Chapter 36
He arrived back at the car and settled back to wait for Eleanor. After an hour or so had passed he was worried. He knew how bad she was at finding her way in the forest and wondered if she had got lost again. He didn't want to think about the other options. With a sigh he headed out again, back towards the town. He was careful to listen out for either Eleanor or the gunmen, in case they were still searching for them, but heard nothing. Once he reached the edge of the town he kept to the side streets, heading for the grocery store the men had come from.
He was almost there when a voice called from a nearby rooftop.
"Knew you'd be dumb enough to come back for her" He span round and saw the bearded man laughing down at him. He swore under his breath as several other men appeared from various buildings. They circled around, surrounding him, weapons raised.
At the bearded man's order they advanced.
Eleanor paced around the small room. She been recaptured trying to escape and they'd locked her in the small store room of a pharmacy. It was only about eight foot square with racking along three of the walls. She spent several minutes searching the contents of the racks for anything useful but there was nothing. She found a blister pack of pain killers which she slipped into her jeans pocket for future use. The men had left her alone with no water or food and she was hungry and thirsty as well as pissed off. She had fought hard when they recaptured her but they hadn't hit out, just overpowered her with sheer numbers. Their leader, who she'd worked out was called Lee, had kept reminding them not to mark her as she was too valuable. She didn't know what that meant, but knew she wouldn't like it when she found out.
She stopped pacing when she heard the door being unlocked. It opened to reveal the man from the car. His face was even more bruised than before and he looked like he was prepared to defy Lee and hurt her at the first opportunity.
"Get over there, stand with your back against the wall" He ordered, pointing a rifle at her. She obeyed, hoping it meant they were going to give her food and drink. Instead two men entered dragging a semi-conscious Daryl between them. He'd clearly taken a beating, but judging by the cuts and bruises of the two men bringing him in he'd managed to get a few hits in himself. They let go of him and he fell forward, landing on his hands and one knee.
"Bastards!" she snarled at them "How many of you it take to do this? More than just you two pussies I'll bet" She knelt at his side as the men ignored her question, relocking the door on the way out.
"Damn it, why'd you come back?" she lifted his face, trying to see how badly hurt he was.
"Dumb enough to think I could get you out" he mumbled, his jaw hurting too much to talk a lot "but they was expecting me"
She helped him settle back into a slightly more comfortable position, resting his head on her lap. She remembered the pain killers she'd found and made him take three.
"Taste disgustin'" he complained as he forced them down dry.
She brushed hair off his forehead and swallowed back tears.
"You shouldn't of come back. Should of just gone. They aint hurt me" She tried to stay positive. She saw the glazed look in his eyes and knew he probably had a concussion. She kept talking just to keep him awake. His eyes kept closing and she knew he was struggling to stay with her. She told him about working in her Daddy's auto shop and the cars she sometimes raced. She told him that in the evenings and weekends she worked in the bar just across the road from the shop. She'd been saving up to buy her own place when the world went to shit and all the money in her account became worthless.
She knew the exact moment he passed out, his head sagged back and his body went limp. No matter what she did she couldn't wake him. This time she let the tears flow.
"Don't you dare leave me" she sobbed "You're the best thing that happened to me. I aint gonna lose you." Carefully she eased his head from her lap and rose to her feet. Going to the door she pounded on it.
"Get your damn asses in here now" she screamed. A few minutes later the door opened and Lee stood there an amused expression on his face.
"You want something?" He asked
"I want him to get medical attention now" she demanded "You do it and I'll co-operate with whatever you got planned for me. You don't and I swear I'll fight you every step."
Lee shrugged his shoulders, "Don't really care, soon you won't be our problem and I aint bothered about him. He can die for all I care"
She lunged at him, her hand reaching for the knife at his waist. He caught her uninjured wrist and twisted her arm behind her.
"We'll get more for you undamaged, but don't think I won't hurt you if you try something like that again." He spoke softly, his mouth close to her ear.
"You got a little while left before we auction you off to the highest bidder." He told her "Looker like you'll fetch a good price." He shoved her back into the small room, nodding to Daryl. "You got a couple of minutes to say your goodbyes."