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The sun bathed Elodie's face in warmth, gently kissing her pale skin as she sat on the ground, leaning against Sophia's back. She really wanted to hang out with Elodie, but Elodie wasn't feeling it. As a compromise, Sophia suggested they sit back to back while Elodie did her own thing. Elodie thought it was a solid plan, so here they were, nestled on the dirty ground beside Carol's feet, their backs supporting each other.

Elodie leaned her head back against Sophia's, exhaling softly. Things had been pretty awkward since Daryl's return. He seemed to be keeping his distance from most people. Carol was busy folding laundry, Ed lounging on the couch behind her with his feet propped on the rocks of the firepit. Elodie figured that Daryl didn't seem to mind the Peletier family's presence much, because he sat across from them, tinkering with his crossbow.

Curiosity got the better of her and Elodie craned her neck slightly to catch a glimpse of what Daryl was up to. His crossbow looked intimidating, though she figured the man wielding it probably made it seem scarier than it actually was. She had seen Daryl aim it at people in camp multiple times, and sometimes she worried he might aim it at her one day. But he had never threatened the kids or tried to harm or scare them, so that helped ease Elodie's concerns.

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Daryl lifted his head and caught her gaze. Quickly averting her eyes, she scolded herself internally for always staring at people. She remembered what Jamie had said about finding it weird that she was always staring. Elodie wasn't sure if only Jamie found it weird or if everyone did. Either way, she figured it probably was strange. If any of the adults stared at her for too long, she'd likely feel uncomfortable, too.

Oh no, she thought, her face contorting into a cringe. Making people uncomfortable was the last thing she wanted. She stared because she was curious about what people were doing, but she realized it was definitely weird and awkward.

She stretched out her legs, watching as the loose threads from her jeans spread out over the dirt. Frowning, she reached out to pluck a thread from the denim fabric. But as she pulled, the thread only seemed to grow, stretching longer and longer-

"No, no, no," Carol interjected quickly, hurrying over to Elodie and gently guiding her hand away from the thread. "You'll ruin your clothes if you keep doing that, honey. We can't just find you new ones, so you have to be careful with what you have."

Elodie looked up at Carol, then back down at the now considerably lengthy thread dangling from her pant leg. "Oh," she murmured, biting her lip as she frowned. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Carol reassured, releasing Elodie's hand. "Go ask your mom if she has a pair of scissors so we can cut that off for you."

"Okay," Elodie replied, a hint of hesitation in her voice. She nudged Sophia gently as she got to her feet, mumbling that she was going to see her mother for a moment. She purposely avoided Daryl's gaze as she passed him.

She spotted her mother sitting with Lori, Carl, and Amy. Elodie perked up a little at the thought that her mother might not be as upset anymore, or she'd act normally because Lori was there. So, she quickened her pace until she stood in front of Carl, unable to properly approach her mother who sat at the far end of the log, Amy blocking the way.

"Momma," Elodie began, fiddling with her fingers.

There was the faintest flicker of movement on her mother's face, a slight twitch of her upper lip. But that was all Elodie got in response. Lori, Carl, and Amy glanced at the small girl, making her feel increasingly uncomfortable under their gaze. She scolded herself for staring at people; if this was how they felt when she stared, she decided she'd stop. Well-try to.

"Momma," Elodie tried again, a bit louder this time.

Still nothing.

"Catherine," Lori interjected, attempting to draw the woman's attention, assuming she hadn't heard her child. "'Think Elodie wants to ask you somethin."

The blonde woman snapped her head up, offering Lori a brief smile as she stood up and awkwardly stepped over Lori's feet to approach Elodie. "I heard."

Elodie's eyes brightened as she saw her mother finally acknowledging her, patiently awaiting her approach. As Catherine reached her, she grabbed Elodie's hand, causing her daughter to wince at the tight grip.

"Come," Catherine said, pulling Elodie along to the side of Dale's RV, where they could speak privately. Once they stopped, Elodie began to open her mouth, but her mother cut her off, letting go of her hand.

"Ah-" Catherine interrupted, holding up a hand and raising an eyebrow. "I didn't say ya could speak."

Elodie closed her mouth, tapping a finger against the back of her other hand as she looked at her mother, awaiting what she was going to say, or not say.

