to the ends of the earth || ellie williams (book one)

fifteen

"You've been here before?" Ellie asked as we looked around to check that the whole place was secure.

Large rows of books stood proudly in the centre of the room, a couple of books stood on each shelf - it was nice to see that the place wasn't totally ransacked. The ceiling was caving slightly, I silently hoped that it'd hold on until after we'd left. We didn't need the added stress of being buried alive.

"I see something back there," Ellie began, her face pressed to a glass door, "I think I see a bed."

I headed over to where she was stood and peered through the glass before asking, "Think we got a squatter?"

"Do you see another way in?" She questioned, checking the door that was definitely not budging any time soon.

After looking around for a while, Ellie broke through the glass and we entered the room. She examined the workbench in the corner, sliding her fingers across it gently with a smirk.

"What's going on here?" She asked, surveying the room as she leant against the workbench.

"All this electronic stuff... it has to be Eugene's. Nobody else would tinker with this shit," I smiled as I recalled back on past memories with the older man.

Ellie's eyes were caught by something in the corner. She paced over and picked it up, turning to me with a smile as she dangled a pendant with a familiar logo in front of me.

"He was a firefly?" She asked, struggling to contain the smile that was spreading across her face.

I pulled my pendant from beneath my coat and dangled it in the air.

"Served with Tommy and my father,"

"I had no idea.."

"Yeah. They got into some real dark shit," I shrugged.

"Like what?"

My father had told me stories when I was a child. He left out the worst parts but when he thought I was asleep, I'd sneak to the door when the meetings held place. I'd listen into their plans with my ear to the door. Sometimes, when I'd hear about the bad stuff he did, I'd pretend in my head that he was a superhero and the other guys were just the bad guys who deserved it. As I got older and understood it more, I found it hard to look at him the same way.

"Eugene said he blew up a checkpoint at Denver QZ. Killed three soldiers. And two civilians."

"Jesus," Ellie sighed with wide eyes.

"He also told me that he and Tommy slow-tortured some big FEDRA general? I dunno. I don't buy Tommy doing that, though."

"He could do worse,"

She didn't even know the half of it.

"Hey, look, a picture of your dad, Tommy and Eugene," Ellie chuckled as she plucked a photo from the wall, "They look like babies here."

I took the photo from her hands and smiled softly, tucking it away into my bag before sighing deeply. It was fucking freezing. I could see my breath in front of me and we were inside. We had to find a generator.

We spent a couple of minutes looking around before Ellie eventually found it. When we got it started, I noticed that the floor was glowing slightly. It was as if there was another room beneath us, then I noticed the door.

"Ellie, there's another room down there." I muttered, pointing to where the light was glowing through the cracks in the floorboards.

I rattled the door handle but after growing impatient, kicked the door down to reveal a set of stairs leading down. I turned to Ellie sheepishly before asking, "What do you think is down here?"

"It's obviously a sex den. That's why he didn't tell you about it."

"Wishful thinking," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her dirty mind.

But what was down there was way more exciting than a sex den, or a time machine, or a fucking UFO. Ellie and I looked around in awe. I'd never seen so much weed in my life - in all fairness, I hadn't seen much to begin with.

I spotted a jar of pre-rolled joints on a little table beside a couch. Grinning with anticipation, I grabbed the jar and turned to show Ellie, waving it around slightly to grab her attention.

"You think it's still good?" She asked, walking towards me to study the jar for herself.

"You're the one checking for a best by tag,"

She shook her head at me with a smirk, trying her luck at forcing open the jar. It wouldn't budge.

"Give it here," I scoffed, tossing it on the ground causing glass to spray all over the floor, "Oops."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She questioned as she removed her jacket.

I placed the joint between my lips as I removed my jacket, sitting back on the couch and pulling my lighter from my pocket.

"Well, since we're trapped in here for a while," I giggled before lighting it up.

"Totally trapped," She sighed.

Ellie took a seat opposite me, her body turned towards me as she rested her arm on the back of the couch. She took the joint from me, taking a few hits before smiling and exhaling the smoke. We did this for a while in silence, enjoying each others company as we increasingly got less sober.

"Where did you go last night?" I asked after a while.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Was it me?"

"Yeah and no," She shrugged, taking a couple more hits before handing it back to me, "I wanted to stay awake to... make sure you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"If I told you, you'd think I was crazy."

"Try me,"

She shook her head with a smirk.

"Why were you so mad at me earlier?" I asked as I flicked out the stub and left it in the ashtray on the table.

"Listen. Last night, we were drunk... I don't regret it, I just. I don't trust you yet, Charlotte." She explained, "You really hurt me."

"And I will spend every day making up for it, Ellie." I spoke apologetically, "As long as you promise not to leave my bed in the middle of the night next time."

She smirked before pressing her tongue to her inner cheek, shaking her head and stroking the back of her neck.

"Next time?"

"You know what I meant," I scoffed as I rolled my eyes, trying to conceal the smile that was creeping up my face but the pot was making it hard to mask my emotions.

We laid on the couch for a while, giggling every now and then as we felt our sobriety slip away bit by bit.

"So," I grinned, sitting cross-legged to face her, "If you had to... how would you rate our night last night?"

"Why're we still talking about this?" She smirked.

"I just want to know," I shrugged, "I'd give it a six. Like... a solid six."

"Fuck off," She chuckled in a low tone, "A six?!"

"We were drunk. Wouldn't have happened sober," I teased as we maintained heavy eye contact.

I watched as she studied my face, her eyes flicking to my lips before coming back to my eyes. She rubbed her chin and looked away, shaking her head as she raised her brows.

"You don't think?" She asked, diverting her gaze to her lap as she played with her fingers.

"Well, do you?"

Ellie turned to cross her legs, shifting a little closer to me before saying, "I don't know."

"I'm guessing now isn't a great time to test that theory," I giggled - mainly at the irony of the situation, "You can't only like me when you're not sober."

"If only you knew," She sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you have no idea."

"Then..." I hesitated, "Show me."