Clementine:
It was a few minutes before somebody finally opened the door to the back of the truck. "Look Tavia, I already told you the breaks on this thing are shit!" Troy said. There were three guards armed with assault rifles. Troy was scowling at everyone, but he was always doing that. Bonnie looked like she wanted no part of this, and the third woman - presumably Tavia - seemed mildly annoyed that she was doing this.
Tavia spoke to them, "Alright folks. On your feet." Everyone in the group stood up and walked out. Kenny, Nick and her were standing to her left and right respectively.
"How in the hell did you get your bindings off?" Troy snapped at Kenny. "Don't go trying anything. I've got my eye on you asshole. Now move." The three of them complied and walked out of the truck.
The first thing that caught her eye was the food. "Look at all the food they have here. This must be enough to last for years."
"Yeah, it is." Nick said.
"I hope the two of you aren't saying what I think you are." Kenny said. I'm not.
As they walked through the doors of the stock room, Carver's voice came on over the loudspeakers. "We've got some familiar faces returning with us tonight. I hope I don't need to remind you about them and the circumstances in which they left us. " Clementine walked down the isle and saw a large crowd had gathered in between the isle. "You're all probably wondering why I've brought them back here after that incident."
"I'm pretty sure I know why." Tavia muttered while glancing at Rebecca. Clementine looked around and saw handmade wooden structures everywhere. Hallways, rooms, stairs, bridges, everything. It must have taken years to build all this stuff.
Carver continued, "I'm not asking any of you to forget what they've done to us, but at the end of the day, these are our brothers and sisters, and we need to find it in our hearts to forgive them." There was a brief pause in the speech, and Clementine saw a woman with a white and lime green hoodie spit on the side of Alvin' face. She continued to scowl as the rest of the group passed on by.
"What was that about?" Clementine turned to face Nick.
"That was Shel." Nick explained "When we busted out of here, Alvin accidentally killed this guy, George. He was her boyfriend."
Carver was talking about an expansion project when a woman walked up to Carlos. "Come on. We need you in the hospital. And from the looks of it, you need to be there yourself."
"Can it wait until morning? I haven't had a decent sleep in days."
Troy pushed him with the stock of his rifle. "Just fuckin' move."
"Alright, alright." Carlos said as he headed to the right while the rest of the group headed left. Sarah lagged behind and stopped in the middle of the intersection and stared as her father and the strange woman walked away. Clementine caught up to her, and noticed that Carver was giving his speech from a large office with huge glass window's that overlooked the entire hardware store.
Troy was walking towards Sarah now. "I can't. I need him. My dad, he... "
Nick cut her off with a soft tone of voice. "He'll be back in 15 minutes at the most. Come on Sarah." Sarah turned around and walked with Nick and Clem back towards the rest of the group.
"Thanks Nick." Sarah said. Clementine saw that the rest of the group had gathered around a large gate leading to some sort of outdoors area. Tavia was unlocking it.
"Stay away from the fences, Bill and the others will be able to tell if your screwing with them. You're already on his bad side, don't make it any worse for yourself."
Clementine, Sarah and Nick reached the gate as soon as it was opened. "Thanks a lot Bonnie." Nick said as he walked inside.
Bonnie:
Bonnie sighed and walked away from the pen. One step at a time. She told herself as she walked towards the armory. William continued his speech. "It's not enough for us to just survive this ordeal that has been put in front of us. We have to get beyond that, we have to start living. So we will continue to be a bright light, shining through all this darkness." Two weeks ago I would have believed everything he said. But how can that man say stuff like that after what he's done? "We will continue to be a safe haven for the last bits of humanity left on this great earth. For families to live in comfort knowing they don't have to worry about having the people they love torn away from you day in and day out." This place has kept me safe. It'll keep them safe too. At least the two kids deserve better than a life out there. "As long as I live, I swear to each and every one of you that this place will remain a beacon of hope through these dark times. William Carver, signing off."
"Welcome back Bonnie." She turned around to see Vince standing behind her. "You alright? Didn't mean to startle you."
"It's alright. Its just been a rough couple of days. Can you do me a favor and bring this over to the armory?" She held out her AK-47.
"Sure thing, you look exhausted. You should get some rest." He turned around and headed towards the armory. "Nice seeing you back." He called out as he walked away.
