𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐈 𝐄

𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇. She closed her left eye as she aimed at the empty can a few yards away. The gun felt heavier than she'd expected. But she still held it in a steady position in front of her. She slowly pulled the trigger back causing a loud bang to echo through the trees. The can flew off the fence it had been standing on and the blonde girl let out a huff of air.

"Well done!" Rick said.

Ellie held her breath as she released another shot at Jimmy's can, just as he was about to shoot.

"Hey! What was that for!"

"Dude, you've been aiming for the past-" Ellie looked at the her wrist, pretending it was a watch. "-twelve minutes. Plus, you're not even holding it right. Don't pull that gangster shit."

"Oh, shut up. You know, if you ran like you did your mouth, you'd be in really good shape."

"See, your lips are moving but all I hear is: Blah, Blah, Blah." She moved her hand to form a mouth moving.

"Yeah, well..." Jimmy began, but was cut of by Beth stepping between the two.

"God! You two are acting like such kids!"

"He started it." Ellie said.

"We're just playing around, right butt head?" Jimmy grinned.

"Yeah, Dick face."

The duo giggled before returning to their gun practice. Jimmy struggled still and Ellie kept amazing the group with her excellent performance.

𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐀

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒. She tried shooting the can for the twelfth time but somehow managed to miss again. Levi stood next to her hitting target after target, without missing a single shot. The younger Greene sister who stood at the far end of the line, took down every can.

"I give up! I might as well let the walkers get me." Stella muttered.

"That's because you're holding it wrong." Levi said. "You're holding it like it's a bomb."

"It is a bomb. One quick move and I might blow your or my brains out."

"You're way to stiff. You need to relax. Here, let me show you." Levi said as she walked over to Stella. He stood behind her and placed his hand on hers and guided her hand to the gun. She felt his hot breath blow at her neck, as he lifted the gun and his body near hers.

"Relax your arms. Breath. And shoot."
Stella followed his instructions and took a deep breath before pulling the trigger. The bullet was too small and fast for her to she it, but milliseconds after she released it the can in front of her was launched back.

"Oh my God!" Stella cheered, jumping up and down. "I did it!"

"Yeah, you did!" He high-fived the girl.

She hit the next can, and then the next, again and again and again she impressed the group. After a while, they all returned to the farm. Stella headed straight to Carl's bed. He looked and felt a lot better. She sat by his bed, reading the comic books she had found for him, until he fell asleep. Even after that she stayed by his side, listening to the ongoing argument outside as Ellie tried to convince Hershel to let her help Levi look for Sophia.

"No way, you're not going out there with this boy." Hershel said.

"With all due respect, sir, I've survived out there for months alone, I think I can handle one day." Levi added.

"Ellie, I won't allow this."

"Dad, please. There is a girl, alone in the woods. What if that was me? Would you not send out every man to look for me?" Ellie argued.

A silence was laid upon the three as Hershel pondered.

"I can't loose you, Ellie." The old man said.

"You won't." The Greene girl said softly.

"You better bring her back." Hershel said to Levi.

"She's in good hands, Sir." He informed.

𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐈 𝐄

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐒. They walked slowly, listening and observing their surroundings, looking for any signs of the lost girl. Ellie's father hadn't allowed her to bring a gun, but as soon as they had stepped into the forest Levi handed her his spare pistol. He said that he would feel a lot more relaxed if she carried one. She now walked with the gun aimed before her, as her feet carried her over the ground. The hot sun was beating down on her, causing two dark spots to appear in the armpit of her t-shirt.

"How long have you been with the group?" Ellie asked, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

"Hard to keep track of the time but about a month I'd say." Levi responded.

"And before?"

"Alone. My family died at the start." Levi said shortly before another awkward silence was laid upon the duo.

"My mother, she died early on. I know that I'm lucky to have the rest of my family. But, I don't think I'll ever stop missing her."

"I don't think you'll ever do. I think you just, live with it." Levi said.

As the duo carried on, further into the woods, Ellie asked.

"So, what's the deal between you and the blonde girl?" Ellie smiled.

