𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞: "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚"

6 months in the apocalypse, 6 months I've been on my own, I haven't had a proper conversation with anyone, although it's not like I did before.

I was held up at an apartment building on the edge of some clan. I didn't leave much, to ensure I was safe, that's also part of the reason I didn't have a group or clan if my own. I knew I could look after myself and make sure I was safe. My supplies were getting low and it was time to go out to gather more. Grabbing my bow and book bag I locked up and headed out.
The constant paranoia of having a ghoulie chasing me had me looking over my shoulder more than I was looking ahead.

There were only a few stores that haven't been looted from yet, and most of them were in clan territories, so I was left with the scraps from the corner stores and small run stores like hardware and pawn shops. You find some of the best stuff at pawn shops though, there's always more arrows, which is something I always look for even tho I've got a fair amount already.
I had to travel further than last time for food as all the other stores were already looted, soon I knew I'd have to travel further than Glendale. As I was walking I came across the mall, I wondered if it had already been looted but as I came closer to the doors I saw the trip wires and chains on the doors.

"Shit," I sighed.
The sun was starting to set and I wouldn't have enough time to get home before dark on foot, looks like I was spending the night here. I walked around the building looking for a way in but all doors were chained shut. Shaking the lock on the back door I kicked the door.
"Fuck!" I yelled, "Shit," I kicked the door once more, frustrated that I didn't find anything today and that I was in a time crunch for a place to stay.

The sounds of a motorcycle coming from behind myself made me freeze, I knew about Triumph and what he was doing, I also knew that if he saw you, you were most likely going to be dead soon. As the bike shut off I slowly turned around. I was almost certain I looked like a deer caught in headlights as I began to tremble when I saw who it was, I already knew I was dead. But I wasn't going down without a fight, with my hand read on to grab an arrow out of my quiver and my bow ready to be raised if he made any sudden moves, I was ready to fight.
His hands reached up to the mask and I thought this must be some sick thing where before he takes you he shows you who he actually is. But once the mask came off it was none other than Eli Cardashyan, I relaxed letting my hand go back to my side.

"Sup?" He said showing a smile
"Eli," I said out of a sigh of relief, "I thought I was dead,"
"If you look like the enemy nobody will mess with you," He said walking closer
"So what, is all this yours?" I asked He nodded as he went to unlock the chain.
I took a step away from the door as I watched him unlock the door, "D-do you think I could hold up here tonight? there's not enough time for me to get back to my place before dark," I stuttered
"Welcome to mi casa," Eli said as he opened the door. He and I walked into the mall, there were signs everywhere that he had made saying 'Eli's Mall' and almost every exit had been trapped or locked up.

"So you got this all yourself?" I asked being amazed that it had air conditioning
"Yeah, got solar panels on the roof for power and AC," He noted
"Wow, I'm impressed," I nodded
"What about you, Jo, what you got?" He asked
"What I have doesn't even begin to compare to this," I said looking around at how clean the place was "I've been holding up the top floor of an apartment building since the bombs went off. The bottom and second floor have a ghoulie problem but that's why I'm as high as I can go."
"I've got one in here, and that's why that is closed," He pointed to the security gate that divided the mall in half

"Ok, I gotta ask," I said noticing there was a salon here "Does the water work and can one plug in a hair straightener?"
Eli chuckled and nodded "Yeah, everything works,"
"Do you mind?" I asked pointing to the hair place
"Go for it, showers are over there," He pointed to the washrooms
"Thank you!" I said running off to the showers.

I'll have to give it to him, Eli keeps the place very clean, even in the bathrooms there were fresh towels and different soaps in there, granted they were mostly dude shampoos but they got me clean.
I left my shoes in the bathroom as I slid across the tiles in my sock feet with my wet hair getting in my face. I was on my way to the salon, for the first time in six months I felt clean and actually awake. I noticed Eli was waiting in the salon with an apron on and the straightener and hairdryer already plugged in.
I sent a questioning look in his direction, "I worked at my aunt's salon for a while, I know what I'm doing, Sit," he said
"I just need to straighten it," I said unsure if I wanted to let him near my hair with scissors
"Please, just sit, promise I won't fuck it up," He said with puppy dog eyes that made me crack a smile. I say in the chair and he put the hair cape thing over me.
About an hour later Eli spun the chair around and let me look in the mirror. He trimmed my split ends and made it look much better. He took it back to being above my shoulders and straightened it for me.
"Wow, I'm sorry for doubting you," I said shaking my head feeling how differently my hair felt, I liked it.
"You always kept it short so I thought why not,"
"You noticed that?"
Eli nodded "We were chem partners,"
"I remember that I just didn't know you noticed," I shrugged
"You weren't as invisible as you thought Joanna,"

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