A/N: Just finished a ton of work and finally able to get back to this fic, sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long but life really did get on top of me. Anyway thank you to those that reviewed last chapter, I'll be sure to leave a mass author's note next chapter, before the big 3-0, hopefully you enjoy this chapter.
Shorter chapter than usual and will be mostly The Wolf/Terri centric and covering what they did before they found the group once again, also shout out to anyone who gets the Zootopia (or Zootroplis, depending from where you are from) reference in this chapter, as I absolutely loved the film and couldn't help but add a small reference in this chapter.
Also forgot to mention it last chapter, but RTR is now past a year old! Woot! Woot! Hopefully I'll get this fic finished one day in the distant future, but for now, enjoy this chapter!
Now, Terri had to wonder what was easier?
Walk through a herd of walkers? Or drive? She hadn't driven much before in Wellington, sometimes when she had to dispose of the bodies of her victims, she'd shove them in a car and drive off to a remote place to dump bodies. Back then, her hands covered in blood and dirt usually, she had to get used to the steering wheel, brakes among many other seemingly alien devices to her. But now here she was once again, covered in blood and dirt, with Molly's pickaxe twirling in her fingers, as she watched the lumbering corpses slowly move up and down the street she was on.
"Pitiful" she uttered to herself, gazing at their forms.
Their only real strength was that in numbers and their grotesque appearance, once you were able to overcome these two obstacles, defeating walkers was of second nature, as was driving. Terri remained stood there, before turning back to the distant form of the church.
"I'm getting back to you Tom" she muttered, yet deep down in her mind she had to wander, what purpose was she going to have in this new group? Would Robert's group really all bite the dust as Tom had predicted? Would Tom be able to protect her from Robert's group? The hate in their voices was something Terri had become accustomed too, it reminded her of her father and uncle...
There weren't any Brandon's around anymore, no one spoke to her lovingly, like they actually gave a flying fuck about her well-being, or about her at all. She was a sex object to her uncle, a thorn to her father, a heartless murderer to the rest of the group and even she could admit that she was merely a tool for Tom to push forward his own agenda. Not that she had any problems with that, she was very aware of how she was being used now that she had been revealed as the cut-throat cub.
It was strange though, that's all she'd be known as now, the murderer or the cut throat cub. When she had walked out of the church (well, more like smashed the window and walked out) she had left that identity of the cub behind her. The headmaster was dead, killed in the exact way Terri wanted him dead, in agony, isolated and humiliated, but the pain of her lost brother still raged inside her, although standing here she felt a lot more at peace than she had done beforehand, feeling ever more numb gazing at the walker clogged road ahead of her. This was the road forwards and it was only going to get darker and more walker infested as it went on, not that it bothered Terri of course.
She was just a mindless, psychopathic, serial killer after all. A robot of a person.
So that's why she had saved him. Because he was the same. A robot.
That's where she was going, to save her fellow robot from his prison cell. Terri had remembered watching the group beat and tie up the Wellington Wolf and not seeing him react once. Terri knew if she was in Wellington Wolf's position she'd act in the exact same way, emotionless and unflinching. This had fascinated her of course, because she hadn't met a single person just like herself, she hadn't met another robot.
Terri could say she saved him, from being mowed down with bullets during the second riot, for a number of reasons. The fact he would be needed later on, the fact saving any life was just the right thing to do. But if she was being completely honest with herself, the reason that propelled her through the fleeing masses and flying bullets, was her fear of being alone.
If the Wolf died, her fascination would remain unanswered, she would be a lone robot in the world. Simply serving Tom until either he decided to turn on her, or some other people did, Terri could work like that, but deep down she didn't want to spend the rest of her life being used as some sort of weapon and simply "protecting" the group. In all honesty Terri found it boring and the tiny shred of humanity left inside of her, reeked of one emotion. Her overwhelming desire to have someone actually talk to her like they understood her, like they actually cared about her. Now that the vengeance had been given to those that had earned it, Terri very quickly felt pointless and empty once again, because there was no true goal in her life, just obey Tom until she died.
