CODA HAD ALWAYS been a curious child, ever since she had learned to talk. She was inquisitive enough to push boundaries, and since the very day learned to talk, she always had a topic at hand. She had been renowned in her school and her family for her endless flow of queries, but it simply proved to Ellie how gifted she indeed was. A precocious child — Coda had always been emotionally intelligent beyond her years, and Ellie attributed it to her intelligence. The two were a mirror image of one another.
After Lori's tragic demise, Coda found herself concealed deep in a vast void of questions, powerless to express the questions that plagued her soul. She remained silent, refusing to speak to anyone other than Bradley, leaving both Daryl and Ellie astonished by her behaviour. It didn't take long for Ellie to piece the mystery together, applying her substantial psychological background to the matter at hand. Her daughter had been suffering from trauma, and she didn't even know it.
Ellie had pledged to herself on that crisp morning, to protect her daughter eternally, regardless of the cost. Herself and Glenn had been active scheduling a small run to grab more weapons to arm the prison, leaving Ellie to pack requisites and Glenn to map out the route. Coda sat patiently at her side, observing intently as Ellie packed the crucial rations into a duffel bag. Ellie raised her eyebrow at her daughter, smirking scarcely.
"You good?" Ellie queried, despite already knowing the explanation to her behaviour.
"I like watching," Coda stated, gesturing for Ellie to proceed packing the bags. She then clasped at a clump of ropes, and placed it in the bag, "I want to be like you one day, Mommy."
Ellie's eyes instantly softened as she peered down at her innocuous daughter. She simply couldn't help the grin that plastered on her face as she gazed down at her child with pride. To Ellie, it had been confirmation that she had made it, and Coda was going to be alright.
"You will be," Ellie replied, swallowing down the lump that formed in her throat. She bowed down, and tapped at Coda's nose, "You're going to be a strong, brave warrior, like your daddy."
Coda merely laughed in response, shaking her head, "But, I want to be like you. Because you're a princess and a warrior. I'd like to be both, if that's okay."
Ellie grinned once again, allowing the smile to stretch from ear to ear as she lifted her daughter's chin up to reveal her beautiful face, "You can be whatever you want to be, sweetie. You'll be the best princess-warrior Georgia has ever known."
Coda flashed a grateful smile, before she continued to aid her mother with the packing of the bags. She glanced over at Carl as he sat quietly by his lonesome, prodding the dusty floor with a long twig he'd discovered in the courtyard. His entire life had lost its meaning, he'd lost his mother and the person who had breathed life into him. He had nothing that was keeping him going, except for the small bundle in the crib next to him, who was sleeping peacefully. Ellie raised her eyebrow at the young boy, and held out a protein bar in his direction.
"You hungry, bud?" Ellie questioned as she held the bar in her palm. Carl simply shrugged, avoiding eye contact with the woman. "You've got to eat something. If I could I'd whip you up some tacos, but..."
"It's okay," he muttered, his eyes fixated on the ground, "I know you would."
Ellie couldn't help but feel the pain he had been radiating after his loss. She had lost her own parent, as had Daryl. The two recognised his grief all too well, but neither had an inkling on how to help. Ellie simply sighed, and allowed her mind to wander to a memory that had haunted her for the majority of her life.
YEARS AGO
"Did you really think I'd never see where you live?" Ellie chuckled, gently shoving Daryl Dixon as the two exchanged flirty glances, "I want to see your bedroom first."
Daryl cackled as he grabbed the eighteen year old by her waist, spinning her around rapidly as she squealed, "You ain't seein' shit."
The hot summer air encapsulated the duo like a thick blanket in the winter; comfortable enough to roam freely without a care in the world, but hot enough to remind them of the season. August had proved to be a hot month that year, leaving the residents of Georgia painfully enduring a heatwave. Once Daryl had placed her back on the ground, she simply wiped the sweat from his forehead away, and leaned up to pull the man into a passionate, innocent kiss.
Daryl hated public displays of affection, and despite his strong regard for Ellie, it left him too uncomfortable when she had sudden urges he didn't reciprocate. Awkwardly, he placed his hand on her waist as he melted into the kiss, although his eyes remained glancing around frantically for passerby's. Ellie groaned as she released his lips, observing his uncomfortable behaviour, and simply continued on their walk, striding ahead of him.
