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All they could do was wait. Wait for their bodies to be taken over by the fungus and for their lives to end.
Although she’d been destroying the room with a baseball bat just a few moments ago, all Ellie could do right now was sit with her head in her hands. She could faintly feel Riley’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, but she couldn’t focus on their newfound romance now. Not when they’d lose it so soon.
Ellie vaguely remembered studying the nature of Cordyceps in biology. Though she didn’t pay much attention in that class and favored spacing out or sleeping, she did recall that Cordyceps typically takes less than an hour to take effect. Ellie didn’t have a watch or anything that could tell time, but it had been a while since they got bit. She was sure she’d begin to feel its effects soon with Riley by her side. It was only a matter of time.
Earlier, she’d crumpled into Riley’s arms after destroying some shelves and screaming, “It’s not fair,” over and over until her throat ached. Nothing about this world has ever been fair, even pre-outbreak, but it still stung every time it was proven true.
Her thoughts were a whirlwind, and Ellie found her mouth opening to speak without realizing it.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
Riley sniffled and placed her hand on Ellie’s head, carding her fingers through the younger girl’s knotted hair.
“I know. Me neither,” she replied, hardly over a whisper. Ellie leaned into her touch, wishing she could just melt into it.
But that’s when it happened.
Riley’s finger got caught on a particularly stubborn knot and pulled. Not voluntarily, though. Her hand twitched. Ellie’s head snapped away from her arms, and she looked at Riley with wide eyes. Riley seemed horrified by herself, but as she looked at her hand, it continued to twitch.
“Are you…” Ellie started, but Riley cut her off.
“I’m not doing this on purpose,” she breathed. A sob wracked her body as her arm began to wriggle like it was trying to escape her.
“
No
,” Ellie whispered. Then, “Why…why am I not feeling anything?”
“I-” Riley opened her mouth, but she violently coughed instead. With her mouth ajar, Ellie could look into it and see that, inside, some kind of vine was peeking through her throat- and it was spreading.
“No, no, no, fuck!” Ellie cried. “Riley, are you okay?”
Riley shook her head. Ellie swore she could feel her heart breaking before Riley spoke again.
“Take…this.” She could hardly talk, but she managed to grab the gun that lay beside her and thrust it into Ellie’s hands. Ellie couldn’t get her fingers to curl around it. She was completely frozen.
“I can’t. Riley, please-”
Riley smacked Ellie’s hand, forcing it to hold the gun.
“You…need to…go. Run.” Riley rasped. Her entire body was twitching now, but Ellie couldn’t move.
“No. I’m infected too, remember?” In a panic, Ellie dropped the gun and rolled up her sleeve to show Riley the bite, but something was wrong. It looked more like a scar than a bite, with no blood surrounding it.
“Am…am I…” Ellie whispered, but she forced herself to focus on Riley. Riley stared at Ellie with the most heartbreaking look as her body twitched beyond her control. This was it. Past the point of caring for her own life, Ellie cupped Riley’s cheeks in her hands, her vision blurry with tears.
“I love you,” she sobbed.
Riley opened her mouth to speak.
“I-”
Her head jerked. Her eyes glazed over until there was nothing behind them. No feelings, no soul, nothing .
That was the moment Ellie knew. That was when it was truly over.
Although Ellie was sobbing and hardly thinking, she did remember one thing.
The first stage of Cordyceps was what they called runners. They weren’t powerful, but they were agile as all hell.
What happened next happened too fast for Ellie to process. Riley lunged at her. Ellie scrambled and grabbed Riley’s gun just before she fell back. Riley was on top of her, clawing at her face and growling.
Ellie didn’t have to kill her. Not if she was immune. She could have injured her enough to make her fall, and then she could have run until she was safe.
But everything was happening too fast for Ellie to process. Riley’s face was inches from hers, her mouth wide open and waiting to kiss Ellie again. Ellie almost wanted it, but she knew what the consequence would be.
So she grabbed her gun- Riley’s gun- and shot Riley right between the eyes.
Riley somehow stood up, but it was short-lived. She grabbed at her forehead and staggered backward for a moment. With one final gasp, she fell with a loud, resounding thud.
For as long as Ellie could remember, she had one true friend: Riley. Riley stuck by her side through everything. Riley held her when she had nightmares and celebrated when she aced her tests. Riley was her everything.
And now, Riley was gone because of her.