Chapter 33
Pandora was staring up at the sky, standing right where Denise died. She remembers the spot, can even still see the blood on the ground. Her shoulder ached as if to remind her to be present, a painful reminder of what happened here. She could get lost right here, slip away in the memory and that would be the end,before she had even done what she came to do. From behind her she hears stones crunching under feet. Her movement is slow, but the gun is in her hand when she turns to face Daryl.
"Pandora." He breathes her name and the wind carries it to her.
"Oh." He found her, of course he had found her. Why did she think she could slip away without his notice? She hoped she would have more time, but the universe rarely gave her what she wanted.
He comes towards her, hands out and open in surrender and for a second she wonders why. Then, she glances down at the gun still in her hands pointed at him. She lowers it, slipping it back into her belt. He's furious, she can see it. His eyes are dark, peering at her from under his sweat soaked hair.
"What are ya doin' out here?"
"You know what I'm doing Daryl."
The pills made everything seem slow, muted somehow. Her chest just feels like a void, like all her emotions have been sucked away into some black hole. Everything she feels gets sucked away into the emptiness.
"Ah can't let you go."
"I have to"
He reaches for her, but she side steps him so his fingers only graze her arm. Shutting her eyes she tries to picture which way Dwight had run. She had seen him run, somewhere past the pain she felt she must remember. Turning, she opens her eyes again to glance behind her to where they had run. Behind her through the trees, she would find the trail.
"Yah gotta be kidding me this is fucken stupid. Yah know that right?"
He's shouting now, hands balled into fist at his sides. Her eyes wander over to him, drinking in the sight, even when angry he is something. She wonders what he is madder about: the fact that she is out here alone, or she is out here first.
"Are you mad I came out here first?" She can't help but ask,her curiosity clawing at her for an answer.
"Fuck!" That's the only answer she gets from him. He spins around, walks back to the tree line and stays there for a few moments before coming back to her.
"Yah ain't gonna let me take you back first?"
Pandora only shakes her head, stepping into him. He doesn't move, doesn't soften the hard edges of his body, only stares at her.
"So, come with me." She whispers, her hand presses against his chest, heading titling up to close the gap between them. The kiss is sweet a light feather touch on his lips, it makes him relax. "Or go home Daryl."
"Don't move." Daryl whispers into her ear.
She moves a fraction turning only her head to the side, just to watch him go. He takes the bike, laying it down on the ground and covering it with fallen branches. Watching him made her think of the burnt forest, of leaving the bike and being taken captive. She waits for the panic, but it never comes. Instead, there is only calm.
She can't lie that having him here puts her at ease. It calms the deep nerves the drugs only smothered. When he comes back, he presses the ghost of a kiss on her lips before turning taking her hand in his. He doesn't seem angry anymore, she's glad of it. He would never stay angry with her for long, it wasnt in him.
They walk in silence until the forest turns to open fields. Daryl lets her slip ahead of him, whispering for her to track. Pandora stops for second thinking before she does as she is told. leaning down to get the direction Dwight had his men had fled. Footprints stood out in the grass in front of her, the fear making Dwight's men forget to cover their tracks. Her tracking skills are not bad, she is able to lead them all the way across the clearing until the landscape changes and becomes thick forest.
At the tree line she gets stuck as everything looks the same. The ground is littered in prints, some going back and others forward. Small twigs cover the ground broken from being under footsteps, but she can't make sense of what direction any footprints went in. A bright blaze of frustration flares, only to be choked out by the drugs.
"Fuck!" She whispers the curse, fingers parting the long grass.
"Lemme see." He hovers over her, trying to peer over her shoulder. As she moves, he takes her place. Pandora stand looming over him slightly, her eyes track the movement of his fingers as he looks. It takes Daryl seconds to find the right path, as if neon arrows pointed him in the right direction.
"This way. Com'on." Standing he is reaching for her, taking her hand locking their fingers. Daryl is always so damn warm, Pandora grips his hand using it to chase away the chill she feels.
The woods around them are dense, tall trees packed closely together. It feels suffocating, it's becomes easy to forget what time of day it is with the sunlight mostly blocked by branches. They take a few steps togethers, hands intertwined, the Daryl begins to slow. Pandora knows him well enough to see some tension in his features, a tightness around his eyes Around them is silent though, she doesn't feel the same nerves he does.
"Take yah gun out."
"But I don't…" Pandora's fingers struggle to pull the gun from the holster on her belt, fingers feeling fat and clumsy. She doesn't even have the gun out all the way when she hears the arrow Daryl has already loosed.
