A/N: The guitar that Ellie uses is called the Gibson J-50 acoustic guitar. Her model is a beaten up, worn-in one.
This story is going to be released periodically in 3 chapter lots. This way the usage of chapters and the cut-off points they present can still be used, and you guys still get a large amount of content.
Disclaimer
I Kaien Crosszeria, do not in anyway own any aspect of the Last of Us, or the artists mentioned. The plot is my own. If a copyright holder would like me to retract their property I shall do my best to accommodate their desires. Please note that there might typographical errors.
Chapter 3
David had arrived. He looked gaunt, his hair a steely grey. His face was hard to describe. He looked out over the crowd of children and teenagers. He smiled a thin smile, almost a pencil smile. He then spoke, his voice undercut by his Georgia accent.
"Now I understand the concerns some of you may have. I'm a new face, and some of you may have never stepped out of these grounds in your lives, so any new faces, such as mine and James', our new cook, would probably startle and scare you. But your lives are in my hands, and now you need to understand that. If any of you have any questions about anything, my office door is always open."
The guy, despite his initially friendly demeanour, put Ellie on edge. There was something about his eyes, that lingered on her and Riley a little longer than any of the others, that made her incredibly uneasy. She looked over at Riley, who nodded back at her. 'There's something off about this guy.' her eyes seemed to say. Ellie nodded in agreement. They headed back to their game of poker, warily watching behind them at the man with the shifty eyes.
-The man with the shifty eyes-
They were two weeks into David's reign, and things were already worse. Although he had turned a blind eye to the gambling, mainly due to the fact that snacks were what was being offered as betting material. However almost all areas of life, including religious belief, had become instantly more conservative. Boys with long hair were forced to shear it, and other such parts of life were all taken over by a sense of manipulation.
Riley had run over to Ellie, who was sitting in the corner of the social room, reading her copy of Trainspotting. Ellie instantly looked up at Riley.
"Ellie, could I talk to you quickly, about 'girl problems'?" The wink thrown in there, unnoticed by James, who had instantly looked away at the mention of girl problems, was noticed instantly by Ellie who nodded. They took Ellie's box of Tampax, just to make it look a bit more convincing, and headed towards the girls toilet. They locked the door, made sure there were no cameras or microphones, and then Ellie started.
"What is it? You found anything on the fucker?" Ellie asked excitedly. Although she had already been mistrusting of David, the fact that he had banned her playing on the grounds of some of her lyrical content being "immoral", she had started to full on hated him. He had tried to take away her guitar as well, but was stopped by Ellie waving the receipt in his face, claiming she would call the police if he tried to take her property. He gave up on it after that.
"So I was sloping around outside of David's office, when I heard him saying something to someone, Alexis probably, that "the basement is none of you business, and neither is it that of the police. Or do you want your daughter to disappear?" in this really threatening, throaty voice." Riley said. Ellie thought about it. "Tonight we'll scope out the basement door. You said it was around the side, near the kitchen right?" Riley nodded. "Okay. We'll get up and go out round the side of the house. Agreement?" Ellie said.
"Agreement." Riley replied, sealing the deal with a hug.
-Do you want your daughter to disappear?-
Both Ellie and Riley were now at the basement door, round the back of the building. They both quietly groaned when they discovered it was locked. Riley got up."This a no go," she whispered, "We'll find another way to get him out." Ellie grabbed her arm and shook her head. "David's very forgetful. You remember last week, when he said at dinner that he had a spare of every single one of his keys near whatever they were for, in case he had forgotten his keyring? It's unlikely considering the situation, but it's worth a check." Riley agreed, and soon they got to looking. Eventually, after about twenty minutes of searching, Ellie found it behind the bins near the fence. They both took a deep breath. Riley undid the lock, and both went in. Ellie stopped about halfway down, looked up, and saw Riley locking the doors behind them. "What the hell are you doing?!" she hissed at Riley. "Just in case he comes down. Nothing will look out of place." Ellie nodded her understanding, and continued on down.
She suddenly felt very ill. It was a big room, covered in mattresses. The walls were covered in pictures, mostly of children and teenagers. However what disturbed her was the large number of sex toys littered around the place. She moved over to one of the counters. Inventory checks. Finances based on what looked like names. She looked over at Riley, who looked similarly disturbed. They were thinking the same thing.
'A child sex ring.'
Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices and footsteps above. |They both looked at each other in mild panic. They both quietly moved over to the back of the room, and piled into a large empty chest. Close packed and claustrophobic, but safe. The lock turned. They heard laughter as the David and his lot piled down the stairs.
"That is a good one, Mr. Smith! I'll keep it in mind. Now onto business." David's voice was loud and jovial.
Another voice, snivelling and nasal replied. "Remember Gillis, I don't like them super young. A 15 or 16 year old will do."
"Of course sir. Any other preferences?"
There was a small lapse of silence before the man replied.
"I've always liked a good chink to put in their place. And I have a thing for redheads, have had since I was a young man."
Ellie and Riley looked at each other in horror, both predicting where this was going.
"Well sir, you are in luck. Two of the girls upstairs fit you're exact requirements. Best friends as well. Rather rebellious though, I should warn you."
Mr. Smith laughed. "All the more fun. Breaking them should prove enjoyable." there was a small shuffling of papers. "Oh they are gorgeous. May I, er, keep the photos?" "Of course sir. Hope you enjoy them." David replied.
Ellie felt really, really ill. One look at Riley showed she was feeling the same.
"Well then sir, with that business out of the way, shall we go upstairs and have a whiskey over the paperwork?" David said. "What a splendid idea. Lead on."
It wasn't until they heard the lock click, and could no longer hear their footsteps that both Ellie and Riley climbed out of the box.
Riley was crying. "We need to call the police. Now!" she hissed. "Riley," Ellie said, "You need to calm down." Riley made a face, "Calm down? Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down when some weirdo is trying to buy me?! How about you?! Aren't you worried about the fact that you're also being moved on like fucking cattle?! Or are you just-" Ellie interrupted her with a deep kiss. Riley, surprised at first, leaned into it. About a minute in, Ellie broke it. "Riley, look at what's in here. A couple of mattresses, a few cork boards, and some notes. This could be moved out of here, or even shifted to look like it's just in storage, in about an hour. All that calling the cops will do is tell David that someone's onto him. What we do, is grab our stuff, and run. We're in a Wellington, Washington. We can run to Olympia, or even better, Seattle. We can go to homeless shelters, and sleep it rough. I can busk and you can use that insane luck of yours to trick idiots out of their money. We will be fine. I know there's a homeless refuge in eastern Seattle. We're gonna be fine."
Riley nodded, tears streaming down both of their faces. They both leaned into a very deep kiss.
"I love you Ellie. I love you so, so, much." Riley sobbed. "I love you too, Riley." replied Ellie, equally emotional.
They both went back upstairs.
-I love you, so, so, much-
Ellie and Riley gathered their money from their pocket money jars. They packed their bags, and silently went towards the doorway. There was a 24 hour shop on the High Street. They would gather supplies from there, and then head out towards Seattle using the map she had stolen from the reception.
"Are you ready?" Ellie asked Riley. Riley looked at her. "As ready as I'll ever be." They grabbed each others hands at the gate onto the grounds. And took their first step. Their first step towards their new life. Their new life. Together.
End Chapter
A/N: All reviews are appreciated.
