She with The Flowers in Her Hair| Number Five

🌺CHAPTER 18: Murderous Vigor🌺

"Okay, if you say so. Come on, we need to find Vanya."

~~~

The events of the night led up to the couple blinking into Vanya's apartment, upon arriving Five sat himself down at the chair trying to fix the cloth Ellie had tied on his wound. The girl on the other hand went ahead and entered the bathroom, rummaging into the cabinet to look for antiseptics. She came back holding a bottle, some gauze and then tape, just as Vanya opened her door, gasping as she saw Five barely illuminated by the lamp beside him. "Jesus." Vanya exclaimed at her brother "You should have locks on your windows." He replied, not really caring that he had startled her. Ellie popped out and walked next to the boy, removing the cloth that was now soaked in blood. "She lives on the second floor Five." She said beginning to dab onto the wound, Vanya whispering about how weird he was under her breath going ahead to take a seat beside Ellie. "What happened to you guys?" The woman asked, her breath hitching as she saw Ellie's arm that was dripping in blood, the girl turning away from what she was doing to face Vanya and give her a smile.

"It's nothing Vanya. I hope you don't mind me raiding the bathroom." She begun, but Vanya was still pretty much concerned about the girl's bloody arm. Ellie tried to ease her by removing the cloth and showing that the wound had closed up already, the blood dripping only effects from earlier on. "I'm fine..." "How did you--" "I'll explain later, right now you need to listen to Five." The woman reluctantly turned toward Five and let out a deep breath. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

"We decided that you're the only one we could trust."

"Why me?"

"Because you're ordinary." Baffled, Ellie slapped his wound making Five yelp out slightly, then coughing as he saw the hard look on her face. "... Because you'll listen. When I jumped us forward and got stuck into the future, do you know what we found?"

"No." Ellie who was still absorbed in her task couldn't help but answer the question herself. "Nothing, absolutely nothing..." She whispered, drawling out a little. Five nodding at her quiet statement in agreement.

"As far as we could tell, we were the last people alive. We never figured out what killed the human race, but we did find something... the date it happens. The world ends in eight days. And I have no idea how to stop it." His orbs no longer on Vanya but drifting towards the girl with flowers in her hair. Vanya on the other hand was getting more baffled, her own eyes staring into nothing, before snapping back to the pair.

"I'll put on a pot of coffee." Vanya stood up making a beeline to the kitchen, leaving the couple alone. Ellie finished up cleaning the wound, looking into Five's eyes, his hand going to her cheek as she yawned. Her action made him chuckle, planting a kiss to her forehead, although obviously tired the girl fought off exhaustion and willing her eyes to open, shooting a scolding look to the boy "You know, this type of things can very much overwhelm a person, love. Take it easy." She said leaning into him.

"We don't have time Elle. We need to do this." Vanya came back, offering the coffee to the teenagers to which Five indulged while Ellie declined, leaning her head onto Vanya's shoulder closing her eyes. Sleep creeped up on her, the last thing she heard was Five continuing with his story. Vanya who felt the girl go limp beside her wrapped an arm around the girl, trying to make her comfortable before shifting her focus onto Five. "We survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches. Anything we could find." He chuckled bitterly, recalling their brutal experiences in the apocalypse. "You know that rumor that twinkies have an endless shelf life? Well, it's total bullshit."

"I can't even imagine."

"You do whatever it takes to stay alive. Or you die. So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it. Ellie even found out something about herself, the self-healing? Came in real handy when we were out there." Five looked down to the now fully asleep girl, and then his empty mug "You got anything stronger?" He asked, making Vanya lay Ellie down on the couch and then going to pop open a bottle of scotch. Pouring it generously into a cup then handing it to her brother, the woman unsure of the premises of giving a alcohol to a eighteen year old that's really fifty eight, but watched as he downed the drink anyways. Her eyes visibly in disbelief at the Five's narrative.

"You think I'm crazy." he announced in disappointment, his jaw hardening as the annoyance began eating at him.

"No-- I--uhm...it's just . It's a lot to take in."

"Exactly what don't you understand?"

" Why didn't you just time travel back?" the woman asked, Five scoffing at her mindless question.

"Gee, I wish I thought of that." the reply purely sarcastic in nature, was intended to be a jab at his sister. " time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the Ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family? By the very least to get Ellie back?" Vanya was taken aback from his rebut, but was still entirely confused.

"If both of you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, then how come you guys still look like kids?"

"I told you already. I must have gotten the equations wrong." the boy began once more, pushing past his sister and filling his glass with more scotch.

"I mean, Dad always said that time travel could mess with your mind. Maybe that's what's happening, like how Ellie acted when you guys first arrived, but it's just different with you." Her suggestion being the final straw, Five slammed his glass after he emptied its contents, his angry tone directed towards Vanya.

"This was a mistake. You're too young.. Too naïve to understand--" The boy stalked towards the sleeping girl, already prepared to wake her up when Vanya stopped him.

"No, Five, wait. I haven't seen you two in a long time." She started, her eyes drifting towards the couch and the girl with a head filled with flowers. "I don't want to lose either one of you again. That's all. And you know what, it's getting late. I have lessons early, I need to sleep and by Ellie's state, you do too. Here." the woman went ahead to fix the pull out couch to make room for Five next to Ellie. "We'll talk in the morning, again. Okay? I promise. Night." Five watched Vanya leave, waiting for the bedroom door to close behind her, before taking a seat next to Ellie. His hand pushed back the strands of hair that covered her eyes. He breathed out, sitting up pulling out a pouch from his coat pocket. The eye was cold in his palm as he looked at it, like he did so many times decades before. Turning the orb around he saw the familiar inscription, knowing what he had to do.

He turned to the sleeping girl, shaking her violently. The unappreciative girl forcing her eyes open.

"Come on love. We need to go." 

EDITED