Half Dead Isn't What I Planned To Be Chapter 2, a walking dead fanfic

Ugh, sorry this took so long to get out. University has been on my ass with coursework so this had to take a backseat for a few days and I had to rewrite it as the feel wasn't right and ugh. Please Rate/Review/Favourite, it means a lot to know you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it! Next Chapter should be out sooner than this one was so stay tuned!

"What is this?" Ella asked as a mess tin was placed on her lap. The brown substance looked unappetising but at this moment her stomach had no qualms about stuffing the unknown and possibly ungodly stuff into her mouth. "Squirrel stew," Andrea sighed with a slight smile hoping to reassure the girl, even though with the speed she was shoving it past her lips gave the blonde the impression she was past caring. It made her chuckle lightly as she sat next to her sister who was also digging in to the stew.

Ella knew she should eat slowly, savour the feel of real food and meat in her mouth, perhaps give the group the right first impressions but she hadn't eaten in what felt like days. The slop didn't even really seem to have any taste; it was just texture in her mouth that made her want to moan out loud at the feeling. That much she could restrain herself from doing. She could feel the eyes of the group watching her as they ate slowly, savouring every mouthful. Even though the stares made Ella extremely uncomfortable, it didn't feel menacing so when she met the eyes of the asshole cop that may have saved her life, she didn't exactly feel threatened. She just wanted to make sure she was ready to strike should things go south. The camp was quiet for a while whilst everyone enjoyed their first mouthfuls of food, or in Ella's case, almost her entire mess tin. "So Ella, ya gonna tell us where yer from?" Shane asked, adjusting himself on the log he was sitting on so he could focus on her.

The question drew everyone's attention to the younger brunette who suddenly stopped eating, looking up at Shane. "My family lived on the outskirts of Atlanta, moved here about 6 years ago from Boston," she answered smoothly, putting down her now empty mess tin by her feet, rubbing her hands on her thighs to somewhat clean her hands. "I hate to ask," Lori stated already feeling bad for asking. "But your family, where are they now?" Ella met the older woman's eyes and swallowed before averting her gaze back to the floor. "They're, um, I'm actually not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" Andrea interrupted, her brows furrowing in confusion. Ella licked her chapped lips, sighing gently. "Haven't really seen my family in about 3 months. I went home after all this kicked off, but they were gone." Her hands started shaking against her legs, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. "I thought that maybe they headed to Atlanta, but I didn't get there in time," Ella exhaled a shaky breath, remembering the bright orange glare of city when she finally reached it. "They were dropping all these bombs in the streets; everything was pretty much on fire, if my family were in there I'm not holding out much hope."

The camp fell silent after that, all avoiding the brunette's eyes if they could to stare down at their food or the ground. Anything to avoid her, everyone except Dale who placed a hand on her tense shoulder and rubbed gently. "I'm sorry about your family," Ella turned to face him, offering him a weak smile. "Thanks." "I'm just glad you ended up here, could have been a lot of worse." Andrea added, placing her empty mess tin on the floor by her feet. Ella nodded in agreement, turning to face her and giving her a small smile across the camp fire.

The night had begun to settle in around them and Shane sighed before standing up, the whole group turning to face him. "Kay guys and girls, time to turn in. Glenn," he turned to the skinny Asian boy sat next to Amy, Andrea's sister. "You're on first watch, just keep an eye out for Dixon sauntering back." The boy nodded, standing up and taking the rifle Shane handed to him. Everyone began to stand up and wonder towards their tents whilst Ella headed towards the RV with Dale, Andrea and Amy. "Am I still okay to stay in the RV with you? I mean, I know there can't be much room…"

"Please stop worrying about it Ella. We'll find you room, you need to rest so come on in," Dale pleaded as he opened the door to allow the three women to flow through. Ella smiled and nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The RV was small, it would definitely be a cramp to fit Ella in but Dale was determined to make it work. "Andrea and Amy are sharing the bed at the moment, I'm sleeping up the front so if you want to the seats by the table, you're welcome to them," Dale explained patting Ella's back as Andrea and Amy went through to the beds at the back of the RV. Ella smiled gently at him, nodding her head in thanks. Dale returned her smile before heading to the front the RV to rest. Ella sat down at the table she had been assigned, rubbing her lips together as she dragged her fingers through her knotted hair. She thought that maybe she could wash it tomorrow if any of the women had shampoo. God, that would be heaven she thought. She lay down on the sofa like seat as best she could, her back almost rejoicing at the horizontal position. She threw an arm over her eyes, and waited for sleep to finally come to her for the first time in days. After all, she was safe and protected for now.

