I Follow You, Deep Sea, Baby

3.
Daryl walked in last, after Maggie, Glenn and Rick. Michonne joined them too. He didn't know what to expect, so he decided to stay on the low. He told them nothing yet about his encounter below the prison. He wanted to see how things stood first. Might not be even her they captured.
He kept as far back as he could and assessed the situation. It was her, no doubt about it. She was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. A beam of sunlight from a barred window shone directly upon her. Her arms were bent backwards and ankles tied together. A piece of white cloth was tied around her mouth, stained with blood that dripped from her nose. Her white face was bruised. Her eyes were closed and she had no sunglasses on her.
She jerked back and forth on the chair violently, shaking her head and howling indistinctive sounds. Frank was standing in front of her. He grabbed her by the chin.
Daryl cursed silently. Frank was the worst possible choice to leave with a prisoner, especially a woman. He hated that bastard. He was as unpredictable as Merle, but much more insecure and because of that meaner. The sad thing was, it was he that brought Frank to the group. He insisted they take him in when they found him by the road. ‘Cause he was a part of the old gang; Merle, Rory, Frank and he, they were together back in the days, so he felt like he owed him. He regretted it ever since.
Frank slapped her hard. “Stop whining!”
His fingers clenched around the bow. Right now he could easily shoot an arrow through that bastard’s hand. If he hits her one more time…
His fingers relaxed again when Rick step in. “Why don’t you go and check the fence, Frank?” Although it sounded like a question it was clear Rick was not asking.
“The bitch kept making noise, she almost broke the chair.”
“I’ll deal with her,” said Rick calmly, looking Frank straight in the eye.
“Fine, deal with her then.” Frank spit to the floor and headed towards the door. “I’ll be back later… to keep an eye… so she don’t do somethin stupid.“
He stepped on Frank’s way just before the exit.
“Heey, kid, wassup?”
For Frank he was always the kid, Merle’s little brother.
“Lots of blood on you…had some fun, I see?”
Frank grinned at first, flashing his uneven teeth, but very quickly understood Daryl’s calm, focused stare. He understood what it meant, and he got nervous.
“You wanna move, kid?”
He didn’t move.
“Hey, what the fuck’s you problem?” A vein bulged over Frank’s left temple.
He saw Michonne nearing. Others began to stare. He drew too much attention.
“Hmm.” He scoffed and moved from the door.
“You be careful, kid.” Frank left with a prolonged warning look at him.
He couldn’t care less about his threats. The days he had to obey Frank and Merle, the days Frank got to treat him like shit, were long gone.
Rick untied the cloth around her mouth. Her head fell forward and she was breathing heavily.
“Where did you find her?” he whispered to Glenn.
“She stumbled upon Rick and Michonne, just outside the second block. She must have come from one of the corridors we haven’t checked yet.”
“She said anything?”
Glen shook his head. “She tried to escape, apparently she’s quite agile with a stick.” Glenn pointed his finger at the table. There was her rucksack, sunglasses and the stick. He wondered if they already figured it out it wasn’t just a stick.
“But Rick took her out eventually. They just finished tying her up, when the breach happened. We think, she might be blind. Her luck in a way.” Glenn’s eyes turned at Rick. ”Might be as well the only reason he took pity on her.”
“Who are you? How did you get inside the prison?”
She murmured something in-between her sobs. Rick bent his knees, bringing his face level with hers. “I won’t ask again.”
Just fuckin answer, Daryl pleaded her in his mind.
She did answer. With a headbutt at Rick’s nose. Rick fell backwards while she somehow tipped her chair and threw herself with it on the top of him. It was a desperate attempt, destined to fail. Michonne and Maggie, who were the closest, jumped on her and pulled her off Rick. Once the chair was upright again, with Michonne and Maggie holding it firmly down, she gave way to a laugh alternating with sobbing, that carried a hysterical edge. “Give me my glasses!” she cried out with anger. Then her head dropped again. “Just give me my glasses.” This time her words were uttered in a quiet and resigned manner.
Her pleading, broken voice stirred something in him. He knew this was going to end badly.
Rick got up, his eyes watery from the strike. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, then took a knife from his belt and pushed it against her neck.
He had to intervene. Had to act fast. It would be all over if he didn’t.
“Rick…” He said calmly, placing his hand on Rick’s armed arm.
“Come on, Rick…” He dangled the black sunglasses in front of him. “Lets’ find out what she knows.”
He saw she lifted her head at the sound of his voice, but he kept his focus on Rick. His knife was still at her throat and there was that mad glow in Rick’s eyes.