"Don't be like that," he muttered, trailing after the woman with a scowl planted on his face.
She simply sighed, and turned to face him as she walked backwards carefully, "You're afraid to be seen with me because you're so much older — blah, blah, blah. It's boring, baby. Get on with it."
Ellie flipped her blonde locks over her shoulder as she continued with her strut, leaving Daryl's cheeks flushed with a deep shade of red, and his lips curved gently into a slight smirk. Ellie kept him on his toes, despite him being the bad influence in the relationship. He needed a woman like her to keep him grounded.
A loud cacophony of sirens filled the darkening town as numerous ambulances and fire engines zoomed past, leaving dust to encircle the duo in their stance. Ellie froze in her spot and clutched onto Daryl as an influx of emergency services vehicles flooded the small town, and continued down to the private road leading to Daryl's cabin home, belonging to his mother and father.
Instantaneously, he gulped as he observed the fire engines encircle his small home, and without a moment's hesitation, darted directly for his home. Ellie followed hot on his heels as he speedily paced home, his eyes widening as they landed upon the smoke filling the air from above. Daryl zoomed past the several police offers hovering outside his house, only to be caught by a large officer, accompanied by a younger officer — Luke.
"Get the fuck off me, man!" Daryl cried as he attempted to tear himself from the officer's grip, to no avail.
"Luke!" Ellie cried out as she fearfully ran into her brother's welcoming arms. His eyes had been bloodshot as he stared down at his younger sister, "Luke?"
Luke's mouth hung open slightly as he contemplated his words. He then finally bit his lip, before whispering, "God... I'm sorry, Dixon. We tried..."
"What's goin' on?" Daryl roared, his face had reddened with rage as tears pooled at his gentle eyes.
Luke sighed, allowing his bottom lip to quiver slightly. His superior officer shot him a disapproving glare, causing Luke to immediately straighten up, and announce, "We tried everything we could to save her, but..." he allowed his voice to trail off as he gestured towards the flames, as they begun to fizzle out due to the water. "We didn't succeed."
Daryl's eyes immediately connected with Ellie's as she gulped, instantaneously rushing to his side as he collapsed to his knees. He understood the reality of the situation — his mother had lost her life. He knew more than anybody that it had to be her own fault, it couldn't have been anyone's except her own, especially since she had notoriously smoked and fallen asleep on several occasions. Daryl simply bowed his head down, and spotted a nearby empty packet of Virginia Slims, and instantly felt his eyes well with tears.
"Daryl," Ellie whispered as she dropped to her knees with him, but he merely ignored her voice. "let's go..."
"Go?" he hissed, his voice cracking from the tears that had been dropping down on his cheeks mercilessly, "How can I?"
Without a moment's reticence, he hoisted his body from the floor and yanked himself from the officer's brutal clutch, and burst into the house. Encircling officers yelled and shouted for him to return to safety, but Ellie simply hushed them as she whirled to face Luke and look with troubled, widened eyes.
"Let him," Ellie pleaded, binding her eyes with Luke's, and then trailing them over to his superior officer's. His eyes melted as the woman played on her looks, "Please, he needs this, sir."
The officer raised his eyebrow as she whirled a thread of golden hair in between her thumb and index finger seductively. He cleared his throat and nodded, "He gets five minutes. We need him down at the station for info."
Ellie smirked at the officers, before she fumed inside the house, and desperately scoured for where Daryl had gone. She hauled her inside every room, until finally, she had reached the remains of his mother's bedroom, encapsulated in the smoke as she shoved the crisp door open gradually. Amidst the charred, burnt mattress littered evenly with shimmering embers, had been his mother's burnt corpse — her broken body had been shrivelled from the heat, and Ellie could merely release a small whimper.
"I know," Daryl whispered as he stared down at her carcass, as her burnt had still clasped the cigarette in her hand. "Don't look."
Ellie immediately spun on her heels as she shielded her eyes, feeling the breath in her chest becoming increasingly harder to control. She unexpectedly felt Daryl's hands wrap around her midriff from behind, and his weeping face laid to rest in the golden locks that flowed beautifully down her back. He clutched as tightly as he could onto her shirt, almost ripping it from his grip that caused his knuckles to grow white. She stooped her head down as she twisted her hands over his, and whispered soothing words as she felt her back become saturated with his tears.
