A/N: Thank you for coming back for chapter two! I encourage you to give me some feedback by reviewing below. It does make a difference, even if you don't have an account.
Chapter Two
Ellie woke Joel up the next morning with a loud gasp. It was as if she was granted new life. "Ellie, what is it?" He asked.
"We have to go." She sprung up and started changing, not caring if Joel was there to see or not. "We're going to be late."
"Shit…" Joel rolled over and put on some pants. He almost forgot about the early morning trip.
"Come on. Let's go." She put on a collared shirt with long sleeves. "Is this okay?"
"Who cares?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure someone would." She said. She licked her hand and ran it across her hair.
Joel shook his head. "Amalia said don't worry about it."
"We're meeting her family too. I don't want to meet them to see me looking like shit. Or…crap."
"Are you watching your mouth, young lady?"
"Uh…yeah." She said sheepishly. "I don't want them to get the wrong idea."
"That you curse like a sailor?"
She only frowned at his statement before leaving to brush her teeth. She made sure she was clean and ready for the knock at the door. "They're here." She said.
"Let me get it." He said.
"And no weaponry. I don't think we need it."
He stopped and turned towards her. "Will you calm down?" He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her towards the front door. "Everything will be fine. We're just going to The Wall."
"Okay." She took a deep breath. "But when we come back, I want some of that pie."
When he opened the door, Amalia greeted them and introduced them to the family. "You remember Darius. Here's Dusty and Jasmine."
"It's nice to meet you." Dusty gave them a handshake.
"Likewise." Joel said.
Ellie and Jasmine shared an awkward smile. Well, Ellie was awkward, while Jasmine looked at her warmly. She opened her arms and pulled her into a welcoming embrace. It was as if she already knew her. It was familiar.
"I'm glad you're coming with us." Darius said.
"Is it that bad?" She asked.
"No. It's 'cuz Mama said that everyone has family on the Outside. It's good to pray for them to come here where it's safe."
Ellie wondered if she had someone on the other side. Maybe a cousin or an uncle. But she was fine with just Joel. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"And even if you don't, we like to pray for the others' family members." Jasmine added. "I've been hoping that Amalia and Darius's cousins come home for the longest."
"Are you sure they'll come?" Ellie had to ask.
"They have to." Darius said as The Wall was approaching.
Jasmine held her hand. "Come on. Just do what we do, okay?"
She nodded and followed her. Joel saw how nervous she was and reached to touch her, but Ellie hurried to follow the kids. Amalia grabbed the free hand and began humming joyfully. "We're almost there." She told him.
When they got there, Darius and Jasmine went straight up to the gate and knelt down. Ellie, of course, knelt between them, mirroring their position: on their knees, hands clasped. Amalia was behind them, holding hands with Dusty and Joel. "Ready?" Dusty asked.
Amalia nodded. "Darius, do you want to go first?"
"Okay." He said. "Lord, please give our families refuge as they journey from the Outside to Inside. Uh… Oh yeah! And guide them to the right place. Keep them healthy and safe. Especially my little cousin, Sam."
Ellie glanced at him when she heard the name. Maybe it was a coincidence. The rest of them said "Amen."
"Good job." Amalia said before she took over. "Lord, we come to You to call our cousins, Henry and Sam, to come home." Joel and Ellie shot a look at each other, wondering if they should say something. Joel knew she was going to continue anyway, so he shook his head. "We are eternally grateful for what You have given us, so we know You will provide a great home for them."
"Joel, Ellie, would you like to add something?" Dusty asked.
"I'm good." Joel answered.
"Uh…" Ellie began. "I want to say…" She felt Jasmine rub her back. She took a deep breath. "I'm not really that good at praying, but I just want to say thank you…God, for bringing us here and meeting our new friends." She sighed in relief.
"Amen." The others said.
"My Hallelujah belongs to You." Amalia sang. "My Hallelujah belongs to You."
They stood up and held hands, repeating the lines. All except Joel and Ellie, who held hands, but didn't sing. Their excuse was that they didn't know the words even though the same the same line four times.
You deserve it
You deserve it
You deserve it
You deserve it
All of the glory belongs to You
As they sang, other families joined them. It made Joel a bit uneasy, but Ellie was engaged and open to the experience. One woman sang loud until she full on started screaming "Yes, Jesus! Thank You, Lord!" It was as if she was being shot. Joel looked around in paranoia. She wasn't hurt. Just screaming.
