Sorry for the wait guys, it was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this past weekend and I work in a bar…so things were pretty hectic! I've spent the past few days resting! Enjoy this anyways, and please don't forget to leave a review!

Chapter Sixteen

Lila groaned, stirring against the solid ground – everything was aching, her head felt as if it were about to implode, a thumping, razor sharp pain filled her ears and as she moved to sit up she felt herself grow dizzy and nauseous.

"Just as lazy as the day I met you," The voice filled the room, Lila was desperate to open her eyes – to know if it was really him, but the pain stopped her. Arms reached beneath her and pulled her up, before she could argue, freezing water was poured over her face, causing her to gasp with shock, her eyes wide with fear.

"There's those eyes," He smiled at her, his fingers running down her cheek. She pulled away from him, examining her surroundings.
"Don't worry, you're safe," He smirked, "You were always safe with me."

"How did…how are you…" Lila began, but all of her thoughts were muddled in her brain and she found herself starting one sentence and forgetting where she was going.

"How am I alive?" Erik laughed, his head rolling back before he dropped his chin to lean on his hands, "Didn't tie those doors closed quite tight enough, did you Lila?"

"Fuck you," Lila hissed, shaking the double vision from her eyes, "Fuck you." Her voice was collapsing to a heartbreaking sob, she emptied her eyes of tears.
"Where is he?" Lila asked, her voice low and weak.

"Oh the boy? He's fine, safe even. You taking in strays now?"

"I want to see him," Lila insisted.

"Come on then," Erik smiled, pulling Lila up – Erik dusted her off, before looking down at her, before she could comprehend what was happening, his fist crashed fully against her temple, instantly knocking her back to the ground.

"Worthless bitch, you think you can leave me for dead and then just run off into the sunset like nothin' ain't ever happened?"

Lila pressed her hand to her temple, pulling it away soaked with blood.

As Daryl roamed through the woods, he found only the slightest hint of Carl's tracks; he'd been walking with a limp, at least, nothing serious – just enough to make his tracks uneven and random.

It wasn't until he found the messed up ground behind some bushes and a separate pair of delicate tracks that he began to expect the worst.

"Over here!" Daryl yelled to Glenn, who instantly came jogging over to him.
"What?" Glenn frowned, looking off to where Daryl was pointing.

"Carl, he was huddled here at some point," Daryl traced the steps forward, past the bush, "His prints are uneven until here, where another set link with them, one person in front of the other…size is small, not a mans. I'm bettin' if we go towards that direction we'll find horse tracks."

Glenn stared up toward Daryl with a raised eyebrow, "You're saying Lila already found Carl?"

"It looks that way."

"So why aren't they back at camp? They've got the horse, they should've beaten us all back there last night."

"Exactly," Daryl muttered, looking off into the woods, it was then that his eyes caught sight of the trail of blood, so slight and hidden he would have missed it on any other day. He knelt down, looking towards it.
"The smaller, even prints I think are Lila's ended about here…these are Carl's, with the limp. Those…they ain't a good sign…looks like a struggle," Daryl let out a sigh, signalling towards a couple of the larger looking prints he'd managed to find behind the bushes. Dread filled Daryl's stomach and played across Glenn's face, they both knew that nothing they'd found was good news.

"I'll keep lookin', go tell Rick what we found," He ordered.

"But Daryl…" Glenn began but Daryl quickly silence him.
"What? You can't follow simple fuckin' instructions no more? Go tell him I'll find him!"

Glenn turned to walk away, knowing deep inside that it wasn't really Carl that Daryl was looking for anymore…it was Lila.

Lila turned over onto her side, coughing up the remnants of her stomach. The second blow to her head had caused more damage that the first, the blood was thick and stained her face.

"Lila," Carl's voice urged as he shook her awake.

"Carl? Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Lila asked, her voice hoarse.

"I'm okay, are you? You don't look good," He looked petrified, his eyes wide with concern.

"I'm fine," Lila replied, more for her own benefit than Carls. She struggled to pull herself up against the wall, she pressed her hand to her temple which was still bleeding and hurt like a bitch. She took in their surroundings, it wasn't much…a run down shack in the middle of the woods by the looks of things – the wood was damp and starting break away from the walls, the windows were coated with mould. Then she recognised it…the bare bedroom and dirtied linen…it was the cabin she'd ran away to a few weeks ago, when Daryl had had to search for her. Lila let out a laugh filled with relief.
"Do you know how many of them there are?" She asked Carl.

He shook his head, "I've seen three, all men."

"Okay…" She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the thumping in her head, "Okay, we need to wait until they're distracted…so that we can get you out."
"I'm not going without you!" Carl argued immediately.

