PROLOGUE.
it's you and me against the world

( tw! contains mentions of abuse )

THEN.

THE SOUND of clicking haunted the woman's ears.

     Through the shallow darkness, Vienna Windsor remained crouched behind a tall countertop. The familiar smell of wet, rotten wood flooded her nostrils, beads of sweat dripping down her face while her frightened gaze pierced through the shadows of the night like a knife. Vienna clutched her sharp blade close to her chest, wrapping her hand firm and tight around the handle, her touch laced with sin. Lastly, the woman took control of her erratic breathing, lowering her heavy breaths into much more slow and content ones to reduce the risk of being discovered by the infected, the fear of being caught weighing heavy in the back of her mind.

     However, Vienna wasn't scared for herself, and she sure as hell wasn't scared for her husband's safety. It was him. Her son. That's who she was frightened for. The thought of a pack of clickers tearing into his flesh and bone, and the sounds of his tortured screams was enough to ignite a kind of fear in Vienna that she had never felt before. The four years since she first brought her son into the world under the most gruesome circumstances, he had always been her first priority. A life without him wasn't one she ever wanted to live. That was why they had to make it out of this alive.

Vienna guided her family past the counter and slowly across the dark room, passing the pack of clickers before she hid behind a turned over piece of furniture, her son huddling close behind her before her husband joined them soon after. The clicking sound in the room continued. This caused for Vienna to slowly but calmly lift her head up to peak over the table only to see the pack of clickers crowding around each other, moving abnormally and stumbling over their own feet. Vienna felt a harrowing chill run up her spine before she lowered herself behind the table once again, hiding from the monsters casted away in the darkness.

     The woman turned around to look back at her son, Ezra, and husband, Jack, lifting her pointer finger to her lips, ushering them to remain quiet. Vienna then turned around and reached out her other hand, curling her fingers around the glass bottle as she picked it up, grasping it tightly for a moment before she threw it into the direction they had just come from. When Vienna heard the glass shatter, followed by the screeches and clicking from the infected, she poked her head up again to see them rushing into the opposite direction. This caused for the woman to move forward stealthily through the darkness, treading carefully over the turmoil.

She lifted her gaze to see the open door in the distance. It was close, but not in their reach just yet. Just a little further, Vienna told herself, wanting nothing more than to be free from the shackles of the fear that the infected imposed on them.

Vienna continued to lead her family through the dark room, slowly standing up and stepping closer towards the exit, treading carefully with each step she took. She casted her gaze on the exit in the distance, a burning ember of hope igniting in her chest once again, knowing that within a few seconds they would be safe and sound, and could continue to live another day.

     But, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of a bottle rolling across the tiled flooring, causing for Vienna to wince before she turned around to see her husband was responsible for the sudden piercing noise. Silence flooded the thick, warm Texas air. Nothing could be heard. Not a single breath, nor the calm clicking of the infected. Vienna turned around to face her husband, her eyes widening when she looked over his shoulder to see the clickers getting closer, their screeches beginning to become more prominent to her ears.

     "Run!" Vienna yelled, latching onto her son's hand with her own, lacing their fingers together tightly before they began to run into the opposite direction.

     Vienna felt her blood pumping harshly through her veins, adrenaline piercing into her body like knives, her survivalist instincts beginning to kick in. Vienna looked over her shoulder to see Jack was further behind them, the pack of cannibalistic creatures hot on his heels, reaching out their claws to latch onto him. Due to the injury he had suffered a few days ago, he wasn't able to catch up. This caused for Vienna to hold tightly onto her son's hand, scared of what would happen if she let him go. He couldn't slip away from her and into the depths of a brutal death. She wouldn't allow it, meaning she would have to make a sacrifice in order to slow down the infected.

The woman stopped in her tracks and turned around to face her son, panic burning bright in her eyes. "Ezra, I want you to run towards that door and wait for me, okay?" She told me. "No matter what happens, you don't turn around and come back for me or your dad. You protect yourself first. Is that understood?" She instructed, her words earning a swift nod from the boy.