"Y'know," her mom began, pointing a finger at Elodie's chest. "You're lucky I'm still puttin' up with you and your hearin' problems, even after this mess."

The words felt like a stab to Elodie's heart, her eyes blinking in surprise as her mouth slowly dropped open. Her lip trembled, and the tapping of her finger against the back of her hand quickened. Had her mother really just said that, or was she so tired that she wasn't hearing it right? Maybe her batteries needed changing again.

"Ya ran off with that Grimes boy without tellin' anyone. We told the two of ya to stay within shoutin' distance. Shoutin' distance, Elodie. D'ya even know what that is?" her mother continued, growing angrier by the second.

"Momma, I'm sorry! I already told ya-"

"Ah!" Catherine cut her off again, lightly pushing against the tiny blonde's shoulder with a warning glare. "Didn't say ya could speak yet, did I?"

Elodie bit down on her lip, growing frustrated. Why wasn't her mom letting her explain herself? She was mad at her, and Elodie was trying to apologize, but she wasn't letting her!

"I need ya to listen to me. I could'a just left you somewhere on the road if I didn't want to take care of ya. But did I do that?" her mother hissed.

"No," Elodie murmured.

"Exactly," Catherine spat, leaning back and retracting her hand to her side. "So ya listen to me. Doesn't matter if ya don't like it. Ya listen to me. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

Elodie swallowed hard, pinching the skin on her hand with her fingers. "Yes, Momma."

Elodie then bowed her head, an attempt to hide the tear that was about to roll down her cheek. She felt the slightest breeze as her mother stormed past her, no doubt going back to her old habit of ignoring Elodie's existence.

Sniffling, Elodie turned her hand and wiped her face dry with the back of her hand. She peered through the bushes at the road leading up to the camp, not able to see it as clear as when she was atop the RV with Dale. She didn't want to turn around just yet, because then everyone would be able to see her red and puffy face from crying. That would be embarrassing.

Taking a slow breath, she exhaled at the same pace, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. She remembered Glenn driving that bright red car up to camp. At the time, she hated it because the loud noises hurt her head, and when she tried to block them out, her hearing aids would whistle loudly, only adding to the discomfort. It made her head spin. But looking back on it, it was kind of funny. Glenn stole a car, and a pretty cool one at that.

But thinking about it only reminded her of the yellow flowers Jamie had thrown into the bushes. Her eyes started watering again. No, no, no. Stop crying. She pressed her palms into her eyes, tapping her forehead to halt the tears.

After a few minutes, she managed to keep her cheeks dry for longer than ten seconds, feeling confident enough to turn around and head back to camp. However, she paused as she sensed the tense atmosphere in the air, Shane and Rick standing in front of each other.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane said with an annoyed sigh.

"Four," T-Dog corrected.

"Four and one woman," Elodie's mom interjected, raising a hand along with an eyebrow at Shane.

Elodie furrowed her eyebrows, seeking an explanation from anyone. She scanned everyone, but it seemed nobody noticed she was standing there too now.

Daryl huffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here standin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog retorted.

"Why the two of you?" Daryl spat back, using a cloth to clean the bolt he was holding.

"For fun," Catherine said sarcastically.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand," T-Dog began. "You don't speak my language."

Elodie blinked as the situation finally clicked in her brain. They were going back to get Merle. That meant he was alive. That was good. Daryl must be happy about that, maybe? He didn't look too happy.

But it also meant her mother was planning to go with the group back to Atlanta. The city where they tried to save Rick, where they had gotten trapped not even a day ago. She couldn't go!

Elodie was about to speak up, but Jamie grabbed her arm, surprisingly gentle, and motioned for her to stay quiet. She looked up at her brother, urgency in her eyes.

"I know," he mumbled, staring at their mother in disbelief.

"Come on, you saw that walker!" Shane tried. "It was here. It was in camp! They're movin' out of the cities. If they come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here, we need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here... are more guns," Rick spoke.

Elodie turned her head to look at her mother, who was staring fiercely at Rick and Shane, hands on her hips. She didn't understand why her mother wanted to help Merle so badly. She openly talked about how much she disliked him all the time. What made her change her mind?

