Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Walking Dead series (both comic book and television), and I do not claim to own any of these characters other than my own original character. This is a story I have written and I am in no way, shape, or form making any sort of profit from it. I am poor. I might even be more so now having written this.
Chapter Fourteen
"You know—," Martinez grunts as he pulls at the car's tire, "—I liked you the moment you aimed that gun at me—," he grunts once more as the tire finally pops off. Martinez lets out a bit of a triumphant chuckle.
Lassie furrows her brow as the man rolls the tire out before heading to the jack. "Why's that?" she asks as she stands. The Governor had her keep an eye on Martinez as the man did maintenance—safety precaution, was what the Governor called it.
"Because you stood your ground," he says as he slips the jack out from under the car. "Not a lot of people do that. They look into a gun's barrel and their first response it to shake in their boots and hold up their hands."
"Not me—,"
"Not you," Martinez repeats with a smile and shake of his head. "At first I thought you were stupid—you know, some kid thinking their tough shit… and then you turn out to be Dixon's sister?" The man makes a face and draws his chin back. "It all made sense," he says as he pushes the tire over to another car. He places the jack under and begins cranking it.
"We're not that much alike," Lassie says mundanely as she looks to the wall.
"I don't know, kid. You're both pretty stubborn and it's kind of hard to tell when you guys are joking—,"
"I don't joke," Lassie says as she looks back at Martinez.
The man shrugs. "It's not a bad thing to be like Merle… you're just… kind of a less intense version of him," he says with his face stretching. Lassie's brow rises as her mouth purses for a half second. "You found a way out yet, Houdini?"
"Who?" Lassie furrows her brow.
"You know… the escape artist?" Lassie shakes her head. Martinez scoffs. "How do you not know his name?" he asks as he stops what he's doing. Lassie stares down at him as he shakes his head. "Harry Houdini; he could get out of anything—handcuffs, chains, coffins, straightjackets—anything." Lassie lowers herself to the hood of a car as Martinez removes the new car's tire. "I guess it doesn't matter now," he says to himself.
"Their shift change is at about nine o'clock. When they switch, most of them talk for a minute." Lassie's eyes climb the wall. "If I can make a distraction of some kind… get their attention away from the wall, I think we could make a break for it," she says. Lassie readjusts herself on the car's hood as she brings her legs up and crosses them like a kindergartner at circle time. She wipes at her nose and gives a shrug. "There's a week spot where they have one of the cars placed. There's enough room to wedge between it, but pryin' the sheet metal away might make it a tight squeeze for you 'n' Merle." The girl's eyes look to Martinez as he continues with the car's tire.
"What if you go first?" Lassie winces her eyes at Martinez' words. He shrugs slightly. "Take off and run like the wind," he says. "While they look for you, Merle and me will bail," he adds.
"And what happens when I get caught?" Lassie asks in a strangled whisper. Her eyes wander the car graveyard making sure they are still safe to plot their escape. "Do you guys come back 'n' get me or am I on my own?"
"You won't get caught," Martinez answers; the nod he gives only makes Lassie more doubtful.
"We leave together," Lassie says with a shake of her head.
"It could work though," Martinez says as he turns his head over his shoulder. "We could have a meeting place and after the first person makes it there, they wait until sunrise. If nobody shows up, nobody shows up." His dark eyes look back to the tire as he uses the cross wrench to twist the lug nuts free. "After sunrise, everyone's on their own."
Lassie rises from the car's hood and knits her eyebrows as her eyelids shut in thought. She shakes her head. "I'll think 'bout it." She takes a step away. "The Governor will be wonderin' what's taking me so long—,"
"Yeah, you were only supposed to chaperone me until I got the tire off," Martinez says through the side of his mouth. "Safety precaution?" he says before buzzing his lips. "Ain't no safety here—he just wants to let me know he's still the boss."
"I'm sorry," Lassie says with her eyes falling.
"Not your fault," Martinez says with a smirk. "Better your company anyway." He turns his head and looks at Lassie. "You're prettier to look at than him." The girl feels her cheeks burn into a blush and Martinez lets out a chuckle. "You need to stop that—,"
"Stop what?" Lassie asks.
"Saying sorry," he says. Martinez busts free a new lug nut and finally begins pulling at the tire for freedom. "You live in an unapologetic world, Lassie. Why say sorry for things that one; are not your fault and two; you would have done again if it meant you were safe?" Martinez shakes his head. "Sometimes a sorry doesn't work. Sometimes you're going to have to be remorseless… callous and defiant, even." He narrows his eyes as he turns back to her. "Kindness ain't gonna get you far today."
Lassie nods her head absentmindedly.
"You should go, kid. Don't keep the Governor waiting."
"Took you long enough," the Governor says as he turns towards the girl entering the room. Lassie lowers her chin as his eyes settle on her. "Did Martinez have trouble with the tire?"
"It wouldn't give," she lies. "Had to have me help him," she adds. The Governor lets out a sigh as he heads towards his desk. Lassie slowly makes her way further into the room. "How's Merle doin'?" She hadn't seen him for nearly three days—Martinez was placed in her and Matt's dorm in Merle's stead.
