Episode 3: Means To An End- Darkness Within
A/N- Thank you all for all the reviews so far! :) Love the support, and we got another decision to vote on at the end of this chapter so get ready! This is the penultimate chapter of Episode 3. Read and Enjoy! And have a good holiday!
*BANG!*
The bullet entered the back of the nurse's head and exited out of her eyeball... Blood and brain matter splattered Dusty's face, and instead of a relived Maree reuniting with him, a dead corpse met his grasp, shock and fury etched all over his face when he caught her body. It was over...
His scream echoed throughout the chapel. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Clem dived in between two nearby pews as bullets began to go off everywhere! An endless hail of gunfire erupted, and St. Francis Church was no longer a sanctuary. The twelve year old quickly looked back up and saw that her group had also taken refuge and cover in the surrounding pews.
With exclamations, gunfire, and the screams of others in agony, Clementine ears were blasted with sound. She had to get her bearings as she rolled off the floor and get up in a sitting position between the two pews she was in. Thankfully she noticed that all of her friends and allies have gotten out of the central aisle and began shooting Katherine's men who were all around them.
When Clementine peeked up to spot if they were still at the podium area, she gasped when she saw Katherine retreating on her own, and the back of an enraged Dusty surprisingly shoved past Angus and giving chase to the woman towards the back staircase. The large Scot would've followed or shot the distraught young man, but he was forced to cover behind the podium by Wayne who was firing at him.
"Clem! Get your head down!" The little girl looked around for a moment to whom said that when suddenly a hand grasped her ankle only for it be Michael crawling under the pew to meet up with her. "What're you doing!?" He reached up, grabbed her sleeve, and forced her down to his level. "It's a fucking war up there!"
"Dusty ran after Katherine!" Clem informed the disgruntled fourteen year old who was having trouble again with reloading his pistol. "She might lead him to AJ. We have to follow them."
"Yeah? Well in case you haven't noticed yet Clem, we have to worry about these guys first!" Michael stated the obvious as he shot up and fired his gun, clipping one of the guards in the shoulder and he fell to the floor. "Is everyone else alive?"
Clementine cautiously examined their surroundings; Brooke and Helga were firing their guns at the remnants of Church group, saving for Angus who was taking potshots at them from the front. But it was then that Clementine noticed that Wayne was smartly crawling under all the pews and slowly getting closer to Angus. Maybe he had the right idea... "We need to help Wayne." She whispered to Michael as she adjusted herself and began crawling towards the front, mirroring Wayne's maneuver.
"This is your idea?!" Michael questioned but nevertheless followed her as the three of them got closer and closer to the podium on both sides now.
When the two kids reached the end though and had no cover between the front pews and the podium, the shooting suddenly stopped and Brooke gave an announcement. "Angus! You're all that's left here, put your gun down and come out with your hands up!"
"Up yer arse with it! What's ta stop you and you're new friends from shootin' me anyway?!" The Scot shouted back, realizing he was pinned and alone in a chapel full of hostiles. "Why couldn't ya just go along with it lass?!"
"I didn't want us to become this Angus!" Brooke argued with a firm stance. "Katherine was taking us all down a dark path!"
"Every path is a dark path!" Angus then realized that he was out of ammo in his shotgun, so he stepped out of cover and addressed all of them. "In this world, the light comes from the people who stand beside ya! I'll hear none of that shite 'bout excuses of morality when we all know for a fact that you should never abandon your people!"
"Get your hands up!" Wayne ordered as he tentatively stepped closer to Angus from his side. "Come on man, do I really need to waste the bullets on you too?"
"...And that's why, I'll never abandon mine." Angus muttered to himself as he quickly lunged at the nearby Wayne, knocking the gun out of his hands and punching him across the face.
"Someone help him!" Helga exclaimed as Brooke raised her rifle to shoot, but the blonde teen stopped her by pushing the barrel away. "No! You might shoot my brother!" She then ran towards the central aisle to maybe get a clear shot on Angus.
"I got it!" Michael stated as he and Clementine sprinted forward at the two men fighting.
Wayne had got a good punch to the Scot's face and another fist to his stomach, but it like he was made of stone, the blows didn't faze him. It was then however that the large Scot roared a might roar when he actually picked Wayne up by his jacket and tossed him down to the ground with a loud thud!
"Shoot him! Somebody just shoot him!" Wayne cried as Angus was in a clear line of sight for their guns.
