Hey guys! I'm back with Chapter 4 of this story! Thank you to those who reviewed/favorited/followed, all feedback is greatly appreciated!
"What's up with that Mark kid?" Ellie thought to herself as she left the dining hall. She was suspicious of him, since he was joined up with the other members of her class. Ellie remembered how David was initially friendly to her, and didn't want to get involved with Mark at all until she was one hundred percent sure that he was being legitimate with his words. She looked behind her one last time, noticing Mark speaking with one of his friends. Letting it go, Ellie closed the door and began walking towards her home.
On the way home, Ellie passed by the ugly blue building, internally groaning that she had to return to it early in the morning tomorrow. She looked around, making sure no one was standing near her or watching her. Then, she extended her arm and gave a big fat middle finger towards the school building.
"Fuck you," She said. She turned around and walked away from the school. Ellie never took the time to notice the scenery that surrounded the city of Jackson. It was actually quite beautiful, with tall green trees surrounding the area.
There were a few garden beds set up as well, with multicolored flowers growing on them. This looked odd to Ellie, since she was so used to seeing a bland and bleak world. Ellie reached down and plucked out some of the flowers growing in the garden beds. She had a handful of flowers now, all in shades of pink, red, yellow, and even a blue one.
"This should add some nice decoration to our house," Ellie thought to herself, remembering that there was an old vase sitting in the kitchen somewhere. Ellie approached her neighborhood and walked towards house 5. She pulled out her house key and stuck it in the lock. Twisting it, she opened the door to her house and walked in.
"Where is that vase?" Ellie wondered out loud, closing the door behind her and entering the kitchen. She looked on the counters and on the table, but it wasn't visible anywhere. Ellie opened the cupboards and found the old vase sitting inside.
"Joel must've put it here," Ellie thought, pulling it out. She put some water in it and stuck the flowers in it. It was a strange contrast, since the flowers were so bright and colorful, while everything else was dull and old looking.
Ellie left the vase in the middle of the kitchen table, hoping that Joel would like it. She headed upstairs and entered her room, which she realized she never actually slept in for a full night. Scattered on her bed were her comic books, her backpack, and a few pairs of clothes. She picked up her Savage Starlight comic, which she didn't finish, and began to read it.
About an hour later, Joel began to head home. He felt somewhat tired, and wanted nothing more than a nice afternoon nap before dinner. He approached the front door of the house and came in. Upon entering, he noticed a bright array of colors sitting on the dining table.
"Ellie must've picked those flowers," Joel thought, smiling. They were no doubt beautiful, and Joel liked the home decoration. It made everything look less depressing and dull.
"Ellie?" He called out, expecting an answer. Silence.
"Ellie?!" Joel called again, quickly scanning the downstairs area. "God dammit did she sneak out again?" He asked out loud to himself, both angry and upset. When he didn't find Ellie, he ran up the stairs and opened the door to her room. There she was, sound asleep in her own bed.
"Thank god," Joel whispered to himself. His heart began to slow down, and he couldn't help but smile in relief. Joel came into Ellie's room and kneeled down, getting a closer look at Ellie. He smiled at her lightly and ran a hand through her hair, which was now messy. Joel caressed her cheek fondly, rubbing his thumb gently over her scar. He got up and exited Ellie's room, closing the door.
"The kid ain't the only one who needs a nap," Joel said to himself, chuckling. He entered his bedroom and changed into some of his sleepwear. He climbed into the covers and closed his eyes, feeling a sense of sleepiness take over. Joel's mind started to wander, and he began to think about his new job. The idea of living such a normal life was strange to him, and he felt that getting too comfortable could be dangerous. His thoughts eventually got him to drift to sleep.
Joel wasn't sure how long he was asleep, but he was quickly woken up by a loud crash. He jumped on his feet, grabbing the El Diablo that was sitting on his nightstand.
"Ellie?" Joel called out, running out from his room. He opened the door to her room quickly, only to find her crouched on the floor, frantically picking up a bookshelf. There were a few random books and papers scattered on the floor. Ellie was trying to lift the bookshelf, but it looked like it was about to crush her.
"Christ, what did you do?" Joel asked. He put down his gun and helped her left the bookshelf up. Ellie stood up and sighed in relief.
