Determined to Endure: The 4th Installment in my Daryl Dixon Love Story

Chapter 8: Held Captive

When we get inside a building, the older women pushes me to the floor, "get on the ground." She utters in a scratchy voice.

"You, there. You, over there." Paula demands of Maggie and Carol. They gag us and tape our legs then hands, all seated a part from one another in some kind of old utility back room, "you're wondering if there's a way out of this. There isn't. Not unless I say so." She finishes by wrapping Maggie's hands. One of the women calls for back up and Paula throws the tape and starts to move to her door, "I want to kill you all right now. It's taking all I have not to, so go ahead, I dare you, try something. Just see what happens." She shuts us in and we're alone. All three of us start to try and wriggle our way out of our tape, knowing we need to get an advantage somehow.

Only maybe a minute goes by when we hear footsteps approaching and we all get back to our places against the walls. They come back in stammering on about this location. Carol starts to breathe heavily, as if she's having some kind of attack. The old women rambles on, "the guns have gone bye-bye, the food's gone bye-bye, and we got growlers up and down the halls."

Carol continues to pant as Maggie and I eye each other and her. The man I shot says, "means people can get through, too. Maybe we should get gone."

I try to call through my gag, "Carol!" Starting to worry about her.

"Yeah? Where the hell to?" The dark haired women asks.

"Nowhere. Got dead in the halls? Free security. Those assholes get here before our people, the cold bloods will buy us some time." Paula answers for him. Carol still pants and she barely looks over to shout at her, "shut up!" She turns back to the man bleeding on the floor "Jesus, it's bleeding. It's not supposed to keep bleeding." She turns to the old women, calling her by name, "Molly, give me the rope."

The man fights, "I'm not losing it. I'm not."

"We have to get him back. He can fix it." The dark haired lady says, "we have to, Paula."

Paula shakes her head as she works at tying the rope over the wound, "no. I saw them, you didn't. They took the place down, they got the guns, they'll kill us, too."

I holler out with all my might, "Hey! Hey!" And I get her attention.

Paula rips off my my gag and yells, "what?"

"She's hyperventilating. Somebody needs to take her gag off." I yell, staring wildly at Carol whose face is stained with tears and very red.

Molly takes Carol's gag off and they all stare at her. Paula smirks and rhetorically asks, "she's a nervous little bird, ain't she?"

Carol continues to try and inhale. The dark haired women points her gun at her, "look at you. Bitch, how did you make it this far?"

Molly steps closer to carol, "honey, you need to take some yoga breaths and calm your ass down."

"I can't--" Carol pants.

I see Molly lean down to grab something and I see Carol wrap her tied fingers around some prayer beads. I just stare ahead at what's unfolding. Molly comments, "oh. You're one of those."

Paula asks, "what are you so afraid of?" Carol has tears rolling down her face still and Paula answers her own question, "are you actually afraid to die?" She scoffs, "all this and you're scared of getting your ticket punched."

Carol finally talks, "it doesn't matter what happens to me. Just don't hurt Maggie. Don't hurt the baby." She pleads.

"Yeah, right." Paula chuckles out.

The guy on the floor says, "she got a bun in the oven, she doesn't look it."

Maggie answers, "I'm only two months, I think."