South Tree * TWD

53. Party Pooper

                              LILLIAN HAD FALLEN asleep after her exhausting encounter with pain. The group still sat in the shade, everyone gathered together this time. Lillian was lying on her back, her head resting on her backpack that had her jacket on top of it as a comfy pillow. Her wrapped arm rested against her stomach in a make shift sling. She was asleep close to Carl and Rick who sat back to back against each other. Carl had convinced her to get rest and Rick assured her that it'd be okay so she gave in.

Colton kept a close eye on her but also Daryl. Their distance lately did not go unnoticed by Colton. They had been acting cold towards each other so when Lillian came out of the wood crying and clutching her arm, he immediately assumed the worst.

Daryl, on the other hand, was confused and pissed. He quietly pondered questions to himself. Why Lillian was out in the woods? How she ended up falling so hard? How they were going to deal with her arm in the long run? But the question that he couldn't stop thinking about was why Colton asked if he'd hurt Lillian. Maybe the kid was just worried but it pissed him off that someone would even consider that he'd hurt a kid, let alone Lillian. His kid. He sat on the opposite side of Carl and Rick, giving Lillian some space.

After they wrapped her arm and he had loosened his grip on her, she acted betrayed. She quickly moved away from the group that had just helped her, clutching her arm to her chest. Glenn helped her out on the sling, which she mumbled a broken thanks to but quickly moved away from him too. Daryl felt real bad about it. He didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want her to scream and cry for them to stop hurting her but they had no choice. He hoped that she knew it was the last thing he wanted, he decided to give her space for now and he'd talk to her about it later. Lillian wasn't really comprehending what was happening as it was, her adrenaline put her into panic and triggered her trauma response. She didn't understand it but she felt betrayed, she didn't understand why either.

Lillian stirred as multiple loud growls sounded. She heard it in her mostly asleep phase but her eyes darted open as soon as there was barking. She sat up quickly, letting out a hiss in pain as she looked around in a panic. Rick stuck his hand out cautiously towards her, letting her know to not move as he moved into a low crouch. Lillian turned to where the barking was coming from, seeing a group of three dogs barking at them. Lillian was both amazed and terrified at the scene. She hadn't seen a dog since she went to a friend's house back when she was way younger, before all of this. These dogs were extremely dirty and bag blood all down their faces. They weren't friendly anymore, they were wild animals. Before Rick or Daryl could do anything, there were silenced gunshots before the dogs all fell limp onto the ground. Lillian's head snapped over to Sasha, who was the only one holding a gun up. She had shot them. Lillian felt queasy as she looked away quickly, back into her lap.

"You okay?" Carl asked quietly to her.

"Yeah." Lillian whispered back to him as she laid back down, her head back on her makeshift pillow. She still felt exhausted but kept her eyes open to watch as Rick pushed himself up to a stand. He took a step into the woods and grabbed a long stick, breaking it into smaller pieces with his knee. She furrowed her eyebrows curiously as she watched him, unsure of what he was doing. That's when he looked back at Daryl, who had also stood up. He motioned to the dogs using his hands and Daryl sent him a nod. That's when it hit Lillian, they were eating the dead dogs.

Lillian kept her eyes shut tight as she tried to ignore the sounds around her. She did not want to eat dog. Even though her stomach was getting ready to break out of her body and go find food itself. A dog was the last thing she wanted to eat.

" 'Ere." Daryl gave Lillian a gentle nudge as he held out some cooked pieces of meat on a stick towards her. Lillian didn't respond, keeping her eyes shut tight, pretending to sleep. "I know y'er not asleep, ya just blinked."