As much as it pained her to admit it, Ellie was "officially" a woman. Honestly, though, she was always a woman. When Ellie's opportunity for innocence, a childhood, a family life was stripped from her, THAT'S when she truly became a "woman." That's when she decided that she was going to be her own guardian and take care of herself. And not in the "pay-the-bills" or "I'll-grab-the-kids-you-buy-groceries" type of guardian. She was going to look out for herself when no-one else could. She decided this many years before she met Joel or even had to go through the obnoxious cycle of menstruation.
So it happened last night. She awoke in her bed, her abdomen aching like the fading remnant of a stab wound. The warm wetness of a liquid seeped through her shorts, causing her to panic. Pain, blood... Oh, my God. Did someone stab me? Ellie struggled to maintain her composure. Her anxiety spiked, and her hands scoured every inch of her body in search of the bleeding's source. She was about to lose it when...
... Suddenly, a thought struck her like a lightning bolt and she almost smacked herself.
She shifted upright, turning on the bedside lamp. She compressed her thighs together, each leg hugging the other, as she waddled to the door that led out her room. Her neck craned left and right, keeping watch for anyone who might pass her by. When she deemed the coast clear, she exited the doorway and headed left down the hallway.
Tommy's Town consisted of townhouses, apartments, and a few slightly habitable houses. Everyone who worked at the power facility and guarded the town slept in this one level townhouse. Strewn along the hallway were three other doors on each side. She heard a few voices coming from one of the rooms that dotted the hallway, most likely Tommy and his boys up late with a game of cards. In his town, he always managed to pass time somehow, and nighttime didn't hinder that practice.
She reached the door, and knocked a couple times just to make sure no-one was in it. With a heavy sigh, she entered, and plopped herself down on the toilet, her head in her hands and her elbows on her thighs.
Why now? Why couldn't it be during the morning so I could get some proper fucking sleep?
Ellie used the toilet paper sparingly because A) she lived in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where toilet paper was a rare luxury and B) everyone would be pissed off if she clogged the toilet with copious amounts of wasted toilet paper and C) everyone would also be pissed off if she used up the last roll.
After cleaning herself off thoroughly, she scavenged through the room in search of any sanitary products. Maria had mentioned once that they kept a few tampons in each bathroom, but Ellie was at a loss and unable to find anything. She groaned, her face growing hotter by the second. Not only did she ruin her favourite pair of sleeping shorts, but she also had to spend the night using toilet paper in place of a pad.
Resigned and too tired to continue looking, she washed and hung up her shorts and sat on the toilet until they were at least semi-dry. That took a good hour, she found. Luckily no-one came to the restroom to bother her while she waited. With her pants uncomfortably damp and her night officially ruined, she stuffed toilet paper down her pants and absconded to her room.
This is just fucking perfect, she said, inwardly sighing. Now I have to tell Joel.
"Hey, Ellie," came that deep, familiar voice.
The teen stirred in her wake, her lower regions feeling sticky. She heaved a sigh, displeased that the first thing she had to wake up to was Mother Nature's gift. It took great effort to lift her heavy lids, and her eyes fixed onto Joel's figure at the doorway.
"Good; you're awake." He stepped in, unlinking his just-crossed arms. "Tommy needs you on the morning shift down by the river."
With a nod in response, Ellie sat up on the edge of her bed, her hair a mop of tangles. She rubbed her eyes, her head hanging over her lower half. Joel seemed to notice her lack of energy. It may have been a morning, but Ellie wasn't very slow at that time of day.
"Is everything all right?" he asked, his face's usual sterness masked with an opaque concern.
She nodded. She always dreaded this conversation, but she knew it had to come. "I..." she tried to begin, but words failed to spring into her mind at that moment. "I'm bleeding. Perioding. Fuck, I don't know how to put it." She looked up at him, and could see as his face contorted into one of genuine terror. Oh how he's dreaded this day, she mused. Just like I did.
"Oh, I- uh..." Joel never tripped over words like this, it was a hilarious sight for her. "All right. I'll talk to Maria and the others, then. The other women, I mean. I can... I can ask about what to get you." His southern drawl seemed to thicken whenever he was nervous, which was pretty uncommon.
Ellie nodded thanks, and went back to holding her aching head in her hands. As if bleeding out of her hoo-ha wasn't enough, she also had to be burdened with constant headaches and cramps.
She groaned again, this time being much more audible.
Joel shifted uncomfortably. He hated seeing her in pain, but this time there wasn't anything he could do to help. And honestly, he didn't want to be involved in this aspect of her life. He'll leave it to the others. He tapped the doorway, catching Ellie's attention.
"Do you wanna skip today's shift? I can tell Tommy you're not feeling your best."
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Tell Maria to get me something to fucking stop this bleeding and I'll go do my duties."
He left a second later, and Ellie fell back into her bed, her face blood-red.
Nothing was scarier than telling that man that she was officially a woman, becauseapparentlymenstruationconstituteswomanhood.
She scoffed at that notion.
