The Wolf You Feed

Chapter 19

The party was strained and awkward. But Rowan was glad to see that at least these people were getting something to eat. She stuck close to Daryl's side, even hooking her pinky finger into the pocket of his pants to keep him even closer. He kept one hand on the strap of his bow and the other pressed gently to her lower back.

Aside from the food Rowan and Daryl brought, some meat had been provided and cooked on skewers over a small fire. It didn't smell bad, but the thought of what it was made Rowan sick. She could never eat horse. It would be like eating one of her dogs. Aside from the meat, a few large pitchers of something that smelled fermented had been placed in the table. Rowan steered clear of that drink, since she wasn't sure how strong it was. She wanted to keep a clear head for the confrontation that she knew was coming.

Amanda, on the other hand, was drinking quite a lot. She was sitting on the top step of her lodge, up above everyone like a queen on her throne. Rowan had been keeping a close eye on the so called leader of this group as she spoke a little with some of the other women. Amanda was on her fourth drink. Which seemed like it might have been about one too many because she was starting to get loud and insulting to the people around her. Even the ones that Rowan knew the woman was closest with. She made a nasty remark about the marks on Katie's face and Rowan saw the woman cringe as her body tensed up.

They had what Daryl called a battle plan. But Rowan had still been hopeful that she might be able to talk sense to the leader of this camp. But it was becoming more and more clear to her that no negotiations were going to happen here today. Amanda wasn't just angry or confused. She was totally delusional. Her aura hung around her like a pointed cone. Mottled colors that were mixed together in a disorganized pattern of browns and a sickening reddish green. There was something broken inside her, Rowan could see it now. Hate had eaten her alive and left nothing but an empty shell of a person behind.

Amanda tilted her cup back and then hollered at one of the women to bring her another drink. Rowan found this very rude. That woman's legs weren't broke. She ought to get her drunk butt up and get her own drink instead of making people wait in her like a slave. As Rowan watched her, she thought about Deanna. Comparing the two women in her mind. When Deanna had a party, she went out of her way to make everyone comfortable. Getting drinks for them and offering them food. She never felt the need to boss people around or assert her dominance over them. Rowan didn't always agree with everything the woman did. But Deanna was a good leader. She took care of her people like they were her own children. Amanda treated these people like they were her personal slaves.

"Hey!," Amanda hollered. Since she was gesturing in Rowan's general direction, Rowan assumed the woman was talking to her. "Come have a drink with me." Rowan felt Daryl's hand fist into the back of her shirt. He gave a subtle shake of his head. Robin warned them not to take anything to eat or drink from Amanda. She was afraid the woman was going to try and poison them.

Rowan walked over, pausing at the bottom of the steps but being mindful to stay out of arms reach. Amanda waved another woman over, and she held out a drink for Rowan to take. But Rowan shook her head and waved the woman away.

"No thank you. I'm not thirsty right now," she said. Amanda laughed. She took another swig off her own drink, sloshing a little bit out of her cup and down the front of her. Rowan was hoping the woman might get even drunker and maybe pass out. She had seen Katie's face when she carried that little boy out of the holding. Katie was not as crazy as her sister. Rowan thought there was a chance she might be able to talk to her and end this without further incident if Amanda was out of the picture.

Amanda turned her hateful gaze towards Daryl. Staring at him until he started to feel uncomfortable. He had not gone up to the bottom of the steps with Rowan, choosing to stay a little further back where he could keep his eye on the rest of the women. Katie in particular. She was over by the side of the porch steps. Just out of range of the large cat they kept chained up over there. Something seemed off about her. He couldn't put his finger on it but he knew she was up to something. His hand went to his gun. Just resting on it for now. But he was ready.

"Why do you tie yourself to that man?," Amanda asked Rowan, gesturing towards Daryl with a dismissive wave. "Are you too weak to be alone?" Rowan had made her look foolish in front of her people. And before she killed the woman Amanda intended to repay the favor.

"I may be weak. But through weakness comes true strength. The strength to find love and purpose," Rowan shot back. The other woman's words didn't bother her. She knew loving Daryl didn't make her weak. There was a strength in love that this woman would clearly never allow herself to understand.

Amanda's face twisted into a scowl. The conversation was not going as she thought it would. She was growing tired of this woman and her clever wit.

