𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

21: So We Meet Again

Carl's P.O.V.

Daryl pointed his crossbow, Dad pointed his gun, I pointed my gun. Mom was a little startled by my actions, but settled down easy. 

"I'll take a look." Daryl said quietly. My father nodded in compliance and we watched as Daryl slowly approached the trees. He turned back to take one more glance at my dad before turning on his flashlight. We waited a few minutes.

Daryl's P.O.V.

I turned on my flashlight and quietly made my way towards the noise. My foot kicked something and I shone my flashlight to see a backpack. I picked it up and threw it over my shoulder. Not even 5 feet away was a body. 

It was a girl. No older than Carl. She had ripped jeans on, showing the cuts and bruises on her legs. A hoodie, flannel, and a thin black jacket. She had dirty blonde curls. I looked at her face and saw blood and dirt. But under the blood and dirt, was the freckled girl known as Elle Clarke. 

"Holy shit." I said quietly. I threw my crossbow over my back and scooped her up. Making my way back to our small fire, I heard a small cough. I looked down to see Elle's head slowly moving. 

Elle's P.O.V. 

My head hurt. Like a lot. I slowly opened my eyes to realize I was in fact being carried. I thought it was a dream. It was Daryl. Daryl? Does that mean Glenn? And Maggie? Rick? I was snapped out of my thoughts by being embraced in someones arms. 

"Oh my god, you're alive." Glenn. Glenn was hugging me. I hugged him back with all the energy I could spare. I was hugged from the back by Maggie. 

"How did you get out? We saw you go down?" Rick asked. Glenn and Maggie pulled away so I could breathe. 

"The walker almost got me, but I had my knife. I ran into the woods and kept running throughout the night. Slept in a lot of trees, and it is not as uncomfortable as you would think." I said sitting down. Carl went to give me a water but Lori snatched it out of his hands. She gave me a glare and I rolled my eyes. "I have water in my bag." I said pointing to the backpack on Daryl's back. He tossed it to me and I pulled out the cold water. The ice cold ran down my raw throat, soothing the pain.

"What have you been doing all this time?" Beth piped up. 

"Hunting. Though, it hasn't been easy with most of animals in hibernation. I cleared out a convenience store about a month ago. Ran out of food 3 days ago. I just found a clothing store and a stream a few hours ago." I explained.

"Were you running?" Daryl asked. I nodded.

"There was a man chasing me. I hid from him and ran in another direction." I said zipping my bag up.

"A clothing store sounds nice." Hershel chuckled. 

"Its cleared out. We could go in the morning." I said, looking to Rick. Assuming he's still in a position of power. He smiled and nodded. Everyone got settled down, some went to sleep, Daryl and T stayed up for their watch shifts, I used my backpack as a pillow. I closed my eyes and let the soft crackle of the fire put me to sleep...

↠Flashback/Dream↞

"Are you excited?" Elle's mother asked. The Clarke family was driving to Elle's last game of the season. You could say it was a league meet for the local districts.