"I'm just... there has to be another way to do it."
She thought she saw figures and shapes in her mind, playing out like a rerun of a TV episode. There were fuzzy colours and shapes, bright in hue, bouncing around in front of her eyes; they carried form, but were strangely distant as well. She thought she saw a woman's face looking into her eyes, accompanied by a warmth and soothing voice, laden with affection and love. She couldn't discern the woman; her appearance wasn't concealed, but it was obscured by a ray of orange light that cut through her vision, surrounded by faint black shapes, which then collapsed into darkness again.
"We don't have another choice... a captive would be the best route of action for us to... no, I realise that."
She processed the words without whim, and felt them seep into her mind and mutate the pleasant and warm shapes that had frequented her vision before. Every time she heard another, she noticed it came hand-in-hand with another darting flash of orange light. The brightness of it stung her eyes and when she tried to force the heavy skin open slightly, the words surrounding her become sharper and the warm, fuzzy colours and shapes slipped away.
"So, what?" She heard the man named Rat in the front seat ask, turning his head to consult his Scottish counterpart. "You expect my men to waltz around the city until one of them comes out? No. Even if the infected don't get them, all four of the squad are way outta their league. I ain't losing any more of my guys."
"I understand that." The Watcher countered. "Believe me. But this is a mutual agreement, and has mutual benefit. We take a captive, we find out where they are, and we get one step closer to finding Dove."
"Yeah."
"And then you help me find Amber."
The driver sighed. "I'm still regretting signing up for that part."
She lifted her head from her hand, and rolled her wrist around, wincing at the dull pain of the movement. She had been trying to keep her eyes open, but... she knew they had a bad habit of betraying her. She thought she hadn't been gone from consciousness long, but the way her wrist had seized up and the numbness tingling up her arm proved otherwise.
She glanced around the car quickly, her mind and eyes groggy and damp. She found nothing of particular interest, and began assessing herself. She moved her eyes downward, and coursed them along her body, observing a lattice of tears, rips and gashes in her jacket and shirt, of which she had donned so long ago now. Her mind viewed the last month as nothing but a blur; it seemed to her like mere moments since they had been gearing up for the excursion to the power plant, and how Evelynn's satirical grin and the coldness of the pines had sent nervousness coursing through her.
She made her eyes wander again, bored and off-put by the state of her clothing and no doubt her face. She allowed her vision to gloss over the two men in the front of the car, who her ears told her were still arguing. Their words meant nothing to her as she looked around, taking in the deep, textured brown of the leather interior and the sheen of Rider's white-grey eyes.
She met the elder girl's gaze, and she had to counter every instinct in her body not to simply blush and whip her head away and glance out the window at nothing in particular. She saw Rider smile warmly, her mouth spreading thinly in understanding, and lean her blonde covered head back against the frosty window of the SUV. The crisp and cool orange of dawn poured into the vehicle.
Another day.
"You talk in your sleep." The elder girl joked, parting her lips to reveal her rows of oddly pristine white teeth.
"Oh, brother..." Ellie heard herself say quietly, her mind becoming concerned from what she may have accidentally divulged.
"Don't worry about it." Rider rebutted, grinning. "It's cute."
Ellie felt a warm, fuzzy feeling rise inside of her again, but instead of shying away from it, made herself continue looking confidently into the other girl's eyes, holding the conversation. If Adam and Joel could be strong, so could she.
Joel.
She played the memories back in her brain. She saw speeding figures and heard gurgles and screams, and the heavy breathing that had been emanating from her for the entire ordeal. She had been involved in skirmishes with the infected before, of course, but... something about their most recent encounter was more than eerie.
The only real solid memory that she could recollect was the look on Blufor's face when he'd told her to run, and how she'd doubled around, scooped Rider off of the floor and bolted for the tunnel without even looking back.
She silently scolded herself. Joel and Blufor were both immensely dependable fighters, but she remembered - through the fog of adrenaline – that there had been more infected in the subway that night than anywhere she'd seen before. She hoped they had made it out, of course, but... her gut churned with immense guilt and pessimism. She remembered the colossal roar from the station behind them, ricocheting down the metro tunnel, and the skull on the burlap sack...
She must have physically winced at the thoughts, as Rider's face contorted into a frown in front of her.
"What's up?" She heard the girl ask.
She let out a deep and long sigh. "We just left them in there."
"They told us to run."
"I know. I thought we should've, and we did. Now I reckon we should've stayed."
"You and Rider were both brave." She heard a deeper, louder voice speak reassuringly from the front of the vehicle. She glanced upwards, and her eyes met with emerald green of Adam's in the rear-view mirror. For once, since they had first arrived at the Nest, she saw a smile on his rugged face.
She didn't remember telling him who she was.
"How'd you know her name?"
"We've had a while to introduce ourselves." She heard Rider comment, the elder girl turning her gaze and grin back over to her.
"Don't worry about the other two." She heard Adam tell her, looking at his smile in the rear-view. "Blufor's the best. I get the feeling Joel is even better, but he never lets anyone know it."
"That's about right." Ellie admitted.
"They'll be back. I'm sure of it."
"That's a good point." The driver piped up. "I could sure as hell use some more good men. You wanna run a search party for those two?" She heard Rat ask Adam, seemingly completely ignoring her.
"No need, Rat." She heard Rider butt in from the side, her interruption clearly setting the skinny man slightly on edge. Ellie noticed through his scowl that his face was slim and long, and observed the greasy and unkempt clumps of mud-brown hair sitting on his skull. She thought he looked like he would've been homeless before the outbreak, or at least very poor. She noted he looked exceptionally malnourished when sitting next to Adam.
"Why not?" She heard him ask her, sounding slightly perturbed.
"They were there when you radioed me." She watched Rider comment, the elder girl's eyes temporarily straying to focus on Rat. "They know we're headed to the hospital."
"Let's hope they don't bring any damn infected back, then."
She watched Rat huff with distress and then return to focus on driving the vehicle. She remembered he had been perfectly civil when talking on the radio; maybe the leader of the mercs didn't function too well under pressure. She was relieved that Adam was with her again. She hadn't had time to see before, but she looked him over now; she could finally understand why he was on edge. The large, hulking, powerful Adam who'd glowed with human strength when they'd left the mountains had been replaced. It may've been the light, but she thought he looked paler than usual, and sweeping purple bags circled and scored the skin up and around his eyes. He was thinner than he had been before – admittedly, they'd hardly eaten in just under four days, the pinnacle of their food supply being scavenging for non-perishables in supermarkets and berries in parks – but he had noticeably lost weight. She saw his auburn 5 o'clock shadow had grown into a fully-fledged beard, and his nose was a weirder shape than it had been before it'd been broken twice in a fortnight. She thought he seemed weaker… well, perhaps not weaker, but stressed. She assumed he was fretting about Evelynn as much as she was.
