Sweet Silence ~AWalkingDeadFanFiction~

3. The group

Two months later...

The arrow pierced through the squirrels small heart.

"You're gettin' pretty good at this," smiled Daryl.

Ellie grinned to herself, "learnt from the best, didn't I?"

He chuckled slightly.

It had taken a while for Ellie to get used to the feel of the crossbow and Daryl Dixon had been teaching her how to use it. She was glad they had found this group. First it was just them and then they met Carol, Ed and their daughter Sophia. Ellie was happy that Carl had finally found a friend to play with, despite all this shit. But after a while she had gotten lonely and would only find conversation with her mother and Shane, otherwise she would read one of the five books she bought with her. Then by chance their group became bigger when they ran into Dale and his RV along with a group of survivors who didn't make it to Atlanta. By lucky chance.
She had some friends now such as Glenn, a nice Asian boy who used to deliver pizzas, and Daryl, there was also his brother Merle who she got along with occasionally but she liked Daryl better. There was also Amy and Andrea, Andrea was a real tough girl which is what Ellie liked about her, and Amy was so sweet and nice, it was hard not to be friends with her.

The spot they had was lovely, but still had vulnerabilities. They hung empty cans around it so they would be able to hear when a walker gets too close to the campsite.

"You going hunting anytime soon?" She asked him, as she aimed at another squirrel.

"Was thinking 'bout it, you keen?"

"Sure, why not? How long do you reckon?"

He looked up at the sky, and back to her as she hit the squirrel with perfect accuracy.

"Maybe 'bout two days?"

She slung the bow over her shoulder and went to grab her targets.

"Sounds good," she chucked the squirrel at him. "Think fast."

He caught it and grinned at her.

"Would be a good time to test out my new skills anyway."

He scoffed. "What skill?"

She punched him in the shoulder. "I thought you said, 'you're gettin' pretty good at this'." She said mocking his southern accent.

"Very funny," he said sarcastically as he pushed her.

"Hey!" She pushed him back then ran. He chased after her. Ellie had a head start and hid behind a tree. Then two hands jabbed her in the ribs.

"Ouch!" She spun around to see him standing there.

"Tracking skills, dipshit," he smirked.

"You're such an asshole," she smiled back. "Come on let's head back to camp."

They walked back together. They were almost at the camp, when Ellie heard a crack amongst the trees.

"Hold on," she said quietly.

Ellie peered around a big tree too see her mother picking mushrooms. She was going to turn around then Shane walked into the clearing. She saw her mother smile and whisper something, then she kissed Shane.

Ellie nearly vomited in her mouth. What was her mother thinking? Ellie turned and ran back to Daryl. She couldn't watch a second longer.

"What was it?" He asked.

She shook her head, "nothing, it was nothing."

The rest of the walk back to camp her head was heavy and she felt dizzy.