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CODA HAD ALWAYS been a curious child, ever since she had learned to talk. She was inquisitive enough to push boundaries, and since the very day learned to talk, she always had a topic at hand. She had been renowned in her school and her family for her endless flow of queries, but it simply proved to Ellie how gifted she indeed was. A precocious child — Coda had always been emotionally intelligent beyond her years, and Ellie attributed it to her intelligence. The two were a mirror image of one another.
After Lori's tragic demise, Coda found herself concealed deep in a vast void of questions, powerless to express the questions that plagued her soul. She remained silent, refusing to speak to anyone other than Bradley, leaving both Daryl and Ellie astonished by her behaviour. It didn't take long for Ellie to piece the mystery together, applying her substantial psychological background to the matter at hand. Her daughter had been suffering from trauma, and she didn't even know it.
Ellie had pledged to herself on that crisp morning, to protect her daughter eternally, regardless of the cost. Herself and Glenn had been active scheduling a small run to grab more weapons to arm the prison, leaving Ellie to pack requisites and Glenn to map out the route. Coda sat patiently at her side, observing intently as Ellie packed the crucial rations into a duffel bag. Ellie raised her eyebrow at her daughter, smirking scarcely.
"You good?" Ellie queried, despite already knowing the explanation to her behaviour.
"I like watching," Coda stated, gesturing for Ellie to proceed packing the bags. She then clasped at a clump of ropes, and placed it in the bag, "I want to be like you one day, Mommy."
Ellie's eyes instantly softened as she peered down at her innocuous daughter. She simply couldn't help the grin that plastered on her face as she gazed down at her child with pride. To Ellie, it had been confirmation that she had made it, and Coda was going to be alright.
"You will be," Ellie replied, swallowing down the lump that formed in her throat. She bowed down, and tapped at Coda's nose, "You're going to be a strong, brave warrior, like your daddy."
Coda merely laughed in response, shaking her head, "But, I want to be like you. Because you're a princess and a warrior. I'd like to be both, if that's okay."
Ellie grinned once again, allowing the smile to stretch from ear to ear as she lifted her daughter's chin up to reveal her beautiful face, "You can be whatever you want to be, sweetie. You'll be the best princess-warrior Georgia has ever known."
Coda flashed a grateful smile, before she continued to aid her mother with the packing of the bags. She glanced over at Carl as he sat quietly by his lonesome, prodding the dusty floor with a long twig he'd discovered in the courtyard. His entire life had lost its meaning, he'd lost his mother and the person who had breathed life into him. He had nothing that was keeping him going, except for the small bundle in the crib next to him, who was sleeping peacefully. Ellie raised her eyebrow at the young boy, and held out a protein bar in his direction.
