Seventeen days. Seventeen days ago, Beth died. Maggie has been.. different, nonetheless. She's been distant from everyone, even Glenn.

They've been on the road, trying to get to Noah's neighborhood, only hoping it was still standing. The place had walls, with guards, it was actually a safe place. There was no evidence that it remained that way, though.

The firetruck broke down a couple of days ago, so the group was split into a couple of cars. "Alright, we're here. We'll radio in in twenty minutes." Rick spoke over the radio.

"Copy that." Carol responded. Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Tyreese, and Noah went to the neighborhood, while everyone else stayed back. Carol and Daryl went into the nearby woods, hoping to find something to eat.

"You awake?" Jack asked Elle, who was laying down in the back of the van. She slept a lot lately, she was rarely awake. Even before the end of the world, she always used sleeping as a coping mechanism. When she would get in a fight with her parents, or if she had a bad day at school, whatever it was, she would take a nap and feel fine the next day.

"Unfortunately." Elle mumbled, turning over to face her brother.

"What are you thinking about?" Jack added, laying down next to her. She sighed, pausing before giving an answer.

"A lot," she shifted to lay comfortably, laying her head on her arm. "Beth, Cody, everyone we've lost." Jack stayed quiet. Elle let out a small cough. "I wonder if Ryder got out."

"It might be better if he didn't.. you know?" Elle nodded. It would be better. This world was cruel, taking the lives of the innocent, leaving the horrible ones to make everyone's lives miserable. So maybe, not having to deal with it at all was for the best. "Wanna go out, see if we can find anything?" He offered. With a nod, they both climbed out of the van and started looking around for anything useful.

❀❀❀

Everyone watched as Sasha shoveled dirt into the new grave. The grave of her brother, Tyreese.

The plan to stay at Noah's neighborhood was anything but a success. The place had been overrun, not by walkers, but by people. Rick said they had found a bunch of people with all their limbs cut off.

Noah's family was dead, so was Tyreese. He was bit on the arm by one of Noah's younger brothers, Michonne and Rick had removed the arm, but Tyreese bled out.

Sasha was more mad, than upset. She had lost her boyfriend, now her brother, she had nobody left. Yeah, she had the group, but her blood family, she didn't. Everyone took turns shoveling some dirt into the grave.

After Tyreese's grave was topped with his favorite black beanie, the group was back on the road. But their cars were out of gas, so they had to walk.

It was unbelievably hot, everyone's skin covered in a glistening layer of sweat. If someone had one too many layers on, they were too exhausted to take any of them off.

Elle stopped walking for a minute and leaned over, putting her hands on her knees. "You alright?" Someone asked, coming up next to her. She looked up to see Carl.

"Yeah-yeah. My legs hurt." She answered, faking a small smile. Carl dug around in the small bag he carried, and pulled out a water bottle that must've been only a third full. "No, no. We need to save it, for when we need it." Elle refused to take the water.

"You need it." He insisted. She rolled her eyes.

"You're not gonna walk away until I drink some, are you?" Carl shook his head, giving her a small smile, while holding the water bottle out. She took the bottle from him, unscrewing the cap. She looked him dead in the eyes as she took the tiniest sip, before screwing the cap back on. "You didn't say how much."

"You got me there." He chuckled, putting the bottle back in the bag. Elle couldn't bring herself to laugh. She wasn't feeling her best, but nobody was. Her stomach ached for food, which they had very little luck finding. "Okay, let's catch up with the others." He suggested, holding a hand out for her. She looked up from the road, hands still on her knees before nodding and taking a hold of his hand.

The two caught up with everyone else, realizing a small herd of walkers had slowly been growing as they followed not too far behind.

"Shouldn't we take care of that?" Daryl asked Rick, who walked right beside him, Judith strapped to his chest.

"When we're at our strongest." He answered with an emotionless tone.

The group continued to walk, exchanging no words.

❀❀❀

The herd of walkers that followed them had progressively gotten larger. Not by much, but enough where the group could here the growls behind them.

