Chapter 6: Approximation
The following week, several repairs had been made to the residence by both Ellie and Abby, who decided to complete their routines in this way, always alongside Lev. The boy was divided between hunting and cooking when there were no infected around, and when the three of them had problems and needed to face enemies, Runners and Stalkers always came in small numbers.
So, to avoid the approach of strangers or infected people, the two young women chose to also repair the electric fence that had around the land that had been fortified during the outbreak period – at least that was what a document located by the former member of Washington Liberation Front on one of her trips to the basement –, which explained the bars on the windows and the electric fence itself.
They had realized that the conviviality became pleasant due to the passing of the days always with constant chores, and moreover the presence of the boy always made them more comfortable, as they had to share their attention with him, instead of being alone.
The girl, for her part, had not yet spoken to Abby about the possibility that Tommy wanted to travel to California to conclude his revenge, because she didn't know how the matter would be received. Moreover, it wasn't as if the two women dialogued for a long period, although the coexistence was far from bad, quite the opposite.
Sometimes, from the balcony of the residence, Ellie would watch Lev and Abby's interaction. The boy and the former member of WLF used to take walks along the seafront in the late afternoons, and for the past three days, when she finally felt gradual improvement from the leg injury, the taller woman began swimming to work her muscles.
The young woman was always invited by both of them to accompany them, but she preferred to stay there, in a privileged position, to write and draw in her diary with total privacy, because she was absolutely certain that she would not be interrupted.
The pages of the last few days had a tone of mild anguish, due to the constant dreams about Joel, which began since she'd occupied the room. At first she didn't give it much importance, because she didn't usually believe in messages of like that, but she couldn't deny that she woke up not knowing how to deal with the fact of having seen him again, but luckily in better conditions than when he had been killed a year ago.
The man no longer appeared to her with a crushed skull or with the image completely stained in red, which made the young woman deduce that, in a way, despite having had a horrible death, he had found peace.
"Maybe it's worth believing that there's something after death", she thought, as she drew Joel on one of the pages and linked his figure to two arrows that pointed to two names: Tommy and Abby.
In the last dream, he told Ellie that it was necessary to stop his brother from continuing to perpetuate the cycle of violence that followed after the Texan saved her from the hospital in Salt Lake City, because as much as Tommy wanted to continue to hate his the killer, killing the blonde would only bring more pain, mainly because according to Joel, Ellie wouldn't know how to deal with Abby's death.
The girl tried to counter-argue in some way, saying that he was wrong and that after so long without talking to her, he couldn't claim that he knew her like before. But the Texan man insisted on his point of view, saying that it would be more difficult for her to admit to herself that yes, living together with the two had already left positive marks, so much so that it never even crossed her mind to attempt Abby's life again, quite the opposite.
Ellie sighed as she turned to the next page and began to draw a portrait of the woman who was having fun on the beach ahead, in friendly competition with the boy who, smiling, was doing everything to catch up with her. The girl lifted her head when she realized that Abby reached the water first and after he finally reached her, the blonde hugged the Seraphite boy with such affection, that for a moment, the young woman imagined what it would be like to be surrounded by those arms.
So, she tried to push that absurd thought away, but she couldn't do it. Because even though Abby wasn't as strong as she was before the events in Santa Barbara when she was kidnapped by the Rattlers, since she was back to eating well and exercising especially after they took up residence, it was only a matter of time before that her body become stronger again.
Ellie fixed her eyes on Abby's protective figure, who walked slowly across the sand as she spoke to him. Again, she looked at her physique even as she tried to return her attention to the drawing, sighing in a defeated manner as she dropped her pen, closed the notebook, put it in her backpack, took her to her room, and only then went down to the beach. Because maybe it would be better to find out what felt for the other woman, even if it was something she couldn't deal with.
On the way, she thought again of the dreams she'd had with Joel, in which he did not show himself to be upset or even irritated by the closeness between the two. The man himself had said in one of the dreams, that the time had come for Ellie to make her choices for herself. But how much would that affect other people who were once important in her life? What would be Dina's reaction, for example, if one day she knew that the two women lived together?
Maybe what the girl needed to do was not deal with her most pressing problems in this way, even though didn't know exactly what action to take. All she wanted was to break the awkward silence that lasted for hours, sometimes even whole shifts in which she didn't even speak.
