Apocalypse [Ellie Williams]

◜chapter twenty four◞

            It was pitch black in the basement, the two girls crowded at the top of the hole. Ellie grabbed a rock before tossing it down, it wasnt too far of a drop and there was no shrieks of clickers that ran after the noise. Ellie switched on her flashlight, shining it down before stepping it to her jacket. The girls deemed it was safe and dropped into the room.

It was dark and dingy, dust and dirt particles disturbed from their movement now flying through the air. Ellie's flashlight being the only source of light, Cassie's deemed useless after the batteries started running low and the bulb flickered instead of shone. The brunette handed Cassie her flashlight before grabbing the trashcan and propping it up so they could get back out of the basement.

Cassie tossed the girl her flashlight back before opening a few of the lockers that had been raided, everything practically empty except a few small scraps of fabrics the girls tucked away into their pockets and backpacks.

"fuck yeah" Ellie nudged Cassie, an unopened box of tampons on the shelf they where in front of. Cassie nodded at the girl, both girls due on relatively soon so they would come in handy. As the two girls studied the dusty box, a quieter shriek echoed throughout the room making both girls jump. Cassie reaching into her pocket and holding her knife in front of her. Carefully, Ellie shone her flashlight towards a pile of rubble. A man who was clearly infected was stuck under it all.

Ellie latched onto Cassie's hand, the two girls slowly edging towards the creature that was groaning in pain. Fungus growing from its head but clearly not as old as the clickers they had previously encountered. The slight twitch of the infected mans head made the girls gasp and jump back slightly yet Ellie was convinced it was safe enough to progress forward.

Cassie just watched with wide eyes as the brunette got closer to the infected. She watched as Ellie crouched in front of the creature and signalled the girl over. Cassie just shook her head, not quite ready to be so close to another infected after her last encounter. So she just watched, watched as Ellie flicked open her knife and brought the blade up to the mans head, watched as Ellie curiously sliced at its forehead.

She watched as the man just looked, expressionless as his head was cut open and as blood dripped from the open wound. Inside its head, from what cassie could see, was mushrooms. As expected, it just seemed so surreal actually seeing what happened when someone became infected.

The blonde then watched as Ellie drew back her knife and stabbed it into the same place she had previously sliced. Cassie just let out a breathy sigh and turned away, she didn't like thinking about it but that man was once just that. A man. He probably had a family, kids. He had a life before he was infected.

"Girls? Ellie? Cassie?" Joel's voice was quiet from where they were stood but his tone suggested that they should probably get out of there. Cassie hauled herself up first, Ellie grabbing the box of tampons before pulling herself up and shutting the latch. Cassie grabbed the box as Ellie swung on her backpack, the two making their way back to the front of the store.

"picked over my ass" Ellie commented as Cassie walked out the door, holding the box over her head proudly before unzipping Ellies bag and placing it inside then doing it back up. The girls then turned to where Joel was putting things away "what are you doing?" Ellie questioned as Joel hid the gun.

"there's not much ammo out there for this thing" Joel told the girls "makes it mostly useless"

"mostly" Cassie tilted her head slightly, her arms crossed

"if your just gonna leave it there" Ellie pressed, both girls wanting to be in possession of a gun. Cassie had one, back in the QZ, and she wasnt lying about being a perfect shot. She had left it there however, as Marlene saw no reason for her to be carrying one (cassie knew she was scared the girl would pull it on the fireflies)

"no" Joel just stared blankly at the girls, avoiding the question before it was even asked although both of them heavily implied taking the gun. The girls just stared back at him as he grabbed his own bag and led the two out of the small store.

They had been walking for a while, all three of them had ditched their jackets as it was getting increasingly warmer throughout the day. They had slowed when coming to an opening, a giant field with a hill and on that hill was a crashed plane. The machine basically snapped in half, the two girls stared in disbelief. Neither of them had seen anything like that in real life.

"you fly in one of those" Ellie asked, Joel stopping so he was left in between the two girls.

"few times, sure" Joel nodded

"so lucky" Ellie gaped

"didn't feel like it at the time" The man explained "got shoved into a middle seat, payed 12 bucks for a sandwich"

"dude you got to go up in the sky" The brunette girl exclaimed

"was it a pretty view? like above all the clouds and shit" Cassie daydreamed, trying to imagine herself flying in one of them. The sun setting underneath the clouds and illuminating the sky in an orangey hue.

"yeah well, so did they" Joel replied to Ellie before turning to Cassie slightly "and i guess? didn't see much of it to be honest"

"grim" Ellie sighed, her mood changing as she walked to follow Joel. Cassie stayed still, her eyes on the broken machine as she daydreamed of life before the apocalypse. It seemed so full of colour compared to the dull grey world they where living in, the parties, the peoples, the funky clothes the people in the 70s wore (which cassie loved)

She was snapped out of her daydream when she heard fast footsteps getting exceedingly closer, turning in time to see Ellie running towards the girl. Joel had gotten pretty far, the two had clearly thought she had been following them. Cassie just grinned at her best friend, looping her arm with hers and walking at a slightly faster pace towards the man they had grown accustomed too.

im so in love with this book (give me validation)
also, if i take a few days to upload it's because i've gone and got myself into a talking stage and i'm back at college. i have a few pre-written chapters left but i like to write a few
chapters ahead (i've just completed chapter twenty seven)