Lila smiled, "As proud as your dad would be if he could hear how brave you sound…I cant let you stay here. Listen to me very carefully, Carl," She breathed, lowering her voice, "The next time they open that door, you wait for my signal, the second I dive on him, you need to run. Run straight out of the house and through the woods. If you keep going in a dead straight line from the cabin door, you'll get to a signpost half way that gives directions to an old hiking route, follow those directions, you'll still be able to see the wooden edges outlining the path okay?"
Carl nodded with teary, frightened eyes.

"Keep following that trail through the woods, if you see any walkers, you either run or you pick up the nearest branch or rock you can find, bash them in the head until you're certain they're dead, got it?"

"Got it," Carl repeated.

"Keep following the trail until you can see the field, the golden one, okay? Once you can see that field, you'll be able to find the farmhouse about a half a mile north. Don't stop for anyone Carl, and when you get to the farmhouse you've got to tell everyone that I'm at the cabin in the woods, make sure they know that Daryl will understand." Lila panted with anticipation, knowing it was going to take all of her strength to manage to fight off Erik.
"What about you in the meantime though? I don't want to leave you."
"I'll be fine," Lila answered, but her voice shook with fear and anticipation, "I'll be fine," She repeated, more to herself this time.

Lila prayed for the next two hours that the plan would go just as she hoped, but as she found herself drifting into a concussion induced sleep, she had no choice but to give in to whatever was to happen. With Carl's sprained ankle and her disorientation, she knew that against walkers and Erik's group, they had little chance of getting away safely. She awoke swiftly however, to the sound of a door slamming shut, a gust of wind funnelled through the cracks in the walls and she jumped. It was dull outside, rain, but it wasn't that that frightened her, it was the sound of gunshots and shouting.

Lila clambered to the window, it was entirely boarded up, but through one of the small cracks she could see something was going on, flashes of Erik's raven hair as he beat a walker to the ground, one of the group went down suddenly as two walkers gripped onto his arms and dragged him to the ground.

"What's going on?" Carl asked urgently as he limped towards the window.

"Walkers," Lila replied reluctantly, she knew this meant even more trouble for the escape plan she had managed to think up earlier.

"What if they get in?" Carl questioned.

"This could work in our favour," Lila muttered, turning back to Carl.
"How does your ankle feel?"

"Sore but its okay," He replied.
"You can run?" She asked, Carl nodded in reply, but looked unsure.

"Promise me you will run, no matter how sore your ankle gets, just keep going," Lila urged.

"I promise," He nodded frantically.

In a rush of movement, Lila ran towards the door, throwing her full weight into the wood. It creaked against her frame and she could already feel the bruises developing on her arm and shoulder. She tried a second time, a third and even a fourth before she started to get somewhere. The wood planks were breaking away from one another – her head was light and she was dizzy, but she couldn't stop. She knew she had enough time to break Carl free, just as long as she kept her eye on the goal and didn't let herself collapse in a heap like she wanted to.

"Get ready, Carl, remember what I told you, go straight to the farm and don't stop for anyone," Lila repeated before throwing her whole weight into the door again, this time the wood splintered, prickling her skin. Her hands dived into the wood, pulling it apart until she found the handle. The noise started to die down outside and she knew that time was short.

"Come on!" She hissed, taking Carl's hand and dragging him through into the main room of the cabin. She searched furiously for a way to get him out without catching the attention of Erik, but her efforts were cut short as a walker grappled to get close to them, reaching for arms and legs, Lila dodged out of the way, putting Carl behind her as she grabbed the shot gun lying upon the limp body of one of Erik's men, who lay face down in a pool of his own blood. She pumped the shot gun once before pulling the trigger, driving the shot deep into the walkers skull and causing it to crash to the ground in a heap.

"Out there!" Lila pushed Carl up onto the kitchen bench, opening the mildewed window and hoisting him outside.

"Run now, don't stop!" She yelled after him as he pounded through the woods, soon going out of sight. She closed her eyes, praying that he make it safely…she knew that he'd get there and tell them all about where she was and who she was with…she also knew that Rick wouldn't want anyone risking their lives for what was most likely a lost cause.

Lila turned around just as Erik stormed in, slamming the door behind himself and grabbing her by the neck.

"You'll pay for that little stunt, bitch!" He hissed in her ear, the scent of decay and metallic blood clung to his skin and she had to stop herself from throwing up.

"This is between you and me, Erik," She said quietly, her eyes meeting with his before he threw her to the ground, her back crashed into the flooring and knocked the wind from her lungs.

"You left me for dead, Lila!" He yelled, surprising her as he paced back and forth.

"You just left." Erik finalised, looking back to face her as she lay curled in a ball on the floor. His hand soon knocked her head against one of the floorboards and she fell into a deep, twisted sleep…but she knew, deep down inside, Erik wouldn't let her die. She was his for as long as he wanted to keep her.