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oddsandends-dirt-to-dust · 20 days ago

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The World Ender

Masterlist - (chapters, link to ao3 post, moodboard, and spotify playlist.)

I’m The World Ender, baby, and I’m comin’ for them

Ellie x F Reader - no physical descriptions used apart from afab body parts (though, r is referred to with she/her pronouns), and clothing if necessary. Use of y/n as little as possible.

Summary:

Birthed in fire and shaped in shadows, a survivor in a world that can no longer forgive. Haunted and cleansing, you walk the line between savior and monster. In Jackson – a town that dared to hope, a girl who dared to see you. Blood-soaked hands reaching for redemption in a world that offers none, a peace you can’t uphold.

You never meant to let her in. She finds you where you flee, and together you carve a path through the ruins of the earth, bound by loyalty, pain, the hope of something more.

You’ve taken so much from the world. Will you destroy her too?

Reader is inspired by Jinx (arcane), and the song The World Ender - Lord Huron. Reader is not supposed to be Jinx, just heavily inspired by her character.

Word count: 6k

Warnings(for part1): angst, violence, death, gore, swearing, mental illness (hallucinations and ptsd symptoms), weapons.

A/N: Bored and miss my beloved crazy characters (Jinx) and apocalypse media so I decided to start writing for Ellie.

——————————

PART 1 - The Reckoning Begins

Sunlight emptied into the barn through the open hay-door, soaking the brown wood of the loft golden like whiskey. The barn was an old and dusty thing, with missing planks of wood all over its walls, and jagged holes in its high gable roof. It had been retired long ago; forgotten hay bales and rusty farm equipment lay ragged throughout. There was an abundance of ancient, crumbling barns in the fields around Jackson, but this one was your favorite. It lay so close to the walls it was almost an insult, but then again, you had long learned that Jackson had no use for broken, half-empty things like this barn.

It was a refuge to you now, the old beast of timber and rotting oak. You came here often, when you needed the space, away from the bustling town and its all-embracing people. Jackson was nice, it was homely, and steady, and it worked. Jackson was too nice.

When you’d arrived a year ago, the community was welcoming, the parties were jolly, the walls were comforting. Suffocatingly so. After a while, you couldn’t help but long for the city, the giant buildings and endless possibilities. You had never wanted for a home.

You watched the dust curl in the gilded air below, tapping a ringed finger on the gauged and chipped support beam beneath you. You had a nice view from up here, right in the shadowed brain of the barn. You could see the whole loft below, littered with your trinkets and most important belongings, and right into the swarms of green hills and rocky mountains that rested outside the wide hay door. Bigger than most, it almost reached the roof. It was definitely one of the main selling points, when you were searching for your safe house weeks after moving here.

You had never intended to stay, just wanted a break from the things that crept up during the lonely nights in the cities you travelled through. The silence had been driving you crazy, and before long even the loud music you’d blast through your headphones couldn't quell the screaming voices, the roiling fire in your gut, the images that danced behind your eyes. But you’d never intended to stay.

Creaks burst through the barren barn, accompanied by the throbbing thuds of footsteps on wood. Someone was climbing your ladder. Hands reached the lip of the balcony, and the person pulled themself over and onto the weathered wood of your loft. The only person who knew what lay in this useless, unassuming place.

You watched Ellie walk over to the open doors, examine the scenery beyond. You imagined her winding thoughts of scribbled trees and steeps, imagined the beautiful illustration she could render into her battered notebook.

She turned, tucked a stray auburn lock behind her ear. She looked around. She didn’t touch anything.

“You gonna come out? You have a guest, it’s rude to hide.” Her low voice reverberated through the leached, crooked planks around you both.

“I don’t hide.” You replied.

Her eyes found you, lighter in the sun that warmed the right side of her face. She sparkled.

“How do you even climb in those heavy-ass shoes?” She asked, eyebrows knotted as she gazed up at you, head tipped like something holy.

“Practice, experience, inane talent.” You tilted your head.

Her eyes drifted, and before she could articulate whatever smart-ass response lay on her tongue, they latched onto the rope hanging from the beam you perched on, swaying softly in the breeze. She paused; mouth open. Her eyes scrunched and something like concern painted her perfect features.

“Is that a noose?” She asked, voice strained.

Ellie stepped back, found you again, hands fisted on the bottom hem of her plaid shirt, white-knuckled.

You reached down below the beam, grabbed the stray rope and heaved your body from the safety of the wood. You slid down the rope, hooked your foot into the looped noose, hands burning from the tough fibres. You held yourself there, hanging high above the straw-strewn floor, before the loft where she stood. You pulled at the rope, pushed with your foot, until you were pendulating like a branch in a storm.

