It had been a year. An entire fucking year since Clementine knew or seen anything outside of her small, dusty cell.
The Delta hadn't taken the destruction of their boat too kindly and swiftly delivered their brutal retaliation. The destruction of Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth. She curled up on her rocky bed, hugging her fingerless stump of a hand and weeping quietly, less she disturbs the guards at the end of the dark hallway and bring down yet another punishment upon herself. With every ragged breath she took, she could feel her ribs threaten to burst through the skin that clung to her like glue.
She stretched her arm outwards, hearing her bones click, and she stared with sad, lonely eyes. She should've never warned Ericson's of the Delta; none of this would have happened otherwise. She tried playing with the big boys, and this was her punishment for daring to think that she, the weak little girl, was capable enough to tangle with the Delta.
Each day was a mental battle to keep a loose hold upon her fading sanity. Her only strength was the memory of AJ, but even they had prison bars splashed over them these days. Someone tapped on the cell door, and she weakly rolled over to face them. It was Lilly, staring at her with a chunk of meat on a paper plate in her hand.
"Eat up." The woman demanded, sliding the only meal she would ever get that day under the door. Clementine hobbled over, falling to the floor in front of the meat with a pained cry. She reached out with the only hand she could use and plucked the scragged-up meal. Truth be told, Clementine didn't know what it was, just that it was impossibly stringy, dry, and reminded her of chicken. Lilly smirked at her as she put it in her mouth and started chewing, her busted jaw hurting with every bite. "You'll be glad to know that we won the war. You're going to be stuck in here for so much longer."
Shaking, Clementine pushed the plate back under the door. The small clutch of hope she had left felt like it was ruptured and roughly ripped away from her.
"I-Is AJ okay?" She begged, knocking her forehead against the concrete and holding back the flood of tears. She was never going to let the woman she despised so much see her so weak.
"He's in a much better condition than you, that's for damn sure," Lilly answered. She choked out a sob, and Lilly chuckled as she departed. Clementine rolled over, sitting up with her back pushed flush against the wall. She brought her knees up to her chest and cried into them.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Clementine soon realised who they were. It was the guards. She tried to calm herself down before they made it to her, but it was a futile effort.
The first guard twisted his key into the door, unlocking it and stepping it into the cell. He pulled his baton out and sighed. "Have you learned nothing from last week?"
"I-I'm sorry... I-It won't h-happen again..."
"Funny." The first guard said as the second hauled her up, so she was standing. "That's what you said last time."
The first hit crashed across her cheek, spinning her head wildly to the side. The next knocked her head to the other side, and she collapsed against the second guard, still very much conscious. Blood dribbled down her cheek, splashing against the ground. A third hit walloped against her stomach, and Clementine gasped, suddenly feeling the breath lurch out of her lungs, and she coughed blood onto the first guard's uniform. The guard growled, angry at her for daring to inflict blood upon his outfit, and he smashed his baton relentlessly against her arm, and she felt the bone give way and crack. She cried out loudly, and the second guard pushed her to the ground.
She felt both of them kick at her as she curled up, protecting her head as each blow came into contact with her already impossibly delicate body.
Eventually, the kicking yielded. Clementine didn't move; she knew what was going to come next. Even as the first guard picked her up and slammed her front against the wall, his breathing and close body contact sending a sinister chill down her spine. "You know, I've been waiting for you to fuck up again. You always have been the most fun." He sneered as she whimpered, his hands moving down her body.
"Enough." The second guard interrupted. "Not today; Lilly has other plans for her."
The first guard growled, dropping her. "You got lucky today, bitch."
The guards left, leaving her a crying, bloody mess on the floor. Her breathing was laboured, but she couldn't help but notice that they had never locked the door back up. With a tiny ray of hope, she crawled along the floor, using the wall to clamber to her one foot. Awkwardly, she hopped along the surface, reaching the door. Tentatively, she pushed her hand against the door, and it creaked open.
