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CLAMPING TEETH AND chattering jaws from walkers had been the only noise to hear throughout the entirety of the still courtyard in the morning. Ellie was on duty as she stood around the fences, clearing out the patches of walkers piling up as they attempted to push the fence down and enter the prison. With only a rather thin stick to aid her, Ellie continuously plunged the stick through the softened skulls of the walkers. Absent-mindedly and diligently, Ellie continued with her task, although her mind couldn't help but wander far from her current position.
Her body eventually stopped as her heart raced heavier and heavier; the defeating sound of death lingered heavily around her. It was hard not to feel hopeless when the environment belonged to decay. Ellie involuntarily sunk to her knees, and continued to think deeply, which in turn, allowed the walkers to overflow above her. She couldn't help but ponder the idea of the walkers once being people — owning their own lives, working their dream jobs, having families and owning homes. It all seemed like a joke when they had been reanimated from the release of death, only to be turned into an endlessly hungry creature. It was the worse fate imaginable, to Ellie.
They were people. Mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, grandparents; they were all people with lives once, whose opportunities were stolen so that the group could survive. If they hadn't stolen certain supplies, nor killed certain people, then others could've thrived the same way. Ellie felt entirely responsible for the deaths she had caused, and there wasn't anything she could of it. She simply allowed hot tears to trail down her cheeks and she finally managed to stand up once again.
Through clouded eyes, she continued to plunge the stick deep into the skulls of the walkers, and continued with her duty.
>>>
"What was that about?" Carl whispered to Ellie as they sat around a small dinner table together, eating a small bowl of dry cereal they had discovered. "The walkers," Carl hissed, nudging her arm gently, "you know what I'm talking about."
Ellie sighed, and pinched at the bridge of her nose as a headache began to form, "I was letting off some steam."
"You don't seem alright, El," Carl commented, shaking his head as he stuffed some dry cereal into his small mouth.
"He's right," Glenn's voice echoed through the dining area as he entered, joining in the conversation with a concerned smile, "you're not the same, right now."
Ellie shook her head and groaned, "I'm just stressed out. Which part of taking this prison has gone well? We almost lost Hershel, we've got a myriad of pathetic inmates surrounding us, and an influx of walkers trying to tear down the fences! Tell me if any of that is alright!"
Glenn sighed as he sat down next to the woman as he observed her eyes blinking away tears. He gestured for Carl to leave the room, allowing Rick to enter in his place, only to stop as he noticed Ellie sitting down. He had observed the situation to be emotional due to Glenn's reassuring hand rubbing circles on her back, as she buried her face in her sweaty palms.
