Chapter 3 - The Delta

Kate's head lays on my chest as the both of us lay in bed, the warmth of our bodies under the blanket keeping us comfortable in the frigid Winter night. Hours ago, I sent my lieutenant and some kids to the Delta to check the place out, meaning they're probably there now. It's something that'll be on my mind for the next couple of days, until they're back here, safe and sound.

"I had the dream again last night." Kate mumbles from in front of me, and I start lightly rubbing her head.

"The ambush?" I ask her, and she nods.

"Yeah, the ambush. It played out differently this time."

I stop for a second. "How so?"

She turns back toward me, and her hazel eyes meet mine with an upset look on her face. "I was pregnant this time. And you weren't there. No one was. It was just me and those men shooting at me. And that was that. You weren't there, no Prescott, no Eleanor, nothing. Lights out."

"You know I'm not going anywhere. And I'm never gonna leave you alone. You know this." I remind her, rubbing her back to comfort her.

"I do, but if this situation with the Whisperers gets out of hand, you may not have a choice."

"You, Chandler, and our baby are the most important things to me in this world. Keeping you safe comes first, no matter what. No group of crazy woods people is gonna change that. If they want to get to you, they're gonna have to get through me, and I'll kill as many as I can before they get through me." I assure my wife, who simply gives me a small smile back.

"Well I'd much rather you didn't get killed. Our kids are gonna need a daddy."

"And I'll be there to be their daddy. Don't you worry."

"You know I'm still going to."

"Course I know you are." I chuckle as I kiss her head. "It's why I married you and started a family with you. I knew you'd worry. It means you're a good mom."

"I hope I am." She confides in me, "Going into this, parenthood, I wasn't sure about it. Was I ready to be a mother, in a world that wasn't exactly welcoming to babies? I really didn't think so. I just hope we can do right by Chandler and his sister."

"He thinks the world of us, you know. And you've been amazing as a mom." I tell her. "This morning, he wanted to see you so badly when I was getting ready. You were asleep, so I made him breakfast instead."

"I heard him screaming for blueberries." She giggles, and I can't help but smile as well.

"Oh yeah, there were blueberries." I confirm to her. "Lots and lots of blueberries."

"The boy loves his berries."

"Indeed he does." I tell her as a yawn forces its way out of my mouth.

"It sounds like you need some sleep." She remarks, "You had a Hell of a day."

I laugh as Kate and I snuggle into each other, slowly nodding off to sleep. Hell of a day, that's the understatement of the century.


A Few Hours Earlier

Brett's POV

A small town comes into view as Dez drives the six of us closer. Some metal walls surrounding the town rise up above the ground and tower above anything else. Finally, after hours of driving, Lilly confirms my suspicions.

"This is it, the Delta."

Dez pulls into the town, full of old houses, some of which overgrown due to the lack of upkeep, but otherwise is a nice little place. Lilly instructs Dez to pull the van in front of a larger house, right by the river bank, which he does. Before we can get out and look around, Lilly turns to the three of us, an uncharacteristically kind look on her face.

"Look, I get what happened between us was bad. Really bad. But please, don't bring up any of the past here. I have a really good image here, and I don't want to ruin mine, my husband's, or the Delta's. That's all I ask of you."

Unsure of it all, I look back at Louis and Clem, both of which reluctant to agree. Louis moreso, scowling back at Lilly, while Clem scowls as well, albeit giving a more sympathetic look, before nodding. "Fine. We won't talk about you attacking us, or kidnapping us, or trying to attack us again, or trying to kill Ian's wife, or that time you-"

"You've made your point." Lilly responds. "Just don't talk about it. I'll talk to Blake about it… when the time's right."

Maya glances at me, confused, and I give her a stone cold look back. She and I look at each other for a moment, before she breaks our little staredown, and I look back at Lilly. "Yeah, we won't talk about it."

Louis rolls his eyes, before nodding. "If they're doing it, then my hands are kinda tied here."

"Good." She smiles, relieved. "Thanks, guys. Now come on. Blake'll want to meet you."

As we all exit the car, the door opens up, and the tallest man I've ever seen walks out. Standing at at least six foot seven, Lilly walks into his arms for a hug and a quick peck on the lips. Lilly and Blake whisper something to each other, before he looks up at us. "Welcome to the Delta. I'm Blake, and I'm in charge of this community."

Lilly glances back to us, "This is Dez, Brett, Louis, and Clementine. They're from Richmond. Their leader and I go back, and he sent some of his people here to see about helping us out."

"Richmond, eh?" He asks, sizing us all up. "We'd heard that there was a community there, but Whisperer territory was near it. We figured it wasn't worth the risk. But maybe, just maybe this'll work perfectly. How did you guys meet?"

I stay quiet for a second, looking over at Lilly, who ignores my gaze, before I look back at Blake. "I was out with Ian, the leader, on a supply run. Lilly and Maya were out on whatever they were doing, and we were confronted by Whisperers soon after our paths crossed."

"And you all made it out alive? Damn. Frankly, I'm shocked. If the Whisperers knew you were Delta…" He says to his wife, who frowns and nods.

"Ian was kind enough to let us stay for a while, and we talked for a bit about the Whisperers. He didn't want to get involved, but Dez insisted they give us a shot, so here we are." She explains to him.

