VILLAINESS [TWD]

➴110

I couldn't remember the last time I had the taste of chocolate in my mouth.

I stole a candy bar from a store when I was leaving the Commonwealth. Maybe two.. and some other shit.

My plan was that once I got to Hilltop and healed up fully, I'd take some time to find some money and sneak back into Commonwealth. Maybe Daryl and Carol didn't have to bust their asses for some worthless pieces of paper and I could just stow some away and into their pockets to make up for the supplies I needed.

Once the candy bar is half eaten, I wrap it up and slide it into my backpack. Maybe Hershel would like it. has he ever had candy?

I take out a pack of cigarettes and light one up as I continue walking down the lonely road.

I'd already been travelling for a day or so. It felt nice to be alone with my thoughts. I was afraid that being on my own would cause me to really lose my shit. I feared the memories of the Reapers and other things 

Instead, it was quiet. I'd forgotten just how quiet the world was without arguing, fighting, and war. It was nice.

Unfortunately, I could tell that it had been a while since I'd been on the road to Hilltop. I couldn't quite remember street signs and directions.

I tried to remember where I was and follow things that kind of looked familiar.

Maybe that's how I ended up in the clearing.

I hook my thumb on the strap of my backpack and knock the heel of my shoe into the tip of my other, pausing to look over the area.

The last time I was here, back when Glenn was killed, gravel was all over. It was just a gravel spot of land surrounded by trees.

A few of the trees had fallen over. There were weeds growing out from under the gravel. It had very clearly been a decade since this place had been visited.

I walk over a bit more and envision the RV. The vehicles all around- their headlights shining in the dark night. 

I spin around slowly and map out the area until I'm pretty sure I'm standing in the same spot I was on my knees a decade ago.

I crouch to the ground and rest my hand on the rocks and dirt. This is where Mom held me as we cried. Where I felt the wind of Negan's bat as he killed Abraham right beside me. 

My eyes trail over to the right side.

Years ago I'd looked past Negan, refusing to look him in the eyes. And there, I saw Glenn. And Glenn smiled.

I put myself on my hands and knees and crawl to the same spot Glenn was. A knot forms in my throat and I ball up my fist, clasping dirt and pine needles between my fingers.

I slump to my side and sit down crisis crossed on the ground, poking at the ground where Glenn's body was once upon a time.

I think about my conversation with Michonne. How I swore that certain places were stained with blood.

I went back to the farm after I left Hilltop and was with Leah on the road. I wondered if Michonne had a point about that talk and wanted to see if I could manage. I didn't last long in the old farmhouse. Not only were walkers everywhere, but the memories caused me to have panic attack after panic attack until I passed out and Leah had to carry me back to our car.

This was another story.

We didn't have a prior life in this clearing.

This clearing was a trap we were led to. All that was here was the blood of Glenn and Abraham.

I put some of the pine needles in my lap and fiddle with them. It was getting dark. I needed to find a camp for the night so I could make it home in the morning.

But, there was nothing around here that I remember. On the road to Hilltop, we kept getting cut off by Saviors. All that was around for miles was empty fields and backroads.

I kept telling myself to make a fire before it got too dark. I kept telling myself to find shelter. 

But, all I did was pick and play with pine needles and remember the smile on Glenn's face in his final seconds.

When I snapped out of my trance, I'd made a bracelet out of pine needles. I slide it on my wrist and look up at the night sky for a few more minutes.

It was dangerous to be on the road at night. Especially since I didn't quite recall the way home and I wasn't sure how different things were in this area.

Regardless, I stood myself up, gave a final look to Glenn's murder spot, then continue the journey home in the middle of the night.

It was dawn when i stepped over a rope of cans strung up and smiled at the thought. 

"Walker!" someone shouts.

I hold my hands up. "Not a walker! Ellie, here!"

The woman lowers her bow and arrow and looks over her shoulder.

"Ellie?" Mom repeats, running forward.

"Fifty-thousand people in one place feels claustrophobic as hell," I inform. "Was hoping I could come back home."

Mom puts her knife away and runs forward. I smile and open my arms out to her. We meet in a big hug and I laugh at her hesitation. She squeezes me tightly, then remembers that I was injured so she lessens the grip. Then, she tightens it because she was so happy. 

"You came alone?" she asks, pulling back enough to look down at me.

"Josh is probably tailing me in a little. I left without letting him know. I kind of figured that phone service was shit and I'd be here before he called Anna, though."

"Anna's asleep right now.. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and settled. You're home now," mom urges and wraps her arm around my shoulders, pulling me to Hilltop's gates.

"I'm cleaner than you are. I had a shower," I joke, wrapping my arm around her waist. "But, I am glad to be home."

"This is Diane. I don't know if you remember her, but she was on Ezekiel's court back then," mom introduces the woman. "And that over there is Lydia. She's.. a friend."

"She's a baby," I note and wrinkle my nose at the younger girl who smiles nervously. "Hilltop is run by badass women. I see not much has changed.."

As we walk into the gates, I sigh and take in the scenery. 

"And yet.. everything has changed," I add.

The walls were scorched. The big house was a shell of what it once was. The fields were dried up. 

"We're working on it. Better now that you're here," Mom promises.

"We saved this place before.. We can do it again," I agree.

This was home. We were home now. And things were going to get better from here on out. I had to make sure of that. 

 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

if you saw the most recent tiktok edit i posted then you might've seen the return to the lineup clearing coming hehehehe