𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐎 (𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒) *editing*

𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬🌞

Three weeks later...

"When's Marlene getting back?"

Pulled from deep mirth, Maeve flickered her attention toward the side. Her sister's smaller figure adjusted so she could face her.

Ellie's youthful face was tired, but still very energetic.

The older teen writhed, becoming slightly annoyed by her fourteen-year-old sister, inwardly grimacing as she was asked that again. It was the third time she was in an hour, and an hour since Marlene left them in this rundown coffee shop. Dust caked the display bar, the register, the tables, counters, and well, pretty much everything in sight.

The sun drew through what would have been the cafe windows with them being all boarded up and shit, causing the room itself to be warm. She would've melted if she had a long sleeve tee on.

"I don't know," Maeve smarted off, earning a glare from Ellie, "Probably around the same time you started asking," and then she sighed, adding, "It's only been an hour, E."

"Yeah-a fucking hour. She could be in trouble," Ellie had her switchblade out, rubbing it on her right sleeve as if to clean it. "Maybe we should-"

"She told us to stay put," Maeve snapped, her vision shot to her sister. "And don't even think about trying to go off on your own. It's dangerous."

"But it's fucking boring!" Ellie groaned loudly and threw her head back.

It was boring, yes. Maeve had to admit that she itched for something do other than trace random shapes and scribbles along the seams of her jeans or fiddling with her pendant or bracelet.

"Well, I mean, I have this comic I brought if you wanna read that-" Maeve was ready to grab her worn-down backpack.

"It's okay," Ellie rejected her offer.

"What?! But you're a fucking nerd! Don't you like things like comic books?" Maeve burst, dropping the bag in surprise. "You're so fucking bipolar, I swear."

"You just hate me 'cuz you ain't me~" Ellie smugly said as she smirked.

"Don't flatter yourself, squirt," Maeve mirrored the smirk haughtily and puffed out her chest. "Why would I hate someone who has less than I do?"

She knew it was a hit below the belt with that one. She was the one who had the boobs in the family. Personally, she liked to think she took after their mother in that department. And she kept telling Ellie puberty would work its magic, but she would be brushed off all the time. Ellie seemed to get so embarrassed when it came to the talk or about periods and shit like that. Given she already knew about how the female body worked, it took a little off Maeve's plate.

"Oof," Ellie feigned being shot. She smacked her sternum and leaned back onto the wall. "I'm wounded! Bleeding out!"

"You're a dork," Maeve laughed, pulling her legs onto the counter, hugging her to her chest and resting her chin on her kneecaps.

"And you're a bitch."

"It wouldn't be fun if I wasn't," the older teen smirked before relaxing a bit. "Y'know, this a good thing."

Ellie looked at her curiously, folding her switchblade and pocketing it. "Whaddaya mean?"

"For starters, everything's going to change."

"We don't know that."

"Don't we?" Maeve had this fantasy that swirled in her head about an infected-free world, no soldiers, no Fireflies, and the most important, no infected.