He nods once again, looking up at the wall and treeline. "Well, hopefully this means we'll get some help. We lost almost a dozen people from Whisperer attacks last week. Given that we're a community of roughly a hundred fifty, that's a rate we cannot afford to keep up."

"For every Whisperer we kill, it seems like four of them come back at us." Maya adds. "It's like they're multiplying."

"It might be a good idea to come together and see what we know about all this." Dez suggests to the other adults. "I take it you've been fighting these people for a while now, I'd like to see what we're working with here."

Blake adamantly nods. "Of course. Right inside." He then turns to Maya. "Corporal Morin, why don't you show the others around in the meantime?"

"Sure." Maya smiles to us, motioning for us to follow her as she leads us down a street through the overgrown town. It's mostly old buildings where people live. Although, most of these buildings are pretty empty now, given their dwindling numbers. On the North end of town, the Shenandoah River, a large river that was once a landmark of the area, runs and gives the town a water and fish source, seemingly unlimited for both.

In the middle of the town, she stops in front of a large campfire, a few people sitting around it as a girl, short, brown hair and some pale freckles speckled on her cheeks, plays guitar. As the girl takes notice of us, she stops playing and gets up, running over to Maya.

"You're back!" She grins to Maya as the two girls hug each other.

"Did I miss anything while I was out?" Maya asks the girl, who shakes her head.

"Nothing. It was a quiet day today. Who are they?" She asks, looking over at the three of us.

"Oh right, they're some people from a nearby community, Richmond. Lieutenant Woodson and I came across them when we were out. They might be helping us in the war." Maya explains to her.

"I'm Louis." Louis introduces himself to the girl, uncharacteristically enthusiastic, given his feelings to these people. With a small smile of her own, she extends her hand to him, which he shakes firmly.

"I'm McKenzie. Kenzie for short. I'm Maya's sister." She says to us, turning to Clem and I.

"I'm Clementine." Clem introduces herself to Kenzie, who warmly smiles back at her, before it's my turn.

"Brett." I softly smile to her while extending my hand to her. She shakes it gladly before sitting down on a log, tuning her guitar. With a couple strums, she starts playing a tune on it as Louis sits down next to her, humming along.

All of a sudden, he breaks into song, flawlessly signing along.

"On a dark desert highways, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night."

Impressed, Kenzie stops playing and looks at him. "How'd you know I was playing Hotel California?"

"I love that song." He grins. "My Dad had a few Eagles records I loved listening to, and this was my personal favorite. I learned how to play it on the piano, too. I've got the sheet music somewhere back home, albeit it I don't have a piano to play anymore."

"You're a musician, too?" She asks with another small smile, which gets him to pop his collar and flash a confident grin.

"That, I am." He tells her. "I play the piano when I have one, and then, of course, I serenade my friends all the time with a wide array of songs, both songs I've written and songs I grew up listening to."

Her cheeks lightly redden before looking back down at her guitar, and continues the song. Louis clears his throat, and with a wide smile, he, too, continues the song.

"There she stood in the doorway

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself

'This could be heaven or this could be Hell'

Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way

There were voices down the corridor,

I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely face.

Plenty of room at the Hotel California

Any time of year you can find it here."

By the time Louis finishes the chorus, he's attracted a small crowd of listeners, sitting around the fire and applauding as Kenzie stops playing. An accomplished grin on his face, he does a respectful bow and wave to the audience. Clem and I glance at each other, impressed at how quickly Louis came around to this place.

As the action dies down, the five of us go back to Maya's house, a small place by the river, near Lilly and Blake's house. She opens the door to her place, and it's kept surprisingly neat, even with how far it is into the apocalypse. She puts her bag down on the kitchen table and motions for us to do the same.

"So, I guess Lilly's having you guys stay with us while you're here." She tells us, pointing to a flight of stairs. "There's a guest room upstairs that'll be good for two of you, and whoever doesn't get that room can crash on the couch."

"I'll take the couch." Clem volunteers. "Given that you guys are roommates already, it just makes sense."

Louis and I simply shrug to each other. She's not wrong. It does make sense. Louis isn't the worst roommate in the world, especially with how well he gets along with Benji and I.

The front door opens, and Lilly strolls in. "There you are. You guys hungry? Blake made dinner and wanted you guys to come over so he could get to know you guys better."

As though it were on cue, someone's stomach grumbles. I glance back at Louis, who glances toward Clem, who sheepishly blushes as more and more eyes go toward her. A small smile forms on Lilly's lips as Kenzie giggles.

"I'll take that as a yes."


We all sit down around the table as plates of salad, pork, and bread are passed around. Blake, Lilly, Dez, Maya, Kenzie, Louis, Clem, and I all dig into our meals. Blake's no Omar or anything, but having this much food available for a meal nowadays, especially when it's well-prepared, is a blessing in itself. I'm conflicted. Lilly was so heartless and vicious, but Blake is really kind, easygoing, and a good leader. Am I supposed to like the Delta now? Lilly's different than when she tried to kill me, any of the times she tried to. Maybe this is all a facade for her husband. But is it? Or is Lilly that desperate for us to help? I have no idea, and the thought of it all leaves me a little uneasy.

Maybe a month ago, the last time I ever saw Lilly, she said Blake had no idea about what she'd done. So, does that mean she was able to cover up Sophie and Minnie to him, too? It makes me wonder how much Blake doesn't know. If he has no idea about that, who knows what else she's hiding from him?