Paranoia penetrated her heart. What if this was a sick game? Nonetheless, she stumbled through the door, slamming her shoulder against the opposite wall in the corridor. Cells lined the dusty walls, each one with someone inside. Clementine moved forward, not daring to check the cells out of fear of what she may find. Each movement sent hot spikes of pain through her body, but none of that would matter if she could get out. But then soft, familiar crying came out of the cell to her right.
She slowly leaned against the rusted bars, her amber eyes trying to break through the darkness. Finally, she saw AJ, her little goofball, coiled up in the corner with all of his limbs missing.
"A-AJ..." She weakly muttered, wrapping her fingers around the bars.
"He can't hear you," Lilly said, appearing beside her. "I'm shocked you made it this far out of your cell, but I suppose it doesn't matter. I was going to take your here anyway."
"Why can't he-" She choked, not letting AJ escape her gaze.
Lilly crossed her arms. "Well, that's because he's dead."
Clementine felt her heart stop, and she fell to her knees.
"You've been wondering what we've been feeding you for the past year, right?"
"No, no, no... Y-You didn't!"
Lilly didn't answer and grabbed Clementine by her hair and started dragging her back to her cell.
Clementine didn't react; she didn't move a muscle even as Lilly shoved her back into her prison. She curled up, and a small chuckle escaped her lips. Soon, it expanded into full-blown laughter. Lilly grinned. It had taken an entire year, but she had finally broken Clementine.
"Your training starts as soon as your healed," Lilly stated, walking away as Clementine's broken laughter echoed throughout the hallways.
The changing room was dark, dusty and dingy, and plain, grey and cracked walls. Small wooden benches stretched across the centre, cubicles lined the walls, and two washers sat alone, huddled together in the corner, barely within the tiny glow from the low hanging bulb.
The second guard, Kieran, was a man who was in his early thirties; he had short brown hair, blue eyes, and a pale complexion. He watched as John, the first guard, shoved his bloodied uniform into the washer and leaned against it to face him, moving his dirty blond hair out of his brown eyes. His face was youthful, and he couldn't have been older than twenty-five. "I don't know what that bitch's problem was." He said.
Kieran frowned. "Lilly can't exactly make a soldier out of her because you not only chopped off her fingers, but you also broke her fucking arm, dude. Besides, the war is over."
"So she has her working with the others instead of just killing her? I-I'm not the only one here who feels uncomfortable with her harvesting our food, right? I'd rather do it myself."
Kieran sat down on the bench and shrugged.
John smirked. "You really should've given her a shot when you had the chance."
Kieran knew what he was alluding to and glared at the other guard. "I'd never. That's too fucking far."
"Hey, man. Most fun I've had in years."
Kieran shot up. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Don't try this bullshit with me, don't take the fucking moral high ground here; you're in no position. Neither of us are saints, so stop pretending like you are!"
He scoffed. "Whatever, man. At least I don't enjoy this job."
"Then why'd you take it?"
"To support my fucking family! You know the rules here. If you can't pay, you get kicked out. I won't send my kids out into that world."
The door slammed open, and through the blocked beams of light stabbing through the entrance, he could make out Lilly's silhouette. Her brown eyes stared at him. "Kieran, my office, now."
John chuckled. "Someone is getting fired." He taunted.
Lilly's attention swapped to John. "You're not out of the blue. After what you've done, your pay is getting docked."
"But-"
"You know damn well what you did to deserve it. We don't rape at the Delta, you disgusting prick. Let alone to kids. Yeah, you're fucking lucky that this is all you're getting. Understand me?"
"Yes, boss," John responded submissively.
"Good. Follow me, Kieran." Lilly requested, leaving.
Kieran followed her out of the door and into the hallway of jail cells. He peaked a glance into Clementine's prison to see her curled up in a ball, giggling to herself, and he froze, staring at the teenager. It felt like something cold was crawling up his spine the more the guard reluctantly watched. It was uneasiness, he realised.
"She broke," Lilly answered the unasked question. "I-I never expected it to be this bad."
"What do you mean?" He questioned, trying his hardest to block out Clementine's insane laughter.
