WHITE FLAG

chapter forty : held hostage
{ season three - episode seven }

THE LONG WEAPON that was on Merle's replaced hand dragged across the wooden table that was in front of Glenn, who was tied to the chair. Both him and Kloe were thrown into separate rooms, yet the walls were extremely thin. Everything that happened in each other's rooms, they could always hear it, and they couldn't do anything about it.

Merle Dixon scraped the edge of the table as he harshly stood beside the Korean, staring down at him. Glenn stared into the air, sweat dripping down his forehead from the heat and fear. Not just for him, but for his girlfriend who was in the room next to him.

"You don't even know why you're here, do you?" Merle asked him, clenching his jaw as he looked down at him with that smug look of his. "I didn't mean you no harm. I lowered my gun, but you raised yours. You and Kloe were just a pair of assholes out there, just like you were on that rooftop back there in Atlanta. What y'all did, leaving me up there... People wouldn't do that to an animal."

Glenn glared up at Merle. "We went back for you," he stated, barely above a whisper. Kloe bit into her cheek as she listened in. It sounded like they were in the same room. Not being able to see what Merle might've done made her scared.

"Ain't you thoughtful."

"We did, all of us. Rick, Daryl, Zayn, T-Dog," Glenn listed, making one side of Merle's lip tilt up into a smirk at the sound of the final name Glenn stated.

"Mmm, T-Dog," he hummed. "Yeah, big ol' spear-chucker, the one I was pleading with. Mhm, the one that dropped the key. Tell me where he's at. I'm sure T-Dog would like to bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones."

Glenn tensed as he thought about T-Dog. "He didn't make it," he answered, avoiding eye contact with the Dixon.

Merle leaned forward, inching closer to Glenn's face. "Well, I hope he went slow." Kloe's jaw clenched as she glared at the wall, wanting nothing but to shut Merle up. "Yeah. How about the rest? Hm?" He sat on the edge of the wooden table, staring down at Glenn without batting an eyelid. "How about my baby brother? You can't tell me he's alive and then hold off on where he is." Merle waited for an answer, but Glenn only stayed quiet. "No?" He asked, but noticed Glenn briefly looked at the wall that had Kloe on the other side. "Well, maybe Klo-Klo will help me out," he forcefully smiled.

Kloe's chest heaved up and down as she stared down at the ground beneath the wall. Glenn glared up at the man who only smirked at him. "Yeah, I know you two would get together. We all did. But, hey, tell me something, when she's scared, and she's holding you close, and her trembling skin is close to you," Merle traced his blade harshly against Glenn's cheek, making him swallow thickly, "her soft lips are touching you here, all over here, and over here... Huh? Feels good, don't it?"

Kloe's bottom lip trembled as she listened to Merle's words, knowing exactly what he was doing. She felt the hot tears coating her eyes as she gulped.

"I remember you. Yeah. You're the sneaky one, the one with nerve. You don't scare easy, do you? I like that," he stood up from the wooden table, stepping behind Glenn. "Now..." he grabbed onto Glenn's forehead, pressing his knife against his philtrum. "I wanna know where my brother is. And, just so you know, these walls are thinner than this damn blade."

He let go of Glenn's forehead, grabbing onto the blade and pulling it so it pressed hardly against him, making him grunt with pain. Kloe sealed her eyes shut as she heard her boyfriend's pained grunts.

Merle released Glenn, quickly stepping over back to where he originally was and knelt over him. "I wanna know where the sheriff is," he demanded, but instantly got stopped by Glenn banging his head into Merle's, causing him to yell with pain.

He straightened his back as he held onto his broken nose, which was now caked with fresh blood. He smashed his hand onto the wooden table with frustration before looking back down at Glenn, who only glared up at him with the angriest look he had ever seen him look. He wiped the blood away from his nose with the back of his hand, laughing slightly before smacking his own head onto Glenn's with force.

Kloe flinched, hearing her boyfriend's pained groan. Just as she opened her glossy eyes, her body jumped as Merle punched Glenn in the stomach. "Yeah!" He exclaimed before punching him across the face. "Now, I wanna know where they're hiding, where your camp is," he grabbed onto Glenn's chin, moving it to the side to face him, "and I wanna know now."

He punched Glenn across the face again. "I wanna know now!" A tear flooded out of her eye as she turned to face the opposite wall as she heard numerous more punches. "Where the hell are they?! Tell me!"

...

It was about ten minutes long of just hearing Glenn get beat up. The tears that pooled out of Kloe's eyes stained her cheeks as her bottom lip quivered. She heard Merle leave Glenn's room, meaning he was going to go in her room.

She held her breath as she heard the door to her room unlock, creaking open as the figure with a bloodied up hand stood in the doorway. Merle smirked at the young woman, raising his hand that was covered in Glenn's blood.

