RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

the pit

THEIR EYES STUNG when the truck doors swung open and they were greeted with a bright ray of sunlight. It only took a few seconds for them to be unloaded after the truck came to a smooth stop. They were pulled out and onto rough pavement, their ankles twisting as they were shoved along before they could gain their footing.

Willow jerked her shoulder out of a man's grasp and walked slowly beside Daryl towards a large brick building. Most of the walls were hidden from overgrown weeds and vines, and others were dismantled and torn down- nothing but dust and soil. It was a sight for sore eyes, but it seemed to be the center of the entire island. 

"This is it." Sibby said through a sharp and silent breath. "This is where we were supposed to go."

A few glances around had everyone confirming her conspiracy. It was the school they had marked on their map. Eastern Bay Middle.

"Doesn't look like a school." Daryl muttered with angry eyes towards another man that held onto him with a tight grasp. 

"Because it's not." 

It was that thick accent again that they could hardly understand.

"We've turned it into something bigger, and better."

Willow's eyes narrowed as they got pulled together in a single file line right in front of the glass doors at the front of the building.

The foreign woman came to the front of their line and stood with a tall posture, eyeing each of them for a few seconds in silence. Her eyes drifted from the tops of their heads, down to their toes, almost as if she was sizing them all up. She had a slight grimace on her face like she was looking at a group of strays.

Two of her men rounded each side of the line and took their places besides the double glass doors, their hands resting on the bronze handles. There were a few agonizing seconds before they got the nod from their leader to open the doors. Each door swung open, and although they were transparent, it still somehow concealed exactly what was inside.

They were pushed along again and stepped down a dark corridor lit by hundreds of black candles sitting atop of tall candelabras. It lit up the hallways just enough for them to see where they were going, but kept it dark enough to be mysterious and eerie. Banners made out of old bed linens were strung up like tapestries along the brick walls. Every turn they took was a new one with foreign words painted on them in red and black.

Dozens of their people lined the walls, but they didn't look like the soldiers that were leading them down the hallways. Instead of armor and shields, they donned white silk clothes- too white, considering there was an apocalypse. These people were clean and well kept, a rarity to find.

A few more slow strides had them lined in front of another set of double doors, but only these were made of metal. They must've been painted at some point in time, because Willow could see the dark blue paint chipping off and creating a small layer on the tile floor in front of it. Beside the door was a plaque that once had something written on it, but that too was painted over and covered with the language none of them could understand.

In their line, they stood deathly still, awaiting for the doors to be opened for them again. Beyond the doors, they could hear muffled voices. Not words, but loud, ungodly sounds. They couldn't tell if it was laughter or screams. 

The woman made her way to the front of the line again with an even deeper grimace than the one she wore before. Her cold hand snaked under Willow's chin and jerked her head up. "Let your head drop again, and you'll be eating that paint for dinner."

Goosebumps raised on Willow's skin as she waited for the woman's hand to leave her face. She was ice cold from the inside out. 

The woman finally let go and took a step back as the same two men as before came and opened the metal doors. There was an awful sound that came with it. It sounded like the doors were about to fall off the hinges. But then there was an even worse sound.