I wake up to a banging on my door. I jolt awake and reach for my knife stuck into the wood beside my bed. We've been in Jackson for six years, but I can never let my guard down. I'm just waiting for the moment when everything falls. It can only be for a matter of time. Nothing good ever lasts.
More banging at the door and I huff as I get out if bed, seeing nothing out of my window of concern.
"Ellie!" Tommy yells at the door.
"Coming!" I say annoyed.
What does he need? I'm not scheduled for patrol until tomorrow. I open my door to what is technically the shed in Joels back yard, and see a panicked Tommy.
"You got to go." He says barging in my room and looking around frantically.
"Wh-what? Why?" I ask.
He finds my backpack and shoves it in my chest, "A patrol of ours was spotted last night by a heavily armed military type group last night. Our guys said they were aggressive and they know you and Joel are in the area. Said they were lookin' for y'all an' asked if they'd seen them. Our guys said no, and told them they were just scavvers. They left them be but they don't know Jackson is here yet." He says.
"What? Well, why...why are they.." I say confused.
"I don't know. The patrol got a look at them though and said they wore some type of symbol." He says.
"Fireflies?" I ask.
"No, he said it was different. Not a firefly symbol." Tommy tells me.
"Well," I say packing my knife and gun along with a few other things i'll need, "what about Joel?"
"I already talked to em'. Told em' it sounded like they were here for bad reason. Said we can hide you, that we can keep y'all safe. But he said no. He argued and said we don't know who they are, how many people they got, the firepower they have, nothin'. He wants y'all to leave an' sent me to come get you while he packs. He's grabbing your horses now." Tommy says, "I'm sorry. But he's right. It's too dangerous to keep y'all here. If they got heavy weapons we wouldn't have a chance against em' and a lot of people would die."
I nod, "Alright. Gimme a sec." I tell him.
He nods and I go around the room, grabbing a spare shirt and jeans with a few pairs of socks, some feminine hygiene products, toothbrush, toothpaste, and some ammo.
I continue to walk around the room and pack, not wanting to waste any time. I grab my walkman and headphones, my joke books, the tapes for the walkman, including the one Joel gave me for my birthday, and my dinosaur figure I took that day too. I pocket my knife and holster up my pistol, grabbing my rifle on the way out the door.
Tommy is waiting for me patiently with his hands in his pockets. The look of sadness written across his face knowing he'll have to say goodbye again, even after the safety we've had all these years. I walk up to him and he walks me to the front of the house, Joel tending to the horses already.
Joel turns and looks at me, then gives me a hug. He lets me go and nods to the horse. I walk over to Magnum, my brown horse with four white feet and a star on his forehead, and load my weapons and pack on his saddle. I tighten his girth and make sure everything's snug and tight so I don't fall off.
I turn around and Tommy is hugging Joel, saying his goodbyes. They let go and Joel claps his shoulder. Tommy walks over to me and hugs me too. I hug him back and after a second, we let go.
"Gonna miss you kiddo." He says.
I nod, "yeah, gonna miss you too. Well, you and my own place." I say sarcastically.
"You mean a shed?" He asks jokingly.
"Hey, isn't the old saying 'home is where the heart is' or some such shit?" I ask.
He ruffles my hair, which resembles Tess's hair a lot with the top strands tied back and the rest hanging to the top of my shoulders.
"Never change kid." He says. He backs up a few steps and we mount our horses, "Be careful." He tells us.
"You too." Joel says, "Hyah!" He yells to the horses and we take off. We head for the gates and up the hill to the mountains surrounding Jackson. I don't know where we're going, but I guess we'll figure it out.
———
We rode for about a day I think? Fuck, I don't even know. Joel and I were quiet the whole time, trying to listen for infected, or fireflies. Eventually, soon after we were out of Jackson's patrol perimeter, we find a house to stop at and rest. It's one of those that when you walk in, you can go right to go upstairs or left to go downstairs. Joel told me before they call them split levels? I don't know, I didn't build the shit.
We stash the horses in the garage and take their saddles and bridles off. Sweat and snow covers their bodies so we find rags left from someone unknown on the shelf. We shake the dust off and wipe them down. The stable master told me once that if you leave them like this, especially in the cold, that they'll get really sick. Makes sense, humans do if they get wet in the cold.
Once they're dry, we head to the main house and start scavenging. Back on our same shit I guess. I look for anything useful. Bottles of hydrogen peroxide or alcohol, bandages, food, water, ammo. Anything. We meet back up in the living room later. Joel was busy barricading all the doors and windows with furniture. I don't come up with much but a can on old fried apples and kidney beans. Joel puts them in his pack for later and we set up blankets we find in the house on the floor.
We sit in the living room, silent for a while. We watch as a snowstorm comes through and begins dumping snow in the region. By the time someone speaks, there's already about a foot on the ground.
"Bad storm." Joel says simply.
I nod, "yup."
"You alright?" He asks.
I sigh, knowing I can't hide my emotions around him, "it's just-" I say sighing, "why are we being hunted. What enemies do we have this time?"
"I don't know." Joel says with a worried expression.
"I knew it." I mumble under my breath.
"What?" Joel asks almost as if he were nervous.
"I knew it." I say louder for him to hear and look at him seriously, "Nothing good ever lasts. Not for me. I'm just bad luck."
He lets out a breath and shakes his head, "no you aren't."
"Oh bullshit. Take a look Joel. Everyone I have ever been around gets fucked over one way or another." I tell him angrily.
"No, none of that was in your control. You can't stop everything. It isn't your fault." He says raising his voice a bit and becoming very stern, "Now I will keep us safe and we'll make it through this. Alright?" He says.
I sigh and put my head on the wall behind me, "yeah." I say annoyed.
"Alright. Now get some sleep. We'll eat in the mornin' and then we'll go yeah?" He says.
"Okay." I say letting out a frustrated breath.
I lay on the hard ground covered by a blanket. I pull another blanket to my chin and close my eyes, and sleep follows soon after.