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HAVING SEARCHED TO no avail, Ellie knew it would have been mere insanity to repeat her same actions, expecting a different outcome. Instead, she stiffened her quivering upper lip, plastering a feigned faith on her face as the sun rose in the sky; its rays weaving light between clouds. A beautiful morning for a sorrowful day. Already, the bitter disappointment of running out of search routes had been blinding the view of beauty. Although Daryl had sent them both to sleep back at the camp, Ellie had never managed to drift off—a head swimming with endless, ceaseless images of decay and death.
Knowing that sleep would never come, Ellie rubbed at her tired eyes with shaky hands, and let out a sigh, glancing down at her daughter as she slept peacefully. She planted a kiss on her daughter's head, and then planted one on Daryl's cheek; they each had been the very things that remained consistent through the Hell they had endured. Perfection amidst the chaos. Her legs crawled idly outside of the tent, still on her hands and knees as Ellie gasped—a sudden, darkened shadow swimming past the test.
With trembling fingers, Ellie used her free hand—the other occupied by a gun—to slowly crawl with stealth out at the tent; the sun's bright rays greeting her as it began to climb in the sky. The shadow moved once again, resulting in Ellie jumping from fear as she spun around, and discovered the unknown figure crouching nearby.
The figure spotted Ellie, and dropped something from its hand as it began to move further away, causing Ellie to leap forward, her knife raised in the air, only for the figure to be revealed as Lori. Ellie gasped as she leaned down to pick up the object that Lori had dropped, and gasped as she realised it had been a positive pregnancy test. All she could do was gulp down her concern, stuffing the pregnancy test in her pocket as Lori approached with caution.
Anxious eyes narrowed as Ellie mumbled, "What the hell are you doing out here?"
Lori's eyes widened, caught in the act. She gulped before anxiously laughing, "What do you mean?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about, Lori," Ellie muttered, delving deep into her pocket to retrieve the pregnancy test, and shakily held it out.
A thunderclap jolted Lori into panic, her eyes watering suddenly as she choked out, "It's positive?"
"You... didn't know?" Ellie asked quietly, suddenly horrified for the woman standing before her.
Lori's head could only frantically shake, her lips quivering as she held back a surge of a sob. Ellie's hands couldn't help but envelop the woman, holding her close as she whispered, "It's going to be okay."
"I–I don't know what to do," Lori finally sobbed, releasing the terror residing within her chest at the concept she had been faced with.
Something about Lori's words had been poignant. Ellie's eyes narrowed, slowly peering down to Lori's horrified expression and the trembles attacking her limbs. There had been only one answer to the empty space in the conclusion.
