I instantly dropped to Sophia's side. Ignoring the man that lay dead not two feet away from me. I put my hands on her cheeks, now noticing the bruise that was developing on the left side of her face. "Soph? Sophia? Can you hear me?" I questioned.
"Ellie?" She muttered.
"I'm here, I'm here. I've got you." I whispered.
"Did you stop him in time?" She asked.
"Yea... Yea, I got here in time." I responded.
She nodded, a tear slipping down her face. "Thank you."
I stayed with Sophia for about twenty minutes, until she was awake and alert again. We sat on the grass, staring at the man. "Are you hurt?" I questioned.
"It stings a little. I'll be alright. I'll put concealer on it to dodge questions." Sophia responded. "For what I said-"
"Don't worry about it." I interrupted.
"No... I hurt you. What I said... I was afraid you were close to figuring something out. I said those things so you wouldn't. I didn't want to hurt you. I've been beating myself up about it all evening." Sophia started. I looked to her so she continued. "I didn't want it to be true, because my dad hated people like me. I was afraid of what people might think... I've been hanging out with Enid because I like her... I'm gay."
I just let a smile take over my face. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me."
She wiped away a tear with a smile on her face. "You don't care?"
"I'm happy for you... But, nobody's gonna care whether you're gay, straight, bisexual or whatever. We love you, Soph. Nothing will change that." I nodded.
"Can you forgive me? For what I said? Because, for the record... I love playing Barbies." She grinned.
I laughed. "Yea. I forgive you, Soph."
"Thank you."
"Don't worry, cause now you have to help me hide a body." I shrugged.
"Right, forgot about that." She clicked her tongue, looking to the bloke. "Me and you can't do it alone."
"Who do you wanna tell about what happened? If it's nobody, we can manage this." I replied.
"Carl and Enid. I don't want mum and dad to know just yet. Maybe when word about this guy's disappearance gets round I'll tell them." Sophia answered. "I'll go get them. You keep watch. Make sure nobody finds him."
We both stood up. "You sure you're okay?" I asked her.
"I thought it was gonna happen. I thought nobody would find me... It didn't happen. You found me. You always save me, El. I should've had more faith in you." Sophia smiled. "So, yea... I'm okay. As long as I got you, I'll be okay."
I shrugged. "Good thing you ain't losing me then, Hermione Granger."
"You ain't losing me either, Ron Weasley."
I'd stood guard to make sure nobody found the Harold who I happily shot between the eyes. Nobody came around so it was fine. After about twenty minutes, Sophia came back with Carl and Enid. "Took you guys long enough. Thought I'd be doing this on my own." I scoffed.
"Where's the dead guy?" Carl asked. I didn't answer as I just walked to behind the church. "There's the dead guy." Carl sighed.
"What are we gonna do with him?" Enid asked.
"Carry him outside the gates. Find a walker. Throw him to it." I responded. "Luckily, we're in the apocalypse therefore we don't have to cover up fingerprints, the murder weapon, create alibis, hide our motive, bury him six feet under or cover him in acid, bla, bla, bla."
"Yea, luckily." Sophia said sarcastically.
"Everyone's in the party so nobody's by the gates." Enid nodded.
"Okay, I'll take left arm, Enid you take right arm, Sophia you take left leg, El you take right leg. We get this done quick and nobody will see us. Don't stop, just go straight to the gates." Carl instructed.
"Sir, yes, sir." I gave him a two fingered salute.
We carried Harold's heavy body over to the gates, we unlocked it before slipping out. "We can't lock the gates from the outside. I'll stay here and make sure nothing gets in." Enid told us, dropping her leg so Carl picked it up.
"Stay alert." Both Carl and Sophia said at the same time. I looked between them and it only then dawned on me that they both have a crush on the same person. I didn't say anything though, obviously.
Me, Soph and Carl were walking in the forest. "Man, this guy's really heavy." I complained.
"Can't we just chuck him?" Carl asked.
I shook my head. "If someone finds him then it turns into a murder investigation, not a missing person investigation."
Sophia whistled a little. Not to loud, just enough to get any nearby walkers to come try to eat us. "Heads up." Soph nodded towards a walker who was slowly making its way over. We dropped Harold and backed up. The walker instantly dropped to his knees and started ripping open Harold's insides and eating him.
I sighed happily. "Problem solved."