She hears it then, the crack of a twig, a rustle in the bush. Gun held loss in her hands, her head snaps up to see Rosita stepping from behind the tree with Daryl's arrow in her hand.
"What the hell, asshole." Rosita rages, stalking towards him. She doesn't look at Pandora just centers her rage on Daryl.
"You shouldn't have come. Yah know ah got her."
Michonne steps out from behind Rosita, face twisting in anger.
"You shouldn't have left." She glares at Pandora now who slips the gun back in her belt trying to avoid the other woman's eye.
"No one was supposed to see me." It's a whisper, like a child caught in an adult conversation.
"Naw she has the right to be here, same as me. When we split off from Sasha and Abraham Dwight was out there. He is in that burnt out with them girls, put a gun to our head, tied us up. I even tried to help him."
"So, you think it's your fault?" Glenn asks stepping up towards them. He must have hung behind, Pandora hadn't seen him
"No it's mine."
Daryl glares at her, but doesn't respond, only turns to Glenn again. "Ahm gonna go do what Ah should've done before."
"What, for her?" Glenn turns to Pandora then, eyes dark. "Denise is gone. You're doing this for you."
Daryl stops looking from her to Glenn. She's angry then as she doesn't understand how they think she can just go home. This will help her, this is what she needs, to come out here and be the one to end it. Maybe then she will stop seeing Denise's final moments play behind her eyelids, maybe instead they will be replaced with Dwight dying.
"I don't give a shit. So what if it's for me?" She snarls the words at them pushing past Daryl to walk again.
"Daryl!" Its Glenn calling his name and she isn't sure why. Until she feels Daryl's fingers around her wrist stopping her. He holds her still, and when she glances at his face she can see the wheels turning in his head.
"We all need to go back and figure this out from home." Glenn stands in front of Daryl now.
She's locked in place by his fingers, anger bubbling inside her. They can't make this choice for her, they can't make her come home. Shifting her gaze, her eyes slid from Rosita to Michonne and back to Glenn. Michonne's face is set in stone, worry lines etched deep. Rosita is watching her, almost unblinking. They would force her to go back if Daryl allowed it, they would bring her home kicking and screaming.
"Daryl let go," She snarls the words at him as she tries to pull her wrist from his grasp. Daryl looks down at her, she can see something shifting on his face. Turning to Glenn, her anger turns to panic. Her heartbeats wild in her chest waiting for them to spring on her, drag her home.
"Glenn, you have to go please. They need you at home, all of you." Pandora pledes.
Glenn sighs, turning to her to shake his head, "Pandora, it's gonna go wrong out here."
"So go." She tries to control her voice, but it comes out with a slight tremor. "But I can't."
Michonne steps in front of her now, her hand resting lightly on Pandora's shoulder, Pandora tries to hide her flinch. "We'll square it. I will. I promise you. Just come back, both of you."
Pandora looks from Daryl to Glenn and Michonne. When she glances back to Daryl they hold each other's eyes for a second. She shakes her head and he only nods. She isn't sure what makes him change his mind, but she knows he has.
Turning back to Glenn, "We can't."
They turn away then, Pandora following behind Daryl. With every step away from the group it's better. They will go home, and if everything works out, she will come back with Daryl.
"Daryl! Pandora!"
Pandora turns her head, casting Glenn a look over her shoulder. "We can't"
Ahead of her Daryl keeps moving, she must jog to catch up, but she hears Rosita behind her telling them she can't either. In a few seconds, Rosita is stepping up next to her and they are all walking into the woods. She glances behind her only once to see Michonne and Glenn heading back the way they had come.
They walked in silence for a while until Rosita glanced over at her.
"You have balls, that's for sure." Rosita couldn't hide the small tug in the corner of her lip. "You were ready to go on your own."
"I was out on my own, got all the way there alone." Pandora said, fingers drumming over the knife at her belt.
"Only beat me to it because Ah was takin care of yah." Daryl growled, throwing a glare back in her direction.
Pandora flinched at that, just another reminder of how she was holding him back. She slows without noticing they keep going ahead of her. She almost doesn't notice until Daryl is beside her again, slipping into her personal space.
His hands find her face, tilting her head up so she is forced to look at him. "Pandora Ah didn't mean that."
Pandora shook her head, "It's ok. It's true, I know."
"Ah take care of you, because Ah love you." He whispers the last part, kissing her with a soft sweetness someone like him soundly have.
