Meadowlark

Inspired by the world of 'The Last of Us'

Audio tracks add to the reading experience. 

(They are mood synced. Press play when they appear.)

“Is it gonna be a long hike today?” 

“Yeah. I’m afraid so” said Joel, securing his backpack’s strap tightly.

“Aw man I should’ve picked up a few more of those candy bars from that gas station, I’m getting tired of this canned slop. How do you even eat this stuff raw?”

“Kid, I’ve driven throughout the country surviving on just these. You’ll get used to them. Tent goes in your bag today. Try to keep up.”

The morning sun peeked through the conifer branches and shone brilliantly through the morning mist. The lone moist forest, a tranquil blanket of green, and in it, not a single soul except the duo of Joel and Ellie, making their way up the hillocks and down the valleys.

“You see this stream? There’s probably a lake nearby.” said Joel as he pointed out at the trickle of water lined by smooth pebbles.

“The water’s so clear though!”

“Well…. that’s what you get when you keep humans away from nature for a year or two. Bet you never had such water even in your QZ. This stuff? you can drink straight out of the lake! just like the deer do.”

“Woah, you’ve seen deer? Like actually.. They’re alive and all?” said Ellie as she pushed aside some branches hurriedly trying to catch up to Joel so she could listen better.

Joel chuckled as he flung a pebble at the water. 

“You ain’t seen nothing kid. There’s all sorts of beasts that live here. Bears and whatnot. If you want, we can stop by the lake, wherever that is. Maybe we’ll even see one if we’re lucky.”

“Well you already know what I’m gonna say so… Lead the way Mr. Contractor!”

And so they followed the streams and by the time they made it to the lake, it was already midday. The light from the overhead sun shimmered magnificently on the water ripples which fluttered due to the cold forest winds. Throwing her backpack aside, Ellie ran around the green patch of grass which sloped down leading up to the lake. 

“Ellie stay close, You aren’t immune to a bear’s bite you know.”

Joel sat himself down and watched Ellie run about splashing rocks on the water. His face began to redden up and a single tear flowed from the side of his eye. And with closed eyes and a laboured hush, he muttered under his breath, 

“Oh Sarah…. You’d love this.”

When Joel finally opened his eyes, he realised that the sound of splashing had disappeared and looked up to see Ellie missing. He at once sprung up with a hand on his gun and began sprinting to the lake.

“Elle?!...” 

Suddenly, a faint voice caught his ears and Joel sighed a breath of relief and walked towards it.

“Yo Joel, come check this out!”

The duo found themselves at the walkway of an abandoned wooden shack by the lake. To the side of the house facing the lake, was a broken structure that resembled a pier where one would go on a leisure day to fish for bass. The entirety of the front wall was exposed with only a few remaining planks keeping up the supports. 

But one thing that stood out among all the debris was the fresh footprints that led up to the door. 

“Look! Footprints.”

“Yeah, stay alert Elle don’t leave my side…. You notice what’s strange though?”

Ellie took a second to look around, kneel and carefully inspect the footprints before nodding her head. “No, what’s wrong?”

“You’re lookin’ too close. Look up there” Joel pointed at the stairs leading to the cabin.  “Paw prints.”

Joel pushed the rusty gate aside and walked in, tracing the large footsteps already there. Ellie followed behind him, careful to not leave any of her own. These were tricks no one else would teach her. Her world was one where soulless hunters were a bigger threat than the soulless undead. 

As they parted the torn curtains by the door and stepped in, the chirping of the finches was lulled by faint cackling music from a radio playing from somewhere inside.

Joel signalled to Ellie to stop and crept towards the room facing the lake to inspect the music. After half a minute of silence, loud high pitched barks began the chaos which was followed by thundering footsteps as Joel’s voice echoed through the cabin.

“Hands where I can see ‘em. And walk out slowly or I shoot.”

Ellie ran to Joel and peeked from behind him at the large room’s entrance. From inside, came a frail voice of an old man, seemingly in tears. 

“Please, I beg you. Don’t hurt her. Please don’t hurt my dog. I don’t have anything on me. Trust me.”

Joel and Ellie slowly walked into the room to find the old man sitting awkwardly with his hands up on a torn recliner. 

“Oh come on! look at him. He looks harmless.” said Ellie after a few moments of tension.