"There's nothin' left of her," he whispered through whimpers, shaking his head against her hair.
Ellie cleared her throat, allowing delicate tears to trail down her cheeks, "I can't believe this happened..."
Daryl sneered through slight pants, before he finally released Ellie, but spun her to face him, "Merle was supposed to be here."
Ellie rolled her eyes as she curled her fingers through Daryl's, and sealed the gap between them, whispering, "Merle has let you down too many times."
"Nah," Daryl hissed, before slowly wiping away the tears from his cheeks, and blinking away the remnants of the tears from his eyes, "it's this world. It's always let us down."
PRESENT DAY
Ellie blinked away the tears that dared to form in her eyes at the memory, and simply gulped down the lump that had constructed in her throat. From her right, the baby initiated to wail loudly as she became hungrier during the day, instantly captivating the occupants of the room — Carl, Ellie and Coda. The three hurried to her side, and the two children investigated as Ellie picked her up, and situated her comfortably in her arms. The baby clasped onto her shoulder as she wailed loudly, her toothless mouth hung wide open.
"Is she hungry?" Coda questioned, scanning around the room for a bottle of milk to hand to the child, to no avail.
Ellie hushed the sweet baby, cradling her back and forth until her loud sobs suddenly transformed into gentle suckling sounds, after placing her finger in her mouth softly. The baby clenched her eyes shut happily as her gummy mouth suckled generously against Ellie's finger. Ellie giggled slightly at the sensation, but whirled to encounter Carl and Coda as they halted in amazement. They leaned their heads in unison as they reached the peaceful baby, and released a puff of air, to demonstrate their confusion.
"She just wanted to chew or suck on something," Ellie clarified, motioning towards the baby's mouth, "She is hungry, but she's also growing. She's quite young yet but their gums are still sore from growth. They just like to bite."
Coda chuckled loudly as she peeked down at the baby, who had been suckling and nibbling at Ellie's index finger, "She hasn't got teeth to bite!"
Just as the two begun to chuckle together, the squeaky door from the tombs pushed open, revealing an exhausted-looking Rick. He halted in his tracks as his eyes docked on the baby as Ellie rocked her, and instantly felt a fizzle of electricity begin to spark in his contrarily corroded heart. Rick gulped, staggering slightly at the picture as Ellie smiled up at him.
Rick strode forward hesitantly, but instantly backtracked as he gulped. He hesitated as Ellie frowned, "My–my—"
Without speaking a single word, Ellie simply sauntered forward, and gently reached for his arm as he merely examined her actions. His body fell limp as she clenched at his arm, and pulled it towards the baby with as much softness as she could muster, and instantaneously his paternal impulses kicked in. A gentle smile toyed at the corners of his lips as he shakily took the baby from Ellie's arms, rubbing his thumb against the softness of her chubby cheeks. He lifted her up to his view, his sparkling eyes glazing over with tears of joy at the sight of the bundle. The baby was a replica of Lori, and it pained him to see her face too much to speak another word.
"She's your baby, and she's already incredible," Ellie announced quietly, and ran her finger down the baby's nose, causing her to smile slightly, which immediately melted Rick's heart. "She eats a lot and sleeps a lot, it's beautiful."
"Oh, my God," he whispered, and brought her head to meet his lips, and planted the softest of kisses on her head. He glanced over at the window, and sighed, "She needs some fresh air, I think."
Ellie smiled in acknowledgment and held her hand out to Coda as Rick led them into the luminous sunshine in the courtyard. Carl and Coda immediately skipped off concurrently as they proceeded to play with the twigs Carl had collected while tending to the grassland. Coda screeched cheerfully as she comprehended what a warrior-princess was to her, and Ellie and Rick instantly grinned at their crazy imaginations.
"Thank you," Rick whispered to Ellie as he curled his hand around hers, intertwining their fingers loosely.
Ellie furrowed her brows, but flashed a smile of confusion, "What for?"
"You've been looking after her while I've..." his voice trailed off as he glanced down at his son through squinted eyes, and sighed. "I haven't been good enough."
