Harvest of Souls
The month of September flew by so quickly for Ellie. She began attending educational tutoring term that was taught by an old college professor who had taught science and algebra. The other kids were all younger than her. The only kid closest to her age was a thirteen year old boy who appeared much younger and always reserved and timid. Three other boys were between eleven and twelve, and the only other girl was a ten year old who too was quiet and reserved like her brother.
Ellie's subjects mainly focused on biology, math, and some astronomy because the schooling was not an all subject inclusive education. Their lessons lasted no more than five hours with a thirty minute lunch.
The thirteen year old boy was a small blond haired kid with aqua looking blue eyes. Ellie was actually bigger than he was, but made up for it with a bright mind and would join Ellie when they would do their math lessons. Due to all the harvesting, they only had lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Some of the other adults in the compound argued whether now an education was even worth having. Joel leaned more on the practical side that maybe some basic educational skills were necessary, but trade skills were more important for survival. Tommy fell into the same bracket with Joel, but Maria saw the value in having knowledge in other areas. This was debatable among community members.
Ellie really enjoyed biology and astronomy immensely and would surprise Joel with new things she would learn each lesson. Math came easy for Ellie, and sometimes she would assist Luke while Mr. Goldsmith was busy teaching the younger kids. At times, the school thing really tried her nerves because she could see certain scenarios playing out just as it did when she lived in the quarantine zone. She hated bullies.
Luke would get picked on by one especially taller and a bit overweight boy who constantly wanted to eat and never seemed to pay attention. He was just a bit taller than Ellie and had brown unkempt hair with hazel eyes and freckles on his fat cheeks. He always had something witty to say and loved to intimidate. The other three boys seemed to follow him to be with the 'cool crowd' which Ellie could not respect.
It was Saturday near the end of the month in September and Ellie had just returned back home from her and Maria grooming the horses which was an all-day task. Joel hadn't arrived home yet, so she decided she would sit down and read some of her favorite comics Joel had so thoughtfully collected for her. She really appreciated how the heroes seemed to have almost parallel lives to her and Joel only without the super powers. The stories were always fascinating and full of suspense and excitement.
Ellie decided to go out for a walk and suddenly caught the fat kid and his followers down by the west side of the dam cornering Luke.
"Where you going? You're not afraid are you?" Dusty the fat boy mocked.
"…but we're really not supposed to be here" Luke reasoned.
"So what?! Adults don't know shit! You want to be part of us or not!?" Dusty taunted.
"I mean I do but…" Luke whimpered.
"No buts! You either go down in and tag the grate down the west side of the damn or we'll beat you up every day at the end of each school lesson!" Dusty threatened.
Ellie saw what was happening and her face lit bright red. She darted toward the group as Dusty gave Luke a shove as he stood in front of the opening grate. The other three boys saw Ellie and immediately backed away seeing her anger before. Ellie grabbed Dusty by the jacked and with both hands and all her strength slung him off Luke.
"Ow you crazy bitch!" Dusty shouted as he caught himself to keep from falling.
"You watch who you call bitch!" Ellie shook her fist in his fat face.
"Please don't beat us up Ellie" one boy pleaded.
"I get so sick and tired of all of you picking on Luke! Just because someone is weaker than you doesn't give you the right to boss them around!" Ellie scolded angrily.
"What do you think YOU'RE doing!?" Dusty said accusingly.
"Keeping a spoiled fat-so like you in line, we have to live together in this compound. There will be NO bullying!" Ellie threw both her hands out.
"Just because Joel's your dad you think you're the princess of this encampment!" Dusty went on the offensive.
"Sounds like you're just mad because you got de-throned" Ellie pointed out.
"You're just a girl, you don't understand anything what it's like to be a man!" Dusty went on.
"A man!?" Ellie laughed. "Did you just say a man!? Please, don't make me laugh!" Ellie was amused.
The other three boys and Luke just watch Dusty and Ellie go back and forth which wasn't the first time.
"You listen here dipshit! I've killed grown mad men, clickers, and even bloaters to survive, being a man means nothing in my book!" Ellie replied forcefully.
"Yea I've heard my pop talk about yours and about some of the stories he's told over the campfire, I don't believe half of them" Dusty rolled his eyes.
"Fine I'll go down the west drain of the damned dam if it will shut your trap" Ellie yelled right in Dusty's face.
Ellie opened her satchel and took out a flashlight and had her switchblade handy.
"Ellie?" a timid voice spoke up at last.
"What!?" Ellie answered loudly and annoyed.
"I-I'm sorry…I just wanted to know if I could go with you?" Luke volunteered.
"The baby has to go with a girl! Hehehehe!" Dusty laughed getting the other boys to laugh with him.
"The west side was cleared out a long time ago you big dumbass, us going there and back will be no problem!" Ellie told him.
"Fine! Then go! Don't let us hold you back tough girl!" Dusty laughed.