“It’s a swing.” You grinned at her.

She looked down to the floor way below, back up to your precarious position on the rope.

“Uh...” Her soft voice trailed off as her verdant eyes burned into you.

You rolled yours in return.

“Relax. It’s a metaphor.” You said. “A reminder.”

She blinked. Silence settled for a while, before she sighed loudly.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ellie turned from you, hand rubbing at her face as she sat down against the back wall.

“Want a real answer?” You rocked back and forth through the empty air. You had never been scared of heights. High places were good – safe.

“Yes.” She played with a stray thread that poked from her tattered, stained jeans.

You ignored her. There was something wrong with everyone these days, and you didn’t engage in pointless conversations.

“Why are you in here?” You asked.

Ellie shrugged.

“Why are you in here, tying a noose?” She asked, voice hard with faux animosity.

“Told you why.”

“Okay, a reminder of what?” She jerked her chin at the rope supporting you.

“A reminder of what’s waiting for us all. Nice things don’t last in this world.” You said, legs aching with effort.

She licked her lips like she was tasting the cryptic statement, trying to decipher its meaning.

“Nice things?” She relented.

The wind blew through the barn, soft and cool. It ruffled your hair.

“Jackson’s been here too long.” You said, simply.

You almost felt sorry for entering the town. Witnessing the place, its residents, everyone working so hard to run something so dangerous. Bad things followed you, always had. You normally let communities be, didn’t dare to cross their gates, left them to rot in their ignorance. But you’d needed a rest from yourself and the isolation. You hadn’t intended to stay this long.

“Jackson’s strong. The people who run it, they’ve been living in this world since the beginning. Since before. They know what they’re doing.” She said.

You blinked at her.

“Everything has an ending. The valuable things have the most violent ones.” You said, eyes breezing over her freckled face. Something ached in your chest. You tried not to grimace at the unwelcome feeling.

Frustration barrelled through you. You swung back on the rope, tensing for impact, and let yourself fly as it lurched forward. Your feet landed on the loft with a clunk, sending dust into the air around you. The thick chains weaved through your chunky black boots, fashioned as laces, rattled and tinkled with the force. Ellie just watched; you couldn’t read her face.

You stretched your stiff fingers, stalked forward towards your music collection. You jammed a CD into your player, hit a button, and soon the jumpy melodies whirled gently through the old beast encompassing you. Cobwebs, dust, and old bits of hay pulsated as another breeze ebbed through, stronger this time, strong enough to make the barn creak and sing. The walls breathed and the air was filled with an earthy smell, and the barn seemed more alive than you would ever be.

Shadows danced. Your head buzzed.

No place tranquil as this in the cities. Always groaning, screaming, dried blood and desecrated bodies. Always bones and rot, not gentle rot like the barn’s, just wounds and the omittance of aliveness. Always buildings, full not empty, full of personhood, full of days gone and memories burned, and ownerless belongings, and things that were not yours but just yours to take. Did it count as stealing if everyone was dead?

You’d long left morals behind, left feeling, left thinking. Left humanity behind – but now here you were in the budding, pounding heart of it. Your throat tightened as you paced around the space.

“So why do you stay here?” Ellie asked, breaking through the cloak of rumbling around you.

Your eyes darted to her; you stopped dead in the middle of the loft. Her face held some sort of emotion you still couldn’t make out. Probably worry, or discomfort. Your words were too blunt for most. Crude, dangerous, they whispered around town. The people were sheltered, clueless, had been stagnant too long. That was the real danger.

You couldn’t answer her question, couldn’t find an answer in the swirling jumble of your mind.

“Something must’ve changed for you. You’ve been here a year. You really don’t believe in this place at all?” She pushed, toeing an old rusty bolt with her dirty converse.

You tipped your head, considered for a moment. You’d never had a problem with socializing, despite your reclusive nature, you knew how to talk to people. Probably thanks to the countless books you’d read and discarded over your life, and the small settlement you were raised in, before it had crumbled like most things, and you'd been launched into the slanted world outside its fences alone – too young. You knew you had your issues, but you were normal enough to get by when you wanted to be. On the outside.

Things inside you were certainly not to be described as remotely normal or personable, hardly human in fact. It wasn’t your fault. The world was harsh, cruel, empty. You’d learned that at an early age. You had adapted.

Had you now adapted to communal life? The thought bred something sharp in you. Had you truly let yourself get weak, needing, attached?

Clearly.

