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The taste of battery acid in her mouth was all she could distinguish once a sudden gust of cold water was splashed onto her face. Adeline jerked forward hastily, tight rope restraining her arms and legs against a wooden chair. A sudden pinching pain pounded against her skull, a prolonged ring heard in her ears as she tugged at the ropes. A shaky breath left her lips, blinking away at the droplets of water coating her eyelashes to look for a way out.
Instead of finding one, her blurry eyes came into contact with a smirking Merle Dixon, the word cocky lacing every one of his noticeable features. "Time to wake up, sweet cheeks." He teased, the metal bucket he held in his hands clattering to the concrete floor. The sound resulted in the widow flinching, the pounds of pain in her head only growing worse by the second. "Ah... my bad."
Scoffing underneath her breath, Adeline straightened her back out and looked around the room for any sign of Glenn or Maggie. The only thing she found were stacks of cardboard boxes, dim lights hanging from the ceiling that casted odd shadows on her pale skin. She took note of every nook and cranny, a table in the nearby corner containing her weapons on the surface.
Merle noticed her lingering stare on the weapons, a raspy chuckle leaving his lips at the sight. "You ain't gotta worry about them, now. You got your old pal Merle looking after you." He assured, leaning against the metal table in front of her. The widows observant eyes spotted the blood crusting around his nose, his knuckles bruised.
The worry and fear of Glenn or Maggie being hurt caused the withering anger in her stomach to sprout back up in the blink of an eye. "Where are they?" The question was the only words to leave her lips, eyes settled on the proud face of Merle Dixon. Droplets of water that he had splashed on her dripped down her face, making contact with the bare skin of her arms.
Feeling the water touch her skin, she furrowed her brows in confusion and looked down to her chest. From what she remembered, she was wearing a thin turtle neck that covered every inch of her arms and chest. But when her eyes landed upon the black material of her sports bra, her body shifted uncomfortably in the seat and glancing back up to Merle.
Before she could question the situation, he rose his hands in a defensive situation. "Bosses orders. You had blood all over you, said you needed to be cleaned." Merle informed the widow, crossing his arms back over his chest and leaning into the table. "Not that I'm complaining or anything." He chuckled, the smile fading as soon as it came as he examined the slight emotion of fear in her features. "But, I didn't come here to chit-chat."
"What do you want, Merle?" Adeline was quick to retort, clenching her jaw in attempts to hide the small amount of fear she felt. She wanted nothing more than to cover up her body, to have the comfort of her long sleeved shirt on her arms. Because without the warmth, it made her realize how being alone made her scared.
