Ella

I try to see past Carol's rudeness as we search for more supplies, but as she continues to rattle on about the dumbest things, I can't help but dislike her. This journey that seems like it's taken a year already, is going to seem even longer with chatty Kathy with us...

"It was such a weird picture, though!" She exclaims as she talks about some cinema roll her family bought a few weeks back. "It was about how things used to be. I'm so glad all of that changed. The old days seem so boring."

"I'd kill to go back in time," I speak up, saying the first words I've said for a couple hours. "Smell the woods, the fresh air, go to a cinema instead of have the picture roll sent to you. Do you know that I've never actually seen a tree? Man, would I do anything to just see one. Smell the fresh pine." I close my eyes, getting lost in the idea of seeing a tree. What a dream, a stupid small dream, but I don't even care.

"Wow, how touching!" She exclaims sarcastically. "I for once am glad they got rid of all those trees. They took up space that towns or factories could be using." I open my eyes, and the moment is gone. I look over at Dean and he's looking at me with a weird expression. Not one of distaste, and I can't quite put my finger on it.

"So you haven't found anyone else?" Dean asks, trying to change the subject.

"Nope, I have only met you guys, which I am glad! I was sick of finding food and things all by myself. At least now I have hands to help," she smiles, and I look away, pretending I didn't see so I wouldn't have to give her one back.

"Have you looked for anyone?" I ask, still not looking at her.

"No. I've only really looked out for myself. I don't really care about the lives of a couple people I don't know. I just wanted to save myself, especially after my family died in the rumble that used to be my house. I didn't want to help anyone, I had to get over grieving and I'm still not quite over--"

"Are you kidding me?" A voice asks, with sheer disgust dripping from it. I almost wonder if I said it, but it was Dean. Standing beside Carol and looking as if he just heard the worst news so far. "You didn't help anyone because you were grieving? That is the lowest thing I've ever heard. Don't you think that everyone is grieving? Don't you think I'm grieving? Or Ella?" He asks as he points to me. "We lost everyone, okay? Everyone we ever cared about."

"But you had each other!" She shouts, and I'm taken back by her sudden outburst.

"Cut the crap," he growls. "That is not an excuse, do you happen to know that a week ago we were at each other's throats? We hated each other, but that didn't stop us from working together and getting over the baggage between us just so we could survive and help one another. Do you know how selfish you sound? This is why I can't stand your species!" He almost laughs, before looking over at me. "Not one ounce of care, do you see now?" He asks me, and I can't help but gulp, not knowing what to say, not knowing why he's so torn up about this. Yeah, that was a jerk move on her part, but we can't change the past.

"I am not selfish!" She screams, her blue eyes getting watery. "I never lost a person I cared for! It was really hard and I couldn't just forget that! You both might be able to push it far from your mind, but I can't!"

"Do you really think we just push it away? Do you understand how many loved ones I've lost?" Dean asks, and I can't help but look away. I know his secret. The reason why the Norovians came here, and I can't imagine the pain he felt when he first arrived and was walking through the school hallways, putting on a smile to mask the pain. I never actually even realized how strong Dean is. He literally lost everyone and everything, and he still refuses to give up. "No, you don't! Do you realize how many Ella's lost? No! But you can't rely on that. Do you know that we found a woman with a pipe through her chest, green blood sprayed everywhere, begging to be helped? Do you? No! You don't because you were only worried about yourself. That is selfish, that is crap. This is the exact reason why I have absolutely no respect for your species," he sighs and I can't help but look over at him, wondering if he's addressing this towards me, but he's not. His eyes are on Carol, while his chest heaves up and down in heavy breaths.

"You don't even know us! You're just a prejudice little alien," she cries, before slumping onto a pile of rocks and covering her face, her shoulders shaking as she lets it all out silently. That's the only time I heard her be quiet since I've met her.

I can't help but gasp as she says this. I know the effect the word alien has on Dean, and I can't help but look over at him and make sure he's okay. The funny thing is, he looks totally un-effected by what she said. Almost as if he didn't even hear her, but I know that he did.

"We need to get going," he mutters after taking too much of her crying. I can see the annoyance he has while watching he shoulders shake as she sits there, and I can't help but wonder why crying bothers him so much. Is it really because he thinks it's being weak? Or is it because he doesn't think she deserves to cry after all the things he's just learned about her?

"I don't want to go anywhere with you!" She cries. I've almost forgotten how caddy and dramatic girls can be at some times. This is exactly why my best friend was a guy.

"Fine! Stay here for all I care," he grumbles, before stalking off and looking out into the distance, his black hair moving, and I can't help but wonder if his eye in the back of his head is watching us.

I bend down, and gently touch her arm. "Carol?"

"Go away! The both of you!" She shouts, before pushing me away.

"Listen," I say, sick of her crap. "Dean is a jerk, okay? You'll get used to it. He says whatever he feels whenever he feels like saying it, and after a while you'll get to the place where you can just brush it off," I lie, and I can't help but pause. Everything Dean always says effect me, and I hate that, I wish I could just brush it off, but for some reason, I can't. "But right now we need to stick together, okay? We've all lost someone. I've never lost anyone before either until now, but I have to keep going. We're a team and like Dean said, we hated each other. I literally beat him up," I almost laugh at the memory. "We always said a bunch of stuff to each other that was absolutely ridiculous, and we still do. We don't even get along, but we have to work together. We're survivors, and we need to stay like that. We need to continue to survive, alright? And we can't unless we all work together." Carol looks up, and I just realized I was talking to her in the same calm way I would talk to a child. Somehow, it seems to have worked, and she nods her head, before looking behind me.