Ellie immediately frowned, and gripped at Rick's face with her hands, "You're grieving. You can't forget what I had to do in those tombs."
Rick merely clenched his eyes shut as he appeared to find it difficult to muster words. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, and mustered a whisper of, "I can't forget. She's everywhere, Ellie."
Ellie's bottom lip trembled slightly as she battled against the tears in her eyes, but simply blinked them away, "She kept begging me. I told her I couldn't and she told me I had to do it for you. So, I did it. For you."
"I know you did," he replied, a soft smile toying at his lips as he peered down at his baby once again. He then glanced up at the blonde, "You doing okay?"
"I'm okay," she replied, nodding assertively as she folded her arms across her chest. She realised Rick hadn't witnessed her breakdown, and sheepishly scuffed her feet on the ground, "I lost it a bit."
Rick sighed, biting his bottom lip as he knew deep town he, too, had been 'losing it' but simply remained silent on his endeavours. He nodded, "You're okay now?"
Ellie merely shrugged in response, "I'm going on an ammo run with Maggie and Glenn. Let's pray they don't leave me with walkers again..."
"They won't," Rick replied, although his tone had been soft enough to indicate to Ellie that he wasn't certain.
Off in the distance, Ellie spotted Maggie and Glenn as they leaned against the red car they would utilise for the run, holding one another romantically. Glenn kissed Maggie passionately, causing Ellie to immediately gulp. She turned to face Rick with certain fear enclasped in her eyes, and he instantly recognised the fear.
She was afraid to be left behind again.
>>>
"This is it," Ellie announced as she parked the dusty, red truck up along the abandoned cars at the shopping complex. The drive had been long and irritating, particularly due to the couple's desire to be joined at the hip. "We'll take it slow."
Maggie simply walked casually around the area as she panted through the heat of the Georgia sun, and announced, "Clear." Maggie pauses ahead of Glenn, allowing a beautiful smile to form in her lips, "It'a a beautiful day."
Ellie delved into the back seat of the red truck, and pulled out a rusting pair of red pliers from the duffel bag she had prepared previously. Glancing over her shoulder, Ellie scoffed as she observed Glenn pulling Maggie into a delicate kiss. She immediately rose to her feet, and shoved past the couple, knocking them slightly as she approached the door. The two exchanged glances of confusion, before they waited for her to cut the chains from the door in silence.
Once the tips of her feet had been a perfect six inches away from the door, Ellie tore it open, only to duck fearfully when several pigeons flew out of the door in a huddle. Maggie whimpered slightly, but was shielded by Glenn as they crumpled over in fear. Once the birds had gone, Ellie proceeded through the door cautiously, a flashlight in hand, and her gun raised high as she entered. From behind her, Maggie called out to Glenn about a toy duck to grab for the baby back at home, but Ellie remained silent in the petulant encounter. She had no desire for slacking off.
"Guys," she whispered, bowing her head down as she felt the pain rise in her chest, "I'm not fucking around here. You can't do this to me again."
"We won't," Glenn asserted, placing his hand on Ellie's arm in reassurance. He proceeded through the shop, observing different shelves as he delved through the products, and muttered, "We just hit the powder formula jackpot."
Ellie scrambled through her own supplies on the ground, but halted as she realised she'd already filled it to the brim, after idly placing items upon items inside, and stood to face Glenn with his full shopping basket held out straight. She had wanted to get the job done and to head directly back to the prison, but as usual, the duo always had other plans.
Ellie released a sigh of relief, and nodded, "Thank God!" she observed Maggie held her hands out awaiting her basket as she protected the door, "Also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, many mustards. It's a straight shot back to the prison from here. We'll make it in time for dinner."
Ellie dropped her knife inside the store as she gripped at the basket to shoved it on the ground, and paused before Maggie with a smile on her face. It had been an entirely false smile, in effort to keep Maggie pleased enough to remain silent. Ellie hated small talk, and there was nothing she'd rather do than go directly home to the prison; home to her daughter and to be as far away from danger as possible. After placing the basket on the ground, Ellie double checked the perimeter for nearby walkers, and patted her body down in search for her knife.
