Ellie Dixon

The Fight of Our Lives

I went upstairs, and walked into the room where I saw Deanna laying on the bed. I walked over and sat by her side. "Ellie, how did you get here?" Deanna asked me weakly. Her face was tinted with sweat as her whole complexion had lightened a few shades.

"My mad skills." I joked quietly. A quiet and sad sigh left my lips as I looked at the dying woman in front of me. "Michonne told me you're bit, but that you got bit fighting for your people."

"Our people. You're a part of this community now, Ellie. They're all your people as well." Deanna replied. "You've tried to fight it. I've seen you... But you can't. Not anymore. Not after you fought so hard to protect all of these people."

I nodded. "Yea... Yea, I guess you're right. I never got to tell you how sorry I am about Aiden." 

"He had his problems, but he was a good boy. I'll see him soon enough." Deanna smiled.

This tugged at my heart as I realised we were losing yet another person. I wasn't particularly close to Deanna, but her death would be something I'd never forget, because I'd never forget she was the reason Alexandria was still standing when we found it. "Thank you." I told her quietly.

"For what?" She questioned.

"Keeping Alexandria standing for as long as you did. I promise, we'll keep it going. We'll keep fighting for this place. Even with everything that's going on outside." I assured the woman.

"I appreciate that." Deanna smiled at me. We both heard lots of yelling, and lots of groaning from downstairs. "Go." She told me.

I nodded at the woman before leaving the room. I reached under my dad's jacket and pulled out my gun and boomerang. I saw everyone on the stairs, apart from Rick and Michonne who were dragging the sofa to block the stairwell, that's when I saw them... All the walkers that had gotten in. "What the hell happened?" I raised my voice over the loud noises.

"We couldn't keep them out!" Gabriel yelled. He, Sam, Ron and Jessie were the other people that me, Sophia, Carl, Rick, Michonne and Deanna were in the house with.

"No, shit." I replied sarcastically.

Rick and Michonne had two dead walkers on the stairs behind them. They then started dragging them up the stairs when they realised the sofa would keep the stairs safe for now. "We're going to need bed sheets. Enough for everyone." Rick looked to Jessie. "Carl, Ron, stay here. You see any of them squeezing through, you get me."

Sophia helped Michonne drag her dead walker and I just followed after them all, slightly in shock. Sam was hiding in his bedroom, so he didn't see any of this go down.

"Bed sheets for what?" Jessie asked as Rick and Michonne dropped the two dead walkers in an upstairs living room. Man, these houses really are like mansions.

"We all go to the armoury." Rick replied. 

"How?" Gabriel asked.

"Exactly how Ellie got in." Sophia responded.

"We're gonna gut these things." Rick added. "Cover ourselves with the insides, it'll mask our smell... Make them think we're dead like them. We've all done it before, it works. We stay calm, we don't draw attention, we can move right through them."

"They're in the house. They're drawing more." Michonne said, putting her katana in the chest of one of the walkers and drawing it all the way down. I watched Gabriel as he struggled to look, his face almost as pale as Deanna's, he looked like he'd throw up at any time.

"Keeping your cool there, padre?" I raised an eyebrow. He just nodded quickly, not being able to speak.

"Anyone who stays here is going to die." Rick said to Gabriel, Jessie and Ron who had left Carl by the stairs.