Authors Note: Hello everyone, been a while, hasn't it? I had to take a massive break from writing due to work and just life in general. But I'm finally back! It's been a while since I wrote something, so I'm starting off with a simple one-shot based in The Walking Dead Game's universe. Not sure how many of you have played/or are familiar with that series, but this focuses on a main character called Lilly who appeared in Season one and then later again in the final season(S4). I'm actually a LiLee shipper( Lilly x Lee). Lee Everett was the main protagonist of season one, if you played the games then you know how tragic his fate was. This is simply a 'what if' scenario of Lilly's life in the community known as Delta( which she speaks of in the final season of the series). She is hated by most people of the fandom, but she is a personal favourite of mine, who I think deserved a better role than what she got in the final season.
Anyway! This is just a warm-up thing, trying to get back into the swing of writing. My Captain Planet stories(aka the sequel to Second Chances) is on the books to be finished! :) so bear with me everyone! Sorry for being gone for so long!
The watchtowers that overlooked the massive walls that surrounded Delta were devoid of any nonsense now that one of their highest-ranking lieutenants was on watch duty.
Lilly always took her duties seriously and the other soldiers knew better than to irritate her or disrupt her concentration.
She held the rifle in a way that suggested she was proud of her current position in the ranks. Sharp brown eyes scanned every corner of the darkened forest that existed outside the walls.
From the corner of her eye, Lilly could see the figures of Abel and a lower-ranking soldier over in the second watchtower.
Though they were several feet away, the brunette could hear the faint sound of conversation being carried on the wind.
Remaining fully focused on her duty at hand, a light sigh escaped her lips—the breeze was quite pleasant this evening.
A lot of the less-experienced soldiers complained and hated watch duty, Lilly, on the other hand, enjoyed it—it was rare she could have a moment's peace like this, left with her own thoughts without being interrupted.
Over in the other tower, the young soldier known as Dax who was on watch duty with Abel raised a metal cup of some foul-smelling liquid to his lips and took a mouthful of it, cringing at the bitter taste.
"Damn this alcohol tastes like shit.." He grumbled, slamming the cup back down on the hard surface of the watchtower.
Abel just snorted and smirked "The best stuff usually does taste like shit. Be thankful you even get a cup every evening…" he told him.
Taking a drink of his own, Abel pulled a face "Fuck..it really does taste like shit. Bet ya it's that cheap stuff, hmph".
Dax had been watching Lilly out of curiosity, he didn't know much about her and made a gesture towards and then looked to Abel.
" So..what's her story anyway? The soldiers nearly shit their pants if she so much as glares at them"
Allowing his eyes to shift into Lilly's direction, Abel smirks "And for good reason, you seriously don't wanna get on the lieutenant's bad side, she'll rip ya to pieces.." The balding male warned his younger fellow soldier.
"Yeah, yeah I get all that. But what I wanted to know is what she did before arriving at Delta, everyone has a story outside these walls".
That was true, everyone did have a story outside these walls, hardships they faced before Delta became their home.
"Hmph, that's true kid...but why the hell are you so interested in her past anyway?" Abel gruffly answered.
Dax shrugged and took another drink from his cup "Because our lieutenant is a fucking scary woman and I wanna know how someone like her ended up with—" his sentence trailed away when he caught sight of a smaller figure hurrying across the massive yard and towards the watchtower that Lilly was occupying.
"—Speak of the devil.." Dax mumbled, it was amazing how you just had to start talking about someone and they would show up.
Abel paused in his duty and allowed his eyes to watch the figure ascend the ladder that led to the top of the tower.
"Ah...I get ya" the older male exclaimed, "Honestly I don't know a great deal about him".
Even though she was engrossed in her watch duties, Lilly was torn from her concentration and her head snapped around when she heard someone struggling to climb up the massive ladder.
When she spotted two small hands appear at the top, followed by a head of dark brown hair and big hazel eyes that lit up when he spotted her.
"Mummy!" The young boy squeaked, struggling to climb up onto the top of the watchtower.
"Caspian…!" Lilly said, quickly but carefully placing her rifle aside and hurried over and hoisted the small seven-year-old up and onto the wooden platform.
He was smiling sweetly up at her "I found you!" He chimed cheerfully but remembered not to be too loud.
A sigh escaped Lilly's lips as she knelt down to eye level with her son "Caspian..why are still awake? It's after 10 pm and I put you to bed an hour ago".
Frowning a bit, Caspian placed his hands behind his back "I'm sorry Mummy, I heard a funny noise in my room…"
"Noises again? Hm, it's probably just mice we get a lot of those around here" Lilly reassured him, reaching out her hand she gently brushed a few strands of his dark brown hair away from his face.
Briefly, she paused in the action and stared at him—he had such kind eyes, just like his father...she saw him every time she looked at her son.
