TLOU: Ellie Proves her Worth (Patreon)

July 10th 2040

Outside of Jackson, Wyoming

“Hey kid, I know it’s the end of the world an’ all, but you’re twenty years old. Don’t you think it’s time to give swimming another try?” Joel asked, pointing to the slow-moving river the pair were passing by.

Ellie stopped in her tracks, turning to Joel with a sour look on her face, unable to believe the suggestion. “I don’t even have any swimming gear. Do you want me just to jump in and soak my clothes? Seems pretty dumb to me.”

Joel scoffed, “Oh, like I ain’t guided us through all kinds of flooded basements in my jeans. It ain’t that bad, they’ll dry with enough time. Besides, ya got that thing on, might as well see what it’ll do in the water. Maybe it’ll act as a flotation device.”

The thing Joel was referring to was Ellie’s diaper, a thick disposable that she required a near-constant supply of. Whether out of stubbornness or an inability, she’d never finished potty training, making it a requirement if she wanted to make it through the day without ruining a pair of pants. So they scavenged, tracking down any and all adult diapers they could find.

“Yeah, testing to see if they float seems like a great use of my limited supply of diapers.” she replied, rolling her eyes heavily.

Joel however seemed to take that as a challenge because the next thing Ellie felt was a hand against her shoulder. Suddenly she was falling towards the river.

“Hey, fuck!” Ellie called, spinning her arms in the air in an attempt to slow her descent toward the water. She landed with a splash. Instantly Ellie gulped for air, fearing that her inability to swim might be the end of her. Then her hands hit the bottom of the body of water, then her knees. All four limbs came to rest on the floor of soft river mud with her upper torso jutting comfortably out of the water. At no point did her head even go under the water.

Above her Joel laughed, practically howling his head off at her predicament. “Well c’mon kid doggy paddle! Let’s see if you can swim!”

Ellie glowered at him, irritated now that she realized she wasn’t in danger of drowning anymore. Her annoyance however couldn’t stop the flow of water that was sneaking past the denim jeans she was wearing from pouring into the leg holes of her pants. The river water worked fast in causing Ellie’s diaper to swell, soaking the padding and forcing its plastic exterior against the fabric of her jeans.

“What the shit Joel!?” Ellie yelled, pulling herself from the water to the bank. She stood there for a long moment appreciating just how full her diaper had gotten from the liquid because it looked as though somebody had stuffed a beach ball down her pants. It was all packed so tightly against her too.

Cringing at the feeling of her wet clothes Ellie pulled off her jeans, allowing the diaper room to move. “I hope you know I’m extremely pissed about this…” she groaned, pulling at the waistband of her diaper to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere.

The crotch sagged heavily, nearly reaching the middle of her thigh from how heavy it’d become.

She took an exploratory step forward and was unsurprised to find her gait intensely affected by all the new weight in her padding. Even more unfortunate was that she only had a single change in her pack. She’d used all the rest up on the long journey from Utah to Wyoming.

“Ugh, what a pain.” Ellie groaned, waddling her way up to Joel.

She wanted to get back at him but couldn’t decide how until she got closer and a devious idea struck her. With so much water inside the diaper, it likely couldn’t hold much else.

Before Joel could utter a single word of apology Ellie squatted down in front of him and bore down with everything she had. Despite her lack of potty training, if Ellie really needed to she could force an “accident” in her diaper to prove a point—which was exactly what she wanted out of this moment.

Her efforts yielded a warm splash of urine counteracting the cold river water with its intense heat. However, because her padding was so soaked there was no absorbency left, the hot pee was leaking past her diaper’s leak guards and down her legs, snaking over her smooth skin in yellow rivulets of acrid-smelling liquid and pooling at her feet.

Her intention was to piss on Joel’s shoes a little, making him regret wasting one of her precious diapers for his dumb joke, and the look on his face was mostly worth it. However, halfway through her wetting a cramp hit her stomach, making her realize she was still pushing—and hard.