Michael fired his gun at the Scot only to have him dive to the floor, and he grabbed Wayne's gun that he knocked to the ground just earlier. He picked it up and pulled the trigger in response, forcing Michael to hide behind the same podium for cover. Then Angus aimed his gun at the still exposed Wayne at his mercy.
"HEY!"
*BANG!* *BANG!*
At the ready, Clementine and Helga had stood side by side and fired both of their pistols at Angus; the bullets went through his arm and chest incapacitating him and forcing him to drop the gun, clutching his wounds. "ARGH! GAhhh! Fuck!"
The large man fell flat on his back as Wayne quickly recovered and touched his bruised face with dismay. He picked up his gun and the rest of them all began to converge on Angus who was writhing on the floor, his arm and chest bleeding out a pool of red. He then weakly attempted to pull his sledgehammer out his holster, but Helga advanced on him and took it out of his hands. "Aye... this is how it'll be?"
Clementine spoke up to him. "Why didn't you just surrender, we would've let you go, right?" She looked around at Wayne, Brooke, and Helga. Michael remained stoic at that those words.
"I don't believe ya little lassie... not with your company here." Angus coughed and wiped his bloodied hand on his face. "Still, I'd kill me too in your position... Go ahead. One of you, get it over with; let me see mum and my pretty bonny again. Do it."
Wayne silently held his hand out to Helga, to which she complied and handed him the heavy sledgehammer. "Happily." Wayne grunted as he put some momentum behind it and swung downward with the metal mallet. Very similar to Sven's execution, his own weapon caved in the large man's skull with a deafening mush of flesh and bone. But this time, Clem looked away on impact.
Angus was dead, and now the five of them had to catch up to Dusty and find the others. Wayne tossed the bulky sledgehammer away next to Angus's lifeless body and scratched his hair and adjusted his hat. "Bit heavy for my taste. Right let's all-!"
*BANG!*
Barely anyone had time to process what was happening around them, and then this occurred. Helga looked on in horror as a growing stain of scarlet blood encompassed Wayne's stomach as he clutched it with both hands. His breathe hitched when he was shot from the back. "Son of a bitch..."
They all turned, and there back by the staircase was Nate, smirking with a smoking gun. "Come on... and we was just getting started!"
"NO!" Helga sobbed as a wounded Wayne fell to his knees and then landed face down on his belly. "YOU FUCKER! Wayne! Wayne! You can't be-!" Helga suddenly fired her pistol right at Nate to which she missed and he retreated to the stairs, going down them as opposed to Katherine and Dusty who went up the stairs.
More than likely seeing nothing but red, Helga made a beeline for the stairs after the culprit. Brooke though was taking off her backpack and got beside the bleeding man. "Keep pressure on it." She instructed him. "There's an exit wound so the bullet should be out. I need some help here! Clementine, Michael!"
Helga was already gone though, she had chased after Nate for retribution for her brother. Clementine though had her gaze rested on Maree's body in the middle of the aisle, she didn't want any more of her friends to die, and they were already too many in danger right in that moment for her to just sit here and do nothing.
[Go After Dusty]
[Go After Helga]
[Stay to Help Brooke]
As much as she wanted to heed Brooke's call for some medical assistance on Wayne's bullet wound, she needed to move forward and take care of other business. Even though AJ was more than likely in Katherine's possession, Dusty was strong young man and might be able to take care of her and retrieve the baby himself. And Clementine realized that despite the circumstances, Helga was in the most immediate danger. Nate seemed to instigate the whole act of violence against them in the first place, and he wanted to lead Helga to blindly go after him.
"I'm going after Helga!" Clementine declared as she made her way to the back staircase as well even in the midst of Michael's protests.
(?) They will remember that.
"Clementine! Wait!"
The fourteen year old was about to follow when Brooke stopped him. "Kid, I need help with him! Your friend might die here! I can't keep pressure and bandage it at the same time!"
Reluctantly, Michael headed back to the injured Wayne, determined to return to Clem as the little girl in question went down the stairs in search of Helga and the shooter of her older brother.
It was much darker down in the church basement, candles lined the walls, and it looked like she was about to enter a maze of human-made subterranean passageways for this religious practice. A significant amount of bodies who were mere skeletons lined the walls of this hallway, so Clementine found herself in a chamber used as a burial place: a catacomb. ...She had to find Helga down here and quick.
"Helga?" The little girl whispered as she held her gun at the ready. "Where are you?"