Leaving had always been easy. You were the thing that couldn’t stay. You were smart, and had now grown stupid. So stupid. Because, now, leaving felt hard, and empty. And some small part of you lurched for the auburn-haired girl staring at you, lurched for the place she belonged to, full of people and things and life.

“I don’t know.” Your head lowered. Your hands ached for violence, for breaking and undoing. “I guess.” You admitted, tone sounding alien to yourself.

Ellie stood. She edged closer to you. Her body language reminded you of the deer you hunted, dragged into town by their ankles.

“Look, I get it. The city’s... cool. But dangerous.” She spoke. “You can’t have a life out there. You can’t live like that forever.”

Your face twisted as something beat at your gut.

“Jackson can’t live forever, Ellie.”

She looked like she was going to argue, just for a moment. It was one of the things you liked about the girl – her fierce loyalty and the fervency with which she defended it.

But then her face softened, before that familiar mask of playful bravado slotted over her features.

“Wanna bet?” She smirked – but you could see the hesitance lurking beneath. “Seriously, I bet one day we’ll be nasty old ladies with no teeth and diapers and you’ll owe me your whole comic collection.” She looked pleased with herself, as she crooked her head at you.

You let her have that one. She was trying so hard to combat the cynical taste of your voice, and it brought such sickening softness to your gut. You needed the weakening feeling gone – needed it replaced with something hotter, something burning.

“Not a fair bet.” You teased. “If I win, you’ll be dead, and won’t be able to give me what I want from you.”

Her brows flicked up – her smile seeming less put on now, but not any less tentative.

“And what would that be?” She asked, voice thick.

You raked your eyes over her body, slow and deliberate, noting the way her feet shifted against the old wood.

“I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Her lips pressed together, eyes scrunching slightly. She seemed to be winded – or deliberating some silent thought.

You couldn’t control your words. This feeling bubbled up inside you sometimes, alone with Ellie, alone with yourself and the residual thoughts she left in you. It was an easy thing, instinctual, the most natural thing you’d felt in many years. It was hard not to give in to it – to her.

“Of course I can figure it out, I’m not a socially-inept hermit like you. You want me to help you lose your virginity because you probably won’t get another chance out there.” She looked amused, despite her rambling words. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

You stepped closer to her. Closer. She didn’t falter as you came to a stop inches from her warm body. You looked into her pretty face. She stared back, ghost of a smile on her mouth, eyes glistening in the afternoon sun.

She’d grown braver in the recent weeks, as the intensity of your flirty comments had heightened. The tight-chested breaths, avoidant eyes and blushing cheeks had filtered away, and it seemed she’d somewhat tightened a grip on her flustered nature around you. You sort of missed it, but then again, the hungry look growing in her eyes was just as much fun.

“You want to hear me say all the things I want to do to you?” You asked, heat curling around your insides like a cat purring before a fire.

Her eyelids lowered; plump lips pressed into a line.

Your words grew bold and brazen at her unbridled reaction, the air turning heady and electrified, and you couldn’t fight through it – couldn't find the sense to stop yourself.

“And all the places I want you to feel me... touch me?” You asked, voice low and smooth.

Her breath trembled. Those hungry eyes drifted to your mouth.

“Are your lips one of those places?”

You bit your bottom lip, nodding. Your stomach tightened – burned deliciously with a feeling you didn’t care to name. You just wanted more of it.

Her face inched forward for a moment, before an echoic sound met your ears and she turned painfully far away from you, to the entrance of the barn across the low floor below.

“Can you two get your asses to town? You’re needed.” Jesse hollered up to you, hands on his hips like a disapproving parent.

Ellie’s eyes shuttered.

“You have the worst timing, you know that?” She shouted back. You admired the little spikes of shining hair sticking out of her bun, her sloping neck and the pale chest it led to, disappearing beneath her t-shirt.

“I have the worst timing? The vote is happening – right now, the vote you were supposed to be getting y/n for, and instead you’re getting hot and heavy in a shitty, old barn.” He retorted, turning back towards the entrance.

Ellie scoffed.

“We- we were not getting hot and heavy.” She said, lurching past you, aiming for the ladder. “God, how old are you? You sound like Joel.” Her voice faded as she lowered herself to the floor and marched towards the doors where Jesse was now exiting.

You sighed, turning for the ladder. You slid down it swiftly, not bothering with the rungs. Your legs felt weak as you echoed their departing, walking past the many abandoned stalls of the barn. Once through the doors the sky opened up, bright and vast, nowhere to hide from it.

The field around you was yellowed and dry, but the trees far beyond were green like Ellie’s eyes.

