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─𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 felt silent as the three adults watched the sleeping form of ellie williams, curled amongst a bed of moss.
waiting with bated breath for her to start twitching, or make violent noises as she reared up and attacked them.
but nothing came.
instead the young girl sleepily blinked her eyes open, moving slowly to sit up. ellie rolled over, staring up at the trio huddled away from her.
'morning.'
she moved to stand up, freezing when joel cocked the barrel of his gun into her face. the girl dropped back down, settling far away from them.
'do i look like i'm infected to you?' her voice was coated with annoyance whilst she spoke.
'show us your arm.' anne probed, curiousity winning out over her caution.
they watched as she yanked her sleeve back, revealing the raised skin of a scar.
it was impossible, it should be impossible.
anne knew from experience that nobody lasted longer than a day, and the further up the body the less that time was. yet there she stood, healthy and sane and showing no signs of infection.
'yeah, it's not getting any worse, is it?' she snarked at them. 'if we're in the open city, why aren't we getting swarmed?'
anne raises an eyebrow at the girls naivety, figures that fedra school would shove as much bullshit down their throats as possible to keep them right where they needed to be.
'how'd marlene even end up with an infected kid, anyway?' tess queried.
'i'm not infected.' ellie shot back. 'and she found me after i was bitten.'
'she didn't shoot you?' anne asked in suprise.
the marlene she had known, from all those years ago, wouldn't have waited a second before putting a bullet between ellies eyes if she knew the girl was infected.
'clearly not.' she deadpanned, sighing in boredom as they questioned the teen. 'she locked me up and had her guys test me everyday to see if i was sick.'
'test you how?' tess leaned forward, eyes trained on the girl.
'i have to pee.' the girl complained.
'test you.. how.' tess repeated, voice far harsher.
'they would make me count to ten and stick my hands out and keep it steady. but you know what? i think what really impressed them was that i didn't turn into a fucking monster.' ellie snarked. 'now, can i pee?'
anne sighed, noting the girl wouldn't answer any more questions easily. 'yeah. go 'round there and take this.'
she tossed a discarded fashion magazine at the girl, who attempted to catch it but only ended up dropping it at her feet.
'is there anything bad in there?' she asked.
'just you.' joel replied.
anne snorts at his joke, even as ellie mock laughs at him. once she disappears around the corner, the three adults minutely relax.
out of the corner of her eye, anne watches joel flex his knuckles and grimace in pain. she sighs, turning to her pack and digging through the contents until she found what she needed- bandages.
she takes his hand gently, brushing her fingertips over the slow healing wounds and listening to him hiss.
she wraps the bandages quickly, the fresh white colour harshly juxtaposing the dirt layered along joels skin. she shakes her head slightly, glancing up at him from under her eyelashes to find him staring intensely at her.
