Author's Note: Hi everyone! I am totally new to all this, but I'm really excited to post my first story! Before I let you start reading though, I just want to take a quick moment to briefly give context and proper credits. Firstly, the characters in this story belong to Marvel as well as several pre-existing plot lines and particular concepts. The setting and background themes are heavily inspired by the video game The Last of Us (hence the title of the story lol) and more loosely inspired by the Maze Runner series and The Umbrella Academy series. Howeverrr, the major plots and details of this story are all my own ideas. If you are familiar with these works, you'll know what I mean when you start reading ;)
I started writing this story 2 years ago; I never thought I would ever share it, but I've decided to see what people think! Disclaimer, I started this story my sophomore year of high school... I've read through and done some editing because my writing style changed quite a bit since then LOL. I won't bore you with the details. I took a longgg break over junior year from continuing this story, but as Marvel continued to expand, more ideas came to mind and my story expanded as well. Now, as a far less stressed senior, I've returned and made sooo much progress, which I now want to share with others! I've written a good amount of chapters by now to start posting, but I intend to keep a consistent posting schedule (every Wednesday) for the sole purpose of keeping up with the actual writing of this story. Writer's block KILLS so I'm trying my hardest to update consistently. I always get so sad when other writers discontinue their amazing stories, so I'm reallyyy trying not to do that lol. But again, this story is still a work in progress. If I do end up going weeks without posting, try not to get discouraged! It's probably just writer's block absolutely kicking my ass-
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! Also, feedback is very much welcomed! Here is chapter 1 :)
Steve woke to some light chatter from the dining room. Or rather, what they titled as the dining room. The small, scrappy house was all they could find for shelter and it was, quite frankly, all they really needed. There wasn't much left of the world anyway, so they couldn't complain.
The former Captain America found the motivation in him to get out of bed. He glanced at his old friend, who lie still asleep on the top bunk. Normally he would let him sleep, but this wasn't the 2020s anymore.
"Let's go, Buck," he called, launching a pillow at the former Winter Soldier. "Get up, we gotta get moving."
Bucky obeyed, slowly rousing from his sleep as the bed creaked with every move. They weren't the sturdiest, but the bunks falling apart were among the least of their worries and fears. Steve headed to the kitchen, where he met with the other two.
"Morning," Sam muttered, a bagel in his hand. "What's on schedule for today?"
"Same as always," Steve answered, grabbing a bagel himself. He absentmindedly tossed one to Bucky, who caught it as he walked in.
"We were just talking about it," Natasha began, "but they temporarily closed down Checkpoint 5 by the West End Port last night."
"Again?"
"Another 'Renegades' attack."
Steve shook his head. "What is with those guys? Don't they understand we're all just trying to survive here?"
"That's their point," Bucky spoke up. "They think the way the government is running things is all wrong, security wise. They aim to step up and rule it themselves, which is why their attacks have been so well planned. They've been hitting all the checkpoints military personnel has been guarding."
"They're not entirely off," Sam admitted. "The government has virtually no idea what they're doing, but the Renegades are going about this the wrong way. They think the apocalypse has brought people, survivors, together to fight as one against the infected. What they don't realize is that it's every man for themselves."
None of the others could've said it better. This post-apocalyptic reality was no where near a united fight, it really was a selfish battle for survival. They had to train themselves to trust and help no one but each other. They couldn't take any chances with the possibly infected.
The former Avengers weren't even avengers anymore. They, too, were fighting for themselves. They had given up on protecting the world, even though that sense of unity and security was all they stood for. Whatever was left of the team split in several groups and haven't spoken to one another since. For all they knew, the rest could be long gone by now.
It truly was a brutal game of survival.
"We should head out," Nat broke the long silence, packing her gun and wands in their holsters. "You know everyone's gonna be rushing to the booths. If we don't go early, we won't get shit for food tonight."
"Right," Steve sighed as he threw his bag over his shoulder, the Captain America shield hooked on the back.
Bucky grabbed his trusty machine gun, the M249 Paratrooper SAW that he wielded throughout the wars against Thanos.
Sam held the door open as the others headed out. He pocketed his pistols. "Let's go."
