Between the Raindrops

The sun shined brightly on Lilith’s bare skin as she trudged behind the group of men who’d sworn to keep her safe. They’d left their town, despite the beasts that lurked in the shadows, in search of her after she’d escaped in the spirit of rebellion. She was tired of being locked up in the crazed little town and seeked the adventure she’d originally experienced before she had ever come across it. Lilith had come to regret her decision of seeking a temporary shelter in that town. Despite the promises of freedom to leave once she was well rested, she had found that she was nothing more than a prisoner, Lilith could not escape the grasp of the man who seemed to have placed her on a pedestal.

“Whatcha thinkin’ girlie?” a raspy, downright Southern, drawl asked suddenly.

Lilith looked to her right, to the man who’d torn her from her thoughts, to see one of the few pigs she didn’t, completely, despise.

“I’m wondering how you bunch of gorillas managed to catch up to me as quickly as you did. It’s almost as if the bastard chipped me like a damned dog.”

“Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” her companion shrugged “Either way, it did ya some good, better to be back in town with the rest of us. Shit, I’d have chipped my baby brother if I could. Just be glad the your brother cares enough to keep a close eye on ya.”

“He’s not my brother.” she scoffed with a tinge of disgust “He’s just a stranger who took me in and refused to set me free.”

Lilith sighed in frustration as she thought of the events that had lead her to play house with a manipulative monster that, in her own opinion, was worse than the beasts that craved her flesh. At least she had a fighting chance of freedom when she was running wild with the things that went bump in the night. With her brother, she had nothing, all she had to her name was a kingdom of lies. No matter how many times she attempted to free herself from his grasp, he always had a way of fishing her back. She was one of the few prizes that he enjoyed putting on public display.

“Listen, Lilith, if ya tried to stop running away so damned often then, maybe, I could take ya on a run every now and then. To relieve that itch to get away.”

She opened her mouth to speak before the sound of a helicopter caught her attention, her ears perking up at the long lost sound, only to rush off and follow it’s sudden boom. Her eyes shined bright as the flash from its crash landing lit up the already bright sky.

“Take the cars ‘round to the front of the crash!” the Southern man boomed as he followed behind her “We’ll meet up with ya’ll from the back!”

“You got it.” one of the men bellowed back as he raced to the cars that were situated and waiting for them and their prize.

“Looks like yer gonna get some adventure after all, girl.”

Lilith grinned wildly as they ran towards the smell of burning metal and flesh. She stopped at least ten feet from the crash site when her companion yanked her back, suddenly, motioning for her to arm herself before they were confronted with any potential dangers. She nodded at him before she rested her hand on the trunk of a tree to grasp the pistol that was strapped to her ankle. Looking up at her companion, who rarely ever used a pistol, she quietly admired the blade that took the place of a hand that had gone missing long before they’d met. He’d never spoken about the incident that resulted in the lost limb and she often found herself making up multiple stories concerning the incident.

“Walkers are coming, Merle.” she whispered “It could be due to the smell, or the crash, maybe even the sound the helicopter was producing.”

“Now’s not exactly the time to think ‘bout what’s attracting what, Lilith.”

She nodded her head viciously as she followed Merle deeper into the clearing. Stopping suddenly when the crouched figures of two women caught Merle’s attention. “Well, I’ll be damned.” he laughed. Lilith tilted her head in curiosity as she ran to catch up with him and see the two women face to face. “Now, how’s about a big hug for your old pal Merle?”

Lilith squeaked in a slight shock as one of the women, a blond, fainted before Merle’s feet.

“What did you do to her?” she asked as she shook her head at him.

“Guess you can consider me a ghost from her past.” he chuckled as he looked down at her “Get over here and do your damn job, Martinez!”

Lilith frowned somberly at the only one of the women who’d managed to keep her cool, and not faint, as the men that’d been sent to retrieve her rushed over to collect the new strangers. She looked away from the glaring woman and down to the ground. Her imagination was known to run wild, but not as wild as the sight that laid before her. The armless bodies of two walkers were crumpled together, chained to the base of a tree, while their jawless heads looked up at her with lifeless eyes. She shuddered as her imagination tried to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why the women, if they’d done so at all, would walk around with chained up walkers. A sickening feeling overtook her as she began to think that something otherworldly was trying to tell her that she was nothing more than a pet. She stumbled backwards into the arms of one of the pigs she truly despised, Martinez.

“I always knew you’d fallen for me.” he said smugly.

“Merle,” Lilith called out as she pushed the man away from her “Don’t leave my side, please.”

He nodded his head sternly as he took her by the arm and walked her to one of the waiting cars. As her brother’s right hand man, it was his job to keep her safe, he refused to leave her to the beasts that craved her skin in a way that made his crawl. Lilith was one of the few people he’d met since all the chaos had started that genuinely seemed to care about whether or not he’d make it back from a run. He’d already lost his brother and it seemed fitting that the lone person he could find himself to care for was her. In Merle’s eyes, when he looked at Lilith, he saw Daryl.