Chapter 16: The Plan and a Secret
Anne's POV
Chris climbed up to the roof, then helped Clementine up, and then me. I looked and saw a guard standing not far from us.
"Stay low, girls." Chris told us, earning nods from the two of us. As we kept moving, I heard the guard talking.
"Man, you're not gonna believe what I'm looking at." He said into a radio. "There's gotta be at least two or three thousand of 'em out there."
The three of us hustled over to the greenhouse and hid behind it while he was busy.
"In the parking lot?"
"No, not in the parking lot. I can't see them all, but… I see the dust they're kicking up.
I rushed to a skylight near where the guard stood. I could see Carver sitting in his office.
That motherfucker has the nerve to sit there like he's a king after what happened this morning?!
I looked at my boyfriend to see him glaring at Carver with so much hatred, it seemed that there could've been fire in them.
"You think we're ready this time?"
"I don't know… Bill thinks we are."
"Course he does, but that's what he thought last time."
Wait a minute. A herd hit while the two of us were away?
"We learned a lot since last time."
"Is it enough, though?"
"We'll find out if they turn this way."
Heh, asshole can't take his attention away from the herd.
I quickly went back over to the greenhouse and hid behind it with my boyfriend and Clementine.
"Did that lead to the stockroom?" She asked, barely audible. Chris shook his head. "No, it led to Carver's office." He replied.
We looked at the skylight near us and rushed over to it. Chris smirked when he peered inside.
"This is it." He whispered. He then lifted the door up and let us climb through with him coming in last and closing it. He landed on a box next to us before we crouched. I looked down and saw Tavia sitting in a chair. Next to her is a table with radios.
Damn it! This just got harder.
She then stood up and walked away from the table.
"It's crazy about Reggie, huh?"
"Yeah."
"You think Bill…"
"Go on."
Chris, Clem and I slowly crawled down the shelves.
"Spit it out, Hank." Tavia said, clearly getting frustrated.
"I don't think Bill was gonna let him back in."
"You don't?"
"No. Do you?"
"I don't know…" Tavia sighed. "So really, no bullshit. You think we're ready?"
We made it to the end of the shelf and began climbing down pallets.
"I think so. The homestead, at least. I'm not sure about the 'expansion'. They're out there, just moaning…"
Chris reached the floor first. He then helped Clementine to the floor, and then he helped me down to the floor.
Chris looked at Clem and placed a finger to his lips as we crouched behind boxes.
"… I'll give you that one."
"So, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Bill wants me to start getting this bay door fixed." Tavia replied as she walked a few feet away.
We've got our chance! Chris nodded at Clem and she rushed over to the table with the radios.
"What happened to it this time?"
Tavia sighed. "Troy backed into it when we brought the prisoners- the new people in."
Chris and I knew she meant us…
"See? It's hard not to call them prisoners."
"Bill's three kids were among them." Tavia explained. "All of them are out in the yard. And Anne, that girl with the bandana, was with them, too."
"The rebel? I kinda figured she took off with Chris."
"Chris was pretty mad about what happened to Coleen…"
"I don't understand why. She wasn't his full mother. But I don't understand why Anne ran away."
I frowned. I ran away because I saw Carver for what he really was! I wasn't gonna let the boy I love go off on his own.
"Well, she likes Chris. From what I heard, those two are together now."
"Wow. That's something I didn't expect."
Chris looked at me, smirked, and quietly planted a kiss on my cheek, resulting in me blushing.
"Hank, it was plain as day how much those two liked each other."
Clem slowly reached for the radios with me and my boyfriend watching anxiously. Tavia kept talking with Hank while walking around.
Don't look this way, please…
Tavia then walked away as Clementine slowly took two radios from the table.
Hell yeah!
Now that that's done, we gotta get the hell out of here!
Clem quickly came back over to us. She handed me a radio and Chris the other. We stuffed them in the pockets of our jackets and we began climbing back up the shelves quickly. As we made our way to the top, Chris let out a quiet gasp. I looked to see Tavia smoking, and prayed she wouldn't look up and spot us.
"You can't be smoking back here!"
The three of us froze when we saw a man approaching Tavia. It was Vince, another guard here at the community.
"If Bill catches a whiff of smoke, he'll flip!" Vince added. "You know what? I'm not gonna it up this time. I'm telling." He said, then started walking away. Tavia quickly put out the cigarette. "Vince, wait. Come on. Vince!" She called as she ran after him.
