Sorry the update has taken so long. But I am still working on this, I haven't given up. Thanks for hanging in there. And for the reviews and following.

Ell rolled over the following morning to find she was alone. Rick still hadn't talked to Carl. Emerging from her tent she hurried to the house. Finding out the night before that Job's people were lurking not to far from the farm weighed on her. Sure Rick had promised to protect her. But she knew Job would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

Inside she saw Rick and Hershel talking. The look on the face of both men suggested that they had finally reached an agreement about the group staying. When he saw her the smile on his face was intoxicating. Ell smiled back. Walking to her Rick surveyed the room to be sure they were alone. Once next to her he took her hand.

"I'm gonna go talk to Carl, so we can stop sneaking around." Rick kissed her lips as Ell pressed her body to his.

"That made things really exciting." She smirked at him.

The two parted ways and Ell began her day just like any other. Chatting with the girls and helping with chores. When lunch was ready everyone went in for food. But Ell stayed outside. She hadn't talked to Rick excluding those few minutes that morning. Heading to the trees she was hoping to come across him during his mid day walk.

Her need to touch his skin was becoming to much for her and she was eager to relieve that need. She began to walk the trail that he often followed. She knew it well because she'd walked it with him many times. Every so often they would have to take a break and tend to their primal desire. As she got closer to where she was sure he was, she herd foot steps behind her.

Stopping Ell hoped that what she herd was Rick and not a walker. Picking up a rock she moved behind a tree and waited. The steps got closer, louder and more frequent. There was at least two people making the sound. Stepping out from behind the tree she was sure she would see Rick and Shane walking side by side. Instead she was faced with five walkers just an arms reach from her.

Throwing the rock at the head of one of the walkers she began to run. She had nothing to defend herself with. Taking one walker down with a rock or a stick could be done. But five at once by yourself, well you may as well as just ask them to kill you quickly. She ran down the path she knew Rick had taken that morning. Looking back she could see that the walkers weren't giving up.

Jumping over downed trees and running between others she just kept going. That was until she tried to jump over a tree and didn't get her feet high enough. Tripping she fell to the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of her and she was dazed. Rolling to her back she looked up at the tree that had taken her down. Trying to catch her breath panic set in when the first of the walkers appeared and began to close the gap between them.

Ell tried to push her self up, but the pain in her should caused her to fall back to the ground, her face hitting the dirt. Looking back there were not three walkers almost to the tree that had caused her fall. Frantically she looked around for something to defend herself with. "Ell!" She her herd named yelled from behind her and imminently knew the voice.

"Rick!" She yelled back looking back to see him and Shane running toward her. Looking back at the tree the first of the walkers was stepping over it. Rolling to her back she used both her feet to kick it backwards as hard as she could. The walker fell back, tripping over the tree and falling it's self. She looked back to see that Rick was only a few yards away but the other three walkers were there and stepping over the tree.

Laying in the dirt with nothing to use as a weapon Ell began to kick at the walkers began to grab at her. Everything slowed down and began to move in slow motion. She took a deep breath and held it in as one of the walker fell to it's knees and grabbed for her arm. Closing her eyes she turned her head away from the walker as it bared it's teeth and pulled her arm toward its mouth.

Rick ran with all he had toward Ell as she laid on the ground defenseless against the walkers that were moving toward her. He watch as the one got on the ground and took a hold of her arm. Just feet from her he took a hold of his shot gun like a baseball bat. In one motion he stepped over top of Ell and swung his gun crushing the head of the walker, just seconds before it could bite her. She laid there watching at he and Shane killed the other three. Quickly without having to fire a shot.

When they were done Rick turned to Ell. Taking hold of his hand with the arm that didn't hurt he helped her to her feet. "What are you doing out here?" He asked placing his hands on her face to look her over. She had dirt all over her face, but that wasn't the problem.

"I went for a walk." She lied, not wanting to admit she was looking for him for a few minutes alone, in front of Shane. "There were five of them all walking together."

"There's only four here." Shane looked around wondering where the other one had went.

"I got the other one with a rock." Ell answered holding her bad arm with her good one. Rick placed his hand on her back like he'd done many times before. "Don't," she winced in pain and moved from his grasp.

"Let's get you back to Hershel, have him look at that." He put his hand on her back again, but this time much lower. It was clear she was in pain.

After Shane had killed all the walkers in the barn things between him and Rick had been tense. But things between Rick and Hershel had become so much better. After Rick risked his life to bring him back home to his daughters, Hershel felt he could truly trust him. The two men had come to an agreement that they would stay on the farm and work together as long as they could.

Rick led Ell into the house and found Hershel reading at the dinning room table. When he looked up from his bible he could tell there was a problem. He stood up and had Ell sit where he'd been sitting. "Beth." He called for her from the kitchen. When she popped her head through the door way he turned. "Get me some pain killers." Beth left retreated from sight.

Hershel began to push Ell's arm and shoulder around. "It's dislocated, I'm gonna have to put it back in place." He began moving items from the table. He motioned for Rick to follow his lead and he did.

"And how are you going to put it back in place?" She looked at both men as Hershel motioned for her to get on the table.

"Force." Hershel answered.

Ell was half way laying down when he answered and sat right back up. "Force, I'm already in a lot of pain."

"It's gonna hurt." He wasn't gonna lie to her. Beth returned with the pain killers and a glass of water. "Take two of these. And then lay down on your stomach."

Ell huffed but gave in, she put two of the pills in her mouth and took a drink of water to wash them down. Then she laid down on her stomach. Rick stood on the opposite side of the table from Hershel and held her hand.

Hershel began to mover her arm around, pushing her shoulder back into the socket. She squeezed Rick's hand and cussed. But stayed still. "He's almost done." Rick whispered in her ear.

When they herd a pop Hershel knew he'd got it in the right spot. "Done." He said and walked away.

Ell sat up still babying the shoulder. Hershel returned a minute later with an old pillow case. He cut it down the middle, but not in half. Tying it behind her neck he made a sling for her arm. "Try not to do to much the next few days, the pain should slowly subside."

"Thank you." She thanked him.

Walking back to her tent Rick kept his hand on her back. She could tell everyone was looking at them. She knew he must have been able to talk to Carl at some point, or else he wouldn't be so freely holding onto to her. Inside her tent she laid on her back resting her arm on her stomach. "I have to go talk Shane, I'll be back soon." Rick kissed her forehead before standing up.

Ell laid there watching him walk out of the tent wondering if she should tell him about Shane's threat. She didn't want to disturb the peace. After the barn incident things could have gone so differently. But Hershel has welcomed them into his home and said they could stay. She didn't want to cause drama that may change that. But if Shane really had lost his mind Rick needed to know. Both men seemed to be acting as if nothing had changed, so why rock the boat. She nodded her head as he left the tent. The pain killers were kicking in and she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. If it really was a problem it would have to wait until the next day, cause she was gonna sleep weather she wanted to or not.

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