Apocalypse [Ellie Williams]

◜chapter fifteen◞

The quartet had found a place to hole up in for the night, Tess almost fighting Cassie who refused to sleep anywhere but beside Ellie. The two adults where rightfully concerned but Cassie knew the truth, she was there and she saw it happen. If Ellie was infected, it would have happened.

The two girls had fallen asleep on grass and moss, their coats underneath them and their backpacks as pillows. Cassie was laying on her back, one arm draped by her side and the other over her head. Ellie was curled into herself beside the girl, her knees slightly digging into Cassie's side and one of her hands lightly held the fabric of Cassie's top.

It was a beautiful sight to see, wildflowers surrounding them while butterflies flew around. Sunlight was shining through the hole in the roof, casting an almost golden glow to them. Then, a few meters to their side where Joel and Tess sat on two chairs staring warily at the girls. Ellie woke up first, seemingly forgetting where she was as she sat up and looked up at the exposed sky before gazing down at Cassie with a soft smile

The creaking of Tess's chair was what made Ellie flinch, spinning to face the pair quickly. The moment Ellie was having was suddenly ruined "morning" She said, her voice quite as to not wake up the girl beside her. Ellie went to stand up, Joel quick to point the gun at her

"calm yourself hotshot, shes not gonna try to kill you" Cassie mumbled, her voice gruff with sleep, peaking from behind her arm at the man. She had woken up when Ellie first moved "yet anyway" Despite her words, Ellie still just sat down. Cassie let out a groan and turned onto her side, facing the others

"do i look like im infected" Ellie asked

"show us your arm" Joel instructed which made Cassie roll her eyes. Ellie just sighed and rolled up her sleeve, showing them the pale lines from her bite mark

"yeah its not getting any worse, is it" Ellie quipped, the two adults sharing a look "if were out in the open city, why aren't we getting swarmed"

"dont worry about that" Joel told her

"well im gonna" Ellie replied, Cassie sitting up and stretching her neck

"i second that, if im about to die i would like a heads up"

"what was Marlene doing with an infected kid as well as a kid that's clearly not infected"

"im not infected" Ellie tilted her head

"maybe i am infected, i might turn any second now. who knows" Cassie deadpanned, crossing her legs underneath her as she pulled her head out of the bun it was in. Shaking it out before pulling her hair back into a ponytail

"she found me after i was bitten" Ellie continued her story, snapping out of the daze she kept falling into whenever she looked at the girl beside her.

"and she didn't shoot you?" Joel pressed

"clearly not" Ellie raised her arms in exasperation "they locked me up and had her guys test me everyday to see if i was getting sick. Me and Cassie have been friends since we where little, i guess that's why she's here, to make sure i dont run."

It was a lie, they knew why Cassie was there but because there wasnt viable proof no one could know.

"Test you how?" Tess asked, invested in the girls story

"i have to pee" Ellie tried changing the subject

"test you how" Tess asked again

"they'd make me count to ten and hold out my hand and then keep it steady but you know, i think what really impressed them was the fact that i didn't turn into a fucking monster" Ellie stared at the two adults, Cassie (who had severely bad timing) let out a small laugh making the adults turn to her "now, can i please?"

As Ellie stood, Joel also did. Tess even shuffled closer to the end of her chair

"i was there okay! i saw it fucking happen! can we stop pointing guns at people now" Cassie blurted jumping up to stand beside the girl, not liking the large gun being pointed directly at the only person she had left in her fucked up life. Ellie held her hands up slightly, nodding in response "i wasnt bit but i saw it happen"

"fine" Tess nodded "back there, you can find a spot" Ellie let out a sigh and started heading back towards the door. Cassie let out a breath and sat back down on her coat as Tess grabbed the magazine by her feet "and here, tear out a few pages"

"there's not gonna be anything bad in here" Ellie asked as she walked through the doorway

"just you" Joel called back, cassie turning to Joel and giving him a look.

"oh, funny" Ellie commented, her voice laced with boredom. Cassie just laid back down, looking up at the sky. She could hear Joel and Tess talking but it was just background noise, Cassie wanted to bask in whatever peace she could and that was watching the clouds glide past and picking at the flowers beside her. A butterfly was flying near her head and the girl turned slightly, holding her finger out in its direction and staying extremely still.

The butterfly, a pretty blue in colour with black outlining the wings, landed on the tip of her finger. Carefully, the girl brought her finger closer to her face. She studied the white spots counting the upper side of the wings. The underside was brown, a spot in the shape of an eye on each wing. It disguised itself as a predator if it was near something that would prey on it. It was an amazing moment, the butterfly settled on the girls finger while she watched it carefully.

It only flew off when Ellie came back, a soft smile on Cassie's face as it disappeared into the sky. The girl coming over and sitting beside Cassie who turned to Ellie, the smile still on her face. A smile Ellie dreamed of seeing everyday for the rest of her life.

no because i dont think you understand how in love with this book i am!! Ellie and Cassie, their dynamic! its perfect (im joking, as much as i do actually love this i am very insecure about my writing lols)

Also, were reaching 4k views and omg i could not be happier! at the beginning of this fic i thought no one would read it and now this!!! i love you all