Ellie Williams x F!Reader

Seven

Steps echoed from the empty rooms that sat unused for ages now. Thick layers of dust covered surfaces, signs and former goods that must have been worth something back in the day.

With bated breath and your lips pressed into a thin line you let your gaze wander through the rows of shelves that lined up close.

Shadows stretched across the floor. You could make out some old footprints in the dust that already started to collect another layer of dust.

No windows made these shows dark and tricky to navigate around. An infected could lurk around every corner. But as you took step by step, slow and steady, you quickly realised that there was no one around.

Nothing, in fact. Not even animals or infected. Only a few pieces of old bodies could be found scattered around. It almost felt like a scavenger hunt.

A strange thing to think but it was hard for your brain to make normal connections these days. The macabre experiences had turned you into someone quite sinister. A bit bitter even.

Though not enough to make you worse of a person than you had to be.

Your attention was caught by a can. The label was already faded but a bit of a picture was still left. It was food. Or at least some form of it.

Your stomach growled. You pulled a face in response.

Although the hunger was still unbearable you couldn't help but feel like this canned food would be spoiled too.

"How do ravioli even turn bad?", you asked yourself, eyebrows drawn together and snatched the can from the shelf to have a closer look.

"Error in the packaging.", a voice suddenly said drily.

A flinch chased through your body. Your fingers wrapped around the rifle as you turned on your heel to point the barrel at the woman who stood right in front of you.

With her eyebrows drawn together and an unimpressed look on her face Ellie tilted her head, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Do you always point your gun at strangers?", she asked with a sarcastic look.

Letting out a strained breath you rolled your eyes and lowered the rifle again.

"Always.", you replied drily and turned to pick up the can you had dropped out of surprise. "Better to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Sounds like a good way to kill people.", Ellie shrugged.

Frowning, you curled your lips, the tip of your thumb wandering along the faded letters on the surface of the can.

"Better them than me.", you glanced at her from the corner of your eyes.

For a brief moment she just stared at you. The look on her face was a tired one, kind of unbothered, unable to care anymore. She had seen it all, heard even more.

Ellie and you shared the fate of being of a generation that knew nothing but zombies and humans who had turned into the worst of themselves. Both of you expected nothing from no one.

Kindness at the very least.

"Kinda funny...", she muttered and scratched the tip of her nose with her nails.

"What?"

"Nothin'...", her eyes roamed your face. "It's just... your way of thinking reminds me of someone."

The way her voice trembled for a brief second made it more than clear that she wasn't pleased to be reminded of that certain someone. Perhaps it wasn't bitterness but just a deep rooted sadness.

A death or a betrayal, something that wasn't fixed easily. Or never.

Whatever it was you had no intentions of rubbing salt into that wound. And if you were completely honest with yourself you had no interest either.

Her business was her business and yours was yours. You preferred to keep things separated. It made the parting easier.

In the end the only reason why you had helped her was because...

Well, you weren't quite sure either. Though it seemed to prove to be quite useful to have her close by. At least to tell you why canned food was able to turn bad.

"Think this is still good?", you asked and shook the can to listen to the liquid inside.

She shrugged, still a little defensive.

"Dunno.", she said and let her gaze wander around. "Won't feed all of us tho."

"True.", you searched the shelf. "Hope you're not too hungry."

Before Ellie could open her mouth to answer her stomach growled so loudly that it made you snort in response. One quick glance was enough to almost make her smirk.

"That answer enough?", she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I guess.", chewing on the inside of your cheek you let your gaze wander through the small mall of a midsized town.

After Ellie had passed out at the beach it had taken you a few hours to find a good spot to rest that was both sheltered and far enough away from your former prison.

This place was long lost, left behind to crumble to ashes on its own. It wouldn't even leave some ruins to be discovered later on.

It would just disappear one day.

You weren't quite sure why but vanishing without a trace seemed like the best and worst fate you could imagine for yourself.

A shiver crawled through your body. Pulling a face you shook it off.

"Bad thoughts?", Ellie suddenly asked with a nod of her chin.

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath.

"Nothing out of the ordinary.", you turned away and did a gesture to tell her to follow. "Let's hunt for some food. I'm starving."

Again, her stomach growled. Yours answered. It was painfully empty, starting to swell after you had lost a significant amount of weight.

You felt like eating an entire horse, but that would probably make you throw up right on the spot. Maybe that single can would be enough for the two of you.

But only for two.

"Here.", you threw her the can. "I'll see if I can find something else."

Ellie caught it with ease, looked at it.

"Not that hungry?", she asked.

You shook your head.

"Fuck I'm dying of hunger!"

"I can share."

"Yeah... But that won't be enough for all three of us."

She frowned.

"All three?"

You hummed, going through another shelf.

"My dad's hungry too.", you noted with a quick glance at her.

Her shoulder tensed at the word dad.