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ELLIE COULD ONLY grip at the rough sheets of the bed, her mind plaguing her with graphic nightmares of what truly could become of Coda. Where could a small child have truly gone alone? Nowhere that would keep her safe, potentially putting her at risk every moment she wasn't in the safety of Ellie's arms. As if the very moment she announced aloud that she had been gone that her bones would wither away. The pain in her chest had been so tight that no air would surpass.
Each moment she remained separated from Coda had been a step closer to plummeting down the darkest rabbit hole that one could find. Ellie was the sole survivor of her family, entirely separated from the entangled web of their family. No matter where Ellie went, destruction was sure to follow, as it always had done since the very moment she had been born. Ellie had simply been the storm that followed danger.
"Stop blaming yourself," Glenn whispered from where he was sitting in the RV, reloading his weapons idly, with his eyes briefly observing Ellie, "It isn't your fault, El."
"I should have been with her," Ellie gritted, her chest surging and collapsing as she barely moved a muscle at his comment.
"You can't be with her every single moment of the day," Glenn scoffed at her as he strode closer, and sunk down on the bed next to her, kindly handing her a tissue, "Ellie, I know you're hurting, but we're going out to look for them. If you want to join."
Ellie propped herself up from her position, shifting her gaze to Glenn's eyes as she wiped at her face with the softness of the tissue, letting out a sniffly sigh, "My mind just keeps racing with—"
Glenn broadcasted a deep sigh of sympathy, slowly placing his hand on her shoulder in reassurance, "It's easy to fall into the habit of overthinking, but they couldn't have gone far. It's Andrea we're talking about."
Ellie chuckled softly, feigning a brief happiness that seemed to slip away as easily as it had appeared as her lips curved into a frown, "I'm so angry at Daryl," she yanked hard at the thin fabric of the hem of her shirt nervously, "Is that bad?"
Glenn shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, his eyes darting around the RV as he gulped at the intense question. He sighed once again before stating, "He was supposed to be looking after her. But, at the same time, it's not like he just left her alone."
"You're right," Ellie announced, nodding slowly at his comment as she rose to her feet, "I'm not resting until my daughter is found."
"Our," Daryl's voice gruffly stated from behind her, instantly shifting her body upward as she turned her face to stare at him. Their eyes briefly connected before Daryl averted his gaze to the ground, quietly adding, "You don't gotta say she's just yours, no more. She's ours."
