"Absolutely not!"

From a little way away, Tommy and Maria had a... not-so-quiet discussion, perhaps at first, Tommy kept his tone hushed, only for his wife to hear him. And then Maria began to disagree with whatever he said.

They were taken outside the compound so the surviving survivors could clear the bodies of the bandits and their own out of the building. It was sad. Maeve bit her lip, wondering if the people who died and weren't bandits, had families. She felt for them.

"You tell him to find someone else!" Maria wasn't entirely up for the idea of Tommy taking over for Joel, in fact, she rather despised it.

Maeve stayed close to Ellie as the adults discussed loudly. For the most obvious reason, she was curious as they were talking about her. A cool wind blew, and it seemed colder than before.

"Hey, what's all that about?" Ellie was the first to speak up as they approached Joel. "Does that have anything to do with me?"

From his perch on a short stack of crates, Joel dismissed her. "We'll talk about it later."

TJ kept silent, staring over at the couple all stone-faced.

"Did he tell you where the lab is?"

"We'll talk about it later," Joel repeated himself, tone stern.

"Later..." Ellie narrowed her eyes at him. "Right. C'mon, Mae."

She retreated after her sister, making sure the guys hadn't seen them trying to sneak off. Jordon was nowhere in sight, and she figured he might have gone off with some of them to Jackson.

And without saying bye, too.

Rude.

Not that it mattered to her, he could do whatever the hell he wanted; all of them, she could care less. A clomping of hooves caught her attention, and she turned her head to come face-to-shoulder with the brown and white horse from earlier. Ellie sat in the saddle, holding the reins with one hand, with the other, she guided the silver mare alongside her.

"Here," she said, giving the reins to Maeve.

"We're gonna take the horses?"

"We're getting out of here."

She didn't want to argue, in all honesty. Maybe it was the cramps beginning to pulsate throughout her lower regions, or maybe it was the cold. Either way,

"Hey there, Wren," she cooed softly as she mounted the saddled silver mare.

And then they were galloping off, out of the compound, away from the dam, through the forests. They followed the path, which eventually turned into a road.

The autumn air weaved through her scalp and kissed her face. Crisp and fresh smells of pine, clean rivers, and muddy paths wafted around them. It was almost...serene. After that massacre at the dam, a little peace felt pretty good right about now.

"Hey, look," Ellie's voice sounded out over the slight wind and clopping of the horses' hooves. "A house."

Curiously enough, a large and weathered ranch home stood tall amidst a golden grain-like field. As poetically as possible, Maeve felt the heat return to her eyes, spellbound by the lovely sight of the ranch house. A tired sun shone down on the home and its surrounding vegetation, creating what seemed like a heavenly glow, like a halo. It beckoned them, called for them.

"C'mon, Mae." Ellie pulled her horse into a canter, riding toward the house.

Another breeze swept over the golden grass, causing each blade to dance. It took her breath away. Soundless nature, yet nature sang. No infected, no bandits, no gunfire, no danger. It seemed so alien without it.

Just quiet and so very peaceful.

It was as Jordan said it'd be.

"Mae?"

A breeze blew around them again, this time, Maeve had streaks of stings down her cheeks. The heat behind her eyes flooded her sockets, spilling out of her ducts like a broken dam.

"Mae? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Ellie stared back at her, concerned.

"What?" the older girl blinked, quick to wipe her face dry with her sleeve.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she dismissed her feelings quickly, though Jordan's face lingered in the back of her mind.

"You sure?"

A heavy and exaggerated breath left her, "Yes. Let's just get inside."

"O—Okay..."

"Fuck...sorry, E," Maeve bit her lip. "This place reminds me of Jordan."

Ellie's face mixed several different emotions, and then finally she realized. She understood, Maeve knew. She understood more than anyone just how special Jordan was to her, and that no one could replace him.

"Oh..." Ellie didn't know what to say, and instead of trying to console her, she went ahead and kicked her horse into another canter, leaping over the barb-wire-covered path.

"Hey — wait for me, Ellie!" Maeve shook herself out of her depressed trance, kicking Wren into a canter as well to jump over the wired blockage.

Trotting, the horses approached the spacious porch with round pillars and a porch swing that had tattered seat cushions, weathered down throughout the years.

