Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Eight

I was dead. One of those idiots had shot me in the head and I was dead. Although, I had hoped that death wouldn’t make my head hurt so much. I groaned and forced my eyes open. On second thought, maybe I wasn’t dead because if heaven was an old, dirty shack than I would have some complaints.

Sun peaked in through the cracks in the door. I had no idea what day it was, what time, or how long I had been out. My head was still killing me though from whatever had been used to knock me out, and the concrete floor was beginning to make my ass fall asleep.

“Rise and shine.” A voice said.

My eyes shot up and just mere feet away was the boy I had helped save. Randall. He was leaning back against the wall, looking just as miserable as I felt. His hands were behind his back, no doubt tied up. I wriggled my wrists and found that my own hands were bound in a pair of handcuffs. I growled before struggling to right myself into a sitting position.

“Yeah, nice people. Right?” Randall sneered.

I ignored him, although mentally I agreed. I hadn’t done anything to these people, yet here I was all locked up like some sort of war prisoner. “How long have we been here?” I croaked out. My voice sounded raw and sore from lack of water. I cleared my throat.

Randall shrugged. “Not long. Maybe a few hours.”

“How’s your leg?” I asked. I was surprised to see that our captors had took the time to bandage his wound.

“Hurts like hell, but could be worse. Still have a leg at least.”

Before I could reply, I heard heavy footsteps approach the shack. There was the sound of a lock being undone before the door swung open. I squinted into the sudden light, making out a tall, burly looking figure. He wasn’t one of the men I had met last night. With his shaved head and sever looking jawline, along with this big, bad boots, he looked like he had just stepped out of the military.

He shut the door and crouched down on the floor, shaking a bottle of water in his hand. “Brought you two a present.”

My mouth felt like cotton just at the sight of water. The man must have caught the look in my eye because he let out a low, unpleasant chuckle. “Not so fast, little lady. You answer my questions, you get a sip. We don’t want any problems now, do we?”

I fought the urge to spit out a sassy remark at him. I knew I wasn’t in the best position to be arguing and pissing people off.

“How many in your group?” He asked.

I looked at Randall, waiting for him to answer. “I dunno, maybe 30.”

Our prisoner guard looked back at me. “That sound about right to you?”

“I already told your people last night. I don’t know this guy. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I said quietly.

“Is that so? Boy, you seen this girl before? And you better not lie to me.”

Randall looked terrified. I looked at him, trying to catch his eye. He wouldn’t look at me and I knew I was about to get thrown under the bus with him. Son of a bitch.

Randall nodded. “Y-yes. She’s a part of my group. Somebody’s woman.”

I growled. That little piece of shit. I had risked my ass to help him, save his life, and this was the thanks I got. I hoped big and burly beat the shit out of him.

“You asshole.” I spat out. “I am tellin’ the truth here! I’ve never seen this kid or any of his people before. What don’t ya’ll understand? Why the hell would I lie about that?” I hissed at him before I could stop myself. “I haven’t done a damn thing wrong and you people have me locked up in your barbaric little prison like-“

I didn’t finish my sentence. A fist came flying out of nowhere and connected with my jaw. The force of the punch pushed me over backwards and I landed with a grunt on my side. I felt blood trickle down the side of my mouth. I heard yet another sound of fist against flesh and Randall let out a strangled cry. I rolled over onto my side, panting heavily and trying to ignore the intense pain in my jaw.

The burly man had stood up and was wiping his fist on his pant leg. He sneered at Randall and I before twisting the cap off the water bottle. I watched as he poured it all out onto the floor in front of us. Every last drop.

“I’ll come back and hopefully, ya’ll will be tellin’ the same story. The true one.” With that, he turned and left, locking us in the shack yet again.

I immediately whirled on Randall. “You sorry piece of shit. Now you’re gonna get me killed too!” I cried at him. I shot out my leg and kicked him as hard as I could in his injured calf.

He let out a strangled cry of pain, his eyes watering. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! He thinks we’re both liars!”

“No, you’re the damn liar! And I’m gettin’ the hell outta here and leavin’ you to get your sorry ass handed to you.” I growled.

Randall looked up at me, confusion in his eyes. “How the hell you gonna break outta here?”

I pulled my hands out in front of me, showing him my chain free wrists. His eyes widened. “Tell those fuckers they might wanna put the cuffs on a little tighter next time.” I smirked. I wiped the blood from my chin. Thank god for having small wrists. The entire time big burly had been running his mouth, I had been squeezing my hands out of my manacles. And now I was getting the hell out of here.

Randall was talking to me, saying something, but I didn’t care to listen. He was now on my shit list. I knew the door was locked and my eyes combed our prison for another exit. There was a small loft space just over our heads. It was worth a shot. I got to my feet and used an overturned bucket in the corner as stepping stool, pulling myself up into the loft. ‘Jackpot.’ I thought. There was a small, square looking window, most likely for pushing hay bales out of, but definitely big enough for me to squeeze through.

I crawled on my belly over to it and gazed out. The tree line wasn’t far ahead. If I was quick, I could make it. I glanced over my shoulder, Randall still yelling.

“I swear to God, if you leave me here, I’ll scream. I’ll get that asshole to come back here and get you!” I caught the last piece of his rant. I rolled my eyes, turning and lowering my legs out of the window first. I held onto the ledge with both hands until I was dangling over the side. I closed my eyes and let go. It was a short drop and I only lost my balance for a moment before I was off and running.