VILLAINESS [TWD]

➴106

"Ow, fuck!" I shout as I fall to the floor.

"Ellie?"

I groan and roll onto my side. Something came out of nowhere and bashed me across the face. My stomach burns as I rub my head.

"Shit. Ellie, are you okay?"

The person helps me sit up and I meet Carol's eyes.

I hadn't seen her in so long. I couldn't even remember our last interaction.

"Your hair grew," I note.

She laughs. "And you got tattoos."

I rub my head where she smacked me with a wooden board. "Nice to see you, too. Been awhile."

"I didn't know who you were.. I thought you were still in the induced coma."

"You almost put me back in it," I scoff as she helps me stand.

"Sorry about that," she chuckles, brushing dirt off my back. "New style, too?"

"Woke up in a hospital. I.. I just gotta get out. I was trying to, but.. there's like-"

"Fifty thousand people?"

I swallow. "I was gonna say hundreds.."

"Aim a little higher, honey."

I sigh and roll my head, stretching my neck. 

"How'd you sneak out of the hospital?"

"Jumped out the window from the second story," I admit.

If it were anyone else, they'd probably think I was joking. But, Carol was a big part of my training- especially back in the prison. I could tell she believed me with no problem.

"Have you found a way out?" I question. "I gotta get to Hilltop."

"I've been looking for an escape route just in case things here go sideways and we need a way out. Haven't found it yet."

I scratch at my legs nervously. I felt suffocated in this place.

"But, you really should get back to the hospital. Tomi is a good man. He's been keeping us all updated on your status. Did you.." she pauses. 

I jump in alarm when she grabs my hospital gown and pulls it up to my chest. So much for privacy and personal space, I guess.

"I have a girlfriend, you know," I joke.

"I've seen worse and more from you in the past," she reminds me.

When she leans back up, she holds up bloody fingertips. My wound was open. The stitches must've gave out when I was hit.

"Did you wake up just today?" Carol suspects.

"Maybe an hour ago."

"Ellie!" Carol scolds. "You were induced into a coma because your intestines were severed. You shouldn't even be alive, let alone running around and jumping out of windows."

"Josh said Mom and Anna are at Hilltop right now. I gotta-"

"Ellie, that's in Virginia. We're in Ohio."

"When the fuck-" I pause and pace a few steps, willing myself to calm down. "We're in Ohio?"

"And you have no supplies and you're still healing. You shouldn't even be off of your IV yet. And you want to travel states away alone?"

"This place is like a fever dream. It can't be real," I deny. "Carol, I saw a goddamn ice cream truck with twenty kids! That's not real!"

"We've been here for about three weeks.. It's still an adjustment, I know. But, Maggie trusted us to make sure you were kept safe and healthy. That's the only way she stayed out. Daryl is going to flip his shit if he finds out you escaped."