(Three weeks later)
It was late in the afternoon; the warm sun shined through the dusty coffee shop window. It made the coffee shop feel humid. Ellie and Enid were staying inside of the coffee shop while Marlene was taking care of some business although she didn't tell them what it was.
After Ellie had been bitten, the two girls had resigned themselves until the very end. However, Enid was surprised when she discovered that Ellie hadn't succumbed to the bite. Enid knew that Ellie was immune to the infection.
Despite this, Ellie still had a mutated form of the infection inside of her. After Marlene finds out about this, she takes the two girls under her wing at the sight of this miracle for the three of them. They planned to go to Salt Lake City in order to, as Marlene calls it, reverse-engineer a cure for the infection. Ellie and Enid agreed to do so, hoping that it would help the both of them.
Ellie showed no signs of being affected by the infection, though her bite mark did have small fungi growing around the mark. Enid was relieved to see that Ellie didn't show any other reactions to the bite. Unfortunately, Marlene had confiscated Enid's gun or a reason that she hadn't explained
The two teen girls sat together at an empty booth and they glanced outside onto the street outside. They watched as soldiers walked by, patrolling the QZ along with a few humvees driving by them.
Enid was wearing a black tank top with horizontal green stripes, light blue jeans that holes in the side. As for Ellie, she was wearing a black long sleeved shirt that covered the bite mark and a red t-shirt on top of the black long sleeve t-shirt. She wore her signature blue jeans on her waist and legs.
The back of Enid's neck started to bead with sweat, mostly because of most of her black, messy, shoulder length hair covering it. She felt Ellie's hand gently rubbing her bare arm in comfort. She could feel how nervous Enid was becoming by the minute.
"Ellie?" Enid asked, looking at her best friend who sat beside her. "Yeah?" she replied, taking on a softer toned voice. "What the hell do you think Marlene is doing? She's taking a long ass time to get back." Enid said, taking note of how long it had been since Marlene had left, which was about an hour ago.
"Don't know. Maybe to get someone to help us out or something." Ellie replied, sounding unsure. "Oh, let's hope so. Hopefully she didn't just leave us here in the gutter because you're bitten and that I decided to not be with the Fireflies anymore?" Enid sighed, standing up from the booth to stretch her tired and aching legs.
"Hey, cut that out, would you?" Ellie said, standing up with her. "Cut what out?" Enid replied, looking back at her. "You're doubting Marlene. Let's not think that way, okay? Besides, she might find a way to get us out of this city." Ellie replied. Enid sighed and rubbed her neck.
Ellie was right about that one and Enid didn't want to look pitiful in front of Ellie. "Okay. Okay, I'm sorry for saying that. I don't want to seem all pitiful about this whole thing." Enid said, letting her hand drop down to her side limply.
"That's my girl. Are we friends again?" Ellie asked, wrapping an arm around Enid's bare shoulders. Enid smiled at her as she turned her head towards her. "Yeah, we're friends again. You don't have to worry about losing me again." she replied in a friendly tone.
Enid felt a slight, tugging pain in her stomach as she said that; knowing that it nearly happened just three weeks prior. It would've happened if they had left the mall a lot sooner. Before they could say another word, the faint creaking of the kitchen door caused the girls to tense up.
They jumped back a bit and immediately pulled out their knives just in case they needed them. Enid held her 7 inch pocket knife tightly in her hand, ready to attack anyone who was coming through that door.
To their relief, it was only Marlene. She opened the door and instantly fell to her hands and knees with a pained groan. She looked like she had been shot in her right side, a deep crimson red that was blood seeping through her light blue jacket.
Ellie and Enid were about to help her but they were beaten by a middle aged man. He was caucasian with blackish-greying hair and short beard. He had hazel eyes. He looked to be in his late 40's because of the age lines on his face.
"Hey, now. Let me help you up." the man said in a rough, texan voice. He kneeled down to help Marlene up to her feet. Ellie instantly jumped at the man with her knife raised and she yelled, "Get the fuck away from her!" However, Ellie was grabbed by the man's partner, who was a woman.
