Chapter Text
To many people, the constant clopping of a horse’s hooves would become background noise at some point. For Ellie they never did. Every mile since Jackson has been filled with nothing but this creature’s presence. Its grunts, pants, sneezes, and constant wind. She hadn’t realized before now just how gross these things can be.
Pressure forms around her belt line which brings her back to the present. She’s at the edge of the plains which had gone on for days. Miles of long grass and desolate stretches of highway. Occasionally exits for small towns and long abandoned truck stops. There wasn’t a lot of cover, so they’re quite fortunate not to have run into any human trouble. Infected aren’t really a problem out in the country.
Before her lies a mass of forest enveloping the highway they're following. It looks like pine, thick with ferns and various other plants. It’s a great place for people to hide. Her body tenses. She reaches at the hand around her waist.
“What’s up?” Dina asks from behind, her hand slightly squeezing as if to reassure Ellie.
She’s always been rather observant. That’s one thing she always thought was a little annoying, but it’s nice, so she doesn’t say anything about it.
“I was just… thinking,” her voice quivers.
“Maybe I should drive,” Dina places a hand on Ellie’s shoulder. “And then we can play a game to distract ourselves.”
Ellie halts the horse. It grunts as she hops off and Dina shifts over the saddle to the front. After pulling her up, they resume their course. Weaving in and out of the cars, the horse continues. There’s no need to lead it as long as she keeps an eye out for potential holes.
“So…” Dina takes a deep breath. “In this game, we’ll be taking turns listing one item to bring on our horse ride. And then we’ll have to list what the other person said, back and forth, until one of us can’t remember the list.”
“What?”
“Just- let me start, okay? So… if I were on a horse ride, I’d bring you. Now you go.”
“Okay. If I were on a horse ride, I’d bring you.”
“No, me.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, not me. You. I’d bring you. So you’d bring yourself because we’re on the horse ride together.”
“Whatever you say.”
Ellie hugs Dina from behind and leans into her a bit. Dina leans back in response. “Thanks. My back was starting to hurt.”
“If I were on a horse ride, I’d bring me, and -” she glances down at the items stored on the horse. “My shotgun.”
“Okay, I’ll give you this one. But how about stuff we don’t already have? To make it fun.”
“This is getting complicated.”
“If you don’t wanna play, I’ve got other games.”
“Other games? For horse rides?”
“Yeah. I read ‘em in a book once.”
Ellie squeezes her tighter, interest piqued. “Really? Do you still have it?”
“Nah. It was a long time ago. But I still remember some!”
“Alright, let’s hear another one,” her tone lowers as she realizes there’s no new book. “Oh, and you chose me. I’m already on the horse.”
“I thought about that as soon as I said it.”
The canopy of the forest lays down a blanket of shadow. Sprinkles of light break through to dance across the debris of the overgrown highway. A chorus of birds begin to sing as the branches provide their places. Much more comforting than the silent winds of the plains.
“Well, we could play this one game with license plates.”
“I’m guessing this book was centered around cars.”
“Yeah, maybe a non-car one, huh? Hmm… how about Would You Rather? ” she gets a little breathy at the end.
“Hell yeah, I haven’t done that in a while. Whatcha got?”
“Would you rather… eat the peaches or the peas?”
Ellie pauses for a moment. “The peas.”
“Why?”
“Cuz I know you like peaches.”
Dina smirks. “Your turn.”
“Would you rather kiss me or not?”
“That was quick.”
“I know how this game goes! I’m here to win.”
Dina turns her head and locks lips with Ellie as she shifts her hands up to her shoulders. The bounce of the horse smushes them in a circular motion. Dina’s knuckles grow white as she grips the reigns with the threat of death. The horse grunts as the air shifts. Ellie’s right hand drifts down just above Dina’s breast but is stopped short.
“We have to stay alert,” Dina insists. She places Ellie’s hand back on her shoulder and turns away from her.
“You’re right,” Ellie admits. “I just got caught up in the moment.” She straightens her back and begins scanning the treeline.
The clops of the horse continue to drone on until the trio comes across the start of a bridge. Ellie spots a police car about halfway down.
She lets out an elongated grunt. “Uuuuuuuuuggggh! Now we gotta leave the road.”
“We could keep going. That police car could have some loot.”
“And risk being ambushed from both sides? Fat chance, Dina. We’re going around.”
Dina raises her eyebrows. “Yes, ma’am.”
She directs the horse through a broken hole in the rusted guardrail. It slows down as the terrain becomes uncertain. Branches and fern leaves brush and slap its face. Its grunts and twitches grow more frequent.
“You ever write a haiku?” Dina asks.
“A haiku? That a superpower or something?”
“No! They’re poems. Three lines. Five syllables, then seven, then five again.”