That's why she was going to drive to prison, finding a working car parked outside a shabby looking house, Terri smashed the window with the pickaxe, opened the door and quickly started the engine, reversing, she clutched her hands on the wheel and with an almighty SCREECH, sped off down the roads as walker bodies smashed against the windscreen and made the teenager bounce up and down in her seat.
She even saw the quick blur of the headmaster once again, William Cecil, was pale, naked with no organs left in his stomach and his empty white eyes turned to the car for a spilt second, before Terri ran him over. The tyres crushing his ribcage and his skull, destroying his brains and leaving him truly dead.
Terri had to smile to herself, she may have been a robot.
But she could still find pleasure, in the smallest of things.
The Wellington Wolf had heard the distant screams of Wellington's population as the swarm of walkers overcame them, he watched the scene with lifeless eyes, hoping at least some of them could have been spared and that his efforts to give them all a cure had not been in vain. He didn't hesitate as he heard the hisses of the walkers behind him, or saw a few of the rotting things try to reach into his cell, they couldn't get in.
But he couldn't get out.
He was getting thirsty, no one was coming to get him. No one in this massacre was going to bother saving the dreaded Wellington Wolf. Maybe if he was still Ethan Hart, people would have cared. But he was a wolf, an animal to them, it was strange though people could call him and animal and a robot in the same sentence. The Wellington Wolf had no idea who he truly was and what he truly wanted. For as long as he could remember, his whole life had been shifting identities and being used as nothing more than a weapon by his organisation.
He was becoming so thirsty... no one was around to bring him food any-more and his last drink had been over 24 hours ago. His lips had become cracked and dry, his throat was sore, everyone of is limbs felt heavy and sluggish, his icy eyes were clamping shut more often without him realising it. He decided then (owing to the fact no one was coming for him) that he would have to find his own water source. But there was nothing in the cell that could provide him with water and it wasn't raining outside either, he looked out of the barred window and tried reaching out to swipe up some moisture on his fingers.
Nothing.
So, there was only one option left, looking at some pipes above him he used all his remaining strength to dangle off the thin pipes and slowly but surely they began to bend and break. Finally the one pipe snapped and water gushed out of it and spread across the floor to his cell, the wolf dived down and instantly began to slurp away. Before he knew it, his lips were no longer cracked, he felt stronger and more alert, as the walkers outside of his cell thrashed more wildly at the sound of the water splashing against the floor.
Any normal man would have given up at this point, a few more hours without water and they wouldn't have been able to move and then slowly and painfully died of dehydration. But the Wolf wasn't that man, he was the man with a mission, the man that would carry on surviving despite all the odds being stacked against him. But outside of the mission, he had no personal reason to carry on, so as he sat there and gazed at the warped faces of the walkers, pressing themselves against the cell bars he had to ask himself, why? What was he waiting for? Why was he prolonging his life for as long as possible?
"Make sure at least one person dies happy"
Had that promise from so long ago, affected him so much? Did he really want to die in this cell? It felt like a very anti-climatic end for him, all the people he had worked with, his parents, his brothers and Jena...
He hadn't come this far to die now.
By the time Terri found him, a normal man would have died from dehydration.
But robots were more durable than that.
"Smart" was all Terri said, gazing at the soggy floor of the prison cell, causing the Wolf to crank his head up a fraction at the sound of another human voice.
He had been wondering why the all the walkers slowly but surely departed from outside of his cell, it was as if something was drawing them away and If the Wolf strained his ears over constant hisses of the walkers, he could just about make out a faint, banging noise coming from somewhere outside. He wondered if that was simply a struggling survivor, either way the Wolf remained silent as his cell block slowly emptied.
He had snapped the water pipe with pure strength but the sturdy black bars of his cell were no where near as thin, or as fragile as the water pipes running overhead were. There was no chance of a well built man like himself squeezing through the narrow bars, the population of Wellington had selected this inescapable cell for a reason and the Wolf could try and pry the bars apart with his bare hands for hours on end and he knew he wouldn't get anywhere. He may have had water, but his stomach was growling of it's own accord if he didn't eat soon, it wouldn't be long before starvation took hold.