They approached a bridge, where Rick made the plan to let the walkers get close before throwing them over into the ditch beneath. Rick, Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita stayed to follow through with said plan while everyone else waited on the other side of the bridge.

Elle sat against the concrete wall that lines the bridge. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, just to sweat some more. Her stomach growled, as it yearned for even the smallest amount of food. She groaned, hugging her knees to her chest. "You alright?" Jack asked from beside her. She shook her head. It wasn't worth lying about, nobody was alright.

"I'm starving, literally. I can feel myself lose weight with every step I take." She said quietly. He rubbed her back.

"You are burning up. How many layers are you wearing?"

"Three." She let go of her legs, letting them lay straight in front of her.

"Here," Jack said, pulling the flannel off of her arms. She didn't even fight it. "Lift your arms up." He instructed. She did as she was told as he lifted the hoodie off of her body, leaving her in a tee shirt. She thanked him as she took deep breaths. She didn't exactly cool down, but her chest felt lighter.

Jack got up and put the clothing into the nearest bag. "I think it's gonna rain soon." He said looking up. Elle looked up at the sky. Clouds covered the sun, dark clouds.

"I hope it does soon, I can't handle this humidity anymore." She spoke. Not only was it hot, but it was abundantly humid like it usually is before it rains at this time of year. She closed her eyes, it felt like the insides of her eyelids were even sweating.

"Hey, let's go." Jack said, tapping her shoulder. She opened her eyes, groaning. Jack helped her up as she stumbled a bit.

"She alright?" Rick asked him. Jack only shook his head silently. The group continued their long, grueling journey to who knows where.

They eventually all stopped on the side of the road to rest under a small canopy of trees that provided very little shade at all. Daryl went off hunting while everyone else sat on the ground.

Elle sat against a tree trunk, her knees to her chest. Her eyelids felt like weights, her neck ached from holding her head up all the time, she doesn't remember the last time she got more than two hours of decent sleep. Sure, she slept whenever she had the chance, but she never slept well. She would have nightmares, or she smallest noise or slightest movement would wake her up.

She wiped the back of her neck, moving her hair as it stuck to her neck. Her hairtie snapped a while ago so she couldn't do anything to keep it off her neck. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the noises around her.

The slight noises of leaves rustling, the people around her breathing, even a small cough or sniffle every once in a while. The noise that startled her was the sudden barking. She opened her eyes to see three dogs standing before the group, barking at them.

Rick held out a hand as a sign to be cautious, but Sasha was quick to shoot all three dogs. Their whimpers were quick before they fell to the ground, silent. At least they didn't suffer. Elle thought.

I just ate a dog. Dog meat is traveling through my digestive system. Elle was still surprised by the fact that she was starving enough to eat dogs. They had collars, they were someone's pets. And she just ate them.

The rest of the group didn't like the idea of eating a domesticated house pet either, but they were dying of hunger. The small fire they burned to cook the meat had finally died out, and they took it as a sign to continue their long walk.

"Come on," Jack said helping his sister up. Elle groaned as he pulled her up by her hand, making sure she was stable enough to walk.

"I have a weird feeling." Jack spoke quietly to her so only she could hear him.

"Is it the dog meat?" She joked, giving a small smile.

"No, no. More like, a feeling of being watched." He cleared his throat. "It feels like someone has been following us, watching us. It sounds crazy, I know. Probably the heat or whatever, I just feel like I need to tell someone." Elle nodded.

"Maybe a little crazy." She smiled, holding her hand up, making a single pinching motion with her thumb and index finger. Jack let out a small chuckle, nodding slightly. "How are you doing?" She asked, clearing her throat.

"What?"

"You keep asking me how I'm doing, but I never check in on you." Elle explained.

"That's not your job." Jack shrugged.

"Oh, but it's yours?"

"Yeah. With Mom and Dad being dead, and Paul probably being dead, I'm next in line." He claimed.

"Question still stands." She ignored him.

"Could be better."

The group's feet ached. So did their backs, their shoulders, they ached all over. Elle stared at the ground as she walked, trying to make sure she wasn't going to get dizzy and trip over her own two feet. That would be embarrassing.

