Chapter 12: Feelings

It had been an hour since Isaac and Ellie escaped Odyssey Station, and now the two were sitting down next to each other in the corner of the cargo bay inside the transport ship with their backs resting against the wall. As Isaac lay there, he could feel Ellie resting her head on his left shoulder with her eyes closed. It had been one hell of a day, Isaac thought to himself. About half an hour ago, the transport ship they were in had just shocked out of the Sol System away from Odyssey Station to who knows where. It would be a while before they would shock into another system. He and Ellie had scouted the cargo bay earlier and were glad to discover that they were alone down here. No one else in the ship was aware of their presence, besides, they didn't want people to find out that they were hiding down here. While Ellie breathed slowly, Isaac had planned everything ahead. Once the ship arrived to wherever it shocked into, Isaac and Ellie would sneak out of the ship and go to somewhere else… somewhere else where EarthGov wouldn't look and somewhere where there were little to no Unitology presence. Somewhere else where they could settle down in peace…

"Isaac, stop thinking… you deserve some rest…" he told himself. Rest… he remembered thinking the exact same thing when he escaped Titan Station only to arrive at Odyssey. Chuckling softly, he turned to his left to face Ellie… His face visor was down, and he could feel her soft hair brushing against his skin as she rested her head on his shoulder… the warmness of her breath…

Smiling to himself, Isaac looked at Ellie more closely as she was no longer wearing her sec-suit. Ellie's slim figure and curves stood out and she looked peaceful as her eyes were closed… her missing right eye had been replaced at the hospital as he slowly lifted his left hand and brushed it against her soft hair. Ellie snuggled into Isaac as he brushed her hair slowly… Suddenly he noticed something, Ellie wore a familiar looking object on her right wrist. Slowly lifting his right hand, Isaac moved it and touched her wrist before he identified the object… It was a Unitologist bracelet…

Ellie snuggled her head comfortably onto Isaac's shoulder as he brushed his hand against her hair. Smiling, she recalled the kiss she and Isaac had when they expressed their love for each other on Odyssey Station. His lips had been warm and welcoming… Suddenly, she felt Isaac's hand touching her wrist. Slowly opening her eyes, she found Isaac staring hard at the Unitology bracelet she wore. Noticing a change in his facial expression, she knew what he was thinking. Ellie knew that Isaac hated Unitology with all his life… Ellie wasn't a Unitologist, the bracelet had been a…

"Ellie." Isaac spoke finally breaking the silence.

"Isaac it's not what you…" Ellie began speaking.

"This is a Unitologist bracelet…" Isaac interrupted her as he spoke in that weird tone she had never heard before. Ellie became slightly scared, she never heard him spoke in this tone before.

Thoughts and possibilities ran through Isaac's mind as he looked at the Unitology bracelet Ellie wore… However, the rational part of him began thinking slowly. Ellie couldn't be a Unitologist, she had shot and killed so many Unitologists they fought back at Odyssey Station. Also, she didn't have the usual 'thing' all Unitologist had (like being offended when someone talked against Unitology or constantly talking about the greatness of Unitology). Both of them also knew that they wouldn't lie to each other… they loved each other… However, part of him was curious as to how Ellie had obtained the bracelet.

"Isaac?" Ellie spoke slowly and carefully.

Turning back to face her, Isaac facial expression calmed down as he released a deep breath. He could see that she was slightly frightened at his sudden change of behavior earlier.

"Isaac… I know what you're thinking but I'm not… I will never lie to you, I promise. I'm not a Unitologist Isaac." Ellie spoke. She was being honest as she spoke truthfully. Ellie wasn't a Unitologist. She even slightly disliked them for being fanatical.

"Where…?" Isaac replied back.

"Where what Isaac?" said Ellie confused.

"Where did you get it?" Isaac asked.

"It was a gift… from a friend of mine who died back in Titan Station… He gave it to me… His name was Kaleb…" Ellie spoke slowly as she continued.

Isaac became quiet as Ellie began telling her story.

"Kaleb was a friend of mine… We first met when I worked at the CEC and we became good friends soon after. Well… one day, I and my crew were at another station delivering supplies and Kaleb was among us. We stopped by a gift shop that were selling some souvenirs and Kaleb picked up the bracelet and gave it to me as a gift. He told me that the words on the bracelet meant 'Life' in Unitology, and that it was a lucky charm that would keep me safe… I thought it was stupid at first… but when the Necromorph outbreak broke out on Titan Station, I've been wearing it ever since…"

"I wore it because I was scared Isaac… because I was so afraid…" Ellie continued as she finished.

"I'm sorry Ellie… I'm sorry for scaring you just now and jumping the gun…"

Ellie smiled at him while she snuggled her head comfortably on his shoulder.

"Isaac, can I ask you something?" Ellie spoke softly.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you hate Unitology so much? I myself dislike them for being fanatical bastards but you seem to hate them with all your life…"

This time it was Ellie's turn to remain silent as Isaac began speaking.

Isaac told Ellie about his childhood life, about how his father was always gone in his work and had left before he got to know him well and how he had spent most of his life with his mother. Isaac told Ellie how his mother had become a devoted Unitologist soon after, until she sold off all of their family estate to the Church of Unitology so she could finance her full membership and to purchase herself a Vested-level title. How he was unable to afford tuition fees to a well regarded engineering academy and forced to graduate from a lesser college because of her actions… how he was angry at the fact that so many people like his mother blindly gave all their family's hard earned money for the sake of moving up in rank in the Church of Unitology… the fact that Unitology was a sick lie…

As he finished, Ellie looked deeply into his eyes caringly.

