Sorry, it's rather "brutal" and a tiny bit sick. But I still wanted to write about it, now that we have come across that sort of thing more than once in the TWDverse. Oh and kuddos to you if you get the reference to that one group.

setting: between episode 2 "Sick" and episode 4 "Killer Within"

Damnation

Chapter 17 - Hunger

two months ago...

The melting of the snow was actually a blessing. They had almost run out of cans and other food, and it was about time they finally got the chance to go on a hunt again. Connor, Daryl and their dog had become a perfect hunting team over the winter. Hannibal was the one chasing the animals and keeping them close. Daryl was the one who was perfect for the actual tracking down and killing, and Connor was best when it came down to the whole gutting and preparing the meat part. He still had to admit that he wasn't that good at shooting animals, and since his friend was the one with the crossbow anyway he decided to leave it be. The Irishman could track and sneak around now, but even he had to admit that he was never going to be as good as his friend at this. Daryl was the born hunter, Connor the born shepherd. He had their dog under control like no one else could, and so the three of them really fit and worked like clockwork.

It was their third hunt this early spring, and once again they were running and sneaking around the woods that surrounded their small firestation. Daryl had spotted a deer earlier, and they were keen to find it again. They were all hungry and especially Daryl was pissed, because just about half an hour ago it had been Connor who had messed up their hunt when he had not been quiet enough. His friend was good at the sneaking part, but not good enough, and after months of hunting and Connor still being such a goddamn clumsy idiot sometimes he was just angry because of that. When he heard another loud cracking of a branch underneath Connor's feet Daryl turned his head with an angry growl and hissed.

"Watch where yah fucking going, you moron. Deer's close" he whispered and the blonde rolled his eyes.

"Fuck you."

The hunter was just about to say something back when the loud and terrifying yelping and whimpering of their dog startled them both.

now...

"Get yer filthy mits of that, yah shitface! 'm gonna kill yah!"

When Connor heard Daryl's screams he dropped everything and started running. He had been on his way through the hairdresser's when he heard his friend's shouting. At first his brother instincts kicked in and he just wanted to run and scream for his friend, just like he had always done when Murphy had been in trouble, but as soon as he got closer to the entrance hall he could hear other voices. The Irishman put his knife away and took both his guns instead, ready to shoot anyone who threatened Daryl.

"Now now. This ain't the way t'greet the owners of the house yah scumbag just broke in to, dont'cha think, blanket?" he heard another man say and approached the door that led back to the entrance hall. He couldn't really see much because he wanted to remain unseen himself, but the short glimpse he got told him everything he needed to know, everything that made him both furious and horrified. He could see a group of five men who were surrounding Daryl, and two of them were holding the hunter in a tight grip. One man, who had short blonde hair a massive tattoo of an eagle on his neck, was looking at his friend's crossbow with a grin on his face. Explains all this screaming about, he thought and tried to get closer.

He froze when the parquet underneath his feet creaked. The Irishman held his breath and swallowed hard, fearing that they had heard him. The group didn't look in his direction, they were too busy staring at the man who was obviously their leader and who had Daryl's spit in his face. Connor's mind was racing. He could tell that the group was dangerous, but now that they had taken all of Daryl's weapons and now that the hunter was stuck like that he knew it would be impossible to eliminate them. He watched how the leader of the group wiped his face and turned around, and the Irishman didn't hesitate and aimed at his back. If the man just dared to threaten Daryl in any way because of the spitting attack then he wouldn't waste a second and shoot the guy dead. The man with the shoulder long blonde hair closed the entrance door.

"Well, just your luck, blanket. I'm in a good mood right now" he said and Connor narrowed his eyes.

Yeah ye won't be fer too long.

The Irishman was just waiting for them to part. He knew that he stood little chance if he just stepped out right here and now and started shooting at them. Even two guns, good aim and a knife wouldn't get them out of here alive this way. He wasn't stupid after all, and most certainly not suicidal anymore, so he made the decision to take them out one by one, hoping that they would leave Daryl alone in the meantime. Despite the fact that the group consisted of five members and they were practically outnumbered Connor knew that he and his friend had a great advantage: they didn't know about him yet. The leader suddenly turned around and Connor moved away from the door in a hurry so he remained unseen.

