South Tree * TWD

19. Another Funeral

"Lillian, bring that those over here." Andrea requested from across the living room before walking away. Lillian sighed as she put the bags back on and limped around to the area she was told to put them.

"Can you help me with something?" Beth was suddenly behind Lillian and asking. With a sigh, Lillian agreed and suddenly one helpful favor turned into three to five to ten. By the time she was finally free, she was tired. She was just a kid until it came to chores. Stupid chores.

Lillian finally took a seat on the couch next to Glenn when she realized that she didn't have her book with her. She didn't actually know where any of her stuff had been and figured she would just ask Daryl later, but her book wasn't with Daryl. She groaned in frustration as she stood up, grabbing the attention of Glenn.

"What?" Glenn awkwardly laughed at the girl.

"Left my book." Lillian sighed, making her way out of the house. She looked next to the truck but when she didn't find it, she walked back to the tree and basically prayed that it was there. Luckily, it was still there. She picked it up, dusting off some dirt that had been swept onto the book by the wind.

"Shh!" Lillian heard a loud shushing noise. For someone who wanted to be quiet, it was quite loud, she thought as she turned around to see who it was. Finding the person, or people to be Shane and... Randall?? Lillian furrowed her eyebrows as she watched them walk deeper into the woods. She looked back at the house and then back at the two frantically. She had two options, go get the adults or she could chase after them.

Lillian dropped her book, running quickly into the woods, determined to not lose sight of Shane and Randall. They had slowed down, Lillian could hear Randall making noises so she stood behind a thick tree. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she peaked around the tree to see them. Randall was on the ground with Shane on his knees in front of him, shushing him.

"I get it. I'm the last face you probably want to see, huh? Listen, i'm gonna take you up out of here, okay? I'm gonna get this off of you so you can breathe, but i want you to keep quiet. You listen good. Do you hear me?" Shane spoke in almost a whisper. Lillian had a hard time hearing him, she wanted to get closer but what she had been doing was already risky. Randall hummed in agreement. "Don't do nothing stupid." Shane told him as he started to take off the tape but Randall made loud noises causing Shane to shush him again.

Lillian suddenly couldn't breathe as she felt a lump in her throat. What was she doing? She should just go back to the house and tell the adults. She so badly wanted to prove herself to everyone, that she could do something helpful that wasn't a chore. That she mattered just like Carl did. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself but when she did, Shane ended up looking up in her direction. Lillian quickly threw herself back against the tree, holding her breath.

"Now your group— you know where they're at?" Shane asked quietly. Lillian released the breath she was holding, thankful that he didn't actually see her.

" No, I don't. I really— oh!" Randall was interrupted by a loud slap. Lillian didn't see what happened, but she could imagine that Shane had hit the boy.

"Okay. Get your little ass up here. Now I'm the only shot of you getting out of these woods alive. You hear me? Now you start talking, boy. Where are they at?" Shane spoke lower, scarier. Lillian reached in her pocket, taking out the knife that her mama gave her back in when they had the camp off the creek. She opened it slowly and quietly, gripping it tightly in her hand.

"We had a camp set up off the highway... about five miles from here. Who knows if they're still there?" Randall panted as he spoke in a panicked voice.

"Okay. So you gonna take me to 'em?" Shane whispered really quiet, Lillian almost didn't hear it but she did, making her furrow her eyebrows.

"Why?"