Dot [Andrea]
As expected, Eleanor's progress on the research for the cure wasn't going fast enough. Sooner or later, Joel was going to start asking questions, and Andrea hoped that Tommy was prepared for them. They couldn't let Ellie get into the Fireflies' hands, which meant keeping them here for as long as they could. They would have to tell them soon, though, about their intentions. Joel wasn't one to sit around, and had already proven to be impatient. Time would tell how that situation would develop, for better or for worse.
She found herself at the door to Tommy's office later in the evening, grabbing the doorknob before stopping suddenly, listening to hushed shouts on the other side of the door. She opened the it in a quick movement, and the shouting stopped almost immediately. Tommy was sitting at his desk, while Carl was leaning over it, hands placed onto the desk. They both turned their heads to look towards her in unison, and Andrea crossed her arms over her chest.
"What's going on here?"
King Caw [Carl Grimes]
Carl had gone on his mission like a good scout, doing his best to find the books that the list wanted. It was only a little discouraging that he had never seen so many books in his life, and time had done its fair share against the fragile objects. With no idea how to find the subject, he had to drift through the rotting shelves until he found a title that mostly resembled what they asked for. Taking every book that looked to be in readable condition, he had to make the trek back home - The sun was already going down.
He dropped the books off at Tommy's office. Already in a bad mood, he asked Tommy if there was anything he should know about why they had to have them. When he got avery final no, he snapped and stomped his foot, shaking the brandy on the table out of its glass.
"I'm not some dumb little kid, Tommy! I've already been talking to the girls, and I've seen the bite, so don't lie to me." It didn't occur to him that he probably shouldn't give up that he knew, but people trying to keep him out of the loop was pissing him off, and it ended here.
Tommy stared at him blankly for a few seconds, his eyes passing between the spilled alcohol and Carl, before scowling at him without much more than a growl. Carl crossed his arms and shot back his own dirty look as he listened, "You aren't a dumb little kid, but you're acting like one. You go to school in the morning and scavenge on the weekends or otherwise, but stuff like this isn't your business!" Carl went to object, but Tommy talked over him. "It doesn't matter that you're Andrea's family, either. We would have told you when it was time."
Carl stepped up to the desk. We're not just some pawns in your game. "This is important! We should know what the stakes are. I mean, are you even prepared to make a cure?" Trying to keep Ellie away from scientists who knew what to do didn't seem like the best plan..
Tommy faltered. "We're figuring it out. It's a process. No one has considered this to be a possibility. We're stumbling in the dark right now, but that won't be the case later." It sounded like a lot of guesswork and luck to Carl, and it wasn't a sound strategy.
"What about the Fireflies? Finding a cure is their whole cause." The solution was quite easy, but for some reason, he just didn't see it. Whether or not Tommy understood, Carl wasn't ready for what happened next.
A dark shadow passed over Tommy's weathered face, and he stood up. "I don't know what those girls have been filling your head with, but the Fireflies are not who you think they are." Raising his voice, he leaned over the desk and pointed a finger at Carl, and the boy took an anxious step back. "You even suggestin' that you know otherwise just shows me that you really are just some dumb kid!" With that, he sat heavily back down into his seat. There was a very pregnant pause.
Carl thought hard on what to do next. Tommy wasn't the kind of guy to try to intimidate in an argument, so he probably wasn't just spewing angry bullshit. But unless he gave a real reason as to why the Fireflies weren't the only option, he'd just have to come back for Andrea once the cure was made. If it's so damn important that they stay out of it, then tell me why! Stomping forward again, slamming his hands down on the desk. "Then tell me! You can't keep acting like this isn't something that involves more people than you and-" As if on queue, the door swung open.
Andrea stood there, the customary 'suspicious mother' look in her eyes. As she spoke over their silence, Carl yanked his hands off of the desk as if it were a hot pan and froze with his arms at his sides, trying to think of what to say. How long has she been listening? Will she tell me anything? Before he could get it out, Tommy beat him to it.
"Andrea, you need to keep your dog on a leash!" He snapped, jumping back to his feet. It was everything Carl could do to not turn and bite Tommy's head off right then.
