A/N: Very sorry for the extended lack of an update. Mid-semester exams and work in general put a real strain on me. I've got end-of-year exams coming up in November as well, so this might very well be the last update I do until late November or early December, since I also have to catch up on my Star Wars fics.

Anyway, here's the newest chapter. Hope you haven't recently eaten something.


Chapter 7

Fresh Meat

Lilly shuddered as the door closed shut behind her, and not just because of the striking chill that now pierced her body immediately upon entering the basement section of the Town Hall building through the Governor's office. Her right hand went limp merely a few seconds after the Governor grasped it in a powerful hold and started to almost pull her after him down the metal staircase in what was a poorly-lit inner corridor. The lightbulbs above flickered weakly, a clear sign that the solar panels which powered the entire town were under significant strain to produce enough energy for all.

He had taken her in without a single word. Not a whimper of protest, nor a cry of indignation.

She wouldn't dare. As tough and as determined a woman Lilly was, even she couldn't dream of overcoming an imposing and giant man as the Governor. It would be like a mouse trying to take down a lion with its head before being mercilessly squashed. He could snap her neck in an instant, and judging from the terrible feeling that was brewing in her heart and stomach, Lilly knew that him snapping her neck was the least unpleasant thing he could do to her. An act of mercy, even.

Hell, she had been through so much shit that she would have been glad to be killed quickly than face any other alternative. She still vividly remembered every single action taken and word spoken by the St John brothers after their secret was revealed to the group by Lee. She still remembered the way in which the sick and twisted Danny whispered into her ear, promising her mercy and a "special treat" just for her and Carley if she co-operated well. The son of that fatass bitch even licked her on the back of the neck as he pushed her along with his gun held against her back, making her spine and blood go cold while her father could only fume in rage in front of her as he looked over his back.

Even now, all the while she was quite possibly walking towards her own grave, Lilly could only think of the precious little girl whom she inwardly swore to protect. Clementine reminded her so much of herself when she was young, in the early days after she lost her mother: helplessly dependent on her guardian, although she knew that she had to eventually learn how to fend for herself.

Naturally, the mere act of thinking about little Clementine brought back memories of that one woman.

The bitch.

The cunt.

The fucking traitor. God knows what kind of shit she'll be getting the entire group into now? It didn't take a genius to figure out that the only thing she ever truly cared about was eventually getting the opportunity to spread her legs for Lee.

But then, Lilly prompted herself to think it through once more. And although she could hardly believe it, she began to question her previous convictions about Carley's guilt. Ben was acting awfully tense as Lilly's questioning and interrogation grew more intense. She could literally see the torrent of sweat running down the side of his face. What if it was him? Could even a stupid dumbass like Ben have concealed such a serious act for so long? And furthermore, why had Carley defended him so vehemently when he was on the ropes and on the verge of a breakdown?

No. It couldn't be. Carley was the traitor for sure.

She was, wasn't she?

All of a sudden, the only thing Lilly could think of was the image of Lee, Carley and Clementine sitting together on the bed of their motel room one day, with the young child sat in the middle. They looked so happy together, so…perfect. It was as if they had miraculously managed to pull together a family of their very own, whereas Lilly was drowning in sorrow after losing her father.

She recalled the time when she managed to get a glance at them through the window as she walked past during one of her routine checks on the motor inn's security measures. The way Lee and Carley smiled so warmly at each other while Clementine rested her head in their laps. It tore at her on the inside, as it reminded her of the early days of her childhood, when her mother was living and her father still had something to smile about. She still vividly remembered the way she broke down in tears after seeing the body of her mother in the morgue, punctured with several stab wounds. After her mother died, Lilly never truly had any more dreams; only occasional nightmares.

When she walked past the window, her eyes virtually became fixated on Carley. In her heart, Lilly both intensely hated, yet sincerely loved Carley; hated her because of all the affection she would get from Lee while Lilly herself was largely neglected and only occasionally consoled from time to time, and loved her because her tender and kind treatment of Clementine reminded Lilly so much of her own mother.

Enough of this. Snap back into reality, Lilly…

Doing her best to calm her nerves, Lilly took a deep yet silent breath as she took her first step onto the basement floor. She almost tripped over, momentarily losing her footing and keeping her balance only with the help of the sturdy arm of the Governor who shot at her a crude grunt.