Hallelujah
All the glory
All the honor
All the praise
You deserve it
When they finished, a lot of families stayed while they left. Jasmine was the first to ask Ellie "How was it? I hope you don't think it's scary or anything."
She shook her head. "Naw. It's cool. I didn't realize there were so many people, you know, missing their families. That woman was in a lot of pain."
"Mama said that when she'd go to church, it was kind of like the same thing." Darius said. "Except there would be a lot more people screaming and catching the Holy Ghost."
"What the… I mean, what does that mean?" Ellie asked.
"It's the scariest thing." Jasmine said. "Amalia caught it last time. Her eyes rolled up, she started shaking, and Daddy had to help her to the ground. That woman was about to catch it too. But they say it like it's no big deal."
"If you catch the Holy Ghost, you have to tell me what it's like." Darius said.
"How do they catch it?" Ellie questioned.
"You get chosen." Jasmine said it as if it was obvious.
"What are you kids talking about?" Amalia asked.
"Mama, can Ellie come with us to the Children's Center?" Darius asked. It was the place where a lot of kids met up, played games, and just enjoyed themselves.
Ellie looked at Joel in a pleading manner. "I don't know." He said. "She's still getting over the flu."
"I'm fine though." She told him. But Joel gave her a look that meant his word was final. "Maybe in a little while. I'm not used to waking up so early, and I could use a nap."
Joel nodded at her attempt to compromise. "And maybe after you guys can do something…a little less physical, yeah?"
"Yeah!" All three of them chirped in excitement.
Amalia made that noise of satisfaction. "Now, kids, I don't want you wearing this girl out, hear?"
"Yes, ma'am." They both said.
"I could use a nap too." Jasmine said. "It feels so nice outside, I could sleep with the window open."
"Well, alright then." Joel put a hand on Ellie's shoulder and guided her towards the house.
"See you later, guys." Ellie waved.
In the bedroom, Joel sat against the headboard with one of Ellie's comic books in hand. So far, Book 1 wasn't that bad. Meanwhile, Ellie took off her good shirt and pants in place of a huge men's shirt. It was one of Joel's undershirts that "mysteriously" disappeared. She crawled in next to him and wrapped herself in all the blankets.
"I'm so glad that's over." She said.
"You don't need to impress them." He said. "They're already impressed."
She sighed as she settled in. "Do you like it?" She asked, referring to the book.
"Yeah, it's pretty good." He shifted his position to get a bit more comfortable. Ellie was close enough to rest her head on him.
Naturally, he pulled her in wrapped a protective arm around her. "What part are you on?" Joel positioned it so she could see. "Oh, I hate that part."
"Why? Something bad's gonna happen?"
"I'm not going to spoil it." She watched him read for a little while. "I'm glad we went, though."
"Yeah, about that…" He said. "You sure made me look like a chump, praying when I didn't."
She could tell he was joking, so she said "I'm glad I prayed for the both of us then."
"I guess I'll let you handle it from now on. You being better with words and all."
"I'm glad you finally admit it, Boomhauer." She closed her eyes and rested on him.
He was still as she was falling asleep. Eventually, he didn't know if she was awake when he mumbled something close to "I'm proud of you." That's when he saw her mouth form into a smile.
Ellie took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She saw that Joel was still right behind her. Then, Jasmine opened the door and greeted Ellie with a hug. She waved to him to tell him she was okay before going inside.
"I'm glad you can come over." Jasmine said. "I was about to do my hair. Do you want to see my room?"
The first thing Ellie noticed with all the salvaged pictures of God on the walls. There were so many crosses too. It felt warm from the food cooking in the kitchen. Then she realized Jasmine was talking. "What?"
"Do you want to see my room?"
"Sure." She followed her to the room. There was only one bed with a dresser that actually wasn't broken. Everything was bare and simple, but there were several things on top of the dresser. One of them being a huge piece of a broken mirror.
"I tried to make this place look like the magazines as much as possible." She said, showing her a Seventeen magazine from 2008. "I just need more of these crazy pillows."
Ellie looked around in complete awe. "You…have your own room!"
