Eloise walked beside Carol as they walked up towards the gate of Alexandria. Eloise felt someone watching her making her quickly turn to the church just outside the gate and she could've sworn she saw a girl staring at her at the window but as soon as Eloise blinked, she was gone.

The garbage can right next to Daryl clatters and the group was quick to turn around, Daryl instantly killing the possum running away from the trash. "We brought dinner." Daryl cooly says to the man at the gate as Eloise bit back her smile.

"It's okay. Come in guys." Aaron sweetly says and the groups slowly walks into the community, Eloise slightly jumping at the loud noise of the gate closing.

"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons." Eloise held onto her knife tighter as she slowly tucked it. in her jeans so they wouldn't see it just in case. "Stay, you hand them over."

"We don't know if we wanna stay. If we were gonna use them, we would have started already." Rick snarled and Aaron quickly got in between them. "Let them talk to Deanna first."

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asked, stepping forward to stand next Eloise. "She knows everything you'd want to know about this place. Rick, why don't you start."

...

One by one, the group was pulled into Deanna's office until it was Lou's turn.

"Hello, I'm Deanna Monroe." The woman sweetly said as she gestured for Eloise to sit in the chair across from the couch the woman was taking a seat in. "Uh... Eloise Atkinson."

Eloise looked up, right ahead of her and saw a camera. "Are you filming this?" Deanna only nodded her head, sitting on the edge of the couch. "I am. Is that alright with you?"

Eloise shifted in her seat before reluctantly nodding her head.

"How long have you been out there, Eloise?" Deanna asked and Lou scrunched her face, trying to remember. "About a few months after it started."

"I asked Carol and she said she found you a mere few months ago. Who were you with at the beginning?"

"My brother, Jasper." Eloise spoke quieter than she did before.

"Jasper... I don't think there was a Jasper in your grou-" "There isn't. I was with him up until two months before I met Carol, we got split up."

"Oh, well that's just awful." Deanna sighed and Eloise scrunched her face a little a her words before remembering she was being filmed and quickly contained her face.

"What about your parents? What happened to them?" Deanna asked, picking up on Lou's uncomfortable state, and trying to sound more calm than demanding.

"Um... I never knew my dad. Or at least I did but I was too young to remember him and my mom worked in the center of Atlanta. My mom was at work the first night of all of this and they blew up Atlanta that night. Mom never came home." Eloise mumbled, loud enough for Deanna to hear as she played with her fingers.

"Eloise, you and your group look like good people. You look like a good kid. There's some kids here around your age that could use someone like you in there life. You need to keep being a good kid in this world. It changes you but you haven't changed yet. Don't change, Eloise."

Lou stared at the woman in shock at her words before mindlessly nodding her head.

...

"They have houses ready for us, Lou." Carol called out from across the street from where Eloise was standing. She was watching the pond she had seen in the photos Aaron gave out when Carol called her and quickly ran over.

"You're gonna be staying at this house with me. You okay with that?" Carol asked once Eloise got close enough, draping an arm over the girls shoulder. Eloise looked at the yellow house she would be staying at before her eyes slightly drifted to the one right beside, the same structure but blue, with Carl walking into that house. Eloise felt her mood drop slightly but smiled at Carol, nonetheless and heading into the house.

As soon as they walked in, Tara came walked out of the bathroom with damp hair, a huge smile on her face. "There's running water!" Eloise felt her jaw drop as she walked towards the kitchen sink, turning the faucet and watching water flow out. She turned to Carol with a huge smile. "There's some clothes for you upstai-" Eloise didn't even let Carol finish her sentence before running up the stairs and into her room.

Lavender walls with a black sheeted bed coming down to the middle of the room, a little desk beside it, facing a window that pointed to the other house but Eloise didn't pay much attention to it. There were a few pieces a folded clothing waiting for her on the edge of her bed and she was quick to grab onto them and run downstairs to the shower.