"What? Me and Stella?" Deep wrinkles formed on Levi's brows. "We're just friends."

"Oh, come on. What about the thing that happened at shooting practice? When you were teaching her how to use her gun. You were so pressed up against her you just about to need a condom." Ellie laughed.

Levi stared at her in shock as the sides of his mouth rose. "Aren't you like ten? How do you even know what that is?"

"Dude, first of all I'm fourteen and second of all I'm not stupid."

The two laughed as they walked. "No, Stella's my best friend."

"Didn't look like that to me." Ellie giggled. "What about the whole reunion and crying in your arms thing then?"

"Her brother had just been shot, dumbass." Levi laughed.

𝐋 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈

The sun began to set at the horizont and the duo turned back, still with no luck or leads on the girl. If Levi didn't have Ellie with him, he would stay in the woods until the sun began to rise in the morning. They walked sliently to the farm where they met the other members of the group. No one had, had any luck. Deep down, Levi had imagined coming back and seeing her there. Safe and sound. Running around the farm with Carl.

"Nothing?" Stella asked the two. Levi's head contorted as he shook his head.

"Have you told Carl about her?"

"No, but he sort of figured it out by himself." Stella answered.

"How is he?" Levi asked.

"He's ready to get out of bed," Stella smiled. "He asked for you, you know. Multiple times."

Levi realized that he only had checked up on him twice since he got to the farm. It wasn't because he didn't care, but because he had been too busy looking for Sophia and pulling walkers out of wells. He felt bad, knowing that Carl had asked for him, warmed his heart.

"Is he awake now?" Levi asked, earning a nod from Stella. "I'll go check up on him now."

But after turning around to walk to the house, Andrea's shouting was heard from where she was sitting, on top of the RV.

"Walker! Walker!"

Levi quickly spun around and his eyes scanned the camp and the field before him. Far away, in the distance, he spotted a figure limping towards them. He wondered why Andrea was shouting like that, as if it was standing right in front of her. He wanted to tell her to calm down since it was about a hundred yards away from them, but stopped himself. Instead, his hands raveled around hims gun.

"Just the one?" Rick asked Andrea, who quick grabbed her binoculars and scanned the area around the walker.

"Yeah," she said before turning around to grab her shotgun. "I bet I can nail it from here."

"No, no, Andrea. Put the gun down." Shane sighed. "You'd best let us handle this."

"Shane, hold up." Rick stopped the man. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

"What for, man? We got it covered."

"Damn it." Rick cursed as he, T-dog, Shane and Levi ran in the direction of the walker.

As they got closer, Levi met eyes with the dead. The eyes that once belonged to someone he knew, someone they all knew. Only, he didn't look the same. He looked paler than usual, he wore dirty clothes and had blood around his mouth. The four of them stopped suddenly and stared in silent shock.

"Is that Daryl?" T-dog asked.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gon pull the trigger or not?" Daryl's southern accent spoke.

The four let out a sigh of relief and Rick lowered his gun. However, a few seconds later and gun shot rang in the air and Daryl's body jolted back.

"No! No, Andrea, don't !" Rick shouted and waved his arms to tell her to stop.

Daryl laid flat on the grass, blood covered his shoulders and neck as it came running from the side if his head. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed his head leaving a small wound.
Shane and Rick pulled him up and put his arms around their shoulders and began helping him to the farm.

Suddenly, Levi spotted something falling from Daryl's hand. The item landed on the grass behind him. Levi stopped. He bent down to pick it up, gasping at the realization of what it was. It's face was down into the ground but he recognized the red hair and the orange dress.

Sophia's doll.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟏𝟔𝟕𝟏 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝐭𝐡
𝟏:𝟓𝟐 𝐀𝐌
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍

I love this chapter so much. It's just a little cute chapter before the DARK EMO SAD upcoming chapters.

Anyways Ellie is feeling the tension between Stella and Levi but be prepared for a slow burn bc I'm a sucker for it.

Anyways I appreciate you all sm and please keep commenting bc y'all have me giggling🤭

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