A Painful Place (Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 20: Little Sister

“Her mom was fucking livid,” Tilly laughed as she recounted yet another story about her and Lana in their younger days.
“Are you serious?” Glenn asked, laughing. “A whole chicken? Like, an actual live chicken?”
Tilly nodded, “Yeah, we stole it from Mr. Parker’s coop down the road. It’s a good thing she found it. I’m not sure how long it would have lived in her trunk if she hadn’t needed to go buy groceries that day.”
Even Daryl was laughing by the end of her story. They had been driving for several hours and had taken turns telling stories about their lives pre-apocalypse. It almost made things feel normal, like they weren’t on their way toward a city potentially containing millions of flesh-eating monsters.
“I remember the time I made the mistake of telling Beth I was going to cut school,” Maggie began, smiling. “She was such a goody-two-shoes. Never one to rock the boat, and here I was sneaking cigarettes behind the stables. Anyway, there was this fair going on the next town over, food trucks, rides, a parade, the whole deal, and I wanted to go. I thought I could trust her, but turns out she’d gone and tattled to Daddy about it instead.”
“Yeah, little sisters are a pain like that,” Tyreese laughed, elbowing Sasha in the side.
“I tell you what,” Maggie continued, “I’ve never been more shocked than when I showed up at that fair and he was waitin’ at the gate. I did double chores for a month and I didn’t get so much as a funnel cake out of that adventure.”
“You think Beth’s still out there?” Glenn asked, looking sympathetically at his wife.
“Wait,” Tilly turned around to face Maggie, “was she with you guys before?”
Maggie nodded, her face solemn. “We got separated after the prison.”
“She was taken,” Daryl added. “I was with her, just the two of us. We were holed up in a funeral home, but it got overrun. I told her to wait outside while I took care of it and I came out just in time to see a car drive off with her inside.”
“Why didn’t you mention it before?” Tilly asked, her eyes wide. “I mean, we left without even looking for her.”
Daryl shook his head. “I did look. There’s no way we would be able to find her. No trail. She’s just… gone.”
“I’m sorry, Maggie,” Tilly said softly.
“Maybe the people who took her were good,” Sasha offered. “Maybe she’s safe with another group now.”
Maggie just nodded and gave Sasha a small smile, appreciating her effort to comfort her.
“Yeah,” Daryl said. “I hope so.”
His normally straight face had sadness written all over it. Tilly could tell he was still beating himself up for not being able to save her. That’s probably why he hadn’t said anything about it.

A few minutes later they stopped outside of a large brown house. The area was rural, and there were only a few other houses to be seen off in the distance. They all climbed out of the car and gathered in front of the porch while Rick and Michonne checked it out. They returned a few minutes later, each of them dragging the lifeless body of a walker out into the yard.
“Home sweet home,” Glenn said, leaning on Maggie as he climbed the front steps.
****
“We’re going to hunt,” Daryl told Tilly once they had moved all of their things into the house.
“It’s going to be dark really soon,” she observed. “You sure it’s a good idea to go out there?”
“Rick says it’s fine,” he answered, “and we need to get some protein into everyone before we get into the city in case we have a battle ahead of us.”
Tilly sighed, “We always have a battle ahead of us. Alright, I’ll find my bow.”
She was still a little clumsy with the weapon, but was getting better with practice.
They met up a few minutes later, Daryl carrying his crossbow and a small bag of supplies Carol had packed for them just in case, and headed toward the woods.
****

Back at the house, the others passed around the small amount of food they had gathered in the town: some granola bars, a bag of chips and a few cans of fruit.
“I’m so tired of fruit cocktail,” Carl sighed as he pushed the fruit around with his finger. “I don’t even know what half the stuff in here is.”
“No one does,” Michonne replied, smiling. “It’s one of life’s many mysteries.” She broke a granola bar in half and handed a piece to Carl.
“Be glad we found anything at all,” Rick said.“With any luck, though, we’ll have some meat when Daryl and Tilly get back.”
“Do we have a plan once we get to the city?” Sasha asked, changing the subject. “I mean, we can’t just drive right into it. Where do we start?”
“We’ll start in the suburbs,” Rosita answered. “Work our way in from there depending on what we find.”
Rick nodded in agreement. “We’ll only go as close to the city as we need to. I imagine we’ll still be able to find plenty just outside the city and we’ll be safer there.”
“Safer,” Glenn scoffed. He was still not on-board with this plan. He remembered all-too-well what it was like in Atlanta and had no desire to deal with that again, especially with his leg still not completely healed.