Dot [Andrea]
She didn't know what she was expecting when she walked into the room. It was extremely clear that whatever conversation she missed had been a heated one, only accentuated by the fact that Tommy just referred to Carl as a 'dog'. Her frown deepened, and she sent Tommy a disapproving glare. She'd talk some sense into him later, right now she had more pressing issues to contend with.
"I don't know what the hell happened here, but you two need to work this out," she started, taking another step into the room before closing the door behind her. She turned her attention to Carl, who seemed just as pissed off at Tommy as he was at him. She couldn't read his facial expression well enough to determine what the conversation might've been about, but she was sure they'd fill her in one way or another.
"Tell me what happened." The question was directed towards Carl, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She'd never seen the two fight like this, at least not in front of her, and there had to be a good reason why.
For a brief moment, she considered the possibility that it had something to do with Ellie or Clementine, but she chose not to make assumptions just yet.
King Caw [Carl Grimes]
Carl stood between two choices: he could civilly explain why he was here to Andrea, or - and here was the tempting one - he could land Tommy in the shitter with Andrea and get what he wants later. Shooting Tommy a glare, he began with malicious intent, "I was getting back from today's trip, and I decided to drop the books off here. When I got here, Tommy…" Hesitating, he stopped. Tommy was just doing his job: protecting people from things they don't understand. But, he called me a rat. He could do this or do that, but there's always a but…
With a resigned sigh, he continued. "I asked Tommy what the books were for, and he wouldn't tell me, so I got mad." Somehow, he managed not to flinch under her scrutinizing gaze. "I'm sick of you not telling me that important stuff is going on! I already got the story out of the girls, but why are you two so sketched out?" Carl was sure that the community would support Tommy if he just explained what was going on and why he was keeping her, they'd listen - he was already such a popular leader.
Even if said 'Popular Leader' was obviously making an effort not to interrupt the conversation again.
Dot [Andrea]
So Carl knew about the immunity. She instinctively gulped, glancing towards Tommy for a fraction of a second before meeting Carl's gaze. A part of her realized that she should've told him earlier, that maybe he'd have some valuable insight that they hadn't even considered yet, but none of that had come to her in time. Instead, he managed to get the information on his own, and it seemed that these kids were really bad about keeping a secret.
I guess they areteenagers, after all.
To Carl's question, she simply let out a breath, collecting her thoughts for a moment before speaking in a calm tone. "This is big. Obviously. The very idea of a cure is enough to make people go mad. We're doing this for her safety. The only people who know are those that need to, until we know for sure that we can make the cure from her." She paused, letting her words sink in. "And I'm guessing they told you about how they're looking for the Fireflies, too?"
King Caw [Carl Grimes]
Carl's brain was turning gears as he wondered if he should give up everything he knew. Of course, Tommy saw his hesitation as an opportunity. "Of course he knows; he isn'tstupid. Anyone would want to go to the Fireflies with a cure. But he should understand that he can't just stomp in here and argue about things that he has nothing to do with!"
Shooting Tommy a glare, the boy turned back towards Andrea. "You can't really think that keeping her away from the scientists and guns that the Fireflies have will keep her safe?" There was a heavy silence, and he began to grow impatient. "This place is a card house!" He exclaimed, waving his hand in the air. If Carl knew anything about this world, it was that little guys like Tommy running little places like this don't compare to the weight some other communities can throw around. "Not even two-hundred people strong," he scoffed. "What if the Whisperers come back, and Ellie doesn't make it? Or the Saviors track us down? Will your dam keep them out?!" Panting, he rumbled to a stop. Unbeknownst to him, he'd been shouting again. He slowly made his way to the front of the room, next to the door. If they didn't see reason now, he didn't see why he should stay any longer. "What kind of bat-shit world am I living in right now?"
Dot [Andrea]
They'd gone back to fighting in an instant, leaving Andrea to sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, clenching her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Carl was shouting and Tommy seemed ready to lift himself out of his seat to quiet the boy. She wouldn't admit it aloud that Carl had a point, as he usually did, but this argument had to stop. They could deal with the immunity situation later, after they've had a minute to catch their breath and think things through.