She reached the beach, and since the boy and Abby were on the opposite side enjoying the waves, she was in no hurry to reach them. She just stood there watching them, about how in her own way, the woman managed to make him happy.
'Would she be willing to do it for me, too?' Wondered mentally.
"Shit… What the fuck I'm thinking…" With some brusqueness, Ellie then opted to leave the beach. No mattered if was without her backpack, all she wanted was to put as much distance between Abby and herself.
She walked the streets near the residence and without noticing how far she had traveled, entered some shops which she had not yet visited; maybe seeking resources would occupy her thoughts in such a way that she would not continue to think in this embarrassing way about it.
She entered a store that had bars and equipment for weight training, noticing that there was little useful inside the establishment, but that she could pick up some items so that the blonde could exercise. At the back of the store, two Runners strolled noticeably lost, though they focused their eyes on the young woman as soon as they saw her.
Ellie also saw them and used one of the shelves as a cover as she crouched down and waited for the infected to approach, which soon occurred. Since she had left without her backpack and firearms, she would only have the knife in her possession. But to kill Runners, it wouldn't need anything else.
As soon as the enemy got closer, she hit him fatally as she slit his throat and already standing prepared to hit the other Runner, who grunted and walked somewhat fast towards her. However, just as she had done with the first, she annihilated the second without difficulty, feeling that finally her body was beginning to regain physical form little by little.
After all, Lev and the strongest woman ate three to four times a day—that was a lot more than the young woman used to eat both in Jackson and on the farm with Dina. But there with the two, since most of the meals consisted of fish and protein foods – since Abby had left to exchange items with travelers who passed through the coastal area days ago –, the girl saw no problem eating regularly.
Because if she really wanted to return to Wyoming, she knew that she would need to be well prepared and nourished to face the next months ahead.
After killing the two infected, she put six heavy washers in a bag, hung it over her shoulder, and held the weight bar with her free hand, at the exact moment she heard the sneaky sound of footsteps some distance behind her. Thinking was another enemy, she held the bar steady in her right hand and turned in an attacking position, in a top-down motion with her arm, without realizing that it was none other than Abby.
"Hey, hey... Wow, girl."
"Fuck... Sorry, man…" Ellie took two steps back and looked visibly awkward.
"No problem, I should have announced myself, yes." She replied, as soon as she picked up the bag with the washers. For a brief moment their eyes met yet they tried to look away at practically the same time. "I came… See if you were okay. Lev told me that you had left for the shops and… Well... I was worried."
It was striking how the other woman could handle her own emotional issues far better than she did, which made her have the undeniable ability to say what she felt, a fact that made the young woman sigh as they left the abandoned establishment. "You didn't need to come, I know how to take care of myself."
"I have no doubt you know, but since you've helped me other times, there would be no reason why I shouldn't do the same. What's more, we're closer to downtown, which is to say there may be hordes nearby."
"Okay, you're right." She replied simply. "It's just that… I decided to get this bar so you can train… I imagine you must miss lifting weights."
"Yeah, thank you."
After thanking her Abby decided to go ahead, as she had realized that the girl was unwilling to talk. But in fact, all Ellie wanted was exactly to be able to dialogue with her without feeling embarrassed, without remembering the people living in Jackson as if they were present to make judgments at the very moment when the two of them dialogued; she wanted to be free from owing satisfaction to someone, because it was not as if they were making judgments; she wanted to be free from owing satisfaction to someone, because it was not as if they were the same people were there to help her or even to know news about her, after all, no one had come after her.
Lev did, whenever possible came to talk to her, even if he didn't understand much of the world around him. But the boy was willing to listen to her and help her. And then there was Abby: the person who completely mastered her thoughts for the past week, who was also ready to help when needed, even if they didn't know each other.
"Do you want to eat shrimp with me?"
The girl listened to the question and spent some time reflecting on the invitation she had just heard. It was as if she heard the voices of Maria, Tommy, Dina and so many others say 'no, she's Joel's killer and deserves no consideration from you; as much as she tries to be friendly now, nothing erases everything that was done for her.'
"Yeah, I do." She replied, willing to ignore everything that had happened so far.
