Chapter 25

"Help me! Please! Oh God, please help me!"

Rick was broke away from staring out at where the truck had left with Lily. He walked over to a young boy whose leg was caught in one of the pikes of a gate.

"We gotta get outta here!" Glenn said.

"We can't leave him," Hershel said. "Maybe we should put him down."

"What?" The boy said fearfully having overheard. "No! Please don't!"

"I can't do that," Rick said.

"Can't we just take the leg off?" Glenn suggested.

Rick quickly pulled out his knife and showed it to Hershel. "Will this cut through the bone?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll have to cut a little below his knee, he's gonna lose his lower leg." Hershel explained this while walking towards the protesting boy.

"Shut up!" Rick said moving around to hold him down.

"Guys," Glenn said seeing walkers. He began methodically shooting them down one by one.

"Hurry Hershel!" Rick shouted.

Hershel hesitated and looked at the unwilling boy to his injured leg. "I can't do it," he said. "There's no time."

"Hershel!"

"Guys we gotta go!"

The number of walkers were increasing.

"There's no time!"

Rick went around to where Hershel stood. "There's not enough time, just put him down!" Hershel pleaded.

"Guys!"

"Ah!" Rick pushed Randall's leg up and off of the pike causing the boy to scream in agony.

The boy, Randall, was blindfolded in the backseat with a roughly bandaged leg. He had passed out after Rick removed his leg from the pike of the gate. Glenn was seated next to Randall and Hershel was in the passenger seat while Rick drove.

"What are we going to do about Lily?" Glenn asked.

"When Randall wakes, we ask him some questions about his people, find out where they are, and then go get her," Rick replied.

"What do we tell the others?"

"Tell 'em the truth," Rick said as if the answer was obvious.

"And Daryl?"

Rick was silent for a moment.

"I'll handle it," he said.

The group had gathered in the dining room of Hershel's house to discuss the matters at hand. First, there was Randall.

"We'll give him a canteen and drive him out then send him on his way," Rick explained.

"What if his friends come looking for him?" Andrea said.

"No one is looking for him, he-"

"How do you know that?" Shane interrupted.

"His friends left him to die. No one is looking for him."

Daryl entered the room and leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. He scanned the room and interrupted the argument going on between the others. "Where's Lily?"

Rick stopped in the middle of his sentence. Everyone looked around. "Yeah," Lori said. "Where is she?"

"She…uh…" Rick couldn't say it. "She..." He sighed. "She was taken."

Daryl uncrossed his arms and marched up to Rick with a scowl on his face. "Whaddya mean 'taken'?" He asked angrily.

"She was running for the car and they pulled up behind her in a truck and took her," Rick explained.

"An' you jus let 'em go?!"

T-Dog moved and held Daryl back when it looked like he might hit Rick. Rick took a few step backs from the angry redneck. "We saved Randall," he said. "We couldn't leave him to die."

"An' you can let Lily git taken?!" He shouted struggling against T-Dog's hold. "I oughta stomp yer ass! The hell is wrong with you jus lettin' 'em go like that!"

"Daryl," Rick said like he was talking to a cornered animal. "Listen, we-"

"No, you listen!" Daryl said breaking away from T-Dog's hold. "You an' Glenn were supposed to protect her an' ya didn't! An' now it's twice I've had ya tell me somethin' like this!"

"As soon as Randall wakes we'll ask him about where his people are and we'll go get Lily back."

"How long 'til tha bastard wakes up?"

"Hours," Hershel replied.

"I cain't wait that long," Daryl explained with a frown.

"Look, this needs to be an organized effort," Rick said. "And that means we can't have you goin' off by yourself."

Daryl just scowled back at him.

"We'll get her back," Rick said in an assuring tone.

Daryl muttered some curses then stomped out of the house before he ended up hurting Rick.

This was the second time now that Rick had brought news that someone close to him was in danger. First it was Merle being left on the roof and now it was Lily. He ran a hand through his hair as he paced in front of his tent. Where was she? How was she? He wanted to go find her but knew he wouldn't know where to start until Randall woke. Hell, Daryl wanted to go wake him up Dixon style, but there's no way he'd get past Rick and Hershel.

Hershel was the reason she went in the first place. If he hadn't left then everything would be just fine. Lily would be here with him. He knew he shouldn't have let her go. He angrily kicked over the small pile of logs he had set up by the tent before going inside his tent. He sat down and held his head in his hands.

