Not overly proud of this chapter. I don't like the flow and it's poorly written, but I'm so tired right now that I find myself unable to do better. I may go back over it tomorrow, but for now here you go, let me know what you think please.
Third Person - Prison.
Carol sat on the edge of her bed in her cell block, the colour now beginning to return to her skin now that she'd had some fluids and food.
Kat had been right. She wasn't dead. Trapped in a storage room with walkers outside after having lost her weapons and no way of defending herself. So she hid. Daryl found her and carried her back to the cellblock. Daryl now sat with Hershel and Carol until Rick came running in.
"Carl, get a blanket. Beth, water and a towel." He ordered.
Daryl stood up along with Hershel and went out to see what was happening. Rick was supporting a dark skinned woman with long dreadlocks. She had a katana as a weapon and a bullet wound in her leg.
"She's not coming in the cell blocks." Rick explained. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Steady now." He said, laying her down as Carl placed the basket of powdered formula and a machete that the woman had turned up with on the table.
"It's all right. It's all right." Rick was saying to her as Beth came over with water and a towel. Rick splashed her a little to wake her up. "Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me. Who are you?" He asked. "It's all right." He added again when she looked around at her surroundings, beginning to panic a little.
Then her eyes landed on her katana that lay a few feet away from her. She reached for it, but Rick pushed it away with his foot.
"No. We're not going to hurt you unless you try something stupid first, all right?"
"Rick." Daryl caught his attention. "Who the hell is this?" Rick didn't answer, not knowing the answer.
"You wanna tell us your name?" Rick tried again. "You wanna tell us your name?" He tried once again, still nothing as she sat up a little and only stared back.
"Y'all come on in here." Daryl said to Rick when it was clear he wasn't getting far.
"Everything all right?" Rick asked as he stood up.
"You're gonna wanna see this." Daryl said this.
Rick turned back to the woman, holding up her sword. "We'll keep this safe and sound." He said. "The doors are all locked. You'll be safe here. And we can treat that." Rick pointed to her wound.
"I didn't ask for your help." She stated.
"Doesn't matter." Rick turned his back and began to leave. "Can't let you leave." He said.
Rick and Daryl left the room they were locking her in for the time being and closed the doors behind them. Daryl led Rick to Carol's cell and then stood back. Rick stared for a moment as Carol smiled up at him until finally a smile broke out on his face. Carol struggled to get to her feet and then Rick immediately pulled her in for a hug.
"Thank God." He breathed. "How?"
"Solitary."
"Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must have passed out. Dehydrated." Daryl explained.
Beth came into the doorway, holding the newborn baby. Carol smiled, but then stopped, turning back to Rick, realisation coming to mind as a few tears broke free.
"I'm sorry." Carol whispered.
Kat POV.
I had been listening for hours as Merle beat Glenn, trying to get something out of him. Glenn of course said nothing, but that only meant that he would move on to me or Maggie next. He had brought us to a town; a community of people. At least I think he had, we hadn't seen much in our arrival, coming through a back entrance and then straight into separate holding cells. They were only to keep us separated and not allow us to see each other, but everything could be heard through these walls. Maggie was in the middle cell which meant she could hear everything on both sides while I couldn't hear any talk coming from Glenn's, but the beatings were certainly loud enough. Of course any words that were being said couldn't actually be made out, having been muffled by the bricks.
The beatings finally stopped, but the silence was both worse and better at the same time, yet the sound of my own breathing was becoming maddening.
And then I heard it. Footsteps. They wore boots, heavy ones. Then a scraping, like metal being run along the brick walls. Then a click. Then a creak as the door opened, my back to it. The door shut after the heavy boots stepped through it, but it was followed by that metal scraping sound once again as Merle Dixon ran his bladed hand across the brick wall, around the edge until he stood in front of me, but his weren't the heavy boots. He trod lightly, quietly, like a hunter, like Daryl always did. The heavy steps clicked as the other man stepped around the other side of me, finally showing himself. He was in his early 30s, Hispanic and well built.
"Hello, Sweetheart." Merle sang.
"That's the last thing I am." I seethed through a clenched jaw.
"Feisty, aren't we? Relax, I just want to have a little chat."
"We tried that already and if you had listened to us you'd be with Daryl by now."
"I lowered my gun."
"And concealed another."
"You kept yours raised. You were hidden and ready to take me out."
