Penance (Book One): Daryl Dixon x Sage Wilson

chapter 6

My head throbs as I try to squirm awake, but finding I have no room to move my hands or legs. I feel a tightness around my ankle, forgetting I had gotten shot. I look around the room, finding nothing but concrete walls, and the thin metal gated bed I was on. I look down to see my feet bonded by red twine, and look up to see my hands are bonded by the same.

"Shit," I hiss as I pull at the ropes. I panic as I look around me trying to find some sort of escape. Something I can cut these ropes with, anything. I look above me at the slightly swinging yellow light, hearing the echoes of me struggling. Andrea wasn't present in the room, and I could only guess she was in one similar to mine.

I take a deep breath as I look around, but then I realize something. The metal on these types of beds were old, thinned, and probably sharp enough to weaken the twine so I could snap it.

I yank at the twine, my wrists becoming rubbed and raw from the sharp shards hard rope in the material.

I let my struggling fall limp, and I stare up at the ceiling hopelessly. The concrete foundations were cracked, and it smelled like dust and stale air.

I could feel my heart try to escape my chest, the anxiety making every rib in my body throb. I try to replay in my head what happened back in the woods- everything was going so well until it wasn't. But I guess that was the luck of the draw when it came to the deck of cards handed to me in life.

But then my head seems to light a match, come to a sudden realization. The men. Not the ones driving or shot at us, but the passenger. Why did the name Merle sound so familiar? The way his facial structure stood, wide and tough and the way his voice sounded just reminded me of someone.

And that someone was Daryl- even if not they didn't have the shared look, there was something about Merle's personality I feel I have explored before.

And then the bell finally rang.

This was Daryl's lost brother. The guy on the roof that Rick handcuffed to the pipes. The brother that Daryl has been endlessly looking for in the pits of hell. I forgot about that day on the rooftop, how Rick handcuffed Merle because of his smart ass mouth. Did he chop his own hand off to live?

"Holy shit-" I try to say to myself until the heavy metal door creaks open.

Suddenly, Merle walks in alongside a geeky looking man with glasses and gelled down hair.

"Hey get me the fuck out of here!" I tug at the twine, seeing the man with glasses set a clipboard and pen at my bed, alongside a first aid kit filled with medical supplies. I look to Merle and glare, seeing the mischievous grin on his face grow.

"Where is Andrea?" I ask as I squirm while the man with glasses starts to unwrap my bandage on my ankle.

"Don't worry, she's next door and taken care of." The nerdy guy says.

"I'm sorry- who the hell are you and why are you touching me?" I snap.

The man looks up at me with a nervous expression, swallowing hard. "If I were you, I'd talk before I shove my foot down your gullet." I warn.

The man pushes up his glasses, sighing and looking back to Merle. "Milton. My name is Milton, and I am the doctor here at Woodbury."

I lean back, sighing and looking up at the light.

"When can I get the hell out of here?" I look to Merle, who stands in the doorway with his arms crossed and a wide smirk.

"Until I say so," a tall man with shorter brown swept hair walks in, dressed in black militaristic attire. He had a stern look on his face, and stubble everywhere on his face.

"And who the hell are you?" I ask.

"I'm the leader of this community," he walks towards me, his hands rubbing together slowly as he licks his lips. "You can call me the Governor. If you address me otherwise as anything else, consider yourself walker dinner."

I stay silent, but roll my eyes instead. "So you guys find it cute to shoot women, kidnap them, bring them back to said safety, then habilitate them and force conformity." I describe.

The Governor looks up at the ceiling, smirking, then looks down to me. He walks towards me, going towards the right side of my bed. "Precisely," he whispers as he leans into my face. His breath smelled of putrid mint.

I turn my head away. "Do not get close to me ever again." I snap.!

I feel something under my chin pull me towards the right, and see his finger pressed under it. "I will do as I please and you will follow what I have to say. That's no way to talk to the man that saved you, is it?" He tilts his head.

"You didn't save us, we were just-" I cut myself off from saying looking for our group, because this Asshole didn't need to know we had others somewhere nearby. "We were just scavenging. We've been on our own." I say bluntly. I hoped Andrea was saying the same, because if our stories didn't match up this would make it all the more worse.

The Governor releases my chin, resting a hand on the bed frame.

"If you can stay put, and shut your mouth.. then I might think about letting you out. But if you try to back talk my men one more time, then consider yourself in trouble." He smirks at me, and I look down at Milton seeing him finishing my wound dressing.

I clench and grind my teeth, trying to hold back the venomous words locked behind my teeth. I take a breath, closing my eyes and nodding. I couldn't find a way to verbally say yes, but this would do. He didn't deserve that much.

Within moments, I was left alone in a dark room. Not even the light was present now, and all I could do was close my eyes and hope for time to pass as quickly as possible.

Rick, Daryl... fuck, even Shane.. hurry your asses up and find us. Soon.