A/N: Hi all! Just a warning that there is some sensitive subject matter in this chapter, so if that bothers you just skip this section.
Chapter 7 – Angel
"Leah? Leah, wake up!"
Leah raised her head off the door of Daryl's truck, blinking into the sunlight, "What?"
"Hey kiddo, we're stoppin' for the night. The RV ran out of gas. We found a car along the way that had some canned food in it," Daryl handed her a bottle of water and a can of pears, "I remember you liked 'em."
"Thanks Daryl," Leah set the can down on the dashboard and pulled her hair into a messy bun, Prince still in her lap. The memories of that morning came flooding back to her, she could notice a difference in the group without Jacqui, there was an emptiness now.
Leah saw that everybody was scattered around a few of the cars, T-Dogg was siphoning fuel from his van and Shane's jeep while Dale kept watch. "How far did we get from Atlanta?"
"We're a couple of miles from I-85, we'll get there tomorrow once we get the RV going," Daryl started spooning some baked beans into his mouth, his crossbow slung over his shoulder. "You and I are on watch tonight from nine to two, then Glenn and T-Dogg will cover 'til morning."
"Okay, I doubt I'll be able to sleep anyway," Leah sipped some syrup from the pears. By the position of the sun, she guessed it was around five o'clock, "How long was I out?"
"You fell asleep around noon and it's five-thirty now."
"Still nursing the hangover I guess," Leah smiled, it was definitely a twenty-four hour process. "Want to continue our game from last night?"
Daryl gave her half a laugh, "Sure, let's keep it simple this time though."
"Deal. What's your favorite food?"
"Microwaveable mac and cheese," Daryl laughed.
Leah's eyes lit up, "Are you kidding me? I practically lived off that stuff when I was in college! Wait," Leah couldn't help herself from giggling, "Our friendship hangs in the balance of this next question. Kraft or Velveeta?"
"Kraft. No contest," Daryl chuckled.
"That, my friend, deserves a high five," Leah raised her hand to meet Daryl's.
They continued playing their game, both cleaning their weapons until they shined.
The sun was just about to set when Leah needed a break, "Okay, I really have to pee. I'll be right back."
"Here, take this just in case," Daryl handed her his bowie knife. Leah took it, a little intimidated to have a knife the size of her forearm in her hand.
She walked into a nearby tree line until she was confident she was out of sight. She put the knife on the ground next to her and relieved herself. Leah knew she would get sick of wiping herself with leaves fairly quickly.
She had just zipped up her pants when she felt a hand clasp over her mouth. Panic surging through her, she tried to rip the hand from her mouth, pulling on the man's forearm, desperately lunging for the knife that was two feet away from her.
Her legs were kicked out from underneath her, sending her into the forest floor. She flailed her arm out, the knife was inches from her grasp now. She was able to get her fingertip on the handle of the knife only to get a boot pinning her wrist to the ground.
Shane leaned down to get to her level, whispering into her ear, "Shh, shh. There's that fighter I saw back at the CDC." Leah turned her head away from his voice, not wanting to see his face.
Leah was trying to wriggle from underneath his body weight, but he was easily twice her size, she was fighting a losing battle. Shane grabbed her wrist from underneath his boot and brought it behind her back.
"I'm gonna take my hand from your mouth now, and don't ya even think about screaming," the threat was eminent in his voice.
Tears began to form in her eyes but she wasn't going down without a fight. As soon as her left hand was free from holding Shane's arm she stretched for her only weapon.
"Hey now," Shane violently ripped her arm from reaching for the knife, trapping it behind her back as well. A sharp pain was coming from her left shoulder, he definitely did some damage. But she had more important things to worry about, like the bear of a man crushing her. The tears were threatening to spill over as she heard Shane pull his handcuffs from his belt, wanting to restrain her even further. Leah knew that trying to escape from Shane's iron grip now was useless, he was a police officer and had probably done this dozens of times.