Elodie pulled her attention back to the scene when Rick knelt down in front of Carl, the little boy nodding his head at his father. It seemed like Rick had explained why he was going to go. Elodie's mom hadn't.

"Jamie-" Elodie began, looking up at her brother.

"Yeah. I'm gonna ask her," he said, releasing Elodie's arm and heading over to their mother.

〰

Elodie watched as her mother climbed into the truck, the group about to leave for the city. She felt a huge pit in her stomach. She didn't want her mother to go. But Jamie told her that their mother wanted to go because she wanted to "do somethin' right for once". It only confused Elodie.

But when she went to ask her mother about it, she got ignored. Again. Elodie was getting tired of it. She hated it when her mother ignored her. Especially when she'd ignore her, scold her when she did something wrong, and then went right back to ignoring her. She wished she would just talk to her. Now, she was leaving without saying bye. Though she had said bye to Jamie, of course.

Daryl pulled down the roll-up door of the back of the truck, him and T-Dog disappearing behind it, along with the golden locks of Elodie's mother that stuck out from where she was sitting. Rick started the truck, and everyone watched as it drove away.

"Can't believe this," Jamie huffed, obviously annoyed by their mother as he turned on his heels and stormed off somewhere.

Elodie couldn't tear her eyes away from the spot where the truck rounded the corner. She watched as the dust kicked up by the departing truck settled back onto the ground, feeling a pang of abandonment in her chest. She must be standing there like a lost puppy at the moment, but she didn't particularly care. Her mother had just left!

She wanted to run after the truck, to scream for her mother to come back, to beg her not to leave. But she knew that it wouldn't make a difference.

She clenched her fists at her sides, feeling the sting of tears threatening to spill over. Why did her mother always have to be like this? Ignoring her, leaving without a word... it was like she didn't even care.

"Elodie," she heard Shane say from in front of her. She blinked, just now processing that he had walked up to her. "How 'bout that frog catchin', huh?"

Despite the lump in her throat, a smile tugged at the girl's lips at the mention of frog catching. "Yeah," she replied, her voice soft but genuine. She straightened her back, following Shane as he went to get Carl before they headed to the quarry.

Even though they hadn't actually gone frog catching in the morning, Elodie was glad Shane didn't forget about it. She figured he probably got distracted by Daryl and Rick wanting to go back for Merle. She didn't blame him. She just wanted to go frog catching. Maybe she could keep one as a pet.

〰

Elodie rolled up the cuffs of her jeans to right below her knee, watching as Carl already waltzed into the shallow quarry, laughing as he felt the chilly water. Her eyes fell on the loose thread hanging from her jeans, realizing she forgot to cut it off earlier. Deciding to deal with it later, she tucked the thread under the denim fabric, making sure it wouldn't fall back out.

"Elodie, you have to get in! It's so cold," Carl grinned, turning to look at her.

She smiled, nodding excitedly. "'Kay!"

She paused when she noticed big movements in the corner of her eye, turning to see Andrea, Carol, Amy, and Jacqui waving their arms at her. Once they knew she saw them, they motioned for her to come over. They were mouthing things at her, well-probably yelling-but Elodie couldn't hear what.

With a puzzled expression, she turned to Shane.

"Go on, girl. We'll wait," he encouraged her with a nod.

"Okay," she nodded, turning around and running along the gravel to the women.

Upon reaching them, she noticed Ed sitting in the back of his car a bit behind them, watching Carol closely. It didn't surprise her; he never let Carol go anywhere by herself. It made Elodie think they were hiding something. But Carol was sweet, so Elodie doubted it was something she had done.

"Hi," the girl greeted the women.

"You have hearing aids, don't you, Elodie?" Jacqui asked.

"Uh-huh."

"You can take it off. We can keep it safe here," Amy offered, but Elodie immediately shook her head with widened eyes.

"No, I can't!" she said firmly, staring at Amy.

"Why's that? We'll be really careful. It's just so it doesn't get wet."

"No, Momma said," Elodie explained, raising her eyebrows as if it were obvious. "I can't hear anyone very well without 'em, so she told me to never take 'em off. Only when I sleep."

"Well, that's just weird," Andrea scoffed. Elodie tried to shoot her a mean look, but it didn't quite work out; Andrea just smiled at her. "Your mom isn't here now, though. You can take them off."

