"Make yourself a sheep and the wolf will eat you." –German Proverb
(PAST.)
Ellen never felt more alive as she trudged through the forest in the direction of the Sanctuary, stopping only to kill any creepers that stood in her way. Adrenaline coursed through her body, keeping her alert and on edge the entire way.
Ellen struggled with the young man's dead weight draped over her shoulders and the heavy bags filled with medical supplies as she tore through the thicket, following the road as best as she could in the darkness.
Donald had passed out awhile ago, and Ellen was nervous that he'd turn at any moment, convinced he'd already died from blood loss a few hours ago. She felt sorry for the kid, but she knew she'd had to cut the bite wound off and the only way he could survive that was to take the entire goddamn leg.
She knew it was his only chance.
By now the sun had sunk below the trees a few hours ago, and Ellen was mainly using the markings on the road to guide her way back.
She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the Sanctuary's tower in the distance.
---
She yelled at the guards up top the fence to let her in, and she struggled through the courtyard before working her way inside to get Donald to Carson's office.
"Com'n Don, we're almost there," she panted as she worked her way up a flight of stairs.
Carson looked up in shock when Ellen entered the room, before roughly setting Donald down into a bed. After laying him back, she dropped two bags onto the ground next to the bed.
"Doc, you gotta patch him up. He was bit, I chopped off his leg to stop the spread."
Carson looked at her wide-eyed, before nodding and immediately going to work. "How long has he been unconscious?"
Ellen shook her head. "Three or four hours, I lost track. Is he still alive?"
Carson checked the man for a pulse. "Yes, but just barely. He's lost a lot of blood. I have to make sure the infection didn't spread."
Carson asked her to pass him different materials and the two worked together to get him patched up.
"You, you're that new girl that keeps getting into trouble," Carson stated after a while, looking up from what he was doing to meet her eyes. "You're the talk of the town."
Ellen frowned at him and Carson noticed how tired she looked.
"I'm almost done here. I'll clean you up in a second," he said.
After a few minutes, Carson set to work wiping a few cuts and scrapes on Ellen's forehead. She must've gotten them while she was bushwhacking through the woods, she thought, wincing as he disinfected the cuts.
"You seem tough as nails, if my humble opinion counts for anything," he said kindly.
Ellen smirked at the older man. "Nah, I'm tougher."
"Shit, look at you! Randy told me you didn't make it! But here you fucking are, full of surprises."
Ellen curled her lip at the familiar voice.
Carson stopped what he was doing, before getting on his knees as Negan stalked past him.
Negan crouched down so he was eye level with the woman, his face dark. He took in her blood-soaked figure coldly.
"You know what else he told me?" he growled at her. "That you got more of my men killed like the crazy fucking bitch you are."
"But I'm sure he forgot to mention the part where he left me for dead and I had to walk three hours to get back here," she hissed.
"So you gonna tell me what actually fucking happened then?"
"Believe what you want, seems like you already made up your mind. I've got nothing to say to you."
Negan glared back at her, and Carson interrupted, breaking the tension between the two of them. "Donald's going to make it. His vitals are steady, he just suffered a serious amount of blood loss."
Negan turned to look at him and walked over to the young man lying in a bed. "What happened to him?"
"He got bit. Ellen amputated his leg and stopped the spread, carried him back. She thought on her feet and saved his life," Carson said simply.
Negan turned to look back at Ellen, a questioning expression on his face. "Well?"
Ellen looked back at him, tired, her legs burning from her long trek. "What do you want? I shouldn't have to explain myself."
Negan frowned, before walking over to her and grabbing her roughly by the collar. He dragged her out of the room and shoved her unceremoniously down the hall.
Ellen protested when she realized he was leading her back to the cell block she'd been staying in when she first got there.
"No fucking way," she said, stopping in her tracks, a feeling of dread threatening to creep up on her at the thought of another night in the dark cell. "Why?"
Negan opened the cell door. "Well, you don't want to fucking talk so apparently, this is the only place I can put your dangerous, uncooperative ass."
Ellen stared at him, shocked. "What are you talking about?"
"Get in," Negan growled.
She felt wounded, and looking into Negan's angry eyes didn't help. "Fuck no! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Enough!" Negan yelled. "Get the fuck in! I'm not playing your stupid little games! I've seen how fucking insane you are, you have no goddamn self control! You're gonna get all of my fucking men slaughtered, just like you did today!"
Ellen frowned in disbelief and struggled as he roughly shoved her into the cell.
"I didn't kill anybody, Negan."
Negan met her gaze, his wordless expression burning a hole through her, before closing the door in her face.
"Negan, wait!" she screamed through the door.
She banged at the door for a few minutes, before sliding down it and burying her face in her arms.
---
"Wake up sunshine, you've got a busy day ahead of you," a voice called from the sliding hole in the cell door.
Ellen groaned, coming to, recognizing Simon's voice.
She slowly forced herself to her feet, her legs sore and shaky from the previous night's events. Her head pounded and her mouth was dry.
"I need water, asshole."
