I've been on and off this site for the past decade of my life. I've now decided to return and write out the stories that fill my head so that they hopefully fill yours. This is my first story in a long time so please bear with me and be nice. This story is set in "The Last of Us" universe but will contain characters from "The Twilight Saga". This story will not contain any major characters from "The Last of Us".

Summary: Edward left Bella in the fall of 2005, and the Olympic coven never returned. Eight years later, the United States had a massive outbreak due to the Cordyceps Brain Infection on September 26th of 2013. Containment failed and the rate of infection skyrocketed, causing the world to go into a global pandemic. Social order crumbled and civility no longer existed. It is now to the imagination of Edward and his family to wonder if his former lover is alive, dead, or one of the infected.

Warning(s): this story contains acts of violence, language, gore, and sexual acts/situations. Please refrain from reading if any of these are uncomfortable for you.

Prologue

I slowly stalked my way through the forest, my eyes wandering through the branches of the trees that towered above me. I could hear the roars, screams, and the moans of the people who once contained coherent thoughts, but they were the least of my problems. They were far enough out to where they weren't of any concern to me. Streaks of sunlight broke through the protective cover of the trees and hit my skin. I couldn't feel the warmth of the sun, I haven't been able to for the past hundred years of my existence.

Not paying attention to the ground, my foot accidentally kicked something and I heard a "ring" sound off. I looked down to see the remains of a child's tricycle. At some point of time, I imagine that the toy was a bright firetruck red with a shiny silver bell attached to the handlebars and little plastic ribbons hanging off the ends of it. That must have been ages ago, however, as the bike was now rusted to the frame, two out of the three wheels were missing, and the ribbons were ripped and torn off, with part of the bell broken off. To be frank, I'm surprised the bell even worked at all.

An artifact of a time that once was. Childhood innocence stolen, at best.

I lifted my stare off of the tricycle, and took in my surroundings. There were houses that once lined this street, but that clearly wasn't the case anymore. Grass was overgrown and unkempt, homes were abandoned, and tree roots were starting to make their way into the road. It became abundantly clear to me that in the absence of humans, mother nature would take back what was once hers. Even if it meant using every mean to wipe out the one predator that was starting destroy every one of her resources that she had to offer. I imagined that it would have only been a matter of time before something drastic would have taken place. It seemed that the massive hurricanes, earthquakes, and rising sea levels didn't seem to have the desired effects.

Some people of my kind were old enough to see the birth of civilization take place in ancient times. It appeared that I would be old enough to see the death of civilization.

Much like how resources for humans became scarce since the outbreak of the cordyceps brain infection, the supply of humans was starting to dwindle due to the rate at which humans were becoming infected. Nomads and clans were starting to become worried on how they would quench the thirst that burns their throat. Some have taken to drinking the blood of animals much like how my clan does, and some were even desperate enough to drink the blood of the infected. It didn't do them any harm to do so, but the sweet taste of human blood that once filled out throats was tainted, like wine that had aged badly or if it was laced with some kind of toxin.

*click*

My ears perked up and immediately turned my head to the direction where the sound came from.

To the side of the road, where the houses faced, was a guard rail that lined with the edge of the land, past that was a gorge that split open the terrain. The sound had come clear past the gorge on the other side, where more trees met my view. The sound that had caught my senses was something that I had heard once before in my lifetime. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I had the feeling that the sound I heard was the hammer of a gun being pulled back into a firing position.

My eyes scanned the trees, looking for the source of the sound. I kept flitting back from east to west until my eyes landed on figure that emerged from shadows. From where I stood, I could make out that it was a woman and what she was doing. She was holding a rifle that had a scope attached to it, and she was using the scope to look directly at me. Leaning into the stock, she got her finger ready on the trigger.

I took a step closer to the guard rail, in order to get a better look at her. I looked at the woman's face and my breath caught in my throat.

She leaned her face off of the stock and out of the scope, and I was met with warm brown eyes. Brown eyes that had aged some since I last saw them, but eyes that I had familiarized myself with, nonetheless. She lowered the rifle and from then on, I could make out exactly who she was.

Thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you would like to see more of this story! :)