"Yeah." She laughed. "You don't?"
She shook her head. "We only have one bedroom for now. It's mostly mine, but sometimes we share."
"That's how me and my dad were at first. We were going to be separated from Amalia and Darius, so we had a place with one bed. Dad made sure I was protected at all times, so he kept me in the bedroom. At first, he'd sleep with a gun in the living room." She positioned the broken mirror piece to sit on the wall.
"Even here where it's safe?"
"Yeah." She took her ponytail holder out. "I guess he was still a little paranoid."
Ellie watched her run her fingers through her hair. It was so big and curly. It wasn't as curly as Amalia's but the strands could fit a finger inside them. "I honestly wouldn't have believed that you were related."
"Yeah. It's cuz I'm adopted." That would explain her darker skin and hair. "Check this out." She pulled out what was supposed to be a brush. It was actually a wooden paddle with things sticking out for bristles. "I made it myself out of tape, bobby pins, and some wood that Daddy carved. It really works." She showed her anyway.
"That's pretty cool."
"If you want, I can do your hair."
She touched her thin red strands. "You don't have to. It's pretty gnarly."
Hearing that made her giggle. "I bet I can handle it. Come on, sit down." She patted the spot on the bed in front of her.
"Okay." Ellie sat down. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Please. You've never seen my hair on a bad day." She took off the ponytail holder. "I really like your hair color. If hair dye was still around, I'd be all over that!"
"Thanks."
Jasmine was gentle as she worked her fingers through. "Let me know if it hurts, okay?"
"I barely feel anything." She watched her work from the mirror. The way Jasmine smiled down on her made her feel nurtured. "I know I'm full of questions, but I have a big one."
"Go ahead."
She thought for a second, playing with her fingers. "There's this kind of stereotype that…churchgoers don't like…"
"Gay people? Sinners? Anyone who isn't a churchgoer?" She scoffed. "Yeah, but there's no need to worry. I say that people who actually are churchgoer would love anyone no matter what. That's why Amalia let us into her home. Well, especially Dad."
"Oh."
She went back to finger combing before going in with the brush. "So you know about me and my family. Tell me about you. Where are you from?"
"Boston." She said. "Not much was going on there. I was in a military preparatory school at the Quarantine Zone where they had all the bad kids."
"Bad kids?" She scoffed again. "That's not true. You? A bad kid?"
"It's true! I mean, I don't think I'm a bad kid…I think…"
Jasmine looked at her through the mirror. "Why? Did you do something bad to get in there?" She asked. "Do you think you're a bad person?"
She winced. "Well…I'm not a good person either."
Jasmine took a comb that had broken teeth to part her hair. "What do you mean?"
Ellie shrugged. What did she mean? "I feel like…I'm meant for something, but I don't know what." She knew the whole immunity thing had to serve some sort of purpose. If there were other kids like her fighting for a vaccine, what was she still doing here? Was she a wasted gift? "Amalia said something… She prayed that I would get better to continue God's mission for me, but I don't know what mine is."
Jasmine looked down at her before looking her in the eyes through the mirror. "I know you feel this way now, but in time, He will reveal Himself to you."
"That sounds scary."
"I'm still waiting too. Back in our parents' time, kids could have all these dreams to make a difference. Now, it seems pointless, but I think that we'll be the ones to bring things back. Tommy said we're up to twenty-four families. Next year, we'll probably have thirty! You know what that means? More boys to help us ladies to repopulate the planet, and we'll be a thriving human race based on love and unity."
"But the Infected are still out there."
"We'll be immune at some point." She said a bit hastily as she continued brushing. "It's science, right? That's why they changed the formulas to pesticides all the time. Because eventually the bugs get immune."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She admitted. "You're getting a bit rough…"
"Oh, sorry." She tied half of Ellie's hair out of the way to focus on one. "I just heard that there may or may not be someone who is immune to the Cordyceps, and if it's true, do you know what that means? We'll be back to normal!"
"Uh huh." Ellie looked around the room to change the subject. "So have you heard of Savage Starlight?"
"I think that's the comics that Darius reads." She said. "He's been reading and rereading Book 5."
"Really? You should read it too. It's very good. I actually have most of the collection."
"I didn't think you'd be much of a reader." She laughed as she started working on the other side. "Or do you just read comics?"