Eloise hummed in delight at the warm water hitting her cold back. She grabbed the coconut shampoo, lathering her hands in it before washing her hair, smiling at the feeling. When she ran her head under the water, she watched as the dried up blood and dirt ran down her body and into the drain until she was clean before finishing her shower.

...

Once she was out of the shower, she changed into her new clothes; a black tank top, denim shorts and a green flannel. She stared at herself in the mirror before someone knocked on the door. "Lou, sweetie, there's someone giving out haircuts." Carol spoke in a nice and soft voice Eloise had never heard before.

She opened the door and saw Carol wear a floral button and a pink cardigan over it. Eloise tried her hardest to hide her laughs. "What are you wearing?" "Don't. Not a word." Carol growled pointing a finger at Eloise who quickly raised her hands in defense. "Now, do you want the haircut or not?"

"There's really someone giving out haircuts?" Eloise asked, almost sounding astonished as she leaned on the doorway. "You want a haircut?" Carol asked, ignoring her question and Eloise nodded her head. "Hell yeah i want a haircut!"

Eloise ran out of the bathroom and into the living room where a lady had set a little hair salon station. "Hi. You must be Lou. I'm Jessie" The woman smiled and Eloise skipped to the seat. "Eloise please." Eloise said, not wanting everyone to call her Lou, only her group. Jessie pursed her lips before nodding.

"How short do you want it?" Jessie asked, moving around Eloise's hair.  "Like shoulders. I used to have it that short before.... all of this. Guess it just grew out." Eloise quickly said and Carol, who was watching from across her, widened her eyes. "Shoulders? You sure?" Eloise nodded her head and she closed her eyes as she felt her hair getting lighter and lighter.

...

Eloise walked out onto the porch of her house, admiring the community when she her something being cut open on her right. She turned her head to look at the other house the group owns and watches as Daryl slices open a possum on the porch.

Eloise chuckles as she walks towards the edge of the porch railing, facing the house across from them as Rick, Carl and Carol walked out of the other house.

"Really Daryl? The porch?" Eloise screams from across the way, catching the fours attention. She kept her eyes on Daryl as he rolled his eyes but out of the corner of hers, she could see Carl staring at her.

"How about you shut your yap or I'll come over and slice his friends open on your bed!" Daryl screamed back jokingly, catching some of the towns people's attention. Eloise laughed at their scared faces as they practically run passed the house before she felt someone stand next to her.

"You got your haircut." Eloise jumped at the voice, not noticing someone walked up to her but when she saw it was Carl, she calmed down. "Yeah. I used to have it short so when she offered, I couldn't say no." Eloise smiled at him, spinning around to face him, leaning her back on the railing.

"You know, when I got the offer, I told my dad that I wasn't gonna get my hair cut because it would hurt your feelings. You're welcome." Carl cooly says as he leaned against the porch beside her, shoulders brushing. "You always pet my hair so I knew if I got it cut, you'd be absolutely devastated." Carl exaggerated.

Eloise bit back a chuckle before turning her body to face him. "Do you wanna check out the house?" Carl stared at her for a moment, taking in her new appearance before slowly nodding his head, keeping his eyes on hers.

...

Eloise showed Carl around the lower level of the house before walking up the stairs. Eloise was mindlessly humming as she walked beside Carl before he out his hand up, stopping her from walking. "Carl, what the h-" "Shh!" Carl quietly whispers, putting his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Eloise furrowed her brows, confused to why he shushed her until she heard a bang coming from one of the rooms upstairs.

Carl slowly pulled his knife out of his hollister, Eloise doing the same as they crept towards the room. When they found the room, it was the one right beside Lou's room. Eloise sighed. "Of course the one right next to mine." Carl looked at her, an unamused expression plastered on his face. "Now is not the time."

Carl slowly reached for the doorknob as Eloise gripped her knife tighter. Carl swung the door open and Eloise dropped her knife at the sight of an empty room, comic books thrown across the floor. "Sick!" Eloise cheered, running over to the comics, picking them up and neatly stacking them in her hands as Carl watched her, a smile taking over his face as he watched how excited she got over all the comics.

