Author's Note:
I sometimes feel like I'm skimping on chapter length, but I didn't feel that that was the case with this one. I took a long time writing this chapter and I hope that it shows.
Also, to those who are following, reviewing, favoriting, or just reading for the first time, I love you guys to death.
Chapter 14: Watch Tower (Part 3)
(One Week Later, Mid Summer, Jackson)
Ellie woke up, still drowsy from the previous night. Sunlight shone through her window, blinding her. She slowly roused herself from the bed, rubbing her groggy eyes. She gradually dressed in a haze and slipped her hair into her signature ponytail. She wandered to the bathroom across the hall and rubbed her eyes again in front of the mirror. She looked and felt like a zombie. After brushing her teeth, she shambled out of the bathroom, passed Joel's open door, and made her way down the steps toward the kitchen, where she heard the popping of grease in a pan.
She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She usually had to wake Joel up. His door was usually shut in the morning. Was she late? Probably not, the rising beams of dawning sunlight had woken her up. So why did it appear that Joel was up and around in the morning frying something? He never cooked breakfast. Usually she had to fend for herself. Something just didn't add up. As Ellie approached the kitchen, the smell of frying eggs wafted over her. Her mouth began to water, but she still proceeded with caution. She rounded the corner, prepared for anything, but what she beheld caught her by surprise.
"Hey, Ellie! I'm making breakfast. Go sit and I'll make up a plate for you."
Amanda stood in front of the stove, spatula in one hand, and a skillet in the other. Her hair was let out and looked slept on. Her ballcap was nowhere to be found. She was wearing only a shirt that looked way too big on her. Ellie abruptly remembered that the shirt was Joel's. She suddenly became aware of Joel's existence. He sat at the kitchen table, wearing a white t-shirt and his jeans, smiling as he dove into a plate of scrambled eggs. He looked about ten years younger.
"Mornin', Ellie!" he said in a rather jovial tone. It didn't take much thought for Ellie to put two and two together. She felt elated that the two of them had finally come together, and a little grossed out that they had sex the night before only a room from where she'd been sleeping. Ellie decided an appropriate punishment was to mess with their heads a little.
"Morning, guys. Have a lot of fun last night?" Ellie smirked as she sat down, knowing her comment would catch them off guard. Joel, in the middle of taking a drink form a glass of milk, almost spat the beverage all over the table.
Surprisingly, Amanda didn't even flinch. She just laughed as she flipped an egg with her spatula. She dumped the eggs on a plate and poured a glass of cold milk before setting them both on the table in front of Ellie. She quickly cooked her own breakfast and joined Ellie and Joel at the table.
"Jig's up, Joel," Amanda grinned as she rubbed his shoulder gently, a warm look in her eye. Ellie took a bite of the eggs. They were divine. She started shoveling them in her mouth. Amanda continued, "You might as well come clean. Oh wait, you're a man. You can't."
It was Ellie's turn to choke on her food, but Joel wasn't having an easier time either. Amanda's shit-eating grin suggested that their combined reaction was the intended effect.
When Joel could breathe again, he said, "We really shouldn't talk about this kinda stuff durin' breakfast."
Amanda chuckled, "I'm just teasing," she turned to Ellie, "How do you like your eggs, Ellie?"
Ellie nodded vigorously, mouth full of food. She swallowed before speaking, "They're great!"
"Good, I'm glad you like them," Amanda smiled. The three of them ate, or more accurately, devoured their food in silence for a few moments. Cooked eggs were extremely rare and the way Amanda had prepared them was perfect. Ellie finished her plate and was about to ask if seconds were a possibility when she remembered she had a watch tower shift at nine o'clock.
"Hey what time is it?"
"9:10, why?" Amanda said before casually placing a forkful of eggs in her mouth.
"Oh, SHIT! I'm late!" Ellie jumped up and ran toward the door. She yanked her pack off the hook in the wall and pulled her rifle out of the closet, "BreakfastwasgreatIgottagobye!" she called over her shoulder as she raced out of the house and bounded for the tower.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"
Ellie came huffing and puffing to the gate watch tower. She heard Tommy's voice, as well as Maria's, Shit, they're probably talking about me, she thought, I'm in such deep shit.
She hoisted her rifle over her shoulder and limbed up the ladder as quickly as she could.
"It's strange, we haven't heard hide nor hair of them for a month," Tommy was saying as Ellie neared the top of the ladder.
