Chapter 6

As foretold by Carla, the yellow house down the street was indeed still habitable and even had a bunk bed, yet like the rest it had mostly been looted and demolished by the elements.

Sarah and Ellie were sitting in front of a small camping stove, where a pot with canned soup was heating up while both were silently staring at the small, blue flame.

"So, what happened back there?" Sarah then asked plainly as she was stirring the food. "I saw you havin' fun with those kids and then…"

To be honest with herself, Ellie would've bet her last underwear that Sarah would give her some hell for what had happened back at that place and therefore for the loss of almost all of their equipment. Yet, her question missed any anger or chiding tone, which on one side relaxed her, but on the other side also made her suspicious. Still, an honest answer seemed to be the better choice.

"We were playin' soccer, I got warm and rolled up my sleeves. Guess one of those lil' motherfuckers saw my marks and freaked. Out of a sudden, those fuckfaces had already surrounded me, and I… Fuck, I didn't know what to do."

"You pulled out a knife and threatened 'em," was Sarah's dry statement that was, once again, without any chiding undertone. "Show me that lil' toothpick of yours!"

After pulling the switchblade out of the pocket of her jeans, Ellie tossed it towards the blond woman, who caught it with ease and started to inspect it.

"It's not a fuckin' toothpick, y'know."

"Knife…fine," she returned, rolling her eyes and unfolded the spring-operated blade with an audible click. "It was your mom's, right?"

The question caught Ellie a bit off guard before she remembered that Sarah and her mom had probably been very close in the past. Strangely, her mother had never told her about Sarah, and the big question out in the open was, why?

"You seemed to know my mom pretty well. Strange, that she never mentioned you at all."

"Let's just say…" the lanky woman replied, folding the blade back into the hilt before reaching the knife back to the young girl. "We didn't part peacefully."

"What happened?"

Sarah had obviously expected this question and still seemed reluctant to answer. Lucky for her, she didn't have to as both heard some commotion from downstairs.

Right away, the blonde extinguished the stove and signed Ellie to stay while she pulled out her crossbow. Steps could be heard closing in on their room and Sarah was ready to greet their uninvited visitor with a bolt as a voice chimed.

"It's me, Carla. Don't shoot!"

A second later the door slowly opened and Carla stepped in, her hands in the air and her pistol still in a holster.

"Can I sit down?" she asked with a wry smirk, that may have been enough for Ellie, who was already relaxing, Sarah stayed skeptical.

"What do you want?"

"Find that Firefly depot, of course," the large woman replied, and placed her backpack on the floor before sitting down on the opposite side of Ellie. "You promised us a fuckton of food, and just because Seamus is pissed and pouting like lil' girl, doesn't mean that we can't get the job done."

Huffing out some air, Sarah lowered her crossbow, yet still kept her eyes on the other woman. "Does anyone even know that you're here or are we gettin' a visit from a search party?"

"A few," was everything Carla said as she took out some old, packed MRE bread and took a bite from this very hard snack. "I've some trustworthy people, who won't say shit about my lil' adventures that saved our asses more than once. Seamus is always 'bout playin' it safe. But that won't keep us alive. Doin' the risky shit that needs to be done, that's how you survive."

"Like killing others?" chimed Ellie in, earning a scolding glare from Sarah.

"There are some boundaries that're makin' the difference between doing it for survival and being a murderous son of a bitch," Sarah answered, putting the crossbow away before sitting down as well, trying the warmth of their meal with her finger.

"What about kidnapping a kid and threatening to kill it?" replied Ellie, causing the blonde to freeze in her doings and Carla to let her gaze wander between the two, commenting on the tense situation with a dry "Ouch!"

After a few seconds, Sarah took a small cup and filled it with some meal before she got up again, saying with a snappy tone "I'll take first watch. Eat and then sleep, I'll wake you when it's your turn!"

Both, Carla and Ellie, watched how she also grabbed her crossbow and left without another word.

"She hates me," said Ellie, lowering her gaze in frustration, which Carla commented with a dry chuckle.

"She acts all tough 'n' shit. But she likes you, I can see that. Or why do you think she was ready to kill that boy for you?"

"Maybe because it's her job?"

Once again, Carla just scoffed and shook her head, now standing up as well. "Just stop pushin' her with questions 'bout morality 'n' shit. You can do that in those fuckin' QZs, but not out here. She clearly has done stuff she isn't proud of and maybe guarding you and helping my people is some sort of redemption for her. Just give her a chance, a'right, kid?"