As she walked, she bumped into something, or someone. She looked up to see Abraham looking down at her. "Sorry." She said, embarrassing herself anyways. She looked to see why everyone had stopped walking.

There was a full case of water, just sitting in the middle of the road. But why? There was a note left on top of it that read "From a friend."

Rick was suspicious of the case. Why wouldn't he be? Maybe Jack was right, and he wasn't going crazy. Maybe there was someone watching them. Why else would there be a case of water sitting in the road without being absolutely sure someone would come across it, instead of it sitting there - going to waste?

"How do we know if it's safe to drink?" Noah asked.

"Someone could've put something in it." Carol pointed out. People nodded in agreement. It was possible.

"Well I would like to believe it is indeed, from a friend." Eugene announced as he grabbed a bottle of water from the case and opened it. Right as he was about to take a drink, Abraham knocked it out of his hand, letting it hit the ground. Elle watched as the water flowed out of the plastic bottle, and seeped into the road they stood on.

Before anyone could start arguing, the sweet sound of thunder boomed. Rain started pouring down, soaking everyone. Though, they didn't care. In fact, most of then were happy.

Tara lied down on the pavement, letting the rain soak her entire body, she was laughing. Rosita decided to join, and lied right next to her. The two women laughed together.

Michonne held out her arms, taking the moisture in. Carl used his hat to cover Judith, who he had been carrying and stuck out his tongue like a child trying to catch snowflakes. Maggie looked miserable. Glenn crouched down, wiping his face to reveal a big smile.

Elle couldn't help but smile at the sudden coolness, literally washing over her. "Everybody, get stuff out of the bags, try to catch as much water as you can." Rick instructed. People grabbed empty bottles and bowls from the bags and layed them out as they quickly filled with the rain water.

Just then, thunder sounded across the sky, but it was much louder. In the distance, were dark storm clouds, even some lightening. This was going to be a bad storm, maybe even destructive. Rick looked at it, knowing they needed to find shelter quick.

As if reading his mind, Daryl spoke up. "There's a barn!" He shouted over the loud rain.

"Where?"

Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, Sasha, Abraham, and Carol went inside the barn, making sure it was clear of walkers. Everyone else stood out in the rain.

Elle rain her fingers through her now soaked curls, trying to detangle them. "Do you have an extra hair tie?" She turned, asking Sarah. If anyone were to have an extra hair tie, it would be her. Sarah shook her head.

"Sorry, no."

"All clear." Glenn stated, opening the door to let everyone else in. People started laying blankets in corners of the barn, which smelled better than it probably did before the apocalypse. Rick and Daryl started working on making a fire to hopefully dry everyone up and make a light source for the night.

"Here, you might want this, to warm up." Carl said, holding her hoodie as he sat next to her. She nodded and thanked him. She didn't want to put it on until her shirt finished drying though. "Do you think that there's anything out there?" He asked. Elle raised an eyebrow at the burnette boy.

"To be honest, yes. But I don't think it'll be worth it." She answered honestly.

"What do you mean?"

"I think there are other groups of people out there. I do, we can't be the only ones left. But I think there are no good people left. They're probably groups like Terminus or Woodbury." She said, playing with her fingers. Carl nodded, understanding where she was coming from. She looked up at him, scanning his features. There was no doubt he looked different than he did at the prison.

"I like your hair like that." She smiled. His burnett hair was darker and reached just the bottom of his neck. Elle couldn't see it, but Carl cheeks turned a little pink.

"Thanks," he smiled. "I uh.. I like yours too?" The two laughed knowing that Elle's hair looked practically the same as it always has, perhaps a bit lighter considering she's been getting so much sun lately.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Carl and Elle talked for a bit before Carl decided he needed to get some sleep, as it was dark out.

Elle sat awake, listening to the storm outside and the small group of people gathered around the fire. Rick was telling a story about his grandfather who fought in a war. Elle wasn't sure which one, as she wasn't paying close attention, just overhearing. She decided to pull her sweater on and walk over to join them.