"Stay here, girl," Maeve demounted Wren, securely tying the reins to the porch railing. She patted the horse's neck and ascended the porch steps; the wood creaked softly under her weight. She slid her hand on the railings, mesmerized by the homeliness of the deserted ranch house. Wild foliage overgrew the flowerbeds before the porch was yellow and dead. Some of the weeds poked through the fenced railing and laid onto the boards of the porch itself as if trying to crawl onto the surface to rest.

"Do you think this place is empty?" Ellie wondered aloud, taking her pistol out precariously.

"Only one way to find out."

They entered the house, Ellie taking the lead, just in case any infected tried to jump them, or any of those bandits popped out, her pistol at the ready.

Inside was silent, void of life and movement.

"Whoa..." The threshold was quite spacious; wide and well, spacious. A long, apricot carpet led them further into the house; an even wider living room greeted them, and a few pieces of furniture seemed to fill the large room too little, making the area appear larger and more spacious. Two long sofas sat parallel to each other, a square pine coffee table in between them, dust coating the surface of the table. Lining the living room were bookshelves, some stacked with books, some empty and with figures or trophies of some kind. Adjacent to the sofas was a grand-like fireplace with burned-out wood, pieces of blackened coals, and ash. The living room carried onto into another room, through a set of opened doors, where there was a small desk hiding one of the corners of the room. It was an office, but it wasn't very furnished.

"Hey, up here," Ellie caught her attention, already headed upstairs.

Maeve hurried to catch up with her, her shoes thumping against the carpeted stairs. Upstairs was a bit smaller than downstairs, though the rooms were wide and large, the space taken up by beds with colorful comforters and dressers. Each of the rooms appeared to belong to someone — children or teens. Either one, it didn't matter, the rooms were decorated so colorfully as if a soul were given to make it feel comfortable and like home. At the end of the hall, a room befitting of a young girl beckoned them.

The door creaked open.

"This is..." Maeve's eyes wandered around the gloriously awesome room, though it wasn't much, only that it was truly for a young female.

The walls were this darkened peach, though parts of the paint were aged and faded. The carpet used to be plush, but now it was hard, dampened with serious dust, probably mold too. It was musky in there, the air was layered with dust, just as the carpet was.

"I wonder who decorated this?" Ellie pondered, stopping before a vanity dresser with a cushioned stool. There were make-up products displayed on the surface, and a journal, a diary. Poetically, she'd say it was the book of a teenage girl's mind, filled with secrets of her heart, pages written with her every hope and dream she's ever had.

"I think it's nice," Maeve said softly, looking off toward the window seat. Bright afternoon light boldly shone through the glass.

"Of course, you would." Ellie snorted as she took the diary into her hands.

"What's wrong with wanting some normalcy?"

Instead of answering her, Ellie flipped the diary open to the first couple of pages, her brows furrowed.

"May nineteenth, two-thousand-and-nine," she read. "Today was special, Gage asked me out—that dork, finally! I've been waiting for him to grow a pair since fifth grade. I wanted to be the first to ask him out, but Jackie told me it was better for the guy to make the first move. Anyway — we're going to the drive-in just outside Jackson this weekend. We're watching Commando. It's going to be so epic."

Maeve felt spellbound by the diary's contents. It was like...a whole other world within the pages read off by Ellie. Surely, her sister went and sat on the window seat, reading rather intensely.

"July fifth. Mom and I went shopping. I got this shirt and an awesome purple skirt; I wonder if Gage will like it? Maybe I'll see when school starts back up. Tabitha and Louisa will lose their minds when they see my glam. I should convince them to twin with me on the first day back. Maybe we can whip out our bedazzled jean skirts and Nirvana shirts. Or maybe — ah, I dunno. School's so far away, yet so close. I'm not ready for summer to end. But I guess seeing my friends and Gage again will totally be worth it."

She flipped a few more pages.

"October eighth, two-thousand-and-thirteen. It's been a while since I've written in this diary. We've been busy trying to stock up on food and daily essentials. Dad's worried something might be going on. We've lost power and our satellite; we can't use our phones. I heard mom and dad arguing last night, something's wrong. I know it; Jackie told me the radio tower's been brought down, that she's seen it. I'm scared for my family, for my friends, for Gage. What the hell is happening? What's going on?"

She'd skipped to the last entry.

"October thirty-first. We're being taken to a quarantine zone far from Wyoming, we don't have a choice. The infection that spread everywhere has got everyone panicked. We were just out in the meadow, and we saw one of those things — a person, but it was hollering and screaming. When it saw us, it rushed for us, we couldn't get away fast enough — it bit Jackie. My sister is infected. And now the military is going to take her away. Kill her. It's all my fault."