He couldn't find his brother, he couldn't find Sophia, and he used to worry about not being able to find Mason for Lily, but what if he couldn't find Lily? What if Randall didn't talk? I'll sure as hell make 'im talk, he thought to himself.

He'd find her if not by Rick's rules, then by his own.

The blindfold was removed from over Lily's eyes, but a gag was still tied around her face. She came face to face with a scrawny boy no older than nineteen. His brown hair cut short and his eyes still retaining a youthful glow. He had on a white muscle shirt revealing tattoo sleeves on his arm.

"Hey, don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt ya," he said.

"How she doin'?" The driver up front asked.

"Alright," the boy answered.

Lily narrowed her eyes and scowled when the boy moved closer to her. She turned her head away as his hand reached for her face.

"Just takin' the gag off," he said making her still. He untied the gag and smiled. "There."

Lily's hands were tied behind her back and her ankles tied together. She fought against them as she shouted, "Let me out!"

"No can do," the driver said. "Your boys shot ours so we thought a little compensation was in order."

Lily backed up against the door of the truck and searched for the handle. The boy just watched and made no move to stop her. When she unlocked the door and pulled the handle the door didn't budge.

"Child lock," the driver said with a chuckle.

Lily moved and began kicking at the boy in the backseat.

"Whoa! Hey, stop!" He demanded as he tightly gripped her legs and held them down.

"Don't worry Ralph, we're here anyways," the driver said.

Ralph snickered and said, "Boss'll figure out somethin' for her."

The driver laughed and agreed. Lily's eyes widened as the truck came to a stop. The driver got off as Ralph fought against Lily to put back on her gag and blindfold. When he succeeded after a she knocked her head into his, he got off the truck and opened her door. He threw her over her shoulder and walked.

Lily heard murmurs as she was carried away. A few gasps here and there and she even heard some kids laughing. She heard the sound of guns being loaded, bottles clinking together, and lots of footsteps. She deduced that there were a lot of people around wherever she was.

The noises of the camp faded from her ears as Ralph stepped inside a tent. He set Lily in a chair and tied her down to it. She struggled to break free, but her bonds only began to irritate her skin as red welts began to form. She heard Ralph whisper to someone then sensed that he left. Someone approached her, their steps heavy and compact, and the blindfold was removed.

A tall well-built man stood before her. He was dressed in a navy blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, grey pants, and black boots. His short black hair hung in front of his face a bit and his blue eyes seemed to size her up. She noted the two piercings in the bottom of his right ear where two small silver hoops were placed and she definitely noted the gun strapped to his side.

"Name's Logan," he said as he removed the gag from Lily.

"Lily," she mumbled.

"Nice to meet you Lily," he said offering a smile.

She snorted and said, "Can't say the same for you."

He shrugged. "That's a shame." He smirked. "I'm real nice when you get to know me."

"I don't want to know you," Lily spat. "I want you to let me go."

Logan sighed and pulled up a chair so he sat across from her. "Ralph tells me your boys shot some of our men. That true?"

"They drawed on us," Lily replied with narrowed eyes. "It couldn't be helped."

"Couldn't be helped?" He chuckled. "Couldn't be helped," he repeated under his breath. "So what can you do? Can you cook? Maybe you can shoot?"

Lily raised her brow and replied, "I'm a doctor."

"A doctor?" Logan asked slightly in disbelief. "Like a school nurse or something?"

She frowned. "General surgeon."

He smiled. "Great," he said as he stood. "I got the perfect job for you. Just sit tight for a moment."

He walked out of the tent leaving her alone.

As soon as he left Lily fought against her restraints which were a mix of rope and duct tape. She leaned down to her wrist and started biting at the tape and roped, but to no avail. She violently moved about causing the chair to scoot forward and back. She gave up, her heart beating fast with fear and fatigue. Then the tears came.

What were these people going to do to her? When would Rick and the others come for her? Would they come for her at all? Daryl would. She gasped. How was Daryl? He must be worried sick and after he told her not to go with Rick and Glenn, she still went. Why didn't she stay?

There was no time to dwell on her choices, but nevertheless, she wanted to be back in Daryl's tent wrapped safely in his arms. She wanted to be back on the farm with everyone. She wanted to go home; be anywhere but here.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter.