𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 ✔️- 𝑐. 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠

3: Dixon

In the past couple of hours since fleeing Atlanta, Elle had taken it upon herself to observe the camp, get familiar with the ground, and learn people's names. She learned that Rick's son was named Carl. She liked his name, she thought it suited the brown haired boy.

The sun had set, causing a cool breeze to take over as the sky's blanket. Wearing a sweater, Elle sat on the ground against a small log. There were two fires burning for cooking fish and frogs.

"Disoriented. I guess that's what comes closest." Rick said, speaking over the sound of the chirping crickets. Rick had explained to everyone, mostly his family and Shane, how he awoke from a coma after getting shot on duty, to see that the world had completely changed. He described meeting a man named Morgan, and his son, Duane, and how they helped him see the new world. "Fear, confusion, all those things but disoriented comes closest."

Feeling stray eyes on her, Elle kept her eyes on the ground as the listened, digging the toe of her shoe into the dirt she sat on. These people had no idea who she really was, and yet they judged her.

"Words can be meager things." The older man, Dale, replied, setting his mug on the ground. "Sometimes they fall short."

"It felt like I had been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from." Rick recalled his feelings of anxiety.

"Mom said you died." Carl spoke softly, looking up at his father as he laid in his lap.

"She had every reason to believe that." Rick told him.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta. And it never happened." Lori explained as she finger-combed Carl's hair.

"I'm not surprised." Rick shrugged, referring to the fallen state of the large city. "From the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out." Shane told him. Rick looked at the man on the other side of the burning fire and expressed his gratitude towards him for saving his family.

There was a moment of silence among the group, the crickets and crackling of the fire being the only sounds they could hear. Elle enjoyed the quiet as she rest her chin on her knees, trying to trap the fire's warmth. She could feel her resting heart beat in her chest as she desperately wished to fall asleep right there.

"What's your story, Elle Clarke?" Shane asked, addressing her by her full name.

"I'm flattered you remember me." She responded with a straight face. "I got out, found my way to the city and stayed put. I lived off of crackers and water until just earlier today." She explained.

"How'd you get out?" Glenn asked.

"The guards left, every man for himself, I guess." She shrugged, keeping her replies short and sweet, not liking the amount of attention she was receiving. Her eyes darted back to her shoe that had a layer of dirt coating the toe. Elle relived a lot of different memories every day— memories she wasn't very fond of.

There was a moment of silence before Shane had begun to confront a man, Ed, for making the other fire bigger. A bigger fire could be seen from a distance and potentially endanger the camp site. With a sigh, Elle looked up from the ground. She turned towards Rick and made eye contact with Carl, who laid in his father's lap still. She could see that the boy had inherited his father's bright blue eyes, instead of his mother's hazel pair. The boy gave her a small smile, to which she returned. Perhaps she could make friends with him, and with the other kids here, then she wouldn't feel so alone.