"Dale could— could get under your skin." Rick began. Everyone stood outside around the many graves they now had as the sun had already been setting. This time it was a funeral for Dale. Lillian stood next to Daryl, she had been quiet. Hasn't said anything from last night but she stood with tears in her eyes as she listened.
"He sure got under mine," Rick continued. "because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought. How he felt. That kind of honest is rare and brave. Whenever is make a decision, i'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us. The truth, who we really are. I'm the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."
^^^
Lillian flipped through her book, the book that Daryl had given her. She studied the pages, determined to find out every single thing about them instead of face reality. She didn't want to think about anything else, she didn't really want to do anything else either. She was upset about Dale, just after they had buried Sophia, they buried yet another person from their group. Lillian tried to not think about who might be next, so she continued to flip the next page and count the stripes on the fish.
"Hey. Ya doin' okay?" Lillian heard Daryl from beside her. She nodded, not bothering to look up at him. "We're finishin' movin' stuff to the house. Ya wanna go inside?" He offered. Lillian, again, responded with a head shake. Daryl sighed but left it at that as he walked away.
Lillian was sitting at a tree, the tree that she had been sitting at previously when she first got to the farm. She liked the tree, it was nice and isolated. She would rather the tree then the house, just cause it was going to be so crammed in there. With Hershel's family and the group, there would be no wiggle room. Carl and Colton would probably end up sharing a room, without her. Cause she was a girl. It kind of bothered her but whether or not the bathroom would be free when she really had to go concerned her more.
"Honey. Lillian, come on. Let's go to the house." Lori called for her. Lillian looked up this time, seeing Lori walking towards her. "Come on." She repeated as she stood in front of her.
"Daryl said I can stay here." Lillian told her as she looked back down to her book.
"Yeah, well Daryl isn't very responsible. Come on, sweetheart. You can help bring stuff inside." Lori held out her hand but Lillian didn't take it. She huffed as she closed her book and stood up, looking at Lori as she waited for her to move. Lori studied Lillian for a second before turning and walking. Lillian followed behind Lori sluggishly when they had gotten to the truck.
She thought about what Colton had told her the other day, about her having a baby. "Are you having a baby?" Lillian asked pretty loudly as she walked up beside Lori, who gave her a weird look before she reached into the trunk of the truck.
"Yeah." Lori mumbled, picking up a couple of bags and holding them in front of Lillian. "Take it inside." Lillian gave her a weird look before she grabbed the two bags which were basically the size of her and put one on her back and holding the other with two hands.
Okay, sensitive topic. Lillian rolled her eyes to herself as she walked away, limping with all the weight that had been added to her. T-Dog was walking out just as she was approaching the door, so he held it open for her as she walked in. She dropped the bags right beside the door.
"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?"
"Because, man, i— i'm just— I'm done with this group, man. They doomed and i want no part of it. That's all." Lillian couldn't tell if what Shane was saying was a lie or not.
"So you're not gonna kill me?" Randall asked, more calmed than he was.
"Come on, man. If i was, you'd be dead. Come on." Shane told him. Lillian listened as leaves rustled and it sounded like they had been walking away. She waited a few seconds before she peaked around the tree, watching as Shane pushed Randall forward.
"You don't have to be so rough. We're on the same side now." Randall spoke loudly as he continued to limp, leading the way. Lillian walked slowly, hiding behind trees as she followed behind the two. "You're gonna like it with us. Gets a little crazy sometimes, but it's a tough bunch of guys. You'll fit in good."
Lillian noticed that Shane began to look around frantically, so she stayed behind one of the trees and waited a couple of seconds before she peaked around. Shane was now walking backwards, but not looking in her direction. She still quickly moved her head back to be covered by the tree.
"Less talking, more walking."
"Look, I run my mouth when I get nervous. I cant help it, i've got a lot going on, you know?" Randall's voice sounded farther away, so Lillian took another peak and saw that Shane had turned back around. She quickly moved to another tree, accidentally stepping on a loud leaf as she did. She squeezed her eyes shut as she held her breath, hoping nobody heard it.