Ellie pondered about those words. Pondered about everything Sarah had already done for her. Maybe Carla was right. Maybe Sarah was on a path to redemption. Maybe she wanted to help, but didn't know how to express it. Maybe there was way more to her than this grumpy, pissed off character. Maybe…

But no matter what it was, Ellie wouldn't find out tonight, and as she realized that Carla was suddenly gone as well, she decided to take a few quick bites from the meal and then laid down to get some sleep.

The sun had already set and darkness was reigning the surrounding area.

Absently, Sarah took another spoon of her meal, realizing that her cup was already empty. If she would be honest with herself, she would know that she actually wasn't watching the area, but just staring at a far away, indistinct spot as her mind was wandering between the past and the present.

Sighing heavily, she put the dish away and buried her face in her cupped hands, huffing a faint "Fuck!"

Out of a sudden, a pair of hands embraced her from behind, making her body tense up immediately.

"Don't worry, chica, it's just me."

It was Carla, who then also started to plant soft kisses on Sarah's neck. A very bold action since she couldn't have known if the blonde would even be okay with this. However, she didn't defend herself or pushed her away, but instead simply spun around on the spot without breaking contact so that both women were face-to-face.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Hmm, I dunno…" the muscular woman replied, closing in even more while drawing soft lines over the other woman's body. "You're pretty cute and seem to be totally stressed out and I just wanna give ya some quality time. I mean, you travel 'round with this cute teeny gal and-..."

"One more word and I'm gonna punch you in your cute face!" warned Sarah with a darkened glare before she bridged the last gap and engaged in a wild kissing which peaked in a fight for dominance with lashing out tongues.

Without a warning, Carla broke the kiss, breathing heavily, forcefully turned Sarah around and pushed her against the next wall before letting her hands roam over her sensitive body, making her moan.

"Goddamn, chica, you're so tensed up," the strong woman whiffed into her ear, shuffling her hands under the blonde's upper garments to feel her small breasts and pinching her hard nipples while peppering her neck with wet kisses. Letting out quiet groans of lust, Sarah enjoyed those ministrations and gave in to everything that Carla was about to do to her.

One of her strong hands soon left her breast and wandered downwards, where it opened her belt and the buttons of her pants with experienced moves before it dived into them, past her waistband and her hairy pubic mound right towards her vagina.

"How long has it been since someone did this to you, huh?" Carla kept on teasing as she let her fingers glide through the other woman's very wet folds. "A month? A year? Maybe even longer?"

"You…" Sarah moaned back, her hands clawing into the wall she was pushed against, ripping off some stripes of old wallpaper. "You wanna have…ah, fuck! You wanna have my bio now?"

Chuckling playfully upon this reply, Carla released her hands from all former duties in order to pull down the blonde's pants. At the same time, the latter one turned around and pulled the stronger woman in by the waistband of her trousers for another deep kiss before she undid them as well.

Both kept on kissing while they pulled their pubic mounds as close together as possible by grabbing each other's butt cheeks. Lustfully, they moved their hips in a steady rhythm as they yearned for some much needed friction.

Sarah then reached further behind Carla, past her cheek and her rear to let her fingers sink into the Latina's wet folds, causing her to moan out quietly.

"Fuuuuck, chica! Keep…keep going!"

Out of nowhere, they heard the echolocating screams of a Clicker, which let both lovers freeze in their movement for a moment.

"I barricaded the door," whispered Carla after a few seconds while letting two fingers glide into the blonde, forcing her to groan into her broad shoulder. "We just have to be quiet."

Since this still seemed to be some sort of game, Sarah quickly regained her composure, ignored the infected outside and repaid this rather surprising move by taking one of her entirely drenched fingers and shoved into the Latina's backdoor, making her hiss lustfully while pressing her lover even closer. "Not…fair!"

Both soon began to move their hands in a steady rhythm, trying to keep down their voices on their hunt for relief while infected were roaming the streets.

Ellie wouldn't actually call herself a light sleeper. She could easily sleep in, unless her mind was full with unsolved problems, and once she was in Morpheus' realm, she would stay there until the next morning.

But tonight it was different.

It wasn't like she wasn't tired or anything, but as soon as she had laid down, a loud thud had caught her attention. Normally, in such a situation, Sarah would take a look at what it was, but since she wasn't there and Carla was gone as well, she decided to look for herself. So, she pulled out her switchblade and snuck through the corridor of the upper floor of the house.

Another sound caught her attention. It sounded like a whisper and then some commotion, like someone was struggling. She soon reached the room where this noise had come from and took a peek around the corner. The young teenager froze immediately as she witnessed Sarah and Carla kissing each other, their pants around their ankles and their hands on their butt cheeks.