"Shit, sorry Joel. I was trying to move this thing because I saw something peaking out from behind. I didn't mean to wake you." Ellie said, peering at the spot that was originally behind her bookshelf. There seemed to be some sort of small door hidden behind it.
"Woah, what's this?" Ellie asked out loud in amazement. She bent down and pulled at the handle.
"Ellie, be careful," Joel warned, watching her closely. The door opened, and it seemed to be just big enough for Joel to crawl through. Ellie reached in with her arm and felt something soft placed right near the entrance. She grabbed it and pulled it out, not expecting it to be heavy.
"It's some sort of big bag," Ellie commented. The bag was about the size of a trash bag, but it was made of a soft felt material. Ellie touched the bag, feeling it to predict what could be inside. Joel kneeled down and inspected it, before finding the zipper.
"Let's see what god damn stuff people hid in here," He said, pulling the zipper. Ellie gasped at the contents. It was a large bag filled with a variety of things. Joel shifted through it, trying to see the contents of the bag. There were several candy bars, two handguns, a photograph, magazines, a few DVD boxes, clothes, more packaged food, and a smaller box inside.
"Wow, we really hit the jackpot!" Ellie exclaimed. Joel lifted the bag upside down and dumped out everything on the floor so that the two could see everything clearly.
Joel chucked. "I reckon this is some sort of survival bag or somethin'."
"Joel, what's a…Snickers?" Ellie asked, picking up one of the candy bars and inspecting it.
"It was an extremely popular candy bar back then. One of Sarah's favorites. It's chocolate with some peanuts and caramel and nougat inside. Why don't you try it?"
"What the hell is nougat?" Ellie asked, while opening the wrapper. It revealed a medium brown colored chocolate bar. Ellie smelled it, and the scent of the chocolate made her mouth water. Joel laughed at her reaction.
"Just try it." He said, nudging her. Ellie took a small bite and chewed carefully, before her face lit up completely.
"This is fucking amazing! Best candy I've ever had!" Ellie cried out, taking another huge bite.
"Woah, kiddo. You'll get sick if you eat that much that fast." Joel warned, though he was smiling. He took away the candy bar from Ellie, before inspecting it and taking a bite himself.
"It's super stale, but it's still got the flavor."
"Hey!" Ellie complained. Joel chewed the candy bar, deciding whether or not it was enjoyable. Snickers was one of his favorites when he was a kid as well.
"Thanks for taking my candy, asshole." Ellie said, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling. Ellie looked around the stash and noticed six more Snickers bars lying on the floor, along with another three called Milky Way and another eight called M&Ms.
"I bet this person was a total fatass." Ellie commented, looking at the large amount of candy bars. "I can't wait to try all of these!"
Joel looked around in the stash as well, before noticing the small box that was hidden under the larger pile of items. He pulled it out and inspected it. It was a dark green box, no bigger than a deck of cards. There was dust on it, but it was still intact. Curious, Joel opened the box, which revealed a small key.
"Huh, I wonder where this leads." Joel wondered out loud, showing Ellie the key.
"Maybe there's a hidden treasure chest or something," Ellie teased. Joel smiled and closed the box.
"Let's keep this safely." He said. He grabbed the extra pairs of clothes in the pile and stood up, leaving the room so that he could pack them. Ellie looked at the DVD boxes, noticing that they were kids movies.
"Joel? Have you seen these movies?" Ellie called out. Joel walked back in and inspected the DVDs.
"The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, The Parent Trap, The Shining," Joel read out loud. He couldn't help but smile. Those were all classic movies that everyone loved before the outbreak. "I've actually seen them all. They're all winners."
"Do you think we could get them to work?" Ellie asked, looking at the DVD boxes.
"Depends if we have a running DVD player. I don't know why this person kept around damn DVDs when there's no place to watch them."
"A what?"
"Nevermind, I'll check and let you know." Joel said. Ellie reached for a bag of M&Ms and opened it. She was surprised at the variety of colors of the candy. She popped a blue one into her mouth.
"God damn! How is it that you aren't super fat when you had all this stuff laying around?" Ellie remarked, popping a few more in her mouth.
"Don't eat too much, I don't want you getting' sick. That's probably all expired candy."
"Expired goodness!" Ellie exclaimed.
