Save each other // Joel Miller

Click

About a mile out of Jackson, Ellie and Sophie stopped their horse and hung the rein over the banister of an old store front. The building was decrepit, a crumbling empty shell covered in snow. Broken boards jutted from the floor and ceiling, looking like ragged brown teeth through the white drifts that made their way in through holes in the walls and wide open door.

They noticed footprints planted in the snow a while back and decided that it was best they stop and take care of any problem this close to the town they aimed for. The prints were clearly infected, darted and dragged and just like the world around them, unplanned. A few bodies missed by patrol.

Within the long ride back to Jackson, Ellie filled Sophie in on mostly everything going on. How Dina was pregnant and angry, constantly craving pickles. Barb was a busy body and had much less bedside manner since Sophie left. And Tommy...

Well Tommy was different. Ellie returned to tell the people of Jackson that Joel and Sophie were staying on a secluded farm and Tommy seemed to take that as a reason to shut himself off from the community. He came out to gather enough food for himself, check on her, and leave for solo patrols.

All Sophie could do was nod and take the information in. It hurt her incredibly on the inside to hear about Tommy, and even the small changes from others after her and Joel's departure. But, next to nothing would keep her from truly regretting the decision. She was finally and completely content with staying put. She was safe, away from prying eyes and judgement.

She was free on that farm with Joel.

Sophie's mind raced around the information Ellie had given her. She sauntered, distracted from the task at hand, behind Ellie as they entered the store. So, when Ellie stopped abruptly at the rounding corner leading into the large gathering room, it took everything in her not to fall over.

Ellie shot her arm out, both balancing her and shoving her against the wall, pressing flat against it herself. Her eyes widened as Ellie pressed a hard finger to her lips.

They were as still as statues, Ellie's arm still protectively over Sophie's chest, like a lap bar keeping her against the wall they both tried to melt into. Sophie held her breath and listened for whatever Ellie had seen while she daydreamed.

A quiet, clicking. Like a broken clock ticking out of sink with its own mechanism, stuck on repeat. Then a deafening silence. Sophie moved to look around the wall, but Ellie's arm stayed plastered there, and Sophie didn't look to Ellie until she felt her begin to shake.

Ellie's face was paled. Her eyelids shuttered just enough not to close but to translate her silent terror. Sophie's heart sank, the unknown entity began clicking again, confirming that it was still there.

Sophie very slowly reached her hand up to grip Ellie's arm, seemly braking Ellie's terrified trance. Ellie's eyes shot toward Sophie and bore into her own until even Sophie shook out of fear.

Silent. She had to be silent while she got more information out Ellie. She flicked her gaze toward the sound and back to Ellie's face. Ellie shook her head stiffly, an indication that going that way was not an option.

Sophie then inclined her head toward the door they had come in. Ellie stayed still for a moment. Then she looked to the ground, the snow covering the broken wooden floor, then back to Sophie. She slowly moved her arm off Sophie's chest and pointed, arching her finger around the snow piles.

Sophie nodded, understanding the sound of the snow beneath their feet would be heard. Just as she slightly pushed off the wall to step around the snow, a sound rang in from outside. A cruel moaning that haunted Sophie's dreams most nights.

An infected. It was near the horse by the sounds of the desperate whinny's echoing through the open door. Sophie looked to Ellie quickly, her heart beating hard enough to feel in her throat. Ellie grabbed around Sophie's wrist and ran fast out the door.