"I mean what I said, by the way." She listened to Adam begin. He briefly cut off to gesture to Rat. "Turn left up here."
"I know where to go, dammit…" She heard the leader mumble under his breath.
"Both of you were very brave." The Scotsman spoke up again. "With Ghost, particularly."
Ellie glanced at Rider, who met her gaze with a look of unease.
"He's a nasty character." She heard herself speak.
"You're damn right he is." She heard Rat interject. "Crazy bastard is the worst of the four. Well, three now. Of course, Simon's pissed off to the Nest, but Ghost was always worse. You two and Adam are the first people to have survived after meeting him."
"You're not serious?" She heard Rider ask from her left, her tone somewhat bewildered. "How come you never told me about that guy?"
"Didn't need to." She felt the leer of the vehicle as Rat spun it around another corner. "The less you know, the better. You and I both know you'd have gone out lookin' for him."
"Who says I won't now?" Rider sassed.
"I say." Rat doubled around and shot Rider a glare. Ellie noticed that it was concerned and loving, behind the sternness that it held. She watched him turn back around, and then gazed out the window.
The cityscape was the same as it had been when they arrived. Aged, but hardly damaged, and eerie in that respect. The worst damage was damp rot and plants growing in houses and storefronts. She noticed the city looked more like an overgrown greenhouse than the setting of an epidemic disaster. Every now and again, they'd pass faded green signs with names of places written on them in dull white ink. There were libraries, cafes, even an industrial district, and signs that dictated distances to the next train station. Rest assured, she wasn't overly keen to delve into the subway again anytime soon. It was nearly twenty minutes until they drove past a sign with 'Hospital' written on it, and she became suddenly aware of the vastness of the city that surrounded her. Somewhere out there were Joel and Blufor.
She retreated into her thoughts for the remainder of the journey, either sitting in silence or simply not getting involved in the conversation in the car. Most of it was dull or dark anyway. She lost track of the time because she was dwelling on the Nest, and what they would soon be up against. She was taken somewhat by surprise when Rat spoke into his radio.
"Rat to Ward Five, Rat to Ward Five."
"Five here." She heard the radio spit back in response after a few seconds as they pulled into a parking lot adjoining three large, multi-story buildings that were connected by dilapidated walkways which had once been lined with panes of glass.
"We're home."
"Copy that, leader. Service gate one is open. Welcome back."
She noticed Rat didn't reply to the greeting.
The place they were in, despite having rusted-out ambulances and medical tents strewn around the compound, didn't have the feeling of a hospital about it. All of the hospitals she had ever been in had been white, ceramic-laden buildings kept clean in exempt from the other buildings in the cities. This one looked more like someone had taken a few retired battleships, planted them in the middle of urban downtown and called it a medical centre. She saw the buildings weren't tall, but huge; the area each of the three took up was larger than the parking lot that connected them all together. She was surprised when she remembered Rider saying they didn't use the buildings for the base; they were huge and grey and looked almost impregnable. Two of them stood intact, accounting for shattered or lost windows, but the third had been destroyed in a breathtaking fashion; she saw the whole left wing of the building had been knocked in and had collapsed, the edges stained black from a fire burnt out long ago. Upon closer inspection, she saw the husk of a huge passenger jet fragmented across the wreckage.
"Holy shit…" She muttered in disbelief, shocked by the size of it.
She saw Rider grin in her peripheral. "Flight 365 to Toronto. Rat was in the city the day that happened."
"Right after the outbreak?"
She heard the driver sigh from the front of the car as it trundled slowly through the lot to the middle building, perpendicular to them.
"Yeah." Rat confessed. "The first day of it, actually. My first job was here. I owned a small town house a ways from the University on the other side of town. I'd come here to bail someone out when that thing fell outta the sky."
"What happened?"
"Fuck knows. Engine failure maybe. I reckon it was due to the pilot being eaten alive. Shortly after it crashed there were infected everywhere. Flying ain't easy when your limbs are being gnawed on."
"It's huge." Ellie muttered, to no one in particular. "I've never seen one that big."
"Carried around 600 people. All of them will've died. It hit the building pretty hard."
She was going to press for more, when Rider took the words right out of her mouth.
"Where were you when it happened?"
"Building Two, on the left, there." She watched him gesture over to the intact building behind them, to their left. "Ward twenty. Right on this side, by the windows. Never been so scared in my life."
"You shit yourself?"
"Course I did. Back then we weren't exactly accustomed to seeing death on a daily basis."
"Knew you'd shit yourself."
"Knock it off, Rider."
She didn't ask anything else about Rat as the pulled up to the side of the building. They descended a ramp a few meters before stopping outside a corrugated metal door. When she looked at him, she realized he'd be the sort of person who'd only tell someone about him when they're ready. She wondered why she'd taken such an interest in knowing random stuff about people in the last few weeks.
"Franco-Seven." Rat spoke clearly into his radio.
She leaned back into her seat and watched as the door raised and the dullness of the dawn was somewhat brightened by the lights in the delivery bay and the LED streams of flash-lights. She saw three men in civilian militia gear emerge from the bay, check the identity of the driver and do a quick sweep of the surrounding area. Once complete, they gestured to Rat, who trundled the SUV inside. Rider hadn't been wearing a seatbelt and ducked out of the car the second they stopped, and the men followed shortly after. She made her aching body shift, and jumped quietly out the door after them.
She saw the corrugated door descend, and the three men remove their helmets. One moved towards Rat. He was youthful, and possessed a certain energy that the two elder, more rugged men lacked. She reached Rider's side as he reached the leader.
"Glad you made it, sir."
"Thanks for coming up to man this for our entry." She heard Rat state courteously. Once inside his base, she noticed his demeanour change from a grumpy old man to a stern and established leader. "Men are spread thinly these days."
"Not a problem, sir. Us three, we go where we're needed."
She saw Rat smile. "Don't think you and I have met. What's your name, son?"
"Andrew, sir." She saw him grimace slightly as he unprofessionally stated his first name. "Sorry, sir. I mean, Ryker."
"Ah, Ryker." The leader turned to move towards a tunnel in the back of the delivery bay, which slowly sloped downwards. He gestured for the three men to follow him, as she, Rider and Adam let him take point. "You're the one Olivia talks about, right?"
Ellie watched Ryker glance quickly to the floor and smile as they walked.
"You got it, sir."
"She's a great woman. I'll put in a good word." Rat turned around and smiled at the man, which she was rather surprised by. Random acts of kindness didn't seem to be Rat's bag.