A million things were running through Leah's mind, but they all stopped when she heard Shane undoing his belt, "Ya know, I never really noticed how sexy ya were until I saw ya in your little tank top. And Lori's not puttin' out since Rick got back, so I figured you and I could give it a shot," Shane whispered in her ear in between labored breaths. Leah could almost hear the evil grin that was undoubtedly on Shane's face as he spoke, "Now we don't have a lot of time before that dumb redneck comes to look for ya."
He wrenched her pants from her hips just enough so her backside was exposed. She had never felt so vulnerable in her whole life. He started thrusting into her, causing her to yelp out in pain. Shane only responded by gripping her hips tighter, probably leaving bruises.
Leah tried to block out Shane grunting in her ear, she tried to ignore the feeling of him inside of her but she couldn't do it. He was everywhere.
With each thrust Leah shut down more and more until her mind was far away from that forest. She tried to think of things that would calm her down and her thoughts wandered to her porch in North Carolina. She remembered watching the sun set over the mountains after a long days of paperwork, it was the only place she felt completely at peace.
She was suddenly snapped back to reality when she felt him pull out of her, buckling his pants and unlocking the handcuffs, her arms going limp by her sides.
Leah felt the pressure of his body weight come off of her, but she didn't dare move. She couldn't move.
Shane's boots came into view, "Ya tell anyone what ya saw at the CDC or what just happened and I'll kill you and your boyfriend." Leah stayed quiet, nodding her head in response, silent sobs wracking her body.
She watched Shane saunter away like nothing had transpired, she wanted to kill him then and there, but he had gotten away. He'd broken her… not that she would let him know that, or anyone. Leah laid on the forest floor until her tears finally subsided. She pulled herself up, fixing her pants on her hips and brushing herself off.
She suddenly knew how terrified Lori had been the previous night, and she wished that she had been there to come to her rescue. But she wasn't. Leah had to save herself, she had to pull herself together and act like nothing had happened, just like Lori had to.
Leah wiped the tears from her face, hoping her eyes weren't too red. She combed out her hair with her fingers, making sure to get any leaves out of it. She did her best to put her hair in its original style but it was nearly impossible to try and do it one-handed. Leah could already tell her shoulder was getting worse, she could barely lift it above her head. She grabbed the knife and stuck it in the side of her boot. Leah slowly walked back to the road, making sure to take deep breaths before she faced Daryl, who was sure to have questions about her extended absence.
She came into view of the cars, she had never been happier to see Daryl's blue pick-up truck. Both he and Prince were staring at her as she walked up to them, "What the hell, Leah? Where'd ya go?"
Leah wanted to run into his arms right then and there and just cry. But she couldn't, so she put on the best smile she could muster, "Sorry, I got a little lost on the way back. I don't know how you don't get lost all the time."
"What am I gonna do with you, kiddo? But ya get used to it. I can show you how to navigate through the woods sometime if ya want," Daryl offered, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
Leah saw Shane staring her down out of the corner of her eye, "Uh… yeah that'd be great. Here's your knife back by the way." Daryl took it and put it back on his belt.
"Ya didn't have to use it did ya?"
YES! Leah screamed in her head, "No, everything's clear. We should be safe here for the night."
…
Leah and Daryl fell into comfortable conversation, playing games like "Would you rather" and "Two truths and a lie". It had gotten dark out and Daryl said it was their turn to keep watch, letting Dale get some rest.
Leah grabbed her handguns from the back of the truck and climbed to the top of the RV with some difficulty. Shane had done even more damage that Leah anticipated, forcing her to climb up the ladder with one hand. Leah guessed that her shoulder was dislocated. Great.
She and Daryl settled in for the night, sitting cross-legged, leaning their backs against each other for support. Leah set her handguns in her lap and stared into the darkness, not wanting to be alone in her thoughts but not coming up with anything to say for conversation.
