RESTLESS SPIRITS ▷ ELLIE WILLIAMS

CHAPTER SEVEN: ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

TW FOR THE FOLLOWING THIS CHAPTER: animal death, gore, men being gross 

The fire had been put out when Marlowe finally came around. Smoke rose from the blackened logs, and ash scattered the base of the fire pit. Slowly, Marlowe sat up, blinking as she took in her surroundings. She vaguely remembered the events from the previous night, taking down the infected and finding shelter in the old barn. The rain had been relentless last night, but now only the clouds remained.

"Oh, good. You're awake,"

Marlowe's head whipped around, finding where Ellie stood in one of the barn's stalls. She buckled her saddle bag to Beatles saddle and turned to face Marlowe, leaning on the door of the stall.

"Sleep well?"

Marlowe rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm, "Shit, did I sleep through the night?"

"Yeah,"

"Why didn't you wake me? I could have taken watch for the morning,"

Ellie exited the stall and walked back to where she had set up a small food station; breakfast had been cold biscuits and jam. Putting the quick meal in a bowl, the brunette slid it to Marlowe, who had sat up, stretching her arms above her head.

"You needed the rest, and I couldn't sleep."

The medic hugged her bedroll to her chest, clinging to the last bit of warmth it provided, the morning chill still hanging in the air.

"Did you sleep at all?" Marlowe asked through a bite of biscuit,

"A couple of hours here and there," Answered Ellie as she sat on the other side of the fire pit.

"Anything noteworthy happened while I was out?"

Ellie shook her head, "It was all clear,"

Standing from her bedroll, Marlowe brushed the dirt off her pants and reached down to pick up her sleeping bag.

"We should head out soon before the rain stalls us,"

They packed up their campsite, put everything back into their bags, and saddled their horses. Outside the barn, in the light of day, Marlowe was able to map out the campground more easily. The three bodies of the infected were still face down in the soil, blotches of red surrounding their bodies. Much to her relief, no one else seemed to be occupying the space with them.

***

They rode out into the Oregon wilderness as the sun began to crest into the sky, burning away the clouds from the previous day. Sunlight streamed through the canopy spotting the forest floor with light. They moved out onto the road, foliage breaking through the concrete and spilling onto the faded pavement.

For two more days, they rode, for the most part in silence, both women keeping a careful eye out on their surroundings. Marlowe could tell the ride was making Ellie restless. She would shift in her saddle and switch her reins from hand to hand. Eventually, Marlowe got sick of seeing the movement from the corner of her eye, the way her heart jumped each time, thinking it was some animal or infected coming towards them.

As midday of their third day approached, Marlowe decided she had had enough and stopped them at a nearby trail.

"What are you doing?" Ellie asked, watching Marlowe dismount from the palomino gelding and pull her rifle from its case.

"We're hunting,"

The mud squelched under Ellie's boots as she dropped out of her saddle. The medic checked that there was ammo in her rifle before slinging it on her shoulder.