Chapter 7
Hazel.
I finally reach Woodbury just as the sun is coming up, between fighting walkers and keeping up the fast pace I had to I am utterly exhausted. I finally reach what appears to be the main wall and am greeted by shouting and raised weaponry.
"Martinez! Biter! I'll take it down!" A male yells excitedly.
"Cool it newbie, let me show you how its done" Martinez barks.
I roll my eyes and muster all my remaining strength to say, "Hey shit for brains, I'm alive down here!"
Theres a split second of silence where no one moves, apparently I am the first person to come since they've declared 'war'.
"We are going to open the gate, walk through with your weapons at your side and your arms raised." Martinez orders just as the gates crack open and I shuffle inside with my weapons down. The minute the gates close behind me I am forced up against a wall and Martinez has a gun at my temple. "Who are you?"
"Wow Martinez, I bet you don't treat the other gals like this. I feel so special" I sigh with a giggle before forcing my voice to sound even girlier and adding "Now let me the fuck go and you wont get hurt"
Martinez opens his mouth, and by the look of his face is about to yell, but before he can utter a single syllable someone grabs my shoulder and slides me away from Martinez but forces me harder against the wall, I look up and am not surprised by who I see.
"Well hello there Red. You should be a little nicer to us since we saved brings ya to Woodbury?" Merle smirks, eyeing up and down my body.
"Merle, I just thought I'd stop bye and say hi to Phillip, have you seen him lately?"
"Cant say I have"
"Oh come on Merle, I know he's got you by the balls but I thought you were a little more independent than that. I guess he whipped that outta you huh?" I smile brightly, Merle closes his fist and swings hard from the right. Upon impact I slump to the ground and can feel the black eye coming on. Spitting I still smile up at him as he grabs the front of my shirt and hoists me up. "My my my, you are definitely the weaker Dixon" I manage before he hits me again, this time harder, and my vision is drowned in a sea of black.
When I come to I am on a couch, I can see all my weapons in a glass china case and I hear two separate footsteps in the other room. I try to get up quietly but an involuntary moan of pain alerts the people in the other room and I fall back onto the couch. The next thing I know Phillip and Merle are standing over me, both have wicked features. I try to sit up again but Phillip forces me down with one hand.
"Hazel where do you think you're going?" He asks with an evil smirk.
"Nowhere" I cough. At both men's confused expressions I add "I came here as a sacrifice so you would leave the prison alone"
"Just as I knew you would – thanks for being so predictable dear" His smirk comes back onto his face. "So now we can strike up a deal."
"There is no deal, you said me for the prison and now I'm here" I mutter.
"Oh Hazel do you know me at all? You being here isnt enough to keep the prison safe"
"What?" I squeak, that's exactly why I came here – I don't have anything more to give but my presence.
The govenor leans in so his lips are right at my ear, "Hazel, what can you give me for their safety?" He whispers, his breath tickling my neck.
"N-Nothing, I don't have anything" I whisper back, too nervous to break the quiet.
Phillip leans back, shaking his head 'no' and whispers something to Merle. Merle smiles and takes Phillip's previous place at my ear. "The Govenor wants to make a trade." He snickers as his hand travels down the side of my body. "You as a slave for the safety of your friends"
I gulp, they are both so lost in lust that both men fail to realize no one is holding me down, with a quick strike to Merle's face with my knee I jump up, shove Phillip, and start sprinting for the door. I can hear Merle's cursing behind me but focus on the freedom I need to obtain. Just as my fingertips graze the doorknob, two arms snake around my throat and I get pulled back into a choke hold. Black tickles the edges of my vision as I struggle for breath, my hands are desperately gripping the arm around my throat while my legs flail about.
"Those are my terms Hazel, do you agree?" Phillip grins in my ear, I figured he was the one holding me, his grip loosens just enough for me to reply.
"Yes" and the moment its out he drops me to the floor, I cough and gasp for breath, my lungs on fire.
