A Place To Call Home

Winter

December 2034 - Winter

The snow had been falling heavily overnight, it was freezing this morning when Ellie had awoken in her garage apartment. She had put some extra logs on her little stove fire and made sure that the windows in her room was closed before she had gone to bed, she had used all of her blankets last night to keep herself warm in bed. She had managed to get some sleep though, she had a long day ahead of her this morning. The chores she normally did in the fields were over for the winter, but as always the greenhouses needed to be tended to in the winter months and there was always something else to do in the community.

Ellie groaned when her alarm clock beeped, she hit it a few times before she sat up in her bed. She glanced at her clock and yawned loudly, it was 7am. She had to dragged herself out of bed, she wasn't a morning person. Hurrying across the room she quickly entered the bathroom and switched the shower on, she needed to warm up fast in case she caught a chill. She brushed her teeth while she held her hand underneath the shower, it was warming up now. It wasn't long until she was showered and dressed, she tied her hair up while she went to get her coat. She put her best winter jacket on, it was green and quite long with a padded inside. She put her woolly hat on and her good walking boots, it wouldn't take her long to walk to the greenhouses. The fire in the fireplace had burnt it's self out, she made sure everything was switched off before she left her home. The freezing air hit her face like a smacked backside, it was bitterly cold this morning. The sky was full of snow still, she yawned loudly and stretched her hands above her head. She was hoping for the morning to go by quickly, she wanted to finish a portrait she had been working on for Joel's Christmas present.

" Morning kiddo." Joel said.

" Holy shit, Joel!" Ellie said with a smile. " You scared the shit out of me!" 

Joel's voice had startled Ellie, she hadn't noticed him collecting fire wood from the stack they kept in the backyard. She put her gloves on as she joined him on the other side of the yard, he must have returned from his patrol with Tommy early this morning. The winter patrols were always the hardest so she had been told by Joel, it was sometimes hard to spot the Infected since they were either frozen in the snow or they would jump out at you from the snow while you were walking. Ellie hadn't ventured outside of the community yet in the winter months, but she knew at some point when she began taking up patrols she would be exploring lands beyond the safety of her garage apartment.

" Hey, do you need any help?" Ellie asked.

" I'm good." Joel replied. 

" Are you sure?" Ellie asked.

" I've got this, I'm not over the hill just yet." Joel replied.

" Cool, I'll see you around." Ellie said.

Ellie gave him a smile before she turned around to leave but she stopped when Joel said her name, she looked at him over her shoulder and he asked her if she wanted to help decorate the Christmas Tree tonight. Ellie had never decorated a Christmas Tree before or celebrated Christmas in a normal and safe environment, this was going to her first proper Christmas where she had a home. She nodded her head at him and told him that it was a date, he told her to drop around about 6pm since that's when Tommy was dropping the tree off at his house.

" I'll see you later, kiddio." Joel said.

" Likewise old man." Ellie smiled.

Ellie left the backyard through the fence's gateway, she was lucky that she didn't live that far from the greenhouses. She was greeted by a few people as she walked passed them, it seemed like everyone was in a joyful mood even though the snow was still falling heavy. She stopped outside of the greenhouse she would be working in for the day, she quickly opened the door and stepped inside the greenhouse. She took her coat off and hung it on a coat peg, it was much warmer inside the greenhouse than outside in the snow. Cat was already planting some new lettuce seeds, Ellie enjoyed gardening with Cat. She was a fun girl to be around, she was talented when it came to art and she was really good at video games. She had dark short hair and brown eyes, she wasn't as tall has Ellie though. She was slim and they shared the same dress style, she had quickly become Ellie's clothes shopping buddy at the local Clothes Store. Cat made eye contact with Ellie, she gave her smile while she opened a packet of seeds.