THE ATMOSPHERE OF the group evolved to intensively alarmed as the members of the group that were frantic to survive were struggling for ideas. Though nobody had a sure answer, they certainly weren't about to give up on the notion of freedom. They had fought far too long, far too hard just for it all to be taken away by a fantasising doctor.
Dale kneeled next to the two blonde women and joined them in their quest to allow the building to burn and incinerate them all. His preparedness to die alongside the women had been the epitome of a kindness. Dale was simply the embodiment of all good.
"So, what's the plan?" the elder man inquired, smiling at the girls sympathetically.
"I'm not going back out there — it's a death trap for my little girl," Ellie whispered, shaking her head. Tears began to shape in her eyes as she glimpsed down at her lap, "I don't want to subject her to the horrors that exist outside these walls... Jenner's right."
"So, you're just okay with her being killed?" Dale challenged, his tone had an underlying bitterness directed at the woman.
Ellie gasped at his bold question, her eyebrows furrowing from such a statement. She viciously gritted in response, "Of course I'm not okay with that, but what choice do we have, really?"
Dale then sighed, flashing Ellie a sympathetic smile, "Then I guess I won't be leaving either."
"You can't put that pressure on me," Ellie breathed out, her wide eyes swirling to face Andrea, whose widened eyes held nothing but guilt.
"I don't want to lose you, I've grown to care about you over this short period... You, too, Andrea. I won't leave without either of you," Dale declared openly with a smile, nodding at the two ladies.
Ellie felt the sorrow creep up her backbone, causing goosebumps to soar on her pale skin. She shook her head, and groaned as she realised that she couldn't have people's blood on her hands, — it wasn't right for them to relinquish their existences because she had given up hope.
"We don't want this," Rick growled to Jenner, arguing back as ferociously as he could, not once backing down.
"You do want this. You said — you knew it was just a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead," Jenner recited nonchalantly to Rick, confused at his sudden change of heart.
"You said that?" Lori questioned, her voice strenuous as she observed her husband's pale face. Entirely appalled by such a statement.
"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"
"There is no hope — there never was!" Jenner asserted firmly, shaking his head at the naiveté of the group.
"Hope can only exist when there's even a chance we will survive," Ellie whispered, glancing down at her hands that were trembling as she felt the sorrow begin to fill the inside of her torn heart.
Rick froze in his stance, and stared down at the blonde as she allowed gentle tears to trail down her cheeks. He shook his head and sighed, "Luke is out there, Ellie. My old friend; your brother!"
"What part of everything's gone do you not understand?" Andrea cried as her nostrils flared, connecting her glistening eyes with Rick's.
"Listen to your friends... they get it," Jenner declared slowly, his tone almost slurred from the drunkenness of hopelessness.
An overwhelming silence fell over the group as the clock counted down above them — a memento mori for the inevitable. Carol finally disrupted the silence by booming, "This isn't right! You can't just keep us here."
"A tiny moment; a millisecond of no pain," Jenner announced softly to Carol, chancing to coerce her into believing his fantasised death was the right thing to do.
"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this! And neither does yours, Ellie! I can't believe you'd want to stay here! It's cruel," Carol screamed at Ellie, shaking her head in disappointment as the thought of harming Coda troubled her mind.
Ellie scowled and her and shook her head, "Would you rather face the walkers outside instead of eternal bliss and peace? It's not even a painful death!"
Carol sneered at Ellie as she snapped her aching eyes shut and sat far away from the group in the quiescent by her lonesome. Heavy footsteps could be heard from above her, but her fatigued body could not muster the energy to glance up, although she guessed it would have been someone chancing to convince her not to stay. She knew it had to be Daryl Dixon.
"How could you want to stay here?" Daryl whispered to her, revealing himself as the stranger as be approached her with nothing but anger trailing after him.
Ellie leaned her head back against the wall she had sat against, feeling the cold hit the back of her neck as she weakly muttered, "When falsehood can look so like truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?"
"Uh..." Daryl muttered awkwardly, feeling his cheeks spark with a red tinge of humiliation at his lack of understanding. Quoting Frankenstein had been entirely ironic to Ellie, for even the novel had been far more inclusive with an undertone of hope. He cleared his throat, and gently trailed the softness of his thumb against Ellie's hand, "I think I get it. But, wouldn't you wanna fight to get to happiness, or whatever?"
"Why should we have to fight?" Ellie weakly whimpered, her eyes suddenly shifting to Coda in Lori's arms, though she had been sobbing.
Daryl sighed and sunk down next to her, "Don't you want us all to be together?" he cleared his throat once again, and ran his hand through his hair, "As a group — I mean."
