Elide and Carl lost track of time as the two sat together on a thicker tree trunk, not taking their eyes off their surroundings for a second.

The atmosphere was more than tense and they both tried to ignore each other as best they could, but Elide couldn't help looking at Carl as soon as he looked away. But he kept catching her doing so, causing her to turn her head away in embarrassment.

As the sun set ever so slowly, Carl jumped down from the log and tucked his pistol into his belt. "I think we can go back. The hour should be up by now," he said, addressing Elide, who also stood up.

"Okay, let's go," she agreed and walked past him, back to the barn. Carl was close on her heels.

As soon as they got back to the barn, all eyes were on them. Everyone had long since returned, only the teenagers were missing. Rick immediately ran to Carl and put his hands on his shoulders. "What took you guys so long? Did something happen?"

There was just no mistaking the concern from Carl's father's voice and Elide's heart tightened painfully at the thought of her own family.

Carl shook his head. "No, dad. It's okay."

Nodding, Rick now looked at Elide and nodded to her, which she also returned and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to the right and saw the familiar face of Glenn, who smiled encouragingly at her. Right from the start, the Asian man was the most sympathetic to her, especially since he was the first to insist that Elide stay with the group.

In the minutes that followed, they all discussed which direction to take to the 'camp'; while Rick agreed to give the whole thing a chance, he didn't want to risk anything and preferred to take another route rather than the one Aaron recommended.

Elide exhaled louder than intended and took some distance from the group, which immediately drew Carl's attention to her. The boy meanwhile had his little sister in his arms again and was trying to calm her down a bit as she started to whine.

It annoyed him that he was watching Elide closely all the time, but he didn't know why he felt that way. He didn't trust her, but didn't believe she meant any harm either. Especially since they were travelling alone together and she could have hurt him at any time. But she didn't.

Carl also decided to take some distance from the group's discussions and stood with Judith in his arms by Elide.

As soon as she noticed the boy, her entire body tensed and she turned her head towards Carl.

"What is it?" she wanted to know perhaps a little too harshly, but this did not bother Carl. He didn't even let on that he couldn't really stand Elide.

"Nothing. I'm just trying to calm Judith down and it's quieter here," he justified himself harshly, stroking his sister's head delicately.
How could this boy be so hard, uncomprehending, emotionless but also loving and gentle at the same time? Elide could hardly take her eyes off him and his smell, which was a mixture of fresh rain and leaves, immortalised itself in her memory.

Elide nodded and now looked at the baby. "She's cute," she then stated and gently stroked Judith's cheek, which didn't really suit Carl, but he said nothing. Something stopped him from throwing a biting comment at her feet; perhaps it was the sad and dreamy look on the girl's face as she looked at Judith like that.

Shaking his head, he took some distance, which was why Elide's hand fell back to her side. "She is."

The teens' gazes met again, but were interrupted by Rick joining them and taking his daughter from his son's arms. To Elide, the mix of the sweet baby and the scary and serious man didn't match, but still, there was something about Rick that seemed trustworthy and warm.

"We'll ride separately, but we'll all meet Eric, the other man, and ride with him to the arranged meeting place," he informed them in a hushed voice, his gaze falling on Elide more often than necessary.

"Do you trust him?", Carl asked his dad, also looking briefly into Elide's eyes, where she just rolled her eyes. If he hated her, he shouldn't look at her. But she was doing exactly the same thing, which annoyed her so incredibly.

"No. But I trust Michonne and Maggie and Glenn," he replied immediately, finally nodding. "If there's only two of them, we're outnumbered anyway."

"And if not?" Elide suddenly wanted to know and lifted her chin provocatively as she looked at Rick. For all three of them her question came as a surprise, especially since she always wanted to stay out of everything and did so for the most part.

Rick bit his lip. "It won't come to that."

Elide wasn't convinced about the plan, nor did she want anything to do with it at all.

But no matter what came, she'd be okay with it. As long as she spared the universe casualties this time.

The group was ready, armed and prepared for what they would face next. And none of them had expected such big changes.

Especially after Elide told Carl that hope wouldn't get you far.

__

All but Michonne, Glenn, Rick and Aaron drove up behind their car in the trailer. Rick decided they would drive a different way at night to avoid possible danger.
Judith was fast asleep in Carl's arms and Elide leaned her head out the window, the teens' shoulders touching over and over. The space in the trailer, was not exactly spacious.

Elide tried to watch the stars, however it was far too dark and the trees blocked any view she had, when suddenly Abraham shouted 'fuck' loudly and everything happened quickly. Elide's eyes widened as she saw how many walkers were on the streets. Abraham had no choice but to slow down sharply and go somewhere else.