"And would have if you weren't Daryl's brother. I'd say you technically owe me your
life." I shot.
"And if you had just listened to me then you wouldn't be in this situation." He said right back.
"If you were lying, a threat which clearly you are, then that would have put my family in danger. Tell me you wouldn't kill to save your brother, or to get him back."
"Oh, I would. Which is why I suggest you start talking." Merle warned... and I laughed.
"You have Glenn and you have Maggie, but you want to know what you don't have?"
"And what's that, sweetheart?" He mocked, continuing to use the nickname that he now knew I hated.
"Beth." I stated simply. "My dad. Carl and Rick... Daryl."
"I wouldn't hurt my brother."
"No?" I asked back. "But would he?" I nodded over at the other guy in the room whose name I didn't know. "Daryl will fight for us and if he fights, your people fight back."
Merle looked over at him for a moment and then smiled, turning back to me. "You're a clever one aren't you? We don't mean any harm..."
"Is that what you said to Glenn?"
Merle took in a deep breath and then exhaled before walking closer to me, leaning over and resting his good hand on the arm of my chair and the bladed one under my chin.
"Are you close to my brother? You seem exactly like his type."
"His type?"
"Yeah, my baby brother has always been a sucker for the ones that are just too good for him."
"Awe, you know what I think? I think that's jealousy talking. Were they too good for him or too good for you, Merle?" I smiled, hearing a light chuckle from the other guy as Merle pressed the blade a little further into my neck causing a minor cut before he smiled and stood up again. I kept my content faint grin plastered on my face with an unwavering stare.
"Where are they?" He asked, getting straight to the point now.
"Go to hell."
"We're already in it, Sweetheart."
"You think this is hell?" I chuckled. "Oh no. This is just what sends everyone there."
He was done smiling now. He was just glaring with a blank expression. "I wanna know where your camp is and I wanna know now."
I didn't say anything this time. Just stared back. This earned me a backhand, however. Square across my jaw, splitting the right side of my lip as my head was whipped to the left, my hair falling in my face. I managed a small smile as I began to look back to Merle. I held his gaze for a moment before turning to the other guy.
"What's you name?" I asked him.
"Martinez."
"A surname." I commented. "Better than nothing." I muttered. "You have a family, Martinez? A wife, kids?" He said nothing, only clenched his jaw. "That's a yes, but they're probably dead. Tell me, what wouldn't you do if you could get them back? You couldn't name a damn thing, I bet." He only stared. "If they were still alive, what wouldn't you do to keep them that way? If you and your wife were held hostage, questioned, tortured, but your kids were still safe with the rest of your family and closest friends... would you sacrifice yourself and your wife to keep them that way?"
I had no intention of sacrificing anyone, I also however had no intention of backing down or letting them know any different. I also knew that they wouldn't kill any of us, not yet anyway.
"See." I said, keeping Martinez's eye contact. "You do understand. So you'll also understand that you might as well pull out your gun and pull the trigger, because I won't tell you a damn thing."
Third Person – Prison.
Rick, Daryl and Hershel went back in to see the woman who was now sitting up right in a chair.
"We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water and then send you on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula." Rick stated.
"And this." Hershel added, holding up the machete she had shown up with. The woman looked at the weapon in the one legged man's hands for a while and then looked him in the eye. "This machete belongs to my daughter. Her name's Katherine Greene, she carved her initials into the handle a few months back." Hershel explained, turning it around in his hand so that the letters 'KG,' that were on the tip of the handle, faced the woman for her to read.
"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy with two women. The lighter haired of the two dropped that." She explained, nodding at the blade.
"What happened?" Rick asked.
"Were they attacked?" Hershel asked.
"They were taken."
"Taken? By who?" Rick asked.
"By the same son of a bitch who shot me."
"Hey, these are our people." Rick crouched down to be at her level. "You tell us what happened now!" Rick demanded, grabbing her leg where the bullet wound was.
She jumped to her feet as Daryl raised his crossbow at the ready. She pointed a finger at Rick accusingly. "Don't you ever touch me again."
"You better start talking." Daryl suggested, edging closer. "You're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound." He warned.
She looked over at Daryl, "Find 'em yourself."
"Hey, shh, shh, shh. Put it down." Rick told Daryl, getting him to calm down. Daryl lowered his weapon and took a step back so that Rick could stand in front of her. "You came here for a reason."