Ellie chuckled sadly at his awkwardness and leaned her head against his shoulders, relieving the pain in her neck as she softly replied, "Don't you think it's cruel to send our daughter back out into the graveyard of the wasteland? It's nothing, Daryl. We're dying."
"We're not dyin'," Daryl asserted, taking a peek up at Jenner as he sat in silence, surrounded by grieving individuals he barely knew.
"You can't promise—"
Daryl gripped tightly onto her chin with his index finger and thumb, and hissed, "You're not dyin'. I—"
he awkwardly dropped her chin, and averted his gaze as his cheeks flushed, "I just got you."
Ellie peered deeply into Daryl's ocean eyes as she frantically searched for the slightest bit of evidence to prove to her that he was right. She desperately wanted to believe Daryl and his promises, but a part of her remained sceptical after their previous altercation. Sweetly, she slowly raised his hand to her softened lips, and planted the tiniest kiss on his toughened skin.
"You've still got me," she whispered once she withdrew from his hand, although she had hoped her words remained inaudible, but whenever she spoke, Daryl always listened.
Daryl's breath hitched in his throat, suddenly overwhelmed with his ability to have coerced her to remain alive. He cleared his throat awkwardly before muttering, "Uh, really? That easy, huh?"
Ellie's lips curved into a sarcastic smirk, ensuring their foreheads connected as she loosely dangled her finger over his nose. She pressed her finger to his nose playfully, before whispering, "I'm scared."
"I'm scared, too," the redneck whispered back, averting his gaze as he felt embarrassed from his revelation. He curled his finger around Ellie's and tugged gently, "Be scared with us."
As Ellie's peach lips curled into a smile, Daryl bowed his head down in relief and leaned it against hers. He didn't need to respond to her for her to know he was truly grateful for giving living a second chance, and then stood back on his feet to continue the fight. He held his hand out to Ellie, and she instantly took it. Connected forever.
The two walked back over to the group hand in hand and stared at the scene in front of them; Shane was aiming his shotgun directly at Jenner's face, "You open that door or I'll blow your brains out, you hear me?"
"Shane, brother. This is not the way you do this," Rick explained calmly as he held his hand out to Shane to calm the enraged man down.
Unable to direct his internal enragement, Shane opted for yelling out his hoarse voice, allowing moments to roll by until he violently shot at the computers encircling the group instead. Rick immediately stole the gun from his grip and knocked Shane to the ground, halting him in his brutish behaviour.
Shane would be sending them backwards rather than forwards — directing them to the gates of the Underworld than the gates of Olympus. Ellie glared at Rick and curled her hands into fists by her side, unable to fathom his sudden disapproval of Shane's desire to leave.
"Are you done?" Rick called out to Shane, despite the man's struggled cries, pleading with his old friend to cease his grip.
"Rick, get off him!" Ellie shrieked involuntarily, feeling her body convulse as it linger into Rick's side. She toppled him off his partner, feeling him flip Ellie onto her back with his perfected skills. His lips tightened into a proud smirk, instantly prompting Ellie to shove at his shoulder, knocking him into his back as her legs straddled over his torso.
"Hey!" Rick panted, patting at the ground like a makeshift boxing match that he was tapping out of.
"Are you done?" Ellie recited his previous words, mirroring the proud smirk on his lips as she pinned him down by the strength of her thighs, "Rick, are we done?"
Rick grinned slightly as he concealed his face from the group, and couldn't help but feel the pride soar within him at the thought of Ellie truly unlocking her abilities. He knew she had a strength within her, and it was all a matter of what drove her enough to unlock its potential. His head nodded slowly, though his eyes had been twinkling with excitement at their brief encounter. Ellie was a warrior, slowly waiting to blossom into the best she could be — metamorphosis in the waiting. Rick could simply not wait.
Ellie released the officer, and held her hand out to help him to his feet, which he graciously accepted. She glanced him down sadly, her eyes forming with tears, and he sighed, observing the fear that drowned out the hope she once pertained.
"I think you're lying about this — about the computers. Others left, too. They chose the easy way out and you chose the hard way. They left and you stayed. Why?" Rick asked forcefully as he pushed forward and halted in front of Jenner once again, only with Ellie at his side that time.
"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her. My wife," the doctor's hoarse voice stated, suddenly connecting his eyes with Ellie's as their previous encounter had revealed his wife to be the subject.
Ellie sheepishly glanced up at the rest of the group, and gestured towards the pain in Jenner's eyes, "TS-19 was his wife."
