AND THEN I FOUND YOU » Daryl Dixon

3. REMORSEFUL COWARD

To be re-written

Everything was black.

All senses had been stripped away except for her hearing, and even that was fading in and out.

"Jasmin?!" The voice sounded familiar. One she could remember from her dreams.

"What- you know her?"

"She's the one who saved me and Glenn."

The surrounding air cradled her body as she floated in the void she suspected she was in.

Death was common in the new world; Jasmin had always tried not to think about what happened after. If she did, this is what she would've imagined. The only thing that seemed out of place was her still-present consciousness and awareness, but that too was beginning to slip out of her grasp once again...

"There's no way out. Trust me I've tried," Jasmin spoke, hugging her knees against her body.

There probably was a way out somewhere. But after the third time of trying, failing, and being punished, she had given up. Phillip had all the power in the world over her and he knew it.

Some step-father.

"How can you sit there and say that knowing that if you don't get out of here, you will die! If we work together, we might have a chance!" The short-haired girl pleaded whilst frantically searching the room, looking for any chance of escape.

The boy Jasmin had guessed to be her boyfriend sat against the wall. His face was covered in a familiar shade of bright red, whilst the skin around his eye had swollen up, blinding him on one side. He looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

The punishments for disobeying Phillip's orders were still fresh in her mind and on her body, overpowering the desire to help the young couple.

She couldn't bet her already crumbling sanity on a chance.

"I'm sorry." She bowed her head.

The other girl opened her mouth as if she was about to say something but was cut short by the rusty metal door bursting open. A group of men who Jasmin had seen nearly every day walked in carrying rifles.

"The three of you in a line. Now!" One of them ordered, grabbing her by the arm and throwing her next to the couple, then tying their hands behind their backs with duct tape.

Her knees struck the cold ground with a hard thud that she knew would leave more bruises.

"Merle, you don't have to do this." The Asian boy pleaded, staring up at the man who wore a dirty, white wife beater and black button-up shirt.

Jasmin had seen the man around before but in spite of his stereotypical appearance, he had never touched her. Not as the others had. He did have a strong left hook though that's for sure.

Merle Dixon.

He seemed like the others but in some way, he was completely different. Whenever he came in with Phillip, she could see a certain look in his eye. It wasn't very noticeable, but she always caught it – remorse.

"Sorry amigo. Ain't up to me anymore. Should've told us where you and your friends were hidin' out. Could've saved you and little bo peep over here a whole lot of trouble." Merle shrugged his shoulders then gave Jasmin a quick glance and looked away.

Remorseful coward.

"Now get up!"

Two men assigned to each of them had begun pulling them up off the ground and towards the door. She had only been out the few times she tried to escape.

Whenever the governor had any prisoners, he'd throw them in with her. But after some time, they'd be taken out through the same rusty metal door and were never seen again. It was a loop she was forced to watch over and over.

He killed them. And now he was finally going to kill her along with the other two.

Despite her disbelief in divine nature, she used to pray to whatever higher being that might be out there for weeks on end, asking that her days would finally come to an end. It seemed she had finally got her answer. But it wasn't right that the other two had to endure it with her. They had something worth fighting for – Each other.

If Phillip was going to have Jasmin killed, then it would be on her terms.

In a split second, the whole situation had gone from zero to one hundred.

Jerking her hands against her back, she snapped the tape that bound her wrists. She pushed the man behind her against the wall, snatching the rifle out of his hands and using the butt of the gun to knock him over the head. Pulling up the gun to eye level, she squeezed the trigger, holding it down until all of Phillip's men were all on the ground. Except for one.

Looking to her left she could see the brown-haired girl and her boyfriend immediately untying each other hands and making sure one another was alright.

Jasmin scanned the rest of the room for anyone else, but all that was left was Merle.

"Hands up, 'amigo'," she mocked, pushing the barrel against his temple.

He lifted up his hands in surrender. "Whoa there darlin'! C'mon you- you know I never did anythin' to ya, not like those other fellas."

He was right, he never did anything. Anything at all.

She pointed the gun down to his foot and pulled the trigger. He toppled over onto the ground with a yell, holding onto his right foot as he let out a string of curses and nonsensical mumbles.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" the boy asked, holding onto the girl for support.

Her gaze slowly shifted over to them as she moved a streak of dyed red hair out of her face. She wanted to give them an answer but couldn't, she could already hear the commotion outside. The others must've heard the shots and were on their way with more men than the three of them could take on.

"It doesn't matter, you two need to go," she urged, making her way around the corner into the hallway. There was a room at the end of the hallway the two may be able to get out of.

She quickly walked back over to them, picked up a mag from the other guns on the way, and reloaded the rifle as the footsteps outside got closer.

"There's a room just down that hallway. There may be a window or something you can climb out of. All the patrols on the walls will be distracted by the commotion so you can climb over and get the hell out of here," she said, searching around the room for anything else that could be used as a weapon.

"Maggie, Glenn!" A southern voice yelled coming from the direction of the room down the hallway.

The two must've recognized the voice as they exchanged a look. The girl named Maggie quickly turned to Jasmin, putting a gentle hand on her arm making her wince.

"What about you? You can come with us," she said.

The group outside was getting too close. They would be there any minute and they'd all be dead.

"I'll hold down the fort long enough for you two to get out. I'll be okay don't worry." Jasmin gave her a small reassuring smile to which she returned.

"Now get out of here!" she exclaimed, shoving them both towards the hallway.

Right before they reached the room at the end, the boy she assumed was Glenn turned and they exchanged their seemingly last words.

"What's your name?!"

"Jasmin Whittle."