Sadie woke up tied to something that resembled a space heater that she had in her rickety home in Columbus. She tried to pull herself up but realized quickly that she had handcuffs around her left wrist, digging into her skin with each small tug. "D-Daryl?" She sputtered quietly, hoping he was somewhere in the darkness. "What the fuck?" She felt her clothes with her right hand and noticed they were drenched in some terrible smelling substance that she later realized was gasoline. She pulled harder at the cuff, hoping the radiator she was trapped against would give way from years of rust and allow her to slide her hand free.
"I don't know why you're struggling; you're smarter than that, pumpkin." She could tell before he emerged from the shadows who it was. That stupid nickname. That gruff, deep voice that she'd listened to every night in her adolescence, screaming at her.
"Ralph…" She glared into his large, brown eyes, his beer gut over taking most of her vision.
"Thought you could just up 'n leave me when your momma died, huh?"
"How the fuck did you find me?" She growled, pulling at her cuffs again.
"I had some help," He looked to his right as Travis walked toward her, a red gas can still in his sweating palms.
"Travis…" She was becoming light headed as the names she was reciting seemed to blend together.
"You left me, you bitch… You left me to rot in that prison while you ran off whoring yourself out to that Dixon bastard." Travis rasped, throwing the gas can and hitting her in the face with it.
"I was tired of being treated like some punching bag. You used to protect me from this asshole, now look at you! Letting him order you around, I suppose." Sadie said, hoping to press his buttons. She realized she'd pressed them a little too far when he kicked her in her side.
"Shut the fuck up!"
Suddenly, Sadie remembered her child, still developing inside her and resorted to begging. "No, no, no! Travis please don't!" He lowered his foot so he could listen to what she had to say. "Please don't hit my stomach… I'm begging you, do whatever you want just please don't-" She was cut off by her step father bashing her head into the metal monster behind her.
"I ain't never heard you beg before," he chuckled darkly, "What's wrong with you,"
"Why are you here?" Sadie sputtered, "Why aren't you dead?"
"Survival of the fittest,"
"Yeah, you're the fittest, right?" She rolled her eyes, only to have him grab her chin with his palm and pull it closer to him.
"You best keep that pretty little mouth shut, or I'll make sure you use it on something else," Ralph grumbled. Sadie could feel the rage building in her head as the gasoline continued to cloud her senses. Without thinking, she spat in his face, making him pull back for a moment to wipe her saliva from his features and order Travis to hold her down. Travis said nothing but did as he was told, uncuffing her and holding her body, face down on the wooden floor of whatever building they were in.
She had never felt so repulsed in her life as her step father took advantage of her in every way possible, and her ex-boyfriend, someone who used to protect her from him, watched menacingly in the corner of the room.
An eternity passed and he rolled off of her back, leaving a pool of sweat on her body which was too weak from the abuse and the gas fumes to even attempt to crawl away.
"You want a crack at 'er, boy?" Ralph laughed as he zipped up his jeans.
"No…" Travis mumbled, "She doesn't deserve it." His voice seemed tunneled and suddenly, Sadie lost consciousness again.
"Any ya'll seen, Sadie?" Daryl said after parking his bike at the prison.
"She's not come by here," Rick said, looking at him as the night air surrounded them. "I thought she was with you?"
"That's the thing… I went in the woods for two seconds to check 'n make sure we weren't bein' attacked 'n she disappeared. I looked all around the area but she wasn't nowhere in sight… like she just vanished or somethin'"
"She didn't come back here," Glenn said, looking into Daryl's concerned eyes.
"Alright, listen up!" Rick shouted into the cluttered cafeteria, "We've lost one of our own. Keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious behavior. Daryl here is gonna lead a group to go out and find her. If anyone notices anything out of th-"
"Where's Travis?" One of the Woodberry women shouted back looking around. Suddenly mumbles filled the prison as people shrugged and shook their heads, confused. Daryl's eyes widened and he rushed out, not even thinking of taking others with him.
