Separated

by Michael Blue

  Erlina bit her bottom lip to stifle her giggle.

  "Oh shut up…" Ellie said with a smile. She showed off her second book, "I'm getting this for me. It's a crime story."

  Erlina gleamed her light at it, and squinted through one of her broken lenses.

  "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Erlina crossed her arms, "Now that's a cool title."

  "Did you find what you were looking for?" Ellie asked standing up.

  Pressed to her side, underneath her elbow, Erlina removed the book with a scoff and an eyeroll. She held it up with a semi interested look,

  "The Golden Compass," Ellie read out, "Could be good…"

  Erlina reached into her bag and pulled out another book she had gotten before choosing her own,

  "I was thinking the same thing and got Joshua this book called Harry Potter. There's seven whole books in the entire series..."

  "Seven?" Ellie repeated in disbelief.

  Erlina nodded.

  "Why don't you give him 'The Gold Compass' one?"

  "Good idea."

  The girls gathered their books, but ended up enjoying each others company a little too much. The thought of being exposed to danger completely slipped their minds. As observant as Ellie was, she ended up wandering into a separate room with numerous computer monitors. Erlina was observing "popular" movie posters on the wall, and realized one thing about the girls in the images. Using her hand, she reached up and tossed a handful of her braids over her shoulder, running her fingers through them. It didn't take long for Ellie to notice the instant change in Erlina's attitude, so she grabbed the girl by her wrist, and tugged her elsewhere.

  "Those suck, check out these computers," Ellie said, dragging her to the separate area, "Ugh, I wish they worked."

  "On the bright side, we'd have no idea how to use one," Erlina shrugged.

  "Ever heard of a facebook?" Ellie asked.

  Erlina tilted her head to the side, and thought for a moment. With a brief expression of surprise, she returned back to her neutral face and shook her head,

  "No..."

  Ellie chuckled and shook her head,

  "Let's get out of here…"

  The youngsters made it out from the way they came, but something was much more different this time. Erlina always remembered her aunt's "gut feelings" when something just wasn't right, and Erlina was experiencing that for the first time. Just as Ellie made her way down the steps, Erlina stood by the doorway as a loud "snap!" got her attention. Erlina never realized before, but the parking lot was surrounded by a huge forest.

  Ellie stopped, and turned around, looking at her,

  "Is everything okay?"

  "Ellie come back..."

  Ellie looked at Erlina's face, which were pinned on the trees in the forest. It wasn't too long before Ellie noticed a humanoid figure shuffling around in darkness of the trees. Runners were called 'Runners' for a reason, and if Ellie and Erlina tried escaping from that parking lot, the only way of making it back to the garage without getting caught by an infected was killing them. As Ellie tried to return to the doorway, her and Erlina noticed about three more figures make their way past the branches and the trees. Before both girls knew it, they were already yelling in their direction.

  Quickly, the girls made their way back inside the building and slammed the door shut behind them. The door was broken, so it wouldn't hold for so long, but it gave the girls a chance to make their escape down the staircases and into the basement. Being the first to go down, Ellie warned Erlina of some spores in the area, and she reached into her place on her gas mask. The basement was dark and had cubicles with more computers all over. Erlina and Ellie ventured deep into the room of the basement and hid behind underneath the desks of the the cubicles after realizing that they were in the basement alone. There was a notable growl and Erlina couldn't help but notice Ellie's pale-faced reaction. Double checking, Erlina turned around to check it something was behind her, wondering what had Ellie so nervous.

  "Ellie..?"

  "Shh!" she hushed.

  Ellie listened closely, and could hear some soft breathing about a couple of feet from them.

  "Holy fuck," Ellie whispered while biting her bottom lip, "It's a Bloater."

