Negan's Daughter

| Chapter 30 | Feral

Trigger warning: Sexual assault and past drug use implication

Wind drafted into the room from the vents, leaving a chill present and overwhelming. My eyes scanned the room in hopes of finding someone who might know how to get out of this place; however, the oldest person in the room seemed to be in their early twenties. I could tell by the shapes of everyone who had been here the longest. The more emaciated someone was, the wilder their hair, and the paler their skin was some of the few telltale signs. They all laid to their sides, huddling to the floor like it was a mother's lap. I determinedly pushed myself to my feet and wobbled over to the first person I saw. A girl around fifteen with short brown hair glanced at me suspiciously as I approached. Her arms were covered with bruises, her skin covered with an odd rash.

"Hi, I'm Breanna." My voice was as steady as I could keep while I reached out to her. "What's your name?" I asked. She glanced down at my hand and turned her head to the side in rejection. I lowered my hand.

"She doesn't speak english." I turned my head to face the voice and noticed the red headed girl I had met first when I arrived. She sat against the wall with a forcibly soft expression on her face. "Where are you from?" She asked. I glanced at the young girl in front of me, noticing she had drifted off into staring at the wall blankly I slowly walked over to the red headed girl.

"Everywhere." I sat down in front of her, examining her closely. Her eyes were green, brought out by her pale, almost yellow skin. She had a small noticeable birthmark above her right eye and hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her clothes were run down, too thin to make out what color they were. "What's your name?" I asked quietly.

"Willow." She smiled softly then held out her hand. I shook her hand, almost shivering from how cold and bony it was. "I was from Washington before here." I furrowed my brow. How did she get from Washington to here? As if reading my mind she answered.

"I lived in Washington before the apocalypse started. It's my home." Her gaze drifted off. "I hope to get back there one day." I swallowed a lump in my throat. I had no home to go back to. Any memory of my life before was locked away somewhere in my head.

"How long have you been here?" I asked below a whisper. She focused back on me and wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

"Three and a half years." The answer made me slump back slightly. "Our home was bombed so we had to get out of Washington before more strikes went off. That's when they found us. On the border out of Tennessee." She cringed at the memory. "Now there's just me." I bit back my lip and nodded.

"I need to get out of here." I whispered. She shook her head.

"There's no leaving. We're feral now." Her voice quivered.

"You said you hope to get back home-"

"When I die," She interjected coldly. She shook her head again then turned her head to the side like the other girl. I mentally cursed at myself. My hand clasped against the floor for support. I cringed as another gut wrenching cramp erupted in my stomach. If they didn't get here soon I would starve, or freeze to death. Suddenly, a girl stood from the other side of the room and wobbled over. She stumbled towards the door and slammed against it. As she slammed I noticed blood dripping from her arms. Needle marks, deep and torn from scratches spilled thick dark liquid down to her elbows. She slammed her fist against the door, tears against her cheeks.

"Let me out! Let me out you sons of bitches!" Her voice was hoarse but she made it loud enough to echo across the silent room. She banged the door again. "Get in here!" Her fists began to bleed from slicing against the rusty shards of metal sticking out from the door. I clawed away until I was in the farthest corner of the room the second the door flew open. My eyes scanned past the two men shooting inside and memorized the outside. The two men grabbed the girl and she spat in their face. They grinned.

"Getting a little restless huh?" One of them asked while stepping closer to her. The girl kicked him in the groin roughly. He tumbled forward as the other man grabbed her from behind and yanked her back from her hair. "You little-" he stopped, standing straight and glaring at her. She struggled in the second man's arms. They forced her down to the ground, the second man holding down her arms as the first climbed on top of her. My eyes scanned the walls rapidly, the other faces were hidden again. The man straddling her ripped her shirt open with an empty expression. I jumped up to my feet wide eyes. The first men started to undo his belt as I surged forward and tackled the second man to the ground.

"Hey off of her!" I grinned while hitting the ground next to her. The guard I tackled flipped me over with ease and pushed me to the wall. My head smashed the hard metal. Before he could get close to me I swung around with a protruded fiat. I caught the man on the side of the head but immediately felt him grab my arm and swing me around like a rag doll. He flung me against the wall again and closed in on me.

"You don't get it yet do you?" He asked cooly. "There is no escaping. You are feral now." I furrowed my brow but quickly snapped my attention towards the girl as she screamed. The man straddling her had ripped down her bottoms. My eyes flicked towards the man in front of me, wide and terrified. He bared his teeth at me. "Frank doesn't let us at the new girls until their second month. The second that day comes expect me." I cowered as he leaned in closer. My mind blocked out the screams, the cries, every sound coming from the scene a few feet away. My eyes clenched shut as a bitter taste invaded my mouth.

After a few minutes it was over. The second man pushed himself away from me and exited with the first while he fixed his clothes. Trembling, I opened my eyes and looked down at the girl on the floor. Silence invaded the room as I shakily walked towards her, tears in my eyes. How could I bring her back from this? Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. I fell to my knees next to her and tried to put her clothes back on her. She turned her head suddenly so her eyes were focused on me. A labored breath left my mouth and formed smoke in the air.

"Kill me," she whispered. I moved my shaky hands to her shirt and tried to close it. I shook my head.  "Please." Her voice brought a sob from my mouth. My body lurched towards my knees, begging for air to refill my lungs. She grabbed my arm roughly causing me to return my attention to her. Suddenly, it made sense why she had banged on the door and spat in the guards face; she wanted to die. How many times had this happened before? I looked around the room. How many times had they came in here and taken what they wanted?  Shudder enveloped my body as I focused down on the girl.

"Everything's going to be okay," I lied. Nothing was okay. She closed her eyes and let the tears drop down to her ears.

"Two hundred and seventy five days." She replied quietly. I didn't speak. "Please." She begged again. I pulled my arm from hers and stood. Stumbling back, I stared at her in fear. I couldn't kill someone. I couldn't. She laid on the ground for a while until the light went out from under the door and we were all surrounded by darkness. Nothing was okay anymore.