Well, it's been awhile. I know that. But, here is a chapter for you guys. And, actually, there will be more soon. Very soon. I've actually been delayed because I had to sell my ipad, which is what I wrote everything on. I lost at least five chapters, but it was kinda nice. I got to revise my ideas. Anyway, enough of me! Here is the chapter, if you hate it, I'm sorry, and if you like it, I'm glad! Let me know what you think (i.e., Jemma's POV) :)

(Jemma)

I always thought I would forget, but how could I forget?

To push it aside would only let the same thing happen again.

I left my father, the comfort of my home, the safety of the city, in search of a life I had only read of in books. I didn't care about the infected, or the scumbags out there. I wanted to make something of my life, and, frankly, being cooped up in a house wasn't doing that for me. I felt as though I had some purpose beyond the city walls, and I was bound and determined to find it.

It was a spur of the moment decision. I woke from a dream, and in a matter of minutes I was packed. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but I couldn't have ever been so wrong. Maybe I should have thought things out, or at least packed a goddamn compass. But, my clothes and books seemed like the only things I REALLY needed, so I crammed what I could into two bags, and headed out.

...

Ellie watched Jemma stare out the kitchen window. Her breath created a fog on the glass, so whatever was out there was obscured, anyway. But Jemma wasn't looking outside. Her eyes were glazed over, and even though the two were a few feet away, Jemma couldn't have possibly been farther away.

Ellie backed out of the room, stumbling on the threshold out of the kitchen. Jemma's eyes darted over to her, even though her body didn't move an inch. The two exchanged glances for a brief moment, and Ellie started to head out.

"Come back. I need to tell you something."

...

It was the middle of summer, and I had no fucking clue where I was headed. East, of course, but how far east? I wanted to walk along the highway, but there were too many people. I avoided as much confrontation as possible, and when I heard voices, I hid as soon as I could. I didn't even have a knife with me, so how could I defend myself?

I found a crumpled, road atlas in an abandoned truck. From what I could tell, I wasn't even 300 miles away from San Francisco. But, I had been walking for weeks, right? I must have been going in circles, or going some ass backwards way. I tossed some books and clothes on the side of the road, making room for food and other essentials. I was learning quickly how important water was, and how few and far bottles were.

I had my first run-in in the night. I had felt some sort of presence the whole evening, but shrugged it off, trying to pretend as though I were crazy. Well, I was crazy, but that seemed irrelevant at the moment. I had fallen asleep for twenty minutes at the most, when a noise woke me up. It sounded like a door had been slammed open, and I jumped up, looking for something, anything, to protect myself. I was in an old library, and it wasn't like the words of Abraham Lincoln were going to save me.

A broken chair was about ten feet from me. One of the legs was halfway torn off, so I kicked it free, and wielded it like it was motherfucking Excalibur. I could hear someone, something, in the next room, so I followed the sound. The moonlight was dim, and I was stumbling all over the place. If something else didn't kill me, surely I would have died of a broken neck.

Then I saw it. Well, barely. It was a stalker, but I didn't know that then. I had seen the early stages of the infection- but my father had shielded me from all else. If I had seen a Clicker, I wouldn't know what to do; I'd probably run, screaming. But as I watched it search for some sort of life, I was amazed.

Yes, it could most definitely have killed me, and probably would, but there was some sort of stark beauty about it. In a world of darkness, the infected were bright and colorful. If they weren't snapping at your neck, they would be a sight to behold. Even though their skulls were cracked open, and fungus was crawling out, you had to appreciate how advanced the fungus had become. After all, like anything else, this was God's creation. I had to stand back in awe, because, frankly, it was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was an animal, but so much more than an animal. Not a human anymore, but they still possessed the strength and basic survival instincts of a human. They had learned to stalk, and to kill, effectively, and yet they weren't regarded as intelligent beings.

In a way, I think they were on some kind of level above us, tossing aside the social interaction in favor of predatory supremacy.

I digress.

I had knocked over a few books, and in an instant, it was on top of me. I didn't know what to do, how could I have? I screamed bloody murder, like that was going to help me. We wrestled together, and I had managed to roll away for a brief moment. As I got to my feet, it lunged at me, and I didn't even think about it. I stabbed it in the face, where its eye should have been. It slumped into me, and I backed away.

I must have cried all night. It wasn't like it was the first time I had ever killed an infected, but I was so messed up. Every time the wind blew, I jumped up, prepared to fight again. I couldn't even sleep. I was alone.

Totally alone. At least before, I could go home. I had the comfort of the city. Here, I had nothing. I didn't even have a fucking knife, and I barely had enough food to keep me going.

I didn't want to admit it, but I had fucked up royally. I was too scared to face my father to even consider going back. So I kept going forward, in pursuit of the great unknown.

...

"Why are you telling me this?" Ellie asked. She was interested, but it seemed completely out of the blue.

Jemma was still looking outside. "I just think you need to know."

...

Where was I? I was outside of Reno. You know where that is? It's northern Nevada. I wanted to stay out of the city. If I didn't meet a ton of infected, I'd meet up with people. I wasn't looking forward to either.

I had stopped for a couple of minutes, surveying the area, just to see any signs of life. As far as I could tell, there weren't any. But, I just had an unnerving feeling, and I wasn't about to push that aside.

I crammed my bags into a trunk of a rusted out car, checking the license plate to make sure I'd recognize it when I came back. Lucky for me, I had acquired a few knives on my way, and I even had a pistol. A pistol with no bullets, but all I really needed it for was show. There was a parking garage adjacent to the building I was next to, so I headed there, hoping to get a better look at the city, and to find my way east.

I was quick and quiet. There were three stories, and I was to the top in less than a minute. The view took my breath away. How could it not? The area was beautiful, and the earth was reclaiming the city. Everything was so green and lush. I took a moment to admire the scene.

That moment was too long. I heard a man holler. I looked down, and saw a group of four men watching me. I had no clue they were even around, and I wondered how long they had been there.

I backed up, keeping my eyes on them for as long as I could. I pulled the pistol from the waistband of my pants, and turned, ready to put up a fight if necessary.

I turned right into someone. I closed my eyes at the initial hit, and I willed myself not to open them back up.

It was a man, I know that. He smelled awful, like dirt and sweat, mixed in with oil and gun powder.

I opened my eyes, I had to. He was tall, well over six feet. He was huge, and his muscles were squeezing out of the sleeves of his shirt. He had long, red hair, that surprisingly clean, given the state of his clothes. He had a shotgun over his shoulder, and a revolver in his hands.

I pointed my own gun at him, but I was shaking like a leaf! I was absolutely certain that he was going to kill me.

"What're you doing with this?" he asked, and pulled the gun from my hands. He pointed it at me, and pulled the trigger. It didn't fire, of course, but I leaped out of my skin. I was honestly amazed that I didn't piss my pants.

He grabbed me the arm, and shook me around a bit. "You're by yourself," he said, and smiled. "I can tell. But, don't worry, we're all going to take care of you."

Okay, well there it was. Don't worry, the next chapter will finish up her story. I just didn't want to write a freaking tome, and figured I'd break it up for y'all. Let me know what you think. Seriously. I can't get any better if nobody tells me what I'm doing wrong. If you'd like, you can send me messages on here or on Tumblr (both my regular blog and my TLOU fic blog's links are on my profile.) Thanks for reading, and the next one will be up in a couple of days! Yay! Go everyone!

:) :) :)