A/N: Smut incoming, if you're not comfortable with that just skip past the first bit here. Thank you again for your continued interest in this story, I can't wait for you guys to read the rest.
Claire unhooked Alice's blade holster and let it fall at their feet; the blades clunked together as they hit the wooden boards that made up the tent's homemade floor. With a smirk, she hooked her finger inside the front of Alice's jeans and pulled the woman's body into hers.
"Shouldn't we...talk first?" Alice's breath hitched as Claire's bare hands made their way under her shirt, her fingers grazed her hips as she pulled Alice's t-shirt over her head and discarded it on the ground.
"What's there to talk about?" Claire asked teasingly as she licked and sucked her way from Alice's jawline down to the edge of her collarbone while she cautiously backed her up towards the small bed. Claire pulled back and quickly removed her boots and the holster around her shoulder.
Alice let Claire gently guide her into a laying position on the bed, which creaked loudly once the redhead's weight settled on top of her. Fingers slipped between hers and her arms were lifted until they were pinned above her head. Alice succumbed to the throbbing need that built up in her lower abdomen as her hips rolled upwards demanding friction and ultimately, release.
Claire obediently acquiesced Alice's demands and ground her hips downward in the same motion; she rolled them from side to side with achingly slow movements that earned her a loud and drawn out moan from the doctor.
Alice heard Claire's throaty laugh before warm lips latched onto her neck and sharp teeth dug into her skin. Claire lifted her head halfway up and their nose grazed together just as their lips were about to make contact. Their breath mixed together and Alice was completely intoxicated with the redhead, yet she needed an answer; wanted clarification.
"What are we doing?" was asked just above a whisper, a plea, spoken against Claire's lips.
Not exactly the right choice of words, though Claire understood perfectly. "This world has made a lot of things obsolete," it took all of her willpower not to kiss Alice when her lips brushed hers with every whispered syllable, "technology, media, our pipe dreams of a white picket fence happy ending." Claire pulled back slightly and gazed down into gleaming cobalt eyes and for once she wished she could read minds. "I like you. I like you a lot Alice, and as much as that feeling scares me - we need it. Our hope is measured by our feelings for one another, if we don't let ourselves feel then we have nothing. We have no hope and we have no reason to fight. I'm not asking you to build me a house and give me a few kids."
Claire paused for a moment, lost for words by the softness of Alice's smile. "I'm asking you to give me a reason to fight." Though Claire was sure Alice had given her that reason the moment she had met her.
She wanted to say 'Yes', she also wanted to add 'I'll fight for you and with you until the end'. Instead, Alice gripped the bill of Claire's cap and chucked it somewhere, releasing the red hair from underneath it, and crashed their mouths together in a messy kiss that conveyed what she couldn't voice.
Alice rested her palm against Claire's jaw, her fingers curled behind her neck to make it clear she didn't want her going anywhere. Alice then parted her lips and slid her tongue inside Claire's welcoming mouth while her other hand wriggled itself between their bodies and went to work on the woman's jeans.
Once her fingers had successfully unbuttoned and unzipped the offending item of clothing, Alice let the tips of her fingers burn path downwards until they came into contact with the aftermath of Claire's arousal. Smirking against her lips, she slid her fingers past the folds of Claire's core and moved them in slow, rhythmic thrusts.
Claire groaned inside her mouth and Alice was happy to hear she had been finally able to get a sound out of that woman. Claire's hips bucked against her hand while Alice sucked her tongue into her mouth and rubbed her thumb along the sensitive skin of her clit.
Alice grinned when Claire groaned.
Claire pulled back from the kiss, her mouth hung open but no sound came out. She then placed one of her hands in the middle of Alice's chest, her palm pushed down onto the woman's skin to hold herself up as she moved her hips harder against Alice's fingers. She could feel it already, the pleasure rolling off her in waves that soon threatened to send her over the edge.
Alice intently watched as Claire rode her fingers and when their eyes met Alice understood that even though she was the one giving Claire pleasure, she wasn't the one in control (and she was perfectly okay with that).