"Don't get your hopes up, they'll be back," Maria said as Ellie reached the top and pulled herself up.
"I'm so sorry, guys! I'm so fucking sorry!" Elle leaned down and placed her hands on her knees, gulping in air.
Tommy and Maria exchanged a perplexed look, "Sorry for what, now?" Tommy asked, scratching his head.
"Being late for watch duty!" Ellie stood back up, still breathing hard.
Tommy looked at his watch, "It's eight twenty five, kiddo, you're way early."
"What?!" Ellie sputtered, "But Amanda said it was nine ten, like, ten minutes ago!"
"Amanda said that?" Maria asked, giving Tommy a confused look.
"Yeah, she was making breakfast at our place and when I asked her what time it was she said it was nine ten and…and…" The realization hit Ellie like a freight train, "Oh. Oh! Oh, that's fucking gross!"
The thought of Joel and Amanda having sex right after sending her out the door did not sit well with Ellie. True, she was happy for them, but the physical aspect of their new relationship still grossed her out. She noticed that Maria was looking at Tommy with a gleam in her eye and a grin slowly spreading across her face. Tommy looked back, his face furrowed into a frown.
"What?" he said as more of a statement than a question.
"Pay up," Maria extended her hand out toward him.
"I ain't payin'."
"Come on, Tommy, a deal's a deal."
Tommy groaned, reached into his pocket, and placed a handful of bullets into Maria's hand, "I guess I have the graveyard watch shift," he moped, "I was damn sure they'd have ended up at her place."
"You obviously don't know Amanda very well."
Tommy chuckled and shook his head, "Naw, I guess not. I should go get some rest, I've got a graveyard shift tonight," he tilted his head down in a curt farewell and then he climbed down the ladder. Maria smiled and shook her head.
"That man, sometimes, I swear. He's a really great guy, but sometimes he can be as dumb as a bag of hammers. That's why I love him so damn much," Maria smiled, watching him walk down the street back home. She turned back toward Ellie, "My watch ends when Elizabeth gets here, so if you want to stay and chat for a bit, that's much appreciated."
Ellie stiffened a little. She remembered her last watch with Elizabeth, how she had run home in tears. Ellie sat down in one of the chairs, unslinging her rifle and leaning it in the corner closest to her, "Okay. What do you want to talk about?" she hoped Maria would bring up something to help her forget.
Maria, however, noticed Ellie's darkening mood and realization revealed itself in her expression, "Oh, shit. I forgot about Elizabeth. Oh God, I'm sorry, Ellie."
"It's okay," Ellie said, "I'm over it," It was a half-truth. Ellie was 'over it' in the sense that she wasn't sore over what had transpired, but she still couldn't help but think of Elizabeth as attractive. It made her angry with herself. She also felt conflicted about Riley.
"Ellie, it's okay if you want to switch shifts. I can keep going for a few more hours," Maria said as she stifled a yawn.
"I'm fine, really."
"It's okay if you're not."
"Maria," Ellie said, leaning forward in her chair a little, "I can't spend the rest of my life here hiding from a little embarrassment. I've got to face her sooner or later, and the sooner I deal with it, the sooner everything gets better."
"Okay, then," Both of them sat back in silence for a few minutes. Maria suddenly perked up, "I almost forgot! Guess what day it is!"
"It's movie night, right?"
"Not just movie night. Theater night!"
"Theater night?"
"Theater night! You know the old movie theater at the edge of town? Well, the dam also keeps it powered. Houser figured out how to work the projectors and it turns out that they still work. They have reels of all the films that were showing before the outbreak. Cool, huh? We show them at the end of every month."
Ellie was smiling until she did the math in her head. She didn't know about theater night until today and she'd arrived almost three months ago, "Wait, why haven't I heard of theater night before?"
"Well, last time we set up for it, we had that bandit attack, remember? We didn't feel up to it while we were killing people and stitching up wounded for a week. The time before, I talked to Joel about it and he said you'd hate the movie we picked. But not this time."
"What do you mean, 'not this time'?"
Maria had a sly grin, "Once I tell you what movie's playing tonight, there's nothing that will stop you from watching it, so you have to promise me you'll finish your shift."
"Okay, I'll finish my shift. What's the movie?" Ellie was eager to know.
"Well, Houser found a reel for a movie that he hadn't known about before. Apparently, the movie he found is based off someone's favorite comic book series. I think it's called -"
"SAVAGE STARLIGHT?!"