****
“Hey, I hit it!” Tilly announced triumphantly as she held up a rabbit, her arrow stuck through it’s head.
“Not too bad,” Daryl nodded, patting her on the back. “Now we just gotta find about ten more of those and we’ll be all set.”
Tilly sighed and strung the rabbit onto a rope before handing it back to Daryl, who hung it over his shoulder.
“Why didn’t you say anything about Maggie’s sister?” she pried as they walked.
Daryl tensed up at her question. Beth was a tough topic for him. He blamed himself for her being taken and though he knew realistically he had no way to find her, it still bothered him everyday.
“Never came up,” he answered without looking at her.
“Hey,” Tilly said as she grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward her. “It’s not your fault, you know.”
“How would you know?” he spat. “You weren’t there!”
“Because I know you. I know you did everything you could to find her,” she explained. “Carol told me about how you looked for Sophia even after everyone else had given up.”
“Lotta good that did,” he hissed. “Couldn’t find her neither, not til crazy-ass Shane let all the walkers out of the barn and we found out she’d been dead the whole time.”
Though outwardly he was angry, Tilly could sense the pain behind his words.
“You’re too hard on yourself, Daryl,” she said softly as she grabbed his hand. He tensed, but she held tight. “You’re an asset, maybe the biggest asset, to this group. You’ve saved all of our asses more times than I can count. Sometimes you can’t save people. It sucks. It’s the absolute worst feeling in the world, but it’s just how things are.”
Daryl stared at his boots, unsure of how to react to her words. If they’d come from anyone else he would have blown them off, but it was somehow more comforting coming from her.
Tilly reached out and grabbed his face, bringing his eyes to meet hers. “Listen to me good, Dixon. You’re extraordinary. The fact that you have lost people doesn’t diminish that, and I hope someday you come to realize that.”
He nodded slightly as he stared at her face, her eyes lit with passion.
“Plus,” she continued, “if Beth is anything like her sister I’m sure she’s just fine.”
Daryl nodded. “Hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” she smiled before leaning in and giving him a kiss.
The moment was cut short when the sound of a gunshot echoed amongst the trees.
“Did that come from the house?” Tilly asked, her eyes wide.
“No,” he answered, pointing further into the forest, “came from that way.”
Before he could stop her, she took off running toward the source.
“Fuck,” he muttered, sprinting after her. “Could be dangerous, Tilly!”
“And it could be someone who needs our help!” she called back as she ran.
Soon they came upon a cabin, the light from a lantern flickering through the window.
“Where is it?” a man’s voice boomed from inside. “What’d you do with my fucking knife?”
A woman screamed in response and the two slowed their pace as they crept to peek into the window.
A dark haired teenage girl laid on her back on the floor, a large man perched on top of her with a gun in her face. Another man lay bleeding on the floor beside them.
“I’ll kill you like I killed that prick if you don’t hand it over!” he yelled, the girl shaking her head hysterically in response. He reared his hand back and smacked her across the face.
That was enough for Daryl. He ran to the front door and damn near kicked it off the hinges as he entered, crossbow raised at the man.
“Get the fuck off of her,” he demanded.
“Well, that’s a cute little bow and all, but I’ll have you know this bitch took something important to me and I’m just lookin’ to get it back,” he explained.
“You take his knife?” Tilly asked, stepping beside Daryl with her gun raised.
The girl shook her head.
“Girl says she didn’t take it,” Tilly said, clicking her safety off. “Seems to me the case is closed. Why don’t you go ahead and get off of her now?”
The man quickly turned and fired a shot toward Daryl, causing both of them to dive out of the way as the bullet narrowly missed his head. When Daryl stood back up his heart began to race as he saw the man sitting behind Tilly, his arm wrapped around her neck and his gun stuck in her temple.
Daryl shot her a pleading look, hoping she wouldn’t do anything as stupid as the last time she found herself in this situation.
“You’re gonna leave,” the man ordered. “You take that thieving bitch with you. This one’s staying with me.”
“The hell she is,” Daryl barked.
“Let me rephrase,” he explained, “you’re going to leave with the girl or I’m going to shoot yours in her pretty little head. Got it?”
Daryl racked his brain trying to come up with a plan. With the way the stranger was positioned behind Tilly he couldn’t get a clear shot without risking hitting her.
“Go, Daryl,” Tilly said, that familiar look of determination in her eyes. “Take her and go.”
He shook his head. “Not leaving ya, Matilda.”
“Either you do it or this asshole is going to shoot me,” she replied. “I’ll be fine.”
“See, she gets it,” the man laughed.