It only took her two minutes to reach her room. It wasn't much, just a bed with real sheets and a mattress , a light switch for the single light bulb in the room, a small table, a chair, and and a dresser. There was a glass panel on the roof that allowed some natural sunlight in from the skylights of the main building. A lot of folks had larger rooms, at least people with families did, but this was more than enough. I never carried around much with me anyways. She laid down on her back in her bed pulled out her knife.
I never wanted it to go down like that. They've gotta understand... She sighed and tossed the knife into the corner of her room. There was nothing I can do about it now. What's done was done. All I can do now is try to make sure they have comfortable lives here as soon as possible. Bill said he'd let them back in pretty soon.
Then again, he'd said he'd bring Luke back too. Luke had been one of the first friends she'd made when she arrived with the others. To think that he's out there- no. There's no point in thinking about it. He's gone.
She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but all she saw was Bill pulling the trigger and opening Walter's skull with a bullet.
"We fed you. We would have sheltered you."
"Please, you don't have to do this. Let these people go."
"Why the hell are you helping this monster?"
"So this is what we get for an act of kindness, huh?"
"You don't have to thank me. Just help somebody else down the line."
Her eyes opened as she remembered what he'd said to her when they first met. I told him that I would. I made a promise. She got up and walked out of her room. I can at least make sure that kid gets some light work with me in the armory tomorrow. Plus, I need to find some time to give her that jacket, and that'd be a good of a time as any.
She walked up to Bill's office and knocked on the door. "It's me, Bonnie."
"Just give me a minute." Came the response. She waited for around two minutes before she heard the sound of something hitting glass. "Goddamnit!"
"Bill?" She said through the closed door. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just finished the ending to that novel I was reading in the truck." The door opened and William was standing inside. "I'll spare you the details. Come on in and have a seat." The both sat down on opposite sides of his desk. He sat down on his large leather chair and took a sip out of his "world's best boss" coffee mug. "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you could assign the new girl, Clementine, to work with me in the armory tomorrow morning."
He considered it for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I can arrange that." He pulled out a clip board and made a note on it. "Is there anything else I can do? I kidna owe you after you did so well out there."
Yeah. I sure did well out there. She thought to herself bitterly. Can't say I did any good for anyone though. Her thoughts drifted to Luke "Actually, there is... something else..." Bill ain't gonna like hearing about Luke. He was the one who convinced everyone else to go. But if he comes back here... what'll happen to him.
"Go on." Her boss said with a smile.
"It's... It's nothing. Forget about it. Thanks for letting me have the kid for a bit." She got up, turned around, and headed for the door.
"It's about. Luke, isn't it?" She froze at the mention of his name. Oh shit.. "Look, I know the two of you were really close to each other."
She turned around. "We were never-"
Bill lifted his hands. "I know, I know. I wouldn't have brought you out with me if I thought you two had been together in that way. But he was a friend of yours, and you're worried about him."
There was no use denying it, he'd hit the nail on the head. "Yeah... pretty much."
"You heard my speech right?" Her leader said, "I'm part of this group too you know. Luke took a lot away from me, and I will never forget that. But if he comes back here and gets caught, he'll be treated just like everyone else and be given a second chance."
She smiled. "Thank you Bill."
"Don't mention it." She turned around and grabbed the door handle. "Oh, and tell Becca that I need to see her. It's important."
"Alright." Bonnie said as she walked out the door. Well that went miles better than I thought it would. She headed back to the living quarters and knocked on the room to Shel and Becca's room. It was a bit larger than her quarters, considering it contained two beds.
Shel was the one who answered the door. "Hey Bonnie. Glad you're back. What's up?" Shel rested her right hand on the door frame, allowing Bonnie to see the wedding ring on her finger. It had been a gift to her from George a few months after the two of them met. Shel didn't wear it, and for the longest time, George had called Shel his wife while she called George her boyfriend. It had been pretty funny at the time.
Ever since George had died, she'd never taken that ring off.
Bonnie had seen her spit on Alvin's face as he walked by her. Can't say that I blame her, even if it was an accident.
"Bill wants to see Becca. Don't worry, he's in a good mood, but he said it's important."
"Coming." Becca was wearing a red winter coat and a pair of sweatpants. "Hey Bonnie. Did you find your boyfriend?" Becca didn't wait for a response. She was referring to Luke.
"It's alright." Bonnie said to Shel, "I'm used to it from her." She turned around and walked back to her room.