𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬 : 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐂
September 27th, 2013 an infection took over the world. Twenty years later, a young girl is immune. Ruth doesn't expect her life to turn more upside down than it already has, but...
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Boston QZ, 2033
I peered through the window down onto the streets below. I watched the soldiers walk up and down the pavement mindlessly. I was nervous earlier, being so close to them but, they're too focused on trying to hunt down the rest of the Fireflies to care about their daily walkthroughs. Lucky for us.
We've been in here all day. Looks like it used to be a bakery. The cupcake decals on the windows were a dead giveaway. Marlene brought us here early this morning, then told us she had some unfinished business and that we had to wait for her here. I'll admit that her and I aren't the exactly friends. I'd barely call us acquaintances but, I did hope that everything was okay.
Ellie was staying busy by throwing a rubber ball against the wall. It didn't bother me at first but, the continuous thumping noise was getting old.
"Ellie?"
My niece shot her green eyes to mine after she caught the ball in her hand. "Yeah?"
"You're giving me a headache," I said, my voice sympathetic.
She sighed heavily, "Sorry." She knelt down in front of her backpack, stuffing it into the side pocket then flopped down onto the floor. Her knees slid up to her chest and she rested her chin on top. I took a seat on the windowsill and leaned my head back against the glass - now resenting the uncomfortable quiet.
It seems like Ellie was too.
"Aunt Ruth?"
I lifted my head. "What's up?"
Her brows pushed together, her face expressing concentration as she tried to find the right way to phrase her next words, "You think this is going to work, right?"
I pursed my lips in contemplation and folded my hands in my lap. She didn't know this but, I didn't want to go through with it. It's been a week since the plans were made, but I've spent everyday trying to talk Marlene out of it
Ellie jumped on the idea as soon as Marlene said the words. Without giving away the fact that I thought it was reckless and stupid, I attempted to talk some sense into the teen. I explained the risks, the dangerous things we would run into. The fact that we wouldn't be coming back to the QZ afterwards. She'd be leaving behind her friends, her stuff, everything.
But she took Marlene's word over mine. It would go off without a hitch and at the end of it, we'd have a place with the Fireflies. However, for me, none of that rid the incredibly bad feeling that I had. The whole thing was a giant 'what if.' It put my life at risk, and more importantly Ellie's. I hated thinking about how she would end up as some lab rat for their cure.
