[Chapter 28] Mistakes
Mason got up from the bed and locked himself in the bathroom without saying anything to Laura. He turned on the shower, undressed and got forced himself under the cold water. The freezing stream poured down his back. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he was barely able to breathe due to the cold. But the cold made him feel alive again. Made him feel ready for what was to come.
With some soap and a cloth, he got rid of the blood covering him before stepping out again. He looked in the mirror. His own blue eyes scanned his face and body. Scars and bruises told the story of his journey. Barbie's dog tag was bent slightly, but still dangled around his neck. The writing on the aluminum plate were slowly fading away. It was a reminder that he had to keep fighting, no matter the losses. He especially had to keep fighting for those he lost.
The door of the bedroom where his first kiss took place was wide open, but Laura had covered herself with the blankets and fell asleep. She was beautiful without the fear and stress of the apocalypse on her face. A streak of moonlight shone on her nose and revealed some freckles he never noticed before.
He silently closed the door and let her rest. He felt like he wasn't going to be able to sleep and walked downstairs. Merle and Daryl confiscated both couches and were snoring loud.
Mason looked through the dusty window. Arkadia had gone into night modus. Only a few guards were strolling around to keep the community secure. The rooms behind the windows of the houses were dark, curtains hiding what happened inside. The silence was pleasing. He took the chance to walk around Arkadia with no particular destination. Somehow, he found himself at the grave of Thomas. And he wasn't the only one who came up with that idea.
Addison was sitting on the grass with her Z-Whacker on her lap, staring at the place they buried Thomas' body. He sat down next to her without speaking a word.
'You finally did it?' she smiled.
'Did what?' Mason wondered.
'Don't act like a fool. Your eyes are betraying you.'
'Seriously, what are you talking about?'
'Not what. Who! I'm talking about Laura. You finally grew some balls and told her what you feel.' Addison said, poking his ribs with her elbow.
'Guess I did.' he smiled.
'Good.' Addison got up, 'Have a good night, Mason.'
She left him alone next to the grave of their dear friend. Mason talked about his feelings to the spirit that was guarding the final resting place of Thomas. He explained his fear of the war brewing in the distance. Soon they would have to fight for their existence. And good people would fall once again.
The next morning, he found himself waking up, sitting on a chair in the kitchen around the dinner table. The loud snoring of the Dixon brothers was still going on and he realized a lot of people were still asleep. Only a couple of people woke up and were walking outside. He noticed how Kane seemingly had an argument with Thelonious.
Because Mason wasn't going to fall asleep again, he went to his job early and started cleaning up rubble in the expansion area. The sooner they got rid of it, the sooner they could start rebuilding the houses and the wall.
'You're early.' Thelonious said when he joined him. Mason kept his mouth shut. He doubted the community's civilians because they left Clarke to die. If it wasn't for his own crew, she would've bled out on the road with a gaping cut in her stomach.
'I get that you're angry about what happened. But you have to understand that we couldn't risk it last night.' Thelonious said.
'You couldn't risk saving the only medical experienced member of your community? How would you explain something like that to your people?'
It was Thelonious' turn to keep his mouth shut. Not because he didn't want to respond, but because he had no response to give. Mason was right. If Clarke died last night, their doctor would've been gone.
'Save the words. I don't care what you have to say.' Mason said when Thelonious wanted to change the subject.
Mason kept working for hours and kept going even when the usual shift was over. He skipped dinner and only stopped working the moment he realized midnight had fallen over Arkadia again. As soon as he stopped working, he felt the cold January wind slice through his clothing. He hurried to the medical tent to see how Clarke was doing.
Tara had taken over until Clarke was cleared to do her job again.
Clarke was having a tough night. She kept waking up and falling asleep again with severe pain in her stomach. Tara couldn't give her anymore anesthetics without risking complications and kept telling her she had to keep fighting against the pain.
'Jesus, Mason. You look like shit. Have you eaten anything today?' Tara rhetorically asked when he walked in to the tent. She left and returned with a plate of leftover from the dinner. Some potatoes, beans and a small piece of meat. It was not enough to still his hunger, but he did not feel like eating. He only cleaned his plate because Tara did not allow him to see Clarke before he did.
'Done. Can I see her now?' he rolled his eyes, pushing the plate away.
'Fine.' Tara said. ', Try not to wake her up. She's finally asleep again.'
'Again?' Mason worried.
'Clarke keeps waking up with pain attacks and only sleeps for a few minutes… until the next one appears.' Tara sighed.
'Something I can do?' Mason asked.
Tara shook her head. 'There's no infection or complication. Her body is struggling to fight the pain, which results in her running out of energy.'
Mason looked Tara in the eyes.
'I'm not sure if she will make it…' Tara apologized.
'You did everything you could.' Mason said, putting his hand on her shoulder to assure her she did great.
'It's not going to be enough if her body continues to act like this.'
'She'll get through it.' Mason promised her.
'How are you feeling?' Tara asked him.
'I feel that Arkadia has a lot to learn in order to succeed as a community. They did not even try to save her. And they're not busy preparing for the war that's coming. All of them are acting like Jake left and won't return with a force.'
'Let your voice be heard. Show these people the way if their own leaders won't.' Tara suggested, implying he had to slowly take over if he wanted to see changes happening.
Mason disagreed with her: 'They have to figure out their own way. Just like we had to.'
'Get some sleep, Mason. And some food, if you have the chance before going to bed.' Tara said.
'What about you?'
'Someone has to be with her at all times.' Tara said, making a gesture towards Clarke.
'You shouldn't be up all night.'
'There's no one else qualified for the job. It's my duty.'