The rest of the journey was done in silence, and as soon as they arrived in front of the house and entered it, Ellie went into the kitchen and realized that the boy was arranging his bow so concentratedly, that he didn't even notice her. Anyway, the young woman insisted and stood there, standing in front of him as if she wanted to share something.
Suddenly he looked up and dropped the object just to look at the young woman. "Just pull out the chair and sit down, you know..."
She did as the boy said and took up a chair right in front of him as Abby climbed up to the second floor of the residence. "I'm not messing you up, am I?"
"Of course not. I'm not as mature as you guys who are more of an adult, but it's clear that you need to talk."
"Yes... I think so."
"Well, when you want to say what you need to say... I'm a good listener."
"Promise you won't laugh at me?"
"I swear."
"Really?"
"By Yara." He replied seriously.
"Right. I'll start with a question. Can it be?"
"Okay." Lev was completely attentive to her.
"Well… What would you do if you really wanted to get to know a person better, but everything that happened before between you was blocking that desire?"
"I think I know what you're talking about. But if I had taken into consideration the teachings of the elders, for example, I would not have listened to my sister who asked me to release Abby and I would have missed the opportunity to meet the one who has not given up on me to this day." The boy replied, looking at her intently. "Sometimes, Ellie, we need to have the courage to challenge what we're told systematically, because it doesn't always mean it's what's best for us."
"It's like… If… I'm listening to all of them… Telling me that I'm wrong for staying here with you two, that I should leave, that I don't need anyone with me, even more…" The girl swallowed dryly, a lump formed in her throat.
As he noticed that the young woman could no longer say anything, he decided to speak. "Abby told me what she did, which led you to hate her so much." His tone was calm.
"When did she tell you?"
"Early this morning while you searched the houses in the back street." He replied. That's what you're talking about, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"And those peoples voices… One this the man I hit?"
"Tommy… Yeah, it is."
"Who else?"
"All the people who… That they live in the city of Jackson, which is where I came from. Including my ex-girlfriend, who you saved at the theater that day."
"Okay. And where are they now?" Hearing the questioning, the girl fell silent. "I'm not saying you're not supposed to listen to them, Ellie, but there's certain things in your life that... As my sister used to say, either we do it for ourselves, or we'll live unhappy all the time trying to please others."
The young woman moved uncomfortably in the chair and took a deep breath. She knew that Lev was absolutely right to advise her in this way, and besides, it wasn't as if she needed anyone's permission to do whatever she wanted. If she chose to go her way with them, to protect Abby when she had the chance, to watch over the Seraphite… The choice was hers alone and no one else.
"I didn't imagine talking to you would be so cool... Thank you."
"You're welcome. Remember, if I had gone the path of pleasing others, I wouldn't have shaved my head, nor would I have known Abby, nor would I have known you... Probably Yara and I would have been killed in the war against the Wolves maybe even by Abby... But when we decide to go from what we want, from what we feel, things make more sense."
"You're right, I'll try to remember that."
The boy nodded, and just as Ellie was about to get up to go up to the second floor, he spoke again. "Abby invited you to eat shrimp, didn't she?"
"Yeah."
"And that nervousness of yours is because you think it's a date..." He spoke.
"Lie! I didn't think of any of that!" The girl protested.
"Yes, sure you thought. And it's okay to think about it, because she'd really like to get to know you better."
"Why, did you hear anything?"
"Nope. I didn't ask or know this, but I've known Abby for a year, so I can say for sure that yes, she wants to get to know you better. Now don't ask me if this interest is loving or not... Because I don't really understand much about it."
"Alright... I wasn't even going to ask anything else… But… Holy shit… I guess I'm fucked, Lev."
"Depending on the point of view no…" He laughed lightly. " Now I have a question for you."
"Say." The young woman replied, though she feared it was something she didn't know how to answer.
"Are you afraid that Abby is interested in you because you can't stop looking at her, or is that just my impression?"
"I think... Than... You're right. Even if that's the worst shit I do..."
"What, look at her?"
"Yeah."
"Why? Is she that ugly?"
"God, no! I mean… Fuck Lev…" She snorted sonically. "No, she's not." Ellie admitted and took a deep breath, such was her embarrassment.
