Ellie awoke before sunrise and grabbed a new pair of blue jeans. She pulled on a long-sleeve, light blue Triple Phoenix shirt, grabbed her backpack, and went downstairs.
There was a key on the table next to her guitar.
Ellie strummed a few notes on the guitar and picked up the key.
There was also a note from Joel.
Lock the door whenever you leave the house. If you lose the key, go to Tommy's.
Took a day shift on the Wall.
See you tonight.
Ellie crumpled up the note and threw it aside. "Pfft. What, does he think I'm five years old?"
Ellie exited the house, locking the door behind her and pocketing the key. She walked into the shop ten minutes later and nodded her greetings to the shopkeeper, who was just finishing breakfast. The shopkeeper was still dressed in a pair of brown pajamas.
"You're early," the shopkeeper said as he put down a spoon.
"I don't sleep past sunrise," Ellie replied.
"Me either," the shopkeeper grunted. "You want any cereal before you start?"
"I'm not hungry."
Ellie looked at the shelves full of miscellaneous objects behind her. Like the day before, it looked a lot bigger that it initially had. Here we go, Ellie. First day of work.
Ellie spent the morning organizing the store, mostly ignoring the people who walked in and out. The shopkeeper gave no suggestions and Ellie didn't ask. She started by placing objects into piles. Music, movies, books, instruments, house supplies, random crap…
When Ellie had finally sorted everything into piles, she sat down and took a small breath of relief. That wasn't so bad. Next is organizing it onto the shelves. She rose and moved toward the first pile.
The shopkeeper spoke to Ellie for the first time in hours. "Not so fast," he said. "You've been working nonstop. Take a break and go outside."
Ellie sighed and walked out the door. Now what do I do? She glanced down the street.
There were a group of men dressed in white t-shirts and blue jeans attempting to create a new barricade on top of the nearby section of the Wall. One man was passing boards up while the other two were grabbing and nailing them onto the boards they had already set.
Ellie started walking in their direction.
The man on the ground picked up a particularly large board and attempted to shoulder it. As he began to lift it over his head, it tipped backwards. The awkward shift in weight caused him to stumble. Ellie grabbed the board from behind and steadied him.
"Thanks, kid," the man said appreciatively.
"No problem," Ellie replied, balancing the board on her shoulder. "Are you ready to lift, or what?"
The man gave her a look of surprise as the men on the Wall laughed. The man on the ground shrugged and gripped the board tighter.
With a grunt of exertion Ellie pushed the plank above her as far as she could. The two men above them grabbed the plank. Ellie continued to help them for a half hour until they had finished their task.
Eventually, Ellie turned away with the thanks of the three men. "You want to help out with the Wall, you're welcome anytime," one of them said.
When Ellie walked back into the shop, the shopkeeper was shaking his head. "You really don't get the concept of a break, do you?"
"I guess not," Ellie replied, moving to the piles.
Ellie spent the rest of the day organizing everything on the shelves and making it look neat.
Ellie stood back as the sun started setting Finally done. That wasn't so tough.
Ellie took a drink of the water that the shopkeeper offered her. "Now what?" she asked.
"Go home, kid," the man said with a chuckle. "You've done enough. Tomorrow, we'll have to start figuring out how to get rid of this stuff. And don't forget your payment."
Ellie raised an eyebrow. "I thought I had to wait two weeks."
The shopkeeper smiled. "Perks of being the owner. Go on. Pick anything you want."
Five minutes later, Ellie walked down the street toward the house. In one hand, she held a poster for "Dawn of the Wolf". Her other hand was dragging an old swivel chair with three wheels. She received a few stares from people she passed but ignored them.
The house came into view. The streets were empty and most of the people had gone inside for the night.
Ellie stopped and looked at the chair she was dragging, then at the clear street ahead of her. Oh, what the hell?
Ellie ran as fast as she could with the chair in front of her and jumped on. "Wahoooo!" she shouted as she started to pick up speed. Ahead, she saw gravel turn into grass. "Oh, fu—"
As the wheels hit the grass, Ellie and the chair toppled over. She scraped her right arm on the ground. Ellie took a moment to collect herself and got to her feet, brushing off her shirt. She looked over at Tommy's house and saw Joey staring at her from his front yard.
"Having fun?" Joey asked in amusement.
Ellie grabbed the chair and hauled it toward her house. "It was great until I hit the grass," she replied.
Ellie grabbed the key and opened the door. She deposited the chair and poster in her bedroom and strummed her guitar a few times.
"Dammit!"
Ellie walked toward the door.
Joey was bent over across the street, rubbing his toe.
Ellie exited the house. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Joey said. He attempted to stand up as if nothing happened. "I dropped the log on my toe."
Ellie turned to reenter the house before stopping. You know, the twerp can be a jackass, but he's pretty cool most of the time. Ellie turned and walked across the street. "You want some help? It's going to be dark soon."
Joey smiled. "That would be awesome."
Ellie and Joey spent the next twenty minutes stacking the logs by the side of the house. When they were finished, they sat down in the back yard and looked at the darkening sky.