"You've arrived just 'n time for diner."

This comment made the blonde MacManus frown. How weird were they? He knew that this statement could mean a lot of things. Maybe they had returned from a hunt with a couple of does or god knows what. Then there was always the other possibility, that they were threatening Daryl, which would mean...He shook his head angrily. No. That's fucking ridiculous.

"FJ, how 'bout you get our little feast in here. Henry, Zach, why don't you help me with our... guest. Let's show him the way to our place. Let 'im have a seat.
Jimbo, you know your way t'the kitchen, don't yah?"

Connor tried to move closer to the door again to see what was going on. He cursed when he saw that the leader of the group was still facing his door.

"Let go off me, or I swear yah won't see the rest of it" he heard Daryl growl. The group started laughing again.

"No offense Robin Hood, but yah really think we're afraid of some dude with a blanket?" a man with a deep throaty voice said and the rest of the group laughed even more. No matter how many times Connor had made fun of Daryl whenever he had been wearing his poncho, right now he was just as angry as his friend. Because no one was mocking him as long as he was around. Because the man was practically his brother, because he looked like Murphy, and his brain told him to protect his "little" brother from any sort of bully. But why wouldn't they just go separate ways already?

"Now now, FJ. Let's quit that for now. Get the food. Before it loses its great taste. We got a hungry group here. We can discuss all that shit after diner.
Before we get the desert."

One of the men started chuckling.

"I don't know Ace, he looks a bit stringy if yah ask me" he giggled. The man with the deep voice joined in.

"Well, at least there's more on 'im than what we get from the usual stuff we bring home."

"What?! Who the fuck are yah people? Let me go!" Connor heard Daryl yell and widened his eyes in shock. So they really were what he had thought they were. His best friend was kept prisoner by a bunch of cannibals. He hit his head angrily and cursed himself for urging Daryl to get crutches.
Why had they come here out of all places?

"Come on now. Move your asses" the leader of the group said. The whole group except for Daryl fell quiet, then he could hear footsteps. The Irishman heard how his friend was dragged away, and when he took another look he could see that everyone apart from the leader of the group and the bald man had left the entrance hall. Daryl's screams and yells were now coming from what Connor believed was the common room. The bald man shook his head and lit a cigarette.

"I don't know Ace, yah think this is a good idea?"

The leader snorted and watched something outside. Both men were standing in front of the entrance door they had opened again, and the Irishman believed to see the large muscular guy with long hair by some other cars that were parked close to their Hyundai.

"I don't care about good ideas, good meal's all we need t'worry 'bout, Jimbo. Now go to the kitchen and get our things ready. I got mouths to feed here."

The younger man shrugged.

"Yeah I just mean...that guy looks tough. What if he's with a group? What if they come looking for him?"

Ace shook his head.

"You saw that guy. Crossbow, clothes, knives, that guy's a hunter. Ain't no reason for him t'be with a group."

Jimbo turned around all of a sudden. Connor widened his eyes and hid again. He had caught glimpse of how the man had been pointing at his door,
so he was sure that they had discovered him. He cursed himself for being so stupid and grabbed his gun.

"What 'bout those crutches then? He came here with those things in his hands. Why would he need that shit. He's gotta be with a group, man."

"So fucking what? Shut up and get our shit from the kitchen!" the leader yelled again and the other man murmured something, then he left the room. Connor remained hidden for a little while longer. As soon as he was sure that Jimbo had left the hall as well he dared to have a look again. Ace, the leader of the gang, was still standing in front of the door, all by himself now. The Irishman tried to open the door a bit more so he could take better aim. He placed his finger on the trigger and took a deep breath, but startled once more when Ace cheered loudly all of a sudden.