The road was rough and they caught many walkers who left bloody marks on the trailer. When another man appeared from the edge of the forest, Abraham had a hard time braking and caught the man.

He braked immediately and Elide was one of the first to get out of the car with Maggie. Elide didn't even know where her sudden concern for a strange man had come from, but if you really did die in a car accident at times like this, the irony of fate had indeed won.

Maggie noticed Elide. "You should stay inside."

Shaking her head, the girl settled down beside the man. "Can you hear me?"

The man woke up and sat up in pain, with more of the group now outside, including Abraham. "I'm fine, just my ankle," he brought out through the pain, pointing to his clearly swollen ankle. Maggie gave him an apologetic smile. "The ankle may be broken."

Sighing, the man also managed a smile when it suddenly disappeared and he looked at the group in surprise. "The trailer...you're with Aaron?!" he immediately wanted to know, standing up as Maggie pushed him down.

"Yes. Yes, we're here with Aaron, but we've parted ways, too many walkers on the streets."

"I'm Eric. God, I'm relieved to hear Aaron's okay. We need to get to the meeting place," he said tersely, letting Abraham help him to his feet. "It's not far from here."

Nodding, Maggie held him close. "I'm Maggie and this is Abraham and Elide," She introduced herself and then the other two who were also standing by.

Elide tried to smile, which didn't really work. How she would just leave it all behind and rewind to the day her brother sacrificed himself for her. It was incomprehensible to Elide how they still got up laughing together that morning and Elide fell asleep crying alone that evening.

When they all arrived back at the caravan, Carl immediately got up from his seat when Elide came into his view. "Who was that?" he wanted to know in a hoarse voice.

"Eric, the man Aaron was with," she stated curtly and dropped into her seat. Carl merely nodded and did likewise, the woman with the short grey hair now coming and settling down opposite the children.

"I'm Carol. I don't think we've had a chance to properly introduce ourselves," she said, addressing Elide and smiling cautiously at her, which took Carl a little by surprise, especially as Carol had changed a lot over the many years of loss. Normally she was not very open to strangers, but what Carl did not know was that Elide reminded Carol very much of her deceased daughter. Besides, Elide was just a child who would never have survived outside on her own. At least that's what Carol thought.

"Elide," the girl replied, looking down at her dry hands rather than into the woman's eyes.

"I don't think you're a threat to us," she clarified as Daryl walked into the back and leaned against the thin frame. "If she was a threat, I wouldn't have brought her," he muttered, lifting his gaze that had been on the floor earlier. He reached out his hand and held out her weapon to Elide.

"If we get to that place and something goes wrong, you'll need it," he added harshly.
Elide was overwhelmed by all the affection and trust from the group. Perhaps the universe now meant well with her and wanted to apologise for taking her brother from her.

Elide reached for her black gun and dropped it in her lap; her hands wrapped tightly around it.

"Thanks, Daryl," she finally brought out softly, looking him in the eye as he gave her a nod and then pulled himself forward again. Carol stroked Carl's shoulder and gave Elide a nod as well before following Daryl.

Elide closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the silence. Only Carl's and Judith's regular breathing could be heard, which didn't bother the girl at all, quite the opposite, it was very soothing. Even though Carl and Elide couldn't really stand each other, she secretly enjoyed his presence; He didn't make her feel alone in this big world and just the feeling of his shoulder against hers was enough to convince her that maybe there was a reason to hope after all.

__

"Dad!" Carl happily exclaimed as he embraced his father. The group was overjoyed to see everyone reunited and no one missing. They all fell into each other's arms as Aaron rushed in to see Eric.

Elide bit her lip and averted her eyes to the sky, unable to stand the pain in her chest any longer. She was happy, of course, that they had all found each other again, especially Carl and his father, but she couldn't just shake off the feeling of envy.

"Hey," she suddenly heard Glenn say next to her as he put his hand on her shoulder, standing next to him was Maggie, who also smiled at her.
"Hey," Elide breathed back, looking at them both gently.

"You're okay, right?" Glenn asked worriedly, squeezing her shoulder a little tighter. For a moment, the girl was too overwhelmed by the fact that someone cared about her now, when they didn't even know each other. However, she had a good feeling about Glenn right from the start.

"Yeah, don't worry 'bout me," Elide assured them, managing a genuine smile on her lips for the longest time, which Carl, standing next to his father, didn't miss. He eyed the girl and drew his eyebrows together in confusion. 

"That's good. Come on, let's go in," Maggie said, running in first with Glenn before Elide and the others followed too.

Maybe it'll get better.

__

A shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it.

I don't know if it might still be a bit too undetailed, but I didn't really want to drag out the beginning.

It gets better, trust me!

-Ally