It was missing. With her eyebrows raised Ellie rushed back inside the store, slamming the door shut behind her. Stealthily, she lunged towards her knife, only until her entire body crumpled to the ground as a searing, agonising burn roared up her right leg. She released a piercing sob as she glanced down at her leg, that had been stuck in a bear trap, tactfully placed underneath cardboard boxes littered on the ground.
"Fuck!" she wailed, shaking her head as she shakily gripped at her leg, only her sobs had been muffled by the closed door.
Through pants of agony, Ellie gripped at her knife, and proceeded to drag her body across the ground of the store, releasing gentle screams as she did so. She approached the door, and gently tugged it open, whimpering loudly as tears clouded her view of the outside. The roaring Georgia sun glistened against the tears laced in her eyelashes, leaving her blinded to her surroundings.
"I like the quiet," Maggie explained from the outside, unaware of Ellie as as she took the supplies from the ground, and packed them into the car. "Back there and back home, you can hear them all day."
Ellie's blood ran cold as from the outside, she could hear a raspy voice boom, "And where is it y'all good people call home?"
Merle Dixon.
Ellie felt the blood surge to her skull as the familiarity of the voice stunned her body entirely with terror. She fell backwards, prompting a slight bang to reverberate through the store, and instantly scurried backwards to sneak further behind the counters of the store, only to release a minor yelp of distress as she felt her right leg tighten inside the contraption. Through teary eyes she peeked down at her leg, that had been seeping profusely with blood, she examined the bear trap it had been entrapped in. Ellie proceeded to bury her face in her palms as the pain swam through her leg, leaving her powerless to see from the pain.
The store landlords had positioned numerous traps throughout the store, hidden primarily underneath heaps of cardboard littered on the ground. She remained mute through her suffering as she strived to proceed to eavesdrop intently to the voice as it continued.
"Merle?" Glenn croakily polled as he and Maggie raised their guns up in unison, aiming them at a bleeding Merle.
Ellie released a weak wail as she shifted her leg slightly, and endeavoured to stand to her feet, only to be paralysed from agony as she dropped to the ground. She glimpsed down at her shivering hands as she tried to haul herself up from the ground once again, only to plummet from her unbearable wound in her leg.
Merle released a sarcastic laugh as he lifted his arms in the air in concession, and gradually positioned his gun on the ground, "Wow."
Merle sauntered forth barely, resulting in Maggie to clasp her gun up higher as she mandated, "Hey, back the hell up!"
Ellie winced at the encounter and shortly endeavoured to heave herself up once again, and successfully managed to haul herself up, clasping tightly onto a counter as she trudged her trapped leg along gently, but hesitated as the encounter became even more hectic outside.
"Oh, okay, okay, honey! Jesus!" Merle moaned, holding his hands up in surrender as he gazed in awe at Glenn's face.
Glenn hesitated to speak as he held his gun aimed at Merle, but simply mumbled, "You made it."
"Can you tell me? Is my brother alive?" Merle inquired, his voice lowering lower to depict his integrity to Glenn. "Huh?"
Ellie instantly froze in her stance, her mind roaming straight to Daryl, who had been back at the prison with their daughter. Merle was family, and he'd recognise every inch of Ellie in a heartbeat, even her voice. In order to stifle her sobs, Ellie hoisted her shirt to wrap her mouth, and rolled it up inside, and bit down with as much resilience as she could comfortably summon.
"Yeah," Glenn simply declared, staring at Merle's severe facial injury.
Merle released a sigh of relief as Glenn announced his news, leaving Merle to lower his hands from his surrendering position gradually. He glimpsed over at Maggie, before confronting Glenn and awkwardly muttering, "You — you take me to him, and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings. Huh?"
Glenn remained silent as he glanced between Merle and his arm, where had cut off his hand, chancing to devise a reasonable enough response to his petition. However fast Glenn had expected to be, Merle had invariably been one step ahead, and instantly twisted his lips to construct a wide grin, and nodded in understanding.
Merle released a wry laugh, disrupting Ellie from her dizziness, "Ah, you like that? Ah, yeah. Well, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, huh?"
Glenn gulped once again, ignoring Merle's statement, and endeavoured to search for Ellie through his peripheral vision, "We'll tell Daryl you're here, and he'll come out to meet you."
"Wow, hold on. Just — hold up," Merle chanced to reason with Glenn, and attempted to approach him, until Glenn held his hand up.
