breakout✗d.d

Chapter 50 - Silence

Daryl POV

The first thing I noticed was a pounding pain in the back of my head. Then the metallic blood taste in my mouth. Then the icy coolness all around me. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry, just smudged of brown and green forestry surrounding me. I squinted and went to rub my eyes until I realised, I couldn't move my hands. My vision came back and I looked around, realising my hands were tied. I was sitting against a large tree with my hands tied together behind it, just as Lacey had been. That was the last thing I remembered - freeing Lacey then Layla trying to get her to come with us before Rob came back. Then just pain and darkness.***

Layla. Shit. I suddenly became much more aware of the dismal atmosphere around me. That's when I saw her. She was opposite me, at least a good 5 meters away, the same as me: against a tree as I assumes tied up to. Her head was limp, resting on the front of her shoulder and I could see blood covering her shirt, dripping from her face.

"Layla!" I sort of whisper-shouted, hoping that whomever had done this was gone. No answer. I knew she was passed out - again - but I had to try. "Layla! Wake up!" I said louder but still, she was out. The possibility then slipped my mind that she could be worse than passed out. I mean, who knows how long we'd been here? I watched her closely and just managed to see her breathing shallowly.

"She's not waking up."

Rob. He jumped down from the tree that Layla was tied up against, I must've not seen him there. Less than a couple seconds later, Lacey walked into view and stood next to him, in between Layla and me.

"You look confused." Lacey said with an obviously sarcastic sympathetic look but I ignored her. I saw Rob go over to the still unconscious Layla and crouch down next to her, he lifted her head, holding her chin and started at her.

"She'd be a decent one if her face wasn't all fucked up." Rob commented, blatantly trying to taunt me.

"You get away from her!" I yelled through gritted teeth, trying not to be too loud as I didn't want to attract walkers.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?" Rob smirked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"How you even alive? Lacey said you died." I scoffed, all the while watching Layla to make sure she kept breathing.

"And you just believed me?" Lacey retorted, folding her arms. "It was planned all along. You see, we don't wander with guys we don't like. Jae was like a brother to us, now he's dead. You killed him."

"What the hell was I supposes to do!? He was trying to kill her!" I exclaimed.

"I'm sure he had his reasons." Lacey shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm not here argue. We saw all the stuff you had with you and you don't gather all that from the woods. We know you're from a camp." Rob said bluntly and I kept completely silent - as if I would tell him. All of a sudden, murmurs. A quiet whimper of a voice. Layla was waking up.

"Looks like you decided to join the party! Welcome!" Rob yelled, waking up Layla fully.

"What... Daryl?!" She began to murmur and looked up, fully revealing her face. She was barely recognisable.

"Maybe the pretty mess knows something about your camp." Rob suggested and made his way over to her. There was nothing I could do.

"What's going on?" She asked innocently to me, not even noticing Rob until he was right in front of her crowed down again. He grabbed the top of her throat, just below her jaw with one hand and from Layla's reaction - the grip was tight.

Layla POV

His grip was tight. Ridiculously. I wasn't sure if he was going to simply tear out my throat or not. I was completely dazed. I had figured I was tied up and Daryl the same opposite me. I was struggling for air though. Panicking.

"Now see I would get you caught up on this situation but hey, none of us are getting any younger." Rob chucked as I felt the blood begin to drain from my face slightly. "So I'm just gonna need a small favour for you to tell us where you're set up. You know your camp." Rob held my throat for another second before letting go of me, causing me to cough as I gasped for air, every breath scratchy and desperate. I figured that he had already asked Daryl and Daryl had refused to answer. So I wasn't either. Silence.

"Come on girl, don't bother making this worse for yourself. This is ending badly either way this goes, I just assumed that you'd both want it less... Painful." Lacey shrugged, most likely attempting to intimidate me. I wasn't gonna break, we can get out of this - was all that ran through my head. So I stayed silent.

"Fine, have it your way." Rob smirked.

He then turned to Lacey and received a slight nod from her. He raised his fist, before bringing it down onto my left cheek. My head jolted to one side and a stinging ache emerged across my jaw. He raised his fist again, before bringing it down on the same way as before. Searing, fiery bursts pulsated on my face, intensifying with every swing he took. Jarring and brutal. I could hear Daryl shouting at him to stop, yelling some pretty abusive things but everything was sort of tuned out, apart from the pain.

The sudden jolts of pain suddenly stopped but soon amplified as I felt blood begin to trickle from my nose.

"Ready to talk yet?" Rob demanded but although I was utterly helpless and suffering it that point in time, I lifted my head and spat blood from my heavily bleeding mouth onto his face.

"You wish you dick. There's too many of us for you to handle." I sputtered. He lifted the bottom of his dirty, maroon shirt and wiped his face clean.

"Alright. Well then. Layla, Daryl -" He stood and gestured to each one of us as he spoke. "I guess we'll see you on the other side." He coaxed before turning to his sister and saying: "would you."

He gestures toward me. Lacey nodded and pulled out a knife from her belt. As she walked over, I never broke staring at her. Watching her every move. The silence was near deafening. Thick like a quilt with suspense and anxiousness. I was tense yet shaking immensely. Lacey kneeled in front of me, just as Rob had before.

"I'm sorry." She mouthed silently before the knife blade came into contact with my skin - the back of my heel. I felt something snap. My right then my left. Blood immediately beginning to pool at my feet. And all I could do was scream.

The Achilles tendon - a fibrous band located at the back of your heel that connects your calf muscles to your heel bone which allows you to lift your heel off the ground.

When you rupture your Achilles tendon, the tendon tears completely across. When you flex your calf muscles, they no longer pull up on your heel bone. A ruptured Achilles tendon causes you to lose stability in your ankle joint and therefore your ability to walk.

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*** TØP reference, if you get it, bless you😂 also next chapter will probably be the last :))))