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THE SUN SHONE like a cascade of lustrous tides over the farmland while Ellie inspected as life suddenly sprung back into the group as they awoke for the day. The members of the group commenced to stir in their tents if they weren't already up and about, and Ellie sat from afar, assisting Lori to cook the breakfast on the campfire with Coda sitting on her lap, basking in the serenity.
Ellie investigated as Maggie nervously sauntered out of the farmhouse with a mug of coffee in her hands, and stood above Ellie, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, before murmuring, "I made you this. A peace offering."
"What if I don't want your peace offering?" Ellie shot back, not bringing her eyes up from Coda as she babbled cheerfully on her lap. Maggie let out a sigh and nodded, and turned to walk back towards the farmhouse in defeat. Ellie caught her arm and stopped her from walking further, "You'll join us in our self-defence classes. I'm not going to babysit anymore."
"Of course," Maggie agreed, a minor smile slithering onto her face as she presented the mug of coffee to Ellie, "It's black, the way you like it."
Ellie bobbed her head in acknowledgement, and took a few sips from the mug, before she awkwardly glanced up, and tilted her head to the side, "If you don't mind, we're going to have a group discussion, soon."
As Maggie reluctantly slumped back inside the farmhouse, Glenn watched from afar, feeling his heartbeat instantly heightening against his chest as he knew Maggie uncovered his disloyalty — he understood she would no longer speak to him. He knew the moral thing to do and ultimately stood to his feet, hoisting himself slightly more elevated than the group as they stared up at him through perplexed stares.
"So," Glenn started, his cheeks flushing a fiery red shade from humiliation, "the barn is full of walkers."
"We were in the barn—"
"Not that damn barn!" Glenn clamoured, rolling his eyes at the response of the group, which was identical to Ellie's.
Shane made stunned eye contact with Ellie as she stood up to join Glenn, clasping Coda close to her in her arms. She nodded, and let out a sigh, "Unfortunately, it's true. It's the reason Hershel warned us away from the barn; he knew it was filled with them."
The group stared at one another; their eyes enlarged with dismay as they realised Hershel had lied to them upon their arrival. Shane instantly leapt up from where he had been slumping and promptly stormed towards the barn, his gun in hand. The group pursued after Shane until they halted next to the barn. With hesitancy, Shane examined the barn, peeking through the holes, and let out a gasp as he saw the walkers staggering absentmindedly.
Ellie tilted forward and assessed the tiny gap between the barricade on the barn, and lunged backwards, clasping Coda in her arms as anxiety began to creep up inside her stomach. Daryl protectively bandaged his arm around his small family, and squinted in anger up towards the farmhouse, feeling deceived by the Greene's at their lack of integrity.