"Yeah, I read. I just finished Pride and Prejudice." She said. "I didn't get it though. I've read Beloved too. It reminds me of what I thought this place was going to be like. Full of the supernatural."
She sighed. "I used to sing. That's how I spent most of my time."
"Used to?"
"The infected are very sensitive to hearing…" She raised the brush to go through again, but she dropped it. "I, um, saw this guy…" She grabbed it but paused before raising it again. "He, uh…" Ellie saw through the mirror that she was pretty shaky. She didn't know whether or not to step in. "You're so pretty. Did you know that?" She changed the subject.
Ellie wanted to shake her head, but Jasmine's fingers were in there. "I never thought about it."
"You're lying. No one ever told you?"
She shrugged. "I heard it once or twice. I just don't care about looks."
Jasmine got up from her position and stood face to face. "Hold on." She tugged on her bangs and pulled them out a bit. "There. Look!"
Ellie leaned in to see her hair in Dutch braid pigtails. "Wow… Holy shi-" She covered her mouth. "I mean, my goodness!"
Jasmine laughed. "You like it?"
"I look so…different." She played with the ends on shoulders. "This is so cool! How'd you learn to do that?"
"Amalia taught me." She said. "I'm glad you like it." She gave her a hug. "I'm also glad to have a girl around my age to talk to. We should do this more often."
"Yeah." She said.
"Maybe now we can look at clothes."
"How?" Ellie sat back down. "Getting clothes isn't exactly a walk in the park."
"Maybe not, but…" She opened her dresser to reveal all the clothes she had. Tops, tank tops, blouses, dress shirts, jeans, leggings, shorts, skirts, skorts, dresses of every cut. All of them were stuffed into the drawers.
"Okay, how on Earth did you get all that?"
"Um…it's kind of bad."
"Pffft. Oh, please." She said. "What could you possibly do that's bad?"
She chuckled. "Well, it's not good!" She settled down. "I'm just going to say it. I have an addiction."
"To clothes?"
She shrugged. "But you can't tell anyone, okay?" Ellie was quiet. "I go through The Wall."
"No, you don't."
"There are three shops when you get in town and an old military base. If you go at the right time, no one's around to say anything." She bit her lip. "I don't want you telling everyone about it."
"And you leave unarmed?" She nodded. "Well, let me go with you next time."
She scoffed. "No way."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to you to get hurt or anything. It's no big deal."
"That's bullshit." She didn't even mind letting out the curse word. "You'd have a better chance if I came with you."
"How? Are you going to take Joel's guns? Then he'll find out."
"I have a gun too. And a knife."
"And have a little girl protect me from the bad guys?" She laughed, which only made Ellie mad.
"Hey, I may be younger than you, but I've been through a lot. I saved Joel on countless occasions, and his friends!"
"Calm down. I was just joking with you."
Ellie crossed her arms. "Well?"
She nodded. "Sure."
Darius knocked on the door. "Jasmine, is Ellie in there?"
"Yeah, come in."
The first thing he noticed was Ellie's new hairstyle. "Uh…hi."
"Hey, Darius." She cleared her throat.
"Ellie said she likes Savage Starlight too." Jasmine said. "She has a collection."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I started reading it…" She coughed. "…on the way here." She coughed again.
"Here. Let me get you some water." Darius left.
Ellie cleared her throat again. "Man, that's never going away."
"Don't worry." Jasmine said. "You'll be alright. But I don't know about…"
"I can still do it. I promise." She said.
Jasmine nodded and was about to say something, but Darius came in. "Here you go." He said.
"Thanks." She took a good gulp before asking "So, what else do you do for fun?"
"Besides read?" He shrugged. "Not much. I wanted to go to the Children's Center, but your dad said no."
"He's not my dad." She said. She wanted to say that Joel doesn't technically own her, so she can do whatever she wanted, but she didn't want to disobey Tommy's 48-hour rule. Then again, how long has it been? "It's no big deal. Let's go see it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She said, already following him out. "What do you do there?"
"Play basketball." He said. "But we don't have to do that today."
"Good, cuz I don't know how to play." They laughed.
Jasmine put her hair in one quick braid before joining them. "Wait. What about…?"
"Where are you kids off to?" Amalia snuck around the corner. "You remember what Joel and I said?"
