A/N: Greetings to any first-timers. This is a reboot of my original 'The Last of Us: Grey Journey' fic. If you care to read the original, which is already completed, I should warn you that it's poorly written, hence why I'm doing a rewrite/reboot. Note that there will be major changes and this version should be referenced for continuity. You can still check out the original, but I highly advise sticking around to reading this one instead. Thanks.

Tip: Read while listening to The Last of Us ambient music on Youtube.

1 YEAR AGO

Last year, reality hit us when someone, who turned out to be infected, managed to sneak past some guards back at one of the Quarantine Zones. The US Military managed to take over the Queens Mall and claimed it under the ownership of the government. It was only a matter of time before people were able to move in and start living there. The mall was large enough to harbor thousands of people. It wasn't in the best shape like it was twenty years ago according to the pictures that were framed along the walls and dusty poster boards, but things like that rarely mattered to people. Guards and soldiers didn't have to worry about people stealing clothes or food because it was all already looted long before they even got there. We still had our rations though.

For years, things seemed to be going great—at least that's what we were conditioned to believe. Then one day, some asshole had to ruin it for the rest of us. My mom was someone who always surprised me by how long she managed to survive but I came to learn that it was because she was usually so observant. Initially, she pointed out someone twitching and sweating. Although it probably would've been best for her to tell, she kept her mouth shut hoping not to start a ruckus. However, starting one should've been the least of her worries if she knew that one was yet to come regardless. A woman beside the man, presumably his lover, was trying her absolute hardest to conceal him and she had done well, for the most part, considering that many people hadn't noticed them at first. But later that night, like everyone else, my family and I began hearing mortifying screams. Harsh guttural screams like someone was being tortured right in the middle of us.

As it turned out, the same woman ended up getting beaten to an inch of her life until she was torn apart by her infected boyfriend or whatever he was to her. Then after he was finished with her, he went on a rampage, attacking anyone in sight. Some managed to fight him off and escape, but most weren't so lucky. It didn't take too long until it was complete chaos. And since it was a serious offense, people didn't dare smuggle in weapons, so numerous people were left defenseless.

The FEDRA guards, who were sworn to protect the people of the QZ, couldn't do much of anything since it was like trying to stop an encroaching stampede. It was practically impossible.

If I remember correctly, I got separated by my family. That's when I overheard a soldier being authorized to "occupy" all of us through his walkie. I was probably a little too naive to understand what that meant, but the moment he reloaded the magazine of his firearm, it all made sense. I held my breath, hoping that my thoughts were just being doubtful because of the fear surrounding me. But just as I had feared, the soldier began spraying bullets at random people darting around the dark—unable to tell apart who was infected and who wasn't. I covered my mouth and faltered back. I had seen people at the other end of a gun plenty of times before, but this was too enormous for me. The muzzle flash, lit up my face as I stood close but hidden from behind.

I crawled out and took the opportunity to run the other way, but as I was exposed and out in the open another guard spotted me, Stares of indecisive emitted from my eyes alone as far as I could tell and when he got his assault weapon ready, I put one of my many talents to use and ran off as quickly as I could, and if it weren't for the numerous other people scattering all over the place, he would've never lost sight of me. Just then I felt a random hand take hold of my arm—it was my younger cousin, Erlina, who was only ten years old at the time. Her dark brown face was clammy and had accents of blood along her cheeks and forehead. I rarely ever saw her cry but her lack of tears was only a result of shock and trauma. We didn't have time to speak over the screams and gunshots, so without even hesitating, I turned her by the shoulders and shoved her underneath the nearest table booth. Soon after, the gunshots we were hearing eventually went from a span of two seconds apart to ten. They were killing off everyone one after another and just when you'd think it was over, another person was heard screaming in pain from a failed attempt to fight back.

There was bloodshed everywhere and the moment we realized the reality of it all was when we saw someone running past our table get collapsed to the floor by multiple bullets to the back. They laid across from us as the light dying light from their eyes beamed back at us. Before we knew it, it was gone. Forever.

