Collision

Chapter Twenty Four

~ Chapter Twenty Four ~

Ellie's P.O.V.

As of yesterday, we had been planning a way to figure out where the doors would be unlocked. Although we were still unsure about what was unlocked, we were almost positive that the button triggered a door or a latch to a door. Michonne suggested that we piled up our belongings and set it on the button, keeping it there so we have the chance to explore where the door would be. Joel, on the other hand, thought of it as a bad idea since people could just walk by and steal our things without any way of us knowing who and when.

"How about this, half of us stay here while the other half go around the whole maze only to look for the door," Rick suggested. I shook my head vehemently. That meant we would all have to be separated again.

"Is there any way of us finding out where the door is, but still keep our belongings?" I asked, frustrated. My brain had basically rotten to it's core. I had spent a whole day thinking about one thing and one thing only: the giant button. It hurt to focus now.

My comment was disregarded as Michonne spoke, "I'll stay with Ellie and Joel while you, Daryl and Carl go look for anything that looks different. We'll keep the pressure on the button so just make sure you find it quick because we don't know if there's a time bomb on this thing."

Of course I was glad I would be able to stay with Joel. But again, that meant losing Carl since he had to be with his dad. It completely and utterly sucked, the constant motion of having to separate myself from one person I loved. If it wasn't Joel, it had to be Carl. With a defeated sigh, I gave Carl a longing glance as he jogged away, giving me a look of hope.

He turned around, jogging backwards and I kept my gaze on him. His skin had been pale for quite a while, cheeks as red as a rose and his face looking like milk.

With a small wave and a determined smile, he turned back around and turned the corner, away from my sight.

"What's up with you and that boy?" Joel interrogated, just after Michonne had walked away to keep watch of the halls. His beard was growing, looking rough and dirty.

I answered him with a silent shrug and he continued talking, "You know, Tess... If she were still here today, you would know what she'd tell you if she saw you with a boy like him, right?" I shook my head. "She would say 'Ellie, you better move on along if you don't want to be left behind by your boy.'"

"Why would she say that?" I asked, tying my shoelaces again for the hundredth time - there was nothing to do except wait.

"Well, Tess was always confident and she stayed that way 'til the end. Because of her confidence, she always made the first move even when she was afraid of what might happen," Joel explained.

"So, you're saying that Tess made the first move on you?" Joel nodded with a sly grin. "But this is different, Carl already made the first move on me. Well, I don't even remember who started which but I'm confident enough."

"And that reminds me again of how you are so much like Tess. Even when you two don't even have the closest thing to a blood connection, you two are so alike."

The silence erupted, signalling the end of a conversation. Joel hardly ever talked about Tess, and I understood since it must've been painful losing her all of a sudden. One moment, we were on a mission to get me to some place, and the next, we lost her. Well, since I hadn't known her all that well; Joel lost her.

I wondered how it was to deeply lose a loved one. Then I thought about Carl and shuddered at the nightmares to come.

"You can rest, Ellie. This will probably take a while before they come back," Michonne uttered, sharpening her katana with the dagger in hand. I didn't dare hesitate before shutting my eyes.