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Elodie sat on a folding chair Dale had set up for her atop his RV, her legs swinging back and forth as she gazed at the tall mountains ahead. There was a road snaking up the hill where the camp was, so Dale could see it if anyone tried to drive up to them. Elodie didn't even want to think about bad people coming to attack them without Dale noticing it first.

Merle had made up a story a week ago about a big group driving up the hill, a man in a car up front. They managed to sneak past Dale's all-seeing binoculars, and were hiding in the bushes. Then, with a yell, they came out and attacked the camp. At that point Shane had stepped up and told Merle to "learn to keep his mouth shut near the kids". For once, Elodie agreed with him, because she had a nightmare that same night.

Now was pretty good, though. Despite Amy's constant pacing and her wondering out loud if Andrea was okay. Elodie understood she was worried. She would be worried too if Jamie was out there. But when people tell you to sit down and stop pacing because you're making people nervous, Elodie would do exactly that. Amy did not.

"Hey, Dale?" Elodie called out, her voice unintentionally loud given how close Dale was to her.

"Yes, Elodie?" Dale responded kindly, his focus on scanning the road with his binoculars.

"Have ya ever wondered what it's like to fly like a bird?" she asked, turning to face him. He noticed she had to look up at him, so he pulled up a chair beside her and sat down on it so she wouldn't strain her neck any further.

"I can't say I have," he replied with a hint of amusement.

"I have," she stated matter-of-factly. "I bet it would be really cool."

"Oh, really? How so?" Dale asked, a smile playing at his lips.

"Because ya could fly high up in the sky—" Elodie began, gesturing upward. "—and the world would look tiny, like a toy town. And ya wouldn't have to worry 'bout the Geeks. You'd be too high for 'em to reach you. Plus, ya could go anywhere ya wanted, like the mountains or Hawaii. Dale, I really wanna go to Hawaii someday," she rambled.

Dale nodded, a smile growing as he listened to Elodie's enthusiastic rambling. "That does sound pretty cool, doesn't it? What would be the first thing you'd do if you could fly like a bird?"

"Hmm," Elodie pondered, pulling her feet up on the chair and resting her chin on her knees. "I'd visit all the places I've never been before. Like the mountains. The really big ones. And I'd take ya with me so you could see it all too."

"You wouldn't bring Jamie or your mom?" Dale asked.

"Yes," Elodie grinned, swaying slightly as she met Dale's gaze. "I'd bring everyone."

"That's very sweet of you, Elodie," Dale remarked, leaning in closer with a playful wink.

"Elodie?" Jamie's voice interrupted from below. Elodie sighed, standing up and moving to the edge of the RV to face her brother.

"Yes?"

"What're you doin' up there?"

"Keepin' watch with Dale."

"Right. Momma says you gotta come down."

"Why?"

"'Cause she said."

"Why isn't she tellin' me herself?" Elodie asked, her brow furrowing. She likely already knew the answer. She had done something wrong a few hours ago, and now her mother was probably ignoring her.

"Ya know why," Jamie grumbled.

Elodie frowned, straightening her back slowly. Yes, she knew exactly why.

"Bye, Dale," she muttered, knowing he'd hear her regardless.

"Watch your step," he replied kindly, and Elodie nodded as she grabbed the ladder, carefully descending the side of the RV. She approached Jamie with a questioning look on her face.

"What?" Elodie asked, gazing up at her taller brother.

"Nothin'. Momma just wanted ya to get down from the RV," Jamie replied, a hint of irritation in his tone.

"But why?" Elodie persisted. "I was havin' fun."

"I don't know, Elodie," Jamie sighed, scanning the camp for Sophia or Carl so his sister wouldn't keep bothering him. "Go ask her yourself."

"I can't," Elodie insisted. "Momma's mad at me. She won't talk to me when she's angry, ya know that."

Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. "Well, what am I supposed to do 'bout that, Elodie?"

