The bone-thin young woman in the corner of the tiny metal and circular room was woken from her drug-induced sleep from the sound of gunfire outside. Her eyes rolled from the back of her head as she grimaced at the light streaming in through tattered cloth window curtains. The Bandit leader that lived and kept her there must have gone out to see what the commotion was. Her eyes widened as she realized that if the bandit leader was killed by the rival group, she would be taken as a new prisoner for a new leader.
She tried to stand, only to be stopped by the heavy metal cuffs that were chained to her wrists and ankles behind her. She was anchored with them to a huge bolt in the cement floor. She was sore all over from being in one position for so long. She strained and squinted to see out the crack of the grated window, her eyes not used to the light. She gasped as blood and brains splattered on her face and the floor. She shrieked and shook her head violently to try and shake off the gore. The gunshots and shouting were getting closer. She shrank back to her corner and tried to make herself as small as possible when she heard someone at the door.
Roland tried jiggling at the doorknob and frowned when it broke off in his hand. This was the biggest hut, must belong to the leader so there had to be some good loot. He took a step back and kicked in the flimsy metal door. He froze when he heard a woman scream from inside. That was new.
"Please! Don't hurt me!" the unseen woman pleaded. He gasped and coughed when he inhaled dust when he saw the the thin and nearly naked woman chained to something in the cement flooring by the grimy and torn four poster bed.
He suddenly turned an shouted over his shoulder, "Hey! Over here!" He turned back and slowly made his way to her and let his rifle dangle at his side. He held his palms out to her, his voice gentle as he spoke to her, "Hey... Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, what's your name?"
She tried to move backwards and pressed herself against the metal wall. Her eyes never left his face as he knelt on one knee, "Hey, I'm Roland." He half expected her not even to remember her own name.
Her eyes darted, huge and terrified. But she swallowed and looked up at him. "I'm... Amanda... A-Amanda Raye." She said, her voice just above a raspy whisper. Roland gave her a confused frown, he'd heard that name before somewhere.. But where?
"Roland? Hey, Roland, where'd you go?" The irritated accented voice of a man shouted from outside.
Roland turned back and shouted again, "In here! The big one!"
Amanda shrank back to the base of the chain.
Roland slowly moved closer to her, "We gotta get those chains off of you, they're cutting into you." He paused for a moment before gesturing to the bindings, "Would it be alright if I came closer? I can get those off of you." She thought about the risks before she nodded cautiously and gave him permission. He slowly and deliberately walked to her, kneeling behind her where the cuffs were and spotted huge crisscrossing scab on her back, like she was lashed.
"Hey Roland, what's tak-" The owner of the annoyed voice was that of a thin man wearing red goggled leather cap as he stopped in mid-sentence at the sight of her. She gasped with a whimper and whipped her head back to Roland.
"Hey, hey, Amanda, it's okay, he's with me." He told her softly, touching her arm and she seemed to catch herself from shrinking away from him.
The man in the doorway turned back with a holler, "Hey guys, over here!"
There was a voice of a woman as she scoffed and said something as well as the deep bass voice of another man, grumbling something along the lines of 'it better be good'.
"Mordecai, gimme a hand with these." Roland said to the lanky man with goggles.
"Whoa... That's a first..." A woman with red hair and startling gold eyes stood in the doorway, eying the younger girl with a slight, surprised smirk on her face before she walked in and went over to examine a chest on the other side of the bed.
"Hey, What'chu wan-" Came the gravelly voice of a huge muscled man that ducked his head through the door, turning so his massive shoulders could fit. He froze at the sight of her, his eyes widening and a startled frown creasing his square features. The young girl let out a yelp and stiffened when she saw him,her breathing bordering on hyperventilation.
"Hey, hey, It's alright, we're not here to hurt you, Amanda." Roland said as he put his gloved hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down but it was obvious that it wasn't helping her relax any.
"Shit..." The huge, muscled man's voice was hushed as he ducked down. The girl in turn whimpered quietly in fear and tried to move back and away from him as he approached her slowly. Mordecai muttered something in Spanish in irritation at her moving and tugged at her wrist as he worked. The man approaching her had his face now lit with a stream of light filtering through a slit in the flimsy ceiling, his small, blue eyes studying her carefully. She looked at him with huge, bloodshot, blue eyes and suddenly gasped as if she just realized something.
No... It couldn't be, could it...? She slowly and cautiously got to her feet, barely hearing the 'click' and triumphant shout of Mordecai. She didn't seem to notice the heavy metal cuffs slide from her skin and land with a 'clunk' as she stood. She had her hands wrung at her chest nervously, now less than a foot from him, dwarfed by his seven foot height as he stared down at her, his expression unbelieving. The other two men watched carefully, knowing the mountain of a man was unpredictable.
