"We take 'em out."
96. the satellite station
TRIGGER WARNING: this chapter contains mentions of sexual assualt, abuse and extreme violence. If you are sensitive to these themes, please proceed with caution.
QUINN
WAITING IN THE DARKNESS WAS SLOWLY choking the bravery out of her. With each passing second she could feel her nerves growing and with every passing minute the realisation of what they were about to do was sinking in. She could barely feel her legs because of the squatted position she had taken in the bushes and she was convinced her heart was beating so loudly that it would alarm every person inside the building. Her hands were holding her Colt M4 in a grip so tight her knuckles were turning white and she was pretty sure she had been holding her breath ever since they left Alexandria this morning.
The only thing keeping her steady was Daryl, sitting so close to her that she could feel the warmth radiating from him. Multiple times through the night she had felt his hand lingering on her back, letting her know he was nearby, ready to catch her if she would fall. But she couldn't fall, she had to stay strong now. They had made this choice, despite Morgan and Milo's protests. So she had to stay strong for her brother and make sure they'd make it through the night. After that she could collapse, she could break and she wouldn't protest against Daryl trying to mend her. But for now, she had to pretend to be made of steel.
It wasn't like she didn't understand Milo's worries, it was that they seemed insignificant when she could save her family from danger. She knew Milo would lay down his life if need be but she couldn't do that. She had been fighting since the day she was born, it was against her nature not to. Her brother would die to protect their family, but she would kill to protect them.
And that was exactly what she had come here to do. When darkness came their group had quietly made their way towards the satellite station and hidden themselves in the surrounding greenery. They were waiting for Andy to show up with the walker-Gregory-head. Once he had the guards distracted they would attack. It sounded so simple and yet there were a thousand things that could go wrong. She tried her hardest to ban all those thoughts from her mind though. They were going to be fine, they were all going to be just fine.
Far in the distance she could hear a car approaching and her heartbeat sped up. Her eyes searched in the darkness for her brother who was seated just a little bit up ahead. Even from this distance she could see he was trembling but whether it was from the cold or the nerves she could not tell, for his face was covered in shadows. She could make a pretty good guess though. Taking a deep breath she tried to clear her mind, put all her focus on the task ahead. She could deal with her regrets later.
The car pulled up on the small sidewalk that surrounded the satellite station and before the engine had even shut off, three big red spotlights turned on and bathed the dark night road in bright light. Quinn made herself even smaller, fear pumping through her veins like a drug. She knew there was no way the guards could see them but some irrational voice in the back of her mind kept shouting out in panic for her to run away and hide somewhere safe.
'Stop right there!' A voice shouted. 'Announce yourself, asshole!'
Andy rolled his window down and held out the bag that contained the walker head. 'It's Andy from Hilltop!' He shouted a reply. 'It's done!'
'Step out!' The guard commanded.
The car engine died down and the sudden silence made a shiver crawl down her spine. She watched between the branches surrounding her as Andy got out of the car and stepped into the spotlight.
'Is that it?' The guard demanded.
'Yeah,' Andy replied, his voice shaking slightly.
'Bring it here, shit brain!'
Quinn felt her face wrinkle with disgust. The stories Jesus had told them about these people seemed pretty accurate so far. They didn't even try to hide the fact they were bullies. From their horrible actions, to the petty name calling, they seemed to exist only to put others down. She had been surrounded with people like that all her life and if she could spare her family the same fate, she would, without a doubt.
As Andy walked forward, the door of the building opened and two guards stepped outside, just like the Hilltop resident had told them. They both had their guns up and pointed at the approaching man. For a moment the three of them stood still, as if trying to read the other and then, slowly, Andy held out the bag.
The guard with a beanie scoffed. 'I don't want the bag, needle dick.'
Realisation slowly dawned on Andy and slowly he started opening the bag. He pulled out the head and held it up for them to see. Quinn held her breath as the guards stared at the grey skin and deformed nose. She had seen it before Rick put it in the bag and knew it barely looked like Gregory, but hopefully in the dark and with the story of having broken his nose, they'd buy it.
'Will you look at this shit,' the beanie guard spoke up, sounding way too gleeful for the situation. 'Will you look at this shit!'
The second guard put the strap of his gun over his shoulder and took a step closer to inspect the head. When his eyes lingered on the nose Andy held up his bandaged hand. 'He broke my hand, I broke his nose. That's why he looks that way.'
The guard took the head from Andy's hand, inspecting it for a minute that felt like it lasted hours. Until finally the guard held the head up and took it's chin, moving it so it seemed like the head was talking. And with a nasal voice he said: 'Little bitch broke my nose.'