"Whoa, whoa," Glenn warned, his hand functioning as a boundary between the two in their standoff.
"Hold up, hold up, here!" Merle snorted, his anxiety of relinquishing his brother steering his judgment, "Hey, the fact that we found each other is a miracle. Come on, now. You can trust me."
Glenn hesitated, internally bitter at Merle's unfortunate attempt to gain their trust. He gritted his teeth, before hissing, "You trust us. You stay here."
Merle gritted his own teeth in bitter dissatisfaction as he glimpsed between the two, formulating his strategy to locate his brother, no matter the expense. He released a wry laugh, before he yanked out a gun from his pocket, and screamed out as he shot the glass out from the back of the truck, causing both Glenn and Maggie to dive out of his way. Glenn jogged around the side of the truck, only to uncover Merle had Maggie in a headlock, his gun aimed directly through her cheek as she shuddered in his arms.
From inside the store, Ellie endeavoured to lunge forward, only to be stopped upon discovering an African-American woman crouching nearby, whose eyes bore into her mercilessly. Her katana had been raised in Ellie's direction, with her cryptic index finger held up to her lips, and shook her head at Ellie, evidently understanding her desire to liberate her friends. Ellie's bottom lip trembled as she glanced down at her bleeding leg, and simply held back, clinging onto the doorway as she peered out.
"Hold up, buddy, hold up," Merle attempted to calm Glenn down as his behaviour became increasingly erratic, to no avail.
"Let go of her! Let go of her!" Glenn urged through a shout, aiming his gun directly at Merle's skull as he held onto Maggie.
Merle motioned towards the red truck, dismissing Glenn's pleas, and decreed, "Put that gun in the car right now. Put it in the car, son. There you go. Now, were gonna go for a little drive."
"You're not going back to our camp," Glenn asserted in dissatisfaction as he tossed his gun into the back of the truck, deeming him defenceless.
"No," Merle puffed as he kept the gun aimed at Maggie, "we're going somewhere else. Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving! Move!"
Fearfully and reluctantly, Glenn assisted Merle inside the truck as he kept his gun aiming directly at the woman he idolised, and started up the car hesitantly. Resentment scorched through his veins as the car started and he drove out of the store complex, leaving Ellie behind, as he had pledged not to do. Once the car had been out of earshot and eyeshot, Ellie instantly slumped to the ground, and broadcasted a deafening scream as she shakily peeked down at her injured leg.
"Get in here!" Ellie demanded through a scream to the mysterious woman, and shortly heard unequal footsteps approaching her as she crumpled her face up in agony. "We can talk about all that other shit later. Please, help my leg."
Once Ellie had reopened her eyes, she glimpsed up at the woman, whose dark eyes held a foreign scepticism. Ellie bowed her head and tracked her eyes down to the woman's leg, as it had also been maimed. She whined as she understood they had been left without an automobile, and just propped herself up on her elbows.
"Look," she started, exhaling gently to stabilise her discomfort, "I know we don't know each other, but I've got two babies to get back to. Please, help me."
The woman stood still in her silence, enabling room for only the breeze through the trees filling their ears. Slowly, she managed to crouch down onto her knees, averting the pain in her own leg. She wriggled with the bear trap for a few moments, before she fearfully stared down at Ellie with remorseful eyes. Before Ellie could challenge her expression, she instantly felt the simmering pain of the burn coming from the bear trap as the woman chanced to yank it from her leg.
"Stop!" Ellie sobbed as she clasped at her bleeding leg, "There has to be another way."
The woman nodded, gasping heavily as she peered around the store. She thrust forward to snatch at Ellie's knife on the ground, and peeked down at the flowery handle. It was the perfect distraction. Before Ellie could challenge her motive, she had utilised her fist to punch at Ellie, knocking her out cold, allowing her to fall into a dark abyss.
>>>
"What the hell happened to her?" Rick shrieked as he hauled Ellie's body inside the prison, his eyes lingering over the bear trap fastened to Ellie's right leg. He had no care for the stranger's feelings, and internally gritted his teeth as he progressed to scrutinise the woman as Shane thrust her inside the prison.
"You best tell us now, or so help me God!" Shane terrorised the stranger, holding up his shotgun at the woman's head. "How did you find us?"
