The Last Of US

“Grace, I don’t know how to feel about this. I don’t feel qualified.” She grabbed me by the shoulders before lifting my chin.

“Honey, none of us are qualified to deal with this crisis. It’s only a matter of time before everything collapses considering everything else already has collapsed.” I gave her a smirk before wrapping my arms around her waist.

“You know, that was the worst voice of confidence I have ever heard in my life. What the hell was that?” Of course, I was smiling when I said this. She gave me a gentle slap before laughing out loud.

“Besides, you have me to help you out. That’s a lot of assistance if you ask me. Just saying.” She gave me a shrug and I couldn’t help myself from bursting out laughing. We were only a couple of feet away from the large makeshift tent. The rest of the leading figures were patiently waiting inside chatting with each other.

“Ok, ok, I’m ready.” Her eyebrows rose but I gave two thumbs up. With a kiss on my nose, we ducked under the entrance and entered the tent.

Sitting around the table was: Michael, Scott, Zoe, Morgan, and the Two Wise Men. No one knew the names of the Two Wise Men therefore we simply accepted the nickname and spread it around. They were elderly but just as wise and intelligent as the rest of us young folk. Zoe and Morgan were basically adjoined hip to hip. If you saw Zoe, then Morgan would always be in the near vicinity. Same goes for the other way around. Scott was a kind, generous, light-hearted man whose well-deserved reputation was founded upon his contributions and leadership over his own community. On the other hand, Michael was wildly unpredictable, mysterious and quite the weapons-handler but a terrific leader just the same. Then you have my girlfriend, Grace. She’s always at peace, wonderful at motivation, determined at all times and always positive.

Considering how the world seems to have ended quite poorly, I don’t know how anyone has the time to remain positive 24/7.

Pulling out her chair, Grace thanks me before setting her sights on the table. I sit down by myself and wait for her to begin.

“I want to thank you all for coming here today and sacrificing your own time so that we could all coordinate a peace treaty of sorts. Its takes a large amount of initiative to set aside our egos as well as our differences to sit here and discuss as the mature people that we are. So, once again, I thank you.” After she finished, I continued on.

“Thank you, Grace. Now, if its no problem with you all, I would like to go straight to business so we can enjoy the rest of our evening together. Agreed?” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Clearly, the government can’t help us in these dire times. That’s been obvious for a couple of months anyways. And from what I’ve heard, if they do help, chances are violence is included. So, I have devised a plan that involves the combination or at least the peaceful coordination of all of our communities. Meaning, that each of us can rely on the other to provide support or supplies if needed at any time unless of course you can’t provide so in case you are low on such items.” I stopped for a moment to catch their reactions. Grace was gripping my hand tightly under the table, she had an optimistic grin and was also observing the others. Scott had a cautious but approving grin on his face. When we locked eyes, he nodded as if to express his acceptance. I could always count on Scott’s support, I had barely known him but he gave off a genuinely positive vibe. Michael on the other hand was smirking, I don’t think he believes I can pull this off. The two wise men had indistinguishable expressions on their face, I never knew what they were exactly thinking and it bothered me largely. Morgan was staring at her fingers, though her ears were perked up and attentive. Zoe’s lips were pursed though, her fingers interlocked under her chin. Grace gave me a reassuring squeeze and I continued on.

“In case the government attempts to cover this whole crappy situation up which we all have to consider since we have no clue what is happening elsewhere in the world, then its best we all team up and pool our resources. Not saying we have to. But it has to be considered. Ummm, I also would like to send out certain people from each community to go hunting altogether. I feel like each community is catered towards a particular field or specialty and if we combine that, then whatever groups we sent out would be able to handle anything out there. Hm, I don’t think I have anything else to offer up for now but that’s the general idea. Hopefully if….when we all agree, then I’ll go more in-depth of the particulars.”

Grace scooted a little closer to the table before raising her eyebrows. “What do you guys think?”

Scott was the first to offer his two-cents.

“I think although it is a bit too simple….I think it would be quite effective and just reasonable if we put this plan into action and banded together.” Scott had stood out of his chair and reached over for a hand-shake before Zoe chimed in.

“Well, actually. Wouldn’t it be best for each community to look out for themselves? It would be too much of a risk to pool ALL of our resources together considering if your community for example, Trey, was destroyed. That dramatically hurts all of us and already we would be massively weakened.”

Grace shook her head and waved her finger no. “Actually, Zoe, if I can call you th--”

“--You may not actually.” Grace was taken aback for a second (I’ll admit, I was too) before recovering and plunging right into the conversation.

“You just called him by his name, you realize that, right?” Zoe shrugged and Grace pursed her lips. Morgan grinned a little, saw me glancing in her general direction, before frowning and returning back to her original state. “Anyways. That’s the point of us all joining together. The exact opposite happens actually. If we’re hit anywhere, of course we’ll be weaker but the pros far outweigh the cons. The government or the military are likely in disarray at this very moment. They’ll be lucky if they can gather enough soldiers to combat and attack ALL of us. Not happening. And even if I’m wrong, we wouldn’t allow for any of the communities to be so badly destroyed to the point where it massively hurts all of us and completely ruins our chances of victory.” The two ladies were glaring at each other intensely, the tension already thick between the two opposing forces.

Michael shook his head and gripped the table before commenting.

