The Dead World Ch. 06

"...People... do people really do that? That's why you keep asking about other people here... a group?" Charlie's voice softened as Slash described his concerns over her leaving... and again, he seemed slightly perplexed at how sheltered the youngster was. Even a bit jealous.

"Ya really been in here the whole time?"

"I told you... the crazy people who keep trying to kill you for your supplies, that's why none of you fuck-heads believe anything I say?" He almost laughed at that, nodding his head to confirm. "That's real fucked up."

"World got real fucked up in the last few years, kid... yer lucky it was us who came along to check this place out and not.. well... not 'the crazy people'."

"You're pretty fucking crazy..." her eyes narrowed.

"Not the first time I heard it." He shrugged. There were worse men; they'd killed worse and fled from worse. He knew there were more than a few who wouldn't think twice about taking someone like Charlie as a slave these days, and there wasn't shit the boy could do to stop them. If he was smart, he'd fall in line quickly. As the year grew longer and the dead continued to dominate the planet, humans became less and less of what they had once been, and more the dangerous predatory animals they truly were without the confines of civilization holding them together.

"I got a lot of shit, ya know... I told ya before, didn't I? Ya liked those pills, didn't ya?"

"...No... well... I... I don't know..." She needed to keep him talking, she realized. If she tickled his intellectual interest, he wasn't so eager to pin her against the wall and invite himself to invade her personal space as he pleased. Her eyes shifted down to the ground as she nervously tried to occupy his thoughts with small talk, but the longer she elaborated, the worse it made her feel.

He arched a brow at her indecision."I'm sure I got somethin' ya would like if not..."

"That isn't what I need right now... I need to leave. If my brother is still alive he would be waiting for me."

"He ain't, kid... how long ago he vanish? What would stop him from just comin' back here?"

"Maybe... maybe he... just... ran into trouble, and didn't want to lead them home?" Charlie's words were desperate and hopeful in the worst way. Slash almost felt bad for riling the kid up, with the tears swelling in his eyes like that. He watched the youngster wipe them away hastily and turn his head quickly to observe the masses of dead not far from them with iron resolve.

"Shit, ya sure know how ta kill a mood don't ya, pipsqueak?" Slash rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head gently. "How long ago? More than six months? Don't get yer hopes up, kid. Not tryna be mean... accept it and let it go, it'll make ya feel better... but, y'know... if ya change yer mind about makin' that deal, I'm in 202 back there."

Slash turned his back, waving a hand languidly over his shoulder. "I'll make it worth yer while."

More than six months was too long to be gone?

She didn't feel hopeful then... Matthew had been missing for years. She could feel the sting of tears welling in her eyes, again, unable to even appreciate the wave of relief that Slash had finally left her alone. She had a fresh new cluster of worries now.

If he went back and told the others what she had told him in desperation and panic, things could go from bad to worse for her, especially if they still didn't believe her. She wanted to cry but swallowed it down, listening as Slash's footfall became farther and farther away and the dead shuffled tirelessly down the hill. It was late, she knew... but hardly late enough.

Three days had passed. Dog found himself barely sleeping...

He'd gone directly to Charlie's room in the southern tower with rigid malaise once Skully finally dismissed him. He was certain the older man would snidely comment that he'd lurked off with 'his tail tucked between his legs.' Skully wasn't happy with him in the slightest, and he left no room for misinterpretation when he told Dog that he had really fucked up this time. Skully made it clear that Dog was not to be around Charlie anymore—under any circumstances—or it would be taken directly as insubordination, and he would face judgment himself.

He was threading on dangerously thin ice. Skully wouldn't give him any more chances and would surely be watching him closely now. There was something else... A sickening sort of feeling, a tightness in his chest, shoulders and abdomen. He could not be still, he had no desire to eat or rest and it was a damn shame he was out of cigarettes. He was far too uncomfortable and it wasn't because of the brothers or his tight-knit group, it wasn't that he had been disobedient—untrustworthy, at the least.

He couldn't stop thinking about Charlotte...

