Planet Zero Volume 5: Queen Of Evil

Ellie Swan(Part 2)

Joel rushed to Salt Lake City on his horse after Ellie ran away from Jackson City, and he eventually found her sitting on a bench in front of the abandoned Firefly hospital. "Ellie!" Joel got off his horse, and he rushed over to Ellie, who pointed a gun at him. "Tell me what happened here. If you lie to me again, then I'm gone. You will never see me again. But if you tell me the truth, I'll go back to Jackson, and we will never think about this again, no matter how bad your answer is. Tell me the truth. Now." Joel didn't want to tell her the truth, but he no longer had a choice. "Making a vaccine would have killed you. So I stopped them." Ellie didn't lower her weapon. "Tell me what happened to Marlene." Joel told Ellie what he did to Marlene, and this was enough to make Ellie storm off, angry with Joel for everything that he did. Joel sighed, and he returned to Jackson, knowing that Ellie wanted some time to herself.

Ellie got on her horse, and she rode for days to reach a dock that was nearest to her location so she can finally leave America. Ellie got off her horse when she arrived, and she told it to stay where it was. "It's ok Shimmer. You will be fine." Ellie grabbed her backpack and her guns, and she searched for a working cruise ship to escape from America. "I'll come back, Joel. Just keep on surviving until then." Ellie said this to herself, knowing that one day, she would return to Jackson. "We can go together, Ellie." Joel walked up to her, and Ellie remained silent for a moment. "Fine. Don't think for one second that this is over, Joel." Joel nodded his head, and he went with Ellie to find a ship. "Hey. How bout this one?" Ellie walked over to Joel, and she saw a ship that looked like it was built by Marleyan soldiers. "Marlene told me about these. Mom used to always travel on these ships. We should be on the lookout for infected." Joel squinted his eyes, and he saw something terrifying emerging from the wall of the ship. A Mindless Titan infected by Cordyceps. "Get behind me, Ellie!" Ellie didn't do that. She stared at the Titan in fear for her own life. The infected Titan was actually at the Clicker stage of infection, but it was still a massive threat. "Get inside and find somethin' to use against it!" Ellie sprinted into the ship while Joel distracted the Clicker Titan with his gun. "Joel! I found some grappling equipment! What should I do?!" Joel told her to put it on, and she did just that, unintentionally shooting the hooks into the Titan's nape. She felt her body being sent flying into the Titan, and she used the swords that came with the gear to slice the Titan's nape open. The Clicker Titan died, and Ellie managed to land safely on the ground using the grappling equipment. "Well there goes that ship idea." Ellie shook her head, and she said that they could just repair the ship. "Marlene taught you that? Or did you learn it yourself?" Ellie said that Riley taught her how to repair things before they both got infected. "You told me a brief amount about Riley in Jackson, but what led to you and her getting infected anyway? Look. I know you're mad at me, but I want to make things right again." Ellie thought about it for a second, and she nodded her head. "Fine. Once we make sure that there are no more infected on the docks, I'll tell you about Riley. Come on." Ellie and Joel walked around the docks, and they shot and killed all of the infected that they saw. Except for one. "Joel! look out!" A Bloater tackled Joel to the ground, and Ellie rushed over with her gun, shooting it in all of its weak points. After the Bloater died, Ellie helped Joel stand up, until she saw something that she never wanted to see. Joel was bit by the Bloater in his shoulder. "Well....Our luck had to run out sooner or later....Ellie. You know what you have to do." Ellie's eyes filled with tears as she raised her pistol, pointing it at Joel. "Ellie. Before I go. I just want to say that I am sorry. For what I did to the fireflies. You deserved to be the one to make your own choices, and I took that away from you. Please. Before I die. Tell me that you forgive me. Please, Ellie." Ellie hugged Joel tightly, and she told him that she did not hate him. "I forgive you, Joel. Thank you....For everything." Ellie stood up, pointing her gun at his head, and a single tear went down Joel's cheek as he closed his eyes, saying his last words. "Wait for me, Sarah. I'm coming." Ellie looked away from him before she pulled the trigger, shooting him in the head.

Present Day....

"I wanted to take Joel away from the infected forever, but....A Bloater bit him in the shoulder, and....He told me to kill him. I did, but it still hurts." Harmony told her that she did the right thing. "If Joel saw you right now, he would have been so proud. And when it comes to what Joel did to Marlene....While I do not agree with his methods, Marlene broke the promise that she made to me. I told her to protect you with her life, and what did she do? She tried to remove the fungus from your brain to make something that might not even work! Listen. You can't blame Joel for killing her, but if he didn't do it, I would. She betrayed my trust. But enough of that. For now we need to focus on rebuilding Anastasia's body." Ellie nodded her head, and the two began to work on Anastasia's body while Nahida and Rukkhadevata defended the sanctuary with the help of Ryuzu Shima and Ryuzu Omega and their clones.

Meanwhile....

"So how long will it take for them all to reach the capital?" Ryuzu Saika grabbed a telescope, and she observed the armies approaching her castle. "It will take 2 months for them to get from the borders of Lagunica all the way to this castle. That gives us 2 months to fortify our defenses. Tell Higashi that her own allies needed to be prepared for the war to come. I will do some training of my own here." Kiana Black bowed before Ryuzu Saika before she left to talk to Higashi about the invasion of Lagunica. Ryuzu got off her throne, and she held the aspect of Melancholy in her right hand. If she really wanted to make sure that Jackie never got the aspect back, she knew what she needed to do. She swallowed the witch aspect of Melancholy, and now she was the master of two witch authorities.

To Be Continued In Chapter 3: Corruption....