Hey you guys, new chapter ;o) Wohoo! As always: Have fun reading and review if you want ^^
This is a kinda like a fill in chapter, to get to know Ella a little better!

The sun began to set and we stopped the car in the woods to set up camp. I couldn't believe my eyes when John set up the tent on the SUV. There was a small platform on the top of the car, which I hadn't seen when we first rode the car. It was brilliant. A higher place to sleep … better than on the ground. The whole time I wondered why there was a small ladder on the back of the car, now I knew. "Will you just stand there and watch my ass work? I thought you were one of these emancipative women screaming: I can have a penis too."

I laughed. "You really are like Merle." With a confused look he turned around. "Who's Merle?"

I laughed again. "Never mind." Even he had his sarcastic comments and his kinda raspy voice, he was definitely a nicer and particularly a caring man then Merle.

Alex came out of the woods. "This place seems safe for now. I set up some traps."

John nodded. "Good. Tent is ready too." We stood at the front of the car and soon Mark joined us too. "The woods on my side are safe. Saw nothing but one walker." John looked at him with a look on his face that he wanted an answer to an unspoken question. I didn't really get what he wanted but my irritated look was answered by Mark. "I killed it."

John nodded again. "Okay!" I looked at them. They seemed to know each other really good. Even can tell by the looks of the other what the other thinks or wants. A precious gift these days.

Alex began to hand out sandwiches. And John, who really turned out to be the leader of our little gang, began to talk about night shifts. "Let's split in two groups. The girls and the boys?" No one commented, so everyone seemed fine with his decision. "One group sleeps now, the others keep watch." We all nodded. "You have to have your guns ready at all time! Be sure the safety catch is released before you shoot. Better use your knife, it is quieter. Safe the last bullet for yourself." I looked at him in disbelief. He was talking just to me and Alex. "What?"

"I mean what I say. Don't get bitten!" With that John hopped on the SUV and disappeared in the tent. Mark followed him. "Stay safe girls!"

Alex nodded and took her gun. "Let's go. John was driving all the time, he needs to rest." She was right. And after our little incident I couldn't really sleep. At the thought of the dicey incident my heart began to beat faster. It all felt like a movie, walking hungry zombies, people getting all grabby … How come people in apocalyptical movies are never really helping and caring and always after the goods and chattels of other people? I remembered the movie The Book of Eli … I felt a little like Mila Kunis, but it wasn't the same at all. I sniffed. Maybe there will be a knight in a shining armor too? Yeah right, on a white horse. Let you feel all Cinderella. Get your head back onto earth and clear your mind. The voice in my head was right. No knight, no shiny armor, no prince. This was just what the world was now … dangerous. But deep down in my heart I knew I would always believe there would be someone coming and rescue me …

Being first to keep watch Alex and I made a round. We just wanted to check the surroundings and the traps and then back to the SUV. I had a firm grip on my gun, ready to defend myself, ready to shoot. My eyes seemed to notice every movement that was around me and my ears were listening to every cracking sound and rustling. Even it was quiet I thought I could hear the wind in the trees and the animals in the woods.

Now that we walked side by side in silence, I thought about the men who attacked us from the highway. What if there were men like that here in the woods? What if they saw us first or were already watching us? As I felt working myself up, I breathed in deeply. I needed to keep a clear head. Before I began to over-think the situation Alex interrupted my unsettling thoughts. "You know, there is one thing I wanted to ask you all the time." Alex didn't look at me while she spoke. Her eyes scanned the area.

"Shoot!" I said.

She still didn't look at me. "Why are you so eager to find your group?" I thought about her question. "I mean, why do you go on? You said that they think you are dead and they could be anywhere. Do they mean so much to you that you go out with us and risk your life, instead of staying in a safe place?"

I let out a sigh. "I care about them a lot … They helped me when I was alone and afraid. It may have been just a few weeks, maybe month, time seems so irrelevant these days … But the time we had was precious. We grew kind of close, like a small family with a few rotten apples." I paused with a smile, thinking about Merle and Ed. "It is not only that I want to see Amy again or joke around with Glenn, but to let them know I am alive. If they believe I am dead, maybe someone feels guilty and that would be my fault. You know … I feel guilty." She stopped.

I thought she was going to say something, but she just stared into the woods. I followed her gaze and saw three walkers ahead of us. She took out her knife. "Don't shoot, that will only attract others and wake up the guys." I nodded and took out Daryl's hunting knife.

Alex silently walked to the right to attack the walkers from behind. I slowly turned left to attract them. They were slow, maybe they already had a big meal and were not eager to eat again. I sniffed at my own thoughts. These things are always hungry, always wanting to eat the living. I learned that very fast. One dead body was very slow, his ankle was broken and on the other side wasn't even a foot anymore. It must have been a man. Although this thing was already rotten, you could still see a beard around his chin. I saw Alex behind the three gnarling geeks and made my move. I jumped forward and pushed my knife through the eye of one of the limping geeks. It felt like carving into a ripe mango. It was smooth and easy, which was good.

Alex pushed her knife in the back of the head of the tall walker, who went dead to the ground. But her knife was stuck in his head. The walker left tried to grab Alex. I kicked it away from her. It stumbled but didn't fall down. With great effort she pulled out her knife and tried to stab the last walker standing. But it trip over a root and Alex just managed to cut open his throat. That made the geek's gargling even more disgusting. With his open throat, the head fell back and dangled on his back. Alex cut off the head and it fell to the ground. She instantly smashed the head with her right foot and the bloody gurgling finally stopped.

"Nice. But look at your boots." Blood and brain was on her right cowboy boot. She just gave a shrug. "This is a new world and a brand new me too." I couldn't help but smile at that comment. First time I had seen her, she was all model chick, now she was more kick-ass Barbie. "You are right." I looked at her, her long blonde hair in a ponytail, her clothes all creased and her shoes bloody. She stood there with her hand in her hip and a pussycat smile on her face.

