so close
Ellie
They were close. Oh, so close.
Ellie stares at the map, putting a finger where they were right now. They were on the edge of a town, about three days away from Seattle. Ellie’s heart raced, the realization of everything that has happened over the past 2 weeks culminating in this one moment with Abby.
Quinn glances over Ellie’s shoulder, her face mighty close to Ellie’s. Ellie slightly jerks back, caught off guard. She flits her gaze to Quinn, who was scrutinizing the map and the spot where Ellie’s finger was still hovering.
“You said about three days?” Quinn asks, taking a step back. They were standing on the edge of a small lake, taking a break from a long stretch of riding to wash and not feel as…grimy.
Ellie nods, watching Quinn set down her backpack. It was a warmer April day, the sun shining and making the water sparkle. Ellie sighs, knowing the water was going to be freezing cold.
They both take off their socks and shoes, exchanging a glance before taking off and running into the water. Ellie dives in, letting the water wash over her. She found it surprisingly refreshing as she resurfaced, looking over at Quinn. Quinn noticed Ellie looking and gave her a grin and a thumbs-up.
“This water isn’t too bad!” Quinn says. The two strip down to their tank tops and underwear, avoiding eye contact as they scrub their clothes in the water, watching the dirt float through the clear water. Gross.
Ellie took out her braids, leaning her head back and scrubbing at her scalp. She stands, hearing Quinn trudge out of the water and flop down on the ground, trying not to stare at Quinn’s dripping-wet form. Ellie’s cheeks warm and she walks to the edge of the lake, hastily finding clothes in her backpack. She barely lets her body dry before pulling on her shirt and pants, shaking out her hair, and hoping it doesn’t look a total mess. Quinn glances at Ellie from where she was lying on the grass, groaning as Ellie was already beginning to pack their things.
“Already?” Quinn whines, propping herself up on her elbows, just watching Ellie. Ellie wrings out her clothing and shoves it in her backpack, not caring that they’re still soaking wet. Ellie chooses to ignore Quinn’s comment. Quinn knows Ellie is anxious to get to Seattle; staying here any longer will delay them from getting to Abby. Ellie couldn’t focus on anything except their destination, especially with being so close.
“You know how I feel about dawdling,” Ellie mutters, walking over to the horses and pointedly not making eye contact with Quinn. She hears Quinn sigh–-obnoxiously loud, Ellie thought–-before rustling around and pulling on some pants.
“‘Dawdling,’” Quinn grumbles softly, but loud enough so Ellie can hear, “you sound like Joel.”
Ellie rolls her eyes at the comment, glancing over her shoulder. Quinn takes her sweet time to join Ellie by the horses, her face set in stone per usual as she gathers her things and does her hair. Ellie felt a twinge of guilt pang through her, but it was quickly followed by annoyance. Ellie has been trying extra hard to work on her impatience, but she has to keep reminding Quinn what they’re here for. This isn’t just some fun road trip.
Ellie lets herself observe Quinn as she braids her hair with her back to Ellie, apparently trying out a new hairstyle that Ellie hasn’t seen before. Ellie’s eyes graze over Quinn’s muscles flexing, the curve of her jaw as she holds the rubber bands between her lips, her tank top still slightly damp, her jeans loose around her hips. Ellie swallows hard, a gnawing thought in the back of her mind reminding her that her lingering gaze was not something that friends do. But everything Quinn did seemed to entrance Ellie, trap her and leave her dumbfounded.
Quinn turns around as she was throwing on a shirt, taking Ellie’s stare as expectancy, and Quinn rolls her eyes and beckons Ellie to come to her.
“You want me to braid your hair,” Quinn says, more of a statement than a question, and Ellie blinks, giving her a grin and jogging over to where Quinn was standing. That wasn't exactly what she was thinking, but if Quinn is offering...
Quinn does a slightly different style, instead of braiding Ellie’s whole head she does two braids with the top half and leaves the rest down. Ellie was always amazed at how quickly Quinn can do that. It took probably less than five minutes, and once finished, Ellie turns around, touching the top of her head.
“You’re gonna have to teach me how to do that,” Ellie says, and Quinn laughs.
“Yeah, so I can stop doing it for you.” Quinn crosses her arms, heading over to the horses and scooping up her backpack. Ellie lets out a small sigh, watching Quinn feed Bucky and mounting herself on. Catching herself staring, Ellie quickly follows suit, leaving the lake and navigating back onto their path.
“So…” Quinn drawls suddenly. Quinn has been keeping up with Ellie’s pace for the past hour, and Ellie looks to the side at Quinn. Ellie raises an expectant eyebrow at her. “So what’s the plan for once we get there? I mean, obviously, I know a general idea but…what are you going to do Miss Heroine?”
Ellie scoffs at the nickname but glances down at the map. She supposes she hasn't really told Quinn her exact plan, and Ellie knows Quinn will hate it. Ellie has been practicing what she’s going to say, what she should do, but now that she has to say it out loud, her already-small confidence falters.
“It’s going to be so stupid of me, but I was planning on walking in. I know they’re going to be on the defense immediately, but I’m hoping if I walk in with no aggression, they might listen to what I have to say,” Ellie says, biting her lip. It sounds ridiculous. “I’m just hoping they don’t fucking murder me on the spot.”