Sadie regained her consciousness as Travis reopened the scars on her back with her machete. She tried to scream but only raspy air came out. Tears filled her eyes as he sat still on her back, carving her blade into scar tissue, causing her back to spasm. "W-Why?" Was the only word she could form.
"You remember when I told you not to give yourself to that Tyler guy… you were too young, I said… I should have been your first! You cut me when you gave yourself to that boy… and now… after all we've been through, you're gonna go fuck some other guy? You reopened my wounds, so I'm gonna reopen yours," He growled, digging her knife further into her back.
She waited through the hell he was creating until he climbed off of her and joined her stepfather who was sadistically smoking a cigarette a few feet away… then she remembered the gasoline.
"Wh-Why did you c-cover me in G-gas…" she stuttered, struggling with her words as blood mixed with the sweat on her back.
"So there won't be no evidence when we're good 'n done," Ralph said, taking a long drag from his cigarette. She looked up at him, her silver eyes graying. "Wouldn't want you turnin' into one of them walkers."
"Not only that, we can't have your little boyfriend finding out," Travis added, putting his boot on her back and pressing down, causing her to release more tears. She fought through them.
"I think y- you're afraid," She rasped, clawing at the air and closing her eyes, "You two thi-think you're m-men… b-but really you're jus-t boys… bo-boys who don't have en-ough common sense t-to keep th-their hands off a lady… Go a-ahead… kill me… D-Daryl will find you eventually… y-you can… you can bet on th-that…" Travis kicked her in the side harder than before, enraged by the faith she had put into Daryl.
"You wanna know something, you little bitch?" He growled, walking around and kneeling in front of her face. He grabbed her chin and pulled her up as tears and mucus flowed down her paling visage. "I used your little sister as walker bait. I saw 'em coming and instead of wasting the ammo or putting myself in danger, I let 'em tear your baby sister to pieces so I could get good and close with my knife…I watched her get ripped apart."
"You fucking ba-bastard," Sadie said, pathetically reaching for his shirt until he pulled away and dropped her back on the floor. "I… I should have k-killed you when I h-had the chance,"
"She's always sayin' that about somebody," Ralph barked from the corner. "Well, the chance was there pumpkin, He was just right in your face and what'd you do? Nothin' Like always, you just let everybody walk all over you."
"I-I can't do anything," Sadie moused, remembering a time far before the one she was experiencing.
"I wish you were dead… I wish YOU had the cancer and not momma!" a thirteen year old Sadie screamed as Ralph downed the last of his beer and threw the bottle at her face. She ducked and it shattered against the wall behind her.
"You can keep on dreamin' pumpkin, it ain't gonna happen."
"Sadie… momma's cryin'"
"Hush, Madison," Sadie said, pushing her sister behind her, "Keep throwing things! I don't give a damn! You know what? I don't care how much you hit me, or treat me and Maddy bad, cause the truth is, you're just some sad old man that nobody loves… not even my momma. She's only with you cause she can't leave. And one day, we're all gonna move away and leave you by yourself like you deserve to be and I'm gonna make something of myself!"
"Oh really now? You ain't goin anywhere you stupid little cunt!" Ralph swung at her again and blackened her eye, then repeatedly slammed her head against the wall while Madison hid in the corner covering her eyes, sobbing.
"Pl- Please… Pl-ease stop…" Maddy cried.
"You want me to stop!? Get over here!" He advanced toward her but Sadie stood, blood rushing over her face and hit him with the nearest thing she had, which was a small lamp sitting on the end table near her. From that point on, it was like drawing a bear away from its dinner. She continued to throw random objects at him until he pinned her down and beat her until she couldn't move.
She reminded him the same thing she had each time he hit her, "I would kill you if I could…"
She snapped back to reality as the smell of burning matches filled the room, mixing with the gasoline fumes. Ralph grinned, sinisterly advancing then kneeling over her, holding the match just far enough away from her that she didn't catch just then.
"Say hi to your momma, you dumb bitch…"
