Chapter 17: We're Leaving Tonight

Anne's POV

Emily stood next to me, sensing I was worried about my boyfriend, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"He'll be fine, Anne." She assured me.

"Thanks, Emily." I said.

"Alright, guys, look. If we're gonna do somethin', we have to do it NOW, and if Luke's all we got, then we pair up with him." Kenny said.

"I can do it. Where's the meetin'?" Mike asked.

"Mike."

"Yeah?"

"Clementine should do it."

Mike's eyes widened. "Are you fuckin' kidding?"

We all froze when we heard something clattering. We looked and saw Hank walk past the door.

"No offense, but- come on, that's crazy, she's a kid, why would-"

"There's a million reasons." Kenny shot back.

I nodded. "She knows Luke, she can hide, and if she can get a pair of radios, then she can get to the meeting place." I said.

"Who cares?! It's dangerous!"

"And I'm sorry, Mike, but I don't know you from fuckin' Adam. And if I'm trustin' anyone to do somethin' this important, I'm trustin' her."

"You don't trust me to get a radio to someone?" Mike asked.

Chase groaned. "For God's sake, give ME the damn thing. I'll take it to him!"

"I'll take it." Clementine said.

Seems she's willing to do it.

Mike looked at her. "Don't think doing this is gonna earn respect…"

"She doesn't need your respect." Kenny snapped.

"Gimme the radio."

Just then, the door opened up again and Troy walked in. "Alright, little chickens… let's get to peckin'. And don't think today's gonna be like yesterday. No way. No shenanigans. This rooster's gonna be surveilling your ass every second of the day. Got it?"

None of us responded, making him frown. "I'm afraid I need an answer, girl." He told Clem.

I rolled my eye. We ain't deaf, douchebag.

Clem looked down. "Whatever."

I smirked. I like this kid's bravery.

I then glared at Troy's back as he turned around. "Come on." He ordered. We started walking when Kenny stopped in front of Clem. "Oh, you have your pockets all out." He said in a casual tone.

I realized he hid the radio in her pocket. Nice call, Kenny…

"Gonna get your tags snagged on somethin'. Wouldn't want that, now, would we?" He casually asked. Troy glared at him. Kenny simply shrugged. Troy sneered. "Come on!" He snapped.

God, this prick is already pissin' me off…

He led us towards a door leading to the 'expansion', when we heard someone call, "Hey. She's with me."

We paused and saw Bonnie and my boyfriend walking towards us. "Ah, shit, I almost forgot." Troy said before shoving Clem forward. "Well, take her. I don't care."

"Hey, asshole!" Chris snapped. "Don't treat her like that!"

"You got a big ass mouth, boy!" Troy said.

"Shut up, Troy, alright? I've had a helluva day already. Don't make me angrier than I already am." He threatened.

"Wait, what's goin' on?" Kenny asked.

"Just chores of a different sort. Come on, city mouse." Bonnie said to Clementine before looking at me. "Anne's with me, too."

Troy then shoved me forward. "Take her. I don't give a shit."

I growled under my breath. You don't give a shit about anything…

"Can't you cut her a break?" Kenny asked. "She'd really rather keep with us… people she knows."

"It's nothing that'll hurt her." Bonnie assured him.

"Won't they need my help?" Clem asked, looking back at the others. "Well, I need it more." Bonnie said. I walked over to my boyfriend and locked my hand with his, but he pulled it away.

Something's not right…

"Babe, are you alright?" I whispered.

"A little frustrated sounds more like it." He whispered back.

"What is it?"

He sighed. "Tess told me she slept with Luke."

My eye widened. "W-What?!" I hissed.

He nodded. "They were drunk on top of it."

"Oh, please tell me they didn't have sex."

He remained silent, which told me they did.

Shel walked over to Bonnie. "Bonnie. Anne's with me." She said.

I sighed and reluctantly walked away with her.

Chris's POV

I watched as Shel and Anne walked away. I got pulled out of my thoughts by Bonnie. "Come on, you two."

The three of us kept walking. "I just wanted to make sure y'all were alright. Shel's doin' the same for Anne and Verity… I didn't believe y'all… when you told us about Reggie… Once we left y'all, Shel and I went to find Bill. Thought if he had done it, he'd make up an excuse, but…"

I looked at her. "But what?"