The defiant side of me wants to spill it for everyone else, let Blake know what she did, how she killed Mitch and James, tried to kill more of us in the process. How Minnie and Sophie were brought to the Delta through kidnapping and intimidation, not voluntary. And how did she cover up the boat? That massive ship that we blew up, does he not know it was us? Maya knew about it, so how wouldn't he? Did she tell him it was Whisperers? Does he know it was us? Fuck me, a million questions are running through my mind.

"So, Clementine," Blake smiles to Clem, digging into her salad. "Lilly told me you knew her from the early days of the outbreak?"

Clem stops eating, swallowing what was in her mouth and glances at Lilly, who nonchalantly continues her meal, before turning back to Blake. "That's right. I was with some people, and we came across her group. Our group was together for a few months before things… fell apart. I was only eight at the time, so I don't remember a lot of the details, but I remember her dad a bit."

"Ian and his first wife, Carley, were part of the group, too." Lilly adds. "Things went pretty good for a few months. But then Dad died and… everything went South from there." She says with a frown as Blake consoles her. "We were attacked by bandits one afternoon, and we tried to hold them off as long as we could. Most of the group escaped, but I got separated from the others, and I thought that was that. I never thought I'd see that group again, especially Clementine of all people."

I don't know about the specifics of the story, but this seems like she's outright lying to her husband. If what Ian told us is true, then yeah, she's lying, or at least not telling the whole story. Maybe she did get separated from the group, but she was kicked out for trying to kill Carley, not whatever she's implying. I almost want to blurt out that she's lying, but given the situation, I decide to bite my tongue and keep it to myself. For a brief moment, Clem and I lock eyes from across the table, and the look that she gives me tells me that my skepticism is warranted. Nonetheless, I stay quiet and eat my food as things go on.

From upstairs, some faint crying pours downstairs, and Lilly and Blake both take immediate notice, nodding to each other as she slides out from her seat and walks upstairs. Blake softly smiles and lets out a quiet chuckle. "Chloe's up."

Moments later, Lilly walks back downstairs, a wide smile on her face as she presents the baby to the rest of us, a beautiful little girl with brown hair and wide brown eyes. I guess she wasn't lying after all. "This is Chloe." She announces to the rest of us. Chloe coos lightly with a small smile to the rest of us as Lilly hands her off to Blake, lightly rocking and bouncing his baby girl in his arms.

I can't help but smile at the sight of it all. Even though it's Lilly, seeing her family all happy like this is a nice sight. She can still go to Hell as far as I'm concerned, but I'd be lying if I said I felt as adamantly about that as I did a few weeks ago. It's weird, seeing someone who was ruthless to us trying to kill or kidnap us is now having dinner with us and showing her soft side. I get it, but it's still strange nonetheless. But I do know one thing for certain, that promise I made to her might have to go on hold. It wouldn't be fair to Blake or Chloe.

But I won't let her know that. I'll let her keep wondering if I'll make good on it. And maybe if I get a reason to, I will make good on my promise. But in the meantime, I'm not going to kill anyone that isn't an immediate threat. It's a good rule to live by in general, but I'm even putting personal revenge aside. If Lilly and her people are willing to play nice right now, then I guess I will, too.

"So, Brett, Clem, Louis, what're your stories?" Blake asks as he looks at the three of us. "I got to know Dez a bit earlier, but I haven't gotten to meet you all yet."

The three of us all stay quiet, looking at one another apprehensively, before Louis decides to go first. "I'm from Pennsylvania, over by Philadelphia. Grew up in a nice house with a pretty rich family. But, I kinda fucked up really badly, and got sent to a boarding school. That was about a year before the outbreak, and I wound up surviving out there for a while with other students. That's where I met Brett and Clem."

"Boarding school? How badly did you fuck up?" Blake asks curiously, and Louis grimaces, shaking his head.

"Pretty badly. It was really bad." He mumbles, and images of Louis admitting to us why he was sent to Ericson in the first place flash back to me. Blake nods sympathetically and doesn't prod further, respecting boundaries.

"I'm from Wisconsin originally." I begin, as Blake turns to me to listen.

"Wisconsin? No kidding. What part?"

"Appleton." I give him a small smile as he gives one, too.

"I grew up in Stevens Point, like an hour away from Appleton. Small world. How'd you end up out here?"

My smile widens and I nod, continuing with my backstory. "My dad, brother, and I did a lot of travelling around once the world ended. After Dad died, my brother and I spent years by ourselves travelling to the East and then moving South, until we came across the school. Louis and the others had been living there for years, holding out the undead and whatnot, and they were very welcoming to me and Benji, well, for the most part." My mind brings back images of me knocking Mitch on his ass after challenging me to a fight. What a strange, awful, wonderfully amazing day. Emphasis on the strange and wonderfully amazing, for the most parts, except for getting shot in the knee. That part kinda sucked.

Finally, he turns to Clem, who looks a lot more comfortable confiding with Blake now that Louis and I have gone, even with our feelings towards Lilly. She begins a story she's already told us, with some equally painful memories.

