"You wanna talk about what happened back there?"
Javi's gentle voice broke through Louis's troubled thoughts, bringing his attention back to the former baseball player. His eyes stung from earlier, the ghost of his tears lingering on his cheeks. Javier looked at him from the corner of his eye, his brows tightly knitted.
"I'm sorry, alright?" Louis breathed, closing his eyes. Every time he did, all he could see was Miles. The image of his first human kill haunted him, and he feared he might go crazy soon.
"I'm not mad, Louis," Javi assured the man, turning left on a side-road that would lead them to Richmond. "I know why you did it. Hell, I've done worse from time to time."
"You have?" Louis asked incredulously. "I killed a man in cold blood, Javi. What the fuck's my problem?" he wondered out loud, looking down at his hands. They were shaking at that point, a fresh rush of adrenaline coursing through his body.
"Sometimes you gotta do bad shit for the sake of your loved ones," Javi argued, shrugging. "I'm not saying what you did was right, but I get that it needed to happen."
"He had helped us, though," said Louis, still arguing against himself. "He gave us the exact information we needed and more and I just shot him."
"Would you rather he went back to Myers and told him all about our little rescue plan?" Javi asked as they pulled over by the gate of Richmond. "Cause that's what was gonna happen if we'd let him go."
"I guess," Louis muttered, still looking down as they got out and made their way to the admin building.
After the incident, Javi had briefed Gabriel on the new information, reminding him they'd be back before nightfall. True to their word, the sun was barely three quarters of the way down when they arrived in the main office. Gabe sat at the desk, fiddling with his handgun. When he spotted Javi and Louis, he stood up and offered his uncle a bone-crushing hug.
"Glad you're back," he said. He shook the freckled man's hand and the three of them gathered around the map on the desk to survey the information. As promised, Gabe had outlined every piece of Intel Javi and Louis had gathered, marking key points where needed. The third pin that used to represent the Right Arm had been replaced with a rough sketch of its perimeter and the location of key buildings.
"This should be the infirmary." Javi pointed at a large rectangular structure on the west side of the compound. With a marker, he scrawled a red cross on it.
"Why's that important?" Louis asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well, if by some chance they find out Clem's pregnant, the only other place she could be is there," Javi explained. "Of course, our main objective is the holding cell," he added hastily, jabbing a finger on the target building located near the west wall.
"We can go in through this sewer system on the west side, but we have no idea where we might find a manhole cover," Gabe said, tracing the possible route the pipes could take them.
"We gotta take that chance, "Javi replied. "With some luck, we might be able to sneak in without the guards even noticing we're there."
"That is if we haven't gotten shot before we even get close to the wall," Louis piped in, crossing his arms. The two men pursed their lips, looking at him with equal looks of concern. They tried to comb the sketch in search of a solution to that problem.
When Gabe pointed out the watchtower the pair had encountered as a possible vantage point for a sniper or lookout, Louis looked down awkwardly. The other man took no notice of this as he and his uncle delved into a possible roster for their rescue party. Despite his best efforts and his years in a relationship with Clementine, Louis had never quite developed the skill of strategizing. This was noticed by Javi, who suggested he rest up in his room until they were ready to leave.
"You sure?" Louis asked, tilting his head.
"Don't worry, Gabe and I got this," he assured the man, patting him on the shoulder.
Louis nodded and thanked the two men before exiting the office and heading for his own room on the second floor. The hallways were mostly deserted due to it being almost dinner time and everyone either staying in or going to the common cafeteria.
As he walked, he thought of Clementine again. This time, however, his thoughts were more hopeful than fearful. They were finally in the home stretch, he thought. For a moment, he even forgot his questionable actions that day in favor of letting himself enjoy the feeling of elation he knew he'd feel once he laid eyes on his wife again.
His thoughts were interrupted for the second time that day when he bumped into someone. He turned to offer his apologies, freezing up when he spotted the mane of wavy black hair that belonged to Elizabeth. Tripping over his words, he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly before she helped him out.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she said to his surprise, looking down.
"It's alright," he offered, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
Lizzie chose to stay silent, tucking a strand of jet black hair behind her ear and turning on her heels. Louis watched her go in the other direction before resuming his walk towards his room. When he opened the door, he was almost knocked onto the floor by AJ's arms wrapped around his chest. Placing his hand on the boy's head, he looked up to see not only Violet but Aasim and Tenn standing by his bed.
He allowed himself to laugh as he returned AJ's hug, closing his eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"
"You didn't think we'd let you rescue Clementine all on your own, did you?" Violet inquired, punching him on the arm lightly.
Louis looked at Aasim and cocked his head. "Did Ruby give you permission to come here?" he teased with a smirk on his face.