"I think that was the name," Maria tried to feign ignorance, but the gleam in her eyes suggested she'd picked the move specifically for Ellie's sake. Ellie jumped up and tackled her, hugging her tightly.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I'm so fucking pumped up now! Thank you so much!" Ellie bounced up and down with glee and excitement, "This is gonna be awesome!"
Maria smiled, "It was Joel's idea, actually. You should thank him when you get to the theater."
"Oh, I will! I'll give him a huge hug!"
Ellie wanted to jump up and cheer. She'd seen the posters in cities all over, but she thought it was impossible. Now, not only was it possible, but she was going to watch it tonight. But then, she heard someone climbing the ladder, turned, and saw a shock of black hair. Her heart sank. Elizabeth's head poked up from below.
"Hey guys! I'm a little early. I hope you don't mind."
Maria answered as Ellie looked down, avoiding eye contact, "Not at all, we were just talking about theater night."
"Savage Starlight, right?" Elizabeth said as she got to her feet.
"Yeah," said Ellie, her sails deflating as the wind in them died.
"It's gonna be good. Theater night is always awesome."
Maria stood up, "Well, since both of you are here early, I'll excuse myself. See you at the theater," she climbed down the ladder and Ellie was alone with Elizabeth, who sat down in Maria's empty seat, holding her rifle in her lap.
Ellie sat down, too, turning her gaze toward the outside. Nothing out of the ordinary. She'd hoped to see something, maybe an animal, just to call Elizabeth's attention to it so Ellie could get the dark haired girl to look away from her. Elizabeth's voice made her look back.
"It's been a couple of months since you came here with Joel. How do you like Jackson so far?"
"It's good."
"That's it?"
Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. I just don't know if it's a good idea to settle down in one place."
"Oh."
Ellie could sense that Elizabeth was trying to make small talk to avoid their previous encounter. Ellie, although she didn't want to confront what had happened either, knew it would come out eventually and that it might as well come out sooner rather than later. But first, she wanted to let Elizabeth try to work her way toward it.
"So…" Elizabeth appeared to be searching for something, but the words wouldn't come. Dammit. Ellie knew she had to take action.
"It's alright."
"Huh?"
"About what happened last time we had watch together. I'm over it."
"What are you…oh. Yeah. That."
"It's okay, Elizabeth, really. You like guys and I like girls. It's really that simple. I'm okay with that," Ellie had spent a lot of time thinking about what had transpired. She remembered that almost all the girls in the prep-school back home had talked about boys and dating when they weren't complaining about the drill instructors like everyone else. Ellie never really understood it, but now she did. They weren't like her and Riley. Elizabeth was probably not like her, either.
Elizabeth's expression was inscrutable. She seemed to be deep in heavy thought. When she finally spoke, Ellie jumped a little.
"I didn't say 'no.'"
"What?"
"I didn't say 'no,' and if I did, it wouldn't be for the reason you said. I don't know much about you. And I bet you don't know much about me, either. So why would I suddenly go on a date with you in a spur of the moment thing? I mean, we should get to know each other a little bit first, right?"
Her words shocked Ellie. Ellie had been surviving alongside Joel for almost a year, and she barely knew anything about him even now. It never occurred to her that maybe the lack of knowledge of each other was a contributing factor. Elizabeth continued, "You seem like a great girl to be around, but I only know you as 'Ellie, the immune kid who just showed up and has a Walkman and switchblade'. And I'm sure I'm still a great mystery to you. So how about we just, you know, get to know each other a little better and see how things play out?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"How we ask just questions back and forth?"
"Okay," Ellie sighed. She liked talking with Elizabeth, but she was afraid of what the other girl would ask her, "What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with something simple. How old are you?"
Simple enough, "Fifteen, as of last week. How old are you?"
"Sixteen," Elizabeth pondered in silence for a few moments, searching for a question. Her face brightened when she found it, "Who taught you how to shoot a rifle?"
"Joel taught me how to operate the rifle, but the accuracy's self-taught."
"Oh," When Ellie didn't say anything for a moment, Elizabeth spoke, "It's your turn."
"I'm thinking," Ellie ran a few through her head and finally found one she wanted, "Do you read comics?"
"Comics?"
"Yeah, comics."
"I haven't really, but I read a lot of books and stuff. Well, except for Savage Starlight."