"Good," the Governor says. Lassie was still unsure if the punishment was meant for her brother or for herself. "He's been a nice little dish jockey for Shannon." The Governor sits at the chair and lets out a long breath. "You see, Lassie, when people show resistance—when someone decides to step above their class, you have to put them back down; show them where they belong." Lassie fixes her eyes on the grey carpet of the room. "You need to be able to let them see who has the upper hand."
Lassie rolls her sweater's sleeve up her arms as she stands with her eyes still on the carpet. "So you use me to get to Merle," she says carelessly. "We've already been through this," she adds as her eyes touch the Governor for a split second before falling back down.
"What will it take for you to like me?" Lassie is taken aback. "What would it cost me to have you on my side?" he reiterates. The man narrows his eyes. "And when did you decide that you didn't want to be on my side?"
Lassie arches an eyebrow. "I never said I wasn't on your side—,"
"I can see it," he says as he watches her. "Somethin' in the way you stand… the way you look at me. You don't want to be here—,"
"Yes, I do," she blurts out.
"Prove it."
"How?" Lassie shrugs.
The Governor smirks. "What's goin' on with Merle and Martinez?"
Lassie makes a face. "How would I know—,"
"You've been spendin' an awful lot of time with Caesar," he says with a dull nod. Lassie swallows hard. "Maybe he said something to you," the Governor adds with a shrug.
Lassie looks to the books along the wall and fights back every urge telling her to run. "Morals low," she says as she looks back to the man. "Merle's mad which makes Martinez mad. They're friends; if you treat one badly, the other ain't gonna like it." She narrows her eyes. "Martinez just wanted to talk to someone who knew Merle… wanted to know why my brother does some of the things he does." Lassie shrugs as a grin pulls at her lips. "Who better to explain that than another Dixon?" She stretches her face for a moment. "You ain't got nothin' to worry about, Governor; Martinez is still with you which means Merle's still with you." She shakes her head. "But if I were you, I wouldn't be throwin' out punishments all willy-nilly thinkin' it won't affect your two best men on the field."
The Governor furrows his brow. "Was that a warning?"
Lassie raises her eyebrows and shrugs. "It's whatever you want it to be." The girl fights to bring her feet forward to cover the ground between her and the Governor. "You know Merle," she states with a nod. "You probably know how easy it is for him to get upset—you know havin' had him be here for so long; you probably saw it more than once or twice." The girl leans on the desk with her hands supporting her. "And," she says with raised eyebrows before furrowing them deeply in a patronizing way, "we both know how much he loves his sister." The Governor watches her carefully. "All it would take is a simply tear and a few words and that man would ruin you," she says through finely enunciated words.
The Governor attempts a grin as his eyes sift through the room. He shakes his head and lets out a chuckle—nearly nervous to Lassie's surprise. "I underestimated you, Lassie," he says and the girl straightens with a smile. "However," he says and Lassie's smile disappears, "you made one mistake." Lassie furrows her brow as she takes a step back. "You failed to protect your men," the Governor says as the doors open behind her.
"I said I don't know anything!" Lassie spins on her heels to see Crowley bring in a battered Martinez.
"Wh-What's goin' on?" Lassie asks breathlessly.
"Lassie doesn't know nothin'," Martinez says with a shake of his head and eyes wide like saucers. Blood trails from his nose as his left eye socket sits swollen and purple. "She don't know nothin'," he repeats.
The Governor rises from his chair and shakes his head. "You disappoint me," he says to Lassie with the lowering of his chin. The Governor turns to the Martinez. "And you; using a kid?" He shakes his head. "Pathetic," he spits. Martinez struggles as the Governor approaches Lassie. "Calm him down before he hurts himself," the Governor barks over his shoulder with annoyance. A grunt sounds as Crowley knees the man in the back. Martinez drops to his knees.
"She doesn't know anything," he says again.
The Governor smirks. "From what she's told me, she seems to know quite a bit." Lassie's blood runs like ice in her veins. The Governor shakes his head and sighs. "We could've been great allies," he says. The man studies her for a moment before leaning into her ear. "You feel that? That... cold relentless burn... makes it hard to breath and forces your eyes to tear and throat to close." He smiles as he pulls away. "That's fear," he says with his eyebrows rising as if he were impressed by himself. "You don't know what's goin' happen; is Martinez gonna die? Will the Governor do to you what Crowley did to Caesar?" He shakes his head and raises his hands with a fake amusement. "We just don't know," he says.
"People will ask questions—,"
"And people can be silenced," the Governor booms down at her. He turns to Crowley and takes a deep breath. "I wanna know if Merle knew of any of this." He arches a brow as he looks back to Lassie. "You better pray he didn't." He curls his nose up at her. "This li'l game you're playin' better stop. If I find out that it's still goin' on, you're gonna regret ever stepping foot into Woodbury. Do you understand?"
"Regret doesn't even begin to describe what I feel," Lassie spits.
The Governor's eyebrows knit. "Don't lie," he says. "If you hadn't have come, you wouldn't have found that brother of yours." He shakes his head.
"What if Merle knows?" Crowley asks as Martinez struggles to stand from the floor. "Do we kill him?"
"No," the Governor nearly whispers. His eyes bounce from Crowley to Lassie. "We give him a fate worse than death."
What do you think will happen?
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~MsBBSue