"I'm glad we could come to a compromise, now since the prison is a big deal you are also going to be Merle's slave so do me proud and do what we say when we say it. Although I will always be the bigger priority." Phillip states to me and Merle. "But since I have some work to attend to Merle can have you first." Phillip collects his coat and gun, hes almost out the door when he turns around and addresses Merle. "You can make her do whatever you want and do whatever you want to her but don't rape her, I want to take her first tonight, after that there will be no limitations for you. If she gets testy theres a full syringe on the table" And hes gone. Leaving me with Merle.
Still sitting on the floor, I turn to Merle who has made himself comfortable on the couch. He raises his eyes to mine and pats the spot on the couch next to him. I don't move a muscle and just avert my gaze to the floor. He instantly gets pissed, jumping up he grabs my arm in a bruising grip, and drags me to the couch. Pulling me around to face him, so my back is to the couch, he grabs my shoulders.
"Listen here you cocky bitch, one word from me that you weren't listening and Phillip will march over to the prison and destroy it." He grumbles as he shoves me back onto the couch, then gets on top of me, forcing himself between my legs so I cant knee him. I close my eyes as his mouh goes to my neck and his hands begin roaming all over my clothed body, I try to block out the feeling and instead I imagine I am back at the prison, joking around with Carl. I can almost hear him laugh and I can see his beautiful smile as if he's right infront of me. I smile back in my mind, suddenly someone taps me on my shoulder and I turn away from my imagination of Carl to see Daryl behind me. He places a hand on my cheek and brings his lips close to mine.
"Daryl…" I whisper before I can stop it from tumbling out of my mouth. Merle stops his task and grabs my chin forcfully, making me look at him. We both share a look of confusion, me because I don't know why I imagined Daryl kissing me and him because he doesn't know if he actually heard me correctly. A knowing smirk lights up his face.
"ooh, well well well, looks like I'm the wrong Dixon, huh? Tell me something, Red, you got the hots for my baby brother?" he asks as he licks up the side of my neck.
"No, Daryl and I just got close before I left, we're friends" I mutter.
"I bet you crushed him when you left"
"I did it to save them!"
"That's not how he's gonna see it. Daryl has a long list of people who have abandoned him, and now you're at the top of that list" Merle laughs.
"No"
"No?"
"No that's not how he'll see it, I left them all a letter explaining why I left, so you're wrong, but you're also right, you are the wrong Dixon, the only Dixon worth anything is Daryl." I smile with pride and truth, if I cant do anything about my situation I might as well bring down the people abusing me.
"You disobeying bitch" He spits.
"No you never actually gave me orders past the couch pat – which I am here now with you Merle" I laugh, it's a small victory but every win counts. Before I realize whats going on Merle uses my laugh as a way to stick his tongue inside my mouth. I instantly feel the invasion and fight against it but Merle just laughs into my mouth and begins working on my belt buckle. I do the one thing I can, with all I am worth I bite down on his tongue, smiling once again at the coppery bitter taste of blood. Merle's blood.
"You'll regret that Red" Merle jerks s fist back. After the room stops swaying I see Merle grab the syringe and plunge it into my arm. I can feel the tannish colored liquid in my veins and the next thing I know I'm surrounded by the familiar blackness.
This time I have no idea where I am when I wake up. The room around me is bare except for the handcuffs I dangle from and the cuffs on the floor that trap my feet. I am facing the door but after a few moments of nothing but silence I know I am alone in the room. Slightly turning my head I see another door, only this one is made of metal fencing. I shiver, not wanting to know whats on the other side of that door or what the door's purpose is. I try to slip out of both sets of cuffs but they're so tight all I manage to do is cut up my wrists and ankles. Sighing in defeat I wait for someone to show up. Before too long I am greeted by Phillip.
"What time is it?" I ask, I've blacked out quite a few times today and have absolutely no concept of time at this point.
"Well you showed up here yesterday morning and its getting to about late afternoon now. The sun is setting as we speak, those drugs worked a little too well" he replies while locking the door behind him and putting the key in his pocket.
