PetrA

Chapter forty-two: Ellie

Henrik pulled the car into a gas station. The car was running dangerously low on fuel, and they needed more food and water. "Joachim keep watch." Ellie said. It was the first words she'd uttered to him in days, he didn't answer and watched as Ellie and Henrik smashed a window to get into the shop. The automatic sliding doors didn't work. The first Creeper showed its ugly face only seconds later, smelling delicious dinner. Ellie punched it in the face sending it crashing into a row of candy and magazines. Henrik busied himself with filling their bags as Ellie grabbed something sharp and brained the creep. It fell forwards, but Ellie managed to move out of its way before it could touch her. She wasn't going to be flattened by another fatty. Once she'd made sure there wasn't others she joined Henrik scavenging everything useful.

None of them went near the back door that somebody had bolted shut, with good reason. Ellie thought stuffing the entire row of bubble gum into her bag. Especially her favourite, Mr. Bubble fruity splash. She then went behind the counter and screamed loudly, scrambling back, knocking over several things. Under the counter was a man curled up in a dog bed. By the sound of it, it seemed like that Ellie had startled Henrik enough for him to knock over two entire rows with magazines. The man let out a howl and Ellie backed up again knocking over more things. Henrik hurried over to see what was going on. Ellie scrambled to her feet and stared at the man who was now staring at her whilst crying. "Mommy." He spoke as if he was a five-year-old. "Mommy." He said again stretching out his arms for Ellie, who was staring at him still shocked at finding him. "Mommy!" he wailed.

Henrik jabbed Ellie in the side causing her to jump and nearly fall over her own feet. "Ellie did he just call you mommy?" he looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. "MOMMY!" the man under the desk wailed starting to cry loudly. Panic-stricken Ellie rushed over and started frantically to try to make him shut up. The door that had been jolted shut was now moving slightly as something pressed against it. "Hush, please shut up. Stop crying!" Henrik must've sensed the danger, but he still looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. As the man kept wailing loudly, Ellie looked around for something that could make him shut up. She grabbed a chocolate bar and ripped open the paper. "You want some candy?" she asked waving it in front of his face. He stopped wailing at once and followed the candy transfixed. "Cwandy?" Ellie shot a look at Henrik who choked down a snort. "Yes, be a good boy and you'll get the candy."

The bolted door was moving with more force now, and they had to get out of there fast. Ellie lured the man baby out of the shop with the candy bar, leaving Henrik to take their bags. Joachim stared and Ellie shot him a look, she threw the candy in the back of the car and slammed the door right after he'd made a wild dive for it. Henrik wasn't able to keep it in anymore. He howled with laughter and had to lean against the car for support. Ellie who'd gone tomato red was glaring at him, "This is not funny!" Joachim just looked confused. "Mommy!" Ellie had to stifle a scream as Henrik wrenched into another fit of laughter. "Joachim you drive! Henrik get in the back." Ellie still red got in the passenger seat and slammed the door. Joachim got in the driver's seat and Henrik still laughing his head off in the back.

His laughter died quickly as the man baby turned his attention away from Ellie and zeroed in on Henrik. "Daddy?" he asked. Henrik looked horrified by the thought, and shook his head quickly, "No, not daddy." The baby man frowned and then looked at Joachim. "Daddy?" he asked. "Yes, daddy." Henrik said nodding. "DADDY!" Joachim nearly crashed the car and turned around looking horrified. "No, not daddy! I'm not daddy." But their new passenger wasn't listening as he stretched out his arms as if he wanted to be lifted up. "Daddy, daddy, mommy!" Ellie looked like she was ready to jump out of a moving car, and Joachim was trying to convince him that he wasn't daddy. In the end, he had to give up, "Oh shut up and play with Uncle Henrik." Joachim said at last turning back around in his seat starting up the car again. Both Ellie and Henrik let out long and loud groans. He was like a huge three-year-old kid!

"Does he even have a name?" Joachim asked. Ellie who was sulking in her seat scowled at him, "How should I know? It's not exactly like I'm his mom." She said sourly. "Henrik see if he has a name." Ellie said not bothering to turn around in her seat. Henrik glared at her, "He can't even say a proper sentence!" Ellie shrugged. "Then let's just call him Bob!" Ellie snapped crankily. She just said the first name that came to mind. Ellie just sat in her seat scowling at everything. She did not want to be this things mommy. First of all, she's not even old enough! He must be at least thirty, and secondly she couldn't play mum whilst in the middle of the Zombie apocalypse.

When the sun was starting to set, they stopped the car in front of an old house just beside the road. Only good thing about it was the fact that tall metal fences surrounded it. Ellie forced the gate open, which screeched like an old hag. Cringing Ellie let the car pass enough for her to close them again. She looked around but found nothing she could lock it with, so she just picked up a large thick branch and stuck it between the bars.

The house looked like something taken out of a horror film. Old, dark and gloomy. Looking around it was clear that there hadn't been many people here, and Ellie hoped dearly that the house would be empty. She did not want to deal with dead people while having an oversized adult kid call her mommy. Ellie marched straight up to the front door and read the sign on the wall. "Felicity's mental institute, 1687-1987." A sense of relief washed over Ellie as she tried to open the doors, but they didn't budge. She was about to try to open them by using her entire body weight, but Henrik shouted at her not to. Instead of using her shoulders, she kicked at the lock until it broke off. Finally, the doors opened with a screech worse than Mrs. Dodd's could ever do. Ellie nearly gagged as she stepped into the entrance room, it smelled suspiciously like rotten things, but it wasn't rotten zombie stench, that much she could tell.

Henrik and Joachim followed with their new friend Bob the huge man baby. Joachim looked like he wanted to murder Henrik as Bob kept trying to get Joachim to carry him. Henrik looked rather pleased with himself and grinned at Joachim. "Don't look so happy. I'll get you back for this." He warned. "Shush." Ellie said letting the doors slam shut behind them. Bob jumped from the loud echo and sent both him and Joachim sprawling on the floor as he'd jumped directly into his arms, wailing like a baby. Ellie was glad she had been several steps behind them, along with Henrik. They had to lean against each other so they wouldn't fall while they laughed. It was the first time in a while that Ellie had actually laughed, without it being forced, sarcastic or mockingly. "Are you finished?" Joachim asked staring at them impatiently as he tried to ignore Bob latching onto his leg. "Oh man, that should have been recorded!" Henrik said between huge gasps of air. Ellie had reached the point where her laughter sounded like her hiccup just a hundred timed worse.

"Mommydying?" Bob asked as he was about to start wailing again. "N-no, I'm n-not."She gasped trying to stop laughing, but one look, at Joachim made her start allover again. Ellie's laughter carried all the way through the building withechoes.