"Okay, okay. Listen: I don't think it's a date; I just think she wants to put you more at ease, like I said before. But if you can't stop looking at her then you shouldn't stay away, because looking at her must be good, or am I wrong?"
The young woman hadn't thought about it until then, ever since she began to realize that she occasionally looked at Abby more insistently. But Lev's somewhat innocent manner, without any kind of blocking, gave her a new perspective of the situation, far more positive than the things that presented themselves in her head.
"I had never dealt with it... Actually."
"Maybe it's time for you to try." He suggested. "Probably Abby will prepare the shrimp on the balcony."
"How would she do that there?"
"I found a portable grill in a shop nearby yesterday." The boy replied. "Then I caught the shrimp, and she asked me what I thought of doing on the skewers for the two of you." He spoke.
"And you… You thought it was a good idea, didn't you?"
"Of course! Why not? You two need to talk." He spoke as if it were obvious.
The girl stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going up then. Thanks for listening to me."
"If you need to talk again, count on me."
Ellie smiled and walked away. She hurried up the stairs and went to her room to get some clothes so she could shower. Because the residence's generator had been repaired by them, they had hot water at their disposal. As soon as she left the room, she smelled the pleasant odor of food, which really showed that Lev was right: Abby had prepared the shrimp on the grill, which made her stomach rumble loudly.
She took a quick shower and dressed as nimbly as she could. Since it wasn't too cold that night, she had chosen a pair of gray sweatpants and a white long-sleeved t-shirt, not opting for a sweater. As soon as she put the knife in her back pocket of her pants as usual, she took a deep breath, opened the bathroom door, and walked slowly to the porch, feeling anxiety overwhelm her completely.
She didn't mean to spoil Abby's attempt to have some kind of rapprochement between them then, so she thought of an effective way to ward off nervousness, even though didn't know any. For this reason, she took a few more uncertain steps, and as soon as she entered the porch, she slightly observed what had been prepared.
Since the space wasn't too small, the stronger woman had placed a table in the center of the porch with two plates, cutlery and two glasses, plus a bottle of wine. In the left corner was the grill and the shrimps, which she took care of so that they did not go beyond the point.
At that moment, the girl wondered that it really wasn't a date; maybe Lev didn't know what Abby's intentions were, or maybe he hadn't understood… Either way it didn't matter. The relevant thing was that the environment seemed to be very cozy, the young woman had to admit. After all, rare were the occasions when she sat quietly with someone, as if there were no infected outside.
Yet here she was, ready to take the first step in choosing whether to follow Lev's advice on courage and make her own decisions, or whether to continue to give as much as she could to what she thought other people would want her to do.
"Wow… Are you that picky about tidying up interiors?" The young woman asked, as she began the dialogue and smiled.
"Well, I'll admit that… Not so much. I thought about doing something different and I went to the library in Los Angeles yesterday, picked up some books and one talked about making room to put people at ease… Decoration and that kind of thing that before the outbreak was normal, from what I understand." Abby replied, before turning to face Ellie and approaching to pull the chair for the young woman to sit down. "We both need to do something to have a better rapport, so I thought… What better way for us to get closer than food?"
"You're absolutely right. In addition to the smell being great, the details of the place were very cool." She praised before settling down, noticing that the woman next to her had a heady pine scent, which was the soap she liked – once she had heard Lev and Abby talk about it. "Now, there's one thing I'm surprised by."
"What would be?"
"Where did the bottle of wine come from?" She asked interestedly. "Don't tell me you found it in another house…"
"Nope… It came from the basement. There are some bottles stored there, not only of wine but also of other drinks, but I found this one the most appropriate." She replied, as carefully took the shrimp out of the fire and placed them on a plate, under the more than watchful eye of the girl.
She noticed that the blonde was wearing a slightly wide black tank top that left her arms completely showing and navy blue sweatpants, in addition to the characteristic brown boots. She noticed that the woman was not carrying the holster around her waist, which she found strange, because not even in a quiet situation she used to let go of the knife that had belonged to Anna Williams.
"I think I need to apologize to you." The young woman spoke again a few moments later, in an attempt to lessen such embarrassment. "I've been striving to make our socializing as good as possible, but I admit that it hasn't been easy and that maybe… I'm not trying hard enough." She said while serving herself wine.
