The Last of Us Part II

* REVEAL TRAILER *

My knees go weak, causing my body to collapse on the tattered mattress behind me. Oxygen runs in and out of the lungs like I just run a marathon. My mind is frantic, my hands shaking and quaking with adrenaline. I hold out my hand in front of me and my bony fingers uncontrollably tremble. The veins in my arm make small hills on the black-ink moth trapped within my skin as I make a fist as tight as I can. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and picture a better world. The world I picture is a lot more beautiful in my mind. I see myself happy and free. I see myself living the life I want to live. I see myself not dreading my next breath before it begins.

I open my eyes once again to the same worthless place I was five seconds ago.

The bones of my palm spread wide as the shaking has almost completely ceased. A breath of pure relief releases itself from my lungs as I adjust my grip on the wooden instrument on my lap. My fingers brush against it as I regain the familiarity of its smooth texture. An inhale is taken deep into the crevasses of my lungs as my thumb softly brushes over all of the strings, making somehow an off-tune melody. My eyebrows furrow together as I strum it again to find that the A string is lower in tone than it should be. My hand lazily trails up the tan neck and over to the appropriate tuning peg. I turn it counterclockwise just a little.

That should be good.

I adjust my fingers so they're on the appropriate starting chord while my stroking thumb rests on the E string. I begin playing a familiar song that I was taught years ago. I know I can play this with my eyes closed.

"I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

And I fear no evil 'cause I'm blind to it all.

And my mind, my gun... they comfort me.

'cause I know I'll kill my enemies when they come...

A single drop of dark crimson trickles down over my eyelid and continues to trail down my cheekbone.

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me,

all the days of my life.

And I will dwell on this Earth forevermore.

Said I walk beside these still waters and they restore my soul.

But I can't walk on the path of the right because I'm wrong...

Out of my peripheral, I see an exhausted Joel slouch in the doorway but he remains silent. He has the same old revolver in his hand.

"No, I can't walk on the path of the right

because I'm...

wrong."

My gaze continues to remain fixated on the guitar, observing all the scars and crevasses. I look at the window through a single draping strand of my auburn hair. The sweet honey color of the wood absorbs the pale light coming in from it.

"What're you doing, kiddo?" Joel speaks lowly, straight from the throat. I can see him gazing at the bloody body just a few feet in front of me. He must've seen the others. I sigh deeply and close my eyes. I shake my head as he continues, "You're really gonna go through with this?"

I set the guitar carefully on the ground beside the bed. I continue to stare off into the other direction as I find my voice to speak.

"I'm gonna find...

and I'm gonna kill...

every last one of them."