I'm so sorry it's been so long! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it! Review please!

Chapter Nineteen

Lila held onto the fence as she walked, one hand still clasped to her heavily bandaged side whilst she moved, Hershel was stood a few feet in front of her urging her on.

"I don't think it's getting any better," Lila said with a sigh as she came to a halt, her eyes locking with Hershel's.

"There's a lot of scar tissue, a lot of damage, especially to the muscles. It's going to take a while before you get back to normal." He replied.

"You mean if I get back to normal?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Damage like this doesn't just go away, you know it'll take rehabilitation and since we don't have the basic facilities…walking up and down this fence is about as good as you'll be getting in the next few weeks." Hershel smiled slightly as Lila continued to walk towards him.

"Quit slackin' LB!" Daryl's voice called as he carried a few logs towards the group of tents.

"Shut up Dixon, I'm not in the mood for your crap in my current situation!" She shouted, feeling the need to stomp her feet, but worried about the pain it would cause, she refrained.

"Lady got a smart mouth," Daryl replied, "She fit for training yet, doc?"

Hershel smiled, "Not far off. Few more steps and we'd be looking at a future Olympian." He joked.

"Okay, first off, the Olympics no longer exist since there's no future and secondly, I don't appreciate you people mocking the hero…come on, gimme a break." Lila's voice was riddled with sarcasm but she broke the second she caught the expression on Daryl's face, the look in his eyes was priceless before he continued walking. She had a feeling she knew what he had meant by 'training' and it didn't involve anything dead and rotting.

As everything sat around the table to eat, Lila took her spot by Carl – it had become a regular occurrence since the situation with Erik. As the food appeared and they tucked in, Carl broke the silence, looking up towards Lila before he spoke.

"Why don't you tell the story about how you got me out of the cabin? No one's heard it yet?" Suddenly the gentle clicking of cutlery and the polite conversation had diminished and all that was left was a dense awkwardness. Lila's eyes caught Daryl's from across the table.

"I don't think that's appropriate dinner conversation, Carl," Rick stated quietly, nudging his son's arm as he spoke.

"I just figured everyone would want to know, no one really asked," Carl replied.

"Maybe they shouldn't know," Lila's voice surprised everyone as she spoke to Carl, "We can keep it to ourselves, our secret mission, accomplished?" She suggested with a grin where the strain was barely noticeable.

"Cool," Carl smiled up at Lila and she turned away, she glanced only momentarily back towards Daryl before subtly wiping a rogue tear from her cheekbone. The issue was, no one had really asked her about Erik, about how she felt about the fact Daryl had been the one to kill him. Honestly, she was sure she'd never be able to forget – at one point her and Erik had had something special, something strong enough to drag her away from her family, away from the life she'd grown accustomed to. That wasn't going anywhere overnight.

"You alright?" Rick asked quietly as everyone continued eating, Lila had forgotten where she was, her hand was wrapped so tightly around the knife in her palm that her knuckles, as bruised as they were, had gone white. She dropped it suddenly and began to get to her feet.

"I'm fine," She smiled, her hands steadying herself on the chair. Daryl had quickly stood to help her, but Lila shook her head.

"I said I'm fine, I have to learn how to do this on my own at some point." Slowly she moved outside, her hands steadying herself on the wall the entire way.

An awkward silence settled over the group before one person decided to speak up.
"I think it's probably about time to talk about the elephant in the room here," Shane stated, "The situation with Randall hasn't been resolved yet, been too busy rescuing blondes." His eyes flashed towards Daryl's briefly.

"I'll take care of it, tonight." Rick replied.

"Take care of it?" Dale questioned, a look of distress flashing across his eyes.

"There isn't anything else we can do, Dale."

"That's not right, he's locked away, there's no need to, to murder him when he's stuck in there, he isn't harming anyone locked up." Dale argued, standing up from the table.

"It isn't safe for the group," Rick glanced towards Shane before rubbing at his eyes, "I'm sorry, there's no other choice."

Lila took a slow, deep breath, her side burning as her chest expanded and deflated. The slam of a door behind her caused her to glance to the side, Dale exited quickly, an expression on his face that startled Lila.

"What's wrong?" She asked with a frown.

"Randall, they want to murder him, execute him, just like that, without even talking it through with the rest of us." Dale stood, looking out over the farm as the sun hung just above the trees, dimming in the distance. With the mention of his name, Lila shuddered, struggled to keep herself calm and glanced over to Dale.

"What do you think they should do?" She asked, remembering the kindness Dale had offered her when she first arrived.

"A trial, keep him contained, locked down, it's still safe for the camp…but it appears democracy isn't key here anymore."

"The camp got scared with Carl disappearing, with me coming back half dead. They're frightened, they're just looking for one more way to diminish some of the dark in this life. I'm sorry Dale but…forgetting about what Randall has done to me, I don't see what's wrong with trying to repair what can be repaired, which in this world, isn't a hell of a lot." Lila said quietly, her hand fell upon Dale's and she smiled.

"On the other hand, it's better to live in fear and know that people like you still exist. People that want to do good even if it terrifies them," Lila shook her head.

"Like you," Dale smiled, a sadness in his eyes, "You got a child home to his parents and I cant imagine the sacrifice you had to make to do that."

His words caused tears to prick at Lila's eyes.

"You did a good thing, Lila. A really good thing." Dale clarified, patting the top of Lila's hand before he made his way down the stairs and towards the fields.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I need a walk, clear my head." He said as he continued walking, Lila sat down on the porch steps, wiping a few of the tears from her eyes.