The last thing she wanted to do was stay with that bastard, but she knew that wasn’t her moment to escape. She needed Daryl to leave so the man would think she was helpless. That was her only chance of getting the gun out of the side of her face.
Knowing he didn’t have any other options at the moment, Daryl walked slowly to the girl, never letting the man leave the sights of his crossbow, and helped her up.
“C’mon,” he ordered. “We’re going.”
He hated it, but he knew they’d have a better chance of getting everyone out of there alive if he had backup, and he knew Tilly could take care of herself in the meantime.
Her heart sank as she watched him leave, closing the door behind him, but she remained calm. She wasn’t going to let herself panic and do something stupid.
“What’s the bandage on your arm?” the man barked as he stood up. “You bit?”
“Gunshot,” she answered flatly.
He nodded, believing her, and crouched down in front of where she sat on the floor. “I guess if we’re going to be spending all of this time together I should introduce myself,” he began, a sickening smile playing on his lips. “Name’s Parker. Yours?”
She begrudgingly took the hand he held out to her and shook it. “Tilly. My name’s Tilly.”
“Well Tilly,” he said as he pulled her to her feet, “there’s a few rules around here you outta know.”
Oh, great, she thought, this guy thinks he has power.
“First, no touching my shit,” he explained. “You saw what happened to the last bitch who did. If you want something, you ask. Second, you do what I say. You’re here for my benefit. We aren’t partners. We aren’t equals. Got it?”
Tilly scowled at him. “That it? Those all the rules?”
“All the ones you need to know right now,” he answered. “We need to hoof it on out of here. I’m not stupid enough to think your little boyfriend isn’t coming back for you. You with a bigger group?”
“No,” Tilly lied. “It’s just us.” Her eyes quickly darted around the room, looking for anything she could use to arm herself. She caught the glimmer of metal sticking out from a hand towel on the counter and immediately knew she had found the illusive missing knife.
“Good,” Parker nodded. “I’ll just gather my things. That bitch left her shit here, so you’re welcome to whatever clothes and junk she had.” He gestured to a small red backpack lying in the corner.
“Thanks,” she said, giving him her best fake smile. “I’ll see what’s in there.”
He nodded and quickly grabbed her gun and bow before leaving to go pack up his belongings in another room. Once he was out of sight, she made her move. She tip-toed as quietly as she could over to the table and grabbed the knife, stashing it down the side of her boot before bolting over to the backpack and dumping the contents onto the floor.
She began to sort through the sparse belongings: A pair of socks, a water bottle, a small length of rope, a pair of shorts, a lighter and a box of bobby pins.
“Anything good?” She jumped as the man appeared behind her.
“Just some clothes,” she answered. “I was hoping for some food. We were out hunting when we found you, so I haven’t had a chance to eat in a while.”
Parker walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a tin of peanuts, tossing it to her. “Eat up,” he said. “We’ve got some traveling ahead of us.”
“Where are you headed?” she asked as she peeled the seal off of the tin.
“You mean where are we headed,” he corrected her. “We’re headed north, DC eventually. I hear there’s a settlement there.”
“How can you be sure?” she asked.
Her simple question seemed to infuriate the man, and he wrapped his hand around her collar as he pulled her to his face. “That’s the third rule,” he hissed, his ripe breath making bile rise in her throat, “don’t ever doubt me. I know what I know, it’s no matter to you how I know it. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” she answered as she reached down, feigning scratching her leg.
“Good,” he smiled. “I think you and I are gonna get along just fi-“
He was cut short by the blade Tilly jammed into his gut.
His grip loosened, and she made an attempt to pull away, but even with blood pouring from his stomach he was fast. He grabbed her injured arm and she yelped as she swung the knife at him again, this time opening a gash on his shoulder.
Parker was hurt badly, but he still wasn’t making it easy for Tilly to escape. As he tugged on her arm again, she noticed an oil lantern sitting on a chair not far from her hand. She dropped the knife and grabbed the glass light, bringing it down swiftly on his head. It shattered, the shards imbedding themselves in his face and neck.
Tilly crawled to the corner of the room where she had dumped the other girl’s things and grabbed the silver zippo. She flicked it a couple of times, willing it to light. When the flame finally danced out of the lighter she flung it at the man.
Just as she had hoped, the oil that dripped from his face down to his chest caught, and in a moment he was flailing around the cabin, trying desperately to escape the flames that consumed the top half of his body.
She quickly shoved everything she could find, including his knife, into the backpack and ran out of the back door.
