Jane's POV
"Burn it," Derek reaffirms, turning towards Henry with a serious expression. "Don't make me repeat myself again, Henry. Grab the gasoline from the bus and burn the whole place to the ground."
"I thought we were gonna take this place over?"
Mulling it over for a few seconds, Derek shakes his head before glancing over to Lilly and I.
"It's not worth having to station someone here when we've got a perfectly fine base over in Dallas," he reasons, placing his hands on his hips as he shoots his people a sharp look. "Besides, we've gotten enough out of this place. Two chicks who could probably shoot twice as good as any of you bastards."
The men chuckle heartily as Lilly sends off an evil glare, but I just let them take jabs at us without even putting up a fight. Sticks and stones, right?
Wrong – Clem more than proved that fact.
God, that couldn't have possibly gone any worse than the way that it had inside. She looked so hurt, betrayed, abandoned… In my mind there was no alternative to this, but… I don't even know anymore. Lilly seems to think that I just gave up and caved to their demands, but she also thought that it would be a good idea to shoot all of them.
That may have worked when we first got here, but the roles had switched this time around. This time they were the lions and we were the sheep.
As I'm forced onto some dirty, old school bus along with Lilly and two other people, I look out the back window and sigh heavily. All of that work to make this place a home – gone in an instant. Our home is up in flames as the wood crackles and burns, leaving nothing in its wake except ashes and smoke. Houston Hills will become nothing more than a distant memory, and there's not a damn thing that I can do about it.
I hope Lilly and Clem can forgive me for this someday.
Lilly, for her part, refuses to look outside. Instead, she glares at the back of the seat in front of her with her legs crossed and her arms folded across her chest; brow fiercely furrowed. Usually, I find it actually pretty funny whenever she gets really pissed off. Well, you know, before we hated each other's guts, anyways. She'd always pout her lip frustratingly, and sometimes she'd stutter whenever she got completely annoyed at something. I always found myself drawn to it for some reason…
But right now? No, this is different. There's no joking glimmer in either of our eyes, and I'm pretty sure in Lilly's eyes I have crossed the line. She's a live grenade right now, and I need to defuse it as soon as possible. For both of our sakes.
That time isn't now, though. I'll just give her some space for a little bit. Besides, I've got enough on my mind as it is.
"You sure that was a smart idea?" Henry asks as he climbs into the driver's seat, with Derek occupying the seat closest to him.
"Are you just gonna question everything I do? Yes, it was the right thing to do. I'm not an idiot, Henry."
"Sure fooled me…" I mutter, quietly enough so that nobody can hear me.
Turning the key in the ignition slot, Henry checks his blind spots before venturing out onto the road; the rest of these goons following behind him in trucks. Two of the vehicles have large turrets on the back, and I sigh in acceptance that they probably would've ended up killing us. Lilly probably won't see it that way, but it's the truth.
"Well… what about Kyle?" Henry asks pensively, looking over to Derek for an explanation. That didn't make much sense to me either, honestly.
Looking to the back at Lilly and I for a brief moment, Derek shakes his head and turns to the window.
"If that girl's as capable and dangerous as I think she was," he begins, glancing at the passing desert with a calm demeanor, "then Kyle's already dead."
Henry looks over in surprise, and even I'm a little shocked at this information. He wanted Kyle dead the whole time?! What the fuck?!
"He was a scared, little shit. We can't have that around here, and the rest of this group would do well to remember that," he comments nonchalantly, cracking his knuckles as he leans over the seat with his hands underneath his chin. "Would you have wanted Kyle to be the one protecting you if one of them lurkers came running?"
Henry says nothing and concentrates on his driving.
"Didn't think so," Derek concludes, saying no more as he sits back in the seat.
I'll admit, I totally didn't expect that. I mean, I knew that Kyle was practically worthless and had a big mouth, but with the negotiations that went on I thought that he'd at least want to keep the kid around.
With the look in Kyle's eyes after he left, though, I'm glad that Derek seems to think he's dead. He better not have hurt Clementine…
"You can rest easy, ladies," Derek calls out to the back, and I slowly raise my glare to his face. "We'll be there in a few hours, and we'll get you all settled in shortly. We need people like you on watch."
"Fuck you."
Chuckling at my short outburst, Derek smirks and shakes his head.