"Now there it is! Well done FJ!" he yelled and Connor backed off again. The other member of the group entered the hall with a grin on his face. The Irishman almost dropped his guns when he saw what the man was carrying in his arms. Slim and fragile arms and legs were fighting his grip, but the man held his prey too tight. Ace cheered once more and took a closer look at their "feast".

"Great, man. Feels like we didn't have any of that in.."

"..years?" FJ finished the sentence for his leader with a grin on his face. He looked at the struggling girl in his arms as well. Connor saw red. Part of him just wanted to storm out and kill the men with his bare hands. He could see that the little girl in their arms was crying, but her screams and sobs were muffled by a gag. Ace laughed and patted FJ's back.

"Well done, brother. Let's get her to Zach 'n Henry. Jimbo's in the kitchen, but we don't need this bonehead anyway" he said and both men started laughing again, ignoring the little girl's desperate sobs completely. They closed the door to the common room behind them, and it was quiet in the entrance hall. Connor could still hear Daryl's muffled yelling and how the group was laughing. For a second he didn't know how to breathe. How the fuck had everything spiraled out of control in just a matter of seconds? Just a minute ago he and Daryl had been joking around in that common room. And now this? Cannibals? A little girl?

Just thinking about her made the Irishman incredibly furious again. He grabbed both his guns and finally entered the hall. He didn't even care about the group anymore, that they could discover him any second now with him being out in the open like that. He just needed to end this. He just needed to kill them. The Irishman had no idea where the kitchen was, Daryl had searched this part of the mansion after all, but he knew that one member of the group was there, all on his own. Preparing what they called dinner. Just one day ago he had thought that he had never experienced that much hatred when he had met the prisoners. Tomas. When he had killed Tomas. But this was nothing compared to the hatred and blood lust he was feeling now.

Once again he could not understand how bastards like this group could still be alive. Murderers. Rapists. Cannibals. It seemed like all of humanity had died when the virus hit. Like everything good had just died. He remembered all the good people he had loved and lost because of the outbreak. Duffy. Dolly. Smecker. Eunice. Doc. Rome. Murphy. It wasn't fair. It was so wrong. And he knew that it was his job to set things right. At this moment it wasn't even about Daryl anymore. He wanted to save his friend, of course he did! But this was about way more. After walking through corridors for what felt like hours he finally found the kitchen. He could hear Jimbo working in there, throwing all sorts of things around.

"Fuckin bastards" he heard the man growl as he entered the kitchen with one of his Berettas pointed at him. Jimbo had his back turned on Connor.

"Jimbo fetch this, Jimbo shut up, get back to the kitchen, get this, do that..Fuckin cocksuckers" he went on and threw a plate away.

It broke into pieces with a loud bang, and Connor used the opportunity to get even closer to him.

"I tried to warn 'em, but noooo. Fucktard ain't got no group. Fuckin dumbasses. Next thing we know we got a fuckin bullet in our heads cos of fucking Ace's fuckin..."

"Hey Jimbo" Connor interrupted him and the man startled.

He knocked even more of the crockery over and turned around in surprise. The Irishman glared at him and the other man widened his eyes in shock.

"What the fuck?! Who are you?" he exclaimed and a dark smirk crossed Connor's face.

"The one who puts a bullet t'yer head" he answered and pulled the trigger. Jimbo was thrown back, blood and pieces of his skull and brains splattered all over the wall cupboards behind him. For a second both men looked at each other, then the member of the group fell lifeless to the ground. Connor got closer to the body just to make sure the man was really dead. Jimbo's eyes were still open, but unfocused. The Irishman nudged him with his foot, but apart from drifting even further down the other man didn't move any more. Connor knelt down to strip him off his weapons, a small handgun and two knives, then he got up and left the kitchen through the backdoor.

