The cold metal burned her back as it came in contact with its target. Biting back another cry in pain Dawn swallows her fear and remains silent as the man screams at her again,
"Where are they?!" His voice had once been welcoming but now it only invited anger and terror to her heart.
"I don't know," She growled through clenched teeth. Another blinding lash to the back, darkness closes in, even the strongest have a breaking point.
Laying back on the cot that had served as her bed for the past two weeks Dawn reviewed her escape plan that would possibly become a suicide mission but at least it would end the daily abuse that the "governor" inflicted on her. Dawn's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming towards her small room that felt more like a prison cell. The door banged open as a man was thrown in with shouts of protest. The door shut then clicked, locked, she had been so caught up in her thoughts and her new inmate that her small window to escape had been snatched from her in the blink of an eye. Glaring angrily down at the screaming redneck She sizes him up trying to calculate his weight an fighting skills.
"Well, well, well what have we got here a lil' bitch hmm?" The man asked holding up his arms, horrified She stare at his right arm covered by a huge metal brace looking thing that was rounded on the top. Instinctively she reaches towards the knife concealed inside of the travel pillow's case careful not to be noticed.
"I'm no bitch if anyone is I'd suspect you to be one!" She taunts trying to distract him. He raises an light eyebrow then throws back,
"Feisty ain't ya?" He lunges at Dawn oblivious to her plan, quickly snapping out the knife she rolls off the edge of the bed the man missing her by only an half of a inch. The man landed on the cot with too much force sending the fold up bed to the ground with a clang of metal and a thud of his body weight. As he recovers from shock he reaches for Dawn as she scrambles to her feet towards the door,
"Where do you think you..." He begins but is cut short as she holds the knife to his throat. Breathing heavily Dawn whispers angrily,
"Whoever the hell you think you are then you best figure out that in here you ain't what you used to be so back off and stay away from me or you will regret it!" Holding his hands up in surrender he says apologetically,
" alright just put that down honey an' it is gonna be ok hmm, now just," he tried to get the knife but Dawn was faster, slicing the air the blade slit a neat line across the man's face drawing blood instantly.
"Damn it," he breaths, pushing past the swearing man Dawn searches her pillow case for the zip ties. Retrieving a handful just as the man came behind her grabbing her around the waist. Quickly Dawn elbowed him in the hip then crushed his foot with hers. Still holding on to her Dawn elbows the man in the nose then right where it counts. He groaned throwing her to her hands and knees, crawling away as the man howled in pain Dawn got back to her feet planting a round house kick to the side of his heads ending the pathetic redneck to the ground. Breathing heavily Dawn straddled the man's back pulling his wrists together then securing them with a few zip ties, moving down to his ankles she secures them together like his wrists.
"You best let me go lil' girl or you are gonna regret you eva' did this!" He growls probably wondering how a woman beat him and cut him without a moments haste. With a giggle to herself Dawn kicked the man in the gut encouraging him to turn over. Grunting in pain the man looked at her with something different in his eyes something similar to amazement but it was gone before she could even look a second time it vanished.
"Well we are gonna be here for a while so you might as well tell me your name." He says with hope,
"Dawn," she says reluctantly, with a satisfied nod the man says,
"Merle Dixon," she nods to him but stays silent.
"So, what you normally do round here for fun girl?" He prompts letting his gaze roam around her figure. With a disgusted sigh Dawn looks around the room for something to use as a gag. Finding only her pillow case or her only sheet Dawn settles down against the wall across from Merle with her knife and her pillow case. Cutting the fabric Merle babbles on about different things but mostly about sex and making out. Finally finishing her gag she walks over to an oblivious Merle,
"Hey girl finally taking up..." He is cut off as Dawn smacks him, then kneeling down she shoves the gag into his mouth throwing his head back when she finishes. Voice muffled Merle yells as Dawn goes back to her wall covering up and waiting for sleep to find its way to her.
