Dearest readers, thank you all for the patience, and thank you all for the love and support you guys have given me for writing this fanfic :D

I haven't been bothered to write this, but this is the last time: The Last of Us is property of Naughty Dog! I only own the OC (and a few other characters!)

Let's get going with Chapter 5, then! :) Enjoy!

3 years later…

The storm clouds of a nightmare appear before us, a pouring downfall waiting to happen. I stick my nose up in the air, awaiting the scent of moist earth and bathed woods. My hair and face are getting wet as I walk, briskly enough to keep up with Dad and Uncle Tommy.

"Where the hell are we even going?" I ask Dad. The only thing I can see is the back of his head and his wet jacket. No response. He's ignoring me. Treating me like the fucking invisible child again, just because Sarah's gone. He's been like this ever since.

I still miss her. Every time I think about her, I want to break down. Her blond hair and gray eyes are a few of the only things I remember about her. My memory of her has become a blur. Each time I forget, I have to take out my photo album.

Pictures can't remind you of everything, only of moments, how a person looks. They can't remind you of what their voice sounds like, how they laugh either. That's the case for Sarah, I only remember how she looks because of these pictures. Without them, she's nothing but a blurred and missing memory. I refuse to show them to Dad; not after how he's treated me. He doesn't even know I have this album in the first place.

"We're looking for a place to set up shop. Get some shut-eye. The usual, you know." Uncle Tommy replies on Dad's behalf. Dad's hair is still dark like mine, kept short for convenience, but just a few gray hairs that are out of place can be seen on the top of his head. He's getting old. His beard is starting to become scraggly because of years of not shaving. Uncle Tommy's hair, which is brown, is long and scruffy, after 3 years of no haircuts. We stop walking after we find an abandoned cabin in the woods.

After we unload our stuff inside the cabin, Dad says to us, avoiding eye contact with me, "I'm gonna go take a piss. Stay on guard, see if there's anything we can use." He walks out of the cabin, closing the door briskly. I immediately take out my photo album and randomly browse through it. My gaze falls on Bowling Night with the Coopers. I see myself at last, I look so happy spending time with Andy and Sarah. They're both gone now though, and so am I. I look nothing like I used to. I don't keep my hair loose anymore; I'm always keeping it in a ponytail. In days when I'm not bothered, I'll just tie it in a bun and stuff it in my beanie.

"You know, you're gonna have to show him at some point." Startled, I close the album after hearing the voice that interrupted my thoughts. I look to my right shoulder to find Uncle Tommy kneeling down beside me, looking at the album. I stuff the album in my backpack, underneath the several cans of food we found the other day.

Zipping up my bag, I tell him, "Nope. He's acting like a dick to me, why should I show him this when he's treating me as shitty as this? If he'd stop treating me like I'm fucking invisible, maybe I'd show it to him. I don't plan on showing him this, unless he starts to treat me like his daughter again; which he isn't."

Sighing, Uncle Tommy asks me as he opens a can of peaches, "What about doing something for a cause? Don't you want that?" Frowning, I look at him and ask, "Why the sudden topic change?" "I got an offer a while back." "An offer…" I repeat to him. "From the Fireflies." I raise a questioning eyebrow at him then ask, "As in… the anti-government rebels?" He raises both his eyebrows at me, making me glare at him.

"So, what? What's so important about them? More importantly why and HOW did you even get an offer from them in the first place?" I ask him as I open a can of pineapples from my bag. "Well", he starts as he chews on his peaches, "remember when we were ambushed by that group of Runners at that old gas station in Atlanta?" I nod to him as I toss the can lid aside. "Do you also remember how I went missing for a good few minutes while we split up to look for supplies after taking those Runners out?"

