Red Tide² ━ FTWD

CHAPTER 10: In the Bleak Midwinter

RED TIDE

chapter ten: in the bleak midwinter

[ season 2, episode 4; blood in the streets ]

DAY 21

Heather's hands were already bound behind her back with a black wire they used as cord. It was smart, she had to give them that — zip ties were easily broken, and rope could be cut through. Wire was tough.

The older one, Reed, surveyed the group with the shotgun he took from Daniel, panning it over their heads like a searchlight as Jack worked. A constant reminder they were completely at his mercy.

A lesson everyone but Alicia seemed to understand.

"Don't, please," Alicia pleaded.

"He's doing his job," Reed said, completely disinterested in what the girl was saying. As expected — Alicia seemed to think she had some kind of bond with Jack because of their conversation. What she didn't understand was that bond was a lie. Jack's purpose was to get Alicia to let her guard down, feign some type of connection so he could take their resources.

She was nothing more than a mark, and an easy one at that.

Reed continued. "Kip, tie her."

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.

If Heather's hands weren't bound, she might strangle her. Her little save-the-day fantasy was what got them into this mess. If she wasn't careful, Reed might just shoot her to shut her up, send a message to the group.

"You can circumnavigate the world from this ship, she's a prize."

"You're making a mistake," Travis tried to reason.

"No, I think your son made the mistake." Chris turned to glare at him as Reed shrugged, taking on a mocking, baby-like tone. "'Should I shoot them'?" he dropped the affect, and glared right back at the teen. "Piece of advice — if you have to ask the question, somebody should already be dead. And," he turned to her sister, whose eyes darted to the floor. With a grin, he added, "you might want to think about turning the safety off, if you're planning on killing somebody."

"I'll keep that in mind," Heather said, low enough she assumed Reed couldn't hear her.

She assumed wrong.

Reed's attention snapped to the teen, and he laughed aloud — something almost startled, but quickly covered with mock bravado. "Will you now?" he questioned. "We got ourselves a little badass over here." The muzzle prodded Heather in the side of head twice, a sharp tap-tap against her temple. From where they sat, both mother and eldest daughter stiffened. That shotgun was one wrong move away from blowing her head open, and the man didn't seem to have much trigger discipline to begin with. "You gonna try something, Heather? No offense, but from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like you can do much of anything besides 'keeping that in mind'. But hey, by all means," the muzzle lingered by Heather's ear as Reed finished. "Go ahead."