"But you could wash that t-shirt nonetheless." She told me and I looked down on myself, still wearing the white shirt with the rainbow she gave to me.

"Hey … I love this one!" I said joking. "Next time you see a washer I'll do laundry." We laughed together silently.

After we went back to the SUV, I could hear one of the men snoring. I opened the back door and took out two water bottles from the back seat. I handed one of them to Alex. "You are right," I started, "the world has changed. It has gone to shit if you would ask me. It feels like I was dragged out of the islands of Neverland. I never wanted to grow up." I chuckled. "I made my hobby a profession. I was living in the moment and never cared about what people say. I smiled fears and threats away. It is just easier not to care about everything."

Alex eyeballed me. "So you are a mixture of Lara Croft and Peter Pan. Hah … you are Lara Pan." I simply looked at her. "What was your hobby, I mean profession."

I blushed a little. "I was a dancer."

She directly reacted to that. "Striptease dancer?"

I blushed more. "No!" I punched her softly. "I always loved music and dancing. And to finance my studies, I taught dancing, like hip hop dance, zumba and so on at a gym."

Alex smile grew bigger. "Wow, you must have been good. That's where you got your nice ass and smooth motions …" Could I blush more than now? I was as red as a tomato.

"Dancers are the best in bed!" I turned around to see John looking out of the tent. I almost choke on my water. "Excuse me?"

John laughed. "Your ass …"

I was lying on my back, my eyes on the ceiling of the tent. I thought about what Alex had asked me, why I still went on. Now I replayed it in my mind … I think it is my nature to never give up. All the people I had met since the beginning of the new demon era were nice to me. The campsite group, now Alex' group … I was one lucky girl. In the corner of my eye I saw Alex moving.

"You're not sleeping."

Was it a question or a conclusion? I rolled to my side and saw Alex looking straight at me. "Too many thoughts in my head …"

"What about?" Her voice was tired and her eyes were crying for sleep.

"We can talk tomorrow, you need to rest." I wanted her to sleep and regain some strength.

She stifled a yawn. "Don't be a smart ass. Tell me!"

I rolled my eyes. "I just thought I am lucky to have found a group of good people twice. The first one with Glen, Amy, and Daryl was nice and caring. We managed to survive together, protected each other. Now I am with you guys doing the same. We are looking out for each other. I have met bad people before, but always had my people watching my back. I felt safe even in danger." Her eyes were closed now and I couldn't tell if she was asleep. I rolled on my back and shut my eyes too. I needed the rest as bad as her.

"We need to stay positive. Even the world had changed and all this crab happens, we need to be normal, stay human. We may not be able to ever have the life we once lived, but just because dead bodies are walking now does not mean we have to change our nature. I still want to go to a party, I want to dance with a boy and would love to hear music again. I am not giving up my dreams because of this living hell. I know there are bad people out there besides the walkers, I am not stupid or naïve. But I want to stay true to myself."

I listened to her with closed eyes, absorbing the meaning of every single word she said. She was right, I didn't want to change myself either. Why should you change at all? I love you the way you are and that will never change. You just need to be strong to walk this living hell. My eyes fluttered open. Right, I will walk this demon era with a smile in my face and a knife in my hand.

Hershel's farm

The group was shattered. After Shane had opened the barn und walker-Sofia came out of it, everyone was down. After Rick had shot that little girl in the head, nothing seemed to be the same again.

Daryl moved his tent away from the group. He wanted to be alone. There were no words to describe how he felt and he didn't even know himself. He just knew one thing, he was angry. He was angry, at Carol for not looking after her daughter, at Merle for not waiting on the roof top, and at Ella for sneaking out. But he didn't know why. It seemed to be his nature to be mad and angry. It was like dealing with Merle in his head, like that day when he went looking for Sophia and got injured. He saw Merle, a hallucination. Now the hallucination was not visible but audible in his head.

Why the hell do ya care about that lil' girl?

Daryl tried to shut him out, but how to handle a hallucination?

Is it because of that bad ass?

Now the hallucination got his attention. "Ella?!"

So ya do care.

"Shut up!" Daryl leant against a tree, eyeing the farm.

Ya think you could've saved her?

"I found the cabin where she must have rested. If I would have looked around …"

Daft bastard. Hell ya care about that lesbian's daughter. Ya thinkin' about that hottie.

Daryl's thoughts drifted off to Ella again. He could have saved her, anyone could have saved her. No one was paying attention to her, while she always had paid attention to the others. If he knew how much she wanted to go to the city, he would have chained her in the RV.

That's my Darylina. Chain her and then take her …

Daryl immediately pushed off from the tree and away from the hallucinated words. He just hoped Ella had found shelter or something like that. If not … he had taught her how to deal with walkers, she knew what to do.

Suddenly her smile and green eyes popped into his mind and he knew why he couldn't offload the feelings about her … because she was the only person in years who cared about him.

I care about yar sweet ass too baby brother.

Daryl wondered if he had hit his head too hard or if the meds Hershel gave him were that damn strong, that he still heard Merle in his head. And again he remembered Ella's voice in his head telling him how much she cared about him. He shook his head. The damn thinking would kill him one day. He watched the row of trees. "This is real. Not some damn hallucinations putting words in my head." He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. Talking to the trees was as bad as talking to hallucinations. He took out his knife and some branches to make arrows out of them. He was good at this, good at hunting. He would concentrate on that now and shut out all the other stuff, shut out hallucinations and thinking.

End for now. Sorry for the lame chapter the next one will make it up! Some more action and interesting turnings ...
xxx see ya