Southern Sunshine

Part Five: Healing

It's been at least two, maybe three days after the loss of Red and then, of course my sanity as I stared out into the eyes of the dead as they tried to claw and grab at me; only to be stopped by the winding bars of the fences' outside perimeter. My cold has somewhat subsided and Rick allowed Rum and myself to explore further into the prison- luckily, his people trusted me... Or, I presume what it could be considered lucky.

"Lilith! Hey, Lilith!" I heard a voice call out and echo throughout the small corridor, thus making me quickly turn on my heel to see- "Carl? Hey, there- what do you need?" I laughed as Rum stood in between the two of us, trying to somewhat block Carl from getting closer.

"I wanted to ask you, where did you find your dogs?" He smiled, somewhat with a warm heart as he went to step closer, only to have Rum begin to growl, this stopping him in his tracks as I laid my palm against the top of his head, as I gave a small smirk.

"I've had them since the beginning- and sorry, Rum doesn't really like it when people call him a dog." I giggled as he slowly nodded, his eyes lighting up some as I looked up, my own eyes shining some as I haven't laughed, or giggled in forever- honestly, since the beginning.

"Dully noted.. And what about-"

"I'm assuming you didn't come here to talk about my baby- now, what do you need?" I snapped quickly, feeling my eyes slightly water as I sighed; trying to push away the nagging feeling of anger... Sadness... Powerless.

Carl seemed to be slightly stunned by my sudden change from lighthearted conversation as he nodded slowly before reverting his eyes towards the floor. I felt my heart suddenly drop into my stomach as I closed my eyes and gave a breathy sigh before clicking my tongue at Rum, thus making him sit as I walked towards Carl.

"Listen- I'm sorry about snapping, it's just... I lost Red only two, or three days ago and she's a sensitive topic for me to talk about right now, if you understand.." I spoke in a low voice, hoping that my voice wouldn't boom around the cell block. Carl looked up at me with this look in his eyes that read that... That he understood.

"I understand where you're coming from- trust me, that's how it was for me when my mother died giving birth to Judith-"

"Oh, Carl, I'm... I'm sorry to hear that." I sent him a look of sympathy when he launched forward and wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I stood there- suddenly Rum began to aggressively bark but I quickly whistled, this quieting him as he allowed a low pitched growl to leave his throat.

I stood there in Carl's arms as I slowly wrapped my own around his slightly shaking shoulders; that's when shouting came from the cell block this forcing Carl and I to quickly separate when Rick came running into the hallway- blood and muck smeared on his face and clothes as he spat through gritted teeth, "run. Now."

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The sound of my bike purred underneath me as I sped off back towards the prison- my mind only set on getting back to the people that I truly call, Family.

Walkers began to flood out of the thicket surrounding the roads, but nothing to extreme as I only revved the engine and sped off faster towards home, when I heard shouting and screaming coming from up ahead. Gritting my teeth, and tightening my grip on the handles as I quickly rod towards the noise.

Once the prison came into view, I could see at least two of the guard towers up in flames as I grew closer, the sounds of guns firing became louder and nearer as I clenched my jaw; trying to focus when I saw about three vehicles parked in the front, all of them holding people with guns as they began to open fire.

"No!" I shouted as I revved the engine, speeding down the gravel road as I quickly unholster my own gun before open-firing on the people. Only hitting a few as the others dove out of the way, trying to fire back as I sped through the gateways as Michonne, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Rick, Carl, along with some new arrivals, and then- this girl that came out with Carl.

They all held onto their automatics as they unloaded rounds into the trucks, and possibly the people as I came running over, I shoulder-checked the random girl this causing her to slightly stumble back and huff a steady breath as she looked at me- yet it was only for a few seconds before she swerved her head back towards the enemies, continuing to fire.

Squinting my eyes slightly, I watched how she held herself... The way her feet were as they planted themselves into the cement, while her shoulders held tightly to the automatic rifle- even for her being around maybe, Carl and Beth's age, I could tell that she has been on her own for awhile.

Soon after a few minutes of more firing, the still working cars sped off down the road as some of us cheered, as the rest of us stood there as we heaved heavy breathes, trying to calm our thumping hearts. After Glenn retrieved all of the automatics, putting them back in the hamper- I went to turn towards Rick, and that's when I saw the girl walking away back into the prison.

"Rick! 'ey, Rick!" I called after him as he spun around, now facing me as I jogged towards him, still watching the girl over my shoulder as I watched Carl run after her; now seeing this large... Beast follow beside her.

"Daryl? Are you alrigh'?" Rick's voice had a small sense of a chuckle to it as I looked at him with slightly confused eyes as I squinted at him with furrowed brows.

"Uh- who's the new chick?" I gave a halfhearted laugh as I threw my thumb over my shoulder, only to notice that she was already inside the prison. Rick looked over my shoulder before nodding slowly at who I was talking about.

"Oh, you're talking about Lilith... Yea, yea, she's a new member, or sort of. She's healing right now, her camp was attacked three days ago and she lost one of her family members along the way while they protected her. She's been through Hell, and honestly she still is going through it-" Rick's voice trailed as his eyes darted around behind me, resting my hand on the butt of my hunting knife... I quickly unsleeve it and turned on my heel, only to have my arm grabbed and thrown behind my back; thus making me drop the knife against the cement.

"Gah! What the hell?!" I shouted as my arm was release and I spun around again- now seeing the girl standing before me with this bright, prideful look in her bright blue eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I hissed through clenched teeth, shoving my index finger in her face as she merely removed the tattered bandanna from around her face, to reveal a small smirk.

"I'm who I need to be in all of this Hellhole, and right now, I'm busy healing..."