"It ain't all about you." Shane stated aggressively. Lillian slowly peaked around the tree to see Shane with his hands around Randall's head. This was her chance, Lillian thought. She knew what Shane was about to do before she could even think about it.
"Shane!" Lillian screamed out, her knife clutched in her hand. Shane quickly turned around, his arms moving to strangle Randall.
"The fuck are you doing here?" Shane spoke in a low voice, looking at and around the girl to see if anyone was with her.
"What are you doing here? What are you doing to Randall?" She asked loudly, standing tall. Randall had been turning red, gasping for air as Shane squeezed his neck.
"Damn it." Shane muttered before he completely twisted Randall's neck. Lillian watched in shock as Shane let go of Randall, who fell limp to the ground and walked quickly, long strides towards her.
"Stay back!" Lillian held her knife up higher as Shane approached her. Apparently he hadn't seen the knife before as he held his hands up, taking a small step back.
"Listen—"
"I ain't listening to you! You— you just killed him!" Lillian breathed heavy as her shaky hand held up her knife towards Shane.
"I didn't— I—" Shane sighed. In a swift movement, he grabbed ahold of the knife in her hand and held it to her, holding the back of her head. Lillian looked at him with wide eyes as she let out little gasps. Shane looked like he wasn't even there, an angry look on his face as Lillian tried to get her hands out from under his but it didn't work.
"You're a stupid little girl." Shane mumbled angrily at her, pushing the knife closer to her face. She tried to push it away but had no luck. Tears began to well in her eyes as she looked at the knife that was almost to her forehead then back at Shane. She tried to think of any way she could get out of this situation and that's when she remembered. She remembered what her mama told her a long time ago. That if she was ever in a situation with a man and she didn't feel safe and couldn't get out, to kick him where the sun didn't shine.
Lillian quickly kicked her leg up between Shane's legs as her as she could, causing Shane to let go of her and fall onto the ground, clutching himself. Lillian quickly turned to run away but didn't get very far when Shane grabbed onto her ankle and yanked making her fall onto the ground, smacking her head on a rock. Lillian quickly picked up her head and rolled onto her back, her vision blurred and pain spiked through her head as she tried to kick away.
Shane suddenly came into her vision, standing over her. His face suddenly got very angry then it went completely dark.
^^^
Lillian opened her eyes, gasping as she felt something grappling onto her shirt. She immediately sat up, her vision still blurred but by the growling, she could tell it wasn't anything nicer
"No. No!" Lillian tried to kick it off of her as she screamed, trying to push herself backwards at the same time but the walker only moved with her.
She felt around frantically on the ground for her knife as the walker growled louder, its teeth chomping at her. She felt cold metal on her hand, quickly picked it up, and shoved it into the walkers skull once, twice, the third time she stabbed the walker, she left her knife in it's forehead. She laid back, panting before everything went black again.
^^^
"Lilli! Lilli!" She heard someone call for her but she was too tired. She didn't want to go to school yet, five more minutes.
"Lillian, girl wake up! C'mon." She felt something warm on her cheek and immediately leaned into it. "Lilli!" The voice became louder and the warmness had left. Lillian opened her eyes slowly to see a black figure standing over her and she suddenly remembered her situation. She quickly reached for her knife on the ground, but didn't find it.
"Please! Please, don't hurt me!" Lillian begged, her voice shaking in fear as she kicked herself back, away from the person.
"Hey, Hey, it's just me. Lilli. It's me." As the voice continued to speak, it became more familiar to her. It was Daryl, kneeling on the ground next to her.
"D— Daryl?" She whimpered, picking up her head to try and get a good look of the person.
"Yeah. Yes, it's me." Daryl told her, his hand back on her face, this time picking up the back of her head. He pulled her into a sitting position as a light was suddenly shined onto her face.
