Home Is Your Heartbeat ('Home Is' Book Two - Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 12 - In The End (Linkin Park)

DARYL

We're all set to go.

Have spent most of the day making weapons out of anything we can find. Belts, buckles, zips off jackets. Rick is busy sawing off some spikes of wood. Using a piece of chain he'd found in the corner of the box car.

Getting ready for when those pricks return. It's simply a matter of....when.

"Four of em. Comin up the side now"  I peered out the tiny gap in the rail car door.

We're all preparing to storm them as they enter. That's when we heard noises coming from the roof....and a piece of it slid back.

A flashbang went off and I knew no more for a while.

*

Woke to find my hands and feet bound with ties, a gag digging into my mouth. They dragged me through the warehouse. Threw me next to Rick who's already kneelin and bent over a trough.

On his other side is Bob. To my left, they propped up a groggy Glenn. Then four other men, all strangers.

Two Terminus guys came up behind us. Both of them wearing protective gear....aprons and visors.

In the distance we spotted others, standing at large tables. There's bodies' lyin on em and they're being sawn up. Can hear the sounds of ribcages cracking and splitting.

Only they ain't carcasses of animals....but men and women.

Humans....

Hearing another sound of bone shattering, my head spun towards the other end of the trough.

The taller guy had swung his baseball bat and it'd connected solidly with the back of the young blond guy's skull. Then the other prick grabbed his hair, yanked his head back and slit his throat.

We're cattle....nuthin but cattle. And we're being slaughtered.

Blood ran down the trough to the drain, right under my nose. Can smell its metallic tang.

Like the others, I'm squirmin like hell now. Trying frantically to loosen the ties, but they're thick and tight.

Can only remember being this terrified a few times in my life before. Far too many of those in the last few weeks.

That smooth talkin little prick, Gareth? Came out and interrupted the butchers. Wantin kill tallies like he's some kinda number cruncher.

Then he started questioning Rick....askin what we'd buried outside and where exactly. He threatened Bob if Rick didn't start fessin up.

Dunno why he thought that tactic would do any good? Seeing as they're gonna kill us all anyways.

The slaughter was just about to start up again, the bat being readied to take out Glenn. His wild, petrified eyes latched onto mine.

And I wasn't gonna fuckin turn away. Ain't gonna let him go....all alone.

That's when one muthafucker of an explosion went off. Shakin the whole building and knockin everyone to the ground.

Rick managed to get free first. Took them Terminus bastards out with the sharpened sliver of wood he'd hidden in his boot. Freed us and we scattered. Gatherin up whatever we can to defend ourselves.

The place is a goddamned abattoir! Huge containers of boned out body parts are everywhere....and the glimpse of a sausage maker stopped me in my tracks.

"Jeezus! This gives new meaning to 'finger lickin good'  huh, Daryl?"  Bob's hysterical whimper came from behind me as the realisation hit him as well.