Elodie shrugged, glancing over at Carl. He sat in front of his mother, who was cutting his hair. He didn't look all that happy, but started to grin after Shane said something, though Elodie couldn't quite make out the words.

"Go sit with the Grimes'," Jamie suggested, nudging Elodie's shoulder.

"No!"

Lori glanced up and caught Elodie staring, causing the girl's cheeks to grow warm in embarrassment. She quickly turned away, intending to retreat back to Dale's RV, but Jamie grabbed her arm, spinning her back around.

"She's callin' ya," he informed her, pushing her toward Lori.

"I don't wanna," Elodie protested, attempting to turn back and hide her flushed face.

"Ya gotta," Jamie insisted, pushing her forward once more. "Go."

Elodie muttered some inaudible words under her breath as he released her shoulders. Slowly, she approached Lori, Carl, and Shane.

"Hi," she greeted once she reached them, folding her hands in front of her.

"Hi, honey." Lori smiled, motioning for Elodie to come closer. Elodie complied, taking a few steps toward the family.

"I was just askin' Carl if he wanted to learn how to catch frogs," Shane explained to Elodie, waering a proud smile.

"Okay," Elodie responded, unsure why Lori had called her over.

"I was wonderin' if you wanted to come along," Shane continued, realizing Elodie hadn't caught on. "Take a little break from the serious stuff."

"Oh," Elodie said, her face lighting up with a smile. "Yes, I wanna come, please."

"Great. I'll come get you tomorrow morning," Shane confirmed with a nod.

Elodie nodded with a smile, glancing at Carl. She was excited to spend time with him, despite him getting her in trouble with her mom. But she wasn't mad at him. She understood Carl wanted to be brave and sneak out of the camp; he just lacked the courage to do it alone. Carl smiled back at her, his expression briefly twitching into a grimace when Lori accidentally tugged too hard on his hair while trimming it.

The atmosphere in the camp suddenly shifted, Shane and Lori to springing to their feet, their faces etched with concern as they peered toward the road Dale was looking at through his binoculars. Elodie furrowed her brow, confused by the sudden tension and fear spreading through the camp.

"Talk to me, Dale!" Shane's voice rang out as he hurried past Elodie towards the RV.

Turning around, Elodie searched for Jamie and her mom, but they were nowhere to be seen. They were probably hiding in their tent. Jamie and her mom did that a lot—especially Jamie, since he didn't have anyone his age to hang out with. Except for Amy, but Elodie noticed Jamie didn't really like Amy for some reason, and the other way around.

Elodie frowned, deciding to step back closer to Lori and Carl, in case something were to go wrong. She watched as Dale responded to Shane, but the distance prevented her from catching their conversation.

"What's goin' on?" Elodie asked Carl, turning her head to look at him.

"There's a loud alarm going off over there," Carl informed her, pointing towards the road. "It's getting louder now."

"Oh," Elodie murmured. She raised her hand, her finger brushing over her hearing aid. She was finding it more annoying by the day, especially during times like these.

Lori took Carl by the hand and placed a hand on Elodie's back as she guided them closer towards the group, noticing how Elodie was upset about not being able to hear everything clearly.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy called up to Dale. He seemed to mumble a response, prompting her to ask, "What is it?"

Dale turned around. "A stolen car is my guess."

"Whoa," Elodie exclaimed, her jaw slightly dropping as she stood on her tip-toes, trying to catch a view of the stolen car.

It didn't take long before Elodie winced when the car got close enough that she could finally hear the alarm, the sound echoing in her ears over and over again. She saw a bright red car roll up to the camp, slowly halting to a stop. The alarm was really, really loud now.

Elodie grimaced and clamped her hands over her ears, wincing again at the piercing whistle her hearing aids made in response to the close contact. She whipped on her toes, uncomfortably looking around, pressing her palms harder against her ears. Everyone started to walk over to the car, and relief washed over Elodie when she saw Glenn stepping out of the driver's seat, a beaming smile on his face.

