#thelastofme

[thewolfwilliams]

The Start of Our Journey

It's been a few weeks since it was decided that we would prepare to send a small group to Canada to join the Coyotes. Since then, I haven't seen much of Abby or Lev. Everyone was busy preparing the boats for our departure, getting the optimal equipment and materials to repair our communication system.

It was decided that traveling by boat would be quicker to Vancouver Island. Two separate boats were planned. All equipment, weapons, and rations were distributed equally to avoid unforeseen events. Even our main group would travel separately. Not surprisingly, I was placed on the same team as Abby. It might be weird, but it’s kind of reassuring to know that I would have her on my team.

There was something electric in the air. Some of us were worried about the current weather and talked about delaying our trip for a few weeks. But that would delay our entire organization by several months. My mind was mostly on the guilt I felt when we learned that the young Coyote had finally turned due to the infection. I hate knowing that I'm still the only one with immunity…

[thewolfwilliams]

A New Goal

Together, we entered the building used for group meetings. Most of our scientists and gunmen were there, along with nearly all the patrol members. Lev arrived right behind us, and I made my way forward, with them following closely. Ethan and I made eye contact, and without a word, I knew that what should have happened long ago was finally happening.

As I expected, after analyzing the words of the injured traveler and what he had brought, it was decided that our team should meet the Coyotes in Canada. Santa Catalina Island remained our main base with all our research equipment and most of our scientific papers, so only a few scientists would make the trip. The main objective was to establish a stable line of communication from there and learn more about the infection's evolution.

After an hour of discussion, we were all sent back to our activities. Instead of leaving, I went straight to the Doc to tell him I wanted to volunteer for the trip. To my surprise, I was immediately followed by Abby, who was standing right behind me. Before I could add anything, she turned to Lev and ordered him to stay here. For the first time, I felt she was overprotective of him, and I understood—he’s still young, and such a journey is far too risky for him.

Ethan seemed very pleased to see the two of us volunteering together, saying he wouldn’t have expected anything less from two survivors like us. He told me to start packing my things before taking Abby aside. Lev and I left the building, a bit confused. Lev felt bad about being left out but said he was sure it was in Abby’s best interest. As he walked away, I wondered how this child, raised in a cult, could be so mature in these situations.

[thewolfwilliams]

She's a Firefly

On my way back to camp, the only thought that kept running through my mind was wondering who that grave was for. Even though she and I had a violent history, I realized I didn’t really know who Abby was. Lev had told me that Joel killed a lot of people she knew at St. Mary’s Hospital, while Scott, an ex-Firefly, told me Abby’s father was one of them. Later, I learned from Ethan that Gerald Anderson, the head doctor and surgeon of the Fireflies, was Abby’s father—and Joel killed him to save me.

I was still lost in my thoughts when I returned to camp, which is probably why I didn’t hear Abby coming up behind me. She abruptly stopped me before I could enter our base, still upset and angry, and asked why I tried to humiliate her again, implying that sneaking up on her was intentional. I tried to defend myself, but as we argued, a patrolman called us from camp, telling us that Ethan and the others needed us ASAP.

[thewolfwilliams]

The Confrontation at the Grave

It was the only time I had come face to face with Abby without her trying to kill me. I didn't mind seeing her cry, but I was still confused by the scene. Abby turned her back to me and sat in front of the grave. It was a flat rock with a cross made of two small old wooden planks on it. It was small, but I could feel the sadness that surrounded it.

I don't remember how long I stood there, staring at Abby’s back as she placed hand-picked flowers on the grave. When she asked me why I was following her, I snapped out of it a little. She saw my camera and, jumping up, furiously accused me of following her to take advantage of her sadness and mock her behind her back. It was like Seattle all over again—her so close, looking like she could strangle me with her bare hands in a second.

Instinctively, my right hand reached for the knife in my back pocket, but I didn’t grab it. I stammered that I was sorry and that it was an accident that I found her here, but she seemed unimpressed. Abby started to calm down, tightening her jaw, and asked me to leave. I felt really sorry for disrupting this moment. As I retraced my steps, I think I heard her holding back a tear.

[thewolfwilliams]

This girl is something else

I didn’t know if anyone else was on patrol today or if this part of the island was currently inhabited by other survivors. I moved cautiously, searching for answers as I crept toward some distant cries.

Walking silently in the forest is never easy. I didn’t know if I’d run into an infected, a stalker, or another human, and it didn’t matter. I don’t know what I felt when I saw a woman’s back before she suddenly turned toward me, pointing her gun straight at my face.