"Isaac… I didn't know…"

A moment of silence followed between them before Ellie put both of her hands on his lap and lifted her head from his shoulder before resting it on his chest while she slowly laid and snuggled her body into him. Isaac responded by wrapping his left hand around her before gently and slowly pulling her into him. As Ellie rested her head on his chest, she could hear the rhythmic and gentle sound of his heartbeat and breathing.

Out of curiosity, Ellie decided to ask…

"Isaac?"

"Hmm?" Isaac replied back while he closed his eyes.

"Back at Titan Station, you were talking about the Ishimura… About how everything started on it?" Ellie asked curiously.

Opening his eyes upon mentioning the Ishimura, Isaac began speaking.

"The Ishimura… I was part of an emergency response unit attached to the USG Kellion as we were dispatched to the USG Ishimura, which we had lost contact with… The Ishimura was last reported to be over Aegis VII, a mining colony…" Isaac began as he slowly told Ellie his story.

Isaac continued and told Ellie about how they crash landed into the Ishimura's Flight Deck, their horrifying discovery of the Necromorphs and the true fate of the Ishimura's crew. He then continued about fixing the Ishimura with Zach and Kendra while trying to survive the horrors that laid in it, finding Mercer, Kyne and the Marker… About how he thought he had found Nicole… How he thought she was alive… The USM Valor, Kendra's betrayal… how Nicole was dead the whole time… And at last confronting the Hive Mind on Aegis VII before escaping.

"And then the next thing I knew, I woke up finding myself in a mental asylum on Titan Station forgetting the last three years of my life…" said Isaac as he continued telling about his experience on the Sprawl.

As Isaac told his story, Ellie remained silent. Inside her, she began to understand more about Isaac and the hardships he had to face. She had begun to understand more about the man she loved… why he hated Unitology, why he wanted to stop the Marker badly, why he had been so guilty to himself, why he had sent her away in the gunship… because Isaac was like her when she came back to rescue him, he too couldn't bear to lose anyone else he loved… like her… He loved her purely and…

She loved him with all her heart.

He continued to tell her about how he made his way through the chaos that had engulfed Titan Station, Tiedemann trying to kill him while doing so, Daina's betrayal… And finally…

"It was then I met you Ellie…" Isaac spoke before he finally stopped.

Ellie and Isaac then became silent as Ellie laid her head on Isaac's chest while he took a deep breath. After spending several minutes of silence, Ellie mustered up the courage before she finally asked.

"Isaac?"

"Yeah?"

"How was Nicole like?"

Isaac kept quiet for awhile before answering slowly.

"Nicole… We loved each other and she was the one thing keeping me going when I was aboard the Ishimura… When I found out that she was dead the entire time… I was devastated… I mean… If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be aboard the Ishimura…"

Ellie remained silent as she looked deep into Isaac's eyes… Did Isaac still feel guilty over Nicole's death?

"But… I don't know, I think… I think Nicole would have wanted me to move on… She would have wanted me to move on through life and be happy… like you said Ellie, what's done is done… I still remember her and I'll never forget about Nicole but… she would have wanted me to not regret about the past and move on through the present." Said Isaac as he finished.

"How about you Ellie?"

"Hmmm?" Ellie replied.

"Where you and Kaleb… together?" Isaac asked.

Ellie instantly became silent upon mentioning Kaleb. Fearing that he might have said something wrong Isaac quickly replied back.

"Ellie… I'm sorry if I…"

"No, it's alright Isaac... Kaleb… I guess you can say that we were really close… as friends. But we weren't together."

Isaac gave Ellie a confused expression before she continued.

"Kaleb… I found him more like a brother… he always cared about me and always made sure I was safe… he… he sacrificed his life to save me back in Titan Station…" Ellie stopped as she closed her eyes remembering how Kaleb had detonated a Line Gun mine and his final words to her.


"I hear them coming. Don't kill us both, Ellie, just… run. I'll save you, just go."


Ellie began crying softly. Tears began to fall like gentle raindrops onto Isaac as she buried her face into him.

Clutching her gently and warmly, Isaac began to rub Ellie's back warmly as he comforted her.

"It's alright Ellie… it's alright…"

After three minutes of silence, Ellie stopped crying. Still burying her face inside him, Ellie spoke.

"Isaac…"

"Don't worry Ellie… I'm here…"

A short while later, Ellie slowly lifted her head and faced Isaac. Her face still stained with tears as Isaac used his hand to brush her face. Smiling, she slowly lay on his chest and breathed deep. Slowly moving her left hand, Ellie proceeded to remove the Unitology bracelet from her right wrist before keeping it in her pocket.

"Ellie? Why did you take it off? I wouldn't mind if you wore it."

"I wore it because I thought it was a lucky charm to keep me safe like Kaleb said… But…" replied Ellie before she paused for a second.

"But?" said Isaac.

"But now I have you Isaac… I feel safe and warm whenever I'm with you…" Ellie continued before she slowly reached up to his face and whispered,

"I love you…" as her lips melted into his.

As they finished the kiss, Isaac and Ellie smiled at each other before Ellie snuggled herself into Isaac comfortably. As she laid down her head and pressed it against Isaac's chest, she could hear the soft calming sound of his heartbeat before slowly falling asleep.

"I love you too Ellie." Isaac whispered to her as she fell asleep. Brushing his hand against her soft hair, Isaac began to feel his eyelids becoming heavy as he slowly drifted into sleep…


Author's Notes: I hope you guys enjoy the story so far, any constructive comments and reviews will be helpful. Chapter 13 will be coming. ;)