TW! Attempted rape, necrophilia, mature themes! Fear, death

She was lightheaded. Drained of her energy and fight, her hands numb, her toes too; stiff from hanging for so long. Her body was cold as the intense blizzard outside whistled chaotically. Her bleeding side dripped, staining her jeans and parts of her shirt. She could hear little drip drops as her blood fell to the floor below her. Every ripple of goosebumps sent her into tears. Like a thousand knives penetrating her, she cried silently. The shallow cuts around her limbs and stomach hurt like a bitch, possibly more than just hurt. Her body was fighting off the terrible excruciation.

Though her wound leaked still, the surrounding blood dried, crusting where it had streaked down her skin, up to the opening of the cut. Any slight movement trigged more blood to fall. To be honest, the pain seemed to subside, as if it were numbing. She wasn't sure if it were from the cold or the blood loss. Maybe it was both. She was too tired to try and figure it out. All the strength she thought she had... was gone. She was too weak to fight against Adam. He didn't stop at disfiguring her skin. He had many tools to make her scream in agony, though he mostly kept to his knife.

He embellished her pain. The screams that tore her throat raw as he sliced her apart, all seemed to get him off. There was no number of words to describe how disgusting the male was. If anything had been in her stomach at all, she would've released it. Especially when he began to...rape the infected woman before her.

The hour she hung there, losing more blood, she wished for death to come. It was not quick enough. No...fate was yet still so cruel to her.

Ragged breathy grunts brought back into her even crueler and grueling reality. The metallic sounds of the cage and the gurgling sounds of the infected churned her stomach more than it had already. The infected in the cage squirmed as it was being taken advantage of. Bile rose into her throat.

It was far beyond sickening.

For the first time, she felt horrible for an infected. She was abhorred by the fact someone would go out of their way to capture and then rape an infected. The fungal being couldn't defend itself locked in that tiny cage. It was like a cow, tied down for mounting. The only thing is do was violently squirm as its cries escaped its torn and broken face.

Adam wasn't shy about being loud, shamelessly moaning as he roughly pounded the infected behind. As if his actions would "arouse" her somehow.

She knew she'd be next.

And then, with a shit ton of praying and wishing for death.

"Ah," Adam's voice strews out, slamming his hip against the infected's backside, seemingly having finished his assault on it. "Fuck."

More tears left her eyes, keeping them squeezed shut Just hearing hi rape that infected churned her stomach beyond illness. She didn't watch. She didn't want to watch. She couldn't think of any sane person who would want to watch. A grimace took hold of her body, hearing him pull himself out of the infected. She did her best to ignore the weird squelches emitting the air.

His actions were defiling and far beyond disgusting.

"I hope you watched," she could barf right now. "I'll be doing the same to you soon enough."

Barf. She refused to look and stuffed her face into her shoulder. She hated he said that and feared even more for what was to come. Her fate seemed sealed tight by now. She was going to be raped and murdered. And he raped that infected, so he was probably going to rape her dead body too.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," he got up from the floor and approached her, grabbing her face. His fingers dug into her skin as he jerked her head in his direction. "I said LOOK AT ME!"

"Please, don't!" She whimpered, her body trembling under his touch.

"I said FUCKING LOOK AT ME!" He roared, making her cry out with fear. His grip tightened on her jaw, fingernails further digging into her skin. After a moment, he realized Maeve wouldn't open her eyes. "I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way."

His cold hand left her face, reattaching to her waistband, thumbs hooking into her jeans and underwear.

"Don't! Please!" She pleaded with all her might, peeking fearfully down at him.

"It won't hurt...much." A wicked grin split his face apart, and eyes gleamed darkly as he unbuttoned her pants and them down her legs.

"No! Stop it!" Her voice got louder as she tried kicking him away. The cold engulfed her almost completely now. Freezing to death would be preferable to what this sick maniac had in mind.

"If you hold still, it might hurt less, Lamb." He discarded her jeans.

Acid built quickly in her stomach, and her mind froze, unable to imagine what was going to happen next. How could she? He was about to rape her for God knows how long, and then probably kill her. Or keep her for his own pleasures.

"Don't fucking touch me!" No. She refused to hang there and let this insane boy defile her. She'd rather go out fighting. Her wounds hurt like shit, but that wouldn't stop her from fighting to the death.

"Hold still, Lamb - ack!" Finally! Her knee made harsh contact with his face, more or less, his nose and mouth.

Adam stumbled back, hitting the table, causing some items to jostle and fall to the floor, creating a loud clattering. He clutched his bleeding face with rage, his pale face contorting and becoming as red as the blood that seeped from his nostrils.

"Stupid bitch! All you had to was sit and take it! I was gonna go easy on you, but I don't think I will now," he stalked toward her furiously, roughly seizing her hips, and then underarms. Almost effortlessly, he lifted her off the hook and harshly plopped her onto the tiled floor. "I'm going to fuck you until you bleed to death, bitch. Scream all you fucking want, no on will save you."

"No! Stop it!" She cried as he hovered over her. "Help me!"

"Shut the fuck up!" He growled, purposely digging his fingers into the wound on her hip, causing her to release a pained scream. Unimaginable, torturous pain tore through her just then. "There's no one around to save you, Lamb, so just give in-"

"Get the fuck away from her." A sudden voice cut the insane boy off.

