Chapter 12 - All That Remains

The Next Day

The birds call out in a beautiful song in the cool mid-afternoon breeze. I throw a spear into the water, impaling a fish that I casually toss into the bucket. I look back at my haul, and it's pretty satisfying, better than normal. The fish seemed to have smartened up, as they've stopped swimming upstream, so I guess it'll have to do.

"Rosie!" I call out with a sharp whistle afterwards, and the big bulldog struts out from behind the shack, right up to me before she sits down, looking up at me, curious. I give her an ear scratch before walking inside the shack to put the spear away.

As I place the spear with the others, something catches my eye in the corner of the shack. Inscribed in the wood, V+M, surrounded by a heart. Violet and Minerva. I feel bad for Vi, she had something good with Minnie, I bet, before it all fell apart. Getting an idea, I pull out my knife. I go over to a smooth part of the wall, and I start inscribing something myself. B+B, Brett and Brody. I add a heart to surround it, but it kinda looks like a deformed potato. In the back of my mind, I hear her giggle, as I know she would have if she were here.

Below it, I inscribe one last thing. "Always Loved, Never Forgotten." I don't know what led me to write that, but it's true. I'll always love her, and I'll never forget her. I walk back out of the shack, and with Rosie by my side, we walk back to the school.

At least, I walk out of the shack intending to, although some movement forces me to stop. Stumbling through the bushes, a single walker, looking lost as ever. Tenn. There he is, after AJ shot him, he wound up here. Seemingly twiddling his thumbs, the same way he did as a person, it's like Tenn never died. My heart drops thinking about it, but maybe it's better off. Tenn always talked about being with his family again, and now he can be.

Still, though, we can't let a walker stick around. Knife in hand, I creep towards Walker Tenn, completely oblivious to me. With a deep breath, I jab my knife into his skull, making a sickening crunch and squish noise as he lets out a final gasp before falling into the grass for good.

"Sorry, buddy. You deserved better." I whisper to him, although he can't hear me for several obvious reasons, patting the corpse on the back as 'emotional support' before walking back to Rosie. Now, back to the school.

On the trail leading to the school, tied with some leftover rope, Abel's corpse is propped against a tree, looking out at any unwanted visitors as a warning, don't fuck with us. Delta learned that lesson in an explosive way, to say the least.

Aasim walks up next to me, carrying several rabbit carcasses for Omar to cook tonight. He and I smile to each other, looking at how much food we have for Omar. Needless to say, we'll be eating good for a while. I hear a squealing noise as Ruby runs out to us, rather Aasim. She hugs him and greets him with a peck on the cheek. I guess while there was a whole life and death situation, Ruby realized she had feelings for Aasim, and Aasim clearly had feelings for her, given the whole truth or dare incident. That slap that Ruby got him with is a hundred times funnier now, looking back just a couple of days ago. As the gates open, I walk right over to Omar, dropping the bucket right at his feet, and I'm returned a gracious smile from the boy as he stirs a wonderfully smelling broth.

I walk over to the graveyard, seeing Violet kneeling in front one of the graves. I kneel next to her, it's Tenn's grave. It was already made when I got back, meaning Louis, Clem, or AJ must've told the others.

"Paying your respects?" She asks, turning to me, and I get a full view of the damage the bomb did to her. It turns out Ruby's hunch was correct. Violet lost all sight in her right eye, and there were really bad burns on the right side of her face. But, there was no infection and some antibiotics were able to keep the burns clean and safe. So, just some damage to the skin and losing an eye was all the damage from the bomb. Not ideal, but it could've been a lot worse.

"Yeah, I never got the chance to yesterday. Overwhelmed by everything that happened, I didn't think it was the right time, you know?"

"Of course." She nods. "I don't blame you. A lot happened, but you made the right call. And I know he'd agree."

I nod as well, taking a glance at my brother's grave, freshly made, just like Tenn's. "I know. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but I didn't see another choice."

"When you told me what happened, and how he let himself get cut instead of Clem… fuck. Just think, that could've been her just as easily as your brother."

