ELEANOR . NEGAN

112.

On the single wooden table stood a large whiskey bottle and bundles of bandages, unravelled into a trail as it warped around Elle's hand. Whiskey dropped into rivulets onto her lap as she disinfected her wounds, making sure the severity wouldn't be ten times fucking worse.

It was abrupt and unwelcome when the front door swung open, Eleanor wide-eyed when she realised she had nothing on her besides a glass bottle. She waited in slight worry, hand tight around the neck of the bottle — who the fuck could it be?

Seconds later, she saw Carol first enter with haste in her movements. She weakly smiled. "We gotta go." Eleanor looked down at her hands and placed the bottle back down on the table. "Was you gonna—"

"Nope." She cleared her throat. "What happened?"

Apparently an answer wasn't needed because three seconds later, a worried and rushed Maya burst through the door (shoving Carol accidentally) before stopping dead in her tracks.

"Oh..." Eleanor forced a gulp. She wanted to be prepared for Maya, look nice for her so it was easier to say that she was actually fine and didn't have to explain all the gnarly stuff she dealt with.

But Maya's eyes zoomed in on each and every detail on the Welsh woman, not knowing if to stagger, gasp, or lose it.

She settled with; "You look terrible."

Eleanor blinked, an answer she very much expected, before moving away from the table and waiting for Maya to cling onto her like a frog. It only took a millisecond at most before she lunged forwards.

"Hey, Skittles." Elle could feel relief fill her top to bottom, the pain of her injuries gone when in the comfort of her kid. "You smell like paint—"

"Stop sniffing me!" Maya held on tighter, her face smushed up in the cotton of Elle's shoulder. "I didn't— none of us knew—"

"If I was still alive?" Elle laughed and smoothed the back of Maya's hair. "Pfft, you lot lost your faith in me." Maya didn't say much but Eleanor could feel her smile against her skin so that was all she needed to know. "Heard you have a diary called Genevieve."

Maya pulled back, "Are you shitting me—"

"Language."

"—You guys meet and that's what he tells you?" She groaned aloud. "I knew it was a mistake to write about Daryl."

"He's like a hawk... you can't even talk about the guy." She chuckled. "I'm sure he's waiting in the sewers to pop out and scare the shit out of us."

Carol cleared her throat and Maya sent a timid smile and fuck off... "He's in the fucking sewers?"

"That's why we gotta go." Carol interjected. "Mercer and his people are about to arrest Hornsby... in the sewers."

Elle let out a heavy sigh through the nose before pouting. "Where's Negan?"

"Outside waiting for us." Maya admitted. "He's keeping watch since this whole 'democracy' is actually rigged to the brim. It's like North Korea—"

"You know about North Korea?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "I do read."

"Really?" Elle mused. "Didn't even knew you had the skill to—"

"Shut up!"

"Guys," Carol cleared her throat and the two women turned to face her. "I really hate to break this up, really, but we gotta go."

"Right..." Elle looked over at the table and checked everything once over. Sorted. "Lead the way."

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