They waited for you in the scratched truck Jesse had claimed his own. Through the open door you could hear Ellie complaining at his dramatics, since town was only a twenty-minute walk away.

“Didn’t want you two getting lost in the woods.” He simpered, as you edged into the truck, filling the only empty seat left beside Ellie.

“Shut up, dude.”

You slammed the door shut and the whole truck rattled with it.

“Are you two ever actually gonna do anything? Or just torture everyone else with your empty flirting and intense stares?” He asked, twisting the keys. The truck rumbled to life harshly. It sounded like it was choking.

“When would we ever have time for that? You’re so needy.” Ellie grumbled. She slouched in her seat, legs spreading. Your thighs pressed together, hers warm and steady against you. Your heart throbbed. Neither of you looked at each other but the tension felt thick and strained between you.

The truck started moving, tumbling over the rocky ground.

You weren’t sure what you were doing with the girl. You had made quick friends, enjoyed each other's company along the boring patrols, and boring nights in town. You weren’t sure exactly when the feelings inside had morphed into something different. Something sickly and aching. Something dangerous. But you wouldn’t let it go too far. You never had, and you never intended to. Because attachments were dangerous, like a bear trap or quicksand, and you had always been careful not to feed them.

The truck was silent aside from the droning of the engine. Trees shot past the dirty windows.

“Was that a noose hanging from the support beam?” Jesse broke out.

You looked to your feet – the footwell where your dark boots rested beside those well-loved converse.

“It’s a metaphor.” Ellie said.

You almost smiled. Almost.

“You should borrow it.” You said to Jesse.

Ellie looked to you then, gaze drifting over your face. She didn’t say anything.

“Such a kind offer, y/n, but I have one at home already.” He shrugged. “I tighten it a little every time I have to come and save one of your sorry-asses before you invoke Maria’s wrath again.” He drummed his fingers on the worn-out steering wheel.

“Seriously, Jesse. You should take my advice, before you invoke my wrath.” You spoke, with no trace of the sarcasm that he'd held in his tone.

He sighed lowly.

“The vote is the fair thing to do. You can save your advice for the ballot box.”

“Fair?” Anger prickled in you, sharp and brittle – dangerous.

You thought back to Ellie’s words and scoffed. They were going to get the whole town killed.

“See why I didn't want to be the one to get her?” Ellie mumbled.

“You know you agree with me; they should hang him.” You told her, bitingly.

Ellie sighed a little, but didn’t deny your claim. Her quiet allegiance only strengthened your resolve.

“We don't execute people.” Jesse said.

Maria's words. She'd looked at you like you were crazy when you'd suggested it. And maybe you were. So, you'd tried to see things her way, but all you had were your eyes, and the things they'd seen – of the greedy people you'd encountered, the things that greed drove them to do.

Punishment or banishment. Those were the options for the vote, she’d reiterated. Let the criminal stay in the town, revoke privileges and keep a careful eye. Or cast him out.

Idiocy.

“What did the guy even do again?” Ellie asked, staring through the windshield. Her leg bounced.

“You would know, if you were at the hearing like you were supposed to be.” Jesse scolded.

She threw him a look you couldn’t see.

“He stole. Food, ammunition, whatever he could get his hands on. He’s been warned before. Too many times before. Maria says he’s done.”

The world outside the windows opened up into dirt roads, meaning you were nearing the town. Your insides soured.

“What did you vote?” Ellie asked.

Jesse rested his elbow on the window edge. He rubbed at his face.

“The option I think is best.” He said.

Ellie pursed her lips.

“They won’t seriously let him go, will they?”

“If that’s what the people decide.” He muttered.

You deigned to stay silent, writhing with fire and frustration.

“Maria doesn’t want to play dictator. Or God.” Jesse added.

The gates rose up ahead of you.

—

The vote had been cast and the verdict reached.

Banishment.

As you stood before the gate with the other residents, your vision writhed blurrily. Your head swam with a whirlpool of vile thoughts. The floor beneath you felt like marshmallow.

The community gathered around you buzzed with whispers. The morons had signed their own death warrants and now watched idly, murmuring like school children, as that asshole got ready to walk from their gates and into the poisonous world beyond. Humans were hopeful things. Hopeful, and trusting, and ignorant. That was why so many now lay dead, and the world crumbled around their corpses.

The man, who Tommy was now handing a bag filled with basic necessities and weapons, was a sickness. Those who stole out of greed and not desperation, those who were filled with selfishness and corruption, could not be trusted with life. You had seen him around town often, his fake smile, pretty words, helpful gestures. A mask.