"Goddamn... Mandy?" His voice was almost a growl. She stared up at him, tears streaming down way down her cheeks, leaving clean trails in her dirty face. She shook her head rapidly in disbelief, her eyes not leaving his face.
"No-no-no-no..." She repeated over and over as he slowly reached out and put a giant hand on her face, leaning forward slightly, his expression easing into realization. She slowly put her smaller hands over his, "I thought I would never see you again... – Ah!" she breathed, yelping at the sudden rush as he picked her up, his huge arms wrapping around her.
"Mandy!" The giant man shouted gleefully. A collection of startled gasps and yells rippled in the hut from his comrades in surprise.
"Brick! No! Don't squish her!" Roland yelled, uselessly grabbing onto one of the huge arms around her, trying to pry it off. They froze when the girl slowly wrapped her arms around his broad torso, only meeting halfway. He murmured quietly to her in his rumbling voice, trying to reassure her as she began to sob softly into his chest.
She slid down his chest as he released her. She smeared her face with a grimy hand and turned to the two men and the woman. Roland's eyes widened in shock as he seemed to remember something. He reached into a pocket and fished out a crumpled, folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and showed it to his comrades, it was a missing person's poster with Amanda's picture. "Brick, you know her?" Roland asked and gestured to her.
"Yeah, my baby sister, Mandy." He grunted as he put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer to himself protectively.
She looked almost nothing like the picture now, her former long, brown hair had been cropped short so badly it looked like it went through a shredder with stubbly patches, swatches of hair and slashes on her scalp where they missed. She was covered in bruises, gashes and sores, wearing only what was left of her underwear and bra and they were torn and barely holding together. She hugged her arms self-consciously, feeling naked. Mordecai grunted and walked out. The other woman made a 'humph' noise and followed him out. Roland cleared his throat and looked between them two before leaving the hut. Amanda looked up at Brick, her blue eyes tired.
He studied her face carefully before she slowly turned, her eyes scanning, messy skull decorated room. She visibly grimaced at the shabby four poster bed.
When she turned he did a double take at her back, "Wait." He said, taking hold of her shoulder. She froze, like a kid in trouble. She slowly looked over her shoulder at him.
"The hell is this...?" He murmured as he knelt, carefully touching the edges of the wound on her back. She fidgeted nervously and he stood and let her go her with low and disappointed sigh. She went over to a pile of rumpled clothing and furiously dug through the heap until she finally pulled out a tattered brown shirt, a pair of ripped leather pants and a pair of black boots. She turned back, stiffly holding the clothes to her chest.
He nodded to her, "Go ahead an' get dressed. We'll patch you up when we get to the base." He turned around went to the doorway, folding his arms, his back to her, blocking anyone from going in.
She blinked and pulled on the torn pants and tattered shirt and parked herself on the floor put on her boots. She growled as she tried to pull on the boots over her wounds.
"Hey!" He said, his head turned back, concerned.
"I-I can't even wear my goddamn boots. The fucking cuffs cut me all to hell." she said, frustrated. She got to her feet and picked up her boots before walking to the door and nudging him in the side. He looked down at her over his shoulder before turning to face her, his expression seeming to soften at seeing her so drained. He looked further down at her bare feet with an irritated frown, shaking his head at the infected scabs trying to form around her ankles and wrists. She didn't meet his face with her eyes, looking off to the side. He put a hand on her shoulder and stepped to the side, leading her out.
She looked at the two passenger seat Runner and swallowed, turning to look up at her brother. "Somehow, I don't think I'll fit." She looked back to it as she hugged her arms and shivered.
"No way in hell I'm leavin' you again. I'll walk if I have to." He growled under his breath.
Roland looked to them from studying the vehicle, "We've got a place that's a couple of miles away. If we can get you there safely, we can figure out what to do next."
Mordecai climbed into the driver's seat of the other Runner nearby, "We'll meet you guys at the 'base'." The red-headed woman hopped in the turret on the back and flashed the three a sly smirk before they drove off, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand.
Roland scoffed as he watched them drive away. Brick clambered into the driver's seat and stuck his arm between the safety bars and beckoned his sister over. She went over and gave him a confused look.
"Com'on." He gave a vague gesture to where he sat.
"... What? Really? You sure?" He rolled his eyes at her.
"Mandy, come on." He said impatiently. She bit her lip uneasily before she slowly took his hand. He easily pulled her onto his lap and waited until she stopped fidgeting. It looked a little cramped but he didn't seem to care.
"You guys got a plan or wh-" Roland jogged over and did a double take at the two.
"We goin' or what?" Brick said irritably as the young woman stared blankly at her lap. Roland was about to say something but was stopped by the glare from he got other man.
"Uh- yeah. Yeah." He said before he climbed onto gun turret on the back.