“Okay. So what do I make it about?”
“Anything. Let’s say… your favorite animal.”
“Alright. Let me think… Giraffes are badass. They are soft and super tall. I want to ride one.”
“I still can’t believe you pet one.”
“It was the best. Now your turn.”
“I am white as snow. Once dying, I’m now thriving. My oppressors died.”
“What animal is that?”
“The polar bear. We were on the verge of melting their home before all the factories shut down. Now they’re fine.”
“How do you know they’re fine?”
“They did a bunch of, like, positive propaganda right after the fall that made its way out of the quarantine zones. Some of that stuff was like, Top Ten Positive Things About the End of the World. One of those was that polar bears were thriving again because the north pole wasn’t melting anymore.”
“Humans were melting the ice caps?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“That’s a longer story. One I don’t really wanna get into right now.”
“Fine by me. Got any more games?”
“How about I Spy?”
“Sure.”
“I spy with my little eye… something green.”
“Funny.”
The horse continues.
“So….” Ellie glances up at the canopy. “I noticed something about myself lately.”
“Yeah?” Dina asks, glancing back at her.
“I’ve been kinda… grabby lately.”
“I can’t say I blame you. I am pretty hot.”
Ellie chuckles. “That’s true. You are the hottest girl I’ve ever seen. And I’ve got the celebrity- anyways, I-” Ellie trails off. Her heart is pounding. Should she tell her now? Is there ever a good time to talk about stuff like this? She just has to keep herself calm. It’s probably good to be open about things like this. Especially if it’s affecting her.
“When I was younger… shortly after I came to Jackson… I had a run-in with a really bad group.”
“The people at the university?”
“Yeah.”
“You told me about ‘em. How you had to take care of Joel.”
“Well, I didn’t tell you everything,” Ellie struggles to swallow the lump in her throat. Suddenly her chest is hollow and breath is quicker. Her eyes are dry now. Dina winces as Ellie’s nails dig into her.
“Hey, Ellie, what’s going on?”
Ellie takes a deep breath. In… Out… Say it on three.
One.
Two.
“I was held by this man for three days.”
Fuck.
Dina halts the horse and ignores the nails piercing her shoulders. She stays silent. The birds, crickets, and the now eerie shift of the leaves against the wind continue as the pair sit amidst the woods.
“Joel saved me, but…I think that’s why I’m so…” Flashes of the winter. The smell. The taste. The sounds. She squeezes even harder. “I killed him, though. I made him suffer more than I did.” She feels the tears form just before her eyes, but they never fall. Instead, the sadness quickly falls to emptiness. They’re in the middle of the forest, after all.
Dina takes a deep breath for herself. “Thank you for telling me,” she says. “Thank you for trusting me,” she reaches behind for Ellie’s hand, simply extending it as an invitation.
Ellie takes it. “Let’s keep moving.”
The ride is silent for quite some time. Dina doesn’t dare to ask anything else. She’s lucky to have gotten that much without sending Ellie into a spiral. If it’s as bad as she imagines it… three whole days. Dina shakes her head. Her eyes dart to the tree line. Keep an eye out. Look for tripwires, cars, any signs of anything. Don’t let your thoughts wander now. They need to get to safety.
The sounds of the horse never cease. So damn annoying. If Ellie had any earbuds, she’d be golden. Even better if she could find one of those mythical headphone jack splitters. She could share her music with Dina.
She decides now might be a good time to break the silence. To lift the mood just a bit. “So… we’ve established just how shitty men are. Right? I mean…”
“Yeah. The worst.”
“Totally… anyways, how about I tell you about the time I first killed a man?”
“Oh? Are you sure?”
“Positive. It might help me feel a little better.”
Dina smirks. “Well, if you think it’ll help, go ahead.”
Ellie clears her throat. “Joel and I were heading through Pittsburgh and came across this flooded hotel. It was pretty nice. I’d have loved to take you there back before it was shit.”
“Anyways,” Ellie continues. “We ended up having to sneak around this group of hunters and kill a few. It didn’t seem like a huge deal to Joel at the time, but looking back… he was struggling. We end up finding a route through this elevator. As he’s lifting me up to a ledge, the elevator falls from beneath him and he plummets to the floor!”
“No way! And he was fine?”
“Basically! But I mean, I was freaking out. He told me to stay put but I didn’t do that-”
“Obviously,” Dina interrupts.
Ellie hugs her. “And then I snuck past a whole bunch of people, laying under beds and crawling through holes in walls. Like one of those action movies Joel likes so much.” She chuckles, but the warmth quickly leaves her face. “I should have told him about that.”
More chirps and wind rustling the leaves. More clops from the horse. “Anyway, I found him. This hunter was on top of him… drowning him. And… Joel couldn’t get to his gun.”