"Whatever you stupid little bitch," Amanda mumbled. Then suddenly she was on her feet, the cup discarded into the bushes next to her. She was not weaving or stumbling. In fact she seemed to be in complete control of herself. Rowan's eyes flew open as she realized what was going on. This woman wasn't drunk at all. That had all been an act to lure Rowan in close enough for this woman to get ahold of her. Amanda leaped down from the top step and pushed Rowan down. She landed on the ground, her hip slamming down painfully against the hard packed dirt.

Rowan expected the woman to come at her again, maybe kick her or try to fight her. But she darted around the side of the steps instead. Retrieving a large bucket, Amanda gripped it with one hand underneath and one on the lip, tossing it's contents over Rowan before she knew what was happening. The liquid was thick and sloppy. It was in her eyes and mouth and all over her hands as she tried to wipe it away. The smell, she knew it well. It was the smell of fear and pain. The smell of dying and suffering. She was covered in blood.

Daryl saw what was going on but before he had a chance to react, there was a knife at his throat and several women surrounding him with spears. One grabbed his gun from the holster and held it on him. Rowan was on the ground covered in blood. The stuff was in her face, all over her clothes and hair. She was wiping at her eyes and he could tell she couldn't see. Amanda marched forward and kicked her. Hard in the gut. Rowan doubled forward, her hands around her middle. He expected the woman to go for Rowan again, but instead she turned and scrambled back up onto the porch in a hurry.

Katie darted in, way too close where the tiger was tied up at. Daryl heard the jingle of a chain. A loud hiss from the big cat. Then Katie was running, hauling her ass around to the other side of the porch away from the angry animal. Daryl knew then what she had done. They planned all this. She had let the fucking tiger loose. And Rowan was right in front of it, covered in bloody slop. Daryl didn't care anymore if these woman had knives and a gun pointed at him. He started fighting.

Rowan swallowed her nausea and whipped her shirt off, using the back of it to wipe her eyes so she could see. When she opened them she was face to face with the half starved tiger that these women kept chained up next to the porch. She screamed. A loud peircing sound that backed the cat up a few inches. Rowan's first thought, other than sheer mindless terrror, was that maybe she had just rolled too close to where the tiger was kept. She used her hands and feet, pushing herself backwards through the muddy puddle around her. But the cat kept coming. Amanda had turned it loose on her.

The cat hissed and swiped at her, long razor sharp hooked claws reaching for her flesh. Rowan managed to dodge back out of the way. The cat hissed again. It's haunches were wiggling and it's tail was twitching. The cat was going to pounce on her. And when it did, it was going to kill her and eat her. Everything slowed down in that moment and she saw all the things she was going to miss out on flash before her eyes. Her baby, growing strong inside her until she was big enough to come out and be held close in her arms. Their community growing strong around them. And Daryl. His eyes and his hands. The peaceful look on his face when he slept.

Rowan heard the low growl from beside her. Not the big cat this time. It was Tank. Moving in close until he was almost on top of her. Morgan appeared on her other side, silent but with lips pulled back to show his teeth. She had given them the signal to stay hidden behind Robin's cabin. But they must have heard her scream. Rowan shoved with her feet, scooting back on her butt so the dogs could place themselves between her and the tiger.

She heard a commotion to her right. Daryl was fighting with a woman. A few of them were already on the ground around him. One looked like her nose was badly broken. He was wrestling with the last one, trying to get his gun back from her. It fired off into the air as he grabbed for it.

The loud bang was like a catalyst. A spark that set everything aroud them on fire. The tiger lunged for Tank and the two animals locked into each other in a flurry of orange and black fur. Rowan looked up and saw Amanda had a gun pointed at Morgan. She scrambled to her feet, preparing to charge the woman. But before she could move, a gunshot rang out. For a moment Rowan was afraid her dog had been shot. But Amanda was the one slumping to the ground, blood seeping from a bullethole in the center of her forehead.

Rowan felt a thin set of arms go around her waist. She started to panic, but a soothing voice came from behind her.

"It's alright." One of the men from the pen had ahold of her, but he was only trying to pull her away from the figthing animals. Once they were back, he let her go. Ezekiel was next to her with the gun she and Daryl had hidden in a ziplock bag down inside the soup bowl. He was the one that shot Amanada.

