VILLAINESS [TWD]

➴3

Eleanor wakes up, startled by the dream.

She sighs, hating that of all things- she had to dream about that day.

She stretches her arms, looking ahead to see Carol already sitting with the knives out. She was looking through the shelves and Ellie twists her head to see what she was looking at.

"Please.." Carol sighs. "Don't tell your father."

Carl looks down at Ellie who was still waking up and shakes his head. Ellie hadn't even processed that he was there before he storms out of the library.

She rubs her eyes, wondering how long she'd been asleep. Carol clears her throat, continuing the lesson.

"So.. how to hold a knife," Carol speaks.

--

"Hey, Ellie," Glenn calls.

She stops before he grabs her arm. Better to listen now than have the guy touch her at all.

"Things didn't work out all the way," he scratches the back of his neck. "But, I tried."

She felt like it was a victory. Glenn couldn't get something done for once.

"I did what I could. Sorry it's not everything," he explains, picking up a duffel bag and handing it to her.

His eyes were tired and he gives her a soft smile before making his way to his cell.

Confused, Ellie sits down at the table and places the bag on top. She unzips it carefully, peering into the contents.

There was a cute shirt and cardigan. It was almost fall, after all. There was also a necklace and a pair of earrings. She smiles a bit, jingling the earrings to watch the little diamonds sparkle.

Setting it down, she picks up a stack of journals. There were loose pens of all colors at the bottom. Some were solid, glittery, stamps, and even some scissors to cut designs on papers.

The first book was open and she flips through to find one of the pages dog-eared.

'ellie,

i know we haven't gotten off on the best foot. i understand that things have been tough on you since we lost the farm. and since you lost matthew. if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. we don't have to tell maggie, you can just talk to me. i want us to get along. i want you to feel comfortable around me.

-glenn

p.s. i hope you fill these pages up with songs. i miss hearing you and beth singing. i hope this helps'

The words on the paper seemed to hold a deeper sentiment. But, Ellie brushes it off. 

He was still overstepping boundaries.

--

Ellie steps around the corner of her cell, dropping the duffel bag to the floor when she sees Beth's condition.

"Sissy?" she asks.

"Hey," Beth breathes, sitting up right.

"You okay?"

Beth wasn't crying. She just looked kind of.. blank? 

"What's wrong?" Ellie continues to ask.

"That run earlier.." Beth trails off, looking to the board on the wall that now held a zero. "Zach's gone."

Ellie frowns, leaning her back against the desk. "Gone? Like.. Dead?"

"Mhm."

Ellie's fingers pick at the bag strap. She was uncomfortable. That must've been what Glenn was talking about. Why he looked so stressed out. He said things didn't work out. People were killed.

"But.. He knew the risks," Beth shrugs. "We all do."

Ellie wonders if her sister was growing cold. Or maybe she just.. understood the world now. The thought of being okay with all of the things going on made Ellie sick. That's why she went to 'story time'. That's why she and Carol still had their 'baking days' where Carol would explain weapons while they talked about how to skin the food the hunters found.

She didn't want to be that little girl from the farm anymore. She saw how Carl had grown up so fast within the past couple months- she wanted that for herself.

When things went down, Hershel told her that there was just a flu going around and everyone had to quarantine. No more school, visiting friends, or church services. Just sitting around the house and.. waiting.

The day at the barn.. That changed everything. She saw the things the Greene family had fought so hard to hide her from. She felt the loss. She lived the fear.

Never again. She would never let that happen again.

"What's that?" Beth asks, nodding to the bag.

"Some stuff," Ellie answers, looking down at the contents.

Despite it all.. Glenn tried his best.

"I'm going to bed," Ellie decides, tossing the bag in the corner. "Night, sissy."