"𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞„

ten, 𝖺𝗆𝗆𝗈

tw: sexual assault attempt
1 month later

"So, do you think that, like...there's walkers wearing animal suits or something? Like when you go to Disneyland, and there's the dressed up people." Ellie says, mid conversation.

"Oh my god, I bet there is. Imagine that - death at the hands of Mickey Mouse."

They shared a laugh, which was something they had both become accustomed to within the last month.
They didn't have a certain place to call home, they made sure to move around every few days to prevent run-ins with raiders. The strategy had been working fine so far, and it was currently why they were trudging deeper into the forest.

They were fine for food and water, Ellie hunting with her bow along their recent hikes. They had decided to stick to a small stream of water, following it slightly downhill, constantly filling up their flasks with the stuff.

They each felt comfortable conversing with each other, and were starting to form a nice bond. Jane felt so safe with Ellie around, and even though they didn't have the best life - living out here, alone - she was enjoying every minute she spent with Ellie, par the sleepless nights that seemed to linger on.

The woods in the dark was so much scarier than in the daytime, the friendly green trees sprouting into a terrifyingly dark maze once the horizon changed, filled with mindless flesh-eaters and god knows what else.

Even so, Jane felt way more confident in her survival skills than she ever had before. Ellie taught her a lot about hunting, but most of her knowledge came from that first month she spent alone.

The fear slowly washed away the further they ventured,  just like the dirt from their hands when they occasionally washed them in the stream. It wasn't completely gone, because as mentioned- the nights still shook Jane. But nothing was as bad as it was at the start. One could argue that Jane was already a completely different person than she had been two months ago.

One thing that didn't change though, was the longing for her previous group. She knew she deeply missed Carl, because the wound he left in her heart was bigger than all the others. But she didn't quite realise the pain of missing everyone else would hit her so hard. Even ones she hadn't spoken much of a word to, or maybe even despised a little.

She wondered how Lizzie and mica were doing, the two younger girls of the group. She wasn't scared to admit to herself that she disliked them, but still, she would rather spend her days arguing with them than feel how she felt now.

She thought about Daryl, and their weird, unspoken love for each other. He could've been a better father than ed ever was, but that dream was long gone.
Then Maggie, the girl who felt like an aunt to her. They were always looking out for each other, her and Jane.
And, well, Glenn was always able to cheer her up, whatever the circumstances. She missed his smile, and his stupid jokes. All but her mother, who she had come to almost hate in the aftermath of it all. Of course she missed her, but her actions still almost brought angry tears to Jane's eyes whenever they crossed her mind.

But she was here now. Nothing could change that.

"Jane, look!" Ellie said, extending a pointed finger out towards a small town in the distance. They had finally met a clearing, the only catch was - one more step and they'd have plummeted to their death. They were only just teetering on the edge of a canyon wall.