"Do you think there are any more people like me?" Ellie asked almost numbly with a somber expression.

"It's hard to say, E," she admitted. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Gee, thanks."

"I don't mean it like that."

"I get it — I was bitten, and no one would trust me, so I have to keep to myself."

Maeve rubbed her temple. Her sister was too stubborn to listen to her voice of reasoning. It wasn't that she could be the only immune person out there, which the possibility of that seemed quite large, however, chances of there being another were just as slim as the latter. Sitting around and trying to ponder about what would give anyone a headache, she knew she already was developing one.

"Ellie," she approached and sat at her sister's feet on the window seat. "There's no telling if there are others like you. We're just at odds having people with immunity and those who aren't. Just because we haven't seen another immune person, doesn't mean there aren't others. Who knows, they're probably better at hiding it."

"But you don't really think that do you?"

"Well, I guess not now," Maeve said almost sourly, unintentionally annoyed by her sister's pessimism. "I'll just...search the house for...uh, supplies. Just take some time to collect yourself, yeah?"

Ellie didn't answer her. Instead, she continued to flip back through the diary.

Maeve glanced back at her, disheartened by how down she appeared. It wasn't anyone's fault that Ellie was immune to the virus, and it certainly wasn't hers. As if anyone could've known about what happened, or even predicted it. She wished Ellie could understand that.

The older girl left the bedroom to raid whatever she could find in the other rooms; maybe there'd be something good to loot. She was running low on alcohol, anyway.

She walked into the bathroom a few doors down. It was beautiful, with tiled flooring and a glass shower. There was a pristine, double sink, with a large rectangular mirror lined with bulbs. Frankly, she felt she would've lived in a place like this if she were born before the outbreak, that is. She found out things about herself she hadn't realized before: she had high standards for a home. This place was big, and perhaps with a little cleanup, it could be a home worth living in.

She wiped the dust from the counter, it comes off thick on her fingertips. She frowned at it. Poor house. It hadn't been taken care of since...well, only whatever God out there knows how long.

A shame, really. This would've been a good house to live in, to have a family in.

A sigh escaped her as she looked at her smudged reflection. She reached out to wipe the dirt away from the mirror, clearing it as much as she could.

Her cheeks were pale, sprinkled with faint freckles. Autumn did a number on her sunburned complexion, completely bleaching the pink within her face. Fortunately for her, the cold didn't cause acne. She hated it when pimples would appear, especially when they decided to target the skin around her lips and nose. Acne liked to appear whenever she had chapped lips, or occasionally, a fever blister.

Her hair seemed to be in a good mood today, being tame and obedient within its braid, though it could use a good brushing. Maybe bangs would look cute on her, but the ones she had now weren't even bangs, they were just as long as the rest of her hair. A fringe, or two. Like Ellie's. She leaned against the counter to get a better look at her skin, or at least that's what she planned to do when she heard a noise outside.

It sounded like more horses, but she couldn't be sure.

She brought out her knife precariously and crept out of the bathroom.

"—if they dropped the horses here and left?" TJ's voice sounded out lowly.

What were they doing here?

"Ellie? Maeve?" Joel called out this time.

"Up here," her voice betrayed her, speaking out. "We're fine."

At the bottom of the stairs, Joel lumbered. His brows pressed together and the lines on his forehead and around his eyes creased. Oh, he looked pissed.

A twang of slight fear arose within her.

"What the hell were you thinkin', huh?" His footsteps were heavy as he ascended the stairs.

"We just wanted to get away." She answered. "There's nothing wrong with some quiet while you decide to hand us off to a stranger."

"That ain't what— where's Ellie?"

Maeve eyed the man for a moment, debating if she should say so or not. It wasn't like he wouldn't find her after searching around, anyway.

"Room at the end of the hall."

Joel brushed past her, walking fairly quickly. A nagging sensation pulsated through her body. This wasn't going to end well, for either of them. She watched him enter the room.

She went to follow him, but a voice called to her.

"Let them talk it out," TJ said from the bottom of the stairs.

She hated it when other people were right. She couldn't possibly begin to understand what Ellie was going through. Swallowing hard, she folded up her knife and stashed it in her back pocket. It was more or less infuriating. Wasn't she supposed to know things? Ellie was her sister, and yet, she felt so clueless and helpless.

Sigh.

"Did you two talk it out?" She brought up curiously, her sights flickering between him and Tommy.

