Abby Anderson was an hardened woman. Her body was a patchwork of rugged scars and a canvas of blue and purple bruises. She was build like an ox and had the strenght of a boar. She fought like a tiger and was sharp like an eagle. Her character was the whole animal kindom mushed togheter into one monstrous woman. She was strong, smart and independant.

Lev, on the contrary, was a scrawny little thing, not unlike Ellie but a few years younger. He had a knit for dry jokes that often weren't even funny and he couldn't swear to save his life. He was a collected little teenager, invisible like a wallflower. It often helped him when he needed to sneak into places.

Both couldn't be more different. They were the perfect opposite, and younger Abby wouldn't have cared less about the kid. Ellie wasn't sure what had reunited the two. She never told her, nor was it her business to know anyway.

She had met the woman few days after her arrival in Jackson, hungry, alone, scared and lost. She had been wasting away, her body nothing more than a bundle of bones and skin. Back then, she had no idea how to survive on her own. Back then, trashes were the only thing keeping her from dying of hunger, and only because that's all she had known from watching random old homeless folks do it themselves in her big town. When Abby had found her, she had had half a mind to ignore her and left her to rot, but Lev had talked her out of the idea. In his eyes, she had been worth helping, and she was very grateful for that.

Despite their rough beginning, Ellie had fond memories of them. Abby had taught her how to survive, how to streetfight, where to look for food and shelters. But whereas Ellie was more of an honest person, Abby was a troublemaker who often traded with the black market. She was a busy person, but they would sometimes meet up randomly and Abby would take her for a game of cards and share some of her weed.

Ellie knew how to find her.

The car breakers.

While the tall woman didn't quite have an appartment of her own, she had made a home out of this cars cimetery. Well, technically, the Wolf gang owned it. Abby just happened to be an important member of it. They had allowed her to take the place as her land, and even if the skeletons of automobiles had first been an unsettling sight, she was happy living there.. Ellie had been quite impressed with the way Abby handled herself out there, but she had refused to join the Wolf when the blonde haired woman had asked her. Last thing she wanted was ending up in jail, or worst, back at David's.

Abby was really possessive of this place. She was so secretive, the police had no idea someone lived here, and she defended the place like it was her own White House.

The young teenager wasn't just any tresspasser, though. She pushed open the metal fence gate and it grunted loudly at the motion. It had taken a while to get there on foot, but the fact that she was really downtown had cut the walk to two hours. She looked around to regain a bit of her bearings. It smelled like dirt and oil, a combinaisont never failed to keep her on the bridge of a sneeze.

There was nothing but the carcass of beaten up cars laying on top of each others like a fucked up pyramid. This place had always made her skin crawl with uneasiness. Nothing but abandonned automobiles. She took a few hesitant steps inside, looking for any sign of human life, but it was dead silent.

"On your left!"
"Wha-"

Pain crippled her vision as a punch landed on her left cheekbone. A muffled gasp left her mouth and she fell on the ground like a sack of potato.

"What the hell? Why didn't you dodge?" A tall, towering form yelled, throwing her arms in the air in a dramatic fashion.

Ellie got back up, her left hand cradling her injured face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She groaned, massaging the area.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Abby parroted. " You should have been able to avoid that. I even warned you!"
"Who the fuck just punch people ?" Ellie yelled back.
"You've gotten weak." Abby simply say, backing off to give the girl some space.
"Abby? Something's wrong?"

The voice was quiet, almost shy, but Ellie had no problem recognizing the boyish tone of the small asian teenager.

"Just Abby being dumb." Ellie answered before the other girl could.
"I resent that."

Abby tossed Ellie's hand so she could examine the bruise. She scanned it for a few seconds then rolled her blue eyes.

"You'll live." She gave the cheek a couple of complimentary slaps, grinning at the serie of 'owws' it provoked.
"You're such an asshole."
"So I've heard."