Ellie sighed, now completely exhausted. She glanced at Joey. "So where are your parents?"
Joey shrugged. "Mom's napping. I think dad is introducing Uncle Joel to a girl. He thinks it'll be good for him or something."
Ellie felt a pang of jealousy before shaming herself. He has the right to be happy. Ellie yawned. "Is it like this every day? Actually being busy with something?"
"Some days more than others," Joey replied with a yawn of his own.
Ellie smiled.
Joey noticed her enthusiasm. "You are strange," he said bluntly. "All you want to do is work."
Ellie started picking at the grass. "It keeps my mind off things…"
"You know that you messed up your arm, right?"
Ellie glanced up. "What?"
Joey pointed at the scrape on Ellie's wrist. There was a little dried blood.
Ellie rolled up her sleeve instinctively and looked at the scrape that stretched from her wrist to just above her bite. "Not that bad. It'll heal," she said as she rolled down the sleeve and looked at Joey.
Joey was still staring at her arm, his mouth hanging open.
Ellie froze as well. Fuck! The bite!
Joey looked back at the house and raised his voice. "Mo—"
Ellie clamped her hand over Joey's mouth and issued the only threat she thought would work. "If you scream, I'm going to fucking bite you."
Joey froze.
Ellie glanced around. Nobody had heard the commotion. Jesus, that was close. She returned her attention to a terrified Joey. "I'm going to lower my arm now," she said quietly. "And you are going to shut up."
Joey nodded.
Ellie slowly lowered her arm.
Joey looked as if he wanted nothing more than to scream. However, he kept quiet.
Ellie sighed. Might as well tell the truth. Here goes everything. "I'm immune," she started. She lifted up her sleeve again. "This bite is almost a year old. I got bit back in Boston."
Joey remained silent.
Ellie pulled her sleeve down again. "The Fireflies found out that I was immune and hired Joel to escort me to their scientists so they could make a cure. Long story short, it…" Ellie stopped. Her hands found a stick in the grass. She pushed it hard into the ground. "It was all for nothing."
There was a sharp snap as the stick broke in half.
Ellie forced herself to relax her hand.
Joey continued to stare at her.
"So we came back here," Ellie finished. She looked at Joey again. "Is any of this making sense or is it going in one ear and out the other?"
Joey was silent for a moment. "Does my dad know?"
Ellie nodded. "Your mother probably knows too. Joel brought me here in the Fall to…" Dump me. "Get some supplies before moving on. Your mom and dad offered us a home and, well, here we are."
They were both silent for a full twenty seconds.
Ellie grew impatient. She shook her head and looked at Joey again. "Anything? Something? Please?"
Joey looked at the grass. "Are you absolutely sure you aren't infected?"
Ellie groaned and stood. "Give me your arm!" she said sharply as she reached for him.
Joey stumbled backwards. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to bite you," Ellie spat. "And in two days, when you haven't turned, I'll come back and ask you if I'm immune."
Joey didn't answer.
Ellie took another threatening step forward.
Joey stood and backed away, stumbling slightly. "Okay, okay, I get it. You're not infected. Just… stay away from me. You're freaking me out."
Ellie turned away and tugged her at her sleeve again. "That's why I don't tell people," she said under her breath. She turned toward Joey. "Look, I'm sorry, okay. I'm still getting use to… normal. Just don't tell anyone about my immunity. I don't want to ruin this for…"
Joey allowed her to leave the sentence unfinished. "I promise," he said, taking a calming breath. He adopted a lighter tone. "Now, go home. You look worse than dad after a fourteen hour shift on the Wall."
Ellie gave him an appreciative smile before walking around the house and across the street, rubbing her eyes as she reached her front door. She glanced over and saw a pair of legs walking around the corner across the street.
Ellie thought nothing of it and reached for the key. As she moved to unlock the door, she realized it wasn't closed. Joel must have come home.
Ellie walked inside. "Joel?" she called. She dropped her key on the ground. "Oh, shit!"
…
Joel yawned as he walked down the street. He reached the house and saw that the door was already open. "Ellie, you left the door open—" Joel froze and dropped his backpack on the ground.
The kitchen ahead of him was trashed. Dishes were scattered on the floor. Some were broken. The tablecloth was crumpled up into a ball and thrown aside. Cupboard doors were thrown open and some of their contents were scattered about the room.
Joel took a step forward and heard a crunch. He lifted his foot. There was a key on the floor. Ellie's key. Oh no… "Ellie?"
Joel ran into the bedroom and saw Ellie in her closet. She was throwing clothes out and muttering to herself. "Please be in here. Please tell me I put it in here. Please. Please." She hadn't noticed him come in the room.
"Ellie…" Joel started cautiously.
She spun around, speaking franticly. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I locked the door when I left! When I got home, I opened the door and I went and helped Joey with the firewood! Then he saw the bite! I told him everything! I came back and the door was open and—"
"Ellie!" Joel said loudly.
Ellie looked down, nervously pulling on fingers. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Joel saw a blood stain on her arm. He bent down and slowly lifted her sleeve. "What happened to your arm? Was someone in the house when you got home?"