I frown, looking over at Clem, her and AJ laughing at one of the picnic tables. "I know. But Benji knew what he wanted to do. It was extremely noble of him, throwing himself on the line like that."

The two of us turn back to the grave, and my heart sinks as I read his name, inscribed on a plank of wood, just like Marlon, Brody, and Tenn.

"Who's the poor bastard buried over there?" A voice asks us as the both of us turn around. Benji, color back in his face, hobbles over, with the help from some old crutches, since he's missing his right foot. Despite this, he grins brightly, being out of bed for the first time since I got him back.

"What're you doing out of bed?" I ask him as he and I hug. "Ruby said you'd need a few more days, at least."

"Yeah, well, I can only spend so much time laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. Besides, the sooner I can be back on my feet… well, foot, the better."

"Benji!" AJ yells as he immediately darts over to see my brother, leaping into him for a hug.

"Woah! Easy on the broken parts, buddy." He chuckles as he hugs AJ back. Clem's the next to hug him, who doesn't say a word as she goes in for one. It's not until she's shed a couple tears that I hear her say something.

"Benji… I'm so sorry." She mumbles to my brother. "You didn't have to do that. Why did you take that for me?"

"Clem, I'd do it all again if I had to. What kinda person would I be if I stood there and let Minnie slice your leg open?" He assures her. "And what if you got bit? You could be dead right now if that was you. Seriously, don't worry."

"Yeah, but you almost died yourself." She argues. "You were within inches of your life. Ruby said so herself."

As he's about to answer, I interject. "I told you, he's a hard bastard. You can't just kill Benjamin Sanderson like that." He turns to me with a warm smile before looking back at Clem.

"Yeah, what he said."

Aasim walks to us, giving Benji a quick hug before looking at the two of us. "It's good to see you up and about. When Brett told us about what happened, we weren't sure you'd make it. Willy insisted we had a grave ready because you were… you know."

"It was some quick thinking by Brett." Benji tells him. "In the few moments of consciousness I had, I wasn't sure if it would work, but alas, here I am. All it cost was my foot and part of my leg."

Benji and I stare at each other, for one last time, before he lowers his head, and whispers a prayer. That's how I know it's my time. I raise the axe above my head, and with one last moment of clarity, I say one last thing to him.

"I'm sorry, Ben."

And I swing down, right above the bite on his leg. He lets out a scream of pain as blood spurts from his leg, the cut going about two thirds of the way in.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"I'm not letting you give up that easily." I assure him as I swing down again, cutting clean through the rest of his leg. Another shriek of pain follows, before his body falls limp, unconscious from the pain of it all. Seeing the blood spraying from his wound, time is of the essence. I grab a bale of hay, and I pull out my lighter, relieved as it sparks, despite being underwater hours earlier. I put my lighter to the hay, igniting the bale, and I put my brother's leg to the wound. Cauterization, something that Angie taught me when I was with her group, it's meant to stop an amputation wound from bleeding and prevent infection. As the fire burns my brother's flesh, a smokey smell fills the barn, but soon enough, the bleeding slows down as his flesh burns.

He remains unconscious, slightly bleeding from his leg as he lays there. I take off my flannel, tying it around the bottom of his leg with the sleeves, the body tied under the sleeves to stop as much of the bleeding as I can. With my flannel tied tightly around his leg, I look around the barn for something to carry him back in. In the back corner, and old wheelbarrow sits, full of hay. Perfect. I tip it on its side, dumping the hay out, and I wheel it over to my brother, making sure to put out the fire on my way back by stomping on the hay. I pick him up, placing his body evenly in the wheelbarrow and I start wheeling him out of the barn.

A small pack of walkers now litter the area, likely drawn by Benji's screaming, but I don't care. Even as they take notice, I keep wheeling Benji to the school. They pursue us the best they can, the echoing of their groans bouncing off the trees getting louder and louder, yet the familiar clearing comes into view as Ericson's appears in the trees. I turn back to see a few walkers emerge from the woods behind, so I keep moving toward the gates. Willy pokes his head out from the lookout perch. Taking notice of us, he disappears for a moment, before he pops out again at the gate, slowly creaking it open. I waste no time meeting him there, and he slams the gate shut behind us, well before any walkers can make it to us.

