A/N: at the end of every chapter, I always leave little notes. Please read this chapters ending notes, as there is some exciting news!! Okay, read now :)

"You found all of this?" Beth asked, just as amazed Elle was when they first found all the guns.

"Yeah." Rick answered. Elle noticed something was off with the man, like he was hiding something. She didn't bring it up, as it wasn't her place to do so, but she wanted to know what was going on. She was tired, so maybe it was all in her head? Probably not, but she could use a nap.

"I'm gonna go take a nap." She announced as everyone was checking out the guns.

"You okay?" Sky asked. Elle nodded.

"Just exhausted." She answered, walking out of the room. She slowly made her way up the steps, and into her cell before throwing herself down on the bed. She covered up with the blanket, as it was slowly growing into winter and getting colder. She positioned her body comfortably before letting herself go to sleep.

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She must've been asleep for a lot longer than she intended because someone had to wake her up. She woke up to someone shaking her and turned to see Beth looking down at her. "What's happening?" Elle asked as she sat up.

"Michonne and Merle went missing." Beth said quickly, causing the young teenager to quickly make her way down the stairs and into the meeting room.

"No, you can't track for shit," Daryl told Rick. It was true. "I'll go after him, you guys stay back and prepare." She learned that the Governor never said he wanted the prison, he wanted Michonne and Rick didn't want to do that. So Merle took it upon himself to take Michonne to the Governor. Nobody knows how long they've been gone, so there's no telling how far they made it to Woodbury.

"I'll go with." Elle offered. "Two trackers is better than one. I only learned from the best." She added, looking at Daryl when she said the last part. He looked to Jack.

"I have no problem with it." Jack agreed. Elle grabbed her gun off the table as they made their way out quickly. They opened the metal door and made their way over to the vehicles. Daryl quickly got his bike.

"Hop on." He said.

"Oh are we using the bike..?"

"Are you scared?"

"Yeah, yeah a little bit." He stared at the girl. "The car might be easier for when we find them." She suggested. Daryl nodded, knowing she was right. She quickly walked over to the watch tower and grabbed the keys and tossed them to him. He caught them and quickly started the car as Elle hopped in the passenger seat. The car engine started and Maggie and Carol opened the gates.

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The drive was quiet for a while. But Daryl broke the silence. "Why'd you really come? I would've been just fine on my own and you know that." He asked.

"I needed to get away from that place. It's tense and stressful." She explained. It might be the end of the world, or if you're cheesy, the beginning of a new one, but she was still a teenager. All teenagers crack when their stressed and the environment is too tense. So she needed to get away. They continued to drive, following the route that Merle Dixon would've taken.

They saw that the tire marks turned at a small motel. "Must've walked from here." Elle observed, getting out of the car, as did Daryl. He looked around as well. He shook his head.

"There's only one set of foot prints." She pointed. Elle walked over to his side and looked at them. They were slim and walked straight.

"Michonne." She said. He looked at her, questioning why she thought it was Michonne. "The shape of the foot and the trail. Merel can't walk straight because he's always high or drunk. Michonne is strict with her body shape and doesn't do any of that stuff, so her steps are always straight and precise."

"You got all that from a footprint?"

"Can't keep up Mr. Dixon?" Elle joked. She jogged, following the footprints. Daryl following closely.

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After a while of jogging, Elle took a moment to catch her breath. "Oh, can't keep up Miss Clarke?" Daryl mocked. She scoffed.

"You're a grown adult. I'm a child." She said as he slowed to match her pace. The foot prints kept going. There were a few walker trails every once in a while, but they never made it very far. It was obvious because not only did the tracks stop, there was a dead body at the end of each trail. Their heads cut off with a clean cut, by a katana. They saw a figure walking in the distance. Michonne. They ran to catch up with her.

"Where's Merle?" Daryl asked.

"He let me go and kept going." Michonne answered. After a minute or two of talking, Michonne started back for the prison while the two continued for Merle. He was going to go to where Rick sat with the Governor. Because that's where the Governor said he wanted the trade to occur. They should be there by now, or gone. But they don't have Michonne, so how will that end? Elle pushed these invading thoughts to the back if her head as they approached their destination.

It was quiet. But busy. Dead bodies littered the surrounding grass as walkers chewed on them. These were the Governor's people. Daryl held a hand out in front of the girl. "Stay here and keep watch, I'm going around back." Daryl instructed. She nodded, not wanting to have to argue about where on the perimeter she would stand because that's not worth arguing over. She pulled her gun out, keeping an eye out for anything.

Michonne wasn't given to the Governor, so now the war was inevitable. They have guns now, and they know how to use most of them, but they definitely do not have the numbers. When Andrea visited, she informed the group that Woodbury was training kids not much older than Elle and Carl. That only increased the size of their 'army'. They might be strong, but Rick's group was smart. Who will win a battle with those defences? Guess they'll have to find out. This was kind of scary to think about. An actual war. Gunfire, bombs, death. People will be dying and you can't save them. Hopefully Rick comes up with a plan to keep any of the group from dying. Elle was interrupted from her thoughts by Daryl yelling. Elle, panicked, ran around to where Daryl was.

She saw what was happening only to realize, it wasn't a yell. It was a cry. Nothing makes Daryl Dixon cry. Except people he cares about dying. The proof was right in front of the girl's eyes, as Merle's undead body only got closer to Daryl. Daryl shoved the walker several times, for it only to keep getting back up. Daryl eventually stabbed Merle. Elle's eyes started welling up too.

Not only did it hurt to see her friend suffering, Merle wasn't too bad of a person. He just had a shit personality. Everything he did, was to stay loyal. He let Michonne go and killed all of the Governor's men, for Daryl. Daryl dropped to his knees, sobs racking his body. Elle came up behind him, and layed a hand on his shoulder, letting the tears fall. He grabbed his knife and started stabbing Merle's face until it was unrecognizable.

"Daryl, Daryl!" Elle cried for him to stop, now on her knees. He sat there, crying, knowing that his brother was gone for real this time. There's no rooftop for him to escape from. His sobs filled Elle's ear and she didn't know how to help him, so she hugged him. She wrapped his arms around his torso, expecting him to push her away. But he didn't. He accepted it.

The two sat there, crying, hugging each other.

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tell me why I cried writing this. It's not even that good lmao. Anyways...

If you enjoyed the little Elle and Daryl bonding, especially the scene at the end 🥺, you should check out my new book!

It's called Scars and can be found on my profile!!

Now I will sleep because I have school tomorrow and I'm incapable of publishing at an appropriate time