The Exit • TWD. [✓]

𝟏𝟏𝟗, desperate for food!

☆

It had been two weeks since what happened with estella and the man on the road. she spent almost every single day with kasper. he just wanted to keep making sure she was okay. estella was slowly but surely recovering. it was bad, but she was just thankful that he didn't get to go the full way. she remembered it so clearly. it hurt, and she never wanted to feel that feeling again. she didn't want to feel a male's hands in places they shouldn't be ever again. she had no interest in a man's touch. she had no interest in a woman's touch, either. she knew that's what love was about, but she also knew that love wasn't supposed to be like that. when you were in love, they asked if they could do that stuff to you. the people that had done that stuff to estella — never asked. that wasn't love.

again, though, estella didn't want to be on her own. she was scared and she didn't want to be by herself. she was at that point again where she didn't want anybody to touch her. she didn't mind when daryl hugged her, or when kasper did, or hershel. she didn't mind female touch from people she loved. what she didn't like was when she wasn't expecting it. when some man in alexandria would pat her shoulder after a conversation, or when people would pull her arms to get her to move. she was jumpy again, and she was flinching at every touch. she didn't want to be touched. she wanted her body free of fingerprints that weren't her own, and she wanted her mind clear of thoughts that weren't positive.

only, it wasn't that easy to heal. estella knew that. thankfully for her, daryl didn't want to leave her alone, either. he brought her all the places he went, even if they were dangerous. she was currently on a run with daryl, maggie, kasper, rosita, jack, liv, jerry, kelly, magna, alden, and some others she (the author) didn't know the names of, or couldn't be bothered to list. they were at some kind of building that looked like an old school, on top of the roof.

they were looking for food. it was used as an army base before the turn, so they had rations in there. the only downside was that it was filled with walkers down below, and that's where they had to go for the food. maggie, rosita, carol, jack, kelly, lydia, and magna had gone down. estella was actually glad that daryl wouldn't let her go down there, but that meant that she had to be a nervous wreck up on the roof instead. she was stood close to the entry point as she watched them all, making sure they were okay.

"do you think the drop is high enough to kill them if the rope snaps?" liv asked, from where she stood with kasper and estella.

"hopefully not. anyway, we best hope the rope doesn't snap, that amount of walkers won't be easy to escape." estella replied.

"a little bit of positivity won't go a miss, ladies." kasper said, looking at the two of them with raised eyebrows. "they'll be fine."

"you three, be quiet. you're gonna wake all the walkers!" daryl scolded them, making them apologise before moving away.

estella continued to look down, until they all came back with their backpacks and attached them to the rope. jerry, daryl, and alden began to reel up the backpacks as quietly as they possibly could. when the backpacks came up, estella, kasper, and liv picked them all up and put them on their backs. that's when things got very nerve wracking. it was intense, waiting for everyone to pull up the members of the group inside the building. estella could tell that kasper was nervous, too, due to his hands flapping and the way he kept tugging on his hair every so often.

suddenly, the rope snapped, and the bag went tumbling down. estella covered her mouth to stop a gasp from escaping her lips as daryl basically threw himself forward, grabbing the rope before the bag could fall on the floor and wake up all the dead. he cut himself in the process, and estella could literally see the blood that was dropping through his skin. she couldn't look. it was too intense.