There's a gulf in Abby and Ellie's experiences, but it's one that Ellie can picture so clearly. Her brow furrows as Derrica asks, the way that says she's trying to find the words to paint a picture she has in her head, complex and evolving. Her eyes nearly shut as Derrica touches her, soothed.
"... In the Quarantine Zones, the military -- FEDRA -- controlled everything. They took in orphans, then raised them up to be soldiers. I got dropped off at one of those military prep academies as a baby. Me and hundreds, probably thousands of others. I didn't know anything about my parents."
Ellie says it a little distantly, like she's aware it should be fucked up and painful, probably, but she doesn't know anything else. "I was lucky- there were plenty of kids there because their parents were dead. Starved, or killed, or infected.
"The military wasn't great. But I got enough to eat. Somebody would patch my wounds if I got hurt. I went to school. Most kids, even in the QZ, weren't that lucky. Some of them starved to death on the outside, when the rations weren't enough to go around. But, there was a group rising up, fighting for the people, still looking for a cure for-"
Ellie makes a gesture. To indicate the sickness, the infection that ruled her life from day one, and then-
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"... In the Quarantine Zones, the military -- FEDRA -- controlled everything. They took in orphans, then raised them up to be soldiers. I got dropped off at one of those military prep academies as a baby. Me and hundreds, probably thousands of others. I didn't know anything about my parents."
Ellie says it a little distantly, like she's aware it should be fucked up and painful, probably, but she doesn't know anything else. "I was lucky- there were plenty of kids there because their parents were dead. Starved, or killed, or infected.
"The military wasn't great. But I got enough to eat. Somebody would patch my wounds if I got hurt. I went to school. Most kids, even in the QZ, weren't that lucky. Some of them starved to death on the outside, when the rations weren't enough to go around. But, there was a group rising up, fighting for the people, still looking for a cure for-"
Ellie makes a gesture. To indicate the sickness, the infection that ruled her life from day one, and then-