Ellie -

"Hey Ellie " Abby spoke with a smile

I held my knife out and pointed it towards her dropping into a defensive stance "what the fuck!"

I was beyond shocked to see the tall woman standing in front of me. She looked so different from when I left her on the beach. She was much bigger and a lot of her hair had grown back.

Why was she here

"Let's just make this easy" she spoke calmly

"Make what easy?"

"Look, you're coming with me whether you like it or not" her face was calm

"I'm not fucking go anywhere with you. I'm done with this. I let you live! Now let me go!"

"Well Maybe you shouldn't have" she stepped closer to me.

"Back off" I commanded, taking a step backwards, positioning myself ready to fight with my knife held ahead of me. I still had a tight grasp of the flowers I'd just picked for Dina in my other hand.

What the fuck was I doing to do with them.

"Don't make this difficult" she took another step closer to me "I'm stronger than I was at the beach. I will beat you" she flexed her arm muscles as she drove her fist into the palm of her other hand.

I backed away towards the clearing in the trees. With any look someone might spot me if I get in the open, the watchtowers of Jackon should be able to see this far easily. I knew I wouldn't be able to take her on my own.

"Abby, Just let me go. You're too close to Jackson. You won't get far if you kill me, my friends will come after you" I took another step backwards nearing the clearing

Fuck I'm going to have to actually kill her this time.

Before I could react Abby ran at me, I jabbed my blade into her path but she grabbed my arm and twisted it forcing me to drop my knife. I let out a cry of pain as the memory of her breaking my arm in the theatre flashed across my eyes. She pulled me in towards her but I threw my head forward and head butted her straight in the nose. Her grip loosened on my arm and I landed a punch with my weaker hand to her ribs but it hardly touched her. She smiled back at me grabbing the back of my shirt and threw me into the tree that I hit hard. I could feel my head split open and the blood pour down my face.

Fuck I've not done this in a while.

I spun round and tried to land another punch but my head was spinning and the blood from my head had trickled into my eye. I could see her eyes hungry, ready to end me, she smiled and grabbed me again, throwing me to the ground. I tried to scramble along the floor reaching for my switch blade I dropped earlier. Just as I had it in my grasp Abby put her boot on my back to stop me from moving

"I don't think so" she snarled

"Fuck you!" I grumbled into the mud

"You've lost it Ellie, you're weak" she let up her boot and I took the opening rolling over and hooked the back of her knee sending her to the floor. I made a move for my knife and stuffed it in my pocket before Abby kicked me in the face and everything went black.

I woke up to freezing cold water rushing over my face. I couldn't breathe. Then suddenly air came into my lounges and I took a deep breath. The air was taken away from me again and I felt the cold water, not just on my face but in my mouth. I was swallowing it, I couldn't breathe, then again the fresh air rushed into my lungs, my heart pounding out of my chest, I gasped and my eyes shot open.

"Wake up" Abby groned sounding annoyed

She was dunking me head first into the river over and over again. I saw the water coming closer to me but she stopped just before I was dunked again. I'm still alive.

"Finally"

She threw me back onto the ground and I gasped for air, coughing up the water in my mouth. My eyes began to focus and I saw the trees of the forest around me. I shuffled uncomfortably on the ground trying to move my arms and get to my feet but my wrists were tied together in front of me.

"The fuck" I spat out the remaining water

I looked up and saw Abby towering above me "come on I'm not carrying you to Chicago, get up"

"Chicago? I'm not going anywhere with you"

She let out a sigh "yes you are or I'll turn back around and slice your girlfriends throat, just like I should have before"

"Like fuck you will!" I screamed

She moved over to me and kicked me in the ribs

"Fuck!" I hissed "Just fucking kill me and get this over with"

"Oh it's not that simple Ellie" she squatted down to meet my eye line "I need you alive"

"I'm not going anywhere with you" I spat

"Fine, let's wait here, that girl will come that you care so much about and I'll cut out her tongue and we will all go together?"

I looked up at the large woman looking down at me. She wasn't joking and I wasn't in the position to fight her. She was stronger than before and I was a lot weaker. Why did she need me alive? This can't be about my immunity. Joel killed the only person who knew how to make a cure. Is this revenge?

She pulled me up by my collar and tied a rope to my already bound wrists, pulling me forward like a fucking dog through the woods.

I'd have to bide my time and wait for an opening. I still have my knife in my pocket. I just need to wait for an opportunity to attack her and finally kill the bitch. I would have to do it fast. I know Dina would be looking for me by now and I couldn't risk her catching up to us.

I wasn't totally sure where we were but we hadn't travelled too far from Jackson. Abby must have carried me here so we must still be close. She dragged me through the forest. The trees were large and the bushes thick. The paths were hardly noticeable under our feet so we must be on the outskirts of our patrol area. We approached a clearing in the trees and I instantly knew where we were. The Western border where the old hunting cabins were. These cabins were rarely used apart from the odd long hall hunting trip. My eyes narrowed as I could see light flickering from the inside of the last cabin.

Fuck one of our patrols.

Before I could make a sound Abby spun round and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. She stuffed a gag in my mouth and tied it round my head so I couldn't speak

"Shut up and nobody else has to get hurt" She whispered into my ear, sending a shiver up my spine as the wet breath of Joel's killer brushed against my neck.

She pulled me forward in between the cabins closest to us, towards the woods but as we got close the light went out from the cabin furthest away and the door opened. Kieren and Olivia appeared in the doorway, both their faces flushed. This could be my chance to take her out if she's occupied with them two.

Kieren looked our way and raised his gun as he saw Abby dragging me towards the tree line "Ellie?!" he shouted

Olivia took a defensive stance behind him raising her hunting rifle at us both.