Mason would've told her it wasn't her duty to save these people, if it hadn't been Clarke that got injured. He took the doctor's advice and went to the house. Daryl and Merle were talking about a way to sneak out and to hit some stores on their own during the night. Caught by surprise, they abruptly stopped talking when Mason walked into the living room.
'Please, continue. I won't tell anyone.' he laughed, not even sure what they were discussing.
Once upstairs, he caught himself staring at Laura's sleeping face again. His own back was sore, and he couldn't bear to sleep on a chair again. Cautiously he got under the sheets and froze when he bumped his foot against the skin of hers. The sweet smile that slowly grew on her face betrayed her. Laura was awake and waiting for him to join her. She turned around and acted like the world was anything but abnormal.
'How was your day?' she whispered, looking at him as he punched his pillow to adjust the shape.
'Crappy. Yours?' Mason asked. He saw her playing with the children again.
'Mine was okay. The children seem to like me.' she said proud of herself. Never in her life had she thought she would be able to work so well with children.
'Do you ever think of him?' Mason asked, focusing his look onto her face.
'Who?' she asked, not knowing where he was going with this.
'Negan. You think he's still alive?'
'Why do you want to think about that? He killed your friends.' Laura said, feeling guilty that she once was a member of his crew. That she was part of the community that executed Linda Esquivel in front of Mason's eyes.
'He also saved my life. I was just wondering if he's still out there. Maybe he changed?' Mason said, turning his eyes back to the plastered wall.
'I doubt he could ever change back to a decent person.' Laura sighed. She did not want to talk about someone that affected her path of life. Mason heard it in her voice and apologized for bringing him up.
But he couldn't help wondering if he was still alive, bashing brains and taking people's shit. The reason he thought of Negan came from the idea of the war that was brewing. Some tough son of a bitch like Negan would be a great asset in that war.
Laura came closer to Mason and laid down her head on his bare chest. Her blonde hair tickling his skin. She felt awkward doing it but the warm feeling she got from it ensured her about her move. And he did not push her away either. Mason began to play with her hair, twirling it around his finger and letting it slide off again. Over and over until he realized the change in her breathing pattern. She fell asleep with her head still resting on his chest. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep himself.
Next morning, he couldn't help but wonder if it was Laura's presence that calmed his mind down. It was the first night without nightmares of the gruesome scenes of his journey carved his memory. When he opened his eyes, Laura was gone. The clock on the wall told him he overslept. He did not care about being late for work. He worked his ass off yesterday and did not have the interest to hear Thelonious apologize on behalf of the community. Mason wouldn't accept an apology. How could someone apologize for leaving one of your own to die outside?
Mason smelled the clothes he wore yesterday when he was working hard and threw them back to the corner of the room. Stained with spots of sweat, followed by the same horrible smell. He planned on washing them when he returned tonight.
Some fuss at the entrance gate prevented him from going to see how Clarke was doing. It attracted his attention as he looked down on the uproar from the side. A couple of armed men walked in.
Their faces were smeared in blood, they looked exhausted and the words that followed were enough to tell what happened to them.
'What the hell happened out there, Bellamy?' Marcus Kane asked the man in front. He was barely older than Mason.
'We got intercepted by a herd that came out of nowhere…' he sighed dejected, 'Lost a lot of people because of that surprise…'
'Where did that herd cross your path?'
'On the road back home. We scouted ahead and the area was clear. Few hours later and hell breaks loose.' Bellamy shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe his team was surprised by a group of the undead. And the fact that the herd came out of nowhere, bothered him.
'Everything okay here?' Bellamy followed up his response with a question of his own. His group left before the newcomers arrived and he was suspiciously looking around at them.
'Some new people arrived. Besides of that, it has been pretty calm here.' Kane said, lying to Bellamy. He did not tell him about what happened to Clarke and how they failed to help her.
'Can we trust these new guys?' Bellamy asked as he crossed eyes with Mason.
'So far, they've been a good asset to our community. They're still working to gain their keep, but it's heading in the right direction.' Kane said, 'Try to work with them, Bellamy.'
Bellamy Blake had a history of distrusting newcomers to their community and got some of them kicked out for no good reason. Kane was aware of his lack of trust these days and needed him to work along these new people.
'I'll do my best.' Bellamy promised, before telling Kane he was going to see his friend Clarke.
'She's really busy today. Maybe you can wait for her to come to you?'
'It's been days, Marcus. Just going to say hello.' Bellamy said.
Kane pulled him back without explanation. Bellamy did not agree with his actions and got furious.
'What's the problem with you?'
'She's performing high risk surgery, Bell. You have to wait until she is finished.' Kane said, but Mason couldn't bear to hear the lie being told.
'Your girl is fighting for her own life.' Mason interrupted, not moving from his place.
'What are you talking about?' Bellamy wondered, with Kane trying to shut him down before his lie was uncovered. But it was too late. The damage was done, and Bellamy wanted to know exactly what was going on here.
Mason explained the situation. Jake taking her hostage and pulling her outside, followed by him stabbing her in the stomach and her own people not running for her rescue.
'You saved her?' Bellamy asked Mason, disgusted by the fact his own people let her down like that.
'With the help of others.'
'We couldn't risk other lives, Bellamy.' Kane tried to calm him down.
'You couldn't risk saving your damn doctor? The girl that has saved many lives in here, is expandable in your eyes?' Bellamy was infuriated.
He took off and ran towards the medical tent. Mason followed him, because he was planning on visiting Clarke anyway. Kane was furious with him but knew if he tried to kick him out of the community for going against his decisions, he would have to deal with the whole community.
Every Arkadian wondered if Marcus Kane was the right man for the job or that his time had come to an end. One bad decision could ruin all his hard work in here. One mistake immediately overshadowed his achievements in Arkadia.