"I've already told you… No problem. I'm not going to charge you anything at all." Assured the blonde, before taking a plate with the shrimp and another with the salad and placing them in the center of the table, next to the bottle. "I confess that lately I've been charging myself a lot more for hurting you so much…" She added, pointing to her left hand the girl.
"Well, I was practically killing you after I forced you to fight me. So, you wanted to survive, I wasn't willing to leave and the way you found to try to stop me was… Be biting my fingers until it ripped off; and still I didn't let you go though. I thought I owed something to Tommy or the people of Jackson, coupled with the guilt I felt for my unresolved situation with Joel… But now I'm no longer sure I owe anything."
"I get it. We had said we wouldn't talk about these subjects, but come to think of it… I don't think we'll be able to clarify things definitively between us if… We don't have a frank dialogue."
"Are you willing to have a heart-to-heart conversation with me?"
"Yeah. No punches this time, please." Abby said as she poured wine into her glass.
"Of course, on that I fully agree."
"So, I… I'd start by saying I'm very sorry for what happened to your friend… His name was… Jesse, isn't it?" She asked, before sipping a long sip of the liquid.
"Yeah."
"Okay. But I would like you to understand that I had just come from a war scenery on that damn island; I needed to keep Lev alive after I had lost Yara and to this day I blame myself for her death even; we were being hunted by both groups... So, we needed to get away at any cost and... Dand suddenly, when the door opened there in the theater that guy ran into me... I just shot out of pure survival instinct. I know it doesn't justify that's do and I'm not here to get anyone's forgiveness either, but I think it's important to make it clear that I had no reason to kill him."
"No?"
"Of course not. I didn't even know him. As far as I know, it hadn't been him who had murdered my friends… I thought I had been Joel's the brother."
"Do you still think so?"
"To be honest… It doesn't matter at all now. Knowing who killed Nora, Owen and Mel won't make any difference to me at the moment, as much as I liked my friends. That day when we fought in the theater you and I, really, I was angry because I didn't have the understanding that I have today of the facts. I think living a year alone with Lev and then being kidnapped by the Rattlers gave me another understanding of the things that happened." She explained. "It may have been him, it may have been you who killed them... What's relevant now to me is that… You and I are alive, we are here, and we have a chance to do differently."
"I need to ask… If we're here together, why don't you take me to the Fireflies?"
"Why would I do that?" Abby asked, just before she served herself and started dinner.
"Well, that's why you went after Joel and did what you did, just to start..." she replied, also starting the meal.
"Nope."
"What?"
"That's not why I chose to get revenge on Miller. To be frank, I didn't give a damn about the cure…"
"So... Can I know why? As much as it doesn't change anything now... Since we're having a heartfelt conversation... "
"Of course, you can. Because he killed my father." The woman revealed, her voice choked as she cautiously examined the expression on her interlocutor's face.
Ellie remained silent for a few moments, completely taken aback by what she had just heard. Because although she knew that Joel had killed countless people over the twenty years after the outbreak, she did not imagine that one of them would be the blonde's father, even though he was almost certain that the event had happened in the hospital in Salt Lake. "I'm very sorry about that."
"Alright, thank you. And unknowingly… I ended up causing you what Joel had caused me, and for that, I'm very sorry, too. I'm not going to apologize for what I did because I don't regret it, just as I know there's no kind of regret on the part of those who killed Nora, for example."
"No, it doesn't really exist." The girl said, only now able to look Abby in the eye.
It was then that she learned who had killed her best friend. "But we both cannot deny that we are victims of circumstances, of choices that we did not make even though we made other misguided ... Now we're here, trying to stop things we don't know if we'll be able to do, but we can do what we can to make it work."
With a sigh, Ellie brought the fork to her mouth again, after drinking another long sip of wine. The meal was great, and if she was going to be honest with herself, Abby's company wasn't bad at all, especially after the heartfelt dialogue they just had. The comforting sound of the waves made the scenery even more pleasant, and even though they were feeding in complete silence for a few minutes, the stillness was not tense as at other times.
"The sea looks rougher today." The girl commented, as she had gotten up to go watch the beach for a few moments, while Abby searched for other shrimp that had been ready.
"Maybe it's some storm."