A hard log of waste forced its way out of Ellie’s body, coiling in the soaked padding of her diaper and dragging the seat down even further, almost bringing it to her knees at its lowest point.

Ellie groaned, squatting deeper as her body evacuated itself violently into the dripping diaper that was so much further beyond capacity than she ever thought possible. Her body trembled from the exertion of her accident, emphasizing just how much she was filling her diaper.

When she finished she stood up shakily, her body feeling exhausted from what she’d just put it through. Closing her thighs proved to be an impossible task as the massive bulk refused to compress between them. It was a heavy mass of mushy gunk that was essentially acting as a spreader.

She took a step and then another. Joel watched her until he felt like she had a handle on moving, then they resumed traveling.

“I ain’t changin’ that when we get there,” he said.

“When have you ever, old-timer? I'm a big girl, I can change my own diaper.”

“Right, a big girl,” he grumbled, continuing on the way they were going.

“Bet next time you’ll think twice before pushing me into a river,” Ellie joked.

“Least keep my boots out of your splash zone.”

Joel’s crack about her drying out didn’t really apply to Ellie’s situation, her diaper was meant to hold water after all. The absolutely waterlogged padding made sure every step she took was a wet one. Her pride would let her change it yet either. While it was more meant to show Joel she could deal with the barrier slowing her down, it was just making life harder for her.

“Where’d you say we were going anyway?” she asked.

“Jackson,” Joel said plainly, offering no other information. His mood changed on a dime, something that was a semi-recent development.

“Right… the place we met your brother before…”

There was a strange air between them that neither was ready to address. The events of Salt Lake City hadn’t been discussed between them yet but she was trying to work out a way to tell Joel her suspicion. She knew something had gone wrong with the Fireflies, that there was something sinister behind the cure not happening.

She filed it away as something to talk about later, trekking on behind Joel silently.

July 10th 2040

Jackson, Wyoming.

Arriving at the gate of the town found Ellie shivering slightly, her clothes remained damp from the lake and the diaper between her legs was a pit of cold liquid doing little more than hanging between her legs.

The gate of the town was surprisingly sturdy having been a reinforced FEDRA gate. Ellie found herself appreciating the ingenuity. It was a smart move and made her hopeful for her new home.

A few words passed between Joel and the gate guard. Ellie held her breath through the conversation, wondering curiously if they’d even be let in and if she could call a place home again. It’d be a luxury she hadn’t had since the military school in Boston and that hardly counted in her mind.

After a few moments and some whispering from above, the repurposed gate slid open, allowing the pair inside. Ellie let out her held breath, relieved that once again Joel had come through, as had his connection with his brother.

All eyes were on them as they passed into the town and Ellie could feel them. They bored into the back of her skull as she and Joel passed. Normally she wouldn’t have been so bothered, in fact, she was extremely familiar with the skepticism of a small settlement.

It wasn't just that there were new people in town though. The swinging bulk of her soaked diaper was attracting the majority of attention as she waddled behind her travel partner.

“I didn’t even realize people still wore those.”

“Do you think it’s hard to scavenge those?”

“It’s so big! How the hell long has she been wearing that thing?”

“Kind of weird, didn’t expect to have a big baby joining the community.”

The surrounding whispers just barely reached Ellie’s ears making her cheeks burn slightly. She didn’t care about having to wear diapers, they didn’t impede her ability to survive in the slightest. In fact, she thought her ability to stay badass was aided by her diapers.

“Doesn’t matter what they think.” she grumbled.

After a long day of walking it didn’t matter, she just wanted to change and relax. The gate guard led her and Joel to a house one with an attached garage that'd been converted into a small studio. It was supposedly a bed she could call her own and Ellie crashed into it without a second thought.

Joel made a show of asking if there was anything she needed but Ellie could tell he was just as tired as her. She refused, releasing him to a bed of his own.

