"Just Like Her" (Nature)

After going back to collect Emilia from the campfire, Tobin and Ellie strolled through the forest; firearms at the ready. “So,” Tobin initiated a conversation as they proceeded onwards, “We told you our story. How about you tell us yours now?”

Annabelle didn’t answer, instead continued to look through the trees in search of Vanessa and Miguel.

“I didn’t have to save your life you know,” Tobin reminded her, “You were just lucky that I happened to be pretend-sleeping at that moment. Otherwise, well you most certainly wouldn’t be strolling with us right now.”

Annabelle shook her head, acknowledging Tobin’s point. “There’s not much to tell, really. I’ve told my story a million times before, always different parts of it to different people. This time though, I think I’ve run my past dry. I’ve absolutely nothing else to tell that I haven’t told before, nor can I really be bothered to tell anything else a second, third, or maybe even fourth time.”

Tobin looked back at Emilia, “How you holding up?” He stopped to wait for her to catch up, noticing an alarmed look on her face. “It’s just… Ellie was right…” Tobin tried to deny everything his daughter had said, “No, she wasn’t. That star up there really is where your boyfriend’s at rest… At least, if you choose it to be so, that is. Whatever you believe, is whatever your reality is. There’s no need for common sense in this world, not anymore.” Tobin slipped her knife away from her side, “I can’t trust you not to, do something.” He holstered the knife on himself, continuing to walk on.

“You two going to catch up or not?” Annabelle called back to them. “Come on,” Tobin grabbed Emilia’s hand, “Let’s find out the truth behind this bitch, shall we?” He prompted Emilia to smirk slightly, “That’s more like it! Come on, let’s catch up with her!”

“Ellie, we’ve been walking for days. Where are we actually going?” Gisela was rather tired and worn out, with her arm around her husband’s shoulder. Ellie continued walking on ahead of them, travelling up the open road.

“Look, I already said it a thousand times,” Ellie took a deep breath to repeat herself yet again, “If you two want to head back to the campfire, just turn back around now. We’ve walked entirely on or at least alongside this road for our entire journey. If you trace your steps back, you’ll arrive back at the camp.”

Gisela tripped up, and began breathing immensely. “Alright that’s it,” James pulled her to the side of the road and leant her up against a tree, “Rest, honey. We can venture forth at another time.” She rested against the tree, as James went over to Ellie.

“Listen, I think you’ve gone a bit too far with this reaction. I get it, I do, you don’t like your father anymore. But like it or not, he got us this far. You and I both remember this isn’t the first time you’ve tried running away, and you and I both know it won’t be the last time. You have to go back to him eventually, Ellie. Why not go back to him now?” James suggested.

Ellie didn’t have an answer, so merely shrugged at him, “One day, he’ll be gone – just like mum. On that day, I want to make sure he feels every ounce of pain possible. I want him to feel like a failure.” As prepared to continue walking, James stood in her way.

“Is that what your mother would want? Would she really want you to treat your father like that?” He engaged his eyes on hers. She grunted at him, “You don’t know what my mother would want.” As she prepared to go around James, he stood in her way a second time.

“That might be true, Ellie, and I get it. I really do get it. You blame him for your mother’s death. The argument lead to the car crash the car crash lead to the death, fine. But think about it, think about everyone you’ve killed since then. How many of them do you think had families or at least friends elsewhere in the world?” He tried to get through to her, but Ellie wasn’t that easy to get to.

“Does it matter, James? I killed absolutely no one prior to the apocalypse. That fact only changed because the world changed. You can’t compare two different ages of Earth’s history.” She had shut down any further responses of his. “Look,” she lowered her voice to speak to him on a humane level, “It’s not even the fact that he caused her death which is what annoys me the most. The thing which annoys me the most is the fact that he denies his part in it all. That is why I can’t stay with him any longer. That’s why I always run away. I only ever come back for resources. I don’t love him. I hate him. Heck, James, I even love you and Gisela more as parental figures… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot to find and a lot to see…” She attempted to walk off again, and only now did James finally let her go on past him. He watched as she hiked up the road.

“You need to go after her,” Gisela cleared her throat as James crouched opposite her, still leant against the tree. “I promised Tobin once that I would take care of Ellie no matter the cost,” James confided in his wife, as she turned to face him, “We both did that, James. We made that promise together. That’s exactly what we shall do. I’m in no shape to move currently, and I can wait here for a long time…”

James sharply turned his head towards her, “What? No, don’t even think about suggesting that. I’m not just going to leave you here all by yourself!”

Gisela shrugged, “You have to, honey. Things have got to be this way. Remember,” she held her Holy Cross necklace tightly, holding it up to James’ face, “The Son will always be with you. The Father will always look out for you. The Holy Spirit will always guide you…” She took off her necklace and handed it to him, “And so will I. I will always be with you, I will always look out for you, and I will always guide you. That girl is lost right now, but she can be found again. I see the light in her heart. You must help her reignite that flame.”