When Claire pushed against her, Alice pushed that much harder. She moved her hand around Claire's hips and squeezed her ass to push her down harder against her fingers with each thrust; the bed creaked louder than then groans Claire was letting out.
Claire's back arched suddenly, a sharp exhale left her mouth as her orgasm rolled through her and left her whole body buzzing with unmeasured pleasure. She leaned on her forearm and then relaxed onto Alice's body. She shifted her head down into the pillow next to Alice's head, just above her shoulder, and a chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laugh attack. Claire didn't know exactly where it came from, but it seemed like laughter was the only thing that could convey her emotions.
Alice wasn't at all unfamiliar with this reaction; she had seen patients thrown into fits of laughter from bad diagnostics. Some people cried when they were happy, some cried when they hurt, while others simply laughed. So, she joined her, perhaps because she too usually reacted this way to strong emotions.
"Fuck, Alice," Claire breathed, but it hardly clarified anything. She laughed again and lifted her head with a grin stretched out on her lips.
"That good huh?" Alice wiggled her eyebrows.
"Guess so," Claire had shrugged off teasingly.
"Jerk," Alice chuckled before she craned her head upwards and captured Claire's lips with her own.
"This jerk," Claire spoke against her lips before she broke the kiss and trailed her lips down Alice's neck, between her breasts and all the way down her stomach until she reached the seam of her jeans, "is about to rock your world."
"Yeah, well, more rocking less talking," Alice teased with a wink as she sat up and leaned back on one elbow. She threaded her fingers through fiery red hair and gazed into dark eyes - the candle light made it impossible to distinguish their color. Alice sounded more confident than she felt because the lustful gaze glare sent her way was enough to make her forget her own name.
Claire hadn't replied, she simply rose an eyebrow at her; silently agreeing to the challenge sent her way. She pulled down Alice's jeans and panties together while the doctor helped her making this task quicker by raising her hips from the bed.
When the clothing and her boots were off and thrown with the rest, Claire grabbed both of Alice's slender legs a moved them either side of her shoulders. When she wrapped her lips around pink flesh she found that Alice was not so shy about voicing her pleasure.
"Fuck, Claire."
So the Doc's a vocal type, huh? Claire thought as she explored her warm center with her tongue; she licked her way up and down wet lips, sucked Alice's clit into her mouth and teased her entrance relentlessly. Fingers tangled themselves in her hair, making a damn mess, but she paid no attention to the knots Alice pulled on.
Claire slid her hands from the top of Alice's thighs to her backside, her fingers dug into the soft flesh as she pulled Alice flush against her mouth. Her nose was pressed into Alice's clit and she could barely breathe, but the constant moans coming from the blonde more than made up for it.
Claire was relentless in her assault, and when she felt Alice was close she stopped for a few seconds and then adopted a treacherously slow rhythm to gradually build up her pleasure again.
Alice was a squirming mess when she reached her climax, her fingers dug into Claire's scalp as she twisted her hips sideways and trapped her head between her thighs. Her entire body tensed as the pleasure caused her muscle to involuntarily clench.
The orgasm left her limbs feeling like useless jello - her brain too, it seemed. When she felt her legs being moved, she remembered Claire's head was still between them and for a second she thought she had hurt her. When she looked down, however, she watched as Claire swung her head backward to move her hair out of her face and noticed the smugness that radiated off of her smile.
Alice let herself fall back against the bed as Claire slowly crawled on top of her, the tips of her hair tickled her stomach and chest and a few seconds later, Claire's face hovered just above hers.
"So?"
"World rocked," she stopped Claire from kissing her, and wiped away...herself off the redhead's mouth and chin before she let their lips touch. It wasn't something Alice did out of disgust, she just never liked leaving a mess anywhere - not even Claire's face.