Pandora can't help but melt into him, let her body press closer. They take a second there the two of them enjoying a bit of stolen time, them he is stepping out of her arms. They are walking again then, moving through the woods in silence.
Daryl stops every so often, peers down at the ground, runs his hands against the rough bark of the trees. Pandora tries to see what he is seeing, but their tracks are too faint here and she isn't as good as he is. Instead, he holds his hand out and she walks alongside him as he tracks. Pandora is not sure how much time has passed, but she lets her mind wander trusting Daryl to lead her . She snaps back to reality when she walks into Daryl's back, stumbling back a few steps before catching herself on a branch.
"Sorry, Pan." Daryl reaches for her elbow, helping her stand up straight. "Somethin' ain't right."
Letting go of her arm he crouches down to the ground, running his fingers through the grass.
"They doubled back this way." He pauses and throws a quick glance over to Rosita who flexes her fingers before reaching for her gun. Daryl stands, pulling his off his backpack and turning to glance at Pandora.
"Stay behind me." Daryl reaches out, tipping the gun up so that it's pointing straight ahead.
She does as she is told, this time she feels the dread coiling into her stomach. Unable to help herself, she shakes despite still holding the gun. Together they all inch forward. In front of them, Daryl turns around, finger to his lips to signal them to be silent. Just like earlier, she takes half a second longer to hear what he hears. Somewhere ahead of them there is the sound of voices and the crackling of a fire.
Rosita and Daryl hold their guns up. Peering around them she glimpses Glenn and Michonne, hands bound and mouths gagged. Her heart sinks, this is her fault. Without a sound , she slips from Daryl's side with the intent on getting behind them. They see them through the trees shaking their heads frantically. There is a movement behind her and she understands a second too late.
Fingers wrap themselves in her hair using it to pull her backwards. Pandora opens her mouth, sucking in air for a scream, but her captor is faster. A meaty hand shoots out to cover her mouth, cutting off the sound. Her brain skips over itself, unable to form a thought. Her body kicks in then, kicking her legs out and trying to make noise.
The man holding her grunted, pressing his hand harder over her mouth. Pitching sideways, she tries to throw him off balance. Instead, she feels the white-hot pain of a blade biting into the flesh of her hip. She screams into the hand, the man behind her cursing.
Daryl's head snaps back towards her then, her eyes are wild jumping left and right as she thrashes. From behind a tree, Dwight appears with a gun in his raised hands. She screams again, twisting despite the pain. She tries to warn Daryl, but he's so focused on her, he doesn't see Dwight.
"Hi Daryl." He sneers, pulling the trigger and firing.
When the bullet rips through Daryl's shoulder, something snaps in her head. Maybe it's the Xanax, maybe it's just rage. She opens her mouth and bites down as hard as she can until she can taste coppery blood. The man holding her screams, dropping his hand from her mouth. She keeps his skin between her teeth though, feeling the flesh tear away. Sucking in air and reaching for her boot, she pulls out the extra knife. In a flash, the skin of his neck is splits, painting his shirt in blood.
There is only one of her though and too many of them. When the body drops, two more step in to take its place. She grins at them, flashing her blood covered teeth before spitting out the dead man's flesh on the ground in front of them. Go down fighting her brain screams, so she does. She only has the knife, but they are stunned into stillness watching her. Taking advantage she lunges the balding man doesn't see her coming. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she drives the tip of her blade into his eye while he tries to fling her off. Knife in hand he thrashes against her, the blade cutting deep into her arm.
Hissing in pain, she screams at him, arms fly up to hammer the knife into his brain. That is the last person she gets because behind her there is screaming, then fireworks erupt in her skull, and then nothing.
She wakes up in a panic, the images of the men she murdered fresh in her mind. Thrashing, she gasps struggling to fill her lungs. Her vision is blurred, world coming in and out of focus so she shuts her eyes again. Sobbing, she tries to lift her arm, but they both move together. Twisting her wrists, she feels the bindings. It makes her sob again, harder this time.
"Shut the fuck up."
The tip of a boot connects with her arm, finding the same spot the blade did. Biting back a scream, she doubles over to curl into herself. This feels just like before, like waking up in the burnt forest. The thought makes her cry again. She tries to rub her wrists together to loosen the binding, but the rope doesn't loosen only rubs her skin raw.
"Pandora." She is sure she hears Daryl's voice whispering to her, but it can't be, can it? Her body refuses the command to open so her eyes stay locked shut. "Pan you gotta stay quiet, please."
