The next thing Ellie remembered was her being dragged through the woods by her shirt- well, in this case, jacket collar. She looked up at the sky, at the trees; she was in the woods. The sky was that early morning sky, around six am type sky. The kind some wake up to, the kind others go to bed too.
And then it hit her.
She was supposed to be dead. She knew damn well she had died.
"Hey!" She shouted, looking up at the person dragging her. She could barely make out some features. "Oh, you're awake," She said in a mostly calm tone, save for a hint of surprise.
Ellie then shouted "Let go of me!" And the woman did just that. Ellie quickly stood. "Who are you?" She asked.
"That's not important. Go home, Ellie."
"No!" Ellie shouted. "I know I'm supposed to be dead, now tell me who you are!"
"That doesn't matter," The woman answered. "Go home. Your family and your friends want to see you. I merely did them a favor."
"No! You-"
"Go. Home. Bucky left Pencilbrooke two days ago, he's at his apartment, go see him."
Ellie paused, now only staring at the woman, who turned and walked away. The redhead looked away for a second, then back where the woman was. She was gone, there was no sign of her.
Ellie turned and stopped again. She looked at her hands then did some swoosh swoosh with her parents. Okay, this wasn't a Catty situation. Ellie then looked at her clothes. She had not been wearing this when she died and she had a pretty good feeling this wasn't what she was buried in, assuming they'd gotten around to that part.
A brown blazer jacket, a white sweater shirt, blue jeans and black lace boots. She did not own any of these.
She then continued walking and found herself on a road eventually. She held her thumb out and a pick-up truck stopped. It contained a country bumpkin looking dude.
"Where do you need to go?" He asked.
"Uh, Brooklyn, New York."
He clicked his tongue and smiled. "Lucky for you, missy, I'm headed that way. I'm visiting my daughter and her wife."
Throughout the drive, they made pleasant conversation. He learned a bit about her, though she was very selective about the information she gave out. She learned a bit about him. His name was Bill and he had four kids. His wife was already in New York.
It was a little past eight in the morning when Ellie got to her and Bucky's shared apartment. She could hear two voices inside, that of Bucky and Dolley, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Something about Dolley drinking too much.
She stood outside the door for a solid minute or so, wondering if she should just turn around, leave, make a new life for herself, all that. Spare them the confusion, let everyone live their lives thinking she's gone for good.
But Ellie made the firm decision she wanted to see her family. The redhead then rhythmically knocked on the door.
Though it took a minute, Bucky answered the door. He looked more disheveled than usual. He froze when he saw the redhead.
"Hi," Ellie breathed.