One diaper change later and she was free to sprawl out on a real mattress, a joy she found nearly as welcoming as the fresh padding she’d tapped around her waist. Just like she wasn’t bothered by her diapers being seen, how wet they got wasn’t an annoyance for Ellie. She was used to it. It was only because of the waterlogged nature of her previous padding that she was so eager to change.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the soft interior of her diaper while she had it. It was like her waist was wrapped in a pillow. Just as she nestled into bed the familiar twinge of her bladder hit, letting her know that her undergarment wouldn’t be clean for much longer.

“Well it was nice while it lasted.” she sighed, letting her head sink into the pillow just as she started to soak the padding between her legs.

Urine poured out from Ellie’s body in a steady stream, splattering against the padding and pooling around her butt before the padding could soak it up. The absorbent core of her medical diapers did a good job at that, wicking away any of the prevailing wetness that might have caused a rash.

All that was left behind was the squishy heat of the piss-sodden padding, a sensation that was more soothing than she would ever admit. Her lower body was cradled in that heat. It was a comfortable security that remained as the one constant in her life.

People let her down, the only exception being Joel so far. Her diapers didn’t.

Her bladder finally emptied as her eyes started fluttering. She had to admit, there was a certain safety in Jackson too. Her mistrust of other people was relaxing just because she was in the town.

It was possible that was because Joel was here too. Whatever issues they hadn’t talked about didn’t change the father/daughter relationship that’d blossomed over their journey across the states. He still made her feel protected.

For the first time in years, she relaxed, drifting off peacefully.

July 11th 2040

Jackson, Wyoming.

The morning light of the early summer sun awoke Ellie the next morning, beamed straight to her eyes through the slim slots of the blinds in her room. She groaned and cussed, turning in her sheets to escape the harsh light. She was met with an irritating cold sensation in her attempt to escape the sun.

Her thigh dipped directly into a cold moist spot on the bed and she found the feeling punctuated by a pungent, acrid smell. It only started to register after she felt the moistness touch her thigh. Her brain was groggy but she was quickly realizing that she’d wet the bed.

“Ssssshit.” she cursed, rolling off of the ruined mattress. A large dark stain radiated out from where she’d been laying, marking her accident across her newly gifted bed. “Couldn’t even make it one damn night before I wet the bed… This is my last diaper too. Ugh! What the hell am I going to do!?”

So many problems presented themselves just as she’d woken up and Ellie wasn’t sure which to deal with first. She poked at her cold diaper and found herself pissed it was already leaking. “Should have asked Joel if we could stop and look.” she murmured, chastising herself for not keeping track of her own diaper stash.

“That’s the first thing. Find Joel, go resupply, talk to him about a new bed. Yeah, you got this.”

Turning around she looked at the floor to see if she could find her pants, only to see the solution to one of her problems laying in the middle of her room, missed before because of her sleepy haze.

An unopened pack of diapers sat in the middle of the room, shining and clean amongst all the dust.

Ellie blinked, then blinked again, refusing to believe what she was seeing was real. Walking up and ripping them open confirmed it but she still wondered if it was a dream. “Joel must have brought them by this morning.” she whispered, pulling a fresh nappy from the case. It crinkled beneath her fingers, squished by her digits as she examined it.

Beneath the plastic shell, she was surprised to see bright pink material and a design with crude cartoon princesses all over the front. Ellie cringed. She’d been lucky enough so far to keep herself in medical diapers—with the occasional pull-up.

Unfolding it revealed the padding was also thicker than she was used to, at least significantly enough that she could see it. She didn’t like it but her current diaper wouldn’t hold up, especially if she tried to slip it underneath her jeans. Ellie didn’t have another choice besides the pink monstrosity.

She tore away the tapes of her soaked diaper with a grumble, letting it hit the floor between her legs with a heavy, wet splat. A little rustling in her bag released the rest of her plundered supplies. Wipes, baby oil, powder, and a vinyl mat she’d repurposed.

She cleaned and re-powdered herself quickly, wasting no time. It’d become second nature to Ellie, who wasn’t interested in lollygagging. The convenience afforded to her by her diapers was a moot point if she took forever changing.