Running, the fire licked her legs even though it was internal dawn fell o the ground the heat taking over. Screaming out she stares down at the redneck clutching her leg,
"Merle?!" She heard herself scream at the back of his head. Slowly turning towards her the redneck's face was deformed and torn, glazed eyes and blood smears across his lips and staining his rotting teeth. Hissing, Merle lunges at her throat tearing painfully at her flesh.
Dawn sat up quickly, sweat drenched her back, peering around her dark room she sees Merle asleep on his side teeth chattering. Suddenly Dawn realizes how cold it really was, with a sigh she quietly made her way over to the sleeping man laying her blanket over him gently. Pulling the gag from his mouth I feel kind of bad for him. Wrists still bound Merle was leaning against the wall in a weird position that was obviously uncomfortable. Tucking the blanket around his shoulders Dawn sunk down next to the unconscious man allowing sleep to find her again.
"Psst," turning over Dawn ignored the whisper of a call.
"Psst," came the call again but this time with a nudge to her shoulder. Sitting up against the wall quickly she looks over to see Merle looking at her with a smug smirk spread across his face. Rolling my eyes she snatches the blanket from his lap pulling it around her shoulders trying to avoid his eyes knowing what he would want. Sinking back to the floor to try and sleep suddenly Merle protests quietly,
"Hey wait I've been up for forever and I'm bored," she clenches her jaw tight not wanting to talk to the perverted man. With a shuffle Merle slid down behind her scooting as close as he could to her back.
"Back off Merle," she growled wanting him to take a long walk off a short pier over a walker pit more than anything right now. He is silent as he wiggles away from her, back to him still Dawn suddenly hears him muttering to himself as a series of banging and thuds sound from him. Sitting up and turning to him she finds the man trying desperately to sit up but failing not even noticing her staring at him and trying desperately not to burst out in a fit of laughter at his helplessness. Ungracefully she fell onto the floor giggling uncontrollably, he stares at her with rage clear in his eyes. Suddenly the rage fades into amusement as she laughs like a retarded seal at the big man.
"Oh so ya think that this is so funny don't ya?" He raises a light eyebrow at her and begins laughing too. Dawn starts gasping for air, sides cramping as she sucked in large amounts of air. As Merle finally calms down the door to their room bursts open, the governor standing there with two bottles of water. His eyebrows knit together at the scene he happened to walk in on, Merle tied up and lying on the floor in a awkward position. Both of their faces were tomato red and were still twisted up in the post laugh attack phase. Dawn wiped her face of any emotions as the governor entered the room looking less than amused. Tossing the water bottles to Merle as if he would catch them he advanced on Dawn anger clear in his one eye that wasn't covered with an eye patch. Instinctively she scooted herself into a corner trying to retreat from the advancing psycho. Her back collides with the wall as the governor squats down clicking his tongue as if he was ashamed of something,
"Oh c'mon honey you know that if you would just tell me where that group of yours is you wouldn't have to be in this position," he says reaching out and laying his hand on her cheek. Standing up Dawn brushes his hand off of her cheek and growls,
"Go to hell!" Shaking his head slowly the governor grabs Dawn by the collar of her shirt then throwing her head against the wall Dawn slides to the floor head throbbing painfully. Letting out a groan she kicks out hitting the governor in the front of knees causing him to be thrown off balance momentarily. Cursing under his breath he lashes out kicking her nonstop in the rib cage making Dawn fall to the floor breathless from the abuse.
"Gonna tell me now?" The governor spats through clenched teeth still kicking her.
"I told you I don't even, know a Rick, a Maggie, Glenn, Carl, and I sure as hell don't know a fucking Daryl!" Dawn screamed trying to sit up against the wall, glancing sideways at Merle she finds him staring wide eyed at her now swelling face. Bowing her head in embarrassment Dawn lets a tear slide down her face knowing that he thought this was hilarious or that he thought she was weak. With a frustrated sigh the governor bends down again and kisses her on her busted lip headless to her useless struggling to stop him.