  Erlina nearly lost it and began panicking. If she didn't know any better, she would've gotten up and ran right out of the room, leaving Ellie behind. The only thing that pushed her back into her squat were the Runners that made their inside. Ellie knew exactly what was going through her friend's head. Gently, she placed her palm on Erlina's hand for comfort. Giving a signal with her head, Ellie began to move, and Erlina followed. With the way the cubicles were set, the girls had to make their way around the basement as if it were a maze. They had no other option but to make it past the bloater and Ellie had to place her finger on her lips countless times to calm Erlina's nerves.

  Once they made it past the Bloater, Erlina did them both a huge favor just to be safe. Picking a large, broken off piece of cement, Erlina tossed it with all her might until it reached the opposite side of the room. Everything, including the Bloater, rushed over to see where it was coming from. The closer the girls made it to the other side, they noticed a flickering light bulb pointing out another staircase on the opposite side and end of the room. Before they both knew it, they were out of the basement like mice.

  * * *

  Both girls had sweat so much, they were practically glued together when they'd touch. They were breathing heavily, and were relieved to finally get some fresh air, including Erlina.

  "At least we got our books!" Ellie said.

  Erlina smiled.

  "Come on…" Ellie said before pacing back to the mechanic's store.

  Spring

  * * *

  The travel on the highway was a long and quiet walk. Today was the day the pairs would finally separate. Erlina and Ellie were walking ahead of both men, and although the weather was wonderful, they all couldn't shake off a feel of melancholy. This was the first time Joshua and Erlina had ever met a pair of survivors, and grow such a close bond. Joel, to Joshua, was like a much older brother or just a man he could aspire to be. Erlina would like to tell herself she had gotten tougher and a lot smarter after meeting Ellie. Ellie and Erlina became great friends who would probably lay their lives on the line for one another. They weren't so sure about the term "best friends", but if the shoe fit.

  Nearly an hour passed by, and the moment they weren't looking forward to finally arrived. After a long hesitation, Joel finally spoke, causing the girls to stop walking; still standing feet away from the men. Joshua saw Ellie kicking the dirt, something an anxious child would do.

  "Think she'll be okay?" Joshua questioned Joel, not taking his eyes of the girls.

  "I'm sure they'll both be fine…" Joel said.

  Joshua looked up at husky Joel as he turned away and began walking towards both girls. Erlina on the other hand glanced over Ellie's shoulder and saw him sauntering towards them.

  "They're coming…" Erlina whispered while trying to fake obliviousness.

  Joel walked beside Ellie and placed his arm around her shoulder,

  "You girls ready?"

  "For?" Ellie asked, slightly annoyed.

  Joel noticed the change in Ellie's attitude. He looked over at Joshua who could do nothing but shrug his shoulders and put his hands up in defense, but Joel played it off and responded anyway.

  "You know what I'm talking about, Ellie."

  Ellie groaned, "Can't we just walk them a little further?"

  "This is our stop Ellie…" Joshua replied.

  "Why... don't we just walk with you a little while longer? Just to make sure they make it safe?"

  "Make it safe to where?" Joel paused while crossing his arms sternly, "Wyoming?"

  Erlina noticed that when Joel would cross his arms, he wasn't the one to fool with. Once Ellie didn't answer, he continued while still managing to remain level headed.

  "Why don't we just take them to Utah?" Joel
sarcastically commented.

  Erlina's face lit up,

  "Why not?"

  Looking back and forth at both Joel and Ellie, Erlina noticed that neither of them were smiling.

  "Not helping, Erlina…" Ellie muttered while rolling her eyes. Using her fingers, she placed a lock of hair behind her ears.

  Erlina placed her hand on Ellie's shoulder,

  "It's okay…" she said sniffling, "We'll see each other again."

  Ellie couldn't look at Erlina, but eventually gave into glancing over at her.

  "You bet we fucking will," Ellie said, reaching in for a hug.

  As both girls embraced, Joel and Joshua gave each other their best regards and a firm handshake. Of course, Joshua couldn't resist the urge to give a friendly, jittery hug. Joel wasn't so fond on the hugs himself, but Joshua could tell it felt heartwarming to him, especially in a world where affection was so hard to come by. He tried hard to avoid tearing up, because he could feel his eyes watering up, especially after Joel placed his hand on his shoulder for noticing.