Now he had his gun trained on the fighting animals. So did Daryl, but it was going to be hard to get a shot with them locked into each other. Rowan started to cry. Tank was a big dog, but he was no match for the claws of a half starved desperate tiger. There was blood smeared on the tiger's fur, and Rowan knew most of it was his. He was losing the fight, yelping as the tiger's claws ripped into his side.

Rowan heard voices. Calling her name. Calling for Daryl. She was sure she was losing her mind, because it sounded like her father and Daryl's friend Rick. Then she felt a low rumble. A sound she had heard plenty of times back in Alexandria. The pounding of so many paws hitting the ground at once. Lily rushed around the corner first, running so fast that dirt was kicking out behind her back paws. She was followed closely by two of her pups. The black dogs that had been given to Spencer and Rick. The three of them rolled over that tiger like a tidal wave. Nothing but teeth and orange fur flying. Lily ran that tiger out of there like a scared little kitten with it's tail tucked between it's legs. Just for good measure she chased the big cat to the edge of town and barked at it while it slunk away.

There was a loud feline yowl and then the sound of gunshots rang out from the direction the dogs had come from. Rowan ran for Tank, dropping down to her knees by his side. He looked up at her and gave a little whine. His tail was thumping against the ground so Rowan knew he was going to be alright. The scratches were not that deep.

Amanda was dead, but some of her followers were still standing. Katie was at the bottom of the stairs when the crowd of angry men from inside the pen started to close in on her. They had rocks and sharpened bones in their hands. Some even had broken pieces of the wood from the fence that had kept them prisoners all this time. Rowan sucked in her breath. They were going to beat that woman to death if someone didn't stop them. It would be one thing if she was still threatening them, but she was staring at Amanda's dead body with her hands up. Two more of the girls from her group were on the steps above her. A couple of the younger ones that had only stood and stared during the fight.

Rowan scrambled to her feet and grabbed Lily's collar. She pulled the dog with her, shoving through the crowd of angry men to get between them and Katie. One man screamed for Rowan to get out of their way. He was pushing in close, but Lily backed him up. Barking and growling.

"Calm down," Rowan hollered at the men.

"They deserve to die for what they did to us," the man yelled back. The young girl with the shaved head was on the steps behind Rowan and Katie. She hollered back at him.

"I just wanted to learn to hunt," she said, "I was hungry!" Tears were spilling down her cheeks. The man nodded. That girl had never done anything to any of them. But Katie was a different story. That bitch had to go.

"That's fine," he yelled. Then he pointed his finger at Katie. "But she needs to fucking pay for what she did!" The man looked ready to shove past Rowan and her dog to get at Katie, so Daryl pushed his way through and slammed into the man's chest with his hands..

"Back the fuck away from my wife," he hollered.

By this time, most of the rescue crew from Alexandria was starting to gather around in the area. Daryl saw Rowan's dad, Rick, Enid and Carl, Spencer, Aaron and Abraham. They looked confused, like they were trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. Thankfully, Ezekiel weaved through his own men and took up shop in front of Daryl and Rowan before the situation took a turn for the worse. He spoke to the man that had been pushing towards Katie.

"You're right," he said, "she does need to pay. But not with her life." Rowan heard the woman sigh behind audibly behind her. Ezekiel chose his next words carefully. "There are two young boys involved in all this. Boys that now lack the ability to run or even walk well. They are going to need someone to take care of them." He turned around and looked at Katie. She nodded. Those boys hated her, but she could still make sure they had warm clothes and enough to eat.

Robin stepped forward, clearing her throat to get everyone's attention. People seemed more than happy to put all the blame for all of this on Katie and Amanda. But they had all played a part in the horror that had overcome this community.

"It's easy to push the blame onto Amanda," Robin said. Rowan noticed she was holding her crystal necklace in her hand as she spoke. It brought images of Rowan's mother to her mind. When she had been wishing or praying on something, her mother always held her crystal in her hand. The way Robin was holding hers now. It led an aura of importance and significance to her words. "One person can be strong. But two or five or ten people are always stronger. This did not happen because of Amanda. Or Katie. This happened because we let it happen. Those boys are the chosen of Gaia now. It is up to all of us to take care of them. And above all else we have to start taking care of each other."

** This chapter included a quote from Jeremy Limn. "I can be weak, but through weakness comes true strength. The strength to find love and purpose."