Glenn stepped into a rickety cottage and stopped.

He stared at the beaten woman on the messy bed horrified. He loved that woman more than anything in this shitty world, and now he just couldn't believe his eyes.

Luckily he recovered quickly, stepped over to the bed and fell on his knees.

"Oh my God, Maggie... What happened? Who did this to you?" He asked in a muffled tone and touched Maggie's bruised hand gently.

Maggie didn't reply. She closed her eyes with mixed feelings.

Relief - yes. Her torturers haven't returned.

Joy - no doubt. She was saved, she knew that now.

But her most overwhelming feeling was the shame.

I hate the fact that Glenn has to see me like this after all we have been through. And I hate myself too. I should have been more careful. Maybe... maybe I deserved this. After all - I started all this by sleeping with Daryl Dixon behind Glenn's back, she thought bitterly and opened her eyes again.

Behind Glenn Maggie saw Daryl.

The hunter had suspected something like this when seeing three sets of footprints on the dusty ground. But witnessing the tragedy with his own eyes was something else completely.

Luckily Glenn wasn't watching him at that moment. Daryl's inner struggle was written all over his face. He gritted his teeth, he was white as a sheet.

Why did I leave her alone in the woods? This is my fault. This wouldn't have happened if we had talked with Glenn together yesterday. I'm a dumbass redneck, he thought with rage.

Unfortunately Maggie misinterpreted his furious facial expression.

Daryl despises me. He thinks I'm filthy and used, she thought numbly.

"Untie me. Now." She said to Glenn in a low tone and the young man did so with tears in his eyes.

Finally she was free.

Maggie stood up unsteadily and turned her back on both men. Daryl swallowed when he realized that someone had been flaying her with a belt.

"Oh Jesus, Maggie..." Glenn stammered when he saw the marks on her back but she refused to look at him. Maggie found her torn clothes from the floor and started to dress herself without a word.

A bra. Her panties. Her blouse and her jeans. Her boots.

Maggie didn't stop, not even for a moment. No, she focused very determinedly on the task at hand. It was the only thing that kept her sane. She didn't want to stop to think about how she really felt. Miserable and humiliated. Her aching back. Her bruises and her wounds. And her crotch - swollen and numb.

"We have to get you to the doctor at once..." Glenn started but Maggie shook her head angrily.

"No. Nothing is torn or broken I think. I'll deal with this on my own. I'll survive I'm sure." Maggie snapped frighteningly coldly.

Daryl took a step closer and touched her arm.

"Maggie, ya have to let us help. Who did this to ya?"

"I don't want to say. It would only cause trouble... an endless circle of vengeance. The group doesn't need that right now. I don't want anyone else involved in this shit, so please keep all this to yourselves. Let's get back to the camp now." Maggie said not looking at them.

"It was someone from Alexandria, obviously. We have to talk with Rick..." Glenn noted, deeply worried.

"NO! Please be quiet. Trust me, I just want to get back to the camp now." Maggie snapped sharply and walked over to the door with expressionless face.

Both Daryl and Glenn disagreed, but they had no choice but to follow her.

xxx

They walked back to Alexandria in silence.

Daryl wanted desperately to talk with Maggie alone, but Glenn was there between them all the time, trying to comfort her. Daryl felt bad when he saw how evasively Maggie behaved. She had accepted Glenn's jacket and wrapped it around herself, but she clearly avoided his touch and looked the other way all the time. Her face was stony. Glenn felt miserable because of it, and Daryl shared the feeling.

When they arrived to the camp Daryl noticed immediately that something was wrong.

A group of people had gathered near the main entrance. Everybody was clearly upset, some of the women were crying.

Maggie just glanced at them numbly. Her own misery was so immense that she had no interest in anybody else's problems now. She was just relieved to see that the commotion stole everybody's attention. No one noticed neither her pale face nor her shabby outfit.

Aaron was standing nearby and Daryl stepped over to him quickly.

"What's going on here?" He asked in a low tone.

"Oh, haven't you heard? The walkers got Aiden and Nicholas in the woods, took them by surprise apparently. They both are dead now, eaten alive it seems. Their remains were found just a moment ago. No one knows what they were doing out there so lightly armed." Aaron explained equally low.

I know, Daryl realized at once and turned to look at Maggie.

She was standing close enough to overheard their conversation. She looked at Daryl straight in the eyes and gave him a little, grim smile.

In her heart Maggie felt strangely satisfied.

But the brutal death of her torturers didn't change the way she felt about herself now. Dead inside.

Nothing could change that, ever.

She was sure of it.