Chapter 1: Revenge is sweet

Author's Note

Hey guys I'm back and I just want to start by saying sorry for not updating in so long, I've just been completely swamped with life from school and GCSEs but now that I'm on summer holidays I should have more time to write. So first as you can this is a a final re-write of Another One of Us and I mean final. Second, Wounds will continue though how regularly I'm not sure as I'm having a bit of writer's block with that at the moment. And third, I have another Last of Us fanfic in the works but I'm not sure when it will be released. Anyway thanks for reading, all reviews are greatly appreciated and now onto the story.

The house was silent, the house in question belonged to a group of criminals as the military would label them. The three residents made their living of ration cards through jobs of smuggling and trade in the criminal world of the Boston QZ. Two of these smugglers had taken advantage of the little down time they had by resting the day away. Jake was a teenage boy and the youngest of all the smugglers in the Boston QZ. He had long jet-black hair that reached the top of his right eyebrow and was combed to that side. His face was relatively clean for the conditions he lived in, dirt was a common accompanying trait amongst people. As well as this his face held two deep tear troughs that ran the length of his nose. He wore a black and bloody long sleeve t-shirt that had a faded red bird design in the bottom right corner with tears here and there, some sewn, some not. Along with his shirt he wore a pair of worn black cargo pants as well as pair of dark blue trainers. The teen stirred in his sleep, as he typically does, whilst he lay atop his hardened mattress. The amount of sleep he would get was usually negligible, and what he did get was never pleasant.

BANG! BANG!

A thud came at the door causing Jake's amber eyes to snap open.

BANG! BANG!

The same noise repeated causing Jake, the younger of the two smugglers, to stir in his sleep - having stayed in much longer than usual.

"Joel get the fucking door!" Jake called out to the older man but got no response "Ugh fucking shit," Jake muttered to himself as he got up to answer the door, however he only got to the doorway of his room to see that Joel had answered the door already. "Typical," the dark-haired teen thought as Tess then walked by the two of them to a table and began pouring herself a drink.

"How was your morning?" Tess asked but to no response "Want one?" Tess offered Joel as she poured herself a drink.

"No, I don't... want one," Joel replied irritably as Tess took a sip.

"You're too young Jake," Tess joked but got nothing from Jake in response.

"I already smoke what difference does it make," Jake thought "It's not that I want a drink, but what's the point treating me as if I'm an innocent child or as if social standards still apply."

"Well, I have some interesting news for you."

"Where were you Tess?" Joel questioned still agitated.

"West end district," Tess replied simply "Hey we had a drop to make."

"We. We had a drop to make," Joel said as he walked up to her with a rag and handed it to her.

"Yeah well, you wanted to be left alone remember."

"And what about him?" Joel asking indicating towards Jake.

"It's his day off."

"Oh, so that's today," Jake thought "Five years huh? Crazy what five years will do to you."

"So I'll take one guess, the whole deal went south and the client made off with our pills," Joel replied as he walked towards the counter and leaned on it while Tess scoffed in response.

"Deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months easy," Tess said as she put them down on the table.

"You wanna explain this?" he asked turning to face her while gesturing to his face.

"I was on my way back and these two assholes jumped me," Tess responded as Joel went up to her "They got a few good hits in but, look I managed."

"Gimme that," Joel said as he took the rag off of her and began wiping the blood off her "Are these assholes still with us?"

"Yeah that's funny."

"Did you at least find out who they were?"

"Yeah look they were a bunch of nobodies, they don't matter," Tess said moving Joel's hand away "What matters is that Robert fucking sent them," Tess finished which caught Jake's attention.

"That sly bastard doesn't change does he," Jake thought.

"Our Robert?" Joel asked in surprise.

"He knows that we're after him," Tess began as Joel turned his back to her "He figures he's gonna get us first."

"Son of a bitch, he's smart," Joel cursed.

"No - he's not smart enough. I know where he's hiding."

"Where?" Jake more so demanded than asked.

"Old warehouse in area five. Can't say for how long though."

"I'm ready," Jake replied shortly.

"Yeah I can do now," Joel said and the three smugglers left the house to hunt down Robert.

Once outside the three moved through the barren streets of the quarantine zone. Barely anyone was to be seen, adding to the stifling atmosphere.

"It's already been five years huh. This view sure got old quick," Jake thought as he stepped outside taking in his surroundings. "Time sure flies when you kill every day. Well no time like the present I guess," Jake thought as the group began walking through the abandoned streets of the quarantine zone.

"Attention. Citizen are required to carry current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory," a woman announced on a loud speaker causing Jake to groan at the annoying tone the woman held. Whilst passing by a falling building that was surrounded by military, four people were pushed out of the building by armed soldiers. Jake watched from a distance as he walked past the ongoing quarantine. But after a few moments he turned away knowing that it would make no difference to him.

A scuffle between the fireflies and the military, which resulted in an explosion right before them, caused the three smugglers to take a detour through their smuggling tunnel. Upon entry they were immediately greeted by the pungent odour left behind from the waste of the Boston QZ. Doing their best to ignore it, the group armed themselves with their usual equipment. Jake strapped on an ageing brown backpack as well as a black pouch he strapped around the back of his waist, which was filled with Jake's instrument of choice, knives of all sort.

"Not a lot of ammo," Joel complained.

"We'll make our shots count," Tess replied.

"Hey there little man. Check if the coast is clear," Tess instructed a child with ration cards as payment "No soldiers, none of Robert's men, yeah?" Tess confirmed before giving the cards to him.

"You know he's expecting us," Joel commented.

"Well that'll make things more interesting."

"And the fireflies?" Jake asked.

"Well let's hope we get to him before they do."

The child returned, reporting no danger and let them pass. "We're in Robert's turf now," Jake thought "Been awhile since I've been here."