"She's still in there, somewhere. Look into her eyes; you'll see it."
Kieran crouched down and rapped his knuckles against the bars. Clementine flinched and uncurled, staring at him with a smile plastered on her face. He peered into her amber eyes, and he could see a hint of fear and the glint of recognition, even a tiny ray of hunger. He almost squirmed under her gaze.
"Scary, right? She's hasn't broken in the same way most others do. They normally adopt a new personality to cope, not keep their existing, damaged one. That's the same Clementine, she hasn't actually changed, and that's why it's so disturbing compared to the others." Lilly grimaced. "We never fully broke the others; we just changed them."
Kieran stood back up, digesting the information. Lilly gestured for him to follow her, and he did, trying to eradicate Clementine from his memory. He snuck quick looks at the rest of the cells filling the hallway. Most of them were empty, but a few others still had people in them. One of them, a female, had blonde shoulder-length hair and an empty eyesocket. She glared at him with her remaining faded, waxy jade eye.
"That's Violet. She's another one from Ericson's. From how Minerva used to talk about her, we assumed she'd be a lot easier to break than she is being. She's been quiet, though. I don't think she's said a single thing since getting here."
"I-I know their names," Kieran informed. "It's the least I could do after putting them through all this shit."
Lilly nodded. "I respect that."
"Really?"
"You didn't think everyone at the Delta is heartless, did you?" Lilly smirked, exiting the ward and leading him into the outside.
The sun was bright, penetrating the thick canopies of leaves that the tall trees proudly wore. Through the chain-linked fence, he could see multiple workers tending to the crops. Guards with shotguns stood nearby, watching over the workers like hawks and caps on their heads, casting opaque shadows across their faces.
One worker, a dark-skinned boy with dreads that he recognised as Louis, looked up at him. He stared back at him, and eventually, Louis gave up and got back to tilling the land. Kieran pitied him, nobody deserved to be treated like a slave, but a job is a job.
"This is wrong." He said.
Lilly paused. "I didn't invent this system; I just follow it, the same as you do."
"What do you think? There was a rumour going around that you had a soft spot for Clementine."
Lilly never answered and kept moving, opening yet another door and heading inside. The pair walked through the dormitory and finally made it to Lilly's office. She unlocked the wooden door and held it open for him.
Kieran stepped inside the snug office. The floor was made of polished floorboards, thin curtains were drawn across the large windows on either side of the long, expensive wooden desk in the middle of the room. A candlestick stood erect on the corner of the desk. Lilly slipped past him and pulled out a lighter. She flicked open the lid and clicked up a flame. It throbbed in the pitiful breeze created by her moving it toward the candlestick. She lit the candle, and the room was suddenly illuminated in a delicate coral glow. Lilly sat down in her large, leather and cushioned recliner and waited for Kieran to sit down in his tiny wooden armchair.
He sat down on the hard seat. Lilly rested her elbows on the desk and leaned in. "You up for a promotion?"
"What, why?"
"Well, are you?"
"I-I guess..." He stammered.
Lilly grinned. "Great! I'm promoting you to Warden; there'll be less... torturing people. I promise. And, of course, there'll also be better pay."
"And longer work hours, I suppose?"
"Correct. Your job now is to keep an eye on all the guards and the prisoners. Make sure both of them are sticking to the rules."
He smirked. "So I can kick John's ass if he gets out of line?"
"I'm still your higher up, but I can let it slide every once in a while. I dislike the bastard as much you do."
Keiran nodded. "Thanks for the promotion, but why me?"
Lilly stared at the desk. "I... I caught the old one doing something incredibly fucked up."
"W-What did he do?" Kieran asked, dreading the answer and cursing himself for his morbid curiosity.
"He raped and executed over half our prisoners. It's why most of those cells are empty now."
He scowled. "Where is he?"
"Dead," Lilly answered simply. "I shot him the moment I caught him with his pants around his ankles and his dick swinging about."
"Why isn't John in the same position?"
"Because I didn't know about it until half an hour ago. John's your responsibility now, not mine."