She reached to bottom of the ramp next to Adam, who'd been silent since they'd entered the building. His face was reflecting some form of duress, and his eyes looked yellower than they had the last time she'd looked. He glanced at her, smiled warmly, though faintly, and moved through a door in the wall after Rat and Ryker.
Rat slammed the heavy door shut after the other two men had walked through. It was thick, and heavy, but she noticed it was nothing like the airlock-fashion doors that gave entry to Adam's mine. The area they had entered was a thin corridor with fluorescent lights dotting the ceiling at certain intervals; she noticed no doors on the walls to her left and right, but saw a complex sandbag fortification and two mounted, large calibre machine guns set up. She noticed four more men at the bottom of the space where the corridor opened out, and they were all sitting around a wooden box throwing playing cards around, drinking and laughing. Apparently they'd gone at ease when they'd found out it was Rat coming and not a Titan attack. She was pleasantly surprised by their game; it was the most human thing she'd witnessed for a long while.
"Nice set-up." She noticed Adam comment as they began to walk towards the position.
"Thanks." Ryker replied from in front. "We only have two entrances into Ward Five, and this is the larger one. Nothing gets in or out without us knowing about it."
"How big is the base?" Adam asked. She didn't like the fact he was all business; it seemed wrong after seeing laughter and enjoyment.
"Big enough. We had to cut down our area significantly after Jack and his lackeys split. We've only got about twenty people here now, but it's fine. They all know each other well and unit cohesion is almost airtight here. My dad used to say that ten good men in communication could defeat a hundred."
She saw Adam frown at the lack of numbers. She had to admit, she'd thought there would be more of them. There were a huge amount of people at the Nest, she remembered, but she imagined life here was a lot more dangerous. All of the people here would have near-death stories of their own.
They passed the men playing cards and one of them gestured to Rat, who replied with a nod. Ellie felt sad to leave the merriment as they diverted down another corridor. She saw rooms start to appear at the very end, allocated with nameplates stuck to their door fronts.
"Blufor said you guys were mercenaries." Ellie commented, hoping to draw the Scotsman's attention.
"Not exactly." Ryker responded, stealing the show. "We used to work for people, yeah, but now we try and protect our own. We take people in every now and again, as well."
"So, freedom fighters, then?"
She heard Rat huff patronisingly and immediately regretted saying anything.
She saw Ryker smile faintly. "Something in the middle of those, I think."
She followed closely to Adam, the only one of the people she felt that she could really trust. Rider was beside her, and she had to fight every urge not to part from Adam and change her companion. She sensed that would be wrong, though; she'd be able to make it without the Scotsman, but would he be able to make it without her? For once, she doubted his strength. She made the choice to stick with him for the time being.
They walked down corridors for a while, passing countless operation rooms remade into makeshift flats, an armoury, and a cafeteria. She glanced at the people frequenting it and a few of them looked up at the new arrivals, but weren't overly interested and returned to their meals. Her stomach ached from hunger and she envied the other two guards as they split off from the group and walked inside, while they passed right on by.
She couldn't tell how far underground they were, but it felt quite a way, maybe ten meters or so.
"What was this place used for?" Ellie asked, this time directing her question at Rat. "This ward, I mean. Not the hospital."
"Cancer patients." Rat replied, pointing to a sign attached to the ceiling that said 'Radiotherapy' and pointed down another corridor to the right. "High priority stuff like that. If there was a sudden turn, it was easier to get the patients down here than up four floors."
"It doesn't feel like a hospital." She commented. "It feels… warmer. Friendlier."
She noticed Adam smile slightly and Rat huff. This time, it wasn't out of annoyance.
"This was my favourite place when I worked here." The leader admitted. "Most of the patients were irretrievable, and they accepted that, so there was a weird sense of freedom about all of them. A lot of them talked to each other as well. Despite it being a place where a lot of people died, it was always a happy place. There was always laughter here."
"So you chose it over the other wards?"
"Yeah." Rat admitted, and she watched him lean forward and press down the bar on a metal double-door, causing them to swing open and reveal a slightly wider and taller corridor behind. "Ward Six is the biggest, and Eight the most defensible, but they're both over in the first building, where the jet went down." They moved through the group together. "I've been to both, and it's eerie there. My men have reported weird shit happening, too."
They reached a final set of double-doors, which Rat casually pushed open. They parted, and Ellie saw an office meeting room that had been converted into an Operations facility. She saw a large set-up of monitors in the far wall, all viewing cameras focusing around the building and on the interior as well. A large desk was covered in various sheets of paper from plans and re-drafted strategies, and five other people were present in the room, one of them chatting idly to others on a communication device nestled in the rear corner. She noticed three men, and two women.
"Here we are." Rat said, and she watched him walk around to the other side of the table and lean on a map of the city. She gazed over it and saw Pinewood Heights, as well as the station where they entered the first day.
"Elaborate." She heard Adam comment, and saw him begin to move towards Rat. "I was thinking we should-"
"Jack?" Rider interjected, moving completely past Ellie and Adam. Ellie noticed her speaking in an unusual tone… it certainly wasn't overwhelming happiness.
In the corner, she saw one of the three men shoot his head up. He was sitting on a small, metal chair… she noticed that he had been handcuffed to it, and the other two men, while conversing with him in a friendly way, were holding weapons.
"Rider." He spoke, and she watched a grin spread across his face.
She wasn't sure what she had expected of Jack. Part of her saw him as a disgusting, beer-bellied slob, with a shaved head and body odour, who wasn't worth someone like Rider, and had a horribly foul attitude. The truth couldn't have been more distant; she noticed he was young, youthful and around the same age as Ryker, with chestnut-brown skin and hazel eyes. She noticed he had straight, white teeth as well, almost as perfect as Rider's. She had to hold herself back as the elder girl moved towards the man, and she felt a pang of jealousy shoot through her as Rider leaned in for what looked like a kiss. At the last moment, the elder girl pulled back and Ellie winced at the loud crack that filled the room as she slapped him.
"You fucking asshole." She heard Rider spit at him. "I'm glad you're alive, but you're still a fucking asshole!"
She saw him sigh, and slump into the chair.
"This place isn't right for us, Rider. We had to leave. We don't want to be soldiers. We don't want to live under Rat all the damn time!"
"You don't want to."
"She does." She heard Rat speak as he moved towards Jack menacingly. "The only reason you're here instead of locked up in Ward Six is because you know what we're dealing with. I'm not putting up with any of your hippie anti-combatant shit, clear?"
She saw Jack mull it over for a moment in his head.
"Okay." She heard him speak. "I'll help, but only if you get that murderer out of here." She watched his gaze move across the room, and fall on Adam.
She heard the loud rasp of Rat's sigh, and saw Adam tighten.
