The Wolf You Feed
Chapter 10
** Just a warning that this chapter contains some content that might be disturbing. Mostly implied torture that happened before the story began. Nothing too graphic but it might be upsetting for some people. Thanks to everyone that took the time to leave a review. **
Once they had been placed back in the pen, Daryl started to ask more questions. For each one Ezekiel answered, Daryl felt like he had ten more for the man. Ezeliel offered up a lot of disturbing information. The dead girl that had been buried earlier was the daughter of the woman in charge of this camp. Amanda's daughter, the dead boys, and the young pregnant girl Daryl had seen at the funeral had tried to escape. To run away from this place. Ezekiel didn't know the details. Only that he had woken up one morning to find the boys gone from inside the holding. The small group must not have made it very far before they were caught and brought back.
That story was horrible, especially the parts Daryl knew the man was leaving unsaid. He had seen the bodies. Those boys had been beaten within an inch of their lives. Daryl knew a thing or two about being hit. And from the looks of those boy's bodies and how many different colored bruises they had on them, Daryl guessed they had been beaten and tortured over an extended amount of time. Probably at least a week.
"Why did those women kill the girl?," Daryl asked.
"She tried to escape again," Carl said. He had heard enough yelling about that from inside this pen to have some idea of what was going on. "I think she tried to help those guys."
"She was in love with one of them," Ezekiel added. He figured that was what really set the girl's mother off. Amanda hated men. Warned her daughter over and over to stay away from them. "Her and Lauren, the pregnant girl you saw at the funeral. At night, they have been sneaking in here, or sneaking the boys out."
They sat crosslegged in the dirt as they spoke. There was no where else to sit down in this place except for on the ground. Carl had the piece of bone Daryl had given him earlier. He worked away on it, sliding the edge of it across a rough rock over and over again. Honing the pointed end of the bone until it was razor sharp.
One of the other men in the pen approached them. He was carrying a child in his arms. Daryl had not noticed the boy before. He had seen a few boys around Carl's age. But this one was quite a bit younger than that. He couldn't be more than seven or eight. He was so skinny. Like the kids in those commercials that used to come on late at night where they would try and get people to send them money. For just fifty cents a day you can provide for and water for a child just like Bobby.
"They want to sit with you and meet the new guy," the man told Ezekiel. He sounded like he was asking permission. Ezekiel nodded and the man lowered the child to the ground. The boy took a few hobbling steps. Something was wrong with either his leg or his hips, Daryl thought as he observed the child. Ezekiel held his arms out for the boy and gathered boy into his lap.
The man walked away and returned with another child. This one was slightly older, maybe a little younger than Carl. Once again, the boy's age was hard to guess since he was so scrawny looking. This boy was not carried over, he was walking with a stick and the man's arm to aid his movements. But there was something wrong with him. The same thing that was wrong with the other boy. Daryl felt confused. He thought about the swine flu that had swept through the prison. Had these people been affected by some sickness that had crippled the children? It was the only explanation he could think of.
Daryl realized he was staring at the boys with his mouth open. He snapped it shut, glancing towards Carl to see if he knew what was going on. Carl just shook his head and handed Daryl the sharpened piece of bone. Daryl took it and handed the boy the other half of the bone, so he could sharpen that one up too.
"This is Troy," Ezekiel said, stroking his hand over the boy's hair that was sitting in his lap. The older boy that was crowded in on the side of him was called Matt. "This is Daryl," Ezekiel told the boys. The one in his lap had his dirty thumb in his mouth. But his eyes flicked towards Daryl. The older boy gave a little nod, but neither of them made any attempt to speak.
"What happened to them?," Daryl asked. He honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer to his question. It was more like he had to know. Rowan had been waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, saying she heard little children crying. Daryl had assumed the dreams had something to do with her pregnancy. Like that she was just nervous about the baby or something. But now, looking at these boys, he got a weird feeling. Almost like having deja-vu, but in reverse. His arms broke out in gooseflesh and he felt a shiver run up his spine.
"Troy's mother," Ezekiel said, gesturing to the boy in his lap. "Her husband was locked up in this pen. She wanted him back. And not only that, she was whipping up a bunch of the other women, trying to get them to stand up to Amanda and her little team of maneaters. Amanda sent Katie to grab up the woman's son." Daryl took a closer look at the boy. His knees were turned almost towards each other. Daryl had been forced to watch enough sports on tv to know what that meant. The boy's hip was dislocated.
"I'm not sure if they meant to pull his hip out of place," Ezekiel continued, "at first I think they were just trying to make him scream. So his mother could hear it. But after it happened... well I guess they decided it was a good way to keep people from running away."
"I hate Amanda," the older boy announced with a sniffle. Carl's head popped up. It was the first time he had heard either boy speak.