His voice is weak when he speaks again, in the darkness she sees the bullet hitting him. She hears Daryl's grunt as he goes down, feels that same cold rage as if it were fresh. The image shakes her, but she tries to cling to his voice.
"Daryl." It's a whispered prayer, she is not sure he can even hear her. She tries to move towards him, but she can't open her eyes, and her hands are bound. The tightness around her wrists reminds her she is a prisoner. She tries to still herself and listen. His breath is to her right, slow and shallow. She shifts just slightly enough so she feels the heat of his skin against hers. It helps, not much, but it's something.
"Hush now."
She can't stop the tears, but she does as she's told and doesn't make another sound. She slips in and out of consciousness, coming up every now and then to catch a bit of the conversation.
"This is the last road."
"He's on his way here then?"
"Ya, make sure they are ready."
Then she's gone again, back into the cold darkness.
When she gets up again it's because she is being moved. Rough hands in her clothes drag her up and out of the van. The movement shakes her awake and sharpens whatever focus she can muster.
"Come on, you got people to meet." It's Dwight's voice again from somewhere beside her, he must be holding her because when she shakes when he speaks. There is the white-hot pain again as someone grabs her shoulder, fingers digging into the hole the arrow left. She begins to scream before biting down on the inside of her cheek to stop it. Her mouth fills with blood again, but this time it's her own.
When her eyes open, she glances behind her where men are pulling everyone else from the back of a van. Pandora catches Daryl's eyes, his gaze locks with hers. Dwight growls something else to someone she can't see, but he is still dragging her along. It's only seconds before he is dumping her on the ground, causing her knees to collide with the ground.
The pain rockets through her again, and she can't think past it. Only slumps down forward, sobbing again.
"Stay on your knees Princess, from what I hear this show is for you too."
Pandora can't place the voice before she blacks out again. Her surroundings are different when she comes to. She has gone from the darkness to bright lights. Groaning, she tries to cover her eyes, bound wrists in her face now. Slumping forward her frame shakes from pair, and panic. There is enough sense left in her to get her head to move to the side to look at the other bodies around her. She is between Abraham and Michonne with Daryl on Michonne's other side. She tries to catch his eye, but his head is down, blood covering his arm.
"Alright," The voice is the same man as before. "We got a full boat. Let's meet the man.
Pandora can hear the shallow breathing of Daryl near her, but everything else seems too quiet. She hears a knock on the door of the RV, something heavy settles into the pit of her stomach. She can't lift her head, but wouldn't want to anyway, so it doesn't matter. If she looks, it's real so if she doesn't, maybe she can pretend this is nothing but a terrible nightmare.
"Pissing your pants yet?" The voice she hears has a laughing under tone it, it makes her feel sick. His boots crunch on the gravel around them and still she refuses to look. She is intent on shrinking herself as much as she can.
"Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." He's walking now and in the eerie silence she can almost track his path by sound alone.
The sound of his boot crunching on the gravel is right in front of her now, his voice raining down on her from where he stands. "Yeh. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?"
Pandora tries not to move, tries not to be seen by this man. Her eyes stay fixed on the ground, hair falling out and around her face. The pain makes her shake, she can still feel the blood, slow, steady drops from her arm and side. How much blood had she already lost, how much before she blacks out again without coming back this time?
"It's him. He's the guy." Pandora can't see, but knows they are talking about Rick. The boots move away from her, she watches them cross out of her vision. She breathes a tiny sigh of relief.
"Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan, and I do not appreciate you killing my men"
She flinches and curls more into herself, forehead touching the dirt under her as a boot kicks her from behind. The pain makes her straighten up. When nothing happens, she understands what they wanted of her.
'Stay up.' She tries to tell herself. He would notice her bent over on the ground, maybe if she stayed like everyone else, she would pass under his notice. Shaking, she tries to sit up higher with everyone else. Abraham moves his fingers just slightly beside her, she wants to reach back for him, but her arms refuse to obey her commands.
"Also when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool, not fucking cool."
In her head, she sees the men she has killed. There has been three killed by her own hand. There is no regret when she pictures their faces, she feels nothing. Not nothing, it brings a chilling rage, making her hungry for more blood.
"Even as we were rounding you all up for this little party, one of your people killed another two of my people. That little doll cut a throat open and shoved a knife in another one's brain. Not fucking cool."