He guessed his only hope was someone coming to save him.
Someone had.
The Wolf recognised her instantly, it was that "Terri" girl who had saved his life during the last riot, the blonde man liked to think of himself possessing an independent nature and not needing anyone to come to save him. But this girl had not only saved his life once, but now twice, as the prison keys she had dangling off her longest finger indicated, she was going to break him out.
"You disguised yourself from the walkers" the Wolf noted, observing the walker guts plastered all over the teenage girl "and you smashed that pickaxe against objects, luring walkers out of the building, rather than fight them off, it must mean you want space. It must mean you want to talk to me before you let me go" the wolf concluded.
Terri's gaze remained the same.
"Smart" she repeated "I do want to talk to you and ask you a few questions"
"Okay then" The wolf responded "But I want to ask one myself, why did you save me? You said you had your reasons"
"You're too interesting to die" Terri told him instantly.
"In what ways?"
"You're a serial killer, but you're the same as me" Terri informed him.
"I see" the wolf said "So you're the infamous cut-throat cub. You came to talk to me because you think we're alike. You're fascinated by me, that I can understand, as most people find my nature... intriguing..."
"I'm intrigued, but I don't want to make fun of you" Terri told him "Or scream bloody murder at you, I just want to know something, why?"
"Why?"
"Why are you, the way you are?"
"It's an easy answer" The Wolf replied "Ask yourself why you killed all those people and what turned you into an emotionless serial killer and the same applies to me"
"So you were a depressed, anxious, downtrodden and sexually abused teenager at some point, who kept silent about her abuse but slowly began to plot revenge. In doing so you became a heartless, emotionless person capable of murder?" Terri inquired of him.
"That sounds like someone who kills for vengeance" The Wolf said "Nothing like me"
"I'm the closest to you though"
"I know that"
"So why are you? I need to know. I'm not opening the cell until I get an answer"
The Wolf took a deep breath, plunging into his own none existent thoughts and feelings to generate an answer that would satisfy this girl, so she would open the door and resume his mission in protecting the remaining group.
"I made a promise" The wolf muttered "To a... colleague of mine. That at least one person would die happy. The mission I was sent on to find a cure, it was just a mission to me. But I don't really know the reasons myself why I'm fighting so hard to stay alive and why I fought so hard to get that cure, maybe it's because I don't have anything or anyone else".
"So that's why" Terri summarised "A man of your athleticism and willpower, doing all of this because there is nothing else. A man just focused on his mission, but you are right and it's good you stuck to the mission. When I let you out of here, you know who were going back too".
"Yes"
"You know they hate us"
"Yes"
"You know, they'll never trust us"
"Yes"
"You know they'll kill probably kill us"
"Yes"
"Now you have the cure, I imagine your next mission is too protect what remains of the cured population, funnily enough I have a very similar mission" Terri informed him "So, you know I'm asking for your help, us two animals need to save that useless group of misfits".
"Animals?" the wolf said "I was more akin to being called a robot"
"Strange isn't it?" Terri asked of him "Then again, I suppose we are strange individuals"
With that she used the keys to open the block to the prison cell, as it swung open, the wolf took slow and steady steps forward, but before he could leave the cell, Terri held out her palm.
"Stop" she instructed "I need to do something first, just to check..."
With that the Wolf watched her fling off her bloodied clothes, until Terri would stood there with nothing but her underwear on, the Wolf was confused by this, as Terri took steps forward and grabbed his hand. She placed his larger hand over one her exposed breasts.
There was a defining silence for a few, very long seconds, in which the Wolf and Terri calmly store each other down.
"Don't you want to squeeze it?" Terri inquired.
"No"
"Do you want me to take off my underwear here?"
"No"
Terri paused, before her free hand flew towards the wolf's crotch underneath his orange jumpsuit, she squeezed that area just to make sure...
"Do you want me to take off my clothes?" The wolf asked back of her.
Terri hesitated for a second, as she drew her hands away from him.