  After Ellie and Erlina were done whispering things in each other's ears, they broke apart with tears streaming down their faces. Erlina had to take off her glasses to wipe her eyes before she moved on to hugging Joel. Ellie also moved in to give Josh a shoulder hug.

  "I'm going to miss you guys so much." Ellie said with her voice cracking. Her face was flushed, and she wiped her tears free.

  "Likewise, Ellie." Joshua said.

  As Ellie released Joshua's waist, she and Erlina moved in for one last final hug. This one lasted longer than it did before. The smile that Joshua and Joel had began to fade. They both knew this would be a tough thing for both girls to do. It was difficult for them, especially at their ages. Eventually, both girls separated, and they retook the positions they formerly had. Instead of Joel standing beside Josh, and Erlina standing beside Ellie, they switched with their counterparts. Erlina grabbed Joshua's wrist, and he could feel it tremble. He pulled her closer, and rested his arm over shoulder,

  "Everything will be fine…" he said reaching down to kiss her forehead.

  "Please keep each other safe…" Erlina sniffed.

  "Don't worry. I've got his ass," Ellie chuckled.

  "...and I've got hers," Joel nudged.

  The rest chuckled along with her, and after numerous "thank yous" and "be carefuls" to one another, the group finally decided it was time to split after a long silence. Frankly, Joshua didn't think he was able to do it, and once they were both out of sight, he broke down in tears. He felt lost without Joel. He felt weak and he knew that he wouldn't be alive if it weren't for him. Ironically, Erlina was the one who had to console him. Immediately, they found the nearest place, and camped there for a couple of days. It took Joshua a little while to get on his feet.

  * * *

  Since then, about five weeks had passed. Joshua and Erlina safely made it to Wyoming. Of course they had their run ins with infected, but they were better off just avoiding them. Fighting all the time was difficult and tiring. You would've thought that the infected were improvisers with the things they surprised Joshua and Erlina with. The fact that the infected could infect tons of people, there were Runners that looked like body builders from their previous lifestyles. Erlina was down to about three arrows, Joshua was completely out of bullets, and even lost a gun. He had to resort to Erlina's only switchblade in order to protect himself now. Truthfully, Joshua felt like was able to relax a little when Joel was around; not entirely, but he didn't have to worry so much about Erlina's safety. Joel was such a strong, reliable guy. Hell, who knows, maybe Joel or Ellie felt the same way about them.

  * * *

  Erlina had a small scrape on her chin. A couple days ago, she wandered too far from Joshua and was really close to getting hassled by some Runner. She was thrown to the floor and scraped her chin on a porch step. Her nose was bleeding and all, but she was tough enough to shake it off and use a loose brick to smack the thing off of her.

  "It only hurts a little. It's okay," she said, brushing off Joshua's hand from her chin.

  He couldn't stop examining it. Joshua took her word for it and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the taped pieces of printing paper he folded a hundred times and unfolded it; it was the map he had made.

  "So...we have to make a turn up on this...route…" Joshua said while trying to look around for some street signs on the very road they stood on.

  It had just drizzled rain, and they were both a little hungry. They stood in between a full forest, and there were no infected around. Joshua and Erlina learned that it was best to travel around during the day since less infected would be around.

  "Shit!" he swore, "All this time we've been out here and I couldn't get a damn compass?! We probably would've reached the dam like five days ago."

  "Oh-!" Erlina exclaimed as she covered her mouth with both hands.

  Joshua raised his eyebrow while he turned his neck to look at her,

  "...What?" he said fully facing her.

  She made a bothered face.

  "What?!" Joshua said slightly agitated.

  She opened her mouth at first and nothing came out. However, Joshua just stared her down until he got an answer.

  "Remember when we slept in that old wood shop, and that dead guy had a compass around his neck?"