He couldn't stop imagining how Colt was handling the information he'd been forced to give up. Three days seemed like an eternity, and he had all but disappeared on Charlie... poor, poor Charlie. She would think he'd abandoned her. Left her to the wolves. Would she think he was a coward, letting her fall prey to Slash and Skully?

With Charlotte in their group, he was no longer the smallest, most delicate member and therefore he would not suffer much bullying or coercion if shit went south now that they had a new target. Perhaps that was exactly what Skully was trying to do... end whatever bond they had created to make it easier to prey on the dainty little thing that was Charlie.

There was no telling how long Oz would make her stay down there to keep watch of the horde. For all he knew, Oz would think he was doing Charlie a favor by letting her be off on her own away from them. He had noticed the growing aggression his younger brother directed toward Charlie, and he watched as Skully rallied the men who followed him, making them irate and restless.

If being isolated wasn't enough, Dog knew without a doubt that Skully or Slash had taken this opportunity to close in on Charlotte, who now had no one to call for help. No one to intervene. He prayed silently that either Yuri or Lorenzo noted that both of the group's 'young ones' had gone quiet, and thought to check up on her.

What could he do? That was the real question. Their second in command had forbidden him explicitly from going anywhere near Charlie. He was lucky that Skully didn't ground him to his room completely. The more he thought about it, the more pissed off it made him.

As dawn began to kiss the sky, Dog lifted his weapon from its place, leaning against the armchair he had restricted himself in looking out over the balcony, and slung it over his shoulder. He pulled Charlie's goggles onto his head, dark, messy tendrils of thick hair haphazard in front of his eyes. He snagged her card key and started toward the door.

Going against direct orders was something he had never done before... but fuck it. Fuck Skully, if loyalty meant watching anyone suffer. He'd gladly face judgment for it.

His heart raced, nevertheless, as having found his courage made him dreadfully anxious. Dog moved all but unseen and unheard, like a shadow through the halls, as was his nature. He knew the walls had eyes and ears. He expected Slash and perhaps even Diablo to be informed of how things were being run now. Skully wasn't the type of man to make a hostile takeover a long, drawn-out process. If he was moving against Oz, he would quickly stage a coup, and as per Skully's favoritism of their group, el Diablo and the Slasher would be watching out for him.

Getting to the southern tower was easy enough. Getting inside undetected was another thing entirely. Just after he opened the door to the right rear hall, he heard his comrades talking amongst one another. Diablo and Ruthless. He felt a bit of relief at that, though he was surprised that they were up so late. He heard Charlie after a moment, and twinges of relief gripped him. He faded quickly into the darkness of an empty, dusty room and listened to them switch over shifts.

He heard Charlie's soft steps distancing, then Enzo and Yuri gambling on who would be next on watch. Dog quietly slipped from the room and made his way through the dark halls, past the front lobby where his friends had their backs to him. They were none the wiser as Dog ghosted past, in a quiet sprint, trying to catch Charlie's door before it closed completely.

His thin fingers slipped through the heavy door in the nick of time, and in a matter of moments, pain caused him to grit his teeth hard to keep from hissing as she smashed the door down hard on his fingers. He pushed, perhaps a bit harder than he wanted to, causing her to stumble back.

"Get the FUCK OUT, SLASH!"

As he closed the door behind him, he jerked his body to the left as if in an extreme game of dodgeball and extended an arm desperately, just managing to catch a lamp she had hurled at him. He put it on the ground almost as quickly as he caught it so that he could advance upon Charlie, taking the coffee pot from her hands before she could pitch that at him, too, and setting it on the nearest flat surface. The noise would surely bring attention to them if it shattered. He grasped her gently by the shoulders and shook her, hoping she would come to recognize him in the dusty, dark room.

"...Danny..."

He grinned sheepishly, bringing a hand up so that a bony index finger came to rest at his lips and urged her to be quiet. Her soft features in their idle surprise melted quickly into his least favorite expression on Charlie's face—that burning, seething, hellish glare with her plush mouth pursed into a violent scowl. She took a swat at him with her right palm open and struck him hard. He blinked several times, cheek stinging with the force behind the slap.

