Collision

Chapter One

~Chapter One~

Ellie's P.O.V.

Dead. One word, one syllable. It's the antonym of alive; the definition of end. There are many other ways I could describe this word, many other ways I could use it. This word meant so much to everybody before the First Night. Now it's just a word that we use to describe everything and everyone around us. Everything is lifeless now. There is no more entertainment, no more fast paced job, no more school. I miss school. I miss waking up every morning and hating the fact that I have to learn. I miss the normal life. Everything was so much easier back then...

In my past life I had so many objectives in mind. Nowadays I only have two: avoid death and run from the infected.

The infected have ruined the whole world. They've ruined what's left of my family. They wreak of blood and are so grey that it looks like their skin colour just got sucked out of them. All infected limp, unless they're really hungry and haven't eaten in days. In that case they run. This is the worst case scenario to be around them. 

We try our best to avoid the infected.

Some stupid folks I know nearly got themselves killed because they thought they could pass through hundreds of infected with just a pistol and a knife.

Though they've done their worst, I wish I could interact with the infected, to see what they're thinking, who they've eaten. All they ever do is moan and I'm sick and tired of hearing them.

I've killed a bunch of them, but that was months ago. Who knows if I could face one in an emergency anymore. Harvey's been teaching me how to stab one in the head. He says it's the only way to kill one of them - target the brain. It only comes back when you miss.

"Ellie, what's going on there?" Joel asked, walking towards the wooden swing I was seated on.

I shrugged, intent on my writing, "Nothing much, I'm just writing in this diary I found. I ripped up the girl's pages and tried it out myself. I might just keep this habit up everyday. There's nothing else to do anyways."

He chuckled, "I've never pictured you as a girl to write in a diary covered in pink and flower stickers. I'd take you as a girl who writes in a notebook covered in black and white skulls."

"I'm just trying to be like a normal teenage girl, alright? Look, I'm almost sixteen, and as far as I know, fifteen year olds write in these things. Or they used to. They say it's good for the mind, or whatever," I defended, shutting the notebook with one hand and throwing it on the ground. The impact created a thudding noise and a small whirl of dust at my feet.

Joel shook his head, laughing, "I like you better the way you are. Not one of those girls." He made his way back to Finn. It had been a while since I'd seen a genuine smile from him. It felt good to know that I was behind that reason.

"Hey, Ellie! Look what other stuff I found!"

I turned around, got off the swing, and walked to the field. "What is it, Lia?"

The little girl brought her hands up to me, "It's an earthworm! Daddy says they like to crawl in the soil a lot, so I dug one up! Look at it, isn't it cute?"

"I don't think your dad told you to dig them up. You should put that worm back Lia, it might die," I exclaimed. She took one last glance at the living creature, and buried it deep into the soil. "Good girl, now come on, I think Joel's got some food back in the truck. Let's go ask if we can have some."

I took her small hand in mine, and we began walking to the car. As we were walking past the playground, a noise was heard. It wasn't the infected - they only made moaning and biting sounds. No, this sounded like words.