"I'm from Georgia, I lived a little bit South from Atlanta, at least until the dead started coming back. This man, Lee, found me in my house and took care of me as long as he could. He was helped keep me alive with the first group I was ever a part of, with Ian, Lilly, and everyone else there. But, as time passed, so did just about everyone in the group. Lee got bitten when there weren't that many of us left, and I… made sure he didn't come back when it got too far along."

The table stays silent, even Lilly, who expressed some sort of distaste for this Lee person, seems to feel bad for Clem, and yet she continues with her story. "I got separated from everyone else from the group, so I had to walk through a herd of walkers in Savannah to get out of the city, until I ran into Christa and Omid, a couple from the group, and I thought they were it. They looked after me as long as they could, until the two of them died, too. I ran into another group soon after, and found Ian and Carley as a part of it, and Kenny soon after, too, he was another part of the group that I thought died, but didn't."

"Kenny…" Lilly snarls quietly, shaking her head as she shifts her attention to Chloe, now back in her arms. I wish I had a better understanding of what's going on here. Clem's told me her backstory to an extent, but there's a lot of people I don't know, and frankly the only ones I really know of are Ian, Carley, and Lee. That's it.

Clem glances at Lilly with a slight scowl before continuing once again. "This group fell apart, too. Everyone except Ian died, including Carley, and Ian and I were separated at one point due to… circumstances… and I was on my own with an infant of my own to care for."

Blake looks at her, confused. "An infant of your own? You mean you had a baby?"

"Not exactly." She smiles, referring to AJ. "This couple, Alvin and Rebecca, had a baby, but they two of them died around the time he was born, so I took care of him. His name's AJ, and he's the most important thing in the world to me. He's like a son and a little brother to me."

Now understanding of what she meant, he nods and asks her a follow up. "So, how do you come across these guys?"

"I was on a supply run with AJ one morning," She explains. "I lost control of the car I was driving, and I totalled it, attracting a lot of walkers. I was fortunate enough that Brett and a few others from the school brought me back to their school and let me stay and get better. AJ and I decided to stay there for a few weeks and live with them, before inviting them back to Richmond. That was a few weeks ago, and we're all happy at Richmond since."

"Richmond sounds like a nice place." Blake states, "I hope you guys are able to help us. You seem strong and if we can get your support, we might just be able to win this war with the Whisperers."

"How'd this war start?" I ask him. "How does a community with hundreds of people get involved in a war with a group of walker people?"

Blake softly chuckles, leaning back in his chair. "Your first mistake is assuming that the Whisperers are just 'some walker people'. They are much more than that. They're a whole community of fierce people who will defend what's theirs with their lives. They're smart, crafty sons of bitches, and they're killers, too. Far from just a group of crazy walker people."

"Right… so how did this begin?"

"We came across them on a hunting trip about two and a half years ago, several of them in their whole walker skin getup. We killed them, thinking they were walkers, and maybe some of them were, but there were some Whisperers in there, that was for certain. The next morning, half a dozen of my people were presented on pikes in front of the Delta, their throats slit and their corpses freshly reanimated. Among them was…" he inhales sharply, breathing a heavy sigh as the look of despair furthens. "My brother. They killed them, left their bodies at our doorstep, and things only got worse ever since. Alpha confronted us shortly after, and set some boundaries to avoid any further incidents, but I couldn't let that go unanswered."

I glance over at Maya, a single tear rolls down her cheek as she looks on at Blake, who returns a sympathetic glance as he continues. "Caden Woodson was one of the strongest men I ever knew. He always joked around that he wanted to be me, being my little brother and all, but I truly looked up to him. He turned down a chance of a lifetime to play college football at the University of Miami, full ride and everything. He turned it down to enlist in the army, just like I had done a few years earlier. He turned down the chance to make millions with an NFL career to serve his country, all to be killed by the Whisperers once the world ended. He made this place possible, and he paid the ultimate price for it. I never forgot our last conversation, it was during a game of poker. It was about baseball, of all things. We hadn't seen a game of baseball in almost six or so years at that point, and yet there we were, talking about our favorite players from the last decade. The next day, he was gone, like that. He deserved better, he really did. He put his life on the line countless times for others, and didn't get anything for it. We could all learn something from people like him."

Lilly consoles her husband as he leans forward, making sure to look Louis, Clem, and I in the eyes. "My brother put his heart and soul into this place, and I don't want to lose it because of these sick fucks. We need help because the Whisperers are relentless and we can't keep up. Our numbers are dwindling, and when we lost eleven out of the twelve people we sent out on that scouting mission a few weeks ago, this situation went from bad to worse."

"Abel, Yonatan, Dorian, Sullene, Michael, Armando, Gina, Gad, Minerva, Dimitri, and Vic." Lilly lists off the names, not looking at us, even though we know she knows we killed them. "Eleven of our best soldiers, gone in a few weeks."

"I almost lost you, too." Blake notes to his wife. "Chloe's gonna need her mother. And if I lost you… no. I can't let that happen."

