A quick update, this kind of leaps forward a bit, trying to move this along. I have somewhere in mind I want to get this too. Thanks for reading.

The following morning Ell emerged from her tent after waking alone. Because of the pain killers she didn't know if Rick had ever come back to the tent the night before at all. Her shoulder was killing her but she didn't want to take anymore pain killers if she didn't have to. Yea she slept great, but if she had needed to get up and move in the middle of the night for any reason she wouldn't have been able to. And that thought bothered her.

Walking toward the house with her arm still in the pillow case sling, she wanted to find Rick. But just as she reached the steps to the porch she herd her name being called. Turning to her left she saw Carl standing my himself. She didn't know what to expect, if Rick had talked to him he may have questions that she wasn't sure she could answer. She walked to him and he turned motioning for her to follow him. So she did.

She followed him until they met up with Sofia who was holding a small box. The two children just looked at her. "What's going on?" Ell finally asked confused by the secretive nature of their meeting. They were alone and out of the view of everyone else.

"Look what we found." Carl finally spoke and Ell breathed a sigh of relief. The kids had found an animal and as the resident animal whisperer they brought it to her. Sofia opened the box and pulled what looked like a ball of black and gray fur from it.

"It's so cute." The little girl said as she handed it to Ell.

Holding it with just one hand Ell turned it around a few times before she realized what it was. "It's a baby raccoon."

"Yea, we wanna keep it, but I don't know how to take care of it." Sofia looked at her and Ell knew they were asking for help.

"Taking care of a baby animal is a lot of work guys." She tried to let them down easily. "Besides, I'm not to sure your parents are gonna let you keep him."

"I thought maybe you could talk to my dad." Carl looked at her with those big brown eyes. "My dad told me you guys are dating now, so he'll have to listen to you." Ell snorted at the logic he was using. Out of the mouth of babes.

"You have to feed him every two hours, even at night." She was hoping this would deter them from wanting such a responsibility.

"Were both gonna take care of him." Sofia answered.

Both children looked at Ell and waited for an answer. "I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises." Finally relenting Ell smiled as the kids hugged her and ran off leaving her still holding the baby raccoon. She turned to watch the kids run past Rick as he walked toward her.

"Them seem happy, give em candy?" Rick asked with a smirk. As he got closer to her he stopped and just looked at her. She'd been with him through so much and he loved her for that. But there was something else about her. Her dark brown hair curly and out of control because of the humidity. She normal kept it up for that reason, but it was down and hung just below her shoulders. Even longer when it was wet.

She smiled at him and there it was, those that smile he loved. That beautiful smile, perfect teeth that looked like she had a surplus of toothbrushes hidden away. And that one dimple on the right side of her face. He thought it was cuter that she only had one.

And though it was only the middle of the day he allowed himself to let his eyes roam over her body. She was built so much differently than Lori. And he loved that. Although she dressed to try and hide it she was curvy. At night when she would lay in just a tank top and a pair of boxer briefs he would just stair. She had to be a full C cup, if not a D. And when he laid by her side he loved to rest his hand on her hips.

Ell shook her head no and held up the ball of fur. "What's this?" He took it from her hand.

"Their new pet." She smiled as he looked at her with a confused expression. He held up the fur ball trying to figure out what it was. "It's a raccoon."

"They can't keep this thing." He held it with both hands and looked toward the woods. "Can't we leave it out there, won't the mom find it?"

"How should I know?" Ell shrugged then winced from the pain. "But what I do know is that Carl believes that since were dating you have to listen to me. Guess we know who's running things between Lori and Shane." Rick laughed. "Speaking of Shane." She figured this was good of a time as any to bring it up. "He said something a few days ago, about you."

"What'd you mean?" His tone turned serious.

"He said that when you got back with Hershel he was gonna be in charge. Said that you were to weak to make the tough choices. He told me that I need to make you understand." She waited for him to respond.

Rick just stood there taking in what she told him. He knew that Shane didn't agree with some of the choices he'd made. But to go as far as saying he was gonna be in charge and he was just gonna have to understand. Maybe there was going to be a power struggle between them. But then again it had been a few days since he'd said it, maybe it was a heat of the moment thing. He feared that there was more to it than that and at some point he would have to deal with it.

After a minute of thinking it over Rick could tell that Ell was worried about the whole thing. He pulled her close to him and kissed her on the top of the head. "Don't worry about, I'll talk to him." It was clear to see that she doubted that just talking to Shane would do much good. "It will be okay."

"I hope so cause this place is good to have to leave because Shane can't keep his shit together." She sighed and Rick just smiled at her.

That night Rick had every intention of talking to Shane. Pulling him aside and figuring out what his problem was. But as they sat around the fire things took a dramatic turn. Sitting around the fire Andrea raised the alarm when she saw a walker. Running toward the walker Rick, Shane and Daryl killed it without having to fire a single shot. "That's the closest I've seen one get to the farm." Shane looked around.

Rick looked at the tree line and saw more coming out of the woods. "There must be a herd of them." He charged the tree line with Daryl and Shane. They killed walker after walker, but they just kept coming. "We can't kill them all." Rick shouted as the three men began to run back to the farm house.

As walkers approached the farm house it was clear that there had to be hundreds of them. Everyone was armed with a fire arm and as shots rang out through the night people grabbed what they could and loaded into vehicles. As much as he hated to leave the farm Hershel got in a car with Beth, Maggie and Glen, and as Glen drove him off into the night he watched his family farm fade into the darkness.

Andrea ran to find Amy and just before she could reach her Amy was bite by a walker on the neck. Andrea fired a bullet through the head of the walker and as it fell it took Amy to the ground. Andrea knelled over her dying sister, crying as three walkers pounced her and began to eat her alive.

Daryl ran toward Carol and scooped Sofia up in his arms and found the old blue pick up truck. With Carol and Sofia safely inside he drove off. Looking from one side to the other to see if he could save anyone else. With no luck he reached the edge of the fence yard and drove off into the night hoping to find the rest of his group. Knowing that they couldn't be the only ones to have made it out safely.

As Rick and Shane pushed Carl, Lori and Ell into the back of a jeep and drove away. Ell sat in the back with Carl between her and Lori. She knew where Rick was taking them. There was an old intersection where two country roads crossed, no houses for miles. The group had always talked about if they would have to leave in a hurry and not everyone together, they would meet there when it was safe to do so.

Ell knew that by the morning light it would become clear who made it through and who didn't. The thought sent chills through her body. The five of them in that car couldn't be the only ones to have made. And if they had how would that work. Shane and Rick at odds. Only five people. She tried to put the thought out of her mind as they bumped down the old country road.

As the sun rose and the fog began to fade Ell was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. "We should be there in a few minutes." Rick looked in the back seat at Carl. He didn't know who had made it through the night. As he got closer to the intersection he tired to hide his smile when he saw two other cars there.

When he pulled up he got out of the car and was greeted by Hershel, Maggie, Glen, Beth, Carol, Daryl and Sofia. Everyone hugged and cried. They tried to account for everyone they were missing but with all the confusion no one really knew what happen to everyone else.

The new group decided that they would wait there for the day to see if anyone else showed up. After a few hours everyone was making themselves busy. It was only then that Rick noticed Ell as she walked away from the group to a small patch of trees. He hadn't had a chance to check in with her and she how she was doing after the previous night.

As he got close to the tree he could hear her as she threw up. As soon as he herd her getting sick he ran to her. Pulling her hair back with one hand he ran the other up and down her back trying to comfort her. "It's okay." He said softly.

"No it's not." Ell stood up and leaned against the tree. "I think I have the flu."