𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

52: Sudden

The familiar sound rang through the room. The growls, snarls, snapping of teeth; it woke some people up, sending them into panic mode.

The, now dead, Sarah reached up at Elle, trying to grab her. Elle didn't hesitate to drive the kitchen knife through the burnett's skull, silencing her for good, blood flying at her as she pulled the knife out.

She turned to face her companions, who watched the whole four second event. "She turned."

Everyone was awake, deciding what to do next. How would Deanna, or anyone, react to being told someone in a group full of killers died? Who would they suspect; not trust? The answer was obvious, which is why everyone had to think hard to decide what their next move was.

Elle sat on the couch, facing the body that now had a blanket draped over it. She couldn't help but think about the fact that her suspicions could be correct. Carl saw this in her, and walked over to her.

"How are you doing?" He asked, taking the seat next to her on the couch. Not moving her eyes from the body, Elle shrugged. She didn't know how she felt. Sarah was dead, but she didn't feel bad. She didn't like the girl, which probably wouldn't help her case.

But was she glad? There was no doubt that question would live in her head until she could give a definite answer.

"I don't know." She finally spoke.

"How do you think it happened?" Rick asked the rest of the group as they stood around the kitchen and living room.

"I have an idea," Elle answered, looking up and meeting the bright blue eyes of their leader. She earned some looks of curiosity.

"What are you talking about?" He asked the question everyone was thinking. Pushing herself off of the couch, Elle walked over to the girl, peeling the blanket away. Everyone watched intently as she rolled Sarah on her side, pushing her hair away.

"There's a mark on her shoulder. I pointed it out to her and she said it was from a splinter on the barn door. So either she was telling the truth and it got infected even after she said she would have Rosita check it out, or a walker scratched her and she was too much of a coward to say anything." She explained, pointing at the cut that was oozing. "To be completely honest, it was probably the second one." She dropped the body, and stood up, wiping her hands on her pants.

Rosita now walked up to the body, moving it once more to observe the wound. She herself now stood up, wiping her hands. "That was certainly no splinter."

"Case closed. Can I go back to sleep now?" Elle crossed her arms.

"We still have to figure out how it is we explain one less group member, and how to dispose of the body." Michonne turned down her request.

She huffed, sitting back down on the couch, knowing she wasn't going to be getting any sleep that night.

"How about we just tell them the truth?" Glenn suggested with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice as he was the only one who thought of doing the obvious. "She got scratched, didn't tell anyone, and turned. Then Elle, who was awake, saw and took care of it." A majority of the group nodded, those who didn't were on the verge of falling asleep.

It was almost five in the morning. Crickets had stopped chirping, the birds were just getting started.

Elle's head resting on her hand as she sat at the kitchen island, where everyone else stood or sat around as well.

She could feel herself drifting... drifting... then she felt her head smack the cold, hard surface of the counter. She groaned while others chuckled at her actions. Her hand had slipped from her cheek, sending her face first into the granite.