"I know," Ezekiel told the boy, putting an arm around the boys shoulder. He looked up at Daryl. "The women. They found Matt when they were out on a run. Amanda took him in to live with her. But she treated him more like a pet than a child. She liked to dress him up in girl's clothes and parade him around. Sometimes she would take him to bed and sleep with him like he was a stuffed animal or a baby." Daryl raised his eyebrows at the man. This Amanda woman was sounding crazier by the minute. He wondered how she maintained control over these people for so long. But then he thought about the governor, Gareth from Terminus, Joe. People were easier to control when they were afraid.
"Why did she do that to his leg then?," Daryl asked.
"He did something that made her angry," Ezekiel replied.
"Like what?" Daryl was having a hard time thinking of what a kid could do that would make a grown woman angry enough to disfigure him permanently. Had he tried to run away or something? That seemed like a popular crime in this camp.
"He hit puberty," the man explained. Daryl was confused for a moment, but then he thought back to when he was about that age. It was about the time that boys started waking up with morning wood. It was a normal part of life, it happened to all men. But he could imagine what that crazy woman's reaction would be if it happened in her bed. Daryl nodded in understanding. "Amanda flew into a rage. She had her women do this to Matt's leg and then she threw him in here with us."
"Hate her," the boy said again, scrubbing the tears from his face. Before Daryl could ask anything else, the gate to the pen was swung open. Carl quickly shoved the bone he was sharpening under his shirt.
Katie came striding in, Carl's rifle balanced menacingly in her hands. She looked the men over and then gestured to someone outside the pen. Some women came in, carrying big jugs of water and large platters of cooked meat. Daryl guessed it was horse meat. A food that he would normally not find very appealing. But at the moment, it smelled like heaven. His mouth filled with saliva and his stomach started grumbling immediately.
Daryl had not had anything to eat since the night Molly ran away. He had gotten spoiled on Rowan and Nokake's cooking all winter. In Alexandria, supplies were not unlimited. They didn't have their most favorite foods available all the time, but there was always enough of something to go around. Besides, he swore those girls could make a gourmet meal with some ground corn and an old bone. Daryl had gotten very used to having a full belly.
Most of the men in the pen had climbed to their feet. But Daryl noticed none of them were making a move towards the food. They were just standing around staring at their feet. Like they were scared that if they did or said anthing wrong, the food might be taken right back to wherever it came from. What they should be doing was charging Katie and grabbing her gun. Then getting the fucking hell out of this animal pen. Daryl thought about making a move on her himself, but he could tell the woman was watching him like a hawk. The thought of jabbing her through the neck with the extremely sharp chunk of bone that was stuck in the back of his pants was a more pleasing thought than he figured it should be.
The women who brought the food in were ushered back out. Katie threw one last suspicious glance in his direction and then headed out behind them. She told Amanda from the start. That one was going to be trouble. They should have just killed him right off the bat. Even now he looked like he was up to something. Probably thinking about how many times he would have raped her if he had caught her by surprise in the woods instead of the other way around.
Once the gates were closed, the men approached the trays of food. Daryl figured they would all start digging in, but instead the plates were lifted up off the trays first, like the men were looking for something. One of them held a folded piece of paper up in the air. That seemed to be what they were searching for. The paper was given to a man Daryl guessed was in his twenties. The man took the paper and grabbed a chunk of meat, taking off under the overhang to read his note in private.
"His wife," Ezekiel explained, "she hides letters for him with the food." Daryl nodded. He noticed the older man shoved his way through and made sure the boys got something to eat before he fed himself. Carl darted in with them and grabbed a two hunks of meat. He handed one piece to Daryl and started gnawing on the other one.
"If she really wanted to help," Daryl said, thinking about that man's wife, "she would hide a knife under that plate." A man that was standing nearby gave Daryl a dirty look.
"Wait until you try something," the man told Daryl. He ticked his head towards Carl. "They will put your friend in the cage without food or water for a few days. See how brave you are then." The man had been watching before. He saw Daryl and Carl sharpening up bits of bone like they were going ever going to be able to get close enough to use them. Plenty of men had already tried something similar. And where were they now? Dead.
"The cage?," Daryl asked.
"The shed they had you tied up in," Ezekiel explained. Daryl nodded.
"Y'all can't be happy, livin' like this," Daryl said. He gestured around him. This was no way for anyone to live. Daryl still thought these men were chicken shits. But he was starting to better understand the dynamic of what was going on in this place. If these women had Rowan, and he knew if he tried to escape that they would hurt or starve her, he would be much less likely to try anything.
The man that had been speaking looked irritated. But there was also a slight gleam of interest in his eyes. "Well then, what would you suggest we do instead?," the man asked.