I run that list through my head. Who did I kill from that list? I technically killed Abel, and Minerva was bitten, but I shot her into the crowd of walkers, so I think I get the credit for that one, too. Dorian was Louis' kill, he told me all about how he accidentally killed her by shooting her in the mouth with a crossbow. Yonatan was the big guy killed by the log trap, so credit Willy with a kill there. Sullene was the woman devoured by walkers on the shore, so no one gets that. Gina must've been the blonde, one of Clem's kills, and I guess she also killed Armando and Michael, some guys on the lower deck of the boat. She also killed Gad, the helmsman, shooting him in the eye with her bow, so she got four kills out of the Delta. Dimitri was the sniper that Benji lit up with a molotov cocktail, according to Abel, so there's one for him. Vic must've been the guy whose throat I cut when I was hiding. So that means Clem killed four, I killed three, Willy, Benji, and Louis all had one each, too. And then there was the one that was killed by walkers. And that's eleven dead Delta troops. Fuck, we did that.

I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed. Of course, I'm glad to still be breathing, but fucking Hell, we hurt this community bad. And we had no idea this whole time. We were just defending ourselves, so can we really be blamed for that? I don't think so, but shit… if we're gonna be working together with them, we might've done more harm than good, here.

"We're gonna help." Dez assures him, taking a swig from his flask, which I learned earlier has whiskey in it. "The people that died to keep this place safe, their deaths won't be in vain."

Blake and Lilly's faces light up at Dez's promise, and Maya's shows some serious hope. Meanwhile, Louis and Kenzie whisper things to each other, getting one another to giggle. I catch his gaze for a quick moment and he hits me with a wink before grinning back towards Kenzie. Maya and I glance at each other and quietly giggle at Louis and Kenzie.

"Do you think Ian's just going to agree to help?" Clem asks Dez.

"He has to, Clem." Dez confidently responds. "There's good people here, and they need our help. We can't just stand around while these people fight for their lives. I can't do that." Dez confidently responds. "He knows this. And that's why he's going to agree."

"Are you sure he will?" Blake asks Dez, hopeful for confirmation, and Dez nods.

"I'll make sure of it."

"Great!" Blake grins as he hugs his wife. "We might just have a chance to win this thing, after all. Thank you all so much."

A sinking feeling in my chest comes. I'm still not completely on board with this, and neither are Louis and Clem. Nonetheless, I smile and nod back to him. Well shit, I guess this is happening.


Hours Later, Nighttime

I can't sleep. This just feels wrong. I've had a few hours to mull this over since dinner, and it keeps bringing me back to the times I'd interacted with Lilly.

She kidnapped my brother, holding him hostage as I was forced to stop shooting at her, else risking hitting Benji with a shot. She dragged my brother away into the night, and I was worried I'd lose him for good. Sure enough, I almost did.

She held James, the ex-Whisperer, and I hostage on the boat, where I saw her kill James in cold blood after pretending to surrender to AJ and Clem, quite literally backstabbing him. If it weren't for a fortunately timed explosion, she might've killed us all, and we wouldn't be here today.

Or the time she tried to take me hostage when we were going to Richmond. Clementine saved my ass by sneaking up on Lilly, and holding her at gunpoint while she held me at knifepoint. I made a promise to her that afternoon, to put a bullet in her head the next time I saw her. Well, now we're allies, I guess. Funny how life works, isn't it?

I roll out of the bed, keeping quiet to not interrupt Louis's light snoring, throwing on a jacket and my boots as I creep downstairs, and out the front door. The chilly morning air hits hard as a heavy breeze strikes my face. I walk over to the nearby riverbank, sitting down and looking up at the night sky. A sigh escapes my lips, thinking about it all as someone sits down next to me.

"Can't sleep?" Maya asks, and I shrug in response.

"Today's just been a really… really weird day." I tell her. "I don't know how much Lilly's told you, but we've got a past."

"I had my suspicions," she admits, "When she said you and your friends blew up the Fitzgerald, it made me wonder. What happened?"

"Lilly tried to kidnap me and my friends, to bring us back here as soldiers for your war. She's killed and maimed my friends, and if we didn't fight back, we'd either be dead, or here fighting with you guys."

"So you guys killed the team that went out a few weeks ago? That was you?"

I nod, even though she can't see me. "Sure was. We didn't have a choice. As far as we knew, it was kill or be killed."

She sighs, "I should've known. When we came across you today, I saw something spark in Lilly. Something I'd never seen before. When she was roughing you up, it should've clicked."

"I've seen Lilly do some terrible things. I've heard things she's done that are just as bad. She's not a good person, Maya."

"Like what happened to that woman, what was her name, Carley?"

"Shot her in cold blood during an argument." I respond. "She was within inches of her life, all because Carley called her out for some bullshit."

"Jesus…" She whispers, "That's what Ian was talking about."

"Exactly." I tell her. "I have a hard time trusting her or the Delta. If she was able to lie to Blake that effectively, it makes me wonder how much she's covered up."

"Do you trust me?" She asks, and I feel all the air in my lungs disappear, like I got sucker punched in the gut.

"I don't know yet. You haven't shot a gun at me yet or tried to kill me, so that's a good start." I remark, and I hear her giggle. "I don't know, it's just that after everything the Delta put us through, and not just Lilly, there's a lot I have to think through."

She stays silent for a moment, before asking me another question, "Did you kill any of them?"

I sharply inhale, thinking back to dinner, when I went through the list of those dead. "Yeah, I did. Abel, Minerva, and Vic, I think his name was."

She sighs once again, a bit of dread appearing in her voice. "Fuck…"

"Were you close with them?" I ask her, actually concerned about all this.