"Adam is a dependable fighter and a wise tactician." Rat spoke, perturbed, as if he'd told this story a thousand times. "You fired on him and his friends pre-emptively. He acted like I would've in his situation. He viewed you as a threat, and acted to eliminate you."
"That was Pearce's fault! He thought they were infected."
"Then Pearce was an idiot and we're better off without him. I need men who can follow rules, and he blatantly ignored that no one is hostile until they prove themselves otherwise. Remember that one? What Adam did was-"
"It's okay, Rat." She heard the Watcher interject from the other side of the room. She watched his focus move from the floor, to looking straight into Jack's eyes. "I've already told you why I killed them. My people were in danger, and we're dealing with something bigger at the moment, I don't know how long I have left to…" She noticed he stopped before he told them about his infection. "What I mean to say, is that while I can't bring your friends back, I… I'm sorry. Truly."
She watched Jack's tense face of fury loosen into acceptance. He didn't reply, only nodded, and cast his eyes to the floor.
"Are you done?" She heard Rat quietly ask Jack.
"Yeah. I'm done." He replied, not raising his eyes from the floor.
She moved with the other three as Rat gestured them to surround him at the table. She noticed the hospital, and several outposts in the city, all of which were manned and marked on the map. She listened intently as they began warmongering; she'd never been allowed to help with plans before.
"We have a common enemy." Rat spoke clearly. "These red-rings." She saw his eyes dart upwards to Adam. "Tell them."
She listened to Adam address the others in the room.
"The red-rings are a large group of bandits and hunters operating under a man named Andrey Pyotr. I've been harassing their operations for the last six months, since discovering their existence. They've captured a large survivor town up north away from here, and I have reason to believe they have the leader, Amber White, who is being held captive by the squad operating in this city."
A woman from the back of the room piped up. She was large, for a woman, but not excessively so; she was tall, and much bulkier than Rider or Evelynn, but didn't carry an ounce of fat on her. Ellie noticed she wore deep black hair in a pixie cut, and spoke with confidence.
"What's your relationship with White?"
"Old friends." Adam replied. "She governs well, wisely, and fairly. Her town is a massive help to survivors all around."
"How many casualties were there in the town, and how many civilians?" The woman probed.
"None, it was a stealth operation. They neglected their uniforms so the population aren't suspicious. As for totals, I'd say near two hundred. That changes by the day."
"We're not focusing on that, yet." Rat spoke, redirecting the conversation. "Concentrate on the squad, Olivia."
"Sorry, sir." The woman broke off the conversation and Ellie watched her move towards Ryker, and stand next to him.
"The squad." Adam began again. "Four offshoots from the group. One of them, Simon, is in the town, commanding the red-rings there. The other three are here, and have been bothering you, yes?"
"Yes." Rat confided. "Chriss, Happy Sal, and Ghost, from what our surviving scouts have told us… most of them didn't come back. I stopped sending them a while ago."
"Where do they operate?"
"We don't know."
"How long have they been here?"
"We don't know that, either."
Adam sighed, and she watched him rest his hands on the table next to Rat.
"We need information, or we won't get anywhere."
She saw Rat stand up to his full height.
"I'm not sending any more men out there."
Adam paused. "I'll go, then."
"That's out of the question as well." Rat rebutted.
"I agree." Ellie spoke, not thinking about how silly her voice would sound amongst the debate. "We've almost died, what, three times since we got here?"
She saw Adam process her comment, and then wash over with a look of compliance. "You're right. This place is dangerous, and what we do will need to be done carefully. I suggest we plan, first."
"I agree." Rat concluded.
She eventually lost interest in the strategies, as they took a long time to plan and were usually thrown out as junk for some variable they hadn't considered before. Within half an hour, she and Rider had retired to the other side of the room, and sat together on a couch. She enjoyed talking with the elder teen, truly, as she was almost an older version of herself. They had a surprising amount in common. She didn't realize how long they had been talking until she glanced up at a clock on the wall and saw the hands just over two hours ahead of when she'd checked on the way in. She didn't look, but she could feel Jack's gaze bearing over them the entire time.
"All right, your turn." She heard Rider speak.
"Okay…" She began. "Favourite animal?"
"Dogs, definitely dogs." Rider replied. "A big dog, though. Like a Husky or a German Shepherd. One I can cuddle properly."
"That's so cute!" She replied, grinning like an idiot the whole time. The whole conversation seemed massively girly compared to what usual subject matter there was, but she kept it going just because she was talking about it with Rider.
"I like horses." She told the elder girl, looking down at her hands and playing with her fingernails. "We had a horse named Callus, he was amazing. Helped us out when we would've died otherwise."
"Is he alive?" Rider asked, and Ellie saw her face was suddenly serious.
"No." She admitted. "He got shot. That was another time he saved me."
She saw Rider sigh.
"People have been killing animals for ages. Only a matter of time until they would turn into animals and kill each other for sport."
"Yeah." Ellie replied, looking the girl in the eyes again. "It sucks. Adam tries to stop that as much as he can."
"He killed the men on the roadblock."
"Yeah, he did." She admitted, trying to defend the Scotsman. "After Pearce or whatever his name was shot at us!"
"I know, I'm sorry." She watched Rider say as she cast her head down in shame. "I didn't mean to say it like that. Guess I'm just a bit sore about it. I knew most of those guys well. They would always-"
"Ward here. What is it, Gate two?" Ellie's head darted up at the interruption. She looked around in surprise at the man operating the communications device, which had just randomly piped up and was hanging tensely on the edge of his seat.
"What is it?" She heard Rat ask, only to be silenced by the man placing a finger to his lips as he listened. She watched him pull one of the headphones off.
"Movement, exterior." He replied to Rat, as she watched him waiting expectantly for an answer.
"Infected again?" The leader asked.
She saw the man shrug, still listening to the radio device.
"Get the men inside and in position. Use the exterior light; it's early morning, so blink it on and off. We want them to see it."
"The exterior light?" She heard Adam ask, who shared her perplexity at the command.
"Yes." Rat replied, not turning to acknowledge them. "If infected or bandits want to get in, there'll be silence. Survivors will knock."
"Copy." She heard the comms man say to Rat. She watched him slip the headphone back over his ear and relay the command.
"Rat says turn on the exterior light, and get into position."
There was a moment of silence in the room. She noticed everyone was tense, now.
"I know, but Rat gave his orders." She heard the man speak into the device. "Copy, keep us informed."
She glanced over to Rat as the man turned around, the conversation apparently over. He gestured to the other woman, who was standing by the camera feeds.
"Do we have a visual?" She heard him ask.
As the other woman looked at the monitors, Ellie scanned the Gate two cameras as well. One of them was broken, only showing grey static, and the other two showed parts of the surrounding area. She couldn't see any movement. She watched intently as the camera shots glowed white for a moment, and then were a surprisingly large amount brighter than before. She could see more easily with the exterior light up; the sun had only been properly up for an hour and a half and the built-up urban area cast long, dark shadows everywhere.
