"If she can't walk, she can't come with us. We're only as strong as our weakest link."
Lyra opened her eyes slowly. They felt itchy and dry, which prompted her to close them again and simply lay there for a while longer. She wasn't sure what exactly woke her, but she wished she could fall back asleep.
"You would seriously just leave her here?"
That was the Asian boy's voice….Glenn. Lyra opened her eyes once again, forcing them to stay open as she took in her surroundings. Nothing but blue sky, some trees off to her periphery and a few barely visible, stringy clouds. The group didn't seem to notice that she'd come to and continued to argue. It wasn't until she made an attempt to sit up that the voices abruptly stopped and Lyra looked up to see four pairs of eyes focused on her.
"Oh, don't stop on my account." Lyra managed to choke out, voice raspy and low. She was suddenly very aware of how odd it was to be speaking to other people. After the first few weeks of being alone, she'd started to talk to herself on occasion, but mostly just kept quiet. She learned early on that noise brought the Zombies.
The one female in the group stood up and walked toward her, bending over to hand her a bottle of water. "Drink it slow or you'll get sick." She said, grim faced. Lyra took the water with a murmured thank you and took a long drink. She could feel the water hit her stomach and sit there like a log. To say it felt good was the understatement of the century.
After a few moments Lyra attempted to move but the sharp stabbing pain in her left leg grounded her immediately. She let out the smallest groan and her eyes widened in pain and as if the point of the one who had originally woken up her up was proven, the tallest man in the group raised his hands and let them drop to his sides audibly before he turned and walked away in a huff. Lyra watched his retreating back and shifted uncomfortably, about to open her mouth to speak when the blonde woman shushed her. "Don't mind him; we're not going to leave you."
By nightfall, Lyra had migrated from her makeshift bed to a log by the small fire that had been built. She'd learned the names of her saviors. There was Glenn, Andrea….Daryl had been the one who'd picked her up and carried her, and Shane was the one that obviously didn't want her there. Lyra stared at them in turn, admitting early on she never thought she'd see anyone else ever again. She gratefully accepted food and more water when it was offered and ate greedily, not worried about how she looked and not asking what exactly it was she was eating despite the fact it tasted unlike anything she'd ever eaten before.
She wondered what she would do if they left her, and felt a pang in her stomach at the thought: They'd saved her. If it hadn't been for them, she would be blissfully unaware- either dead or undead, but unaware. So…it was their responsibility, right? Lyra sat there watching each of her saviors in turn, wanting to know each of their stories and wondering if she looked as disgusting as they did. It was hard to keep clean after the end of the world- she was pretty sure she'd kill for a warm shower.
"How'd ya get on that street today?" She'd known the question was going to come up and nodded slowly towards Daryl, who had asked it. She wasn't sure if his voice was always so accusatory or if she'd managed to piss him off in the few hours they'd known each other.
"I'm lucky as hell." Lyra replied
