Ellie awoke with jerk and gasped for air as she finally succeeded in removing herself from the horrid nightmare she had been experiencing. She jerked her head from the dull, peeling paint of the walls, to her older traveling companion, examining her surroundings in a panic, trying to assure herself it was nothing more than another dream. Realizing she was no longer in the eerie setting of her dream and back in the abandoned house they had taken refuge in before nightfall, the slowly calming girl slid back down into the dusty mattress.
"Man, that was intense."
After a moment of silently staring up at the ceiling, Ellie sighed and grudgingly pushed herself into a sitting position. She couldn't get back to sleep after a dream like that. Like she said, she hated nightmares. Carefully, the 14 year old girl rose out of the moaning bed, hoping the noisy springs wouldn't wake the only father-like person to ever take part in her life. Joel surely wouldn't approve of her going out unarmed so late, or out at all for that matter. But she didn't want to just sit there until morning, which was probably still hours away, judging by how dark it was.
The clouded look in her eyes was quickly replaced by a sharp and alert shine that by now, reflexively came, even with an action as simple as walking outside. The rather small house they had retreated into after witnessing a group of hunters raiding homes further down the street, and killing sobbing survivors with a bullet to the head, seemed to have taken quite the beating throughout the 20 years of infected. Not that the other options of shelter were any better.
Ellie flopped down onto the splintering porch steps and laid her head in her head, staring toward the sky. She watched as the stars seemed to grow brighter before her eyes. After all that had happened during her lifetime, Ellie treasured the few moments she could just sit and relax without looking down the barrel of a weapon, or fear of being eaten by one of the damned things. It wasn't easy to close your eyes for more than a second in the world she had grown up in.
The peaceful moment soon ended when she heard a few barely audible clicks somewhere in the distance. Ellie's eyes scanned the roads and overgrown shrubs and jumped slightly when she saw it rush into the street, seemingly aware of someone's presence. After watching Clickers tear apart the unlucky victims from afar, she knew she had to get back into the safety of their temporary home. Silently. As she slowly stood, Ellie was loudly reminded of the creaking wood and how it howled with every step or shift of weight. The Clicker didn't let her take another step. It let out a stream of clicks and pops and burst into a sloppy sprint in her direction.
"Crap!"
Ellie yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards tripping over a conveniently misplaced board. Damn boards... She struggled to her feet as the Clicker continued closing the distance. Regaining her footing, she looked up only to see the clicking infected upon her, only inches away from sprawling up the small steps and ripping her apart. Letting out a cry for help, she gripped her head in her hands and fell into a fetal position, once again sitting on the boards that had given away her location, and was now about to be the cause of her death.
She looked up, waiting for it to sink it's jagged teeth into her flesh, just in time to see a large black mass slamming into the blind and unsuspecting Clicker's side, knocking it off it's feet, throwing whatever had just saved her to the ground along with it, both landing somewhere on the side of the house. Ellie pressed her back against the wall and panted, trying to slow her heart rate back to normal. After catching her breath, she jumped to the and considered going back inside, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat.
With a sigh of defeat, Ellie slowly made her way to the area of which the pair had landed, being sure to make her steps small and careful. She was very intent on seeing what had kept her from becoming the raging Clicker's latest meal.
She heard growls and low thumps against the outer wall that slowed her down, leaning into her stealthy crawl and walked her fingertips across the overgrown grass. The battered corner of the damaged house led her to the scene of the small struggle. It obviously didn't last long and it was obvious who had won. The Clicker was lying on the ground, claw marks streaking down the higher area of the neck to the middle of it's chest, just below its collarbone.
"The hell happened to it?" she muttered to herself, resting her shoulder against the edge of the hollow wall and crossing her arms.
As if on que, Ellie heard a small whine to her left. She whipped around, ready to take charge of the situation and whatever was about to attack.
...Nothing ever did.
The same thing that had tackled the Clicker to the ground, thus saving her life, was sitting a few feet away, staring up at her curiously. It wasn't an it. She was a dog.
Ellie's instinct when seeing the dog was to turn around and run, knowing if the dog could take down the Clicker so easily, she would have no trouble at all when taking her out with it. But the dog wasn't doing anything to indicate it was wanting to cause her any harm, so she stood still and waited for the dog to walk away, attack, mark a tree. Something. It didn't move, it just sat there and seemed to be doing some type of lookover. All Ellie could do was stand there awkwardly, wanting to maintain the feel of peace and not startle the animal.
"Uh, hey there, doggy.." she spoke quietly. "Where did you come from?" Ellie questioned in a rare soft voice, not really expecting any type of answer, just trying to see if it would move as she talked. Its tail swayed slightly and the completely black dog tilted its head to the right, but other than that, it didn't move. Well, at least it seemed friendly. She stood in silence once again before finally moving forward and dropping to her knees, patting the ground in front of her lightly, trying to urge the large dog forward.
It suddenly let out a happy bark and rushed forward, scaring Ellie slightly before she smiled and crawled toward the playful dog, letting her usual serious mood slip away since the animal saved her from death. The female dog hopped happily the rest of the distance between them and rolled over in front of the now joyful teenager. Ellie rubbed the dog's head carefully, waiting to see its reaction, and to her relief, it seemed pleased by her actions.
"C'mere, girl," she cooed, pulling the dog to her chest, hugging against her, the dog relaxing in her grip.
"I bet Joel will like you..." she told herself, her hopes plain and clear.
"But first you'll need a name..."
Ellie pulled away and looked at the large dog, who seemed to grin back up at her. Her eyes were light brown and glowed in happiness. Ellie was probably the only person she had interacted with for a long time. Well, other than the walkers.
She pondered over what her name could be for a moment before a smile crossed her face.
"How 'bout Coco? You like Coco, girl?" Ellie cooed, watching the dog pull away and look up at her eagerly. Coco answered with a hearty yip and a rapidly wagging tail.
"Alright then," Ellie smiled. "Coco it is."