Quinn was silent, digesting the words. Ellie was waiting for the lecture, maybe even an argument, but Quinn shrugs.
“I’ve got nothing better,” she says, then pauses. “Do you think it’ll be…better since I’m with you? Going alone would look almost suspicious?” She sounded unsure, and Ellie looks back at Quinn who was staring straight ahead, apparently avoiding eye contact.
Ellie’s heart squeezes at the thought of being met with immediate violence. The prospect of Quinn getting hurt all because of her made Ellie want to crumble. Ellie looks back to the road, the only sound of the horses' soft clop filling the air.
“No, we’ll be fine. It’s just us. We aren’t trying to surprise or catch them off guard.” Ellie scowls. “In fact, Abby will probably love the fact that we’re offering ourselves up as prisoners.”
She notices Quinn slightly cringe at the word ‘prisoners,’ but Ellie didn’t have any other way to put it. That’s what they were going to be: prisoners. Ellie was holding onto the hope that her immunity will intrigue Abby enough to lay off Joel.
Ellie sighs, finding herself thinking about what could’ve happened if Joel never saved Ellie. She often finds herself here, feeling her resentment grow. But before it could spark into a fire she can’t fan out, she tamps it down. She needs to be able to think rationally, not lingering on what could’ve been. Because she’s here, on her way to give herself up to the girl who nearly killed Joel, hoping she can use her immunity as a second chance.
The two continued in silence for another hour before the sky dimmed. They were passing through what looked like a decently sized city, littered with abandoned stores and subdivisions, tall buildings overgrown with ivy and vines. As ominous as the post-apocalyptic world was, it was beautiful to see nature overrun man-made things. Ellie still found herself amazed by the outdoors, feeling like it was her first time outside again. She looks to the sunset, the sun sending soft orange tendrils into the purple sky, the clouds pink and dark blue. Quinn sucks in a breath; she was as amazed as Ellie was.
“C’mon,” Ellie says quietly, leading them down a road of houses that didn’t look too beat up. Quinn follows, continuing to look over her shoulder as the sunset intensifies.
Ellie chose a small, one-level house and hopped onto the ground, tying Shimmer to the porch fence before doing their usual perimeter check. Ellie was toward the back of the house when something from inside croaked. The hairs on the back of Ellie’s neck stood straight up and she instinctively ducked, flattening herself along the side of the house, peering through the large glass screen door that led inside. She saw one, two, three…three clickers. She let out a small breath. Nothing she hasn’t dealt with before. She heard a crunch behind her and stood up and spun around, gun already aimed. Quinn widens her eyes and held out her arms in surrender. She opens her mouth to say something but Ellie puts a finger to her lips and points to inside the house. Quinn cranes her neck and nods.
The best way to kill a multitude of clickers without becoming their lunch was stealth. Easier said than done, of course. Does Ellie’s immunity sometimes make her more reckless than she needs to be? Absolutely. Ellie usually spends her time raining bullets in clickers on patrols, throwing caution to the wind about noise levels. However, their strategy was quick and quiet with Quinn’s life also on the line.
Ellie and Quinn separated, trying to find a window to climb through to attract as little attention as possible. Ellie slowly lifted one, checked her surroundings to make sure there was no clicker ready to pounce, and deftly climbed through, landing softly on her feet. She seems to be in the living room, which unfortunately was quite closed off from the rest of the house. She heard some shuffling, a grunt, and a high-pitched croak followed by a thud. Ellie grins to herself. That’s my girl.
Ellie continued crouching, slowly making her way to the doorway that presumably led to the rest of the house. The darkness from outside made the inside of the house even harder to decipher, and Ellie prays that she doesn't accidentally step on something that leads to her death. She peeks her head around the corner, looking into a hallway that had a twitching clicker nearly five feet away from her. She quickly surveys the area before coming up behind the clicker and diving her knife into the neck. The clicker tries to claw at her but quickly grows limp. She pulls the knife out, gives the clicker another stab, and slowly lets it down on the ground. There’s at least one more, and she doesn’t even know where Quinn went.
Heart pumping, Ellie quietly makes her way down the hallway and into the kitchen, where Quinn was finishing off another clicker. She looks up at Ellie with a proud smile on her face, and Ellie returns it.
“Is that it?” Ellie whispers, and Quinn nods, scrunching her nose at her knife and hands that were now covered in clicker blood.
“Pretty sure,” Quinn says, attempting to find something to wipe off the knife. Ellie nods, about to survey the rest of the house before hearing something crash from the living room. Face paling, Quinn immediately grabs her rifle, turning to the noise, and Ellie reloads her pistol. Quinn sighs, letting out an exasperated, "Never mind."
“Should we leave?” Quinn whispers after a beat of silence, slowly sidestepping toward the screen door. Ellie nods, her eyes keeping watch on the doorway, before there was another crash and Ellie sees something that made her heart drop.
“Quinn,” Ellie warns. The thing seems to pause, and Ellie meets Quinn’s wide eyes. “Run.”
With a crash--pieces of wall and wood flying, dust assaulting Ellie’s eyes--the thing steps through the door, Ellie’s heart dropping to her stomach. It was as if everything was in slow motion.
A fucking bloater.