"Abel was like a father figure to me. He was one of the founding members of the Delta, and after my parents died, he… he… took Kenzie and I under his wing. He was our protector, and he did everything he could for us out of the goodness of his heart. He taught us how to shoot, how to hunt, how to defend ourselves, as much as he could."

I eye her curiously, like she was talking about a completely different Abel. In fact, I bet she is. This doesn't sound like the guy that Clem and I tortured until he begged for death, the guy that shot AJ, the guy that helped Lilly kidnap Sophie and Minerva. He sounds like a decent human being, if anything.

"How'd he die?" She asks, "I asked Lilly, but she said that he got separated from the group, so I held out some hope he was still out there."

I shake my head, even though she can't really see it. Should I tell her about torturing him? Can I tell her that? Or is that too fucked up? "I shot him in the head. He was bleeding out, asking for death, and after he gave us the information we wanted, I granted his request." I tell her, conveniently leaving out the whole bit about torture and letting him turn before I shot him. "He couldn't bear the thought of being a walker, so he begged us to put him down."

"Fuck…" She curses, "I guess I'd accepted that he was gone by now, but fuck…"

"I'm sorry." I apologize. "To me, he was just a prisoner, but it never crossed my mind that he would've meant something to other people."

"It's fine…" She murmurs, "I understand. You were doing what has to be done."

"Exactly," I assure her. "I just did what had to be done. He was an enemy, that was it."

"What about Minnie?" She asks, and I grit my teeth, thinking back to that whole ordeal. Fucking Minnie. Of course she and Maya were close.

"Minnie was dying, too. She got bit after we blew up the boat, and she had accepted that she was going to die. I don't know how, but she tracked us down with a herd of walkers, and attacked us. She nearly got my brother killed, but I shot her before she could do anymore damage, and I watched as she was torn to shreds by walkers." I explain to her. "I don't know if she was always like that or she was delirious from being bitten and all, but I don't think I'd ever been more scared of a human being in my life."

"Minnie was my best friend. She and her sister were brought to the Delta a bit more than a year ago, and I don't think she spoke to someone for a week until she met me. I didn't know her sister all that well, but Minnie and I got along pretty well at first. As she got more comfortable with the place, she and I became best friends, and things were pretty great between us. She and Kenzie loved each other, too, and they used to write songs and perform together. Then her sister died, and she hardened up, started lashing out at times. But, she was stressed, and angry. I can't say I entirely blame her."

"I only spoke to her maybe twice, but she was fucking crazy," I say to her. "Maybe the stress and anger of losing the last family you have makes you like that, but she wasn't the way the other kids described her as when they knew her before."

"You said she almost killed your brother," she notes, and I nod in response. "What happened?"

"Sliced his leg open with an axe." I tell her about that night. "We were swarmed by walkers soon after, and we had to climb up a small ridge to escape them. I was able to get up the ridge to safety. Benji… wasn't so lucky. A walker chomped into the exposed part of his foot, but I was fast enough to cut off that part of his leg. He's fortunate to be alive, but he's one tough kid."

"So he's walking around with one foot now?" She asks, and a small smile forms on my face.
"Oh, no. I forgot to mention he has the power of regeneration." I answer sarcastically, "His foot grew back in about a week. Cool stuff."

"Jackass." I'm met with a slug to the shoulder, and I can't help but snicker. I hear her mutter something before giggling herself. This turns into the both of us getting a quick laugh, before it all dies down.

"So, how does a girl like you wind up fighting for someone like Lilly? You seem totally normal and not like a murderous raider or anything." I ask her, and in the faint morning sun peaking over the horizon, a small frown forms on her face.

"Well, my family joined the Delta about three years ago. They were offering protection and safety and it only made sense to join. Instead of living on the road, we had a place to stay, with strong defenses, medicine, and other people. All that was asked of us was that we helped defend it, in case of an attack. So, I became a soldier for the Delta, and I've been defending it ever since."

"What about Kenzie?" I ask her. "Is she a soldier here, too?"

Shaking her head, she sighs once again. "No. Kenzie's too fragile for all that. She hates the thought of death. She couldn't kill an animal or a walker, much less a human being, even a Whisperer. She hates them just as much as I do, but they scare her so much, I think she couldn't bear the thought of what would happen if they retaliated, you know?"

I nod, "I'm guessing this means you've killed a lot, then?"

"Forty-seven confirmed kills." she grins. "I've been keeping track since my first one."

"You seem to like killing Whisperers." I note, "Did the Delta do that to you?"

She shakes her head again. "The Whisperers brought this upon themselves the day I saw my parents' dead bodies propped up on pikes in front of me."

"That's why you were crying a bit when Blake was talking about his brother. Because your parents were killed, too." I make the connection, and she nods, although she doesn't seem upset, rather adamant and angry, a dangerous combination.

"I vowed to myself to not stop until the person responsible is dead, and even if it kills me, I'm gonna kill Alpha."

"Then it's a good thing she didn't blow off your head with that shotgun earlier." I joke, and she frowns, before a soft chuckle escapes and it turns into a smile.

"Thanks for that, by the way. I really thought that was it for me. You don't stare down the barrel of a gun like that and live to tell the tale very often, especially when you're at war with them."

"Don't mention it." I smile back. "I didn't want to see her kill someone else, and I'm glad she didn't kill you."