"Mhmm," Joel said. He placed the box with the key in Ellie's dresser drawer. "I'll have the locksmith see if he can identify where this key is from. I think he keeps records of every damn key used in this town."
Ellie was preoccupied reading the back of the DVD boxes. They all looked interesting to her, and it had been over a year since she saw an actual movie.
"Which one of these is your favorite?" Ellie asked, holding the DVDs up. Joel looked at the boxes, quickly analyzing them and thinking about the plot of each. He had forgotten most of the plots, since the last time he watched any of them was before the outbreak.
"I forgot most of the storylines, but I remember that The Shining was a horror thriller type of move."
"It's scary? We have to watch it!" Ellie exclaimed, deciding that this would be the first movie of the four she'd watch. Joel chuckled and left the room, leaving Ellie to ponder over the items she found in the bag.
Ellie picked up the photograph that was in the back and inspected it. It was an extremely old photo that was worn out, but the person was still clearly visible. There was a pretty woman in the photo with brown hair and blue eyes. The woman was thin, but her stomach was bulging out. She wasn't smiling in the photo, but her eyes were staring directly straight. She was wearing a jacket that had the Firefly symbol on it. Ellie put down the photo and popped a few more M&Ms into her mouth.
Ellie placed the photograph in the drawer, along with the mystery key that they found in the bag. She got up, leaving the mess on the floor.
"Joel?" Ellie called out.
"What?" He yelled from downstairs. Ellie went downstairs, following his voice. She found him crouched on the floor, fiddling with the television.
"I'm hungry." Joel turned around and gave her a strange look.
"Ellie, you literally just ate lunch and had candy after that."
"And?"
Joel sighed and got up, knowing that Ellie wouldn't give up until she got more food in her. She grinned, glad that she could eat more.
"Now, I don't want you spoilin' your dinner. We're going to the dining hall and Tommy told me that there's going to be a lot of good food tonight." Joel said, opening the cabinet. He took out the bread and Nutella, deciding to make a sandwich like he did for Ellie's breakfast.
"Chocolate bread? Fuck yes!" Ellie exclaimed, running over to Joel. He finished making the sandwich and placed it on a plate. Ellie, whose mouth was watering, was about to grab the sandwich when Joel yanked the plate away.
"Hey!" Ellie cried out. Joel grabbed a kitchen knife and cut it in half, giving Ellie only one.
"What the hell? Why'd you cut it in half?" Ellie complained.
"Because I want you to be hungry for the damn feast they're havin' tonight. You'll live." Joel said, placing the other half on another plate. He stuck the plate in the fridge, which was actually working thanks to the electricity.
Though Ellie wanted the entire sandwich, she knew that Joel was right.
"Well, better than nothing." Ellie said, shoving half of the whole thing in her mouth.
"Jesus, Ellie." Joel grimaced at the sight. He noticed that once there was plenty of food around, that Ellie was a total eating machine. The past few days they were in Jackson, he noticed that she would fill her plate, eat it all within a few minutes, and then get up for seconds. That was, of course, whenever she didn't feel socially awkward around new members of the town they were meeting.
Ellie grinned sheepishly and showed down her chewing. "Sorry."
A few hours later, Ellie and Joel went to dinner. Joel was right, it was a feast. There was a much larger variety of food this time, and it seemed a lot more crowded than usual.
"Woah!" Ellie exclaimed as the two walked into the dining hall.
"You better be hungry." Joel said, both as a joke and a slight warning for eating earlier in the day. Ellie grinned.
"I'm fucking starving!"
The two walked towards the table, but Joel was walking a lot slower than Ellie wanted him to. She was excited for all the food that was about to enter her mouth tonight, and she didn't want to wait another second.
"Come on, fucking walk faster!" She exclaimed. Ellie grabbed Joel's hand and dragged him to the end of the food tables, where the plates and silverware were kept. Joel laughed, keeping up with Ellie.
"Calm yourself." He said, grabbing a plate after Ellie did. He could see why Ellie was excited though. There was a large variety of food, and the entire room was buzzing with excitement.
Ellie started off by grabbing a generous portion of deer meat and placing it onto her plate. As she went down the table, she started to pile up her plate. Ellie didn't even know what half of the things being served even were. The person ahead of her poured a brown substance on top of his mashed potatoes, so she did the same. She grabbed a large portion of a red wiggly looking food, which smelled good.