Abby joined Lev who has been poking his head out of their hideout. It was a hideous pile of cars parts, built in a way you had to squeeze throught to get inside a medium sized makeshift room. Ellie had once complained it seemed fucking dangerous and had refused to go in there so Abby literally had to drag her in. It wasn't half bad, really. There was a bed, a sofa, a table and an improvised bathroom. The place was littered with clothes, pizza boxes, soda cans and bottles of alcohol.

Ellie huffed, finding the situation almost comical.

"So I see I've been worrying over nothing. Can't believe I left Dina and Jesse over this..."
"Oh? Your new fuckfriends?" The taller woman mocked, sitting next to
Lev who had been playing on his old faded gameboy.

The younger girl blushed a deep red and swiped her head in her drection.

"Fuck you."
"Awwn. And here I was, thinking of sharing my weed here. Such a shame. "
"I'm not here for that." Ellie crossed her legs and sat in front of them, tossing her bagpack aside and giving her shoulders a few comfortable rolls until it cracked. "I heard about the Seraphites beating a kid, so I came to see if Lev was alright."

Both Abby and Lev tensed, like suddenly caught in freezing ice. The boy's face went livid, contrasting with the darker shade of his skin while Abby seemed to have a hard time keeping still.

"You've heard about that?" Her voice turned cold and controlled, raw emotions piercing throught in the form of a growl.
"A bit." She nodded. "Just what I told you."

Abby clenched her teeth and stood up to pace around the area. Lev looked up, eyes like empty shells, his game forgotten resting on his lap.

"I'm... okay, but..."

He didn't finish and Ellie frowned in anticipation. Something wasn't right, she could sense it.

"But what?" She asked, more agressively than she truly intended.

This tension was giving her the jitters and she didn't like it. Her heart started beating faster when none of them answered, Le lost in his own thoughts and Abby muttering curses under her breath.

"Guys?"The auburn haired girl pressed.
"The kid that was attacked..." Abby started, hissing throught her teeth as she leaned against the wall. " It's Lev's sister."

Ellie's eyes went to Abby and the teen back and forth, and they widened in surprise.

"No way. You have a sister?"

He nodded slowly, shoulders hunched in defeat.

"Yeah... she's, uh, was a member of the Seraphite. But she did something and wronged them... "

The boy sounded so small and sorrowful, Ellie felt a bit bad for him.

"Lev?"

He turned toward her wordlessly. She looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I have a few jokes about unemployed people."

Abby and Lev blinked quizzically at her. Ellie took a few seconds to make sure she had their attention and spoke with an air of confidence.

"But none of them work."
"Oh my god, fucktard! This isn't the time for your stupid puns!" Abby stomped her way, towering over her like an enormous tree, but the teenager didn't flinch in the slighest.
Men scared the fuck out of her. Dina scared her so much she turned into a rambling mess. Snakes terrified her. But Abby? She might be intimidating, but she trusted the girl with her life.

Lev didn't seem to be amused either, and Ellie threw her hand in the air.

"Okay, fine, that sucks, what do you want me to do about it?"

Abby's eyes turned dark and Ellie's throat squeezed with an growing lump.

Abby crunched and brought a notepad from a beaten up duffel bag and slammed it on the table.

"So, two days ago, I sent Lev to their hideout. He was sneaking around... these parts." She said, pointing to a crudely drawn plan of Jackson. Yara is being held... right here." She jammed her big finger near the outskirt of town, but on the total opposite of where they were actually situated.
"What do they have against your sister?" The teenager girl asked to the asian boy, brow elevated in curiosity.

He shifted uncomfortably on his seat, hands coursing throught his short black hair in grief. He seemed quite hesitant to answer but Abby rested a reassuring palm on his bony shoulder.

"When... When mom threw us out, Yara went straight to the Seraphites-"
"She's part of them? You were serious..." Disbelief crossed Ellie's face.
"Yeah." He nodded, avoiding all eyes. "When mom threw us out, she went to them, because once you're part of them, they take care of your needs like you're one of their own. Food, shelter, friends, protection. She tried to convince me to join, but I didn't want to. It was before I met Abby."

