Hi guys. It seems as though I had forgotten about this book for nearly two years. I'd just like to apologize to the people who actually read this story and who are still hanging onto some form of hope that I might update soon (I wouldn't be surprised if there was no one).
Rick led me to a small fire where some of the group sat. They all gave Rick confused looks as we approached them.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Guys this is Lila." He said pointing in my direction. I halfheartedly smiled as they turned their heads towards me. "Daryl found her wandering around here not too long ago."
"Lila why don't you sit down and let everyone introduce themselves while I go and sort Daryl out." Rick suggested. I nodded and sat down next to a little boy. He looked up at me and blushed.
"Looks like somebody's got a little crush already." Said one of the women sitting on the other side of me. The boy frowned and turned away. "I'm Lori by the way." She said smiling.
Within the next minute everyone had introduced themselves and I was feeling pretty comfortable. This could actually work. It had been so long since I was with a group and I forgot what it was like to have company.
"So Blondie." Said the man who I think was Shane. "Where are you from?"
"Well, I was originally from Florida, but when shit hit the fan I guess i found my way here." He nodded and we all sat in silence.
Just as I was about to start a conversation with Lori, Rick, Daryl and an older man - who Rick mentioned was Dale - walked out of he RV and sat around the fire with us. I sat there twiddling my thumbs as they talked about preparing food that Daryl caught earlier. I wasn't so keen on the idea of eating squirrel, but I guess being in the middle of the apocalypse, you can't be picky.
After the group finally finished discussing their dinner plans, Daryl brought a bag of meat that I could only hope was chicken, from the RV. But my hopes were quickly washed away as he pulled out around 10 squirrel from the bag. I almost gagged at the thought of eating one of those.
Daryl must have noticed my discomfort because he smirked and waved the animals around, causing a few droplets of blood to fall close to my feet.
That's what did it for me. I got up and ran into the bushes, emptying my stomach onto the forest floor. I could hear the man laughing.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and slowly made my way back up to the group.
"Can't handle it princess?" Asked Daryl. I flipped him off and sat back down causing him to laugh even harder. Great. First day in the group and I'm already being laughed at.
Carol placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile. "Don't mind Daryl." She said. " He can be a bit of a dick sometimes. But you get used to it."
I smiled and nodded as the men prepared our meals.
After ten minutes of waiting for the meat to cook, plates were handed around and we were given small rations of the squirrel.
I played with the food for a while before finally deciding to eat it.
I didn't realize how hungry I really was until my place was clean. Not as bad as I thought it would be.
After everyone had finished their dinner, they started to break away into their tents and settle in for the night.
Just as I was about to close my eyes and fall asleep, I felt a slight tapping on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Rick standing there. "Hey Lila." He said. "Look, we don't actually have enough tents for you to have your own and Glenn is the only one with a two person tent available." He said that all rather quick. Like a small boy explaining to their parents that they shot the neighbor's cat with a BB gun.
"Oh it's cool Rick." I said "I can just stay out here and keep watch." He thought for a moment before replying.
"It's to dangerous to stay out here alone so I guess you could keep watch with Daryl on the RV." I nodded, not knowing what I was going to get myself into.
The RV was pretty quiet . We just sat there in silence. If I knew it was going to be this boring, I would've gone with Glenn.
A lot of the time Daryl would glance over towards me, making me feel uncomfortable.
"Can I help you?" I asked as he turned away for probably the thirteenth time. "What?" He grumbled.
"You keep looking over at me." I say. "Do you need anything?"
"Don't flatter yourself darlin'." He laughed. "ye ain't nothin' special."
I frowned and picked up the binoculars. Looking out over the highway, I could see everything. All of the abandoned cars, the corpses of people that were trying to escape the dead. There were even a few biters stumbling around in the distance.
I tapped Daryl on the shoulder and pointed to the geeks but he just shrugged and looked away. "They're not doing anythin'. He said "Besides. They're goin' away from us.
I nodded and relaxed. "So are we headed anywhere at the moment?" I asked trying to make conversation.
"Rick wants to head to the CDC and see if it's safe to stay." He said. "Says we'll leave bright and early tomorrow mornin'. Try to get there before sunrise."
I yawned and tried to get comfortable in my chair but of course failed. "Go ta sleep if ya want" Daryl mumbled. "But I wanna stay out here and watch with yooou." I whined.
I tried to stay awake, I really did. But soon enough, darkness surrounded me and I was in a deep sleep.
As I awoke, I noticed that we were moving. I also happened to see that I wasn't atop the RV but in the passenger seat of the vehicle. I looked to my left and saw Dale. "Mornin'" I said groggily. "Morning to you too." Dale replied smiling.
"How did I get here?" I questioned. "Daryl put you here. Said you feel asleep just like that." He said as he clicked his fingers.
I smiled and stood up, stretching. "How far from the CDC?" I asked as I sat down again. "About twenty-five minutes actually."
That twenty-five minutes finally passed and we finally arrived at the CDC.
As everyone exited their vehicles, they probably immediately regretted their decisions. Biters were coming from everywhere. Daryl pulled out his cross-bow and took out a few here and there. Shane was trying his best not to blow up at Rick who was yelling at the security camera, claiming that it had moved.
"You led us into a graveyard!" Yelled Daryl
"He made a call" Replied Shane
"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl shouted
"Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up! Rick, this is a dead end." Shane roared
"All right, everybody back to the cars. Let's go. Move." Shane commanded. As we were about to leave Rick stopped.
"The camera… it-it moved."
"You imagined it." mumbled Shane as he pulled Rick's sleeve.
"Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."
"Rick, there's nobody here!" Yelled Lori
"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick screamed. He pounded on the doors, attracting more biters. "Rick more and more biters keep comin' we need to go." I screamed
Shane tries to drag him away, with the help of Lori.
"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane ordered.
"Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." Rick begged the camera. "We have nowhere else to go."
He pounded on the door even harder
"Keep your eyes open. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!" He wailed "Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us!" He yelled over and over.
Just as Rick was about to give up, the doors opened, drowning us in a blinding light.