"Joel, what's this wiggly stuff?" Ellie asked.
"That's pasta, I reckon you'll love it." Joel explained, grabbing some for himself. Ellie smiled and grabbed a dinner roll and some crispy brown meat. Ellie was about to go and sit down, when she ran into someone, nearly spilling her whole plate.
"Watch where you're fucking going!" The person grumbled. Ellie noticed that it was actually a kid about her age, but not someone she recognized from her class. It was a boy, about an inch and a half taller than she was. He had short dark brown hair and light blue eyes, and was wearing a black shirt that said "Metallica" in bold white letters.
"Shit, sorry! I didn't see you." She said, apologizing. The boy scoffed and walked off.
"Rude piece of shit," Ellie said to herself. She scanned the crowd and eventually found a seat with Tommy and Maria. Joel was still at the food table, so she decided to let him find her. She didn't want to wait another second before eating.
"Hey Ellie!" Tommy exclaimed, looking at her plate. "Wow, are you going to eat all of that?"
Ellie scoffed. "Watch me." Maria laughed and took a bite of deer. Ellie grabbed her fork and decided to try the "pasta" first. It was strange looking, and it slipped off of her fork every time she tried to eat it. Tommy laughed.
"Try twirlin' your fork like this. Then it all stays." He explained, showing her with his own food. Ellie nodded, and to her excitement it worked. She put the fork of food in her mouth, experiencing a burst of flavor.
"This is so good!" She exclaimed, excited about eating more. Joel found Ellie with his brother and sat down with them all. His plate was also full, but it looked like Ellie was eating a lot more than he was.
"So, why is there a feast today?" Joel asked, cutting his deer.
"We have somethin' like this every week. We're growin' crops and we have livestock, so we have a good amount to work with for food. Everyone loves it, especially when the food hunters bring deer or elk for us to eat." Maria explained.
Ellie was mostly silent for the duration of the dinner because she was so focused on the food, enjoying every plate and morsel. Joel told her to slow down multiple times, but realized that it was useless since she was going to eat more anyway. She even got up for some dessert, which was some sort of warm chocolate cake with icing.
"I'll be right back," Ellie said, getting up. She went to the food table to grab more napkins, when she bumped into someone – again.
"Sorry! I—"
"Fucking hell that's the second time today!" The person said angrily. Ellie realized it was the same person she bumped into before: the boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was looking at her, irritated. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"You know, maybe you should watch where you're fucking going, because I was taking a clear straight path to the food table when you knocked into me! Get that stick out of your ass and lighten up." Ellie ranted. The boy seemed surprised at her outburst. The surprised look on his face almost made her laugh.
The boy glared at her and started walking towards the same table that Ellie was, and a moment of awkwardness filled the air. Ellie grabbed a few napkins, as did the strange boy. He was about to walk away to his own table, but Ellie got curious.
"Hey wait." She said. The boy stopped and turned around, looking annoyed. Ellie ignored his facial expression.
"You uh, go to school here? You look like you're a teenager. I haven't really seen you around." Ellie asked. The boy raised an eyebrow, both skeptical and surprised.
"Fuck that place." He simply said, before walking off. Ellie was left confused and somewhat intrigued. "Maybe this boy just ditches school everyday." She thought to herself.
Ellie watched the boy walk off to his table, where he was sitting with a few adults. He looked disinterested in their conversation and was quietly finishing his plate. She walked back to her spot with Joel, but continued to watch the boy. He was picking at his food and staring at his plate. He looked sort of annoyed, and Ellie noticed that his mother handed him something. He got up and started walking towards the exit of the dining hall. The boy stopped and looked at Ellie, who he caught staring at him. She quickly turned red and pretended to look at Joel and Tommy. When she looked up, he was gone.
After dinner, Joel and Ellie spent the rest of the evening sitting in the living room and talking.
"Hey Joel?" Ellie said, looking up at him.
"Hm?"
"Why is six afraid of seven?" Ellie asked, a grin spreading across her face. Joel groaned and leaned back on the couch.
"How many damn jokes are in that book?" Joel complained, knowing he was about to hear a terrible pun.