The beanie guard burst out laughing and the sound made her wanna throw up. She mentally added disrespecting the dead to her ever growing list of reasons to hate these people. She may not like Gregory and it wasn't even his head but that didn't make any of it okay. Besides, hating these people would make it easier to do what needed to be done.
Throwing the head aside on the grass the guard took a step closer to the Hilltop resident and wiped his hands clean with Andy's shirt. 'Okay, looks like you've learned. I'll get your guy, you'll go home and you bring us more stuff next week, mmm?' He slapped Andy against the cheek before turning around and heading back for the door. The beanie guard started whistling a tune while the other one headed inside. Once the door had closed behind him, Daryl started moving. Quinn had barely gotten to her feet before he had taken out his knife and slit it across the man's throat, attacking him from behind. The guard fell to the ground and Daryl pushed his knife through his skull, killing him.
When the guard was down the group came sprinting out of their hiding place. Heath, Abraham and Aaron lifted up the dead guard and hid him in the bushes and then everyone got back to their hiding places, leaving only Andy standing there. They were just in time because the door opened once again and the other guard came walking back out, pushing a beaten up prisoner ahead of him. 'Well, well, well, look who it is,' the man teased. Before he could take another step though, Michonne pushed her blade straight through his heart, dropping him down to the ground and quickly ending it by pushing the blade through his skull. Andy reached for his friend, pulling him to safety before he would start to panic.
The group came out of their hiding places, taking up their positions by the door. Rick knelt down besides the guard and pulled the keys off of him, throwing them to Daryl so he could open the door. Quinn held up her gun, taking a deep breath to steady herself. The moment to go inside had arrived, there was no going back now. They could leave no one alive. This was it.
Before opening the door, Daryl threw a quick glare over his shoulder, his eyes finding hers. She nodded at him, her face shining with determination. He nodded back at her and she could read a thousand unspoken words written in his eyes, then his face hardened and he turned back forwards, pulling the door open.
While Tara, Gabriel, Andy and the other man from Hilltop made their way back to the car, the rest of the group made their way inside the satellite station. The hallway they entered was dark and abandoned. They pushed their way forward systematically, in groups of three, the first covering the doors, the second the exits and the third covering their partners.
'Check the doors, find the arsenal,' Rick whispered. 'We take 'em out.'
Daryl moved to a door on the right and Quinn moved into the room after him, her heart in her throat as they entered. After a quick look around they realised it was nothing but a storage room, empty of people and so they moved on further into the building, after the others. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her brother. He may have had doubts about what they were attempting to do, but it didn't show at this very moment. His face was made of stone, his eyes unreadable and the gun steady in his hand. This was the Milo she remembered from the streets. The Milo who had survived prison, the end of the world and fought to stay alive. The sight made her shiver and she turned away quickly.
The silence was deafening, only the sound of their footsteps echoing softly through the hallways broke the ghostly stillness. Her eyes noticed Rick stopping by the first door on his right, he took his position beside it, Michonne covering the door from the other side and Daryl kneeling before her to shoot anyone who might think of taking a shot at her. Quinn moved to cover Rick, giving him a determined nod. Slowly he reached for the doorknob and as quietly as possible he pushed the door open.
Darkness and the soft snoring sounds of a man fast asleep greeted them. Rick and Michonne moved inside while she and Daryl stayed outside in the hallway to cover them. But despite not being in the room, Quinn couldn't look away. Her eyes were glued to Rick as he knelt down by the bed of the sleeping man. She watched as he raised his knife, holding it still for a moment, as if having to talk himself into it and then, without a warning, he pushed the blade through the man's skull, killing him. He cleared the knife on the man's shirt before making his way out of the room. Back in the hallway his eyes fell on her and for a moment they held each other's gaze. Quinn swallowed thickly before nodding and looking away. She cursed herself for being so vulnerable, hadn't she just sworn to herself outside that the time for breaking came after, when they were safely back at home. Right now they had a job to do.
Gritting her teeth she moved further into the hallway, walking past Milo, Glenn and Heath who were inspecting another room. She stopped at the first door she saw. She didn't have to look over her shoulder to know Daryl was right behind her. She could feel his presence like a guardian angel looming over her. Taking a deep breath she reached for the doorknob and opened the rusty metal door. She winced when it creaked and waited for a possible reaction. When none came she moved inside, taking out her dagger from behind her belt.
