THE UNEXPECTED

20

Travelling side by side on a horse back was easier than I'd ever expected, I actually quite enjoyed it and it fractioned the time it took to reach the university massively. I couldn't help but feel envious of all those students before the outbreak that were able to study here because it was absolutely breathtaking.

I remember my brother hadn't long graduated from Exeter university when the outbreak struck, I was envious back then too. Forever wishing I was old enough to attend the same university, and although it was miles away from our home near the Cornish coast, Jordan fell in love with the campus he studied at and as did I too when we went to visit him.

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I re-engaged in the conversation Ellie and Joel were having,

"So, let me get this straight. If you mess up the fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?" Ellie questioned although very confused.

Joel nodded. "Right. It's called a turnover."

"And if you clear the first ten yards then you're back at...first down?" I assumed that they were speaking about the rules of American football, but I was just as lost as Ellie, if not more.

"First down, that's right." Joel looked almost proud as he confirmed the teen's questions.

"Man, it's confusing." She sighed softly.

"You just gotta play it a couple of times. It'll all make sense." Joel chuckles.

"English football is way less confusing, you just kick a ball and hope it goes into the goal." I tease, obviously knowing there was more to it but that, too, I didn't know enough of.

"Less fun, though." Joel comments and sniggers as I roll my eyes at him.

As we crossed into the main area of the campus, Ellie's eyes were already searching every building and as were mine, "Okay, none of these buildings look like a mirror to me," she commented which had me nodding in agreement.

"Well, we'll head to central ground. Should be able to see most of the campus from there." Joel said. I followed his lead as we ventured further through the campus.

"So, these places..." Ellie began to speak again, "People would live here and study? Even though they were all grown up?" It seemed as though she had a hard time understanding the concept of it all.

"Study, party, and find themselves. Figure out what they wanted to do with their lives." Joel confirmed.

"Have either of you ever been to one of these?" Ellie sure did ask a lot of questions but I guess she only wanted to know what the world was like before all of this chaos. It was a beautiful thing.

"What? A university?" The older man asked, quirking a brow.

"Yeah," Ellie replied.

"No. Not as a student at least." He then chuckles, as if in remembrance of his past times before the outbreak.

"Why not?" The teen prodded.

Joel cleared his throat, shifting in the saddle and we share a knowing look. "Uh...I had Sarah when I was pretty young." I knew it was hard for Joel to open up but I was proud of him for doing so, it was a big step in the right direction.

"Were you married?" I bit my lip hearing her words and internally cringed, this was definitely a sore spot for Joel. It had taken him so much to even tell me the smallest amount of detail about the mother of their daughter, he was a very closed off man but Tommy would often say that I changed that.

I wondered whether Joel would finally draw the line at this.

"For a while." He said vaguely.

"What happened?" Ellie pressed even further.

"Okay," he uttered and I could tell that he was feeling uncomfortable but Ellie on the hand, well Ellie was oblivious as usual.

"Too much?" Until now, apparently.

"Too much," he says, nodding at the girl.

"What about you?" Ellie then says, quickly changing the conversation and directing the attention at me.

"Ellie, you're forgetting I was thirteen when this shit all started," I laugh softly, "my brother went to a lovely university a couple hours away from our home town. I visited him a few times throughout his studies." I tell her about Jordan briefly, smiling at the way she listened so intently at my words. She was genuinely so interested to hear more about myself and Joel, and it warmed my heart. This little girl was so full of life and I hoped she never changed that.

I was beginning to grow more and more fond of this dynamic we had going on here, myself and Joel being a protector of sorts for Ellie. I vowed to myself to never bring a child into this new world but perhaps Ellie was my chance at being a mother figure for someone. I knew that I'd never replace her parents but as time went on, Joel and I sort of became that for her and I could tell that she was becoming just as attached to us as we were to her. As much as Joel would love to dismiss it, I know he's grateful for a second chance at fatherhood or whatever this was.

"Hey, over there." Ellie gazed out into the distance gesturing to a large building which seemed to reflect the sunlight. "Is that it?"

"It does look like a giant mirror," I confirmed, cocking my head to get a better look at it. I notice Joel does the same only he squints a little as he stares at it.

"How many people you think there are? Fireflies, I mean." Ellie thought out loud.

"Hard to say..." Joel mumbles, taking the lead with Callus and myself and Clarke hot on their tail. "Reckon it takes quite the crew to run that operation," He added on as we trotted along.

"You think there will be people my age?" Ellie follows with another question which neither me or Joel knew the answer to.

"I'm not sure." I shrug.

At the end of the hall we were heading down, there was a security gate but the shutter was down. As Joel was pushing up the gate, both horses began to get startled, backing away as they whined. Ellie looks at me with uncertainty,

"Woah, woah, woah, what is it?" Joel snaps his head back to look at us and the horses.

"Sounds like runners," I told him, feeling my eyebrows crease into a frown.

"Stay with the horses. I'll go check it out." He nods at me but hesitates before fully leaving. I quickly begin to shuffle my way off the horse to give him assistance but he stops me, "It's alright. Nothin' I can't handle." Joel flashes me a cocky smirk which has me feeling a type of way. Not the time.

"Be careful, cowboy." My lips upturn ever so slightly as I watch him disappear out of view. Once Joel is gone, I turn to face Ellie but I find that she's already looking at me which an expression which I can't quite make out, "What?" I chuckle breathlessly.

She pulls a face, "You like him." Ellie enunciates the 'like' part with a cheeky grin now adorning her lips. Nothing gets past this girl, apparently. Although, it wasn't exactly like me and Joel were subtle.

"Zip it, you." I press a finger to my lips in attempts to shush her but there's no use.

"Emily and Joel sitting in a tree-" I shush her again, feeling flustered at the silly children's rhyme.

"-k-i-s-s-i-n-g-" Ellie doesn't stop, she carries on teasing me with little giggles every so often. Eventually, I crack a smile and lean over our horses to give a her playful shove.

"Not a word of this when Joel comes back." I try to keep a straight face but ultimately fail when I start laughing again, and Ellie quickly joins in. The two of us are in a fit of giggles and I don't think I've laughed like this in a long time.

"You're not denying it." She reminds me, then wiggling her eyebrows at me teasingly.

"Shhhh." I chuckle, my cheeks are aching from smiling and laughing so much.

"You totally like him." Ellie says as if she's proud of herself for cracking the code and finding out my secret.