Eight ;
My Hand is Now Cold
Penelope groaned into her blanket, the bright sunlight hitting her face. She rolls over into her blanket more, covering her head. She hears loud clanking coming from a little ways away, peeks her head out of her sleeping bag and shields her eyes from the sun.
Seeing Joel's back and no threats, Penelope covers her head in annoyance.
"You're too loud," Penelope mumbles her voice raspy from sleep and covers her ears.
Joel scoffs at Penelope's words, continuing to put thing back in the truck.
Penelope can hear Ellie moving around. Penelope tries to ignore them, and all of the noise, instead trying to go back to sleep.
"Ugh! The fuck is that?" Ellie declares from beside Penelope. Penelope groans throwing off her blanket, sitting up and glaring at her friend.
"You don't like coffee?" Joel asks Ellie, his eyebrows raised in question.
Ellie grimaces at the contents before her, then flops back on the ground, curling up into herself. Not even ten minutes later, the trio are leaving their spot from the night. Everything packed up, noting left behind.
Penelope sits in the backseat once more, her blanket around her shoulder, her eyes opening and closing sleepily.
They were quiet as they drove back on the pavement road. All Penelope could think about was wanting to sleep.
"Is that seriously what those Starbucks in the QZ used to sell?" Penelope heard Ellie ask Joel as he sipped on his drink. The strong smell of coffee wafted through their noses.
"Well, theirs was a lot fresher than what Bill saved up, but, yeah, this is what they sold." Joel responded.
"Smells like burnt shit." Ellie quipped, grimacing at Joel.
In response, Joel sipped loudly on his coffee. "Eyes on the map."
"76 west and then... 70 west for, like, ever." Ellie exclaimed.
Penelope shifted in her seat. Instead of lying down, she sat up the 'right way' as Joel had called it while scolding her. She watched the bairn scenery go by.
"Where in Wyoming did you say your brother was?" Ellie wondered.
Penelope perked up, almost forgetting that Joel had a brother. "I still can't believe you have a brother," Penelope mumbled from the backseat.
Joel looked at Penelope through the rear view mirror, answering Ellie. "Last contact came through a radio tower close to Cody."
Penelope peaked over the passenger seat to look at the map Ellie was holding in her hands. She looked over the words and the red lines, her eyes unfocused. "That's a lot of words," She mumbles.
"Cody." Ellie states, running her hand over the map. "Cody, Cody. Ah, man.
That is deep up in there."
"Yeah." Joel agrees.
"And if he's not there?"
"Then odds are he'll be near a settlement, probably close to another city out there. Ain't too many of 'em in Wyoming."
"Chee-Yen." Ellie pronounces out loud.
"Cheyenne." Joel corrects Ellie.
"Che—really?" Ellie glances at Joel for conformation. He nods his head, and Ellie continues looking at the map. "Cheyenne... Laramie... Casper?"
"What's his name?" Penelope speaks up from the backseat.
YOU ARE READING
The Edge of Everything ¹ | THE LAST OF US |
أدب الهواةPenelope was born into an already dead and bare world. Her parents only stuck around for about five years, before ditching her and leaving. For the past nine years, Penelope's been living alone, fending for herself in the Boston QZ. One day, she fin...