"No" she responded "and you do have a male genital, I thought they'd have cut it off to prevent you getting distracted during your mission. But your willpower must be immense"
"You were testing to see whether or not I'd get distracted" The wolf concluded.
Terri nodded, as she slipped back into her bloodied clothes.
"You can't jeopardize the mission you're on because of lust" Terri informed him "I've seen so many people falter and fail because of it, I wanted to know you weren't the same and thankfully you're not. Because if you really, really wanted to do something to me. You would have done it there and then, however if you do try anything with me in the future, I'll make sure you won't be able to do it again, if you get my drift".
"I do" The wolf confirmed "I too, have seen people fail because they've let their sexual desires control them, I will not fail in the same way".
"You better not" Terri warned him "Because I seem to be an expert in cutting people down who are like that" her thoughts lingered on the headmaster and the others she had murdered.
"Well then, we'd better get moving..." Terri told him, before she looked back at him once again.
"...Ethan" she finished with a small smile.
Quickly changing into clothes that would suit them better in the winter environment they would have to endure when they escaped Wellington, Ethan Hart and Terri Rogers left the prison with an arsenal of supplies (there was a lot of food and bottled water left lying around) and also plenty of sinister weapons apprehended from shady citizens. Including a bow and arrow Terri took a shine too, as she picked up the weapon.
"There aren't any guns here strangely enough" Ethan muttered.
"It's better that way" Terri said "Guns are loud, they draw walkers and they can run out of ammo leaving you as screwed as could possibly be, plus they spread distrust faster than you could believe, a friend of mine once said fighting in hand to hand combat with the walkers was the best way to go about it". Terri muttered thinking of Ana in those moments, as the wolf retrieved his switch-blades, but also picked up some deadly looking daggers.
"Throwing daggers" Ethan uttered "If you have your bow and arrow, I may as well have my own gun replacement".
"Considering we're already in hot water with all of the group" Terri informed him "I think it is best we stick with these weapons and not guns".
On that note the duo departed from the prison, flinging their heavy bags, loaded with supplies into the back seat of the car Terri had acquired the pair of them took the front seats.
"You can drive?" Ethan asked.
Terri nodded.
"Maybe I should..." Ethan began, but a stern look from Terri made his words die in his throat.
Terri soon clutched the steering wheel and the car engine revved into life.
"Where are we going to find the group?" Ethan asked.
"We'll get to that in a minute" Terri informed him "We need to get in group's good graces if we're planning on sticking around, so that requires bringing them... presents of sorts".
"Presents?"
"Yes and I know where to get them..."
Terri stopped at her group's house first, gesturing at the Wolf to follow her the pair picked up as many group supplies as they could carry, more food, drink, but also personal possessions. Terri was aware of where Maria kept her hidden photographs of herself and her late husband, for some reason she hadn't shown her own son these photographs, but Terri gathered there was a reason for that. Either way Terri had observed the Mexican mother pulling out the photographers from under her bedroom drawer when she thought no one else was watching.
Terri looked down at the photographs, for the first time she would be able to see what was on them.
Well if Maria was right about one thing, Luis really was the absolute spit of his father, Terri almost flinched back in surprise it was as if she was looking at a smiling Luis with all of his limbs intact. Maria was young, thin and truly a beauty, the pair of them were defiantly in their early 20's and located on a sunny beach somewhere.
They were four more to look at, Terri gazed at the second photograph.
A grainy photograph of Maria in a wedding dress, next to her husband.
The third (with something written in Spanish below it) showed the pair of them on a beach once again, probably on their honeymoon or something among those lines.
The fourth truly was strange, to see Maria out in a nightclub somewhere, with her husband pointing at her and smiling, if Terri hand't seen the photographic evidence of this occurring, she wouldn't have believed it was true. Maria seemed like the sensible one of their group, not the one who was clearly downing some sort of shot, while her husband was pointing at her, probably laughing. This had to have been taken before they were married, but she knew the first shot of them had to be the first photograph, they looked younger there than they did in the other photographs...
Turning to the final photo was a shot of a clearly pregnant Maria, with her husband stood behind her as he had placed his hands on her bump...