"What happened?" He asks, pointing to Benji's lack of a right foot.

"H-He was bitten." I shakily respond. "I cut off his foot as a last stitch effort to keep him alive."

"Shit…" He whispers. "He might… Ruby!"

The redhead runs over to us. "Oh gosh… Benji, he…"

"He was bitten. Brett cut off his foot, but-" Willy tries to tell her, but she immediately cuts him off.

"Amputation. Smart idea. You might've bought him some time." Ruby nods, slowly removing my now bloody flannel. "And you cauterized it? Good. Good. I'll take him inside and see what I can do."

I sigh in relief, collapsing to my knees, unsure what to think as Ruby wheels him into the Admin building. The whole world goes silent as everyone else watches on in shock. She disappears inside with my brother, and I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up at Clementine's amber eyes staring back at mine. AJ follows suit, putting his hand on my other shoulder, and the two of them help me to my feet. Immediately, I hug the both of them.

My mind fades back to the present as Omar calls us over to the table. All of us sit down as he passes out bowls of soup, a substantial amount of rabbit meat in each of them, expertly prepared by him, as usual. With all the lighthearted conversation and laughter, things finally feel normal. Today, we're not survivors, or soldiers, or anything else. Just friends, enjoying a nice warm meal on a beautiful fall afternoon. No walkers, no raiders, just us.

All the lighthearted conversation immediately stops as Willy takes a piece of meat in his spoon, and flings it across the table at Omar, and it splats right on his cheek, dropping onto the table in front of him, and all eyes go to Omar, glaring right back at Willy, whose mischievous demeanor does a total 180. But then, a small smirk on Omar's face forms, and he starts laughing, which immediately prompts the rest of us to do the same.

A belching noise comes from my right as we then all look at Ruby, who sheepishly grins back at the rest of us. Ruby, the one who always complained about manners, especially burping, casually goes back to eating her food without a care in the world. Not to be outdone, a much louder burp comes from her right, and AJ grins as the rest of us start howling in laughter again.

I slurp down the rest of my soup, and I let out a satisfied sigh as I turn to Omar. "Do we have enough for any seconds?"

"Already?" He sighs. "Did you even taste that?" He asks me.

I nod. "Of course, that's why I want seconds!" Shaking his head, he grabs my bowl to go get another helping, and a victorious smile forms on my face.

"How are your eyes?" Benji asks Violet, who turns away slightly, slightly embarrassed, before turning back to him with a soft smile.

"Between my patch and your stump, we almost make a full pirate." She says with a giggle.

"Any takers on the hook hand?" Benji asks the rest of us, met with a few laughs and a lot of shaking heads.

Dinner goes on, and everything seems pretty light, until Clem stands up, and everyone falls silent.

"So, it's been a few weeks since I met you guys, and it's been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. We've only found out that our old leader was a scumbag, went to war with another group, kicked their ass, and almost died a few thousand times. But, like most of you already know, AJ and I have been away from home for the past few weeks, away from Richmond. And, I think it's time for us to head back." She tells us, and a few quiet murmurs are exchanged through the rest of us. I guess this was inevitable. Clem and AJ have their whole lives back there, and they need to go back to their loved ones.

"I know we've been through a lot, but I already know that Gabe, Ian, Kate, and everyone else are worried sick. So, that's why AJ and I plan on leaving tomorrow morning. And we want you guys to come back with us."

Faces light up at Clem's offer. Mine included. Richmond sounds like the real deal. Strong, accountable leadership, good defense, plenty of people, it only makes sense. But then again, Clem said it herself, it's gonna be a couple days of walking, at least. And with Benji…

"I'm all for going here, but with Benji's leg-"

"We're in." Benji volunteers the both of us. "If you're offering us a spot in Richmond, we gotta take it, right? It's too good to pass up."

"Benji, your leg." I remind him. "You need rest."