"The supplies were dropped by an Asian and a pretty girl," the woman clarified to Rick. Despite the circumstances, the woman had single-handedly found an operating vehicle and had delivered Ellie alive, back to the prison, "They were taken."
Shane shook his head and gritted his teeth, bitterly, "By who?"
"By the same son of a bitch that shot me," she snarled evilly, venom oozing out of her words like the wound from a bite from a snake.
"These are our people; you tell us where they are," Rick spat at her, his hand twisting around her wounded leg as he applied pressure to it.
In an abrupt defensive action, she winced away from Rick's touch, a look of hatred inscribed on her face as her eyes flashed between Shane and Rick. Postponing the passionate standoff, Daryl swung through the door from cellblock C; his crossbow instantly aimed upon hearing from Beth of Ellie's predicament down in the dining hall. The tip of his crossbow leaned gently against the woman's forehead, within moments she could be deceased, as his finger curved tighter around the trigger, although not ultimately pulling it.
"You best give us some answers!" Daryl roared, trailing his eyes between Ellie on the ground, and the woman.
"Don't you ever touch me again," she spat at Rick, her chest rising and falling rapidly out of fear as she scurried away from his grip.
"Where were they taken to?" Shane gritted as he cocked his gun, aiming it at the woman's neck.
"This town called Woodbury, seventy-five survivors. It's run by a man that goes by the name of the Governor. Pretty boy, charming. Jim Jones type," she clarified, her descriptions were brief and vague like she dreaded even uttering such things.
"They got muscle?" Daryl inquired, taking an interest as he eased his crossbow from aiming at the lady.
"Military wannabes. They got armed people on every wall," she mumbled, almost sneering at them indirectly.
Shane lifted his head in acknowledgement, "So they're prepared. They don't want people being on their turf."
As Rick stood to his feet, he looked down at the stranger with a glint of curiosity in his sparkling eyes, "You know a way in?"
"We could slip our way through," she nodded at him, scanning her eyes between all of the group ahead of her, stunned by their cleanliness.
Eventually, Daryl took a step forth and eyed the woman up, noting how dishevelled she appeared to be, "How'd you find us, anyway?"
She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, her eyes wandering off down the cell block, "They mentioned a prison."
From the ground, Ellie commenced stirring awake, causing Daryl to scramble to her side as she fluttered her sapphire eyes open. Once her body had salvaged consciousness, she instantly broadcasted a loud sob as she chanced to clasp at her leg, causing both Rick and Daryl to silence her. Hot tears streamed down her face as she puffed through the distress, and glanced around fearfully as she endeavoured to gather her surroundings. Upon noticing Daryl, her eyes immediately broadened as she jerked him into a tight embrace, gripping him as near as she could.
"I-I..." Ellie's voice trailed off as she pertained her teary eyes with Daryl's, shaking her head out of remorse, only to be met with a troubled frown from Daryl.
"What?" both Daryl and Rick challenged in unison as she peeked back up at the woman, whose dark eyes met hers.
Ellie exhaled gradually as she strived to stabilise her breathing, and enabled her bottom lip to tremble. She pondered whether telling Daryl of Merle's status would be helpful or not and whether it would help Daryl with his survival, or not. Merle had been family at one point, but regardless of family, he had never been adequate for Daryl, and Ellie would never let Merle jeopardise his safety again.
"I'm sorry I didn't save them," she whispered, falling back down onto her back in defeat. The men simply stared at her with saddened eyes, before Shane and Daryl manoeuvred her from the floor, "Where are you taking me?"
"We need to get you fixed, El," Shane asserted, hauling Ellie over to a broader table, where was able to lay across it completely.
The woman unhurriedly sat next to Ellie at the table, scanning Hershel up and down nervously as he held his stitches in his hand ready. Carl stood impatiently at the doorway, glaring daggers at the strange woman as she fidgeted under his glare, evidently uneasy with the boy's attitude. Ellie scowled at him, but he simply dismissed her.
"Carl," she cautioned, her voice was deep and forceful, accompanied with a maternal undertone, "that's enough."
