THE UNEXPECTED

14

Autumn was was in full spring as we trekked across the country, we hadn't run into any other stragglers since Henry and Sam and that seemed like a life time ago. We were nearing closer and closer to Tommy and although I was excited, part of me felt disappointed since I'd grown closer to Ellie and reestablished my friendship with Joel and I wasn't ready to give that all up yet. It was almost bittersweet.

"Jackson county...that means we're close to Jackson city, right?" Ellie pondered, looking at an old road sign as walked amongst the greenery.

"Sure does." I replied.

Wyoming was truly beautiful and I couldn't help but smile at the greenery that surrounded us. Nature had begun to take over as the years went by with no human maintenance, I soon wondered what the world would look like if it carried on this way.

"You ready to see dear old brother?" Ellie asked as she walked along side Joel, I couldn't help but wince slightly at the question. The two brothers didn't exactly part in good terms.

"I'm just ready to get there." Joel replies shortly, frowning as he stares into the distance.

"You nervous?" The teen pries,

"Ellie." I send her a pointed look, as if communicating to her to ask for her to stop questioning him. I guess she takes the hint as her parted mouth closes sheepishly. I couldn't blame her though, Ellie was too curious for her own good.

I felt for Joel, knowing for a fact there was a small part of him which saw Sarah through Ellie, and whether he acknowledged it or not it must've been a hard pill to swallow. Although myself and Joel have had completely different life experiences, we had respect for one another due to our experiences through grief.

Swallowed in my thoughts, I soon wondered whether my family was even still alive. I doubted it. I hadn't a clue what state the UK was in, whether they even had QZ's or whether it was a completely different set up than the US. It was like we were completely shut off from the world, with no clue what neighbouring countries were doing to handle the pandemic.

As I was pulled from my inner monologue, I caught the end of Joel and Ellie's conversation. He was explaining him and Tommy's last words, although failing to mention that I was also present at the time.

"Do you have any siblings, Emily?" The attention was now brought onto me, I knew at some point Ellie would try to pry into my past but truthfully, I wasn't too sure where to even start. The teen was definitely curious on how I even ended up in this country, let alone siblings.

"I do...well did. I have no idea if he's still alive but he would be about a couple years younger than Joel now." I say, letting out a shaky sigh. My older brother, Jordan, was a ray of sunshine and lit up every room he entered. He was cheeky, out going and everything I wanted to be when I was younger.

I looked up to him as if the literal sun shone out of his arse, but he was my brother, the best one at that. We took care of one another and despite the ten year age gap, he was my best friend. Smiling, I quickly wiped under my eyes to prevent any tears from escaping.

I could tell that Joel's eyes were piercing into the back of my head, watching my every move, cautious to how I'd react. He knew for a fact that I cherished my family dearly and it was a sore spot for me.

"Seems like everyone has a brother but me, guess my mom missed the memo..." Ellie broke the silence with a small huff and I couldn't help but let a chuckle slip at her words. She seemed so unaffected at the world around her. "...I know I talk too much but I really feel like we got the ball rolling here and..uh, I don't wanna pry," She paused which made me suspect what she was about to ask, "That's a lie, I'm totally prying, but, Emily how exactly did you get here?" It felt like a sting to my insides, and I knew that she meant well but it didn't ease the pain.

"...Okay, I'm only gonna say this once so listen up and no further questions after. Capeesh?" Ellie nodded frantically, and I notice Joel sending me a look. I shrugged, she was bound to find out at some point. ",when the outbreak first started back home, it hadn't reached the US yet and the government, military, whatever and whoever were panicked which sent everyone spiralling...the Prime Minister at the time made a deal with the President to send women and children, as many as they could, over to the US and before I knew it there were soldiers fuckin' everywhere rounding us all up. I was separated from my mum and sent on a separate plane with a bunch of kids to be put in one of the first triages in Washington D.C and the rest was history. What the government didn't know was that they were also sending infected over to the US before if even really started here..." Ellie and Joel were listening intently to my words, the teen nodding at what I was saying with a frown on her face. She couldn't even fathom what the older woman had gone through.

I trailed off, not wanting to speak any further and it seemed that Ellie respected that and even though Joel had heard my story once before, he still held emotion in his eyes as he squeezed my shoulder tightly before moving away again. My skin seared and tingled at his touch, and it baffled me at how something so little had done so much.

Breathing out, I tried to collect myself again and ignore the tidal wave of emotion that hit me at full throttle. This little girl had somehow wormed her way through all of my walls quicker than Joel ever did, I hadn't known her very long but she was special and knew more about me than most did. It was then that I swore to protect her with every inch of myself.