Sorry it's been so long! This chapter isn't anything phenomenal either. I've been crazy busy and kind of had writers block. If you have any suggestions where I should go in the next chapters or what you want me to delve into... please send me a message!
Beth hit the ground hard, shattering the glass of red wine as she did so. Gunshots rang out in every direction, never ceasing for more than a few seconds. Rafe was on his knees next to her, checking his handgun and yelling to the three men who entered the room. Beth pushed off the floor, cutting her hand on the shattered glass as she tried to jump over the bed for the door. One of the men grabbed her leg and pulled her across the bed toward him.
"Get back here, little miss," Duke growled. He yanked her off the bed, securing one arm around her chest.
Rafe turned toward her, his face centimeters from hers. "That your rescue team out there?" he asked. "Let's take ya to 'em then." Rafe led the way down the stairs as gunshots continued to tear through the air. He was yelling instructions at his men as they scrambled for more ammunition. Bullets broke through windows and sunk into the wood of the cabin all around them. Four men lay on the floor, shot multiple times, either dead or dying. Duke pushed Beth to the floor and she scrambled behind a chair for protection.
Rafe grabbed Beth by the hair and walked to the front door, ripping it open without a second's hesitation. The gunfire ceased almost immediately.
"You here for your girl?" he yelled. Beth could hear men moaning from injuries. She wondered how long it would be before walkers were all over them. Rafe push Beth out the door, holding onto her ponytail. "You think you all can just come in here, shoot the place up and leave with my prize?" Rafe asked Beth's saviors. She could feel her pulse pounding in her veins as Rafe pushed her further outside. Duke followed closely behind her. "We're just men tryin' ta survive out here. Just because you're military you think you can take back what now belongs to me? I don't think so."
"We just want Beth back safely," Rick's familiar voice yelled out from the woods to their left. A few gunshots and yells could be heard deeper in the woods.
"Biters, I betcha," Duke murmured.
"Well, we want to live our lives without the military tellin' us how to do it. We're doin' just fine without ya," Rafe yelled.
Rafe pushed Beth to her knees. She began to sob with a gun barrel pressed to the back of her head. Why weren't they doing anything? Why weren't they killing them?
"Good bye, sweetheart," Rafe whispered. "It's been nice know – "
A scream ripped through the air from Beth's right. She turned quickly, seeing a one-armed walker ripping into Duke's neck. Blood splattered down onto Beth as she began to crawl away. Rafe turned toward her, walking slowly. "Where are all your friends?" he asked, raising his gun. Beth was flat on her back staring into the barrel of his gun wondering the same thing when a single shot rang out. Rafe dropped backward and Beth quickly grabbed his gun and stood over him. There was movement all around her as men appeared from the woods. Beth stared down at her abductor as blood wept from a bullet wound in the center of his head. She could see his wine-stained teeth in the glow of the moonlight and she shot right through them, shattering his teeth into a million pieces.
Hands gripped her shoulders from behind and she was shaken from her stupor. Duke's screams were finally silenced and the walker was put down. Slightly forceful hands turned Beth around. Glenn's dark eyes looked into Beth's light blues. His hands cupped her face as tears cut through the blood stains on her cheeks. He pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back to calm her cries.
Military vehicles were driven onto the compound once the survivors were secured. Fourteen women were found in the large garage. They were all underfed and dehydrated. Some sported black eyes and bruises along their bodies. The rescue team ushered the women into the vehicles and drove them back to the camp for immediate attention. Beth refused to leave without Glenn, waiting for the team to head back as one.
Rick and Daryl helped tie up and bound the surviving members of Rafe's group. Lou, her kidnapper, was one of the survivors. His dirty blond hair covered his eyes and his nose was bleeding from where Daryl punched him. Beth walked up to him where he kneeled on the floor of the cabin. She could feel Glenn, Rick and Daryl's eyes on her as she kicked him in the chest. Lou let out a yell as he fell to the ground. A military officer approached to stop her, but Glenn grabbed his arm. "Let her be," Rick said.
Beth kicked Lou in the gut again, letting out an exasperated breath. "Please, miss, I was only following orders," he whined.
"Fuck you and your orders," she said, kicking him again. Beth pulled out the gun she'd taken from Rafe's dead hand and aimed it at Lou's head.
"Please, please. I'll do anything," Lou begged.
Beth squinted at him, still pointing the gun between his eyes, when Daryl walked up next to her.
"I wouldn't," he said softly. "His face will haunt you for the rest of your life." Daryl put his hand on the gun and slowly lowered it, taking the gun from her hands. Beth's body began to sag and Daryl caught her just before she hit the floor. "We need to get her out of here. Let's wrap this up."