Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Her Angel, His Strength

10 Cherokee Rose

Lori and Rick came to receive them in the morning.

"How is he?" Lily asked.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori's smile was watery. Lily smiled back, relieved.

"And Shane." That was the first time she noticed the man standing a few steps away. She frowned when she saw him, though she didn't know if it was because of the hair, the clothes or the expression on his face. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Rick continued.

After hugs were exchanged, Hershel, an old man with white hair invited them for Otis's funeral, a man that had died to save Carl.

"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" By his expression, it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." A blond woman, who Lily concluded was Otis' wife, begged. Lily had to look away from her, her pain so raw it made her clench her fists.

"Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said." Lily frowned; the way Shane was talking gave her a weird felling. "He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back... If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." Lily couldn't help but feel that something was off with Shane. Perhaps it was watching the guy die to protect him, to save a child he didn't know…

After the funeral, Lily walked away with Glenn and they started to set up camp. Back at the quarry in Atlanta, Lily used to sleep in the RV, though somehow that had changed to her sleeping with Daryl. She didn't have a tent of her own, so she was taking what others could spare her.

"Do you mind if I sleep in your tent?" She asked Glenn, not wanting to assume Daryl would always open his door for her. Besides, Carol was sleeping in the RV, and the woman always said her prayers before crying herself to sleep. Lily always felt uncomfortable, not knowing if she should say something to comfort the mother. Then, there was Andrea. She had no idea what had happened when she and Daryl had gone out looking for Sophia, but the woman had been sending Lily bewildered looks ever since they had woke up. She could almost feel the want of the woman to ask her something that Lily was sure would be embarrassing.

"No prob, though you sure you don't wanna share with Daryl?" He asked, a smirk on his boyish features.

"Shut up." Was her clever response, her face turning beet red when she saw their subject walking over to her. "Be right back." Lily left without waiting a witty reply.

"Gonna go back ta the creek, look for the girl."

"Alone?" She asked, biting her lip when he nodded. "Maybe I should go with you."

"Nah, you stay." Seeing the look on her eyes, he huffed, putting his hands on her chin, he lifted her head up and pressed a kiss on her lips. "Ya shoud set up our tent, anyway." He said, patting her bottom. Lily jumped and Daryl smirked, turning away.

She had just made her way back to talk to Glenn when she heard him mutter in confusion:

"Horse?"

"What?"

"Hm… I'm going on a run. Pharmacy." He said. "With the farmer girl." Lily snorted at his dreamy expression.

"All right, cowboy. Listen, I think I'll stay in Daryl's tent… Ok?" He nodded absently, searching for something. Lily frowned; Glenn was never one to miss up an opportunity to tease her, especially when it had to do with Daryl. "Ok, then." She said, and went over to start to set up Daryl's tent. Theirs, as Daryl said.

"Hey, Lils, need help? I finished mine already." So apparently, Glenn was back to normal.

"Yes, please." She smiled. "So, what's up? You like Hershel's daughter?"

"What? No! I mean, why should I? I mean, I don't know her, so I couldn't like her… Or dislike her! I mean, I don't know her." Lily laughed.

"You're blabbing!" It was good to be on the other end for once. It was usually Lily who Glenn would pester. "And you like her!"

"Yeah, well. It's been a while since I saw any pretty girl, you know?"

"Excuse me?" Lily arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, gee. Besides you! And, anyway, you don't count. You're like, my baby sister." Lily's smile could outshine the sun when she heard his words.

"You mean, big sister." She teased.

"Nu-uh, you're two years younger, smart ass." He shook his finger at her.

"But I'm smarter! And much more mature!" Their banter was interrupted by a cough.

"You ready?" The farmer girl asked, eying them curiously. Lily snorted as she saw Glenn fluster all over. Before he could answer, T-Dog appeared, yelling about something on the well.

"Looks like we've got us a swimmer." There was a walker on the well.

"How long you think it has been down there?" Glenn asked in disgust.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea answered.

"Put a bullet in its head." Someone suggested making Lily look up.

"Whoa, whoa, guys." Maggie said, surprised. "No."

"Why not? It's a good plan."

"It's a stupid plan. If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job." Andrea agreed.

