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Chapter 37

He slammed the door behind him, leaving her alone with Daryl. She knelt next to him, noting he was still breathing, albeit unevenly.

"I don't see a way out of this one" she said softly, looking down at him. She traced the fresh bruises on his face with her fingertips. "Aint seen you without bruises for weeks now. You're gonna have to be more careful" She heard the door being unlocked again and leant down, brushing her lips over his.

"Goodbye Daryl" she said sadly as she stood and faced Lee. He entered the room and stared at her for a second.

"Time to go" he gripped her arm and pulled her from the room. Once they were outside he turned to one of his men.

"Put a bullet in him and dump the body in the forest, let the undead have it" he instructed.

"No!" Eleanor cried out, trying to get back to Daryl.

"You don't need to do that, let him recover and let him go. You don't need to kill him" She was pleading desperately.

Lee faced her "Sorry Darlin' it's gotta be this way." He informed her "We can't have him getting' better and then thinkin' he wants revenge for you. He was dumb to come back for you but he's a strong son of a bitch, took six of us to put him down before. We aint going through that again"

She screamed Daryl's name as she was dragged away and she saw an armed man enter the store room. They hadn't gone very far when there was a single gunshot. She gave an anguished cry and her legs buckled. She would have fallen if Lee hadn't been holding on to her, and he yanked her back to her feet.

"Aint no point you fighting, this is gonna happen so you might as well make it easier for yourself" he told her as he dragged her through a door into another building. She was shoved into a chair and her unresisting hands were tied in front of her. The injured man from the car was left to guard her as Lee left through a second door and soon she could hear his voice.

"Okay, Gentlemen" he began "You all know me, I bring quality items time and again and I've never had a complaint. Tonight I've got something special. "

Eleanor was numb but she knew what was happening; she was being sold to the highest bidder. The man who bid the most weapons, alcohol or cigarettes would own her. He would expect to be able to do what he wanted with her. She decided she would fight whoever it was so hard they would kill her, after all she had nothing to live for now.

She shut out the lewd comments from her guard, not interested in his opinions of what was going to happen to her once she'd been bought. The door behind her opened and she ignored it, paying no attention to her guard's voice as he questioned the newcomer.

"What you doin' here? Aint you meant to be….."His voice trailed off as he scrambled backwards "Oh shit!" she heard him cry before a wet wheezing sound caught her attention. She turned her head and saw him lying on the floor behind her, a pool of blood spreading from a wound in his throat. A second body lay near the door.

"Ellie" a familiar voice croaked and she turned slowly to see Daryl leaning on the wall, a bloody knife in his hands. She ran to him, grabbing his shirt with her bound hands.

"I heard the shot, I thought he'd killed you" she rested her head on his chest, not believing he was there.

He managed to grin at her as he cut her bindings with the knife.

"Bastard knelt down to stick the gun up close, didn't realise I was awake. I managed to get the gun and take him out. Took his knife, used him as a shield to get here." He gave her a quick hug then took her hand, limping towards the door. She knew he was running on adrenalin and bloody mindedness.

"We need to get outta here fast." He peered out the door and checked it was clear. "We aint gonna make it back to our car, have to find one here" He was leaning on her as they ran from the building. Behind them they heard Lee cursing and yelling and knew her escape had been discovered. They ducked behind a building as doors crashed open and armed men poured out, looking for them.

Keeping to the shadows they made their way to the main street, looking for a suitable vehicle. There were several cars there, more than earlier in the day. Eleanor guessed they belonged to the people attending the auction. A man was shoving a sobbing, frightened woman into a car and Eleanor realised with horror she wasn't the only item for sale that day.

"Daryl" she whispered, indicating the woman "We gotta help her"

His grip tightened on her hand and he held her back from the road "We should, but I don't think we can." He looked away from her "We aint got weapons and I can hardly even stand up. We need to get away. I aint gonna let you get taken again" He knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear and wasn't surprised when she pulled her hand from his and walked towards the man and woman. She had his knife hidden under her sleeve.

The man turned to watch her approach, eying her up and down.

"Damn" he breathed "Why weren't you in the sale?"

She smiled brightly and leaned in close to him, her mouth near his ear,

"I was" she whispered as she slipped the knife into his throat. He fell to the ground as the woman watched wide eyed. Eleanor cut her wrists free and told her to take the car and run. She didn't need telling twice.

"Damn it Ellie" Daryl came up behind her "We coulda used that car"

She smiled sweetly and pointed across the road

"We're takin' that one" He followed her pointing finger and saw a silver 1970's Ford Mustang fastback.

"V8 engine, not much here can catch us" she ran across the road as he followed. The car wasn't locked and the keys were in the ignition. He eased into the passenger seat as she opened the driver's door.

"Damn bitch is takin' my car" A rough voice shouted, as several men ran from the building the auction was being held in. She jumped in and started the engine, slamming the door as the men opened fire. She slammed her foot down and the muscle car sped off. Some of the men jumped into other cars and started to give chase but she knew they'd never catch them. Daryl was quiet in the passenger seat, discreetly fastening his seatbelt and hanging on as she drove evasively, making turn after turn in the town, before finally leaving it behind them and opening up the throttle, sending the powerful car racing down the road. After several miles and no sign of pursuit she slowed down. Daryl was drifting in and out of unconsciousness and all she wanted was to get back to Terminus. She slipped her hand down against her side, cringing when her fingers came away covered in blood. She pulled open the glove compartment and found a wad of tissues, which she bundled against the wound. A stray round had caught her as she was getting into the car and she was starting to get woozy from blood loss. She couldn't tell if the bullet was still there or if it had passed clean through. She glanced across at Daryl; grateful he hadn't been aware enough of what was going on to see her get shot. She slowed the car again as she realised she was drifting across the road, her vision blurring. She found the pack of painkillers in her pocket and dry swallowed the remaining four. She pulled the car to a halt at the side of the road. Slipping out of the car she went round and opened the trunk. There was a pile of weapons stored there as well as some basic supplies. She found a backpack and emptied the contents into the trunk. There was a fairly clean looking tee shirt which she folded into a tight bundle. She pushed it against the hole in her side, hissing in pain as she held it in place with her belt. Carefully she covered the makeshift bandage with her shirt and got behind the wheel again. As she started the engine she heard Daryl

"Where you bin? Aint safe out there" he mumbled painfully, she was sure his breathing was getting more laboured and he was getting paler by the second.

"Needed a bathroom break" she lied as she accelerated up the road. There was still a long way to go.