Red River Blue
Chapter 25
Sam only meant to close his eyes for a moment. The next thing he knew, he was being forced roughly to his feet. His hair felt like it was about to be ripped from his scalp. Sam reached for the gun he had tucked into his belt. Coming up empty, he went for his knife next. But there was nothing on his belt but an empty sheath. As he felt the panic rising inside him, Sam began to thrash and fight. He couldn't see his assailant. But when he swung his elbow behind him, he could feel that the man was much bigger than him. And he guessed it was the large man he saw pass under him when he was hiding in that tree that had a grip on him.
"Don't hurt him!," Lydia squealed. Sam turned towards her panicked voice. A woman with a shaved head had a firm grip on Lydia's arm. Since the girl wasn't struggling, Sam guessed Lydia knew her. The woman had a creepy grin on her face. And despite his struggling and thrashing, she moved closer to him.
"What do we have here? An eager buck?," she observed, her tone dripping with mockery. Her voice was unlike what Sam expected to come out of the masculinely dressed woman. It was high and squeaky, almost like she was talking in falsetto. Making her voice sound higher than it was on purpose. The intention of this was unclear to Sam. Unless she was just trying to sound creepy and annoying. Which she did. The bald woman grabbed him by the chin, moving her face so close to his that he could smell her foul breath. "Did you fuck my daughta?," she asked. After taking in the expression on his face she added, "...I believe you did."
"Fuck?," Sam repeated. Instead of answering her question, he swung at the woman. "I'm gonna fuck you up!" The woman must have been anticipating such a move, because she had already jerked back out of range.
"Just let him go!," Lydia cried. "He didn't do anything to me!" Sam watched in horror as the woman turned her attention away from him and towards Lydia. Her body tensed in anticipation of the blow she knew was coming. But Lydia did nothing to defend herself when the woman lifted her hand and slapped her hard across her face. Lydia's head rocked to the side, her hair flying. She stumbled and nearly fell from the force of the blow. And just as she was righting herself, the woman hit her again.
"Get your fuckin' hands offa her!," Sam hollered. He was well versed in fighting. Daryl made sure of it. But he'd also attended the ladies self defense class Rosita taught, so his sister would have someone to practice on. And a lesson from that class floated back to him as he felt his hair being ripped from his head. If someone larger was trying to drag or restrain you, the best thing to do was go limp. Dead weight was harder to lift. Sam could distinctly remember Mika giggling like crazy as he tried unsuccessfully to drag her limp body into a standing position. Sam took a deep breath, preparing himself for the intense pain he knew was going to rocket through his scalp when he attempted to slip from the man's grip. Then he forced every muscle in his body to go lax at the same time. The large man was expecting a fight. But he wasn't expecting Sam to simply slither to the ground like a ragdoll. And like Sam was hoping, the man momentarily lost the grip he had on Sam's overgrown hair. Sam hit the ground and rolled. When he leaped to his feet, he had a large rock in his hand. He would have preferred a real weapon. But a rock was better than nothing.
"Just run," Lydia hissed as he took up a defensive position in front of her. Sam heard her hard intake of air, gasping as her mother pulled Sam's gun out of her belt. She pointed the gun at Sam. But she directed her words towards Lydia.
"I'll shoot him in the gut and let the dead rip him apart," she threatened. "Or you can kill him yourself. And he can go quick."
Lydia shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. She couldn't do what her mother was asking. And refusing Alpha meant three days in the cage with no food or water. That was in addition to the beating she was sure to receive no matter what she did. The instinct to follow her mother's orders was strong. And the scared little voice in her head that her mother put there with beating after beating was telling Lydia that Sam was going to die no matter what she did. So she might as well make things easier on herself. But this time she was able to push that shameful part of herself away. She moved quickly, darting in front of Sam and standing in her mother's way. Her gesture was obvious. If her mother wanted to shoot him, she would have to shoot through her.
"Have it your way," Alpha said, her face twisting into a horrible grin. She glanced towards the giant man at her side. "Kill them both."
Sam threw the rock in his hand, hitting Lydia's mother in the shoulder and knocking her back a step. She dropped to her knees, her hand rising to grasp at her broken collarbone. But her injury didn't stop the giant from following her orders. He took a step towards Sam and Lydia, the giant hunting knife in his hands lifted. The sun glinted off the wickedly sharp blade. Sam thought about running. But he knew they were surrounded by a large herd of the dead. Running full speed into that would certainly get him killed.
A woman's scream filled the air. And for a moment, Sam thought it was Lydia's mother reacting to her injury. But she was also looking around, trying to locate the source of the noise. That scream was followed by another. And another. And then suddenly the dead were all around them. Sam grabbed Lydia, pulling her back and away from the chaos. The large man had turned his attention back to his leader, worried that the blood from her shoulder might attract the dead. A man in a walker mask grabbed Sam. And he swung, just missing the man's face with his fist.
"It's me," Daryl hissed, pulling the stolen walker skin mask off his head and tossing it onto the ground. Sam leaped at his father, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. Daryl hugged him back. But only for a brief moment. "Here," he said, shoving Sam's crossbow at him. "Time to go." Sam turned, getting a firm grip on Lydia's hand. The gesture was obvious. He wasn't going anywhere without her. But she was hesitating, looking at Daryl with large fearful eyes.
"If yer comin' with," Daryl said, "...then come on. We gotta go now."
They hurried through the chaos and carnage that had broken out in the whisperers camp. Daryl led them to a break in the herd where the rest of their group was waiting. Even with the skin masks on, Sam could tell one of them was his uncle. His arm piece made him easy to spot. But Sam couldn't tell who the other two men were until they were far enough away from the herd that they followed Daryl's example and tossed their masks away. Or at least Rick and Glenn tossed theirs away. Merle tucked his into his back pocket by the hair and let it dangle there, clearly intending to save the disgusting thing for later use.
"Where are we going?," Sam asked. He didn't know the area as well as he knew the area around Alexandria. But he knew it well enough to know that they were not on their way back to Hilltop.
"If they come after us with that herd," Glenn explained, "...we don't want to lead them back to Hilltop." The herd wouldn't be able to get past Hilltop's walls. But they would wreak havoc on their pastures and cornfields. They would decimate an entire winter's worth of food. And being the largest community population wise, Hilltop could not afford for that to happen. They had way too many mouths to feed.
"They will," Lydia said, immediately regretting that she spoke up as the four men turned their attention towards her. She clung tightly to Sam's hand, moving her body slightly behind his. "There is no if," she added. "You made Alpha look weak. She'll send them to hunt you down." Sam wrapped his arm around her shoulders. And when Lydia snuck a peek at her other rescuers, she was relieved to see that they didn't look angry with her for telling the truth.
"She gonna send an army?," Daryl asked. Lydia shook her head.
"She doesn't have to," Lydia said. "She'll send Beta."
"That big motherfucker that grabbed me before?," Sam asked, confirming that he was right in who he assumed Lydia was talking about. She nodded.
"Beta? He's the best they've got?," Rick asked. Lydia nodded again. She'd never seen anyone take Beta on and live to tell about it. But these men were significantly more well armed than any of his past opponents. And there were four of them. Or rather six, if she and Sam counted too. Because Lydia was sure of one thing, she'd rather die than go back there.
"If he's their best," Merle said, "...we'll kill him first."