"But there are no clouds in the sky…"
"I know. But we often have storms that take the direction of the oceans, which makes the sea of the beaches rougher." She explained.
"You really seem to understand that." The young woman replied, returning to sit down as soon as Abby returned to the table.
"Thanks to my dad, yes."
"You… Have a problem telling me… About him?"
"Of course not." The blonde smiled. "What do you want to know?"
"What was his name like?"
"Jerry Anderson."
"So, you… It's Abby Anderson, isn't it?"
"Coincidentally yes." She replied with an amused smile. "He was a surgeon, he worked hard, but he liked animals and nature in general." She replied with a genuine smile as she remembered the man who raised her. "What about you? Who are your parents, what's your story?"
The girl assimilated again as Abby spoke, that most likely the surgeon killed in the hospital in Salt Lake City had been the blonde's father, a fact that made her sigh. "I don't know. I never knew anything about my father and… All I have from my mother is the knife I always carry with me and a letter she left me that's in my backpack." Ellie said, somewhat sad. "Her name was Anna Williams. And I only had this little memory of her, because Marlene gave it to me."
"I get it. So, the connection between you is this: Did Marlene know your mother?"
"Exactly, even if I don't know anything else about it." The young woman replied, after sipping another sip of wine.
"You don't even know if... If your mother was Firefly, too?"
"Unfortunately, not…" She replied, admitting internally that it might be a plausible hypothesis. "That's why all the healing situations happened because of my immunity, which to this day I don't know how I acquired it. And I didn't know Joel before that."
"No?"
"Nope. I lived in the Quarantine Zone in Boston, I was studying at a high school there."
"And how did you get bitten? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
"No, it's okay, I can tell you. That's when I was fourteen. I went with a friend... In fact, the first girl I was interested in at a mall and... There we were bitten by a Runner. That was a permanently forbidden area by FEDRA that any resident from quarantine or that we attended, but I had never been outside and... She wanted to give me a surprise, so she took me there. It had a lot of cool stuff, games, shops… everything was going great while we had fun, only we had no luck… Some Runners attacked us. So, after we were bitten Riley said we could be poetic and go crazy together… The girl swallowed dry and felt her eyes teary. "I'm still waiting my turn. But to this day it didn't come and… Well, I'm still about living. "
Abby nodded softly and reached out to touch Ellie's. "I'm very sorry." She said emphatically.
"Thank you." The young woman took another long sip of the drink before going ahead with her speech, unable to let go of the other woman's hand, because the contact pleased her enough. "After I had to kill Riley due to her transformation I meet Marlene, stayed with her for three weeks, which is when I found out the yeast infection wouldn't affect me, and that's when she hired Joel and a friend of his, Tess, to take me to the firefly base in exchange for guns and other things I don't even remember."
"And you... Have you always been interested only in girls since you were teenagers?"
"Yeah. I've never been with a guy to this day, nor do I really intend to have trauma." She replied, laughing lightly. "What about you?"
"I can no longer say the same, though the only man was… Owen and today I bitterly regret it, I know I can't go back."
'Shit.' Ellie thought, only now had she realized that she had killed Abby's likely love interest, though she was curious that the blonde had mentioned that she regretted it. "But why do you say that?"
"Because it was all one situation that led to another." She started, letting go of her hand so that she would sip a sip of wine. "And it had absolutely nothing to do with you. I had no idea you were in Seattle behind me, not until… Well, until Joel's brother kills Manny, just before I get to Serafita Island to rescue Lev." She replied, as soon as she returned or her eyes to the night outside for a brief moment, fixing them on Ellie soon after. "But before that to be more exact the day before, I had stayed with Owen… We had had sex, and he was dating a friend of mine… Or not so much… Because after everything she told me, I don't know if I could consider Mel my friend, but anyway… That's another problem that shouldn't be talked about now. ANYWAY, whatever it is, my first time was the worst experience I've ever had, because it was so rushed, so fast and I think…"
"What?" This time, it was the girl who reached out to hold hers, in a spontaneous gesture.
"If I wasn't so confused... I certainly wouldn't accept having sex with him."
"I'm very sorry your first experience sucked."
"Alright... Even though we live in a fucked-up world, I hope I can still be lucky enough to be with someone in better circumstances."