Claire laughed into her mouth and mumbled: "clean freak." After they let their tongues get to know each other better for what seemed like an eternity, Claire moved away from Alice and sat up. She stripped the remainder of her clothes as she felt extremely uncomfortable in them (not to mention her underwear were a mess).
Alice watched the redhead undress silently and thought that perhaps she had worn out her welcome. It's not like they had talked about sleeping arrangements and she wouldn't be comfortable staying here if Claire didn't want her to.
"I should go," Alice made a move to stand up, as she sat on the edge of the bed, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up to meet Claire's soft eyes that held a look of understanding. How does she do that? Looks right through me like my thoughts are scribbled on my forehead?
"You can stay," Claire nodded as she picked up her dirty clothes, rolled them into a ball and threw them in the designated laundry basket like she was shooting a three-point ball from half-court.
Alice frowned, and shook her head, "I wouldn't want them to think-"
"To think what? That having a lover somehow makes me less of a leader?"
Alice wasn't concerned about whether they would approve or not, because truthfully she didn't care, but she didn't want to risk hurting Claire's leadership. These people practically worshiped her, and this camp's strength was their unity - she wouldn't and couldn't destroy that. "People talk, Claire, and it's not all sunshine and rainbows."
Claire crouched down in front of Alice and took her hand in hers, "I talked to them tonight - they won't be a problem." She couldn't say she didn't share Alice's concern, though Claire was certain she could handle the survivor's scrutiny, she hoped Alice could as well.
Although it reassured Alice, she wasn't naive enough to believe that they wouldn't face some opposition. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Though she trusted Claire, so Alice relented and made herself comfortable under the covers. She didn't know how much more comfortable they could really get on this twin bed, however.
"Scoot," Claire blew out the candles, casting the tent in complete darkness before she joined Alice covers and settled back against her body. Alice's breath caressed her shoulder just before soft lips kissed the same spot. Claire couldn't remember the last time she had felt at peace, like all of the responsibilities that weighed her down now felt blissfully light as if they weren't even there.
"Good night," Alice mumbled against the redhead's skin and chuckled lightly when she received a grunt in response. Alice wrapped one arm around Claire's stomach and their fingers automatically intertwined while she sneaked her other arm under their pillow, her hand hung nonchalantly from the edge of the bed. It was highly uncomfortable, the bed was way too small and the shoulder she was on was already hurting, yet having Claire in her arms made the pain worth it.
That night, sleep swiftly claimed them.
Claire was having breakfast with K-mart, Jill, and Kratos was standing next to K-mart as he patiently waited for her to drop something so he could happily make it disappear inside his stomach.
Claire moved her tent to glance at her tent for the hundredth time, nervously wondering when Alice would come out. She figured the doctor was either sleeping or was completely re-organizing the configuration of her tent, which really wouldn't surprise her at all. Though, she wished she'd just get up so they could get this over with. Most of Arcadia was having breakfast right now and her tent was conveniently placed in their line of sight.
Claire turned back to her food and placed a slice of tomato on her bread before she bit into it. When she looked up all eyes were on her and she knew then that when she'd turn around, and look at her tent, that she'd see that a certain blonde had finally come out of her hibernation.
Reluctantly, Claire did exactly that and saw that her suspicions were indeed correct. She watched Alice wave at her as she made her way towards their table, a relaxed smile lighting up her face.
Claire reciprocated the silent greeting and when let her arm fall back down onto the table she unknowingly hit her plate and her food toppled, quite dramatically, into her lap. "Fucking fuck!"
When Alice made it to the table, she rose an eyebrow at Claire's reddened face and angry eyes. "You alright?"
"I'm fine," she grunted in response as she stood up and attempted to wipe the mess off her herself.
Jill's gaze rapidly jumped between both women and instantly sensed that something had changed between them. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Alice had slept in Claire's tent, and it seemed everyone around them had come to the same conclusion.
"You know, fucking usually dissolves sexual tension between two peopleā¦" she looked them over silently and scoffed before she continued: "but with you two it made it worse." Jill stood up and threw her empty plate in one of the garbages near their table, "un-fucking-believable," she cursed and left.
