When a beaten and lost, near-dead girl walks up upon the gates of Jackson unannounced, people are bound to be suspicious of why she's shown up. But, when she reveals that she knows something about an organization in Seattle planning to come to Jacks...
"No-one likes a mad woman; you made her like that."
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CHAPTER TWO I'm Not Infected
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After a while of walking and the sun boring onto Willow and Ellie's backs, they caught a glimpse of Jackson's high security walls. Out of all the bases the young girl had seen over the weeks she had been walking, there was nothing as intricate as Jackson. It had power, making it easy to keep everything out and everything in. It looked like it was like a safe haven of the apocalypse. Thankfully, large organizations and cults didn't know about Jackson County. It was too far away from any of their mass bases.
"Well, here we are." Ellie announced, letting Shimmer stray just enough away from the giant metal gates. "The guards know me, but they'll wanna do a search on you, okay?"
Willow nodded, anything would be better than walking on foot for another two weeks. They slumped off of the horse at the gates, letting Willow be scanned quickly for any bites. Her bag was rummaged through, but all they found was a broken pistol, an old Firefly pendant and a few empty boxes of ammunition.
"Who is this?" One of them asked Ellie.
"She was with a cult off the coast of Cali." She replied. "I'm thinking she can tell us where they are."
The guard nodded, letting Willow go after making sure she had no signs of infection. Ellie led Shimmer and the girl next to her in through the gates, stopping at the stables to let the horse join the others.
"Okay, so we're gonna go to Maria and Tommy first. They kind of run this place." Ellie stated, walking alongside Willow through the streets of Jackson. "They can help you get a temporary place, and they'll want some details on the Rattlers, if you're okay with talking about it."
Willow nodded lightly. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good."
"Can I ask why you have that Firefly pendant?" Ellie asked.
"It was my mom's." Willow replied, pulling the chain out of her backpack and running her scarred fingers over the cold metal. "She died during the whole attack from FEDRA back in Boston way back when."
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be." Willow interrupted. "It was a long time ago. I was just a kid, anyway. I can't really remember her all that well."
Ellie nodded, opting to stay silent. She wasn't the best at comforting people, and in an effort towards making the conversation stay at a certain level of comfortability, she didn't talk. Instead, she led Willow silently towards Maria and Tommy's house, knocking on the door.
Maria opened the door, smiling at first but then spotting an unfamiliar face next to Ellie. The older woman immediately dragged the two inside, shutting the door.
"Who is this?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.
"She isn't a WLF-"
"How do you know that?" Maria accused. "We've had too many close calls recently. You know that." She stated, a harsh tone in her voice.
Ellie sighed. "Look, she can give us information on a new possible threat coming in from the coast." She explained. "She's not a threat."
"And how do you know thisinformation?" Maria turned over to Willow, her gaze not softening for even a moment.
"What do you think?" Willow rebutted, coming off across ruder than she had wanted. "I was captured a while ago and somehow made my way here."
Maria sighed. "Where are your parents?" She asked, placing her hand across her forehead. If anything, they couldn't afford another potential breach. Maria knew that people were after Tommy and Joel for the stunt the latter pulled with the Fireflies, Jackson didn't need more people watching them for a weakness.
"They were Fireflies. My mom was killed by FEDRA shortly after I was born. She was a threat because she was one of the only ones left after the whole hospital fiasco." Willow explained, stunning Maria. The older woman wasn't expecting an answer, really. "My dad was also a Firefly, but he died trying to protect the 'cure'." She spoke, using quotation marks for the word 'cure'. Truly, she didn't know that the 'cure' was standing next to her.
"Where are you planning to head?" Maria asked, steering clear of the conversation of Fireflies in general. It was a sore topic for everyone.
"I have no clue." Willow responded, playing with her fingers a bit as she talked. "Seattle, maybe? I heard there's some old Firefly descendants there trying to figure out a cure."
Maria shook her head. "I wouldn't advise going there now. They'll know you were in Jackson, and most Firefly daughters and sons don't have a great history with some of the residents."
Willow tilted her eyebrow in confusion but decided not to pry. It wasn't her business, she just arrived, for Pete's sake. "Then I'm probably going to head towards Texas. My parents lived there before they became Fireflies, I'm guessing that some old family friends could be possibly still living there."
"I wouldn't count on it." Maria replied pessimistically. "It is a twenty-day trip."
"I've walked for longer."
The older woman nodded, looking from Ellie back towards Willow. "Okay, well now that you have a plan, you can stay overnight in Jackson for as long as you like, as long as you draw everything you know out on this map." Maria stated, placing a large map of the United States on the table.
"Can she get some medical attention first, at least?" Ellie asked, standing up for the girl beside her.
Maria sighed. "Of course. Just- take her to Claire's and then immediately bring her back here."
Ellie nodded to the side, walking out of Maria and Tommy's house with Willow by her side and following. The silence bringing them together. For once, Ellie enjoyed the silence. It was comfortable, and her body wasn't calling at her to cut through it and speak.
