Molly and Lydia find unexpected common ground as they begin to open up to each other and Lydia begins to warm to Hilltop and its residents...
The following morning...
'I'm going after them' Daryl said as he stormed down to the gates.
'Uh, no you're not' I replied standing still with my hands on my hips.
'We wait, they could die' he said as he turned back around.
'No, the smart play here is we see what we can get from Lydia, after that, then we go' I said sternly.
Daryl just stared at me before he marched back up to me and stood real close.
'As soon as the kid talks, I go' he said scowling as he barged past me and walked back up to the house.
I sighed and grit my teeth.
I had no idea whether Luke and Alden were alive or not, but I knew that Lydia knew more and if we found out what that was, we could end all this.
I marched across the compound to the cell, down the stairs and opened the gate.
The lock creaked open loudly and I heard shuffling from inside the cell.
I tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to scare her even more.
I paced towards Henry's cell to see him standing close to the bars anxiously.
'What are you gonna do with her?' he asked me nervously as I unlocked his cell door and ushered him out.
'We just need to talk to her, that's all. Go on, you're free to go' I said sincerely as he just nodded and walked out, looking back once at Lydia.
I put the keys back in my pocket and sighed as I pulled up a chair and sat in front of Lydia's cell.
She was curled up into a ball in the corner, so she was half concealed by the shadows.
'Hi, your name is Lydia, right?' I asked softly.
She didn't answer, instead she buried her head further.
'I'm Molly, do you remember me?' I asked as I lent forward, resting my elbows on my thighs.
'You took me' she said quietly.
'We took you because your people killed my friend' I said more sternly than before as the pain of Jesus rose back to the surface.
'You people crossed into our territory' she answered as she lifted her head up slowly.
'How many are there of you?' I asked curtly.
'Just my mom' she replied hastily.
I smirked and shook my head.
'You see, I don't believe you. I think you're protecting your mom and her people' I replied.
'What makes you think they're her people?' Lydia asked nervously.
'Daryl told me about what she did to you, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that...she told you it would make you stronger right? That beating you keeps you alive, safe? If a mother can do that to her own child, then she could be doing that to others, like she's building an army of 'slaves' I said calmly.
Suddenly, Lydia rose up and lunged towards the bars, gripping them in anger as she spat, 'you don't know anything about my mom!'.
'We can protect you here, you know that? You could have a life here, safety and friendship' I pleaded.
She just scoffed.
'Safety?! You're all just lying to yourselves about this place, it won't last!' she yelled as she sat back down.
I wasn't angry or frustrated, I just smiled and looked down.
'What?' she shouted, frustrated by my unaffected appearance.
'You remind me of someone' I said softly, still smiling.
She looked back up at me in confusion and intrigue, 'who?' she asked.
I could tell she was starting to open up now.
'My sister, Meghan. She had your fire, confidence, strength. She was about your age when she...' I said trailing off when her end flashed before my eyes once again.
Lydia knew my meaning exactly and stayed silent as she just listened.
'She was good, an angel, in fact-' I started to say when she cut me off.
'So I'm nothing like her...' Lydia said sadly.
'What makes you say that?' I asked softly.
'I'm not good, I'm not a good person. Your sister sounds perfect, that's not me' she replied defeatedly.
I shook my head and smiled at her weakly.
'I don't believe that. I can see it, you want to trust us, you want to help. I think that you're just lost' I said quietly.
'I'm not lost' she bit back.
'No? You don't sound like you voluntarily worship your mother, I think you're scared of her. I think that...you've followed you mother ever since you could walk and now you're finally seeing who she really is' I said as I stood up and walked closer to the bars.
'You don't know shit about me!' she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
'No, I don't, but you don't know me either. I want to help you, Lydia' I said pleadingly.
'Why? What's in it for you?!' she asked with a raised voice.
'Nothing, hell, probably more problems for myself. But, I see the good in you and I wanna help. Please let me?' I begged.
Lydia stayed silent for a few seconds before she said quietly, almost so quiet that you couldn't hear, 'okay'.
'Okay' I replied softly as I smiled.
'Do you wanna take a look around the place? Are you hungry?' I asked as I unlocked the cell door.
'Yeah, Daryl only gave me some oatmeal crap' she said as she stood up.
'Ugh, I hate that shit. C'mon we'll fix you a sandwich. You like peanut butter?' I said smiling as I ushered her out of the cell.
She laughed slightly and just nodded in response.
I could tell that she didn't mean to laugh by her forced scowl afterwards, so it was there and then that I vowed to myself to always make her laugh.
I knew in my heart that she wasn't a part of all this, just a kid caught in the crossfire.
Although Daryl would never see it that way...
We walked side by side across the grass as onlookers just stared at us, only when I scowled at them, did they get back to their duties.
Lydia noticed this and asked, 'so you're the leader here?'.
'Uh huh, it's just me now' I said wincing at the painful memory.
'The guy my mom killed...he was the leader here?' she asked hesitantly.
'Yeah, he was a good man' I responded as I gulped anxiously and opened the door to Barrington House.
'Follow me' I said to Lydia who was close behind.
'This is the kitchen. So, how about that sandwich?' I asked as I opened the fridge door.
Lydia sat down on a chair as I made her lunch, throwing on the plate some fresh tomatoes and cucumber from the fields.
I could tell she enjoyed it as she ate it in ten seconds flat.
'You have fresh vegetables here?' she asked in disbelief.
'Yeah, I tend to the crops here so we have a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies for all our people' I said proudly as I cleared up the table.
She just nodded in awe and asked what else we had here.
I told her about our games nights, our school and our kids activities.
'How? How has this place lasted this long?' Lydia asked confusedly.
'My mom said these places are just a lie' she added.
I smiled weakly.
'We're a family here, all of us believe in this place and its ability to succeed, so it does. Jesus, the man who was killed, he was an excellent leader and he taught me well. Now, I hope that I can be just as great' I said hopefully.
Lydia looked down sadly and said 'my mom wouldn't have killed your people...'.
'What do you mean?' I asked as I sat down next to her.
'She will want something from you, me probably' she said seriously.
'She doesn't want war, she just takes' she said bitterly.
'I won't allow that, I want to protect you Lydia. But your mother killed my friend and maybe others. So, she'll get a war if it comes down to it. I don't want that, your mom doesn't want that. But, Lydia, if I'm to help you, I need to know what you know' I said as I crouched down in front of her.
She hesitated before she said quietly, '150'.
'That's how many there are, you should at least know before you lose' she said sadly.
'Then you still don't know me' I said smiling, knowing that with the full force of all the communities, we could wipe them out without a sweat.
'What the hell is she doing out of her cell?!' Daryl said as he stormed into the kitchen.
'Daryl, calm down. She wants to help us' I said calmly.
'And you believe that crap?! She's just gonna go back to her mom and tell her everything' Daryl growled as he glared at Lydia.
Lydia looked down and hunched over nervously.
'She won't! And it's not just her mom, there's 150 of em' I said sternly.
'That's it, she's going back to her cell now! We already have enough shit to deal with!' Daryl yelled as he tried to reach for her arm.
I stepped in front of Lydia.
'Have you forgotten who's in charge here Daryl? I make the call and I say we wait! We can take all of em' I said scowling at him.
*beep* 'There's a problem at the gates, Molly' Tara spoke on the radio.
I picked up the walkie talkie and said 'roger, we'll be right there'.