Ellie shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "No, they were gone when I got here. I scraped my arm on the way home. Stupid kid stuff. Joel, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about the door—"
"But you're alright?" Joel asked, taking a hold of her hand.
Ellie nodded, then shook her head and mumbled under her breath. "They took… They took the…"
Joel tipped his head. "What? Ellie, look at me. What did they take?"
"The guitar!" Ellie shouted. She started pacing around the room. She was speaking fast again. "I left it on the table this morning and when I got home it was gone! I just wanted to find it because you gave it to me and it was so nice and I really liked it and—"
"Hey. Hey!" Joel said loudly, grabbing Ellie's arms. "I don't care about the guitar. I'll find you another one. I'm just glad you were at Tommy's and that you are alright. Just… breathe."
Ellie took a few deep breaths. On the third breath, she shuddered and turned away while running a hand down her ponytail. "How am I going to do this Joel? I can't even close a stupid door."
Ellie grabbed the closet door and pushed it closed.
Joel sighed and stepped forward, turning Ellie around to face him again. "We're going to do this the way we always have. Together."
Ellie nodded and wiped a tear away from her eye.
Joel continued. "Deep down, you know that."
Ellie opened the closet again and bent down to pick up the clothing she'd thrown on the floor. "How do you know that?" she asked. "Even I don't know that."
Joel picked up a sweater and offered it to her. "Because you've called this place home three times in the last two minutes."
Ellie hesitated. She took the sweater and hung it in her closet.
Joel picked up a shirt. "So how was work?" he asked.
"What?"
"You heard me. How was work?"
Ellie shook her head. "Work was… work was fine."
Joel grabbed the blanket on her bed and straightened it out. "I saw the shopkeeper. The store looked nice."
Ellie picked up a lamp and placed it on her desk. "Checking up on me?" she grumbled.
Joel shook his head. "I was walking home as he was closing up. I trust you, Ellie."
"Even now?" Ellie asked, sitting down on the bed, looking at the floor. "Even after I did this?"
"Is this going to happen again?" Joel asked.
"No," Ellie said quickly and firmly. "I swear this will never happen again. I promise you, Joel."
"Good. Then we move on."
Hours later, they had finished cleaning up the first floor of the house. It was late. Ellie moved toward the stairs. Joel blocked her with his arm. "How about you get some rest. I'll take care of my room and we can clean the rest in the morning."
"Are you sure?" Ellie asked uncertainty. "I mean, this was my fault. I should—"
Joel shook his head. "It's fine, Ellie. Just get some sleep."
Ellie walked to her room. "Goodnight," she said.
"Goodnight, Ellie."
Ellie walked into her room and closed the door.
Joel walked down the stairs after finishing his own room.
There was a knock at the front door.
Joel immediately turned and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He moved slowly toward the door and opened it open a crack. "Tommy? What are you doing here?"
Joel opened the door and Tommy walked in.
"It's two in the morning and all your lights are on," Tommy said with concern. "I wanted to make sure everything was alright. What's with the knife?"
Joel walked into the kitchen and placed the knife on the table. "We had a visitor, little brother."
"Damn…" Tommy looked toward Ellie's room. "Is everything alright? Are you and Ellie okay?"
Joel sat down on a chair. "Everything's fine. Ellie and I weren't here. Ellie was helping Joey with something and came home after whoever did this was gone."
Tommy took a seat at the kitchen table. "But she's okay?" he asked again.
"She's a little shook up," Joel replied. "But she'll bounce back. She always does."
Tommy yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Both of you adjust quickly. You've been here two days. You both have jobs, good reputations, a house, and uninvited guests," he said, grabbing the knife and weighing it in his hands. "Why is it whenever you come to Wyoming, there are uninvited guests?"
"Bad timing," Joel grunted.
Tommy laughed and looked around the room. "I'll be sure and look into this whole thing tomorrow. Was anything valuable taken?"
Joel shook his head "Not really. They weren't here very long and we had our backpacks with us. I had my guitar with me too, but…" Joel glanced back at Ellie's room. They could hear Ellie's CD player. Joel lowered his voice. "Whoever was here took her guitar. What kind of asshole comes in and steals a little girl's guitar?"
Tommy didn't answer. He simply placed the knife back on the table.
Joel picked up the blade and put it back in a drawer. "She's scared Tommy," he said quietly, sitting down again. "She's scared, and I don't know how to help her. I don't know what to say… I don't know what to do, little brother."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Tommy yawned. He rose and moved toward the front door. "Well, I'd better get going. I'm leading a team out to look for new supplies tomorrow. There's a town a few miles away. No Bandits have raided the place yet."
Joel walked with him. "I'll go with you tomorrow."
Tommy gave him a look of surprise. "What are you looking for, Joel?" he asked. He glanced down and saw Joel's guitar leaning up against the wall. Tommy chuckled. "See you in the morning then, Joel. seven sharp."
…
Ellie awoke from another nightmare an hour later. She turned on her CD player and once again wondered what had really happened while she was unconscious in Salt Lake City and why she deserved to live in Jackson.