"You'll come to see things my way," he simply replies, steadying himself as we go over a bump in the road. "Soon enough, you'll see what needs to be done to survive."
…
"Jaaaaannnnnneeeee!" she whines annoyingly, tapping me repeatedly on the shoulder as I sleepily swat her hand away from me. "Get up! You said we could go to the amusement park today!"
"I was lying…" I groan, rolling over in my bed and putting the pillow over my face. It's the only way for me to block out the sunlight as she draws the curtains open. "Ugh… god damn it, Jaime! Why do you have to do this every morning?!"
"'Cause you're a lazy bum, that's why!" she fires back, ripping the covers off of me as I shoot her the bird. "Come on, we've only got a day left here! Mom and Dad are picking us up at six!"
I seriously don't have time for this shit – especially this early in the morning.
"They're picking you up," I remind her slightly bitterly as my thoughts trail to Mom and Dad. "They made it pretty clear that they don't want me around anymore."
The tone turns kind of sombre as Jaime frowns in sadness, and I can't help but feel a twinge of guilt as I feel her sit on the edge of the bed. You'd think she'd be used to not having me around the house anymore, what with me being kicked out four years ago now. But when I look at her now, I can still see the little kid that cried at the front door that day; begging our parents to let me back inside with tears in her eyes. I still get shivers just thinking about that.
Not wanting her to get upset, as this is one of the few times that we actually get to spend with each other, I sigh heavily and lightly smack her on the knee.
"Alright, I'm up. You're paying for games this time around, though. The last one we tried was a damn rip-off!" I say, chuckling as her cheesy smile returns to her face. "Meet you downstairs in a few?"
"Okay," she agrees, seemingly a bit more cheerful as her behaviour changes on the fly. "Don't be slow!"
"I'll try not to," I murmur, watching as she sprints out of our crappy motel room and accidentally slams the door behind her in excitement. Once she's gone, I collapse back on the bed for a brief moment and breathe out through my nose. That girl is a handful.
Five hours later…
"Jane?! What… what's happening?!" Jaime asks in fright, totally confused as I hurriedly drag her by the hand out towards my piece of shit car. "Where are we going?!"
"Anywhere but here!" I quickly reply, pulling out my keys and unlocking the front doors for the both of us. "Just get in! Quickly, they're coming this way!"
As soon as she sits down, I lock the car doors, start the car and drive off without waiting for my sister to put her seat belt on. Those things are literally EVERYWHERE, and I'm not sticking around to wait for them.
"Fuck… looks like everyone else got the same idea," I comment, turning the wheel around so that we don't get stuck in the traffic jam as hundreds of others urgently exit the park. The back road is typically reserved for pedestrians, but fuck 'em! I'm getting Jaime out of here, regardless if I'm breaking a stupid rule or not!
Applying steady pressure to the gas pedal, I shake my head in shock as I try to wrap my head around what we just witnessed. We stood in the damn cotton candy line for twenty minutes since Jaime just had to have one, only to witness the guy making it get devoured by some monster coming up behind him. The guy couldn't have been out of his late teens, and he couldn't even utter a sound as this gross-looking creature came out of nowhere and ripped his neck open.
I felt sick to my stomach, but Jaime was completely horrified. I wish she didn't have to see that…
"I'm taking you back home," I inform her, not bothering to stop as a couple people beg for me to take them with me. "I'll drop you off and then head back to my place. You can call Mom and Dad from the house and let 'em know we're fine. Don't worry – whatever this is, I'm sure it'll be…"
Slowly, I release my foot off the gas pedal and widen my eyes as Jaime screams in horror and disbelief. That one scream right there will go on to haunt my nightmares for years to come, but I can't tear my gaze away to comfort the poor kid.
Mom's getting torn apart by Dad as he sticks pieces of flesh and organs into his mouth; only turning around when he hears Jaime's shrieks and sobs. As much as I hated living with them before, and the fact that I really didn't have any love for them at that point, I still can't stop some tears from prickling at my eyes. My voice gets caught in my throat as Dad stumbles his way over to us; clawing at Jaime's window as she hyperventilates in the front seat.
Not being able to handle any more of this, I slam my foot on the gas and drive away; knocking Dad over in the process as Jaime loudly sobs in the front seat.
