TW: mentions of blood, lots of mentions of blood...

Elle's eyes fluttered open, the morning sun casting it's orange glow upon her face and eyes, causing them to burn slightly. She squinted at the sudden light and rolled over to see she was the last one to wake up, per usual.

"Well, good morning." Cody greeted with a weak smile on his face. She furrowed her brows at him.

"Shut up." She groaned. Everybody knew that Elle was not a morning person and that her least favorite time of the day was waking up. "Where's Hershel?" She asked, noticing the one legged man to not be in sight. She hoped he wasn't following through with his idea of going into Cell Block A.

"Council meeting." Ryder said, looking up from his comic.

"And you didn't wake me up?!" She panicked, struggling to get out of the blankets.

"Cody told me not to." Ryder blamed. Elle looked at her older brother like he was crazy.

"You're mean when someone wakes you up." Cody shrugged. Elle rolled her eyes and put her shoes on, wearing the same jeans, flannel, and Ryder's tshirt from the previous day. She threw her hair in a messy bun as she ran out the door. She ran down every hallway, taking every turn, until she met the exit.

Shoving the door open, Elle ran across the pavement that lead to the prison's main building. She pulled back the metal door as fast as she could before yanking it shut again. If there was an Olympic event for opening and closing big, metal doors, Elle gets the gold, silver and bronze. She ran through Cell Block C, seeing some people greet her. She only waved as she ran past them. There was no time to stop and chat.

Now, running through the hallways they called the 'tombs', she made sharp turns around each corner until she reached the library. Again, she shoved the door open and ran past the shelves full of books to the back. She sat down in her chair and caught her breath.

"Where were you?" Michonne asked.

"Sleeping. Anyways I'm here now, what'd I miss?" Elle asked, looking to Hershel. He had explained, briefly, how they were going to fight the sickness. They had learned that it wasn't the illness itself that kills you, it's how your body handles the symptoms. Hershel had given some locations as to where they could find the needed medication. It was a veterinarian office. Hershel says they should have the exact medicine they needed. Nobody questioned his decision, because after all, Hershel was a veterinarian before the turn. But, now he was everyone's doctor after seeing how skilled he was digging a bullet out of Elle.

"I'll go with him." Michonne volunteered to go on the supply run with Daryl.

"Daryl was exposed to the sickness, so you sitting in a hot car with him-" Hershel interjected.

"He's already given me fleas." Michonne joked, causing chuckles to arouse from everyone at the table. Glenn seemed to choke on it a little, but played it off as he was clearing his throat. Elle glanced at him, worried. He just shook his head as if to tell her he was just fine. But something in Elle's gut told her that he wasn't just fine. She could be mistaken though, it was the time of year when spring is transitioning into summer, which can cause allergies.

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"I'm gonna go get some things, I'll be back." Hershel announced. The three kids looking up at him as a sign that they heard him before resuming their comics. He walked out the door on his fake leg. The leg wasn't anything more than a peg, but it was better than crutches.

"What happened to Mom and Dad?" Elle asked all of a sudden. She was even a little surprised by the words that came out of her own mouth. Cody looked up and met her eyes. "I never found out." She said quietly. Cody shook his head slightly, and took a sharp breath.

"Dad went on a run, never came home. Mom went looking for him after two days, told us to stay back, she never made it home either." He practically whispered. Elle just looked down. Yeah, she never had the best relationship with her parents, but when they did spend time together outside of work and sports, it was nice. As if the conversation never happened, the room was silent again as the kids focused on whatever it was that was keeping them busy. Nobody talked, nobody looked at eachother, nobody moved. The dead silence was almost too loud and uncomfortable. Ryder decided that was enough.

"I'm going to the bathroom." He said, standing up.

"Don't forget to cover your mouth." She reminded. He brought his shirt up to cover his mouth an nose before exiting. Elle turned away from the door and to her brother. She took a breath in before speaking once again. "Remember when we used the roof to jump off the trampoline?" She asked, smiling at the old memory. Cody looked up, with a small smile as well.

"Yeah. It was fun until I broke my arm." He chuckled, wiping his forehead.

"We warned you not to try so many flips in one go." She threw up her arms, referring to Jack, Paul, and herself.

"It was cool though! Until I landed."

"It was pretty cool." She smiled. The two haven't done this a very long time; genuinely talking about life before. Laughing about life before.

"Remember that one time Jack tried to pull pizza out of the oven?" Cody started.

"And he forgot the oven mit!" Elle started laughing again.

"And he screamed so loud, the neighbors came over to see if everything was okay!" Cody said, barely getting the last part out because he was laughing do hard. The two sat there, laughing at their brother, when the fun situation was turned into a serious one. Cody wasn't laughing anymore, he was coughing. He couldn't stop.

"Cody- Cody. Breathe." Elle said, holding his shoulders up. He couldn't stop coughing, they only got worse. "Breathe, Cody. Breathe." She instructed. She kept saying that until a warm liquid sprayed her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping whatever that was didn't get in them. She opened her eyes to see blood running down Cody's chin. "Oh my god." She panicked.

The blonde boy fell to his side, blood coming up with every cough. "Cody!" Elle panicked, tears streaming down her face. "Help! Carl! Ryder!" Elle yelled for someone. Only a moment later, Beth came into the room, wondering what all the noise was for.

"Elle, what's happening?" She asked, then saw why Elle was crying. "I'm gonna go get someone." Beth said as she hurried off. Elle only nodded before turning back to her brother. His eyes looked fogged, like his vision was blurring.

"Cody, stay with me." She pleaded, tears still running. There was a small puddle of blood surrounding the boy's face, some of it dying his blonde hair a crimson color. Elle was patting his back, hoping that would help in some way. Beth was back in a minute with their leader, Rick Grimes. "Please help him." Elle cried. Rick quickly walked over to the now unconscious boy and picked him up bridal style before hurrying him to A block. Elle couldn't help but follow him.

