It all happened so fast. One moment Beth was walking toward the rec building and the next moment a grimy hand was over her mouth and she was pulled into the darkness between two buildings. With all the commotion and noise, no one had noticed the two men pulling her into the darkness. She tried desperately to scream or escape, but her captors threatened her in low voices and placed a gun to her back.
"Make one sound and I'll blow a hole clear through ya," a man's deep voice growled. Him and his accomplice rushed her through the courtyard, being sure to stay in the shadows.
"We don't wanna go to the back wall," said the accomplice, a big man with hands the size of boulders. "I saw that guy with the crossbow go that way."
Beth whimpered, hoping Daryl would swoop in and save her.
"Shut up," the first man said, wiping dirty blond hair from his eyes. "Come on, let's go this way." He motioned for the back corner of the camp. "That's where Stan and Duke came in."
The two pushed Beth forward, ducking behind a truck when three soldiers ran by. The big guy lifted Beth up by her shirt when she struggled to stand up and pushed her forward. They made it to the wall and the first man used Boulder hands to boost him over the wall, then Beth was all but tossed over, landing on her left shoulder. She let out a yelp, which was followed by a boot to the ribs.
"I said don't make a sound! Jax, pick her up. I think she busted her arm." Boulder hands lifted Beth off the ground easily and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"We need to tie her up and gag her, Lou," Jax said.
They ran a few yards, making it into some brush and stopped. The sirens could still be heard from Fort Bragg. Beth sobbed as Jax threw her to the ground and pulled rope off his shoulder. He tied her hands behind her back and Lou tied a bandana around her mouth, muffling a scream. Jax picked her back up and the duo began running again.
Beth lost all sense of direction and time as she bounced to the beat of Jax's long strides. She'd stopped crying, but her mind was racing with images of her future. What were these men's intentions? Where were they taking her? Would they kill her? Hold her hostage? Rape her? She squeezed her eyes shut at the last thought, that one being the worst.
The two captors slowed to a walk and stopped. Jax threw Beth to the ground. Rolling onto her side, she saw a man joining the group, which had stopped next to a parked and hidden car.
"Where the fuck's Stan?" Lou asked, straining his voice.
"The fuckin' idiot got cornered. He was trying to snatch some broad. I told him you two were gettin' a hostage. The moron wouldn't listen, so I left him," retorted the newcomer. He spit on the ground, barely missing Beth's face. Grime covered him from head to toe.
"Goddammit, Duke! They'll interrogate him! If he rats on us, that's on you, brother," Lou yelled, stabbing a finger into Duke's bulky chest.
Duke slapped Lou's finger away and aggressively got in his face. "Fuck you, man. You're the idiot who brought Stan along. This is on you!"
Lou pushed the bigger man away, but with the size difference, Duke barely budged. "Fuck you, dude. Let's just get this pretty little thing to Rafe." Duke lifted Beth off the ground by her injured arm. She let out a squeal of pain, mumbled by the gag. "Shut the hell up, bitch." Beth could smell Duke's rank breath as he inspected her. "Rafe likes blonds. Nice job."
"I thought we were snatching someone for leverage," Jax said, as Duke opened the trunk of the car. He lifted her up, pausing to stare into her terrified eyes. Tears slid down her cheeks, wetting the bandana at her mouth. Duke smiled and dumped her into the trunk. Beth tried to scream before he slammed it closed.
"You don't think he'll want to play with her just a little?" Duke asked, rounding the car and getting in the driver's seat. Jax shrugged and got in back as Lou stepped into the passenger seat. Beth kicked and screamed in the trunk of the car as it moved out of the foliage and onto the road. Duke chuckled, turning the music up to cover the sound of the young girl's fight for life.
Jo ran out of the rec hall as soon as they realized Beth was gone. She hoped they had just been separated, but she knew in her gut that Beth was taken. Jo had a feeling these "insurgents" that broke into the camp weren't here just for supplies, like Major Rice said. They had a beef with the military and they had a plan to get what they wanted.
The grounds were almost bare as Jo vaulted down the steps of the building. The siren was still sounding as she ran to the main gate, ignoring a soldier's command to get back to the rec hall. She entered the main area and stopped, searching for Major Rice and Col. Schwartz. She spotted the two men huddled near a vehicle, Col. Schwartz yelling into a walkie.
"Colonel!" Jo yelled as she ran over to them, moving to the right to avoid a soldier.
"Jo? What are you doing here? You should be in the rec hall with the rest of the civilians. It isn't safe," Major Rice said.
Jo brushed past him, ignoring his statement. "Colonel, Beth is missing. She was right there and then she was gone. Whoever those men are, they had to of taken her," Jo said.
Col. Schwartz lowered the walkie from his lips. "Shit."
That one word affirmed Jo's fears. These men were here for more than supplies and Beth was a piece in their game now. "She's only 14. We have to go after her!"
"Jo! What 'er you doin' out here?" Daryl yelled as he approached. Jo's head snapped around at the sound of his voice. She moved toward him swiftly, pulling him into a hug. Daryl's arms hesitated in mid-air, caught off guard by Jo's sudden affection – especially after how she'd been treating him since they arrived.
She pushed away after a moment, looking into his blue eyes. "Beth is gone," she said. "Those men took her."
Anger flashed across Daryl's face instantly. He moved around Jo and advanced on Major Rice and Col. Schwartz. "Yer a buncha fuckin' liars!" he bellowed, pointing in their direction. "Sayin' these guys were here just for fuckin' supplies! You knew they were here to start trouble. You knew they'd take someone! And they took a fuckin' innocent teenage girl? You better have a god damn plan," he yelled.
Rick, Tyreese, Glenn and Maggie joined the group, confused by the confrontation. "What's goin' on?" Rick asked, hooking his thumb in his belt loop. The two military personnel stood silent as they waited for someone in the group to give the news to Maggie. Daryl opened his mouth to report it, but Jo put a hand on his shoulder. She moved in front of him, raising her eyes to meet Maggie's.
"Maggie, we have some bad news," Jo started.
Glenn let out a bated breath and Maggie began shaking her head. "What happened? Did Dad get hurt?"
Jo shook her head. "No, no. It's Beth."
Maggie sucked in a sharp breath and Rick ran a hand through his hair, glancing at Rice and Schwartz.
"The men who breeched the wall took her, that's the only thing that could have happened. We were walking back to the rec hall and one minute she was there and next she wasn't," Jo explained. "By the time we realized it in all the commotion, she was gone."
Tears jumped out of Maggie's big, brown eyes as Glenn pulled her into a hug. Jo turned her attention back to Col. Schwartz, as did Rick, Tyreese and Daryl.
"So what do ya plan on doin'?" Daryl asked. "I hope you know a little more about this group than you let on."
Col. Schwartz nodded. "We do. Let's take this in my office," he began, before a soldier ran up to the group.
"Colonel," he began, pausing to catch his breath. "We caught one of the men near the back of the rec hall. He had ahold of a woman."
Hope surged through Jo at the news. This horrible being could give them all the information they needed to find Beth. Rick nodded at Col. Schwartz. "We'd like to be present during questioning," he stated.
Col. Schwartz nodded, walking solemnly toward the building. The sirens finally died down and silence overtook the camp. Jo followed Glenn and Maggie back to the barracks, her head bowed and thoughts amiss. Will we ever catch a break? she thought to herself. Will there ever be a feeling of normalcy again?