"Yes, ma'am." They said.
"We were just going to show Ellie the Children's Center." Jasmine said. "We'll be back later."
"Don't wear her out, hear?" She said as if they forgot.
"Yes, ma'am."
Ellie got a strange flashback of her days in the preparatory school. She remembered running the drills early every morning, saying "yes, ma'am" and "yes, sir." Those days seemed like they were so long ago.
The Children's Center was actually a huge gym from what used to be part of a high school. And with only a few kids, there was plenty of space. "Look at this place!" Ellie exclaimed to hear the echo.
"Let's go check out what they got." Jasmine said, going to the equipment closet. It was full of colorful balls, jump ropes, nets, pins, and other sports stuff. Jasmine took one of the jump ropes and a scooter board, both purple. "Wanna have some fun?"
"Uh yeah!" She said.
"Get on and hold this."
Ellie sat down on the board and held the jump rope. Jasmine pulled on the rope and flung her clear across the gym floor. Jasmine followed by getting on a yellow scooter board and launching herself towards her. Darius hurried after them. "You remember when we took these throughout the whole school?" He asked Jasmine.
She laughed. "Yeah!" Then to Ellie, she explained "We got in trouble for it and had to inflate all the balls."
"It wouldn't have been so bad if there was more than one pump."
"Sounds harsh." Ellie noted.
"We wouldn't have gotten caught if somebody didn't go through yelling his lungs off!" She laughed.
"I guess you're not willing to show me the rest of the building." Ellie shrugged.
Jasmine looked at Darius before saying "If it's her first time here, she should probably have a tour."
"And Ellie wouldn't have to overexert herself by walking." Darius grabbed the jump rope. "Just don't let coach see."
They looked at the far side of the gym where all the little kids played. They seemed to have whoever was in charge tied up, so they quietly rolled out of the room. Jasmine wrapped herself around Ellie. "Okay, let's get this tour started!" She said.
"Can you pull both of us?" Ellie asked him.
"It's no problem." He said. "I had to pull dead weight before. You two are nothing."
"Alright." She nodded when she was ready.
"Okay!"
Darius pulled gently before full on sprinting down the hall. It was still in pretty good condition despite some of the holes in the walls and the chipping paint. They passed by the classrooms where they held town meetings, class for the kids, and other events. They passed the library where they did some research on the world before them. They passed the black box/theatre classroom, and eventually, the auditorium where they had church on Wednesdays and Sundays. Ellie held on to the rope with one hand and Jasmine with the other. She squeezed tighter as Darius went faster. He ran as fast as he could, but ended up tripping on his own feet. The jump rope whipped, flinging the girls to the nearest wall.
"Shit!" Ellie cursed as she rubbed her shoulder. There was a new healthy hole where they collided.
"Oh my gosh." Jasmine helped Ellie up. "Geez, Darius! Are you okay?" She said, half laughing.
"Yeah." He said. "Man, that's a huge hole."
"It's not the biggest one here." Ellie said. "Who's going to notice?"
"You're right, but just in case, let's get out of here." Just as Darius said it, they heard footsteps coming their way. Jasmine waved a hand to follow her to the nearest exit. They all ran as fast as they could.
"What the hell?" Whoever was behind them asked when he saw the hole. "Hey!"
They burst through the door, laughing at their victory. "Do you think he saw?" Darius asked.
"No way." Jasmine said. "We were quick enough." They began walking back towards the neighborhood.
"Joel, can I ask you something?" Ellie asked as he was cleaning up dinner.
"Yeah."
"Before I left, Amalia invited us to church with her tomorrow morning." Hearing that made him drop a plate in the sink. "I didn't say yes right away. I just told her we'd think about it."
There was a long pause. "Is that what you want to do?" He asked.
She shrugged. "It's…in the air."
Joel had the serious talk vibe going off, so he stopped what he was doing and took his seat across from her. He leaned onto the table against his forearms, his hands clasped together. "Are you sure this is what you want? Going to church is a serious thing."
"Would you go?" He didn't reply. All he did was look away. "Joel, I want to believe. Don't you?"
He sighed. "I did."
"I just want to know that those people…all of those innocent people are happy now. Don't you?"