Ellie had an urge to just punch him one good time in the face. She didn't need any weapons to put him in his place. On the other hand, Ellie wasn't scared because Tommy, Joel, and Maria personally cleared the west side of the damn when they first arrived, but closed it off for other various reasons. The engineers hadn't been tinkering in there for well over a month which was curious, and even when they did work it was only during a few hours during the day. Tommy's haunting comment made it that much more interesting. Ellie really didn't want Luke going with her just in case there may be some spores or a straggling clicker even though Ellie was quite sure there wasn't. Ellie was about to go prowling down there but suddenly a worker with a yellow safety hat on happened to be passing by and noticed the kids hanging out by the grate.
"What are you kids doing playing around there!? You all know it aint safe! Get away from there!" he shouted from on top of the dam coming down.
Instantly Dusty and his minions took off running and Ellie and Luke dashed quickly the other way.
"I guess Dusty is right, I'm just a wimp" Luke followed Ellie with his head hung down.
"Wimp or not, he has no right pushing you around" Ellie replied.
"He's really afraid of you though" Luke laughed.
"He should be" Ellie smiled.
"I hope I can be tough like you one day" Luke said hopefully.
"You're going have to man up a little then buddy" Ellie said easily.
"I know, that's what dad always tells me" Luke hung his head back down sighing.
Luke was wearing a beige sweater and a pair of jeans with an old pair of sneakers. He had a windswept style his hair always seemed to naturally go in.
"Well, you do what you feel is good, but always have survival skills. Don't worry, if your dad won't teach you, I will" Ellie promised.
"Really?" Luke looked up with a bit of light in his eyes.
"Hell yea! I'll teach you how to shoot a bow, that's important for hunting and all" Ellie replied.
"That sounds cool, I have a couple of slingshots I made that can shoot a stone almost forty yards from what I measured" Luke shared.
"Really? You made your own slingshot?" Ellie was a bit surprised.
"Well since my dad does a lot of wood crafting I figured I would have to be able to do it some" Luke shrugged.
"Well cool you can show it to me sometime later this week then. Listen it's getting late, you should probably be getting home" Ellie said as they returned to the main square of the compound.
"Ok…but what about the west…" Luke started to ask.
"Shhh…. Keep quiet about that, we'll talk more about that later ok?" Ellie put a finger over her lips.
"Gotcha!" Luke nodded and bolted across back to his home.
Ellie took her time getting back to the house thinking about what she was going to do about helping Luke. When she entered her home Joel was waiting patiently for her resting on the couch. She looked up near where they had a sink and a fair sized not quite ripe pumpkin sat on the counter. It had a crude face carved into it already. Ellie nodded acknowledging Joel's little bit of artistic skills he had.
"You getting' hungry?" Joel asked slowly sitting up.
"Yea, it's been a long day…nice jack lantern!" Ellie complimented.
"Thanks…we'll go over to Tommy and Maria's in a few minutes" Joel yawned.
Ellie sat her knapsack in her corner and sat down in the chair next to the couch.
"What you got on your mind?" Joel asked reading her.
"I just feel bad for Luke" Ellie came out and said it.
"Oh you mean Dale's boy?" Joel stretched.
"Yea…fat boy just doesn't let up" Ellie nodded.
"Yea, he's a pretty boy and life a bit harder for boys like him" Joel nodded.
"Well I'm going to help him out some" Ellie announced.
"Now don't get yourself too wrapped up in kids' affairs Ellie" Joel warned.
"Joel, I am a kid" Ellie pointed out.
"Yea, but you're 15, and he's only 13 and hasn't seen nearly half of what you've seen" Joel explained.
"How do you know?" Ellie asked eagerly.
"Cause I spoke to Dale and about him his boy and girl, they were from Kansas City and apparently they were already out of the city when shit went bad" Joel continued.
"What about their mom?" Ellie asked.
"Don't know, they were already divorced according to Dale" Joel said putting on his boots.
"Oh…" Ellie sat thoughtfully.
"Listen Ellie, I know you mean well, but it's best not to get too attached to anyone outside the family" Joel suggested after he finished tying his other shoe.
"Why? You think things could go that wrong around here?" Ellie asked seriously.
"Well we've both seen all kinds of stuff go down…look, I'm not telling you who and who you can't be friends with, all I'm saying is protect yourself" Joel treaded easily.
"I understand, but we can't live life under a shell Joel" Ellie disagreed.
"Fine…let's just go get some grub, I'm starving!" Joel said changing the subject.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Dinner time over at Tommy and Maria's was about the same as ever. Vegetable stew from earlier only with some sliced apples that they had collected from the apple tree they had growing next to their living quarters. Apple trees were ubiquitous around the compound and some people had peach and cherry trees growing as well. Once most of the fruit was collected was canned for later use or made into tasty jam.
They sat at the table again Tommy telling Joel more about how they were able to get more power going around the compound. Maria sat quietly enjoying her stew and drinking some hot tea. Ellie finally decided to ask what's really been on her mind since last her and Maria spoke.
"Joel, Tommy, why is the west side of the damn closed down?" Ellie came right out with it.
"One of the workers told me he saw a mess of kids hanging out around the west grate" Tommy said looking at Ellie ignoring her question.
"Did he see who there were?" Joel asked curiously.
"Well he definitely saw George's fat boy running around like a hog with the other three hoodlums" Tommy mentioned.