Her cheeks redden a bit, smiling at the ground, "I'm glad I'm not dead, either. I like being alive and if something were to happen to me, I don't know if Kenzie'd be able to function out here."

I somberly nod to her, understanding her concerns about her sister. It makes me think about Benji, and how he'd do on his own. Before the bite, I'd have no doubt he could hold his own, but now, I'm not so sure.

The sun slowly peeks above the treeline, creating a bright shimmering effect on the river as daybreak comes. She gets up first, offering me her hand for me to get up, too. I take it, standing up as well as the day begins.

"Sun's up. We're gonna get to work soon." She tells me as she turns toward her house. "I think Lilly's gonna take us hunting later, so you, Louis, and Clem are gonna want to get ready for that."

"Sounds good." I tell her as she and I walk back inside. Time to get ready for the day.


Lilly impales a walker with her knife, dropping the corpse right in front of her as she leads the four of us deeper into the woods. Maya, Clem, and Louis, and I all join her on the hunting trip. While Lilly and Clem walk up front, talking about the past, Maya, Louis, and I stick back.

"I've got your back if anything happens. I don't think she will but if she does, you've got me." She whispers to me, and I look over at her, giving her a small nod with a just as small smile.

"I don't think she will either, but it's nice knowing you've got my back." I whisper back.

"She better not do anything." Louis mutters, and the two of us glance over at him, and he ignores us, continuing to walk ahead.

"He really does not like us, does he?" She asks, just out of hearing range for him, and I shrug back.

"I'd say Lilly is the top spot on his shit-list right now," I tell her, "I don't know what the Hell happened, but he was roughed up a bit."

She sighs, looking ahead at the others. "I really can't believe what she did. She was so kind to my family when we got to the Delta, but knowing her past now, fuck…"

"Louis'll help out. He might not be happy about it, but he does what he's told." I assure her, looking over to my friend. "He's a good guy, but you just gotta understand he doesn't trust the Delta right now."

"I understand," she confirms, "And he might not trust the Delta, but he definitely has something for my sister. And between you and me, the feeling is mutual."

I raise an eyebrow to her, "Really? Kenzie and Louis?"

She rolls her eyes, "Are you kidding? It's a match made in Heaven. The way they were looking at each other last night, I half-expected them to start making out right there."

"He is bold enough to do something like that." I grin, and she giggles back to me. "I hope it works out for them, seriously. He had a thing for Clem when she first got to the school, but she's been with the same guy for, what, three years now? So yeah, that didn't happen."

Louis hears us talking, and turns back toward us with a glare, his cheeks red, despite his darker skin. I suppose he might've heard us after all.

"What're you guys talking about?" He snaps at us, and the two of us glance at each other, cheeky smiles for both of us.

"Nothing, Louis." I look back at my friend, embarrassed beyond belief and probably pretty annoyed.

She and I look back at each other once more as he turns away from us once again in annoyance, the smiles never left our faces as she gives me a confirming nod.

"So, it was Ben that did it?" Lilly asks Clem sternly from the front of the group, and Clementine nods back, the fury in Lilly's eyes reaches a level I had never seen in her before.

"That little piece of shit…" She growls, "And they thought I was crazy for thinking it was him. The little fuck had guilty written all over him. I knew it…"

"So you also know that you shot a completely innocent woman? Carley?" Clem reminds her, and her demeanor immediately changes. Instead of her fury, her face shows dread and regret, over trying to kill Ian's wife.

"I need to apologize to Ian…" I hear her mumble as the three of us catch up to the two, stopped to continue their conversation. "It won't be enough, I'm sure, but I really tried to kill her. If it weren't for Ian, she would've died that night."

"It's gonna take a lot more than that, but telling him will be a start." Clem tells her. And Lilly nods, somewhat somberly.

"What about the others?" She asks Clem, "Lee, Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, and I guess Carley?"

Clem's face freezes, like she does when she talks about her rough past. Her soft amber eyes look down as she talks about the fates of her old friends. "Lee was bitten when he tried to save me from a kidnapper, and he still managed to save me, even though he was about to die from the infection. He told me to shoot him, so he wouldn't turn, and I did it for him." She takes a breath before continuing, "Kenny was teaching me to drive a car, years after Lee died. He looked after me and AJ and found a working car. I hit a patch of ice or something and swerved off the road, and crashed into a tree. Kenny was thrown through the windshield, and he drew a bunch of walkers near him, and they got him while I tried to get AJ…"

"Oh, Jesus, Clem…" Lilly murmurs, showing sympathy for her. Clem gives a sad smile as she describes the fates of the last three people.

"Duck got bit when the bandits attacked, and Katjaa turned the gun on herself when she was forced to put him down…" Clem says quietly. "And Carley… she was shot through the chest about two years after we ditched you."

"So after all that, it's just me, you, and Ian…" Lilly remarks, almost amazed by it all.

"How'd you make it out there?" Clem asks her, "They left you with nothing out on the side of the road."

"I was lucky, really." She states to Clem, "I went back to the Motor Inn and scavenged what I could. The bandits might've driven us out, but once the walkers caught up to them, they either ran or got killed, because the place was dead. I spent the next few days there, collecting whatever I could that was left, and got ahold of myself before I decided to head North. I spent some time on the road, usually by myself, before I came across a group, Blake's group. They were strong but kind, and they helped me when I needed it the most, even if I didn't really deserve it. I think that Blake's leadership was part of the reason I fell for him so easily."

