horse ride!
Quinn
Four Years Later
“You know, considering how long I’ve known you, I feel like I don’t actually know you,” she says, organizing the cans of food, medicine, ammo, and other things.
“I could say the same for you,” Quinn teases, bumping her with her shoulder. “You aren’t exactly the heart-to-heart type.”
She laughs, shaking her head, her auburn-brown hair seeming extra red in the sun. The cool March air made her cheeks and nose a bright red under the smattering of freckles, and Quinn catches herself admiring more than normal before focusing on the task.
“Okay, so you’re from…” she begins, and Quinn rolls her eyes.
“Ellie, you know this.” When she didn’t respond, Quinn shook her head slightly, a small smile on her face. “Minnesota, way northwest.”
“Right. And you ran into Jesse at a gas station, nearly blowing his head off,” Ellie continues, disregarding the assignment and turning her full attention toward Quinn. Quinn laughs.
“And now here I am,” Quinn says, opening her arms. “Jackson. Where dreams are made.”
Ellie furrows her brow, and Quinn knew that wasn’t where the conversation was going to end.
“By yourself?”
Flashbacks flood Quinn’s head: vague phantoms of her mother, screams erupting from her father, the bone-chilling fear when she realized she had to flee. Quinn slowly nodded.
“Yup. Survivalist through and through.”
Ellie seemed to gather that Quinn wanted to drop it, so she abruptly stood up, stuffing her hands in her pockets.
“Well, I understand,” she says softly, and Quinn nods, standing up next to her. Ellie awkwardly pats Quinn’s shoulder, very obviously unaware of how to deal with Quinn’s emotions. However awkward it was, Quinn appreciated it.
“Yeah, thanks.”
They silently walked away from the station, having done their fill. Ellie’s presence was always welcomed by Quinn. Sometimes Ellie talked to fill the gaps, but other times–-like now–-it was just them enjoying the comfort of someone else.
Quinn recalls the first time they met when Ellie was fifteen and Quinn freshly joined the Jackson crowd. She slightly smiles, glancing over at Ellie now, remembering how she thought Ellie was slightly annoying. After all, Quinn was seventeen and didn’t have time for Ellie’s childish behavior. But Quinn prolongs the stare at Ellie, knowing that Ellie has gone through too much to be even called a child anymore.
“Oh my God,” Ellie says now, interrupting Quinn’s thoughts. Quinn quickly averts her eyes, trying not to make it obvious she was staring, feeling a slow blush creep up. Ellie grabs Quinn’s wrist, and Quinn looks up, seeing the excitement in Ellie’s eyes. Oh no.
“What devious plan do you have up your sleeve?” Quinn asks, raising an eyebrow. Ellie wiggles her eyebrows mischievously but doesn’t respond, just drags Quinn along for the ride. Quinn doesn’t resist.
Quinn soon realizes that Ellie’s dragging her to the barn. Ellie walks–-nearly marches–-towards Shimmer’s stall, cooing and stroking the horse’s nose, before turning to Quinn with a grin.
“Get on.”
Quinn narrows her eyes. She’s been riding with Ellie plenty of times, but usually has been told the location beforehand. Not that she didn’t trust Ellie, but Quinn wasn’t yet willing to subject herself to whatever consequences will come from Ellie’s plans.
“Stop doubting me and just get on,” Ellie groans, mounting herself on top of Shimmer. She pats the space behind her, looking expectantly at Quinn. Quinn groans and slowly gets behind Ellie. Ellie barely wastes a second before kicking Shimmer and leading her out of the barn, very obviously on a mission to wherever the hell Ellie was dragging them.
“Where are we going?” Quinn asks, their pace slow enough that she could have her arms relaxed to her sides. For some reason, Quinn’s face was always red when she had to wrap her arms around Ellie’s waist, the space between them nearly nonexistent. She definitely didn’t know why.
Ellie just hummed in response, not answering Quinn. Quinn wanted to smack her.
“If Maria yells at me for this, I swear to God–”
“She won’t,” Ellie scowls. “You’re plenty old enough now to do whatever you want. Maria can suck it.”
Quinn rolls her eyes at Ellie’s contempt but doesn’t ask any further questions.
Quinn looks around at the scenery, taking in the bare branches of the trees and gray sky, the sun sometimes daring to poke through. It was quiet, only the rare sounds of animals scurrying below them or the occasional grunt from Shimmer disrupting the winter silence. Quinn looks forward at Ellie and hesitates for only a moment before wrapping her arms around Ellie’s waist and leaning her head on her back, closing the space between them as an excuse for warmth.
Soon, Ellie was steering them toward a house, and Quinn still had not the slightest clue on what Ellie was planning.
Arriving at the fence, Ellie drops down with Quinn following, then ties Shimmer to the fence.
Quinn turns to Ellie, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
“Ellie. What is this?”
Ellie puts on a face of fake innocence.
“Just follow me,” Ellie says, grabbing Quinn’s wrist. Ellie leads them up the porch and into the house, very obviously feeling comfortable enough to know where she was going. She then heads to a set of stairs, leading to the basement. Quinn takes a sniff, face slowly morphing from surprise to mischief as she glances at Ellie. Ellie wiggles her eyebrows.
“Hell. Yeah.” Quinn says, running down the stairs.