Ellie hopped down the broken window, panting. The room was covered in shadows, and utterly abandoned, save for the two girls now standing in it. It had belonged to a teenager once. There were faded carpets on the battered floor, and the walls were covered in old useless posters. A ruined bed stood by one wall, and a broken TV by the other.
Pale light briefly filled the room, before the car moved on. Yeah, when have we ever gotten in trouble, huh? What could possibly go wrong? You worry too much. Riley had said all that and more on the way over there, leaping over ravines between rooftops and retaining their fragile balance on slippery tiles in the dark night.
Ellie silently cursed her friend. Silently despised her for dragging her along. Silently despised her for leaving, and rendering her a pathetic mess for nearly two weeks.
"That was close," said Riley, shaking some water off of her hands. The rain was relentless, and had soaked them both by now. It was quite cold, even though it was summer. "You were quite fast there. Good job." Riley smirked.
Ellie wanted to scream at her. She was just a stupid girl chasing fireflies. She did not understand what was on the line, she never had. Not even now, when she would be shot dead if the military spotted her.
"Yeah," Ellie panted, and tried to will the water off of her body. It did not work. "Thanks." She wanted to say more, but she did not want to more. Riley nodded.
"Come on now. You're gonna dig this."
"Sure." Ellie shook her head, watching drops of rain scatter across the wooden floor. Unique, that was the name of the girl who once lived in that room. There had been a diary and some useless belongings left behind the first time she and riley climbed in one of the broken windows. When they discovered the first safe gateway into their mall. Unique was not truly Unique; she worried only about boys and clothes, just as they'd heard every other girl did back then. She and Riley had made fun of her since the first time they saw a lipstick mark on one of the posters. They had both kissed the same poster themselves, giggling like stupid children. Yet Ellie was sure they both had a strange sort of love for the girl too.
Ellie followed her friend through the many doors of the house. Unique had been born in a big family.
"So, uh…" Riley rubbed her forehead. "Who do you hang out with these days?"
"Does it matter?"
"It matters to me." Riley pretended to look around the room, but her attention was placed firmly on Ellie. Who do you think I hang out with?
"No one, really."
Riley frowned, unable to understand how someone could not be able to be friends with everyone they wanted, no matter what. "What about Tino and the guys?"
"Those are your friends." Riley stepped up to the familiar gaping hole in the floor, pressing herself against the wall. She balanced herself carefully, and shifted across the little strip of floor left, clinging to the blue wallpaper.
"But you talk to them, right?"
"I guess." Ellie followed her former best friends lead. Former. Don't forget that Ellie.
She was glad Riley would not stick around school, in a way. 'Tino and the guys' were Ellie's worst enemies by now. She kinda deserved their hatred, too. She was glad Riley would not hear that.
The silence accompanied them for a long time. Riley tried to initiate several conversations, but ultimately failed every time. Ellie did not feel sorry at all. She deserves all she gets. Forty-six days…
A Firefly logo emblazoned upon a wall made her far too curious to abstain from conversations, though. 'Look for the light,' said the words beneath the double F's.
Ellie studied it while Riley moved the couch they had used to block the hole in the wall. "So have you 'found the light' or what?"
"Oh, hur-di-durr." Riley shook her head, grinning.
"Well, how did you fond them? The Fireflies."
"I followed them. Trevor, specifically. The guy you bit, and stole his gun. You remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. His gloves tasted like shit." Ellie tilted her head, watching Riley struggle with the rotten sofa.
"Well, I saw him walking down the street, and I tailed him into an alley. A whole bunch of Fireflies ambushed me." Riley grunted as she laid all her weight against the couch. Ellie yawned, and leaned against the wall. Her friend sent her a warning glance. Whatever threat Riley attempted to convey with it was utterly false, though, Ellie knew that. And Riley was not so stupid as to bring it up. Ellie was glad for it. She'd wanted to fight mere moments before, but not now. No good would come of it.
"And you weren't scared?"
"Who says I wasn't?" Riley gave a final, hard shove, and the couch moved out of the way. Your voice. And you're never afraid. "I actually thought Marlene was gonna kill me this time, when they brought me to her. Instead she…" Riley caught her breath. The sofa was damn heavy, Ellie knew that. "She just said: 'What took you so long?" Riley snorted, as if in disbelief. "She'd been expecting me the whole time."
Ellie nodded, while Riley sat down for a bit. When she got up, Ellie had decided she'd been enough of a dick for now. She did not forgive her friend for anything, nor did she accept whatever bullshit excuse she would soon come up with for leaving and saying what she said, but in truth she was too happy to be joking with her best friend again to stay mad for much longer.
The abandoned buildings flew by. Ellie relaxed, and escaped into the pleasant void of easiness that came with their conversations. She had missed that. Green vines covered fainted and crackled paint, and there was dirt everywhere. Her skin was still glistening, as was Riley's. Their flashlights made bright circles in the remnants left behind by mankind of old. Their footsteps seemed to echo, in some way.
The two friends walked, talked and laughed, crawling underneath narrow holes and balancing on top of old planks. They only tensed upon hearing a distant, yet familiar mechanincal voice, telling them all that the Quarantine Zone was free of any infections. The voice was too far away and too muffled by the rain to her the womans words exactly, but they both knew the words by heart.
It went off as people were waking up, Ellie knew. That meant she only had so much time before she had to go back, unless she wanted to be thrown out of the school. Which might not be so bad... She looked at Riley. For now she had to remember to be pissed, but perhaps later she could talk. Perhaps Ellie could join her friend once she left.
"Bullshit," Riley said, leaving Ellie confused. Had she read her thoughts? "People are getting Infected all the time. Oh, that.
"They just hide it?" Riely nodded. They walked up an old, overgrown flight of stairs. The broken window was on the top, where the hallway turned right. They jumped out, and the rain once again beat against their skin. This time they were safe from military flashlights, however, seeing as they were on top of a building. Ellie pushed some wet locks of hair away from her eyes.
"So, have you seen any Infected lately?" Ellie asked, her voice loud so as to be heard in the rain.
"Yeah." Riley nodded, grimly. "That waas actually part of my... of my initiation ritual, or whatever. The Fireflies need more people, but they wanna make it hard as ever anyway. I had to kill this..." Her voice trailed off, leaving Ellie to wonder. "Know what?" she said eventually. "Just... let's talk about something else.
Ellie nodded, thoughtful. It seemed as good a time as any to bring it up.
"Hey, so, maybe I should join the Fireflies? If they need more people."
"Oh please, Ellie. That was the first thing I asked. Marlene wants you safe here, where I won't get you into any trouble." She seemed sympathetic, which made it all the worse. Ellie was not a sick child too weak to tag along with the big guys. She would've thought Marlene understood that, but of course not...
"Whatever," she said. "I can get into trouble just fine on my own."
It was intended as an angry sort of threat, but Riley only chuckled. "Oh yeah, I know. Told her, too, but she said it was better this way."
The little glass dome atop the roof of the mall was covered in raindrops. Ellie and Riley made their way through the little gap, and down the ladder. The sound of rain subsided, and they were alone, just the way they'd always liked it.