"Run. Get the fuck outta here and run. Keep running until you find others and you fucking survive. You're alive for a reason okay? Just fucking keep running, keep living. Do it for me, do it for all of us. You're a fighter. SO FUCKING RUN!"

Ella sat up in seat, a hand clutching her chest and sweat pouring from her brow. Her breathing was erratic, making her short of breath and almost unable to breathe. She tried to remember what she was always told about panic attacks; breath slowly and deeply, head between your legs and just focus on the in and out movement of the air. The room around her felt claustrophobic so Ella made the decision to go add outside, regardless of the fact it was night. Her hands shook as she opened the door quietly and stepped in the cool, crisp air of a Georgia evening.

Her chest loosened slightly at the impact, breathing becoming slightly easier for her as she shut the door behind her. She bent over, focusing on getting her breathing back to normal when she heard a crack of gravel. Her head shot up, reaching blindly for her knife which she then discovered wasn't there. Thankfully, there wasn't a walker in front of her but the hunter of the group, Daryl Dixon, fucking crossbow and all in her face. "The fuck you doin' out here girl, coulda shot ya," he murmured lowering his crossbow and staring at her. Ella put a hand on her chest trying to maintain her breathing. "Needed…fresh…air," she wheezed, shutting her eyes.

"Fuck's wrong with ya, you been bit or somethin?" She shook her head, finally getting some form of pattern back into her breathing. "Fucking panic attack," she whimpered, looking at him fully. He just looked confused, and in all honesty he was. The fuck did this girl have to be panicked about?

"Whatever girl, just get back inside," he muttered under his breath turning away from her, shoving a hand in his pocket as he walked away. He felt the cold metal against his finger tips and sighed, he probably should give it back he thought. "Asshole," she hissed under her breath, and after she uttered it she regretted it as he turned back around, heading straight for her. Oh fuck. He brought his hand out of his pocket, holding up a small silver charm bracelet that made Ella's eyes widen."This yers?" He asked, watching her felt her left wrist, her sleeve riding up slightly before she immediately pulled it back down.

"Where'd you find it?"

"Out where Shane found yer, on the floor next to my broken trap and," he pulled the knife from his belt placing both items in her hands. "Found this knife too, assuming this is yers too?" She nodded, taking both objects from him.

"Thanks," she replied, smiling weakly at him. He shrugged, beginning to saunter off back to his watch duty. "Hey, um," she called quietly, making him look back at her. "Sorry, about, ya know, ruining your trap. It's a smart thing to do." "Whatever," he responded harshly, shrugging off the compliment. "Just don't go fucking up my shit again, have enough work looking after this stupid fucking group as it is without some dumb city girl fuckin' shit up." Her mouth dropped open slightly, Daryl already beginning to walk away again.

She tried to shake off his insult as she crept back inside the RV, his words echoing around her as she sat back down rubbing a hand over his face. She watched him through the window next to her seat. He just seemed to sit there, watching the edge of the woods, waiting for something to come and attack the group. She shook her head and placed her processions on the table in front of her, pushing he sleeve of her shirt up ever so slightly and reattached the bracelet to her wrist. The charm bracelet was the only thing she had left of her family, her friends, her memories. She swallowed thickly and bit her lip, fiddling with the small charm that resembled half a heart.

