South Tree * TWD

41. Tell a Hero's Tale

"Daryl!" Lillian screamed out, a deep doesn't pulling at her lips as she felt her chest burn. She got no response back, only walkers approaching her faster. Lillian glanced around for the last time before she began to run. She ran as fast as she could, avoiding areas with a ton of walkers. She couldn't slow down. They had left, probably thinking that she was dead and she needed to find them.

Lillian continued running as fast a she could away from the prison. She ran until her legs just gave out from under her. She fell forward, but her hands caught her before her face could hit the ground, she rolled to lay on her back despite the backpack she wore. She felt the stinging of her now scrapped knees as she rolled onto her back, panting for a breath. She lifted her head and looked around her to see she was close to a road, but far enough to not be able to be seen from it with just a glance. She laid her head back onto the ground as she let out a harsh cough.

"Don't ya think we oughta hunker down for the night." A man's voice spoke. Lillian immediately tensed, her jaw clinching and she takes to lay on her stomach to see the road. She didn't recognize the voices so she tried to stay low while also looking to see who they were. She watched as a group of men were walking through the street. It was quite a large group, Lillian tried to count them as they moved but she couldn't get a good count higher than 6.

"Don't ya think you oughta shut the hell up." Another man sassed at him. Lillian watched as the group slowed to a stop.

"Aye. We will get there. Calm down." Another man told them. His voice was almost humerus as he spoke. Lillian knew she was right in their view. She knew that if they looked over that she was caught. She took a quiet, deep breath before carefully scooting to the side. She got took a couple more small scoots as the group continued to bicker back and forth. She carefully rose to her feet as she got close enough to a tree. She kept her eyes on the group, not making any sudden movements that would catch their attention. She swiftly hid behind the tree, letting out a sigh of relief as she leaned her side against it.

A walker growl suddenly sounded from deeper in the woods, as walker began to approach her quickly. It's jaw chomping and hands reaching for Lillian as it got closer. Lillian could hear her heart beat as she held her knife tightly up, ready to kill the walker. As it got closer to her, she took a step forward, ready to stab it when it grabbed onto her hair. She let out a struggling noise as she scrunched her face, her hand being pulled back with pain throbbing through her scalp. She attempted to plunge the knife into the walker but she couldn't. It's chomping jaws getting closer to her face before shots rang. The walker fell limp before Lillian.

She looked down at the walker and then back up at the group of men that stood before her.

"Claimed." One of them called out. Lillian gave them all a mean glare as she looked at off of them. A man in the front, all of his hair gray as he wore a smile on his face held the gun that killed the walker. Lillian was quick to turn and run as fast as she could. She began out of the forest as she ran through the road.

"Get her!" One of the men yelled. Lillian continued to run, almost tripping over her down feet as she looked back to see a couple of men chasing after her.

She ran into the woods that were on the other side of the street, making abrupt turns and keeping low. She slowed down to catch her breath, turning and realizing that she had lost them. She looked around, trying to find a way to get to higher round so she didn't have to keep running. She continued to jog, panting as she looked around at the trees. Eventually, she found a tree that had just enough divots for her to use to climb up. She looked around her quickly before putting her foot into the first divot, she grabbed onto a branch and pulled herself up, resting her other leg on a small stump that was on the tree.