002
Ella woke up, quite early probably one of the first few who woke up. She gets up off the bed putting on her sparkly pink sneakers, it was her favorite shoes of all time. The little girl quietly tip toed out the room with her bunny, slipping out without Maggie noticing. She walks outside looking for Carl or Ev but instead finds daryl. The shy girl she is, Ella ducks down and watches him from the porch. Daryl knew about her but he's never actually seen her. He noticed the young girl watching him but decided to ignore it, he was getting ready to look for Sophia again.
Ella decides to be brave and walks down to steps over to Daryl, whose still ignoring her and just packing stuff up.
She looks up at him, "what do you want kid?" he questions. The little girl shrugged. "Look kid, I have to go. I can't be wasting time like this." he says.
"Can I come? To look for Sophia- right..?" she asks. Daryl pauses for a second. It was pretty surprising because she was shy 'round everyone else. He was gonna question how she knew about her but he decides not to. "No. Ya can't, just stay here. You wanna die out there?" he questioned. Ella frowned, shaking her head. He began to walk off.
Although Daryl said no, the little girl continued to follow him. "I said no. Go back or you'll die out here." he demanded. Ella ignores him, still following.
"Listen here you little sh-" Ella interrupts him, "Come on, were going on a treasure hunt. X marks the spot." she smiles.
Daryl looked at her in a "what the fuck" face. "look. if you die out here I wont take the blame." he sneered, annoyed at her. Daryl walks behind the young girl, skipping along. Of course he didn't let her out his sight. He didn't actually mean what he said, Daryl's just... well Daryl. "Wait little girl. Were not just wanderin' around. We're looking for someone so I'll take the lead." he insisted. Ella nods and goes by his side.
The 2 go farther into the forest, straight into a red zone. A red zone is where theres too many walkers for someone to handle. Daryl looks around, hearing faint groaning. "Stay behind me." he whispers. Daryl lifts his crossbow, ready to shoot. A couple walkers, slowly walking towards them. The scared little girl runs, thinking she might wound up like her family. "Shit." daryl thought. He shoots a walker and runs after her.
Ella stops to catch her breath. A walker being right behind her she froze in fear then slowly backs up, tripping on her feet. She screams loudly, loud enough for others to hear, including the farm. Daryl makes it right on time, shooting the walker picking up the girl and starts running. Ella shuts her eyes clinging onto him, shaking in fear. Daryl puts the girl down and fights off a few walkers.
"Come on get up! We have to keep runnin" he shouted. She stays in there, crying and still afraid. He's a bit irritated about not being able to find Sophia but he picks up the young girl and starts running towards the farm.
After being close enough, he sets the girl down and they both start walking. Ella was very shaken up and still had tears in her eyes. Maggie being worried sick looking out on the porch spots the 2 walking towards the farm. She picks up the binoculars, seeing Daryl and Ella. Maggie runs towards them, the little girl noticing starts running towards her as well. Ella runs into Maggies arms, hugging her tightly and crying.
Maggie picks her up, "You know better than to bring a little girl out there." she said firmly.
"I didn't. She followed me. Just be glad I brought er' back alive." he hissed, walking away angrily.
Maggie strokes the little girls hair, heading back inside the house. "Its okay, your okay. My daddy will give you a quick check up." she says softly.
The 2 walk into the house, setting the girl down on the bed. Hershel gets his medical equipment ready, "Why were ya out there?" he asked.
"We were going on a treasure hunt." she whispers softly.
"It's not safe for a little girl like you out there." Maggie added. Ella nodded still holding on the bunny. After the checkup is finished, Ella and Maggie go out to find Carl and Ev.
"I'll be right here El. Go ahead and play, just be careful and don't go too far." Maggie smiles giving her the ok. Ella runs over to the 2 kids, running around playing tag.
"Hey. How's she doin?" Lori asks.
"Good, I think. I don't even know how shes alive. I think she was in- wanderin' around for awhile." Maggie answered, almost slipping up. Though, Lori didn't notice.
