"𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞„

fifteen, 𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌

"You need to get some rest. We'll sit here for a while until it gets a bit lighter."

It wasn't long before the girls could feel rain pouring down on their heads. Both were too tired to care, still resting lightly. Jane's bow sat loaded in her hands, and at any noise, she raised it. They weren't about to die out here.

She wished so badly that the group would just come out of nowhere, welcoming her with open arms. She wished that none of this had happened to her, and that she was safe and sound, resting her head on Carl's shoulder again. She wished it so much in this moment, that she just wanted to scream out. That it wasn't fair, that it was frustrating rather than sad.

It was so frustrating! But yet, she was sitting here, barely surviving. Who decided she should just be cast out like this? It was stupid, it was unfair. These words kept going round in her head, over and over. That's all that ever crossed her mind. It was like a ride that she couldn't get off, no matter how hard she pulled on the belt buckle.

She couldn't fall asleep even if she wanted to, because
Everything was loud. So loud. Even her thoughts were screaming at her. for about a week she hadn't heard them at all, and she wasn't sure if it was the continuous blood gushing out of her ears or the fact that she wasn't living at all - just surviving.

Then she heard it. Ellie must've heard it too because she jolted up, opening her eyes immediately.

A singular gunshot rang out, not too far in-front of them.

"Shit." Jane said, under her breath. This is bad. One gunshot could attract all those walkers right to them.
Also another problem was: the people. Who might they run into if they keep going?

"Ellie, I'm sorry, but we've got to get up." She says it so comfortingly, that Ellie can't help but smile. Lifting ellie back into her arms, Jane continues to move, striding away from what they didn't know was Alexandria.
The woods were covering the steel walls around the place, so neither girls quizzed that they were not far from sanctuary.

They kept going, speeding up to a jog. The sky was thankfully going lighter, and they were continually getting farther and farther away from the gunshot as possible.

They stopped when they reached a big tree, sitting down by it - just catching their breath. The woods would be so beautiful right now if it wasn't for the hoards of dead passing through them. Sunlight splayed through the branches of the trees, sending pink light down to the forest floor.

"Jane...?" Ellie says, breathless. She lifts a finger, directing it to a tree behind them. Turning, she spots what Ellie is on about. A perfectly white birch tree was stained with blood, not uncommon. But as Jane got closer, she could see the blood wasn't simply splashed on, it was carefully painted into words. Words that said her name.

Her heart stopped as she read what it said:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE

She ran to it, caressing her fingers over the unsteady wood grain. Was it for her? Was it really her birthday?
She smiled bigger than she had ever done in years. Dirt matted in her hair and blood stained her face, but she didn't care anymore, it didn't matter anymore. Because this was hope.

"We're going back towards the shot." She says confidently, and Ellie furrows her brows.
"That's where all the walkers are going!" She says, speaking clearer than ever.
"I don't care. We can take them if we get there quick enough."