I can’t stay here, she thought as she saw that the curtains of the cabin had also caught fire. The fire will attract every geek for miles.
She tried desperately to remember the way she and Daryl had come from, hoping to find her way back to camp, but it was nearly impossible in the dark. As the fire began to spread, she could hear familiar groans in the distance. The dead were coming. She had to move.
She ran in what she believed was the direction of the house, but as the night progressed and she got farther and farther from the burning cabin, it became apparent to her that she was lost. Very, very lost. Defeated and exhausted, she sat down on the ground, leaning against the trunk of a tree as she gazed at the night sky.
“This is bad,” she whispered to herself. “Really fucking bad. Good job, Matilda.”
Something rustled to her left and it only took her a moment to recognize the sound of shuffling feet on leaves. She reached instinctively to the back of her jeans before realizing she must have left both her gun and bow back at the burning cabin.
She sighed and pulled Parker’s knife from her bag as she crept in the direction of the noise. The moonlight illuminated the faces of two walkers as they stepped out into the path in front of her.
She kicked the first one in the leg before jamming her blade into the skull of the other. The first one snapped at her from the ground as she pulled her knife free, then imbedded it between his eyes.
Her heart raced as she realized she needed to come up with a plan quickly. She was a sitting duck hanging out in the middle of the woods. As she looked toward the sky again, she suddenly realized what she needed to do.
I’ll head north, she thought. I’ll meet them in DC.
She smiled as she located the North Star, her only map, and began trudging toward what she hoped wasn’t certain death.
By the time the sun began to rise Tilly had put a lot of distance between herself and her friends. She was completely drained, and knew she would need to find some food and a place to rest if she wanted to even live to see Washington.
She took a swig from her water bottle as she scoped out the area. She was no longer in the woods, but following a small country highway, trees lining both sides of it. She smiled as she noticed a large green sign in the distance. Washington DC: 60 miles
She was still a long way away, but it felt good to know she was headed in the right direction. She considered finding a tree to sleep in, butshe knew she wasn’t going to have much luck climbing with her injured arm. Her best chance was to keep walking until she found a town.
She shoved the bottle back into her pack and sighed as she willed her legs to keep pushing her forward just a little longer.
“Don’t die, Tilly,” she said to herself as she walked, ignoring her burning hamstrings. “You stop moving and you’re going to die.”
A few minutes later she stopped dead in her tracks as the sound of a car rumbled in the distance. She quickly ran to the side of the road, concealing herself behind the trees just in time to see a large black truck drive slowly into sight. They weren’t just passing through, they were obviously looking for something.
The driver’s head whipped side to side as they cruised, his dark, low ponytail swinging behind him.
Once they passed, Tilly was about to come out of hiding when the truck suddenly stopped. She quickly slunk back into the foliage as the door opened and the driver got out.
He was one of the largest men she had ever seen. He wore a dark leather jacket, and though he was handsome she immediately got the feeling that he was dangerous. He walked around the perimeter of the truck, sweeping his eyes around the edge of the woods.
“Everything alright, boss?” Another man climbed down from the passenger side. He was smaller than the first one, one side of his face deformed as if he had fallen into a fire. “Need me to get Lucille?”
“Don’t you fucking touch Lucille,” the first man, clearly the leader, boomed. “Just thought I saw something. Won’t be needing her assistance right now.”
The other man nodded and stepped back into the truck. “We’ll find the girl,” he reassured the leader. “She can’t have gotten far.”
“That little bitch is going to fucking pay when we do,” the leader said as he too began to climb into the truck. “Knocked a whole fucking section of the fence down, let those undead fucks in so she could escape.” The rest of the conversation was cut off as the both shut their doors and began to drive away.
Tilly was so focused on the men that she hadn’t even heard the footsteps approaching her from behind until she felt a hand clasp over her mouth.
She spun around quickly and raised her knife. Behind her stood a pretty blond girl, no older than 18, her hands raised in surrender.
“Ain’t trying to hurt you,” the girl said. “Just didn’t want you to scream. They might have heard.”
“Are you who they’re looking for?” Tilly asked, her eyes wide.
The girl nodded. “Yeah, I’m headed south, far away from those assholes. Hoping to find my friends.”
“Same here,” Tilly responded. “But I’m going to DC. You’re welcome to come if you don’t want to keep going on your own. That’s where my group was headed when we got separated. They’d take you in.”
The girl shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Why don’t we find somewhere to take shelter for a bit and you can decide later,” Tilly suggested. She held out her hand for the girl to shake. “I’m Tilly, by the way.”
The blond grasped her hand lightly. “Beth.”