She looked to be a bit younger than the man; possibly in her late 30's. She had caucasian skin also with a few scuffs on her face and arms. She had brown hair with a bandana tying some of it up. She also had hazel eyes like the man.
Enid didn't like what was happening therefore she went into defensive mode for her friend. "Hey, let her go!" she yelled, charging at the woman. But her wrist was caught by the same woman with a grip. Both young girls struggled a bit to get loose.
"Let them go." Marlene said, leaning on the bar of the coffee shop. The woman let go of them and they swung their arms back. Enid looked at Marlene with a concerned look on her face, knife still gripped in her sweaty hand.
Ellie and Enid both knew that Marlene didn't leave with a wound in her side so it worried them that she came back with one. "Recruiting kind of young, aren't you?" the man said, noticing how young Ellie and Enid were.
"These girls aren't mine." Marle replied, making a point to not say that Enid was one of the Fireflies. Ellie and Enid walked over to Marlene, putting their knives in their back pockets. "Shit. What happened?" Ellie asked.
"Don't worry. This is fixable. I got us help." Marlene said. Both girls looked back at the man and woman standing a couple of feet behind him. They then looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. This is why Marlene was taking longer than she said.
They didn't know how having them here would benefit their situation. "But I can't come with you two." Marlene grunts. Enid was confused by this and she said, "Well, Ellie and I are staying then." Marlene held up a hand to silence the black haired girl.
"Enid… You and Ellie both know that we won't get another shot at this." Marlene says. "Wait, we're smuggling them?" the man asked, taking a few steps towards them. Smuggle? That's why these two new faces were here. They were here to help keep Ellie and Enid hidden from the soldiers.
"There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building." Marlene said to the man. Enid glanced down for a moment and she rubbed her arm at hearing about where the Fireflies were located. They couldn't know that she was a part of the Fireflies.
"That's not exactly close." the other woman said, getting Ellie and Enid to look up at her. "You're capable." Marlene replied, "Just hand them off, come back, and the weapons are yours. Double what Robert sold me." Enid crossed her bare arm and didn't say a word. Ellie does the same.
"Speaking of which, where are they?" the woman asked, making it clear that she really wanted those weapons. Marlene had said that those weapons were back at her camp that her and some remaining Fireflies were staying at. This, needless to say, didn't satisfy that woman and she scoffed in opposure.
"We're not smuggling shit until I see them." she said. "You'll follow me and I can get patched up. But these girls aren't crossing that part of town." Marlene says, "I want Joel to watch over them."
In an instant, Joel, Ellie, and Enid all begin to protest against these instructions. "Whoa, I don't think that's a good idea." Joel said. "Bullshit! Enid and I aren't going with him!" Ellie argued. "No fucking way, Marlene!" Enid shouted.
All Marlene did was hold up a hand to silence the trio. Ellie and Enid glance at each other again before looking at the smugglers behind them. "How do you know them, Marlene?" Enid asked, wanting to know more. They needed to know how she knew these people and why they were chosen to be her and Ellie's guardians.
"I was close with his brother, Tommy. He said that if I was ever in a jam, I could rely on him." Marlene said, looking up at her. Enid looked away, biting her bottom lip gently. Was he a part of the Fireflies like Enid was?
"Was it before or after he left your little militia group?" Joel asked, crossing both arms. "He left you too. He was a good man." Marlene corrected him. Enid pressed her lips together so that they were a thin white line; neither one of them knew how to process all of this.
Joel and his partner went to the other side of the room to have a discussion about this. "Take them to the north tunnel and wait for me there. I'll be back soon." the woman said. "Jesus Christ…" Joel said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"They're just cargo, Joel." the woman said, shaking her head a bit. "Marlene…" Ellie started but Marlene cut her off. "No more talking." Marlene said, straightening herself up. "You two will be fine. Go with him." Marlene tells them.
Enid rubbed the back of her neck and gave a defeated sigh, realizing that there was no way out of this. "Don't take long. You two, stay close. Let's go." Joel tells his partner before walking towards the front door that would lead into the street.
Ellie glanced back at Marlene, not realizing that it would be the last time that she'd ever see her. Enid looked back at her also but only for a minute. Ellie and Enid then followed Joel outside onto the street.