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THE WIND BLEW mercilessly through Ellie's golden locks as she rode silently on the back of Daryl's motorcycle. They had decided to leave their search, and to go back to the prison with their evidence. Rick would certainly know where to search from there, if he had been willing to. Her mind wandered elsewhere — had they given up on others despite trying so hard for Luke? She pondered their actions back at the farm, how Rick had denied their request to turn back and search for Andrea.
Andrea had been missing for several months; the entirety of their time on the road she had been elsewhere, wherever she had managed to get to, or she had been dead. It was impossible for Ellie to know, but it still pained her to think of the friend she once connected with so well, despite their rocky beginning.
It was unclear whether Rick would allow them to continue their search for Luke, despite the evidence of his survival. Rick had been in a turbulent mental state, particularly after discovering Lori's infidelity with Shane. Living with the two of them had proven difficult for Rick, but he kept his struggles internalised, unless Ellie was near.
"Daryl," Ellie called out over the roaring of the motorcycle as they drove towards the prison, "you kept the photo from the book, didn't you?"
Daryl remained silent for several moments, before he nodded, "I did."
He quickly delved into his pocket, and gripped onto the small photo of Ellie as she held Coda as a newborn in her arms. He had taken the photo secretly from the book, but Ellie knew him too well. He handed the photograph over to Ellie, which she graciously accepted.
"You can keep it," she stated, stroking her finger across Coda's face in the photograph, "I saw all of this... you didn't."
Daryl chose not to reply, because words would forever be too meagre to describe how deeply he regretted his absence.
>>>
"And we found all this evidence," Ellie continued explaining to the group after they had returned to the prison. Ellie and Daryl had been pleading for the case of continuing their search for Luke. "We stumbled upon this neighbourhood by chance, it felt right. It led me to this house."
"That was over a month ago, he could be anywhere by now," Rick stated pitifully as he shook his head, inspecting the date on the photograph.
Shane stood up, his first public announcement in the group since the farm. He had remained isolated for the most part, but deemed this appropriate for his return to the group. He turned to face Ellie with a soft smile on his face, and folded his arms across his chest.
"I volunteer to help Ellie for as long as she needs me to, to search for Luke until he's found," he stated, creating intense eye contact with Rick, as it had been their first encounter in months.