"I don't think that's any of your business," the blond glared up at her. "And even if it was, I wouldn't tell you."

"C'mon, the suspense is killing me!"

"Keep talking."

"Dammit," Tommy's voice growled. "More bandits. Get upstairs!"

He and TJ hurried up the stairs, heading toward the room Joel and Ellie were loudly arguing in.

"Get it together. We're not alone." Tommy had his rifle ready in his hands, ready to shoot.

Maeve took in Ellie's fallen expression. Whatever they spoke about, it seriously bummed her. It wasn't the time to ask, or else she would have done so.

"I got two walking in," Joel peered out the window, gun in his hand.

"There's more inside already."

"Hang back."

"That means to get down, you dumbass," TJ grabbed her arm, forcing her into a crouch, and away from the doorway.

"Don't touch me," She yanked her limb away and whipped out her knife.

Soon, shooting began again, though, unlike the last time bullets were flying, the yelling and shots went on for what felt like a brief moment. It probably helped that Tommy was there with them.

"That the last of them?" Carefully, they head downstairs.

"I don't see any more of 'em," Joel raised his shotgun, weaving it around as he opened the front door. "It's clear."

Ellie hurried past the man and to the brown and white horse.

"You need a hand up?" Tommy shouldered his rifle and was ready to mount his own horse.

"I got it..." Ellie climbed into the horses' saddle, taking the reins.

Maeve blinked. TJ mounted Wren, her reins in his hands.

"Don't you have your own horse?" She frowned.

"It was killed by those bandits."

"That's...nice..." cringe. Poor horse. 

"Just get up here, you drama queen." He reached out for her, offering his hand to help her.

She resisted an oncoming comment and took his hand. He seemed to effortlessly lift her onto the back of Wren. Immediately, she felt the warmth emitting from his body. If she hadn't an ounce of self-control, she'd probably cuddle into the warmth.

"Ready?"

It wasn't exactly a question. They took off, back to the compound...or wherever Tommy was leading them to.

"Oh wow..." Her breath caught in her throat. It was a sight that rarely could be seen. A city, well, a small one, was lit up with light. She could count the blocks and streets, and maybe if she squinted, she could see tiny figures moving around.

Mesmerized, her jaw slackened.

This was it.

Jackson.

Jordan's dream.

Heat built up within her eyes again. She fought against the dam of tears and swallowed down the lump morphing at the back of her throat. It wasn't what she had imagined it when Maria described it.

It was more than what she imagined.

This place was a community; they seemed to thrive.

"Don't worry about your friend, I reckon he'll be watching movies with the kids," Tommy mentioned as he stared at the town below.

Movies, huh...that did sound nice. How long had it been since she's watched a movie? What was the last movie she watched? It'd been so long... she couldn't remember. Maybe it was the Wizard of Oz or James and the Giant Peach. She'd like to watch a movie again, sit back and relax.

Yeah...she liked that.

"Where is this lab of theirs?" Joel asked, setting his hands on the horn of his saddle.

"It's all the way out — University of Eastern Colorado."

"Go Big Horns." Joel chuckled airily and then gestured to Ellie. "Ellie, get off your horse, give it on back to Tommy," he pets the crimson horse's neck. "I'm gonna hang onto these fellas if that's alright with you," he looked at Ellie again. "Go no. Don't make me repeat myself."

"What are you doin'?" Tommy quarried.

"Your wife...kinda scares me," the man admitted sheepishly. "I don't want her coming after me."

Maeve smiled at that. She found it funny, though it didn't surprise her for him to be scared of an empowered woman with a gun. Then again, he was never scared of Tess.

It made her appreciate him a bit more, knowing he respected women. Not many men do.

"Sorry for stealing your horse...s. Horses. Sorry for stealing your horses." She made led her horse to Tommy, giving him the reins.

"Look, come back to town," Tommy insisted. "Let's discuss it at least."

"Eh, you know me," Joel helped Ellie onto his horse. "My mind's all made up. University Eastern Colorado. How do I find this lab?"

"It's in the science building, looks like a giant mirror, you can't miss it."

"You take care of that wife of yours."

Tommy furrowed his brows. "There's a place for you here, you know."

Whether he was talking to TJ or Joel, Maeve didn't know. Though, if she had to guess, he was directing that at all of them.

It was good to know, at least. 

"Y'all good?" Joel looked about them.

"Yep."

"Ready."

"I'm good."

Joel weakly saluted Tommy. "Adios, little brother."