It was like the red-head's breathing had stopped while her heart began to pound like it wanted to jump out of her chest and a tickling sensation was appearing in her lower abdomen.

She watched with amazement this play of lust that was happening in this very room, though her mind told her to not do it. But her body had taken over and though she wasn't able to see much detail in the obscurity of the night, her fantasy just filled in the blanks, plus that the moon was enlightening this scene from time to time.

For a moment she thought that the show was over as the scream of a Clicker chimed through the night. But right on the contrary the two women kept on going.

Ellie knew what sex was. She knew how it worked, and that it didn't necessarily require a penis. She had hoped, when Riley had kissed her that fateful night in the mall, that she would soon experience this too, but sadly, destiny had other plans. Now she was watching her guardian having sex with a woman they had met less than 24 hours ago. And it was strange and awesome.

Ellie also knew what masturbation was. Sometimes she had done it during her time at the academy, when Riley was already asleep. Though, in her mind she had imagined that her best friend would just wake up and join her.

Right now, she watched two women having sex while she opened her pants and let her right hand glide past her waistband and right towards her already drenched vagina. Softly, she let her fingertip brush over her clitoris, which caused her to release a shaky, very quiet moan. She hadn't done it to herself for quite some time, the last time being the night before Riley had come back.

Riley. Her sweet Riley.

She recalled their time together at the academy. How they had playfully ogled each other under the shower. How Riley had always shown her everything while changing. How she had encouraged Ellie to do the same until she had done it once for a stupid bet.

Ellie had always been insecure about her body. About the freckles that were covering it. Her tiny mounds that couldn't even be called breasts since they were just two little hills with some puffy nipples. And then there was her flat behind. She just didn't have any curves, unlike Riley used to have.

A moan brought Ellie back from her thoughts. Sarah was now sitting on Carla's face, her genitals rubbing over the other woman's mouth. Once again the clouds were making way for the bright moon, which enlightened Sarah's body in full glory. Her breasts, which weren't that big, her toned body and, of course, the patch of blond hair between her legs.

Time slowed down for a moment as Ellie's mind saved this picture. And it was also right at this moment that the young girl reached her intense climax. She actually had to bite down on the sleeve of her hoodie to muffle her moans. And it was also at that moment that she opened her eyes and saw that Sarah was looking at her as well while she was still riding her lover's face.

Maybe it was just a few seconds. Maybe even minutes until Sarah broke eye contact and let herself fall forwards, her face now burying between Carla's legs.

Gulping down hard upon fearing consequences for watching this sex scene, Ellie pulled her hand out of her pants and snuck back to bed, where she kept staring holes in the ceiling, her mind still playing those intense scenes in front of her eyes. Feeling her lust rising again, Ellie started to fumble with her vagina again until she had a second orgasm. Right in time before Sarah returned to their place not a minute later.

'This lil' peeping shit!' thought Sarah as her sight had caught Ellie and Carla's tongue was deep inside her. The young girl was practically standing in the doorframe with her hand fumbling with her nether regions.

But could she be mad at this girl at all? They had probably been too noisy and Ellie had just been curious what was going on. And now it was too late. She had caught them, all naked and busy, now even busy herself. Actually, an exciting thought, but also so wrong, so that the blonde decided to dive down between Carla's legs and lick her Latina-pussy. But still, Ellie kept roaming in her mind.

"F-fuck, chica…I…I'm gonna…" moaned Carla, her hips buckling up frantically as she was reaching her climax. Sarah was now close as well. She focused on her orgasm, trying to ban any disturbing thoughts until she broke through the wall.

Both women came simultaneously, their orgasms taking some time to subside. Eventually, Sarah turned her body around so that her head was resting between Carla's medium sized breasts, where she could feel her heavy breathing and hear her pounding heart.

"I so needed that," she said eventually, brushing with her hand over the strong woman's body.

"I know, chica. You had built up quite a stick up your sweet ass."

Scoffing softly, Sarah pushed her upper body up, gazing deeply at the Latina. In contrast to before, her voice now had a soft tone. "Thanks for that awesome night, but…"

"I know, I know… We're not a couple or any other shit. Just two sexy gals who needed some mush. Listen, I'm gonna take the first watch, you the second. Let the kid have her sleep, okay?"

Nodding in confirmation, Sarah eventually stood up and started to get dressed again before she left the room without another word or kiss. She just walked over to their sleeping place, where she expected Ellie to be asleep, but instead saw her fumbling with her hand in her jeans again. Politely, she waited until the young teenager was done before entering the room and slumping down beside her.