The girl turned her eyes to the stronger woman and realized they were fixed on her. The two of them stayed like that for a long time without intending to divert them: they were there, sitting facing each other facing each other, Ellie's right hand held Abby's left tightly, their fingers intertwined maybe meant so much more than they had the courage to deal with at the moment, but neither wanted to let the other go.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps made them walk away somewhat startled, as if the two women had been caught doing something forbidden. Lev was standing there watching them with a shy half-smile, as if he had noticed that he had interrupted an important moment, though unfortunately he could not turn back.
'I can come here later or talk to them tomorrow..., he thought.
"Hey, kid." Abby stood up promptly and walked over to him. "Want a shrimp?"
"Oh no, no. I ate the sandwiches you left down there. And I just came to say that... I'm going to sleep." The boy muffled a yawn. "You and I walk so much today, all I want is to lie down and rest."
The woman smiled and messed up his hair in response. "Okay, so have a good night."
"You are too." He looked from one to the other at length. "And don't drink too much, girls, huh. Tomorrow we've to start packing things up for the trip."
"Yeah, sir!" They both said at the same time.
"Good night, Lev." Ellie spoke smiling, admitting to herself that the best decision she had made that day to feel good about herself had been to talk to him first.
They watched the boy walk away, until he disappeared inside the house. Abby sat back facing the girl and smiled as she watched her. "Do you feel ready to face a few days on the high seas?"
"I think so, especially if you're in charge." She replied, laughing lightly.
"Don't worry, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's get to Oregon by navigation." Abby smiled a little again.
"By the way... I need to say something... Which I hope you understand."
"Sure! Just say."
"I've to go back to Wyoming." Suddenly, Ellie noticed a deep sadness in Abby's blue eyes for the first time that night. So, she hurried to continue the reasoning. "There's one thing I'm so afraid will happen… That Tommy will come after you and Lev somehow, to complete the bloody revenge he so desperately wants. So, I need to track it somehow. And if I don't give him news, he might think I was killed by you, which would make it even worse."
"Okay…" She took a deep breath. "I even thought I had killed him too..."
"Nope. But he was left with sequelae: he doesn't see of one eye and has a problem in one of his legs. It's just that his hatred for you hasn't diminished at all."
"Okay, I totally understand. After all, I killed his brother..."
"Yeah, but I think the time has come for him to get over it. And I don't see any other way if I don't... Lying that... I killed you." She commented. "Joel was family to me too and... Well, here I am, having a quiet dinner with you, when I thought we'd never get to that."
The stronger woman nodded and smiled lightly. "So, we're going to Oregon and from there you're going to go to Jackson, is that it?"
"Yeah."
"But... And then?"
"What… What's up next?"
"You're going to come back to meet us, aren't you?"
Ellie, despite her young age, was not inexperienced. She understood that the blonde's questioning showed that she had a real expectation that she would continue to live with Lev and her, which in fact for the immune girl was a clear sign of interest, because even if she had stayed with a man, Abby could have be bisexual and not even realized until then.
"Of course. There's nowhere else I want to be at the moment... The trips with both of you are exciting. We can explore a lot of scenarios, visit places, kill infected... It's a lot more fun than living in a closed community." She answered at last. "Also, every once in a while, I can enjoy delicious outdoor dinners." She said, with an amused smile.
"That means that… Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Everything was perfect, especially your company." The young woman emphasized, as soon as she sipped the last sip of wine in her glass. "And I think the fact that we clarified past matters made it anything less…"
"Complicated?"
"Exactly."
"I got that impression too."
The two women of them spent a long time looking at each other once more, before Ellie stood up. In fact, such weight she used to carry was no longer present, it was as if Abby's mere presence helped her feel better.
"Well, I'll rest, then. We'll have a long day ahead tomorrow to put on the yacht the things we want to take…"
"You're right." The blonde also stood up and stopped next to the young woman. She fixed her gaze on the scar she had on her eyebrow and lowered a little further to her lips, though she concluded it was too early for a more explicit attempt. Both had taken an important step by having a quiet and easy conversation throughout the dinner even on topics that would previously lead them to fight, but precipitating a move could put everything to lose. "Have a good night, Ellie." Whispered.
"You too, Abby." She returned the woman in the same tone, before walking away.