It was then that Lilly noticed that she had not been paying any attention at all to her surroundings. Her eyes departed her aching hand and looked around her, most specifically down onto the floor. Her nostrils let in air again after a tense period of not even daring to breathe.

And she immediately regretted it.

The air reeked of death, and blood, both dried and fresh, was splattered and smeared all across what should have been a grey, concrete floor. Upon closer inspection of the corners and edges where the side walls of bunker rooms met the floor, Lilly could've sworn she saw severed and decomposing arms and fingers. A solemn warning to any and all who tried to resist.

"Watch your step, little missy," the Governor's menacing voice hissed and echoed throughout the dimly-lit corridor as he looked over his shoulder with a sly grin. Even from the mere sight of his eyes, Lilly could tell just what kind of thoughts occupied the man's head. His hand rustled as he spoke, gently caressing the skin of her reddening arm, sending more rushes of sickening sensations up and down her spine.

"Please, just…loosen it up a bit," she requested with a shy response, although she knew that it was a silly thing to ask. For a moment, he just stood there looking at her with curious eyes, like some kind of madman who found it amusing that someone in Lilly's position had the nerve to try and make a request along such lines. He was much used to the sound of screaming, wailing and begging by this point. This would get most interesting, indeed…

To her amazement, Lilly felt the pain in her wrist subside a bit as the Governor obliged her. Blood finally flowed through into her hand which was now a light shade of pink. She breathed in and out, albeit reluctantly due to the stench of blood and gore. And despite all her military training, this was something that her nose, let alone her stomach, would take time to become accustomed to.

"You will come with me. Now," he demanded, giving Lilly a subtle cue to keep her mouth shut until he brought her to their destination. Lilly followed behind hesitantly and full of fear, as if she was a little schoolgirl taking her first walk through the school grounds while being intimidated by her older peers.

Looking left and right, she could see eight doors, four on each side. At the far end of the corridor was another door, presumably leading to another set of chambers. The doors were made of durable steel, and showed every sign of wear and tear, their surfaces rusted to varying degrees. The soft sounds of drunken laughs of lively men and the wails and moans of what Lilly guessed to be prisoners or victims, both men and women, haunted the air. A loud gunshot noise almost made Lilly leap with fright, and was soon followed by the sound of glasses clanging together accompanied by jubilant cheers.

"Fucking boys at their games again," the Governor muttered as he made headway towards the door on the far-end of the right side of the corridor. "Happens every damn time I leave them alone down here."

Her heart pounding as she was dragged towards the room, Lilly gasped and coughed as the foul air assaulted her lungs. She stumbled again when the Governor swung her back so that he could open the door which creaked and grumbled as it gave way. Entering the room, Lilly was initially gladdened the slightest amount as the stench of death was replaced by a musky, yet far more preferable odor. But what she saw next made her stomach turn almost as much as it did when she first saw the slaughterhouse of the St. John's Dairy.

Seated around a small table were four men, three of them trembling in their shoes and staring with shaking eyes at the blood-stained revolver that was lying still on the table, soaked with the blood of the fourth man whose brain was destroyed by what must have been the single gunshot that Lilly just heard.

Behind each unwilling participant in the sick game of Russian roulette stood a guardsman, all dressed in similar fashion to Trevor, the man who had brought Lilly and Lee to Woodbury while wearing a false smile. All four men carried an M16 semi-automatic rifle, each conveniently aimed at the head of the players in case one of them had any ideas.

"The fuck, Gov?" one of them, poorly-shaven and with brown features, said to the Governor as he entered with Lilly. "Should at least knock before entering. Wouldn't want us to prematurely end the game out of fright, would you?"

"You know the rules around here, Dav," the Governor grunted back. "None of these 'games' can start without my approval."

"My, my, my…," another, a blonde with a shaved head stared at Lilly with eyes full of lust. "And who've you brought here, Gov? Looks a fucking angel to me."

"Speaking of fucking," the third, Hispanic in appearance, smirked evilly as he looked over at the corner of the room, "Mike over there will probably be disappointed. He's had his fun, but now he has to miss out on the bigger prize."