"No!"

"Okay, okay. Don't worry. I got somethin' for you," Amy said reassuringly, motioning for Elodie to come closer.

Elodie hesitantly approached Amy, watching as she retrieved a washcloth from a basket. Amy motioned for her to come closer again. And closer, and closer-

"How close do ya want me to be?" Elodie asked, furrowing her brow, which resulted in a chuckle from the women.

"Close enough so I can tie this around your head," Amy replied sweetly, dangling the washcloth.

"Oh." Elodie decided to sit down on her knees in front of Amy, uncertain of what was happening.

Amy folded the cloth and pulled it over Elodie's head, covering her hearing aid with it. She pulled a hair tie out of her own hair and used it to secure a tiny knot in the cloth to keep it in place. "Now it won't get wet."

Elodie winced slightly at the annoying whistle from her hearing aid, but it wasn't too bad because Amy hadn't tied the cloth too tightly. Elodie smiled gratefully.

"Thank you," she said, glancing back at Carl and Shane. Shane was playfully splashing a bit of water Carl's way, the boy jumping back and almost falling into the water.

"Go on. Go play with Carl," Carol urged Elodie, patting the girl's back gently as Elodie walked past with a smile, looking much happier than before.

That's exactly what she did, quickly making her way along the quarrt back to Shane and Carl. She noticed Carl was holding a fishing net now.

"There you are!" Shane exclaimed, a chuckle escaping him as he eyed the cloth around Elodie's head.

"You look like a pirate. But... kinda different," Carl observed, passing Elodie her own fishing net.

Elodie shrugged as she accepted it. "Pirates are cool." Carefully, she stepped into the water, feeling the chill but not minding it. She was sure she'd warm up soon enough. After all, it was a hot day, so the water felt refreshing.

"Yeah," Carl agreed, a grin spreading across his face. "Does this mean I can splash you now?"

"No-!" Elodie protested, but before she could finish, Carl had already sent a wave of water her way, soaking her upper body. "Carl!"

Elodie responded with a smaller splash, not nearly as impressive as Carl's.

"Hey, hey, hey! We don't want to scare away the frogs now, do we?" Shane interrupted their playful antics, raising his eyebrows in a joking manner.

Elodie pressed her lips together to suppress her smile, folding her hands in front of her. "Shane, do ya think there are any sharks in this lake?"

Shane paused his movement, the confused look on his face twitching into one of genuine amusement. "I don't think so, Elodie."

"Aw. Bummer," Elodie frowned.

"Okay. Carl and I tried to wait for 'em, but we're gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way," Shane started to explain, grabbing the empty bucket floating nearby in the water and showing it to the kids.

"You two are the key in all this. All I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna go after one of 'em. Scare the rest of 'em off. They're all gonna scatter, and I'm gonna drive 'em y'all's way. Okay?"

"All right," Carl confirmed eagerly, with Elodie nodding in agreement.

"What you need to do is round up every bad boy you see, okay? Are y'all with me?"

Both Carl and Elodie nodded again, excited smiles on their faces.

"Hells yeah. Give me your mean faces!" Shane exclaimed, gritting his teeth and letting out a growling sound.

Elodie couldn't help but laugh as she watched Carl mimic Shane, his nose scrunching up as he growled.

"You too, Elodie! Give me a growl, girl!" Shane encouraged.

"No!" Elodie laughed.

"Come on, I know you can do it," Shane teased, his tone playful.

Elodie huffed playfully and raised her hands into claws, gritting her teeth and letting out a growl, jumping once to create a splash in the water.

"There you go!" Shane cheered, applauding her antics as Carl chuckled. "All right, y'all ready?"

"Yeah!" both Carl and Elodie shouted eagerly.

Shane turned the bucket in his hands so the open side faced the kids, squatting in the water with his gaze fixed on the clear surface. Carl and Elodie mimicked his stance, holding their fishing nets at the ready.

Shane slowly lowered the bucket toward the water, gradually bringing it closer until it hovered just above the surface. Then, he slammed the bucket down into the water, submerging himself as he pretended to struggle with it.

Elodie shrieked in surprise, but her fear quickly dissolved into laughter as Shane resurfaced. "All right! They're comin' your way! Go on, get 'em, get 'em!" he urged, splashing the bucket around and soaking Carl and Elodie with large waves.