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"Okay, I'm back..." Ryder trailed off when he noticed nobody else in the room. "But you're not." He mumbled. He looked around and his eyes landed on the puddle of blood on the floor. His eyes widened.

"Carol!" Rick yelled, warning the older woman that he had another victim unfortunate enough to catch this sickness. Elle and Rick turned to corner, to meet the metal door that separated them from all the sick people. Rick ran inside when Carol opened the door. Elle tried to go in after him, but was stopped.

"You can't go in there." Carol spoke softly. Elle did the opposite.

"I've already been exposed! Please, Carol!" She pleaded. Someone, hearing the girl's cries for mercy, looked around the corner to see what was going on. That person caught Elle's attention. "Glenn?!" How come nobody told her that Glenn was put in A block? Why did she have to find out like this; her brother choking on his own blood? She tried to go back in, Carol still preventing her from doing so. "Please." She cried. Carol gave her sad eyes, the girl knew she had lost. There was no changing Carol's mind. Elle just looked into the cell block as Rick carried her brother into a cell, and she couldn't be with him.

About a minute later, Rick came back out and walked over to the girl. She looked up at him, waiting for an answer as to what was happening. "Hershel and Doctor S will do their best." He said, releasing a heavy sigh. Elle ran her fingers through her hair out of stress. "Follow me." He said, she listened and followed him down the hallways that lead them away further and further from her brother and the rest of the sick people.

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They entered Cell Block C and saw Hershel with Carl. Hershel had a bag, full of who knows what, and Carl was holstering his gun. Carl looked at his bestfriend, blood on her face and shirt, tears streaming down her face. Rick walked up to his son the same moment Jack walked into the room, also wondering why the girl was showing such emotions. She turned to her older brother.

"Co-Cody, he's sick. He's sick. He has it." She said quietly, trying to hold the tears in. His look softened before hugging his sister.

"Please, stay with her." Rick whispered to the boy who started wearing his hat again.

"But what about her being exposed?" Carl worried.

"She hasn't gotten sick and she's been trapped in a room with Cody, who was just choking on his own blood not even ten minutes ago. Stay with her." Rick set a hand on his son's shoulder. Carl looked up at him, their bright blue eyes locking, before nodding.

Elle and Jack pulled away from their hug, because Rick and Jack had work to get done, leaving the two kids. Elle turned her body towards her friend, seeing his expression of sympathy. "Come here." He said quietly, almost silent. She walked towards him, and the second their bodies made contact in the form of a hug, Elle's body racked with sobs again. Carl didn't care that the girl's tears were wetting his shoulder, he didn't care that the girl everyone knew as tough was showing these emotions. He just wanted to help her in any way possible, even if that risked the two of them getting sick as well.

"I don't know what to do." Elle cried.

"Hershel is gonna help him. That's why we were outside, getting berries for some tea that should help everyone in there." Carl said, trying to sooth the girl as he rubbed her back. "Let's go sit outside. It's nice out." He suggested. The girl nodded, pulling away from the hug as she wiped her tears, only smearing the blood on her face.

Carl took ahold of her hand and they walked outside together. When they opened the door, they were greeted by Ryder and Sky. "Here they are." Sky said, out of breath. They both were.

"Room was empty when I came back. There was blood on the floor." Ryder said, breathing heavily. He looked the blonde up and down to see she had blood on her, or Ryder's, shirt. "You okay?" He asked.

"I am. Cody's not." She said, her eyes filling with tears again. She refused to let them fall.

"He got the sickness. My dad said he was choking on his blood." Carl told the two quietly. They both now had sad looks in their brown eyes. Elle quickly wiped her eyes because no matter how hard she tried, the tears were going to fall. Carl squeezed her hand lightly, as a signal of reassurance. Why was she crying so much? She had nothing to worry about. Hershel is an amazing doctor, he dug a bullet out of her abdoman and was awake for part of it. She still stands here to this day because of Hershel. He could do the same for Cody and everyone else in the cell block.

"You guys should get back to quarantine." Elle said, her voice cracking subtlety. They nodded and started making their way back from where they came running from. Carl lead Elle to one of the guard towers. As they walked over, they kept there hands intertwined.

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The two now sat atop the guard tower, viewing the whole field. They could see Rick and James working on the crops. Their feet hung off of the ledge, almost 150 feet up in the air. The slight breeze was calming, the birds chirping, a mosquito would swarm them every few minutes. They didn't talk, just sat there.
Side by side, hands together, swinging their legs slightly.

Carl shifted around, getting more comfortable. He found himself sitting closer to Elle, but she didn't seem to mind, so he stayed put. He looked over at his friend to see her eyes were glossy. They were tearing up again. "Hey," he said calmly. She looked over at him. "He's gonna be just fine." He tried reassuring her.

"I know, I know." She sighed, blinking the tears away. Carl didn't know what to do, so he did something that they used to do at the farm. He took the hat off of his head and set it on hers. She gave him a small smile as she readjusted it so it wouldn't fall off. "You can have it for a while." Carl chuckled.

"Can I keep it forever and ever?" Elle joked, flashing her perfect teeth. Carl turned away, trying to hide the small blush rising in his cheeks.

"No, it's still ours to share."

"But what if something happens and we get separated?" Elle asked, in less of a joking manner.

"I won't let that happen."

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Hi, its midnight lol. This chapter sucks :)

Anyways, leave thoughts and predictions in the comments because I read all the comments. Also, did you realize the last few lines were the lines on the cover of the book ;)

Love you all <3

It almost Christmas btw✨