when i look at you | TWD

chapter eighteen: silence

SLEEPING IN A PRISON IS HARD. Especially when you have people talking loudly, it echoing off the walls in every direction. Ellie sighs deeply while stretching her neck, feeling it pop as she turns it to the side. Her eyes open fully and she groans as she sits up from the spot she laid on. The sunlight in her window caught her off guard, considering she fell asleep at sunset yesterday. Nevertheless, she grabbed her knife from beside her in her bag, placing it on her hip.

Ellie makes her way out of her cell, hearing slight chattering coming from down the hall. Her eyebrows come together in confusion once she see's a majority of the group holding large helmets in their hands, chatting among themselves. "Hey." She says softly, Jax being the first one to look her way, her catching his eye instantly before looking away towards the armor and helmets on the table in front of her. "Is this prison armor?"

"Yeah." Daryl says curtly, passing her a chest plate. "Here. Try it on."

Ellie gave him a questionable look before giving in, sliding it on her body perfectly, except, it didn't exactly fit perfectly as it slid a little lower than her torso, Rick and Jax chuckling at her as she frowned a bit, rolling her eyes at them.

"Here, let me help." Maggie says from across the room, making her way towards the teenager, giving the Grimes' a slight glare, making them look away and back to their guns on the table. She tightens the straps to fit Ellie's petite frame, flashing the girl a warm smile. "Much better."

Ellie smirks back at the woman, nodding in thanks. "So, where we going?"

Everyone freezes, giving Ellie a strange look.

"Well, we..." Jax points to himself, and basically everyone except for Ellie, making the girl fold her arms in disapproval. "are gonna go down to the tunnels to search for any food or supplies."

"Okay. I'm coming with." Ellie flashes a smile at Jax and Rick, who looked a little hesitant to speak on her decision.

"You got a gun?" T-dog asks, raising his eyebrows.

Ellie shakes her head, looking down to her shoes.

"Ellie." Glenn comes up beside her, handing her a small pistol, the girl taking it hesitantly. "Don't hesitate to shoot if one gets close, okay?"
Ellie nods her head quickly, blowing out a slow breath. "And this..." He trails off, handing her what looked like some sort of metal tube. "Is a silencer." He grabs the gun from her hand gently and screws it on quickly, handing it back.

She takes it in her hand, eyebrow's furrowing at its now heavier weight. "Okay, thanks." Ellie clears her throat while tucking her gun on her side, pulling her hair behind her ears. "Let's get going, shall we?"

It was a nervous twenty minutes for the group as they made their way down. Ellie was right between Daryl and Maggie, a good place to be when you're close to danger. As she walked through the tunnels, her hand remained on her knife, breathing shaky as they got close to the sound of walkers.

Rick was in front of the small group, Jax behind him, both of them with their weapons out, ready, in case something were to pop out at them. Glenn was drawing arrows on the wall with white spray paint so they know their way back towards the prison cells. Ellie inhaled shakily as she heard the sound of walkers get closer the farther she walked.

She watched as Jax slowed down to be at her speed, leaning down towards her ear. "You okay?"

Ellie looks up at him with a faded smile. "Not really." She whispers back, barely audible.

"I could hear you breathing from where I was." Jax whispers, pulling out his water bottle from his bag, handing it towards the girl. The growls of the walkers got closer and she gasps as she see's the shadows from their flashlights. Just as she goes to warn them, Rick does, making a sharp 180 turn, surprising Ellie, making her drop the open water on the floor. They all run passed her in a hurry, not realizing she was gone as they had dropped their flashlights at the shock of walkers being in front of their faces. Ellie's breathing picks up as she reaches for the bottle, picking up the cap in a hurry before proceeding to get up off the floor, feeling a large hand wrap around her arm, pulling her up from the ground.