I turn, only to see Dean standing there. I wonder how long he's been there, and how much he heard, for I didn't even hear him walk up.

"Okay, okay," she whispers before wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry," she mutters as she looks up at Dean. "I should have been more selfless."

"It doesn't matter now," he sighs. "We just need to look for more supplies. I want to get out of here by tomorrow, and the sun is already beginning to go down." Carol's tears are all gone, and the annoying girl is back, but it's better then a sobbing mess. I now wonder if that's how Dean felt with me when I would cry.

"There's only about a couple more houses that I haven't really checked yet," she says as she pushes her blonde hair from her face.

"Okay, we'll start there then. It will be a lot quicker since you've been here and have already been through a lot of these houses, it saves us the work and time."

"They're over here," she smiles, and I want to slap her. No one smiles like that, and especially not like that since it's directed towards the person they just argued with. I'm beginning to wonder if debris didn't fall on her head too, but I push that away. That's rude, and I don't want to be rude.

**********

Dean

I don't particularly care for Carol. She's whiny, annoying, and is rude to Ella for whatever reason, I don't know. Not to mention that she's always smiling at me. I know exactly what that smile means too. I want to tell her that she hasn't got a chance, but with all the fighting I've done with Ella, I'm sick of it. I also don't want her to go off crying again. I hate when people cry, it's annoying. I can still see Ella crying when I told her to go cry to her mom. I regret that more than anything I've probably ever said to her, and I wasn't annoyed when she cried. I actually felt bad.

The sun is now gone, leaving behind a streak of darkness and cold air. We've searched the last couple houses that Carol told us she hasn't yet been through, and now we're walking back to the house she camped in these past few days, hoping to get a good rest before the traveling starts again. I don't think that Ella is happy with just searching those last few houses, and I think it's because of the whole Ritz cracker incident where Carol's been in that house how many days and hasn't seen those. I can imagine that there are other supplies that we've probably missed, but we have enough to make it somewhere else, I'm sure of that. Especially since Carol has her own bag or whatever you'd call the thing that she slings across her chest. It's kind of nice carrying your own things around.

Carol hasn't stopped talking since the argument, and I almost want to make her cry again, just to shut her up. I replay what Ella told her over in my head, and I can't help but be almost proud that she survived with me. We don't get along, but hell with that. She may cry and fight and be so annoying that I want to pick my brain out, but she's strong. I would never tell her this, but she is. Crying doesn't make you weak, it only shows that you've been strong for too long. I can't even remember the last time I've cried. Maybe I haven't been as strong as I thought.

The cold is getting more bitter, but we finally reach the house. Whatever little bit of cold we're shielded from as we walk inside and close the door, we're thankful. It's still bitter inside the house, but not as bad.

I walk to the far side of what used to be a living room, and throw my pack onto the floor, before I sit down next to it and try to adjust it in a way where it will fit comfortably under my head. I hear movement behind me, and I hope that it's Ella and not Carol, but sadly, I'm wrong. "It's really cold," she mutters, before sitting down next to me, only a few feet away.

"Yep," I mumble as I lie down on my back, staring up at the ceiling that looks as if it may fall on us any second.

"That's really annoying too, because it makes it so difficult to sleep." I want to laugh at her. Is she serious? I already know all of this.

I glance over at Ella, but she's not paying attention, only setting up her bag too, before lying down, her back facing me. I can't help but shiver as I turn my focus back onto Carol. I don't want to do this, but I really want to have a good night's sleep, and I'll take anything.

"Do you want to sleep next to me?" I ask, the words tasting like acid coming off of my tongue. They taste even worse when her face brightens up, and I can tell she's way too overjoyed with that question.

Before I know it, her body is up against mine, and despite how much I don't really like that idea, the warmth from her skin is warming my body up, and I'm beginning to feel comfortable.

Complete darkness is now over us, and I can't see anything. I can't even see Carol lying next to me, her breathing breaking the dead silence...until I hear something else. I hear a soft sniffling, letting me know that Ella is crying. For all the tears I've seen this trip, I think I'd be just annoyed and angry at the sound of crying, but I'm not. I'm worried, and I wonder if she's okay. I wish I didn't care, I wish I truly hated her, but as I lie here, listening to her cry about whatever it is that she's crying about, I know that I don't hate her. I then wonder if I ever truly hated her. I hate how we argue, and I hate how she pushes my buttons, but I don't really think I hate her. I actually care about her in the weirdest way, and that brings me back to when the asteroid was coming to Earth. I couldn't help but glance around the classroom as I got Ducke out, to see if she was there. I was angry that she survived instead of my family, instead of my planet, but I didn't hate her. I think it was more my anger speaking for me than anything. She is a good human, and it gives me reason to hold on to the idea that maybe not all of them are bad.

Before I realize it, I can feel hot tears roll down my face, and I want to laugh. Losing my planet didn't make me cry, losing my family didn't make me cry, yet here I am in an abandoned run down house, lying next to a girl I can't stand and crying because a certain human makes me feel emotions that I can't quite put my finger on. I don't like Ella in a romantic way, but I do care. I think I'm crying because I care more for her then I do the Norovians, and I don't like that. That makes me feel like a traitor of some sort, and I can't help but cry harder. What are you doing to me, Henderson?