"Bill was so matter-of-fact about it… like he'd pulled a weed out of the ground or somethin'… like it had to be done… That was one of those moments where your blood runs cold… goose pimples up and down your arm… because it turns out the person you thought you knew, was never there."

I clenched my fists when she finished talking. The man who was my father was NEVER there for me…

Bonnie looked at Clementine, then at me after I calmed down. "You two seem anxious, guys." She said, then saw a couple of the guards walking past us, so she led us into the armory. "You both know you can talk to me, right?"

"Luke is waiting for us." Clem said as she held out the radio. "He wants us to get this radio to him."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "And all we need from you, Bon, is to not worry about where we are for fifteen minutes." I added.

Bonnie glared at us both. "If y'all get caught and mention my name, Carver will be the least of your problems." She warned us.

"Okay." I said.

"Go, and be careful." She said.

Clem and I then took off. We made to the door that led to the 'expansion', then stopped. I looked to the right and saw Russell, another guard here at camp. He stood up straight and looked at us.

"Y'all should get goin'. Bill don't like idle hands." He told us.

I inwardly scoffed. Then what the hell are you standing around for, asshole?

Clem and I then walked out of the camp and started walking to the expansion when… "Hey, Chris! Hold up!" I heard someone shout.

I turned to the door and saw two girls, one with curly blonde hair, green eyes, slightly tanned skin, denim jacket over a white shirt, blue jeans, boots, and glasses, and the other with wavy red hair, a pink tank top, blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a heart shaped bracelet looking at us while holding hands.

It was Kate and Ashley, two girls that used to bully me, but stopped after I got out of the hospital. Kate and I even dated for two months. And she and Ashley have been a couple for two years now.

"Katie, Ash, I really don't have time to catch up on what's been happening here." I said.

"Relax. We just need to ask you something, then you can get back to your date with your girlfriend here." Ashley joked.

Clementine frowned. "I'm eleven, thank you." She said. "Besides, I'm with Anne." I added.

"Sorry." Ashley said.

"We heard about Reggie… What happened? We heard you two, Anne, Sarah, and Verity were there when it happened…" Kate said.

"My fucker of a father pushed him off the roof… he killed Reggie." I replied.

They both gasped. "What?!" Ashley asked.

I nodded. "It's true. He pushed him right off the roof… just because he failed to do something right…"

Kate fell into my arms sobbing. Reggie was also good friends with her and Ashley. "A-Are you sure h-he didn't do it on accident?" She asked me.

"He grabbed Reggie and threw him straight off the roof, Kate. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me to the ground." I told her.

She pulled away from me and sniffled. "W-We'll let you guys get back to work." She said, then she and Ashley walked back inside.

Clementine and I then walked to the comic book store. "Y'all better hurry that shit up. I hate babysitting you assholes…" Troy grumbled.

I rolled my eyes behind my sunglasses. You hate babysitting anyone, you piece of shit.

"Come on." I whispered to Clem, who nodded. We quietly walked into the comic book store.

"Luke?" I called, but got no response.

"Let's look around." Clem suggested, and I nodded.

Clem walked over to a blood stain. "That looks pretty old… he's probably fine…" She muttered. I walked over to bedding.

"Was he sleeping here?" I thought aloud when we heard the door open. We looked and saw it was Troy.

"I swear to Christ you two are gonna regret this!" He said.

"Fuck o-" I started, but he punched me in the stomach, then smacked Clementine across the mouth. "You ain't supposed to be out here!" He snarled then grabbed Clem by the collar of her jacket and roughly grabbed my arm.

He dragged us over to Kenny and Mike. "You people have been here one fuckin' day and already you're fuckin' up. Well, you wait and see what happens!" He growled as he shoved us towards them. "MOVE!"

"Hey!" Kenny snapped when I calmly grabbed his arm. "Save it, Kenny! Come on. Let's go." I said.

Troy forced us back to the yard where the others gathered. I walked over to Anne, who was standing next to her mother.

"-and how is it we're repaid for our trust?" With treachery…? With deceit… With theft!" Carver growled as he glared at the rest of us.

"Did you know about this?" Clem asked Kenny, who slowly shook his head.