Her eyes roamed the room, using what little light came from the hallway to find her way through the unfamiliar surroundings. There was a bed in the right corner, a dark shape resting on it. She walked forwards, kneeling beside it just like she'd seen Rick do only moments before. She held up her dagger, hating the small tremor in her hands. She closed her eyes and recalled the memory of a dark road, a man laughing in her ear while undoing his belt, the sound of Daryl being thrown around like a ragged doll while taking blow after blow, Carl crying out for his father and Joe threatening to rape her and then make her watch while he killed Daryl. She called upon the fury she'd felt that night, the very first time she had consciously killed someone, a night that haunted her dreams still. She knew the man sleeping before her now had nothing to do with that night but she needed the fury, the anger and all consuming hatred that memory brought. The memory of Daryl landing beside her on the road, their eyes meeting in what they both assumed to be goodbye, was all she needed to gather her courage and push the blade through the man's eye, into his skull, killing him.
She pulled the blade out and felt no remorse as she got back to her feet. Never again would she feel that helpless. These people would not hurt her family. She would kill them all before she'd let that happen. Letting out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, she forced herself to look away from the man she'd murdered. Her eyes travelled to the wall the bed was standing against and she frowned. At least twenty polaroids were glued to the wall, all of them showing pictures of something that looked an awful lot like corpses, but she couldn't make it out in the dark. Reaching in her pocket she took out a flashlight and turned it on. She could hear Daryl make a noise of protest behind her but she ignored him and shone the light on the wall. Her stomach turned at the sight and she took a startled step backwards, her back collided with Daryl's chest and his hand landed on her shoulder to steady her. Her breathing was uneven and a wave of nausea hit her but she couldn't look away, her eyes were drawn to the gruesome pictures like moths to a fire.
The pictures showed mutilated corpses. Heads that were beaten to a pulp, blood surrounding the corpse like a halo, faces beaten beyond recognition. Even most walkers still had features in their face, but there was nothing left of these people, nothing left to even serve as a reminder that they had once been human.
Suddenly Daryl reached out and lowered her arm holding the flashlight, covering the wall back up in the darkness, like that would take the gruesome images out of her mind. She opened her mouth but Daryl seemed to sense what she was about to say. He turned her around in his arms so she was facing him. She could see the horror in his eyes but noticed he was trying his hardest to hide it, for her.
'They deserve what's coming for 'em,' he grunted, his features hard with hatred.
She nodded, feeling her own heart harden with a sudden freezing cold contempt. She would no longer need to call upon old feelings of revenge. The image of what she'd just seen was enough for her to murder every single person in this building.
'Let's go,' she mumbled with gritted teeth.
Before they had both even moved so much as an inch though, an alarm started blaring through the halls, loud and shrill, leaving cold shivers all over her body.
They shared a quick glare before leaving the room behind, quickly running through the hallway to find their way back to the others. Gunshots came from the hallway ahead of them. Her grip on her gun tightened as she ran after Daryl towards Rick and Michonne to give them cover. Rick was standing against a wall, shooting around the corner at the approaching men. She and Daryl joined him against the wall, though she couldn't reach around the corner and instead held her gun up and aimed at the hallway stretching out behind them.
The gunfire ceased and Rick recharged his gun. 'Go!' He shouted, gestured for her, Michonne and Daryl to start running. She did as she was told, resisting the urge to look back to see if he was coming after them. They left the staircase behind and ran through another dark hallway. Gunshots came from all around them, echoing through the compound like thunderbolts while the alarm kept screaming to be heard above the noise.
Rick was about to run around the corner but jumped back at the very last moment when gunshots came from the hallway. With hardened features he quickly looked around the corner and pulled the trigger. The empty shells gathered on the ground around his feet as he kept emptying his clip. While Rick gave them cover the three of them sprinted to the other side of the hallway, taking cover behind a pile of boxes. Michonne leaned around the corner and started shooting so Rick could join them. Michonne kept firing until they heard a pained scream. With their guns held up high they ran further down the hallway, not even giving the corpse they left behind so much as a second glance.
The corridor ended with a closed door. Daryl ran ahead and pulled it open. A man came walking by just as the door was opened and without doubting Quinn pulled the trigger, killing him before he had any kind of chance to process what was happening to him. Daryl looked over his shoulder at her and she swore she could see a gleam of something in his eyes. She couldn't describe it but it made her smirk at him playfully.
'Down!' Rick shouted.