...

"We're almost always here after school, so you can come by any time." Ron said as he walks Eloise and Carl around his house. Eloise freezes in her spot, her jaw practically hitting the floor. "School? Like real school?"

"Well, it's in a garage. Little kids go in the morning, then it's us in the afternoon. Probably you guys too, right?" Ron said with a laugh. "Probably." Carl said as Eloise mumbled a "Sadly."

Just before Carl and Eloise entered the room with the other kids their age, Eloise grabbed Carl's arm, tugging him back and bringing his ear to her face. "Just so you know, I'm not very good with kids are age. I freak out." Carl furrowed his brows, turning to face her. "You were fine with me."

"Yeah, cause... I don't know. You're you. And you were helping me walk from a stab wound so it's not like I could really run away." Eloise rambled. Carl placed a hand on her shoulder to shut her up. "If you need to run. We'll run. Just say the word." Eloise looked into Carl's eyes and slightly nodded her head, a little in shock at how close their faces are.

"You guys coming in or what?" Ron screamed from the room, making Eloise jump away from Carl. She felt her cheeks burn and a flutter feeling in her stomach but shook it off quickly. Eloise turned to look at Carl who looked just as flustered as her, maybe more. "You ready?" Carl asked and Eloise nodded her head.

The two walked into Ron's bedroom where Ron was waiting for them at the door. "Guys, this is Carl and Eloise. Eloise, Carl, this is Mikey and Enid."

Mikey got up from his spot at the TV, giving the two a nice and warm greeting while Enid stayed on her spot on the bed, not looking up from her comic book and giving a dry and annoyed 'hi'.

Eloise stepped slightly closer t Carl, feeling anxious at the other kids in the room. "Enid's from the outside too. She just came eight months ago." Ron said, patting Enid's back.

Eloise shifted back and forth on the balls of her feet and Carl cleared his throat, leaning behind Lou and pulling out the comics the she had put in her back pocket. She let out a small whine as Carl showed the comic to the three. "Is this any of yours?"

"We didn't know you guys got that house. We mostly just hang out there and listen to music. That's Enid's." Mikey said and Enid leaned over Ron, snatching the comic out of Carl's hand, startling Lou.

"You wanna play some video games? Or Mikey's house has a pool table, but his dad's kinda strict about it." "It's okay. He's at work." Ron and Mikey said and Eloise could suddenly feel nerves rise from her stomach to her throat and she leaned towards Carl's ear. "Code word."

Carl scrunched up his face, turning to her. "What?" "We didn't establish a code word if I wanted to run. So I thought 'code word' was the code word." Eloise whispered to Carl but somehow, Enid heard and let out a little snort but Mikey and Ron couldn't hear her.

"So, do you guys wanna do something?" Ron asked after not hearing an answer and Eloise was quick to shake her head no before running out of the house.

"Sorry, I guess we come on kinda strong. We didn't think she'd run." Ron said and Carl shook his head. "It's fine."

Carl ran after Eloise, he could see her already sitting on the porch swings of her house. He quickly ran to her house but once he got to the house, he slowed his steps, walking up the stairs of the porch slowly. "You okay?" He quietly asked as he made his way towards the swings.

Eloise nodded her head, keeping her eyes on grey floorboards. When she felt the swings swing a little stronger at Carl sitting down next to her she leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder. Carl didn't hesitate to wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"It's okay Louie, we just need to get used to this." Carl mumbled, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

Eloise froze at the nickname. Louie. The only person that called her Louie was Jasper. "Did you just call me, Louie?" Eloise quietly asked and Carl looked down at her, a small smile on her face. "Yeah. Is- Is that okay?" Eloise stared off at him, nodding her head nonetheless, making him smile. "Good."

Eloise smiled, resting her head back on his shoulder as Carl tightened his grip around her shoulder. "Yeah. Good."

—JDKSDHFKFAK.
THE CARLISE CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER!!

we met the queen Enid 😌