It had been 5 months since their parents died from infected.
5 months since Maeve had been bitten.
5 months since she had found out she was immune.
5 months since they set out for the Boston QZ from their home in Colorado.
It was just her and her older brother Daniel, roughing it out in hopes of a better situation.
Maeve was 6 years old as Daniel was 13.
The two had been traveling for months after Daniel made contact with a woman named Marlene through an old radio, and after he had explained their situation, Marlene had advised them to head to the Boston QZ where she would make sure they would both be safe.
Safety.
That's what all of this was for.
That's the only thing Daniel wanted as he traversed the rough terrain with his younger sister.
He knew the potential that she had, understood that she was capable of something more.
So even on the days when the lack of sleep and food had completely depleted his energy, he kept on going.
For her.
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After the long and treacherous journey that had exhausted the two kids, it was in sight.
The Boston QZ.
The place that would help them, put them in a better circumstance than where they were now.
100 ft. out, 100 small feet away from help.
But this new world was unforgiving, relentless, and terribly cold.
As Maeve and Daniel approached the entryway of the QZ, a pack of infected came running right towards them.
They immediately went for Daniel, tackling him as Maeve was taken to the ground as well.
However, the infected hadn't attacked her.
They had ignored her presence, almost as if she wasn't there.
Maeve couldn't think about that as she saw the scene in front of her.
Daniel, fighting for his life, trying to get the infected off of him.
But as he kicked and fought one off of him, another would latch on, tearing him apart.
"Daniel! No!" Maeve screamed as she lunged towards the infected attacking her brother.
She tried to pull them off of him, but it was no use as one of the infected turned around and clawed Maeve away from her brother, creating a huge gash starting from the top of her shoulder blade that ended at the bottom of her back.
As the infected continued to swarm her brother, she caught sight of Marlene and the squad that she had pulled together to get to the two kids, knowing that the little girl was of high value.
Maeve sat beside the swarm of infected that had now engrossed her brother.
Her brother, the only person she had left.
The only person she had been living for.
The only person that made her feel whole.
She sat with a numb look on her face before Marlene quickly came beside her, shooting away the infected that threatened to come near her, and grabbed Maeve, pulling her away from the scene to safety.
"No! No!" Maeve screamed as the arms wrapped around her, taking her away from her brother, who had fought so hard to get her here.
A ringing had also become present through her left ear, as the gunshots had rang out right next to her head.
"I-I can't leave him!" She continued to scream through strangled sobs.
"I know. I know." Marlene tried to soothe the upset girl.
Marlene was shocked that she had found Maeve almost completely untouched.
The infected didn't even give her a second glance.
As if she was one of them.
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It was now six years later,
Maeve had been snuck into FEDRA's military schooling program for the kids that were apart of the Boston QZ.
The incident had made the girl go silent.
The girl who was once so full of life, love, and happiness had been convoluted into a completely separate version of herself.
She was quiet, numb,
empty.
And the ringing, the ringing never really went away.
The FEDRA school nurse described it as a form of tinnitus-- a constant ringing or buzzing noise that happens due to premature hearing loss.
Maeve hated the military school, she was smart enough to see how corrupt and disgusting FEDRA really was, lying to all of these kids that there was a good future for them; that all they had to do was comply.
The only good thing that came from the schooling was her access to the library.
In her spare time, Maeve spent every second in that building.
It was one of the buildings that FEDRA had kept sustained, the only thing Maeve would ever thank them for.
Maeve read everything, every genre, every story, every informative text because the 'school' she was in hadn't taught her jack shit.
She also saw the reading as an escape from this reality, how whenever she picked up a good book, she was transported into the story, temporarily getting to be someone that she was not.
As she flew through the fiction section, she had a new subject to conquer, something more meaningful to her.
Maeve was aware of her immunity, the bite marks on her collarbone and ankle being enough indication of an attack.
Whenever Marlene had put her into the military school a few years back, she made sure to stress to Maeve how important it was to cover up the marks.
Maeve never understood why until she saw what they did to people who had been infected,
people like her.
So Maeve was always covered, most days wearing the grey jumper and matching pants that the school provided.
She always made sure to have her ankle wrapped as well, for extra caution.
Being aware of this gift she possessed, she began to read more scientific books.
Every book about biology, mycology, and immunology had been blown through.
Through her reading, it became clear to her that, scientifically speaking, a cure for the type of apocalypse that had plagued her world, was not possible.
There was no vaccine to be made that would stop this vicious fungal infection.
The smarts of the young girl did not go unnoticed by her teachers and fellow peers.
In the school yard, the older girls would pick on her, calling her names such as 'suck-up', 'bore', and 'bandages'.
The teachers had enrolled her into an accelerated course, one that put her on the path of becoming a part of the medical staff in the QZ, rather than a soldier.
The taunting never really bothered Maeve, she wouldn't let people who were older than her get under her skin.
Every day was the same in the QZ.
Wake up. Go to school. Do the mundane tasks that the FEDRA agents made them work on. Clean up. Eat. Go to bed.
Maeve was sick of it.
Luckily, her silent pleas of getting away from this awful life were answered as she headed off to bed one night, not knowing that Marlene had found her an opportunity.
A way out.
A/N: Intro chapter is complete! I always have such a hard time writing chapters like these because there is so much background information that I want to include, but I still have to make the story flow. Anyways next chapter begins to follow the storyline of The Last Of Us live adaptation based off the show that HBO just put out. So stay tuned! And, if you are enjoying the story so far, please make sure to comment and vote as it really helps me out and I LOVE hearing what you all have to say! With that, go and drink some water-- take care of yourself!
- With utmost sincerity, A.F.