Negan must love the sound of his own voice because he keeps talking. Pandora is sure now he is staring at her. She feels it, the weight of his stare on her head. She isn't sure what possesses her to do it, but she lifts her head and for a second, the man in red scarf is silent, watching her. The scene dips and darkens in her vision though and she breaks eye contact because she can't hold her head up any longer.
"You have no idea how not fucking cool that shit is. I think you'll be up to speed shortly though." The crunching is back and he's moving again. When he stops, her field of vision fulls with his boots. She feels cold metal against her skin, biting into her flesh and tilting her head up. When her head is raised, Negan removes the object from her face. With her eyes locked to his, she sees the bat wrapped in barbed wire on his shoulder. He stares at her and his eyes are bright with just the hint of madness.
"You are gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are."
Pandora takes a deep breath as panic curls in her chest. She tries to put her head down again, but moves too slow. The damn bat is under her chin again, forcing her to look at Negan.
"Head up Princess," He purrs at her and she stares at him, trying to make her face blank. After a few seconds he turns away from her.
"You see, Rick, no matter what you do, you don't mess with the new world order. The new world order is this, and it's really simple. So even if you're stupid, which you may well be, you can understand it."
Negan steps back now, the bat over his shoulder again. "You ready. Here goes. Pay attention." The bat moves again, so fast that it makes her head spin and her vision goes dark for a second, but she still hears Negan. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you."
Seconds pass in silence before Negan speaks again, "Today was career day. We invested a lot, so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me."
Darkness creeps into her vision it chases away the sound of Negan, even the pain is gone for a few blissful moments. She floats in the nothingness and it's so sweet. She is then jerked back again by a pulling on the back of her shirt. The person behind her hauls her up, sitting her upright again. She must have slumped forward as her forehead covered in dirt.
"And…you…are….it…." Negan is walking back and forth in front of them now. Pandora struggles to understand the purpose. "Anybody moves, anybody says anything, we cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father, and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell you're all gonna be doing all of that."
She had missed something again, but it doesn't take her long to understand what's happening next. The second the bat comes down on Abraham's head she screams and can't bring herself to stop the sound. It drowns everything else out. She is sure Negan is still speaking, but she can't hear it.
Something splashes against the side of her face, it's hot and wet. For a second, all she hears is the sound of the bat breaking against Abraham's skull.
'It's blood,' she thinks to herself. 'It's Abraham's blood.'
That stops the screaming, but only so she can double over and empty the contents of her stomach onto the floor in front of her. The movement caused whatever dried blood had covered the wound in her side to open, fresh blood soaking her shirt again. It makes her feel light-headed.
Negan continued to bash in what was left of Abraham until his head was nothing but bone, blood and brain. She tries not to look, not wanting this to be her last memory of him. It was like a car crash though, she can't pull her eyes away. When Negan swings the bat down for the final time, he steps back laughing.
"Oh my goodness! Look at this." Negan flicks the bat again blood flies in both directions. Something hits her hair and she lets out another scream, voice already raw.
"For fucks sakes, someone shut the princess up."
It's her Negan is talking about, but she can't seem to make it stop can't shut her mouth against the sound. From behind her, fingers tangle in her hair again to wrench her head until she is looking at the sky. With her neck this far up it's hard to breathe and without enough air, her scream is choked off.
"Wait a fucking minute." The hand from her hair is gone, replaced now by fingers gripping her chin. Negan kneels in front of her his face only inches from hers. She sobs, trying to pull her face from his grasp. The grin he gives her splits his face, it makes her blood run cold.
"Well fuck me sideways. I know you Princess." Negan breathes the sentence, fingers tightening on her jaw when she tries to pull away. He jerks her head to the side slightly, thumb rubbing the edge of her chin. "Pandora Knight, Olympic gold medal winner. Didn't recognize you covered in blood there Princess."
"Get your fucking hands off her."
She hears him before she sees him, Daryl comes from the corner of her eye, swinging a fist at Negan's face. It connects and Negan drops her chin, stumbling backwards. In seconds, men come from somewhere behind her to pin Daryl to the ground in front of her.
"No, no, no." Pandora screams again, falling forward toward him. Reaching her hands out for him, she doesn't get far before someone grabs the back of her shirt to haul her away. Daryl's face is turned towards her, pressed into the dirt by the men holding him down. "Please." She doesn't know what she is begging for. For Negan to let Daryl up, for them not to hurt him, for whatever might happen next not to happen.
"Oh my! That is a no-no. The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here."