Your bleary eyes were stuck on him, in-between the decorated storefronts, pubs, and eateries around, the sickness they were letting go free, instead of stomping out before his disease could spread. His face showed a mask of trepidation, shame, sorrow. But you could see the real man in the dark pits of his eyes. Sparks flickered in your gut.

Someone came up beside you, stood there wordlessly. She smelled of musky pine and something homely.

Jesse stood with Maria and her husband, before the man with death in his eyes. Memories lurched forward.

Men with the eyes and the grins and the foul smell. Knives and bullets and blood. Blood, blood, blood. Eyes that always searched, always found, always took. Hands that ended, mouths that laughed. Your head swayed.

Snaps and cracks echoed through you. Bones that shattered and heads that popped and lifeless eyes of corpses and the men that made them.

His eyes.

you’re going to let him walk? are you insane? they're going to come here and rip this place to shreds

DEAD DEAD DEAD

Your body was numb and your gun was heavy in your waistband. Your gaze was stuck on him. Even as Ellie attempted to rouse you, even as she pulled at your arm softly and spoke into your ear.

You blinked.

“Y/n?” Her voice echoed.

You turned to her, finally, offered a small, ghostly smile.

“Don’t worry.” You spoke. “It’ll be fine.”

Her face held confusion. Her auburn hair glowed in the fading sun. And her eyes glowed too, emerald like a summer tree and just as alive.

You turned back to the sickness. He began his march to the tall, logged gate, and your feet followed. Down the dirty path, past the residents, past the little stores and markets and lights hung around. People stared, unassuming, but curious nonetheless. Everyone stared here, everyone watched you. You ignored it.

The man was close now, your feet latched into his footsteps, your legs carried you forward.

You passed Maria and the men, heard her whispered commands but didn’t stop. Tommy reached for you gently, trying not to cause a scene. His warm hand encircled your forearm, his body trailed beside you as you strode for the man. The wind blew right through you

“What are you doin’, kid?” He asked. His voice droned like thunder, too far away.

Your hand reached behind your back. The man ahead of you, no more than five feet, began to turn.

Your right arm snapped up, metal comfortable in your palm, your finger tensed and the trigger clicked before a shot rang out, causing birds to flee from their branches and voices to shout.

The sickness before you turned to red rivers and splattered thoughts. His empty body thudded to the floor, half-turned and mouth agape.

Then you were on the floor like him, your gun skidding away into the dirt and your arms held into the path below. A face stared into yours – Tommy, a moment too late. His eyebrows high and eyelids wide. Something warm soaked into your scalp, your shoulder, as the carnal rivers made their own paths through the dirt and rocks and found their maker.

He pulled you up then, your body felt too heavy for your legs but they didn’t falter.

“Get her inside, now.” Maria ground out; her aging face filled with something fiery.

The people around stared still, some at the empty thing on the floor, some at you, their faces filled with horror, shock – such juvenile expressions. They had become accustomed to the soft flow of life inside the walls. For too long, they had only known the gentle deaths of the seasons, of the days and nights. They had forgotten what real death looked like. What the world really held beyond their humble town, its forests and hills.

You found refuge in the patrol-men, the handful of people in this place who were still subjected to the cruel earth and its greedy things. You knew they, at least, would understand.

You knew Ellie would understand, as you caught her gaze in the crowd, and her face held no horror. No terror. Her face was just her own, just watching. And you just watched back until Tommy stepped into your vision, arm around your shoulder as he guided you towards his shared home.

—

Maria sat behind her desk, hands clasped tightly on the surface, her posture as rigid as her expression. Her blue eyes bore into you like winter. You slouched in the stiff chair beneath you, arms draped over its own, fingers dangling limp. The air between you stretched taut and silent, holding the weight of your actions like a brand.

It was a while of that before she spoke.

“I don’t even know what to say to you.”

You let out a sharp huff, rolling your eyes.

“What? All the kids were inside.”

Maria’s face twisted, the muscles in her jaw flexing as her lips flattened. She leaned back in her chair, exhaling through her nose in a way that screamed exasperation.

“The people in this town came here to escape the kind of violence you exhibited today.” She said, her tone clipped.

“You mean they came to hide from it.” You shot back. “It'll find them eventually. They need to be ready.”

Shadows danced in the corners of the room. Your gaze flicked to the window to your right, where dusk spilled into the room, soft and hazy like a faded bruise. The last golden light of the dying sun clung to the edges of Maria’s face, deepening the lines of her weariness.

“We're still people. Humanity is what we're trying to uphold here.” She said, voice low and steady. “They took a vote and you disregarded their decision, that isn't fair.”