"Because seven eight nine!" Ellie exclaimed, laughing. Joel groaned again, but he couldn't help smiling a little bit.
"Get it? Seven ate night."
"Yeah, kiddo. I got it."
Ellie proceeded with more jokes, some of which she didn't get.
"Joel, what do they mean when they say the partner was a stalemate?" Ellie asked, referring to one of the jokes she told him back in Pittsburgh. Joel's eyes quickly widened and he turned a little bit red.
"You know, kiddo, I think you should go to bed. You have school tomorrow."
"Aw man! Fuck that place!" Ellie complained. Joel chuckled and got off the couch. Ellie followed him up the stairs, before entering her own room. Joel was a little bit surprised, but he let it go. He knew that it would make Ellie's adjustment to Jackson a lot smoother.
"I think I'm gonna try to sleep in here tonight." Ellie said, climbing into her bed.
"Good night, kiddo."
"G'nite Joel."
~One week later~
For the past week, Ellie and Joel had developed a regular morning routine. Ellie had to get up to go to school, and Joel had to go to his new job. Ellie would come home in the early afternoon, usually staying home alone for a few hours while Joel went off with the food hunters or helping Tommy with some tasks. He would sometimes bring home new snacks and food items for Ellie to try, or they would go off to the dining hall to eat meals with Maria and Tommy. Occasionally, Betty would come over and try to talk to Joel. He was friendly to her, but he wasn't interested in any romantic relationship with her, even though Tommy teased him about it. Mark, her son, talked to Ellie twice during the week – once asking about class related stuff and once about her past, which Ellie didn't give much information about. She also attended class everyday and didn't get into any trouble, despite the fact that class was extremely boring and she was half asleep for most of it anyway. One week into her school life, Ellie accepted the fact that she wouldn't be making friends with anyone her age.
Beep Beep Beep Beep
Ellie jumped up, startled. She quickly shut off her alarm, extremely irritated. Joel had moved the alarm clock to her room, knowing that it was loud enough to wake him up. Ellie knew that Joel wouldn't let her skip school or sleep in longer, so she decided to avoid the morning arguments and just get out of bed.
Ellie walked into Joel's room and noticed that he was already up. Without saying a word, she sleepily entered the bathroom and got ready. Meanwhile, Joel made breakfast.
The rest of the morning was spent in the dining room, where Joel made Ellie a Nutella sandwich and the two ate breakfast together.
Afterwards, they walked to Ellie's school building together. The bell rang, and Ellie gave Joel a quick goodbye hug before unhappily walking into the building. Joel then went off to work.
Ellie walked into her classroom, expecting the same bullshit that she experienced before. She sat across from Tina and her friends, since they weren't generous enough to let her choose her own seat. Mackenzie began to teach the math lesson, and Ellie was too tired to pay attention.
About an hour later, Ellie was very close to falling asleep. She didn't care if Mackenzie noticed or complained, but she thought that learning about imaginary numbers was utterly useless. Her voice was droning on and on, and Ellie was about to fall asleep when—
A large thud startled Ellie, and she shot straight up in her seat. She looked at the door, which she realized was opened. Mackenzie, and the entire class, turned around to see another kid standing at the entrance.
Ellie gasped and turned slightly red. It was the same kid she ran into last night in the dining halls.
"That's the grumpy asshole from yesterday!" Ellie thought. His bright blue eyes met Ellie's, and her stomach churned slightly in nervousness. She would see him in the dining hall every time she went, but would get nothing more from him other than a blank stare or a huff of annoyance.
"Nice of you to join us, Luke." Mackenzie said, looking at the boy in an annoyed manner. "We haven't seen you in two weeks."
The boy, who Ellie realized was called Luke, huffed slightly.
"I'm so happy to be here Mackenzie." He said sarcastically. He looked around the classroom and took the one empty spot, which was right next to Ellie. Mackenzie rolled her eyes and continued teaching.
"Uh, hi." Ellie said quietly, looking at Luke. He looked at her strangely. Ellie felt a bit nervous, not knowing what he was going to do. He turned away and stared straight ahead.
"Hello, weirdo from dining hall." He replied.
"It's Ellie." She replied, annoyed. This guy was a total asshole. It was strange to Ellie how none of the kids in the town cared to be nice.