This was dangerous, very dangerous. Clementine had to be on her toes as she hugged the walls. She traversed the dark hallway cautiously, and she rounded a corner into the what looked like the center of the catacombs. The little girl thought she felt the presence of someone behind her when in actuality she returned her gaze and witnessed Helga in the center room where these four hallways met. She was cursing and fumbling with what looked like a small orange generator on the floor, and it seemed like the machine was connected to some yellow work lights on the two far corners of the room. "Fuckin shit! Can't see..."
Clementine was about to reveal her presence when suddenly Helga turned the generator on and the lights spewed forth a brilliant shine and illuminated the area. However, the twelve year old gasped when Nate was just waiting in the darkness behind an unknowing blonde teen. "Oh yeah... you look like at least a nine."
Helga spun around at the sound of his voice, and she immediately raised her pistol to defend herself. But Nate grabbed both of her wrists and the man easily overpowered the girl. "Let go, you fuckin' creep!"
"Ain't gonna happen kid." Nate chuckled with a dark tone. "You know what I want!"
Nate was hungry, and he used his superior power and weight to quickly overwhelm the blonde teen. Helga's eyes widened when she realized what this man's intentions were, and she internally cursed herself for letting herself get into this terrible situation. Clementine continued to watch in shock as Nate began to rip Helga's clothes and throw her to the ground. "NO NO! NO! GET OFF! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!"
"You're no stranger to this, huh?" Nate smirked maliciously. "Don't worry then, it'll be over soon!"
"GET OFF!" Helga sobbed as she vainly struggled against her attacker, pinned to the ground and her past traumas resurfacing. "GOD HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Her face echoed throughout the corridors, and the blonde teen's gun was well out of her reach. Nate was going to show her no mercy down here, but not if Clementine had anything to do with it.
(o) Shoot Nate.
Clementine fired from the shadows and the sound of the bullet rang through the catacombs they were in. She must off clipped his arm because Nate reeled back and off of Helga, clutching his injury, and he immediately pulled out his own pistol and fired three shots back at the little girl. "Ah. Fuck! Son of a bitch..." Clem was forced to hide behind the wall for cover, but her presence was definitely known by the this man. "Haha! What do we got here huh? HUH?! You want to play games with me?"
Clem decided to remain silent and not even justify him with a response. Brooke explained that this was the man, Nate, who had changed everything with their group. Along with Katherine, these two were the most violent, and Clementine had perfect examples with the death of Maree, Wayne being shot in the back, and Helga just being assaulted. This had to come to an end, but how was a twelve year old going to take down a full grown man herself?
(?) Nate noted your silence.
"You're scared, huh? Well, you should be!" Clem peeked around and saw that a crying Helga had crawled to the nearby wall and curled up in a ball. She looked frozen in fear, traumatized. "I know you're there!" Nate continued to yell as he advanced on the little girl's position with gun in hand.
"RAH!"
"OOF!"
Clementine wasn't looking at the time, but another person had revealed himself by charging out of another dark hallway and into the lit room. This person tackled Nate with full force, sending both of them into the wall. Clem got out of cover to see the struggle unfold, and found these two men grapple against each other, Nate's attacker twisting his injured arm until he dropped his pistol. It wasn't until Nate spun them both back into the direct light near the generator that Clementine could see his face.
"Hazen!" She exclaimed, surprised to find him down here of all places.
Nate locked his arms with the young man's. "How the fuck did you get out boy!?"
"Fuck you!" Hazen was all he replied with a growl. "Clementine! Shoot him again!"
Clementine wanted to comply and looked down the sights of her gun, only to see that Hazen and Nate were spinning around and flipping sides like no other. It was difficult to aim for the right target, and she was worried she wouldn't pull through. It was a tough shot.
[Shoot]
[Don't Shoot]
Clem was a very good shot for her age, and Hazen needed help right now. She pulled the trigger and fired the gun... "AHHH!"
(?) You shot Hazen!
"Hazen!" Clem cried as her ally clutched his left shoulder in sudden pain. "I'm sorry!"
Nate then looked back at the little girl and realized his opponents were only kids. He chuckled at that. "Thanks for that kid... and you!" He lunged at the young man with a bleeding shoulder. "This giant ass tomb here will be your grave! You hear me boy?!" He pinned him up against the aged and deteriorated wall of buried bodies. "What are ya gonna do about? Huh?! What are you going to do boy! Answer me-! Ackk...!"