Acknowledging Ellie's comment, the doctor nodded politely at her and then continued to clarify the tale of his wife, the way he spoke about her was full of admiration and compassion; compassion which Ellie could relate to, and radiated in the love that she had for her daughter. She shook her head at her own absurdity, and grabbed a hold of her daughter, clinging onto her as hard as she could. With her eyes swimming with desperation, she clung gently onto Jenner's arm with her spare hand, allowing a saddened smile to plaster at her lips.
"Sometimes, we need the courage to live, and not die," Ellie stated softly, ensuring Jenner's eyes had met hers to view her sincerity. Jenner's entire body relaxed at her comment, though remained entirely silent. She was completely right.
"Ellie — what?" Andrea weakly questioned, quickly standing to her feet to halt ahead of the blonde woman in unrest.
Ellie swallowed hard as she battled against the thick layer of regret in her throat, and managed to squeak out, "We all survive in different ways. Living is the hardest of all, but we have to give it a chance."
"We want a choice, a chance, to live while we still can," Rick reiterated, placing his hand on Ellie's shoulder approvingly as his eyes met Jenner's, though they remained vacant.
Ellie broadcasted a deep sigh and rubbed her hand over her daughter's head, quietly announcing, "I have to live for my daughter — she deserves a chance, whether it's a risk or not. My brother and sister are both still out there, we have to keep searching and not be afraid to live."
"Oh, yeah, your brother. It took you two whole seconds to replace him with some other guy, Shane, Rick — anybody, as soon as things got scary! Don't be a little girl!" Andrea snapped viciously, entirely outraged by Ellie's change of heart to leave the CDC, despite its glorious release of death.
Ellie clenched her jaw tight, and peered over at Rick, whose eyes held sympathy at Andrea's comment, "You know damn well I searched for him! I thought we were going to the city, but here we are, in a death chamber!" Ellie placed her daughter down and shifted towards the woman, her dark eyes twinkling with rage as she hissed, "What if I brought Amy into this?"
"You wouldn't," Andrea gulped, her tearful eyes widened to the fullest at Ellie's sudden comment of atrocity.
"No, I can't because she's dead, there's a difference," Ellie hissed, feeling the nastiness rise in the back of her throat like bile, "People died long before this, and people will continue to die. My daughter doesn't deserve to lose her life just because your sister died!" Ellie stumbled backwards slightly as she realised how harsh her words had been to match Andrea's nastiness, "Andrea, I'm so sorry—"
Andrea halted for several moments, hot, streaming tears dripping down her hollow cheeks until she staggered forward. Her silence had been entirely unnerving, followed by her dark eyes, until she instantly yanked Ellie into the tightest embrace that could muster, clasping onto the back of her shirt tightly. The two stood remained woven in their tearful embrace, merely appreciating each other's existence through an emboldening silence; thanking each other for being there, but not through words. Words were far too meagre for such an expression; unable to fathom how grateful they were for one another's presence.
"You are so strong, Andrea," Ellie whispered to her friend, and rubbed her back soothingly, "We have to fight this for people like your sister and mine — the ones we've lost on the way."
Ellie glanced up at Jenner, and his eyes filled to the brim with regret. His hands began to fumble with his keycard and keypad on the desk ahead of him, and the doors suddenly opened slowly, "This is all I can do, I can't open the main doors, I'm sorry."
"Jenner, we're grateful," Ellie choked out, her head shaking with sincerity.
Jenner could only pause, his eyes glazing over with the painful knowledge of the unforeseen, "The day will come when you won't be..."
Ellie pulled away from her friend and cupped her face in her hands, "You can't stay here. We both need to get out of here and live for the ones that don't get to anymore. Your sister would want you to fight."
"You're right," Andrea laughed through tears, though her voice faltered to a mere squeak, "but, she's gone, so she doesn't get to tell me what to do anymore."
From the corner of her eye, Ellie sighted Jacqui sinking defeatedly beside Jenner, the two of them mirroring a preparedness to die together, rather than combat what was awaiting them on the outside. Though her eagerness to live had climbed up the mountain of her spine to sit on her heart, she could not help but wish a part of her could stay with them. Jacque shot Ellie a tiny nod and a smile, to which Ellie mirrored; although Ellie's eyes were pooling with uncontrollable tears.
This had been a woman whose kindness had never ceased to stun Ellie, her wild ability to calm the children in the chaos, her unique personality. She was going to be sorely missed.
From behind her, Ellie heard audible footsteps approaching her, and the gentle breeze of somebody stopping abruptly next to her. The hairs raised on the back of her neck as she heard Jenner lean in and whisper, "We're all infected. No matter how you die, — you come back."