  After a moment's thought, Joshua slapped his forehead,

  "Shit! You're right! I could've just taken it from him! I'm so fucking stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid-"

  As Joshua continued muttering insults towards himself, Erlina tried speaking, but she hesitated.

  "I-I..."

  As he continued speaking, Erlina overpowered his voice by raising hers slightly above his.

  "I have it!"

  He stopped pacing and looked at her,

  "Have what?"

  Erlina reached into the bag and pulled out the bronze compass. She held it in the pit of her palm and reached out, handing it to him.

  "Erlina…" he said grabbing it with a bit of exhaustion, "We slept in that shop three weeks ago…"

  "I'm sorry! I thought you didn't need it. I thought you knew where we were going?"

  "Me walking in a circle looks like I know where I'm going?"

  She sighed and rolled her eyes.

  "Sorry..."

  Joshua sighed as well and walked closer to her.

  "It's fine. Look…" he rested his arm on her shoulder, "What matters now; is that we have this," he turned away and continued walking, "So lets get moving."

  * * *

  Around the afternoon, Joshua and Erlina began to camp in some houses in search for some new weapons. They passed by a trailer park, and surprisingly enough, there weren't any weapons around. Joshua did, however, happen to find a couple of bullets and a mop. He unscrewed the stick from the head of the mop, and sharpened one end with Erlina's knife. He wasn't sure how long it would last him, but it was better than nothing. He passed back Erlina's blade to her since it was more important for her to use now.

  Erlina and Joshua stood close, but made sure to carefully check the trailers in the park in order to gather up some food. They found some canned baked beans and old bottles of water. Just to be safe, they boiled up the water in a steel container over a small fire. Afterward, they warmed up the beans.

  After a few seconds of leaving, Erlina returned inside the trailer.

  "Guess what I got?" Erlina said, closing the door behind her.

  Joshua raised his eyebrows, curious to what she was going to say.

  From her back pocket, she pulled out two small juice powders for their water.

  "No way!" Joshua gasped with a chuckle. He reached over and grabbed them from her, "Fruit punch and Orangeade."

  "I call fruit punch," Erlina said sitting in the small stool on the opposite side of the fire, "Are you sure it's safe to do this in a trailer park?"

  "We've lit camp fires in houses before...not a big deal."

  "I guess you're right."
<
br />   Reaching into their bags, they pulled out some old cups and forks they'd found at those fast food restaurants. Although the water was still warm, they left it to the side a little longer before diving into it. They ate their beans, and thankfully, it was enough to fill them both up.

  "That was good…" Erlina burped, "Excuse me. Can I mix our juices?"

  "Sure, go right ahead," Joshua yawned. As for him, he searched the trailer some more; looking through the closets and cabinets for clothes or anything of use.

  Erlina stood by the sink of the trailer they were in. She carefully opened up the packers and poured them into the clear cups.

  "I'm really excited to go where we're going," she said reaching into her bag.

  Using a cleanspork, she stirred both cups until they mixed perfectly. Bending down to see them at eye-level, Joshua's juice was a bright orange, meanwhile hers was a bright red.

  From where Joshua stood, he raised his voice a little in order for her to hear him clearly.

  "You know that if we don't find my mom…"

  "We have to stay there anyway…" she sighed, "I know, I know."

  Standing straight, something caught her eye. She glanced up at the blinds in front of her and noticed two figures make their way past the window. She could hear Joshua muttering some more words, but she stood still and listened very closely. Once she heard two people speaking, she gasped and fell to the floor.

  "Joshua!" she whispered sharply.

  Joshua turned to look at her, and once he noticed that Erlina was on the ground, he immediately dropped as well. He was in an area with no blinds on the windows, so it would've been a matter of time before someone caught him in the back of the trailer.

  "Infected?!" he whispered.

  She shook her head,

  "People," she said, shaking.

  Turning around, she looked at the door knob of the trailer park. The voices were coming from the outside of the entrance, and the door knob began to rattle. Erlina's eyes widened, and she could feel her heartbeat racing. From where Joshua sat, he could feel the very same way.