Alice watched the ex-officer leave with puzzled eyes, "What's with her?"
Claire sighed, the conversation she had with her friend this morning hadn't ended very well. "She's angry at Chris for leaving - she's angry at me for letting him leave."
"And how are you doing?" Alice asked as she moved closer to Claire and subtly rubbed her fingers along the woman's wrist.
Although thankful for the comforting gesture, Claire cursed the effect the doctor had on her when a shiver ran through her body at the simple contact. "I'm okay. She'll get over it," Claire said as she watched Jill walk into someone, furiously yelled at them and disappeared behind the command station's wooden door. "Soon," she added with slight worry.
Alice nodded as Kratos greeted her by licking the tips of her fingers. She knelt down and kissed the top of his head as he jumped onto her chest, keeping his balance on his hind legs while he licked her face. "Alright, alright, I'm all loved out for today," Alice pushed him away gently and he obediently took a seat in front of her.
K-mart chuckled and rose a teasing eyebrow at Claire, "all loved out, huh?"
"Don't you start," Claire warned the teen, who giggled at the guilt clearly imprinted on the redhead's face - much like her rising blush.
Alice stood up and decided she'd let Claire deal with the teen's inquisition because she wasn't going to pretend she knew what to do or say in this situation, "John's waiting for me."
"Wait, you're not eating?" K-mart asked with a small frown.
"I'll grab something later," Alice shrugged off her concern and saluted them both goodbye before she left towards the clinic, Kratos happily followed behind her.
Claire's eyes happily pursued Alice's form until a voice broke her out of her R-rated thoughts.
"Claire?" K-mart spoke her name with a teasing tone.
"Yeah K?" Claire said, distracted, but nonetheless reluctantly ripped her eyes away from Alice's backside to glance at the teenager, who for some reason really wanted to make her life a living hell today.
"You've got tomatoes all over your crotch," the teen giggled as she bit into her sandwich.
"Fuck's sake!" Of course this would happen the only day she decided to wear pale BDU's. Claire found solace in the fact that most of Arcadia's population had seen her dispose of the undead with pin-point accuracy or they'd probably think she was a clumsy fool. Nope, they probably thought she was a distracted fool.
Great, Claire sighed and felt melancholic about the wasted breakfast when her stomach growled loudly at her. She then looked up at a still giggling K-mart, "You're grounded."
K-mart opened her mouth in shock and stood up sharply, "am not!" She retaliated and held her chin up defiantly.
Claire rolled her eyes and sighed, who was she kidding? She didn't have the heart to really make good on that threat. "Ugh, fine, but you're helping me fix the Lorry's differential today."
K-mart wanted to say something else, but she let it go. "Fine!"
Claire would have loved for K-mart to have really taken up a real interest in mechanic work like she did, though the teen was really good when she did decide to take part in Claire's daily tinkering (she did learn from the best after all). She knew it wasn't something the teen truly enjoyed, still Claire had hope for her yet.
"Sorry I'm late, I was-" Alice stopped in her tracks when she noticed a dark-colored woman was already looking over John's amputated hand. "With Claire," she finished lamely.
"Hey, Doc! Glad to see you're back," John greeted cheerfully.
"Thanks, John," she frowned her and her mouth moved, but no sound came out. "Who?"
"Hayley didn't tell you?"
Seriously? I was gone for two days. "No, no she didn't," Alice said a little sternly.
"I'm Betty, it's nice to meet you Doctor Abernathy."
She watched as the woman walked towards her and offered her a gloved hand, but the doctor was far too busy assessing her to take it. She was slightly shorter than herself, her face was soft but her eyes were sharp - she was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but what was she doing here?
"Alice is fine," she cut her off with a tight-lipped smile.
Betty nodded, nervousness really didn't look good on her. Damn girl, get your act together . She just really wanted to make a good impression on the woman everyone spoke so highly of. "I got here yesterday, and I was a nurse, before this whole damn mess," she explained, a little more confident now that Alice's gaze softened considerably. "Haley thought you wouldn't mind the help."
