𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ⚠︎︎ 𝐉. 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑

chapter seven

The cool washcloth ran down her face, carefully patting at the wounds and rubbing at the blood from others splattered across her facial features. She stared ahead with a blank expression, eyes holding nothing behind them.

Joel carefully inspected her face, one hand held her chin the other was using the white cloth. He hadn't said anything to her, didn't want to upset her more than she already was. The woods were constantly shifting around them, every crack and creak making her insides curl.

"We'll need to get going soon. There's going to be more of them comin' our way." She nodded and winced when he came in contact with a cut on her cheek. The man had relieved a harsh blow to her cheek, but she had more than made up for his treatment of her.

Once the cut was cleaned, he wiped down the rest of her face. She looked like the normal Thalia, except for that blank stare, the look that held nothing to it. She held no life in her eyes. He tossed the rag on the ground, grabbing the last one they had and pouring his water on it. "We need to get your back clean."

"I'm fine." He groaned, she refused to let him see it. The wound would get infected if he didn't give it some sort of treatment and he wasn't sure just how deep the blade had gone. Sure he'd watched it, but that cut was the least of his worries, his eyes were screwed onto her face.

The tears streaming down her cheeks, teeth bared and blood curdling screams. It was forever imprinted in his mind, he had to close his eyes to get that sight out of his brain, at least for now. "It's going to get infected."

"I don't care." Thalia stood up, reaching for her jacket that had been discarded long ago. As she turned he saw the small pool of blood at the bottom of her back, just above where her pants would sit.

Joel wanted nothing more than to hug her, to hold her and tell her everything would be alright but before he'd begun to clean her up he tried that. Joel had attempted to touch her but she slapped him away, the only form of contact he was able to get was the hand on her chin.

It felt like they were oceans away when all he wanted was to be right there with her. He wanted to experience her agony with her in hopes that it might take some of her pain away.

Thalia stared down at her axe, the patterns on the wooden handle, small daisies etched upon the brown material. All it took was a small pocket knife and tons of time, the amount of times those flowers had been covered in blood was downright absurd.

They were in a large abandoned building, Ellie fast asleep on a small mound of grass, the sun illuminating her curled up body. Joel and Tess sat in two chairs, guns in hand as if she was going to attack.

The wife was calm, for some odd reason she trusted Ellie, even after seeing the failure of the infection test, she hadn't taken her arm off of her. She waited for her explanation, listening to her and choosing to stay calm.

She couldn't help but watch her sleep, how peaceful she seemed, not a thought in that little head. Thalia couldn't remember the last night of peaceful sleep she had, it certainly wasn't the previous night. Her mind was plagued with the memories of her past, things she's done.

That was every night though, so it was nothing new. Thalia was sat on the floor, playing with the handle of her axe whilst the pair waited for Ellie to awake. She was sitting with her ankles cross crossed, elbows hanging from her knees.

"You think she's sick?" Joel and Thalia turned to look at Tess who was too busy eyeing the sleeping Ellie down. "If she is we have to kill her." Her head whipped to Joel, who said it so matter of factly she couldn't help but be a bit shocked.