Ellie didn't remember being ushered back to the house by Joel and Maria, but she was vaguely aware of her own voice in her ears, babbling nonsense.
"Joel!" she exclaimed in a hoarse voice, seizing him by the front of his shirt the moment they'd gotten in the door. "You know who he is. You know who they are, they can't -"
"Settle down, it ain't your call, it ain't even my call," Joel returned, peeling her fingers away from their fierce grip on the worn fabric. "It's up to Tommy..."
"Tommy doesn't know them," Maria said in a low tone. "Do you?"
"We know what they do," Ellie spat, her hands finding Joel again. He grasped her wrists gently, and said, "Ellie, just get my spare clip out of the one pocket, and put it in the other."
She looked at him as if he was insane.
"What the h-"
"Just do it for me."
He met Maria's eyes as Ellie's shaking fingers pried open the snap on his shirt pocket, pulled out the empty magazine, and transferred it slowly to the other pocket, pressing both snaps closed again. Apparently sufficient information was transmitted through silent expression during Ellie's brief task that allowed Joel to reach a conclusion. "I'm gonna go back to Tommy."
"It's okay," Maria reassured the girl, seeing the wide-eyed look on her face.
"You're freakin' kidding me," she whispered. "Joel – no. They're..."
"They're helpless. Weak. We'll keep 'em in isolation for a good long time. Let 'em prove their change of colors."
"Joel..." She watched his back as he exited the door, the sound of his boots on the floorboards the only sound.
Maria nudged Ellie.
"Who are they?" she asked. For once, her tone was stripped of anything but honesty. This was not a girl-to-girl talk, this was not a mother-to-daughter or even friend-to-friend. This was simply one survivor to another. Ellie took a deep breath and turned to face the woman.
"Cannibals." Her face was blank. "The guy I told you about... a long time ago, when I told you – he was the one that tried to-"
"I see." Maria nodded, her eyes showing a small amount of sympathy overshadowed by the all-enthralling objectivity. "And your memories got the better of you."
"Not my memories, what the heck! More like brains?" Ellie leaned forward, spreading her arms. "They eat people, Maria! And worse!"
"Do you know that?"
"Well, they were with the ones who did."
"You don't know that they felt the same way."
"It was kinda hard to tell from the cage they locked me in, but it sure didn't seem like they were ready to help me out," Ellie fired back. "I'm not buying it. The whole 'we're so desperate, please help us so we can freakin' eat you later'."
The door opened, and Ellie turned, fully expecting to see Joel or Tommy, and was surprised to see Anna standing in the pool of light cast from within.
"Maria?" The girl toyed with a long strand of her hair. "So – is everything alright?"
"Fine, Anna," Maria returned. "Tommy and Joel are handling it."
"Like heck they are," Ellie muttered.
"What?" Anna looked at her friend. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing," Ellie returned, crossing the room and heaving a deep breath while Anna put her arm around her.
"Go to bed, Ellie," she said in a gentle voice. "You're gonna be tired tomorrow."
"Don't baby me," Ellie mumbled and Maria suppressed a smile.
"Your friend's a smart one, girlie," she said, regarding Ellie with crossed arms. "It's fine. We'll update you in the morning."
Once again, Ellie didn't remember being walked up the stairs, but she was conscious long enough to register Anna pulling the covers up over her before she fell back into the oblivion of sleep.
Anna was gone when Ellie awakened. She didn't know why she expected her to still be there, but some part of her had taken comfort in the concept of her presence, even in her slumbering state. Her head felt heavy when she tried to lift it from the pillow, so she simply let it fall back and snoozed for some time until the racket down below in the kitchen roused her to the happenings of the day.
Ellie caught a whiff of herself as she sat up. Grimacing, she determined that a bath was in order, only to find that a routine malfunction of the generator had resulted, once again, in there being no tap water. "Great. Back to square one," Ellie said aloud to the mirror, making a mental note to bring a bucket from the pump later, and settling for a spray of this expired scent that she and Joel had found on one of their last excursions together.
The return trip from the hospital had been strange; the car had run out of gasoline long before they reached Wyoming, and the winter was almost like it was before; just the two of them, together. But they were quieter, not as much talking. They had no destination, no immediate goal, nothing to talk about. And after Joel answered Ellie's single question, it was put in the past. They moved on. But in a raid of an abandoned drugstore, when Ellie had been told to get some stuff she'd need, she'd stashed a supply of the annoyingly fuscia-wrapped pads and also – a bottle of scent-spray. It gave the bathroom - and Ellie - an overpowering reek of tropical fruit and rubbing alcohol, but it was better than nothing, and so she descended the stairs intent on breakfast.
Maria made no comment to about the aroma and only expressed mild surprise when Ellie downed three portions of oatmeal in half the time it usually took her.
"What, I'm starving," Ellie murmured, a smile pulling at her mouth as she got to her feet, and Maria aimed a swat at her ponytail. "You gonna tell me about last night? The... people?"
"Tommy and Joel set them up in the office building."
Ellie's eyebrows lifted. "The office building."
Maria nodded. "The other men that lived there are content to stay in the community hall. More room there anyway, and so we've set up the building to be very... secure."
"I sure hope so," Ellie said, folding her arms. "So, what, are they under constant watch, or something?"
"No..." Maria shook her head. "But Joel is gonna to question them closely."
Ellie took a deep breath, nodding slowly as she processed it. "Is the whole building off-limits?"
Maria furrowed her brow. "They're on the lower floor. Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking..." The concept had been vaguely present in her mind for the past few days, but she'd hesitated to speak or act on it. "I just wanted to go through Matt's things. I mean, nobody ever cleared them out, they're kinda just sitting there..."
