That night, those from the settlement joined with the inhabitants of the power plant to host a great welcoming feast for everyone. Meat was hunted, supplies were pulled forth, and the water from the river turned the turbine so that all the stoves had electricity to cook some of the most amazing foods that Ellie had ever smelled. The journeyers rushed about, chattering in anticipation, for they had been trained to subsist on much less for many months now.

At their house, Maria turned from where she was stirring the pot of corn and saw Ellie rising from the table and attempting to hobble toward the window.

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?"

"I heard something," Ellie replied. "Outside."

"Sit down, and keep off those feet," Maria commanded, brandishing the spoon. "Don't they hurt?"

"Like heck," Ellie affirmed.

"Then stay sitting down, and I'll -" Maria stopped short, hearing a crash from the other room. "Joel?" she called. "Is that you?"

The crash was followed by a final bang and the squeaking of the door being pushed open, and a sheepish-looking Matt stood in the doorway.

"Your door, ah..." he stammered.

"It was latched."
"Oh. Well, it isn't anymore." He looked about at the kitchen and its two occupants.

"Can I help you?" Maria asked, squinting, and stabbing the spoon back into the corn. Ellie had tiptoed back to her seat and waved; Matt grinned. "Hi, Ellie. Mrs... Tommy?"

"Maria," she returned. "Something happen?"

"No, I just... I was sent here to fetch Tommy, my dad has something to ask him about."

"He's not here," Maria replied, a little kinder. "He's probably in the turbine room, Steve called him in about half an hour ago."

"Oh." Matt seemed at a loss of where to go from there, and Maria beckoned him to a chair.

"Have a seat. He'll be back any minute now. It isn't urgent?"

"I don't think so," Matt shook his head. "At least, it didn't sound like it."

"Maria won't let me help her, so I've got to stay parked here like a stupid invalid," Ellie complained. Matt ducked his head to the side and tried to peer under the table.

"Your feet aren't frostbitten, are they?"

"Probably are, I'm not sure. They sort of... I don't know, it's like they feel hot."

"Burning and tingling?" Matt's eyes were sympathetic. "I got frostbite at the first snow, and let me tell you, it takes forever for the pain to go away. It didn't help that we had to keep moving. You're lucky to be in a place like this, you know."

"We sure are," Maria assented from the stove. "Fighting off bandits is nothing to being in the open with the infected."

Matt chuckled. "Exactly. The open... traveling, it's –"

"I know," Ellie broke in. "Me and Joel, we traveled almost a year from Boston to here, just us two. I know what it's like being in the open.

"Like hell," Matt murmured, and Ellie slapped a hand to the table.

"Exactly what I was going to say."

Ellie saw Matt reaching for the stack of paper, but was not quick enough to stop him.

"What's this?" he asked, pulling it closer and beginning to leaf through the doodles.

"Nothing," Ellie murmured, striving to reclaim the pile. "It's... trash."

"'Savage Starlight III: The New Generation'?" Matt read aloud. "Are you serious? I've heard of it, but never read it. I didn't know there was a third one."

"Well, there is now. I'm writing it. But you can't see, it's under wraps until publication," Ellie said, pulling the stack back to her side of the table and turning the top page face down.

Matt met her eyes, a smile striving to gain control of his face. "I want to see."

"No. They're horrible."

"Not as horrible as mine."

"You draw too?"

"No. But if I did, I swear yours would be a hundred times better."

Ellie hesitated. "I only did this because Maria said to."
"And that," Maria called over her shoulder, "was only because you wouldn't stop griping about how there were no more comics to be found."

"Exactly." Ellie scooted her chair back and limped into the next room, and Matt stood to his feet, following her.

"Whoah, I thought you were supposed to stay off your feet."

"I will, I will," Ellie sighed, retrieving a battered paperback, and handing it to Matt, who opened to the first page.

"Hmm," he said after a moment. "Very interesting."

"You can borrow it. Bring it back when you're finished, and I'll explain the sequel to you, 'Savage Starlight II: Dawn of Victory'."

"Dawn of Victory? Cool title."

"Thanks," Ellie replied airily. "It sorta stuck."

"Wait a sec." Matt eyed her. "You wrote the sequel?"

Ellie took the comic from him and paged to the back cover, stabbing a finger at the worn print. "You see that? 'To be continued'? Worst three words ever printed." She shrugged. "I had to fix it."

Matt was grinning and nodding. "I see. Well, that should be good. What's the story?"

"It's a sequel. You've got to read the first one first."

"Okay, if you say so," he huffed. "Bossy."

Ellie smirked. "But I'm right."

"You are." He smiled. "Thanks for the lend. I appreciate it. I haven't had anything to read in months. Man, do I miss it."

Ellie plopped to a seat on the sofa and Matt followed suit, watching as the girl folded her feet together, wincing at the contact they made.

"You alright?"

"Oh, yeah. What'd you read?"

"Whatever I could get my hands on. I've got a book called 'Dialogues of Fenelon,' which I keep in my backpack because it's little. At first I thought it was dry, but it has a lot of fascinating subject matter."

"-Like?" Ellie's eyebrows lifted. "What kind of name is Fenelon, anyway?"

"He was a French guy in the 1800's, according to the preface. He writes about life, and God, and the human soul, and the purpose of everything in life."

Ellie experienced an almost imperceptible shudder. "I don't believe in that stuff."

"Why not?"

"Because only jerks do." She gritted her teeth. "I mean, I never heard about it much at all until I met this one dude, and he talked like that... and he was a huge –." The word she supplemented here seemed to shock Matt just a bit. He stared at her for a while, and then recovered adroitly.

"Wow." He cleared his throat. "Strong... opinions."

"I killed him. He had it coming for what he tried to do to me."

Matt began to get an inkling of what she had dealt with, and simply nodded slowly. "Well, sorry, then. The other book I have is 'Moby Dick'."

"Are you kidding? I've always wondered what a Moby Dick was! Can I read it?"

Matt coughed to hide his laughter. "Sure. It's a story about a whale."

"A whale?" Ellie furrowed her brow. "A whale-of-a-what?"

"Just a whale. A regular whale."
"Like in the sea?"

"Yep. And all the sailors who are hunting it."

Ellie cocked her head. "Okay. Yeah. I want to read it."

"I'll bring it by later. On loan from Matt's Traveling Library."

"Well, be sure and bring back your loan from Ellie's Comics Unlimited, or I'll charge you a fine," she said, pointing a finger.

Matt just opened his mouth to reply when Tommy entered the house, stomping melted stow from his boots. Matt stood to his feet.

"Tommy – hi. My dad is looking for you."

"Matt? What's goin' on?"

"Not sure, but he said for me to go find you."

Tommy turned back around in the doorway. "Well, let's go find out then."

"Bye, Ellie," Matt called, following after Tommy and sending her a wink. "I'll read this and bring it back."

"Alright. Don't forget to bring me yours."

"Will do."

Tommy exchanged a dumbfounded look with Maria, who simply waved him away to follow after the retreating Matt.

Ellie looked at her lap on the couch. She'd forgotten to ask Matt if he knew Anna.