"Well, Carl and Ev want 'er to sleep in the tents with em for one night. Is that okay with you?" Lori requested.
"Of course, she could play with the kids but when she sleeps I think it'd be best if she slept with Glenn." Maggie accepted. Lori nods in agreement and continues to help Andrea with the laundry.
Meanwhile with the kids, "Hey! I heard you were out with Daryl. How'd ya get him to let you go? He never lets us." Evelynn pouts.
"He did say no, I just followed him!" Ella smirks.
"I heard you almost died" carl mumbles, looking away from them.
"Shut up carl, don't be mean!" Ev boomed.
"Sorry." he uttered.
Maggie walks over to them, "Hey El, is it okay if ya sleep in the tents tonight? It's okay you'll be with glenn ev and carl." she says.
Ella nods smiling widely, I guess it doesn't take that long for her to warm up to people. "We can have a dance party!" Ev blurted out excitedly. Maggie smiles, heading over to the tents to find glenn.
"Glenn," she called out.
"Hey! whats up?" he was at the stables, helping out with the horses.
"Is it okay if Ella sleeps with you tonight?- She'll be playing with the kids but when shes tired she'll be in your tent. I think she'll feel more comfortable with you." Maggie explains.
"Of course. She's one of us now." he responds. Maggie smiles at him, nodding her head in a way of saying thank you. Ella was getting more and more comfortable with the group, talking more and being more open.
"Hey Maggie!- I found this in Ellas clothes." Lori says, handing her another letter. Maggie bites her bottom lip, nervously.
"How didn't I notice this," she wondered. "Thank you." she says quietly, opening it up. The letter said
"One last thing, don't let her father get near her. He's a bad man, he'll only bring her down."
- SP
Maggie was full of worry. What'd her father do? He's still alive? Will he kill us? Maggie didn't want another one of her loved ones to die once again.
As it got dark, the kids were playing superheroes around the tents. "When we're older, we're gonna save this place. We'll all live together, no more walkers." Carl says to the 2 girls smiling at them.
"Yeah! And we'll be all over the news!!" Evelynn exclaims. Ella smiles at them, feeling like shes found her place here.
"Come on kids, lets go its time to eat!" Andrea says, calling them over.
"Race ya guys!" carl shouts, starting to run.
"Heyyy!!!" both girls say, running after him giggling. They just had fruits or eggs since thats all they really could have eaten. Everyone was having a good time. The kids made funny faces with the fruits, making eachother laugh. The grownups were just talking and laughing from time to time. When they finish eating, the adults still have some stuff to do so the kids go into a tent.
"Hey.. don't tell anyone but me and carl usually go out looking for Sophia around this time. Do you wanna come..?" Ev asked.
"We wont go too far- I know what happened. I overheard Daryl talking to Glenn." Carl added. Ella was quite hesitant, but the little girl didn't wanna be left out so she agrees. Carl grabs a flashlight, then the 3 sneak out the tent near the stables.
"Soooo Ella, how come you were wanderin' around on your own before this?" carl questioned, since he did feel bad for her. she shrugged, looking down at her feet. "Lets just go back I think they'll start noticing pretty soon." Carl says.
Both girls nod and they manage to slip back into the tent. "We're gonna survive this thing okay? All of us. And everything will be normal again." Evelynn says with little hope in her. Ella nods, then heads over to Glenn's tent.
"Hey you ready to sleep?" he asks. The little girl nods. Glenn had set up a blanket and pillow on the floor for him to sleep on so Ella could sleep comfortably. As just as Glenn was about to lay down,
Ella sits up, "Glenn?"
He looks over at her. "I'm here," he responds.
"Are the walkers in the barn, are they still people..?" she asked. Glenn didn't know whether to lie or tell the truth. He figured he might as well tell her the truth, he knew its better that way so she'd live.
"No. I mean- they used to be. Now they're dangerous." he explained, realizing how important it is for them to get rid of the walkers. He knew that if he didn't, everyone could die in there sleep. He didn't wanna be the source of that. Ella lays back down looking up until she fell asleep.