Steve led the way, weaving through the dirt path and over the small swamp. He pulled the old dumpster and lined it up against the tall wall. Nat climbed it first before helping the boys, then they pulled themselves onto the rooftop of the abandoned shop.
A wooden plank board served as a connector to the rooftop ahead, where they climbed a ladder to the other side. Bucky, being the last to climb down, noticed a strange mark on the brick wall. He only had a quick glance, so he didn't think much of it.
A little more walking along the dusty trail, and they made it out of the neighborhood. All that lie ahead was a flooded road, surrounded by abandoned cars and buildings, and coated with overgrown grass and trees.
"What're we thinking for tonight?" Nat asked as the group treaded through the swampy street. "Canned soups again, maybe canned beans-"
"No!" Sam replied way too quickly. "Never! Not for a long time will any of us ever lay a human finger," he turned to Bucky for this next line before looking back at Nat, "or a metal one, on a can of beans again."
Nat slowly nodded her head as they entered the grocery district. "Soup it is."
All eyes were on them as they walked down the dirt path and through the booths. Their own gazes were fixed straight ahead of them, ignoring the stares of the common people that bore through them. Some appeared indifferent, others stepped away, while the rest scowled at them, but the four didn't bat a single eye.
Nat led the men to their typical booth, where they met with their primary goods seller.
"Natasha!" he smiled a hello. "Good to see you here this morning!" He noticed the other three and offered them a greeting as well. "Barnes, Rogers, Wilson."
"Hey," Steve muttered, Sam giving the man a nod while Bucky slightly raised one eyebrow.
"What'll it be today? There's a discount on canned beans," the man offered.
Sam flipped his head toward Nat sharply, his look screaming, 'Hell no!'
Nat stifled a little laughed. "No thanks, Luis, we'll just stick with the soups for tonight."
Sam relaxed from his previously tense state, satisfied with her answer.
"No problem," Luis said, handing them four cans of soup as Nat paid up with ration cards.
"Thanks."
"Of course! Actually, while you're still here," Luis began, leading the group away from the stares of the common people, "I've got something to offer you."
"We appreciate it, Luis," Steve started, knowing of the sneaky man's mischievous history, "but we've gotta get going."
"It's totally worth it, trust me."
"That's okay," Sam spoke up, "we really don't have time for-"
"It won't take long, I swear!" Luis practically begged.
"What is it?" Nat sighed.
"Take a look at this." Luis secretly presented the four with a set of ID cards. "I snagged some fake military IDs! Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, if you wanna get arrested," Bucky hissed in warning. "You're dead if they catch you. Military is even further on edge with the Renegades sneaking around. You'd better be careful with those."
"Oh no," Luis spoke, "I'm not hanging on to them." He held them up before the former Winter Soldier, who glared at the cards intensely. "You guys are. I could sell them to you and you can cross the boarders! Go wherever you want without those soldiers getting in the way. No need to be trapped in the West End anymore!"
Bucky continued to scan the IDs, noticing the symbol plastered on each card. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought as the others remained silent. He'd seen that symbol before.
"You could find where those Renegades are hiding and take them down, or set them straight, or whatever you Avengers do!"
"We're not Avengers anymore," Steve muttered. "We're not gonna do a single thing about the Renegades."
Luis's shoulders fell in something along the lines of disappointment.
"Maybe they will come in handy, though," Nat said in wonder. "You never know."
"You crazy?" Sam scoffed in disbelief. "We're not gonna risk getting killed by the government for a couple of stolen IDs!"
"Actually, they were sold-"
"Shut it!" Sam hissed at Luis. He turned back to Nat. "This is too risky. We have everything here. If we go out, we have to start from scratch with shelter and resources. What'll we do outside of West End anyway? We're perfectly fine here, we don't need to go anywhere."
"Unless we have to," Steve expressed a hypothetical thought. "What if something happens here? Maybe the Renegades attack and things get out of hand? Or maybe there's a serious invasion of infected and we're in immediate danger? We'll need a ticket out of here."
"Yeah, see?" Luis exclaimed in hope, clearly wanting to get paid. "They're super useful!"