Prompted by the man's gaze, Lilly shot a glance to her right. She felt her insides go cold as she saw on the bed, covered by a grey blanket, another guardsman silently raping a young brunette woman from the back, the springs of the bed lightly groaning with every thrust he made. The woman was beyond distraught, looking squarely with eyes drowned with tears at the man whose bloodied head laid on the table. She tried to cry out, but her efforts were muffled by the oppressive grip of the man who continued to take advantage of her without even a sliver of regret or shame.

"For fuck's sake, it just had to be the bitch's goddamned husband whose brains were blown out," the first guard sighed. "Who knows how many days it'll be until she breaks and goes all psycho like that blonde a few days ago?"

"Hmph. Wouldn't want her to share the same fate as the blondie," another replied. "Damn, it was a shame, though. A girl like that's hard to come by. She was the most satisfying by far over these past few months. That brunette over there just doesn't cut it compared to her."

"Shut your fucking hole, Cade, this chick's awesome!" the man in the bed panted wildly, his movements growing more and more intense and vicious while the woman's tears continued to soak the pillow under her head. Her knuckles went white as she tightly gripped the bedsheets. Clearly she didn't have long until her breaking point, after finally losing her husband.

"So what's gonna happen with this girl, Gov?" Dav, the poorly-shaved one, shrugged at his commander. "Does she have a special purpose, or can we have at her within the hour? She sure looks fit as hell."

Lilly's face went cold the moment she heard him say those words. They wouldn't dare…

The Governor smirked. "A special purpose. Unfortunately. And that means all of you must listen to my proposition."

The men were visibly disappointed, save for Mike who continued to have the time of his life taking advantage of the poor woman who didn't even have the strength to resist. One of the men took the revolver off the table and slid it in his holster, in case any of the prisoners had any ideas. Obviously they had none, for they continued to simply look down with trembling hands and eyes.

Driven impatient by his colleague's inability to follow orders quickly, the fourth man shouted at him. "Mike! You heard the Gov! Put on your fucking pants and get your ass here!"

The cretin rolled his eyes and let out a puff of frustration. Then, his eyes gleaming with glee, he turned the woman around so that she was looking straight at his face. He grasped the sides of her cheeks and swooped inward, forcing a heavy and wet kiss on her mouth while her yells of indignation were silenced by his lips upon hers. Finished at last, he snapped his lips away from hers and slapped her hard on the cheek before shoving her face violently onto the pillow. The man rustled under the bed, and the clicking sound of a belt buckle was heard before he emerged clothed in his uniform. The woman sat up on the bed, covered herself with the blanket and broke down in tears, shattered over her continued state of misery and the death of her husband.

"First off we have to consider the fact that she's a…," the Governor started to talk quietly to his subordinates, each of whom shot a quick glance at Lilly while their leader continued to speak. And all this time, the woman continued to cry, wail and moan. Lilly looked with sympathy at her. It broke her to see the woman in her current state. It reminded her so much of…Carley…the way she ceaselessly cried and sobbed after Lilly shot Lee by accident on the road.

Maybe she was innocent…Maybe I misjudged her…Maybe I—

"For fuck's sake!" a guard shouted, irritated by the woman's constant crying. He started to walk with murderous rage at her, and the woman withdrew back with fear. "Shut the fuck up, or I'll do it for you permanently!" He slapped her hard across the cheek, knocking her down upon the bed. But that of course wasn't enough. He scrunched her hair and pulled her out of the bed, kicking aside the blankets to reveal her completely naked body. The woman scream frantically, begging him to stop. But the man wouldn't relent – not until he was called away by his superior.

"Cut that out and come over here! Now!" the Governor barked, and the lowly dog did as he was told.

"Sort her out," another guard shoved Lilly towards the hysterical woman, "before she gets herself into more trouble."

"Agh!" Lilly groaned, surprised by the sudden push. Her right knee crashed against a bin that stood against the side wall, and out of it tumbled a pile of garbage, mostly used cigarettes and bottles of alcohol. She fell to her knees and looked up at the woman who was curled up into a ball, peeping at her from above her arms.

