Disclaimer : I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog

Warning: This story is rated M for 2 chapter that included some smutty scene, the rest of the story is just T. Now this little Fiction story includes: age difference relationship romance,a little strong language, and some smutty scene. If you don't like these themes, this story is not for you, thanks.

A/N: Hi I just want to LYK that this short story don't have anything to do with (learning how to swim and love) is a complete different one. Is just a small one that is going to be divided in 7 small chapters that I write, to kill some time. This suppose to be a one-shot, but after I start it I just go on, LOL. All review are appreciated, I just want to know you opinion on the story, so left a comment if you want, even if is a short one thanks.

Chapter 1 : The beginning of a hard Journey

*Prologue*

After the apocalyptic events in the year 2013, caused by a fungal-based, brain-altering pandemic which spread and infected over 60% of the world's population, the world has gone into a state of of panic and disorganization, as officials try to fix and keep the situation under control. When the World Health Organization's attempts to procure a vaccine fail, the United States government does away with the bureaucrats in power and the establishment of civilian government. The country is turned into a police state under the control of homeland security and the military, and cities across the nation are placed under martial law one by one. Survivors of the pandemic are assigned to designated quarantine zones that are supposed to separate them from the infected and keep them safe.

After the virus was responsible for almost all the destruction of the human civilization, and the annihilation The government and the emergency agency try to fight the virus known as 'Cordyceps, a Brain Infection condition', and try to find a cure when they can't solve the problem. The last of the government in charge creates a private company so they can act on the situation, find a cure for the virus, and make things better for the people.

Fedra, the new agency that was created to fight the virus, doesn't make any difference as the chaos spreads across the country. After the failure in finding a cure for the virus, Fedra and the military start to fight the infected and try to keep the control. After years of fighting, Fedra starts to create safe zones named QZ in some of the states. They put the military in charge and in control of the new QZ; that way, they can protect more people, but in time, not many of them survive.

In the twenty years that have passed, as a result of the military control of the QZ, a paramilitary group calling themselves the Fireflies is established, with their main goal being the restoration of lawful government in the United States, as well as finding and producing a vaccine for the Cordyceps Brain Infection. The Fireflies attack the military on occasion and encourage uprisings.
Now all the people left who are not infected by the virus, that are out in the open or in a QZ, are still fighting for survival in this broken future, and try to have some kind of life in this new world.

When the pandemic started, Joel Miller lost his daughter on the first night. After that, he and his brother Tommy started their journey to survive. After some years passed, seeing all the horror that this world can create, Tommy decided to join the Fireflies in the fight against the military and their regimen. Joel continued his life of surviving until he found a woman named Tess. They became partners and started a business in smuggling things (or persons) out and in from the QZ.
After a few years, they got into the Boston QZ and started their business there, until one day they found a job that changed their lives forever. They made a deal with the Firefly leader to smuggle a teen girl out of the Boston QZ to the capital of the city, where they were going to give the girl to a Firefly group hidden there... but when they arrived, some of the Fireflies were killed, and the rest, gone. Tess was infected during the trip, and after they discovered that the girl was infected and she was immune to the virus, Tess made Joel promise her to take the girl to the Fireflies so they can find a cure. Joel took Ellie to a town named Lincoln, where he knew someone who could help them get a car. After they got the car on the road, he informed the girl that the only way to find the Fireflies was to talk to his brother, because at one time, he was one of them.

During the trip, they found some other people - the 2 brothers were looking for the Fireflies too. When one of brothers got infected, his brother had to kill him, and then he killed himself. Several months passed after that when Joel and Ellie found a dam. When they tried to cross, they discovered that some people were there. When they were questioned by the men on guard, Joel found that his brother was there. His brother told him where he can find the Fireflies, and after that, he and Ellie went to a university in Colorado. When they arrived there, they discovered that the Fireflies were already gone, and Joel was injured when a group of hunters attacked them.

During the winter, Ellie was captured by a group of cannibals while Joel was recovering from his injury. After Ellie killed the leader of the group, and Ellie and Joel got out of there, they finally arrived at a hospital in Salt Lake City where the Fireflies had their new base. As Joel rescued Ellie from almost drowning, they were found by the Fireflies and got taken to the hospital. When Joel woke up, he found that Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies and the one who hired him and Tess to take the girl to the Fireflies, was there. She told him that the only way to find a cure was to remove the fungus from Ellie's brain, and for that, she was going to die. As Joel had bonded with the girl during the trip, and because of the loss of his daughter a little more than 20 years ago, he decided to save the girl and kill the Fireflies. After that, he stole a car and decided to take Ellie back to Jackson, where his brother lived with his wife and other survivors.

When they arrived in Jackson, Joel decided not to tell Ellie the truth about what happened in the hospital, and his brother received them in the town with open arms. Joel talked to his brother about what happened when they found the Fireflies, and the reason he did it. He made sure his brother wouldn't tell Ellie anything for the time being, because he didn't want to lose Ellie, and he wanted her to have a better life. After a few months of living in Jackson in a house that Maria and his brother gave them, they start to help out in the town the best they could. Ellie started to help Maria with some of her things and Joel started to work with the construction team, and to take some turns on the wall too, when he had the time. After a year of being together in Jackson, Ellie continued questioning Joel on what happened in Salt Lake City, so one day, Joel decided to tell Ellie the truth. Of course, she got mad at him, and for a few months, she didn't want to see him, but after a talk with Tommy, Maria, and the town doctor, she was convinced that what the Fireflies were going to do with her wasn't going to help find a cure, so she decided to forgive him. After that, she went back to the house and started to live with Joel again. They continued with the work in the town, and Ellie made Joel promise not to lie to her again. After a few more years, they made some friends... well, Ellie more than Joel, but he liked to help his brother with the town. Even though they had their differences, they worked together. In time, Ellie and Joel started to have some kind of happy and normal life in the new town of Jackson County.