Ellie strocked the back of her neck, aware of the dilemna the whole situation was leading to.

"So you're basically on opposite team... Jesus..."
"Yeah. Anyway, she worked as a smuggler there... she's young and-and no one would suspect a 16 years old asian girl to carry thousands of dollars of drugs across town."

Ellie knew teenagers were often utilized as smuggling tools in the black market of Jackson. It paid enough and for those who craved for the top of the ladder, it was an easy debut, and one of trust. But it had its consequences, and Ellie had reasons to stray away from this mess.

Lev sniffed quietly, head falling so low it almost hang between his legs. The hand on his shoulder moved to rub his back affectionnately and Abby locked eyes with Ellie's.

"Something went wrong along the way and she disappeared for a few days. They finally found her without the cargo and... well, I let you guess how that follows."
"How do you know all that?"

The tall adult crossed her muscular arms, grinning.

"I have my ways, okay. Now, we need to get there and take her back."
"We? You mean the Wolf?"
"No, you dimwit, I mean you and I."

Ellie first thought she heard wrong when a white hot panic washed over her.

"What?" She croacked, furrowing her brows.

Abby sighted and rubbed her tired eyes.

"God, please, gimme patience, I said you and I were goin' to-"
"Nuh-uh."

The blonde interrupted herself, straight face twisting into one of confusion.

"Nuh-uh?"
"Nuh-uh." Ellie repeated, standing up.
"What nuh-uh?" Abby parroted stupidly.
"I'm not doing this." Ellie said with a deadpan look, as if the answer was one of simple deduction.

Abby advanced closer, her intimidating frame shadowing the smaller girl.

"What?"
"Have you actually looked at me?" She asked, gesturing to herself. " I weight 120 pounds completely drenched, I'm half starved and-and I'm 16 for fuck sake! You wanna send me to my death?"

Abby let out a a dry cackle and schook her head.

"Don't be ridiculous. The Seraphites are a lot of things, but they're no killers."
"Yeah, 'cause being beaten to an inch of your life is so much better. Why don't you ask your...special friends?" Ellie really wanted to help her, but how could she be of any help, she was clueless. She had almost nothing to lose anymore, but she didn't want to jump straight into this suicide trap either.

"Puh'lease, those guys ? None of them wants to walk on Seraphite territory. Owen's being a big pussy 'bout it, Mel's fucking pregnant, I can't find Nora, Leah is... Fuck Leah, and Manny is-".

Ellie interrupted her with her hand, staring right at Abby with a serious and rocklike expression on her face. She heard enough of this shit, there was no way she was doing this.

"I have no idea who these people are, and I frankly don't care. Count me out."

She reached for her bag and prepared to leave, but Abby blocked her path. Ellie tilted her head up, prepared to face the storm of Abby's anger but she found soft eyes pleading her instead.

"Please, El, I need this, she is Lev's sister. She's just a kid, hell, what if it was you?"
"Abby..." Ellie cringed, feeling her conviction being peeled off slowly like an onion.
"I saved you. I could have ignored Lev when he asked me to help you. But I didn't. I walked up to you, pulled you up and showed you how to survive. You owe me. And I need you. You'd be dead today if it wasn't for me."

Each word she said had a sharp, slicing edge to it, they rang so true to Ellie's ears she faltered a bit.

"But I'm scared, Abby. I just... I don't want any problem."
"Look, help me here and I'll give you something in return. What do you need ? Food, clothes? Drugs, maybe ? A skateboard, shoes? Just name it and I'll get it for you."

She wasn't lying. Anything she could ask for, she knew where to get it. She'd have an appartment already if it wasn't for the whole "laying low" concept.

Realistically, there was a lot of things Ellie needed, and Abby didn't offer her help often. She could ask for a stolen credit card, but that'd be risky. She could ask for new boots. Or maybe for a new backpack. But instead, her mind wandered to Dina, and just how beautiful she looked everytime she smiled, and how bright her eyes would shine when she talked about something she liked.

