Here's the next chapter, thanks again for all the reviews, they're really inspiring me to update as quickly as possible, hopefully I can keep you guys interested!

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Chapter Six

It was still dark outside by the time Lila woke up, the sun was rising somewhere over the trees and the camp had a calm silence hanging over it. She had spent her night unable to keep her nightmares at bay; she had found herself awake and crying more times than one.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do from now on, she didn't feel as if she could stay at the camp with the others, something just felt wrong. Lila pulled on a pair of denim shorts from her backpack and a shirt before climbing out of the humid tent. The air was still cool with the early morning and she took a long breath in, savouring it. She felt like doing something – anything to keep her from thinking too hard. She was still limping, her right leg seemed to be unable to carry her weight and the bruises all over her legs and arms were growing darker and angry looking. She looked off towards the house, only to see that Shane was already sat outside on the porch steps, his eyes drifted off into the distance.
"Hey." The sound of Lila's voice caused Shane to jump and he turned to look at her.

"What are you doin' up?" Shane questioned.

Lila shrugged, leaning against the banister, "Couldn't sleep. It seems to be getting harder and harder these days," She laughed humourlessly.

"You should be resting," Shane stated, standing up, his frame towering over Lila. For a second she had to fight the urge to run away, eventually she managed to push aside the fear that was building in her stomach.
"I don't need rest," She shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We're getting rid of him today," Shane began, "Getting him off the farm, Rick has some great plan to drop him off in the middle of nowhere."

Lila's expression changed completely, disappointment filled her eyes, "Guess what he did ain't worthy of the death sentence, huh?"

Shane drew in a long breath, running a hand over his tired eyes before he replied, "It ain't that Lila," He groaned, "Keepin' everyone happy in this group has become a tiresome expedition," Shane scoffed, "Rick's just trying to do the right thing."

Lila quickly interrupted him, "But you don't think it's the right thing." She finalised, causing Shane to raise his eyes to her.

"How'd you know?"

"Because yesterday when you told me he was in the barn, you expected me to kill him," Lila said quietly, "You wanted me to kill him, otherwise you wouldn't have let me walk in there."

"I wanted nothin'," Shane protested, stepping uncomfortably close to Lila, the proximity made her heart race and she could feel her throat closing. She wanted to run from him, she wanted to run a hundred miles away just in case he touched her – after all, what made him different to the rest of them? These days, how could you tell the good guys from the bad? She tried to shake the thoughts from the forefront of her mind and stepped back just a little.

"All I did was what everyone else in this goddamn place is refusing to do, I told you the truth!" Shane hissed, "Just cos I'm honest doesn't mean I'm responsible for your actions. You wanna go kill him right now? Fine. It ain't nothing to do with me," With that Shane walked straight past Lila. She quickly realised that this group had a lot more going on than it had first appeared…and not a lot of it was to do with her.

Breakfast was awkward enough without the added tension between Lila and Shane. Lila moved food around her plate for bout 20 minutes before someone decided to actually talk to her.

"Something bothering you?" Dale asked, his kind eyes peering across the table at Lila, he kept his voice low and private.

Lila jumped, her eyes reaching Dale's before she shook her head and let out a sigh, "I don't know," She ran a hand back through her hair as she spoke.

"Talking about it might help?" Dale suggested with a smile.
"I don't know what to do anymore," Lila said, "It's like I'm just stuck, I just don't know." She stared past Dale, her eyes blank and sad.
"It's easy to lose yourself these days," Dale replied, "There's no easy way to get back into things, you can easy fall into a pattern of surviving and nothing else." He finalised.

"I just want to feel something other than fear and exhaustion," She laughed apathetically, pushing her plate away and leaning back in her chair, "I can hardly remember who I was before this whole thing." She scoffed.

"Well, why don't you tell me about where you're from? About your family?" Dale suggested with a smile.

For a moment, Lila felt reluctant…but then something changed in her, a feeling in her stomach, an eagerness to speak.

Lila's lips lifted into a coy smile, "I had a big family," She began, fiddling with her fingernails as she spoke.

"Three brothers and two sisters," She added, her voice still lacking confidence.

"Wow," Dale laughed, "You're right, big family."

"Yeah…it got pretty hectic. Six kids running around the house, things are bound to be crazy," Lila paused, her smile didn't falter, instead, it gained a sense of sincerity, "For about seven years I was the only girl, the baby of the family. Then my sister came along, she was a firecracker from the second she arrived. Considering the age difference, we were inseparable a lot of the time. Everyone used to say it was like we were twins, just we'd been born years apart," She laughed, nervously massaging her sore shoulder.
"What's her name?" Dale asked, genuinely interested.

"Ada…" Lila's smile began to fade, her eyes sensing the oncoming prick of tears, "Her name was Ada." Dale must have sensed her change in mood as he reached over the table, his hand gently clasped over Lila's and she locked eyes with him.
"Don't think about it that way, remember everything you just told me. It made you happy, talking about her?" He prompted, Lila couldn't bring herself to speak, instead she just nodded.

"Happiness is an emotion that isn't fear…it isn't exhaustion. The key to feeling something is to reminisce, remember how things were and savour those memories. These days, happy memories are all we have."

Lila left the house as quickly as she could, Dale's words still etched in the forefront of her mind. She made her way to her tent, her hands grabbed her bag and pulled out the small box that was perched inside, she took a moment to breathe before opening it. Her fingers flicked the box open and she stared down at the delicate ring inside, the white gold merged beautifully with the green stone in the centre, her breathing hitched in her throat as the memories began flooding back to her. Without a thought, she shut the box and shoved it into the pocket of her jean shorts before thrusting the bag over her shoulder. Slowly she stepped back from her tent and glanced at her arm, still strapped up to her chest. Lila gripped the bandage and unravelled it, a dull ache shivered over her bones as she tossed the bandage aside, examining her shoulder which had changed to a purple-blue colour. Everything was still painful and delicate from the attack, and her legs hurt from running away from camp, but she wasn't sure she cared anymore.

"Goin' somewhere?" Daryl asked with a frown as he appeared from behind her. Lila jumped with fright, but quickly adjusted her breathing and stepped back from him, staring towards the ground.

"I'm taking some time," Lila replied vaguely.

Daryl raised an eyebrow in question, "Takin' some time to what, exactly?"

Anger boiled within Lila and she couldn't help but shake her head, "Just cos you saved me from being walker bait doesn't mean you have the right to keep tabs on me."

"I ain't keeping tabs on you, but a girl like you'll last two seconds out there these days," He pointed out.

"So? What's it to you if I become someone's next meal?" Lila scoffed, shaking her head and walking past Daryl, "I've got shit to do and I don't need you or anyone else keepin' track of me, I'll be back if I'm back, if not, ain't nobody left to cry about it." With that, she was gone, Daryl watched with resentment as her boots hit confidently against the dry soil as she left the farm, slamming the gate behind her.

"Screw her," He muttered under his breath, knowing there was no one to hear him…honestly, he only spoke the words to try and convince himself.

Still, a knot twisted in his stomach, but just like he'd always been taught to do, he ignored it.