1st Arrow [Action]

[threeweeksago]

[Oh man. Oh man this was not good. Not good at all. Last night had been one of those rare nights where Ellie actually got a good night of sleep, a mercifully dreamless sleep where she wasn't haunted by the Infected or the hunters or the faces of all the people she had known and lost.

So of fucking course something had to happen the next fucking day. The morning had started so nicely, and then suddenly everything kind of went weird and she woke up in... wherever the fuck this was. Not cool. What's even less cool is that she woke up alone. Outside of That Incident at the resort in winter, she can't remember the last time she woke up alone. Even in the present, Joel always hung around their tiny little cabin at least until she was awake before heading off. So... being alone in a strange place with no memory of how she got here? That sent a clear jolt of panic lancing through her.

Not even stopping to really absorb her surroundings, Ellie takes off running with no real direction.]

Joel? [She's trying not to sound panicked, but she's not doing a very good job of it.] Joel, where are you, you asshole?!

Comments

[threeweeksago]

Nope. From what I've heard, it's just way too fancy to make with the shitty rations people have been living on.

[birdorcage]

I see. Are you in a time of war?

[threeweeksago]

Not really. Try the apocalypse. Or... after it, actually. Food's always been scarce, but I heard it was a lot different before everything went to hell.

[birdorcage]

The apocalypse? [That gets a confused look.]

[threeweeksago]

Yyyyep. Weird fungus outbreak, turned over half of humanity into a bunch of mindless monsters... [The snark in her voice is gone from her voice as she talks, and she's frowning now.] It's all pretty fucked up.

[birdorcage]

Like a plague? [She's not familiar with cordyceps or zombies, but she's read plenty about plagues. But, she supposes, the specifics don't really matter.]

I'm so sorry to hear that. I assure that there's nothing like that here.

[threeweeksago]

... Yeah, kinda. Except you don't really get sick, or die. And it all happens pretty fast... usually within hours.

[So fast, that some people don't know you're bitten until it's too late... god, those memories from the end of summer are still fresh in her head...]

[birdorcage]

I see. I can't imagine... [She can, but she doesn't want to belittle whatever this girl's been through. When they reach the kitchen doors, Elizabeth pauses to open them for her.]

You're safe here. I promise.

[threeweeksago]

That's what people keep telling me.

[She's not sure she believes them just yet. Oh, sure, she had been "safe" in the safe zones, but only in the sense that she wasn't being hunted by Infected. Even when she was "safe" there were still gangs out on the streets, or bullies in the orphanages willing to beat her up. And this castle was supposedly full of a bunch of very strange people. There's no way she's totally safe here.

Ellie is thankfully pulled out of her thoughts when they enter the kitchen, and she whistles in surprise.]

Damn... this place is huge. And insanely neat. Sure beats the crap out of any other kitchen I've seen.

[Ellie the only other kitchens you've seen have been thoroughly looted and abandoned for two decades...]

[birdorcage]

[Her reaction makes Elizabeth laugh.]

It's all you can eat.

[threeweeksago]

Whatever you want, however much you want...

[She laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.]

That has to be one of the strangest things I've seen here yet.

[birdorcage]

There's a lot of strange to see, but this is definitely one of the best.