"Yeah. I know you heard everything in there, Klo-Klo. So, I'm not even gonna explain what's gonna happen," Merle took slow steps into the room, closing the door behind him. She stayed in silence, not even blinking as she sent the man a deathly glare. "Oh, don't give me that look, Klo. I only just want to ask you a few questions."

"I know what you want, Merle," she stated firmly, gritting her teeth as her hands that were tied up behind her trembled with fear and anger. "And I'm happy to say you won't get anything from me."

Merle smirked, laughing out of his nose. "Is that so?" He took more steps over to her so he stood beside her. "You haven't changed one bit, have you? Huh? You're still the same Kloe Schmidt that everyone adored."

She eyes Merle with the deadliest glare, and if looks could kill, Merle would be more than dead. "You're the asshole, Merle. Not Glenn. Not me. Not the people that were on the rooftop. You."

His facial expression never changed, and his smug smirk stayed put. He glanced back down at his bloodied hand, looking back up at Kloe as an even bigger smirk plastered his face. Slowly, he lifted his hand up to her face, dragging the back of it across her cheek.

She tensed as she felt a warm liquid coat her cheek, her eyes immediately beginning to tear up as she knew instantly that she was getting her cheek painted with Glenn's blood.

"You might wanna be careful what you say, Klo-Klo. Even I don't want you ending up like lover-boy in the other room," he traced the back of his hand down to her chin, then down her neck, then her chest. "Let's just say, it's not pretty."

"What did you do to him?" She asked him, her voice shaking as she watched Merle's bloodied hand travel somewhere she wasn't comfortable with. She looked down, noticing the blood that was coated on her chest. Before Merle could touch her cleavage, he removed his hand and laughed loudly.

"Does it really matter, Klo-Klo? Do I have to explain when you now have his own blood covered on you? I don't think so." Kloe gulped as she stared up at the male, who wiped his hand down on his shirt. "Now, Glenn told me that y'all came back for me, and listed certain names. Why weren't you in that list, Klo-Klo? I thought you were too nice to leave someone on a rooftop to die."

"I was going to go with them, Merle. I was. But I stayed to defend the camp, and just as well I did," she answered truthfully. "Walkers overran the camp, and barely anyone survived."

"I barely survived, Klo-Klo. I was bleeding out while y'all had your beauty sleep. Why would you do that, Klo? Why would you leave a poor man on a rooftop who was begging for his life, huh?"

Kloe kept her lips sealed. She didn't know the answer to that question. She continued to glare at the man as she kept quiet, making Merle laugh and shake his head.

"Maybe you're not so kind-hearted after all, huh?" Merle chuckled as he sat himself down on the wooden table in front of her. "You heard what I did to lover-boy in there when I asked him where your home is. Now, if you don't tell me where you live, I just might do the same to you."

Kloe remained slightly unfazed. Of course, she hated the idea of it, considering it was literal torture. She swallowed thickly as she stayed in silence.

"Tell me, Kloe," he demanded, the anger he once took out on her boyfriend was building back up within him. As she lightly shook her head for an answer, he stood up and bashed his hands against the wooden table with force, making her flinch. "Tell me!"

"What if I don't want to?" She managed to say, taking deep breaths through her nose. "After all, no matter what you do to me, you won't kill me." He smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Because if you do, you won't get your answer."

His smirk dropped, and his jaw clenched as he stared down at the woman. "Oh, really? You think so? Tell me something, Klo. If you saw what I just did to Glenny-boy in there," he gestured toward the wall, "you wouldn't want to mess with my temper. But, since you are doing just that, you're asking for it."

He lifted his knife for a hand, pressing it against her bottom lip. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt a strong stinging pain run through her lower lip. "Oh, yeah! You're gonna have one hell of a scar there, Klo-Klo. People might even think you look badass!"

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the hot liquid dribble down her chin. He pulled the knife away, making her open her eyes. He watched her with a smug grin, causing her to smirk. "If you really think that cutting my lip open is going to get you your answer, then you're more than wrong."

He tilted his head to the side. "Really, now? But you're a woman. Women ain't strong like men."

Kloe smirked, lifting her brows for a split second. "Wanna bet?" Merle chuckled, nodding his head before clenching his already bloodied fist, connecting it to her cheek.

Her head moved to the side, from the force, the pain immediately ringing through the side of her face. She breathed heavily out of her mouth, adjusting to the pain that she hadn't felt since she was seventeen.

She turned back to Merle, the anger present in his eyes before he raised his knife again, pressing it close to her neck. Her head lifted back as she held her breath again, the cold metal against her skin.