That was close!
We quickly climbed back to the skylight and climbed through it, finding ourselves on the roof again. Chris closed the door as I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Talk about a close call, huh, guys?" I whispered. "Damn straight." Chris whispered while Clem nodded her head. Then we worked our way quickly back to the ladder leading back to the yard. Chris climbed down first, followed by me, then Clementine.
Chris and I looked and not to think about how high up we were. We then saw Tess and Mike leaning against the wall, with their arms crossed, observing the door.
"Psst! Tess!" Chris called, gaining her attention as well as Mike's.
"You get 'em?" Tess asked.
The three of us nodded our heads. "Okay. Jump down. I'll catch you guys." Tess said. Chris jumped down first and Tess caught him. I went next and Tess caught me, too. Clementine jumped last and Tess caught her.
"Nice catch, Tessie." Chris praised. "We best get to bed. Troy'll be back any minute." Mike whispered. We all nodded and hurried back to the bunks. Kenny, Emily, Verity, and Dylan sat up.
"You two okay?" Verity asked, earning nods from me and my boyfriend.
"Well?" Kenny asked. I smirked as Chris and I pulled the radios out of our pockets and showed them to him. "We got 'em!"
He smiled. "You sneaky little devils."
"Thanks, Kenny. One tries." My boyfriend said, and I stifled a giggle, but smirked at Kenny's remark as we headed to bed.
"Okay, everyone, stay where you are. No need drawin' suspicion." Kenny said.
"That was so cool." Sarah whispered as we laid in our beds.
"Thank you, guys." Kenny thanked.
After Chris handed Kenny the radio, we heard Jane speak up. "I told ya you probably wouldn't die. Nice job."
"Thanks." Clem said.
Jane smiled. "Yep. Anyway, get some rest."
I nuzzled into Chris's strong chest and closed my eye.
"You know, baby…"
I opened my eye at the sound of my boyfriend's voice. "Yeah?"
"While we were up there, I was praying we would be alright. And now we are. I'm glad we are."
I smiled. "Me too."
He sighed. "We've got a long day tomorrow. Better get some sleep."
"Yeah." I muttered, then nuzzled into Chris's chest again.
"Night, Anne."
"Night, Chris."
We both then fell asleep, knowing it would be a long day tomorrow.
/The Next Morning\
Chris's POV
I woke up to a flurry of brown on my chest. I smiled and kissed Anne's forehead as she slept.
"I love you." I soothed as I saw her eye flutter open.
"Mornig, beautiful." I said, making her smile.
"Morning, handsome." She said to me.
We then walked to a table where the radio I handed Kenny was for a meeting.
"Alright, we're all here." Kenny said.
"Someone's gotta get the radio to Luke. What's the problem?" Bec asked.
"We should probably find out who's doin' what before we-"
Kenny was cut off by the door opening. Damn it…
Kenny quickly hid the radio behind his back as Tavia, Shel, and a few more guards stepped in.
"Time to get up." Tavia said.
I scoffed. We're already up, bitch.
"Daylight's burnin'. They let you sleep in, all things considered."
I leaned to Anne's ear. "How considerate of them." I muttered sarcastically.
Sarah looked around. "Where's my Dad?" She asked. That's a good question. Where IS Carlos?
"He's where the rest of you are headed. To work." She said harshly. I looked at Anne to see a frown on her face. "Bec, Nick, Sarah, Chris,, Verity, Jane, Tess… if you gotta take a piss, do it now. Next break won't be for a while. Troy'll be comin' back for the rest of you."
"Hold on, why just them?" Anne asked.
"Like I said… Troy's comin' for the rest of you." She replied before she and those of us she mentioned left with her. I looked at Tess to see something was bothering her. I walked over to her.
"What's wrong, Tess?" I asked her.
"I- I slept with Luke." She whispered, and I was shocked.
"When?"
"The night after Nick and I... you know." She replied.
"Why?"
"I was drunk. Luke was, too."
"Tell me you didn't…" I trailed off.
"We did."
"So, now you don't know who the father of your baby is, do you?"
She shook her head.
I sighed and walked over to walk with Verity.
That's chapter sixteen. The next chapter will pick back up in the yard with the rest of the group deciding about the radio deliverer. Y'all know the procedure.