She shouted something at me, but I was too stunned to move. She shouted again, and even though I didn’t understand her words, I knew I had to lower my bow and raise my hands to show it was just me. Abby quickly wiped her cheeks and lowered her gun. It was the first time I’d seen her cry, and I noticed she was standing beside a handmade grave.

[thewolfwilliams]

A New Mission

While Ethan analyzed the animal corpses for ophiocordyceps infections, the other researchers and doctors took the injured man to a quarantine area. It was the safest decision until they determined if he had developed CBI. Until then, my schedule was now empty.

Instead of staying at camp, I decided to grab my bag and weapons and go hiking. Everyone was busy with scientific tasks, where I wasn’t much help. I brought my new camera with me, just in case I found something interesting.

[thewolfwilliams]

The Day Everything Changed

I was woken up by a lot of noise in our camp this morning. It was still dark outside, but I didn’t bother finding a watch to check the time. I left my cabin, like many others, to see what was happening. It didn’t look good.

Some men were helping another to walk. He looked really sick, with several open wounds visible under the camp lights. Everyone seemed terrified by these injuries, and I couldn’t agree more: from a distance, they looked suspiciously like bite marks.

It turned out that a small group of ex-Fireflies, calling themselves the Coyotes, were based in Canada. They had been communicating with us for months, seeking a cure for the CBI. The injured man was part of their group and had come to show us some dead animals they’d found. They weren’t sure if the animals were infected with cordyceps or not, so they needed Ethan’s expertise. On their way here, they were attacked by coyotes, and it was likely those coyotes were infected with something.

How ironic...

[thewolfwilliams]

I found you... Abby

Immediately after hitting her, Abby stood up and stopped me from striking again. As I struggled to free myself, she ushered me out of the common room. I had forgotten how strong she still was, even after her capture by the Rattlers. Trying to hit her again was useless—she blocked my other hand and pushed me against the hallway wall, locking my arm.

I fought to escape, yelling at her with all the hate I felt, until I finally shouted that Dina had left me. Abby let go of me when I started crying. Instead of going back to eat, she stayed. She said she was sorry.

I turned around, looked at her, and said it was all her fault—that none of this would have happened if she hadn’t sent Lev to get me. I tried to punch her again, but she blocked me. As she held me back, she apologized again. She wouldn’t move, so I finally stopped, slid down the wall, and cried.

[thewolfwilliams]

I'll miss you Dina

Today is another bad day. While working with the Fireflies wasn’t as bad as I imagined, being away from JJ and Dina was the hardest part. I knew it might take a few months, maybe a year, or even longer before I could get back to them in Jackson. Sending letters was comforting. I couldn’t have imagined that, after everything we had been through, I would one day receive this letter from Jesse’s parents.

“Dear Ellie, There is no easy way for us to share this news with you, especially by letter.

Ever since you left Jackson, we’ve been hoping Dina would find the courage to write to you about it. We have a lot of respect for what you did in Jackson, helping Maria and Tommy rebuild the town and raising our grandson.

That’s why we decided to let you know that Dina met someone after you left, and she recently had his son.

Please forgive us, and may your search for a cure be successful. We all wish you good luck.

Love, Robin”

Dina was pregnant with another baby boy. She met someone in Jackson just days after I left. That explains why Dina's letters were so vague, only talking about JJ and not herself. Like she always did when Jesse was still around, she didn’t expect me to come back to her, so she had already started a new life without thinking about ours.

I was so angry reading this letter, I couldn’t finish my sandwich. I blamed Abby again for my life falling apart. In my rage, I got up from the common room and punched Abby right in the face.

[thewolfwilliams]

A new hobby

The Doc was right; it’s easier to work with a camera than to try to relearn the guitar with two missing fingers. I wonder if I'll still be able to teach JJ how to play. He loves the sound of the instrument so much; he kinda reminds me of Joel. Joel would be so proud of him.

I feel like Ethan's positivity is contagious. He sees hope in everything. I hope he'll be able to find what we're searching for.

[thewolfwilliams]

A New Challenge

After my trip to the airport’s garage, I tried to find the source of that cracking noise but couldn’t. When I got back to base camp, accompanied by what seemed to be the corpse of a clicker, I went to Ethan's lab. When he saw me, he was as cheerful as always. His positivity still freaks me out, even after a year with him and his team.

After dealing with the corpse, the Doc asked if I was interested in a new challenge during my patrols. Curious, I told him nothing could scare me after all I had already seen. He laughed, rummaged through the shelves in his office, and said I wouldn’t have to be afraid of this idea. Then he came back with what looked like a camera.

