Feral Citizens

Dealbreaker

"You're gonna start talking, so make it quick." I demanded, clenching the boy's jaw tightly. He whimpered, tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. My hands were still dripping with the blood of his friend, streaking across his face like fresh paint. Nobody had spoken to me since we came back to the building. Glenn was missing and I had all but confirmed I was a killer in their eyes. Never mind that it had been in self-defence.

"You think I'm gonna tell you shit, perra?" the kid spat. "you killed my friend."

"Listen, kid." His head snapped up to stare at me; fear clouding every feature. It was understandable, he'd just witnessed me open up his friend's throat. "Your friends have already lost one person, you wanna make it two?"

"Liz..."

"Don't, Rick," I snapped. Rick backed off, pursing his lips. I turned back to the boy. "kid, you got a chance to get back to your group. Way I see it, your friend Jorge tried to kill me first, it was self-defence."

"You lying-"

"Shut up. Now, we could sit 'round here, and maybe you don't get fed to lurkers. Or, you could take us to your friends, and maybe you walk away alive. Your choice." When I was finished, the boy looked at me like I was a madwoman. I walked away, back to the other three. Both Rick and T-Dog glanced down at my bloodied hands with disgust. Daryl said nothing, just averted his eyes and tossed me a wet cloth. I wiped the blood from my body and mumbled my thanks. He said nothing.

"What the hell happened back there?" Needled Rick.

"Kid and his buddies jumped us!" Daryl replied, face reddening. He jabbed an accusing finger at the boy. "one of them got away with Glenn."

"You're the one who jumped me, yelling about some brother." The kid shouted from his side of the room.

"Shut up!" Daryl yelled back, "figured ya'll could've taken Merle too."

"G ain't in the habit of kidnapping hicks and Asians, puto." The kid goaded. He was stupid, trying to get a rise out of Daryl. And now he'd given away information he'd tried so hard to withhold.

Rick latched onto his words and moved faster than I'd ever seen. He kneeled in front of the kid.

"Who's G?" he appealed to the boy. Understanding that he had dropped himself into our hands, the boy sighed.

"He's the one who sent us to get the bag." He admitted. Rick held the duffel bag to the boy's face.

"This bag?" Rick asked, smiling. He stood up and withdrew his knife, untying the boy. I shook my head at Daryl as he opened his mouth to protest. "seems to me like the only way this is going your way is if we meet this G."

The kid didn't speak. He couldn't argue against Rick; the man was right.

Finally, common sense seemed to set in. "Alright, alright. I'll take you to G, but we got bigger numbers than you, so don't try anything."

Rick pulled the kid up and pushed him to T-Dog. "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere and keep Daryl away from him. Liz, a minute?"

Rick moved towards me as Daryl and T-Dog kept a steady glare on the kid. Wordlessly, Rick took the damp cloth from my hand and pressed it against my bottom lip. I felt a stinging in the wound and hissed.

"Can't leave that gravel in the cut, you'll end up with an infection." He mumbled, dabbing at my lip again.

"Thanks," I replied. "look, what happened in the alleyway- I didn't have a choice."

He studied me for a moment, cornflower blue eyes squinting in the dusty rays of sunlight. Finally, he conceded, "Daryl says the guy attacked you, did... that," Rick gestured to the light-yellow bruising around the right side of my neck. "if you say you had no choice, I'm willing to believe that."