Except for Mark, though. He was friendly to her face, and he didn't seem to participate in Tina's gossiping activities during class. They barely spoke though, and Joel seemed to scare him off when he was talking to her in the dining hall.
"So, why'd you show up today? I thought you hated this place." Ellie asked, deciding to ignore his previous comment. Luke, without looking at her, huffed in annoyance. There seemed to be a long silence, and it was awkward for Ellie. After what seemed like hours, he finally said:
"My parents."
Ellie looked at him in surprise, not expecting a response after that long silence. She simply nodded, wondering why this boy was being so cold to her.
It didn't look like Ellie was the only person he didn't want to speak to. Ellie noticed that he wasn't speaking with anyone else in the class, so she assumed he didn't have friends either.
"It's time for the half hour break. I expect you all to come back." Mackenzie announced. The students all sighed in relief.
A movement in the corner of her eye caught Ellie's attention. She noticed that Luke got up and immediately left the classroom. Curious, Ellie got up and left the classroom as well. She looked around the building, before noticing that Luke was exiting it.
Luke was heading towards the playground, and it didn't look like he was interested in talking to anybody. There weren't any kids on the playground, since Luke ran off quickly before the other kids showed up. Ellie followed him quietly, wondering where he was off to. She didn't let him notice her, of course, since he would probably snap at her. Luke started walking towards the fence, and Ellie had a strange feeling about what he was going to do next.
"What the fuck are you doing, Luke?" She asked herself. She watched him jump up onto the top of the fence, before swinging his legs over and hopping off on the other side. Onto the "forbidden" territory.
Ellie ran towards the fence, wondering what the hell he was up to. She had a pistol and her switchblade hidden with her, but she didn't notice Luke carrying any weapons with him. She was about to hop up onto and over the fence, before remembering what happened the last time she did so.
"Should I go after him? He just went into the woods without any weapons, and it's dangerous…But Joel said I should never do it again, and he'd probably get pissed if he found out. But what if Luke gets in trouble…" Ellie thought. She was having an internal debate with herself, but decided to hop the fence anyway.
"Fuck it." She said to herself as she hopped over the fence. Ellie was armed, and she knew well enough that she could take care of herself if any trouble showed up. She scanned the area to see if she could find Luke, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Wait, those footprints are probably his," Ellie figured, quickly following them. She looked around her surroundings, realizing she never went in this direction the last time she jumped the fence.
Ellie quickly and quietly followed Luke's footsteps, being extremely careful about her surroundings. She didn't hear any infected or any strange people in the woods, which was a good sign. She was crouched down the entire time, listening intently. Ellie had her pistol in her hand and her switchblade in a spot easy to reach, just in case.
Luke's footsteps headed further in the woods, and Ellie was starting to wonder whether or not she should continue. She didn't want to get lost, but she was also extremely curious about where Luke was and why he was in the woods.
Ellie heard a crackling sound and immediately froze. She had her pistol in her hands, well prepared to shoot anything that could potentially attack her. She scanned the area around her, seeing nothing. Ellie then moved a few steps forward, before noticing Luke.
Luke was standing alone in the woods, staring off into the distance. He picked up a stone and threw it straight ahead. Ellie was momentarily startled, but realized that he had thrown the stone into a lake.
"Wait, what?" Ellie thought to herself. She glanced in the same direction Luke was looking in, and there was a large glistening lake ahead of him. The stone bounced on the water six times before sinking into it. "Woah, this is pretty cool."
Luke sat down on the ground, just staring out at the lake. It was peaceful and serene, and there didn't seem to be any garbage or dead bodies lying around anywhere. There were small flowers growing on the edge of the lake, and a few moss covered rocks as well. Luke leaned back against a tree and smiled lightly.
Ellie was surprised to see him smile, since he always seemed to be in a foul mood. The lake in the banned woods seemed to be a safe place for him, at least that's what Ellie thought.
Luke stood up and walked towards the water. He bent down and touched it with his fingers, watching it ripple.
"Where to, boss?" A deep, masculine voice from deeper within the woods yelled. Ellie gasped quietly and stayed hidden. Luke didn't seem to hear anything at all, since he was closer to the lake.
