ELEANOR . NEGAN

003.

Eleanor walked through the gates of Alexandria with a blank face and a curled fist. She wasn't finished with Eugene, no she fucking wasn't, but the slice across his eyebrow made from the rings on her fingers, the bust-lip and the bruises across his cheekbone was enough for now. Especially with the dried blood that spilled from his crooked nose.

Rosita and Aaron had an arm wrapped tightly under Eugene's shoulders to keep him upright as his head lolled onto his own shoulder with each step. Rick had an arm around Michonne and Carl, tugging them close whenever he heard a sniffle or a sigh. And Eleanor just followed along behind.

Glenn, Maggie and Sasha decided to stay at the Hilltop in regards to Little Rhee. It was the best choice in all honesty.

At the sound of the RV pulling up moments before, it created a crowd of Alexandrians who watched in despair and shock. Some of them were waiting for Rick to share the events, the others just waiting around to see the action.

"Ellie!"

The miniscule voice leaving the miniscule girl shook Eleanor out of her nightmare of a reverie just in time to catch the sprinting girl jump into her arms. And as soon as her welcoming, small arms barely scraped around Eleanor, she broke down in tears. The absence of Abe and Daryl was pulling at her heart strings and crawling down her eyes in a flow of clear, salty rivulets.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Maya asked quietly, pulling back to inspect Elle's face with her hands on Eleanor's tear-soaked cheeks. "Where's Daryl? And..." She sniffed. Deep inside, the girl knew where they were. She knew where they went. She, however, didn't want to accept it. "Abraham is dead?!" Her voice was loud and echoed through the bustling crowd of Alexandrians who were wary to know everything, catching a few sorrowful glares. "And Daryl-"

"No, no. Daryl is, he's okay. He'll be okay. But, but-"

"Abraham is dead?" Elle looked away and clutched her eyes tight. The soft sound of heartbroken words and shaky breaths was enough to pull Eleanor to the grassy ground as Maya sobbed into her shoulder. Her curly hair was plaited today, mixed with pink and purple ribbon and she had paint stuck around her arms of green and yellow - she looked like a child. Yet past the deadly world and the teasing brain, she was maturing at a fast rate and Eleanor realised that no matter how hard she tried, she could never give Maya that childhood she deserved.

—

Days went by of slow, dragging sessions of restless nights and melancholy homes of quiet people and sad frowns. No person muttered happy words, no one laughed or smiled. They were stressed, angry and tired and with a couple of days left of the week, they were all hurrying to find something for the upcoming Saviours that would soon waltz through the Alexandria gates.

At the current moment, Elle was sitting on the concrete curb with two knives in her clutch. She was going to leave soon, for resources towards the Saviours but since she was leaving day after day, she felt like she needed a small break. So, she sat on the concrete slab with a knife in her right hand and held it like a pencil to carve her initials in the handle of her other knife, her favourite knife. Further down towards the gate was Eugene, Spencer and Rosita and all of them seemed captivated by a sound that was coming closer to the gate - Elle couldn't hear it. But she did see it.

A silhouette of a tall man against the cover of the gate, waiting, and waiting as Spencer slowly walked up to pull the tan cover back. Eleanor was staring at the Saviours intently yet she was still sitting on the concrete, barely noticing Rick as he hurried over to open the gate.

A wicked laugh echoed through Alexandria with the distant words of, "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"

Eleanor rolled her eyes and looked back at her knife to carve the initials deeper in. She was angry to just see Negan waltz in like everything is fine, like he owned the place. But she kept herself calm and collective because everyone needed no one to lash out - it was too expensive.