In a quick five minutes, she was freshly diapered, tugging at the ruffly leak guards of her new padding to make it comfortable against her thighs.

“Gah, these are kinda tight. Don’t think even if I flooded these anything would get out through these. Kinda a plus if I’m honest.”

While slipping her jeans over the padding Ellie made for the door. Unsurprisingly the new padding pressed against the denim quite a bit more than her usual medical diapers. The outline of them was clearly visible through her jeans and the top of the ruffly pink waistband stuck out significantly. She tugged at the hem of her t-shirt, hoping it’d hide it until she found Joel and could go find more.

Dressed and ready for the day she pushed open the door.

The very first thing Ellie planned to do was find Joel. That plan was immediately interrupted by somebody leaning against the wall next to the door she’d just exited. The woman standing there had her arms crossed but also a smile on her face. It was a confusing mix of semi-aggressive body language and a friendly expression.

Ellie jumped at her presence. “Uh, can I help you?” she asked. She immediately fell into a defensive attitude without meaning to.

“Good to see yer finally out of bed.” the woman responded. The inherent chipperness was more off-putting than Ellie was prepared for, throwing her more off guard. “Looks like you found what I left for ya too. Those gonna work?”

“Is… is what going to work?” Ellie asked.

The woman pointed at her jeans, drawing the brunette's attention to a section of her diaper’s waistband that was sticking out. “I can already see yer wearin' them diapers, they feel okay?”

Ellie gave a little embarrassed tug at her shirt. “They’ll do, a little thick though…”

The woman laughed in response. “’s too bad tha’s all I had then. I’m sure ya will get used to them.”

Wanting to change the subject Ellie looked around with the most uninterested expression she could muster at that moment. “Sooo, do you know where Joel is? I need to talk to him about something.”

“Yeah I do, he’s up with Tommy in the ski lodge talkin' about setting the town’s infrastructure up, boring shit like that. Probably nothin' you’d be interested in so they asked ol’ Amber to take ya out today.”

“…Who’s—” she stopped herself, realizing that was the woman’s polite way of introducing herself to someone who hadn’t even bothered asking her name. “Yeah, I’m Ellie by the way.”

“Yeah, I know hun.”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence between them. Ellie only broke it because she was looking for a way out. “I-uh better find Joel.”

Amber stopped her, holding a hand up to her shoulder. Ellie couldn’t see before due to a baggy coat but as the sleeve slipped down the woman’s arm she got a good look at some serious musculature. This woman was athletic, with wiry power that made her a force to be reckoned with. Her friendly smile dropped.

“Now hol’ up. I already told ya that you’re comin' with me. I know you an’ Joel been travelin round for a bit now but there’s only so much vouching Tommy can do. I’m ‘spose to test ya. Everyone here pulls their weight. The able-bodied work an’ since you need extra supplies you gotta work extra hard.”

“That’s bullshit.” Ellie grumbled, annoyed to have her particular problem so blatantly brought up, “I bet I’m better at scavenging than ninety percent of the people here.”

Amber’s smile returned.

“Well then prove it and we ain’t gon’ have a problem. I saw you come in yesterday with a rifle, get yer pack and we’ll get you all kitted out for a run.”

A lot of words came to Ellie’s head, most of them curses but she held her tongue and turned back into her room to grab her pack.

Amber annoyed her but made a fair point. These people didn’t know her nor could they be expected to trust her at the drop of a hat. It made sense that they’d like her to prove her worth.

It was also a great excuse to get out and look for something other than these horrific pink diapers she’d been given. Ellie had a preference and if she was going to go out scavenging she might as well make the demand that she and Amber stop at a pharmacy.

Just in case she pushed the princess diaper to its limit she shoved one into her pack, an emergency change just in case she needed it before heading back out.

“So anything else you need before we go?” Amber asked before they moved on. She turned back in a way that had her sandy blond hair spreading in the cool morning air, catching the sun between the strands.