He scowled in response, and mumbled an abrupt apology to Ellie, before he stormed away from the room, and arrived at the perch with Coda. Coda had always been a solace to him; she delivered the purity and gratification he wanted from his former life, before the apocalypse. He was yearning for his life from before more than ever since his mother's passing, but Coda empowered him with the tools he needed to relax.
The woman looked up from where she was sitting, and eyed Ellie up, analysing her expressions "He your son?"
Ellie cleared her throat awkwardly as she peeked up at Hershel, "Uh... He's Rick's son. He's—"
"I'm aware of who he is," she cut across the blonde, seemingly bitter at the mention of Rick.
Ellie nervously swallowed hard, and simply proceeded, "Ah, good. Anyway, I look after the kids here, one of them is my daughter. Carl and the baby lost their mom recently..."
She merely nodded in acknowledgement, but only lasted mere milliseconds before she lowered her head back to the ground, disregarding all the dust specs that crowded the prison floor.
"So how'd you get to Woodbury?" Ellie questioned, breaking the silence as Hershel commenced to stitch up the woman's leg. The others had since arrived back in the dining area from visiting Carol, and had been observing the woman as Hershel stitched her.
"My friend. She got sick. They took us in. Something isn't right about this Governor, though," she admitted, her voice was deep and sharp, implying she was fearful of disclosing too much information.
Ellie gulped, glancing over at Rick as he had his eyebrows raised in scepticism. He was as anxious as Ellie was, but he concealed his concern better.
She whirled to face Daryl, and clutched her eyes shut, feeling the remorse dominating her veins. She shakily whispered, "I believe her."
"This is Maggie and Glenn we're talking about! Why are we even debatin'?" Beth challenged, joining in the conference, unlike the many times she'd remained quiet. Maggie was her sister, and there wasn't a single thing she wouldn't do for her.
"We ain't debatin'. I'll go after 'em," Daryl declared, causing Ellie to wince slightly.
"This place seems pretty secure, you can't go alone," Rick affirmed, glimpsing around the hall for adequate members to join in the recovery mission.
Ellie propped herself up on her elbows, and raised her eyebrows, "If my leg is healed enough, I'll join."
"No fuckin' way," Daryl shrieked, his eyebrows creased as tightly as he could as he glared daggers at Ellie, "Look at your leg. Look at what happened yesterday. One of us has to stay with Coda."
Ellie scoffed, shaking her head as she peeked down at her leg as Hershel inserted medical anaesthesia into it. She gasped, and glared over at Daryl as she felt her eyes begin to droop, "But... I just... wanted to..."
Before Ellie could proceed with the discussion, she felt herself bending backwards, combatting against the dizziness as it encapsulated her once again. Daryl ultimately released a puff of air, and whirled to face Rick with a apprehensive frown on his face.
"I think we could use her," Rick muttered, nervously nipping at the skin on his thumb as he stared down at her injured leg, as Hershel stealthily pried the trap from her leg. "What's the verdict?"
"I can stitch them up, it didn't do much internal damage. Just some skin damage and a few punctures, but she'll be okay in a couple of days," Hershel proclaimed, assessing the wound gently with his fingers.
"I'll go," Oscar asserted, raising his hand, enrolling to go along with the group, "Gotta earn my stay."
After quietly clearing his throat, Shane gently tugged Rick to the side, and the two sadly peered at one another, experiencing the same trauma of losing Lori. They simply stared at one another, deep in their eyes as words had been too meagre to illustrate their sentiments. Shane couldn't help but snatch the man into a tight embrace and felt Rick grip onto his back with all his vigour. The two men had been united once again, and they were going to win.
"I'll come," Shane declared openly, nodding to Rick as they released one another from the blubbering embrace.
Rick nodded, and positioned his hand on Shane's arm for several seconds, before swivelling to face the group once again, "We'll go tomorrow. When Ellie's awake, we'll find out whether she's up for the job. If not, we take Brett in her place."
Brett nodded graciously at the man, but immediately scowled as he glanced down at Ellie, guilt looming through his veins, "Glenn asked me to go with him, I didn't want to. If I had gone..."
"You couldn't have known," Rick responded, shaking his head sadly as he, too, veered to face Ellie as she remained lifeless on the table, with only gentle breaths to indicate she had been alive.
They didn't know it yet, but discovering Woodbury, would turn out to be the onset of their demise.