the claimed child-the walking dead

chapter two//the lethal mistake

it was a day later, after a night of rest had been spent in a run down old garage, or workshop of some kind. daryl had slept on the ground after everyone else claimed the halfway decent spots to sleep. tilly had laid down in silence when len tried to paint daryl as a liar, and joe ordered the men to kill him. 'teach him all the way', he'd say. they continued on the morning after, one man short. tilly was glad to be rid of a liar. 

//

 when the railroad tracks tasted funny, tilly decided. she had been leaning down, crouched in an odd position to lick the right rail, when she found a candy wrapper. she crinkled it, sniffing in the heavenly scent of chocolate. "lord have mercy, child, what are you doing?" joe stopped, and the group around him slowed, turning to stare at the girl. she shoved the wrapper under a fold of her dress, standing to follow along as usual. daryl gazed quizzically at the child, wondering what the hell had possessed her to lick the dingy, metallic tracks. his judgement of the girl being strange was only confirmed, practically every time he spared a glance at her. "what a goddamned strange thing you are." joe marveled, shaking his head, before gripping her wrist and pulling her slightly towards him, so she was walking next to him instead of far behind the group. "you don't just lick anything and everything. only some things are for licking, sweetheart." joe chuckled, letting go of her hand. tilly gazed solemnly, willing herself not to let her hate shine through on her features. daryl once again was forlorn at the jokes these men threw around, especially concerning children. but he thought to himself, maybe they were just being crude. surely they wouldn't look at a tiny young thing in such a crass way. she couldn't be over ten, daryl figured. they continued on the path, passing a sign that tilly trotted to, inspecting with enthusiasm, sniffing it with her nose, rather close. terminus, tilly read. she was glad she could read, papa had made sure she learned how to read as soon as she could. he always said learning was done best by reading and experiencing. tilly decided early on in life that she preferred reading to experiencing things. joe began explaining to daryl how they were on the trail for a man who had killed lou, one of their members. they had lost him while squatting in a house-a man had strangled him in cold blood, joe said. tilly didn't care-lou was just another mean old man who deserved what he got. 

//

joe shushed harley and billy, who were talking amongst themselves. there was a soft glow coming from a spot through the woods. tilly hung back, gripping the side of a tree for safety. new people made her nervous-although she doubted anyone would be worse than joe. the men readied their weapons, and tilly squeezed her eyes shut, knowing something bad was coming. she could feel it in her cold bones. her fingernails dug into the tree bark, one of her few comforts, her hair falling over her face as she listened to the men jump out at the humans sitting at the campfire. it wasn't long before joe began hurling accusations. "you killed our man lou." and then, to her upmost surprise, tilly heard daryl say he knew the people. she slowly drew out from behind the tree, watching-waiting. dan's distinctive giggle filled the air, sending nausea swirling in tilly's stomach. the creak of a car door-a boy crying out. it was too much-tilly covered her ears. she knew what dan wanted to do to the boy-it was what joe did to her almost every night.  her papa would be ashamed of her, sitting here doing nothing. but she felt frozen, as if someone had given her a poisoned drink dooming her to never move again. what she didn't expect, was to hear joe's screams, and she whipped her head around to take in the sight of a curly haired man taking hold of a chunk of joe's neck, and blood began to spout. it was violent, something tilly never would have imagined despite the horrors she had seen during this new way of life. she screamed. daryl fought back against the men who were beating him, for being 'a liar', they said, because he had told them this man who killed lou was good. and then-she watched joe fall to his knees as he bled out, and the man who had bit him started in on a brutal attack on dan. the boy dan had been attempting to violate crawled over to a dark skinned woman, one who had utter strength in her eyes. there tilly stood, in the midst of it all-as all the claimers fell victim to death at the hands of these new people. a sword clashed and sliced, a knife shucked in and out of skin. daryl and his crossbow, ending life in seconds. tilly felt relief and fear simultaneously-the claimers were gone in almost a blink-and now she was surrounded by these other savages. she stayed in the shadows, thankful nobody had heard her scream amongst the chaos, and she sat, burying her head in her hands. 

//

it was daytime. sunshine beat down over rick and daryl, as they sat on the ground. rick's hands were covered in blood, as was his face. daryl was left with a shiner on his left eye, a prize from his fight. he was the triumphant winner over the dead bodies, but he didn't feel very courageous. he felt drained, and all he wanted was to find beth. but he also relished in the fact that he was reunited with rick, although the circumstances were so unfortunate. "i didn't know they were...." daryl trailed off. "it's okay. you being back here. it's everything. you're my brother." rick confided. behind the nearby tree, tilly sat, dehydrated and hungry to the point where she could no longer stand it. she rose to her shaky feet, revealing herself to the two men. rick jumped up when he saw the movement, reaching for his gun, but daryl touched his arm lightly, stopping him. "i thought you had ran off." daryl spoke. tilly stared in silence, as daryl was beginning to understand she always did. tilly stepped forward, past daryl, keeping her eyes on the bloodied stranger. she didn't trust him, nor daryl. although daryl had never paid her much attention, or ever bothered her in the few days he had been with the claimers, she didn't trust any man anymore. she lowered herself to the ground to grab the packs off of the claimers, one by one scavenging through and pulling out food. joe's was the last body she came to, and she froze, kicking his body lightly with her bare foot to make sure he was really dead and gone. she reached into his pack, finding a water canteen, and she unscrewed it and began to suckle at it like a newborn pig quenching its thirst. water trickled down her dirt stained hands, and rick and daryl watched her in awe. "you can come with us." rick said, voice shaking from adrenaline still. tilly ignored him, gathering all the food and water and stuffing it into one pack-joe's pack. she felt prideful that he was dead and she was alive, and that she had his pack now. it was hers, something she took from him just as he had taken so much from her. as she knelt, rick could see her spine through her dress, which looked as if it must have once been white but was now caked with dirt. he stood, approaching her gently and touching her shoulder. a snarl came from her mouth-a snarl vicious enough to sound like it came from a wild animal instead of a little girl. she turned, dropping the pack and clawed at ricks hand, leaving him with two cuts on his wrist. "OW! jesus christ." he held his hand to his chest, eyes bewildered. daryl walked over, hands up as if approaching an untamed horse. "easy now. 's alright, we ain't gonna hurt ya." he explained. tilly blinked, looking ready to run at any wrong move the men made. she noticed the women and the boy from last night, sitting up inside the blue battered vehicle and watching her. "i ain't never messed with you, alright? this is rick. he's a good man. i know there ain't a lot of em around, but you gotta trust me, alright? you wanna survive? you come with us." daryl said calmly. tilly's lower lip wobbled, something that did not go unnoticed by the two men. what other choice did she have? she kept her eyes trained on them, as she picked the pack back up, slung it over her skinny shoulders, and raised her chin, stepping towards them. the boy-who daryl solemnly introduced as carl, waved hello as they began on their journey, as did the woman-who tilly found out was named michonne. tilly stayed on the opposite side of the tracks, while the rest of them stood near the other side. but she followed them, nonetheless. they were bound for a sanctuary, they decided. the place tilly had read of on the sign. terminus. it was a place that promised hope-those who arrive survive.