“Uhhhh actually…” Ellie got suddenly nervous, she did need something but the sting of admitting it to this woman made her second guess her choice to tell her.

“Maybe I can just flip it and it’ll be fine.”

She thought better of it. The bed was likely to be annoyingly uncomfortable and she didn’t want to start her time here on a lie. “…I need a new mattress. I flooded my… diaper… last night.”

Amber stared at Ellie for a long moment, quiet but judgemental. She let out a heavy sigh. “Do you think it’s just so easy to find a fresh mattress? We don’t have a ton on hand.”

She looked at Ellie like she was waiting for her to say something, but the brunette couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come.

“It’ll be the only one ya get.” Amber said after a long moment. “Ruin that one and yer fucked. Anything else?”

“No, let’s go.”

July 11th 2040

Outside of Jackson, Wyoming.

Amber led Ellie through a derelict hotel, its walls crumbling and all its furniture tossed aside. Each of them kept a rifle pointed toward the ground, ready to react in the event that something appeared to attack them.

“Should be relatively safe,” Amber assured, “We use this all the time to get through to the shoppin' district on the other side of town but every once and a while we get a squatter or two up in here.”

“Squatters?”

“Yeah you know, some bandit types scoping out the town or somebody with an itchy trigger finger passing through. Sometimes it’s a clicker though, nests pop up now and then. We always burn ‘em out.”

Ellie was impressed. Amber was well-informed and the way she carried herself was extremely professional. Whatever doubts Ellie might have held about following her outside the safety of Jackson disappeared.

“So what were you talking about?” Amber asked, prompting Ellie to continue her story.

“Oh yeah, so I was hunting this rabbit while Joel was sick. I was trying to keep him fed and warm but stumbled into a commune. They seemed friendly and nice… But their leader, David… he was a creep and tried to lock me up. They tricked me, gave me medicine for Joel and tracked me back to where we were hiding. It turned out they were cannibals.”

Amber listened quietly ahead of her, enraptured in what Ellie could only describe as the most horrifying time of her life.

“They wanted to eat me. David wanted… other things. In the end Joel and I… we killed them all and burned down their hideout.”

“Shit,” Amber sighed, obviously impressed, “Cannibal commune, that’s a new one. Plus dealing with that big lug bein' sick for that long sounds tough. Least you didn’t let them get away with it…”

Amber seemed to be impressed based on the tone in her voice. Whether or not she believed Ellie was another story but she felt like her words had carried enough weight to convince her.

“What about you?”

Amber seemed to stumble, still shaken by what Ellie had told her. “Oh, uh, I fought off two bloaters at once. They were chargin' out while we was moving to a supposed safe haven. Big mean ol’ sons o’ bitches. They nearly got me. I fired my last shell into one right as it was charging me. It dropped right as I ran out of ammo like a foot away. I thought I was a goner. We made it out but damn that ain’t nothin' like an entire commune of gun-totin' people eaters.”

They’d been passing stories back and forth across the entire walk, gaining a better understanding of each other’s experience. Amber was undeniably capable if what she was saying was true.

They walked cautiously over the rubble, sweeping the area carefully. Three floors up and halfway through Amber brought them to a blockage, a pile of concrete jutting out in all directions. There was a small opening at the top, with a concrete column leading up to it.

“Sooo up through there?” Ellie asked, pointing up toward the opening.

“Yep, it’s the only way we’ve found to get through that’s not climbin' over a giant tetanus trap or don’t take two full days. We’ll slip through easily enough, getting back through won’ be as easy, not if we’re carryin' a bunch of shit but we can push it through. It’s like a slide.”

Ellie nodded, looking up at the hole on top of the concrete pile. The pillar leading up to it sat at a harsh angle, making the pathway up an intensely steep grade. It’d be more of a climb than a walk.

“Hopefully yer stuff won’t be too much of a burden…”

It was a statement said just under Amber's breath but Ellie caught it at the edge of her hearing. She bristled at the comment, feeling her fists ball up in rage.

