Chapter 8 Dina

The light was bright and forced her to wake up, though Dina didn't want the good sleep to end. She slowly woke up, at least until she felt her legs intertwined with somebody else's legs. As if that wasn't enough a hand was cupping one of her boobs. It had been years since she woke up like this, the last time was before Ellie left. She panicked and fled out of the bed she was in. Pulling the sheet with her to cover herself from this stranger, as soon as she was out it came back to her. When they found Ellie's remains, she had been so angry and hurt. It was all her fault for not having taken Ellie back, in that moment she shifted all the blame to Abby. Whatever she was doing at the farm, whatever her intentions now were, it was Abby's fault. Shooting Abby had not brought any relief and she was quickly shot in return causing her to bleed out next to Ellie.

Now that she turned around wrapped in the blanket she saw the person she was in bed with, Ellie was staring at her with a confused look on her face, clearly still half asleep. 'How is this possible? Were those Christians right? This has to be heaven.'

"Babe what's the matter? Bad dream?" Ellie asked with a heavy voice.

Dina was frozen in place staring at Ellie, 'I can't believe it, she's here, she's really here.' she was too shocked to see her that Ellie was missing some scars. Ellie carefully got out of bed and gently approached her. When Ellie carefully touched Dina's cheek she immediately leaned into it.

"Babe are you okay?" Ellie asked again.

Tears were present in her eyes from joy when Dina leapt onto Ellie making them fall onto the bed, she kissed Ellie passionately and things started heating up significantly. She had missed Ellie so much, seeing her dead had been horrible and now here they were making love in whatever place this was. It wasn't until they were both panting from exhaustion that Dina realized there were some things off. First of all if this was the afterlife, it looked exactly like Ellie's old garage studio. Second of all, Ellie was younger and was missing some notable scars. And she could continue thinking of things that felt wrong, if her chain of thoughts wasn't being interrupted.

"Holy shit babe, that must have been some nightmare you had." Ellie panted. "Thanks for the awesome wake up. Wanna shower together?"

Ellie gave her a kiss and got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Dina followed a little later, still naked and sweaty, she stopped in front of the mirror. She looked younger too, the nasty scar on her shoulder was missing. More confused than she had ever been she got into the shower, whatever was going on at least she had Ellie.

"You're gonna be wearing your clothes from yesterday?" Ellie asked when Dina started putting on her clothes she had found around the bed.

'Yesterday? What does she mean, I just got here?' Dina wondered.

The situation caused Dina to be hit by a flashback.

"Hey I know it's a little soon, but with Joel still in the hospital and us spending so much time there. I thought… Nevermind." Ellie said, shuffling her feet.

"El, what is it you want to say?" Dina asked and caressed her cheek.

It worked it's magic and got the nervous looking redhead to look at her with those beautiful green eyes.

"I just… If you want… I made some space in the closet for you, not that i'm asking you to move in. well it's not that I'm against you moving in. You just always end up here in the evening and then have to go back and forth to your place in the morning." Ellie sputtered out.

"Shhhhh, stop talking. I'll gladly take over one of your shelves tonight. You can help me move some clothes here when we get out of the hospital today." Dina said and gave Ellie a kiss."

Her flashback ended, Ellie was looking a little strange at her.

"Hmm, yeah, what's the point of you giving me a shelf if i don't use it." She said to Ellie after some time.

She got undressed again and to her surprise saw a bunch of her clothes in Ellie's closet. They ate something and put on their gear before leaving. As they left Ellie's studio Dina realized there had to be something else going on as they walked through Jackson, If there was an afterlife, a heaven if you will, surely it wouldn't mirror their previous lives like this, surely not all these people could be dead. Since Dina had no idea what their plans of the day were, she grabbed Ellie's hand as a way to be led by her to wherever they are going. Due to the flashback, she suspected they were headed to the hospital maybe. 'But why is Ellie armed to the teeth? This is weird.' At a crucial juncture they went right towards one of the stables instead of in the direction of the hospital. Maria was standing by the stables clearly waiting for them.

"Are you sure you want to go on patrol?" Maria asked Ellie.

"Sitting around there all day isn't doing me any good, besides he'd probably tell me to go if he could. And it's a pretty short route." Ellie said sadly so Dina gave her hand a squeeze, more out of instinct than anything else.

Ellie gave her a brief smile before Maria led them into the stables. Maria also looked younger, but not less burdened. 'Is this a weird coma dream or something?' She had barely thought about it and got another flashback. This time it was of Ellie kissing her passionately at the playground before they had a snowball fight with some of the local rascals. It was clearly a flashback that took place the day after the dance, the day that Joel had died. And it was not what happened, Ellie wasn't this forward back then. Then came another flashback set the same day, she had patrolled with Jesse, which had been a little awkward at first. When they got back to Jackson, the two of them received the news that Joel and Tommy had been attacked, Ellie had found them and rescued them both but Joel was hurt pretty badly. It truly was confusing her.