"Yeah," Alice whispered and suddenly shook herself out of her thoughts as she took Betty's hand in hers firmly. "Sorry about that, I'm just used to doing everything on my own."
"No worries, I'm here to help and if you don't need me then-"
"No, no," Alice cut her off again, but this time her smile was genuine. "You got yourself a job, Betty."
The nurse grinned, "I knew you'd come around."
Alice chuckled and moved towards the stretcher John had taken a seat on. She smiled as her eyes met his, "so, how's our patient doing this morning?"
Betty joined them and patted his leg, then nodded her head at the blonde doctor.
"Doin' good." He sighed and continued when Alice gave her a look that meant 'please elaborate', "it doesn't hurt anymore. I've been practising reloading my handgun and shotgun with one hand. I think I'm ready to go back out there, Doc."
"Is that something you want to do?"
"Well, yeah," Alice had saved his life, it wasn't going to be for nothing. He would get back to his duties and keep Arcadia well-fed if it's the last thing he did.
"Have you come into contact with one of them since the accident?" Alice knew the answer already, and she could clearly see the determination in his eyes but she wasn't sure he was ready to confront his demons just yet.
John shook his head negatively.
"Perhaps we should start there then, don't you think?"
"Whatever you say Doc, I'll do it."
"This isn't my decision - it's yours. I'll help you get close to where you want to be, but only you can make that step forward. You need to be sure."
"I'm sure, I just feel like...there's something missing, you know?" He peered down at his bandaged limb and wished her could flex his fingers, and sometimes it feels like they're still there. He was a soldier, that meant getting things done. Not sitting around looking at the sun rise and fall, feeling numb and useless.
"Losing a limb is a like losing a loved one, you go through the same emotional process and I'm- we're both here," Alice corrected as she nodded at Betty, who had been watching her intently, "to help you get through this. Listen to yourself, if you think you need more time then take it."
"How do you know, when you're not sure?"
Ah-ah, the million dollar question we've all asked ourselves at least one hundred times in our lifetime. "We'll test the waters. If you're comfortable with the idea, you'll face a flesh-eater in a controlled environment," she proposed.
"Will you both be there?" The former soldier asked, hopeful and unable to meet the soft gaze he knew would be in her cobalt eyes.
"If that's what you want."
"Alright then," he nodded, determined, "I'm down."
"I'll talk to Claire about it and we'll make it happen."
Claire... Betty recognized the spoken name, Hayley had talked to her about their leader. It seemed that everyone had only good things to say about her, but she wanted to see her for herself.
"Thanks, Doc," he smiled at them both, "I owe you a lot."
"I accept credit cards or souls," Alice joked and caused both Betty and John to burst out in laughter. She performed a quick check of his limb while she explained to Betty what to look for in amputations; signs of infection, what to do in case of bad scarring and residual pain.
Once John was given a clean bill of health and left, Betty and Alice made an inventory of what supplies they had left and what they would run out of soon. Now what Alice thought about it, it was really nice having someone else around with her; someone like-minded.
Sure Kratos was great company but he couldn't exactly participate in theorizing, for example, how human cloning could become a reality - not that she would ever get behind such a practice, but it was an interesting subject to discuss nonetheless.
Around noon, Claire walked in the clinic with two sandwiches, a water bottle and a can of cherry coke (Alice's favorite sinful indulgence). She stopped in her tracks when she noticed another woman there, one which she had never seen before. She figured this was the newcomer Hayley had told her about, but she didn't think she'd find her here, with Alice no less.
"I would have brought another one if I knew we would have been more," Claire excused as she gave a smiling Alice her sandwich and Coke. She turned towards the woman and held out her hand towards her politely, "I'm Claire, I don't think we've met."
"Nah, it's all good," Betty insisted as she shook the woman's hand firmly. "I'm Betty, the doctor's new nurse," she said with a wink as she lightly bumped Alice's hips with hers.