Ellie closed her eyes and sighed, giving up.

"I need a phone."

Abby knitted her brows togheter, openly surprised by the demand.

"A phone? What for?"
"That's my business."
"Geez, do you want an applewatch too?" Abby rolled her eyes dramatically.
"You said anything." Ellie leaned back against the wall, holding onto her request.
"Rah, fine. I'll find you one."
"And I need to be able to call and text on it."
"Yeah yeah, I'll get it for you, so it's a yes?"
"Yes, Abby, I accept to run to my death." Her tone rippled with sarcasm, but Ellie was actually shitting her pants.

Of course, even though she had tried to stay away from everything illegal, there had been a couple of occasions when she had done a thing or two she wasn't too proud of. She had once stolen a whole bag of grocerie and ran away with it. It was before Abby met her, half dead and starving and desperation clawing at her sanity. Abby once told her she had one hell of a survival instinct. The redhead had scoffed at the comment, but she had then said she had a keen eye for those things. Ellie wasn't she believed her.

"What's your plan?" Ellie inquired, sitting back next to silent Lev.

The young boy had watched the confrontation, and was gazing apologetically at Ellie, sorry to drag her into this

Smilling a little, Abby grabbed a few snacks from a box and threw it at the teenager girl.

"Eat. You look like a dead chicken."
She rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

She shot her the stink eye and dug throught a bag of chips, silently wondering if it would happened to be her very last meal.

"Still, Abby. What good would I be ? I'm useless."

Abby gestured to Lev to give her a bit of place and sat next to Ellie, so close their shoulders touched. She made her look at her in the eye by softly clutching her chin between two fingers.

"Listen to me Ellie and listen good because I am not going to repeat myself. You think you are so weak. Remember that time I made you fight me near Jackson Lake?"

Ellie nodded, staring into her blue eyes in confusion.

"I made you fight me to see how much you have improved your streetfighting skills. And I beat the everloving shit out of you."
"So glad to remember that now." She winced, recalling how much her body had throbbed after that.
"You were hungry, smaller and weaker back then. I punched you so hard it broke your damn nose and you fell on the ground. And you know what you did ? You stood up. There was so much determination in your eyes, kid. Few persons are able to stand on their feet after I hit them, and boy did I hit you hard. Your pain tolerence is incredible and trust me when I say you can get pretty dangerous and vicious when you want to."

Ellie scoffed, amused.

"I'm not vicious."
"You hit her over the head with a plank of wood." Lev chimed in, wincing at the recollection.

She shrugged. "She had it comin'."
"It hurt." Abby deadpan look gave her what she needed to let a small chortle get past her lips.
"Alright. What's your suicide plan?"

Abby growled and It made Ellie smirk a little. She knew she was being annoying but hey, she was allowed to. But in her honest opinion, she was right to be overdramatic. Her stomach churned with fear and apprehension.
But a small, deep part of her became restless with excitation.

Tossing the improvised map to her, Abby circled an area with a red pen.

"There. This is where Yara is being kept. There's, uh, an abandonned building, uh, maybe a good kilometer or two from he road. It used to be a commercial office but the idea was abandonned a few years back. They took it as their own."
"But the town owns it. "

Abby tilted her head to stare right at her with comically stoic expression.

"The Seraphites owns the town. They're paying their taxes. The woman behind all this doesn't even live in Jackson. Hell, she's probably sucking Beckam's dick in Bora Bora right now. Wouldn't surprise me if she had business deals with the mayor."

Ellie scratched her head. This town was all kind of fucked up. What the hell did she walk into? This was way bigger than she imagined.

"But how do they serve the town?"
"They keep criminality low. Like I said before, they're no killers. They beat up the every day criminals and bring them to the police, which in turn look the other way for the smuggling thing. Killing anyone would break the trust they have over the dirigeants."

Ellie faced Abby with an empty, blank expression painted on her young face.

