HERE THERE BE MONSTERS
LILLY
Lee once told me that the only thing needed for bad people to succeed is for good people to stand by and do nothing.
It was a beautiful sentiment, but it put me at a very fucked up crossroads. There was no doubt that Lilly was a horrible person. There was no doubt that AJ was a good person, or at least, I was raising him to be. However, James' words were still haunting me.
I noticed a shift in AJ's stance and expression, and my conundrum resolved itself.
"Stop!" I shouted.
He flinched and looked at me with wide eyes. "But… but she's a monster!"
James took a step toward AJ, one of his arms reaching out. Before he could say anything, I pointed my index finger at him. "Stay back, James. Go grab the rifle and secure this place."
It took a couple seconds of me glaring daggers at him before he complied.
I turned to look at AJ again. "She is. She's also wounded and unarmed. You can't just murder someone in cold blood like that. It's wrong. It's something she would do." I glanced at Lilly. "Do you understand?"
AJ looked at me and then at her.
"She's right, AJ," Lilly pleaded, "listen to her."
"Shut the fuck up, Lilly!" I shouted, slamming my hand against the deck.
Taking one more look at Lilly and me, AJ finally said, "Yeah, I get it." He let his shoulders sag and lowered the gun.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Lilly shift slightly.
Without even thinking, I shouted, "Hey!" The poor kid flinched again. "Don't lower your gun. Never lower your gun in front of an enemy."
He immediately got into a shooting stance once more and aimed the pistol squarely at Lilly. The bitch froze again.
I stood up and leaned against the railing, still feeling a bit woozy from when she choked me. "Listen. Remember when you told me that murder meant something different now?"
Without taking his eyes off Lilly for more than a fraction of a second, he nodded at me. "Yeah?"
It made me smile that he didn't let me distract him. I had trained him pretty well, all things considered.
"Well, you're right," I said. "But not in the way you think."
"How then?" His face looked clearly confused.
"Listen. Human life is even more valuable now. Not less. Because there's so few of us left. And we need to stay alive to fight the walkers. It's us against them and we're losing. Whoever doesn't get that and keeps fighting between humans is fucking stupid." At that, I looked pointedly at Lilly.
It took a few seconds for the expression on AJ's face to shift toward understanding. "Yeah. Okay. I think I get it."
"Good," I said, nodding and smiling at him. He was so smart. My chest was swelling with pride.
"Now," I continued after a moment, "shoot her in the knee."
Three sets of very surprised eyes zeroed in on me. James, Lilly and AJ were looking at me like I had grown a second head. I ignored everyone except my boy.
"She's still a monster." I looked at him straight in the eye. "She's still a danger to us."
AJ turned toward her and without hesitation pulled trigger once. The bullet hit the bitch squarely in the knee. She let out an unholy screech.
"You fucking bitch! I'm going to fucking skin you alive!"
Ignoring her, I approached AJ. "Give me the gun, kiddo."
Once he was near me, I took the pistol and ruffled his hair with my free hand. "You did good."
Lilly was still screaming bloody murder in the background, using combinations of curses I had never heard before. I didn't have any fucks left to give, though.
"James!" I shouted to make my voice heard over the screaming. "Take the kids and get them off the boat before it blows up!"
I put a hand on AJ's shoulder. "Go with him. I'll be right behind you, okay?"
He looked up at me with those huge eyes and shook his head.
"Please, kiddo. You trust me, right?"
He nodded but clung to my legs. After some gentle coaxing, I managed to pry him off me and pushed him toward James. The older boy took AJ's hand and began directing him and Tenn toward the pier. As soon as they were out of sight, I turned my attention toward Lilly.
"I'm going to fucking kill you and every one of those fucking kids, Clementine."
In response, I shot her in the other knee. Unsurprisingly, more screaming ensued.
"I heard once that drowning is one of the most horrible deaths."
She looked at me with fear now. "You can't… N—no, you can't!" Dropping on her belly, she clawed her way toward me and grabbed one of my ankles. "Please! Clementine! This isn't you!"
Despite hating myself for it, I couldn't deny that looking at her reduced to this made me feel good. It was the same when Kenny bashed in Carver's skull— a mixture of empowerment, satisfaction and catharsis. This was a part of me that I'd rather not have but still a part of me.
I basked in the feelings for a few seconds more, and then, I shot her once in each shoulder. Now she couldn't swim at all.
There was no way she'd hear me over her own screams of pain, but I spoke anyway.
"You don't know me at all. We're all monsters in one way or another, Lilly. We have to be." I took a step back, easily freeing my ankle from her grasp.
Without looking back, I made my way toward the pier.
FIN