The little girl's screams had eventually stopped. Daryl could feel how the zip tie cut his wrists because of all his struggling, but no matter how hard he fought, it wouldn't give in. He was yelling at them, over and over again, but they wouldn't stop. Whenever he screamed things like "Stop! Just stop you sick bastards! 'm gonna rip your heads off!" they laughed even more. It looked like they were even enjoying this sort of thing, sick bastards they were. Daryl couldn't understand how he had ended up here. He was Daryl Dixon after all. He wasn't supposed to be sitting here, tied to a chair and forced to watch how three men abused a little girl in the most inhuman way. He tried anything to stop them, he didn't even care if he cut his hands off because of that. Where the fuck was the Irishman?!The whole thing was driving him insane. Ace, who had been the first to torture the girl, approached the hunter with a grin on his face and closed his zipper.

"Don't look at us like that, blanket" he said and chuckled. He leaned in and patted Daryl's cheek, grinning even more.

"We're just making sure the meat's well-done before we eat it."

Daryl gave the man a death glare, trying to kill him just by looking at him.

"'m gonna kill yah. 'm gonna kill every single one of yah sick bastards" he said, voice hoarse from all his screaming.

Ace clenched his fist and punched his face hard, which made Daryl groan.

"Now, this isn't the way yer supposed t'talk to people who've invited you t'stay for dinner" he said and grabbed the hunter by his throat.
Daryl spat blood in his face and glared at him.

"'m gonna cut yah balls off and let yah have 'em for dinner when I'm done with yah" he growled and would not stop glaring at the leader of the gang.

Ace wouldn't hit him again, he just started grinning again and patted his cheek.

"You got some balls for someone with a blanket" he said and started walking again. He chuckled slowly and shook his head.

"You remind me of this guy we met once.." he said and sat down on one of the armchairs opposite Daryl.

"We got thrown out of group because of that moron" he went on and the whole group started muttering.

Ace looked at Daryl and grabbed one of the beer bottles that were standing on the table next to him.

"We had a nice life there. Group of 30. Men. Chicks. Gorgeous little girls..Guns. Food. Everything yah could ask for. But me and those shitheads over there" he said and pointed at the group of men who were still standing by the girl with grins on their faces. "We got bored. We wanted t'have some fun. Fun with people. We wanted entertainment...wanted t'entertain those poor souls out there. People like yah. Strangers, loners...so one day we came across this little camp, right? Daddy, two little chicks like this one here" Ace murmured and pointed at the crying girl by the fireplace. "We had our fun, 't was great. So after the show we got back t'our people. Two days later this guy stumbles into our camp. Told our people all 'bout it. Ain't the same ever since."

Daryl looked at them in surprise. Somehow this story seemed familiar. Men raping kids, forcing their fathers to watch just like they were forcing him to watch now...
Where had he heard it before?

"What I'd do t'get back there, man" the man with the eagle tattoo said and the others nodded. Ace nodded as well and leaned forward.

"Good people threw us out that day. Hunters, like yah. People who got us food in exchange for guns and shit. I got hungry mouths t'feed here.
So don't judge us. We're just trying t'survive."

Daryl snorted angrily and shook his head.

"Yah sick fucks" he said and grunted when the long haired man everyone called FJ stepped forward and punched his guts hard.

Ace got up and approached the hunter again.

"So what 'bout you, blanket? You got a group? What do yah need those crutches for?"

Daryl squeezed his eyes shut in pain for a moment. He couldn't breathe because of the pain, but no matter how much it hurt, after a couple of seconds of gathering himself he looked up and glared at the leader. "Fuck you" he answered and FJ darted forward to punch him again, but Ace placed a hand on his chest and shook his head. "Get the girl" he growled and Daryl frowned.

"How many in your group?" he asked and the hunter glared at him.

"Fuck you" he growled once more and watched how FJ approached the girl, who started screaming again.

"You got any real bitches in your group? I'd kill for a real piece of flesh. Been months since I last got the chance t.."

"Shut up, Zach" Ace spat but wouldn't stop looking at Daryl.

FJ grabbed the screaming girl by her hair and dragged her to their leader, which made the hunter furious all over again.

