*A/N*: I do not own The Walking Dead, its universe, nor its characters. I only own Lily Cross. This fic does not follow canon. I hope you enjoy, and please, leave a review! It does my heart well to hear from my readers!
***I do not personally share nor condone the views, expressions, opinions, thoughts, or actions of Lily. All of these things are strictly intended for the development of the character/story—nothing more.
Cross and Angel Wings
Chapter 6:
It took me quite a long time to dig the graves. I decided to dig just three—one for Hershel's wife, his stepson, and one for Sophia; the rest didn't seem to be anyone of any importance to the group. Though it would have been nice to have a little help, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for the alone time. The truth was, I was still a little angry at the way Shane handled things. To add further turmoil to my emotions, I was still dealing with the shock and utter disappointment of Daryl being a taken man. Daryl—man, he was perfect. Damnit! I sighed audibly. Yeah, it was best that I was alone for the moment.
Dirty, sweaty, and tired, I finally began making my way back to the farmhouse. I was just about there, when I caught a glimpse of Daryl and Rick's wife talking. Curious, I started their way. As I grew closer, I could make out the conversation. "Please, Daryl," Rick's wife said. "I said 'no', Lori," Daryl replied as he turned to walk away, clearly annoyed by whatever it was she was asking him to do.
"How could you be so selfish," Lori spat. I watched him spin back around to face her; I stopped at a safe distance to watch the scene. "I ain't selfish, or have you forgotten everything I went through lookin' for Sophia?! Damnit, that nearly killed me! And what good came of it?! She's dead," he exclaimed furiously. "Please-," Lori began again, but Daryl cut her off. "Forget it," he said, "I'm done lookin' for people."
I watched as the two turned their backs to each other and storm away in different directions—Lori towards a car, and Daryl towards me. He was about to pass me by, but I stopped him. "What the hell was that about," I asked. "She wants me to check on Rick," he replied. "Where is he," I asked with a raised brow. "Him and Glenn went to bring Hershel back," he answered. He was obviously still pissed about the spat with Lori, and I was clearly not helping in cooling his temper.
"Hershel's gone," I asked another question. "Yeah," he snorted. I distantly heard a car engine start behind me, "She's gonna go herself, ain't she?" "Probably," he replied shortly. He started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm, "We can't just let her take off alone." "You can't, maybe, but I sure as hell can," he said angrily. I gave him a look.
He returned my glare, and we stared at one another like that for, what seemed like, a long time. After that long and silent pause, his temper broke loose, "Forget it! Don't you hear good?! I said that I'm done lookin' for people!" He jerked his arm out of my grasp roughly. "Fine," I spat through clenched teeth. "Fine," he spat back in the exact same manner as he turned and strode away. Fine. I took off and ran for the car Lori had started moments before.
She had just put it in gear when I reached the car. Panting, I hurriedly banged on the passenger window. "Don't try and stop me," she started as she rolled down the window. "I'm—not," I said, still out of breath. "Let me in," I continued. She looked at me skeptically. "Oh, come on. You'd have to be stupid to go out there all by yourself," I said, trying to open the door.
"Are you calling me an idiot," she asked with a raised brow. "No—I'm only saying that two idiots are better than one," I answered with a smirk. She eyed me for a moment before breaking into a smile. I opened the door the moment she unlocked it and climbed in. I barely had the door shut when she hit the gas. Well, here we go.
We had reached the end of the long driveway when I broke the silence, "I'm Lily, by the way." "Lori," she responded. "I heard—when you were talking with Daryl," I said. She looked at me briefly, handed me a map, and returned her eyes to the road. "So—where are we headed," I asked, spreading the map on my lap. "Rick and Glenn said they were going into town to look for Hershel," she responded.
"Alright, well according to the map, you should turn right—here," I said, pointing to the upcoming road. She was driving so fast, we almost missed the turn. Lori hit the brakes hard, and we barely made it before she was hitting the gas again. We were going unbelievably fast. It was like she was a madwoman on a serious mission—or with a serious death wish.
"Maybe you should slow down a tad. It's not like this town is goin' to run away or anything," I offered. She looked at me, then back at the road, "I can't. I have to find Rick! I have to tell him…" "Tell him wha-," I began to ask before exclaiming, "Lori! Look out!" There was a walker standing in the middle of the road, and we were going too fast to stop in time. Call it bad instincts or just pure bad luck, but Lori decided to turn the wheel hard to dodge the walker. We did miss it, but she turned too sharp. I remember the car flipping—then everything went black.
I awoke to the sound of Lori calling my name. My head hurt really bad, and I was pretty sure that I was bleeding. She went to call my name again but ended up screaming, instead; there was a walker trying to make its way through the hole in the windshield. "Lori, can you climb to the back," I asked. She nodded. "Good. Go on, then," I said, trying to reach the knife I kept hidden in my boot.
The way I had to position myself to get it hurt like hell, but I pushed through. Lori had successfully climbed into the backseat the same moment that I grasped my knife. I immediately pulled it out and stabbed the walker in the eye; it was dead. Slowly and painfully, I managed to crawl out of the car with my bag in my arm. I stood up, even if it was rather uneasily, and opened the back door so that Lori could get out.