Her heart hammered against her ribcage as she bit into her blood-coated bottom lip. She winced at the pain that shot through her when Merle removed his knife from her neck and slashed it against her thigh.

She let out a loud but quiet yell as she leaned forward, squeezing her eyes shut as the stinging traveled across her thigh. She glanced down, noticing the rip in her black skin tight jeans. Where the rip was, Kloe watched as her blood pooled out of her new wound.

She faced Merle, her eyes slightly red and teary from the pain. "You know what? You can kill me. Either way, you're not going to figure out anything."

Merle looked back and forth between the blood on his knife and her eyes. A new idea plunged into his mind, making an even bigger grin etch onto his face. "Oh, but I just got a great idea that might make me find out. Maybe not from you, but from Glenny-boy in there."

Kloe frowned as she breathed frantically. She watched carefully as Merle spun around, exiting the room. Before he closed the door, he peered over his shoulder, sharing one final glance with her. He slammed the door shut behind him, leaving her in nothing but pain, confusion, and silence.

...

While waiting on what Merle had planned, Kloe remained in the deadly silence, covered in blood that was a mixture of Glenn's and her own. The blood that pooled out of her thigh dripped onto the floor beneath her.

She had been sitting there for at least five minutes before hearing a very familiar growl in the room next to her, making her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

The commotion that went on in the room beside her made her pulse pick up at a fast pace. That was until she heard Glenn yell at the top of his lungs. It felt like her heart had completely stopped at that point.

Then, another twenty minutes later, she still sat there in the same spot, her left leg completely drenched with blood. As she attempted to pull her wrists out of the tape behind her, she could feel herself getting weaker as she lost more and more blood.

Her body jolted as the door in front of her clicked open, making her shoot her head up toward it. She frowned as she watched an unfamiliar man in the doorway.

As he carefully closed the door behind him, he kept his eyes on her. He looked her up and down, his expression not daring to change as he noticed all the blood that she was coated in.

She gulped as he took slow steps toward the table in front of her, still keeping his eyes on her. He reached down into his belt, pulling out a long blade. Kloe took in a heavy breath, holding it as he took a few more steps toward her.

He stood behind her, kneeling down as he grabbed hold onto one of her hands. The muscles in her arms tensed up, and her hand went completely firm as he sliced through the tape that kept her hands together.

She let out a shaky breath as she brought her hands to her sight. She pulled off the remaining tape that was still on her wrists as the unknown man watched her carefully.

Without hesitation, she raised from her chair and gripped tightly onto the man's forearm as she gritted her teeth. Not even trying, the man grabbed onto the woman's wrist, pulling it away from his arm.

She used all the strength she had to try and break from his grasp, but she was far too weak. The man then grabbed onto her other wrist, squeezing as tight as he could. "I wouldn't suggest trying to hurt me. I only want to ask a few questions. Do you understand?"

She swallowed thickly, her brain telling her to just say yes, but her heart said no. She went with her heart, shooting him a deadly glare and shook her head. "Dream on, asshole."

Not taking her response for an answer, he released his grip of one of her wrists, quickly grabbing onto her with his other hand as he pressed the knife against her throat. "I think you should rethink your answer, ma'am."

"No. No, I don't think I should," she added, not taking his shit. He threw his knife onto the table, clenching his jaw before wrapping his hands around her neck, strangling her.

"You're not going to test my patience, young lady," he stated firmly as she tried her best to get air into her lungs. "You're going to do as I say. If you don't, I won't have any hesitation to do something to the boy to get something out of you. Do you understand me?"

While trying to get air, she weakly nodded her head, making him release his firm grip from her throat. She gasped for air, reaching up to her neck as she felt a new burning pain erupt from it.

Not having a choice, she took a seat down in her chair as she watched the man step over to the other side of the table. He pulled the chair out from under the table, placing himself in it as he exhaled heavily.

"Look, I didn't want to hurt you, but you left me no choice," he told her as she applied pressure onto her wound on her thigh. She glared across at him as he spoke. "I just want an easy answer. Simple. Why is it that you don't want to give one of your old pals the place you call home? Why don't you trust us?"

She chuckled sarcastically. "I don't know, maybe because you took us hostage and began beating us up?"

He sighed, ignoring her response as he looked at her with a serious look. "We'll take you back to your people, explain this was all just a misunderstanding. You tell us where they are, and we'll drive you there."

She scoffed. "A misunderstanding? Are you actually kidding me? Okay, yeah, sure. Drop us off and just tell them that all these new scars that I'm gonna have - and may I add that Merle threw a walker at him - was just all a misunderstanding?" He stayed in complete silence, his lips in a straight line. "You know what? I wanna see Glenn. I want to talk to him."