"And clean that shit up while you're at it!" another guard commanded of her. Not wanting to incur their anger, Lilly quickly moved to put the trash back into the bin, tossing bottle after bottle.

Christ, how these men must drink. Bottle after bottle after bo—

What's this?

Lilly's eyebrows rose slightly at the sight of a familiar object.

A walkie-talkie? Could it be…Clementine's second…

No. Of course it couldn't be.

But then again, Glenn was here in Woodbury. Perhaps…

"The fuck did you stop for? Keep going!" a guard shouted, and Lilly quickly continued to do as she was told, but not before secretly slipping the walkie-talkie into the inner pocket of her jacket. The batteries were probably long dead by now, but a slim chance of communication was better than none.

A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Lilly's face. She knew that if any of the guards or the Governor took even the slightest notice of the walkie-talkie, she would pay for it dearly. And considering the fact that she was surrounded by lecherous bastards who wanted to do nothing more than violate her over and over again like the poor woman who crouched in front of her, Lilly gulped quietly out of fear.

In a short while, all the trash was put back into place and the bin placed upright. Immediately, Lilly moved further forward and laid a hand on the shoulder of the woman who had her face buried in her arms which she used in a desperate attempt to conceal her breasts. The woman's skin was icy cold – poor thing must be going through absolute hell.

"Hey…," Lilly gently spoke, deciding to converse with the woman after realizing it was impossible to make out the words which were being whispered among the Governor and his henchmen.

"Leave me alone," the woman puffed, shrugging away Lilly's hand from her shoulder. "Please, just…leave me alone…Either that, or kill me now."

"Keep it together, will you?" Lilly insisted, shaking the girl gently by the shoulders. "I know it must feel like hell, but you have to stay strong!"

"For what?" the woman shot back. She gripped her hair with her hands, shifting her knees further up to cover herself as she did so. "My husband is dead! He was the last thing keeping me together! Now that he's dead, I'll…I'll…"

"You'll endure – that's what's you're going to do," Lilly looked at the woman with determined eyes. For a fleeting moment, the words seemed to sink in. The woman's shoulders noticeably relaxed. It had clearly been many weeks since she had the chance to hear such encouraging words. But reality came back at her like a train crash, and she cowered again and covered her face with her hands, shaking her head frantically.

"Just who the hell do you think you are to say that to me?" the woman sobbed. "Do you know what kind of hell I'm going through?"

"My name's Lilly. What's yours?" she made an introduction, although it was probably the first and last time she was ever going to see the woman again.

"E-Emily," the frightened victim replied, teardrops falling from her eyes and into a whitish pool of liquid that Lilly instantly turned her eyes away from in disgust.

"How long have you been here?" Lilly continued to speak softly, as she wanted soothe the woman in any way possible.

"I have absolutely no goddamn idea," Emily wept. "The torturous rape…it goes on day and night, and virtually never stops. They only give me a breather whenever I have to go to the bathroom or late at night when I really have to sleep…"

"Oh my God…," Lilly brought a hand to her lips and sighed in disgust and shock. To think that she and possibly Carley were that close to being subjected to the same fate at the St. John's Dairy…

"Please…please…help me," Emily begged, coming forward and frantically grasping Lilly's hands in her own. Her brown eyes were full of tears and desperation, mirroring her mind which was on the verge of collapse.

Lilly hated these moments; whenever she saw that such terrible wrongs were being committed, and yet she was powerless to do anything about it. The only thing she could do, with armed men standing just behind her, was to offer Emily soothing, yet meaningless words.

"It'll be alright…It'll be alright," Lilly wept, caressing the side of Emily's face. It was ironic, as those were the very words Lilly's mother used to say to her whenever she was full of fear or doubt. Lilly herself had learned the hard way that life would never be alright, no matter how hard one tried to correct every single wrong. At the end of the day, one could only try, and most probably fail.

"No, it won't," Emily remained downtrodden. "It'll never be…"

"Don't say that to yourself, Emily," Lilly said, squeezing her arm. "Just wait and see. Everything will be just fi—agh!" She let out a yelp the moment she felt a guard yank her away by the hair from her new friend. She hurriedly regained her footing before she was thrust against the Governor who resumed his iron-fisted grip on her wrist. The bloodflow immediately slowed into her hand, and Lilly could feel her fingers begin to throb with pressure.

"Chit-chat time's over, I'm afraid," the Governor said with a creepy grin, then swiftly dragged her out of the room. "Continue!" he ordered his subordinates who gladly resumed their sick deeds. The revolver was slammed back onto the table with the doomed men, and Emily let out a shriek of anguish as another guardsman lecherously advanced towards her. For a moment, her scream echoed throughout the corridor, before being silenced and muffled by the steel door which the Governor shut behind him.

"Let us go!" Lilly demanded, no longer caring about her own safety.

"You're not exactly in a position to make demands, wouldn't you say?" the Governor replied, and slowly dug his nails into Lilly's wrist. His captive's fierce glare soon turned into a whimper of pain, and he released the excess pressure once Lilly came to heel. "As I thought."

"Where are you taking me?" Lilly asked, her voice beginning to tremble as she was pulled along by the Governor to the door which faced them at the far end of the hallway.

"Oh…we must continue or little tour, shouldn't we?" he chuckled darkly. "I'm sure you'd be interested in learning more about this place, are you not?"

Lilly grumbled back. "Other than this being you and your guards' personal bordello and sick playhouse, tell me one reason why I'd be interested."

The moment the Governor placed his hand on the cold handle of the door, another gunshot and cheers of laughter came from the room which they just departed.

With a devilish smile, the Governor opened the door and walked with Lilly into the darker sections of the complex. "The inner sections of this Town Hall's basement floor were used as hurricane shelters in the old days. They've since fallen into disuse prior to the outbreak, but we've made good use of them."

Lilly puffed. "Hmph. Other than making 'good use' of them by turning hurricane shelters into hellholes for women, what else is there?"

"Oh…So much more. Trust me, you'll like what we have down here," he laughed softly. "In here lies the answer to our little dilemma. In here lies the one thing which will compel you to tell me everything I wish to know."

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him. "And what do you want to know, exactly?"

"You must have had others you associated with, to bring a man who's been shot to this town. Bad blood, I'd hazard a guess. I want to know who they are, where they are, and how exactly the bad blood boiled between you."

"Hah!" Lilly smugly retorted, keeping on a confident face although in truth she was terrified of just where this could be headed. "What makes you think we had other associates in the first place?"

"Trevor has told me an interesting story about what words came out of your friend's lips while he was being brought here with you. He tells me that in his sleep, Lee constantly murmured two names: Clementine and Carley."

Oh shit, Lilly thought, feeling her heart take a plunge. Not Clementine. Please, don't hurt her…

Her mind rattled, Lilly altogether gave away their secret by making a noticeable twitch in her hand. The Governor stopped in his tracks and slowly looked back at her, grinning in triumph. It would only be a matter of time…

"So it's true, then," the monster chuckled. "You do know others out there. And I intend to get information about them out of you by tomorrow night."

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?" Lilly stood stiffly up to him. "Hell, I don't even know where they went!"

"Oh, I'm sure you do know," he answered as he continued to walk down the inner corridor towards a door, poorly illuminated by a flickering light, guarded by two more henchmen with M16 rifles at the ready. "And I'm sure you know what the consequences are if you refuse to tell me?"

"I don't care," Lilly bravely said. "Your men can fuck and abuse me until my mind breaks; I'm not going to endanger others' lives just to save my own."

Having arrived in front of the door at last, the Governor let out a sigh of disappointment before he released Lilly's wrist (much to her relief, as well as that of her veins) and directed her by the shoulders towards the door.

"Then I'm afraid you leave me no choice," he said.

Lilly peeped closer, and just below the top of the door was a rectangular opening with vertical iron bars through which air flowed. An inner prison of sorts, clearly. Whoever was too unruly to walk the gloomy streets of Woodbury with a clear mind was thrown in here, perhaps, so that they couldn't affect anyone else with their insanity.

Summoning up what courage she could, she looked through the gaps between the iron bars at the person who was making such noises.

And regretted doing so.

