A field outside Savannah, Georgia: During the gentle breeze of midday, a truck zooms down the open road, leaving the forest far behind their trail.

Come on, Nick. Help me get her in the fucking truck!

The sound of the dead surrounded the road.

Behind you! Goddamnit.

Overhead, she felt the thrust of a large blade and a splat of hot blood.

Ma'am, can you hear me?

Fuck was she bit?

An engine roared to life, cutting through the collective groan surrounding her.

No, she wasn't bit. She just passed out, like she hit her head or something.

Just drive right through them!

When Lilly awoke from her first real sleep in weeks, she found the trees outside were long gone. The warm autumn tones of Central Georgia had receded several miles back, leaving only a dry, yellowed field to add color to the endless highway. Stirring to life slowly, Lilly wiped the gunk from her eyes and straightened her back. She rarely found a comfortable position to sleep, and the backseat of a moving truck proved no better.

"She's awake."

Leaning slowly against the rear window, the woman spotted a single roamer trudging through the empty fields. It was wrapped in a tattered grey dress and seemed to walk with a strange sense of purpose. The sight irked Lilly and she looked away. Looking up, she made eye contact with the driver through the rear-view mirror.

"Do you want us to stop?" He asked calmly, gently releasing the accelerator to let the car slow down. Lilly took a moment to respond, running a hand through her long, mangy hair. When was the last time I washed my hair?

"Where am I?"

"You're a couple of miles out from Savannah. We picked you up off of the highway a day or so back. You've been out cold since then." The man had a southern drawl that was quite comforting. Looking back to the road ahead, the man gestured towards his partner in the passenger seat.

"Name's Luke. This is Nick." The driver said, flashing a somber smile. Lilly didn't respond.

"You seemed to be alone out there. No weapons, no food." Luke switched lanes smoothly as another straggling monster appeared in the middle of the road. "If you want we can always turn around and take you back."

"What happened?" Lilly asked, hearing her croaky voice scrape past a dry throat. Luke took notice and reached down into the foot space of his seat before pulling out a water bottle. He stuck the bottle out by the end, allowing Lilly to take it and guzzle a good portion of its contents.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Luke smiled again. "We're taking you back to our people. We have a large settlement growing out of Savannah."

"Settlement?"

Luke snickered. "It sounds strange, doesn't it? Like we're in pilgrim times again. It's not much, but a couple of folks sealed a good chunk of Savannah off from the rest of the town, and well…"

"It's still standing." Nick finally spoke up, sitting up from his nap and tilting his baseball cap straight on his head. Lilly eyed the back of the hat and remembered Clementine.

"I did have people at one point."

"Oh? Should we take you back to them? We have enough gas."

Lilly hesitated, catching Luke's attention.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

Lilly shook her head lightly, looking Luke in his creamy, gold eyes. "No, it was my fault. I went off the deep end a while back and took it out on the wrong people, I guess."

Luke shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but Nick was unfazed.

"Luke carried you out of the woods when we first saw you." Nick said, turning around to look at Lilly. He and Luke looked about the same age, relatively younger than the woman in their backseat. He had coarse, black hair tucked under his crimson cap and crystal blue irises smothered by a defined brow line.

"I remember seeing the truck and I got nervous, I guess. I was on my way to turning around."

Luke once again moved his gaze up to the mirror. "Are you sure you don't want us to take you back, miss…?"

"My name is Lilly," She looked away, staring back out into the open Georgian sky. "and no, I don't want to go back."

Nick turned back in his seat, sliding his legs out of the seat to rest them on the dashboard. Although Luke rolled his eyes, he remained silent as he drove.

"I chased you a bit through the forest, but we got surrounded and you hit your head pretty hard."

Lilly remembered the heated exchange: two frantic survivors tailing one another while the dead loomed around them. She ran as far as she could, but the horde wouldn't end. It stretched out for miles, creating a barrier that slowly closed in. "I was on edge, I guess."

"I could tell. How long have you been out on your own?"

"Only about a day or so."

Luke nodded and reached his empty hand out again. Lilly handed back the water bottle and leaned in her seat.

"Thank you for helping me. I don't have anything to give back."

"Nonsense. We're just looking for good people. That's what we do. Nick and I go out and help who we can, and bring them back to the community."

They recruit for a community in Savannah. Lilly's mind screamed, sending a sudden spike of panic through her body. She immediately tensed up, sitting straight in her seat.

That woman back at the pitstop said it was one man, not two. Still, this isn't safe.

"You alright?" Luke asked, worried at her sudden change in attitude. Nick turned around slowly, eyeing Lilly as her mood only further spiked. Her eyes darted around quickly, scanning for something to be used as a weapon, but found nothing. Defeated, she turned to her last resort.

"Stop the car. Now." She commanded, losing all fatigue in her voice. Luke seemed taken aback, but obeyed. As the truck died down to a slow crawl, Lilly immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the truck door.

"Hey, wait a minute." Nick called out, but it was too late. Lilly hopped out onto the grassy roadside and slammed the door shut. Without a moment to waste, she beelined down the side of the highway. As the distance between her and the truck lengthened, Luke gave Nick a confused look.

"What the fuck was that?"

Nick shrugged. "She seemed off from the beginning. Did you really think she would just accept that we basically kidnapped her?"

"We didn't kidnap her, Nick." Luke scolded, turning off the truck engine. "Goddamnit, she was out cold in the middle of all those biters. Would you have preferred that I left her?"

Nick opened his mouth.

"Don't answer that." Luke hissed.

"Why did she run in the first place? Seems like she was on her last leg when we found her."

Luke didn't answer. He looked in the side mirror, watching as Lilly continued to distance herself until she was no bigger than a speck on the hot horizon.

"I don't want to leave her out here alone."

"That's not our choice, Luke. All we do is take back the ones who are willing to help out. That's our job. Not playing 'Luke the Hero' or 'Luke the Limo Driver'."

Luke shook disapprovingly, his thick brown locks bouncing around on his head. Nick, having little care for his friends' opinion on the matter, continued.

"Last thing Oberson wants is another lazy do-nothing waiting around town for their loved ones to pop up before taking off."

"I'm not leaving her, Nick. Hell, you can take the damn truck and go back to Crawford right now."

Nick slid his feet back down to the floor, allowing him to lean back with skepticism.

"Come on, man. Don't be a dick about this."

"I'm not having this conversation. I'm helping her – with or without your help. I'm not saying we have to live out here for the rest of our lives again, but we brought her out here and so we owe it to her to at least take her back."

Nick looked to the floor, mumbling under his breath. Without another word, he leaned back in the seat and pulled the brim of his cap over his eyes. "Fine, but don't you fucking blame me when we miss our check-in tomorrow."