PetrA

Chapter sixty-one: Ellie

Ellie felt absolutely horrible as she laid in the bed looking at the wall while listening to the others talk in hushed voices as they thought she was asleep. She bit back a sob as Kim refused to tell the others anything when they asked. She closed her eyes and buried her face in the pillow. She wanted to scream, but kept it inside. This couldn't be happening... it couldn't possibly be what she suspected. It should not happen. She heard the curtains open and the mattress shift slightly as somebody crawled in. Ellie turned around to see Kim sitting with his head against the wall, his eyes closed. Ellie quickly closed her eyes pretending to be asleep, as he turned his head to look at her. He laid down next to her and pulled her closer, "Don't worry..." He mumbled into her hair. "We'll figure it out." Ellie wanted to cry again, but she forced herself not to as she pulled him closer. "How?" She whispered. Kim didn't seem surprised that she wasn't sleeping. "I don't know, but we will." He whispered back. "Now get some sleep." Ellie didn't feel like fighting against it and let herself slip into a restless sleep.

Over the next couple of days Ellie's morning sickness continued, and she was beginning worry as the next sign arrived. Her period was late, she had known that for about a week, but now it seemed more real. It had been years since it was unpredictable. Ellie stared out over the steel grey water as the wind howled in her ears. She pulled the jacket closer around her as she shivered against the freezing temperature and winds. The winter was coming, meaning that they would soon have a lot of snow. They were getting closer to the old Fish place. Ellie could see the small cluster of buildings in the distance. It would maybe take them another day to get there. Ellie just hoped that Timothy was there. "Ellie get inside." Gemma yelled over the winds. Ellie sighed and walked back to the auto-camper. Once she stepped inside Stella wrapped a blanket around her. "Your lips are blue." She said. Gemma pushed a cup with hot water and a few herbs into her hands. "Drink." Everybody had started to fuss around her.

They thought she was sick, but Ellie knew she wasn't. She didn't want to believe it, but her gut told her otherwise. She wasn't ill, no, there was a new life growing inside her. It made her feel guilty, bringing a new fragile life into a world like this. The only ones that really knew was going on, was Henrik, Stella and Kim, thankfully, they weren't telling the others, and Ellie was grateful for that. She wasn't ready for it to become a known fact. It was only Gemma, Stella and Ellie inside the auto-camper at that moment and Ellie felt bad for not telling Gemma. She sat down at the table with Gemma and Stella sitting opposite of her. "Gemma I need to tell you something." Ellie said quietly. "What is it Ellie?" Gemma asked taking one of her hands in her own. "I, I don't believe that I am sick." She said forcing herself to meet Gemma's eyes. "What do you mean?" Gemma asked frowning. Ellie swallowed a lump in her throat. "I- I think I might be pregnant." Gemma stared at Ellie for what felt like days. "What?" Gemma finally asked. "Ellie are you sure?" She asked her face flooding with worry.

Ellie nodded and looked down at her hands as she wrapped them around the warm mug. "Yes. I've been sick in the mornings, and my period is late." She said quietly. "But... your period is never late." Gemma said shocked. "I know." Ellie mumbled. "Oh Ellie, I don't know what to say." Stella was quiet as she looked out of the window. None of them had said the P word aloud until now, but they knew. "You don't have to say anything, just don't tell the others." Ellie said close to tears. "Who knows?" Gemma asked quietly. "Henrik, he was the first to figure out that something was wrong when I threw up the first couple of mornings on his shift. Then Stella who guessed it and I had to tell Kim, and now you." Gemma let out a sigh. "I won't tell, but you'll need to be careful." She said. Ellie rolled her eyes. "Thank you." She grumbled. "I didn't know that already." She grumbled just as the boys came back. "What did you get?" Gemma asked as if they just hadn't been discussing anything important. "Not much." Henrik said emptying the bag into the sink. Herbs and plants of all sorts spilled out along with dirt. "We found an abandoned farm about fifteen minutes from here." He said poking the veggies. "The fields were still full of untouched crops." Kim shook his head wrapping a blanket around himself. Joachim went directly to the bunk beds and Gordon walked in right behind them, with pink cheeks and chapped lips from the cold.

Gemma began to make some dinner from whatever they had to eat. "Didn't you raid the house?" Stella asked frowning. "No." Kim said shaking his head. "There was an entire family of dead people looking out from the windows. Didn't want to risk it." Henrik explained quickly when he saw the look he was receiving from Stella. "Oh, well of course." She said her eyes flickering towards Ellie. "Where's Cody?" She asked suddenly looking around. "I'm here." He said walking through the door. He was carrying something limp and furry with him. "Cody what is that?" Ellie asked eyeing it closely. "Dead squirrel." He said holding it up for them to see. "How did you get a hold of that?" She asked as everyone backed up. "I didn't find it." He said quickly showing the stick that was coming out from the back of its head. "I caught it." He said. Gemma frowned. "Cody it might have been sick from before." She said about to take it from his hands. Suddenly it gave a great jerk and Gemma backed up so quickly she stumbled into Henrik.

"We're not eating that!" Stella cried shoving Gordon behind her. Cody sulked as he walked outside with it. He threw it onto the ground and watched the small body writher. "Burn it!" Ellie said quickly finding something to douse the squirrel with and light it on fire. They watched as the once cute furry thing burst into a wall of flames. The body still twitching and jerking as if it was having a seizure. Once the flames died down Henrik made sure to ruin the brain. They watched as the cadaver of a little body turned black and crisp from the flames. "Let's get going." Ellie said her eyes on the squirrel as she backed into the auto-camper. Cody sulked in the driver's seat as they neared the cluster of buildings. Ellie moved up front her eyes trained on the buildings. The first thing she noticed was the traps set up around them. "Stop." Ellie said quietly as they closed in. A small group of people were patrolling the area and Ellie frowned, she hadn't seen any of them before.

They had guns trained at them, and a boy at the front yelled for them to get out. "Should we?" Henrik asked. Ellie frowned and looked at them for a moment, "I think we should." She got up and grabbed her jacket. The rest followed her lead and walked out of the auto-camper. "Who are you?" The boy yelled over the winds. Ellie scrunched him as she stood in front of the rest of her friends. Gordon stood behind her his hands clutching the fabric of her jacket. "Is Timothy here?" Ellie called back not answering their question. The boy stared at Ellie, as his friends began to murmur amongst themselves. "Who are you?" He asked. Ellie stared him dead in the eye as she felt her friends move closer around her. "I'm Ellie, Ellie North." The boy blinked as if she'd hit him in the face. He whispered something to the girl next to him, she didn't look older than thirteen, but she left in a hurry. Ellie noticed a movement not far behind them and her eyebrows knitted. She turned to her friends, who had seen it too. "Daniel?" Gemma murmured only for them to hear. "Maybe." Ellie said back eying the person lurking behind them. The physique fitted and the way it moved was the same way as Daniel used to move.

A couple of minutes, later three people walked out from one of the buildings. The girl was with them bringing up the rear. Ellie recognised Timothy at once and let out a small cry of relief. "Lower your guns!" Timothy called.