That's what I've been thinking about for nearly the entire trip – that, and also about Clementine. But that damn scene keeps repeating itself in my brain over and over again, almost as if it's taunting me and saying how I should've been a better sister to her afterwards. How I failed Jaime by letting her grief swallow her whole, and watching as the once happy kid slowly turned into a self-pitying, incapable mess that wanted nothing more than for me to let her die.
And I did – I may have just done the same thing with Clem.
"Jane," Lilly nudges me, bringing me back to reality, "we've stopped. Might as well get off the bus."
"Where are we?" I question, standing up to stretch out my body as Lilly shrugs her shoulders.
"Dunno," she replies devoid of any emotion, "you should, though. You're the one that agreed with him."
"Lilly… please don't do this. I don't want to lose you, too."
"Yeah?" she responds, garnering her flare back as roughly shoves me aside. "Maybe you should've thought of that before sending Clem to her death!"
After she spits her ball of fire at me, I sadly trudge along after her and step out into the cool, Texan air. It's really dark out right now, but this camp is lit up thanks to the numerous torch stands spread out around here. It's almost as if these people moved back to medieval times with some of the stuff they have around. Horses, stables… hell, the wooden building up on the hill even resembles a castle if you look at it the right way.
The various patrol guards with rifles in their hands gives it away, though.
"Joseph, Casey and Kate, you're on watch for now," Derek orders, with the three nodding diligently as they walk off to their positions. "The rest of you… get some rest or do whatever the fuck you feel like. It's game night, if you're into that sort of thing. Just keep the noise down, and don't kill each other. That goes double for you, Henry!"
"Hmph… Pat's lucky that all he got was a broken nose!"
"See that it stays at just a broken nose," Derek tells him, smirking as he watches his second in command go off. He then turns to us with a serious expression. "You're under my roof now, ladies, which means that you're under my rules. No assaults, no murders of your fellow occupants, get it? I know how trigger-happy you people like to be."
"Doesn't mean much coming from you," Lilly spits, glaring daggers at Derek as he casually strolls up towards her. In an instant, my protective instincts kick in and I step in front of her; not wanting Lilly to get hurt already. If this guy wants a piece of her, then he'll have to go through me beforehand.
Unfortunately, that's just what he does.
The fucker knees me hard in the stomach as I keel over in pain, with Lilly coming to my side as Derek watches the exchange with distaste.
"I'll tell you this once and only once," he states, folding his arms across his chest as he impatiently waits for me to stand. "First thing you'll learn around here is about respect. Those who deserve respect, earn respect. Right now, you two are the lowest of the low – people are gonna treat you like shit until you can prove yourselves. They'll squash you like bugs beneath their boots, and you'll take it because that's what you deserve right now."
There's going to be one hell of a bruise in my abdomen tomorrow morning, but it's not nearly as bad as my bruised ego at the moment. My pride just took a nose dive.
"You two aren't soft, I know that. But we've all taken shit to get this far," he continues, looking over at me. "You're lives are in your own hands around here – I can't and won't be held responsible for your safety. Just keep your eyes forward and your mouths shut, and you'll do fine around here. Work your way up, and the people will treat you as their own."
"When this place falls…" I wheeze, slowly catching my breath, "I'm gonna make sure… you're the first to die…"
Instead of looking pissed off or threatened as I thought he would, Derek actually looks slightly impressed.
"A real ballsy move, especially for a newcomer. I knew you two would be welcome additions round here," he praises, before his gaze grows serious again. "But this is a warning – you don't mouth me off in my house, ever. Fuck with the wrong person around here, and you may as well tighten the nooses around your own necks. Understand?"
When neither of us say anything, Derek nods and motions for us to follow him down the path that Henry had gone down earlier. We're met with jeers, thrown rocks and insults that come our way, but Lilly and I try our best to endure as we follow along like a pair of fucking dogs. Lilly's got her fists clenched and seems extremely tense, but I slowly walk up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Don't…" I whisper, shaking my head as I lean over to talk to her. "It's not worth it. Don't let them win."
"We're gonna kill them all, Jane."
"In time," I agree, catching a shoe that's thrown my way and tossing it right in the groin of the man who threw it. The rest of the camp chuckles as we continue onwards. "We just need to pick our spots."
Derek leads us to a decently-sized, wooden building where the obnoxious sound of chatter can be heard. Opening the doors, the crowd quiets down a little bit, but they continue with on with their activities as Lilly and I wait patiently by the door.