She noticed everyone in the room was scrutinizing the screens, looking for the disturbance. She couldn't see anything moving.
"There." The woman named Olivia spoke. Ellie watched her point to the monitor labelled Exterior Camera Three, where half of the frame was lit up by the light on the outside, split almost centrally by a boundary where the light's rays couldn't illuminate the last of the shadow. "A silhouette." She heard the woman continue. "I saw it move, on the left, by the dumpsters."
"Human?" Rat inquired.
"I think so."
They sat there staring at the screens for another few minutes. Her eyes strained searching for any sign of movement to comment on. The screens sat there, blank, displaying the same static picture.
Ellie heard the swivel chair to her right strain as the man leaned into the communications device again.
"Copy." He spoke into the advice. Again, she watched him remove one headphone and direct his attention towards Rat. "There's been a knock, sir."
She felt the tension immediately alleviate from the others in the room, but lost none herself. She was well aware of the tricks men played to gain entry to a strategic target. She noticed Adam still scowling at the monitors, apparently sharing her prolonged concerns.
"Raise the door." Rat spoke. "High alert. Be ready."
"Yes, sir." She kept watching the screens while the man relayed the command through the radio. The internal camera on Gate Two showed six men armed, standing in the delivery bay, manning a singular machine-gun position. There wasn't a shot of the door.
She watched the men standing there for a while, weapons raised, while she saw the mouths of one of them moving in tiny, pixelated ways. The frames updated, and she saw the rest of the men lower their guns while one spoke into an earpiece.
In quick succession, she noticed the man on the comms lean forward again.
"Door closed, sir." He spoke. "Three people. Two men and one female captive."
"A captive?" She heard Rat ask, surprised tones frequenting his voice.
"Yes, sir." The man paused. "Apparently she tried to kill them earlier today."
"Lovely." She heard Adam sarcastically comment to her side.
"Anything else?"
She watched the man sitting there, his eyes gazing upwards towards nothing as he concentrated on properly processing the words.
"They're asking if someone named Ellie is here."
She felt overwhelmed with relief and happiness in one big, wonderful hit. They'd made it out alive. They'd made it.
"Who's Ellie?" Rat asked.
She saw Adam step forward in her peripheral. He had a genuine smile on his face; she hadn't seen one like it since they'd left Evelynn.
"She is." She watched him tell Rat, gesturing to her. She saw the leader smirk, his face changing beneath his ragged, greasy mop, and then rotate back to face the comms man.
"Keep them there." She saw the man nod, and turn back towards his device, speaking the command back to the men at the second gate. "Ryker, Olivia, with me." He gestured to her, and tapped Adam on the shoulder. "Let's go."
She walked behind Rat, Olivia and Ryker, out the double doors and back along the larger of the corridors. Despite not being called, Rider had followed them, and she felt an unusual feeling of happiness that the elder girl had chosen her company over that of her hippie, deserting boyfriend.
The disturbance has been noted throughout the Ward. They didn't make it as far as the cafeteria or the armoury, moving to turn right before them and head to Radiology, but she saw other members of the group loitering in the corridors or scurrying about, some with weapons drawn and primed.
"What's the situation, sir?" One of them asked Rat as he passed.
"Lower your guns, but be on your toes." She watched the leader reply to them. "We have three new arrivals. One of them is a captive, and dangerous. She's going in the Safe."
"Thanks, Rat." The man turned around to the others frequenting the corridor. She heard him tell them to stand down as they began to heading away from the cafeteria.
"How do you know she's dangerous?" Ellie asked Rat, being slightly confused by his order.
"Why would two fully grown, strong fighting men need to take a woman captive?"
She accepted that it seemed unlikely she was a non-combatant.
"She has to be dangerous, or they wouldn't consider her a threat." She listened to Rat say as they paced quickly down the corridor, following the signs saying 'Delivery Gate Two.' "There are only a handful of dangerous women in this city, and all but one of them work for me."
She saw Adam turn his head to participate in the conversation.
"You don't think she's-"
"Chriss? Probably. If so, our life just got considerably easier."
They walked past Radiology, rounded the corner, and appeared in the hallways leading up to Gate two. Rat increased his speed and she noticed the others doing the same. She started making her legs move a little faster, despite still experiencing a dull pain from overuse. She needed food and rest, soon.
The corridor was much like the one by Gate one, and gradually got thinner as they approached the delivery bay. Another one of the thick, sturdy metal doors stood fast in the middle of the wall, and she noticed this one was less worn, with a sign on it that read about keeping infections within the hospital and washing your hands. Despite the situation, even she could admire that irony.
She watch Rat move up to the steadfast door and pound on it solidly three times, standing back when it swung open at the effort of a well-geared man. He moved out the way to let them through, and they entered the delivery bay and began ascending the ramp.
She looked around as they ascended. The layout and colour scheme of the bay were identical to the first, but this one was considerably smaller. They crested the top of the ramp, and she saw the heavy machine gun resting on its stand behind a wall of oddly clean sandbags. Behind, she saw two more of Rat's men holding the prisoner down. She had a rag in her mouth beneath the bag; Ellie couldn't see it, but angry, muffled yelling was the only sound in the room.
To her left, conversing with the last few men were Blufor and Joel. Joel looked no worse for wear than he had the previous day, albeit his hair was ragged and his jacket torn, but Blufor was almost head-to-toe in thick, red blood. There were hand-shaped smear marks on his face where he'd obviously tried to wipe it off.
Without thinking, she immediately moved towards Joel. He saw her coming, turned his head and grinned at her, bending down on a knee to hug her tightly as she reached him.
"You made it!" She said happily. There were no tears this time; maybe she was getting stronger. "I knew you'd make it!"
"I sure did." He said gleefully, which she noticed was odd for him. "I had to see you again, didn't I?"
She hugged him tighter. "I was so scared, Blufor told us to run, I-"
"Did the right thing. The only reason I didn't tell you to was 'cause I was neck deep in Clickers."
She drew herself back from the embrace, and sat in his arms. She looked at his face; he was definitely getting old. His hair and beard were now fully grey, and like Adam, he looked more haggard than he had before the Nest. He too had lost weight, and she could feel his shoulder bones through the top of his shirt when she hugged him. She glanced to her left, and saw Blufor was the same; he also had a large gash alongside his right eye, from which she imagined some of the blood was from. The rest she doubted was his, though.
"Did the Titan turn up?" She asked him, tones of fear in her voice. "I heard it roar as we left."
