LINES
A/N: Wow. Thank you for the kind words! I'm very appreciative.
Chapter 2
Carol sits in the idle car glancing around for any signs of movement outside.
"My name is Carol." She speaks off handedly. The somber woman bites her lip to keep from crying.
"Lilly." She replies. Carol nods and turns to her with firm determination in her eyes.
"Tell me everything you know." Her voice demands.
Tears well up in Lilly's eyes and she wipes them away. "It was Brian. He wanted the prison. He wanted a new place for us to go. A place that was safe. No one was supposed to get hurt. He told us the group at the prison killed his daughter and destroyed the last group he was in. They took his eye. He said they were thieves and murderers. I told him what we had was enough. But he wouldn't listen. He left us and my daughter… Oh god." She burst into tears and Carol lay a hand on her shoulder.
"Lilly, that man wasn't who you thought he was. He is a bad man. We took in the people from his group after he murdered a bunch of his own group. We are not the enemy." Lilly held her head down, her shoulders shaking with grief.
"Did you see where any of the group from the prison went?" Carol asked calmly. Lilly shook her head and Carol closed her eyes. She gripped Lilly's arm hard.
"You must have seen something!" Carol yelled.
"There was a man and a woman. The woman stabbed Brian through the chest. I saw them leave. But that's it. I shot Brian in the head. I went to look for my sister's body but I couldn't find her. She has to have run off. She can't be dead. Please, help me find my sister!"
Carol nodded. "We will look together for everyone. You will help me find my people and I will help you find your sister. But you have to stop crying. We have to be strong. That's the only way we survive this. You can grieve later. Okay?" Lilly nodded and slowly wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Now it hasn't been long and some of them are on foot. There is a good chance we will catch up to them. There is a spot we all knew to head for if something like this happened. We will head that way and hopefully they will be there. On the way we will keep a lookout for your sister. She will have stuck close to the road I bet."
She had just shifted into drive when movement to the side caught her attention. Lizzie burst through the trees, gun clutched in hand. Carol gasped. She parked the car and jumped out, Lilly right behind her.
"Lizzie!" She cried. Lizzie caught sight of her. "Carol!" Carol grabbed the girl and held her tightly. More movement and Tyreese burst through the bushes. He squeezed Judith to him with one arm and held Luke's hand with his other. Mika and Molly clutch his pants legs.
"Carol, thank god! Quick, the baby. She's hurt." Carol gasps and runs to him. Mika screams and points as five walkers stumble behind them having followed the noise. Carol grabs Tyreese and shoves him away. She pulls her knife and stabs the first one in the head. A gunshot has her ears ringing as Lizzie shoots and drops a walker. Pride fills Carol as she rushes ahead. A scream and Carol is turning. A walker has a hold of Lilly and Tyreese swings his hammer down on its head, trying to shield Judith as he does. Suddenly a lady walker is on Tyreese and Carol grabs the walker's hair and pulls. She pulls the head back and slams her knife in the zombie's eye. Tyreese stares down at Carol in shock and then looks at the baby in his arms. He slowly lowers Judith down and Carol freezes. The little girl has a huge gaping cut on her chest and she's bleeding. She isn't awake. Tyreese hovers behind her while the kids in the background are sobbing.
"She was hit with debris I think. What can we do? Oh god." Tyreese cries running his hands over his head. Carol takes off her shirt leaving only a camisole behind. She wraps Judith up tightly and runs her to the car. Lilly is standing there gaping, a hand held over her mouth.
Carol lays the baby down and barks orders. "Tyreese, the green bag in the backseat. Get it. Lilly, I have water in the trunk. NOW! Lizzie, keep the kids on the other side of the car, look out for anything moving."
Lilly and Tyreese rush to her. Carol quickly takes off the baby's clothes and grabs one of the water bottles from Lilly. She pours it over the wound quickly. The only sound you can hear are the kids' cries. Tyreese goes to them and they hug his legs. Lilly works as Carol's assistant handing her items from the bag. What seems like hours later, Carol is bundling Judith up in a warm blanket and holding her to her chest. She looks at Lilly with tears in her eyes.
Tyreese comes around the corner with question in his eyes. Carol stares at him. Just that morning she never thought she would see him again. She had imagined different ways it would play out when he discovered the truth but this had never entered her mind.
"Is she gonna be okay?" He asks. She lays a kiss to Judith' head.
"I don't know. She lost a lot of blood. I sewed up the wound but she could still get an infection. We need to find some medicine. Soon." The worry in her voice wasn't lost to Tyreese and Lilly.
"There was medicine at our camp." The quiet voice broke through their thoughts. Carol turned to Lilly.
"Can you take us there?" She asked. Lilly nodded and Carol turned back to Tyreese.
"What about the meeting point? If we don't show up they could leave us." He asked worriedly.
"I know but we have to get some medicine into Judith. She can't fight off an infection." She looked at Lilly. "How far is the camp?"
"Not far. Just through the woods that way." She pointed. Carol nodded and squeezed Judith.
"Tyreese, you take the kids to the meeting point. If anyone is there tell them what happened and we will be back soon. If they aren't there, just wait on us. We will meet you there."
She handed the baby to Lilly and grabbed a backpack from the car. She placed a gun in her belt and gave the car keys to Tyreese. Carol turned to the kids and held her arms out. All four ran to her.
"Be good for Tyreese and I will see you soon. I'm so proud of all of you." She whispered. They nodded and filed into the backseat of the car. Tyreese grabbed her elbow as she passed.
"Are you sure? I can go and you take the kids." Carol shook her head.
"No, I need to do this. You got them this far and I can never thank you enough. You'll see us soon." She spoke firmly. He nodded and got in the car.
Carol took Judith back from Lilly and pointed towards the woods. "After you."
Carol stayed behind Lilly the entire walk, her guard up. She wanted to believe that the governor's group were all dead but she couldn't risk it. They crested the hill to find an RV parked next to a river. Lilly froze up for a moment, glancing down the hill at the riverbank where a mud pit was. After a moment she continued on. They reached the RV and stepped inside. Lilly immediately went to the cupboards and pulled out a box.
"We need penicillin antibiotics." Carol spoke searching through the medicine. Spotting what she needed she pulled it out.
"Thank god." Lilly whispered. After giving Judith the medicine the women took to finding something they could turn into a diaper and wrapped her in some of Meghan's clothes.
"Does this thing drive?" Carol asked. Lilly nodded and pulled out the keys. The first smile in a while graced Carol's face.
A scream came from outside and Carol grabbed her gun. Lilly gasped and bolted for the door.
"Tara!" She screamed. Tara fell to the ground, exhausted. Lilly fell forward and pulled her sister to her. Carol watched from inside the RV as Lilly told her sister about Meghan's death. Tara shook her head in disbelief and both women clutched each other rocking back and forth.
Minutes passed and Carol stepped outside. "Lilly, we have to go." Tara jumped at the voice and stood up. Lilly grabbed her arm and whispered to her. Tara nodded and the sisters got in the RV.
"I'm Tara." Carol nodded at her. "Carol."
Tara slipped behind the driver's side with Carol behind her, hugging Judith to her chest. Carol gave her directions. Staring out the window, hope bloomed in her. Hope that her family would be there waiting on them. That Daryl would be there waiting. Then fear stabbed through her chest. Fear of rejection and banishment once she gave them Judith. She shook the thoughts from her mind. She just had to make sure they were okay and then she could move on. She could survive. She just had to know.