I hadn't planned on doing this for a few more chapters, but hey, y'all know me and how much I love messing with my characters. *evil grin*
Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, I only own my original characters.
We walked into the cafeteria where the inmates had been staying for the past year- well, ten months, but close enough. Trash bags lined the walls and some of the tables; most of the tables were pushed up against the walls. "All this time, none of you decided to leave?" I asked.
"Anytime we make a sound those things'd crowd up against the door, tryin' ta get it." One of the men replied.
"The windows got bars so strong He-Man couldn't break 'em."
"I guess I could see that." I shrugged.
"How far along are you anyway?" one of the men asked.
"Uh, I'm due in about six weeks." I sighed.
"Liz." Daryl looked over at me sharply and I shrugged.
"It's alright man, my old lady, she was a nurse. You'da liked her." He looked at me.
"Why are you in?" I asked softly.
"Ain't like I killed no one or nothin'. I got in trouble when I was a drinker, got sober, got slammed with a parole violation. My woman's brother come to stay with us for a few weeks. I didn't know he was comin' with a gun. Police do a search on the house, court order, they find that, throw me back in." he sighed. "I been clean three years, five months, and twenty two days. Been keepin' count." He smiled proudly as he gestured to a wall where there were tally marks. "Ain't like some'a these guys." He nodded to the group of men who were now in the cafeteria kitchen discussing the food.
"What are they in for?" I asked softly.
"Let's just say, I get y'all wantin your own cell block." He nodded. "Like ol' Eric over there." He nodded to a man with his back to us. "Been here longer'n the rest of us."
"Was he outside earlier?" I asked with a frown.
"Nah, old fart was sleepin'." He chuckled.
"What's he in for?" I asked.
"Ain't no one knows." He shook his head. "All's we know's he got twenty five to life. 'Tempted murder we think."
"Wha'd you say his name was again?" I asked softly with a frown.
"Eric."
"And what prison is this?" I looked at him.
"West Georgia Correctional Facility." He replied making me close my eyes.
"I- need to go." I said softly.
"Wait, what?" he asked.
"Do you know how to get back to Cell Block C?"
"Yeah but-"
"Take me back." I told him lowly.
"Look, maybe I should-"
"Now." I looked him in the eye and he swallowed before he nodded and looked to the group before leading me out of the cafeteria. We made our way silently through the halls; no walkers were around, making it an easy trip back. When we got there I sat on a bench.
"Do you need me to get you anythin'?" he asked.
"You should probably go back." I replied shortly.
"You sure?"
"Rick don't what y'all 'round C block." I stated. "Go on back. Help them out."
"Okay." He stood up and started to walk away, not making it very far before I caught his sleeve.
"He molested his girlfriend's daughter." I told him. "Tried to kill her older brother. It wasn't his first time."
"How you know all that?" he asked and I looked up at him, letting him see the tears spilling down my cheeks.
"You should leave." I told him. He put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before he walked out of the room and back into the halls. I sat there for a moment, letting the tears roll down my face before I took a breath and wiped my face off.
"Hey Lizzie, where you going?" Sophia asked when she saw me walking up the stairs.
"I need some air." I told her, trying to control the way I spoke.
"Well, I'll come with you." She ran over to me and I looked down at her.
"Look, maybe this time you should stay inside…" I offered.
"Rick says we shouldn't wander alone." She replied. "Especially not you or Lori."
"He said that?" I asked as we continued to walk up the stairs.
"Uh huh." She nodded.
"Well, okay. I don't see what a little air could hurt us." I replied before opening the door to the yard. We walked down the stairs and into the yard. She and I walked over to the bench and I sat down, rubbing a hand over my face as I thought about what I had just seen.
"What happened?" Sophia asked and I moved my hands to smile at her.
"Nothing." I sighed.
"Bullshit." She replied making me laugh in astonishment.
"Sophia Peletier! What would your mother say?"
"Well she ain't here is she?" she asked and I shook my head. "Don't act like I'm a little kid Lizzie, I ain't."
"Christ girl," I sighed. "Okay, fine. One of those prisoners in there, when I was younger than you, he used to hurt me."
"How?" she asked.
"He touched me." I replied and her face fell. "Seeing him in there… He didn't see me, thank god."
"Does Daryl know?" she asked.
"He knows it happened. Remember back on the farm, when things were tough between us?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's why." I shrugged. "Daryl was upset something like that could happen."
