Lilly Watkins has always been the strong one compared to her twin. That doesn't change when the dead start walking. Taking care of her family during the apocalypse, she never relied on anyone else. When she meets Daryl Dixon, a more temperamental pe...
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"Now!" The feminine voice screams at us. I look over at Carol, watching her lay down her weapons. Sighing, I follow suit, going to turn around when there are shots fired. They're from Carol.
The crazy woman launches herself at me, knocking my skinny body into one of the candelabras. She turns to Carol next, getting too close for her to get a shot off. They struggle in the corner, and I notice a predicament quickly.
One, the candle fell onto my arm and it's burning my flesh.
Two...a sharp piece of the candelabra is pierced into my side. I'm afraid to pull it out, in case it has hit a main artery as well as spreading the infection to my blood since I'm covered in Walker juice. Just a scratch gets you killed. Hell, dying in general makes you unliving.
I watch helplessly as Carol holds the blonde madwoman at gunpoint. Her eyes are a dull turquoise color as if she has cataracts.
"The signs...they were real. This was a sanctuary," the woman starts.
I grit in pain, wanting Carol to just shoot her and help me get this stupid metal out of my body.
"People came and took this place."
Carol comes closer, her gun still up. "Just tell me where-"
"And they raped, and they killed," the woman continues, ignoring Carol's sentence. "And they laughed over weeks. But we got out. We fought and we got it back! And we heard the message: You're the butcher, or you're the cattle."
"The men you pulled from that train car," Carol tries again, "where are they?" When she doesn't reply, Carol shoots her in the leg, causing her to crumple to the ground in agony.
"Where are they!?"
The woman grits her teeth. "Now...point it...at my head." She laughs, shaking her head. "You could've been one of us. You could've been listening to what the world has been trying to tell you!"
Carol gets even closer. For the love of God, please hurry up!
"You lead people here and you take what they have, and you kill them? Is that what this place is?"
"No, not at first. It's what it had to be. And we're still here."
"So that's a yes," I grind out between clenched teeth. My right-hand keeps pressure on my wound, but it's covered in fresh blood already.
"You're not here," Carol spits out, lowering the gun. "Neither am I."
She walks over to me, assessing the damage. "I'm going to pull it out. Do you still have that small bottle of whiskey in your pocket?"
I nod, retrieving it for her. She disappears, coming back with a shirt from the other room. The whiskey hits my wound at the same time she pulls out the spear. I scream out from the pain, taking breaths as if I'm in labor again.
My wound is bandaged and once again, we're leaving the room. Except I'm slower now.
When we open the door, Walkers swarm in. They still ignore us, thankfully, and go for the woman on the ground. Her screams echo around the room as we walk out.
"Where do we go now?" I ask, looking around at nothing but undead.
"Let's hope the group got out. It's time for us to leave."
Carol helps me over the fence before pulling herself up. I follow behind until she comes to a stream. She silently helps me undress, washing my wound, re-patching it up, then cleaning the rest of me off. Her eyes rest on the candle wax still on my skin. She doesn't attempt to do more than placing cold water on it. I know the wax with have to get warm again to come off and I'm not looking forward to it.
When we are both clean, we head back towards the cabin.
"I'm not messing with any of this shit anymore," I hear a voice grind out. Carol picks up her gun to see who it is.
"It's the group. They got out."
My mouth lets out a sigh of relief I didn't know I had been holding in. Our bodies saunter towards them, exhausted. Daryl and Rick are the first to notice us, and I'm swept off my feet into a hug by the first.
"Baby girl, I didn't know if I'd ever see your beautiful face again," he says in his deep gravelly voice. Tears stream down my face, not from the pain in my side and arm, but from seeing my redneck again.
"I didn't, either, Dare. I'm a mess without you. Look, I'm injured." I lift my shirt to show him my side. He grins, kissing me on the nose.
"We're both messes without each other. You remember my horse accident."
I giggle, wiping my eyes with the palm of my hands. "How could I forget your Chupacabra?"
He pulls away from me finally, going to hug Carol. Their hug lasts almost as long as ours. "Thank you for protectin' her, Care Bear."
The rest of the group come over to greet us and to give their thanks. I watch Rick stand in front of Carol. I'm ready to step in if he does anything to her.
"Did you do that?" he asks and I'm not sure if he's thankful or admonishing her again.
She nods and he pulls her into a hug. That action starts the waterworks again and Daryl pulls me into his side.
"You have to come with me," Carol says, giving me a look. It is time to reunite Rick and Daryl with their kids.
Daryl looks at me questioningly, and I just smile at him. We're a family again.
Everyone is on the porch including Tyreese and Judith. Rick runs ahead of us to his daughter, while Daryl picks me up bridal style, carrying me to ours.
"Dad!" Tiff yells, running to hug Daryl with tears running down her face. I push her hair back lovingly when she goes to hug me. Next, he goes to Cash, pulling him close, and more pain water runs from his eyes.
Milly pulls me into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay sis."
"Me too," I laugh, returning the hug. "I'm sorry for being an asshole in the car. You've changed, Mil. You're a survivor."
We walk over to the cabin stairs and sit down. Daryl joins us with Cash, watching Carl, Tiff, and Ashley interact. Ashley's trying so hard for Carl's attention, but he won't look away from my daughter.
"I think Carl has a crush on Tiff. Ashley is going to be so heartbroken," Milly laughs, her eyes on the trio as well. I roll my eyes while Daryl tenses up beside me.
"That fucker ain't goin' anywhere near her. Not with his balls." He cracks his knuckles for effect, which I place my hand over.
"Lay off. I don't even think Tiff has realized he's a boy yet. They're just apocalypse friends."
"We were apocalypse friends too. Now we have a baby."
"Is the fire still burning?" Rick asks, looking up at the smoke still going through the air.
"Yes," Carol says.
"Then we need to get far away."
Daryl stands up. "Yeah, but where?"
"Somewhere far away from there," he replies, pointing to Terminus.
Everyone nods, standing up. I go next to Daryl, refusing to let him out of my sight again. The group heads back onto the train tracks before crossing left.
Daryl shoves me playfully, Cash wrapped against his chest. "It's goin' to get better Lil."