She walked up to the old pooch, backed into a corner in fear and put out her arm gently till the dog calmed down. 

“Hello Cupcake, who’s a good girl now. Yes you are!” 

Seeing the old man and Ellie giggling together, Joel let down his guard and lifted his hand from his gun-sleeve. He showed both his hands up for a moment to the old man to indicate he wanted no trouble. He then sat himself down near Ellie and looked around the room.

The huge glass doors of the living area let in the magnificent view of the lake into the room and the moist cold wind gave the cabin a pleasant, cosy feel. Creepers and vines had made their way into the cabin and made it their home. 

“Passing by?” Asked the old man. 

“Yeah we don’t want any trouble, we’ll both be on our way soon.”

“Your daughter.. Must be hard for you to raise her in such times. I feel bad for her. You know, a kid born into this world must have it tougher than we do.”

“She can take care of herself.” muttered Joel. As they both looked out to the lake, lost in absent thought.

“There’s some food for you in that backpack in the kitchen. You can take the whole backpack. I don’t think I’ll need any for later.”

“Well if you're offering!” said Ellie and she dashed into the kitchen without paying heed to Joel’s words telling her to stop at once. 

“Oh don’t worry I don’t have any bad intentions for you both. Look at me. I’m living on overdue time already. Let the girl eat.”

Ellie hurriedly walked back to the living room with the tiny bag and pulled out two large sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil and began devouring them.

“How did you-”

“The wheat is from my own farm, nothing to worry about. It isn’t gonna make you one of those wretched things.” said the old man. There was a very noticeable and burdened inflection in his voice when he uttered the last two words. 

Cupcake nibbled on the breadcrumbs that fell on the damp carpet near Ellie’s lap. For a moment, life seemed worth living. 

Suddenly, the old man burst into a shriek and grabbed his left foot in agony. He had covered that leg with a blanket till then but he could no longer conceal the blood that soaked and flowed down onto the floor. With great difficulty he mustered the words in a hoarse voice filled with painful cracks in his voice, “Take your Daughter.. Go! Leave!”

Alarmed, Joel walked cautiously up to the old man and lifted the blanket. A deep wound encircled the ankle forming an oval outline. The ridges of the wound resembled a bite mark with missing teeth along the outline.

“My wife, I… I had to..”  and the man collapsed onto Joel before he could back away. “I had to…”, he wept into Joel’s shirt. 

“Yes you did.” whispered Joel, although he was still not comfortable touching the man, who was soon going to become something… Something ‘wretched’. 

Joel’s reply seemed to comfort the man which stirred him to his senses. He looked at Ellie and contorted his face into somewhat of a smile.

He looked back up at Joel calmly and said, “Leave, now. Take whatever you want.” Joel signalled to Ellie with a click of his tongue to snap her mind back from a state of shock. She wiped the tears off her face and put on her backpack. She beckoned to the dog to come, but the old white cloud of fur didn’t leave the old man’s side and only let out a whimper. 

“She’s old.. And she’s made her choice.” 

Ellie began sobbing yet again and ran out of the cabin and sat herself down on the swing hanging by the fence, where an enormous tree sheltered the cabin. The leaves rustled and sighed with every gust of wind. All was silent. Outside, and in her heart. 

Before Joel could leave, the old man beckoned at him and asked with a smile, “What’s your name mister?”

“Uhh.. Thomas.” he lied.

“Do me one last favour Tom. I want you to open that drawer ahead and give me whatever is in it. You can trust me Tom.” Joel followed his instructions.

After a minute, Ellie and Joel found themselves tracing back the same path they took just an hour ago. Their steps were, however, slower. And heavier. They hiked up the valley and turned back to get a view of the lake one last time. 

From afar, a blurry figure limped towards the lakeside and a smaller companion followed his steps as they both sat at the edge of the lake. The old man embraced Cupcake as he looked out to the lake, his feet in the water. 

The man’s blurry figure seemed to reach out for something beside and immediately, Joel pulled Ellie by her backpack and embraced her so she could not see. He shut his eyes too. 

A gunshot resonated through the forest floor. The chirping stopped abruptly and almost immediately, a second bang echoed through the valley. All was quiet. There was no meadowlark’s song nor were there chirps of the Finches. 

Only the eternal hushed sighs of the leaves as the wind weaved through the lonely forest canopy.

~Klaus W.S