She was silent for a while longer, looking at the ground before finally giving in. "There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there."
"A whole town?" Rick asked.
"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor; pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type." She explained bitterly.
"He got muscle?" Daryl asked.
"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall."
"You know a way in?"
"The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through."
"How'd you know how to get here?" Rick asked.
"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, said that it was a straight shot." She explained simply.
"This is Hershel," Rick pointed to the older man, "father of both of the girls that were taken. He'll take care of that." Rick gestured to her leg before leaving with Daryl.
Kat's POV.
Glenn's beatings continued, I could hear them again. Merle was in there now, but Martinez had stayed behind, standing off to the side. But then the distant sounds changed. It sounded like a real struggle, a real fight, not a beating... and then it stopped, along with my heartbeat for a moment. It started again when I heard Glenn scream in anger not pain.
"Are you the silent type or are you trying to make me feel uncomfortable?" I asked after it went silent again, not liking the lack of noise. "Because uncomfortable silence is usually uncomfortable for all involved which would include you."
"Yes, but I know you're not going to tell me anything even if I was the type to beat women and I'd rather stand in uncomfortable silence than make small talk with someone who I know is going to die because of how loyal they are."
"No one has even asked me my name yet. You want all the information on where my people are, how many, weapons, supplies etcetera, but... who they are... who I am... you could care less. They're just bodies to you. Bodies that could potentially be guarding things you want."
"I haven't asked your name because I know how this ends."
"You know what, Martinez?" I looked up at him. "If you weren't guarding me, making sure I don't escape from torture and an impending death, I'd say you might have the potential to be a decent guy."
"You don't know me." He shook his head.
"Yes I do." I nodded and turned away. "You were a decent guy... and then the world went to shit and you learnt how to survive." I turned back to him. "Welcome to the animal kingdom."
It went silent again, almost hitting uncomfortable again, but I spoke first. "It's Katherine, by the way, or Kat, preferably just Kat... my name. My sisters Maggie... Margaret and Merle knows Glenn. Just so you know. If we do die, you could at least give us marked graves. So that if someone in our group happens to stumble across them then they'll have their answer... My father will know."
Martinez moved his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably, just the reaction I was hoping for. He was a father who lost his children. I was hoping for some form of emotional connection, guilt maybe. Not enough to have him free us, but it was something.
The door opened again and Martinez looked over at it before glancing at me and then just simply walking out after apparently being silently gestured away. Then I was alone again.
Third Person – Woodbury.
"So, they know Andrea." The governor said.
"But they don't know she's here." Merle stated. "They think she died on that farm or simply just left her for dead like they did me."
"But they do know your brother."
"He does, but I don't know about the girls. I've never seen them before."
"I thought Kat knew him." Martinez spoke up.
"Kat?" Merle turned on Martinez questioningly, but let it go. "She could be lying. Glenn doesn't trust me. Saying that Daryl was with their group could have been all bullshit just to peacefully get away from me without giving up their location. And they would've told stories about Atlanta so the girls would know mine and Daryl's names."
"Their people may come for them." The governor stated.
"Maybe." Merle nodded. "The kid and Andrea both say they went back me."
"So what? He won't break, say where his people are?"
Merle shook his head as Martinez spoke. "He's a tough son of a bitch. Picked that walker we through in there with him apart in minutes."
"Maybe a winter in this stick put some hair on his balls." Merle mused.
"We'll need him for leverage if his people come." Martinez stated. "What you try to kill him for?" He asked Merle.
"He pissed me off." Merle stated.
"What do the girls say?" The Governor asked.
"I was about to go talk to the brunette next, but the other one, Kat," he mocked Martinez who rolled his eyes, "I don't think we'll get much out of her. She's loyal and protective... stubborn as hell and likes to run her mouth off if you threaten her, smiled when I smacked her across the mouth."
"They're sisters, right? And this Glenn is with one of them, which one?"
"Brunette." Merle shrugged.
"Her names Maggie." Martinez stated.
"So Maggie would be a bigger weakness for both Glenn and Kat?" The Governor stated simply. "Alright, I'll take care of it."
Third Person – Prison.
"How do we know we can trust her?" Oscar asked.
"This is Kat, Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debating?" Beth spoke.
"We ain't." Daryl shook his head. "I'll go after 'em."
"Well, this place sounds pretty secure. You can't go alone." Rick replied.