Alice's bugged out as she smiled into her sandwich, mid-bite. She was almost scared to look at Claire's reaction, but when she did look up at her, Alice thought it was completely adorable the way redhead tried to reel in her snarl and glare. Jealous Claire was a new one, Alice smirked.
"She gives great needle, so I've heard," Alice shrugged innocently as took another bite of her sandwich, mostly to keep herself from laughing when Claire's narrowed eyes pointed towards her. She almost felt like she had to drop her food and hold her hands up in the air in surrender.
"Did...I miss somethin'?" Betty looked between both of them and her eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Oh - oh, damn," she chuckled, slightly embarrassed, "I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Relax, Claire, it's not like she could have known, she coaxed herself and used all of her willpower to remain polite.
"You sure? 'Cause you're doing that thing with your nose that people who are angry usually do..." she turned to Alice and attempted to replicate the facial expression, "that crinkle thing, y'know?"
That's it, Alice couldn't hold it in any longer, she burst out laughing while attempting not to choke on the semi-chewed food she still had in her mouth.
Only when Claire made a move to leave that she really began to panick. Alice placed her Coke down on the stretcher and moved forward to grab Claire's wrist, "Hey, we're just joking."
"I'll just...go," Betty nervously mumbled as she left the clinic and realized that was probably the worst first impression in history and with Arcadia's leader no less. Congradufuckinglations.
"Claire," Alice pleaded, "what's wrong?"
She turned around to face Alice, and folded her arms over her chest. "I hate that everyone is treating us different because they know about us, because we-"
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she didn't want to be the one to say it, but Alice hated seeing Claire so uncharacteristically agitated.
"No!" Claire shouted fiercely - there was that confidence and determination Alice grew to love about her, "I'm not letting anything or anyone indirectly bully us out of...our thing," she finished with a slight stutter.
"So, we're 'a thing' now?"
Claire shrugged as she pulled the bill of her cap downwards, effectively shielding her eyes the blush on her cheeks. "What else do you want to call it?"
"'A thing' seems fine to me," Alice smiled softly. Was there really a need to label their relationship? It's not like it would eventually lead to marriage, and like Claire had said last night, the world was different - they were different.
Claire smiled despite wanting to pout as she let Alice pull her into her arms. She burrowed her nose in the crook of Alice's neck and mumbled an apology: "I'm sorry I freaked out."
Alice kissed the side of her head and moved her rested her hand in the middle of Claire's back, hugging the woman with one arm as her other hand still held the half eaten sandwich. "Jealous Claire is kinda cute," she teased.
"I don't get jealous," and because Claire knew Alice so well, she knew she'd have a witty come back and she really didn't want to hear it so she grabbed the Alice's face and brought their mouths together. It was a really effective way of shutting her up, Claire noticed, as she felt Alice's hand travel down to her ass.
The sandwich Alice had been holding had been discarded on the floor at their feet and truthfully the only consequence their relationship had was all this wasted food; first Claire's breakfast, now this. When would the horrors stop?
Hayley looked through the sight of her high-powered rifle and counted the flesh-eaters that were chasing this woman - she looked young, probably close to 18 but not much other than that.
"Three, four, five," Hayley whispered under her breath before she took her radio and replied to Jill: "Six, there are six flesh-eaters after her."
"Alright, listen up, we're going to open the gate and take them out on the ground. Weapons down," Jill commanded and clipped her radio back onto her belt. She then slid her knife out of its sheath as she stood one one side of the large door.
"Roger that ma'am," Hayley kept her scope on the girl.
"Ready?" Jill asked Claire, who also stood at the ready across from her, machete in hand.
Claire nodded as she gripped her weapon; she preferred using her handgun but they didn't want to attract more of them, and with the gate open this was their safest option. Jill made a good call, but it didn't surprise Claire - she chose her as her second in command for a good reason.