"Shut up, dude," Aasim said, a tinge of red settling in his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he added, "Gabriel already briefed us on the situation. I think we should be able to get her nice and easy."
"I hope so," Louis said, nodding. "You're all coming, right?" he asked the group.
"Of course we are," AJ quipped joyfully, almost jumping on the balls of his feet.
Louis pursed his lips, looking down at the boy. He crossed his arms, looking at Violet for help. The blonde shrugged at him. "I don't think you should come, little dude. It's too dangerous," he said, frowning.
"What?" AJ exclaimed, glaring at his adoptive father. "Louis, Clem is trapped in there! I'm not gonna sit around in Richmond waiting for you guys to rescue her."
"But what if–," Louis began before being cut off.
"I'm going, Louis," he declared with his hands on his hips. A habit he'd picked up from Clementine, Louis knew. "I'm helping you get Clem back."
Louis sighed, shaking his head. Years on the road had forced AJ to grow up faster than any kid should have to. As he stood there, glaring daggers at him for even suggesting such an arrangement, Louis couldn't see a ten-year-old boy. He saw a young man determined to save one of the only people he'd ever loved.
"Alright," he conceded, making the smile return to AJ's face. "But no unnecessary risks, okay?"
"None," promised AJ, raising his pinky finger at Louis, who chuckled. Maybe some things you just don't grow out of, he thought with a smile. He hooked the boy's finger with his own, nodding at him.
Thirty minutes later, the group had joined Javier and Gabe at the gate and was on its way to the Right Arm. The leaders of Richmond were at the front of the car with Louis and AJ in the back seat. Violet, Aasim and Tenn had taken the other. Their headlights flashed in the rearview mirror of Javi's Mustang, letting him know they were still on their tail.
The sun was beginning to set to their left, casting long shadows of the trees on the road ahead. Louis sat on the right side, staring absently at the straggling walkers on the side of the road. Twenty minutes into the trip, he'd already counted at least thirty of them. That's almost double the amount they were this morning, he thought. Dismissing the thought, he looked over at AJ on his left.
The boy was fidgeting with his hands, looking down at the floor. Five years after they'd met, AJ was already gaining height on Louis. By now, his adoptive son nearly reached his chin, already as tall as Clem. Louis stroked his afro, smiling at the boy when he turned. He'd promised to take care of him the last time he'd seen Clem, and he intended to keep that promise.
About an hour of silence later, both cars pulled over on the side of a dirt road. They parked them facing the road in case they needed to make a quick getaway. The group helped in hiding the cars as best they could. They were already shrouded in the darkness of night by the time they finished. Brandishing their respective weapons, they all ventured into the woods.
"Keep your eyes peeled," Javi called from the front of the group as he smashed a walker's head in with his bat.
"He's pretty good with that thing," Aasim commented to Louis under his breath.
"Yeah, that's Javier Garcia," he replied with a smug grin.
"Garcia," repeated Aasim, scrunching up his face. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"He played for the Cleveland Indians before all this happened," Louis exclaimed, almost loud enough for the object of their conversation to hear them.
"That's right," Aasim said, snapping his fingers. "Isn't he also the guy who got kicked out of the major leagues for betting against his own team and playing badly on purpose?"
"Technicalities," said Louis with a shrug.
Their little chat was cut short when Javier shushed them a few paces ahead of them. They all halted their walk and kneeled, forming a small semi-circle around Javi. When Louis questioned why they'd stopped, Javi just pointed.
They followed their finger and gasped when they saw what was ahead of them. Hundreds of walkers groaned and moaned their way through the forest, barely fifty feet from them. They seemed to be wandering their way northwest, only a few stragglers breaking their ranks. Over the undead's heads, they could see the top of the compound's walls, a faint glow emanating from beyond. Louis stood up with a huff and kicked the ground.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he cursed, closing his eyes and balling his hands into fists.
"Will you keep it down?" Gabe called under his breath. "You'll bring all the muertos to us."
"We might as well do that," Louis snapped, throwing his arms in the air. "How are we supposed to get past the smelly patrol and get to my wife without getting chomped?"
Gabe stared at him, seemingly out of ideas. The rest looked at Louis with frowns on their faces. Pity, he knew. He hated when people gave him that look. There was enough despair in the world for people to add onto it with their pitiful eyes. "Don't look at me, I don't know," he snapped, kicking a small tree log that lay by a large oak tree.
"You know, I think I may have an idea," Javi said, scratching his beard. He inspected the herd with sparing eyes. When he approached one of the walkers that had wandered close enough to them, he looked back at the others.
They all gave him a confused look with varying degrees of curiosity. Louis was the one who spoke up, "What did you have in mind?"
Javi grinned at the freckled man, eyeing his immaculate clothes and shaking his head. "You're not gonna like it."