"Let her go, yah sick fuck!" he spat and tried to get rid of the bond.

"Of course we're gonna let her go. If you give us something in exchange. Details on your group for the girl."

"Fuck you! I'm gonna rip your throat out!" Daryl yelled and fought so hard that he nearly knocked his chair over. Another member of the group, Henry, who hadn't said a word yet, approached the hunter as well and put him in a headlock again, forcing him to look at Ace who was now holding the girl.

"Where's your group?" he asked again and got his knife out, placing it on the terrified girl's throat.

The little girl was staring at Daryl with wide eyes, crying and begging him to help her.

"We're way too many for yah t'handle! Let her go you sick fuck or I swear..."

"Where are they?!" Ace yelled even louder and Daryl exploded.

"Nowhere! I ain't gonna tell yah!" he spat and started kicking and fighting all over again. He widened his eyes in shock when Ace yanked the girl's head back.

"No!" he screamed but it was too late. The leader of the gang cut her throat, blood staining his face and raining down on their other prisoner. Daryl wouldn't stop yelling and screaming, and the group started laughing again. Ace stabbed the back of the girl's head and dropped her dead body to the ground, then he cleaned his bloody knife on his jacket.

"Zach? Go 'n check what the fuck Jimbo's doing. Help him get our shit here. We're gonna prepare dinner in here this time. Sooner or later he's gonna talk" he said and glared at Daryl, who was still raging and fighting like a madman.

Daryl's screams were driving Connor nuts. It was getting dark outside by now, he could hardly see a thing anymore. He had made his way all around the house, slicing the wheels of the group's cars and making sure that there were no other people running in on them all of a sudden. As soon as he had made sure that there was no getting out for them he approached the only window where he could see light. He couldn't believe how stupid this group really was, how noisy and obvious they were. The Irishman noticed that there were more walkers around than when they had arrived here, and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't take too long before they finally closed in on them. Those stupid bastards were going to get them all killed.

He walked even faster when he heard how the screaming inside was getting louder. Connor widened his eyes in shock when he finally got to have a look inside. He could see that the group was indeed inside the common room. They had tied Daryl to a chair in the middle of the room, and the little girl was lying there to his feet, with its throat cut. Dead eyes were staring at him, judging him. He swallowed hard and got even more furious, but there was also a part of him that felt guilty. You're too late. You're too slow.

" Zach? Go 'n see what the fuck Jimbo's doing. Help him get our shit here. We're gonna prepare dinner in here this time. Sooner or later he's gonna talk" he heard Ace say and watched how the man with the eagle tattoo left the room. He stayed for just a second longer just to make sure that no one else was going to leave the room, then he turned around and started running back to the door he had left the building through.

He couldn't believe how easy it really was. He could see the man with the tattoo, how he was making his way to the kitchen, his guard down, Daryl's crossbow thrown over his shoulder, no clue. Connor followed him, his steps matching the other's perfectly. Daryl had complained about his pace more than once today, calling him a troll and everything, but right now it didn't sound like this at all. He had to admit, even he had known that he hadn't been good at the whole sneaking around thing, but now that there were lives at stake he was moving almost as good as Daryl.

He was just waiting for the man to reach the kitchen, because he wanted him to see what he had done to the other member of his group. So the Irishman followed his victim through the corridors, always careful not to be seen or heard. "Yo Jimbo! Hurry up you fucker! You know that Ace don't like to wait, man. He wants t'put up a show for that redneck!" Zach yelled half way down the corridor that led to the kitchen, and as soon as he reached the door Connor darted forward, grabbed the man by his shoulders and pressed his gun to his temple.

"Looks like Jimbo ain't coming, you sick fuck" he snarled and wrapped his arm so tight around the man's neck that he could hear him fighting for air.

"Any last words?" Connor growled and strangled him even more. Much to his surprise Zach just started laughing.

"You ain't getting outta here alive, mick"

Connor snorted and undid the safety of his gun.

"Neither are you" he said and shot him in the head.