"Are you really okay? You've been a little off since you woke up." Ellie said.

"Don't worry I'm fine." Dina answered, but it didn't seem Ellie believed her.

They got their horses and went over to Maria when Jesse arrived with their rifles. To say seeing him was shocking was putting it mildly. She did her best to keep her emotions in check.

"Keep each other safe and come back at the first sign of trouble." Maria told them before the gate was opened.

They rode for a few hours, Ellie was setting a fairly high pace. 'When did she learn to ride like this?' Dina was trying to sort through the flashbacks and trying to figure out what exactly was happening. She was sure of one thing, regardless of what was going on, she had Ellie back, no matter what was going on here. Shortly after checking into the first outpost on their patrol they saw a horde in the distance.

"Dina stay here and provide cover." Ellie said.

"Are you crazy? We can't take a horde this size, we need to go back." Dina answered, a little scared at the idea of Ellie taking on a horde.

"Don't worry, set some traps, over there and over there and cover me from here." Ellie said with a cockyness that Dina wasnt used to.

As Ellie rode off towards the horde, Dina quickly dismounted her horse and opened up her back pack. She realized that where Ellie told her to place the traps was a funnel point. After placing a few trip wire activated explosives she got into a position where she could provide cover for Ellie. It was quite the spectacle before her, Ellie had picked off most of the runners with arrows. Whenever the bloater threw it's mycotoxin sacs, it was always to where Ellie had been. She could see Ellie going back to her horse with a clicker on her heels. Dina lined up her sights and was about to pull the trigger when the clicker was handled by Ellie with her sword. 'How the hell did she learn to fight like this?' Ellie by now had mounted her horse again and was being chased by the remaining clickers and the bloater. She rode that horse like cowboys in those old western movies that were shown from time to time in Jackson's theater. Dina moved from her position in time to see Ellie somehow jump her horse over the two tripwires, the first explosive dealt with the clickers, the second finished off the bloater.

"You're still the best explosive maker ever, babe." Ellie said when she reached Dina.

At Ellies insistence they finished their patrol getting back to Jackson shortly after lunch time due to the high pace Ellie had set. Maria wasn't too happy at first to hear of the risks Ellie had been taking. That only lasted until Dina told Maria how Ellie had taken down the horde essentially single handedly, Ellie could have set the explosives herself if she had to. She had never seen Ellie fight this way. One thing that reminded her of the old Ellie was nearly having to force her to eat, just like on the farm. Ellie was different and it felt like sometimes she tried to hide it. They had spent the afternoon and evening in Joel's room in the clinic, from what Dina gathered he had been in a coma since Ellie rescued him. The day after she had slept in, waking up to find a note from Ellie that she left for the clinic. She had barely gotten out of bed when she had to run for the bathroom. 'This can't be for real. I traveled back in time, everything is different but I'm still pregnant?' Dina panicked. She was mainly panicking because if she was pregnant, how would this different Ellie take it? When the nausea went away she decided to go join Ellie at the clinic and get a blood test done so she'd know for sure.

The test turned out to be positive, it didn't surprise her, but did make her panic. Whatever was going on with her, last time she told Ellie she was pregnant she hadn't taken it very well. Who knew how she'd take it this time, cause this Ellie is different. She retreated from the clinic and went to her room in the old hotel, where a lot of the bachelors in Jackson lived. There were electronic devices stacked next to her door with notes of people asking her to fix them. It kinda pissed her off how people just left their shit but she did welcome them as a distraction and started working on them losing track of time. A knock on her door brought her out of her trance.

"Dina are you in there?" Ellie asked followed by another knock.

Dina froze, if it wasn't for hearing the desperation in Ellie's voice she wouldn't have gotten up. She silently said a quick prayer asking for the best outcome and opened the door.

"Sorry I was repairing some stuff." She silently said when she saw Ellie looking relieved and let her in.

"Have you been here all day?" Ellie asked.

"Well it's just… I got… Ellie you…" Dina said, shuffling her feet.

"Hey." Ellie said, lifting up Dina's head, forcing eye contact and caressing her cheek, "If there is something you need to tell me please tell me, even when it might seem like a bad time."

She drowned in the begging green eyes that were also filled with understanding. It gave her the courage to say the words she dreaded saying. Dina placed her hand over Ellie's that was caressing her cheek. Worst case she could enjoy this feeling one last time.

"El, I had a test done today. I'm pregnant." Dina said, not noticing Ellie wasn't surprised, "Don't worry it's not yours."

"Okay, I have just two questions. Do you want to keep him?" Ellie asked.

"I do. Is that ok?" Dina asked, having missed Ellie's slip up.

"Of course it is." Ellie answered, Dina could see that her confidence was rapidly being replaced by fear as Ellie looked away. "Jesse is the dad, isn't he? Do you want to get back together with him?"

"He is and no, even if you wouldn't want to be with me anymore, he and I are finished. There's nothing there anymore, I promise."