Elodie then bowed her head, trying to block out all of the loud noises that then followed. Hands still pressed firmly against her ears, she squinted and shook her head.  The combination of the blaring car alarm and the irritatingly high-pitched whine of her hearing aids made her head spin. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder—probably Lori—but it didn't offer much comfort.

Glenn threw his hands up, seemingly laughing, as Amy gestured wildly, invading Glenn's personal space. Shane smacked his palm on the hood of the car, prompting Glenn to climb back in. He popped the hood, and Shane tinkered with something inside, finally silencing the alarm. Elodie, however, remained oblivious as the whistle continued to pierce her ears.

The hand on her shoulder shifted to her cheek, a thumb soothingly rubbing her skin as a muffled voice reached her ears. Elodie looked up to see Lori speaking to her, a comforting smile on her face. Elodie cautiously removed her hands from her ears, breathing a sigh of relief at the silence.

"The noises are gone, honey," Lori told her, stroking the top of her head. Elodie nodded, turning back around to look at Glenn.

"—Yes! Fine! Everybody is!" Glenn yelled at Amy, who finally backed off with a relieved expression.  "Well, Merle not so much."

Elodie finally spotted her family near Shane, both of them wore puzzled expressions as they looked at Glenn. Elodie felt a twinge of unease in her stomach. Surely, they had noticed her standing there, right? So why were they all the way on the other side?

"Are you crazy, drivin' this wailing bastard up here?" Shane's jaw clenched as he glared up at Glenn. "You trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay," Dale interjected, casting a glance at the treeline.

"You call bein' stupid okay?" Shane retorted, though his tone slightly calmer.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source."

Shane pushed himself off the car, hands on his hips as he gave Dale a pointed look, eyebrows raised.

"I'm not arguing. I'm just saying," Dale began before addressing Glenn. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

"Sorry," Glenn apologized, a small grin playing at his lips. "Got a cool car."

"Wouldn't have been so cool if a horde of walkers stood at the entrance of this camp now, would it?" Elodie's mom chimed in, looking at Glenn with a stern gaze. It was clear she sided with Shane. "My child got upset because of your 'cool car'. Grab a bike next time."

"You think I would have been able to outrun the Geeks with a bike?" Glenn exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief.

Elodie glanced at her mother, eyebrows furrowing. So she had noticed Elodie; she just didn't want to come over and help. Elodie subtly shook her head. That wasn't true. Her mom probably noticed Lori trying to calm her down and figured the extra people would only make Elodie freak out more, which was true.

Everyone strained their necks to see past the bushes toward the road as a white truck drove up the hill, eventually coming to a stop. Amy practically jumped with excitement, eagerly trying to peer through the windows. She let out a relieved sigh and a chuckle when Andrea emerged from the truck.

"Andrea!" Amy cried, running toward her sister and practically leaping into her arms.

Meanwhile, Morales' kids broke away from their mother, rushing to their father and enveloping him in a hug. Lori draped an arm over Carl's shoulder, muttering something to him as she guided him away from the group. Elodie watched as Lori crouched down and took Carl's hands. Family business, she presumed, turning back around.

"You are a welcome sight!" Dale exclaimed with a laugh as Morales hugged him tight, patting him on the back. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked, tearing his gaze away from Lori and Carl.

"New guy. He got us out," Glenn replied, T-Dog and the Harrison sisters rejoining the group behind him.

"New guy?" Shane raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Crazy vato just got into town," Morales explained, capturing Elodie's interest. Was that the same man who had been talking over the C.B. earlier? "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello."

The door of the driver's side of the truck slowly creaked open, as if the person inside was hesitating. Then, two feet emerged, planted firmly on the ground. A hand wrapped around the door handle, pushing it shut. The man had neatly cut short hair, a shaved face, and was dressed in a police uniform. Wait, why was he wearing a police uniform? There were no police left.

"The guy's a cop. Like you," Morales remarked to Shane as the man approached, hands planted on his hips. Elodie noticed the resemblance between him and Shane. Maybe it was a cop thing.