"She okay?" She heard another voice from where the flashlight was coming from, but she couldn't see who it was. She thought it sounded like Glenn but it was all still fuzzy to her.
"I'm scared and cold and i wanna go home, Daryl." Lillian cried, her voice weak as she looked around Daryl frantically. Daryl sighed as he brushed the hair out of her face and gently pulled the girl to his chest.
"We will get you home, girl." Daryl reassured her in a hushed tone.
"Uh— Daryl." Glenn called out. He was standing over the walker that they pulled off of Lillian, he was going to get the knife but noticed something about the walker. "It's Randall."
Lillian's eyes felt so heavy as she leaned against Daryl. Maybe she could just closer her eyes for a second, a millisecond.
"Lilli, you gotta stay awake." Daryl urged. They weren't on the ground anymore. Lillian felt herself moved, her eyes opening as she realized that she was being carried by Daryl. She shivered as a breeze blew past her, making her regret wearing the gray jacket instead of the sweater that she was given.
" 'm cold." Lillian mumbled. Daryl held her a little tighter and mumbled a sorry.
"Here." Lillian watched as Glenn set his jacket over her as they walked. She mumbled a quiet thanks as she laid her head against Daryl.
"Don't go to sleep. Ya could have a concussion." Daryl told her through breaths as he walked quickly. With how heavy her head felt to herself, she must have felt even heavier to Daryl with being impaled back an arrow and all.
"I can— I can walk" Lillian mumbled as she began to move her arms, pushing against Daryl.
"Nah. You can't. Stop moving." Daryl grunted, losing his grip on Lillian slightly, but not enough to drop her.
"I'm heavy." Lillian said between tired pants. "You can't carry me, you're hurt."
"Uh— Lillian, you literally keep passing out." Glenn stated awkwardly, turning around to face the girl as he continued to walk quickly. "You'll only slow us down if you walk."
"I promise i won't!" Lillian tried as she continued to squirm, but Daryl's grip tightened enough to make her let out a yelp when he accidentally pinched her skin.
"Stop." Daryl raised his voice slightly, causing Lillian to immediately froze. She quickly blinked away the tears in her eyes as she looked up at the sky.
It reminded her of when her mama and daddy used to take her star gazing if she had been super, super good that week. She used to remember the different continents but after a while of not going, she forgot. She really liked stars, they were like glitters in the dark blue sky, making it prettier than just darkness.
The stars in the middle of the darkness reminded her of her family. She would point out two close stars at her mama and her daddy and a smaller star close by as her. It was their small, dysfunctional family. She loved her parents no matter how mean they were, she thought the darkness was the meanness and the twinkling of the stars were moments like the star gazing or watching a movie in the living room or those nights that the thunder would be real loud and her parents let her sleep safely in between them. She liked those sparkling moments the best.
"Is she okay?" A voice screamed, snapping Lillian out of her thoughts. She looked over to see the house very close in view. Maggie, Hershel, and Carol were all standing on the porch and waiting for them.
"Let's go. Let me check you out." Hershel told the girl, even though Daryl had still been holding her.
1K READS??? HOLLYYYYY SHITTTTT
also a spanish translation has officially been in the making!! the book is on my profile if you are interested:D i would like to thank the person who is making it very, very much!
i am gonna be so bored during the early prison ark, i think that is definitely my least favorite season of them all but i am excited to see much character development between Lillian, Colton, Carl, and Daryl
those are the main characters that i am excited to see development in general.
i have some stuff planned out very well for the very late seasons and i've got to say i am very excited and cannot wait to write it so i have to just throw it out there that the story will be getting more graphic as Lillian grows up
trying to be in the mind set of a younger child as someone who doesn't remember being younger then 13 is HARD so bare with me for the earlier seasons
I PROMISE IT WILL GET BETTER
thank you all very much for the support
thank you to the consistent reader that has been here from the earliest of early on both my tiktok and keeping up with commenting, voting, and reading. you motivate me a ton and so i just wanted to say a special thank you
i hope you all are enjoying the story!<3