Ella blinked back the tears that lined her eyes, an urge pumping through her veins. Her hands began to shake, her friend appearing behind her eye-lids. She smacked herself on her temple, "C'mon Ella, you can't do this, not now. You told her you wouldn't, you promised. And we don't go back on a promise at Regional." She muttered quietly to herself, her lips stinging with the venom in her voice. She pulled her sleeves down over her hands and hugged her knees against her chest, staring openly at the table. Her mind filling up with small memories, flashes of the girl who died protecting her, keeping her alive. Not that Ella though she should have been saved, Meg should have lived.

She needed to, she wanted were just going to give up.

She tried to silence her brain, closing her hands over her ears to try and block out the noise, her thoughts like loud static screaming at her to give in. "Make it stop," she whispered, keeping her eyes closed as she laid down, her hands still covering her ears as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

17 days.

17 black scratches on the wall in front of her, taunting her about how long she'd waited for someone to come rescue her. 17 days since the outbreak that caused untold destruction to her world.

With her hands on her hips she sighed, just staring at the marks on the wall. Ella's stomach rumbled slightly as she stood there, just glaring at the tally that now acted as a calendar. She rubbed her palm down her face before biting her nails, a favourite nervous habit of hers until she knew she couldn't pretend she didn't need to eat. Ella knelt by her bed, opening her backpack to see how much of a supply she had left and somewhat hoping that overnight her food would just grow. That never happened though; she was still rationed to extreme to even keep herself going.

Ella grabbed a small packet of crackers that her friend Meg had managed to grab on one of her raids. She seemed way too prepared for all this shit whereas Ella was just useless, making loud noises when stealth was a priority. Screaming whenever one of those things tried to grab her meaning that Meg would have to kill it for Ella as well as calm her down. Meg was her rock who had pulled her through everything, keeping her alive. Ella bit her lip in frustration and shut her eyes, tired of remembering all of the stuff she's been through. It was getting more difficult now.

Regional had been their base since this thing started, hell; it's where they first met. Meg was the first person she befriended there. Ella was introduced as Meg's new roommate and was expected as such to help her in any way she could. This however, could be seen as too much. Protecting her from the world and leaving her behind whilst she raided for food, water, and help. Ella felt useless, just like she did before the shit hit the fan. She swallowed the bite of salty cracker that she had absentmindly been chewing before shoving the rest in her pocket. Suddenly, the door slammed behind her and a girl stormed in, heading straight for the washroom they shared. Ella only saw a flash of dark hair before the door was shut, the click of the lock following it.

"Meg, what happened?" The brunette asked of the older girl. "Meg?" Ella asked again after she got no response.

Instead of an answer, Meg slammed her hand against the door causing Ella to jump. "Meg, what's wrong? You're scaring me," Ella pleaded, making Meg unlock the small door and open it.

All Ella could see of her friend was blood; on her shirt, up her arms and finally onto her collarbone where an indent of bite was pulsing violently making the brunette's eyes widen. "They got me." Meg whispered, rubbing her lips together, her head dropping.

Ella shook her head violently, eyes exploding with fear as she stared at the injury oozing on her collarbone, the blood seeping from her. Meg took the younger girls upper arms, tears brimming and threatening to teeter. "You know this means I'm going to die right?" Ella nodded, avoiding her friend's gaze. "Listen to me Elle, okay? I want you to promise me something," Meg lifted Ella's head to make her look straight at her.

"Live. You have to live okay? Survive for me, it doesn't matter anymore what happened before this. You are still alive because you want to be and no matter how much this is going to hurt you and make you want to do stupid things, you have to live. We're friends and all I've ever wanted for you is get through all this shit and survive, you deserve it okay? So please, don't do anything stupid and get outta here. There's a safe route through the Monroe's office and down the fire escape, I'm sure of it. If not, you have my knife and get through those fuckers and show the world what you're made of." Ella was shaking under Meg's hands, tears flowing down her face as she listened to her friend, who wobbled slightly, the burn in her shoulder radiating through her chest. "I'm gonna change soon," she whimpered as Ella caught her arms as her legs began to give out.

So that's what Ella did. She grabbed her bag, and she ran.