Once she was safely outside of the car, I went through my bag until I felt my flashlight. I'm not sure how long we had been stuck out here, but it was dark now—the only light was coming from the car's headlights. I turned it on and shone it in Lori's direction so that I could check her over. As I did, I saw the walker behind her. "Lori! Duck," I exclaimed. I took out the gun I kept in the back of my waistband and shot just as she ducked.
I exhaled deeply, "Are you alright?" "I—I think so," she answered shakily. I quickly looked her over for injuries. She had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing major. I, however, hurt all over. The pounding in my head had grown worse, and there was a chunk of windshield lodged in the top of my thigh. Great.
I didn't have time to concentrate on that, though. Lori started walking—in the wrong direction; she was still heading towards town, not back to the farmhouse. "Where the hell do you think you're goin'," I called after her. "I've got to find Rick," she answered, still walking. I did my best to hobble after her, but it took a great effort. This is what I get for helping people—perfect.
I gave up on trying to reach her and stopped in the middle of the road, "Would you just wait a damn minute!" She stopped and turned to face me. "Look, it's dark out—we nearly died! We can't be far from the farmhouse—we should go back-," I started, but she cut me short. "But, Rick-," I cut her back off at that. "Rick is probably already back at the farm—with your son—worried sick about you! We should go back," I finished. She ignored me, turned towards town, and started walking again. Shit!
As I've said, God must truly smile on the unfortunate. I had just thrown my hands up in the air and cursed in pain when I saw it—headlights. This could be really good or very bad. Thankfully, it was the former. The car stopped, and to my surprise, Shane and Daryl jumped out. Shane ran to Lori, and Daryl ran to me.
"What the hell happened," Daryl asked as he looked and felt me over for injuries. "It's good to see you, too," I said with a smirk before telling him what had happened, then commencing to curse as he touched cuts, bruises, and no telling what else. Concern etched across his face with each curse or wince I gave. He stopped when he saw the shard sticking out of my thigh. He looked up at me, "That needs to come out." "Leave it—for now," I said. "Besides, I'd hate to spew blood all over that fine outfit of yours," I continued with a grin. He chuckled.
He stood back up and looked at me. I stared back into those gorgeous blue eyes, and I swear, in that moment, I've never in my entire life wanted to kiss someone as much as I did him. It could have been my head spinning, but I could have sworn in that instant, something changed in his eyes. Hell, my head must have been really spinning, because it almost seemed as though he was leaning in—to kiss me? No—that can't be right. He's with Carol! You've just bumped your head harder than you thought! Right. Right?
I was about to give in to my fantasy, though against my better judgement, when I caught a bit of Shane and Lori's conversation. "Think about the baby-," I heard Shane say. The baby? What baby?! "That's none of your concern," Lori spat. "You sure about that," Shane countered. Baby—surely—I mean, surely that doesn't mean—that Lori's—pregnant?!
"What?!" I exclaimed, jerking my head in their direction. They both looked at me. "You mean to tell me, that you drove off out here like some maniac, and you're pregnant," I continued, practically screaming. "I—I," Lori began, clearly shaken. I tried to go up to her but Daryl grabbed me; I struggled. "You what?! Are you crazy, or just plain stupid," I continued ranting, my temper getting the better of me.
Lori began to sob into Shane as he held her, whispering something into her ear. The anger I had at her stupidity still flooded my senses; I jerked out of Daryl's grasp and faced him. "Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant," I said through clenched teeth, giving him a small shove. Pain and shock quickly replaced the anger as he grabbed me, pulled me really close, and whispered into my ear, "I didn't know. Now, calm down, and don't ever do that again."
I'm not sure if it was from shock, pain, or just being so very close to Daryl that did it, but when he released me, my head started spinning in overdrive. I tried to take a step forward. Instantly, I stumbled; Daryl caught me right before I hit the ground. He helped me stand back up, but the pain and the spinning only grew worse. I looked to see Shane and Lori walking to the car. I took a step to follow them, only to fall into Daryl, and then, everything went black again.
I once again woke to someone's voice calling my name—Daryl's voice. "Hmmm," I answered, struggling to open my eyes. "Come on, wake up," he said. With great effort, I managed to open my eyes; they were so heavy. "Stay with me," I heard him say as my eyes started to close again; I kept them open at his words. I groggily realized that my head must be in his lap. I looked into his eyes. "That's my girl," I heard him say. I wish. Oh, how I wish. "Mmhmm," I replied, a smile forming on my face.
My eyes began to close again. "Just stay with me, we're almost there," he said, urging my eyes to stay open. It was like an out of body experience. All I could do was watch my movements and listen to my words, still too out of it to control any of it. "I—wanted to—I want to—kiss you," I heard myself whisper as my hand somehow managed to touch his face. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Lily, what are you doing?! I hazily watched shock flash across his face, followed by—something else. What that something else was, I wasn't entirely sure. I heard him snort, then chuckle.
"But—you're—with—," I heard myself continue sleepily, my hand still placed along his cheek. I saw that confusing look upon his face once more as my eyes closed again, and I felt my hand fall from his face. I tried to reopen them, but I was just so sleepy, and they were so heavy. I was still barely conscious as I felt Daryl slide out from under my head and shut the door. A split second later, I heard the one at my feet open. I felt someone lift me up. That very instant, I caught a whiff of the all-too-familiar scent I was beginning to fall in love with: a mixture of sweat, leather, and dirt. Daryl's scent. I breathed him in deeply, and then I let the blackness take me once more.