“I’m not. A. Fucking. Burden!” she thought, rushing forward to latch onto the concrete pillar before Amber could. She threw her arms around it, digging in with her toes and scooting herself up. The rough surface of the cement scraped against Ellie’s arms as she started to clamber up it.

She was still angry, gritting her teeth with each slow step as she pushed her way up. Even though she wasn’t supposed to hear it, the comment about her being a burden really irked Ellie. It was almost to the point where she wanted to turn back and tell Amber off. She held that urge back, resolute in her mission to show that she could be better than whatever the woman's perception of her was.

Halfway up the twenty-foot climb up the concrete pillar, Ellie felt a cramp in her stomach. She froze, planting her position on the pillar so one hand could fly to her stomach. The clench of her bowels was powerful enough to cause her to stumble. Her hand gripped the concrete trying to keep herself from falling off.

The intense rumbling of her gut was sending tremors through her, enough so that she couldn’t even tell when the first turd tented out the back of her diaper. She only felt the heat after the fact, the squishy matter held against her bottom by her thick diaper.

Her body was voiding and replaced the rumbling of her stomach with squishy weight dropping into crinkly plastic and bombastic quaking farts that filled the quiet air of the building. Ellie groaned, despite her lack of a direct push, her body’s uncontrolled messing was enough to sap her energy and force an unprompted vocalization; especially with how violent her excretion was.

The weight of her padding strained against her jeans. With nowhere to go it just pushed up around her bottom. She looked back to check the state of her diaper.

She was glad to see her nappy remained contained within her jeans—though the waistband had slipped down the exterior of the pink plastic slightly. She was also horrified to see that Amber’s face was only inches from the back of her bulging jeans.

The woman's mouth hung open, shocked.

Ellie was mortified, while she didn’t have a problem with using her diapers. It wasn’t like she wanted to expose somebody to the back of her diaper as it turned stained and lumpy with her mess. Her cheeks burned red and without waiting to explain Ellie started scrambling up the pillar again, leaving behind Amber.

At the hole at the top of the pile, she looked back again, checking to see if Amber had followed. She lingered in that same spot as if stunned by what she’d just witnessed and smelled.

“You coming?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah”

The words snapped Amber out of her stupor, leading her to follow Ellie up the pole. However, she kept more distance between them.

“Well shit,” Ellie thought, “now I feel bad.”

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

Ellie and Amber walked through the rest of the hotel in silence, the initial awkwardness of the situation keeping the conversation from stirring up between the pair. Ellie couldn’t tell Amber’s state of mind, she remained in the front, checking corners and walking cautiously. She didn’t have enough of a look at her face to see if her shocked expression had dissipated.

Ellie herself was bouncing between embarrassment and detachment. Using her diapers wasn’t something she’d had a problem with. People were usually surprised when they learned about it but quickly learned to get past it because of Ellie’s blase attitude about the subject. At the same time none of these people had been face to padding before when she was filling it out, especially with a mess that was that  violent.

Amber had been reasonable with her, more so than most in fact. She hadn’t just brought her diapers but also had said she was willing to help her out with a fresh bed. Whatever snarky comments she’d made weren’t necessary but understandable for someone who likely wasn’t thrilled about another mouth to feed.

Her mind wandering kept Ellie from paying great attention to what was in front of her, causing her to stumble on a loose stone. “Ugh, these damn thicker diapers… I’m gonna have to get some looser jeans or something.”

Ahead of her, she heard a sigh, drawing her attention to Amber, who’d stopped.

“Did ya, I don’t know, want to change or something?”

“No, no there’s still a lot of room, with such a limited supply I try to get the most out of every diaper I can.”

“Is that what happened yesterday?” Amber asked with a growing smile.

Ellie hadn’t realized the blonde had seen her when she came in. It didn’t surprise her that she may have just heard about the way Ellie and Joel had entered though, it must have been a spectacle.

“Ha, ha. No, that was Joel. The asshole pushed me in a creek.”

