𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ⚠︎︎ 𝐉. 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑

chapter eighteen

James hesitated to say the next sentence, "They didn't want you to die hungry." Thalia bit down on her bottom lip, "Why not just kill me? Would save you the time- the effort."

"They aren't just killing you!" He shouted it out and immediately regretted it, looking to the door to see if anyone had heard him. The last thing he wanted was David coming in, knowing he'd spilled his guts to their next meal.

Thalia shuddered when she looked down, staring at the plate before her. It wasn't venison. "Oh- holy fuck..." In her forty six years of living she's seen some fucked up, sickening, and twisted things, but this had to take the cake.

Her back hit the wall and she felt herself sink to the ground, curling herself up as she stared up at the man, "What the fuck- is wrong with you?" Thalia took in a deep breathe, chest tightening as she thought of Ellie, "Where is she? Where is she?"

She jumped to her feet and stepped towards him, as close as she could, "Tell me... or I swear to..." The woman couldn't finish her sentence, the churning feeling in her stomach cutting off the words. "David won't hurt her. He likes her."

Why he was trying to soothe her, she had not a clue but her heart slowed just a bit, her breathing calming when she got confirmation that the girl was alive.

If she wasn't, even Thalia was scared of what she would do.

"I'm going to be your people's next meal... you tried to feed me, drug me and then what? Carve me up like some pig?" James didn't meet her gaze which told her all she needed to know.

Thalia cursed beneath her breathe as he backed out of the room. "He won't hurt her..." The next words spoken so quietly she barely heard them, made her want to vomit if she had anything in her stomach, "Too terribly."

The door was shut, the warm air that was seeping through stopped. She was left to panic and wait for her death. Thalia swore to herself, that she would be damned if she died like this. She was not going to die to a bunch of religious, cannibalistic, obsessive freaks. She'd survived twenty years in the apocalypse, she wasn't going to die, not like this.

She looked around the room, the tray she'd been delivered held no utensils, just a bowl of meat. Thalia bent down and picked it up, the material was plastic. She couldn't break it and use the shards as a weapon.

Hope was starting to dwindle, she cursed her situation for being so poor. When she stood back to her full height the large object to her right caught her eye. It was a stretch, it would take some maneuvering, a lot of strength she really didn't have.

Like she swore though, she'd be damned if she died at the hands of these pussies. Thalia sat back down and stretched her leg out, it should cushion the sound of the fall.

Her arm reached out to try tipping the large steel shelving, it didn't weigh much, it wouldn't crush her leg and it would be easy enough to take apart. Thalia stretched and groaned at the pain in her lower back, being stretched like a pretzel was not ideal.

She used the tips of finger to give it a small push, it teetered back and forth but didn't fall. She tried once more and smiled when it came crashing down, the only sound it made was a scraping. The crash of the fall was cushioned by her leg, the pain was next to nothing compared to what she had been through these last few days.

Thalia slid her leg from beneath the shelving, laying it down to look for something she could break off it. The metal was rusting, it wasn't strong but if someone came in, she could use it, better than what she had right now which was nothing.

The woman used her hands to drag it to her, trying to be quiet so the scraping wouldn't alert anyone who might be outside or simply passing by. Thalia pressed her left foot on the upper pole, wrapping her swollen right hand around the middle piece.