"It did." He admitted, and she saw him look up to Blufor. "We ran from it, initially. We knew something weren't right when we stopped hearing its noise. We cleared out the last infected, and found its corpse on our way out. It had stab wounds in its head, and a lot of 'em. Funny thing is we never even heard the guy that did it."
She decided she would save the story of their encounter with Ghost for a more private venue.
"I'm just glad you got here." She said, hugging him tightly a second time.
"I'm fine as well." She heard the blood-covered Blufor joke from her left. "Thanks for asking."
She leaned away from Joel, and turned to the squadmate, grinning.
"How'd you get into that mess?" She asked.
She saw him chuckle at her clear understatement of his appearance.
"One of them exploded all over me. I shot him in the torso and he went pop. Threw me off my feet. If I didn't have my mask, I would've gotten it in my eyes, and mouth, and we all know what happens after that."
She nodded in understanding.
"And the cut on your head?"
"That was her." She watched Blufor raise his arm and lazily point over to the woman, who was still screaming through her mouth-rag, and had three guards pinning her down, now. "Not gonna lie, stings a bit." He spoke jokingly. "She's a dangerous one. Jumped me and tried to stab me straight in the head. I reacted, and she cut right through my mask before I got time to take it off. Got my head a bit too, obviously. Luckily, she cleans her knife."
She turned her head and looked the captive woman over. She was shorter than Joel, about Rider's height, and skinnier than them both by a long way. She wore a baggy set of mock-military camouflage, coloured a familiar grey-black. She got the impression that Rat's theory had been correct.
"Disarm her, get her up." She heard Rat command from just behind her. "Then take her to the Safe."
The three guards did as bid, and she watched them pull two grenades, two pistols and four different knives of varying sizes from the woman's clothing, wrestle her up, and with an escort from the other two men by the door, bustle her through it and out into the corridor.
She noticed Adam had arrived at her side.
Blufor huffed, and smiled.
"You look like shit, brother."
"So do you." The Scotsman replied, and she watched the two embrace for a few moments. She was particularly surprised when Joel did the same.
"Good to see you, Joel." Adam spoke when they hugged. She watched him start walking with Rat and the last two guards towards the doorway, and gestured for them to follow. "Did you guys do okay?"
"Okay enough." She heard Joel reply. "Two Titans and a shit ton of everything else, though."
"That's good." Adam replied sarcastically, and she couldn't repress a grin. Neither could Joel, apparently. "We picked Ellie and Rider up just outside the subway." She heard him say as they passed through the metal door and shut it firmly behind them. "We were going to try and catch up to Jack and the others who set the roadblock up."
"What'd they do once they took you captive?" She heard Joel ask, him suspiciously eye-balling Rat's men.
"Nothing major." Adam replied idly. "Of course, they interrogated me; I killed a few of their men. We worked it out, though."
They turned the corner, and came to a stop at a door near Radiology. She saw it was left ajar, with the words 'Radiology Suite 2' having been crudely scribbled out and replaced below with 'Safe One.' She was second through the door behind Rat, and saw a barren room, with one feature directly in the middle. The five other guards were standing around it, and the door had been left open. The large metal box was just big enough to fit a person sitting on a chair, and she saw the woman was the unfortunate occupant. She noticed the bag had been removed; the woman's features were cold, and brutal. She had a square, angry jawline beneath the mouth-rag and a close-shaven head that made her look remarkably and masculine. Upon seeing Rat, Ellie saw the scowl in her eyes change to a crazed and mocking grin.
"It's her." She heard Rat whisper. "Chriss."
"What do you want to do?" Adam whispered in reply.
"Come with me." He gestured to the Scotsman. They walked over to her, together. Upon closer inspection, Ellie saw chains on karabiners lashing her to the chair. It seemed to her that Rat took Chriss more seriously than using plain old ropes.
She saw him and Adam approach her, and heard the rip of the rag being torn forcibly away from her mouth.
"You." She heard Rat speak intimidatingly.
"Oh, look who it is!" The captive replied satirically. "The little nigger lover!"
She saw one of the guards, an African-American man like Carlos and Ramone, scowl at the derogatory slur.
"Watch your goddamn mouth." Rat shot back at her.
"Or what, asshole? How's your nigger wife?" She saw Rat grimace and look down at the floor, clearly pained. "Oh, that's right!" The woman responded. "I fucking skinned her alive!" She screamed at Rat's face, tensing so much that Ellie could see the veins and cartilage grotesquely stretching in her skinny neck.
"I said, watch your damn mouth."
"She screamed when I flayed her, did you know that? Screamed your filthy traitorous name. I thought you were a fucking disgrace for marrying someone so... inferior."
She turned her head as the dark-skinned guard advanced forward.
"Hey, fuck you, you racist bitch!" He bellowed at her, raising his gun. Rat hardly reacted, but she watched as three other guards went over to pacify him.
"Don't worry, man." She heard one of them say to him, trying to calm his heavy breathing. "It's cool, she's fucking crazy anyway."
"Crazy?" Chriss bellowed in return. "For believing we're superior? You are all the crazy ones, fucking traitors!"
"Rat, shut her the hell up, man!"
"I will." Rat said forcibly, turning his head to the man. "Stand down. Leave if you have to. No more outbursts."
She saw the guard cast his head to the floor.
"Sorry, sir."
"Ooh." Chriss said patronizingly. "You command them. I knew you were like me."
Ellie saw a spray of blood smack into the side of the large safe as Rat smacked her hard across the face.
"You're gonna do two things." He said, slowly. "First, you're gonna watch your goddamn mouth. Then, you're gonna tell me where you're keeping Dove."
"I ain't telling you shit." She heard Chriss slur through a bloodied mouth.
"Nothing?"
"Hell no."
"Last chance."
"Fuck you, traitor."
She thought she saw Rat smile. He muttered something to Adam, who she watched return to her side.
"All right."
She watched a guard walk over with a small device, and hand it to Rat. There was an old-school cassette sticking out the bottom of the slot in the device, and he took it in one of his hands. Next, he was handed a small syringe of light-blue fluid, which he injected into Chriss' neck, much to her distaste. She saw the racist spit in his face, only to be answered by another smack. She watched Rat motion to turn the cassette player on.
"Cover your ears." She heard Adam whisper, and did so quickly. The guards and the other men didn't, but she noticed Rider put her fingers in her ears while wearing an off-put expression. She saw Rat press a button on the side, and heard a loud screeching sound explode out of the device. She uncapped her ears for a moment out of curiosity, which was a mistake, and immediately blocked them again to at least quieten the horrific noise, which was so deafening it almost forced her to the floor.
Rat stepped back from the chair, threw the cassette player into the safe, and she watched him start to heave the massive steel door shut. She heard the racist scream, almost quiet next to the louder noise, until the heavy door closed and was turned shut, and the sound was completely cancelled.