2-3 weeks ago…

"Alright. Tommy, start looking around for supplies." Dad says to him. I ask, "Should I go, too?" OF COURSE. No fucking reply from my fucking ignorant Dad. "Let's split up. I'll take this way, Mel. You take the other, alright?" I nod, sadly. I was hoping Dad would reply, but he didn't. Uncle Tommy did. "Alright, we'll meet up back here when we're done, okay?" Uncle Tommy says to me. "I'll give you a holler." I tell him quietly.

I start by going through the items on the shelves in the food aisle. Frustrated, I mutter to myself, "Damn it. Everything's been picked clean." Just at the corner of my eye, I see a packet of chips underneath the shelf. Full of hope, I snatch it and hug it tightly near my chest, almost popping the packet. It's been so long since I last had something salty; all I've been having these past 3 years were canned fruits. Sighing with relief, I stuff it into my backpack and look around for anything else that could be of use.

Failing to find anything else, I walk back to where Uncle Tommy told us to meet up at. I climb onto one of the pay counters and sit beside a cashier machine, allowing my legs to dangle off the edge. Three, four, five minutes pass. Still no sign of Uncle Tommy. There's almost nothing useful in here, why would he take so long just to get a few bits of food scraps? Dad stands by one of the cold beverage fridges and leans against the door. Swinging my legs back and forth, I look up at the ceiling.

It's been a while since I've seen light coming from electricity. The only kinds of light I've been seeing lately are the sun's and moon's lights, both glowing against my skin. The sun's; radiant and warm, and the moon's; cooling and bright.

I hop off the counter and slide my backpack off my shoulder and drop it onto the floor. I quickly pull my baseball bat off of one of the custom hooks I made on my backpack. Slowly, I walk over to the other end of the gas station's convenience store, gripping my bat with both hands as hard I can, ready to face anything. "Uncle Tommy?" I call out loudly. No answer. "UNCLE TOMMY!" I yell from halfway across. I hear shuffling sounds coming from behind the shelf. "Okay, then. You asked for it." I say to behind the shelf, raising the bat above my head.

TOMMY'S POV

Around 5 minutes ago…

Skimming through the shelves thoroughly isn't doing me any good. All the shelves have been picked clean, and so have the stuff underneath them. "Shit. Nothing useful here."

As I turn towards the last shelf at the dim end of the store, gloved hands cover my mouth and my body is dragged down to the ground. I randomly start slapping my kidnapper's head, which is covered by a cotton head wrap. He shifts a little and his grip on me stronger than ever. I give up on my slapping and elbow is his unprotected rib cage, causing his grip on my face to falter and a faint grunt of pain to escape is covered lips. His bandana is wrapped around his face, masking his identity. I head-butt him using the back of my head, the impact attacking his face.

I pull his body over my shoulder and watch him flip over, landing on his back. I pin him down on the floor, my arm on his throat pressing it hard. He starts to make choked, strangled sounds. His breaths quickening because of the lack of air in his lungs. Just when I'm about to finish him off, I feel hard, cold metal being pressed to the side of my head. Turning off the safety trigger, I hear the person whisper to me, "Let. Him. Go. NOW."

Squinting, I turn my head slightly and ask, "And if I don't?" In the corner of my eye, I see my perpetrator. A dark skinned woman with her curly jet black hair tied into a bun at the back of her head.

"I'm pretty sure you'll know what happens."

I notice the Firefly armband she and my attacker have on their jackets. I'm being threatened by their leader. I've seen her WANTED posters with her face on it. The government has a bounty on her head, and I'm kneeling right here, right in front of her, threatening to get shot by her. I take this opportunity to ask, "Now, what's a Firefly like you doing here at this side of the country, Marlene?"

"Sightseeing."

BULLSHIT.

"You've got balls" she tells me. "You actually were going to finish him off now, weren't you?" she asks me. "Well, HE threatened to kill ME; I was just returning the favor." I reply quietly. Chuckling quietly, she asks me, "How about you put your remaining strength into something worthwhile?"

"Like…?"