He only nodded. There was no need to argue with her, seeing as she wouldn't change her mind. So there was no way he was going to continue talking about it.
"Joel, are you going with me?" She said.
"No."
"Please? I don't think I can go alone."
"Amalia and her family would be there."
"But I'd be the only new person. I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb." He looked down at himself. "Please? It might help you to believe again."
"Ellie," he shifted in his seat and cleared his throat, "you're getting into this stuff now after all we've been through to get here. Everything would seem like such a happy ending to you. But you didn't know God before the outbreak. You've never seen the whole world turn upside down in a matter of days. You have no idea what it means to lose your faith."
Now, Ellie was looking down. "Well…I guess not." She looked at him. "It doesn't mean that you should give up. It's like you said. No matter what, you always find something to fight for. Why not God?"
He clinched his fists. "Okay." He got up.
Ellie rolled her eyes. It was ridiculous how easy it was to get him to back off. Just mention his past. "Fine." She stood up. "I'm pooped. I'm going to bed."
"But the sun just went down." It had to have been seven or eight o'clock.
She didn't answer him. She went into the bedroom and closed the door. But she didn't sleep right away. Ellie stared at the dark ceiling, where Jesus probably was. At least that's how it was in the movies. The protagonist would get on their knees, hold their hands together, and talk to the ceiling. Sometimes, they'd close their eyes. Ellie still didn't know if she believed the power of prayer. The concept was still so simple. It was talking to God. But she knew every conversation needed a listener and a speaker, and for the roles to switch every so often. How would talking to God turn to listening to Him? Maybe if she was quiet…
…
Nothing. She sighed, closing her eyes and trying again.
…
She thought she was doing it wrong. Maybe God wasn't a conversation starter. The thought made her giggle a bit. "God…" She said more as a sigh than a prayer. "I don't know what to do…" She didn't know what she was talking about, but that was the phrase that came out. It was probably about Joel. Probably about how to pray. Maybe it was about her destiny. It could've even been about her immunity. "I don't know what to do…"
…Breathe.
It was a random thought that popped into her head. And with that, everything seemed to unwind. She was able to relax into the covers. All she did was breathe.
Joel came into the room quietly. "Ellie…" He said in a low tone. "Are you awake?"
"Huh?" She said, barely awake to comprehend what was happening.
"I don't want you to go through this alone if you don't want to. If you still want me to go, I'll go." He didn't get a reply, so he assumed she was asleep.
"…thank you…" She said as he left.
The night was very quiet until there was pebble thrown at the window. At first, Ellie ignored it. But when it happened again, she jumped up. "Shit. Did I oversleep?" She threw on some clothes and opened the window. She waited for the call.
"Ca-caw!"
Ellie whistle back. She rushed around the bedroom so fast that her head had to catch up with her. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Where the hell is my…?"
In the living room, where Joel slept, was her backpack. She snuck around the couch and reached for it. Joel stirred a bit. She paused. When he was still, she snatched it and immediately checked her ammunition. She took some of Joel's bullets for her pistol and loaded it up. Just when she was in the clear, she let out a huge sneeze.
"What are you doing up?" Joel asked.
"Getting water." She said quickly.
"Alright." He turned around.
Ellie waited for a few seconds to see if he went back to sleep. After a while, she slipped out of the front door. "Finally." Jasmine said, greeting her with a hug. "I thought you forgot."
"I overslept." She said. "It doesn't help that I don't have a clock in my room."
"We'll get you one." She said.
Ellie nodded and followed her. It seemed like they've been walking in silence for a good while as they headed to The Wall. "How do we get past it?"
"We just do." She opened a door that led to a flight of stairs. The girls were taken to the top, able to see all of Jackson. "Are you scared of heights?"
"No."
Jasmine took out a rope ladder and tossed it down. "Come on." She went down quickly followed by Ellie. "There's my truck."
She looked over and saw a truck parked with a few others. Jasmine was already headed towards it and throwing bags into the trunk. "Is this Dusty's truck?"
"Yeah. But he doesn't know I use it." She got in. "It takes a little while to get there. That's why we're going so early. I hope you don't mind."
Ellie shook her head. "Not at all." She watched as The Wall got smaller and smaller from the rearview mirror.
"Ellie, I really hope that us doing this doesn't change your opinion of me." She said. "I don't want you to think I do this all the time."
