𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐜 ☀︎︎ 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

First Patrol

{tw: violence, slight gore!}

It had now been around 2 months since Renae had moved into Jackson, and as much as she hated to admit it, she really liked it here. Everyone was like a huge family. And they all helped her accustom to the rules and locations and whatnot. She had made more friends here than she had ever in her whole lifetime.

And then there's Ellie. Ever since they decided to start over, they were basically inseparable. Renae found herself always ending up on the couch of Ellie's shed in the morning after talking all night with Ellie.

During the day Renae helped out the doctors in the infirmary, which made her feel right at home. But it got pretty lackluster at some points. At the fireflies base camp, she used to fix up bullet wounds and do surgeries on her own, but in Jackson the worst case she had gotten was giving a kid stitches because he fell and bit through his lip. She felt like she wasn't being as helpful as she could be. So after talking with Ellie one night and being mildly coerced into it, Renae decided to start doing patrols. But on one condition; she would only patrol with Ellie and/or Joel.

The first patrol was the worst she had experienced. Maria had placed Ellie and Renae together, but it was on the route that went past the house Renae used to call home. Hearing that as they were about to leave caused Renae to feel extreme anxiety. She wasn't ready to see her house destroyed, and uninhabitable. She was just starting to get used to Jackson life. Ellie noticed this, and she tried to comfort Renae the best she could as the stable workers readied their horses.

"I just don't want to see my home a disaster after everything i put into it. It'll hurt me more than anything. I'm scared." Renae vented. Ellie nodded, pulling in Renae for a side hug before getting on Shimmer. Renae got on her horse, Gloss. And then they were off.

They first stopped at an abandoned building that fell victim to a bombing in the early days of the outbreak, that now served as an outlook/ checkpoint for the patrols. Ellie signed the two in and they used the binoculars provided to scope out the area. It all looked normal, so they decided to get on their horses again and ride towards the checkpoint that goes past Renae's house. On the way the pair chatted about random things. Ellie told Renae about how her and Joel met, and then some of the adventures they had went on together. Renae shared some stories of her life, like her leaving the fireflies in the middle of the night, and how she found the market and used it as a huge storage space.

"So wait. You just casually have evaded possibly dozens of infected in that market almost weekly for multiple years to savor supplies that you could've just taken in bulk?" Ellie questioned.

"When you put it like that I sound dumb but I promise it's a system. I try to limit myself because I don't want to become too greedy. I was scared that if I became too greedy that I would become a scary, horrific mess in need of things all the time. This way I could slowly use things when I needed, and also grow things and develop my own supplies." Renae explained her long learned system.

"Wow you've really thought everything out." Ellie looked astounded at the brains on the girl next to her.

"Mhm, which is why-" Then Renae abruptly stopped to look at the sight making its way into view.

And there in front of them was Renae's home. The infected roamed outside of it, and Renae felt a tear fall as she saw the destruction left behind. Most of the fences were pushed down, broken. And all the windows were shattered. It looked like the house had aged ten years in two months. The small vines that Renae was growing for aesthetics had overgrown onto the pillars of the porch. The house was in complete shambles. Ellie looked as well to the home of Renae. And then she rode to the nearest tree and tied her horse. Renae did the same, but slower, almost hesitant. They both know what they were about to do, but they didn't want to say it out loud. Until they did.

Renae quietly said, "Let's fuck them up." She then grabbed her pistol, checked her knife was in her holster, and she started to slowly walk up the path to her former home. Ellie trailed closely behind, and at a certain point they both crouched down to avoid being seen by the newly infected. And slowly, they began to stealthily grab infected, and stab them with their knives in the necks and heads, killing them instantly. Eventually, the whole outside was completely cleaned out. So then they made their way from the old fashioned cellar door, until they saw spores.

"Spores already? It's only been two months." Renae whispered, putting her mask on. Ellie followed suit, shrugging. They made their way up to the main floor. Thankfully there were only two clickers that the pair killed easily. But they heard more upstairs. So they went up the stairs, Renae in front. But then- an infected got the jump on Renae and sent them both tumbling down the stairs that Ellie was just about to go up. The infected wrestled with Renae for a few seconds before Ellie shot it. Renae was breathing heavily, checking her body thoroughly for bites or scratches. Thankfully, there was nothing. But all the other infected upstairs were now alerted they were there. So Renae grabbed her gun out, and within thirty seconds every infected on the upper floor was dead, which was only three. The house was clear. But that didn't change the amount of destruction that remained.

There was blood everywhere, and spores roaming. Renae cried a bit as she looked around at what used to be. The old violin by the fire that she tried learning every night. The can of ravioli on the counter. The scuff marks on the legs of the couch from when she hauled it in a wagon mechanism from one of the furniture shops in town. The easel from the time when she thought she could paint. Spoiler alert, she could not. Seeing her old life laid in front of her made her forget how to breathe. She quickly ran out of the house, and took her mask off. She was hyperventilating. She was a mess. Ellie ran out immediately after her, and held her arms to let Renae know she was there. Renae after a few minutes began to calm down, and cried instead. Her home was her safety, and now her safety was gone indefinitely.

An hour later, Renae had calmed down enough to have Ellie go inside and retrieve some items Renae would want for her room in Joel's house. Ellie grabbed Renae's brush, toothbrush, some more clothes of her liking, a different pair of canvas sneakers, deodorant, and even her violin. Ellie walked out ten minutes later with everything Renae asked her to retrieve with no issue at all.  And then they both walked down the path, and got onto their horses, Renae letting out small sniffles on their way back to Jackson.

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shrub speaks!

if anyone says renae overreacted i will scream like her house was overtaken by infected and she can't do anything about it like imagine that happened to your house like dude i would be a crying mess too but maybe that's just me because i love my house am i projecting my issues onto renae is this what's happening here..