Ellie's relief was obvious from the way she pulled Dina into a hug. Though the good moment was short lived.

"Joel is getting worse, they don't know what to do." Ellie said.

"Do you want to spend the night there?" Dina asked.

It was obvious from looking into her green eyes that Ellie was conflicted about it, Dina knew it was better to take charge when she was like this. She grabbed some extra clothes, went with Ellie to her place where they showered, changed and ate something.

"You should bring your guitar and play something for him, I read once that it helps people who are in a coma." Dina suggested.

Ellie looked in shock for a moment.

"I don't know, not really feeling it." Ellie said, coming across as insecure about it.

"Let's just take it with us, just in case." Dina encouraged her.

They went over to Joel's room in the clinic, there still wasn't any improvement. The staff especially gave Ellie a wide birth. They settled on the couch that had been placed in the room by fellow Jackson patrol members, since it already was late Dina fell asleep. She woke up in the middle of the night covered by the blanket they had shared. Ellie was sitting in the mostly dark room holding her guitar and playing single chords. It wasn't like somebody that was practicing the guitar but more like somebody that struggled to play the guitar. When Dina sat up, Ellie's breath hitched.

"No, please continue." Dina said.

"I can't." Ellie replied after some time.

"Why, is it because Joel is the one that taught you? I'm sure he would want you to continue playing. I want you to continue too." Dina said and got up to give Ellie a hug.

Ellie started crying, though Dina didn't know why, she supported her through it. Ellie thanked her several times while her tears dried up.

"You got this." Dina whispered in Ellie's ear before returning to the couch.

Ellie started playing the guitar again, slowly the chords weren't single chords anymore but started forming a song and Ellie started singing.

"If I ever were to lose you

I'd surely lose myself

Everything I have found dear

I've not found by myself

Try and sometimes you'll succeed

To make this woman of me

All my stolen missing parts

I've no need for anymore

I believe

And I believe 'cause I can see

Our future days

Days of you and me"

Dina had a hard time keeping her eyes dry, not only did the song hit home for her too, it was the first time since she arrived here that she caught a glimmer of the girl she had fallen in love with so long ago. Ellie noticed, quickly put her guitar back in the case and came over to Dina.

"Babe, what's wrong?" she asked.

"That was beautiful El. I love you." Dina said before realizing that it would be too soon for Ellie to hear that.

"I love you too." Ellie replied to Dina's relief.

The two of them soon fell asleep on the coach again. Being woken up in the morning when the staff came to check on Joel. There still was no improvement to his condition. Rumors started being circulated by the staff that newcomers had arrived in the morning and were being interviewed by Maria. Ellie and Dina were packing up to head home to freshen up when the door opened. As the people came in Dina noticed the shocked look on Ellie's face, she turned towards the people coming in. The first was Maria followed immediately by a man with blonde hair that looked old enough to have lived through the outbreak, he also had a surprised look on his face but quickly turned neutral again. He was followed by a familiar looking dark skinned woman. Lastly Dina saw the person that had to be the reason for Ellie's shock, since Dina was shocked to see that person as well.

'Abby, how on earth is this possible? Why is she here?' Dina thought.

"This is Dr Jerry Anderson, Nora Harris and Jerry's daughter Abigail. They are part of the group that arrived today. I asked Jerry and Nora to take a look at Joel since they have a lot of experience in the medical field." Maria said.

'Let it go, you got to let it go, this is a different Abby.' Dina thought.

She went to stand next to Ellie, both of them were tense due to the visitors and grabbed Ellie's hand intertwining their fingers. Dina observed the blonde tree of a woman, just in case she'd try anything to hurt Ellie. Dr Anderson went over Joel's medical charts and conversed with the Jackson medical team. After some tests, he determined Joel had gone into septic shock. The clinic had been giving him crushed antibiotics mixed in water, but his organs weren't fully functional anymore so they weren't doing anything. Jackson didn't have all the equipment needed to make IV soluble antibiotics. The best they could do for now was give him blood transfers to buy time.

"I'll go find what you need, make me a list." Ellie said.

"I'm coming with you, you probably wont know what you're looking for." Abby said

"You two?" Dina blurted out. "I mean, i'm coming too, you two probably don't know how to tell if a light bulb is working."

Abby looked offended, Ellie on the other hand looked worried. Dina gave Ellie her don't even say it look that kept the redhead quiet for now. Maria wasn't too thrilled but also realized Joel was running out of time. She told the three of them to get ready while she'd go talk to Jesse to determine the best places to look.

"Dina you're not coming, it's too dangerous for you." Ellie said as soon as the door of her studio was closed.

"I'm pregnant, not sick." Dina retorted. "It will be fine, don't worry."

"Babe, I'm just worried, don't take any risks please." Ellie pleaded.

"Okay I promise to not take any risks, but I'm still coming." Dina promised.

'Besides, somebody has to watch your back. This may be a different Abby but that doesn't mean we can trust her.' Dina thought.

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