"I will be back for you, OK now stay pretty honey," the governor whispers hugging her then quickly tying her wrists behind her back before leaving and slamming the door behind him. Letting out a sigh of relief Dawn sinks to the ground back to Merle who was still staring at her and boring holes into her shattering heart.
Wiggling around in her back pocket Dawn manages to slide the small Swiss Army knife from her back pocket but her numb fingers cause her to let it slide across the floor to Merle. Silently cursing to herself she slides up the wall onto her feet trying desperately to look like she had everything under control. Pulling her arms close to her back Dawn slips her legs through the gap between her arms so her arms were bound in front of her. Leaning forward Dawn began mercilessly biting at the knot trying to loosen it enough to slip her wrists out. Glancing at Merle Dawn sighs as he struggles with the knife accidentally cutting him and drawing blood. Limping over to him she steps over him, gently taking her blade and with her wrists still bound cut him loose. Finishing his wrists Dawn quietly cut his ankles loose dropping the knife then sitting against the wall biting at the rope tangled around her bruised and scarred wrists.
"
Grunting to her Merle gingerly took her wrists cutting the thick rope with a sawing motion. When the rope falls to the ground Dawn quickly stands up and dodges Merle's out stretched arms retreated back to her corner waiting for her meal to come. Fatigue taking ahold of her Dawn nodded off.
"Dawn?" Merle's voice shook her from her deep sleep. Righting herself against the wall she widened her eyes at the amount of light flooding into the room from the barred window eight feet over head. Looking at Merle he nods over to the two trays lying close to the door alongside with a shirt lying near the tray to the right.
"Yes!" She squealed ignoring Merle's questioning glance. Limping over to the shirt she quickly snatched the fabric glancing at Martinez's sorry on the small sticky note tossing it to the side Dawn turns her back to Merle then pulling her ruined shirt over her head stiffly she fumbles with the new one wishing she was alone when Merle sucked in a gasp at the sight of her back. Sighing Dawn tosses on the new shirt grabbing her tray retreating to her broken cot back to Merle as she hungrily shoveled in the instant mashed potatoes and canned peas along with the fresh meat then letting out a satisfied sigh she scanned the room for her blanket to find Merle looking at her again,
"Go ahead, just say it," she growled at him.
"Say what?!" He asks quietly still looking at her shirt not wanting to meet her gaze probably.
"Oh don't act dumb, you are gonna say how weak I was how I shouldn't have," she sighed rubbing furiously at her eyes, squeezing them shut to stop the tears and shut out the pain. Dawn flinched as Merle laid a hand on her shoulder and sat down next to her smiling sadly,
"Ain't nothin' to be ashamed of girl, I got a few bruises too," he reassured pulling off his dirty tank top showing his old scars and bruised skin. Now Dawn gasped at the sight of the man's back. Smiling at him he tosses his shirt into his lap then teases,
"Merle Dixon go and eat your food or I will!" He grunts making his way over to his tray leaving his shirt on the ground smirking at her panicked expression.
Opening her eyes Dawn examines the window eight feet up not for the first time. It was about two feet tall and about five feet long, enough for her to fit through if she could just shake the redneck. Turning towards him she examines his slack expression twitching occasionally in a dreams illusion. He had finished his dinner then crawled next to her and fell asleep with his arms around her waist protectively. Smiling at the memory Dawn felt bad that she had thought about killing this gentle giant, well once you put him in his place, she reminded herself. Dawn shook her head trying to clear it from thoughts and trying to ignore the pain in her back and face. She absently brushed her fingers over her swollen cheek letting a whimper escape her lips, allowing her weak side to be exposed for all of a second, for a second to long. Merle shot up knocking over Dawn as he swiftly got to his feet slicing the air blindly with his metal arm cover. Groaning in frustration Dawn sat up leaning against the wall trying to steady the now spinning room. She clamped her hands over her ears as whispers started to call to her from what seemed like everywhere. Scooting away from the confused Merle she found the corner of the room curling up on the ground still covering her ears as Merle stared at her helplessly.
