Chapter Thirty-One

The storm didn't sound like it was calming. Ellie and I were both pressed up against each other, but it still didn't feel comfortable.

"It smells of mold down here." I say in disgust, "I can only imagine the toxins we are breathing in."

"Toxins."

"I can't wait to get out of here."

"It is not bad with light." He says, "It is safe."

He was right, it was safe. I should learn to be like him; grateful. Instead I was basking in my own annoyance, and brewing anxiety that has molded itself in my veins just like the mold on the cellar walls.

I wanted a shower more than anything else.

I glanced at Ellie, his veins were a light grey, as though none of this bothered him. If anything, he looked relaxed.

"How on earth are you so comfortable?" I ask him, "You seem pleased with our situation."

"We are safe, should I not be comfortable?"

I pondered that before responding, "I guess maybe I'm the one that it being ridiculous." I sigh, "You're right, I should be thankful."

"I am thankful." He says quickly, "We are not dead."

I smile at that, "Me too." I huddled myself closer to him. The night was promising to be a long one, but despite everything, Ellie was right, we are not dead, and that is all that matters.

I managed to eventually fall asleep, though it was light sleep, it was still sleep. The wind and thunder slowly began to fade throughout the night, and by the morning, we were left with complete silence.

Ellie and I left the filthy cellar in a hurry. I expected to see the entire barn collapsed on us, but to my astounding surprise, it still stood. Though, not nearly as good as it had, and that's not saying much. I rushed Ellie out of the barn, afraid it'd fall right on our heads before we could blink.

Another whole day of walking didn't sound fun at all. Especially when the only rest we got was on a dirty cellar floor.

I forced myself to stomp down my dread and began to walk back across the dirt field to the road. Ellie followed me in silence, and for almost an hour, we said nothing.

I was beginning to get sick of the endless dirt fields and wished for something that would grant us a bit more color and shade from the burning sun. Not to mention I was starving, and I was sure Ellie was too.

There was nothing for us to eat or drink for miles, and I was starting to get a bit nervous about how exactly we would make it through this.

"I don't think we have much longer to go before a bit of civilization appears," I say, as I was getting bored of the silence, "Hopefully we will get there before tomorrow." Ellie said nothing, and so I turned to him, wondering what why he was so quiet.

Except, he wasn't there at all. I was sure he was behind me only moments ago.

"Ellie?" My heart plummeted, "Ellie, where are you?"

I turned to my left to see a figure standing far off in the field, I knew it was Ellie as he crouched down to something, but I couldn't make out what.

What the hell was he doing?

"Ellie!" I called after him, but either he didn't hear me, or he didn't bother to show that he did.

Curious and annoyed, I walked back into the muddy dirt field, and made my way over to him. It was not until I was feet away from him, did I notice what exactly it was that he was enticed by.

There laying before him, was a deer, lying on its side. It was breathing heavily with its chest going up and down up and down.

Something was clearly wrong with it.

How did Ellie see it so far from the road?

I circled the poor deer, hoping to find the cause for its misery. It was not until I approached its head that I noticed a rather thick stick protruding out of its neck.

"What the hell?" I bent down, examining the stick further.

"It is dying." Ellie said so casually, that it made me cringe, "It is in pain and is dying."

"We should kill it." I tell him.

He looked at me, his eyes wide, "Why should we do that? Killing is wrong, Ripley."

I huffed, not sure how what the best way to explain a merciful killing was. "You said it yourself, it is in pain. We can't let it suffer."

"But killing is-"

"It is bad." I cut him off, "But to leave a creature to suffer when it is going to die anyway, that is as cruel as murder itself. It is a mercy killing, and we should do it before it hurts anymore."

He stared at me for a moment, most likely pondering what I said. Then he simply nodded, as he stood up, and took a step back.

Right. When I said we should kill it, 'we' obviously meant me.

I stared at the deer, wanting to do anything else but this. All I had to do was grab its head and twist, right? That's easy. I can do that.

I bent down and grabbed the skull of the deer; it's breathing growing more ragged with each second. My stomach began to churn, and I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat.