"But you do do it all the time."
"Just for the clothes." She reminded her. "I wouldn't do it for anything else. And it's not like the clothes are just for me. I get them for everyone." Ellie was quiet. "I know you and Joel will need some church clothes. That's another reason why I'm doing it tonight."
She laughed. "For someone whose whole family goes to church, you sure like to break a lot of rules."
"Only the stupid ones." They shared in a laugh.
As Jasmine said, it took a while to get wherever they were going. With no radio, it made it seem even longer. Ellie was in and out of sleep, while Jasmine would sometimes hum. It was pretty peaceful being in a car. "AA-CHOO!"
"Oh God bless you!" Jasmine jumped.
Ellie sneezed again before saying "Thank you."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah."
"Because if you're still sick, you should tell me now so you can lay low. We'll work out a plan…"
"I'm fine." She said. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Okay." She pulled up to a fork in the road and turned the truck around so that they faced outward. "This is where we're going to park, but the place is a little further ahead."
Ellie could've gotten a bad feeling about the whole thing. Maybe a few weeks before, she would've told her not to go. But for some reason, she felt safe with Jasmine. She felt like she knew what she was doing. She may have been trusting her too easily, but she was never suspicious. Jasmine was honest and older. She hugged her whenever she greeted her and she smelt sweet like fresh bread. It wasn't like with David. He had to fight infected with her to gain her trust, but even then it was shaky. Jasmine was just there, showing her the world within the walls.
She followed her into the huge department store. "This place…"
"I know." She held her hand. "Come on!" They ran towards all the racks and shelves of what used to be a fully functional store. There was debris everywhere, some clothes were scattered around.
Ellie picked up a sweatshirt with The Little Mermaid on it. "Is this where the looting starts?"
"Yeah." Jasmine already had a good number of things in her bag. "I'm going to go over here." She pointed to what was supposed to be the lingerie or the kids section. Her voice was pretty low. "If you need anything or see someone, I'll be here."
"Okay." She watched her leave. What did she mean by that last part? She kept looking at the clothes. There was one dress that survived. It was blue, short-sleeved, and simple. Just the sight of it made Ellie laugh a little. She thought of herself wearing it with her hair done the way it was. She'd look like the little girls that went to church. Innocent with no military experience. The kind of girl who never murdered anyone. The longer she looked at it, the more she wanted to try it. But there was the fact that she had to have her bite covered. Ellie looked around, snatched the dress, and stuffed it into her bag.
"Ellie, look at this." Jasmine hurried to her with a flannel shirt in hand. "Do you think this'll fit Joel?"
She took the shirt and examined it. "I think so."
"Did you find anything good?"
She shook her head. "Only this shirt." She held up the sweatshirt.
"Take your time."
"How is it you're finding so much already?" She asked, already looking around.
"This isn't my first time." She said. "Plus, I'm literally taking what I can get."
Ellie picked up a half-shirt with a dragon on it. She also found leggings and jeans her size. She imagined she was back in the Old World, where she and Jasmine would do shopping trips all the time. They'd stop at the food court, talking about boys. She laughed to herself again. If she was really in the Old World, she'd be kicked out for stealing or causing a riot. Or maybe she was the type to get in, pay for her shit, and leave.
Breaking her out of her train of thought was the sound of footsteps and a flashlight. It wasn't Jasmine because she was on a different side of the store. Ellie listened closer, but she didn't know who or what was there. "Jasmine?" She whispered, trying to find her.
"Ellie, we're not alone." She said back as they met behind one of the racks.
"What's the plan?" She got out her gun.
Jasmine's eyes went wide when she heard it click. "We leave." She said. "What were you planning to do?"
"I'll follow you."
"Okay." Jasmine started going towards the back, picking up a few things on the way. Ellie got a good look at the guy. He was a hunter with a backpack full of stuff. He moved slowly, probably listening. The girls moved quietly. Another one came out and started searching.
"I don't think there's anyone here." One of them said. "Even the rats abandoned this place."
"Do you hear that?" Everyone paused.
"Naw." He said. "Let's just go."
Ellie covered her mouth and nose to stifle a sneeze. "What was that?" They asked.
"It came from that way." The hunters started easing in.