Her words pricked at you, but you didn’t let them land on your features. Instead, you shrugged, a smug smile curling your lips.

“You’re supposed to be leading these people. You know he couldn’t be let back out there with the knowledge of this place, what you have and how you work.” You said – smooth, calculated. “You should be thanking me, I know you wanted rid of him too.”

The words spilled slick as oil, satisfaction followed. You glanced at her face, searching for some crack of acknowledgement, some proof that she knew you were right. But her expression remained drawn, her mouth pressed into a hard line.

It didn’t matter. The tension in your gut had disappeared, the blood drying tight onto your shoulders felt like a hug. The town was safe again, for a while at least. Until some other monster found it.

“You aren’t allowed guns inside the town, y/n. That was the deal.” She reminded you, voice twinged with a sharp edge.

You laughed, dry and humorless.

“Oh man, are you gonna banish me too? Bummer.”

Maria stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the wooden floor. She braced her hands on the desk, leaning forward as her shadow stretched long across the room.

“You think I want to send a young girl back out there alone? I’m trying to help you but you’re making it impossible.” Her voice rose, tight with frustration. “You just killed someone in front of the whole town – with a gun you weren’t supposed to have.”

Her words struck like hammer blows. You wet your lips, head quirking.

“I only raise my gun to danger. You might think I’m crazy, but I can assure you – I have morals.”

Maria let out a breath, heavy and worn. She turned away, pacing behind her desk with her arms crossed.

More shadows gathered in the corners of the room, curling and swaying. Your head dizzied in the silence. You tried to focus on the stiff chair beneath you instead of the way your chest hollowed out and your throat tightened up. You let out a breath.

You flicked your eyes to the corner behind Maria’s contemplating form. There was nothing there.

this town is dead, why are you here? the people are gone; they’re bags of bones and blood and memory

You sat up straight. Blinked through the blur.

She stopped pacing and turned to face you; her expression softer now but no less firm.

“I need to take a few days to think about your next steps here.”

“Come on.” You drawled, feigning disbelief. “You know he needed to go. You know you’re grateful.” You carved a grin across your cheeks.

Her face was so fake. Her words were such bullshit. There was no way in hell she was intending to let him get through the east woods alive.

You were glad to give the residents a real show. A real reminder.

Maria’s face was unreadable now. Her blue eyes narrowed, sharp, like she was seeing something you couldn’t.

“Careful.” She warned.

The satisfaction in your chest fizzled to ash. Your throat felt dry; your pulse uneven. There was no use in arguing. These people were blinded with blissful fantasies, feeble dreams.

“Can I go?” You blurted. “I don’t like walking in the dark.”

Maria stared at you for a moment – these people were always staring. Then, something softened her face. Something like pity. It made your skin crawl.

You stood swiftly, turning on your heel. You pushed through the door before she could say anything else, letting it slam shut behind you.

The hall beyond was dim, the air thick and cold. Your steps echoed as you moved toward the front door, your chest tight with something unbearable. The buzz in your body had shifted to something sharper, something angrier. Air couldn’t quell your lungs and annoyance breached in you. Why were you here?

Shadows swirled at the edges of your vision. You passed a strung-up mirror, glanced into it as you passed, feet freezing mid-step. The reflection staring back was jarring. Bloody. Deathly.

Blood streaked your shoulders, dark and dried in your charred and fizzled hair, staining your skin. Your skin... your skin worn away in great, blistered patches. Red and angry, weeping and sizzling. Burned down to the bone – wan white planes peeking out from your cheeks, your nose, your chin. Your eyes black pits of death – not like the sickness – just gone. Empty. Missing.

Musky smoke cloistered your nostrils, tears dribbled down your face. The smell turned to taste in the back of your throat, thick and acrid, bitterly sweet on your tongue.

DEAD DEAD DEAD

You rubbed at your face, your hands trembling against the heated, raised wrecks of your skin. You stumbled back, a shudder running through you. You didn’t belong here – with the people. Your heart battered your ribs as you flew through the front door, gasping for air.

Outside, the streets glowed faintly under lamplight and strung bulbs, but they were quiet as you made your way past houses and into the town center.

It was barren, despite the early hour. The sun hadn’t long left and normally there would be people shuffling around, in and out of the pubs and eateries. Your battered body carried you through the buildings, feet moving on instinct.