"No!" She screams again, struggling against being held. She tries to reach him to throw her body over his, do something.
Dwight appears in front of her, crossbow pointed down, "Do you want me to do it? Right here?"
Negan kneels back down, eyes fixed on Daryl on the ground. Pandora is sobbing now, pulling against the hold on her shirt. Brain skipping over itself, she tries to think of something, anything to do. It's the way that Daryl stares at her that makes her stop struggling, it's him mouthing for her to stop that makes her go still.
"No, no you don't kill that, not until you try a little." Negan sneers kneeling in the dirt he flicks some of Daryls hair from his eyes before standing up again.
"Should I shut her up then?"
The crossbow swings in her direction and Dwight glares at her. Cold rage creeps up her spine, all sense of self-preservation vanished. They should have left him to die in those woods. That would have been better than he deserved.
"Better make sure I stay down this time." Her voice is void of all emotion, her eyes nothing but cold fury.
"Woho Listen to her," Negan stands up now, laughing as he leans back on his heels. "Put that fucking thing away Dwight I like her."
"Anyway, that's not how it works. I already told you people first ones free then what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important, I need you to know me. So back at it. No expectations."
He swings the bat in front of her again, just an inch away from her face. Then, the bat is nothing but a blur until it comes crashing down into Glenn's head. Somewhere to her left she hears Maggie screaming, the sound burns itself into her brain. Pandora can't look, can't bring herself to lift her head. Daryl had been trying to protect her. All of this was her fault. If she wasn't so fucked up, she would have been fine. That realization makes her sob again, a deep sound creeping up from her gut.
The world around her dips and darkens on the edges, but the sounds of him smashing in Glenn's head follow her into the darkness.
When she comes to again it's warm outside. The sun is shining down into her eyes, a patch work of bright light through the treetops. The world is awake now, the once silence filled with the sound of birds, and other creatures in the trees. She has curled into herself at some moment her head resting on her folded legs.
"Load them up, I want the Princess too."
There's hands on her then, grabbing her arms. With her wrists still bound, she couldn't fight back at first. Terror fogs her brain and mixes with adrenaline it makes her stronger than she should be. She kicks and bucks her legs, catching them in the leg a few times. The man to her right elbows her, landing right where the knife had. Pain shoots through her, blood pouring anew from the wound. It stops her struggle long enough for them to shove her in the back of the van they brought her in. Seconds later, Daryl is loaded up with her and the doors snap shut.
In the darkness, she sobs, twisting her wrists to get them unbound.
"Pandora, Pandora Let me help you."
She hears his voice, but can't see him. She feels him though, feels his fingers working at the knot. When it falls loose she sobs with relief, falling forwards into his arms. He holds her firm with his good arm, there is a slight tremble in his frame. That frightens her more than anything. He holds her as tight as he can with his uninjured arm as she sobs, unable to stop.
"Pan listen." Daryl holds her face between his hands to get her to focus. She can't though. Everything hurts and here in the darkness all she can see is the ruined mess of Abraham and Glenn.
"Pandora?" He tries again to get her attention, but outside someone bangs on the side of the van.
The sound sends her flying into the corner, huddled down as small as she can be. Panic rages. She is sure they will open the door again to pull her out, kicking and screaming back into the line up. So, she curls up as small as she can, hand over her mouth to stop the sounds of her sobs. In the darkness she hears Daryl shifting, movements slower now.
Under her, the van roars to life. Ignoring the pain, she shoves past Daryl who has positioned himself in front of her and goes flying for the door. She isn't sure what she will do, just know she has to try. Her open palms slammed on the doors not finding any handles. She screams, shoving her body against the doors. Nothing happens. Nothing opens, not even a sliver.
"Pandora," he's behind her now, fingers pulling her backwards. He tugs her into the van, pushing her back into the corner.
She doesn't realize she's crying again until Daryl is wiping her face. Blinking, she looks at him as his face twists in pain. Pandora reaches for him, pulling him closer to her. Her body protests, pain shooting up into her head, but she ignores it.
"Ahm sorry." The end of the sentence is bitten off, word cut short by the harsh shutting of his jaw. off. He's trying to control himself for her, trying to make it seem like he's in control. His arms are around her now, but it's not the same, she doesn't feel safe anymore.
Pandora just shakes her head, unable to form words. The van keeps moving, creeping forward at a slow pace. Her head is filled with thought of being a captive again. She can't bare to close her eyes, frightened at what she might see.