"We're gonna die." She deadpanned.
"Wha- we're not gonna die ! God, you're a little ball of sunshine, aren't you? " Abby groaned, grabbing a beer from a small fridge and tossing it to her and Lev.

Ellie caught it mid air and rose a concerned eyebrow toward the young boy.

"Aren't you a little young for that?" She questionned as he opened his drink.
"I do what I want." He replied without an hint of annoyance, silently sipping from the brown colored bottle.
"Jesus, fine."

The young adult strolled back to the couch, finishing half the bottle in a single sip. She pointed to another area of Jackson, far away from their hideout toward the richest part of town.

"They, uh, have a party here. Yeah, that's right. Emily will be there."
"Who's Emily?"
"Their leader. There will be important people but most importantly, the three quarter of their members will be there."
"Which mean?" Ellie played with the bottle in her hands to keep the anxiety from taking over.
"Which mean their hideout will be less heavily guarded."
"Again, how do you know that?" Ellie almost wondered if she was herself part of the Seraphites. " Do you know their shower schedule as well?"

Lev actually snickered at that. Abby rolled her eyes and continued.

"Your role, smartass, is that you're going straight to them and demand to be part of their group."

Ellie froze in shock.

"You're kidding right ?"

Abby shot her a glare.

"Do I look like I'm joking? Do I look like a fucking clown to you?"

She received a lopsided grin but she cut her off before she could say anything.

"Shudup." She simply said.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were going to."
"You have so little faith in me."

Abby rolled her eyes, and Ellie wondered how many times she could make the older woman roll her eyes in a single day. Patience growing thin, Abby motionned to the map.

"Now let me finish this damn plan and I swear to God if you interrupt me again I'll hit you. Okay, so the point is, you're the distraction. While they're busy with you, I sneak behind and find a way in and look for Yara. When I find her, it will be my turn to distract them while you run for your life."

Silence. Abby scanned the teenager's face for any sign of comprehention. Ellie blinked then pointed her own chest.

"Can I talk now?"
"Yes."
"This is so fucking stupid! Where'd you get that idea, in an episode of Looney Toons? And so what, you'll just search the entire building like you're visiting a damn museum? You're pratically as big as my sixth grade gym teacher. You're barely able to walk around your own home without breaking something, and then let's say we get out of it unharmed. So what then ? They will just hunt us down. Like you say they own the town. I'm already running from someone, am I supposed to run from the whole godamm town now ? This is stupid and- and it will get us killed, and-"
"Ellie?" The blonde breathed out, trying to remain calm.
"What ?"
"You done?."
"Yes."
"Great. Now shut the fuck up."

Ellie obeyed. This was stupid. It was so so stupid, but she hadn't been able to say no. Ellie always had this little voice in her head everytime she did what she wasn't supposed to do. She did a perfect job to ignore it.

"They're going to hunt us down, Abby."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Are you?"

Ellie didn't answer, choosing to sip more of the sweet alcohol instead. This was nut. This was just nut. But if she could help save that girl, she could get that phone from Abby and texts Dina 24/7. Or, well, as long as the mexican woman will have her. It will also help to back up her stupid I'm-going-to-a-fancy-school lie. She had a brief thought about just how long she could hold onto that lie before it blows up in her face but she pushed it away. Now wasn't the time for this.

"When do you want to do that?" Her voice held no venom, only a tired resignation. The blonde sighed, nervously scratching her scalp.

"The party is tomorrow night. I wish we'd do it today, but..."
"I have one last question. If they don't intend to kill the girl, then why are they keeping her? What's the point?"
"I don't know. She was part of them, maybe they are waiting for their leader to take a decision? I wouldn't be surprised if they were involved in human traficking."

Ellie let out a dry, humorless laught.

"Human traficking now. Now death might be better than that. Jesus Christ Abs, if we get caught I will kick you so hard your grandkids will feel it."
"We're only going to get caught if you keep thinking like this. Woman up!"

Green eyes wandered around they found what they were searching for.

