I Want To Be the Horse
A/N: This is a One-Shot for my 4 followers, and I thought it would be a nice break from "Where Do We Go from Here". I really think that I wouldn't go anywhere with my new writing hobby. And I will say that the creative juices for WDWGfH are running dry, so bear with me on that.
I Want To Be the Horse
Ellie walked cautiously into the general store. The shattered remains of the glass doors betrayed the signs of scavenging. Joel crouched in front of her, his eyes closed as he strained to listen for any hint of Infected. Finally, after a full three minutes of silence, he got up and gave her the "all clear". Feeling great to be doing something worthwhile, she energetically bounded across the sea of glass.
"Ellie, keep it down," Joel's voice was a hoarse whisper behind her. His beard was growing in length against the rising cold outside. Winter would soon be upon them, and gathering supplies will be harder. Ellie sighed in exasperation. She knows he means well, but the thought of finding something profitable in this dump gave her a grin of hope. Sauntering down the first few aisles of the store, she found nothing of worth. Eyeballing the empty rows of dust and debris, her happy mood diminished greatly. Finally, after searching the first three, her spirits returned to their normal I-don't-give-two-shits-about-what's-going-on contour.
Picking up the third empty can she had mistaken for full, she threw it across the store with a resounding thump. She stopped mid-stride. Listening intently over Joel's quiet rummaging over the counter; she stalked to where the can had landed. Finding it under a fallen shelf, she lifted it. It was quite light to lift, and there seemed to be stuff rolling around in it. Looking closer, it was a long box.
"Joel? What the hell is Monopoly?" Joel stopped, his heart pounding quickly in his chest. He remembered playing that game with Sarah in the summer. A faint smile touched his lips as he remembered his daughter pulling him to the table, and instructing him energetically about all the important aspects of the game. She had been 8 at the time, and they had spent the entire Saturday afternoon battling for Boardwalk. Other than perhaps being the longest game he had ever played, that was one of the more precious memories of Sarah.
"Joel? Joel!" Ellie was standing in front of him, concern burning in her eyes. "What. Is. M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y?" She was holding the long box so he could see the faded letters, and mustached man with the hat, opening his hand to all who dared play the time consuming game.
"Well, that thing's been 'round since a few years after I was born. The point of the game, was to either run everyone else dry of their money."
"So there's real fucking money in here?"
"No, It ain't like that. It's fake, only colored paper." He could see the disappointment flash across her face, but only for a moment.
"Can we play it?" Her face brightened up instantly as his head nodded slowly. "Fuck yeah!" She tore out of the store, looking for the cleanest house to sit in. Joel smiled to see her lightening up in the growing cold, and he knew that the closer they got to Eastern Colorado University, the closer they got to finishing what they started all those months ago. Grabbing the can of food he'd found before Ellie had questioned him, he followed her down the street.
"Whoa… this looks complicated." Ellie had opened the box, to reveal the dust covered and moldy pieces of the game. Taking out the money, and shuffling the crinkled paper in her hands, she could barely keep hold of her excitement. "C'mon, Joel, don't you remember how to play? I've never played a board game before!" She pulled out the board, and property cards, shuffling through those as well, she handed them to Joel in turn. After a brief amount of dealing, shuffling, and thinking, they had the game set up.
"Wait, what are these shiny pieces?" She held out the familiar hat, ship, thimble, car, wheelbarrow, dog, iron, shoe, cannon, and horse. Handing her the starting money, and picking the top hat for himself, he placed it on the "GO" square. Thinking to herself, and finally deciding, she exclaimed, "I want to be the Horse!" Putting the rearing horse carefully beside the hat, she grabbed the dice from the corner of the box.
"Okay, so who goes first?" Ellie's lack of knowledge about board games made him chuckle to himself.
"We roll for high, to see who goes first, taking the dice from her, and tossing them into the middle of the board, he rolled a 4.
"Wow, you really sucked at these games didn't you, Joel." Her amusement showed plainly on her face, as she picked the dice up and rolled an 11. "What now?" He could almost see her excitement ooze from her person as he explained the rules, gave examples, and finally got the game going. It was a relatively fun experience for Joel, and it only got better.
"3-4-5-6-7-8-9!" Joel chuckled to himself as Ellie landed on his Tennessee Avenue. "Um… 10. Yeah! Free Parking!"
"Now wait a minute! You can't do that! It's cheating!" Remembering Sarah trying to pull the same trick 24 years ago, he smiled.
"You never said I couldn't." Her smirk said it all, as she changed the 5 die, to a 6 just to challenge his shitty rules.
"Well, in that case…" He took all of the houses and hotels on the board, and pushed them all onto Tennessee Ave. and pulled her horse back to his property back. "Uh-Oh, looks like someone owes me $275,000."
"Bull shit!"
"Aww, come on. It's late, let's put this away. Get some sleep." Ellie yawned loudly, and fell backwards onto her backpack. Putting the game away, and curling up next to Joel, she fell asleep, knowing that she had Joel to protect her through the night.
"Hey Ellie?"
"What…"
"Did you check the basement for Infected?" She became vaguely aware of the quiet shuffling below her. Only audible whenever she put her ear to the floor, the 2 clickers somehow seemed oblivious to their presence.
"Shit."