55. the long dark night

trigger warning; this chapter contains mentions of sexual assault and extreme violence.

QUINN

     DARKNESS HAD FALLEN WHEN JOE CALLED FOR them to stop and take a break. Quinn, however, ignored his command and kept on continuing her way along the tracks. No matter what Daryl said, they didn't need these men, and with a possible safe haven within their reach, she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

Some strange feeling in the pit of her stomach told her she had to go to Terminus, that her brother would be there waiting for her. She couldn't stop, not now that she had a goal.

A large hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and pulled her back. She turned around swiftly, standing eye to eye with Daryl, who narrowed at her.

'What?' She asked the man.

His gaze became dark at her words, he clearly wasn't in a mood for games. 'What're you doin'?'

She had expected that question and practised what she would say but was unable to come up with any sane sounding answer. Sighing deeply she decided to just tell him, no matter what he'd think of her. 'If my brother survived the attack on the prison and he stumbled across one of those signs, he'd go there.' She took a deep breath. 'He'd believe it was real, I know he would.'

Daryl didn't answer right away, instead let his usual silence settle in. And just as she was about to defend herself, he opened his mouth. 'That's a lotta "ifs".'

Nodding slowly she turned her gaze to her hands, which seemed awfully pale in the moonlight that shone through the trees. 'I know,' she finally said. 'But it's the only thing I've got.' Looking away from her hands, her gaze settled on Daryl once again. 'We lost Beth and have no lead on her. This could be the lead to find my brother.'

His blue eyes studied her, as if trying to read her very mind. It made her nervous whenever he'd look at her like that but this time she didn't look away. She wanted him to know how important this was to her, that she truly believed in this idea, even though they knew nothing about this Terminus place.

'You gonna walk all them damn tracks in the dark?' He questioned, and his lack of trust in her abilities angered her.

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' she snapped, taking a step away from him, turning around and starting to walk again. She wasn't going to wait around for the tension with this group to break, especially not now that she knew about Terminus.

She could hear Daryl grunt angrily behind her, which made her sigh and turn back to him. 'Let's just go,' she said, her eyes pleading with him. Sure, she wasn't the most capable fighter but she didn't need six assholes watching her back, in more ways than just looking out for her.

Patiently she waited as she watched the struggle going on within him. She was touched that he wanted to protect her but slightly annoyed that he thought these men were the way to do so. Daryl wasn't stupid, he knew they were dangerous and yet something within him was being pulled towards them. Maybe they reminded him of Merle, or other people he had done whatever with before the world ended. Despite that, he had been on the edge lately, his eyes somehow watching them all at once, his shoulders always tensed and his hands always near his weapons. And she just wanted to make him see that, that was why they had to leave.

'Damn ya woman,' he sighed, shaking his head before tightening his grip on his crossbow. He threw a look over his shoulder at the men. They had started a fire, some of them looking close to falling asleep. Joe, however, was watching the two of them with eyes as harp as a hawk. He wasn't gonna be too happy watching them leave but Quinn couldn't really care less.

'Alrigh',' he finally said, turning back to Quinn.

A small smile formed on her lips and she nodded at him, the gesture saying everything she would never be able to put into words. Having him watching her back meant more to her than he would ever know.

Daryl threw one last look over his shoulder at the men and then froze.

Quinn frowned and followed his gaze, watching as one of them came back from perimeter watch, talking in hushed tones to Joe. She couldn't make out exactly what he was saying but could catch the words "him" and "revenge". It seemed like they had found the man they were looking for. Joe gestured for them to gather their weapons. The leader gave Daryl and Quinn one last glare before disappearing into the woods, followed by his men.

Daryl had a small frown on his face as he watched them, but finally turned back forwards and started their way down the tracks.

A shiver crawled down her spine as the thought of that poor man being killed brutally crossed her mind. But it wasn't her business and she sure wasn't planning on making it hers.

They walked along the tracks, coming at a crossroads with an asphalt road and she crossed it without thinking when Daryl suddenly took her arm to prevend her from leaving. Turning around sharply she frowned at him, watching as he placed a finger against his lips and nodded down the road. She followed his gaze, her eyes landing on Joe and his group, standing only a few feet away from them.

She didn't understand what he meant and didn't care much either. So she turned back around, only to have Daryl pull her back again. Frowning angrily at him she was about to ask him what the hell was wrong but he pointed at a figure sitting on the road.

Her eyes widened as her gaze fell on the very familiar features of Michonne, who had a paniced look on her face. Quinn took a step forwards, looking around the abandoned car that stood in the middle of the road that blocked her view so she could see who was sitting next to Michonne.

It was Rick.

But then Tony, who had his gun pointed at Michonne's head, shifted and took both of them out of her view. And suddenly something became horribly clear to her. The man they were so hell bent to take revenge on was Rick.