All I have to do is twist.

I counted down from ten in my head, took a deep breath, and I twisted.

They make it look so easy in movies, how you can simply kill something with a quick turn and crack of the spine.

It was not so easy in real life.

It took me three attempts before the spine finally popped, and the life of the animal faded out.

I stumbled back onto the ground, the dirt encasing all around me, as I realized I was crying. Of all the things I thought would happen today, snapping the neck of a living deer was not one of them.

I could feel Ellie's eyes locked on me, and I quickly wiped at the tears that were falling down my face as I pulled myself up off the earth, shaking the dirt from my pants.

"Let's go." I push past him and begin back on the road.

I prayed Ellie wouldn't continue talking about it further, and as though I was blessed with a miracle, he didn't bring it up again.

We kept walking for a few hours. The empty fields left us, and we were once again greeted with a simple road with trees surrounded us from both sides.

Ellie said nothing, but I watched him, my heart wasn't racing as it had been when I had killed the deer, and I managed to control myself from crying anymore than I already did. Ellie was staring all around him as though the world was a painting only to be admired. I felt like now would be a good time to laugh at him, but a laugh didn't make it out of my throat as I was too down to even force myself.

I watched him reach his hand out when a small gust of wind blew in our direction. I saw him stare up at the sky, and then down to the leaves that were blowing past out feet.

Watching him purely exist is what calms me better than anything.

I then begin to think about what would happen when we get to Uncle Riley's house. What if he couldn't help Ellie and I? What if he turned us away? Where would we go? Who would we turn to?

My anxiety was eating away at my rational thoughts, that I barely realized the sound of an engine coming up from behind us. Ellie and I turned to see a red pick-up truck coming up the road.

There had been a few cars yesterday that passed us, but this was the first one we saw all day. Ellie tensed beside me, and I put my hand on his arm to comfort him. He was pretty good at behaving when vehicles passed.

But this vehicle didn't pass.

It slowed down as it approached us, and the window rolled down to reveal a man who seemed to be in his mid-fifties. His skin was dark, but only because he looked as if he lives in the sun. His hair was slick on his forehead with sweat. "You two need any help?" He asked, his accent was more southern than I would have expected.

I shook my head, my hand clasped on Ellie's arm like a chain, "No we're fine, thank you."

"It's an awful long road till' civilization. What're you two doing out here walking in this heat anyway?"

"Our car broke down." I lie, "Just trying to make it to town."

"Need a lift? My farm ain't too far from here. My wife and I could feed ya and then I could drive you to town. You both look exhausted. I'm sure that storm last night didn't help."

My heart dropped, we could really use a ride to town, but the last thing I wanted was to come into this man's home with the weapon that is Ellie.

And yet, I glanced at Ellie, and his long sleeves covered the blackness in his veins. I wasn't sure how I could hide the black that becomes his eyes, but he didn't seem like he was going to attack.

"Do you want to?" I ask Ellie, because I needed a verbal answer from him. 'Do you want to,' actually meant 'Can you handle it?'

He slowly moved his head from the man to me, he blinked a few times, and each time his eyes grew a shade darker. "Yes, Ripley." He said, "I am okay with it."

Yes Ripley, I can handle it.

I gave him a small, anxious smile before turning back to the man. "Alright, that would be nice, thank you sir."

He gave us a dazzling smile, his blue eyes crinkling as he did so, which made him look all-the-kinder. "I'm Marley, by the way, and you two are?"

"I'm Ripley," I say, "And this is my, err, boyfriend, Ellie."

"Ellie?" He laughed, "I admit I've never heard a man named that before."

"He's a new breed." I joke, though it wasn't really a joke.

He looked at Ellie and me, "Well, you two hop on in the back, the farm is about an hour off, so make yourselves comfortable. I apologize if there isn't much room back there, I have a few tools that I haven't unloaded yet. Just push them away."

I give him another smile, this time it was genuine, the thought of sitting sounded like heaven. "Thank you." I say once more, and I pull Ellie to climb into the back of the pick-up with me.

Once we were both settled, the man gave us one final wave, and we took off down the road.