Twelve, Heavy Heart.
The prison was cold. Awkwardly silent. They were missing a third of their group, Lori, Carol and T-Dog. Rick was. . . off in his own mind. The infant, who still didn't have a name, rested in Adeline's arms, suckling on the bottle of formula she fed her.
Everyone was fawning over the newborn, no one had taken their eyes off of her. Afraid that if they were to allow themselves a moment to think, their minds would drift to the wrong place— reality.
"Everyone okay?" Rick questioned as he pulled open the squeaky metal gate, allowing him inside the cell block, taking everyone in, mainly focusing on Carl who sat at Adeline's side, staring at his bowl of expired and dry cereal, a solemn look on his face. Rick borderline refused to acknowledge the presence of both Adeline— feeling terrible after yesterday's incident— and the baby, he wasn't ready to accept her yet.
Rick approached Carl's side, where he sat beside Lola on the steel stools, placing a hand on the back of his head. He looked cleaner than when Adeline had seen him yesterday, he had a cleaner outfit and was rid of the blood that once stained him.
"Yeah, we are," Maggie answered for the lot of them, placing down her bowl and giving her full attention to the man.
"What about you?"
"I cleared out the boiler block."
"How many were there?"
"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen."
Rick and Daryl exchanged a look, and then the man turned to his son, packing the back of his head gently. "I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl."
Glenn pipes up from where he sits beside Maggie, "Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to."
"No, I do." He proclaimed, turning away from Glenn and facing Daryl quizzing him on the safety of the group and the amount of ammo. Rick didn't bother looking at anyone else, just nodding as Maggie told him of the run she and Glenn were planning to go on— in courtesy of the baby who needed more diapers, bottles, etc. He agreed and left the cell block, back through the squeaky gate he had just emerged from a few minutes ago, leaving everyone worried about his stability.
Beth had generously offered to hold the infant whilst Adeline got herself cleaned up.
As the brunette sat in her cell, beside Maggie she contemplated. "I should go. For Lori." Adeline suggested, wanting to do everything in her power to look after and care for the newborn, she felt awful for the way the small girl had come into the world, all she wanted was to make Lori proud and make up for what she had done.
"Are you sure?" Maggie's green orbs met Adeline's blue ones, "You don't have to, after everything. . ."
"No, I want to. I'll ask Mikael along."
The short-haired girl nodded, "Okay."
It didn't take long to convince Mikael to go on the run, but it did take long to convince him Adeline would accompany him— though he agreed after ten minutes of her pleas.
The street was messy, littered with all sorts of rubbish, food, leaves, trash, and papers.
Glenn was the first to step out of the dusty vehicle, Mikael next and then Adeline, she unholstered her gun and walked towards the entrance of the baby store, Mikael three steps ahead of her.
"Clear outside." The Asian announced, returning to the couple's side and prying open the bolted-shut door.
They began to fill multiple baskets with formula, baby clothes, diapers and even toys for the little one, and just as they were loading up the car ready to return to the prison, the cocking of a gun and a voice came from behind them.
"And where is it y'all good people calling home?" The gun was aimed towards the three, although they all raised their own weapons at the threat the second they heard him.
"Merle?" Glenn questioned in disbelief, eyes squinting at the man in front of them. Dropping the basket of baby formula.
The strange man, covered in blood and had a blade for an arm, chuckled, laying his gun door on the floor, a few inches from his right foot.
"You know him?" Mikael asked confusion laced in his tone, turning to face the boy beside him.
Glenn ignored the man's question, instead focusing on Merle, "You made it."
The couple looked between the Asian and the unknown man confused.
"Can you tell me, is my brother alive?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings. Huh?" The older man noticed Glenn eyeing his metal arm, and went on to explain how he had acquired it.
"We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you."
Adeline raised her eyebrows at the new information, she had no idea Daryl even had a brother.
Merle wasn't pleased with Glenn's idea, swiftly grabbing the gun tucked in his waistband— unbeknownst to the three and firing a bullet into the back windshield of the car, taking them by surprise. The man used that to his advantage and took ahold of Adeline, wrapping his faux arm around her neck and holding the pistol to the side of her head. He laughed at the outraged expression on Mikael's face and the terror on Glenn's.
