𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐔𝐬

03. Trench Foot Is a killer.

T H R E E
Trench Foot Is a killer.

I don't sleep well at the best of times, with the state of the world you can never truly be at peace. For the last few years I haven't had anyone looking out for me, so at night I'm constantly floating between being awake and asleep. But right now I need to stay awake, there's what could possibly be a ticking time bomb sleeping a few meters in front of me.

I stood up for hours, pacing back and forth, trying to stay awake. I'm not inside the Wall anymore, I'm in the great outdoors. I need to stay alert, but eventually, my body began to sway so I sat down. I don't fancy smacking my head open.

At some point I fell asleep, the rocky ground underneath me proving more comfortable than the mattress I got ripped off for. Nice and comfy my ass. My brain begins coming to and the first thing I experience is panic, terror at the thought of truly having fallen asleep.

I sit up instantly, and look next to me, scared at the thought everyone left me behind, but I see Tess and Joel sitting next to each other a few meters away from me, and Ellie lies asleep, curled up, the morning sun hitting her. Since he shouted at me to kneel we've exchanged no more than four words, those being, "Bobbie, we're staying here." Because I think I may have been sleepwalking at that point, just following the leader as I fought off sleep deprivation hallucinations – those are unpleasant.

My hands come up to wipe my face, trying to wake myself up a little because all I want to do is lay back down at go back to sleep. I'm so damn tired.

A few minutes after I wake up Ellie does the same, stirring from her peaceful slumber. She turns and the first thing she sees is Tess and Joel, wide awake, facing her with guns at the ready. What a nice wake-up. "Morning," Ellie mumbles, trying to process the sight in front of her. She shifts and spots me and I give her a small smile, I feel bad. She makes a move to get up, but Joel pulls his gun and aims it at her and she sits back down. "Do I look like I'm infected?" She asks, less than impressed.

"Show us your arm," Joel demands.

Ellie does as she is told, pulling the sleeve of her red hoodie up to expose the spider web-like scar that brands her forearm. From the angle I sit at I can barely see it, but looking at Tess and Joel's faces I gather it's no worse than it was last night.

"Yeah, it's not getting any worse, is it?" She asks, a little sarcastically. "If we're out in the open city, why aren't we getting swarmed?"

"Don't worry about that," Joel brushes off her, in my very humble opinion, valid concern.

"Well, I'm gonna." She says back.

"What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?" Tess asks the questions that's been playing on my mind.

Ellie shakes her head, "I'm not infected," she disagrees. Silence fills the airy room, but Ellie realises everyone is waiting for her to explain herself. "She found me after I was bitten."

"And she didn't shoot you?" Joel asks despite the evidence sitting in front of him.

"Clearly not," Ellie states the obvious. "She locked me up and had her guys test me every day, to see if I was getting sick."

"Test you how?" Tess questions.

"I have to pee," Ellie tries to change the conversation.

"Test you... how?" Tess doesn't drop the question.

"They'd make me count to ten and hold out my hand and then keep it steady. But, you know, I think what really impressed them was the fact that I didn't turn into a fucking monster. Now can I please?" As she gets up so does Joel.