To Maeve's great prayer, it was TJ. Never before had she thought she'd be happy to see him, even if he looked like a flick would knock him over? He was fully conscious, covered in snow from the blizzard outside...and very homicidal with that pistol in his hands. Whether it was loaded or not, it was enough to cause Adam to halt his advances on her.

"I said. Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her." TJ cocked the gun, ensuring the space between her and Adam.

"Take it easy, bother." Adam tucked himself away and buttoned his pants. He, slowly, lifted himself off of Maeve, shuffling backward as TJ continued to aim at him.

"I ain't your brother, you sick bastard."

"Couldn't hurt, could it?"

TJ ignored him, eyeing Maeve's bloody and half-naked form on the ground. His eyes glinted darkly as she weakly shook and tried to cover herself with her arms. She had screamed her throat so raw; she didn't want to speak. TJ, her savior, came just in time.

"You only prevented the inevitable for now," Adam caught the blond's attention once more. "If not me, then some other forsaken bastard will come along. Women in don't last long in an apocalypse, man."

TJ narrowed his eyes at Adam, toying with the trigger. "Yeah, well, that ain't for you to decide."

Actually," Adam grabbed something from the table near him. "It is." He threw the bowl at TJ, which made him throw his arms up to protect himself, but at that moment, Adam lunged at him.

"The fuck-!" TJ's gun was smacked out of his hands. It clattered across the floor, sliding toward Maeve.

The two fought. Throwing fierce punches or trying to keep the other at bay. Their fists flew at one another, maybe feet too. Adam delivered a punch to TJ's shoulder, the same shoulder that was shot. The taller boy yelled out; his stitches most likely torn from the impact. He didn't let the pain stop him from returning the favor. Adam stumbled back, his lip busted and bleeding profusely as his nose had done.

Maeve forced herself to roll onto her side, her eyes focused on the gun before her. The pain nearly paralyzed her as she tried to crawl for it, the floor unforgiving to her wound. Fighting through the pain, she wormed toward the gun, grasping the grip, it still was warm from TJ's hands.

Her fingers shakily pulled the weapon into her palms, and she forced herself to her knees. Her hands burned as she lifted the firearm, it felt heavy too. She tried aiming at Adam, but he and TJ struggled against each other, moving too quickly for her to be clear of a shot.

"Stop!" She poorly gripped the gun, fingers barely able to reach the trigger, but she felt it. She kept her aim at Adam; both abruptly looked her way. Pop!

The gun felt searing under her near-frozen fingers. The barrel smoked slightly after she fired it. At first, she didn't know who she had shot, as both boys were bloodied from their violent fighting. However, it was Adam who jolted, the left part of his naked torso dripping dark crimson. Maybe he was shocked that he was shot, but then fury overtook his features. His eyebrows furrowed and he peeled his lips back off his teeth.

"You shot me," he grunted in disbelief, realizing the pain that ripped through him. "You fucking shot me! ME!"

He lunged toward her, and she flinched, even falling backward.

"Stay the fuck away from her!" TJ landed a swift and solid punch on the male's face. She swore she could almost hear the crack of his jaw breaking. Adam's unconscious and bleeding body flopped awkwardly to the ground.

But she didn't care about him. She could only stare in horror at the gun that somehow was still in her hands.

She shot him.

"Fuck, Maeve," TJ hurriedly stepped around Adam's body, and kneeled before her, gently taking the gun from her trembling hands. "Are you okay?"

"I sh...I shot him..."

"Can you stand?" He set the pistol beside him and tried to undo the binds on her wrists and ankles.

"I shot him..." her voice was clearer now, still quite shaky. She couldn't look away from her torturer lain form, a dark pool of crimson forming under him.

"Hey," TJ blocked her sight with his own body, even grabbing her face with both hands, making her look at him, and only him. "He was going to kill you, and worse. You had no choice. It's not your fault."

"But...I..."

"Look at me, Maeve," TJ gently said, his hold on her face seeming to harden. "It is not your fault. That bastard got what was coming to him."

She swallowed dryly, forcing herself to believe that. Her shallow breaths hitched, and she winced, she felt the wound seep more blood.

"Did he do this?" TJ's eyes flickered to her body. "That fucking..."

She saw it in his eyes, swirling in his pretty blues, if she hadn't shot Adam, TJ would've tortured him the same way he did her.

"He, uh.... he took my things...my...my clothes..."

"Stay here, alright? I'll find your stuff," he stood up, making quick findings of her clothes and bag. "Dress up, and then we're getting out of here."

"You're hurt, too." She looked at his shoulder. The denim was fresh with blood.

"Don't worry about me. Get dressed and then we're getting the fuck outta here."

She nodded numbly, grasping her jeans and coat. She winced as the cuts and larger injury on her body throbbed and stung with her movements, but she forced herself through them. Once dressed, some warmth returned to her body. Not much, but it was still better than being half-naked in a meat locker. TJ handed her shoes over to her and then helped her put her coat on.

"Let's get out of here." Her voice was small. The shock of everything crashed down on her, but if she didn't move now, she'd shut down.

"Joel's getting Ellie as we speak. We'll meet up with them outside of the town."

She nodded again; her voice lost to her. Limping, she clung to TJ as they exited the meat locker.