For a kid who had been through as much as she had the past few weeks, Ellie was incredibly stoic. She was silent, compliant, putting one foot in front of the other, onto the next group, the next task. There always seemed to be something else; there was never any end. Her current reality was certainly worthy of an emotional response, but Ellie swallowed the fury, the sorrow of being abandoned again. She’d now been passed around, palmed off, and controlled more times than she could count. Truthfully, sadly, she was starting to get used to it. At least this time around, she felt a sense of purpose, that one thing she could hold onto that would surely make all of the misuse and loss worth it. It had to be a success this time, she had to make sure of it. Unfortunately for her, that also meant spending the next few weeks with the most hostile duo she’d ever encountered. They didn’t know why they were travelling with her either, which made things harder.
Sure, Ellie had attacked one of them, the man, but she’d caught them sneaking around, and who knew what they would’ve done if she hadn’t interrupted them? One glance was enough for Ellie to know they’d done all kinds of shit in the past. They were dangerous, Marlene had made that clear. And now here they were, teamed up and on a mission. A silent one, apparently. Had Ellie not been so focused on burying her resentment, she would’ve been incredibly bored. Years seemed to pass before either one of them acknowledged her again, Tess suddenly sidling up to her. Ellie waited for the woman to speak up first, but that wasn’t out of spite, just wary curiosity. If it had been Joel to approach her, however, she’d certainly have been sour. Trying to appear nonchalant at the suggestion, she shrugged. “Do you?”
“I do,” came Tess’ simple response. “I’m fuckin' starving. I've only got some piss-poor jerky but my mouth's watering just thinkin' about it.” If it hadn’t have sounded so matter-of-fact, Ellie might’ve thought the woman was joking around. But it had been clear from first meet that these two weren’t the type to joke. Ellie was positive they hadn’t even heard of humour. Realising the blonde was still waiting on a response, finally, she nodded. Admittedly, she was starving too, but she hadn’t wanted to look weak by voicing it, not after her and the man’s earlier altercation. Ellie could hold her own, she was sure of it, and since Joel had so easily overpowered her, she now wanted nothing more than to prove it. “Okay then. Joel?” Tess asked, coming to a stop. Ellie did too, the woman looking back to her partner for a response.
Sheer obstinance stopped the girl from looking in his direction too; at least at first. But when he didn’t reply immediately, curiosity got the better of her. She glanced over at him, taking in his guarded stance, the rifle he held. Her eyes widened a little at the sight of it, as it did every time she saw a gun. What she wouldn’t give to hold one of her own. Suddenly engrossed in her own fantasies of being that powerful, Ellie noticed too late that he’d looked at her, too. Embarrassed, annoyed, she quickly turned her head. The pair had tried to kill each other, after all, but he’d quickly proven he had the upper hand between them. And that was exactly why she didn’t like him, or trust him; and exactly why she found him so intriguing.
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