Hazen had enough of Nate's violent behavior and decided to respond as such. Hazen took hold of Nate shoulders and brought him closer, to the man's sudden surprise. And the young Clementine watched in absolute horror and disgust as he dived his jaw into his neck and bit down... hard!
"AHH! AHH! Let go! You fucking-!" Nate had all of his breathe escape out of his throat as Hazen ripped it out with a chuck of flesh in his mouth... A small fountain of blood spouted forth and stained his shirt as Hazen spat out the mouthful of skin, tissue, and blood vessels on the ground. Nate stepped back from the young man, trying to stop the bleeding, but he had already dropped to the floor, his skin going pale, and the entire front of his body wet with his own dark blood.
Nate was dying and then... dead. A moment of silence imbued as Hazen, with his chin and lips still drenched red, leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. His hands covering his face in what appeared to be exhaustion. "...I'm sorry you had to see that Clementine."
"Oh my god." Clem, in all of her years of survival, had never seen anything like this before. He killed him like a walker would've... but he was still alive. It was abhorrent. But, it got the job done. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I shot you."
(?) Hazen will remember that.
It took a moment for him to respond. "It's alright... I told you to shoot. I... I think the bullet just scratched me. I'm fine." He paused and finally looked up. "Better than her at least..."
Clementine glanced back at the still curled up Helga who was shivering on the other side of the room. She wanted to comfort her, to say that she was safe, but she got the feeling that approaching her with this experience wouldn't be a good idea. She needed her brother Wayne right now but then reality sat back in. Dusty, Katherine, and Alvin Junior... had anybody went after them yet? "Hazen... can you take care of things down here? Get Helga back to the chapel where Wayne is?"
He nodded while trying to wipe the blood off of his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeah, I can do that. Go, take care of business Clem. The baby's in Katherine's office two floors up."
"Thank you." She acknowledged. "And I'm glad you saved me and Helga."
"It was nothing..." He coughed as he got back up on his feet. "But you have to hurry Clementine. Junior needs you."
Clem sparred Helga another quick glance, and trusted Hazen enough to get her out of these catacombs and then her gaze settled on the motionless Nate for only a second until the little girl doubled back to where she came, intent on going upstairs to find Dusty.
Clem climbed the stairs until she was back on the level of the chapel. She noticed that Brooke and Michael were still working with Wayne, who was still lying on the ground. He looked better though, he was moving again and their expressions appeared more confident of their expectations. Brooke comforted the two of them. "We did all we could on him..."
"Alright! But is he going to be okay? Alive, I mean?" Michael demanded as he got up, ready to leave and help his companions.
"I don't know..." Brooke shook her head and gently took Wayne's arms and pushed them down. He was fading in and out from the blood loss. "We'll have to see. But we need to move him to somewhere he can rest."
"I'm fine..." Wayne murmured as he closed his eyes.
"I'm going to make sure that no here turns into a damn biter." Brooke stood up with her rifle in her hands. "Go on and help your friends." She motioned.
Michael then turned around and saw Clementine at the staircase. "Clem!" He ran to her and stopped right in front of her. "You okay? Where's Helga?!"
"She's alive." Clem informed him, much to his relief. "Hazen's okay too, he was able to... kill the man that shot Wayne."
"He was down there too?" His eyes fell to the stairs which led downward. "Alright. What do you need from me?"
"We're going after Dusty. We're finally going to find AJ." Clem declared to him. "Hazen said he was upstairs in the office."
"Good. We got no time to lose then." Michael nodded as the two kids began to climb the stairs upward now.
They both went as high as these these stairs could take them. They were led to a short green corridor with two doors on each side of it. One was labeled restroom, while the other was labeled: Reverend Katherine, but Revered was crossed out and instead 'Mother' was written. This had to be the place. The door was slightly ajar but Clem could hear noises, arguments. Michael tapped the girl's shoulder and gave her a thumb's up. "I'll cover you from here. I won't let her escape..."
Clem nodded and headed forward as she pushed open the door. She was immediately addressed with a threat. "Don't you come near us!" She didn't know it was Dusty until he apologized. "Clementine! Sorry, I thought you were someone else!"
Dusty had his pistol at the ready, pointed right at Mother Katherine who was standing behind her desk with baby AJ in her arms, silently slumbering still. A window stood behind her, letting the sunlight in, but there was also a nice roaring fireplace between them on the opposite side of where Clementine was. Dusty was standing on her left while Katherine and AJ were on her right. "Shh, shh, the baby's sleeping..." She cooed the small child.
