AN ALARM BLARED LOUDLY IN THE DISTANCE NEAR THE SURVIVOR'S CAMP. Everyone looked in the direction of the blaring alarm, their eyes widening in fear of the alarm attracting walkers for miles. Ella shot up from her seat next to her father, swallowing down a lump in her dried up throat.
Shane grabbed his daughter's arm, pulling her closer to him in case it weren't one of their people coming back from the supply run. Lori and Carl ran up to Shane and Ella, fear evident on their faces.
If nobody knew better, they'd think the Walsh family and the Grimes family were all related by blood. Fortunately, they knew better than to think that despite that Shane and Lori were sneaking around and hooking up with each other.
Jim placed his hands on his hips, staring up at Dale. "Hey, Dale, can you see what that is?" he questioned.
Shane moved away from the three and jogged towards the R.V, panic and nervousness rising in his brown eyes. "Talk to me, Dale!" he shouted.
Dale shook his head. "I can't tell yet!" he shouted back.
Amy glanced at Dale, her voice full of curiosity. "Is it them? Are they back?"
Ella's eyes flitted between everyone, hope blossoming in her chest. She sucked in a deep breath, clutching onto Carl's shoulders in fear, hope, and panic.
Lori looked over to Ella, her lips parted, then she looked back at Dale, awaiting for the answer everyone wanted and needed so badly.
"I'll be damned." Dale closely held the binoculars up to his eyesight.
Amy swallowed thickly. "What is it?" she inquired, crossing her arms across her chest.
Dale heavily sighed, shrugging. "A stolen car is my guess." he answered the young girl in her mid-twenties.
Suddenly, a red mustang pulled through the entrance to the main part of the camp. The person inside stayed in for a second before the door swung open and immediately everyone, but Lori, Ella, and Carl swarmed him and asked a ton of questions.
Ella looked past everyone to see Glenn Rhee. Her heart skipped a beat while her stomach flopped upside down at the sight of him. Unknowingly, a smile formed across her face, showing off her teeth.
"Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouted as he climbed down the ladder to his R.V.
"I don't know how!" Glenn shouted back, irritation in his tone from everyone asking him so many questions at once.
Ella took a step forward, flickering her eyes between everyone. Shane walked up to the car, shouting, "Pop the hood, please!" No one answered. "Pop the damn hood, please!" he continually repeated himself as Amy and many others spoke loud and clear over Shane, until Glenn looked over.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "What?" he asked Shane, processing what the man said, before it clicked. "Okay, okay! Yeah, yeah!"
Amy started repeatedly asking Glenn where Andrea was and if she was safe as he walked to the drivers side of the car and pulled the lever for the hood, popping it open. Shane opened it further and looked inside.
Glenn told Amy that Andrea was fine, causing her to ask if she was fine, which he said she was, then she asked if she was coming back, which then Glenn snapped and said that everyone, but Merle, were coming back to the camp.
Ella sighed and looked back at a curious Lori and Carl who were staring at the scene before them by the red mustang.
When Shane disconnected the battery, he whipped around towards Glenn, glaring at the boy. "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker from miles?" he asked.
Ella locked eye contact with her father, everyone knew he was completely right. If they really listened for any noises, they probably could've heard it a mile away.
Dale glanced around the entirety of the camp. "I think we're okay."
Shane scoffed. "You call being stupid okay?" he yelled.
Ella walked closer to the car, her arms crossed over her chest as Dale spoke. "He's right, but the alarm was echoing all over. How would walkers be able to pinpoint the location of the noise? I'm not arguing. I'm just saying," Dale looked over to Glenn. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, wouldn't it?" he questioned.
Glenn smiled happily, giving a roll of his shoulders. "Sorry. . . got a cool car." he mumbled in joy.
Ella playfully nudged her elbow into his side, flashing him a huge smile. "That you did. We should go drifting in it sometime, huh?" she quickly raised her eyebrows then put them back down.
He nodded. "Duh." he chuckled.