"Tell Joel," Maria returned, her voice leaving no room for arguing. "But I think that'll be fine."
Nodding, Ellie plunked her bowl in the sink and reached for the faucet, only to remember the water issue and make a careless gesture, turning, shoving her feet into her sneakers, and exiting the house. More people than she was used to seeing just after breakfast were walking about the compound, and Ellie raised her eyebrows in mild surprise until she realized that her oversleeping put her about two hours behind schedule. She waved to Jake and hurried over to him.
"Where's Joel?"
"I dunno..." Jake rubbed the back of his hand across his brow, then down his face, his grey-tinted stubble making a slight scratching noise against the surface of his palm. "Did you check the generator room? We've had some complaints about water again."
"Nope." Ellie pursed her lips. "I'll go there."
"It's where I'm headed. So." Jake grinned as they started walking. "When is this baby coming, hm?"
Ellie's brow lowered, and she crossed her arms defensively. "How am I supposed to know? It's not like the whole deal came with a 'complete by' date."
The man suppressed a laugh. "You don't know how long it's been?"
"Oh, I know how long it's been. Too freakin' long," Ellie said, letting out a short laugh. "I'm trying not to think about it."
The man's face sobered. "Maybe you should. It's serious business, and all."
"You think I don't know that?" the girl muttered. "That's why."
Jake nodded slowly, as they rounded the corner of the community hall. "I 'member when Anna's mother told me I needed to tell Anna the stuff. The talk, you know. I told her there was no way in hell I was gonna do that. She needed to talk to her own daughter."
Ellie looked at the man. "Did she?"
Jake shrugged. "I guess. She hasn't brought it up since."
"Yeah, well, Joel gave me the short version. I haven't felt like asking anything since."
"Don't ask me," Jake returned, lifting a hand, while he tugged open the door to the generator room with the other, gesturing for her to pass through. "I'd say talk to Maria, or another woman."
Ellie ducked under his arm and made an annoyed face, but replaced it quickly with a grin. "Hey- do somethin' for me?"
Jake hesitated. "Yeah?"
"Just tell Joel I'm having a look around the office building. Going through Matt's stuff. I'll be careful." And she turned and started to duck back through the door, when she felt someone give a gentle tug to her ponytail. She turned around to see Joel himself. Jake bobbed his head, and made his way towards where the men where working on the pumps.
"Hey." He looked down at her, a slight smile behind his eyes. "What're you doin'?"
"Gonna go through Matt's stuff..." Ellie returned, shrugging. "If it's okay."
"I'm surprised you ask me if it's okay. Looked like you were gonna do it anyway."
She took a deep breath, and looked up at him. "I'm sorry for going off half-cocked last night. I was pretty p-"
"You can go through Matt's stuff. But be careful. And keep away from the lower rooms. Tommy's questioning the fellas in there."
Ellie offered a sideways smile. "Thanks..."
"Be careful," Joel called after the girl as she let herself back out of the generator room.
Heaving open the door to the office building, Ellie didn't even glance down the first floor corridor, but ascended the steps without looking back, pausing at the top and swearing as she leaned over to catch her breath for a few seconds. "Holy crap, you're starting to weigh a lot," she murmured, rubbing a hand over her belly, and starting through the series of cubicles that led to Matt's on the end. Everything was just as they left it. Cot pulled out, dirty laundry, forgotten toast... It had shriveled to a crisp, and a twisting line of ants made their way down the wall, carrying crumbs back through a long crack in the concrete. Ellie took a deep breath, and knelt, pulling Matt's duffle bag from beneath his cot, opening it, and picking through the contents. A spare change of clothes. Some first-aid supplies. She idly tore open the antiseptic towelette from its package and sniffed at the dry napkin which was still barely scented like alcohol. Digging deeper, she pawed past an enamel cup and rolled-up shaving kit, and closed her hands around the small, smooth book. Fenelon. She looked at it for a brief moment, before replacing it in the duffle, and pushing it back beneath the cot.
She got to her feet and took a seat on the cot, watching the parade of ants on the opposite wall for a few moments. Matt's sleeping bag was still tangled, and her hands slid down the slick fabric, smoothing it out, when her fingers encountered a hard edge. Pushing the open zipper back, she saw Matt's copy of Moby Dick staring cover up at her. Ellie picked it up without a second thought, and stood to her feet, exiting the room and closing the door behind her.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, voices could be heard one of the rooms down the corridor. Tommy's first, then a strange one. Younger, not the man who had spoken first at the gate.
"How long were you with them?" Tommy's voice asked in a low tone.
"Ever since things got bad," the other voice returned. "I mean, I kindof had to."
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't have a choice. David made James his right-hand man, and that was that."
"Who is David?"
Ellie set her jaw, and clenched the book tight to her chest.
"Who was David, you mean?" the young voice returned. "He was the leader. Our leader."
"And who was James?
The response was immediate. "I already told you, James was my brother. He was messed up. Screwed around with other men, with David. They screwed me when they were mad at each other." There was no reply from Tommy. "He may have been my brother, but he thought he could screw me over because I couldn't fight back. Because I couldn't run."
"What do you mean? You mean your legs?"
Ellie had heard enough. She shoved open the door, and spent the rest of the day losing herself in the world of ships and whales and seafaring adventures. She was determined to make it a good day in spite of everything, and when night fell, she slid the book under the bottom step of Tommy and Maria's porch, and turned her feet toward Anna's house.