When the door opened, they waited for the girl to pass through before they started hacking away. "Go, go, go, get in!" Jill yelled at the girl as she plunged her combat knife deep into the undead Claire had pushed towards her.
This tactic was one the two friends would often use, as it was fairly effective in disposing of a small group of undead. Claire would grab one, kick it towards Jill and ultimately, into her knife. Jill would then do the same and they would take turns until all the undead were taken care of.
Their conversation about Chris this morning hadn't been pleasant, but they quickly moved past it. They're both dealing with their own emotions about him leaving and they decided it was better to deal with them separately.
"Clean-up on aisle 3," Jill joked as the last undead fell on the ground in a lifeless heap. She let out a sharp breath, her lungs and arms burned from the physical exertion. "Fuck me," She leaned forward and rested her palms onto her thighs and found it difficult to get her breath back.
"Nice," Claire approached Jill to give her a high five and noticed she was considerably less out of breath than her partner. "You okay there, skipper?"
Jill responded by giving her friend the middle finger with her trademark smirk - though she knew she probably shouldn't have been so negligent with her physical conditioning for the past few months.
Claire turned her attention to the wide-eyed stranger that had just entered their settlement, and nodded her head at Jill.
She got the message loud and clear, "Go, talk to her." Jill motioned to the mess with her hand, "I'll get people to help me clean this shit up." She could feel blood drip down her face and onto her neck as it coated her usual pale skin, her clothes had also been painted crimson from their fight. Messy business we're in, she thought with a satisfied smirk.
Claire approached the girl cautiously and thought tgat she couldn't appear too friendly with blood dripping from her, but hey, these days it was practically commonplace. "Hey, hey, look at me," she gently shook the frightened girl's shoulders and when their eyes met, she recognized her instantly. "You're from the hotel."
The girl nodded, but still couldn't find her voice.
"What's going on?" Did she run all the way here?
"There's something you need to know," the accent that came out of her mouth wasn't something Claire had expected, but it sounded like a lot like Hayley's - sort of.
"You should sit first, come with me." Claire lead her to the mess hall and asked a survivor to bring the girl water on their way there. She watched the brunette sit down and play with her short trimmed hair nervously; she didn't meet her eyes and Claire knew she was taking a big risk being here.
"Mary made a deal with the White Horseman to keep the Hotel. When he needs people, we find survivors who aren't in big groups you know? Like two or three, and we would bring them to him. But sometimes he doesn't want them, and so he takes one of us."
I fucking knew that woman was trash, "Jesus, kid." Perhaps the White Horseman was their biggest threat right now, but Claire needed to take care of Mary first. "You'll be safe here, but I'm going to take you to see our doctor first."
The girl simply nodded.
Alice joined Claire on the clinic's couch, they both overlooked Betty who was taking the new girl's information for their records. "She's dehydrated but she should be fine after a carb loaded meal, plenty of water and rest."
"Thanks," Claire nodded and shifted towards Alice. "It turns out our friend Mary is trapping people for the White Horseman."
Alice shook her head, it truly disgusted her how some people had no disregard for other's lives. "You were right about her," she said, and suddenly she really felt like cutting something up.
"I'm taking a strike team to the hotel, we need to get these people out of there."
"Agreed." Alice rose an eyebrow, was that an invitation?
Claire grinned at the look displayed in Alice's eyes, a look she knew all too well. "Coming with?" She already knew the answer.
Alice turned to Betty, who seemed to have everything under control here, their new friend would be in good hands. "I'm with you," Alice smiled as they both stood up. She motioned for Betty to come see her and the woman joined them moments later she asked: "Is it alright if I let you deal with this for a bit?"
Betty nodded confidently, smirk in place. "Sure thing Doc! Go out and do your thing, I got this."
"Great, I'll see you later Betty."
Betty saluted them and they reciprocated the gesture as they exited the clinic. Alice and Claire smirked in unison, their thoughts relatively similar as they stepped down the wooden stairs and marched towards the loaded Lorry.
The bitch had it coming.