"You want a bullet in your gut, don't ya?!" one of the morons slur, rage painted on his face as he stands up with his fists clenched. "I've got half a mind to slit your throat for even walkin' back in here!"
"Who the fuck do you think you're speaking to, bitch?! Sit down before I put you down!"
"Idiots…" Derek mumbles, shaking his head as a small crowd forms around their table, probably wondering what all the fuss is about. "I give them a night each week to relax and let off some steam, and this is what happens. Every fucking time…"
Henry glares sharply at me as he notices us, but turns his attention back to the dumbasses with a wicked idea.
To Lilly and I, these people's days are numbered with the way that they act. How they human race wasn't wiped off the face of the planet before the apocalypse with people like these still baffles me.
"You want to settle your differences?" Henry calls out, garnering some attention as Derek watches on in silence. "Fine, get a game going. You know which one!"
"RUSSIAN ROULETTE!"
Quickly tossing the cards off of the table, the entire room erupts with cheers, chants and drunken-induced speech as the two arguers sit across from each other. Henry tosses a revolver into the middle of the table, spins it around and backs up as one of the crazy bastards picks it up with a shaky hand.
"This is your way of surviving out here?" I question, listening as the fit of cheers gets louder when the empty click sounds off. "Real smart."
"It kills off the stupid ones, I guess," Derek shrugs, even though I can tell that he's a bit miffed about the whole thing. Whether it's about somebody dying or just wasting the bullets, I'm not too sure.
I'm about to say something else, but am interrupted as another wave of cheers goes out. It seems that both idiots have managed to make it out of this game alive, and neither of them really look like they want to test their luck some more.
"Who's next?!" a lady yells out, raising a beer and downing it in one sitting. God, I want to go home.
Henry looks over my way before glancing over to Derek to make sure that it's okay.
"You can't be fucking serious…" I complain, watching as Derek calmly motions for me to step forward. Lilly instantly protests.
"You're not putting her in that position! I'll fucking strangle you if you let this happen!"
"You're pretty bull-headed aren't you?" Derek remarks, infuriating Miss Caul before turning back to me. "Remember what I said before we came in here – respect. This might be a good way of showing it."
Letting out a shaky sigh, I nod towards Lilly before squeezing her hand tightly and walking towards the table; trying my best to avoid the eyes of curious bar tenants. This is so fucking stupid that I don't where to even start. What kind of camp allows this kind of shit to go down?! Even fucking Sandro didn't allow this behaviour, and he was possibly worse than Carver was!
Steeling my nerves, I plop myself down into the seat and feel myself being pushed up to the table. I try to show no fear on my face, but inside I'm cracking. There's a 50/50 chance of me either living or dying within the next twenty seconds, so luck better be with me.
"Jordan, you're up!" Henry calls out, and I watch as some skinny fucker rubs his hands together and sits across from me. He's pig-headed, looks like a redneck (guess who that reminds me of) and is missing a few teeth here or there. I don't think anybody would miss him.
"You ready to die today, newbie?" he slurs, showing a stupid smile as Henry spins the revolver around in a circle. I gulp when it lands on me first.
Looking behind me, I see that Lilly's got her hand held over her mouth in worry, and Derek's silently leaned up against a wooden pole awaiting for whatever happens next. I nod once towards Lilly with a look of determination, not wanting to lose the woman that I've grown to care for over the past year.
Well, here goes nothing.
Butterflies infiltrate my stomach as I clutch the cold steel of Henry's revolver. Holding it up to my temple, I close my eyes and grind my teeth together as hard as I can.
Clem, if you're out there… I'm sorry.
An Lilly… I want you to know that I…
Click!
Slamming the gun down, I breathe out a sigh of relief as I bury my face in my hands; ignoring the pats on the back and shoulder as the game continues.
I'm pretty certain that I just experienced a heart attack.
After about ten seconds of calming myself down, I spread my fingers open so that I can see the other guy through the slits between them. He looks ready to piss himself, and in an effort to seem as if I'm perfectly fine, I fold my arms back across my chest and glare at the man. Your move, asshole.
With a crazed and scared look in his eyes, the man whispers something unintelligible – probably praying or some shit – before bringing the gun up to his own head. The room watches in suspense as he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath… and pulls the trigger.
I'm showered in his blood as the bullet rips through his head and he falls limp against the table.