"Let him go!" Clem pleaded. "He's just a baby!"
"And my last bargaining chip. The only thing that's keeping this brute from attacking me!" Katherine defended herself.
"If you were so concerned with bargaining chips, why did you kill Maree?! Why?!" Dusty shouted, his voice dripping with grief and anger. "You fuckin' bitch! How could you?! How could you threaten a child!?"
"You bloody hypocrite, I knew your words of parley and peace were false. You're just like the rest of these men, just like everyone else. Monsters. Everyone is a monster! This world creates them, and they took my son, they took my world!"
Clementine addressed the older woman yet again. "We've all lost people Katherine, you're not special! But that baby, AJ, he is NOT a monster! And we won't let you take him from us!"
(?) Katherine will remember that.
"This innocent creature doesn't deserve to live in a world such as this. What kind of human do you get when you raise it from birth, in hell?" She thought out loud for both of them to hear. "Alleviating this burden on the baby would be an act of mercy the likes of which are worthy of Christ himself!"
"You hurt that baby, you're dead!" Dusty threatened as he took one step forward.
"I understand that to the fullest extent, which is why you're going to let me go, or the child dies." Mother Katherine retorted as she took out a long shiny combat knife and held it to AJ's neck. "I won't hesitate, you know that. Either I live, or we both lose..."
"Shit. Dammit!" Dusty believed her. If she could kill an innocent Maree and start a firefight, she could kill a baby even if all of this started with the infant's presence and kidnapping. He kept his gun trained on her with every step she took around her desk and towards the front door.
"Katherine!" Clem furrowed her eyebrows at her. "Everyone in your group is dead! You're alone, walkers are going to surround this church from all the noise. being made. There is no escape for you, even if we let you go with AJ! It's over!"
"How dare you?!" Katherine seethed from the little girl's ultimatum. "If you're so sure about that then perhaps," She pushed Clementine out of the way so she was just in the doorway of the exit. "I shouldn't waste ANY TIME!" She reeled back her knife and aimed the tip at the now crying AJ!
"NO!"
"AJ!"
*THUD!*
Micheal finally came out of his cover to seize this only opportunity: he slammed the office door right on Katherine's arm which held the knife. "GAH!" In her falter, Clem snagged Alive Junior from her one remaining arm and stepped back towards Dusty as the older woman dropped her knife and Michael opened the door and pushed her back inside. "Now it's over..." Michael grumbled.
The former leader grunted and tried to compose herself as she leaned against her desk for support, now defenseless and with no one to hide behind. She sighed. "...Should I be scared now? Do you want me to beg from you?"
Dusty growled as he went to the fireplace, now nothing was holding him back. "No... I don't want you to beg. Not like how Maree begged you." He wouldn't listen anyway.
Clementine did her best to calm AJ down, they were finally reunited. She was absolutely relieved he was safe. "AJ... are you, are you okay?" Alvin Junior blinked owlishly up at the girl. He stopped crying at the sight of her, now only breathing normally through his mouth and noise. Thankfully, he looked unharmed.
"You should not expect a speech filled with remorse, with regret. That's not who I am, my last words and rites are between me and God now!" She hissed at them which fell on their deaf ears.
Michael smirked as he joined Clem and AJ's side. He gave a supportive nod and she returned it. Now the only matter left to deal with now was the fallen Mother Katherine. Dusty stared into the fireplace, and his face darkened when he reached in and pulled out the metal fireplace poker. The fire iron had a white-hot tip from being laid in the flames for hours on end. It steamed when it was taken out into the office temperature, and with this blazing weapon in hand, Dusty turned around and faced Katherine with it...
"Ah... I see. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and burn for a burn. Is that what you intend?" The older woman inquired from the young man.
"No, I'm just going to kill you." Dusty simply responded with a snarl as he wielded the sizzling fire poker like a sword. "I'm not going to let you do this to anyone ever again!"
"Dusty..." Clementine and Michael looked on at the scene before them, and for the first time since she met her. Katherine's eyes were full of fear... In the end, she was afraid of death after all, and she was trapped. Dusty began to advance on her... and Clem glanced at the gun in her hand. Had she have the right? Or should she take a step back?
[Shoot Katherine]
[Let Dusty Kill Her]
A/N- The Church Group are nearly all but eliminated. People's lives hang in the balance, and the question of vengeance comes up yet again. AJ and Hazen are safe, but really at what cost? Helga and Wayne's lives may very well be rattled, but what could possibly happen next chapter? But for now:
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