On his knees upon the cold metal floor was a walker, his naked and exposed skin almost deathly pale from a lengthy absence from the light of the sun. His skin was punctured and bruised, with numerous cuts from which blood continued to seep. His arms and back were stained red with both dried and fresh blood. Beneath him was a pile of corpses – men, women and children – that he gleefully devoured raw, one by one.

And then, he looked up at her. Looked at her with cold, dead eyes that were—

Brown?

Strange…Every single walker she had come across so far had eyes that were as white as the moon. None had pupils of any other color, and the pupils always turned white instantly upon reanimation.

Oh shit…

But that would mean…

No…Could it?

The man was alive; undoubtably so. He jerked his head up upon noticing Lilly's fair face through the door's gap. He leapt up onto his feet, his back hunched more like a beast's than a man. He was completely naked, and Lilly clenched her eyes shut as they focused for a tiny moment on his exposed genitals.

Then, the breath. Oh, the foul, stinking breath. He breathed rapidly and with an air of excitement, like a dog yearning for its master to throw it a bone. Daring to open her eyes, Lilly was greeted by a pair of bloodshot brown eyes that expressed pure hunger. In an instant, she recalled the hateful words of the woman she saw in the camcorder recording that Lee and Carley found.

The dead don't kill their own; it's the living you gotta be afraid of…

"Hello there, sweet mademoiselle…," he hissed with a psychotic amount of happiness in his dry, rasping voice. His hands reached out and between the metal bars, and to Lilly's relief, the Governor did not press her forward as she hastily retreated two steps back so that she was out of reach.

"Lilly, I'd like you to meet mister Pierre Dumort," the Governor introduced his pet murderer. "As you can see, the most rebellious or unfortunate of our guests are treated to some private time with him. The survivor of the Russian roulette game you saw before has the honor of joining him for a bit of fun. Really, committing suicide during the game is an act of self-inflicted mercy."

"…" Lilly remained silent. The dead were one thing. The St. John's were another. But this…This was truly beyond frightening…

The Governor gave one last stern word of warning as he laid both his hands on Lilly's shoulders. "You might be brave, Lilly. You may just be able to take anything that my men will throw at you – or thrust into you. But could you live with yourself if you let Lee die because of your stubbornness?"

"L-Lee?" Lilly whimpered, a teardrop forming on the side of her eyelids.

"If you do not talk, then I will see to it that Lee is brought down here by midnight, tomorrow. Would you truly risk his life just so you can continue to put on an act of resilience? Think carefully. I will expect an answer by 10pm tomorrow night."

Lilly looked with wide and terrified eyes at the carcass pile of torn flesh, ripped-out eyes, noses, ears, fingers and toes which lay behind the subhuman monster which continued to beckon for her neck. She then looked squarely at the deformed, scratched and mutilated face of Pierre, who looked upon her with a wicked grin, revealing his frighteningly deformed teeth which were sharpened by metal files.

He hissed at her one more time, imprinting a horrific memory that would surely last in her mind for the rest of her life.

"Lilly…Let me taste you…Ahahahaha…"


A/N: Honestly, I felt absolutely terrible and sick in the stomach writing this chapter, especially in terms of what happens to Emily. As horrific and stomach-turning as the Walking Dead series is, and even when considering what Jolene says about the living being more frightening than the dead at times, Emily's ordeal kind of went over the top for me, honestly. I'd guess that similarly sick stuff happens in the comic series, but I've never seen any other fanfics go to the length of sickness that this particular chapter has gone to. Hopefully this terrible feeling will pass on for me in time.

In terms of the next chapter with Carley and the main group, I can tell you that I'm going to add in as many original plot elements as possible. I don't like it when fics just repeat virtually exactly what happens in canon. I should know, because I spent a lot of time writing original fics in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic category, where so many writers just recycle the game's plot from beginning to end.

Things will get real interesting in both Woodbury and Savannah from here on out. I really want to make good use of Pierre, since we've never seen his like in the games, and the St. John's just don't compare. Fans of Amnesia: The Dark Descent will probably have noticed that he's a hat-tip to Malo de Vigny.

Thanks for all the reviews and support in general you guys have given me so far. I'm amazed that this is the sixth-most-followed fic in the Walking Dead category, and I'll do my best to give you guys more great chapters as I go along.