For a moment, she thought about whether she should say anything or just keep quiet about it. But in the end, she decided to talk about what happened anyway.

"I know that you were watching us," she said, trying to sound understanding and not harsh.

Silence. Not even a syllable. But Sarah didn't fall for this.

"And I know that you're not asleep. But listen, I don't care if you saw us or that you fucked yourself over it. Just know that it'll change nothing between us or our destination, okay? And…if you wanna talk about it, I'm okay with it. Believe it or not, I used to be young, too."

Sarah waited for a reply which never came, telling her that Ellie was probably way too embarrassed to answer or that she was just crappy at being a mother-figure, respectively being the one having the bees-and-flowers-talk. But whatever it was, Ellie wasn't willing to answer. So, she turned around and eventually slept in while Ellie stayed fully awake, struggling with her hormones and feelings.

People were screaming angrily while stones and bottles were flying against the shield-wall of the military forces.

"This is the Federal Disaster Response Agency, we're in a state of emergency. Return to your homes immediately or we'll use force!" it chimed from the speakers of an armored vehicle nearby. But the protesters didn't even think about listening to this announcement, and Sarah was one of them.

While the language of the frontline was violence, the backline were peacefully protesting people, who were yelling their demands for the reinstallment of a democratic government and the shut down of FEDRA. This was the place, Sarah was handing out leaflets of the Fireflies among the people.

She had just handed out the last pieces of paper as a gas grenade, shot by FEDRA, landed right beside her. A gust of wind carried the non-lethal gas towards her right away, causing the young 14-year-old to cough and her eyes to tear up.

Like her, the protesters tried to get away from the gas, which soon turned into total chaos since panic broke out. Being just a lanky teenager, Sarah got bumped around like a pinball. It wasn't the first time this happened, yet every time it was very dangerous. One false step, and she would trip and fall and then be trampled to death by the mass of headless peoples.

But this time it got even worse as automatic fire chimed over the area and tracer rounds zipped over the heads of the crowd, increasing the panic even more. Now everyone was trying to get away, not only from some teargas, but also life bullets. And this was the moment it happened that Sarah got pushed hard by someone. So hard, that it pressed all air out of her lungs and let her stumble. She tripped and went down, hitting the ground.

Though she thought that this was it, she eventually got grabbed by her T-shirt and lifted back on her feet. Everything was now just a sheer chaos of desperate screams and gunshots as the young girl got shoved through this ocean of people until they had reached an apartment building, where they seeked shelter.

"Fuckdammit, this is madness out there!" chimed the voice of Sarah's uncle, Tommy, a tall, broad man with dirty-blond hair. "What the fuckin' hell were you thinking?"

Sarah simply ignored his words and dusted off her jeans like nothing special had happened. "I was doin' fine, thanks."

But her uncle saw it in a different way as he grabbed his niece harshly by her arm and forced her to look at him.

"Oh, you were? Then why did I have to pick you up, huh?" he yelled, keeping her in place as she wanted to squirm away from his grasp, trying to avoid the conversation, but to no avail. "What were you doing there anyway? Didn't I tell you to stay home? FEDRA has declared a full curfew, everyone caught outside will get arrested. You want that?"

"Is this fuckin' curfew everything you're worried about?" the young girl yelled back. "People are gettin' mistreated and killed by these fuckers every minute, without any reason. We need to be out there and make a fuckin' stand. Not just for us, but also for Dad!"

Sarah saw the short hurt in her uncle's eyes, before he got dead-serious again, hissing "You think that he would've wanted his daughter to get trampled to death by a headless mob while she's working for some terrorists?"

The young girl froze for a moment before regaining her composure.

"The Fireflies are no terrorists!" she said defiantly, causing her uncle to scoff before he pulled out a piece of newspaper.

"They attacked a convoy. 26 dead, most of 'em innocent civilians. FEDRA has declared 'em terrorists and everyone who has an affiliation with 'em, is considered a high threat, and I don't think that I'll have to explain to you what that means."

"That's just propaganda…"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Tommy blurted back, throwing his hands up in the air. "If they find you with those pamphlets, you're dead, period!"

At the same time, the door to the house opened and another teenage-girl with fiery red hair and a slender figure as Sarah came cautiously in. She was maybe a bit older, but not by much and wore a backpack. As soon as their sights met, they immediately hugged each other.

"Gosh, I thought you were a goner," said the other girl, deepening the hug even more.

"She almost was, Anna," Tommy added, resting his hands on his hips. He knew how close Anna Williams and his niece were and that they both had a hang for doing such shenanigans. "So, who of you two had this glorious idea?"