"Ellie! You okay?" he shouted over to me

Abby tugged the rope that was bound to my wrists with force sending me to the ground next to her. She raised her pistol to my head, resting the cold metal on my temple. "Nobody has to get hurt here" She called "Just walk away!"

"No chance! Let her go" Kieren barked. He moved closer with his gun held high

She needs me alive, she's not going to shoot me, this is just for show to scare them. I tried to make a move for her gun but before I could make any real movement Abby punched me in the face causing my head wound to bleed again. I felt to the ground with a thud "Fuck" I winced

"Hey! I'll shoot!" Kieren barked moving closer again

Abby let out a sigh "Fine" she moved forward dragging me with her now pointing the gun towards them "Have it your way"

Before anyone could do anything Olivia let a shot loose from her rifle hitting the ground in front of Abby. Kieren spun his head round to look back at her, dropping his gun slightly, giving Abby time to make her move. She ran forward and knocked him out with the but of her gun, sending him to the floor. I followed closely behind her, I picked up a rock and lunged towards her ready to bring it down on her head but as I got close she raised her elbow into my nose sending me stumbling backwards.

Fuck

"Kieren!" Olivia screamed, she was still standing on the porch to the cabin

Abby raised her gun and started to let bullets fly towards Olivia who dived behind a stack of nearby wooden crates. She continued to unload her clip in her direction, missing with every shot she fired. She started to run towards the tree line pulling me with her. My feet were struggling to keep up with her. I need to do something. I raised my hand to my face catching the blood coming from my nose and head. When we got close I tripped over and planted my hand on the tree leaving a trail. Hopefully Kieren and Olivia will go back to Jackson and they will come after us with a larger group and we can finally take this motherfucker down.

Abby dragged me behind her for what felt like most of the night before we stopped to make camp, it was getting too dark to see where we were going in the overgrown woods. She tied me to a tree a few yards away from her then built a fire and perched herself next to it. Now I could get a good look at the woman who was holding me prisoner. She was covered in scars all over her arms and face, probably a lot due to me, some due to Dina too. Her face seemed older and worn and she looked tired. We sat in silence for a while, as she tended to the fire and cooked some rabbit meat.

"So what do you want with me?" I finally asked

Abby stayed silent, not looking at me

"Oi Fuck face. Come on, you're dragging me along with you. You could at least tell me what for"

She let out a long breath "I need you to trade"

"Trade? Trade for what?"

She sighed and looked into the fire "Lev"

"And who would want me?"

She looked over at me with a stern look "The Fireflies want you"

"The Fireflies?" I was shocked at the words. "Fireflies? I thought they were gone!"

"Well they aren't" she took a stick and poked the flames a little "There's a doctor there and he can make a cure" She looked back at me again "They need you"

Fuck. A cure? I felt sick to my stomach. My head was going 100 miles an hour trying to process the information. This can't be true. The thing I wanted for so long, what I thought my life's meaning was, to cure the world of this shit. It can finally happen.

But what about Dina and JJ, my family?

"But I have a family" I whisper

"I do too and I need him back"

"I.. I can't do this. I have people who rely on me. I can't leave them again, I won't leave them again!" I begged

"And I can't leave my person either and I won't"

"Please, I let you live. I let you both live back in Santa Barbara"

"Yeah well, you shouldn't have"

"What is it with you? I fucking let you live after what you did to me! After what you took from me!" I started to shout at her while struggling with the restraints around my arms.

"After what I did to you? What I took from you?!" She laughed standing up moving towards me "What about what you did!" She knelt down in front of me, her eyes red with anger. She took out her knife, playing with it in her hands, running her finger along the sharp blade edge. Her tone changed, it was calm. "What about what you took from me?"

She took the hunting knife in her hand and pushed it into my shoulder "You killed my friends" She pushed the knife further ripping through my shirt and into my skin. I clenched my teeth to try cope with the pain "you killed my pregnant friend" She applied more pressure to the knife "you killed the love of my life" a tear rolled down her face "You killed my dad" she pushed the knife in piercing my shoulder.

I screamed in pain as the razor sharp blade sliced through my skin like butter "fuck!"

She pulled the blade out in one swift movement and walked back over to the fire sitting back down next to it."Your not about to kill Lev either"

I killed her dad?

I don't understand. I didn't know I'd killed her dad, I killed the people who killed Joel. The people who travelled hundreds of miles to not just kill someone but to torcher a man until he was inches away from death. None of those men were her dad, they weren't old enough.

"You had the chance to cure the world of this sickness and you just passed it up like it was nothing. You just moved on to live your happy life out here like nothing is happening, like thousands of people don't die every day because of it" She picked up her stick and pushed the fire around "your a joke Ellie. What kind of person lets people die like that? What kind of person wouldn't do the right thing and help make a cure"

As I listened to the words leave her mouth I realised she was right. What kind of a person does that? It wasn't my choice before at the hospital it was Joels. But now it is my choice. If she's telling the truth I could cure the world. What's one life for the lives of everyone? JJ could grow up in a world without fear.

"Is there really a chance we can make a cure?" I choked out

Abby looked up at me "Yeah, there is"

"And why did the Fireflies take Lev?"

"As collateral. If I don't bring you back with me they will kill him or worse. He's the only thing I have left in this world thanks to you"

There was a short silence, the fire cracked and the wind whistled around us.

"I… I didn't know she was pregnant" I whispered. I felt sick to my stomach thinking back to that night where I killed Mel in the aquarium. I think back and wonder if I'd have known, would I have still killed her. Sometimes I think I wouldn't and others I think I still would have.

Abby didn't say anything, she just continued to poke at the fire.

"I didn't know" I spoke again

"Get some sleep. We are leaving in a few hours"

Thanks for reading!