The Last Of Us

Getting (un) Comfortable

Oscar's POV

I walk around the massive bunker, wondering why Charlie chose me to be one of the few people to restart humanity. He was just a regular at my dad's restaurant before it was closed down. Sure they were friends, but they weren't THAT close. Were they?

I explore my surroundings while the women help my people, my family settle in. The younger one comes up to me and smiles. Her perfect teeth and straight blond hair are very different from anyone in our neighborhood.

"Hey, Oscar. I'm Ashley. Do you know how to cook? My sister needs help preparing some food for everyone and I'm not very good at cooking. I burnt eggs two days ago." She looks at the ground with a chuckle.

"What am I cooking?" I ask with one raised eyebrow.

"I think she's making spaghetti. I'm not sure." Ashley answers.

"Alright, I'll head towards the kitchen." I say before turning and going in the opposite direction.

I take off the hoodie I'm wearing when I walk into the room labeled: cafeteria. It's really hot in here. I look around and notice the kitchen attached to it. As I walk in, I see the smoke from the meat being cooked too much.

"What are you trying to do, catch the place on fire?" I startle her when I speak.

"No, I just got lost in thought and zoned out for a second." She says, tucking her loose strand of hair behind her ear.

I chuckle to myself and grab the huge can of sauce. I look around and notice there's no pot with boiling water. So, I fill a pot with water, salt it, and put it on the stove. She's just fussing over the meat and glancing at me every few minutes. I find veggies in the fridge. Probably the last veggies we'll have for quite a while.

I grab a knife and a cutting board and start chopping some tomatoes and onion. As I'm chopping, I can feel her watching me silently.

I look up and when I do, an alarm goes off. Her walkie is lit up with noise.

"Amanda! Open the hatch! I've got people from the list!" A man on the walkie shouts.

"Shit." She says before running back to the front of the bunker.

I follow close behind her. She gets to the hatch and hears a snarl on the walkie. She grabs a shotgun from a locked panel and opens the hatch.

AMANDA'S POV

I watch his eyes go wide when I grab the shotgun. Too busy to unpack that, I turn, open the hatch, and shoot at the snarling being. I hit it between the eyes and usher the survivors in.

Among the survivors is my boyfriend. I never thought I'd see him again. After they're decontaminated, he hugs me so tightly, I feel a little suffocated. He's happy to see me, but am I happy to see him?

I realize Oscar is watching us and so does Lucas. This makes him jealous, so Lucas kisses me while making eye contact with Oscar. I watch Oscar's jaw twitch and he walks back to the kitchen.

"Uh, I'm guessing my dad told you about the bunker. Let me check the list and get everyone assigned to their rooms before I finish dinner with Oscar." I say while handing out grey outfits.

I check everyone off, one by one, except Lucas. He's not on the list.

"Jamie and Landon?"

"Right here."

"Okay. Violet?"

"Here, with the injured foot."

I have the old lady sit down.

"Not to be rude, but my dad has a reason for every person on this list. He didn't tell me what they were and you're a little old to regrow civilization. What was your profession?" She smiles.

"I worked in the lab with your dad. I'm his failsafe." She says with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Ah, okay. Where are Anthony and Leon?"

"I'm Leon. The man you killed was Anthony." He says with sadness.

"I'm sorry, but he wasn't Anthony anymore." I touch his shoulder, reassuringly.

He nods, "The woman he killed was Griselda. She was a cook at the high school."

"That's good to know. Thanks. It's sad that they're both gone, but now we're aware of who she was." I mark them off and then smile at the group and usher them in their rooms.

Lucas follows me to the cafeteria and sits down at a table, facing the kitchen. He watches Oscar and I cook through the serving window. He's making me nervous.

OSCAR'S POV

Her annoying boyfriend keeps watching me. I see how scared and timid she looks now that he's here, watching her every move. I've only known her for an hour and a half, but I know a battered woman when I see one. She almost burns her hand when she's playing some pasta because she can't look away from him.

I lean over and whisper, "You can't keep your eye on him at all times. You're gonna hurt yourself."

She subtly shifts her weight to be closer to me. I think it makes her feel safe. So, I lean a little more towards her. His eyebrows raise and he comes to the kitchen window.

"Why are you standing so close together?" Her eyes go wide and I watch her hands shake.

"'Cause we can." I snark back.

"No, she's mine. She can't be that close to you." He glares at her and she moved away from me.

I watch her scoot away and she just looks down at what she's doing and continues.

"Why don't you do something useful and go tell everyone dinner's done?" I say to her boyfriend.

"Fine. But, no funny business." He glares at her.

She takes a breath of relief and we finish our task. We sit down at separate tables to eat. My family is laughing and enjoying the meal. The whole time, I can't take my eyes off of her.