"Leave Anna out of this, Tommy!" Sarah replied after breaking the embrace. "It was my idea. She just wanted to help and…"

Some more commotion could be heard from outside. Screams, gunshots, yelled orders and then an explosion. Knowing that the situation outside was getting entirely out of control, Tommy and the two girls quickly got deeper into the apartment building, up the stairs, into an abandoned apartment, where the wall to the bordering building had been broken through and then into another apartment that was a retreat of the Fireflies, where they rested for a bit. And not a minute later, another person entered. A young, ebony woman, called Marlene.

Groaning angrily, Tommy immediately jumped at her and pushed her against the next wall, hissing "We had a fuckin' deal! I deliver your stuff and you keep my niece out of your shit. So, what the hell was she doing out there, Marle?"

"She volunteered," was the black woman's bold reply. "I kept my part of the deal and held her out of it. She actually came to me and asked for a job."

"Wait, you made a deal so that she would keep me out of the Fireflies?" intervened Sarah agitatedly, now pushing her uncle so hard that he lost grip on the high-ranked Firefly. "What the fuck, man?!"

"Sarah," he then said sternly, gazing deep at her. "When your Dad died, he made me promise that I'd take care of you. And by hell, I'll make sure of it. Even if I have to deliver weapons to terrorists."

For a long moment, both stared at each other, the tension in the room rising until Sarah pushed her uncle aside and stomped out of the room, Anna following her, stat, leaving Tommy and Marlene behind.

"She got wings now, y'know," mentioned the ebony woman, her gaze still at the door where the two girls had left. "You should let her fly and make her own experience."

But Tommy just scoffed, replying "She's 14 Marle. She's still a fuckin' child."

Now looking at the blond man, Marlene walked close to him and brushed with her hand softly over his cheek.

"Maybe you missed it, but she's already grown up. You can't afford to stay a child in this world anymore. Maybe it's now on you to finally grow up and…"

Swiftly, Tommy grabbed the young woman's hand and squeezed hard, making her groan. He then leaned forward hissing menacingly into her face.

"If something happens to her, I'm gonna hunt you down! Each and everyone of you fuckers!"

Then, he furiously stormed off.

It was now late evening and 14-years-old Sarah was sitting on the rooftop of her apartment building, gazing at the first sparkling stars on the horizon, while her head was spinning with endless thoughts and emotions.

A chilly wind was brushing through her blond hair, carrying the sound of a distant gunfight. The protests and fights had slowly abated and now it was almost quiet. Peacefully quiet. A good, calm moment that turned perfect as Anna sat down beside the young teenager and flung an arm around her shoulder.

"A Dollar for your thoughts," the red-head whispered in her ear, right before she laid her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Are we really doing the right thing?" she asked, her gaze still fixed on a bright star far away. "What if my uncle's right? What if Marlene's tellin' us bullshit all the time and the Fireflies are nothin' more than a bunch of terrorists, usin' us kids for their shit?"

For a moment, there was just silence again, until Anna broke the contact and shifted her seat so that was sitting right in front of Sarah, facing her and holding her hands.

"Are you trusting me?" she asked sternly, earning a nod a few seconds later. "You're right, the Fireflies are more than just a movement anymore. They fight a war against FEDRA and against everyone who thinks that they can rule over those people like they see fit. You saw it today, FEDRA gunned down innocent people on the streets. People that were just protesting. You can't beat 'em by holdin' up a sign or handing out some pamphlets. We need to get active, we need to fight!"

"But how?" Sarah asked in return with a frown. "Bombing stuff? Just attack the soldiers? I-I don't even know how to use a gun."

"Not with guns," Anna returned, softly putting her finger on her friend's forehead, "but with our minds."

Sarah didn't understand. How could a mind defeat a bullet? And her demeanor probably carried this question right towards her best friend, who was smiling with giddiness at her.

"Come with me," she said excitedly. "Come with me to Colorado. I already asked Marlene and she agreed. We'll join a research-group of the Fireflies at the University of Colorado. They can teach us as the next generation and then we can work on a cure, the only weapon that could break FEDRA's neck in a heartbeat, 'cause it would rob those fuckers of their only reason to exist! The power would shift back to the people."

Sarah heard this enthusiasm in her voice and it carried her with it right away. Anna was very smart, straight-A, and so was Sarah. With some hard work and as a team they could achieve wonders. And as the young blonde agreed with Anna's plan with a wide smile and another nod, the red-head squeaked in joy, embraced her and planted a kiss on her lips, rendering the 14-year-old speechless, who was then staring at her friend with wide open eyes. It took them both some moments to realize what just happened until they both leaned in and kissed again.