A Place To Call Home

New Friends

Three Days Later

Ellie scrubbed at her foot with a bar of soap, she was taking a bath before she went out to meet Maria in one of the greenhouses near their house. Ellie had offered to help Maria out with the strawberry picking, after she learnt that other kids were going to be there she had tried to worm her way out of it.  Joel had told her it would be good for her to make some friends, but Ellie still had doubts about making friends because she was different. Most kids in The Jackson Community hadn't seen the horrors that she had seen with Joel, they had been sheltered from the evil the Apocalyptic world had to offer them. Rubbing the soap along her right arm Ellie soon noticed her scar, she could still see the faded bite mark and her skin around it was red. She was going to have to lie about it and keep her immunity a secret from others, she could pass her scar off as acid burns. She lay back in the bathtub and rested her feet by the taps, it had been a while since she had enjoyed a hot bath. Taking a deep breath she ducked her head beneath the water and opened her eyes while she blew bubbles from her mouth, the water was getting murky now. She was trying to hold her breath beneath the water, she had a record of two minutes and she wanted to make it to two minutes and a half before Joel taught her how to swim.

" Ellie, are you okay in there?!" Joel asked.

Ellie emerged from beneath the water when she heard Joel's voice, she wiped some water away from her eyes while she coughed. She told Joel that she was taking a bath, but he told her that it was almost 8:30am. Pulling the bath pug out of the bathtub she climbed out if it and grabbed herself a towel from the side, she had already set herself some clean clothes out on the toilet seat. She had chosen a vest top and some blue jeans, she needed something that was comfortable to work in since the chores Maria had given her for the day were physical.

" Ellie, what are you doing in there?!" Joel asked.

" I'm taking a shit! What do you think I'm doing?" Ellie yelled while she wrapped a towel around herself. " I'll be out in a moment!"

Ellie laughed when she heard Joel telling her to get a move on, he didn't want Ellie to keep Maria waiting. He told her that he had made her some breakfast, she dared not ask what it was though in case he had burnt it. Ellie had mostly done all of the cooking for the last three days, she really enjoyed following recipes in cook books that Maria had even her. But Joel had insisted on making breakfast this morning, he could make toast with the aid of a toaster. Drying herself off and getting changed into her planned outfit she threw her used towel into the laundry basket before she hurried downstairs to the kitchen, Joel was already eating his breakfast while he read a book about carpentry. He had made toast and boiled eggs, there was also freshly squeezed orange juice in a glass jug with sliced oranges floating around in it. There was a fresh pot of brewed coffee and small block of butter on a plate, there was even a jar of strawberry jam. Ellie sat on the chair across from him and poured herself a glass of orange juice, she took a sip of it while she helped herself to some toast.

" Morning kiddo." Joel said.

" Morning Joel, I'm so hungry right now!" Ellie said.

" You're always hungry." Joel said.

Ellie buttered herself some toast and took a big bite of it, the bread was so good. She spoke to Joel about how she could now hold her breath under water for two minutes and that she was excited about learning how to swim, but Joel soon brought up the subject about her making new friends. She sighed deeply to herself, she wasn't looking forward to meeting these kids Maria had asked to help with the strawberry picking. She pulled her slice of toast apart with her fingers while she ate it, she told Joel that she was still nervous about meeting them.

" You'll be fine, do you know where you're going?" Joel asked. 

" Yeah, I remember where the greenhouses are." Ellie replied while she licked her fingers tips clean. " I can take a shortcut through the backyard, they're right behind our house. What are you doing today? Are you going out on patrol with Tommy again?"