Torn Apart • TWD

Chapter 25 - Doctor Stevens

Tessa is smug. She is torturing the man she has recently shot just by being in his presence, he is very clearly holding himself back from injuring or being verbally cruel and it has made his face red with pent-up rage and the veins on his neck are so prominent she could probably hit them with an arrow from a mile away, at least that's what she likes to believe.

The two are walking the streets in complete silence, though there are thousands of things she wants to say to the man and none of them are pleasant, the child is waiting to see if he'll break the order given by his boss and speak his mind. Tessa wants to know just how much control that Governor has over Merle, because if he managed to tame a man like this into doing whatever he wants without backlash then there's no reason every resident in the town isn't the exact same way, which could be an obstacle in her escape plan.

The girl also wants to check out the food situation, if they have enough for everyone in Woodbury to be properly nourished and if they wouldn't miss a couple of items. She is going to be surveying everything they have to determine what she can take, they forced her here and knocked her out, plus she had to meet an asshole that brings out murderous thoughts, like hell is she leaving without some compensation.

Not too many people are still walking the streets, only the odd man with a gun stationed in front of a building and looking like they're trying to imitate a statue. She has already made a mental note of the buildings that are being guarded and plans to sneak off given her first chance and investigate.

There's nothing as curious as a child, especially if that child has been kidnapped and wants to wreak as much havoc as her little mind can devise, and a start to that is finding out what this town is hiding.

Merle has noticed her quiet demeanour and from past instances with this child, that is rare and whenever she isn't talking feels like a blessing to the man. But he cannot appreciate the blessing since he has been glancing at her every minute to find out what she is planning.

The missing hand man has started to figure Vega out, she's quiet and scared as a mouse with the other two, an obvious act, but he had figured she hadn't thought to pretend with him when she first woke up in the car due to the disorientation and the anger of being forced into unconsciousness by his hit. Merle figured there was no point telling the Governor what she had said because he wouldn't have believed it purely because she is a child and in his mind, they can do no wrong, even if they shoot someone's ear off.

He also hadn't mentioned anything to the men because he wanted her to talk freely around him so maybe she could slip up about whatever it is she's lying about — and he knows there's something. She wouldn't be herself around him if she knew he had run to his boss and told him everything.

Merle guides the girl into a building where a woman in a white lab coat is waiting for the two with a frown and crossed arms, and given how she was forced to come to her work after curfew by one of the Governor's men banging on her door telling her to help a man she loathes, its safe to say she isn't in the best mood.

But her frown instantly lifts and is replaced with confusion at the sight of a child following the drug stealing man, the doctor finds there is a clear sign of medical need with only a glance at the girl. The blood staining her face is one thing, but the limp is another, Tessa had been trying to hide the damage to her leg ever since she first caught on to being followed so they wouldn't know she was injured and use it against her, the child continued to hide it when they brought her in so she wouldn't have too many questions.

Sadly she isn't the best at hiding the limp, and she knows a few have already suspected a wound on there. She doesn't know how to explain why she was shot since she had told the Governor that all his men tried to do was grab her, but in reality, they shot her because she killed one and they retaliated, and she has been wracking her brain on how to solve this but all answers will leave a hole in her story.