Sorry it's taken longer than usual guys! I was unsure about this chapter whether to make it longer and include a little more Daryl…but I went with my gut and decided that it worked better this way…there will be plenty of Daryl to come!

Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

xx

Chapter Seven

After six hours of walking, Lila couldn't help but feel a surge of relief when the town came into view…or to be exact, what was left of the town. Each building was run down and abandoned, as if it had been years, not months, since the epidemic had started.

Immediately, Lila was disturbed by the silence that surrounded her. She looked around, making sure that she was alone, before she pulled her backpack from her shoulders and set it in front of her. The pavement burnt her knees as she knelt down to look through her things. She dug out a piece of paper with directions on it, as she looked at the messy handwriting and stains covering it, she couldn't help but get a lump in her throat. She pushed the thought of his dark eyes and raven hair from her mind and tried to concentrate on where she was supposed to go.

The centre was just a few minutes up the road, as far as she could tell…but right now, she didn't have much hope. She picked up her bag and jogged up the road, hoping that she had understood the directions he had given her correctly. Soon enough, the tall metal fencing came into view and Lila was brought to an abrupt halt. Cars had been abandoned, patches of earth were burnt black, the remnants of whatever or whoever, lay limp on the ground. The building was cold and empty looking, as she had expected. Fear filled her stomach and she closed her eyes for a minute, her arm pressed against her eyes she tried to cry quietly, but couldn't. She stomped her foot down in anger – anything to release some of the pent up emotion just bursting to get out. She bit down on her hand as a scream threatened to rip from her throat, tears swelled in her eyes and she cursed her last ounce of hope. She had been so entirely stupid, it was ridiculous to believe that any promised salvation would still exist. The world had gone to shit, what had she expected when she'd arrived? A parade of happy, settled people just waiting for her to get there? She wondered if deep down she'd expected him to be waiting for her, perched by the gates, a gun in hand, a toothpick swirling between his teeth and a smirk playing on his lips. She clasped her hands over her eyes as she realised the truth, she had been waiting all along to see him again, somewhere inside herself, she was deluded enough to believe he was still alive…but more importantly, she was insane enough to think he had made it to this godforsaken town.

She leaned against the metal fence and let out a quiet sob, unable to keep it in any longer. Her fingers laced with the wire, it burned her hands from spending so long in the open Georgia sun. Taking a long breath in, she did her best to calm down, this was stupid – she couldn't just hang around in the hope that maybe someone else would turn up and rescue her. It didn't work that way anymore. She needed to build herself up and prepare to survive at least one night alone.

Her eyes opened and she let out an involuntary scream. A walker had shuffled across the ground, its decaying fingers pulling against the metal fencing. Lila jumped back, cursing herself again for being so stupid. She walked backwards, away from the walker, praying it was the only one she would have to deal with. Its legs were broken and bloodied, so at least she knew that speed was on her side…this was a relief, until her eyes met with the absent irises of another.

"Shit," She whispered to herself, slowly, she crouched down to her hands and feet and crawled along the ground, below the view of the walker with legs. Both walkers were wearing a uniform of some kind, they had maybe been security guards or police officers. Lila came to a stop behind an abandoned police car, she had just a few moments to figure out what the fuck she was going to do before she became walker bait. Her breathing was heavy and ragged as the sun pelted down on her head, she had no choice but to grab whatever she had and make a run for it. She looked over to where the crawling walker was making its way over to her, the other one would follow very quickly, she knew there was a chance she was just minutes away from being bombarded.

Her eyes scanned the ground before turning around to peer beneath the police car, she spotted the walker making its way towards her. If she could get passed the two walkers, she could run towards the building and find what she was looking for…at least if she killed whatever was outside, it would give her time to hunt for a real weapon.

"As if it'll make a difference right now, God…if you're around, could you maybe give me a hope in hell of getting out of this shit heap with a pulse?" Lila muttered sarcastically before she removed her boot, gripping the thick leather in her hand she held on for dear life. She leapt to her feet and ran as fast as possible towards the legless zombie, she crashed the heavy heel down against it's skull in one swift movement. It didn't stop moving straight away, so she brought the now ruined boot down a second time, a third and then a fourth, until the skull cracked beneath the weight and the walker came to an abrupt halt. Lila turned just in time to spin the boot into the other walkers face, knocking it back. It stumbled clumsily away from her and she took this time to swing at it again, the boot spun from her grip before she could stop it. This time, it only skimmed the walker before falling to the ground, leaving her defenceless. Although the zombie seemed stunned, it quickly recovered, lunging towards Lila in one movement, its dead hands clutching at her clothing. In one last attempt at survival, she swung her fist into its temple as hard as she could. Luckily, it lost its balance and fell to the ground, giving her just a short moment to clamber on top of it, grab a fistful of its hair and force its skull into the hot concrete below. Twice was enough for the weakened skull to split, but she made sure to keep going until she was sure the dead wasn't going to return for a third time.

Weakly, she pushed herself up from the ground, the adrenaline was wearing off and the heat was kicking in, she stumbled before walking over to her abandoned, bloodied boot and picking it up. She stared at it with a frown, dark, congealed blood dripped from the leather and she couldn't help but gag as she pulled it back on. She stared around and with no more walkers in sight; she grabbed her backpack from beside the police car and walked past the still walkers. It was then that the strap around their hips caught her eye. The black fabric was held tightly in place with a large buckle, a black handle poked out from the holster. Lila walked over and pulled the object from its case, she grinned to herself – a police baton. The baton was heavy in her hand and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pure relief. She pushed her thumb against the release button as she swung her arm down, extending the expandable baton to its full length.

"Finally," She smiled to herself, "A little bit of good luck for Lila," She took the holster from the officer and clasped it around her own hips, having to tighten it to fit, before repeating the action with the second walker. Once done, she couldn't help but feel a lot more prepared for whatever lay ahead.

With an extended baton in each hand, she made her way towards the main building. Her heart thumped in her chest and she tried her best to block every memory of him from her mind. It was just her now. If she wanted to survive, she'd have to do it alone.