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ELLIE HAD NEVER truly wanted to take the world seriously. Even when motherhood had been thrust upon her, she had never really released her grip on infantile fantasy. Humour had been hard to come by. When food and shelter were nothing but a pipe dream, how else could one be expected to laugh? But not Ellie.
She had been unlike no other. Innocent and humorous, even when it was likely to land her in hot water. Unable to conceal joy; unable to be serious. Ellie had still been a teenager, through and through. And Glenn Rhee had been the perfect survival partner.
Each adult commenced their battle as they drunkenly toppled against one another, flailing their drunken limbs, spouting idle giggles. They each endeavoured to thrust into the small bathroom, overwhelmed with the urge of hygiene. But before she could make it, an unknown entity barrelled her to the cot, thumping loudly beside her through a fit of drunken giggles. Glenn.
Through their bouts of laughter, they tactfully sat together on the cot, reliving haunting memories of bittersweet faces to never been seen again. Each hand held a quivering memory in the shape of a half-drunken wine bottle — only one to share between them. Yet, somehow, even in the unbalance of bitter nostalgia, it had simply been bliss.
The blonde sloppily leaned closer, narrowing her eyes as she questioned, "Did you like your life? Before all of this, I mean."
The man unevenly nodded, drunkenly removing his cap to further huddle deeper into the softness of the cot, before he awkwardly replied, "I was stuck in a dead-end job, but I was trying to make my way in the world, ya know? Just gettin' through the only way I knew how."
Ellie released a gentle chuckle of understanding, nodding at him briefly as she contended, "I totally get you. But, I liked my job. I met some pretty fucked up people, but it was so rewarding."
Glenn cleared his throat and shuffled awkwardly closer to the woman, drunkenly gazing around the room as he muttered, "Is that how you met Daryl? You just... don't seem the likeliest of couples."
Ellie scowled and shook her head at the typical, offensive stereotype, "He wasn't a criminal like that — I worked with real criminals; murderers, rapists. You name it; I've seen it. That wasn't Daryl," Ellie announced firmly, "I met him at a party. I was too young to be there, and he knew it. He wanted to take me home, back to my mom. He knew she ran the local church."
"And he just let you stay?" the question rolled from the tip of Glenn's drunken tongue, the same very moment a smile of longing curled at his lips.
Ellie's body gently vibrated against her own laughter, snorting slightly from her intoxication as she explained, "No way! Daryl hated me. But then I think he found me cute, because I had never been to a party like that before. We didn't see each other for a while, until I saw him again in a bar, probably six months later, and then spent every day together. I think we loved each other more because we weren't supposed to."
