Collision

Chapter Fourty Nine

~ Chapter Fourty Nine ~

Carl's P.O.V.

Dad was wrong, and boy was I glad that I proved him wrong.

It had been three days since we arrived in this community. Three days since we'd been struggling to survive on our own. Everyone in the community had their share of stories, and everyone had mixed feelings about us. Neither Michonne, dad and I were acquainted with the 'Fireflies', but we were glad that their leader let us in.

Although the community had a lot of people, we all had our fair share of work. Dad and Michonne expectedly volunteered as scoutsmen and so they went around the perimeter everyday. Ellie became a helper at the kitchen, which surprised me the most. She's actually got good hands, perfect with a knife. Joel and Maria stood behind the shotguns, taking turns at being night watches of the tower. It wasn't even a tower. It was just a bus and some old tire wheels to prop up the chair higher than the walls.

My job was to deliver supplies, food, anything that people would need. It'd been pretty exhausting but when I thought about the circumstance I was in, I stopped complaining.

People in here were quite nice, despite the fact that they didn't trust us because we weren't members of the Fireflies. There were old people, young people, boys and girls of every age doing jobs that weren't limited to their gender.

There were also different cultures. Many beautiful and distinctive traditions that I happened to learn more from. Although, Ellie takes a liking to them more than I do. Every full moon, apparently, the people have a cultural night in which they gather around and dance, tell stories, or just dress up to show which country they originate from. Ellie told me she went once and got to wear a kimono, lent from one of the Japanese families in level fourteen.

Speaking of Ellie, she'd been very particular lately. Sometimes, it felt like she was hiding something from me, but other times she was happy and carefree and more like herself than she'd ever been. I didn't bother to pry, everything was going great.

"Hey Carl, I need you to bring these supplies up to level 4 door 12," Damien announced, handing me a box full of duct tape and paint brushes.

"Sure thing," I nodded and walked towards the centre building. I became familiar with the layout of the community, and so I didn't get lost anymore. When I first came, Ellie had to draw me a map of the main buildings so I wouldn't get caught elsewhere.

While trudging up the steps I heard a voice from a few levels above. Ignorantly being uncurious, I strayed away to give people privacy and knocked on the door labelled 'twelve'.

"Delivery from the hardware," I announced, and the door sprung open. A lady, wearing a red apron and her hair tied up, answered with an enthusiastic smile.

"I have been waiting for these from the list in ages! Thank you, young man!" She exclaimed, ecstatic. "But if it's not too much to ask, is it okay if you run by again and grab a bucket? Any will do."

"It's no problem," I replied with a smile.

"Again, thank you," she said before gently shutting the door.

Quickly I turned to the stairs but saw a body flash in the corner of my eye. Ellie! With cautious steps, I trailed behind her, waiting until she stopped running so I could hug her from behind.

She was oddly sprinting here and there, completely aware of every sidewalk and building. At first I thought she was heading to the main dining hall to help the staff with lunch, but as she turned a different corner, I began to get curious. The bathrooms weren't there and neither were any supplies. The only building left in the East section was - oh. How could you be so ignorant?!

Without hesitation, I called her name and Ellie stopped dead in her tracks.

"You're not supposed to be here," her voice was faltering. From a glimpse, I saw her hand curl into a fist.

"Why?" I asked, barely a decibel being heard from my tone.

It took her a while before she could respond. "You were so happy... I didn't want to take that away from you..."

"And keeping this a secret will?!" Emotions turned into rage, I was mad. Devastated and betrayed. I didn't give her a chance to reply, but her glassy eyes seemed to say all the words. "How long have you been hiding this? Who gave you the right to keep this from me? From Joel? Does Joel even know?"

"'It's my body', remember those words?" She asked, blinking her eyes rapidly in order to keep the tears from flowing. "It's my body and my decision who gets to know what I do with it."

Suddenly, my knees started getting weak. "How much time... How much time do you have left?"

Ellie shied away from my gaze, "they don't know yet. We haven't figured out a way to salvage anything from my blood."

It took me a while to compose the right words. "So what now? You go there everyday, being their lab rat amd getting tested. You could ultimately risk your life while they make a mistake and there goes all the trials. Gone and wasted, you and the cure."

"You don't know that. None of us know anything. But I know that this is the only way I can make use of all those deaths that have happened because of me."

I wanted to scream at her. Make her believe that she never caused anyone to die. It was just a matter of circumstance and free will on the person's behalf. But seeing Ellie's broken face, her look of guilt and empathy, I suddenly wanted to wash everything away and help her be free of the invisible chain that bound her to remorse.

"Okay..." Was all that I could utter.

"What?" Her breath came out hushed, shocked as if I'd just done the impossible.

"Go find the cure. But please. Please don't keep anything a secret from me. The last thing I want is to find out that the cure was found a day ago and that I have fourty eight hours left to spend with you."

"I promise, I won't."

Promises. They were like hearts these days - always bound to be broken.