"Hunter was the same way when I told him about Daddy."
"You told him?"
"Yeah." She replied. "Are you going to tell Daryl about him?"
"Well if I don't, Cal will." I pointed out.
"Cal knew about him?"
"He's the reason Cal went to prison." I replied. "Cal tried to kill him."
"I can see why." Sophia admitted and I nodded.
"God, I don't know what to do." I sighed as I put my head in my hands. I let out a laugh as I looked at Sophia. "I'm sitting here venting to a thirteen year old."
"Hey, I'm mature for my age." She pointed out and I chuckled.
"You sure are." I sighed. "God I- I wish I could go for a ride." I sighed, before looking over at the cars we had lined up along the fence. "Actually… That's a good idea."
"Um, we're not supposed to leave." Sophia pointed out.
"I know we're not, but I can't go back in there- not with him in there." I shook my head.
"But Lizzie, we don't know what's out there!" Sophia protested as she followed after me as I walked to the gate.
"I know there's a town around here. I'll just drive to town and then come back, it'll let me clear my head." I told her. "Give me some focus, figure out how to deal with… Him." I sighed.
"Well I'm coming with you." She decided and I shook my head.
"No Sophia, your mother would kill me."
"No she wouldn't, she'd understand, besides, my mom loves you and you know that." She sighed.
"I just don't think it's the best idea." I told her as we got to the fence.
"Rick said not to leave you alone, so I'm not leaving you alone." She said decidedly. I sighed as I opened the gate and nodded. We closed the gate and walked over to the Mustang. She opened the gate to the outside and I pulled the car back, until I was out of the gate. She closed the gate and ran over to the car and got it before I pulled out of the area. I rolled the window down as we drove, staring out the window ahead of us. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked and I sighed before looking at her.
"Not really." I admitted. "It was really surprising seeing him again."
"I'm sure." She agreed.
"I mean of all the people in the world to survive, why the hell did he have to be one of them?" I slammed my hand on the steering wheel with a sigh.
"I don't know what I'd do if Daddy came back." Sophia sighed. We got to the highway and were driving down it when someone darted out onto the road.
"Shit-" I threw one hand in front of Sophia and slammed on the breaks, swerving my car, trying not to hit the person. We went off the road into a ditch, before slamming into a tree. My head hit the window next to me hard enough to crack the windshield while Sophia smacked her face into the dashboard. "Are you okay?" I asked, checking her face.
"I just have a nosebleed." She assured me, before unbuckling her seatbelt. "What was that?"
"I think it was a person."
"A walker?" she asked and we looked at the road. I pushed the door open and unbuckled my seat belt before stepping out of the ground shakily. Upon putting my full weight onto my feet, my knees collapsed from under me. "Lizzie!" she ran around the back of the car and over to me quickly.
"I am so sorry about that!" the person ran over. "I thought you were the rest of my group!"
"Well we aren't!" Sophia shouted at him,
"Is she okay?"
"No she isn't okay!" she replied as I tried to gather my bearings.
"I'm okay." I stood up, only to fall back again.
"Shit." He muttered. "Crap, oh god I killed a pregnant woman."
"She's not dead! Don't say that!" Sophia shouted at him. I could feel everything around me spinning as I tried to get to my feet again. "Lizzie, stay down." Sophia ordered me. "Just stay down."
"My team, they'll be right here." He assured us. "God- I'm so sorry." He was saying as he tried to calm me down, but only worked at getting himself more hysterical.
"I told you ya shouldn't have come." I mumbled to Sophia as a vehicle approached.
"Adam, what is this?" a deep voice asked.
"There was an accident sir." The man was saying. I could feel someone force my eyes open, a man with dark hair and five o'clock shadow looked down at me, before looking at someone behind him.
"She's got a concussion. Is this your mother?" he addressed Sophia.
"My aunt." She replied shortly.
"Get them both on the truck."
"No!" Sophia stood in front of me.
"Listen young lady, we've got a doctor, she obviously needs one."
"…Okay." She said hesitantly before watching as they loaded me onto the truck. I was pushed between two people, Sophia was sitting next to me, that much I knew, she was speaking to me.
"Listen, you've got to keep her awake." One of the men was saying. "I was a fighter; I've had my share of concussions."
"Lizzie, I promise, we'll be okay." Sophia was saying, before I blacked out against the person next to me's shoulder.
When I woke up someone was stroking my hair. "Dare?" I mumbled.