“Wow, what a dick move, why’d he do that.”

“A bad joke I guess. Jokes on him though I pissed on his shoes.”

Raucous laughter was shared between the two. Within it, Ellie could feel her worries evaporating. Whatever shock she’d caused Amber hadn’t been permanent.

‘Why don we cop a squat.” Amber suggested. “We’ve only got a little ways to go, seems like as good a place as any.”

Amber selected a chair against the wall, one with an eye on each entrance to the room they’d stopped in and settled in. It was a smart move and the same one Ellie would have pulled if her partner hadn't already. She started digging around in her pack for something to snack on.

“Want a sammich?”

“Nah,” Ellie said, “I’ve got a protein bar, thanks though.”

She herself decided to plop on the floor, her diaper squishing underneath her audibly when she went down. She caught Amber cringing at the sound, just at the edge of her vision.

“Can I ask ya a question?”

“You just did,” Ellie joked, “but go ahead and ask another if you want.”

“Why with those things? It seems really uncomfortable, is it like a weird choice?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you still need diapers is what I’m askin!” Amber questioned.

“Ah, yeah. Well I never actually learned how to use a toilet. I can’t hold it so the diaper keeps me from scrapping a pair of pants a day. I never got it, then I gave up and so did everybody around me.”

“But god sakes yer sittin’ in ya own mess right now. That can’t be comfortable.”

Ellie had been waiting for this. It happened with everyone eventually.

“When it’s all you know it’s not a big deal. There’s lotion and powder to make it not so uncomfortable and in the end it’s kind of like sitting on a big pile of oatmeal.”

“Yeah, the smelliest oatmeal ya've ever been around. It reeks like a goddamn sack of toxic waste.”

Ellie chuckled. “Yeah, that goes away too. I don’t smell it anymore and it’s not like the clickers can either, all in all, I usually like to think of it as convenient.”

“Convenient? Really? All those extra supplies and changing and whatnot?”

“Yeah, I mean. Okay, let’s use an example. Do you have to pee?” Ellie asked.

This brought out a blush from Amber who stuttered. “I-I don’ see how th-that’s any ya business.”

“Okay okay, no need to be weird about it. It’s just an example. I do have to pee so I’m just going to do it.”

“Wait wh—?”

Ellie interrupted Amber’s confused statement by putting up a finger and motioning for her to wait. She stood, slipping off her jeans to reveal the diaper underneath. Ellie closed her eyes, bearing down with her abdominal muscles as hard as she could. She honestly wasn’t sure if she had to pee, the sloshing irritation of her bladder never came until it hit critical mass and overflowed. It had however been several hours since she’d gone so there was a good chance she was about to soak the diaper anyway.

She was right and as Ellie was clenching her abdomen heated liquid splashed against the front of her diaper, filling the silence around her with a gentle hissing. Amber sat flabbergasted as Ellie’s diaper grew in size, watching it soak up all of her urine.

‘See, convenient, the only problem is now I’ve gotta leave my pants off 'cause there’s no way this is squeezing back in there.”

“What that’s not full enough for you to change!?” Amber exclaimed. “Damn thing looks like it’s hangin' off yer fuckin hips.”

Ellie tugged on the waistband, testing the diaper’s retention, despite the mass at the back and her having soaked it, the leak guards held tough and the tapes had yet to give out. The folded material of the extra thick padding had yet to even unfurl.

“Nah there’s definitely more room.”

“An’ walkin' in it?”

“Something you get used to like the smell and the feeling.”

“Huh, I have to say I may have underestimated yer need for those. Don’t seem as much of a hindrance as I thought.”

Ellie felt herself get a little irritated at the comment but let it slip by. “It’s not.” she confirmed.

The silence returned as the pair finished eating their respective snacks before they continued toward the shopping center.

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

Just as Amber had promised the shopping area was virtually untouched with a pharmacy and grocery store being the main standouts among the shops.

“Is there really anything left in there?” Ellie asked.