"I don't know about this," Sam said distrustfully.
"What do you think, Barnes?" Nat asked for a new opinion. The man in question finally pried his eyes away from the symbol, looking from Romanoff, to Rogers, to Wilson. Then he looked back to Luis, grabbing the ID cards that were still presented in front of him. He handed them to Nat, eyes still on Luis.
"If you're bullshitting us," he began in a threatening tone of voice, "I'll shoot a bullet straight through your hollow skull."
"You won't regret it," Luis chuckled nervously, "trust me."
And with that, Steve began to lead the group out of the grocery district. Bucky gave Luis one last look of suspicion, glaring at him up and down, before following the others.
Nat pocketed the IDs, Sam watching warily. Bucky looked to Steve, who took to reassuring Sam.
"Let's just hope we never have to use them."
The group walked together in relative silence, passing through the main streets of Sector 7. Steve glanced over at the gates of Checkpoint 5, they were just reopening after the Renegades' attack last night. He had a bad feeling.
That night led the team back to their scrappy house. On the way up the ladder, Bucky recognized the symbol stamped on the brick wall from earlier. It matched the one on the ID cards. Something was off about that marking.
Natasha dropped her heavy bag the moment she walked through the door. "I'm starving. You boys wanna eat?" She didn't wait for a response, tossing each one a can of soup. They sat at the creaky table in silence for a while, until Sam spoke up.
"It's suspicious."
"What?" Nat pressed.
"Those ID cards, Luis… It all just feels off. We shouldn't have taken them, we shouldn't have anything to do with them. I don't trust it."
"You have nothing to trust in a bunch of ID cards, Sam. They're just a last resort back up plan."
"The government is probably hunting for them as we speak!"
"Come on, they aren't real," Nat rolled her eyes.
"You trust everything that guy says?"
"Of course not."
"I mean, where did he even get his hands on them? Doesn't it bother you that they were stolen?"
"They were sold to him," Bucky spoke up. "Someone sold them to him."
"Even worse!" Sam yelled. "How do we know he's not working with an organization or something? What if he's a spy for the Renegades, sneaking inside information? Who knows what he's doing?! This could all be a trap."
"Now you just sound ridiculous!" Nat argued. "We're not gonna do anything with the IDs unless absolutely necessary, relax! And sure, we shouldn't trust Luis, but who said he's capable of conspiring with a bigger organization? He can't even navigate his way outside of the grocery district! He was probably just offered something for the cards and accepted it because he's a shallow birdbrain."
"There's something off about those IDs," Bucky admitted, shaking his head.
"He gets it!" Sam exclaimed, Nat tensing up in slight aggression.
"Fine! What's suspicious about them?"
"Have you actually looked at them, compared them to the soldiers' real IDs? The fake ones we have aren't entirely the same. There's a tiny symbol hidden on the edge of the card, nothing like the government issued ones."
"What symbol?" Steve entered the conversation for the first time.
"I don't know. It's new, I've never seen it before." Bucky paused for a moment. "Actually, it's on the wall by the ladder as well."
Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "The wall?"
Bucky shrugged and nodded. "It's suspicious."
"The hell, it is!" Sam cried. "I don't trust it!"
"You guys are just overthinking this now," Nat defended, hoping she was right. "It's probably nothing-"
Suddenly, there was banging on the door of their little house. A gun fired from the other side of the room, shattering through the window.
"Fuck!" Steve swore, ducking to the ground along with the others.
"Military?" Sam asked in worry, fully convinced they'd been caught for possession of the fake IDs.
"Burglars," Nat confirmed as she caught sight of the guys who were attacking.
Bucky scanned the situation, timing the perfect moment to sneak by and grab his gun. He aimed at the guy by the window and shot him dead before tossing Nat a pistol. She aimed toward the entrance, shooting the figure behind it the moment they broke down the door.
Sam creeped through the hallway just as Steve took down another burglar with his vibranium shield. The former Captain America threw the shield at Sam, who caught it and launched it at a man climbing in from the back.