She reacted without thinking, letting her body drop the ground. Gunshots rained down around her, ricocheting of the wall and floor. Some part of her brain was screaming for her to move and get away from the door, out of the line of fire, but she was too afraid to move. Rick and Michonne were returning fire but she was too frozen to even think about reaching for her gun. A hand landed on her arm and pulled her away from the door opening, against the wall, pinned down in a corner where their assailants couldn't reach them.
She breathed in the familiar smell of smoke, wood and sweat and felt her body relax, only for her to yelp in pain. Daryl released his grip on her immediately, her hands roaming over her body to discover what was causing her pain. He stopped when he reached her right shoulder, his hands trembling as he pulled her jacket away, revealing a bleeding wound.
'Fuck,' he muttered.
The bullet must've hit right before she had thrown herself against the ground, reacting just a bit too slow. The reality of the situation hit her and suddenly she was smiling.
'What ya got to smile 'bout?' Daryl grunted annoyed, reaching for the red piece of cloth he always carried with him.
'You,' Quinn replied, hissing in pain when he pressed the cloth against the wound. 'You distracted me with your horny look.'
For a second he froze and she noticed the tips of his ears turning red. His mouth stayed shut though, which only made the whole thing even more funny to her for some reason. She couldn't laugh anymore though because Daryl carefully pulled her jacket away and she winced from the flaming sensation that crawled through her veins of her right arm.
'There's an exit wound,' he breathed out in relief.
'T-that's good,' Quinn muttered, shivering from the pain.
Daryl held her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. 'We gotta get you out of here. Can ya stand?'
She didn't reply and instead moved to get back on her feet. Seeking support by the wall she just about managed, letting out shaky breath when pain once again scorched through her arm. She swayed on her feet and black spots danced before her eyes and she forced herself to take a few deep breaths.
Finally the gunfire ceased and Rick and Michonne crossed the hallway with worried frowns on their faces. Michonne held out her arm for Quinn to lean on and she smiled gratefully at her friend. 'I'll take her outside, Carol and Maggie can take care of her,' Michonne said, looking at Daryl while trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.
'No, I'm not leaving,' Quinn said, but the effect of her words was undone by the shiver of pain in her voice.
The three of them didn't even bother to reply to her pathetic attempt to discuss this. Instead both Rick and Michonne seemed busy to make sure Daryl wouldn't explode with sudden rage. Quinn took a deep breath and took a step forward, almost falling over when her arm exploded with pain. Daryl immediately held out his hands to catch her, holding her steady while she caught her breath. Now it was her turn to hold his face in her hands, looking him straight in the eye. 'I'm gonna be okay,' she promised him, 'now make sure you're gonna be okay too.'
'You gotta go,' Rick warned when the sound of approaching footsteps came from up ahead.
'I'll be waiting just outside,' she whispered to him, her heart aching by the worried look in his gorgeous blue eyes.
'Quinn,' Michonne said, urgency in her tone.
She pressed a quick kiss on his lips, feather light and yet it was enough to make her entire chest explode with fireworks. For a moment she just stood, savoring the feeling. But when the footsteps became too loud, she forced herself to break away. When she looked in his eyes he no longer seemed worried, instead he had buried the emotion behind his rage. She nodded at him, squeezing his hand before stepping away from him, taking Michonne's outstretched arm firmly in her hand for support.
Finally she turned away, letting her best friend guide her through the building. Later she would barely remember making it back to the front door. The entire way she was too busy making sure she wouldn't collapse from the pain. The wound might not have been the worst gunshot ever but it hurt like hell. And if they didn't bandage it up soon, it might get infected. She let Michonne take care of making sure the way was safe, while pressing the cloth Daryl had given her to the wound, trying to ignore the pain the best she could.
By the time the front door came into view, it felt as though she'd been running for days. Michonne all but pushed her through the door, a stern look on her features. 'Find Carol and Maggie, all right?'
Quinn barely managed a nod before her friend had disappeared back inside. Shivering from the pain Quinn turned around and made her way through the forest, to where she knew the RV was parked and where she would find Carol and Maggie. It had started raining softly and the drops felt like heaven on her heated skin. The alarm sounded even worse out here and with every gunshot she heard, she winced. Her mind conjured up the worst images, Daryl with a hole in his chest, Milo bleeding out in a corner somewhere. She shook her head and tried to bury those thoughts somewhere deep away in her mind. She focused on the pain in her arm and shoulder instead. It kept her sharp and kept her thoughts from wandering to the fight still going on inside.
'Quinn?' A familiar voice came from up ahead. Maggie came running up to her, a worried look on her face. Quickly she reached out to steady her and guided towards the RV, forcing her to sit down on the steps. 'What happened?'