Finally, her attention snapped to Carl, her words bouncing off of the walls of the office. "ENOUGH!"
Both sets of eyes focused on her, and she struggled to maintain her composure as she focused on Tommy. "You're supposed to be the goddamned adult here, Tommy, so act like it." Her gaze shifted to Carl in an instant, not allowing for a single rebuttal to come from either of them. "And you need to trust us. There's no telling what the Fireflies would do if they got the cure first. I'm not saying that you don't have a point, but we have to be careful about this. We need time to think this through. All of us."
She took in a deep breath, anticipating Carl to snap something back at her. All she could do was prepare herself for it.
King Caw [Carl Grimes]
There was something in Andrea's words that made him falter. Carl was so sure that Ellie needed to to go the Fireflies, but what if he really was wrong? He had always trusted that Tommy knew them better than he did. Why would anything chance? All he was able to muster up was a sigh when he realized that, in retrospect, he was acting like a child.
Suddenly, the room felt much hotter. Crossing his arms, he met their eyes fleetingly as he spoke. "Then let's all get to thinking. We can't afford to drag our feet, here." There was a silence in the room, but it was better than more yelling. As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over and no progress had been made.
Turning, he exited the room into the cool night and clicked the door shut behind him. Since these strangers had showed up, things had been a shitshow. What makes me so special that I have to deal with it? A girl who is immune… what on Earth was anyone to do, in an age when all hope is lost? Carl kicked a pebble down the road, the only thing he was sure of was that he wasn't sure. At least it was cloudless and peaceful, and the farther he walked, the better he felt. But, as he neared closer to the entrance of the community, the quiet of the night was interrupted by a much more sinister sound.
People were yelling.
Instinctively, he broke into a run, all of the worst - and most likely - scenarios coming to mind: the gate open, a flood of walkers or worse already eating the first line of defenders. Turning the corner onto the main road, he smacked into Eddie and sent them both tumbling to the ground. Carl was up on his feet again in an instant, but Eddie was quicker to stop him from going onwards. "Carl, stop!" Turning his attention to the older man, he wasn't even given a chance to speak. "Go get Tommy; Ellie stole a horse and ran away!"
Only taking a second to question this action, he was running full speed back in the other direction.
Kentucky [Joel]
Joel's eyes darted back and forth, searching for any sign of the red haired girl before him. He had really fucked up, he had fucked this and it was all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Now the cure for mankind was out there somewhere, with strangers or monsters or some other horrific abomination that even he had yet to find and was getting ripped apart by it and-
Joel turned around, eyeing Lee and Clementine approaching steadfastly. It clicked for him, then; the girl had loved those stables. She had loved those horses, she had loved to ride them, as evidenced by her chatting up a storm about it all the time and speaking with Andrea so much. "The stables, do you think that's where she went?!" Joel called out to the two approaching.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
With every passing second the sense of urgency was rising, threatening to boil over completely if they didn't find her soon. Joel sparked the topic up, but if Lee hadn't indulged him on it maybe the kid wouldn't have heard it. Goddamn you, Joel.
There wasn't any time to think about that, he had Clementine freaking out on one side of his ear, and Joel on the other. The unsettled gaze the usually calm and collected man shot towards him as he called out further signalled his guilt. Like it or not, Joel wasn't going to be slipping out of this one now like he'd planned; he was gonna find her and explain this one way or another, there was any other choice now.
"Sounds like a place to start, we should ask anyone that's still up and about. Maybe some of the guards or-"
Dot [Andrea]
Things spiraled out of control the instant she found Tommy and Carl arguing about Ellie and the cure. When Carl returned with news that Ellie had rode out the front gate on horseback, Andrea immediately sprung into action, leaving Carl and Tommy behind in his office. By the time she made it to the streets, heading towards the stable nearby, her gaze zeroed in on Joel, Lee, and Clementine. The urgency in their movements suggested that they were just as uneasy as she was. She approached them quickly, getting close enough to catch pieces of their conversation.
Without stopping, she ushered them towards the stables, her voice terse. "Anyone gonna tell me why Ellie just stormed out of our front gate on horseback?"