"I'll go." Beth stated.
"Me, too." Axel stepped forward and then looked over at Oscar.
"I'm in." He nodded.
They wasted no time in beginning to get set.
"I got the flash bangs and I got the tear gas." Daryl explained as he and Oscar loaded up the back of the green car. "You never know what you're gonna need." He said on the end before putting on his leather vest with angel wings on the back. "Hey." He said to Carl as the boy approached the car. "Don't you worry about your old man. I'm gonna keep my eye on him." Daryl stated.
Carl nodded in appreciation before the two went to grab more supplies.
Beth started to open up the gates with the new woman, whose name no-one knew yet, stood near her. She had been carrying around Kat's machete for safe keeping until her sister got back and hoped to use it to rescue them.
"Wasn't this place overrun?" She asked.
"It was." Beth nodded.
"And you cleared it out all by yourselves? Just a few of you?"
"There were others." Beth stated.
The cars were soon loaded up and everyone was ready to go. Carol held the baby, taking over from Beth and stood outside to see them off.
"Beth." Daryl nodded the youngest Greene over to him.
"What is it?"
"You're to stay here. I spoke to your dad and he doesn't want you to go."
"But I have to..."
"We'll bring them back... but I'm not going to go to all that effort to save Kat only to have her stab me with that machete for taking you with me." He explained.
Beth looked over to where her father stood talking with Rick, he met her gaze before she dropped it down to the long blade in her hand.
"Here." She held it up for Daryl to take.
He grabbed hold of the handle and gave her one stiff nod before walking over to the car.
"Bring them back." Hershel was saying to Rick just as they were joined by Beth and Daryl.
Rick, Daryl, Oscar and the woman got in the car and drove off, leaving Carol, Hershel, Beth and Carl standing in the courtyard behind them. Axel opened and closed the front gate after it had been decided that he to would stay behind.
Kat POV.
It was completely silent. So far it had seemed like they had been leaving Maggie alone, her torture having to be listening to Glenn's. But then that changed. I heard the door open to Maggie's room and then shuffling around inside. There was talking, but through the wall it was too muffled to understand and then they were moving her to another room.
Then there was nothing again. There was nothing for a long time. I sat in silence until I heard my own door open once again.
"I hear you're a tough one to break." It wasn't Merle or Martinez.
"One slap across the face and Merle's already given up? I'm disappointed." I replied, but the mans till wasn't in view, he remained standing behind me.
He lightly chuckled over my statement and then stepped forward until I could sense him right behind him and then felt his hand on my shoulder, just resting there.
"You like talking so much why don't you talk about what we want to know."
"I tell you where they are and you'll head straight there and kill them... and us. If we die either way, I'd rather not take the others down with us."
He began to step around me, his fingers softly trailing across my shoulder and to my neck before he let his arm fall away back to his side and he crouched down in front of me to be at eye level.
"It's not that easy, you know." I stated.
"What?"
"Trying to intimidate me. Scare me. You can do whatever you want to me, but I know what your end game is so I'll never give it to you."
"Whatever I want to you?" He questioned and then stood up.
His right hand clenched by his side, a few knuckles cracking before he pelted it forward into my stomach. It was a hard dull ache that spread through my abdomen, but completely knocked the wind out of. I couldn't breathe and gasped for air until finally a caught on to some. I was doubled over in my chair, my hands still tied behind my back. Once I could breathe again though, the man stepped beside me and forcefully shoved the chair back so I landed on my back and a part of the back of the chair snapped.
He leaned over me and pressed the heel of his foot hard into my stomach, in the exact spot he had punched. He kept pressing down with more pressure, enough to break a rib had he have pressing down on one.
"Yes... Kat. I can do whatever I want to you and you will keep those pretty lips sealed, but... I'm willing to bet that your talk of sacrificing the few for the many has been a lie. You may well let me kill you to save your friends. You may even let me kill Glenn, but... Maggie? No."
He lifted his foot and then reached down, pulling out a knife and cutting the duck tape that held my hands together behind my back. He then put his knife away, but only to free up his hand to grab hold of my hair and yank me to my feet. I was having problems standing up straight, the pull of my stomach muscles causing pain in my gut, but he didn't care. He pulled my hair back so I was looking right up at him.
"Let's go and see them shall we?"
I actually really liked Martinez and I wish they did more with him.