"I'll have time to rest when I'm dead." He boldly says back to me. "I'll be fine. Let's go to Richmond."

I look around at the table, and everyone else seems to be in agreement. So, I shrug. "Fuck it, let's do it."

"So, that settles it." Clem beams. "We leave tomorrow morning. Pack as much as you can. It'll be about two days from here to Richmond. With any luck, the toughest part of the trip will be walking there."

"So how exactly do you know where to go? We don't exactly have GPS anymore." Louis asks the important question, but Clem looks back at him confidently.

"The highway. It's a couple hours North from here, and then we just need to head East. It's a straight shot to Richmond." She assures us. "We should get there by dusk the next day if we leave tomorrow."

"You're the boss." He smiles.

Soon after, we all return to our respective rooms, packing up for a journey to a new place to call home. Ericson was great and all, but a chance at a real community, I guess it makes sense why Benji was so adamant about going, even despite his condition. He might be quiet, but god damn he's one hard-headed dude.

I get my backpack from the foot of my bed, and I pack what I can, some shirts, a pair of jeans, my water bottle, and the last two boxes of 9mm ammo I have left. I look over at Benji, who puts down his book and glances back at me, a gracious smile on his face.

"I should be dead right now. And yet, here I am, reading a book, laying in bed like nothing happened. All because you made the decision to try and save me, even though I was a lost cause. Why?"

"I told you," I smile back at him, "I wasn't letting you give up like that. You're all the family I have left, and I can't lose you."

"Well, I'm glad you did. Losing my foot sucks and all, but it's a small price to pay to live another day."

"You were pretty adamant about going to Richmond tomorrow, even with your leg being the way it is." I note. "You're absolutely certain you're gonna be alright? Richmond's gonna be a bit of a hike, and I don't want you falling behind."

"I'll be fine." He assures me. "Seriously, I'll be able to keep up. If it means we have a safe community, I have to do it."

Reluctantly, I nod in agreement. "Ok. I trust you. Just… don't overdo it, alright?"

He nods back as he lays down, looking up at the ceiling. "This is gonna be good for us, I can tell. The school's ran its course. It's time to move on."

"Maybe you're right. A new place might be the right way to go, especially if it's half as good as Clem described it."

That night, I had the best night of sleep I'd had since this mess started. No nightmares, nothing. We're safe now. And we have an opportunity that we can't, and won't pass up.

The ten of us walk down the road, Rosie makes us eleven, as signs for the highway start to pop up. It looks like it's still several miles away, probably another hour or so of walking, but no one seems to have an issue, even Benji who, despite being on one leg, has been keeping up in his crutches.

"Hey, can we take a break? I need to piss." I ask the others, and we decide to take a quick break. I walk over to a tree, unzip my jeans, and start to relieve myself as a light wind flows through the woods. As I finish up, I zip up my jeans, ready to keep moving.

A hand covers my mouth as another one puts the cool steel of a knife against my throat, not wanting to get my throat slit, I don't resist, raising my hands as my attacker puts their blade against my throat harder.

"How convenient, I run into you here in the middle of the woods." I hear Lilly's voice from behind me, and I can only assume she's been watching us, waiting for a chance. "After what you did to my boat, I should kill you all, take your supplies, and return to the Delta with something. If I'm the only one making it back, I might as well not come back empty-handed." She growls to me, my breathing quickening as she continues to hold me up.

A clicking noise comes from behind us, and I hear Clementine's voice. "Drop it."

Lilly complies, dropping the knife in front of me and walking back. I turn back around, Clem still pointing the gun at the back of her head, and I feel my fists ball up. She and I stare each other dead in the eyes, she not daring move, so I take advantage of that, sending her to the ground with a punch to the gut. I grab her by the collar, dragging her back out onto the main road, catching the attention of the others as we get closer.

"What the fuck is this?" Aasim asks us, intimidated by the sight of Lilly, but not backing down.

"She held a knife to Brett's throat." Clem explains. "She was gonna kill all of us."