She turned around, raising her eyebrows at Daryl who was staring at the scene in front of them. She knew that look, a hidden anger behind his so carefully crafted mask. If these past few days had been good for anything it had been for learning how to read Daryl Dixon. Even though he was still a damn mystery to her half the time, right now it was clear as day what he was about to do. He turned to her. 'Stay here,' he muttered.

'Hell no,' she replied through gritted teeth.

He looked at her, his eyes begging.

A small sigh left her lips. 'Fine,' she whispered.

She remained in the shadows of the trees while watching him walk forwards, calling Joe's name loudly, his voice echoing through the dark night sky.

Joe had had his gun pointed at Rick, his eyes dark with rage as he turned to look at who had so rudely interrupted him. Only then did Quinn realise they were completely surrounded by Joe's men.Her hands reached for her daggers, her body tense and ready to jump out of the her hiding place if things were to go south.

Rick and Michonne both looked like they'd seen a ghost as they stared back at Daryl. She knew that if any of them had imagined any reunion at all, this certainly wouldn't have been it.

'Hold up,' Daryl said.

'You're stopping me on eight, Daryl,' Joe said roughly.

'Just hold up,' Daryl repeated. 

'This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about,' one of the men snapped.

'The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time,' Joe interrupted him, 'say your piece, Daryl.'

Daryl took a deep breath and Quinn knew that even one wrong word could be the start of a very unfair fight. 'These people,' he started, 'you're gonna let 'em go. These are good people.'

Joe narrowed at him. 'Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that. I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friend here strangled him in a bathroom.'

'Ya want blood,' Daryl spoke, 'I get it.' He took his crossbow and carefully placed it on the ground, making her chest tighten. 'Take it from me, man. Come on.'

'This man killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie!'

And before she could even blink two of the guys attacked Daryl, jumping at him faster than he could prepare himself, punching him in his stomach so hard he fell down.

'Teach 'em, fellas,' Joe spoke, 'teach 'em all the way.'

Breathing suddenly seemed like an impossible task as she watched how the two men hit him, over and over again. A shout of rage left her mouth and she sprinted out of her hiding place, her blood boiling as she lifted her dagger, raised her arm and threw it.

The blade hit one of the men in his shoulder. He cried out in pain and turned around to look at her. HIs eyes were wide with anger as he pulled the dagger free and let it fall the ground. She reached the man and threw a punch, but he caught her arm, grinning all the while.

She winced as he kicked against her legs, forcing her down on the pavement. The side of her head hitting the ground, hard. A pained cry escaped her lips before she could stop it but her pain numbed for a second when she saw another one of Joe's men pull Carl out of the car. She refused to believe they would hurt a kid, but the look on the man's face told her otherwise.

'You leave him be!' Rick shouted, ready to stand up, but Joe pushed him back down.

Then she lost vision of what happened as the man turned her around on the ground, grinning in her face as he brought his fist down in her stomach. She cried out, tears stinging in her eyes as she desperately tried to keep the man's hands away from her, but it was useless. He was just way stronger than her.

'First we're gonna beat Daryl to death,' she could hear Joe say and those words awoke a rage inside of her she didn't know she had as she reached up and kicked the man who was standing over her in the balls. He screamed out in pain, punishing her by hitting his fist across her cheek, snapping her head back with a painful blow, causing tears to cloud her vision.

'Then we're gonna have his girlfriend,' Joe went on, 'then the other girl, and the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and we'll be square.' And then the bastard started laughing, so loud and vicious that she hoped it would attrack every walker nearby so they would devour him. But those thoughts were knocked out of her head when the man standing over her punched her against the shoulder, before sitting down on her legs.

'Come here, you bitch,' he grinned as he reached out and pinned her arms to the ground.

She groaned, thrashing around but it was useless. He leaned towards her face, the horrible smell of piss hanging around him, making her wanna puke. She narrowed at him, gathering all her saliva in her mouth before spitting it into his face.

He groaned in disgust, sending his fist into her stomach once again. She cried out but was startled out of her pain when a gunshot echoed through the night. She couldn't see what happened and it made her squirm around all the more, while grunts of effort escaped her lips. They had to be okay, everyone had to be okay.

She twisted around on the ground, finally able to look over her attacker's shoulders, seeing Joe his nose was bleeding and Rick was laying at his feet on the ground. But then they were taken out of her view again when the man on top of her took her chin in his hand and turned her head roughly, so she was forced to look at him.

'I've been waiting for this since we found ya on that road,' he grinned, his hands going down to his belt.

Panic flared through her when she realised what his intentions were, adrenaline coursing through her veins, making her raise her her hand up to hit him but he pushed her away. 'Don't worry,' he said, smirking down at her. 'I'll make sure your boyfriend hears everything.'

