While they’re transporting you, the men didn’t speak. They only gave you the opportunity to hear their steps to find out where they were taking you, although of course you couldn’t guess much. You only knew that you were still in the woods because of the sound of dry leaves.

“Poor little girl.”, one man commented sarcastically.

“This Joe will be happy when I kill him.”, you said, trying to provoke him. “I assume you want to make a good impression on him.”

The man stopped, probably to make a decision with his partner, then decided to let you go. In a modest way, he put you down on the ground and then immediately lifted you up by the shoulders. “Move!”, he said succinctly.

You burst out laughing. “How am I supposed to see anything blindfolded?”, you asked ironically.

“Shut up!”, he hissed and gave you a push. “Go now.”

You literally moved blindly, not knowing exactly where to put your feet and where you were going. You went on in silence for a while. From time to time you stumbled and fell to your knees, but clenched your teeth to endure the pain that could be felt in your legs. The two tormenters laughed each time you landed on the ground and mocked you with stupid sentences: “Did you forget how to walk?”, “Are you blind?” You endured their abuse in the hope that they would stop. Finally, the soft underbrush under your feet became hard ground; It was asphalt. A street? Very good. At least you had a point of reference. But the question was, will you ever escape from the place you’re going to? After some time, which seemed endless again to you, they warned you that you are almost there. You heard voices from other men who had welcomed the small group and, among other things, exchanged some appreciation that could have been avoided. In addition to numerous sexual allusions, you continued until you reach a point where one of the men took you to a dark place and then took the cloth from your eyes. You were in a tent lit by two overhead oil lamps surrounded by unrepentant men, armed with rifles, machetes and other weapons. In front of you, a standing man looked at you with folded arms. “Who do we have here?”, he asked, opening with a disturbing smile.

“We found her alone in the woods with some weapons.” The man whistled and took all my weapons.

“They are beautiful.”, he commented, studying them.

“They are mine.”, you answered dryly.

The man opens his mouth and arched his eyebrows to express false astonishment. “So you can talk!”

With that sentence, you decided to keep silent and confine yourself to looking at him with the icy and crookedest look. You thought of Daryl and how he would look at him.

The man laughed softly. “Do you even know how to use weapons?”

“She escaped a group of Walkers, we didn’t see her fight.”

“The blade is crusted with blood in several places and it seems to be sharpened, it could have stolen it from someone, but that does not necessarily mean it knows how to use it.”

“Untie me and find out.”

The man laughed a second time and turned back to one of his men. “Anything else?”, he asked.

“Supplies.”

“Good, put it to the other foods.”

“And what do we do with her?”

“In the meantime, I think about it, by the way, I’m Joe, and you’re mine now.”, he told you. You stared at him seriously, without answering.

“Someone’s going to have to teach her good behavior!”, he said, looking around and provoking the happiness of the spectators around you. They left you alone in the dark tent, but at least that gave you the time to think about how to get out of this situation. You were alone. Tied to a pole. Without weapons. Exhausted and hungry. Your guns took that asshole and who knows where he put them. You heard footsteps coming closer and never thought you would see such a thing here. A woman. She enters without looking at you and kneels before you with a bowl. Then she started to feed you with a spoon.

“What’s that?”, you asked. She did not answer so you asked again. “Are you the only woman here?” Silence…

“My name is Y/N and yours?” The woman took a deep breath and then spoke. “Don’t ask questions, just do what the men tell you, it will eventually get easier.”

 "What will be easier?“

She stood up in response and quickly got out of the tent and left you alone again. After some time someone else came to visit you. Joe. This time, he was alone, squatting in front of you and staying in that position for a few moments.

"Hello beauty.”, he said after a while. “Are you getting ready for your new home?” With his fingers, he touched your hair and followed the shape of your face so that you were instinctively portrayed.

“Fine, I like you, but do you know what I like even more?”

You don’t answer, looking at the floor you sat on to avoid its slimy appearance.

“I asked you a question!”, he shouted and made you flinch.

“What?”, you asked in a whisper.

Joe approaches and grabs your face with one hand and squeezes your cheeks. He came so close that your noses touched. “I like it when you’re all mine.”

You wondered what that fucking place was and what a shit you had to deal with here. You couldn’t understand it and unexpectedly you felt scared. Finally, he let go of you, got up, and paced up and down in front of you. “If you have any questions, ask.”

The first question you wanted to ask was whether he was mentally ill before the end of the world. But there was another thing you wanted to know. “What you want to do with me?”

“No, you can’t ask that.” He looked at you and showed you a disturbing smile. “It is a surprise.”

“When can I go?”

Joe laughed with enthusiasm. “Darling, haven’t you understood that yet? You will never leave this place! You’re claimed!”

“And why?”, you asked in a whisper.

“My men have saved your life!”

“I decide what to do with my life.”, you replied calmly. You hid your real desire to cry behind false indifference.

“Well, you can’t, and you know why, because I decide for you now.”

In his eyes, you recognized an unhealthy security that revealed his secret: He wanted you to be scared. It’s easier to control a person when she’s scared. You took a deep breath and were determined to ask your last question. “Are you the boss here?”

“Yes.”, Joe replied, opening in a self-centered smile. “Why do you ask?”

You weren’t overwhelmed by weakness. You spent a month out there surviving things you never imagined without Daryl at your side. “So I know who I have to kill first.”

The man was still laughing and didn’t take your words seriously. He turned and walked out. “Good night beautiful.”