"We should kill her. She was gonna kill Brett." AJ suggests.

Violet walks to Lilly, a glare in her one good eye, and kicks her right in her face, leaving a mark right below Lilly's left eye. "No. Killing her right now would be too generous. I want this bitch to suffer."

"I agree," Benji coldly nods, walking over with his crutches to Lilly, who looks at his stump curiously, "She doesn't deserve to die… yet. That'll come soon enough."

"Well, what do we do then?" Omar asks, diverting attention away from Lilly. "She's dangerous. We can't just let her go free."

"We have to kill her!" AJ repeats. "Last time we let her go, she killed James! She can't hurt anyone else!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her slowly get to her feet, reaching for Violet's knife in her back pocket, to which I draw my handgun, pointing it at her. "I wouldn't." I warn her. "On your knees."

She backs off as attention shifts back to her. Kneeling down, she looks up at me. "Please… Don't kill me." She pleads, just like on the boat. "I don't wanna die. You have my word, I'll never attack you again."

I scoff. "Same song and dance as the other night. How'd that go?"

"You have every right to kill me, I get it. But please, you guys are good kids. This time'll be different. I'll leave you alone. I just want to see my people again. My husband, my daughter, my people, please."

"Does he know he's married to a killer?" I ask her. "Does the girl know her mother murders other kids?"

"No..." She confesses. "He thinks these are just scouting missions and she's... she's still an infant. Please… Just let me see them again. That's all this has been about. Keeping my people safe while we fight our war. I… I can't let everyone I love die, please!"

Keeping the gun pointed at her, I turn back to the others, and I'm met with a lot of apathetic looks, not a lot of compassion. I look back at her with a similar look on my face, as she looks back at me, sheer desperation and horror on her face. I want her dead, but at the same time, if she's telling the truth, I don't want to rob that kid of a mother, or her husband of his wife. I'm not a total heartless asshole, after all.

I sigh, accepting a difficult decision, and I slightly turn the gun to the right, firing a single shot past her head. She clutches her left ear, dazed by me firing a gun so close to her, and I leave her with a simple warning.

"I see you again, the next one's going into your forehead, got it?"

She nods in relief, and I kick her down to the ground, pointing in the opposite direction. "Now go, before I change my mind."

She takes one last look at all of us, before getting to her feet turning around, and slowly walking away, not looking back for a moment. AJ walks next to me, trying to piece together what just happened.

"Why didn't you kill her? You wanted her dead last time."

"Because," I tell the boy. "I'm gonna give her a chance to make up for what she did. If she really does have a family back home, then it's not fair to them. If she's lying, then she'll get what's coming. I'll make sure of that."

"You know she probably was lying, right?" Clem reminds me, and I nod back.

"Probably, but that doesn't matter. If I see her, I'll kill her. No second thought about it. I'm sick of dealing with her shit. So either way I don't have to deal with her anymore."

"That's fair." She murmurs as we all turn around and start walking down the road once again. I take one last look back at Lilly, almost completely faded from view. Hopefully that's the last time I see her. Regardless, as more signs for the highway come into view, I take her off my mind as with each step, we get one step closer to Richmond.

So, yes, today's Thursday. Usually, I upload this on Fridays. There is a reason for this. I have three exams tomorrow. Three major exams. And then it's Spring Weekend at my university, so I intend to get belligerently drunk and high the entire weekend and not worry about a single thing. So, my gift to you, this week's chapter a week early. Next week's chapter will be up Friday, like normal.

Believe it or not, that was the second-to-last chapter of this story. Time flies, right? Anyways, thinking ahead for the future, I already have the last chapter written, ready to go next Friday, and I've already started mapping out my next project, which I think is gonna be something massive. With a big project, means there's a lot of characters, and frankly, I wanna give back a bit. So, if you have an OC you'd like to see portrayed, you can leave a review or send me a PM of a descripton of your character, using the following format:

Name:

Age:

Build (Height, Weight, and whatnot):

Skills:

Weapons:

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Hope I get a lot of submissions from y'all. See you guys next Friday to close this thing out.