Ellie could feel the blood rush to her head as everything around her commenced to whirl. She felt her mouth lock up from the lack of words that she could use to protest against Jenner's statement; when words had been butterflies evading a net.
Without warning, she felt her body being picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder, her chest and stomach colliding with their strong shoulder and back, "Dude, put me down!"
"Sorry, El. Daryl and Rick's orders. Just in case you stayed. We need you, El," Shane murmured meaningfully, which caused Ellie to tilt her head in confusion against his shoulder.
Bobbing against Shane's broad shoulder, Ellie groaned repeatedly until she felt his body slowly positioning her back on the ground like a child once they had reached the main doors. Shane shot her a brief smile before approaching his partner, leaving Daryl to instantly grab at her arm, yanking her into his chest as he and Coda greeted her with sighs of relief.
"Don't tell me you were goin' to stay again," Daryl mumbled, his gaze averted entirely to the ground beneath him.
As Ellie ran her thin fingers through the knotted strands of Coda's hair adoringly, she allowed the softness of her voice to hoarsely declare, "We're together, it's okay," she slowly turned her head to connect her eyes with Daryl's, ensuring he had been looking as she whispered, "Together."
"Why are you crying, Mommy?" Coda questioned as she began to run her own hands through her mother's hair, copying her mother.
"I'm not, I promise," she nuzzled her nose against her daughter's, causing Coda to giggle, "We're good, we're a family."
Coda swivelled to Daryl and shook her head, her intensely adorable face crumpling into a frown as she asserted, "Not if you're going to be mean to my mom. Nobody is mean to my mommy."
Daryl smirked at her, and nodded slowly, ensuring his voice had been soft as he chuckled, "I won't be mean to your mommy. She's the one who's mean to me."
Coda grinned at him, giggling quietly as she pulled him closer, "Do you want me to call you Dad?"
Daryl gulped and shrugged his shoulders, his cheeks suddenly flushing a deep crimson shade from embarrassment, "Uh, I don't know, kid. You can call me Daryl, o–or Dad. I–I like both."
Coda sighed playfully, and turned back to Ellie with a playful grin on her lips, "He's weird. I like that." All Daryl could do, was plant a playful kiss on the softness of her forehead.
Coda smiled back at him and nuzzled her head into his neck, and the two remained smiling for a few moments before they were brought back to reality by the commotion behind them, with Rick booming "Thirty seconds guys!"
No amount of destruction that the men tried against the glass window made a single dent. Their shovels; bullets; chairs; nothing worked to get the window open so that they could escape. An indestructible, fortified building would be enough to wash away all fortitude like a thick river of blood. Inevitable blood.
"Rick, I think I have something that may help!" Carol shrieked suddenly, ravenously delving into her bag as she searched for something to aid them in their battle.
"I don't think a nail file is gonna do it," Shane mumble sarcastically, prompting Ellie to laugh softly, along with Daryl smirking in approval.
"I found it in your pocket the first night you were with us..." the woman shakily declared, suddenly outstretching her hand to reveal a hand grenade, pristine and well preserved.
"Get it done! Now!"
Rick's contemplative eyes widened with an idea, leaving Ellie to quickly observe as Rick yanked the pin out of the grenade, and launched it at the doors. They scurried rapidly out of the way, tense, dripping sweat of the unknown and terror of fleeing into harm's way, though, ensuring they had been safe as within mere moments, the doors had entirely rocketed, blasting a hole to freedom.
Daryl did not hesitate to quickly pass Coda into Ellie's arms, proceeding to lift his crossbow protectively into the air as his spare arm held intensely onto the thin fabric of Ellie's shirt to ensure that she was nearby. The speedy group huddled back to their vehicles while Rick counted heads to ensure that everybody had made it safely, bar the members that decided to stay behind.
In the back of Ellie's rattletrap car, Daryl pushed the three of them into the back sat, the two of them breathing heavily as they attempted to catch their breath from running. Heavy pants encircled the small vehicle as Ellie shakily held her hand over Coda's head, shielding her ears from the inevitable shattering of the facility behind them. It had been Daryl's turn.
He slowly trailed his finger to Ellie's jawbone, cupping it gently as they stared into one another's eyes longingly, feeling the adrenaline slowly take over their body. As though movement were to instantly kill them, they stayed entirely still as they waited for the building to tumble down. A sudden surge of rippled vibrations encircled them suddenly, pushing hard against the rusting metal of the car. Then, heat.
Just heat.
[ edited ✓]