Over in the kitchen, Nat and Bucky were fighting off the last burglar. Nat landed a powerful kick in the guy's stomach, sending him crashing into the wall. Bucky finished him off with a single harsh punch in the skull, blood dripping from his metal fist.
It was quiet for a moment as they made sure no one else was around.
"What the hell?" Bucky muttered, shaking the blood off his vibranium limb.
"How did they find us?" Steve questioned. "We hid this place for the sole purpose of avoiding outside attacks like that. How the hell did they find us?"
"I told you it was all suspicious!" Sam yelled. "We've never been attacked by anyone for the past 4 years we've lived here! Something's up."
Natasha groaned in frustration, Steve interrupting before a mild argument sparked.
"Depends on who those people were. They're obviously not military personnel, but they're also not your everyday burglars."
Bucky calculating eyes scanned over the last burglar's dead body. Printed on the pocket of his black jacket, which looked eerily similar to those of the military soldiers, was the very same symbol that appeared on the ID cards and the shop wall. Bucky shook his head in confusion and wonder.
"These symbols are everywhere," he showed the others. "It's got a deeper meaning-"
Another interruption, this time at the hands of military personnel a distance away. It was an urgent announcement.
"Any and all residents of Sector 7 must evacuate. There's been an attack, evacuate the Sector."
The Renegades.
"We gotta get out of here," Nat spoke. "I heard there's more room and resources up in Sector 11."
"But that's so far away," Sam replied, "it'll take days to find our own place to stay."
"That and we'll have to cross Checkpoint 5. It's on high alert," Bucky added.
Steve bent over to examine the bags the burglars had been wearing. He didn't like the idea he was about to purpose, but there wasn't another choice. They didn't want to be caught up in the Renegades' fight, they didn't do that kind of stuff anymore.
"Raid their bags," he announced, pulling out a folded outfit. It was the same ones these burglars wore, and it mimicked the military uniforms. Perfect for sneaking in.
The others caught onto the plan, revealing uniforms of their own. Natasha slipped the fake IDs into her pocket. Now was the time to use them.
Successfully away from their home, Steve glanced at the gates of Checkpoint 5. He knew this was the only way, but it was so risky he wasn't sure what to think about it.
Two officers came to join a few others at the gate, their flashlights threatening to spot them where they shouldn't be.
"There," Nat pointed out, leading the boys away through an alley and toward an abandoned store.
Inside was dark, aside from the light of the outdoors. They creeped around the shattered pieces of glass across the floor. The place was falling apart, it would be hard to navigate every area without something breaking.
"While we're here, find and grab what you can," Steve ordered.
Suddenly, inhumane growling could be heard from the other store aisle.
"Shit," Sam swore. "Infected."
"Well, don't wait for them to attack," Nat said, shooting a bullet through one of their heads.
At the sound of the gunshot, another infected human came scrambling toward Sam at a surprisingly fast speed. He swiftly dodged the attack, rolling across the ground before shooting the sick bastard dead.
Steve knocked one out with a single hit of his shield. When it boomeranged back toward him, he launched it at another one. It shoved the infected against the wall, where Steve then used the shield to kill it.
As Nat shot another two down in front of her, Bucky killed a few from a distance. Once he thought the coast was clear, he entered the other aisle in search for more ammo or something. Instead, he found the symbol yet again. This time, it revealed its organization.
His bout of shock served as a lethal distraction. One of the infected he somehow failed to kill threw him to the wall of the aisle and bit his arm. The sound of a gunshot rang in the abandoned store and the infected man fell.
"Fuck!" Nat swore, lowering her gun.
"Are you bit?" Steve frantically scanned over his best friend. Bucky's eyes shifted from the wall of the aisle to his arm, where a faint bite mark was slightly visible. Steve sighed in relief.
"Man, you're so damn lucky you have a metal arm," Sam emphasized. "You could've been infected! We would've had to kill you! What the hell were you thinking?"
Bucky didn't answer. He just walked over and kneeled in front of the marking on the aisle wall, the others watching. The symbol was something akin to a circle, but it was unfinished. It looked like it had almost a symbolic meaning to it, like a cycle that wasn't quite complete. Below the symbol read, 'Renegades.'
-next chapter-