FEAR ⇾ THE WALKING DEAD

lxx. | "remember"

Ella was hesitant to tell her. She wanted to lie but she had a feeling Deanna would know. It took a couple moments for Ella to tell her but once she did, Deanna wasn't surprised. "I was studying how to be a pharmacist."

Deanna chuckled. She remembered wanting her son to be one. It had a good job with a good pay to come out of it once upon a time. "How far along were you in the degree?"

"On my fifth year out, months away from graduating. I believe." Ella replied to Deanna's question.

Deanna smiled. "I think I know exactly where you would fit in. You could work with the surgeon and learn what he has to offer and he can maybe learn stuff from you, too. I think that would be a great place for you to put your degree and skills to good use. That degree wasn't for nothing, I can promise you that much," Deanna looked at her clock for a moment. "And is being a pharmacist what you brought to the group?"

"No. I've never really told anyone. The only people who knew was my mother, my father, Rick, and his deceased wife," she said. "I'm not really sure why. But I-I've helped make difficult decisions. I comfort people. I'm fast I guess when looting for supplies. That's what I liked to do in the group. Always the first one to go. I'm not really sure though. I think the only reason why I ended up in the group was because of Rick and my father knowing me since I was born all those years ago, you know, so I guess I'm just here."

"Time for them to know." Deanna whispered. "Do you have any siblings?"

Ella nodded. "Yes. The baby we brought here, Judith. She's my sister. She's my fathers daughter and Rick's wife's daughter. Lori definitely cheated." Ella chuckled when Deanna had a look of pity in her eyes.

"How old are you?"

"However old Glenn is." Ella replied.

"Glenn? Are you close with him?"

Ella ended up smiling from that question. "Yes, I would say so. I mean, we're together and so I would hope we were close with how long we've known each other."

"You knew him before?"

"No, only since the world ended."

Deanna nodded in an understanding way with a small smile. "Do you want to stay here?" she questioned.

"I do. I want to be here when I die. I want to live here. We've been on the road for so long that I don't know if we know what living with others is like, what sanity and humanity is anymore. We need this. We need to be apart of this community. Have a predictable future. Have a life, build a life. I want my children to grow up here with no fear. I want to have a life with Glenn here," she nodded. "And when you talk to Rick, just remember he is skeptical. He might not believe or answer you."

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THEIR GUNS WERE given to a woman who worked in a gun armory and food bin building not too far away from Deanna's office, or house. Whichever one it was. It felt weird to not have a gun or weapon on a person at all times and hours of the day. Ella felt like a huge weight was taken off and she could actually walk again without having a slight tilt from the heavy rifles they carried. The pistols were honestly pretty heavy as well. Ella hoped there wouldn't be an outbreak of the virus or someone deciding to attack the community here soon, she had absolutely zero clue as to which building the guns would be kept unless they went on supply runs. Ella didn't care about not having her weapons, it was just weird to not have it and it almost made her uncomfortable. The last time that happened, they were attacked immediately.

Ella was in the bathroom to take a shower in the next house over from where Rick and Carl were freshening up in. She was gazing into the mirror, looking at her reflection. She couldn't recognize herself. She wasn't the woman she was when the apocalypse started almost a year ago. She was a completely different person and her old self would be so disappointed in her new self with all the things she's done previously to herself and to other people. Ella rubbed her face, all the dirt and grime smearing against her cheeks and forehead. The last time she took a shower was at the CDC where they learned a ton about the virus, stuff they didn't know before.