DorkySoul, ky, and the ever faithful r2j591. Thanks for the reviews.

It pains me to say this, but there is still hope. I am beginning to fizzle out on this fan fiction but that doesn't mean I am going to stop writing. There are just other things on my mind and this has fallen to the back burner. It is still there though. So the updates will be getting farther apart I am sad to say, but I am not quitting this story! I plan to at least end season 2 before taking a break.

She took the pills as needed but spent most of the day in the room with Daryl running errands for her.

"Hey," Andrea said trying to fill the silence. "I know you just got back, but I feel you should know. Something's up with Shane. Word's going around that he killed Otis."

"Doesn't surprise me," Lily said.

"Be careful around him."

"I will"

A knock came from the door.

"Just a minute," Andrea said rubbing the last of the salve on Lily's back. She helped her pull a shirt on before giving the knocker the ok to come in.

Dale opened the door and stepped inside. All Lily thought was how she must have looked to Dale. Small. Covered with bruises from head to toe. Broken. "May I speak for a moment please, Andrea?"

"Yeah." She got up and walked out the door.

"Lily, let me just say I am glad you are back and I hate to bombard you with questions-"

"But you will," Lily stated flatly.

"Yes, I am." He paused before continuing. "As you most likely know, there's a young boy in the shed outside. He is from the band of people who took you."

"Animals. They weren't people. They were animals."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Everybody thinks this boy is a threat, more now because you are back and look the way you do. I'm sorry."

"I look like shit, Dale and I feel like cold shit, so please let's get on with this."

"I'm going around and taking a vote on whether or not the boy should die. I need to know if you are going to vote for him or against him."

"I don't know the kid. I'm not voting until I know the kid. Daryl!" She shouted and he came down the hall. What made Lily like Daryl was that he was always just a shout away. He poked his head in the door.

"Take me to see the kid."

She couldn't be sure what he was expecting to hear but her requesting to see Randall was not something he expected to hear.

"What?"

"If I have to vote I want to meet the kid."

"No." He walked around to opposite side of the bed kneeling down in front of her. "You can ask me to do anything else but taking you down to see him is out of the question."

"Anything?" she asked. "Would you stay here while I met the kid?"

"Like hell!"

"Then help me." She placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed herself up to her feet. He stood next to her and tok her arm. "Dale, I'll be back in half an hour give or take a few minutes."

"Are you sure?" he asked nervously.

"If you're taking a vote for his innocence then he must not be all that bad, but don't expect me to be happy about this."

"I didn't think you'd do it at all."

"Well, she is," Daryl snapped. "So leave it alone."

Lily didn't expect the walk outside to be so dramatic, but it was. As she walked down to the shed where the boy named Randal was currently being held captive, she noticed the group stop what they were doing to watch Daryl walk her down. Even little Carl stopped what he was doing to watch them. Lily looked back at the house and saw Andrea and Dale watching her from the bedroom window.

The last few steps Daryl walked ahead of her to knock on the shed door. "You have a special visitor," Daryl said with so much distaste in his voice Lily feared his spit would turn to acid.

A muffled response came from inside the shed and Daryl walked inside. She heard tape ripping and could only assume from that sound that this kid had been tied up in the shed.

He poked his head outside and she took that as an ok to come inside. There on the floor of the shed was a boy no older than me tied to a post. After what she'd been through she wanted to untie the kid but for the sake of everyone else she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Oh, my God. You're alive. This is her?" he looked at Daryl.

"Yeah, this is her. You think she does this to herself?"

She held out her hand to stop Daryl. "Wait. What are you talking about?"

"This is the guy who helped us find you. Eventually he gave us what we needed."

"I'm surprised you're still alive. I'm glad."

"Glad because with me being alive means you live too?"

He knew I was right but tried to make it seem like he wasn't by coming up with another thing to say but she stopped him.

"The camp is voting whether to kill you or let you go and they want my vote and the way I see it, my vote is going to make or break the decision seeing as I spent four days with your best friends."

"I hardly knew them-I'm not like them." he sighed not wanting to say what he had to say next but he did anyway. "But you have every reason to kill me especially after what you've been through."

"Thank you," Lily said making her way to the door.

"That's it?" Daryl huffed. "No more questions?"

"If he was guilty of being like those men he'd scoff at me and he wouldn't want to die. He just said I could kill him for something he had no part of. He's fine in my book. I don't want to kill him."

"Lily," Daryl ran out the door after her. "You can't just let him go."

"It's my vote! And I don't want to kill him!"

"Thank you lady. Thank you!" Randall yelled form inside the shed.

"Shut up!" Daryl shouted ready to punch him.

"Daryl, don't you lay another hand on him! You've already done enough. I don't want anybody else getting hurt over me. Especially you."

He angrily withheld from punching Randall and followed her back to the room where she told Dale where she stood on the vote.