moving until they make it to an entrance into the bad part of town, the part where Robert is. The group stopped at the door that leads in, Tess bribed a kid to see if the way through was clear, and after a moment of waiting the boy knocked on the window next to them signaling them that it was clear. They knew Robert was executing them but they were gonna be ready.

They went through Area 5 cautiously, the people here aren't exactly friendly so it's better to avoid them. They kept their pace until they were stopped by a man.

"Where do you think you're going?" The man questioned getting up from his chair.

"Malick, sit back down," Tess ordered coming up behind Jack and Joel.

"T-Tess, sorry I didn't know," he replied and sat back down letting them pass.

"Who's that?" Joel asked.

"An old headache don't ask," Tess said

Joel, Jack, and Tess continued on until they were stopped by three thugs, the one in the middle approached them.

"Let us through," Tess requested.

"You three need to turn around and head back if you know what's good for you," The thug said, threateningly.

"Our beef isn't with you, we just want Robert. You don't want to do this," Tess told them.

"Turn the fuck around and leave now," He spat at them. "You don't want the kid behind you getting hurt do ya?"

"Oh screw this," Jack pulled out his pistol and proceeded to shoot the man clean through the head.

The other two quickly ran for cover, Joel, Jack, and Tess did the same. It didn't take long for them to deal with them. Jack managed to kill another one of them while Joel took care of the other one. The group then fought their way through the wharf. Fighting these guys was particularly hard for Jack, most of the time he stayed in the back never fought in the front, but he managed to help them fight through a bunch more of Robert's men until they made it to Robert's office.

"Get back! Get the fuck back!" Robert yelled as he shot at the doorway of his office once the group had reached it.

"We just wanna talk Robert," Tess shouted at him over the gunshots.

"Yeah, we ain't got fucking nothing to talk about," he yelled back.

"Put the gun down."

"Yeah. Go fuck yourself!" Robert shouted and then threw his empty gun at them and began running with the smugglers already pursuing him.

They didn't need to run long when they found Robert blocked off by a chain fence which he attempted to open but gave up on their arrival.

"Hello Robert," Tess greeted.

Robert chuckled nervously before turning around to face the smugglers. "Tess, Joel, and your son… Jack was it. No hard feelings right?"

"None at all," Tess responded, picking up a metal pipe off the ground. Robert then attempted to make a run for it but Tess hit him in the leg with the pipe, sending Robert to the ground.

Tess then made her way to him throwing the pipe back onto the ground. "We missed you."

"Look whatever you heard ain't true. I just wanna say-"

"The guns," Tess cut off "You wanna tell us where the guns are?"

"You better tell her Robert, and fast," Jack warned.

"Yeah sure, but it's complicated. Alright, but just hear me out on this" he began but was cut off by Joel kicking him right in the face making him shriek in pain, then kneeled grabbing his arm. "Ah. Stop. Stop. Stop." Robert begged.

"Quit your squirmin'," She kneeled to Robert. "You were saying?" Tess questioned.

"I sold 'em," Robert admitted between his ragged breaths of pain.

"Excuse me?" Tess asked in disbelief.

"I didn't have much of a choice I owed someone," Robert explained.

"You owed us! I'd say you bet on the wrong horse." Tess spat.

"I just need some more time, gimme a week," Robert practically begged for them.

"You know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to kill me or Jack right there. Who has our guns?" Tess demanded to know.

"I can't," he replied. "Just gimme a couple of days-" Robert attempted to request for it but stopped when Joel decided he'd had enough of hearing Robert's babbling and broke his arm making him scream in pain.

"Who has our guns?" Tess asked impatiently.

"It's the Fireflies... I owed the Fireflies," Robert panted, his face drenched in his own tears.

"Oh shit," Jack mumbled. If Robert did sell the guns to the Fireflies then they won't be getting them back.

"Hey look they're basically all dead. How bout we go in there We finish em off. We get those guns. Whadaya say? C'mon. Fuck those Fireflies," Robert pleaded for his very life.

"That is a stupid idea," Tess said then put two bullets right in Robert's head.

"Well, now what?" Joel asked speaking up for the first time since they caught Robert.

"We go get our merchandise back," Tess declared.

"Well we can't just go find them and just go in guns blazing, we'll be killed, so how are we gonna get our guns back?" Jack asked.

"I don't know we explain it to them. Let's just go find a Firefly." Tess said.

"You won't have to look very far," A feminine voice said from behind, the smugglers turned around to see a woman walking up to them from behind a corner, with one hand carrying a gun and the other clasping a gunshot wound on her side.

"Well look who it is," Joel remarked "Queen Firefly,"

Marlene looked at the group then noticed the teenager standing behind Joel. "Jack… is that you?"

"How do you know me?" Jack questioned as he had his gun aimed directly at his head.

"You don't remember?" Marlene questioned. "You were pretty young back then, your mother would talk about a lot."

Jack was about to say something but Joel interrupted him before he could. "We're not here to talk, why are you here?"

"Why are you here?" Marlene asked back, looking at Tess.

"Business," Tess said then looked at the gunshot wound on Marlene's side. "You aren't looking so hot."

Marlene glanced at the gunshot wound then looked around the area, "Where's Robert?"

Tess took a few steps to the left showing Robert's corpse laying right behind her.

"I needed him alive," Marlene shook her head.

"The guns he gave you. They weren't his to sell." Tess argued. "I want them back."

"Doesn't work like that Tess," Marlene said.

"The Hell it doesn't" Tess argued.

Marlene took a few steps closer to them. "I paid for those guns. You want 'em back? You're gonna have to earn them,"

Tess glanced at Joel and Jack then asked. "How many cards are we talking about?"

Marlene scoffed. "I don't give a damn about ration cards. I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that, then I'll give your guns back and then some."

"How do we know you got 'em?" Joel asked with his arms crossed. "Way I hear it, the military's been wiping you guys out."

Marlene nodded and said mournfully. "You're right about that. I'll show you the weapons,"

Suddenly the four of them heard soldiers in the area, most likely searching for any surviving fireflies.

"I gotta move," Marlene said. "What's it gonna be?"

Seeing as they had few options they accepted.

"I wanna see those guns," Tess said as they followed Marlene.

I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of my Last of Us story. Please leave a review and if anyone has any ideas tell me.

I also want to say that Jack and Ellie aren't gonna be paired up. That's been done in many Last of Us stories, their relationship is gonna be like a sibling bond.

One more thing, I may come back to make some improvements to this chapter later, also if any of you see any errors tell me.