"She's right. Can't risk it."

"So it has to come out alive? So to speak."

"Even if we get him out, the water is already contaminated." Lily said, looking down at the well. "Though, if we treat it, we can use it. I think there may be something on the woods that'll help clean it up. Not for drinking though." When she sensed Shane's look on her, she sighed. Sometimes she forgot that, aside from Glenn, they knew nothing about her. "I was studying environmental engineering before."

Shane nodded at her, agreeing.

"All right, someone go get a rope and some meat. We'll try to bait him." He said, looking at Maggie.

"There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori said when they realised the walker was ignoring the ham.

"We need live bait." Andrea stated looking at Lily.

"What?" She and Glenn asked simultaneously.

"She's right." Shane said. "You're the smallest here. We won't let you fall, don't worry."

"No, no. Wait guys! I'll go." Glenn said.

"No, he's right. I'm smaller." Lily nodded her face paling.

"We're gonna get you out of here in one piece." Shane said, after securing the rope around her.

"Living piece. That living part is important." Glenn said, still fazed about Lily going down.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie said, looking almost as worried about her as Glenn did.

"You want to get it out of your well or not?"

"Doing okay?" Maggie asked her when she was ready to go.

"Yup, doing great." Lily said, looking down. "Living the dream." She muttered.

"Little lower. Little more." That was when the rope gave out. Lily screamed.

"Get me out of here!" She yowled at them. "Get me out! Oh God. Oh God. Oh, My God! Get me out of here!"

"Pull her up. Pull her up."

"Are you okay?" Lily heard someone asking her when they finally got her out of the well. Glenn helped her up, doing a quick scan on her for bite marks.

"Back to the drawing board."

"Says you." Lily said giving the rope she had managed to lace the walker with to somebody else. She needed a moment to calm down.

"Come on, guys, pull." T-Dg said, looking at the walker on the well.

"Come on, y'all." Shane encouraged.

"It's stuck! Come on. Come on, pull!" T-Dog said.

The walker got out, and then, his stomach ripped open. His lower body fell down again, though this time, with his entrails out.

"We should seal off this well."

"Yeah, might be a good idea." Lily said, not believing it was all for naught.

"So what do we do about...?" Maggie started when T-Dog bashed the walker's head.

"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it." Lily saw Maggie walking away, a pained expression on her face. Lily could understand her, the first time she killed a walker at the quarry coming to her mind. She remembered how freaked out she was.

The crowd dispersed. Shane, Andrea and Carol went to the highway see if Sophia had found her way back, and Glenn and Maggie went to the pharmacy. Lily went back to her tent to set it up for Daryl.

She fished around her bag and found her sleeping bag. When she left her home, she had packed it, not knowing what she would need on her way to Atlanta. The sleeping bag was something she never had used. In fact, Lily had forgotten she had one until now. She thought Daryl would be happy that she wasn't going to steal his anymore.

It wasn't long until Daryl got back.

"Found her?"

"Nah… Found somewhere she could had holed up though."

"Oh… Well, at least is a lead." Lily sighed. Every day that passed and Sophia wasn't found was a blow to Lily's, and she knew, Carol's hope.

"Watcha did all day?" He asked, laying down on his cot and grabbing his bolts for inspection.

"Oh, you know… This and that." She smiled. "Set up the tent, talked to Glenn, went down the well as live bait…"

"What?" She meant it as a joke, though seeing Daryl's face; she knew he thought it was anything but. He was furious.

"There was a walker in the well. We needed to get it out." She explained.

"So ya volunteered?" He sneered. "That chinaman said nothin'?"

"Well… Shane did." Daryl's face got darker. "He was right; I was the smallest one there, easier to get out. And Glenn, the Korean man, wanted to be the one to go, I said no."

Daryl got closer to her face, his blue eyes piercing her brown ones.

"I want ya away from Shane." He said, his tone low and menacing. "If somethin' like that happens again, ya say no. Ya say no and walk away from him."

"Excuse me?"

"Ya believe that story he said about that dead guy?" Lily frowned. Did he mean Otis? "Shane's not lookin' out for ya. Stay away from him."

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English is not my mother tongue, if you find a mistake, please let me know.

Thank you,

Mel.