"And then you guys started the Delta sometime after?" Clem follows up, and with a small chuckle and a nod, Lilly confirms this.

"We sure did. Neither of us had a clue about how to run a settlement, but we made it work through cooperation, strong leadership, and a dash of good luck. This place and its people are important to me, I've told you that. My top priority is having a safe community to live with Blake and raise Chloe, and that's why I've had to do the things I've done. I've hurt a lot of people, but if I didn't, my people are put at that much higher of a risk, and I can't let that happen. The Whisperers have taken a lot from us, and I can't let them take everything."

We all fall silent, not really sure how to respond to Lilly's point. The Delta seems like a good place, and not everyone here is guilty of Lilly's crimes. These people deserve to have safety, and Lilly tried to provide that for them, at the expense of others. She's cruel, but sometimes you need to be cruel if it means you're safe, especially now.

"You're right." Louis concedes, something I would have never expected. "Lilly, you've been responsible for some of my friends dying, you kidnapped some of my other friends, and you've hurt people in ways I never thought people could be hurt. Now, I'm not forgiving you for what you've done, seeing that two of my friends are now disabled in some way for the rest of their lives and others are scarred for life because of the Hell you put them through. I didn't agree with Brett's decision to spare you on the road, but I understand his thinking. You're doing what you have to in order to keep this place going. And these people deserve to be safe, so I'm gonna help defend it. Not because I think you deserve my help, but because your people deserve to be safe from those assholes."

Lilly walks up to Louis, the two meeting eye to eye as Lilly sports a small, yet grateful smile. Sticking out her hand in front of Louis, he looks her dead in the eyes before shaking it.

"I'll take it." She says to him as the five of us get back to our hunting trip. Maya taps me on the shoulder, and I look back at her as she winks back to me, and the both of us silently giggle, reading each others' minds.


"So, what happened to the rest of your group?" Lilly asks as she kneels down to tie her boots up. "Benji's missing a foot, Violet's eyes are screwed up, and I didn't see Tennessee last time."

I roll my eyes thinking about Tenn. Not what happened to him, it was tragic situation with no real right answer. AJ shooting him to save Louis was probably the better decision overall, but Lilly tormenting the poor boy when he was just trying to save us from her and her people. She tormented him until he was on the verge of tears, and would've killed him herself if AJ didn't intervene.

"Benji got bitten on the foot. I cut it off to save his life." I tell her, and her eyebrows raise, "Violet got caught in the blast, so her face got burnt up and she lost vision in one of her eyes. Tenn, he…" I freeze up, wanting to choose the details carefully, "He didn't make it. He got mauled by walkers going back to the school. He and Minnie both."

"Oh…" is all she can say, and while part of me wants to bark at her, calling her out as to how this was her fault, I once again just clench my jaw. It's not worth it. Not now.

Maya raises her bow, silencing everyone as she focuses on something. She releases it, and a smirk forms on her face moments later. Without a word, she walks deeper into the woods, following her shot. Confused, we all get up to follow her, and by the time we catch up, there she is, standing triumphantly over a buck's corpse, arrow through its eye as it lays there, dead. All she can do is grin as the rest of our jaws drop.

I look back to where we just were, about thirty or so yards away, and she managed to hit a deer right in the eye. I've done that with a rifle, but with a bow? Holy shit…

"Nice shot, Corporal." Lilly smiles to Maya. "This could be enough for a day or so."

From a distance, quiet groans come within earshot. The five of us all turn towards the source, coming from the South. Walkers. Lilly walks toward them, looking out from behind a tree, before turning back to us, eyes wide and her head slowly, mouthing "hide" to the rest of us.

We all scurry around, finding trees and bushes and other places to hide from the herd. It soon arrives, and it's a lot of them. Hundreds of walkers, all walking in the same direction. There's way too many to take on, so I'm forced to stay quiet and watch them slowly stumble past us, each of them letting out that dry, raspy groaning noise that I've grown used to, but could never seem to shake it from my dreams, one way or another.

They slowly shamble past us, a few glancing in our general direction, but none of them doing anything out of the ordinary. As the herd thins out, and all but one or two stragglers remain, Lilly finally breaks from her cover, and all she can do is curse to herself quietly as we all watch the herd get further and further away.

"This is bad, this is really fucking bad." She says to us, pacing back and forth, frustrated and anxious.

"Why? The herd missed us." Clem notes, confused.

Lilly quickly shakes her head. "That herd wasn't meant for us. We have to get back, now."

"What's happening?" Louis asks, concerned.

"That herd is going right for the Delta."

Wow, this chapter was almost 10,000 words, and a lot happened in those 10,000 words. This was, without a doubt, the longest chapter I've written, and probably the longest I will write for any story. Let me know what you think thus far, cause I'm having a lot of fun crafting this story.

Anyways, I start work this week (I'm currently writing this note on Sunday Night, so I'll already be done with a week of work by the time this chapter is up. My work schedule is manageable, but in a few weeks I'm starting summer classes, which will take up some nights, and will probably be the main reason why I won't have time to write. So, if I miss a week, I apologize in advance, but it's all but inevitable.

See y'all next week.