"I swear that fat boy thinks he owns this place since his daddy's an engineer" Joel rubbed his forehead.
"He also said…" Tommy started when Ellie quietly made eye contact with Tommy shaking her head rapidly.
"He also said what?" Joel asked looking Tommy in the eye.
"Oh…it aint important" Tommy said stuffing his face with more vegetable stew.
"Is anyone going to answer my question?" Ellie spoke up again.
"Well…" Tommy said getting a glare from Maria.
"Some people, made up a game back in the day we used to call Ouija board and decided late one evening to go in the upper west side of the damn and play it" Tommy started.
"Tommy, I'd rather you not talk about such things" Maria simply requested.
"Sounds like a pretty cool game, but why not just play it at home?" Ellie asked.
"I can't tell ya anymore, don't wanna make Maria mad" Tommy looked at her.
"Ah come on Maria, what was it?" Ellie pressed.
"I told you Ellie, some things should never be messed with, and that's one of them" Maria emphasized.
"I don't understand, if it's only a game, then what's the harm?" Ellie still couldn't comprehend the tension all the sudden.
"It's not a game, that's why! Can we talk about something else?" Maria politely asked.
"No, I'm old enough to know about a silly board that's a game or not" Ellie wasn't going to back down.
"Ellie! Let's talk about something else ok honey?" Joel raised his voice only for a moment.
"…Ok fine!" Ellie said slowly finishing her dinner quiet the rest of the time.
"I think I'm going out for a smoke, you guys go ahead and tell her, I don't want to hear it" Maria said getting up from the table after a few minutes of Ellie sitting with an upset look.
"Now Maria you don't have to" Joel said politely.
"No, she's just going to have to learn on her own…that's how I was" Maria said closing the door behind her.
"Don't look at me, I didn't say anything" Ellie put her hands up when Joel looked back at her.
"It's no big deal really" Tommy brushed it all off.
"Ok, so if it's not a game, then what is it?" Ellie placed him back on his train of thought.
"Well according to other accounts, it's supposed to be used for talking to the dead" Tommy came out with it.
"What!? Are you serious?! This is what had Maria so upset?!" Ellie sat up and couldn't believe it.
"Yes" Tommy answered.
"So, basically some people took the board in there and used it to contact some dead person and then weird shit started happening?" Ellie hypothetically asked.
"Yea, that was pretty much the size of it. There were some strange events that took place not long after they did what they did" Tommy went on.
"Ok, now I'm curious, when you say 'they' whose 'they'?" Joel finally asked slightly amused himself.
"We had about five huge families of Romanian Gypsies who lived with us for a while who had different beliefs than most people which wasn't a problem at first. They were different and brought different ways and ideas into the community which was a bit refreshing. A couple months later some of the family's oldest sons joined one of hunting groups which of course you know they don't just hunt for food; but, also scavenge for supplies in surrounding areas. About this time last year when they went out, they were ambushed by a group of bandits and then ran into a group of clickers on the way back out of a town. The oldest sons didn't make it back" Tommy paused reading the reaction on Joel and Ellie's faces.
"Well don't stop there" Joel spun his hand around not liking to be left hanging.
"Yea, keep it goin' Tommy!" Ellie complained.
"The families after losing two of their own began retreatin' to themselves. They didn't participate in many community activities except for the ones everyone was required to contribute. Everyone at first thought well that's a normal response when you lose a loved one. Things became even stranger when the night before Halloween arrived they snuck in the west side of the dam in the upper half. Two of our men who lived here were suspicious of the group and went spying on them. They reported hearing them chant in their own language seeing candle flames shoot up without any kind of fuel, and items flew across the area that they had brought in. They said at one point they saw a shadow move across the wall that didn't belong to any of the six Gypsies that were taking part in the 'Game'" Tommy paused again.
"So after that night, weird shit started happening in that sector of the dam and workers refused to go in there several months after some 'scary incidents'" Tommy stopped when Maria returned back inside.
"Wicked! So what happened to the Gypsy families?" Ellie asked with much interest.
"They left on their own will with a few members who were here since they were mostly ostracized by most of the inhabitants here in our community" Tommy concluded.
"Are you finished Tommy?" Maria looked at him suspiciously.
"Yea, we're finished here Maria, sorry about that. I think it's about time for us to hit the hay ourselves" Joel yawned.
"Good luck sleeping after listening to all of that" Maria said nervously collecting the bowls.
"Ok yall! Sleep tight!" Tommy smiled.
"Night everyone!" Ellie waved.
"Night to ya too!" Joel said as he and Ellie returned back home.
Once they arrived back at the house Joel and Ellie changed to prepare to settle in for the night.
"I'm going bed dad" Ellie shouted out.
Joel came over to tuck her in and wish her good night but then all these ideas had him wondering.
"You don't buy into that garbage do you?" Joel asked.
"I mean, not normally, but it is interesting at the very least you have to admit" she shrugged.
"I don't buy into any of those shenanigans, and if even if were real, why would you want to mess with something that could possibly hurt you?" Joel asked rhetorically. "Well, you get you a good night's rest baby girl, love ya!" Joel said turning out the light.
"Love you too daddy!" Ellie said as Joel got into his bed.