"If you did something for a cause, would you be willing to devote yourself to it? My cause plans on providing one thing for the people of the United States and one thing only: hope."

What the hell is she asking me? Is she asking me to JOIN her little anti-government militia? Pausing, I ask her, "Are you asking me to join you, Marlene?"

Pulling the gun away, I turn my head towards her and see her shrug her shoulders. "You've got the skill set, you seem dedicated. Our country deserves better than this. The people here are fighting for scraps, rations are lower than ever. The people here need something to hold on to; my answer for them is hope. I figured you wanted to have a part in that. Some change is refreshing, after all."

I think about it for a few seconds. We're already on the run from Infected, is she now asking me to be on the run from the government, too? What about Melanie? Joel's still in that trance of his, he can take care of himself, but Mel?

"Hell, Marlene. I'm a family man. I've gotta take care of my niece since her own dad won't even be willing to do it. I will have a think about it, though. That about alright with you?"

She sure is taking her own sweet time with this. She ain't answering.

Approaching footsteps are getting louder, closer and closer. "Come on now, Marlene. Time's ticking away." Still no answer from the damn woman.

"Do we have a deal or not, damn it?!" I'm at the point of wanting to yell. It took every fibre in my body to keep me from screaming my head off.

"Okay! Fine then!" she snaps at me. "You'll find us at the nearest campsite, alright? It's just a few miles north from here."

"UNCLE TOMMY!" Mel's yelling at me now. She's probably worried. "Okay, then. You asked for it."

I immediately stand up, acting as normally and naturally as I can. "Oh! Hey, Mel! Uh, you find anything useful?" I can see her starting to relax. She was planning to hit me with the bat had I not stood up and shown myself. "Oh! Jeez, Uncle Tommy! You scared the shit out of me!" Turning to the shelf, I say, "Yeah. Nothing to worry about. Anyways, you find anything useful?"

Sheepishly, she tells me, "Well, yeah. I guess. I found this packet of chips and-" Chuckling, I tell her, "You can have it. Don't think I can stomach stuff like that anymore. Come on, let's get outta here." As I walk past her towards the exit, I notice a small smile form on her lips.

When I turn one last time, I see them slipping out of the window, into the dark.

2-3 weeks later…

"Well, I got confronted by a couple of them there." Uncle Tommy tells me.

"WHAT?!" I ask in utter horror and shock. "Are you okay?! Did they shoot you?!"

Grinning sheepishly, he says to me, "Relax. They can't do anything to your Uncle Tommy." I roll my eyes at him and say, "Damn it, Uncle Tommy. I'm not a fucking kid anymore." Sliding his empty can a few meters away from him, he says to me, "I know. All I'm saying is that we could do something for a cause. Together, you know. You're 17. I get that you don't want to spend your time with an old man of an uncle like me."

Snorting, I ask him, "Your point is..?"

"We could continue living like this, no purpose. Just surviving. Killing Infected whenever we'd need to. Or, we could be doing the same thing, but for a purpose. Plus, being on the run from the government. I mean, look at the state we're in. Is the government doing anything about it all?"

I briefly think about it for a minute or so. "But, Dad said we shouldn't get involved with them. I mean-"

Frustratedly, he puts his hand on my head. "Mel, look me in the eye and answer this. Is your dad even taking care of you right now in any way? Look at him, he's a wreck. Emotionally at least."

I stare at the wooden floorboards that I am sitting on. Should I? This is my chance. The shitty treatment that Dad's been giving me can be gotten rid of if I leave. But, if I do leave, Dad's gonna lose his only other daughter that's still alive. My heart aches at the thought of Sarah. My heart aches even more for a Dad that still loves me.

"Alright. When should we go?" I ask him quietly.

"Tomorrow. We're gonna tell him then, alright?"

Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! Melanie's gonna be leaving Joel! Thanks for waiting patiently, everyone! Stay tuned for Chapter 6! Have an amazing day :D