Their gazes lingered on each other for a moment, smiles plastered onto their faces, before they heard Shane clear his throat, which caused them to tear their gazes away from each other.
Suddenly, a white semi-truck rolled up at camp. Ella glanced over to it, relief washing over her that the people who went into the city for supplies were all completely fine, or at least most of them.
Once the truck stopped, a door swung open and out came Andrea Harrison. "Amy!" Andrea happily called out, dashing to her sister.
"Andrea!"
Ella hugged her body, happy that the sisters were reunited. Morales walked over to his family and hugged them tightly before Dale walked over to him and hugged him.
Dale glanced in between the group that just returned. "I thought we lost you folks for sure."
Morales grinned. "Can't get rid of us that easily."
Ella spared a glance behind her at the remaining Grimes family, her face falling, the happiness from it diminished when she saw Carl's head lowered in defeat. She looked at the reunited families, knowing why he was sad, then back at Carl.
She trekked over to them. "Wait up you two!" she yelled out. They spun around, frowns evident on their faces. Ella crouched down in front of Carl and sighed. "I know you miss your dad, but. . . I think he'd want you to move on." she whispered.
Ella Walsh had no idea how Carl must've felt when he lost his father, but she knew what it was like to lose a mother.
Carl slowly nodded. Ella brought him into a hug, rubbing his back comfortingly in small circles.
"One day it won't hurt as bad." she whispered, pulling away from him. Carl gave her another nod. She smiled at him and stood up, shifting her attention over to a man emerging from the semi-truck.
Ella squinted her eyes at the man, her mind processing his face. He had dark brunette hair and blue eyes while wearing a sheriff uniform. The man looked very oddly familiar and she knew who it was immediately, but she couldn't believe it at all because he was dead, she watched the city he was within blow up.
The sheriff halted dead in his tracks, emotion swirling in them, glancing between Lori, Carl, Shane, and Ella. He pressed his hand to his mouth in shock and happiness.
Carl noticed her face, slowly looking over to him. His eyes widened as he took in the ghost of his father, happiness surging within him.
"Dad!" Carl screamed, bolting towards Rick. "Dad!"
Rick fell to his knees, taking Carl into his arms, tears falling down his face as he laughed, clearly happy.
Ella glanced over to a purely shocked Lori who didn't know how to react or what to do. Rick looked up and found Lori's eyes. He picked Carl up and trudged over to Lori. Ella took a few steps back as Lori opened her arms and embraced her husband.
Rick Grimes was a dead man walking.
____________________________
"DISORIENTED," RICK WHISPERED. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented, fear, confusion. . . all those things, but disoriented come closest."
Ella tucked in her knees, leaning her back against a wooden log, trying to warm up. During the day it was always warm, but during the night it was always freezing cold.
"Words can be meagre things. Sometimes they fall short." he spoke up.
Rick nodded in agreement. "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For awhile, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." he told everyone.
Carl looked up at his mother momentarily. "Mom said you died." he mumbled to his father.
Ella stared at the fire. Her father told him the same, and it's what she thought herself until now because somehow he had risen from the dead and found his family.
"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick told his son, his eyes flickering between Carl and Lori.
Lori guiltily made eye contact with her husband. "When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital they were gonna take you and the other patients to Atlanta," she sighed. "But that never happened."
"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."
"Yeah."
Ella silently watched the embers dance around in the smoke and inside the small firepit, heating up the wood and causing it to burn.
"And from the looks of the hospital, it got overrun." Rick sighed.
"Yeah, looks don't deceive," Shane spoke up from beside Ella. "I barely got them out, you know?"
Rick turned his attention to his childhood best friend. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."
Shane gave him a weak smile as Rick looked away. Ella threw a small wooden branch into the fire. She pushed herself off the ground, dusting the dirt off.
"I'm going to bed."
"Good night El." Shane smiled at her.
"Good night." everyone else told her.
She gave them a weak, tired smile. "Yeah, good night."