A/N Only a couple more chapters to go, thanks for sticking with this. Things are looking pretty bad for the gang.

To the guest reviewer who commented on my use of the work 'aint' Thank you for your comments. I'm sorry you feel I'm using it too much. I see your point about Michonne but as far as I can see I've only made her say it once at a time when she was injured and had just buried a friend, I'm hoping we can excuse her lapse in grammar due to stressful circumstances ;) As for Tasha I'm going with the fact she was an officer when the world was right but now after a year or two of chaos she is reverting to how she was before the army. I'll try not to use it so much in future. Thanks again, I really appreciate all comments, good or bad.

Sorry to ramble here but can't respond any other way to a guest review.

Thanks to everyone else for reviewing, following and favouriting.

xxxx

Chapter 21

It was still dark when the soldiers came for them, sometime in the early hours of the morning. They were separated and taken to different rooms. Carl and Rick were taken to a small room and the ties holding Carl were removed and replaced with a set of cuffs. The cuffs were then attached to a pipe running down the wall. Rick was also cuffed but his arms were forced above his head and he was suspended from a wooden beam in the ceiling by a length of chain looped around his wrists. Three soldiers were in the room with them, including the one he now knew was the leader, the one called Spencer. He stood back and watched as the other two took turns to punch Rick, hitting him in the face and stomach. When he didn't make a sound they ripped open his shirt and stubbed cigarette butts out on his back and sides. Rick heard Carl struggling to free himself and forced himself to look at his son. He could see the boy was fighting to hold back tears, the child still in him suddenly so obvious as he was forced to see his helpless father beaten and tortured.

"Carl, stay strong" he told him "It'll be okay" Carl met his eyes and stood up straighter, putting on a brave face.

Spencer walked over to him.

"Brave kid" he commented, peering down at the chained boy. "But big enough to take part in killing our men, that makes him big enough to take the punishment." He swung his fist, catching Carl on the jaw, sending him crashing back against the wall.

"No!" Rick screamed, twisting frantically as he tried to reach his son "Leave him alone. Take it out on me, don't hurt him"

Spencer gave a cold smile and his fist flashed out again.

Maggie and Glenn heard Rick scream out from the next room. They exchanged frightened looks. Their hands were still tied behind them and they were standing back to back, watching the two soldiers circling them. With a grin one of them reached out and grabbed Maggie, pulling her towards him.

"How the hell did a runt like you get a woman as fine as this?" he sneered at Glenn.

"Don't touch her!" Glenn hurled himself at the man holding his wife. Before he could reach him the second soldier stepped forward and threw a punch, catching Glenn in the ribs and lifting the smaller man off his feet. Maggie cried out as the big soldier kicked Glenn hard in the stomach. The soldier reached down, grabbing Glenn's shirt and yanking him to his feet.

"Stay on your feet" he snarled. The man holding Maggie let go of her, shoving her to the side as they both started hitting the defenceless man. Every time he fell they pulled him back up until he could no longer stand by himself. Maggie charged one of the men, hitting him with her shoulder, both of them crashing to the ground.

"Hell she can't wait to get a real man. Look at her throwing herself at me" The men laughed and pushed the sobbing woman to one side before turning they turned their attention to Glenn again.

"Wait!" Maggie cried out "You want me you can have me just leave him alone, don't hurt him anymore"

Glenn weakly raised his head, protesting at what she was saying.

The two men looked at each other, then looked Maggie over.

"You gotta deal" The older of the two grabbed her arm and started to pull her from the room.

"Going to find somewhere a little more private" he winked at the remaining man. Glenn watched helplessly as Maggie was dragged away from him. The door closed behind her and he slumped down, letting the blackness take him.

The soldier that had taken Beth from the room with the others had spent a long time telling her she was too pretty and that was why the major had wanted her for himself. She had distracted the major and that was one of the reasons the base fell. He was going to change that. If she was no longer pretty she couldn't distract anyone else. He pulled out his knife and advanced on her. She backed away as far as she could until her back hit the wall. As he reached out and grabbed her hair, forcing her head back Beth could almost hear Daryl's voice, that day in the forest when he was teaching her how to survive on her own.

"You ever need to get away from a man you gotta aim for the delicate bits. A knee in the balls'll soon make him let go of yer"

She bought her knee up as hard as she could, making contact. The man let go of her hair and doubled over and she bought her knee up again, smacking him in the face. She pushed past him and made a run for the door. She had no idea how she was going to get away, her hands were still bound behind her. She cried out as a hand gripped her ankle and her foot was pulled out from under her. She hit the floor hard and felt the man gripping her legs as she twisted and fought to get away.

"You're gonna regret doing that" he snarled as he reached for his dropped knife. She was aware of the door opening, then a soft cry. The weight on her legs fell away and she heard a familiar voice.

"You alright Beth?" She scrambled to her feet, smiling broadly when she saw Michonne leaning on the door frame, katana in hand. The man was on the floor, his head no longer attached. Michonne cut through the ties holding Beth and the girl couldn't resist giving the older woman a tight hug.

"They told us you were dead. Told us they'd killed you and Daryl" She pulled away as she saw Michonne flinch, her hand going to her side.

"They tried, Tasha arrived just in time to patch me up and we got out of there."

"How bad is it?" Beth indicated Michonne's side.

"Took a load of painkillers and strapped it up tight. I'll be okay" Michonne grasped her katana and straightened up. Beth didn't miss the grimace that crossed her face.

"Come on, we need to find the others"

Beth picked up the soldiers knife and the two of them headed out the door.

Glenn managed to lift his head as Maggie was shoved back into the room. The soldier left with him hadn't kept to his side of the deal and had passed the time tormenting and hitting Glenn as he lay motionless and numb, trying not to think about what was happening to Maggie.

She had her head down and was unresisting as the soldier pushed her forward.

"Took your damn time" the man moved toward them, frowning when his colleague didn't speak, wondering briefly why he kept his head down and why his cap pulled over his face. The soldier let go of Maggie and there was a blur of movement as he raised his head.

The last thing the man saw as the knife embedded itself in his throat was a pair of piercing blue eyes, staring coldly at him.

Maggie ran to Glenn, pulling him into her arms as he tried to understand what had just happened. The soldier dropped next to him, pulling off the cap and cutting through the ties that held Glenn's wrists. It took the battered man a few seconds to realise the soldier was Daryl.

"Daryl and Tasha killed the guard that took me before he could touch me. Daryl took his uniform so we could get back in here and free you." Maggie explained as she helped Glenn to sit up. With difficulty Glenn reached out and grabbed Daryl's arm.

"Thank you" he managed to croak out "Thank you for saving her"

Daryl shrugged.

"Did what was needed" He got to his feet "Gotta get out there and find the rest. You two need to find somewhere to hide out 'till it's over"

Glenn pulled himself up.

"No, we're coming with you. There's too many for just you and Tasha" Glenn took a few steps and almost fell.

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"You aint in any state to help. Best to keep out the way so we don't have to look out for yer ass" He handed Maggie one of the guns taken from the dead soldiers.

"We got Michonne as well and she's pretty pissed" he flashed them a small smile "They don't stand a chance"