Art [Clementine]
Clem kept up with the two adults to the very best of her ability, heavy breaths accompanied by drops of cold sweat running down the edge of her nose. Trying to grasp the situation was the hardest part, during the few instants she even had the chance to. It didn't make a lick of sense. Couldn't have been something she said, right...? And it wasn't the fucking board game either. Something happened, something that made Ellie upset or just really angry...
"I'm not gonna tell Tommy, okay…?"
She couldn't stop thinking about it. The signs were all there, and she did nothing about it. Had she just… told somebody, literally anyone what happened that morning, maybe then—
Clementine would've dwelled on the fact for the rest of eternity were it not for everything else going on. Something about… Ellie storming out on a horse. It was hard to keep track of every conversation going on, but that one stood out the most, even when drowned out by all the commotion said incident caused. The prospect had her panicking again, the girl's heart damn near bursting out of her chest whenever it pulsed. Of course, she had no idea what to tell Andrea, staring at her with a pair of anxious eyes that quickly shifted towards Joel and Lee.
Kentucky [Joel]
Joel sprung forward, stress and anger glazing his eyes over. He saw Andrea and as she mentioned the horses, Joel's eyes gleamed with recognition. "I'll tell you later, we need to go right goddamn now." He stormed past Andrea and started a mad dash for the horses, not caring who was following him.
It consumed him; the girl was out there, Ellie was out there, the cure was out there, and if she was out there, then his entire journey had meant nothing. Tess's death was for nothing; it was all for nothing; all of those people he killed were for nothing. And he couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear to lose again.
He reached the stables soon enough, clambering onto one of the horses and looking for the other three, hoping somewhat that they had followed him. Regardless if they did or not, he readied the reins of the horse and spurred it forward.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
Getting reprimanded again was among the first of thoughts Lee expected to hear from Andrea based off precedent alone. However, as the woman spoke, he found himself glad that she had. Now they had a beat of where Ellie was off to, at least. It still didn't change the fact that she'd practically rode off past the guards; if she was that angry, he hoped she wouldn't do something even more reckless out there. This is what always happened when things were left… unspoken. He supposed this had been boiling up between the smuggler and the girl for a while now, those two could be equally as stubborn sometimes…
Joel was off without a second word, barreling past Andrea, obviously not intending on being stopped as he beelined for the horses. Lee stood firm as he mulled over his options for a moment. There was no way he'd just sit on his hands here after their argument caused this. No way.
"C'mon." He gestured over to the horses. He was going to help find her and there was no way Clem was staying behind. It'd be an uphill battle if he even suggested that, one that they didn't have time for right now. As the duo approached, a hand ran through Lee's hair as he stared at all the horses, flustered. The problem was he couldn't ride a horse if his life depended on it, as he was. Back in FEDRA they never encouraged going outside the walls, so there was no need, and he hadn't had the luxury of ever getting a hold of one out on the road. He looked towards Clementine beside him, wary.
"I - didn't take the lesson yet." She knew that already, they were going to have to think up on the fly here.
Art [Clementine]
With Lee gesturing her over, Clementine didn't waste a second, following him toward the stables. Joel was the first to take off, riding past the gate like a speeding bullet, with Andrea following closely behind. The stable itself looked just as crummy as ever, the horses in there all neighing loudly, probably just as confused as they were. Whiskers was still there, in that row of horses, much to the girl's surprise and genuine glee. He looked tired, probably more so than the rest, but not one bit less agitated, smashing his hooves against the ground nonstop. Regardless, Clem found herself gravitating towards the horse she used for practice at first glance, dragging him away from his stall by his reigns. "Sshhh…! C'mon, boy," the girl pleaded in a whisper when faced with the animal's fierce resistance, his long mane swinging left and right.
What Lee pointed out after did get her to stop in her tracks, a frown sneaking into her expression. Not that they had any in the first place, but even if she did have the time to think of anything else, there really wasn't any other way. Clementine mounted the horse as quickly as she could, firmly holding the reigns before shooting a fierce look at Lee. "Hop on!"