"Fuck!" Ellie whispered to herself, becoming ready to attack the strangers in the woods. She knew that the food hunters from the town weren't coming out today, so the man she just heard was definitely a stranger. Ellie heard a rustling sound from the distance, and saw a bulky looking man approaching the lake. He wasn't close to Ellie, and he couldn't see her, but he had his eye on Luke. Luke didn't notice him, since his back was turned. It looked like the man was trying to sneak up on him. He had a revolver in his hand, and he was inching his way towards Luke.
Ellie, who knew that Luke was about to be attacked, left her spot and quietly trailed behind the bulky man. He didn't notice her, since she was stealthily crouching behind him. Ellie didn't want to shoot him, since the gunshots would attract attention to the other strangers in the woods.
The man was about ten feet away from Luke, and looked like he was ready to sneak up behind him and grab him. Ellie slowly and quietly took out her switchblade and opened it.
"Well fuck, here goes nothing." Ellie thought. She quickly raised her switchblade and drove it into the stranger's neck. Before he could let out a scream or attack her, she dragged the knife across his neck and left his throat cut wide open and bleeding. Luke, who heard the commotion, turned around and gasped in surprise.
"What th—" He started, gaping at the sight. Ellie ran up to him and covered his mouth with her hand.
"Not now." She whispered. She put her finger to her lips and gestured for him to be quiet. She then grabbed his hand and ran away from the lake. Luke, to Ellie's surprise, didn't hesitate at all. He ran with her, quickly and quietly. Ellie and Luke followed the footsteps back to the gate, running away from the area where the hunters were. To their luck, no one chased them or followed them back to the gate. They were probably going to notice their dead friend soon enough, though.
Ellie quickly jumped over the fence and landed in the familiar park of her new hometown. Luke quickly followed, sighing in relief that he was safe.
"Phew, that was—" Ellie started.
"What the hell were you doing in the woods?!" Luke interrupted, looking at Ellie angrily.
"Excuse me? Apparently I was saving your stupid ass from getting killed!" Ellie yelled back, turning red with anger. "I save his life, and he still acts like a fucking ass!"
"Why the hell were you even in the woods? Were you following me?" Luke yelled, crossing his arms.
"Considering these woods are fucking forbidden for everyone except the food hunters, I was wondering where your shitface was running off to!"
"It's none of your business!" Luke yelled back, his face fuming with anger.
"Look," Ellie said, calming down. "I'm sorry I followed you into the woods. But I went there last week and there were some pretty sketchy people lurking around nearby. I just went there to make sure there was no trouble." Ellie said hoping Luke would stop being angry with her.
To her surprise, Luke's expression softened. He seemed somewhat curious now.
"Why did you go to the woods?" He asked.
"I got bored as fuck during class, and Maria told me the woods were not allowed. I guess curiosity got the best of me. Also, I wanted to get away from the assholes from our class." Ellie replied. Luke chuckled lightly, much to Ellie's relief.
Luke didn't say anything; he was just staring at the ground. He wasn't making eye contact with Ellie.
"Thanks." He said, before walking away. Ellie looked at him as he walked away, both confused and intrigued. Luke was different from the other kids in their class, and he seemed to hate them as well. He also didn't seem afraid to run off into the woods alone, so Ellie assumed that he wasn't sheltered in Jackson his whole life. Ellie noticed something small and black peaking out of the back of Luke's belt as he walked off.
"So he was armed after all." Ellie thought to herself.
Ellie decided to go home instead of returning to class. She figured that about an hour had passed since the break started, and that class was back in session by now. Ellie noticed that Luke was headed in the opposite direction of the school, so she figured he was ditching as well.
"Fuck that place." Ellie said out loud, remembering that those were the exact words that Luke said about the school. Ellie exited the park and started walking back home when—
"Ellie." A deep and masculine voice called out to her, sounding angry. Ellie jumped and turned around.
"Oh fuck."
That's the end of chapter 4! Sorry it took a little longer than usual to post, I had a lot of ideas of how this one could go so it was sort of hard to put it together. Anyways, what do you guys think of this chapter? I made it pretty long for you guys :) What do you guys think of Luke? What the hell is up with that weird door in Ellie's room, and the bag of stuff that she found? Please please review the chapter and tell me what you guys think! Thank you to all of my readers, and thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed. Chapter 5 will be up soon! Until then, please review and tell me what you all think of what's happening so far!