Terri pocketed these photographs, she could hear the wolf still rummaging around downstairs, as she slowly sat on Maria's bed. Reminiscing on the photographs she had just seen, Luis had a father that really did care about him and his mother, Terri could tell had he been alive today Luis' dad probably wouldn't have stood for his son's rude attitude, or he'd bite back with the same grumpy streak that his son had within his veins. Despite the father's absence Maria had carried on and raised her son, with as much love as she could muster... maybe that's why despite Luis acting like an asshole most of the time, he was never going to truly be a bad person.
Maybe family values were better in Mexico, maybe poverty brought them together, either way under Terri's roof in the rich, white world she had suffered more than Luis ever could have done. To actually seeing a loving father was a sight that made Terri very sad and also very jealous, why couldn't have she had that? The reality of those photographs, showed that was never was Terri's life and it was never going to be Terri's life. She actually felt like crying when she realised this sad truth and how much of a puppet she was really was for her group...
"Terri"
She looked up, dry eyed, at the Ethan.
"You know I killed the person who last possessed this sword" he said calmly, gazing down at Ana's sword in his grip.
"I know that" Terri muttered "I know you murdered Ana and Oscar".
"Weren't you fond of them?"
"I was"
"Then I would expect you to be angry" Ethan said "It is a human response I've been preparing for, from you".
"I'm not angry" Terri told him "Ana was dead to me when she ran off after Oscar. It was noble, but it was stupid".
"I see"
"However" Terri noted, as she picked up the sword from Ethan's grip "I have always liked this sword and I think I'll keep it on me, to remember an old friend".
Ana's sword was found next to her body and some brave volunteer had managed to retrieve it and bring it to remainder of her group, Terri took it and had kept the sword concealed under her bed, she was tempted to use it many times during her murder spree. But she found that she simply could not look at it and be reminded of Ana and her weakness in the end that had doomed her, Terri always felt angry at the deceased women in those moments, she had chosen to go ahead and die so she could be back with her loved one's, so she could leap back into the photographs of better times.
That wasn't Terri.
There was a reason Maria was still alive and Ana wasn't, Maria had those good memories, she had those photographs but she carried on regardless, in the way Terri would, so she had to admire that about Maria, even if Luis would not. Yet as she held the sword in her hands she was very quick not to linger on the photographs of herself with Brandon...
"I... I do still care"
Ana's voice as it cracked just before she went off to her death, it haunted Terri now as she gazed at herself, smiling, yes actually smiling next to her brother. Had she been that happy once? When it was just her and him, with the group in the background? They looked eerily similar to Maria and her husband, the same smiles, the same affectionate looks in both of their eyes, both were young and attractive and both...
Terri put down the photographs then, Terri strength had come with occupying herself with revenge now that was gone she had to function like Maria, in protecting the group. Terri now knew how hard it must have been to walk in Maria's shoes and she knew in those moments this path was going to be much more difficult than she could imagine, she wasn't going to forget about Brandon, she'd be reminded of him several times and it would hurt every time. But she wasn't going to give up, she'd carry on walking, she had the durability of a robot.
But inside, she also had the pain and strength of a human.
Ethan collected the last memorabilia from Terri's house (an old army badge that Tom had kept in his drawer, from his service days and a few photos of JJ and Wilbert together and one with JJ and his parents) before the pair of them found themselves back in the car once again.
"I know where some of the others in the group live" Terri told Ethan, breaking the silence between them "I don't know about Robert or any of his group. But I know where Luke's house is, can you carry more stuff?"
"Of course"
"Then let's get too it"
Screeching up to Luke's house, Terri and the Wolf were able to retrieve a dozen group photographs that must have meant a great deal to the group. At one point Ethan scooped over and plucked up a photo of Luke's group, but it seemed to be much larger than it was now.
Gazing down at it, The Wolf could see this picture was taken in a hardware store somewhere, that girl Molly wasn't with the group when this was taken. Maybe she was the one taking the photograph, either way everyone else that Ethan knew from Luke's group was there. Luke himself, looking pale, gaunt and much thinner, than he did in present day, his pain was hidden behind a thin smile, the pressure of leading a group that big must have taken it's toll on him back then.
