Red Tide² ━ FTWD

CHAPTER 16: Dead in the Water

RED TIDE

chapter sixteen: dead in the water

[ season 2, episode 5; captive ]

DAY 21

Reed's voice trembled as he demanded, "Don't touch me."

His threat fell flat as Daniel pressed against his wound with the rag, and he let out a whimper. The older man turned as the cloth soaked through and dropped it in the bucket at his feet, already overflowing with identical scarlet rags.

Meghan observed the scene with a disaffected air from the edge of the room. Unlike Chris, who glared down the man with a searing hatred, she didn't feel that strongly toward Reed. She felt almost as she had after she'd killed the soldiers, the troubles of the world sliding off her shoulders like water off a duck's back. He was already dead, anyway. All they were doing was delaying the inevitable.

Reed's protests didn't mean much. No matter how much he begged or screamed, he couldn't change the fate that had been decided the moment her sister ran that screwdriver through his abdomen. Meghan wasn't as familiar with human anatomy as she should be, having only the medical knowledge her basic Red Cross training and some true crime documentaries provided, along with what she'd picked up from true crime documentaries. Still, she knew enough to know there was no chance the weapon hadn't pierced an organ. It was the reason Daniel left it in. The screwdriver was the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. Not that he'd last long with it, either — his face was already blotched red, pallid in all the wrong places, with a glistening of sweat soaked through his clothes.

It was part of the reason Meghan had come down, to see how bad off he was. He probably had another couple hours in him, she figured. Maybe half a day. One thing was sure, though — she wouldn't let him die by Heather's hand. It wasn't a weight she'd let her sister carry, not when her hands were already bloodstained, and willing to accept the burden. She'd take his life, and take the blame.

On the off-chance he could somehow pull through, though, his fate was still decided. The same end she'd chosen the moment he threatened her sister. The second their people were safe, she'd kill him. It wasn't something she thought out of anger, actually, it was just the opposite. Reed was a violent, cruel man who threatened her sister and tried to kill them. The only value he had was as a bargaining chip. Once that role was fulfilled, they couldn't take the risk of letting him run free. Letting any of them run free, actually.

They were all dead. Every single one that dared to come after her family.

Daniel worked diligently, and ignored each one of Reed's poor attempts at invoking authority from his death bed.

"I'll clean up when I get home," the man tried to argue.

Daniel spoke casually, "Who says you're going home?"