Thanks for following on with the story, here is chapter 4! The longest chapter yet, Ellie has a story to tell.

DINA

It's been a week since the FEDRA station. We managed to get a pickup truck started and travelled in that for a little while. It took us round Las Vegas easily enough but we ran out of gas pretty quickly and there weren't many places around the desert to find any so we've been on foot ever since. Trying to keep out of sight for as much of the journey as possible.

I've still not spoken to Ellie about what happened and she hasn't asked. I don't think she really wants to know exactly what happened just as long as I'm okay. She's been so protective over me since we left, she wont let me stray too far from her and definitely not out of her sight. I think she blames herself but she shouldn't, she did everything she could to get to me.

"Hey El" I call over to her "How about we make camp at that Ranch over there for the night, It's getting dark and I'm beat"

"Yeah sure thing babe, lets go over and check it out"

We walk the sort deserted tack up towards the ranch. The main house looks a little worse for wear but the stables looked in pretty good condition. We did a sweep of the house, stables and the surrounding area. Ellie being extra vigilant after our last incident. Everything was clear and we decided to take shelter in the stables for the night. There was plenty of hay around for us to have a comfortable night's sleep at least. We moved some of the hay to made a makeshift bed for us to spend the night. Being here made me miss the farm so much. I wish we could go back to those days.

"So Dina" Ellie interjects

"Yeah?"

"Maybe it's time we talk about what happened?" She shifted uncomfortably on the pile of hay beneath her.

"Uhh mmm" I looked over at her, I wasn't totally sure what she wanted to talk about. There was a lot we hadn't spoken about.

"So I think you deserve to know what happened with Abby and why you found me like that" She started to play with her fingers awkwardly "So when I got down to Santa Barbra I got stuck in a trap set by the Rattlers and this is how that hapend" she placed her hand over her side "and this happened" she lifted her hand to show the bite mark. "We actually need to do something about that." she put her hand back down and moved uncomfortably again. "Then I found Abby. She was tied to one of those poles on the beach. She was half dead. I cut her down and she had that kid with her, the one who convinced her to let you live. He was half dead too" her words started to ramble and I could tell she was getting anxious

"Hey, it's okay" I interrupted her and placed my hand on her leg to reassure her

She took a breath and continued "So she took this kid to the boats and put him in one, she thought that was it and I was going to let them go. For a second I nearly did but… but then I saw Joel, his bloody face, what she did to him.." She closed her eyes tight and took a breath "So I told her she had to fight me. She refused so I said I'd kill the boy if she didn't fight me" she raised her hand to her face shaking her head "so she fought me. We were both in bad shape already. We fought and she urm.. Bit my fingers off" Ellie raised her fingerless hand in the air, waving it slightly and laughed "karma I suppose" She sighed again "But eventually I got the better of her. I had her Dina. I fucking had her under the water and I was holding her, she was giving up! A few seconds more and she would have been gone! But…. But I couldn't" Her eyes started to well up "I thought of Joel and how he wouldn't want me to become this person" She wiped the tears from her face "So… I let her go"

"Shit, El" I was shocked and a little overwhelmed with everything she had just told me. I was so sure she would have killed her and ended this cycle. What does this mean now? Will she want to go back out there and finish the job?

"I'm..." she looked up at me with sad eyes "I'm a piece of shit aren't I?"

"No, no course not. I'm. I'm just worried that the next time you hear about her you'll go running off again"

"I won't! I'm Done. Honestly Dina I'm done. I don't want this life anymore. I don't want to feel like I need revenge. I want to come home and live a happy life with you and JJ'' She took my hand in hers "I regret leaving you so much. I thought I needed to do this. I thought killing her would end the darkness inside of me but killing her was never the answer" She looked into my eyes "Dina, you are everything to me and I will never mess that up again. I'm so sorry for how badly I treated you. I know I will have some issues and some dark days, I still have nightmares and I still see Joel's face but I will try my best to cope with it and I hope you will still support me"

I looked back at her "Ellie, I wasn't enough for you before. Me and JJ weren't. I begged you to stay"

"I know, but you don't realise how bad I got. I'd go into the woods for hours at a time when you thought I was hunting and I'd want to die. I was struggling to keep myself alive. I know you did so much for me and in all honesty you and JJ were the only thing keeping me breathing, but no it wasn't enough because I wanted to keep myself alive. I wanted to be better for both of you. I think now I can do that"

"I'm sorry" I moved closer to her and put my arm around her "I'm sorry I didn't realise. What a mess this has all been huh?" I snuggled my head into her neck and she put an arm around me pulling me close "El, thank you for saving me. I know we haven't spoken about it but I was fucking scared, I really thought that… you know he was going to…"

"I know babe" She pulled me in tighter and planted a kiss on my head "I wasn't going to let him do anything to you"

"I thought they were going to kill you in front of me. I didn't want to give up, I wanted to fight but I was scared what they would do to you" A flash of the man holding me down came into my head and it made me shudder.

Ellie put both her arms round me and gave me a squeeze

"Did you bite that guy?" I asked

"Urmm.. yeah I took a chunk clean out of his neck. Serves the fucker right for getting too close to me"

"Fuck thats insane"

"I'd do anything to protect you Dina"

We spent the rest of the night laughing and joking, talking about old stories from the years we had at Jackson together before we confessed our love for each other. We talked about Joel and Jessie too. But every time we kept coming back to the night around the campfire when Ellie played her guitar and it felt like I was the only one there watching her. I think that was one of the moments when I really fell for her.

It felt good to finally hear what she had been through and it stopped my mind from running through a thousand different scenarios of what had gone on. Maybe finally we can put this all behind us once and for all and move on together as a family. Ellie keeps talking about getting back to Jackson to see JJ, I think she really misses him. I really miss him too.