She knew telling him Daryl wasn't her boyfriend would only make matters worse but it made her so mad that they thought nothing more of her than the object of a man. She tried to hit him again, but he caught her arm, pushing it down and putting his knee on her hand, making her unable to move. He laughed as he went on undoing his belt.

Suddenly a body was thrown down on the ground next to her and she turned to see Daryl laying next to her on the pavement. He turned his head and for just a second their eyes met, her heart tightened in her chest as tears streamed down her cheeks before he disappeared from her view again as the men pulled him back up. Only to kick him against the legs, making Daryl lose his balance and fall against the car.

An angry scream left her lips as she turned back to the man sitting on top of her as he was started to pull at the zipper of her jeans, grinning all the while.

She squirmed to try and get out of his grip, managing to get in such an angle that she could see Rick and Joe, who stood just a few feet away from her. Joe had pulled Rick off the ground, holding and teasing him while forcing him to watch Carl being harassed by one of the men.

Her entire body ached as she the felt the man on top of her pull her jeans down, her body froze, all the adrenaline suddenly gone, leaving her body feel deflated. She wanted to fight, every part of her brain was screaming to fight but she couldn't, her bones was numb with fear.

Her eyes drifted back to Rick, hoping to find some sort spark within her to fight again but what she saw wasn't the spark she hoped for, yet it did the job, hardened her and filled her with a cold mercilessness. She watched as he opened his mouth and brought his teeth down into Joe's throat. The man let out an ear piercing scream, like an animal being torn apart, which made the man sitting on top of her look up and watch with her as Rick ripped apart the skin his attacker with his bare teeth. Blood sprayed out of the wound while Joe made a horrible gargling sound. The crimson red blood covered Rick's entire face and she winced, looking away from the horrible sight.

Looking back at the man on top of her she seized the moment of distraction Rick had given her to sit up and plant her fist in the man's face. She let the stone cold desire to kill the man take over, not caring what it would do to her soul. The man fell backwards from the impact of her fist, releasing her arm and now that it was free she could reach for her daggers. Without hesitation she pulled the blade from her belt, leaning over the man she narrowed at him.

'I've been waiting to do this since you found us on that road,' she hissed in his face before pushing the dagger through his skull.

She revelled in the fear that clouded his eyes, her heart jumping with a strange sort of fulfillment as he suffered. Slowly his body went limp, all the life he once had leaving him. The rush of the kill left her body suddenly and she stumbled backwards, falling down on the ground, not having the strength left to pull the weapon back out.

Though there were tears streaming down her cheeks, her features were drawn in a stonecold glare as she stared at the dead man before her. Finally she lifted her eyes, she watching Joe's dead body on the pavement, blood spreading out like a river around him. Rick launched himself at the man sitting on top of Carl, pushing him away from his son, ignoring every plea of mercy as he pushed his knife into the man's stomach. But he didn't stop there, stabbing him, over and over again until his stomach was nothing more than ripped apart flesh.

She looked away, unable to keep watching any longer. A hand landed on her shoulder, making her wince and turn around sharply, another one of her daggers in her hand. But once her eyes landed on Daryl's bloody face she let go of it, the weapon clattering on the ground as a sob left her lips. Her heart tightened painfully in her chest as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Cuts littered Daryl's face, his left eye already turning blue. He didn't say a word to her, but he didn't have to, his silence saying more than a thousand speeches could anyway.

She gave him a short nod, letting him know she was fine but he didn't believe her, he wasn't stupid and could read her better than she could ever hope to read him.

He slightly squeezed her shoulder, not letting go and she held onto his grip like a lifeline, letting herself feel throbbing pain of the aftermath as she cried.

The at first so hopeful looking night had turned into a downright nightmare.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

Is it wrong that I really enjoyed writing this chapter? It is, isn't it? But I did, I loved writing about Daryl and Quinn deciding to go to Terminus together and I loved writing Quinn feeling comfortable enough around him in the end to let herself cry. I also loved writing Rick biting that guy's throat out, because let's face it, that was kinda awesome.

Yeah I know it was suppose to show Rick had snapped and it lead to a mental battle for him to remain who he was and who he needed to be to keep his family safe and yet I thought it was awesome. Oops.

So, anyway, I kept believe this book is almost over! Only one more chapter after this, I honestly can't believe it! This has been such a fun ride. Also, I have been thinking to write some "bonus chapters" I guess you could call it, about the time Quinn spend with Andrea and Michonne and about the time jump between season three and four, how Quinn and Milo came accustomed to living in the prison. Would you guys like that?

As always, please leave a comment or a vote. It means a lot to me. And make sure to stay tuned this wednesday for the very last chapter of Collapsed!

xXx
UYM