The three of us started walking back towards Alexandria. "So, Sophia, why were you back there anyways?" Carl asked.
"Harold told me that Enid had been looking for me, to tell me she wanted to hang out with me behind the church. I believed him because I wanted to hang out with Enid. We spent so long dealing with evil creatures, I almost forgot what people were like. I was stupid, just because I wanted to hang out with her." Sophia explained.
"Are you alright though?" Carl asked her.
Sophia nodded. "Yea... My face hurts a bit, but... I'll be okay."
"If you need us to kill anyone else, we're obviously very skilled at hiding bodies as well as literally everything else we do." Carl joked, causing us all to laugh.
We got back to our houses, unseen. Me and Soph were in our room. She was sitting in front of the mirror and applying concealer to her bruise. She'd stolen it from a drug store a couple months back, but then she just ended up forgetting about it and leaving it in her bag for ages.
Suddenly, there was a knock at our door. "Come in." Soph called as she'd covered the bruise.
Dad walked in. "Hey, Ellie here?"
"Up here." I called from the top bunk, moving to sit on top of the ladder.
"Sophia, what are you doing?" Dad laughed quietly.
"Playing with make up." Sophia shrugged.
Dad nodded, raising his eyebrows slightly. "I need to talk to you girls about something."
Me and Sophia glanced at each other. Did he know?
"What did we do this time?" I made it seem like I was joking, but considering I murdered a guy and then proceeded to hide his body with three other people, I was not joking.
"Nothing." Dad shook his head, me and Soph were relieved. "Did you do something I should know of?"
"No." We answered at the same time.
"That wasn't suspicious at all." Dad muttered. "Come here, sit together would you."
I climbed down the ladder and sat on Soph's bed while she sat next to me. Dad kneeled in front of us. "I've been given a job."
Sophia smiled. "That's great! What are you gonna be doing?"
Dad sighed, biting his bottom lip slightly. "I'd be recruiting people. I'm no good in here. I'm not made for a place like this. So, I'd be going with Aaron, find more people- bring them back here. It's important work."
"How long will you be gone?" Sophia asked, sadly.
"That's the thing... It would probably be a few weeks at a time." Dad admitted.
"Oh." Sophia let out. "We'll miss you, but if it makes you happy... Then I'm glad you're doing it. As long as you come back each time."
"Course I'll come back each time. I'm superman remember." Dad grinned.
Sophia leaned forward and hugged him. "I love you, dad."
"I love you, sweetheart." He smiled softly.
Sophia sat back up and glanced at me. "I'll leave you two to it." She stood up and walked out of the room.
"Darling-" Dad started.
"Can I come with you?" I asked before he could say anything else. He sighed and shook his head. "Dad, please!"
"Baby, no, you need to be here. You have school." Dad insisted, his voice soft and sorry.
I scoffed. "You know full well I'm never going to use any of that crap."
"You still need to go." Dad tucked some of my hair behind my ear.
I untucked it just to be annoying. "I don't belong here either. You know where I grew up. This place is out of a movie compared to that. I can't do this, not without you, please, daddy."
He shook his head. "You need your family."
"I need you."
"You need your mum, Rick, Rosita, Sophia, Maggie, Glenn, Michonne-"
"I'll be fine. We'll come back every few weeks, right? Just let me come on every other trip. Please." I begged.
"I'm sorry, babe... You're staying here." Dad insisted.
"Don't go then. I know you don't like it here. Neither do I... But, we can get used to it together. Please, I'm begging you." Tears formed in my eyes.
"I have to go, angel. It's my job. You remember what Hershel used to say? We all got jobs to do." Dad let a small smile take over his face.
"Your job is to be my father." I cried.
"And that's the best job in the world... But, I have to do this. I will come back to you and Sophia every time. I promise."
I sniffed. "I don't even know why I'm begging you. It never worked in the past. Why would it now?" I asked, rhetorically. Dad looked down. "When do you leave?" I questioned.
"Day after tomorrow." Dad muttered.
I shook my head. "Rick wouldn't leave Carl like this."
"Then I guess he's a better father than I am." Dad replied quietly.
"Yea, I guess he is." I agreed. I hated myself as soon as the words left my mouth. I just couldn't help the anger that bubbled up inside me. I shouldn't have been surprised that he was leaving though, that's his thing. It just hurt, because I thought for once I was enough for him to stay. Guess I thought wrong.
