when i look at you | TWD

chapter one. you scared me, kid

THE GIRL LAUGHED AS SHE SET DOWN HER NEXT CARD, KNOWING THAT SHE WON. There were some scattered chuckles around the camp, everyone knowing that the two teenagers have been at the card game for hours, Ellie winning every single time.

Jax sighed as he set the cards down, rubbing his hand over his head dramatically, now realizing that he needed a haircut. "I cannot complete with you, El." He tells her, eyes narrowing slightly in astonishment at how she wins every time they play.

Ellie shrugged innocently, gathering up the cards, placing them in the box. "I think that's enough of the same game for today." She giggles lightly, Jax doing the same before they both get up from their spots.

Jax turns from Ellie to across the way at Amy Harrison, a blonde older girl that has been giving him a flirty smirks since they got to camp. "Um..." He trails off, looking from Ellie to Amy's way subtlety. He opens his mouth to say something else, but the Walsh noticed and she walked away quickly towards Lori and her father, Shane; the two talking softly as she cut Carl's hair.

Shane's eyebrows furrowed at his daughters frown on her face and he instantly became concerned, leaning close to her once she sat down next to him. "What's wrong, Ellie?"

Eleanor shrugged and glanced towards Jax, seeing him walk into the woods with Amy. "Nothing. It's nothing."

Shane looked to Lori, hoping that she would know what's wrong with her, but the woman was just as clueless as Shane was, her turning to Ellie with concerned,
mom eyes.

She missed her mom. A lot. When she was around ten years old, her parents had gotten a divorce and since then, she's been going from house to house, but her father's house being the one that had custody because her mom was 'unstable' as the court said.

Ellie didn't even realize the tears falling down her face until her father reached over and wiped the tear off her cheek, unintentionally smearing dirt all over her face with his dirt covered hand. Lori gasped and Carl laughed, covering his mouth.

The teenager looked to them and widened her eyes, then furrowing her eyebrows. Lori then motioned to her face. "He wiped dirt on me, didn't he?" Eleanor asked the woman with a blank stare, her nodding with a smile.

She started to wipe it away, but suddenly got the idea to wipe dirt on him as well, so she did. She grabbed a pile of dry dirt and smeared it all over his shirt and face, the man gasping in shock and laughing afterwords. "Oh, you've done it now!" He joked, picking her up and leading her to the quarry as she laughed in protest.

They reach the water in seconds, Shane lightly tossing her in the water. Ellie's eyes closed tightly as she felt the water surround her body, then feeling her father jump in after her, the two splashing and laughing.

Suddenly, something latched onto her leg and she screams with widen eyes, her whole body going under the water as the hand tugged on her leg. The side of her head hit a rock harshly, the water around her turning a crimson red, Shane widening his eyes in worry.

The father sprung into action quickly, jumping in after his daughter and gripping her arms, quickly pulling her away from the geek, her screaming in pain, but it came out muffled as she was underwater.

He pulled her to land as the geek rose from underwater, growling loudly. Everyone was now at the quarry, watching as the scene took place. "Are you okay? Are you alright?" Shane asked her, scanning her body for any bites.

Ellie winced, touching her head, pulling back with a hand full of blood. "That's a lot of blood." She said softly, her vision going in and out as she spoke.

Jax and Amy come from around the corner, eyes wide as they saw the geek in the water as Ellie was on land, started to go in and out of consciousness with Shane above her, trying to get her to open her eyes. He quickly ran down, hands shaking as he grabbed a large rock, making his way towards the walker before bringing it down on its head, everyone gasping as he brought it down again, blood splattering all over his face.

Jax throws the rock beside the geeks head as he gets up, panting heavily. Lori looks at him with wide eyes as he looks back at her, wiping the blood off of his face frantically.

Shane was distraught as he tried to keep her awake. "El? Eleanor!" Shane panted, worried sick for the girl. "What do I do? She's closin' her eyes! What do I do?!" The father yelled to no one in particular, everyone looking with somber eyes as they heard the pain and anger in his voice.

Jax makes his way towards the girl, kneeling down on the ground to her level. He didn't know what to do. So much blood poured from her head and he felt as if his whole body shook, mentally panicking and not knowing how to deal with this. "Let's bring her to the RV."

Shane nodded and picked up her petite body, bringing her into the RV, where they had all the medical supplies and things to help her. Lori moved near Carl, wrapping her arms around him tightly as he whimpers in fear for Ellie.

Jax was making his way towards the RV, about to go in as well. That is until Lori comes up beside him and places her hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly. "She'll be okay, Jax. Shane's got it." She assures him and he nods, exhaling shakily as he goes to sit down on the edge of the RV.

In the RV, Shane sets her down on the couch gently. He begins to look all throughout the cabinets, finding gauze and alcohol wipes. He throws them on the table before moving her head to the side, inspecting her wound.

Ellie woke up with a groan, her head pounding loudly in her ears as she felt like she was being pulled under water again. "Dad?"

Shane looked to her with soft eyes as he wiped away the blood from her head, her wincing and moving away slightly. "You scared me, kid." He smiled, happy that she was okay.

Ellie nodded her head slightly, no other words being said between the two. She winced as she noticed a pain in her upper arm, it going unnoticed by her father.

They both shot their heads up quickly as they heard a car alarm from a distance, Shane quickly getting out with a scowl on his face, Ellie following.

"Turn it off!" Dale yelled at the boy, Glenn as he covered his ears with a smile, the car alarm blaring loudly as everyone winced, worried that the geeks were going to come and attack.

"I don't know how!" The young man shrugged. Jim quickly disabled the alarm and everyone sighed in relief.

Ellie watched as a large truck pulled up, happy to see that everyone had come back safely from their run for supplies. The small group had been gone for about two days and everyone was starting to believe that they were dead, or a majority was anyway.

The sixteen year old girl felt sad as she watched everyone hug their families, knowing that she will never get to do that with her mother again. Shane walked up to her, gripping her shoulder and squeezing it in comfort as she leaned into him.

Not moments later, a man she thought was dead came into view and she widened her eyes, wiping them, thinking she was hallucinating. Looking to her father, she saw she wasn't as he had almost the exact same look on his face, shock, surprise, happiness, guilt... every emotion was shown in his facial expression as he looked to his best friend.

"Dad!" Carl screamed, making Jax looking up, his breathing heavy as he saw his father was alive. He quickly walked up to him as Rick Grimes was hugging his son, crying loudly in joy, happy that he had found his family.

Once he saw Jax, he gripped his sons face, happy to see that he was okay and alive. Tears leak from the boys eyes, running down his face. He instantly brought him into a hug, the four family members squeezing tightly as they found each other.

Rick looked to Shane, a smile on his face once he saw him and his daughter. The man smiled back, despite how shocked he was. He and Lori made eye contact, her jaw dropping once she realized what she had done with Shane hours ago.

Ellie noticed this and she squinted her eyes in confusion, wondering why they were looking at each other like they had just done the worse. But she was fifteen, she wasn't stupid.