What!? I've been here over 24 hours! Well if they keep knocking me unconscious then I could survive my slave sentence. I think of the good in this fucked situation and actually smile because if unconsciousness is what saves me I have a good feeling about living.
"Hazel I heard you disobeyed Merle, that is not exceptable. You will be punished, and based on Merle's report you disobeyed 1 order, talked back 6 times and bite his tongue 1 time to the point of bleeding, that adds up to 8 but since you also disobeyed my order to do what he says we'll add 8 more" He smirks, shattering my thought process, I think of all the times I was knocked out and realize its whenever I piss one of them off enough that they take action. Its just a matter of how long it takes before Phillip looses his temper and saves me from this nightmare.
"Ugh you villians and your rambling.. 8 more what?" I grumble impatiently.
"Well that mouth of yours is making it worse , your latest comment added 4 more to your punishment" he seems to stop and add up the number of offences.
"Dude that adds up to 20, try to keep up" I smile.
"20 huh? I guess your right, your punishment is 20 lashes from a cat 'o nine tails whip." His face lights up like he just gave me the greatest news of my life. He lifts up the whip, I shudder after realizing there are blades at the end of each tail. "So shall we start?"
I don't respond, I don't know if I can trust my voice to keep my fear a secret. Instead I shoot him a dignified 'I'm not scared of you' look. He just sighs, sets down the whip, and walks over, pulling my green knife out of its sheath around his waist. He comes close, too close, I'm practically forced to share the same air as him. Taking the knife he cuts into the fabric around my shoulder, ripping the sleeve off. Then he moves to the other sleeve, before putting the knife between my breasts and cutting down the middle. Chuckling as I gasp and shut my eyes tightly when he knicks my stomach. After the shirt falls away into a shredded pile he begins cutting my pants off of me in the same manner. When he finally steps away I am left in my black lace bra and matching lace spandex shorts. The govenor lets out a low whistle and laughs, I know hes trying to make me feel like I'm nothing, I don't let him. I open my mouth about to say another crude comment when he strikes, fast as lightening, there was no way I could've seen it coming. I inhale sharply at the pain, my breathing coming in short gasps. Looking down I see my knife handle sticking out of my abdominen, blood starting to drip down from the wound, he forced the blade as deep as it would go.
"Don't worry Hazel, I know where to stab someone to cause the most pain without killing them, and just to make sure you feel it I'll just go ahead and leave it in there for good measure while you get punished. Oh and if you think the knife hurt you're in for a real treat." Once again he walks up to me but this time pulls a piece of cloth from one of his pockets, tying it firmly around my mouth so no one will hear my screams but him. "I'm going to test out how well this works so be a good sport and remember this isnt to punish you, this is to make sure you're nice and quiet." I shoot him a confused look but he just chuckles and twists the knife, I scream but its muffled by the cloth. His smile grows wider. "Perfect! Now lets get to the fun part"
He picks up the whip and goes behind me, my head movement is restricted and I cant see when the first lash will come. It makes the pain even more unbearable, suddenly after seconds of silence white hot pain shoots through my back and I can feel each individual tail leaving it's mark. I howl into the cloth as tears flood my vision. Before he can strike again we hear screams coming from outside the building. Phillip mutters something about never getting time off. He unlocks my bloodied wrists and feet, moves the cloth from my mouth to my eyes, and shoves me somewhere dark and cold, I roll until my arms stop against a wall, I hear metal close and know I'm behind the metal cage door. My back is a bloodied mess and I continue to face the wall, hugging myself, hoping the floor can just open and swallow me whole. Suddenly I hear the main door open and hear three collective gasps. After a few beats I hear my cage door open and someone drops to the floor, letting a saddening moan out, the second starts snifiling indicating tears, and the last just continues making a gulping sound. Finally, the people of Woodbury know who the Govenor really is, maybe these three residents will help me escape and we can save everyone from Phillip's rath.