"Let go of her! Let go of her!" Mikael demanded but to no avail.
"Put those guns in the car right now." He demanded as Adeline whimpered and struggled against his hold, "Put 'em in the car, son."
The two had no option but to place their weapons in the trunk of the car.
"There you go," Merle mockingly praised, "Now we're gonna go for a little drive."
"We're not going back to our camp."
"No, we're going somewhere else." He announced, "Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving."
As Merle hoisted Adeline into the car, he sat in the seat beside her, his gun remaining against her head, Mikael and Glenn got in the front seats, following the man's directions he barked at them, leading them to a place unknown.
When they finally arrived, after a long, unsettling drive, the three were dragged out of the car by four men, and placed in three separate rooms.
Glenn sits, arms duck tapped to an unstable chair, Mikael sits with both his wrists and ankles zip-tied, and Adeline sits with no bounds on her as they don't impose her as much of a threat.
The three are alone, no idea how long it had been since they arrived, left to aimlessly stare at the metal panels put in place as makeshift walls.
After what Adeline assumed was half an hour, she could hear the grunts and shouts coming from the room her husband was in, she could hear his angry yells and demands, commanding to see his wife.
Mikael was silenced when. . . a hard punch was delivered to the man's face, is what Adeline guessed, and hoped, it was. A mere two minutes later, an unfamiliar, tall and unsettling man stalked into the room, in all black, a smug grin on his face and blood staining his knuckles.
"Is that your husband?" The unknown man begins, gesturing his head to the room to the left of them and then sitting down at the chair opposite the woman, just a table separating them. His eyes lingered on the two rings that decorated her wedding finger. "He won't tell us anything. Just keeps asking for you."
Adeline didn't say anything, she kept her eyes on the door behind him.
"Not much of a talker? Seems like none of you are."
Silence.
"You know what I'm gonna ask."
He was right, Adeline knew he was going to ask for the location of the prison and she knew she could not give those details up, especially not if it meant putting her daughter at potential risk.
"I don't want to hurt you. Any of you. I just want what's best for me and my people."
Once again, he was met with silence.
The man sighed and ran a hand across his stubble, contemplating for a few seconds before standing to his full height, the chair scraping against the cold concrete. "Not gonna say a word?"
He took a few steps closer and moved so he was standing behind her. Adeline trembled with fear, she didn't want to be alone in a room with a man who had nothing but anger behind his eyes. Her own eyes welled up with tears when his fingernails dug into her arms as he pulled her from the chair roughly. Spinning her around and forcing her to face him and then lie flat against the oak table.
Adeline's legs kicked out against his, her arms flying up in an attempt to push him away, but he was much stronger and had the power to hold her down completely.
She cried out, "Get off of me!"
"You just gotta tell me where the prison is." He spoke, eerily slow and patronising. "Tell me and you can go back to your husband." His mouth lingered by hers, she could feel his breath on her skin.
All Adeline could think of was Lola, Lori's baby and Carl— she wasn't prepared to reveal the location of the prison and put her family in danger. She wouldn't do that.
"Get off!" She repeated, persistently trying to push the man away.
His cold hands slid up her shirt, grasping harshly onto her waist, red marks and bruises forming on her skin.
"No!"
He pinned her wrists down with just one of his hands, using the other to tear her shirt from her body.
"Tell me!" He demanded, spit flying from his lips as his eyes welled up with increasing anger.
"Go to hell!" Adeline shot back, her boot-clad foot kicking him in the thigh.
His hand slid up to wrap around her neck, not to squeeze and take away her air supply but to watch her face screw up in terror and show her just how much power he had over her in that moment. "Fine."
And then he decided to apply as much force as he could, squeezing his fingers as tightly as he could, a smug look on his face as he watched her face turn crimson and tears leak from her lash line. He smirked at the sight of her.
Her futile attempts to shove the man away were growing weaker and more pathetic. Adeline's body grew tired as her vision clouded over, his cruel and brutal hands continued to wander and she realised she was no match for the man on top of her. . .
authors i'm sorry if this is short i split it into two parts xx
@efffys