"Are you okay mummy?" Caspian questioned, his voice breaking through Lilly's thought train. "Hm? Oh, I'm fine baby, don't worry I was just...thinking" she told him, gently smiling at him.
Caspian tilted his head curiously at her "What about? You look kinda sad again mummy…" he frowns a bit, reaching out his little hand and touching his mother's cheek with it.
Shaking her head Lilly reached up her hand and gently took a hold of his "Don't you worry about me, I'm alright" reassuring him with another little smile before she frowned and became serious again.
"You should be sleeping Caspian...it's not good for you to miss out on sleep. Come on, I'll take you back to bed".
Caspian frowned " B-but can't I be on watch duty with you? I don't want to sleep.."
"Caspian…" Lilly narrows her brown eyes "Watch duty can take hours, you know I have long shifts during the evenings".
" I know...but it's nice out here tonight and..I just wanna be with you, Mummy.." Caspian told her with such sincerity in his brown eyes.
The expression upon Lilly's face instantly softened, how could she say no to that? There had only ever been two people in her entire life that could make her heart melt like that—her son and his father.
Forcing the thoughts of the man to the back of her mind, Lilly sighed "How can I say no to that little face of yours.." She smiled and lightly tapped her son on the nose, causing him to giggle.
Peering over toward the rifle she had carefully set against the side of the watchtower, the brunette took note of how quiet it was.
"Alright Caspian, watch duty it is—come here". Reaching out her gloved hands, she watched her son's face become brighter as she picked him up with ease and held him close.
Wrapping his arms around her neck, the youngster then turned his attention to look out over what lay beyond the walls of Delta.
It was so quiet, no sign of a single walker anywhere.
"There's nothing out there tonight.." Caspian whispered to his mother, who nodded "It's quiet tonight, that doesn't happen very often—we should enjoy it" she told him.
Letting his gaze wander to the night sky, Caspian's brown eyes widened when he saw just how bright the stars were that evening.
"Whoa..mummy look how bright the sky is!" He pointed towards it and Lilly tore her gaze from her watch duty and peered upwards.
Her son was right, it did appear extra bright tonight. She focused on a cluster of stars that painted their way across a section of the inky blackness of the sky.
"Do you remember what group of stars those ones are?" Lilly asked her son—she'd been teaching him the different constellations that occupied the night time.
The light from the sea of stars reflected within Caspian's soft brown eyes while he stared at them "That's the Milky Way!" He proudly stated, remembering how it did kinda look like sparkling milk had spilled across the night sky.
"That's right" Lilly answered her son, smiling at him.
Eagerly searching the sky, Caspian managed to seek out three of the brightest stars that occupied the sky.
Pointing at it the little dark-haired boy's voice was excited "Oh! I think that's Orion's Belt" he had quite the good memory and was a fast learner.
Focusing her brown eyes upon the three bright stars, that gentle smile remained across her usually serious face "Well done, you've got a good memory my son" Lilly complimented, feeling her chest swell proudly.
Caspian felt his cheeks turn a little pink, a little and somewhat shy giggle escaped his lips "Well..you did teach me, I love learning about all the different stars—they're all so pretty" he sounded awestruck by the beauty the sky above contained.
A light and cool breeze gently swept by, grabbing at the ends of Lilly's short brown hair. She enjoyed these moments with her son, her duties sometimes made it hard to spend the right amount of time with him.
The silence that fell between them was a comfortable one, both letting their eyes drink in the beauty the sky offered them that night.
"Do you think daddy can see the stars right now?" Caspian asked, seemingly out of nowhere and Lilly could feel herself tense up a bit.
For a moment her eyes widened and her eyebrows knitted together to form a surprised expression at the question that was just asked.
Could he see them? Was he gazing at them right now? The uncertainty made Lilly feel a bit unsettled, and she couldn't ignore that sensation of her heart being squeezed painfully.
Patiently Caspian awaited an answer, frowning when he looked into his mother's face and could see that same expression. The one she always got, whenever he asked about his dad.
"Mummy…?" He softly asked, sounding nervous.
"I...I'm sure he does Caspian...wherever he is out there.." Lilly kept her gaze upon the sky, she couldn't help but wonder where he was right now.
Picking up on the sad tone in his mother's voice, the seven-year-old always wondered why she would become sad whenever he was mentioned.
He didn't know a lot about his dad, he wished he knew more—but Caspian hated seeing how it upset his mother when he asked questions about the man.
Did they fight? He wondered, or maybe something happened and it was too sad for his mother to talk about.
"...I hope he sees the sky tonight, it's so pretty" Caspian gently told her, tilting his head down and resting it up under his mother's chin.
Lilly's hold on her child tightened, she then tore her eyes from the sky and could feel the warmth of the tears swimming behind them.
Nuzzling the top of Caspian's head "I hope so too..." She whispered to him, closing her eyes she then felt a single tear escape and slowly roll down her cheek.
"I...hope so too baby…"