"Hey Tess. Hey Tess," a man called out to her "Hey. Pretty lady, how you doin today? I heard you got some merchandise."

"Not right now, Terrence" Tess replied abruptly.

"C'mon. No, no it's good. I got the cards."

"Not now, you hear me" Tess repeated more sternly and Jake turned to the man, silently telling him to back off which he did.

"Hey, is that kid the same one?" a man asked another in a whisper.

"Yeah no doubt about it," the second man replied.

"Holy shit that kid's back," another man silently said in shock.

"Who is he?" a woman asked.

"That's the Masked nightmare," the third man said.

"I don't see any mask, and he's just a kid."

"The mask was just to hide while he was wanted, or so they say. You know it's him because of his eyes. And kid or not he's no joke. A brutal maniac if you ever saw one. He came through this part of town one time and took out a bunch of grown men who were fucking with him. One of them was one of Robert's best."

"Seriously?" she asked in shock to which the man simply nodded. All around the area similar conversations took place about Jake.

"Nice to see my presence still has weight, that they're still afraid." Jake thought as a grin formed on his face. The trio entered a bus to get through the area when Joel was stopped by a man blocking their way.

"Where do you think you're going?" the man questioned and then saw Jake and went pale.

"Malick sit back down," Tess ordered.

"T-Tess, sorry d-didn't realise you were t-together," he replied and sat back down letting them pass.

"Who's that?" Joel asked.

"An old headache don't ask."

"Tess clearly has some influence in this area that I didn't know about. She probably knows about what happened last year then," Jake concluded.

"Get back! Get the fuck back!" Robert yelled as he shot at the doorway of his office once the group had reached it.

"We just wanna talk Robert," Tess shouted at him over the gunshots.

"Yeah, we ain't got fucking nothing to talk about," he yelled back.

"Put the gun down."

"Yeah. Go fuck yourself," Robert shouted and then threw his empty gun at them and began running with Jake and the others already pursuing him. Back outside they found Robert blocked off by a chain fence which he attempted to open but gave up on their arrival.

"Tess, Joel, Jake was it. No hard feelings right."

"You know my name bastard, after all you put a target on it." Jake thought.

"None at all," Tess responded, Robert then made a run for it but Jake threw a knife in his shoulder causing him to fall over in pain. Jake and Tess then made their way to him with Jake putting his foot on him and Tess crouching down to talk to him. "We missed you."

"Look whatever you heard ain't true. I just wanna say-"

"The guns," Tess cut off "You wanna tell us about the guns."

"Yeah sure, but it's complicated. Alright," he began but was cut off by Jake stepping on the knife pushing it deeper into Robert's shoulder causing the man to scream in pain.

"Revenge is oh so sweet," Jake thought as a grin formed on his face whilst he struggled to hold back his laughter.

"Quit your squirmin. You were saying?" Tess questioned.

"I sold em," Robert said simply between his ragged breaths of pain.

"Excuse me?" Tess asked in disbelief.

"I didn't have much of a choice I owed someone-"

"You owed us! I'd say you bet on the wrong horse."

"I just need some more time, gimme a week," Robert practically begged.

"You know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to kill me. Who has our guns?"

"I can't," he replied boldly so Jake crouched down and twisted the knife inside his body causing further screams of agony.

"Who has our guns?" Tess asked impatiently as Jake let go of the knife.

"It's... the Fireflies... I owed the Fireflies," Robert panted, his face drenched in his own teers.

"You motherfucker," Jake spat and the two got up from where they were.

"Hey look they're basically all dead. How bout we go in there We finish em off. We get those guns. Whadaya say? C'mon. Fuck those Fireflies," Robert pleaded for his very life.

"Self-preservation is strong with this one," Jake thought.

"That is a stupid idea," Tess said and put two bullets right in his head.

"Well now what?" Joel asked speaking up for the first time since they caught Robert.

"We go get our merchandise back"

"How?"

"I'm guessing going in there and slicing their throats is off the table," Jake remarked.

"Look I don't know we explain it to them. Let's just go find a Firefly."

"You won't have to look very far," a woman said as she came around the corner to reveal herself. Jake then aimed his pistol at the unknown presence but noticed her wound so awaited provocation before shooting.

"Well look who it is," Joel remarked "Queen Firefly. Jake put down the gun," Joel instructed to which Jake complied.

"Gutsy kid, got a good head on him too. He wouldn't happen to be-"

"And if I am?" Jake questioned cutting her off, she obviously had heard his title before and Jake knew where this went. The two stared each other down for a moment with nothing but silence.

"The eyes. No doubt you're the Masked Nightmare that I've heard so much about. To think that you were with Joel and Tess this whole time."

"Enough with the small talk Marlene," Tess interrupted.

"Why are you here?"

"Business," Tess replied shortly "You're not looking so hot," Tess mentioned indicating to her side.

"Where's Robert?" Marlene asked and Jake and Tess stepped away from his body.

"I needed him alive," Marlene chuckled melancholically whilst shaking her head.

"The guns he gave you. They weren't his to sell. I want them back."

"Doesn't work like that Tess."

"The hell it doesn't."

"I paid for those guns. You want em back, you're gonna have to earn em," Marlene clarified. Tess then exchanged a knowing glance with Joel who had been silent this whole time.

"How many cards we talking?"

"I don't give a damn about ration cards. I need something smuggled out the city. You do that, I'll give your guns back and then some."

"The Fireflies need something smuggled out of the city. Interesting," Jake thought

"How we know you still got em?" Joel asked "The way I hear the military is wiping you out."

"You got that right," Marlene replied mournfully, soldiers were then heard in the area "I gotta move. What's it gonna be?" Marlene asked ready to go.

"I wanna see those guns," Tess replied and four of them took off.