Ellie Williams x F!Reader

Twenty-Five

Eyes followed your every step as you jumped over a crumbling wall and into the yard of what once had been a nice suburban home.

With your eyebrows knitted together you fought back the rage that your father's words still caused in you. And Ellie's eyes.

Fuck, you hated that feeling of constantly being watched like a ticking time bomb. You were not crazy. Or a danger to either you nor her.

And yet it felt like she did not agree with your choice. Or at least wasn't neutral about it.

Sucking in a sharp breath, you threw a glance back over your shoulder and met her eyes. Ellie stopped in her tracks. She stood in front of the small wall.

All she did was watch. Examine.

Just how skilled was she?

Whoever had taught her to be this calm, prepared for any situation must have been a genius. You were so jealous of that ability. All you did rely on was luck.

After all, that was everything you had. Luck.

"What?", you asked, a little harsher than intended.

You couldn't help the annoyance that drove this irritating friction through your skull. It made your fingertips itch and your fuse feel shorter than it usually was.

Almost as if all your patience ran dry within seconds. It was completely out of your control.

Her eyes wandered over your face, she blinked, then turned her head to the side. She seemed to think. And a faint smile crossed her face only to be replaced by unbearable pain that shimmered in the green of her eyes.

"You sure you want to leave him behind just like that?", she asked and adjusted the backpack that pushed down on her shoulder.

You gifted her a furrowed brow, accompanied by a slightly annoyed twitch of the corner of your mouth. Teeth were bared.

But she didn't take it as a offence. Rather smirked and had to hide a grin from your sight.

"I dunno about you but I ain't gonna stick with him just cause.", you had to keep the bitterness at bay.

She swallowed hard. And once more avoided your eyes.

"I'm not tellin' you to do anythin'.", she shrugged. "But if I were you... I'd..."

She cut herself off. And instead of finishing whatever was on her mind she just threw her head back and sighed so deeply that it made you understand.

"We all gotta live with our choices, don't we?", you asked, lips pressed into a thin line.

Sadness tied your throat. But not regret. You didn't regret it.

Not yet, at least. And you hoped it would come to that either.

"If you say so.", she climbed over the wall and made her way through the yard.

Not a word was said as she walked past you and your eyes met. There was so much sadness on her face. You could relate to it quite well.

And yet it made you feel curious as well.

What made her be this depressed?

Ellie didn't strike you as the kind of woman who stopped in her words. She was more the kind of person to speak her mind and put others in their place if needed.

But whenever there was this kind of topic of you and your fathers relationship, she seemed different. Perhaps she had a similar issue.

Or not.

"That Joel dude...", you hesitated, thought if it was the right question to ask. "Is he... like..."

All of a sudden you felt like an idiot. Like a total idiot with no clue. Or sensitivity.

Ellie crossed the shadow of the house that lay in ruins. Long strands of ivy crawled up the remains of walls, conquered back the space that once had been taken by humans.

You had been born after the infection had spread. After humanity had crumbled. Just like Ellie.

Seeing these kinds of buildings, just like cities, made you feel like kind of way. It was like looking upon the ruins of former empires.

It was kind of ironic since humans back in the day imagined that what they build would last forever. Funny enough, none of them did this far.

You wondered if the world that slowly started to be rebuilding would last longer, be better.

Would this world be a space for humans once more?

Or was it just shelter to delay the inevitable?

So many questions, yet no answers. But one thing was for certain you would not find any answers by returning to a place that wasn't worth returning to.

An icy shiver made the blood freeze in your veins.

Your eyes returned to Ellie.

Her shoulders were as stiff as stone. The way she clenched her hands into fists showed just how unsettled she was by the mention of that name.

Joel.

Again, your lips moved, wanted to speak words of apology. And yet your brian couldn't let go of the idea to learn something new about her.

You wanted to know more. Maybe to feel less like strangers. Or because you felt the need to make her like you.

Whatever it was you were interested, curious.

"Joel...", it slipped off your tongue again.

All of a sudden Ellie stopped in her tracks. Her gaze rest on an infected that roamed the high grass of the old estate, with its head twitching and screams rolling off the torn, fungus covered lips.

Ellie put an arrow on her bow, pulled the string back and shot. It was perfectly aimed. The infected's head was pierced and it sunk into the grass.

Only the top of the fungus remained visible.

"It wasn't a choice.", Ellie's voice was empty yet so full of strength as she spoke for the first time in a while. "It never was. Joel and I met when I was thirteen. He was supposed to protect me."

With your head tilted you examined her.

"Guess he did a good job. You're older than thirteen now, I suppose?"

She couldn't help but smile half heartedly.

"He raised me. Kinda."

"Taught you the guitar?"

She nodded. Then her eyes wandered to her fingers. Or rather the ones that were missing.

"I never got to say goodbye.", or forgive him.

But she didn't say that out loud.