"Lizzie, it's me." Sophia spoke to me softly.
"Unng, why's it so bright in here?" I asked, the light was blinding.
"Here, I'll turn those down." A female voice spoke and suddenly the light was turned down. "Better?" I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Sophia sitting above me, and behind her, there was a lamp. Turned on. Artificial light. I sat up and looked around, we were in some sort of doctor's office.
"Where are we?" I asked looking at Sophia.
"It's some sort of town." She answered.
"You've got quite the guard dog there." The woman was saying as she looked over at us. "She wouldn't leave your side for nothing."
"What happened?"
"You two were in a car accident. Do you remember that?"
"…Yeah." I muttered, remembering the crash. "There was guy in the road…"
"Adam Warner." She nodded. "He's young, what he lacks in common sense, he makes up for in killing biters, so they bring him along on missions." She continued. "Apparently he thought you were the truck coming to pick him up. His had a flat." She explained.
"Where are we?" I asked again.
"I think you should talk to the Governor." She replied before walking out of the room. A moment later the door opened again, a tall man with dark brown hair walked in, smiling at us.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Confused." I replied. "No one seems to want to tell us where we are."
"How long have you two been on the road?"
"Long enough." I replied.
"In your condition?" he asked in surprise.
"We make due." I told him with a small nod.
"How far along are you?"
"Why won't anyone tell us where the fuck we are?" I asked impatiently.
"I'm sorry Miss…."
"Dixon." I replied. "Missus."
"Mrs… Dixon?" he asked and I frowned.
"You got a hearing problem?" I asked and he chuckled.
"I'm sorry, it's just an… uncommon name." he chuckled. "You're in Woodbury."
"Why?"
"You were in an accident." He replied. "You had a concussion, probably still do from what I hear. You should get some rest."
"I'd be glad to, give us a ride back to my car, we'll rest later." I replied.
"Well, that's the problem. We don't open our gates until morning. If you and your little one can wait till tomorrow, we'll be happy to get you a ride back to your car. No harm no foul. Hell, we'll even give you a little extra food, some water. New clothes by the looks of it." We looked down at our dirty, bloody, and worn out clothes and I blushed lightly.
"That's not nessicary."
"'Course it is. It's the neighborly thing to do. Come on, I'll show you two where you can stay for the night." He chuckled with a smile. We followed after the Governor as he led us down the street, to an old bed and breakfast from the sign. "Hello Mabel, how are you?" he smiled at the woman in the sitting room.
"Governor, I wasn't expecting you." The young woman smiled brightly, before her eyes landed on us. "You brought people…"
"They're from the outside, just staying the night."
"Of course." She nodded.
"Is room 15 still free?" he asked.
"Well, yes it is, but that's right next to-"
"I know, I know." He nodded. "I have a feeling they'll be fine." He smiled looking over at us. "Mabel will show you two to your room. I'll have some food, water, fresh clothes sent up for you both. I believe there's only one bed, but there's a shower, just… Take it easy on the hot water, huh?" he smiled before sticking out his hand. "Welcome to Woodbury." He looked me directly in the eye as he spoke, making me a little uneasy, but I shook his hand regardless. When he left I looked at Mabel who was smiling, staring after him.
"You dropped your jaw." I commented making her glare at me.
"Well he must not like you if he's putting you next to him." She sighed as she took a key and walked us up the stairs to our room. "Why he'd put a pregnant woman next to him, I have no idea." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, I know he trusts him and everything, but, ugh." She shook her head. "I can't stand him."
"Pretty sure I can handle whoever it is." I told her as we got to the room, the last one on the floor.
"I wouldn't count on it." She shook her head. "The only person who can handle Merle Dixon is the governor." She sighed. "I'll send the food and everything up when it gets here." She told us before leaving.
"Did she just say… Merle?" I looked at Sophia who was staring after Mabel in shock.
"I… Think so?" she looked up at me. I looked after Mabel and then at our room before I walked to the room next door and knocked on the door. After a moment there was movement from inside the room, until finally the door opened.
"Holy shit." I covered my mouth with my hands.
"Well lookit who it is." Merle leaned in the doorway. "How you doin' Sugar Tits?" he grinned.
Well, the return of two men from Lizzie's past. How do you think she'll handle Eric, do you think she'll even make it back to the prison TO handle Eric? Or will she join team Woodbury?
Please don't forget to review!