There was silence... and a moment later... his arms sunk delicately at his sides. Dog held her gaze with the utmost sympathy. He deserved it, he knew. If he was going to defy Skully's commands, he could have come to her much earlier.

"Where... the fuck... were you?! Where the hell did you go?! Do you have any idea what... what kind of FUCKED UP shit has been going on?!" Her voice broke and she crossed her arms over her chest, withdrawing several feet from Dog, who could not drop her gaze. It would be insulting to her... she was hurting, clearly, and he didn't dare think about how far things had gone. It would inspire anger, and he might do something foolish and make things worse and it would take away from what Charlie was going through, entirely... so no. It wasn't the time to puff up and seek vengeance for whatever wrongs had been committed against her.

He desperately wanted to move closer, to wrap her in his arms, and apologize for abandoning her... but he could see how fearful and agitated she was. How ready she was to snap should he dare move too quickly.

"Where were you?! That... fucking psychopath, Slash, has been down here every night! He's harassed me nonstop—asking me all these fucking questions! Making me kiss him! Putting his fucking hands on me!—Why did you leave me here?! Are you in on this shit?! Is this all some fucking twisted little... sick... game to you people?!"

He shook his head rapidly, his eyes stern and hard, as he stepped closer to Charlotte. She withdrew from him aggressively, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest. She would surely slap his ass again if he tried her when she felt so utterly betrayed and violated. The twinge of disgust as her thoughts shifted back to the last few nights, caught between two hells; tormented by the reanimated dead crowding down the hill, and the group's mechanic.

"Don't touch me!"

He spread his arms gently, but she shook her head vehemently and shrunk away from him, quickly pivoting to the right and shuffling back toward the wall. As heavy as his heart felt, he would press her no further, her glare weary and anxious of him. She made certain that she did not turn her back on Dog, their previously established trust was all but non-existent, now tainted with a desperate paranoia. Charlie wasn't certain she could trust him anymore, something that made her feel all the more isolated.

"Don't... touch me..."

It was the first night that Slash hadn't come to trap her against something and try to coax her into letting him do as he pleased with her... She felt sick. Worrying over what it could mean was almost too much for her. Perhaps he had finally gotten tired of waiting.

When Diablo and Ruthless had come along just moments before, she didn't know what to think. One of those nights Slash had her pinned to the wall, or on the ground grinding lewdly against her as she struggled pitifully for freedom, maybe he had finally noticed that the youngster he had been made to believe was male was actually a woman and had gone to inform his friends. Though it honestly didn't seem to matter one fucking bit to Slash if she had a dick or pussy.

She had convinced herself in her paranoia that they were preparing to inflict some unspeakable horror upon her, and tears slipped quietly down her cheeks as she glared at Dog... his sympathy was almost comforting. Almost. His possible betrayal made it bittersweet.

Surely he, out of all of them, wouldn't be so fucked up as to sneak down here and feign concern for her well-being right before sexually assaulting her? That he wouldn't give up trying to hug her was uniquely relieving... and made her want to punch him square in the nose, simultaneously. That sweet, protective, warm-hearted fool.

He turned to the table and reached for the hotel notepad and pen resting beside a dusty old black cord phone, and she snapped at him causing him to flinch. "Don't fucking bother! I don't give a shit what you have to say!" Regardless of the bitterness in Charlotte's voice, the felt tip began to scratch the surface as he quickly made to relay what had delayed him.

He presented the note, holding it up for her to look at. It was a rather menacing image of a skull. She rolled her eyes, sucking in air through her teeth.

"Skully? He hates me, I know... you're saying he kept you from coming? You left me down here, alone... for that bat-shit fucking crazy rapist to torment and interrogate..." She began to step toward him, her usually solemn, somber gaze alight with anger and pain, "...with those... things... right outside!... All because Skully told you to?!"

Dog shook his head hard, and turned the paper over, writing into his palm before moving forward and pushing it into her hand.

'Came for you. Fuck Skully.'