"You know what ? Fuck it. Let's do this." She reached for one of the stronger stuff and poured herself a big glass of rhum.
"Nuh-uh,kid. One's enough." Abby warned when she saw Lev in possession of another bottle
"Fine." He poutted.

Ellie handed the taller girl a glass for herself and they both drank it in one swift motion. Ellie grimaced a bit and shook her head

"Man, that's strong,
"This isn't even my stronger stuff. Maybe if you're a good girl out there I'll let you touch the bottle."

They drank until Lev fell asleep in the sofa, after which they decided to take their fun outside. They both decided to share a joint, and as they laid atop of a beaten up Cadillac, Ellie couldn't help but be ingulfed by the concept of the vastness of the universe.

"Did you know that the universe is constantly expending?" Ellie mumbled, stars shining throught her irises. "Like... it never stops growing."

Abby chukled, taking between two fingers the joint Ellie was handing her.

"Sure, nerd. I'm not much of a space fan."

She took a slow, agonizing hit, ignorant to the younger girl turning her head towards her.

"What do you like then, grumpy?

Abby gave her back the weed as she searched in her memories. "I don't know. I like to fight, and I love animals. When my dad was still alive, he was a veterinarian, and I 'member looking up to him. My dad was my hero back then. Mom lost her shit when he was killed."
"Who killed him?"

The blonde shifted umcomfortably, she hadn't talked about her dad in a very long time. Ellie sensed the shift in the tension and passed her the joint.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna.
She scrunched her face. "It's okay, it's just... weird to talk about it." She took a long hit, exhaling an healthy amount of smoke in the air, watching it drift away in the cool air. "So, there was this maniac around town a few years back. He would sneak in people's house, steal their shit and rape the women."
"Asshole." Ellie muttered, disgusted, eyes hazed over.
"Yeah. So one day he happened to choose our house. My dad fought him and he was stabbed three times. My mom was raped. It really fucked her up."
"What 'bout you?" The redhead asked, refusing the almost all burned weed stick Abby was giving her.

After finishing it in one long hit, she threw it away with a flick of her fingers, smells still lingering in the air as an aftertaste.

"I was hiding in the closet like a fuckin' coward. Stayed there until the police arrived."
"Do you regret it ?" Ellie's voice sounded like a distant sound to her friend's ears, as she reslessly busied her hands with the hem of her gray and black shirt. She sighed, but it was so full of guilt it sounded more like a whimper.

"Yeah, every godamm day."
"Did you... ever thought about revenge? Finding the guy and... I don't know. Make him pay?"

Ellie had thought long and hard about finding revenge against David. She'even admit that it was literally all she could think about everytime his image crept in her mind like a venomous snake. She wanted to see him dead, or at least locked away where he would not hurt anybody else. There were long, cold night when she'd dream of him. She would wake up shaking from a seething rage that would only weaken as the day went on. She wanted to make him suffer, and her inability to so was infuriating.
Abby's lack of hesitation only seemed to fuel the idea that she wasn't alone.

"I'd kill that bastard with my bare hand any time."
"Yeah..." Ellie smiled a bit, mind like a foggy haze left by the numbing of her mind, allowing her to speak her heart out. " I'd do the same to David."

Abby's knee went to nudge her in a playful push.

"Who's David?"
"Hum... the man I'm runninf away from? He was... is, my uncle. Took me in after the death of my parent... he's like, a religious freak who thinks he can... cure, my, uh, deviance, by raping me. He did it for like, 2 years and a half before I left in the middle of the night."

It felt so surreal to talk about it. She didn't know if it was because of the cannabis, but telling her story didn't feel like her own. It felt like she was retelling a shapeless person's life story from the bleachers. There was this void in her heart, this dullness that helped to mute away the pain. It was her memories, but they seemed to far, hiding away behind a thick cloud of THC.

Abby hummed. "No wonder you're such a grumpy kid. Sorry it happened to you."
"Yeah..."

And after that, the night went silent.