The cell door opened and Simon tossed the woman an outfit that resembled a potato sack. She caught it quickly, examining it with a frown.
"Simon, I don't know what you were told, but I swear I'm innocent," she started.
"You, innocent? Sorry, I don't make the rules," the man said coldly, closing the door. "Get changed. I'll be back in a few minutes to take you to your next job."
---
Two days passed.
Two days of cloudy, lifeless eyes and outstretched, decaying arms reaching for her. Groans and gnashing teeth. The scent of rotting corpses and flesh that had been left out in the sun. Mindless, soulless bodies, trapped in this goddamn hell on earth.
Ellen grit her teeth as she guided another walker towards the others on the fence, being careful to avoid the extended claws grasping at the air around her.
"Jesus fucking Christ."
She panted, breathing hard as the hot sun beat down on her.
She could feel the sweat dripping down her body, soaking through her clothes, and after a while, she angrily tore the sack off her top half, stripping down to her dark sports bra beneath. Bruises and a few cuts decorated her muscular body.
A few Saviors who were passing by hooted with laughter and whistled at her, enjoying the show.
Rolling her eyes, Ellen went back to herding the undead for the afternoon.
After a few hours of the tedious chore, Ellen suddenly noticed she was being watched.
When she saw him, she let out an angry yell.
"Fuck you!" she hollered, knowing Negan couldn't hear her from where he stood at the top of the Sanctuary steps, looking down at her with an expressionless face.
She flipped him off, and smirked when that got his attention.
Deciding to provoke him further, Ellen snapped the stick she was using to guide the walkers in half over her knee. She let out a maniacal laugh as she began plunging the sharp edges into the skulls of the undead.
She grinned when she noticed that pissed the man off, sending him down the stairs towards her.
A couple of Saviors pulled her out of the cage after they noticed she'd started killing the walkers and threw her onto the ground, before violently kicking her.
"That's enough, guys," Negan's voice called.
Ellen grit her teeth when she heard him send the men away. She slowly and shakily worked herself to her knees, before vomiting, emptying the contents of her stomach at the man's boots.
Negan took a step back and looked down at her with a scowl, crinkling his nose in disgust.
"You look like shit," he growled.
She looked up at him and laughed in between the heaving. "But I feel great."
"Good news, you're off the hook. Your friend Donny boy woke up a little while ago, and boy did he have some jolly fucking things to say about you."
Ellen mustered an exhausted smile at the man and wiped blood and vomit from her lips.
"Jackass," she said before passing out.
---
Later that night, after showering and eating a filling dinner, Laura showed Ellen to her new room.
The two women walked along in comfortable silence, before Laura looked over at Ellen with a teasing smile, eyeing the bruises that covered her body. "Well you certainly know how to make friends," she commented.
"Ugh," Ellen managed with a laugh, wincing when it hurt her ribs to do so.
"See I would try to give you some advice, but for some reason I don't think you'd take it," she said.
Ellen stopped and grinned. "Smart girl."
Laura shook her head and chuckled, opening the door they'd stopped at.
Ellen entered the room, and noticed the two beds that sat on opposite sides of the room. It was small and cozy, with a few pieces of furniture and a couple of books scattered around.
"We're actually going to be roomies," Laura said as she watched Ellen cautiously examine her surroundings.
"Cool. It's like college all over again," Ellen said.
"Yeah, don't worry about privacy. I won't bother you. I'm not usually here, other than to sleep."
Ellen nodded before pointing at the beds. "Cool. So which one--"
"You're the one on the right," Laura told her.
At that, Ellen quickly climbed into bed, kicking her shoes off onto the ground below. She grinned, loving the way the sheets felt against her aching feet. She immediately let out a loud yawn, clearly exhausted. "Sweet, night roomie."
Laura just chuckled, turning off the lights before shutting the door behind her. "Night roomie."
She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
---
That night, Ellen woke to a constricting feeling around her neck. She blinked when she opened her eyes and saw Randall staring down at her, his strong fist gripping her throat, a knife pressed to her skin.
"You say a word, you're dead," he growled in her ear.
Ellen froze, knowing that resistance would be futile. The man was twice her size, and had her pinned down using his full body weight.
"Did you tell Negan anything?"
Ellen grimaced at the tightness around her neck. "No, you fucking idiot."
She winced when she felt the knife prick her skin. "Are you going to?"
Ellen slowly shook her head.
"Good. Cause he isn't gonna be around much longer to protect you anyways. You keep your mouth shut, head down, and you stay out of my way. I've got eyes and ears everywhere, and sweetheart, they are just itching for you to slip up," Randall whispered gruffly in her ear.
"You should kill me now," she whispered back.
"There's a lot of shit moving around that you don't know about. I'd suggest staying out of it if you want to live."
Ellen felt the cold metal against her neck lift, and as quickly as he came, Randall was gone.
Ellen felt her throat, and narrowed her eyes in the gloom.
---
(1 vote=1 punch for Randall
Fun fact: While writing this, I realized after awhile that another shitty character in a previous season of TWD shares the name. I decided to keep it lol. Also was inspired by Randy in South Park for the name not gonna lie)