You skirted the edge of the cemetery, kept your gaze forward on the path, refusing to look at the rows of weathered headstones.

where you belong. you're just as dead as the town. deader. ashes and bone, and nothingness. nothing in you to leave behind. nothing left to rot. nothing

You quickened your pace down the dirt path, around the corner, down the next empty street, teeth clenched. Finally, the outline of your little house came into view. Its white wooden panels gleamed faintly under the glow of the string lights you’d hung haphazardly across its outer walls. The garden lamps scattered across the grass of the lawn lit up the dark like tiny beacons.

Some neighbors had complained about the brightness, you had helpfully enlightened them to the concept of curtains. You needed the light. The shadows that hunted you grew hungry in the deep of night. Sometimes night was useful - the cover of darkness a helpful tool. Other times… it was a cage.

You scaled the porch with stiff fingers and unsteady feet, heaving yourself onto its roof. You found the window of your room, dragged it open and slipped inside. The cold air followed you in, curling against your cheeks as you latched the window shut behind you.

You turned to your room.

It was a strange sight, even after months in Jackson. A room of your own, a place you could truly claim, most of your belongings all together – a space untouched by ash, blood, desperation. The air was cold but clean, the faint smell of paint and paper lingering beneath the chill. Unclaimed by the mayhem outside the walls of the town, a fragile thing in a fragile place.

You’d even decorated. Carefully, deliberately - not like the hastily strung string-lights you would set up in your abandoned buildings as you trekked through cities. And more of your things littered the desk to your right, claiming it. Your bed rested to your left, covered in plushy pillows and linen blankets.

In Jackson, you’d had time to craft little paper stars to hang along with your lights. And you’d even painted designs on the walls, swirls and spirals and doodles. Not like the graffiti you left in wrecked malls and broken-down hospitals. Real art, a claim that said – I am here. This is mine.

The feeling the strange sight left in you was conflicting. It was nice to have a place, with a comfortable bed, in a cosy town.

But it made some other part of you sick. You felt as much a fraud as that man you’d ended today. Like you were pretending, ignorantly bliss.

You were a warring person.

Sighing out, you pulled your heavy boots off, letting them clatter to the floor.

A startling chirping sound echoed through the home below you, jarring you from your thoughts. You knew only one person would be ringing your door at this time.

You slung the window open again, stuck your head through, the chilled air swarming your face as you peered down.

Ellie stood on the path below, hands shoved into her zipped hoodie, head quirked as she watched you.

She was bathed in warm amber from the lights; the complete opposite of the dark silhouettes you’d usually catch roaming beyond your window.

“Do you want me to climb up again?” She called, a smirk tugging at her lips. Her voice was low, teasing, but there was something soft in the way she looked at you.

She held no judgment in her tone. But you supposed it was strange to keep making her enter your home through the upstairs window, when you had a perfectly working front door.

“The key’s under the pot.” You called back.

Ellie arched a brow, her smirk widening.

“Seriously? I thought a paranoid, street-smart person like you would have a less generic hiding spot for her keys.” Ellie shouted.

You sent her a crude gesture before slamming the window.

You listened as the front door opened and shut, listened as her gentle footsteps travelled up the stairs. Something spun in your stomach as she approached. Something that tingled, stole your breath.

You crossed the room to the heavy bookshelf wedged against your bedroom door. Its edges scuffed from years of use, by someone other than you. Your fingers curled around the wood. With a low grunt, you dragged it aside, your muscles straining under the effort, the sound of scraping wood cutting through the silence.

You reached for the handle, the door creaking as you pulled it open. Ellie’s face came into view, her eyes searching yours, cautious but familiar. She hesitated on the threshold, her feet scuffing softly on the worn floorboards. The corners of her mouth curled into a small smile.

#ellie williams #ellie the last of us #ellie willams x reader #ellie x fem reader #ellie x you #ellie williams smut #ellie williams fic #ellie williams fanfic #wlw #ellie williams x reader smut #tlou2 #the last of us fandom #the last of us fanfiction

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theprayerfulword · 7 months ago

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June 6

Luke 19:10 the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

May you be certain that the Word of God will come to pass and His promises to you will be realized, regardless of circumstances or the actions of others, just as David promised that Solomon would reign even though his brother, Adonijah, crowned himself with the backing of the army and the priesthood. 1 Kings 1

May the Lord hear your prayer as you seek Him and, considering the threats you face, enable you to speak the Word of God boldly by filling you with the Holy Spirit and confirming His Word as you speak it with healings and miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 4

May you be one in heart and mind with other believers and lay no claim to the riches you have received from God, but share all He has given you with others, that there be no needy among you. Acts 4

