𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐜 ☀︎︎ 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

Not Coping

{tw: nothing!}

They never tell you how much horseback riding hurts until you do it consecutively for days at a time. The first week was kind of rough on the pair. The cold was bitter, and their bodies were constantly sore from the horseback riding. Every night they would go to sleep cold looking up through the trees to see the moonlight. They would take turns hunting every other day, but Ellie never really ate. She would eat a small amount, and then just give it to Renae, or package it for later. Shimmer was having a blast though out in the open. No stables could hold Shimmer in her prime. They made jokes as they travelled, told stories, and sometimes late at night if they were feeling spicy they would get down and dirty.

The second week is when they finally reached the edge of Washington. This was such a relief to them, but of course they decided to go to Seattle's QZ. Which was still a few days out. But then Renae got sick. She was fine for the first day, but the second day of being in Washington forced them to stop and rest. She was feverish and throwing up everywhere. It was horrible. Without any type of medicine she didn't think she would make it. That's when Ellie went to the nearest town in search of some type of medicine. There had to be something. As she searched whatever houses she came across she felt a strange type of deja vu of when the same thing happened years ago with Joel. But at least Renae hadn't been impaled.

It took hours of searching the small town before she finally found an antibiotic that could treat fevers and colds. It may have been well over twenty years but she was desperate. She rushed back to find a sickly Renae outside of her sleeping bag, in a cold sweat. She ran to the girl, gently holding onto her shoulders. Renae jumped a bit, not realizing it was even Ellie at first.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked, concern lacing her tone. Renae stared at nothing before focusing onto Ellie.

"I just had a nightmare. I'll be okay in a bit." Renae looked at the ground, and Ellie noticed a small tear drop onto Renae's lap. Ellie just hugged the girl, whispering reassuring words to Renae as she continued to calm down.

After a few minutes, Ellie brought out the medicine she had found and showed Renae. She was shocked, but then shivered a bit. As she got back into her sleeping bag her raspy voice spoke. "I can't believe you went into that random town for me."

Ellie opened the container, pulling out the pill. She grabbed her water bottle and lifted Renae's head into her lap. "Can you swallow pills?" Ellie asked. Renae shrugged.

"I think so. Been awhile." That was enough for Ellie to pop that sucker into her mouth and hold it shut. After a few seconds Renae swallowed the pill before sticking her tongue out. "Terrible taste."

The two stayed in this position, Ellie humming small tunes as Renae drifted in and out of sleep. Eventually she drifted away too though.

-:-:-:-:-

"Joel? Joel? JOEL." I shouted. The screams and grunts were his for sure. I scramble down the creaky stairs as quick as I can. I practically slam into the door keeping me from saving him from whatever is doing this. It's like the screams are only getting louder and louder, and the fucking door won't open one bit. It's like he's calling my name, he's calling for anyone. I'm here, why can't you hear me Joel? Why can't I open this door already? I can feel him in pain, I can see what he looks like. I can see her. The way she looked as she did it. Joel. I'm so sorry. I wish it was me.

-:-:-:-:-

The next morning Renae was already in incredible spirits. It seemed that even a horrific cold couldn't hold her back. They continued their journey, even though Ellie thought they should wait a few more days. Renae didn't listen and started to walk away with Shimmer when Ellie tried to refuse packing up. That got her moving real quick afterwards. Back again they were to riding and talking. They were in a forest, and Renae decided to ask about something.

"So who do you think it could be? You said Joel worked with bad people sometimes." Renae asked as she leaned onto Ellie's back.

"I don't think it was any of them." She shook her head, and looked forward.

"What about the cannibals?" Renae questioned. Ellie had told Renae about her experience with cannibals, but she didn't mention the horrors that stuck since then.

"No." Ellie said quickly. Renae shrugged.

"Well you don't know about everyone Joel was with before right?" Renae asked as she began to twirl Ellie's hair.

"Tommy would've known the WLF if they had ran into them before. I think that there's something else going on." Ellie said. Renae made a low humming sound.

"So there was this one time on the firefly base where I almost fell down two flights of stairs because I tripped, but instead I busted through a door after one flight and basically rolled into the sergeant. I got mess duty for a week." Renae blabbered out a story to break the silence after a bit.

"Why would he punish you for that?" Ellie chuckled a bit.

"Because I didn't land on my feet or something I don't know. It was bullshit!" Renae threw her hands up, and Shimmer whinnied. "That's what I'm saying Shimmer. Absolutely bogus." The pair laughed a little, and continued through the dense forest. That's when Renae noticed something. "Ellie, look."

"What? Infected?" Ellie reached for the pistol in her holster.

"No. Cars!" Renae stated as she pointed to the cars beginning to appear. "Follow them, I think that we're getting closer to Seattle." Renae was starting to get excited to finally be close to where they've been trying to be for weeks. She didn't know if she was more excited to be here though or to get this over with and go home though.

__________
shrub speaks!

guys we finally made it to seattle who cheered?