"Goddamn skinhead red-ring bitch." Rat spoke under his breath, stepping backward.
There was silence for a few moments. The sound of the cassette player was a very quiet hum, but could still be heard through the walls of the safe.
"What did she do to your wife?" Ellie asked, immediately regretting the bluntness of the question as everyone in the room looked at her – except Rat, who didn't turn around, and stood there staring at the safe.
"Didn't you hear her say it?" She heard him ask.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"It's fine." She stopped talking as he cut in. "I know what you meant."
She moved aside as he turned around and pushed past her, making for the door.
"What'll that do to her?" She asked after Rat.
"Give her a nice headache." She heard him utter satirically as he pushed past another guard and out through the door, leaving it to fold shut behind him and not looking back.
After a few moments, Adam answered her question.
"Complete lack of stimulus." She heard him say. "The only 'humane' torture technique. Most people break in under an hour. You can't hear, see or feel anything. Your voice and your mind are completely deafened and the drug is a paralytic, which was commonly used alongside anaesthetic for much more serious operations."
"That sounds horrible." She stated, in plain disgust.
"It is." Adam commented. She noticed the colour in his face had drained, a look that only came from recent experience.
"How long will she be in there for?" She started to notice the other men filing out of the room behind them. Ryker lingered in the doorway, waiting for them.
"As I said, most people break in under an hour." He gestured for the exit. "We'll give her two."
She followed Rider out of the door, and the others piled out into the corridor. She heard Ryker quietly shut the door, its bolt snapping into place, and then kept her eyes on him as he turned to address them.
"I know we've missed breakfast, but there might be something else on the go. Go and talk to Martha, all of you. You look famished."
"We are." Joel said with a thankful smile, and she felt one of his strong hands find her backpack and begin to push her forward. She moved with him, and the group walked back down the corridor, away from the eerie interrogation rooms.
"I hope you all don't think bad of Rat for doing that." She turned her head as Ryker spoke to them. "He's doing the right thing. She's one of the most horrible people I've ever met."
"Don't worry." She heard Blufor comment from behind her. "We've all had our dealings with red-rings."
"I can see." She saw Ryker gesture to his forehead, roughly the area of Blufor's massive gash. "You should probably get that looked at, man."
"He's right." She heard Olivia speak from behind them, next to Blufor. "I'll take you to our combat medic, if you like."
"Yeah, that'd be great." Blufor commented. "I suddenly don't feel so hot."
"Okay." Olivia replied, moving towards Ryker. "Will you be in you room tonight?" She heard her ask.
"Yeah." Ryker replied.
"All right." She watched the two kiss in front of her. Seems like Rat was behind the intel in that regard. "See you later, Andy."
She watched the bulky woman spin around, take Blufor by the arm and lead him in the direction they just came from, to eventually vanish around the corner.
They followed as Ryker moved forward, back out into the hallway by the Operations room, and swerve to the right, into the cafeteria. The room was fairly large, and impeccably clean; she hadn't seen anywhere spit-polished to such a degree in her entire life. The walls and floor gleamed reflectively, and the steel-plated buffet counter shone almost as bright as the ceiling lights. The occupants of the room had all but vanished, barring two men cleaning the dishes and a slim, dark-skinned woman standing in the kitchen, wiping down an oven. She turned around at the sounds of more feet.
"Hi Martha." She heard Ryker speak courteously.
"Andrew Ryker, who the hell have you brought with you?" She heard the woman say, mocking the tone of a scolding mother.
Ryker chuckled. "The new arrivals. They're bordering on malnourishment, so get them fed, okay?"
"Okay." She replied. Ellie saw the woman turn her gaze to her and Rider. "Do you girls eat as much as the men?"
Ellie and Rider both chuckled, and Adam snorted, while the others all just grinned.
"You bet!" Ellie replied happily, making herself smile warmly.
"That makes my job easy, then." She saw the woman smile. "Sit down, I'll have food out in a moment. Y'all can have your breakfast with me."
She did as she was told, along with the others, and sat at a nearby bench. Ryker told them he was needed in the Operations room, and left them shortly afterwards. She felt inherently at ease as Joel and Adam seated themselves opposite her, while Rider sat on her left. She noticed Adam sitting with his head in hands, breathing heavily.
"You okay?" She heard Joel ask him from the other side of the table.
"Yeah." He replied. "Just tired."
"I got something for tiredness." Joel spoke, and she saw him draw a small pouch, which he handed to the Watcher. She watched Adam open the sack, and draw a small syringe, filled with Evelynn's inhibitor.
"Thanks, Joel." He said, looking up at him and smiling. "My supply ran out two days ago."
"I took a few spares." The older man replied, smiling back. "Just in case."
She watched Adam stick the point of the syringe into the vein on the underside of his wrist, and drain the substance into his arm. To her left, Rider looked beyond puzzled.
"Drugs?" She asked warily.
"No, not drugs." She heard Adam reply as he slid the syringe across the table, back to Joel. "Much more complex than drugs."
"Long story." Ellie told the elder girl sitting next to her. "Tell you later."
"All right." She watched Rider speak, her head turning away from them with a degree of awkwardness.
They chatted casually about nothing in particular for a few minutes, and laughed hysterically when Joel gave in and told stories about his twenty-first birthday. She had silently wished that she could experience happiness and social pleasure like the men playing cards she'd seen on the way in, and someone had obviously thought she deserved having that wish granted. A few minutes later, Martha returned with a platter of bread and one of meat. She watched as the woman laid them down on the table, and sat down next to Adam. They all began tucking in, and while the food was basic, it was food nonetheless and gave her the greatest feeling of satisfaction it was possible to provide. Once her stomach was finally full, the men cleared the rest of the plate away and they sat chatting with Martha about nothing in particular. She loved every second of it; the relaxed nature it held, and how everyone was simply enjoying themselves, and not worrying about dying or needing to survive. It brought back profound memories of Tommy's that she sorely missed.
"So," Martha began, "who was that captive you guys brought in earlier?"
"The red-ring woman." Adam answered immediately, where she would've held back. "The racist one."
"Oh." She heard Martha reply, her head casting downwards. "Where is she now?"
"In the Safe." Rider commented.
"Good." Ellie watched Martha say happily, without smiling. "She deserves it. I met some racists in my time but she takes it to the next goddamn level."
"I agree." Rider finished.
She heard Rat's voice from behind them. It was quieter than usual, and there were lines scored down the dirt on his face. She noticed his eyes were slightly red, too.
"Are you guys finished?" He asked politely.
"Yeah." Adam replied, as she watched him stand. "Is it time?"
"It's time." She watched as Rat quickly disappeared around the corner.
