I'll Be A Flower || Ellie Williams fanfiction || TECHNICAL ISSUES

XII. The Fireflies

[chapter 12]

Eileanoir

We came to a little problem ahead of us. The water here was flowing fast and if we fell there, even the best swimmers would be pulled under.

"Oh boy." Ellie says anxiously. "Just follow my lead." Joel says, trying to reassure her. We jump on trucks to get forwards.

"Okay. Come on, jump. Eli first." Joel says. "Lea." Ellie tells him and i snicker. "It's Lea now."

"Well, Lea then. Come on." He laughs.

"You're gonna catch me?" I say, terrified. "I got you."

I mutter an 'okay' and leap over the edge. Joel does indeed catch me. "Whew."

Then Ellie does the same. "Let's get the hell off this thing."

So we do. We jump down onto a bus. Then Joel jumps down too and the bus shakes. It goes slightly down from his weight and we quickly get off of it onto the land.

Joel was slipping on the bus trying to get off of it when the bus shakes and throws him into the bus in the water. He's holding onto a metal bar, trying not to be taken by the water.

"Joel!" We yell as he's struggling to hold his position. One of them breaks and he's mauled to the back of the bus by the force of the water.

We look at eachother and jump down on the bus. "We made it. We fuckin' made it!"

"Girls!"

We try to open the back doors of the bus but they wont budge. "Open you piece of shit!"

Finally it opens and Joel is momentarily pushed under the water but he soon surfaces again. "Here we go. C'mon, let's get you- Shit, Joel!"

The bus starts moving again. We hold onto it as it goes sideways. "Girls! Gimme your hands! gimme your hands before i-" And we all fall into the water. I held my breath as long as i could but water got in my lungs.

I passed out.

I woke up in a bright hospital room. I look around and i see Joel laying on a bed beside me. I also see Marlene. The woman from the posters, queen of the Fireflies.

I get up with a grunt and Joel seems to be waking up too.

"Welcome to the Fireflies." Marlene says. Her voice was higher than i expected and she sounded more... nice.

"Sorry about the... They didn't know who you were." I realize she's talking to Joel because i have no idea what she means.

"Where's Ellie?" I jump up after looking around the room, not finding her anywhere.

"She's alright." She answers my question vaguely.

She turns back to Joel. "You came all this way... How'd you do it?"

"It was her. She fought like hell to get here." Joel answers heartfeltedly. "Maybe it was meant to be."

"I lost most of my crew crossing the country. I pretty much lost everything. And then you show up, and somehow we find you just in time to save her."

What the hell happened to Ellie? I just passed out but Joel must've gotten me out of the water. Did Ellie get hurt?

"Maybe it was meant to be."

"What happened to her?" i ask, worried. She smiles. "The same thing that happened to you. But she's fine now, and so are you. Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Lea. My parents used to serve you before they died." I explain. "I tagged along with them so i could find you." I wasn't so sure of what i wanted anymore, but maybe living with the Fireflies would be for the better.

She nods and turns to Joel again. "Take me to Ellie." He says.

"You don't have to worry about her anymore." She answers nonchalantly.

"I worry. Just let me see her. Please." He waves his hsnd and looks at her.

"You can't. She's being prepped for surgery." What? I thought they just needed her blood. A surgery?

"The hell you mean, surgery?" Joel stands up. "The doctors tell me that the cordyceps, the growth inside of her, has somehow mutated. It's why she's immune. Once they remove it, they'll be able to reverse engineer a vaccine."

I dont know if i was bying into this whole cure thing, but it sure made me a little excited. "A vaccine."

"But it grows all over the brain." Joel says quietly and i realize. The surgery will kill her.

"It does."

"Find someone else." Joel says sternly. "There is no one else." Marlene argues. Joel has his fists balled up and so do i.

"Listen, you're gonna show me where- ugh!" And they beat Joel onto the floor. "Joel!" I yell worredly.

"Stop. I get it. But whatever it is you think you're going through right now is nothing to what i have been through. I knew her since she was born. I promised her mother i would look after her."

Joel shakes his head. "Then why are you letting this happen?"

"Because this isn't about me. Or even her. There is no other choice here." She says coldly.

I walk closer to Marlene "You can't just kill her! You need to let us see h-" The guard punches me in the stomach. "Fuck!"

"Hey!" Marlene says to the guard, stopping him from hitting me anymore.

"You keep telling yourself that bullshit. No other choice, pssh."

"March them outta here. They try anything, shoot them." She orders. So much for living with them i guess. "Don't waste this gift, Joel."