'Got shot,' Quinn replied, pulling her jacket aside to show them the wound.
Carol pulled out the first aid kit so fast that it almost seemed like she had it standing ready somewhere. The woman started with cleaning the wound and Quinn welcomed every flash of pain, every flame scorching her arm. Everything to keep herself distracted from the fight, from being unable to help and being stupid enough to get shot. Daryl's worried eyes kept appearing in her mind and it hurt even worse than her arm did. She wished with every single part of her being she could have wiped that look from his face but she knew him well enough to realise he wouldn't stop worrying until they were safely back home and even then he would probably find a way to keep worrying about her. She clutched the red coth he'd given her tightly, as though that would magically keep him safe.
The snarls of a walker cut through the shrill blaring of the alarm and while Carol worked on bandaging Quinn's shoulder, Maggie got out her knife and took care of the living corpse. It wasn't until she returned and threw Carol a glare that Quinn noticed the tension in Maggie's eyes. Something that had happened between the two women before she arrived, something that put them both on edge. She had no energy left to think about what it could be.
When Carol was done cleaning and bandaging the wound to the best of her ability, she put the first aid kit back in the RV and looked at Quinn with a somewhat scolding expression. 'What triggered the alarm?'
Quinn swallowed and shook her head. 'I don't know.'
'The others-' Maggie cut herself off, not able to finish that sentence.
'They're all right, as far as I know,' Quinn promised. She thought it unwise to mention she hadn't seen Glenn since he'd entered that room with Milo. At least she hadn't seen him injured or worse...
A twig snapped in the forest behind them, but there was no snarling sound or stench of death. Quinn slowly rose to her feet, her hand reaching for one of her daggers while Maggie and Carol got reached for their guns. A shadow stepped out from beneath the trees, a man came walking in their direction, his face drawn in a vengeful snarl and a gun aimed right at them.
Carol reacted first, pulling the trigger and firing a bullet into the man's arm, bringing him down but not killing him. The man fell to the ground, howling in pain as he grabbed his arm. Maggie ran forward despite Carol's protests, aiming her gun at the man's head to end it but before she could so much as pull the trigger, four more figures came out of the shadows. Three women and a man, aiming their weapons at Carol and Quinn.
'Stop!' One of the women called out. 'Or they're dead.'
Maggie looked up, eyes wide.
'Guns, knives, on the ground, right now,' the woman snapped.
Maggie did as she was told, though if looks could kill, their assailants would be dead on the ground right now.
'Nice jacket,' an older woman croaked, looking Maggie up and down.
'For a murderous bitch,' the younger woman snapped.
'Will you two shut it,' the man holding Quinn at gunpoint snapped and she froze at the sound of his raspy voice. Her heartbeat sped up, her hands suddenly sweaty and the scars on her back from years of abuse seemed to ache with old and long forgotten pain.
Slowly, as if stuck in a horrible nightmare that stopped her body from moving any faster, she turned around, coming face to face with the man holding her at gunpoint and once their eyes met he almost dropped the weapon.
He didn't look a day older than the last time she'd seen him, though there was now a scar covering his right cheek. His blue eyes shone with an intelligence that had usually been lost beneath bottles of alcohol and she realised, startled, that he was sober. She couldn't even recall the last time she'd seen him look this healthy. It made him look like a completely different person. She blinked twice to make sure she wasn't actually dreaming, or maybe her wound was already infected, maybe she had a fever running so high that she was hallucinating but when he spoke, there was no doubt about it.
'Quinn?' Nick Morales stammered.
She didn't know why there was a lump in her throat when she answered. 'Hey dad.'
A U T H O R 'S N O T E
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO DROP THIS BOMB!
Ya really thought her dad wasn't coming back for the story? Well you thought wrong because Nick Morales is back in the game and he's a Savior at that. What do you think of that twist? :)
I am so happy this secret is out so I can finally talk about it with you guys because damn keeping this was hard. I know many of you may not care about him because we basically haven't heard anything but nasty stuff about him. Trust me, I have some good stuff in store. And no, don't worry, we don't excuse toxic behaviour and abuse in this house. I've been doing a lot of research and read a lot of interviews with abuse survivors so I'm prepared how to go about this. That being said, I'm not an abuse victim myself. SO, if I make a mistake, if I need to be educated about something. PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me. The last thing I want is to hurt anybody's feelings with my writing.
That being said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please let me know your thoughts and hopes for the next chapter. It's going to be one hell of a ride, trust me. :)
Thank you all so much for your continued support,
xx Nelly