They all stood to leave, and she thanked Martha gratefully. The woman told her how sweet she was, then disappeared back into the kitchen. She took a quick glance at a wall clock on her way out; they'd been in there just over an hour and three quarters.
She had lagged behind the others, and walked swiftly through the corridors, arriving outside the room. She pushed the door open, and saw Adam, Blufor, Joel and Rider standing at the side of the room, next to Ryker and Olivia. They didn't acknowledge her coming in; they all had their attention on Rat.
She focused on the leader, who appeared to be scribbling on a whiteboard.
Then, she looked past him. The door to the safe was open, and Chriss sat on the chair in the centre, in a pose that objectified defeat. Ellie noticed she had been crying… her eyes were swollen, and red. Streams of crimson poured down either side of her shaven head, coming from her ears.
"What the fuck happened?" Ellie asked, quietly, and shocked.
"Her eardrums burst." Adam replied, almost too casually. "She won't be able to hear us."
She glanced back at the woman, who was silent. She saw her mouth was slightly open, and she was panting as if she had been on a treadmill for the last hour. Her face, that wasn't stained with blood, was bright white.
She moved over to the rest of the group, and from her new position could see the writing on Rat's whiteboard. It read 'Will you answer us now?' in crude black letters.
He held it up to her.
"Yes." She heard the woman reply, pitifully.
She stood there in silence as Rat wiped the board down, and scribbled away again.
'Where are you keeping Dove?' the next board read.
"Our main base." Chriss said again.
Rat rubbed and scribbled for a final time.
The last board read:
'Where is the base?'
"The… the prison. On the other side of town."
She saw Rat drop the board to the ground, and Chriss drop her head in defeat. Ellie wondered what the leader would do next.
"Did you all hear that?" She heard him speak as he turned to face them.
"The prison." Adam confirmed.
"Yes." Rat replied. "You, Joel and Blufor, meet me in the Operations room in half an hour. Ryker, be there too."
"Yes, sir." She heard Ryker reply.
"What now?" She asked, her curiosity again getting the better of her.
Her question was answered as Adam drew his .44 Magnum from inside his jacket. She had wondered where it had gotten to. She looked at her own reflection in the gleaming chrome finish.
"You know what happens now." Rat told her.
"C'mon." A voice from behind her spoke. She felt Rider clasp her hand, and she held hers back. The elder girl made for the exit, and she followed, a fuzzy feeling mixing with the fear in her gut as they exited the room, and made down the corridor, away from the safe. When they reached the end of the corridor, a gunshot sounded, muffled through the walls, and they paused for a moment. Ellie sighed, but she was comforted when Rider's arms slid around her shoulder.
She wondered where they were going, until they reached a door in the makeshift housing section that simply read 'Rider'. She watched the elder girl turn the handle, and they walked inside together. When she turned the lights on, Ellie found Rider shared even more of her tastes; where a teenage girl's bedroom would usually be dominated by posters of boy-bands and the colour pink, Rider had collected large posters of metal bands and even the odd video game. She followed the elder girl, and set down next to her on her bed. She suddenly felt very hot, and nervous.
"You okay?" She heard Rider ask quietly.
"Yeah." She made herself reply. "I'm used to it."
"No one should have to get used to that."
"No, you're right." She admitted. "But we do anyway."
"Yeah." She was pleased when Rider decided to change the subject.
"Hey, I've got something to show you." The elder girl said, laying down on the floor and drawing a large cardboard box from under the frame of the bed. She noticed it was filled to the brim with old board games.
"Oh, no way!" She said in disbelief. "That's awesome!"
"I know." Rider replied, grinning. "Best of three?" She held out her hand to seal the bet.
"You're on." Ellie replied, smirking.
They played for hours, laughing and joking the entire time. Ellie had completely shut her out in the first two rounds, but Rider had made a late comeback and had ended up winning three in a row. She had demanded a rematch, and the elder girl obliged, which ended in a draw.
Later, they played a medieval-themed game, but stopped after they'd gotten frustrated with the complexity of all the pieces and just re-enacted full-scale battles on the board. Her knights had decimated Rider's cavalry, but the two armies had decided to unite after the third battle. They decided who would rule over a pillow fight, which took a surprisingly long amount of time. They collapsed on the bed next to each other at the conclusion, panting and laughing. She hadn't felt so happy in a long time, and it had been even longer since she'd spent all day having fun. She didn't know what the time was, and cared even less.
"You realize something, right?" Rider asked her.
"What?" She replied with a grin. "That you suck at pillow fights?"
She noticed Rider was deadly serious.
"No." She replied. "The red-ring gave us the location of the base. Rat wants Dove back as soon as possible… I'm gonna take a guess and say they've spent the day planning our attack."
"Yeah." Ellie admitted. "We're gonna see Ghost again."
"And Happy Sal." She heard Rider add. "I'll wager he's worse than Ghost."
"But, we'll get Dove back, and then find Amber."
"I hope not." Rider admitted beside her. "I want us to do well, but I hope not."
Ellie sat up on her elbows and looked at the older girl.
"Why not."
"Because… because then, you'll have to leave."
Rider also sat up on her shoulders, and turned to face Ellie, looking at her with those grey-white eyes.
"I'm not going to lie… I don't want you to leave."
Ellie felt the fuzzy nervousness rising in her gut.
"I don't want to leave either, I… I really like you."
"Same." Rider replied, smiling warmly.
"I mean," Ellie began, "I like spending time with you. Well, no, I actually just like you. You made me feel safe in the subway, when we ran, and ever since then you've been looking out for me and it's-"
She was silenced as Rider leant in and kissed her fully on the mouth. She hung there for a few seconds, and then slowly pulled back.
"I feel the same."
"I… I…" Ellie stammered. "We may all be dead tomorrow, you know that, right?"
The nervousness rose higher as Rider sat up, swung her leg over Ellie and sat on her waist. The elder girl leaned down, their faces drawing closer, her golden locks falling either side.
"I know." She heard her say. "If I die, I want to die with you."
"Me too." Ellie replied.
Rider bent down the last few inches, and their lips met again. Rider was a full two years her elder, but she didn't pay any attention to that. Their lips played together for a while, until she let her mouth fall open and felt Rider's tongue slip in. She'd never been kissed like that before; it was a peculiar yet stunning experience. She had at first been surprised by the motion, until she had realized how much she loved the taste of her and started using her tongue as well.
She felt hands slide up the side of her tank top, and her heart beat faster than it ever had in any life or death situation. Rider touched her tenderly, and she replied in the same manner, until the elder girl disconnected for a moment to take her shirt off, as she motioned to do the same.
Rider came back down again, and they rolled over, so that she was on the top. Warm feelings and happiness blossomed inside her. She had never felt so overjoyed in her entire life.
The sweetest things are the rarest, they say.