Chapter 51
Disclaimer: I own nothing, any resemblance to existing stories is unintended.
Author's note. Since my life is due to get busier in the next few weeks or so, I don't know when I will have time to write, so I am giving you a two-fer. I hope you enjoy it.
Charlotte's gaze slowly focused as she came to, the scents of damp, stale air and earth met her nostrils, telling her she must be underground. She pulled uselessly against the restraints that bound her to the chair she was sitting in, knowing it would be futile.
A smile crossed her scared face, the ropes might be hard to break … but the wooden chair they had her bound to wasn't. she took note of the one way mirror glass wall to her left, if she was going to do this, it had to be quick … and quiet.
"You let her WHAT!" Daryl raged as he paced to and fro like an angry animal in front of Rick, Glenn and Hershel stood between them, ready to intervene if necessary. "I told you not to let her go … I TRUSTED you!" He bellowed he said as he lunged at Rick, it took Glenn and Hershel nearly all of their strength to repel him.
"Daryl, please listen, you know her, she's going to do what she's going to do. No one can tell her anything!" Rick said, his hands in front of him in defense. When they had first met, he and Daryl obviously hadn't gotten off to a very good start. But over time they grew to understand each other, first as men,and then as friends. Now Rick feared that could all unravel because of a promise he had been forced into making, but couldn't keep.
Hershel stepped forward, leaning heavily on his cane. "Look … like it or not, this is the world we live in now. Everyone in this group will at some point have to take chances, stick their neck out, hell you risk your life every day you walk outside. It's inevitable and there is nothing we can do about it."
Daryl and Hershel held a hard stare for what seemed like an eternity before Daryl nodded, his blue eyes still burning as he backed off. Rick's radio crackled into the silence of the moment.
"I know the location of your missing girl. Come to the front gate and you will learn where to find her."
"Who the hell is that?" Daryl said, his anger at the situation still bubbling right under the surface. "I don't know, their voice came over the radio last night, said they knew where Charlotte was, that someone took her." Rick replied. "Well …what the fuck are we sitting round' here for?" Daryl said as he sprinted towards the gate. "Daryl … wait! It might be a trap …! FUCK!" Rick cursed as he drew his 357 and followed him.
Charlotte was sure it had been a day since she had come to in the small, dark room with its earthen floor. At least it felt like a day, judging on how thirsty she was. No one had even been in to see her or at least bring her food or drink … not that she would have consumed it anyway.
She jumped as a sudden impact hit the door to her room, her heart sank with dread as she heard the telltale growls. Now she realized why no one had been in to bring her food or at least interrogate her, because there was no one left alive in this compound to do so.
Maybe they tried to overtake her group and some of them were mortally wounded in the process, and not knowing what would happen when they died, they brought them back here. It was possible, they still ran into people who didn't realize that bitten or not, if you died, you came back as a walker.
The bright side of this was that she no longer had to worry about being discreet in her attempt to escape, with a few well-placed kicks, the chair splintered and she was able to stand. Luckily her dim-witted captors had used ropes instead of handcuffs or chains; all she needed was something with a sharp edge … and she found it in the form of a pair of scissors, probably left behind by her captors when everything started going south for them.
Sawing through the three layers of nylon rope that bound her hands and feet together with a pair of rusty, dull scissors took longer than she had would have preferred, but beggars couldn't be choosers and after what seemed like forever, she was free. Now to deal with the walkers.
Rick, Daryl, Andrea, and Glenn approached the gate with extreme caution. They weren't sure of this was a trap to lure them out into the open to slaughter them, or what. Instead they saw no one except the hoard of walkers that pressed themselves against the iron fence, flailing their arms uselessly at them.
There, just inside the gate lay a brick with a faded piece of paper attached to it with a rubber band. Rick's brow furrowed as he unfolded the paper and read it. "Well? What is it?" Daryl said impatiently. "It's a map, a map to the compound of the people who attacked us. The people who took Charlotte." Rick replied as his gaze met Daryl's.
Charlotte scoured the room for a ventilation shaft, but there was nothing, which meant she would somehow have to get out through the door. It was either that or stay in this room and await a death from dehydration or starvation.
She crept up to the door and put her ear against the cold, damp metal. She didn't hear anything, if there were still walkers out there, she had to bank on the chance they had moved on to other areas of the compound. There were a couple of other hurtles to overcome, the fact that she was out cold when they had brought her down here, and they had taken her weapons.
One of the legs from the chair she broke would have to do for now, she was betting a place this large had an armory … she was going to find it. She tried the door handle as quietly as she could and found that it was unlocked, these boys really were stupid. She slowly opened the door, cringing at the loud metallic creak the rusty hinges made.
She cautiously poked her head out into the hallway and found it vacant, not wasting any time, she crept along the dank, dark hallways. The place was like a labyrinth, but she eventually found a stairway. At every landing there was a door that lead to another floor.
Charlotte knew she should keep going, she knew that she should get the fuck out of dodge, but the idea of going out into the wilderness with just a severed chair leg as a weapon just didn't appeal to her. She had to find that armory, and the door in front of her was as good a place to start as any.