The corner of his lips went slightly upward, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't allow that. You and your people are dangerous," he stated, making Kloe's brows raise up skeptically. "Handcuffed my man to a roof, forced him to amputate his own hand. And you, Kloe, didn't even go back for him."

"I told Merle this already. I was protecting our camp while the others went. Everyone who went back for him was strong. They didn't need me. Our camp did, " she remarked.

"Why is it so hard to just state where your group is? Just tell us where they are and we'll bring them here. I can promise you that none of my guys will do anything more to you or the boy."

Kloe scrunched up her face, shaking her head within an instant. "The damage has already been done. I mean, look at me," she gestured to her body. "I'm covered with my own and my boyfriend's blood. And I heard what your people did to him. Sorry, dickhead, but I don't fall into traps that easily. You kidnapped smart people, not stupid people."

He exhaled heavily once again. "Fine. Let's try something else." Kloe frowned, not sure what else there was to get something out of her. "Stand up, please." Kloe just stared at him, showing him that she wasn't going to do what he says. "Stand up," he ordered, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned forward.

"No," she stated simply, but hell, was she soon to regret that decision to disobey him. He harshly stood up, speed-walking over to her. She bit into her cheek as she waited for what he was going to do, a new feeling within her that she had made the wrong choice.

He wrapped his fingers around her upper-arm, pulling her out of her seat. With force and anger, he threw her against the wall, pushing her shoulders. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs, and before she could even think of what was happening, he pinned her to the wall by having a firm hold on her arms.

He quickly grabbed his knife and ripped it down her tank top. She froze as she then knew what he was going to do. Her eyes began to fill with tears as he pulled the ripped up tank top onto the ground, leaving her in just her bra.

He moved his hand away from her arm and wrapped it around her neck. Not enough to strangle her, but enough for her to not be able to move. He looked down at the blade, then at her bloodied thigh.

He looked back up at her and held her eyes as he pressed the knife against her wound, making her grunt with pain. A tear escaped her eye, running down her bloodied cheek.

Her thigh began to bleed out more and more as she felt weaker and weaker. He slid his knife into his belt before placing his hand over her wound. The blood that poured out of her thigh was quick to coat his hand and he lifted his hand into her sight.

She stared at his hand, watching as it went to her stomach. He dragged his hand across her stomach, leaving a blood trace. He paused for a moment before turning his hand in a different direction. Upward.

Kloe quietly sobbed as the man she still didn't know the name of inched closer and closer to her chest. Just as his hand got to her bra, his eyes landed on something that he hadn't noticed. Her lip.

There was a cut that was clearly from a knife and dried blood was left around it. He grabbed onto his knife, again, and without any second thoughts, he pressed the tip against her lip.

Kloe squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the same pain she had felt not even an hour before, as more blood dribbled out. Except, unlike Merle, who only pressed the knife against her lip, the man trailed the blade down to just below her bottom lip, making an even larger cut form.

"Maybe, after this, you'll know not to talk with attitude to someone like me," he whispered as he watched another tear run down her cheek. Right before getting to her chin, he threw his knife onto the ground.

The blood that came from her new wound dripped down from her chin. The man wiped his thumb over her trembling lip, collecting the blood that was bleeding from it. He then slowly moved his hand over to her shoulder, pulling her bra strap so it fell loosely over her shoulder.

He glanced back up at her, holding her dark brown, puffy eyes for a moment. Not even a few seconds later, he pushed her to the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs once again.

He turned away from her, kneeling to the ground to pick up the knife he threw. As she shed another tear, she weakly stood to her feet, placing her hand against the wall so she wouldn't fall.

She watched the man carefully with nothing but anger in her eyes as he stood back up, examining the knife in his hands. She clenched her fists as he slowly turned back to her, and just as he did, her hardened fist crashed straight into his nose.

He stumbled back at the force as the knife flew back out of his hand. Kloe fell back onto the wall that had Glenn on the other side of it, creating a big bang as she slid down, her weak legs giving way.

His hand reached to his nostrils that were coated in his own blood. He winced as he touched the bridge of his nose, feeling that the bone was out of place. "You broke my nose," he mumbled, glaring across at Kloe, who was almost as pale as a ghost.

Without hesitation, he harshly stepped over to her, bending down to grip onto her upper-arm. He pulled her along with him as he went toward the door. "Where are you taking me?" She choked out as he pulled the door open with force.

She met the faces of another man she didn't know, and Merle. The Dixon's eyes slightly widened at her state, seeing that she was in tears and that she was trembling. But he only smirked at her.

"We're taking you to lover-boy, Klo-Klo."

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words: 4097
4th september 2022
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it hurt writing this chapter bro. i actually hope you didn't enjoy this chapter LMFAO-
ANYWAYS, this book has been going on for 10 months now, we're almost at a year-