Life After Death
A shred of dark wallpaper began to peel from the damp wall, revealing another, darker wallpaper.
'Stop that, Ellie.'
'But i'm bored, theres nothing to do in this place.' Replied a red haired girl, continuing to peel the wallpaper.
'Go play with the other children then, I heard there collecting wood for a bonfire.'
'I don't want to. All they want to do is play and mess around.' Said Ellie, in a very normal tone to any 15 year old girl.
It was the only normal thing she seemed to do for her age. Even nine months into living in Tommy's town, Ellie could not adapt to it's lifestyle. She rarely spoke to children her own age, in fact she rarely spoke to anyone, except of course for one bearded man.
'well...' Joel sighed, picking himself up from the workbench, away from his homemade guitar (which he crafted from a wooden plank and string he found in a draw somewhere). 'what do you want to do then?'
Ellie's face brightened, and the neglected wallpaper was finally left in peace. 'We can go for a walk up in the forest.'
'Alright then, just a few hours. We need to get back before dark.' Although much less visible than Ellie's, Joel's face also brightened. He was usually happy knowing Ellie was too.
'Yess!'
They both walked out of their small two (it had once been three) bedroom house, through the shiv opened front door into the town. The house had been kindly given to them by the town founder, and brother of Joel, Tommy. It wasn't much compared to Joel's previous home, which he left nearly 22 years ago, but it was better than what most people had. The ever increasing population of the town had forced most people into living in tents or houses crowded by 4 or 5 families. It wouldn't be long until Tommy would have to refuse people coming in, after all, theres only so much charity a man can give.
'Can we stop here?' Ellie asked, pointing at a large rock.
'Why not.' answered Joel, taking a deep breath.
He needed the stop, he had become a lot less fitter since first arriving at the town, as well as getting older. The stress of his past had finally caught up with him too, resulting in his hair turning gray and his skin thinning. They both sat down on the boulder facing the town and the sunset.
'Do you remember? we first saw the town from here.' Said Ellie, still full of energy. The arrival to the town had had the opposite effect on her. The larger, healthier diet (thanks to the crops and cow fields), and extra sleep had made here grow at least two inches in the past nine months, as well as giving her a stronger physic. 'Remember I asked you about what happened in the hospital?'
Joel stiffened into an uneasy posture 'uhm... yeah.'