"Stop it!" She screamed to the voices, Merle's jaw fell wide open as she squeezed her eyes shut shoving her hands harder against her ears. Opening her eyes Dawn saw Merle rush over to the door an begin throwing himself madly against it as she began to hyperventilate. The door opened reveling a very out of breath Martinez, Merle pointed at Dawn wordlessly.
"Hey, hey Dawn it's OK Anna is OK now, she is in a better place now," Martinez comforted still waiting in the doorway. The whispers faded a little at the sound of her name,
"Dawn?" Martinez called out as she sat up numbly trying to avoid the stare of the two men.
"I-I'm f-fine," Dawn answered shakily. Martinez pushed past Merle kneeling in front of the quivering Dawn. Letting a tear fall from her swollen eye she accepted Martinez's hug. Dawn wrapped her arms tighter around Martinez when he planted a kiss on top of her crazy blonde hair. Pulling away slightly Martinez smiled down at her gently brushing her hair away from her eyes. Then before Dawn could escape his grip her firmly pressed his lips to hers trying to get her to kiss him back. Pushing at the big man Dawn tried to get away from Martinez uncomfortable with this level of physical contact. Merle must have noticed because he caught Martinez by the collar of his shirt tearing him from her kicking the other man to the ground,
"I don't think she wanna have yer tongue down her throat man!" He spat laughing at the humiliated expression flooding Martinez's face, standing up Martinez quickly recovered emotion draining from his face as he sized up the redneck named Merle.
"And I guess you are sayin she wants ta kiss you, huh hill billy?!" Martinez threw back laughing as Merle growled at him. In the blink of an eye the two men were on the floor punching each other senselessly occasionally kicking the other. Dawn rolled her eyes ignoring the two until the glint of a blade caught her eye, turning back to the two men she saw Martinez leaning over Merle with her knife at his throat. Without thinking Dawn ran at him catching him in a flying tackle that smashed him between her and the wall. Fiery pain blinded her as the knife slashed her upper arm. Dawn heard herself scream and saw the panicked expression on Martinez's face letting her know it was an accident, but accidents don't hurt any less.
"What did you do?!" Merle screamed pulling Dawn up off of Martinez and staring at the deep gash in her upper arm. He sat her down then standing over Martinez he began kicking him again and again in the stomach, every he tried to get up Merle would kick him back down with bone breaking force. Slowly Dawn got up laying her hand lightly on his shoulder, making Merle spin around catching her in his arms pulling her to his chest as he pocketed Martinez's gun and ammo then handing her his knife along with her own. For good measure Merle kicked the unconscious body once more then lead Dawn out the open door towards their freedom.
Woodbury got further and further behind them along with Anna's whispers. Slowly Dawn felt like herself again as they traveled towards the setting sun. They had been lucky enough to snatch a car and some food on the way out but had to ditch the car after it ran out of gas. The sun got lower in the sky causing Dawns nerves to get worse because if the hazards it caused. Merle abruptly stopped pulling Dawn behind a tree trunk. He nodded upward at the lower branches; I nodded back silently and began climbing the tall tree. They had just settled about ten feet off the ground when a herd of walkers began filing around the tree trunks hissing and snarling but they never looked up at the two of them huddled against each other through another sleepless night.
Dawn must have nodded off because when she opened her eyes Merle was gone, Searching the ground below frantically having to find him.
"What ya looking for girl?" His raspy shout made her jump sending her falling off of the tree branch. It felt like time slowed as the branches scraped at her back and tore at her arms; Merle screamed her name as the ground finally met up with her stealing the oxygen from her lungs and suffocating her with darkness.