As much as I wanted to do something, I couldn't. My cousin clung to me almost as if the nervous pints of sweat didn't already do the job. Despite the weather being harsh and hot, we refused to let one another go.

The boots that belonged to the soldier, that downed the stranger, kicked the deceased man's body out of the way and walked closer to us. Whether or not we knew if he was going to turn away, Erlina's soft whimpers proved his suspicions to be correct, and he began moving the table that sheltered my cousin and me. As much as I fought to keep the table in place, the guard's superior rage was overpowering enough and he tossed the table aside, instantly spotting the top of our heads,

He enlightened his fellow comrades of our exposure and informed them that he was ready to neutralize us like we were the catch of the day. Although I knew that killing was something so normalized, I at least tried to search his eyes for some sort of remorse or hesitation...but it was vacant of anything. That's when the mounted light on his assault rifle nearly blinded us. He pointed his stupid gun right at us and as much as I wanted to say I was prepared to die, I wasn't. I held my cousin close hoping I would be able to protect her. I tightened my eyes shut, feeling my cousin's heart pound me in the chest as mine did hers. She clutched onto my old flannel shirt, nearly pinching my skin with her little fingers.

As anticipated, a gun loudly went off and popped my ears like never before. I instantly jumped but was more so astonished by the lack of pain I felt. I began questioning maybe I was already sent to the afterlife or if this was what fatal death was supposed to feel like. I looked over to my side, seeing my younger cousin with the very same reaction as mine. That's when we saw the body fall. Initially dropping to his knees, the rest of his body firmly planted to the ground. As a pool of blood poured out from the back of his neck, footsteps quickly made its way towards us. Surprised at the sudden appearance of a random figure, I was even more stunned to see my mother armed with a handgun in her trembling hands. My mother desired to be a pacifist, but no matter how hard she tried there were multiple times where instances such as these would guide her hand to destruction. Living in quarantine zones, she never believed she needed a gun, but I would bet my life that her thoughts on having one would change. This was a woman who carried her bible everywhere, and it usually bothered people how often she read it before bed. "How could you still have faith in a God who does this?" They would ask—she just never knew how to answer.

There was such despair in her eyes as she glanced at the body but it was something she clearly couldn't regret. Her hands rattled uncontrollably as she reached out to offer us her hand, we promptly grabbed it and followed her. With FEDRA soldiers busy wandering off to search for escapees, they were being stretched thin and this was our chance to finally escape. That being said, that didn't make it any easier. I remembered having to hide in every corner, behind every pillar, and even get split up at times. However, as soon as we neared the parking lot that was a few levels up, we noticed that some infected had made their way inside the mall. I never thanked a Runner before and I never imagined I would, but if it weren't for them, that guard's attention would've never been deterred for us to get away.

Because my mom found it impossible to let go of things that reminded her of the world before, we climbed into my mom's aged beige Toyota Corolla that had been sitting in the parking lot for years. Its rims were missing and its dented bumper was as bad as the hood, but it still had combustible gasoline some of my friends and I managed to siphon a few weeks ago in case shit ever hit the fan. I had never seen my mom drive so quickly or swiftly. She mercilessly drove through infected like a speeding battering ram, tossing some over her car and through the windows of the parking lot.

As we exited the building and sped along the roads, we realized that something was off. Due to the incident at hand, we would've forgotten our heads if it weren't attached to us, so it was something understandable. However, it was just the same, if not more important to Erlina. That's when the question about my uncle arose. Erlina frequently asked about her father's whereabouts, fearing that we left him to die with those monsters—infected and FEDRA alike. However, my mom's silence said it all seeing that she was simply getting choked up by the mere mention of his name. The attempt to be honest with us came even harder. To put it simply, she tried explaining that he wouldn't be coming with us. It was like the world around me had gone mute. Erlina placed her head on me in the backseat and began sobbing her little eyes out. I felt terrible for her. Not only did she have to go through life without a mom, but now my uncle was permanently torn out of the picture.