ELEANOR . NEGAN

040.

Eleanor sauntered through Alexandria in those denim shorts Negan couldn't get a hold over with her normal black tank top. She just came back from that parole with Daryl and he went off to warn Aaron and Michonne, she went off to speak with Carol.

Nerves with rattling throughout her whole body when nasty glares from surrounding people would skate over her presence, like she was an issue. Elle tried to shut them up but it wasn't working. Every step she took meant another person looking up to see her.

When she reached Carol's home, she didn't bother to knock. No one knocked on doors anymore, you just waltzed in with zero care. Unless you knew a couple was living there - that's a different story.

"Carol," Elle let out. Even shielded by a house, she still felt her heart plummet and her nerves to go out of control. She wanted to support Carol, that meant speaking the truth. She kept her truth quiet for as long as she could. "There you are." Sweetly smiling, she slowly walked over to sit in front of Carol.

The woman was lounged on the settee, wiping a cloth across a couple of knives and the handles of some pistols. Elle would've gulped if she was a normal citizen, but she didn't bother this time. "Wanted to speak to you, I do."

Carol's eyes flitted from the weapons to Elle but she didn't say anything. Okay... Elle took that as a sign to plop her ass down on the little foot rest in front of Carol.

"Not eating, huh?"

"Elle, I'm not having this conversation with you." She didn't say anything but did place a breakfast bar on her lap. Carol looked at it, quizzically, before slowly letting go of the cloth and tearing the wrapper. "Thank you."

"Don't have to thank me, Carol." With a small smile, Elle let out a sigh which caught her attention. "I spoke to Daryl-"

"Ellie, I don't need this."

"You do." Elle admitted. "So stay sat, be quiet, listen with open ears like a student."

Carol smirked, "I'm older than you."

"Yeah, now I'm teaching you a lesson." Elle had a teasing grin on her face which made Carol laugh. Improvement. "I'm sorry, for what happened. But I don't think you want to hear my apologies."

"No, I don't."

"Exactly." Elle sighed and scratched the side of her head. Here we go. "Can I tell you something?"

Carol shrugged, basically a yes. "I joined the Army straight out of school."

"We know that."

"But that's all you know." Elle hated talking about her past, but she felt like her past was going to be topic of conversation for a bit while now. "Settled in Afghanistan, moved about a bit though. Went to Iraq at one point, then went back to a base in France, then back to Afghanistan."

Carol was listening now. "Settled at a camp there for quite a long time. Longer than I thought it'd be. But, hey, I didn't mind. No one was waiting for me back at home." Fuck, Elle could already feel that buzz in her body like she was about to break down. "Royal Army always wants to help. That's why I joined, you know? Always saw them adverts on the telly and I thought, fuck it. Anyways... back to the story."

"Ellie-"

She cut her off. "Did a lot of training, weeks in basic and then they moved me up. Said some shit about having amazing selfless commitment so they sent me away. I was in a camp, shared with the Afghan army, you know... to stop the Taliban and all the shit human people of the world." It felt weird talking about her past, strange and conflicting because the only thing she fights now are walkers. "Used to go in the villages a lot, send food and toys — there was so many children in these places."