Clementine's arm felt like it was on fire. Every moment sent red hot spikes of pain searing through her. She unwillingly whimpered and leaned against the cold metal bars, closing her bloodshot eyes. A chuckle surged through her body, but the feeling of raw emptiness was still raging strong within her heart, each beat flooding it through her arteries. Her thoughts were jumbled like they had been cast into a blender. Using her only usable arm, she pulled herself to her feet, grunting and falling into the wall to support herself.
"V-Violet?" She tested, hoping the other girl would hear her. "I know you're here too. L-Lilly mentioned you."
Clementine waited, getting nothing but a deafening silence. Rats crawled through the walls, their sharp little claws scratching away at the insides. Eventually, Violet answered, her voice sounding like gravel from a year of no use. "What?"
"N-Nothing... I just wanted t-to speak. No-one's here to know it."
The brunette heard the blonde shuffles, getting closer to the bars. "I heard about AJ."
Clementine didn't respond, and Violet erupted into a rough coughing fit, slamming her closed fist against her chest. It was a desperate yet futile attempt to stop the pain each cough brought her.
"Are you okay?" Violet asked.
"It's funny, you know?" Clementine answered, grinning. "She was making me eat him the whole time, and I somehow never saw it coming. She got me good."
"I'm sorry..."
And the pair were back in silence. Clementine limped away from the bars, sitting on her uncomfortable bed, boredom eating away at her.
A ray of light smeared the dull wall opposite her, and a figure approached her cell, holding a metal tray. Grey sludge was the only thing on it, and John slipped it under the door. She smirked and scooped the sludge up into her hands.
"It's gruel. Eat up." He stated, glaring at her and crossing his arms. Hesitantly, she gave it a little taste test. It tasted like sawdust blended with wet concrete. Her face soured, and John chuckled. "First time eating this shit?"
A grin burst across her face, and she suddenly reared her fist back. John's eyes widened, and the gruel slammed into his face, dripping onto his clothes. Clementine cackled and rocked backwards, holding her gut. It felt like it was going to burst!
John growled and slammed the cell open, approaching Clementine. She froze as John pulled out his baton. She stared at him.
"Scared, huh?" He taunted, sneering.
Clementine blinked, and before the man could react, she pounced on him, digging her teeth into his throat. He screamed at the top of his lungs, and she ripped her head backwards. His shrill shriek died in his ripped throat.
Clementine smiled as scarlet blood dripped through her teeth and out from her mouth, and blood from John's exposed windpipe collided with her face. She barred her teeth and bit into his fleshy neck once again, chewing the sinew that she pulled from the bone and gulping it down.
"Clementine?" Violet called out quietly.
The teenager ignored Violet and kept eating her meal like a ravenous wolf, the sounds of chewing filling the silence of the hallway. She dug her thumb into John's open, scared eye and her tongue lapped the mush from her bloodsoaked fingertip. She licked the inside of his eye socket, savouring the metallic twang. Clementine sighed, deep in bliss. It tasted far better than the gruel she had been served. She flinched, her broken rib stabbing into her. Growling, she feasted some more until her jaw shut around a sharp flare of bone.
Footsteps thundered down the corridor, and before Clementine knew it, she had been kicked in the chin and knocked off John's corpse. Hands grabbed her and roughly shoved her back into her cell. The door slammed shut, and she glared at the person who had interrupted her. Lilly glared right back, Kieran appearing beside her.
She laughed at them and staggered to the corner of the cell, turning her back to them.
Lilly sighed and plunged the knife into John's skull. "Don't make me put you down, Clementine."
Clementine kept laughing, the tears streaming down her cheeks plopped against the concrete in rapid succession. Her shoulders shook, and the door locked.
Every sound hung in the air, an unasked question that everyone in the room seemed to know.
Who killed AJ?
"You killed him, Clem. The man responsible? You killed him." Lilly answered. "But it's coming back, isn't it?"
Clementine's insane laughter quietened, turning into hardly audible giggles.
"I knew you hadn't gone full batshit. You might still be useful after all."