In a world taken over by walkers, ten-year-old Elodie fights to survive each day. But she's not just any survivor-she's a girl who happens to be hard of hearing. Her older brother Jamie isn't exactly supportive. In fact, he's downright cold, leaving...
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Elodie sat cross-legged on the grass, her small fingers carefully weaving together blades of grass to create a tiny crown. She glanced around at the bustling activity of the Atlanta camp. Sophia and Carl sat further away, chatting and giggling. She could see Jamie sitting closeby Shane, much to Elodie's displeasure. Her mother sat with Lori, folding up clothes.
Elodie looked down at her hands at a tiny snap, frowning to see her grass crown had snapped in half. She grumbled in annoyance as she threw it to the side, pulling up her knees and resting her chin on them. She stared at the ground underneath her feet, feeling frustrated. Why couldn't she even make something as simple as a grass crown? She felt completely useless. Jamie had been helping out with gutting the animals the Dixon brothers would find, but her mother wouldn't let Elodie do anything.
"Go ahead and clean those things in your ears, Elodie. Do whatever, stop botherin' everyone." is what her mother had said.
But Elodie already had cleaned her hearing aids! She had swapped the batteries after fifteen days, because she noticed they were running low. It kept beeping annoyingly in her ear, and she noticed that Carl's voice sounded way more distant than it was supposed to be.
Elodie sighed, feeling frustrated and misunderstood. She wanted to be useful, to contribute something meaningful to the camp. But it seemed like her mother didn't trust her abilities or understand that she was capable of more than just cleaning her hearing aids.
"Hello? Can anybody hear me?"
She furrowed her eyebrow as the radio right by Amy crackled, Elodie being able to make out a voice through the crackles. She jumped up, running towards the radio as Amy quickly picked it up.
"Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear my voice?"
Amy brought the radio up to her mouth, quickly pressing the button as Dale joined them as well. "Hey. Hello?" she said into the radio, Elodie staring at her expectingly.
"Can you hear my voice?"
"Yes, I can hear you. You're coming through, over," Amy smiled, looking up at Elodie when she noticed her standing right by her, leaning closer to hear the voice clearer. She then felt a tug on her shirt, looking back to see Jamie pulling her back.
"If anybody reads, please respond. Broadcasting on emergency channel. Will be approaching Atlanta on Highway eighty-five. If anybody reads, please respond."
"He can't hear ya," Elodie realized, her shoulder slumping. She felt Jamie's hand still on her shirt, holding on to it tightly. "Jamie, let go, please."
He did, but for some reason couldn't hold back a scoff. Elodie mocked his scoff with a roll of her eyes, resisting the urge to stomp on her brother's feet.
