GLOWING (Joel Miller)

6 | The Sandwich

I sat beside Joel and Tess as Ellie slept. As much as it weirded me out to be staring at a sleeping child, I understood the necessity. Joel sat on my right, rifle in hand, ready to shoot the girl at a moment's notice, while Tess just watched her curiously, her eyebrows set in a thoughtful line.

Suddenly, the grass swished and I looked down at Ellie as she began to stir. She sat up, slowly looking around, before her gaze landed on the three of us. She didn't seem shocked, just slightly irritated.

"Morning," she muttered, pulling herself up into a crouch. I shot her a small smile, just as Joel shifted from beside me, pointing the gun at her without a word. She dropped to the ground again, pulling a knee to her chest. "Do I look like I'm infected?"

"Show us your arm."

Ellie rolled up her sleeve to reveal the bite mark—unchanged from the night before. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the expressions of disbelief on the faces of the two smugglers beside me. 'Yeah," Ellie began with a sarcastic tone. "It's not getting any worse, is it?"

Joel turned to me, his brows furrowed together as I met his steady gaze. "I wasn't lying," I whispered, tilting my head towards Ellie. "Now, do you believe me?"

He didn't respond, just looked past me at Tess, who looked back unsurely. I turned back to Ellie as she continued talking. "If we're out in the open city, why aren't we getting swarmed?"

Joel shook his head. "Don't worry about that—"

"Well, I'm gonna."

Joel ignored Ellie's response, but Tess spoke up instead. "What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?"

"I'm not infected." Ellie glanced up at me and I nodded in return. "Marlene found me after I was bitten."

"And she didn't shoot you?" Joel asked.

"Clearly not," Ellie quipped with an eye roll. "She locked me up and had her guys test me every day and see if I was getting sick." 

 Tess leaned forward. "Test you how?"

 "I have to pee."

"Test you... how?" Tess wasn't playing any of Ellie's games. She got straight to the point.

"They'd make me count to ten and hold out my hand and then keep it steady." Tess stayed silent. "But, you know, I think what impressed them the most was the fact that I didn't turn into a fucking monster. Now can I please?"

I stared at the girl in shock as she stood up. I knew she had a mouth and a temper on her, but the words she had just uttered made me question her maturity. How could someone so young say grasp a concept so... dark?

As soon as Ellie was on her feet, so was Joel, rifle pointed directly at her. I bent down, picking up a grimy old magazine and tossed it to the girl as Tess nodded. "Fine. Back there; you can find a spot."

Ellie turned and walked away. "There's not gonna be anything bad in here?"

"Just you," Joel called out, earning an insincere laugh from the girl as he sat back down.

 I took a step forward, turning around so I could face both of them. I looked down at Joel. He was examining the redness on his knuckles and I furrowed my brows in concern.

"Broken?"

Joel glanced up as I nodded at his hand. My tone was nonchalant, but I was genuinely curious. I didn't know much about him, but from Tess's reaction, I gathered beating FEDRA soldiers to death wasn't a frequent hobby of his. He seemed pretty shaken.

Joel squinted at me as if he was trying to calculate the sincerity of my question. "Maybe a hairline." I nodded. "It'll heal fast."

We lapsed into silence until Tess spoke up. She turned to Joel, her hands clamped together. "She maddest through the fuckin' night, Joel."