“Oh yeah, the place was overrun with Clickers up till a couple months ago. Spent like a week clearin' 'em out so we could get the good stuff. Now we just make small trips back an’ forth given that our only pathway’s that damn hole.”

Ellie saw that she wasn’t joking, it was like the shopping center had dropped into a sinkhole because they were surrounded on all sides by dirt and concrete. It wasn’t easily accessible in any sense of the word.

“Alright well do you have some kind of list or…”

Amber shook her head. “Naw, but I thought we’d start in there.”

She was pointing to a store with fogged-up glass, the sign above the door read Little Dreams.

“What a baby store?”

“Not quite.” Amber said.

The inside of the store was somewhat shocking to Ellie who hadn’t even expected a place like this to exist in the real world. It seemed that before the virus there must have been other adults who needed diapers too, along with bottles and onesies and anything else babyish to satisfy their desires.

“This is where I got that last pack I left for ya. I figured since ya was complainin’ you could pick out whatever ya want here.”

Ellie was astounded, over half the store was packs of puffy diapers and most of them looked able to contain far more than her usual medical brand.

“There’s a whole store room in back too so if you find yourself needing anything I think we have plenty. Honestly, we were kind of trying to figure out what to do with all these before ya came along. Guess it was waiting for ya.”

Ellie almost teared up at the sentiment. Amber may not have understood but she was at least trying and on top of her attempts to learn she was willing to help with a massive stash of extra supplies.

The young woman almost ran up and hugged her, but stopped herself. It wasn’t the time, nor did they know each other well enough.

The brunette instead made a selection from the shelves, shoving a case of plain black diapers into her bag along with a new bottle of baby oil and powder.

When she was ready she turned back to Amber, about to let her know she was ready to go when a disturbing sound hit her ears. Ellie’s hand shifted to the stock of her rifle. A guttural yell mixed with pained clicking sounded out from the back of the store.

She leveled her rifle at the back door, aiming. The patter of aggressive footsteps echoed in the room, confirming her suspicion. Amber cursed next to her but Ellie didn’t let herself get distracted, she kept her aim till the first peak of ruined flesh appeared.

The stalker ran from the doorway, juking across the room and out of the sight of her rifle, she turned, following just behind it. She was only off the mark till it changed course, making directly for Amber.

It was quick but Ellie’s reaction time was quicker. Its cranium was in her sights just as it turned and she fired before it could even open its jaw to bite her companion. The crack of her shot rang in her ears and smoke rose from the barrel.

Amber looked slightly shocked but grateful for Ellie’s intervention. She hadn’t been ready for the infected attacker. Ellie was about to say something but stopped when Amber shouldered her own rifle at something behind her.

The screech of another one coming closer to Ellie made her duck into a defensible position but before she could even turn around Amber herself had fired, dropping another one.

“We must have missed a few when we cleared ‘em out. Either that or they’re movin’ back in.”

“Sounds like we better do a sweep before we stock up.”

“Good idea, maybe look at movin’ some of these shelves to secure the goods.”

Ellie agreed and followed Amber around the mall to make sure no other infected were going to try and take them down before they gathered the food and medicine they’d come for.

As far as either of them could tell they were in the clear, so they moved on to scavenging. Each had a large burlap sack to fill and Amber had a list of items that she dictated to Ellie.

“That was real good back there. Savin’ my ass an’ all.”

Ellie laughed. “I could say the same for you, that was a quick aim on that one behind me.”

“Can’t let my scavenging buddy get eaten. Tha’s a real bad look.”

Once again the pair shared a laugh. There was a new mutual trust between them, at least Ellie could feel one. She had Amber’s back and Amber sure as hell had hers.

They packed up their gathered supplies and headed for the small entrance only accessible through the hotel, the spoils of their journey clunking and rattling in the sacks.

“I hope I proved to be worth all the extra supplies I’m gonna use.” Ellie joked.

“Yeah, I think my life is worth a couple packages of adult diapers at the very least.” Amber responded, “Ya’ve earned a place in my eyes.”