"He would tell himself, 'Rest in peace, now get up, and go to war.' " Rick finished.

"Couldn't sleep?" Glenn asked, making heads turn towards Elle. She shook her head.

"It's funny, 'cause I'm so tired." She stated,  sitting next to him. "My whole body aches." She groaned. People nodded, agreeing with her. Rick continued to talk, Elle blocked it out figuring he was giving some sort of motivational speech.

"Hey I found this," Glenn whispered, revealing a hair tie on his wrist. Elle smiled at him. "here." He said, moving so he was sitting behind her.

He gently pulled her hair back, tying it into a bun. It looked messy, considering they had no way of making it look nice. They didn't have combs, and Elle didn't exactly have hair that would cooperate. She thanked him as she leaned back so she rested her head on his chest while sitting between his legs. Glenn wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.

Elle found the sound of thunder soothing, as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Elle slowly opened her eyes and heard all kinds of noises. The thunder had become much louder, there were loud sounds outside that sounded like something was snapping, and there was a banging noise coming from the doors. Elle looked to see she was laying on the ground with a blanket over her, not in Glenn's arm like she had fallen asleep. She sat up, wiping her forehead and saw people running towards the doors, it looked as if they were trying to keep them closed.

Then she heard the growls. She quickly got up on her feet, running towards the door. She pressed her back against it, anchoring her shoes in the mud. Sarah was doing the same thing on her left, while Carl on her right was using his hands instead of his back. At this point, everyone was trying to keep the doors closed, as the walkers kept trying to get in. 

Elle's feet started to slip, making her back slide down the wooden door. Carl reached back and pulled on her sleeve to help her back up. She held her breath as she pushed back as hard as she could on the door. Everyone was pushing as hard as they possibly could. 

Thunder boomed, lightening flashed, walkers growled. So much was happening in so little time. 

"Hey," a voice spoke softly. Elle woke up to someone shaking her lightly. She rolled over to see Jack. "Maggie and Sasha went out, you're the last to wake up." He explained briefly. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, a yawn following.

She slept surprisingly well lastnight, yet still didn't feel too well rested. She has accepted the fact that no amount of sleep will satisfy her.

Jack held out a hand to help her up, but she shook her head, insisting that she get up herself. She did manage to stand on her own, but her legs ached even more.

"Elle," Rick called, she looked up at the man who was on the other side of the barn. He waved her over as he held Judith on his hip. Elle made her way over to him, stepping over people's stuff. "Glad to see you're awake, how'd you sleep?" He asked, he wore a concerned look on his face.

"I slept." She shrugged. That was all that mattered. He nodded, giving her a small smile. "Can you help Sarah and Carl take the wooden panels of the walls? We're going to make a fire incase Daryl finds something for us to eat." Rick asked.

"Yeah, of course." She smiled, wiping her hands on her pants. He set on a hand in her shoulder as a 'thank you' before turning around to continue whatever it was he was doing.

Elle made her way over to Sarah, who looked to be struggling. She crouched down on one knee and grasped the wood as she pulled. The sound of the wood splitting filled her ears as it was removed from the wall. "Thanks," Sarah said. Elle looked at her. When Sarah moved her head, her hair moved from her shoulder, revealing a weird stain on the back of her shoulder.

"Is your shoulder bleeding?" Elle asked. Sarah shook her head.

"I scratched myself on the door lastnight, I started to slip and there must've been a splinter in the wood or something." She explained as she moved on to another wooden panel.

"Oh," Elle replied. "Maybe you could have Rosita look at it, so it doesn't get infected." She suggested. Sarah nodded and said she would later.

The barn doors opened and more people walked in than those who left. Maggie and Sasha returned with a stranger. "Guys," Maggie started, as she stepped inside. "This is Aaron."

_____________________

Look who updated

this was a little longer, at least i think it was. On a completely unrelated note: women>

please leave feedback/predictions because i read every comment i receive even if it's on older chapters ! :)

i am officially on summer break, yay. so maybe? i'll start to update regularly again.