     Once Ezra was gone, the young boy running towards the exit, Vienna turned back around to face her husband, watching while he struggled to get away from the infected. The woman clenched her jaw, inhaling a sharp breath before she raised the knife in her hand and threw it down the hall, the blade stabbing into his leg, knocking the man down, bringing him to his knees while he cried out in pain and wretched agony. Vienna released a shaky breath, tears forming in the corners of her eyes while she watched the man struggle to get back onto his feet.

Vienna was quick to turn her back on her husband before she ran towards the door, reaching her son and hiding him behind her while she looked out to see the clickers were close. He would be dead soon, and they would be safe, and not just from the infected. From him too. A small part of Vienna urged her to save him, to allow their family to prosper in an ugly world. So she wouldn't remember herself as the woman who murdered her husband in cold blood. She wanted to be good, but then she remembered all the reasons why she was no longer that person anymore.

She remembered every time Jack yelled at her, words of cruelty laced with poison belittling her time and time again. She winced at the memories of each time he pushed her, kicked her, and even hit her. She remembered each time she was rushed to the hospital for broken bones, and each time the doctor asked her if she needed help, she reassured them she had it handled. Or each time she had to stay over at a friend's house because she was too afraid of what horrors she would face if she decided to come home. Although the physicals scars seemed to heal, the emotional ones were left untreated, and the longer she remained at his side, the more painful it slowly became, like rubbing salt into a open wound.

     And that was when she had come to a decision that would seal the man's fate.

     "Vienna!" Jack shouted, his booming voice echoing harshly against the walls, bringing back a thousand bad memories. "Help me!" He pleaded with the woman, pushing himself back onto his weakened legs. "Please, you can't just leave me!"

     Swallowing the thick lump lodged in the back of her throat, Vienna hardened her stare and parted her lips to speak. "It's already done." She told him.

     The last thing Vienna heard before she closed the door was Jack's voice calling out for her, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach while she turned around and dropped to the floor, resting her back against the closed door behind her. Vienna released a shaky breath past her lips, lifting her gaze to see Ezra staring back at her with tears in his eyes. This caused for Vienna's eyes to soften, the woman reaching out for the boy, but he was quick to cower away from her, almost like he was frightened of her.

     "Ezra..." Vienna paused, sucking in another sharp and harrowing breath. "It's okay."

     "You..." Ezra's fragile voice broke through the deafening silence. "You let him die." He accused.

     "Yes, I did." Vienna nodded before she reached out for her son's hand, bringing him closer to her. "But I did it to protect us both. We're a lot more safe without him here." She elaborated further, hoping he would understand.

     However, tears began to roll down Ezra's pale cheeks, his bottom lip quivering in the process. Vienna let out a sad sigh and rolled back her shoulders. "Hey, remember what we always say to each other, just you and me. Do you remember?" She spoke up, wiping away his tears with her thumb.

     "It's you. It's me..." Ezra paused, sniffling while he did his best to hold back his tears and remain strong in the eyes of his mom. "That's all we ever need."

     A small smile ghosted across Vienna's lips, the woman nodding her head. "That's right. It's you and me against the world, Ezra. Nothing will ever come between us. I promise." That was the last thing she said to her son before she pulled him into her warm embrace.

But little did Vienna Windsor know, tonight was only the beginning of the end.

━━━━━━━━

authors note.
Words can't describe how excited I am to write this story. I wanted to try and start off strong so hopefully I've done it justice. There's also going to be a lot of back and forth in this story hence the then at the beginning so you guys will know what parts are past and present. And I won't be updating again until next month when the tlou series starts airing as I'm going to be following the show and not the game since it's easier to write for a series than a game let's be for real here.

Until then let's celebrate Jack Lawson being dead. . . or is he 👀

But I hope you guys enjoyed the prologue and I'll update again soon!!