Jasmine shot Ellie a look before stopping somewhere to hide. Ellie looked around for something to throw. But when she didn't find anything, she said "I'm going to have to take them out."
"Ellie, no!" She exclaimed in a whisper.
But Ellie already had her gun out and pointed. Jasmine tried to take it, but she didn't have any luck. "Stop it." She warned her. "We'll be fine."
"Don't hurt them."
This time, Ellie gave her a look. She didn't want Jasmine to get hurt, so she was obviously going to take out the threat. But she followed Jasmine anyway to the shoe section. Ellie was surprised that she was still grabbing some of the few pairs off the shelves. Did she not feel threatened? "What now?" She asked. Jasmine was too busy grabbing some shoes to notice a hunter coming her way. She didn't want to yell out and give her location, but the hunter was closing in on them.
"Hey!" He grabbed Jasmine's wrist tightly.
"Leave her alone!" Ellie jumped on his back and began stabbing him with her knife. Once he was down, Jasmine's eyes were so wide and her mouth was so agape. She looked completely terrified. "Are you okay?"
"You…you…!"
"Oh, shit!" Another hunter exclaimed. He got out a gun and immediately began shooting.
"Get down!" She nearly pushed Jasmine behind a shelf and began firing. Jasmine was covering her ears and had her eyes shut. She was whispering something the whole time. Ellie kept firing until no one shot back. "I think that's all of them." She collapsed. "We have to get out of here before…"
There were more footsteps. "I heard gunshots coming from this way." Someone said.
Jasmine took her hand and hurried to the nearest exit. She still had a huge bag of clothes thrown over her shoulder. "Hey! Over there!"
They began shooting at the running girls. Ellie turned around every so often to fire back. When they got to the truck, Jasmine through the bag in the back and started it up. The tires screeched. The hunters that ran after them were immediately shot down by Ellie's pistol. "Okay. I think we're safe." She said. But Jasmine was still quiet. "Jasmine, are you okay?"
"Did you really have to kill those guys?"
"I did what we had to survive." The moment the words left her lips, she thought of Joel. It was basically his motto.
"By killing them?"
"And have them murder you?"
"They probably had families."
"So do we." She said. "And it's not like I killed them because I wanted to. I did it to protect us."
"I'm pretty sure there's another way you could've done it."
Ellie wanted to say that that's what she was taught, both from military drills and from Joel. But she decided a different question. "So you're telling me that in your whole time on the Outside, you've never witnessed a murder? Not from A-Thousand-Guns Dusty or any Fireflies or military soldiers?"
She didn't say anything. "I never said I've never witnessed it. I just don't like it."
"No one does. At least they shouldn't."
She shook her head as if she was still arguing with her in her head. "We wouldn't even have gotten caught if you kept quiet."
"We wouldn't have gotten caught if you weren't too busy getting shoes!" She said. "Look, I'm sorry. In case you forgot, I've been sick for a couple of days. I couldn't help it. But he clearly saw you when we were close to the exit."
"You know what? Fine. I'm sorry." She sighed. "I should've been a bit more persistent and focus. We won't get anywhere by fighting."
"Yeah, especially if we got away safely." She said. It was like arguing with Joel all over again. Maybe a thank you would've been better. But since she didn't get that, she was there fuming. That was until Jasmine put a hand on her knee. It relaxed her a bit. "Sorry. I should've trusted you."
"You're the one who saved us." She reminded her. "There's something for you in that bag that I was going to save for myself, but you earned it."
"Thanks."
The rest of the way home was a bit of a blur. Ellie was in and out of sleep again, but Jasmine didn't even hum. They were stopped by someone when they went up the ladder, but the person on Wall Duty was bribed with a pair of shoes. The shoes that nearly cost them their lives. When they got to Ellie and Joel's house, Jasmine opened her bag.
"This is for you." It was a hoodie that had a bird on the front and the word 'freedom' on the back. "And this is for Joel." It was a dress shirt and slacks. She also gave her a few pairs of dress shoes. "I don't know if these are your shoe sizes, but I thought you should have them."
"Thanks. And thanks for taking me with you. It was fun. Well, except when we got caught."
She laughed. "Next time, we'll be more prepared. Oh, and we need to get you that clock!"
She nodded. "Next time." She headed for the door. "See you later."