VILLAINESS [TWD]

➴10

Ellie's head was a mess.

All she did was run. Her head played back so many memories. Memories of Hershel, Annette, and Matt. Memories of Maggie being cold. Glenn trying so hard.

By time she sun came up, she'd made it to a little town. She looks around. She was hungry. Thirsty, too.

In the distance, she could see an ice cream truck. She jogs toward it, opening the door to find it empty. She closes the door, collapsing in the driver seat.

Her chest was on fire. She was still fighting through that sickness, a few symptoms not leaving her alone just yet.

In the silence, Ellie breathes in shakily.

Her life had been a lie. Worse than a lie.

Her father was the man she'd only thought worked for them. He died for her. She will never get to tell him that she knows now. They will never get to live their lives as father and daughter.

Maggie was her mother. The woman she'd thought was her older sister. The troubled, party girl. The one that hardly gave her the time of day unless they were forced to.

Hershel was her grandfather. And he was dead. She didn't tell him bye when he and Michonne left. She thought there would've still been time. It was just supposed to be a quick run and he'd be back.

She should've went to him. She should've hugged him. She should've told him how much she loved him. Now, she never will be able to do that. She'll never feel his rough hands, his kind words, his loving hugs, the sound of his laugh.

Ellie didn't know she was crying until she fell into the floorboard, sobs echoing in the vehicle as she pulls her hair. Frustration. Anger. Grief. Guilt. Hurt. Everything.

Her fingers knot in her hair and she rests her head between her knees, screams erupting from her as she wailed in pain.

Everything was a lie. Things would never be the same.

Her cries were far from contained. Her body convulsed, hair stuck to her face- she was breaking apart.

--

Ellie didn't know what to do.

She ran away from the group she was with and in hindsight that wasn't smart.

She was just a kid. She didn't have a weapon. She was alone. She was emotional.

Carl would know what to do. He was only a little older than her.

Carol taught her how to use weapons. All Ellie had to do was find something.

Food. Ellie's stomach was growling as loud as the walker stuck behind a door across the road.

Forcing herself to her feet, Ellie wipes the dried tears off her face along with the new ones that were deciding to keep falling.

Ice cream went bad fast, she knew that. But, she still opens the cabinets to look for anything to eat.

A dejected smile grows on her lips as she tugs a box of ice cream topping out of the bottom cabinet. She sits on the floor again, the box half as big as she was. She blinks through her tears, opening the box up to find baggies of peanuts.

Slumping against the counter, she rips a bag open and pours some in her mouth. She was still crying and she tries her best to wipe the tears- peanuts didn't need more saltiness added to them.

One time, she and Beth were walking home from school and the ice cream truck passed by. They used to take longer on those walks because it was the last time they would be in the same school until Beth went to high school. But, when the truck drove by, they started chasing after it.