𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ⚠︎︎ 𝐉. 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑

chapter seventeen

Her warm breath filled the cold basement with a puff, quickly disappearing as she stared down at the man she loved most, hanging on for dear life. He'd barely spoken, blinked a few times, begged her and Ellie to leave. They stayed put, Thalia with a shaky hand tried to stitch him up but with the condition of her hand, Ellie ended up taking over.

It was a long process, dragging his unconscious body atop the horse and into a random neighborhood, safely stowed in some abandoned house. Thalia cradled her hand close to her chest, the same hand that was now twice the size of what it was, swollen and aching.

Ellie was snuggled up with Joel, curled into his side like Thalia once did. He was a radiator for heat, now though, his skin was almost cold to the touch. His wife feared the worst, if he died in this dingy basement she could never forgive herself.

"I need to go back." She picked her head up, "They'll kill you."

"Can't- they-... you don't need to worry about them." Ellie just stared at her, as if she was crazy for suggesting such a thing, "You can't just- fuckin' leave us." Thalia blew out a puff of air, watching it form in the air before leaving once more. "He needs medicine... he'll- he won't..."

She bowed her head at the thought, tears welling in her eyes at the sickening thought. Her stomach churned as she pictured burying her husband, the last thing she had from the real world.

"We need food..." Thalia sniffled, "I know... fuck- Ellie, I'm sorry." She met the teen's gaze, shame and guilt deep in her chest. Ellie didn't bother saying anything, just watching as the strong woman she knew crumbled. "He's not going to die."

Her words were gentle and sincere, putting an emphasis on the whole sentence. "He can't... such a pain in my ass but god..." Thalia gave a sad chuckle, wiping her nose to keep the tears inward, "He used to be nice, y'know?"

"Seriously?" Both girls began to smile a bit, "Yeah. Nicest man I'd ever met. We met in a grocery store after... he told Sarah, his daughter, that I was pretty... she came up to me- ten years old- and told me her dad was interested in me."

Ellie soaked up the story, sitting there on Joel's left side while Thalia sat against the wall to his right just a few feet away. "We got married two years later. Craziest damn day of my life but easily the best... then three years later we lost... everything."

She swallowed thickly, looking down at Joel who was fast asleep, eyes fluttering when his mind took the best of him. "I never knew true love until I met him. He gave me a kid... a-almost... almost two."

She couldn't look at the girl, afraid of what she'd say, how she would react to something she had never told another soul besides her husband. Not Tommy, not Bill or Frank, not Tess. She was in on a secret that crushed any soul that heard it.

"You had a kid?" Ellie sounded nervous to ask the question, she was quiet and soft, "Kind of. I was pregnant during the outbreak and lost the baby... always said we were gonna have a girl, named her Daisy."

Silence settled thick, neither dared to say a word, just staring at the floor below them before Ellie spoke up, "It's a pretty name." Thalia nodded, "Joel came up with it in his sleep. It means hope. Even carved some daisies on my axe."

She pulled it towards her, scraping it against the floor as the teen made her way over to her. They looked at the flowers etched on the handle, done by a carving knife when she was bored in the QZ. "They... they look like shit."

Thalia broke into a fit of giggles, Ellie following soon after, "I have never been an artist..." With this sweet interaction she suddenly felt warm, her heart swelling as she looked at Ellie, studying her features and admiring the twinkle in her eyes.