Shane sidestepped to get a closer look, his expression shifting once he laid eyes on the man. Almost as if he recognized him. And indeed, he had, because the man's expression faded into one of shock too, his eyes welling up with tears as he came to a halt, staring at Shane in disbelief. The man's gaze then drifted to Lori and Carl, his face transforming into pure relief upon seeing them.

That's when it clicked for Elodie. Carl hadn't spoken much about his father. But she did know that his father had been shot weeks before the outbreak and had been in a coma since. When the dead started walking, Shane had told the Grimes family that his father had died.

But here he was, standing before them, looking his wife and son in the eye for the first time in weeks.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl screamed, his voice cracking. He dashed away from his mother and leaped into his father's arms.

The man dropped to the ground with a sob, embracing Carl tightly, one hand wrapped lovingly around his waist and the other cupping the back of his head. Both were crying tears of pure relief. Then, rising to his feet still holding Carl, he hurried over to Lori. She stared at him in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that her husband was standing there. Then, she blinked, and she was enveloped in his embrace too.

Elodie tore her eyes away from the happy family, catching Sophia's eye behind her. She was smiling, though there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. Elodie knew how she felt, and she couldn't deny that she felt a similair way. When she looked back at Carl, and how happy he was hugging his parents that way, it made her stomach clench. It felt as it someone was tying her insides into a tight knot, pulling it extra tight, and twisting it for the fun of it. It felt as if someone was pulling a thick rope from the bottom of her stomach through her throat, and out her mouth.

She blinked back tears, and her gaze fell upon something scattered in the bushes to her left. Something yellow, bright yellow. Something she had held in her hands not too long ago, excited to give to her brother.

Jamie had tossed the flowers Elodie had given him into the bushes.

"No," she murmured to herself, her frown deepening as she walked over to retrieve the scattered flowers.

Kneeling down, she picked them up, examining them closely. Some petals had fallen off—she hoped—and now lay among the dead leaves and twigs. The stem was bent, and she attempted to straighten it, though it stubbornly refused to stay in place.

She clenched her jaw, trying to hold in the tears threatening to spill as she cradled the flower. A mix of frustration and pure hurt swirled inside of her as she sat there, clutching the scattered flower in her hands. It felt as if someone pulled a suffocating blanket of sadness over her, wrapping it tightly around her so she wouldn't escape.

Her vision blurred as she stared at the discarded petals on the grass. It wasn't just about the flower; it was a painful reminder of Jamie's constant disregard for her feelings. She had tried to deny it, wanting so bad for her brother to love her as much as she loved him. But she couldn't keep denying it, not anymore. Not when she knew he'd thrown away the one thing she was so excited to gift to him.

Elodie rose to her feet, holding the flower against her chest. The once bright yellow petals now seemed dull and lifeless in her eyes, mirroring the loneliness she felt inside. She thought about how excited she was to give them to Jamie, but now he had thrown them away. She glanced back at Carl, still hugging his parents tightly, and wished she could feel that kind of love and happiness. But instead, she felt a hollow ache inside.

She then felt someone else's eyes on her, prompting her to shift her gaze and make eye contact with Jamie. Elodie knew he saw her holding the flower, because his gaze twitched into only the slightest bit of guilt.

Elodie shot him the meanest stare she could muster—though it was probably just a big frown—and turned back around. She threw the flower back into the bushes, not wanting to look at it any longer.

She then walked away quietly, wiping away a stray tear. A sickening feeling bubbled in her throat, and she tried to push it back down, dragging a hand down her neck. It didn't work, which annoyed her and made her even more upset. She wished things were different, that her brother would appreciate her gestures, but deep down, she knew it was unlikely to change.

She glanced over her shoulder one more time, seeing that Jamie had already busied himself doing something else. She turned away again and wandered off, knowing she didn't have anyone waiting for her like Carl did.

Life's not fair.