Little Clementine, her face was more round in this photo, she was shorter in height and her hair was more frizzy and shorter than it was these days, yet that cap was still on her head, looking slightly more pristine than it did now. That Stephanie was holding a guitar, while Nick was near to Luke, Ethan found it strange these two weren't next to each other, weren't they a couple back then? Eddie was stood next to a fat blonde man pulling funny faces, while Rebecca had the infant AJ in her grip, holding a photograph of a bespectacled man who must have been AJ's absent father.
Other than the fat blonde man next to Eddie, the others who must have perished was a woman with short black hair, with an African american child (who looked slightly grumpy). A bearded man who had a bandage covering one of his eyes, stood next to an Indian woman was proudly displaying a lost arm, two other couples were also present, a smiling Asian couple and a strong looking African american man, who smiled down at a skinny ginger woman, there was also a plain looking woman located near to Luke and Nick, who must have perished at some point as well.
For as long as Ethan had know Luke, he hadn't discussed anything about past groups with him, maybe he had with Gertrude but Ethan didn't listen to such conversations, seeing this photograph made it very real to the Wolf about what group he had affected, they weren't just a group propped there in Wellington, they had a past before all of this. They had lives, there were other relationships and other people before he came into the picture, there were other places they had stayed at...
Everyone in Wellington, (or most of those remaining) had travelled far to come here, lost so many people and gained new one's... and he had destroyed it all. Him. The Wellington Wolf, the serial killer that helped destroy this community just to get a cure, Ethan knew this was a sacrifice that had to be made, he had followed through on the mission knowing the consequences, but seeing photographs like this... it made it that little bit harder for him., He generally just looked at people from the outside, generalising them all, but seeing this personal piece of the past, made these people seem more real to him.
"Then protect them" Ethan muttered to himself.
Maybe he did feel a bit guilty, maybe even worried if the group learned that there wasn't an airborne strain of virus what if bandits still roamed the woods? The group got attacked and they wonder how the bandits had survived and eventually he'd be forced to tell the truth. There wasn't an airborne strain of the virus, it was a cock and bull story to get people away from the wall and to pressure the president into making a cure faster. If the Wolf hadn't have pushed it, then the president would have done nothing about it, probably just laundered in his new success, fortune and popularity. Fear, was what was needed.
Fear always worked.
He wondered if Terri would fear him when she learnt the truth, she had already forgiven him for killing Ana and Oscar, but would she be so forgiving of him, if she discovered the truth? Why wasn't Ethan planning on telling anyone? He should have done, pre-prepared the group for anymore dangers lurking outside the wall other than walkers, but he wasn't going too, because the group would surely kill him then, even if Terri could understand it, the others most certainly would not. They would want vengeance, after all so many people were dead because of him.
Why didn't he just die then and do the right thing?
His mission? Big motivation of course, but Ethan sometimes wondered whether his mission was just an alibi, a cover for his own feelings of constantly wanting to survive and not wanting to just... die.
All those people in the photograph, they just... died.
Ethan shook his head, it was a mission. A mission. He had a few cracks in his armour, he was a human being after all, but he was still alive now because he had been a durable robot for so long and stuck to the mission. He wasn't going to die, until the group were safe, when they had found a new safe zone and the cure could be distributed and the re-population could begin without the threat of walkers, he would have helped the save what remained of the human race and completed his mission.
He had picked up around 10 of the spare cure vaccinations back at the prison, where the police distributing them on the day of the riot must have left them, he told Terri these would be needed in the future, for the next generation. He had already vaccinated himself after seeing the cures, knowing that one bite would be enough to finish him off if he didn't inject himself and he didn't fancy losing a limb.
Hopefully after a number of babies being vaccinated, someone will have managed to replicate the cure and distribute to all those who remained.
Ethan smiled when he thought of that.
That's what he'd fight for, his greatest dream would be himself, still alive being able to see that take place. Then, maybe then the emotional armour would be stripped off and he'd smile and he'd cry, the full weight of guilt and grief finally hitting him after everything he had done. But then, even if they killed him, even then his promise would be fulfilled.