Everyone in the camp had gone to sleep around eleven o'clock, leaving Daryl and Leah to themselves.
"What was that look between you and Shane back at the CDC?" Daryl blurted out.
Leah's entire body tensed at the mention of his name. She wanted so badly to tell him, and it was killing her that she couldn't, but she had to keep him safe. She couldn't imagine not having him around to talk to or to comfort her when she needed it. And she needed him now more than anything and because of Shane, she couldn't have him. She couldn't have him tell her that everything was going to be okay or that he would always be there to protect her.
Fresh tears came to her eyes as she forced herself to lie to her best friend, "It's nothing. Everything's fine." Leah was glad that Daryl couldn't look at her in that moment, because one look would be all he needed to know what she had been through.
"Clearly it ain't fine, kiddo. I've never seen you look that angry before." Despite Daryl using his nickname for her, Leah could hear the hurt in his voice. She had opened up to him like she never had to anyone, not even twenty-four hours ago, and now she was keeping secrets. Hearing the woundedness in his voice only twisted the knife deeper into her side, causing her to have a whole new wave of pain and guilt wash over her.
Leah leaned her head back so it was against Daryl's neck, "It's stupid Daryl. There's nothing to worry about." It was stupid, Leah had walked in on Shane's drunken escapade and now he was pissed at her for it.
Daryl sighed, deciding to believe her, "Okay. I'm always here. Ya know that right?"
He was just tormenting her now, "I know, sweetie. Thank you."
"No problem, kiddo," Daryl nudged Leah's back, letting her know that he let the matter go… for now.
…
The rest of the watch had been so uneventful that Leah zoned out, getting lost in her thoughts, which was the last place she wanted to be. She was only aware of Glenn and T-Dogg's presence when she saw the pair standing in front of her.
Glenn waved a hand in front of her face, "Leah? Leah, are you in there?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," Leah got up, the movement caused shooting pain in her arm, she really needed to get it back in place. The tightness around her sleeve didn't go unnoticed, she just hoped it didn't swell up enough for people to start asking questions.
"No problem. Goodnight," Glenn took her spot on the roof, getting comfortable for his shift. Leah silently laughed that it was the middle of the night and Glenn was still wearing his baseball hat.
"Goodnight guys, see you in a couple of hours," Leah climbed down the ladder first, wanting to avoid Daryl noticing her injury.
They walked back to the pick-up in silence, Prince was already at their side, jumping up on them in greeting. Daryl lowered his bike to the ground so they could spread out in the back. They both rolled out their sleeping bags, eager to get some rest.
Leah decided it would be best if she laid on her back, she certainly didn't want to aggravate her shoulder more than necessary. She kicked off her boots and tucked herself in, pulling Prince into her side. Prince looked at her with huge eyes, almost looking like he was worried about her. She had always wondered what made dogs so intuitive and sensitive to what happened around them. But she didn't really care, she was just glad Prince was there with her. She kissed the top of his head and started petting his side, loving that he was like a giant pillow.
"Goodnight, Daryl" Leah yawned.
"Night, kiddo."
Daryl immediately started snoring, she was completely alone now. She looked at the stars, reveling in their beauty. Leah got lost in her thoughts again, tears springing up from her eyes as she wondered what she had done to deserve what Shane had done to her. In a twisted kind of way, she was glad that if it had to have happened to a woman in the camp, that it happened her. Lori had already had an extremely close encounter with Shane, Carol just got out of an abusive relationship, and Andrea had just lost her sister and was suicidal. Leah knew that those women were tough beyond belief, but dealing with a person like Shane is another matter entirely.
Leah didn't know how long she had been laying there, but eventually she just cried herself to sleep.
There's always some reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release
Memory seeps from my veins
Let me be empty
Oh, and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
A/N: So what did you guys think? Will Leah be able to recover? Do you think Daryl will find out what happened? Let me know! I love all the continued support :) Remember to follow/favorite/review… Till next time lovelies!