"You've got great taste in comics," Ellie grinned as she playfully smacked Elizabeth's arm.
"Shut up."
"I'm serious. Savage Starlight is fucking awesome. Okay, your turn."
"Uh," Elizabeth puzzled over it. Her next question hit Ellie hard, "How did you know you were immune?" This direct approach was just like Riley had been. Apparently, Ellie had made a face, because Elizabeth immediately moved to redact her question, "Oh, shit. I shouldn't have asked that. How about I…"
Ellie stopped her, "It's okay. I'll answer the question."
"You don't have to."
"But I want to," she didn't really, but she didn't want to be awkward around Elizabeth anymore. It was better to be honest than to hide, "I was bitten in a mall in Boston. My friend, Riley, was with me and she got bitten, too. We decided to wait it out. She started showing signs. It got worse and worse. She didn't want to hurt me so she locked me away and…stopped herself from turning."
"You mean she…"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
Both girls were silent. Elizabeth was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry about your friend."
"She wasn't just my friend."
"Huh?"
"I said she wasn't just my friend. I kissed her right before we got bitten. After that happened, we wanted to spend every second we had left with each other. One thing led to another and… we ended up in a bed together, just exploring like we always did with something new. It… was our first time. Our only time." Ellie couldn't believe she was admitting this to Elizabeth. She hadn't even told Joel this particular story. Ellie felt tears threatening to break free. Elizabeth watched her in rapt attention, silent as a grave.
"After that you know the rest."
"I'm so sorry, Ellie," Elizabeth looked away, almost in tears herself, "Look, if you don't want to talk anymore, I understand."
"It's alright."
Elizabeth was silent for a few moments, then Ellie spoke, "Have you lost anyone?"
"I…" Elizabeth stared at the floor for a moment before looking back at Ellie, "Yes. My dad. We were walking through the woods when a guy came at us with a gun. Dad grabbed a hold of me, there was a shot, and he was dead before we hit the ground. The guy thought he'd shot both of us and started walking away. I shot him in the back."
"I'm sorry about your dad, Elizabeth."
"Thanks," Elizabeth said weakly.
They sat silent again for maybe an hour, before Elizabeth asked her another question, "Where are you from?"
Ellie couldn't remember. She'd been shipped from QZ to QZ ever since she was little. She decided to go with what she thought was the best answer, "Boston. Where are you from?"
"Los Angeles."
"Shut up!"
"I'm serious."
Ellie leaned back in her chair, "Riley kept saying that when the infection blew over, things would go back to the way they were before I was born. We joked that if we saved up enough pennies, we'd get the jump on vacation and go surfing in L.A."
Elizabeth smiled, "Well, the shore's still there."
"Yeah, but I can't swim."
Elizabeth pondered for a moment, "I could teach you."
"You'd do that?"
"Yeah, if you want."
"I…" Ellie was conflicted. She wanted to see where this would lead, yet she didn't want to disappoint Joel, "I'd love to, but…"
"But…what?"
"But I already promised Joel that he'd teach me how to swim."
"Oh. Well, that's okay."
"Yeah," Ellie muttered, slightly disappointed. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, "Do you know how to play chess?"
"Yeah, do you?"
"Nope."
Elizabeth grinned, "How about I teach you how to play chess?"
"I'd…I'd like that," Ellie's smile was sheepish, "Thanks. Let's keep watch."
"Yeah."
They sat silently, keeping a vigilant watch. Ellie would occasionally glance over at Elizabeth, who kept her eyes out toward the forest. Yet, every once in a while, Ellie would catch her looking back. Elizabeth would quickly turn her gaze, but Ellie noticed that she would ever so slightly blush. Ellie looked over and her eyes met Elizabeth's. Ellie thought for sure that Elizabeth would break away, yet she didn't. There was something in her eyes. It was -.
BANG!
Ellie saw red.
Troy Baker once talked about how Neil Druckman wouldn't send a script out until it was difficult to push the button. Not because it was bad, but because he wasn't sure how people would react. Unfortunately for me, I agree with this particular sentiment and it saddens me that only a small number of my chapters so far have made me conflicted, those chapters being 2, 6, and 11. Due to the feedback I have received thus far, however, I'm starting to get a little nervous for what I have planned, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you at Chapter 15!
robertskycard
P.S. There is a wonderful piece of The Last of Us fan art that I found rather compelling. It served as part of the inspiration for this fic. I have a link to it on my author profile.