She stared at the words written on the note paper for a long few moments... long enough for Dog to slink closer and curl his arms gently around her slender frame, pulling her close to him. She crumbled the note in her hand, and he rested his chin atop her head, a great sigh rising and falling within the young man's chest. He could feel her rigid frame begin to ease into relaxing, the pace of her heartbeat easing. He held her firmly, the wooden posture of her lithe body slowly giving under the prospect of comfort. He could feel her holding back tears. Dog stroked her back sympathetically.

"He's fucking crazy, you know? Of course you do, you've been around him much longer than I have, haven't you? He keeps trying to 'buy' me with the shit he has! He's pushed me into places I can't get away from... he corners me when I get close to the front, he knows I'm afraid of them... the dead... and he won't.. he didn't... stop... touching me..."

It was a cruel sort of irony that Dog had been pushing the boundaries of personal and mental comfort for the woman long before Slash had even had the chance to... perhaps the behavior was learned? The only difference was that Dog had discovered she was a woman well before he began to press his unwanted advances. Slash simply didn't give a damn. And he seemed to be growing more impatient by the day.

"I think he knows I'm not some kid. He made me get on my knees yesterday night... tried force-feeding me some kind of fucking pill—I bit him... I-I shouldn't have but it was the only thing I could think to do..." Charlie's tone was hushed and terrified, laced with disgust and ridicule and most especially... fear. "I was afraid he was going to kick my ass or something... but... he just... laughed about it—and said something really messed up. It's all he talks about... 'how much I'm going to enjoy it'... when... when he gets what he wants."

Dog tugged the skull cap beanie from atop her head, stroking a few stray tendrils from her eyes, shaking his head firmly as if to defy the possibility that Slash would ever get so far. As he drew back, his hand shifted to his right side, to the holster for his 9mm. He removed it in one fluid motion and presented the firearm to Charlie, who blinked several times, uncertain. She shook her head slowly.

"It would make things worse... He'll just take it from me. We've fought over a gun before and it ended with him pointing it between my eyes and... and... I don't even know how to shoot it."

Dog's brow furrowed, and his hazel eyes hardened as he stared at her. 'You're joking, right?' Charlie shook her head and shrugged off-handedly with irritation visible upon her soft features.

"I've never had to use one... it's been quiet here. I've never shot at anything moving before. My father had me take archery... but that was a long, long time ago." He lowered the rifle from his shoulder and tapped her chin gently to bring her head up, before pressing the weapon into her hand, finding a sliver of space upon the paper and writing the note to his friend in haste. He presented it to her.

'I'm going to teach you. Tonight.'

"What about Skully?"

'Fuck Skully.' He said this with his eyes, which narrowed sharply, his expression harsh as he waved a hand dismissively before her. He wasn't joking. If things were growing more dangerous for her, she needed to learn to defend herself, and he was a hell of a shot. The best of their group. Who better a teacher than him? At the very least, she would be safe, should any man try anything with her or dare to take things too far when he was not around to stop them.

"Tonight?"

He nodded his head gently. He tugged the note from her hand and glanced back at the door, knowing he was pressing for time. He'd have to stay close to Skully to defuse him. He needed to be back to find out what Slash had reported... and to prepare himself for the possibility that the older man might make an appearance.

The repercussions that would come with openly defending Charlie against her tormentor would be harsh... but he couldn't just leave her to be forced into something like that. He didn't seem to dwell on the thought of judgment as he wrote out his instructions for her and pressed them into her palm, moving toward the door and waiting for her to come close behind him to lock it right away.

Charlie followed behind him and pushed the door closed as he dipped out into the darkness. She didn't want to see him leave... but he seemed to be busy and in a hurry. She locked the deadbolt before turning her eyes to the final note Dog had given her, which seemed to quell the question of whether he could be trusted any longer... for the time.

'Back at eleven. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Eleven. Five knocks.'

He came back, just like he promised. She actually managed to rest a while with Dog keeping an eye on things for her, not having to worry about uninvited guests poking their way into the room. Dog was there the next night with her as well, anticipating being discovered, almost craving for Slash to come along hoping to play his fucked up little games. Dog was no stranger to a fistfight with anyone in the group.