OUTLIVE.
❝The dead were never the enemy.
It was the living. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK TWO of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 4 - 6 ]
*****
*I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I simply write to write. Astrid, any addi...
Йой! Нажаль, це зображення не відповідає нашим правилам. Щоб продовжити публікацію, будь ласка, видаліть його або завантажте інше.
[ xxi. don't hesitate ]
june 29th, 2012
➸➸➸
ASTRID LANCASTER'S SKULL MET the cold, unfeeling concrete floor as the world ruptured. The ground trembled beneath her, vibrating with the rumble of an explosion that sounded so very near.
Through a haze of fresh disorientation, she fought to regain her bearings. Her eyes soon settled upon Daryl, who lay sprawled beside her, still straining against the zip ties that still bound him. Then, with a deeper, gradual investigation of her surroundings, she also discovered Rick, his back turned to her. Her focus sharpened when she spotted something clutched in his hands—a wooden stake. A sly, triumphant smirk crept across her face.
Elsewhere, the cannibals clambered unsteadily to their feet. Gareth's walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Gareth, do you copy?"
But the leader of Terminus, for his part, remained mute on the line. Instead, he barked orders to his workers. "You two, stay here," He commanded.
One of his henchmen, the man clutching the baseball bat, hesitated. "But these guys aren't going anywhere," He protested.
"Just stay here until I know what's happening!" Gareth retorted sharply, leaving the reluctant man with little other choice. He trudged toward the exit of the warehouse and vanished from sight, leaving Astrid and the others alone once more with their captors.
The two men eventually retrieved their weapons and hauled the captives back to their knees, suspended precariously back over the trough. Glenn was hoisted with ease, but Daryl's spirit remained unbroken. When they finally raised the struggling hunter, they ruthlessly shoved him against the steel trough, and he emitted a guttural grunt of pain. Astrid yelped in surprise at his cry, but before she could react further, the hands of their would-be seized her next, causing her to gasp in agony as fingers unknowingly dug into her injured side.
Daryl, though still muffled by his gag, growled ferally, "Get . . . off . . . 'er!"
Rick was lifted next in line, his hands noticeably untied, though he still held them together as if they were not. Astrid's neck ached as she watched him, her shoulders burned from the incessant trembling, and a deep breath offered little comfort. She strained to hear the faint gunfire that had resumed from outside, bracing herself for another explosion that seemed inevitable.
The Lancaster woman keenly perceived the mounting unease festering within their captors, underscored by the growing violence that echoed from outside the warehouse's walls. The man wielding the butcher's knives, in particular, exhibited a visible tremor of fear. He stooped to retrieve another walkie-talkie, his voice nervous as he addressed into the static, "You there, Gareth?"
"He's busy," The other grumbled.
The former pivoted abruptly, his eyes aflame. "You smell the smoke? You hear the shots?" He demanded. "He could be dead! What the hell are we doing here? The whole place could be going up!"