After a few minutes wasted staring at the ceiling and thinking about food, she got up and went to the bathroom for round 2 of Ellie vs. Mother Nature.
The day went by rather smoothly after Joel got her what she needed. He gave her a box of tampons while astonishingly managing to not look at her once during the trade. She didn't blame him, though. Menstruation creeped her out and she thought it was disgusting. She only wished Joel didn't have to get pulled into this whole ordeal.
An hour later and she was clean, covered, and ready to guard the river bank that skirted along the southern border of Tommy's Town.
Usually this was a quiet patrol, as Joel would never allow Tommy to put Ellie in a dangerous area. However, today Ellie noticed some clicker activity beyond the river and in the forest across it. There was a small pack, maybe 6 or 7, and they seemed to be heading for the river. Ellie noticed that infected don't eat or drink, with the exception of their prey, so why they were coming her way baffled her.
Tommy instructed her to call in for help if she saw more than 4 runners or 2 clickers or one bloater. That was the rule: More than 4 runners, or 2 clickers, or one bloater and you were required to get help. However, Ellie was confident that she could handle these guys. They were distracted by the sound of the rushing water, giving her a great advantage over them. She produced a bow from her backpack's holster, and drew an arrow back, aiming at the nearest clicker. Inhaling, she steadied her aim, and released the arrow. It cut through the air, sliding straight through the clicker's gaping mouth, killing it instantly.
6 more left.
She repeated the process, a couple of the others taking two or more arrows, but most only needing the one. She was left with 2 high-alert clickers. One ventured into the river, slowing itself down and giving Ellie the opportunity to take it out before it could reach her. The last clicker was using its echolocation abilities to maneuver around the river, jumping on stones and logs until it was able to flank Ellie while she was unaware.
She didn't realise that it was there beside her until she heard its heavy steps. She turned and the moment she saw it it attacked. Her arm was pushing back at its throat while she grabbed a shiv from her bag. It managed to take a small scrape of flesh from her neck before she could lodge the shiv where its eye socket would be if it still had eyes. It released a deafening screech, unfortunately alerting a few nearby stragglers of infected.
While it was recoiling in pain, Ellie scrambled to her feet and leaped onto the clicker's back, shoving the small blade into its neck multiple times until it fell dead.
When she got back up, the young brunette noticed as three runners emerged from the forest, as well as a clicker and a...
Oh fuck...
She knelt down, shuffling through her bag as she tried to locate her walkie talkie. She flipped it on, gasping for air and grasping her neck as the blood continued to pour from it.
"I've got..." she panted, "... three runners..." Another pant. "... one clicker, and a bloater." She paused to catch her breath, but she didn't allow herself to pause for long as the runners were making their way to the river already. "I'm at the southern patrol, by the river, send help..."
She released the device, and let her hand fall to her side. She spent the next few seconds catching her breath, her eyes frantically scoping the runners cutting through the river. Her heart was sinking. The last time she was this afraid was when David was chasing her through the bar last winter.
She exhaled, her jagged breath catching in her throat. With her free hand grabbing for another shiv, she shakily rose up. Blood coursed along down the length of her forearm, but still she held onto her neck. For one extra moment, she closed her eyes again, and tried to relax.
If only I would've taken Joel's offer and avoided this patrol...
Joel's mind had been on Ellie for the entire day. Rather, her "womanhood" being acheived. It was impossible to scrape that idea from his mind. Knowing that she now was officially branded a matured female bothered him to no end. He was always used to her cussing and fighting with the vigor of ten adults, yet here she is: Ellie the Woman.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, his head lowered over the full tray of food below him. With Richard and Tommy at one side and Lily adjacent to him, Joel was in the middle of a social triangle.
"Right, so, that's what I told'er." Richard, a friend of Tommy's, was talking with his mouth full of corn. Joel grimaced at the sound of words slurred by the mashing of unswallowed food. "But still, she insisted I take care of the cattle."
"Bad move," Lily commented, a laugh hiding beneath her words. Richard shot her a sharp glance, the corner of his mouth quirking into an involuntary smile.
"Yeah. I know, I know. Animals hate me." He laughed into his cup of water, putting it down and wiping his upper lip with the back of his hand. "So, there I was, stuck with a herd of fifteen cattle, and-"
Joel suddenly stood. Richard was stopped in his tracks, staring up at the older man. Tommy and Lily joined in. Rubbing the back of his neck, Joel said, "I can't keep listening. Too much on my mind." Before they could say anything, Joel up and left.
He headed from the cafeteria to the stable, desperate for some air and a break from pointless conversation. Halfway there, he was stopped by one of the younger men in the town, Dylan.
"Joel, it's Ellie," Dylan could barely say.
"What's happened?" Dylan shrank under Joel's intense gaze.
"There's been an infected attack. We've already sent some men after her, but we don't-"
"Where is she?" Joel asked, the muscles in his jaw tensing.
"T-the southern patrol. N-near the river."
Joel pushed past him, racing to Ellie's station.