We left the barn at first light wanting to get a good day of walking in, we were pushing to walk longer hours so we could get home sooner.

"We aren't too far from Salt lake city" Ellie called out from behind the map she was inspecting "It was pretty easy to get through there before so I'm hoping for another clear path. If we keep this up we could be back at the end of next week"

"I hope so, I really miss JJ" I huffed

"Me too. I hate that you have missed all this time with him"

"It's okay. It's shit that we will have missed out on so much in the time we have been gone but at least you won't miss out on his entire life"

Ellie didn't say anything just smiled at me

We continued to walk down the long stretch of highway, there were cars littered everywhere. Nothing we could use of course. Most of them had been sitting around since infection day which meant they were rusted to hell. Some were burnt out and some had been raided for parts. It was like this everywhere we looked.

A couple of hours of walking passed us by, still going along the highway and only making small detours when we couldn't pass cars. There was a large pile up on one of the intersections that set us back a while as we had to climb down and go underneath the main road and rejoin it later on.

We were finally making good progress when we came to a small stretch of road where the highway split into two. There wasn't much around, it seemed like a regular occurrence. After all this time everything seemed to be fading away in places like this.

I turned to Ellie "Looks like a small gas station over there, shall we check it out?

"Yeah sure"

We headed over to the small building standing alone between the two large roads. There was a chain linked fence bordering the building and forecourt. There were a few gas pumps and a couple of cars parked among the overgrown weeds and grass.

"Hey, do you think it's worth it?" Ellie looks over at me with a worried look on her face

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth a shot and we need some supplies"

"Okay but I'll go first" She moved ahead of me making her way across the parking lot of the station, her gun out ready just in case.

I followed close behind her, letting her lead the way. We moved through a couple of cars and cleared the lot. There wasn't anything or anyone around that we could see. We proceeded towards the building when Ellie stopped in her tracks. "Spores, mask on Dina"

"You too"

"But I don't need to" she tried to argue with me

"I don't care, what if someones around El, we can't risk it"

"Fine" She huffed and pulled the mask over her face.

I don't think I will ever get used to the fact that she's immune. Another conversation to be had I guess. Ever since I found out she couldn't get infected we haven't spoken too much about it. Every time I try to bring it up she thinks of some excuse or goes off topic. I don't really know why she wants to hide it from me. I don't care, at least I won't have to shoot her in the head from being bitten.

Ellie led the way into the main building, all the shelves were empty, some smashed and thrown over as if someone was in a hurry to get out. It was quite eerie here. Spores filled the room and fungus was caked on the walls. You didn't really see this much in such a small isolated building.

"There is another room back here, let's check it out" Ellie moved toward the door at the back of the gas station "Its stuck, let me try get it open" She holstered her gun and placed her hands firmly on the door giving it a firm push and falling into the room. Within a second a loud screech shot through my ears and an infected came from nowhere diving onto Ellie thrashing its hands at her.

"Ellie!" I ran forward took my pistol out and shot it in the head causing it to fall on top of her "Shit are you okay?"

"Yeah…can you help me get this thing of me please?" she grumbled

"I dunno you two look to be quite cosy down there" I laughed while placing my gun back on my thigh.

"Dina, come on this things heavy as fuck"

"Okay, okay" I held my hands up and moved over to push the lifeless body of her.

"Thanks" she got up and brushed herself down.

Inside was a small office space. Nothing much in here really but a desk, some draws and an old TV. I searched through one of the rusty draws, not really sure what I was looking for. "Hey El look" I pulled out a set of keys and wave them in front of her. "I wonder what these are for?" I toss them over to her so she can take a look

"Hey Sherlock you missed this" She held the keys up by a small paper tab that read 'Garage unit one'

"Hmm guess I did miss that" I reached for the keys to take another look "Wonder where the unit is?"

"There's a big storage unit out there" Ellie pointed out of the back window behind the gas station "maybe it opens that?"

"Well let's go check it out!"

We made our way back through the building and around the back towards the storage unit. It looked untouched surprisingly. Maybe there was something useful in there after all. I walked over to the side door taking the keys in my hand. "Well here goes nothing" Presto, the key worked and the door clicked as it unlocked.

"Wait!" Ellie called

"What?" I looked at her a little confused

"Let me.." she started to speak but I cut her off

"El come on it's probably been locked for years it will be fine, I will be fine" I placed my hand on the large metal door handle and gave it a pull, the door slowly opened to reveal what was inside.

"Wooooooow cool!" Ellie's mouth was wide open

Inside the container looked untouched, probably since everything had happened too. It was full of tools and biker gear. There were a couple of work benches that had bits and pieces laid out over them. Old tires and a few boxes piled up.

"I wonder what's under here!" Ellies face looked excited as she walked round to the back of the unit and stood next to an old tarp that looked suspiciously like a bike was under it. She holstered her gun and placed both hands on the tarp. "Ready?" She whipped it off in one movement and revealed the dirt bike underneath. "Woooah soooo cool!"

I walked over to give it a closer look, it looked brand new. It was jet black with bright green decals all over it. "This is cool"

"Hey and there's some helmets over here too!"

"Looks like we have a ride home then huh?" I laughed

"Lets just hope it starts! Wait. Do you know how to ride a bike? Because I sure don't"

"I've not driven one before but I've seen one so I kinda get how it works. Talia liked motor bikes" I climbed on top of it and placed my foot on the starter lever "please work" I give it a kick and bang it let out a roar

"Ya hooo! We have lift off" Ellie cheered

"Best news we have had all week!" I laughed

I push down the stop button and get back off it "Right lets take a look around and see what we can grab and get the fuck back to Jackson!"

"Your the boss"

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