Lottie

Saved and Lost

As the unknown came into sight, Rick started to assess the walls around Woodbury. Daryl memorised where guards stood and Lottie stood guard herself and watched from behind.

"Lottie, where did you escape?" Rick whispered to her as they all crouched behind the tree line.

"Over there," she said pointing towards the main gate. "That's where the end of the Main Street ends, I jumped from the top. There's always guards there unless there's a distraction, like what..Merle did..."

Rick gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Do you reckon, even if we snuck in a different way, that you could find where you were kept if we got you to that Main Street?" Daryl asked quietly.

"Yeah, I remember the building. Big, green, boarded up. Looks abandoned, you can't miss it." She replied.

Rick suggested sneaking in over an unguarded bit of fence, hoisting each other over it and into the other side. With everyone's approval, the group made their way towards it. With them, were two inmates they had encountered upon entering the prison for the first time, but Lottie hadn't properly met them yet.

Michonne approached Lottie cautiously and tapped her lightly on the shoulder as everyone was preparing for entry.

"I distrusted you, I spoke badly of you to Rick, I'm sorry." She said a little reluctantly and looked away ashamed.

Though a little shocked at this, Lottie simply hugged her. "I would have been the same." They smiled at each other.

It was not the time for conflict among themselves, the rescue was going to be breaking point for everyone. No one knew who would be returning, alive, to the prison that night.

Rick hoisted Daryl up and onto the wall, who pulled Rick onto it too. Together, one by one, they pulled everyone else up and over and into Woodbury.

Once inside, they desperately looked for a place to hide and get their bearings. Across a little road stood an empty, store like building. Rick and Daryl snuck across first, followed swiftly by Michonne and Lottie and then finally the others.

They relaxed a tiny bit in the darkened room. Lottie stood silently by the front windows as the others paved about and came up with various plans and ideas as to what to do next.

Upon noticing Lottie's silence in the conversation, Rick nudged Daryl to go and talk to her.

"What's wrong?" He said gently as he walked up next to her.

"It's there..." Lottie whispered through tearful eyes which were locked on the other side of the Main Street, "That building. That's where The Governor kept me..."

Daryl put his arms around her and held her tightly, trying to reassure her that she wouldn't end up back there. She leant into him as the others crowded at the window for a look at the derelict building.

"How do we get in?" Michonne said in a hushed voice.

"There," Lottie pointed towards the old wooden door that she'd burst through after a year in solitude. "There's stairs straight down and then one long, thin corridor and a dead end. I was in one of the rooms."

Before anyone could prepare, Rick and Michonne opened the door and threw out smoke grenades to cover the area. Within seconds they were surrounded by gunfire.

"They won't know where we're coming from, run!" Michonne screamed.

One by one they sprinted out the door, crouched and with guns in hands. Lottie forced the old, wooden door open and they disappeared down into the darkness. The ran down the stairs and into the thin corridor, to Lottie's surprise there was no one there. She lead the group slowly through the corridor, poking her head into each of the doors.

Eventually, she came to one particular room. The one she'd been kept in. She told the others to keep going and keep looking backwards towards the stairs.

Her gun dropped to her side and she stepped into the room. The voices echoed outside like the had done before, the room was cold, and over in the corner was a blood stain which she remembered as hers.

Suddenly, the world was silent, memories came flooding back. The bad ones with the Governor and the good ones with Merle, then she was full of guilt. She hoped with all her being that she wouldn't run into the man that saved her. That risked everything to get her back to the group.

Behind her, the group ran past with Glenn and Maggie, holding them up. Only Michonne noticed their missing group member.

Michonne stepped into the room behind Lottie who still hadn't noticed. Lottie finally turned with tearful eyes to face Michonne.

"Memories suck huh?" Michonne said kindly, somehow knowing exactly what was going through Lottie's mind. "You know, you're a hero being able to come back here to save Glenn and Maggie."

Lottie blinked, allowing tears to stream down her cheeks.

"I don't want to be a hero..." she whispered.

Michonne cocooned Lottie in her arms, held her tightly in a warm hug. Somehow, Michonne was able to console Lottie, something no one had managed to do yet.

Michonne pulled Lottie back down to earth and they both made their way, hastily, up to the surface again where gunfire had once again surrounded the group.

They jumped and ducked into doorways and behind walls and began to shoot back. Michonne and Lottie shared a doorway, taking turns to shoot around the side. As an opening began to appear, Rick and the two inmates started pushing people onto a bus against a wall and over the wall to run into the trees.

It was then Lottie realised someone was missing. Daryl.

"Where is he?" Lottie panicked.

"I don't know..Rick!" She ran to Rick to ask, to which he replied he didn't know and Michonne shook her head at Lottie.

Lottie reloaded her gun, the gun Daryl had given her, gave one last look towards the others and then turned and ran back into Woodbury.  Michonne tried to follow her but Rick held her back, knowing that even if they tried, no one could stop Lottie.

Lottie ducked behind everything as gunfire rained down on her. She was panicking and alone. She had killed multiple people and all for Daryl.

Eventually, she ended up stuck behind a building corner. She was sat on the floor leaning low against the wall. She couldn't think of a way to get out and just as tears began to stream again, an old friend appeared from behind the smoke.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Merle shouted to her as he crouched down and held her up.

"Daryl.." she coughed.

"They caught him," Merle whispered to her. "I'll get him out but I won't be able to do it again for you, so get yourself out. That way." He pointed towards an alley that lead straight back to where Rick and the others were.

"You need to get out too." Lottie insisted.

"Well aren't you sweet," Merle chuckled. "Now move!" He pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards the alley.

Lottie turned quickly to say "Thank you, for everything." To Merle and then sprinted down the alley.

Michonne gasped with joy seeing her and began climbing up the bus herself with Rick. Lottie ran past many bodies, to her shock, one of them was one of the inmates from the prison. Rick and Michonne pulled her onto the bus and they all jumped down the other side of the wall.

"How on earth did you get out of that?" Michonne said in shock.

"I'll give you one guess." Lottie said, she looked straight ahead and kept walking.

Rick and Michonne looked at each other anxiously, knowing exactly what she meant. Merle.