The place where you found yourself confused you completely: You didn’t perceive the passage of time, and so you didn’t recognize the different moments of the day. You distinguished the day and the night only from the light you recognized outside when someone moved the awning to go inside. It had been a while since Joe had visited you. You only saw one person who put the oil in the lamps and the woman who fed you. It always appeared when it was dark outside, so you assumed that she only looked past once a day. One evening, you asked her to come off because you urgently needed to go to pee. Since that confusion started, you’ve lost all sorts of regularity; In addition, drinking little water has also made it a common practice to urinate less often. “Help me…”, you implored.

“I can’t.”

“And how do I do it then?”

The woman looked at you for the first time. Her eyes were darkened as if she had no great life here. She pulled her lips together and swallowed.

“Should I wear my clothes?”, you ask in shock.

The woman looked down again. “If you stink, they’ll be there.”

“What?”

As you made this question more and more anxious and harassed, the woman left the tent and took away the little dignity you had left. Time passed. Days, hours. Nobody visits you except the woman. You completely lost touch with time. One morning, you were awakened by a man you hadn’t met before and who woke you with a kick. “Get up!”, he commanded you. You, who had no idea what would happen, felt dazed, empty and disoriented. You shook your head at the drowsiness that tormented you.

“You smell like a pig.”, he commented, distorting his nose. A cloth suddenly fell over your eyes and made everything black. He released you from the pole, then tied your wrists back behind your back and got you moving. He led you out of the tent where the rain moistened your clothes and your hair and the cold air brushed your face. Suddenly the man began to speak: “Take care of yourself, Joe wants you to be clean.”

You felt a hand on your arm and something hard pressed against your ribs on your back. Then the man turned back to you. “Do exactly as he tells you, otherwise I’ll be rude to you tonight.”, he said with a touch of sadism in his voice. You didn’t understand what it was referring to, but that did not matter.

A female voice warns me, “If you make one wrong move, I’ll shoot you.”

He led you to a soft and uneven floor, then the man finally removed the blindfold. You blinked your eyes to get used to the light and in front of you you saw a small river flow.

“Take off your clothes and go into the water.”, he said, untying the ropes from your wrists. You turned to the woman. “It’s freezing cold!”, you blurted as you massaged your wrists. In response she raised the gun to your chest. “Don’t let me repeat my words.”

You took a deep breath and thought about an escape plan, in spite of your sore legs, you protested against the idea. “What happens to you if I don’t do it?”

You hesitated, ready to negotiate your escape as she fired a shot over your head.

“Are you crazy, the Walkers will hear you!”, you admonished her.

You undressed, even though the rain had already soaked you. “Are there any other women?”, you asked, raising your eyebrows. She didn’t answer. You were forced to go into the water. The low temperature took your breath away and forced you to hurry. “We could go together, everyone!”

“They would find us, as they have already done.”

“Not if they die first.”, you commented.

The woman looked at you hostile. “Don’t you understand that? It’s thanks to them if we’re still alive!”

“Are you serious?” You felt sorry for these women because they didn’t know what it meant to be free, but at the same time you felt anger because you didn’t think anyone would be so faithful to their tormentor.

“I’m sorry.”, you told her as she stood behind you. Then, just as she was about to blindfold your eyes again, you raised your elbow and hit him with all your strength in her face. She immediately fainted and didn’t even give you the time to notice what you had just done. You looked around, relieved to see that you were alone. Anyway, you didn’t have time to get dressed because anyone could come any moment. You wrapped yourself in the tarp she had with you to dry you and steal her weapon. You started to run. But where? Your weapons were on the field. You didn’t know where they were stored and you didn’t know how many people you would have to kill to get them back. Suddenly you felt completely helpless. Without clothes, food, weapons. Naked, in every way. How far could you run before ending up in the arms of a Walker? It wouldn’t be a quick death. And then? If you woke up? You didn’t even want to think about it… Your doubts didn’t last long, because suddenly a man stood in front of you and knocked you unconscious. He laughed viciously. A warm liquid began to flow from your nose. A few drops of metallic taste crept between your lips as you lost your senses.

»Have no fear. I will always be with you.«

His chest exploded, the bullet hit him instantly. Madison still had her eyes wide open because of the anger over the murder. Travis’s body fell forward. He was dead, for now… Your kidnappers threw you a look burned by the flames of his madness. You stared in amazement at Travis, unable to move or think. You cried. You cried silently with a grimace of unfortunate pain on your face. Then Madison’s body moved to the dead by itself. She dropped in front of him, her knees falling into his still warm blood. There she began to sob, stroking his dark hair, which he hadn’t cut in a long time. The voice of his killer penetrated your brain. Travis had found your family a few days ago. Madison… Nick… Alicia… You… The killer had been waiting for the most opportune moment to set you up: He had you all tied up and tortured. And then he had him killed in front of you and Madison. The only weapon available was in his hands. You couldn’t defend yourself. And actually you didn’t want to do it. But soon Travis would wake up again as a Walker…

»I’m not coming with you, I’d rather die.«

The man shrugged. »If you insist.« He pointed the gun at you, inches from your forehead. For the first time, you felt ready to die when Madison’s voice echoed in your head, »Run, Y/N, please, your time hasn’t come yet!«

From the forest, a sound caught the murderer’s attention and allowed you to react. You struck hard against the man’s wrist, letting the gun slide out of his hand. You both landed on the ground and rolled through the dust, he moved over you a few times, with his hands around your neck. Your hands wandered through the dust, searching for a rock or something else that would knock him unconscious. But you found something more useful: the gun.