Damn it, Ellie. You're always getting into trouble.
With one runner on her and another two in queue, Ellie was well-fucked. Her shiv broke on the first runner, and obviously it wasn't dead yet. The river was keeping the bloater at bay, but that didn't stop it from tossing its spore bombs her way. Each time one landed she was forced to kick the runners off of her and roll at least ten feet away. It was tiring to an already exhausted girl.
She wasn't going to make it, she knew it. Out of ammo and unarmed. Nothing was looking good at this point. And knowing that this patrol was rather far from the others meant that help wouldn't arrive soon enough. Ellie was saying her silent goodbyes, tears stinging in her reddened eyes.
The runner atop her was screeching, thrashing, and chomping at her. She evaded each blow, only to be attacked by the next runner beside her. Another spore ball hit them, and she struggled free from the onslaught, only to be tackled again. She kicked and kicked, managing to knock out one of the three vermin. With this victory came a loss, for only a second later she felt two rows of teeth sink into the flesh of her ankle. She let out a shrill cry, staggering the runner pinning her.
This is it. I'm screwed. I won't be able to see Joel again. Fuck...fuck...Fuck-
She heard a blast, then a gurgle. Another blast, and the weight on top of her was gone. Her eyes fixed onto the source of the blasts, and she saw a man. This face was new to her, probably new to town. He wore weathered features, his eyes sunken in and the irises a dull green. His hair fell to mid-neck in greasy, dark waves. He had scruff like Joel, and his eyes held almost the same sadness. She watched in awe as he took out the bloater in only half a minute. It took Joel and her almost 4 if they worked together.
With all the infected down, he turned and faced her, his gun sheathed behind him. Taking two strides, he walked to her side and knelt down. His eyes studied her. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice deep and smokey. She nodded. He stole a glance at the bite mark on her ankle. Instantly his hand went for the pistol at his waist. "You're infected."
"No! No, I'm not!" she explained hurriedly, attempting to get up. "F-fuck!" She cringed, teeth grinding against teeth. Her wounds hurt like hell. "I'm not," she said again, looking up. They locked eyes for a few moments. It was terrifying for Ellie; he could kill her right now if he wanted to.
"I can take care of that," he offered, pointing to her still-bleeding neck.
Her brows lifted in surprise, but she didn't turn down the offer.
He pulled the bag from his back and onto his lap, searching through it for a moment before retrieving some gauze. He unraveled the spool and wrapped it tightly around her neck, but gently enough to not pain her. She jerked a few times, the gauze hitting her wound the wrong way. It only took a few seconds before her neck was covered. He moved south to work on her bite wound.
While he was fixing her up, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you believe me when I say I'm not infected?"
"No."
"Then why are you wasting your time and supplies on me if you think I'm going to die anyway?"
He only shrugged. "I don' want you to suffer for your final moments, I suppose."
She stiffened. That response took her completely off-guard.
When he was all done, he stood and slung the backpack over his shoulder. He turned to face the facility behind them. A group of three men came running toward them. When they arrived, they stood dumbfounded at the sight before them.
One of the men ran to Ellie, kneeling down at her side.
"Joel, I'm fine," she told him before he could say anything.
"No you aren't; you're covered in blood."
She groaned. "Ugh, c'mon man. I'm fine! Look at me! I'm fucking fine!" She gestured at her body. "Maybe a li'l bruised and battered, but I'm fine. Let's just fucking get away from here."
Joel shook his head, his brows knitting. It took him a second to acknowledge the stranger that was with Ellie. "Who are you?" he asked, nonchalant but cautious.
"Alexander," responded the other male. "Your girl here got bit twice."
"Did you do all of this?" asked one of the other two men standing there.
Alexander shook his head. "When I came, there were already 7 dead clickers and one knocked-out runner."
"Damn right, too!" Ellie interjected. "I did that. Joel, look at this shit. I fought off 7 clickers on my own." Joel offered her a half-smile, but it lasted only a short moment. He then turned back to Alexander.
"What are you doing here?" asked Joel.
Alexander bit the inside of his cheek. "I'm outrunnin' the virus. I have a small base not far North of here, but I was runnin' low on food." His gaze traveled to the town that belonged to Tommy. "I'm assuming you've got a few dozen families here."
"You're assumin' right," replied Joel.
Alexander admired the town for a few more seconds before bowing his head and exhaling. He turned to Ellie, and smiled. "It's nice meetin' you. You can truly hold your own." He nodded to the others and turned, walking opposite the way he came.
"Did he save you?" Joel asked Ellie, his eyes pointing to the departing man.
"Yeah. I was pinned and about to die, but then he came out of nowhere," she explained. Joel pursed his lips, letting out a low sigh. He looked over his shoulder to see that Alexander wasn't far off. Joel arose and paced toward him. He called out his name. When Alexander turned around, Joel caught up to him.
"You saved one of our own," Joel said. "You deserve something in return."
"All I want is food."
"Then we'll get you food."