“SO…..what you both fail to realize in the first place is that its not even about that. It’s about the Runners. Are your communities fit to handle the different types of Runners surrounding our region and others? Are your communities even fit to handle a gun, much less, use it? They need to defend themselves and be prepared to fight both human and zombie. I’m not worried about the government as I am about the Runners themselves.” That was a valid point that I had not yet considered. I hadn’t even interacted with a Runner myself but I had seen them from a distance while running away.

“Have you killed one before, Michael? Never fought them so I never even considered that we needed to train our entire communities to protect from these Runners you speak of.” He gave a grim smile before continuing.

“I have actually, yes I have. My community in the short span of 6 months have been trained and taught in how to handle themselves and I have led them too. I have had several encounters and honestly, I am surprised that none of you have seriously encountered one. Have you?” I shook my head, Grace shook her head, Scott waved his head no, Zoe and Morgan said they hadn’t. The two Wise Men regarded each other before the left replied that they also couldn’t recall interacting with one. “I actually came from the region where the virus started and spread. Have any of you read The Stand by Stephen King or played the video game The Last Of Us? Because both of those accurately depict exactly what our world is going through and will unfortunately go through?”

Morgan perked up and raised her hand like a preschooler asking to use the restrooms. If preschoolers even go to school anymore. We all turned to her to which she twitched visibly.

“I read the book and played the game. Accurate as in we’ll have to deal with zombies or accurate as in people will need to choose sides from different leaders?” Michael gave an approving nod before turning to me.

“Both, actually. There will be different phases to these zombies, hell, they might already be roaming the wildlands. But I do believe people will have to choose sides all across the country. Fortunately, people in this region have us to lead them. Others around the world aren’t so lucky meaning there will be riots, there will be chaos, stealing, fires, killings, murder, all of the above. If you listen to the radio, there already has been chaos reported. Only a matter of time before it reaches us honestly.” There was only silence around the table. Morgan and Zoe exchanged a curious glance between the both of them. Grace scooted closer to my side, gripping my hand even tighter. The two Wise Men were muttering something in their corner while Scott was staring off into the distance, shaking his head in anger.

It had only been 7 months but the world seemed as if it had turned into crap within a week. I remember seeing the newscast that night. The explosion from the facility had rocked the entire bay, shocking all of us out of our sleep. Grace had called me 30 minutes later in absolute tears. Her family had been killed in a freak explosion, the same explosion. It was chilling just to reminisce about it just now, shuddered a little. Grace gave me a concerned look but I gave a reassuring smile.

The two Wise Men were the next to speak.

“What you have said….has given us all a lot to think about. I think it best that we take a break, take a moment to clear our heads and process everything that everyone brought up before we all reconvene in 30 minutes and make our decision. Agreed?” Without any hesitation, everyone agreed before seats were emptied. We all filtered out with grim expressions on our faces but it was impossible to be positive considering the dire state of our world. The festivities were numerous and covered a gigantic plot of land.

With the help of Grace, we were able to set up and host a rather extravagant party considering the circumstances. A few citizens discovered streamers and hoisted them up, a few musicians even offered to play their instruments and cover a few songs. Once the tent was emptied, we split up and enjoyed the festivities.

“Well, I think that went quite well. What about you?” I gave her a funny look as I linked my arms within hers.

“It could have definitely gone better. For one, that whole spat between you and Zoe, what was that? I thought we promised to be calm?” Grace avoided my gaze, waving at a few passersby as we streamlined through the party.

“She was the one who started it though. She didn’t have to be rude and tell me I couldn’t use her name WHEN she used yours without a problem.” I nodded my head in agreement, she was right. As small as the issue was, it was uncalled for.

“You’re right. You’re right. I’m on your side, sweetie. But what we need to worry about is whether or not we need to train everyone here. I never considered that the plague or whatever was that bad to the point where there were phases or levels to this mess. I never even knew they had a name to be honest, so this is all new to me.” She rested her head on my shoulder as we continued walking. Her hair rubbing against my shoulder.

“It’s okay, honey. This is new to all of us. We literally were thrown into this mess altogether. The fact that you have led us for so long speaks volumes. You’re doing fine and we will be fine. I trust you.” I grinned a little, her positivity infecting me as well. I loved her. I met her in a coffee shop and she was a waitress. Apparently, I was one of the kindest individuals she had ever met so I decided to test my chances. We hit it off and we’ve been together for a whole year. It’s been tough leading an entire community and instilling trust in strangers but Grace has been my partner through and through. I don’t know where I’d be without her.

We arrived at a small makeshift table and sat down by each other. A couple of snacks were laid out and spread across the table so we grabbed a few plates.

“How do you feel? About everything?” I motioned to the large gathering behind us dancing, laughing, smiling without a single care in the world. Grace bit her lip, glancing up at the sky for a moment, before shrugging.

“We’ll survive. Not where I imagined we would spend our one year anniversary but we’ll make it work. All the stuff we’ve gone through. You know I love you right.” I gave her a peck on the cheek before eating my bag of chips. We ate peacefully in silence.

“Have you ever thought about your parents?” I gave her a worrisome glance, worried she might break down but she simply bowed her head. One single tear fell down her cheek, she set down her food. I wrapped my arms around her waist, silent as she cried against my chest. “I got you, honey.”