When I asked him about it, Ethan explained that Abby had come to him an hour earlier, asking how I could help with his research in a more artistic way. He thought of the camera, saying images of different evolutionary states of fungi would help improve his research. He was right. Most of our most interesting discoveries couldn’t be moved anyway.

[thewolfwilliams]

The Airport

I've been feeling really hurt lately. I was patrolling alone, looking for an infected corpse for Dr. Ethan to experiment on when I came across the island's airport. I knew it existed but had never taken the time to stop there. It was a pretty small airport and only had a few clicker corpses left from a previous patrol—perfect for the mushroom bloom the Doc was looking for.

I went to the main garage, seeking shade and taking a moment to catch my breath. Inside, I found some useful supplies we had missed on our first trip, as well as a few grounded planes. Then I saw a guitar behind one of them, barely visible. The strings were in bad condition, but still playable—at least for what I could still manage with two missing fingers.

I haven't really tried playing since my last trip to our farm in Jackson. It still hurts to think that I will never be able to play Joel's song again. But in that moment, I didn’t care. I heard a noise, something creeping towards me. I felt comforted by my switchblade in my pocket and my Beretta in my hand. I just hoped it wasn’t a stalker—those bastards don’t hunt alone.

[thewolfwilliams]

Infected Monkeys

Last week, while I was taking notes and eating lunch, Lev came and sat with me. He asked me questions about Joel and how we traveled across the country together. I kinda wished he hadn’t asked, since it always brings back painful memories of him.

Lev was especially curious about us meeting infected monkeys back in Colorado, which caught me off guard. I sometimes forget Lev grew up in that strange cult in Seattle. Still, he was right in a way he didn’t even know. Even if he never saw infected animals, I can't remember if those monkeys at the Fireflies' lab were infected or not.

I had to bring this up with Ethan. From what he could retrieve from his personal notes and Dr. Ibu Ratna’s research on ophiocordyceps, there was initially a distinction between parasite bearers and the infected. The possibility that some animals could now be infected by the CBI would make the pandemic even deadlier than it was at the beginning.

[thewolfwilliams]

Seasonal Migrations

Tommy was right. The infected do make seasonal migrations across the country—about twice a year.

Dr. Ethan warned us to be careful when searching for fungus samples each season. Even if winter is a dead season for spores, the hordes are deadlier. There are more runners due to the cold weather. Those bastards still outrun us on snow patrols!

In summer, we have to wear our masks during research. Lev isn't afraid to come with me with his mask on, but Abby stays at the base. Everyone knows I'm immune, but they would prefer I wore a mask anyway. But I usually don’t—the fresh air reminds me of our farm in Jackson.

I discovered that fungi are more present in the fall. There are fewer spores in the air, but the infected are harder to spot from a distance. After everything we've been through, Abby and Lev have developed some sort of limb armor to protect everyone from infected bites. I guess I'll need it too. I have enough bite marks already.

[thewolfwilliams]

Dr Ethan and the Research

Dr. Ethan did an incredible job. Over the years, he was able to collect more information about the CBI. While the Fireflies were searching for a way to create a vaccine, the Doc and his team already knew a vaccine wouldn’t work against cordyceps. He was quite surprised to see me, as some of his men knew my mother. It turns out, she worked with them before joining the Fireflies with Marlene. Me being immune wasn’t a surprise to him.

As their research evolved, we learned where the cordyceps came from. Some cultures from South America were infected by this parasite without anyone noticing in time. When the FDA sent a team to Seattle to analyze coffee and cocoa bean samples, it was already too late.

Abby told us she fought an infected in Seattle Hospital, which was considered Patient Zero. Ethan had to send a team back there to collect missing data. That Rat King, as she called it, was mostly made up of the FDA analysis team, whose members had merged together over the years… That’s gross.

[thewolfwilliams]

Santa Catalina

I never expected it to be easy when I got to Santa Catalina with Lev. He may be Abby’s protege, but he’s more mature than I initially thought. If it wasn’t for him coming to Jackson to ask for my help, I wouldn’t have joined them. I may have let Abby live back on Santa Barbara’s Island, and I may be trying to forgive her for what she did to Joel, but the only reason I came was to help their team develop a cure for the CBI, giving my immunity a real purpose once and for all.

When I arrived at their home base, Abby was nowhere to be found, and I felt worried. After all, coming to a Firefly base alone with her protege was a dangerous idea. When I met the Doc and the others, I started to feel more comfortable working with them. They even gave me my own cabin.

At first, I wasn’t comfortable with having free time while the main focus was finding a cure for the CBI. I tried to be useful by taking notes in this journal about our progress and findings, but their resources were more limited than what I was used to in Jackson. I kinda miss my small garage behind Joel’s house now.