James held the necklace against his heart, then put it back around Gisela’s neck, “You’re right. You are going to be all three of those things… That’s because I’m not leaving you, ever. You hear me Gisela? Ever!” He took both of her hands, “You don’t know how much time we have left with each other. I don’t want to spend it all worrying about when it shall end. I want to spend it being grateful for everything we had and still have even now.”

Gisela smiled warmly at him, “You always did love me more than I loved you…” They both laughed. “Please, James. You must help her. From the moment I first looked upon you with my eyes back in high school, I knew who you were. This is the kind of person I had always imagined you would become – even in the worst of times, you would help people regain their light again.”

James shed a tear, as his wife wiped it from his cheek. “It’s ok… Do not cry, my love. This is all part of God’s plan. I’ll be ok, always.” She took off her necklace a second time, handing it to her husband.

He grasped it tightly, his mouth twitching as he began to tear up. “Come here,” Gisela brought her husband in for a hug. “I’ll come back for you…” He whispered to her during the hug, “I’ll forgive you if you don’t…” She responded.

Annabelle continued guiding Tobin and Emilia through the forest. “So,” Again, Tobin initiated a conversation with the exact same opening word, “You’re Welsh. Yet we’re in France… How strange.” She shrugged, “Well both of you are clearly English to me… How strange,” Annabelle mimicked his words.

“We’ve been here since the apocalypse began essentially. I remember everyone in England at first thought it was a country-thing. Then we fled to this place, only to discover how wrong we all were.” Tobin was trying to speak in a friendly manner, but Annabelle’s refusal to give her story made this difficult. “You sure you’ve uncovered every bit of your story? There’s seriously nothing hidden still? How about… What were you doing last year? Or at least whatever you would consider last year to be.”

Annabelle sighed, “Alright, fine. Fair play. I’ll give you a damn story.” They continued to walk through the forest as she told her story, “For two years I was part of a small group. A rather small group, might I add. There were only four of us. It was just me, my mum, my dad, and my mum’s best friend Andy. Things were neat. We didn’t encounter too many people… That was for the better, at least until we met the most malevolent force of people in our entire lives. They called themselves the Bandits.” Annabelle paused momentarily, preparing to reach an emotional part of her story.

Tobin looked back at Emilia, making sure she was ok. He didn’t verbally communicate with her, but questioned her with a thumbs up, to which she also responded with a thumbs up. He then turned back to Annabelle in front of him, “Yes, the Bandits. Go on…”

“We tried so hard to reason with them. But these people, they needed to teach ‘lessons’ to make sure that trespassers wouldn’t return to what they referred to as ‘their’ land. They could’ve killed my entire group, but they didn’t. They suspected we were part of a larger group – which we weren’t – just in case we were though, they only took one life… My father… Killed before my very eyes.” She stopped talking again, “Look, I’ve told this tale a thousand times before, must I tell you anything else?”

Tobin grabbed her arm, halting her, “Yes actually, you do. First, you rob me and my friend, then you don’t even keep up your end of this pathetic bargain. You didn’t refer to the woman you were with as ‘mother’, nor did you refer to the man as though he was a family friend. So, where are the rest of your group then? I need to know I’m not in for any more surprises, Annabelle…” He emphasised her name to seem sincerer.

“Alright, if you really wanna know… Not long after my father’s death we met someone new. His name was Vincent. Then, we met another new man not long after him either. His name was Elliot. Take note of that, it’ll become more important later on. With our new group of five, we headed to London, only to discover the place was a fortified safe haven… Or at least it was until I provoked angry responses from the Bandits by executing the leader’s brother. They followed us to London and killed the camp’s leader. We either killed or drove most of the Bandits back out of the camp. I saw my mother kill the leader – he was shot, and then she pushed him from a lengthy drop into the sewers, or underground tunnels, or whatnot.” Annabelle paused again as Tobin imagined the events in his mind. “Ok. Carry on…”

“Long story short, we had to leave London. Our food and emergency supplies were either destroyed, or raided by the surviving Bandits. We chased Elliot’s new girlfriend all the way to a seaside town. There, we met two new fellas after a rough start. After that we were taken by a pseudo-government. Well, I escaped actually. Cutting out all the boring details, I eventually ended up killing my family friend Andy.” This detail shocked Tobin, “What? Why?”

“He was under the influence of Vincent still – who was dead as well, but long before Andy might I add. I couldn’t risk my mother getting hurt. But as it turns out, Andy’s death only made her hate me even more. She hated me so much that it got to the point where she probably didn’t even care that I ran off.”

Tobin looked completely amazed by this story, “You’re just like my daughter. You are exactly like my daughter. Lost one parent, at a disagreement with the other. You remind me of Ellie so much…”

Annabelle turned to fully face him, “So, that’s one thing you kept from me in your story. Your daughter is still alive. Tell me where she is…”