Chapter 4

She followed him into the cell block. There was a large area with tables and chairs and then stairs to the cells. A pretty blonde girl sat with a young baby on her lap and Eleanor stopped to admire the child.

"She's a beauty, how old is she?" she asked the blonde

"About 7 or 8 months, it hard to keep track" the young girl explained. A young boy in a sheriff's hat approached then, staring openly at Eleanor.

She leant forward and lifted the rim of the hat, looking at the boy's face.

"Well Damn, the sheriff's round here sure are handsome" she commented, causing him to blush and the blonde to giggle.

She looked up as a smiling man approached her.

"Hi, I'm Rick" he introduced himself as he reached for the baby. Eleanor looked from him to the baby, to the young girl

"You the baby's daddy?" she asked her voice sharp

He glanced at he in surprise at her tone "yeah. That a problem?"

Eleanor gave him a filthy look and turned to the door "I'm not sure this is a place I wanna stay in" she said darkly

Rick saw the way she looked at him and then to the young girl and saw she was angry about something. Suddenly he registered what she was thinking.

"You think Beth's the mother?" he questioned

"She's not?" Eleanor looked embarrassed

"No, she helps take care of Judith. She's only 17 for God's sake" Rick was angry.

Eleanor closed her eyes, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. It's just something that happened recently made me real sensitive to that sort of thing." She sighed, thinking she'd blown her chances of staying. "I guess I'll just be on my way now" She headed to the door.

"Wait" Rick's voice stopped her. "It was an honest mistake. I guess we can pretend it never happened and start again."

She gave a small smile "I'd like that, thank you"

Rick gave Judith back to Beth and told Eleanor to sit down with him. A white haired man limped over and sat with them. Eleanor spotted Daryl leaning on the wall watching them, when she caught his eye he turned away.

"This is Hershel" Rick introduced the old man, who gave her a kindly smile

"I hear you've been entertaining people already." He chuckled, than glanced at Daryl "and annoying others"

"Seems some are easier to annoy than others" she replied, getting a laugh in response.

"Daryl says your names Ellie and that you were on your own with no supplies or vehicle when he saved you. " Rick started "you can tell us what happened in a minute, but first I need to ask you 3 questions"

"The names actually Eleanor, but I guess Ellie's easier to remember, got less syllables" she glared across at Daryl, who just stared back annoyingly. "What's the first question?"

Rick looked at her "How many walkers have you killed?"

She thought for a while "I honestly don't know, dozens probably"

Rick nodded "that's okay, most people don't know the exact amount. It's just to make sure you're able to do it. The next question is how many living have you killed?"

She hesitated slightly "five" she decided to be honest.

Rick looked her in the eye "Why did you kill them?"

"The first begged me too, he didn't want to turn after he got bit. The next two were rapists and the last two were murderers and wanna be rapists. I didn't like doing it but I don't regret it" She looked straight back at him.

Hershel spoke up " You're sure these people were what you thought. It seems like you can jump to conclusions pretty quickly." He was testing her.

She took a deep breath " The first was my Father, I saw him get bit, there was no way he was going to survive and he didn't want to turn. The second two, I caught in the act. They had kidnapped a girl from her group, only 16 years old. When I came across them in the woods, the first had had his turn and the second was about to. I killed them both and helped return her to her family. She couldn't cope and a week later killed herself. I stayed with the family until about 4 days ago when we were attacked by a group of men. They killed the others and took me. I fought them so they locked me in a room with no food and water for 3 days. They thought it would break me. There was six in the group. Four of them left to get supplies and the remaining two decided they didn't want to wait. They dragged me out and one of them pinned me down and the other sat across my legs and then he…." she glanced around the room and realised there were children there "let's just say revealed his intentions. I managed to knee him in the balls, and shove him into the other one. I got hold of a gun and killed them both, stole a car and got away. I couldn't hang around 'cos I didn't know when the rest would be back. That's why I wasn't prepared for the road, I hadn't planned to be out there. I only escaped last night." She was aware of a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Carol standing there.

"That explains why you were so upset about Beth and the baby" Rick said quietly, understanding why she had been so angry. He looked at Hershel, who nodded, then glanced at Carol.

"Go with Carol and get something to eat and drink, then she'll find you a cell. We're a bit full at the moment so you may have to share but we'll find somewhere. That is if you want to stay." Rick stood up and gave her a big smile "Welcome to the prison"

Eleanor reached over and hugged him, "Thank you, I'd love to stay "she reached round the table and gave Hershel a hug as well, much to his surprise.

Carol took her arm "come on, we need to start feeding you up. You're far too thin. Then I'll show you the showers and then we'll find you a place to get some sleep" The two women made their way outside to the kitchen.

"She seems to be a capable young woman" Hershel commented "With all the extra mouths we have now it's not a bad thing to have an extra pair of hands"

Rick agreed. "We'll give her a couple of days to get her strength back then we'll let her go on a run, see how she does"