Carver then held up the other radio. My eyes widened as he smirked in victory. "Whatever you were all planning is over. You can't just run from your problems. You can't just up and leave when it gets tough… cause there's nowhere else to go where it ain't. Tough is all we got now. Get that through your fuckin' skulls."

He then walked over to me, Tess, and Emily, who walked over to me and Anne.

"And you especially don't run away from your family." He directed at me, Tess, and Emily.

"Fuck you!" I spat out.

"Now, is that any way to talk to your father, Christopher?" He asked me with a smirk. "YOU WERE NEVER MY FATHER!" I snapped.

He didn't even flinch. He then turned to Anne. "And Anne… you don't just run away just because of something that had to be done."

She snarled. "There was a chance for Coleen! And you never gave it to her!"

Carver shook his head. "She was a liability to the community. She had to be eliminated… just like Reggie. He was weak. His incompetence wouldn't be tolerated anymore. He tried my patience too many times, and he paid the price."

THAT DOES IT!

"YOU FUCKIN' BASTARD!" I shouted and charged at him, only for him to backhand me. I hissed in pain, but still stood on my feet.

Asshole may hit hard, but he's done worse to me.

He walked back to the wall. "Luke here, he can't help you now… you gotta help yourselves… you gotta help me find the strength to forgive you."

I scoffed. "You're one to talk about forgiveness…" I muttered.

"YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKIN' MOUTH, BOY!" Troy shouted at me.

I simply rose my middle finger at him.

Carver continued talking, ignoring me and Troy. "Now you can start… by telling me where the other one is. I'm gonna count to three… if that radio ain't in my hand by then… we'll have to make things more difficult."

We all stayed silent as he started counting.

"One…"

He can't get the other radio!

"Two…"

We tensed as he paused. "I found-" Clem started, but Kenny cut her off by reaching into her pocket, stepping in front of her, and waving the radio above his head.

"It's right here! I've got it!"

Kenny?!

Carver frowned and held his hand out expectantly. Kenny stepped forward and gave Sarita a comforting glance. "It's alright." He whispered as he walked up to Carver. "Sorry about that. Not sure what I was thinking."

As soon as the radio landed in Carver's hand…

"Three."

I gulped.

"… heh. Fucker." Kenny muttered. Carver then hit him in the face with the radio, knocking him to the ground.

"No!" Sarita cried.

Carver then started to beat Kenny, drawing blood from each hit, causing my rage to build.

"Stop him! Someone stop him!" Sarita pleaded as she rushed forward, but Carlos and Anne held her back.

"Troy! Do something!" Mike exclaimed, but the latter only stood there with a smirk on his face. I stormed over to Troy, punched him square in the face as Clem helped Carlos and Anne restrain Sarita. Troy retaliated by hitting me in the face with the butt of his rifle, sending me straight to the ground.

"You little shit!" He said to me.

"Bill!" Bonnie called. "That's enough, Bill! Please!" She said, but Carver kept hitting him.

"Bill, there's a breach!" Shel said. Carver hit Kenny one more time, then let him fall to the floor, bruised. Anne rushed over to me.

"Babe, are you okay?!" She asked me as Tess and Emily came over to me.

"I'll live." I said.

"Alright. Everyone come with me. Bonnie, Shel, you two stick around. Make sure these people don't get into any more trouble." Carver ordered as he dropped the bloodied radio and walked out with Troy and Tavia.

"Yeah… okay." Bonnie muttered while Shel looked at Kenny with shock evident on her face.

"No supper for y'all tonight. Maybe an empty stomach will change your perspective. We'll try this again tomorrow. Ashley, Kate, let's go." He told them, but they refused.

"No." They both said.

"Let's. Go. Now." He said, more forcefully.

"We're not going anywhere." Kate said.

"Fine! You two will go without supper too, then." He snapped as he, Troy, and Tavia left. Bonnie walked over to Kenny while Shel walked to me. "Do your best with him, Carlos. You need to get him able to move, 'cause we're leaving tonight."

Everyone looked at Bonnie and Shel with surprise.

Bonnie looked at everyone with a determined expression and nodded.

"We're leaving tonight."

That's chapter seventeen. I apologize it took a long time to get this chapter ready. Schoolwork is being a pain in my ass. Anyway, y'all know what to do.