May you trust and have faith in the Lord when it seems that the worldly and the religious have the upper hand, succeeding in their plans and achieving their goals against you, for they will be allowed, through the power and the will of God, to do all that the Lord has decided beforehand should happen and what He spoke through His prophets describing will take place, until it is time for His deliverance, and through the power and strength of the Lord, all will bend their knee and acknowledge Him King of kings and Lord of lords. Acts 4

Do you see the raging flood in front you, My child, and wonder how you will be able to cross it safely? Are you facing a fiery trial that you see no way out of, bound and constrained by others with no avenue of escape? Do you find yourself in the midst of a whirling wind storm that threatens to bowl you over and batter you with flying debris, destroying all around you? These struggles that you are facing in your life and these dangers you encounter from the world are serious, My threatened one, but they are still obedient to My word of power spoken in your life. Know, My precious one, that the raging flood which topples trees, erodes land and tumbles boulders by its power comes into submission to the flowing of the living water which issues forth from your innermost being by My Holy Spirit, for what the raging power of the uncontrolled water's turbulence tears down will be restored and renewed by the life-giving waters which nourish the trees of life on its river banks. The fiery furnace which contains such a fiercely turbulent vortex of consuming flame is subject to the living fire that I place within your heart; the outward devouring fire is unable to touch those who dwell in the light of the Lord which is unendurable and unapproachable by flesh but is the life of all who are Mine. The fierce wind which flattens forests and destroys the works of men, sweeping all before it, is calmed by the mere word spoken by the breath of God from Whom all receive the breath of life, and through which any may receive the life-giving Holy Spirit to indwell. Rejoice, My beset one, that though you are in the midst of trials and sorrows on earth, I have overcome the world and given you peace in the midst of the storm!

May it be the Lord Jehovah Who stands for you when people rise up against you, influenced by the powers that would devour you alive in their burning anger and engulf your soul in the raging fury of flood waters, for God has set the limit and established the boundaries, saying, “This far, and no further,” delivering you from certain defeat into total victory. Psalm 124

May you give sincere praise to the deserving God Who is worthy of all worship, for He has not let you be torn apart by the teeth of your adversary, but has broken the fowler's snare and enabled you to escape like a bird, through the power in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 124

May your words be kind and pleasant ones, well-ordered, filled with grace and wisdom from the Father above, sweet to the soul and healing to the body. Proverbs 16:24

#daily #blessings #prayers #scripture

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mental-health-and-jesus · 4 months ago

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9-20-2024 | Bible App Their Verse of the Day | Ephesians 4:29

‘Let everything you say be good and helpful.’ Ephesians 4:29

#Bible - Verse of the Day | Hebrews 4:12

‘For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬

Bible App | overviewbible.com | All the songs in the Bible 📖 | 2 Samuel 22:1-20

David’s Song of Deliverance 💗

‘He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears. Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger. Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth. He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet. He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds. From the brightness of His presence coals of fire blazed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them. The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me. They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.’ ‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭22‬:‭2‬-‭20‬

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proclaimtheword · 4 months ago

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God the Sovereign Savior

I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.

Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.

And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies.

From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O Lord, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support.

He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all His judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.

For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.

He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.

You enlarged my path under me, So my feet did not slip.

I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

I have wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet.

For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me.

They cried out, but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; You have made me the head of the nations; A people I have not known shall serve me.

As soon as they hear of me they obey me; The foreigners submit to me.

The foreigners fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts.

The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me;

He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

Great deliverance He gives to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬-‭50 ‭NKJV

#psalm 18 #this has to be one of my favorites yet

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catolinewsdailyreadings · 3 months ago

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Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of Monday, September 30, 2024

Reading 1

JB 1:6-22

One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?" But Satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were ploughing and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you." Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 17:1BCD, 2-3, 6-7

R./ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. R./ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

From you let my judgment come; your eyes behold what is right. Though you test my heart, searching it in the night, though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me. R./ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes to refuge at your right hand. R./ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Gospel

LK 9:46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company." Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 3 months ago

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30th September >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor

Monday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

Monday, Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the feria (Monday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Monday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Job 1:6-22 The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!

One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “Whence do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming the earth and patrolling it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?” But Satan answered the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were ploughing and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, another came and said, “Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,

“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!”

In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 17:1bcd, 2-3, 6-7

R/ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit; attend to my outcry; hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.

R/ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

From you let my judgment come; your eyes behold what is right. Though you test my heart, searching it in the night, though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me.

R/ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my word. Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

R/ Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Gospel Acclamation Mark 10:45

Alleluia, alleluia. The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Luke 9:46-50 The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

-------------------------

Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Monday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First reading 2 Timothy 3:14-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching.

Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14