"That's cold!" Elodie exclaimed with a loud giggle, subtly attempting to hide behind Carl. He noticed and quickly moved aside, no longer shielding her.

"Catch 'em frogs! Catch 'em frogs!" Shane sang, still splashing water at the kids. "C'mon, get 'em! Get that net in there and grab 'em!"

Shane continued to splash water, while Carl and Elodie desperately attempted to catch the frogs, swaying their nets around in the rippling water.

"What have you got, huh? What do you got?" Shane yelled, a grin stretching across his face as he saw the two kids drenched in water. He was relieved to see that Elodie's head remained mostly dry, unlike Carl's. He didn't want to accidentally damage her hearing aid.

"I got somethin'! I got somethin'!" Elodie shouted excitedly, jumping up and down in the water as she tightened her grip on her net.

Carl moved closer, placing his hands on the wooden handle to help Elodie in pulling it up.

As the net emerged from the water, the sudden loss of pressure caused it to shoot up, sending mud and various plants flying over their heads. Elodie frowned, while Carl huffed in disappointment.

"Dirt," he stated flatly.

Elodie lowered her fishing net back into the water, rinsing off all the dirt off of the net.

"Oh, boy," Shane sighed, hands on his hips before clasping his hands together as the grin returned to his face. "All right, we gotta start over. Come on, let's find this bucket."

Elodie grinned at the idea of repeating the whole process. She couldn't deny she was having a lot of fun. It surely distracted her from her mother, which she bet Shane was trying to do. She didn't mind, though. She'd much rather be here than sulking in a corner thinking about her mom or dealing with Jamie's antics.

Both Shane and Carl slowed their movements, Carl suddenly turning around, prompting Elodie to follow suit. She saw Lori approaching from behind them, a tense expression on her face.

"But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?" Carl spoke up, making Elodie curious about what Lori had said.

"It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say," Lori stated, raising one eyebrow. "C'mon. Go on back to camp."

Lori then glanced at Elodie and her drenched clothes, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips at the sight of her. "You too, Elodie. You're all wet; you're gonna catch a cold. Go on with Carl, I'll be right behind you."

Elodie frowned but nodded nonetheless. She stood up and stepped out of the water, suddenly feeling the chilly breeze on her skin. She shivered, silently thanking Lori for pulling her out of the water. She really needed to change into dry clothes.

She reached up to untie the cloth around her head, biting her lower lip in concentration. Lori noticed her struggle and gently touched the girl's arm.

"I'll do that for you. Come here," she said. Elodie did what she was told, bowing her head to make it easier for Lori. She managed to untie it in less than a second, stroking the top of her head before patting her shoulder. "Off you go, sweetheart."

Elodie nodded, relieved as the faint whistle ceased in her ears. She climbed over the rocks to reach Carl, who was waiting for her at the top with a grin. Elodie furrowed her brow.

"What?"

"Where's your pirate hat?"

"Stop," Elodie huffed, though a smile tugged at her lips as she began walking ahead of Carl. He jogged a little to catch up, walking beside her.

"I can make you a new pirate hat," Carl suggested.

"Outta what?" Elodie asked, trying to think of materials Carl would be able to use. She couldn't come up with anything.

"Maybe one of Jamie's shirts," he replied casually, resulting in a gasp from Elodie.

"No! That's mean, Carl."

"Okay, well, he's mean. I can be mean back. My dad told me so."

"He hasn't ever been mean to you, though."

"He has to you," Carl retorted.

"That doesn't matter," Elodie huffed, crossing her arms and quickening her pace.

Carl sighed, tilting his head back before jogging once again to catch up with the blonde. "Elodie, wait. Sorry, I was joking. I won't cut up Jamie's shirt."

Elodie narrowed her eyes, turning her head to look at Carl.

"You know you're bad at looking mean," he informed her.

"Okay," Elodie mimicked, making little hand gestures to imitate Carl.

Carl huffed. He knew Elodie wasn't truly angry or irritated. She wasn't good at holding onto those emotions, especially for long. So, he happily strolled alongside her, her distant demeanor quickly melting into a playful one as they walked through a short stretch of woods back to camp.