“He’s right, Rick,” said Glenn. “We have full control here, there’s no danger-“
“There’s always a danger!” Rick burst out, looking at the faces around him.
He was in full readiness. He would kick her chair backwards then restrain Rick, if things went down that way.
It was a huge relief for everybody, but even more so for him, when Rick removed the knife.
“I leave it to you. She doesn’t speak till the end of the day…” Rick said it in his face.
Daryl nodded. He understood.
Glenn and Maggie left with Rick, only Michonne remained. She checked through her stuff at the table, turned the rucksack inside out. A few cans dropped out, two bottles of water, a jacket, a box of matches and a Swiss knife.
“Glenn said she’s blind?”
Michonne shrugged, flipped the smooth, white oak stick in her hands and made a few strikes with it in the air. “Can’t say for sure. She doesn’t fight like she’s blind. She’s agile with the stick, made a few good moves, almost broke my arm with it.”
Yeah, he knew that already. He turned to her, passed his palm in front of her shut eyes, but there was no reaction. She emitted a short sigh as he pushed her chin up and held it that way. He put the sunglasses on her face and adjusted them over her eyes. Her breathing normalized and she seemed to have calmed down.
He needed Michonne to go. Before she started talking.
“Hey, Michonne… if you wanna-“
“Huh, just look at this!” Michonne exclaimed and extracted a blade from the stick with a victorious smile. “I knew there was more to it.”
He came closer, took the blade from her hand and examined it, as if it was new to him too. It was curved just a bit, with one cutting edge. He wasn’t an expert, but he could see the high quality of it.
“Nice piece,” he said. “You should take it to Rick.”
“Hmm, if it was a bit bigger, I’d keep it...” She took it from his hands and sheathed it. “You’ll be okay here on your own?”
“Mhmm…”
He was finally left alone with her. He took another chair, turned it around and leaned on the top of its back. He took a cigarette and lit it. For a while he just stared at her. She sat immovable and didn’t say a word.
He blew out the smoke. “You know me?”
She moved slightly her head, downwards to the right.
The smoke twirled up in the air from the cigarette, as he waited for her answer. He took another drag. “I know you know me. What’s your name?”
Her left cheek swell considerably, while her other side with the scar stayed intact. She had a bump on her forehead and he noticed bruises on her arms as well. Her attacking Rick like that was a very stupid thing to do.
“Look, you have to talk.”
Time was running out and at any moment somebody might return. He stretched his hand towards her and lifted her glasses up. She moved her head nervously, but then opened her eyes and looked at him.
“What the fuck…” He drew back together with his chair. It was a nasty sight. The whites of her eyes were almost all red. When she squinted a few times, he was afraid the blood will come dripping out. Just for a second there, he thought of her as something else, something he’d have to kill, but then her face grimaced in such a sincere pain, he quickly dismissed his initial reaction.
He pushed her glasses back on. “The fuck was that, lady?”
“Don’t call me that…” Her voice sounded weak. “Shadow…I need shadow.”
He realized then they were sitting right in the brightest spot of the room, directly under the sunlight.
He stood up quickly and dragged her off to the darkest corner there was. He took his red bandana from the back pocket and poured some water on it. He lifted up her glasses and placed it over her eyes. She flinched at first but didn’t object. The water started to drip down her cheeks as he gently pressed the bandana on her eyelids.
“Does it help?”
“No.” Her lips smiled. “But it’s a kind gesture. Can’t say I’ve received much of those lately, so…I appreciate it. Thank you.”
He smiled too. She wasn’t able to see him anyway.
“Is it because of the sun?”
“Yes.”
“You gonna be okay?”
“Yes.”
He took the bandana away and put her glasses back on.
“Why didn’t you just say so before?”
“When you saw my eyes, all red like this, what was your first thought?”
He didn’t answer quite away.
“Right,” she chuckled; “that’s why. Besides that guy from before was a real asshole. And the one that asked questions, was the same one that knocked me out earlier and tied me up in here. I figured a reasonable discussion might not be exactly their thing.”
He sat in front of her again. “We take precaution, that’s all.”
“Yep, so do I. I’m just in a much worse position.”
“If you tell us everything we want to know, I’m sure-“
“You don’t get to say this. You’re not in charge.”
He leaned forward towards her. “I told you before, down in the cell, I was your only chance to get out of it in one piece. It‘s the same now. But I’ll be damned if I let you kick me in the balls again. You get it?”
She folded her lips inwards, looking like she was contemplating about her options.
He waited, observing her patiently.
Drawing in a long breath through her nose, she nodded.
“Good. Now, what’s your name?”
“I’m Niko.”