"Make sure at least one person dies happy"
Yes. Himself.
But for now he pocketed the old photograph there was still a long road ahead of him and Ethan was going to fight through it.
They left Luke's house with even more supplies than beforehand, Ethan picking up an old dog collar with the name "SAM" on it, he had no idea why this was relevant to Luke's group but got a gut feeling to take it with him anyway. Before they could start the car and Ethan was about to ask where the group were, or if Terri had any idea of where she was actually going, she pointed across the town.
"There are the group" she muttered.
Ethan saw the first plumes of grey smoke rise from the fields.
The fire spread at an alarming rate, finding themselves soon surrounded by burning buildings and human embers that were walkers, Terri and Ethan had no choice but to hurriedly abandon the car they had gained, as all the roads were blocked and walkers clogged their way forwards.
"We need to go into the fields!" Terri shouted over the roar of the fire, "The group could still be in there"
"Are you sure!?" Ethan asked back, while he used his switch-blades to decapitate a walker near to him.
"Positive!" Terri shouted back.
So the robots fought on through the inferno, Ethan wasn't someone to tire easily but with the heat of the flames around him and with the never ending torrent of burning walkers coming his way. Even his limbs were starting to ache, as sweat coated his skin, he could hear Terri struggling for breath despite Ethan knowing she was trying to put on a strong front.
Then they heard it, Luke's screaming.
"... how can we be of assistance?"
Luis, Clementine and Maria gazed at the pair of them, still in awe after their sudden appearance, Molly whipped her head around, her fingers planting themselves around her lost pickaxe once again, while Luke simply moaned into the ground.
"H-help us carry him" Maria finally said, "We can't stay here, we need to find the rest of the group".
"I'll do it" The wolf muttered, as he flung the massive bag from his back at Luis.
"You seem physically strong" The Wolf observed "You can carry that, while I carry Luke"
"What the hell have you packed in here!?" Luis demanded as he struggled to lift the bag "A fucking elephant?"
"Just supplies" The wolf answered, as he hoisted Luke onto his back, the man was missing a leg and an eye and was in a bad way. The middle of a burning field certainly wasn't the place to treat him and maybe by helping to save Luke's life Terri and Ethan would earn their way back into the group's good books.
"What's a matter, big strong Luis, struggling with that?" Clementine teased.
"No" Luis snapped, (once again wanting to prove his masculinity, he kept the heavy bag on his back) "However I don't like taking orders from a pair of serial killers!" he snarled in Terri and Ethan's way.
"We're here to help you" Terri said, before Luis could continue "That's our job now, to protect the group and we swear to stick by it. We know everyone is still going to harbour feelings of distrust and hatred towards us. But we're here to stay and we're here too help".
"I'm okay with you Terri" Maria told her "But I want him gone!" she snarled, gazing directly at Ethan.
"He stays" Terri muttered flatly.
"He is the reason...!" Maria began to rage.
"Maria! We need him!" Clementine shouted over her "Like it or not we need him around, for now at least!" Clementine's defence of the wolf probably stemmed from the fact he was the only one who could carry Luke out of this mess and keep him alive. Maria gazed at Clementine, then back at Ethan then back at Clementine.
"I don't like it" she muttered "But if it's what's best..."
Walkers were beginning to converge behind her, Luis' axe met one as it leaped forward.
"Can we have this chat somewhere else!" Luis snapped, removing his axe from the walker's skull "Or are we going to stay here all day!?"
With this said and done, the group had no choice but to run on, with Terri and Ethan leading the way, for now (despite some expected hostility) they had been accepted back into the group. Leading the way as they used their weapons to cut through the walkers, while Clementine brought up the rear of the group, while holding onto Molly, to ensure the blind woman didn't get lost in this fiery maze.
"The rest of the group aren't going to like this" Ethan told Terri.
"They'll just have deal with it" Terri mused with a light smile, echoing something the passed out leader on Ethan's back had said, years ago.
