𝐓𝐡𝐞́𝐫𝐞̀𝐬𝐞 - 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝗺𝐬

ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴄɪᴛʏ

Harley sat next to Tess as the three smugglers watched Ellie sleep on the moss covered floor of the long abandoned building. Harley loved being out of the QZ, no matter how little she went. She had never known life before the virus but she had seen pictures of the cities and learned all of the history, so she was able to appreciate the way nature took over when everything had gone to shit.

Ellie sat up confused before turning and seeing the three staring at her.

"Morning," She mumbled. She went to make a move but stopped when Joel pointed a gun at her. "Do I look like I'm infected?"

"Show us your arm," Joel demanded. Ellie sighed and rolled her sleeve up, revealing the healed bite.

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

"Don't worry about that."

"Well, I'm gonna," Ellie said.

"What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?" Tess asked.

"I'm not infected. She found me after I was bitten."

"And she didn't shoot you?" Harley asked, genuinely confused.

"Clearly not," Ellie told her, a bit annoyed. "She locked me up and had her guys test me every day to see if I was getting sick."

"Test you how?" Tess asked.

"I have to pee."

"Test you, how?"

"They'd make me count to 10 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?"

"Fine," Tess said. "Back there. You can find a spot." She tossed Ellie an old magazine. "Tear out a few pages."

"There's not gonna be anything bad in here?"

"Just you," Joel called out.

"Oh, funny," Ellie sarcastically remarked.

"Broken," Joel muttered, taking a seat and looking at his hand. "Maybe a hairline. It'll heal fast."

"I probably have something to wrap it," Harley told him, grabbing her bag but he just shook his head.

"She made it through the fuckin' night, Joel," Tess finally said what was on her mind.

"It doesn't matter. It's gonna happen sooner or later. All right? We're still close to the wall. We sneak her back into the QZ. We find a different way to get the battery."

"What if you're wrong?" Harley muttered. "What if she really is the final puzzle piece needed to change the world? And this is our best shot."

"We take her back to the QZ, someone's gonna notice her arm, they're gonna scan her, then they'll kill her," Tess added.

"Well, better them than us," Joel snapped. "You need to stop talking about this kid like she's got some kind of life in front of her."

"You hungry?" Tess asked when Ellie walked back into the room. "You can share some of ours."

"Thanks. Marlene sent me with my own," Ellie told her.

"Is that chicken?" Harley asked Ellie as they all ate silently.

"Yeah. Marlene said they get it from smugglers. Guess not you guys."

"Why--why are you so important to Marlene?" Tess suddenly asked. "And don't lie to me or we'll take you back."

"You take me back, you don't get your battery."

"You heard that? Then you must've heard that he wants to shoot you. I'm gonna talk to you like you're an adult. Okay? Joel and I aren't good people. Harley's the closest to a good person we've ever known. We're doing this for us because, apparantly, you're worth something. But we don't know what you're worth if we don't know what we have. So answer my question."