The Both Of Us | Zelink X The Last Of Us

Chapter Thirty-Four

Zelda's pov

We stay in an empty building for the night. I don't think Link slept. His eyes had glazed over a few times and now I know it's because he's haunted by memories. He was afraid to have nightmares. He already lives in one.

We get back on the horse after eating. I miss the warm food I'd eaten at Revali's and Urbosa's. It spoiled me and I have a constant hope there'll be cooked food in Seattle.

There's a university in this town but it's the science building that catches my attention. I wanted to major in science when I got to college. I hadn't figured out exactly what field yet. I'd been narrowing it down to biology and medical sciences. Turns out nursing is what I got into.

Curiosity and the sense of adventure overwhelms me. "Can we explore that university?" I ask out of nowhere. We haven't talked at all this morning.

"No."

"Why not? I want to see inside."

"It's just a building."

"It's a science building and I want to see inside." He ignores me. "I won't stop asking." I start whining when he still ignores me. "Please? I really want to see."

"Stop."

"It doesn't have to be long. I just want to take a peek."

He swears under his breath and turns the horse in the direction of the university. "You're a little shit, you know that?"

I hug him. "Of course I do." I've come to the conclusion that calling me a little shit is how he says he loves me.

He ties the horse to a small tree near a back entrance. I don't wait for him when I go to the door. It's chained with a padlock but I'm determined to get inside. I grab a decent sized rock. This has worked for me before.

Link watches with a slight smile and his arms crossed as I slam the rock down on the lock with both hands, breaking it with one swing. I give him a smug smile in return, yanking the chain out of the handles and going inside.

There's an open space in the middle with walkways around it. It goes up four floors. There's old papers on the floor and posters that have been ripped from the walls. I step around a large puddle when I venture deeper.

"How fascinating," Link says, deadpan. I ignore him. He told me how bad of a student he used to be; obviously he won't be interested in a university building. I doubt he would have gone to college at all with his athletic accomplishments to support him.

I go up the open staircase that leads to the second floor. There's display cases lining the walls next to the classrooms, showing off models of molecules and experiments. This must be the chemistry floor. I ignore Link's protests when I start opening classroom doors, looking at the labs inside. The vent hoods are dusty now, some burners are still sitting out along with dirty beakers. Some are half filled with chemicals.

I go up another floor, the glass cases here displaying plant and animal fossils. I get even more excited seeing the preserved specimens.

"Isn't this exciting?" I ask, my voice full of obvious excitement and awe.

"I'm practically hard already." I roll my eyes and once again ignore his deadpan attitude. I appreciate the sciences. Maybe had we learned about the cordyceps infection sooner, measures could've been taken to stop it and this university would still be full of eager students.

I move on to the next classroom, pulling the door open without caution. I shouldn't have. Two clickers in the room whip their heads in my direction, screaming at the sound and run at me. I stumble backwards, Link shoving me out of the way before he's grabbed and thrown to the ground. The other flails its arms while running at me and I fumble for my knife. My fingers close around it just before I'm tackled as well. My heart pounds in my chest as I desperately keep its foul, bloody mouth away from me. Link yells in pain but I can't focus on him. I manage to stab the clicker on top of me in the neck, causing dark blood to pour out. I gasp for air as I roll its body off of me. Link killed his as well and he's leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. It must have just hit him.