Welcome to chapter 7! Don't forget to favorite and leave a review! (Replies are at the bottom)
I could feel something warm, somebody warm sitting next to me. I rubbed my eyes, slowly opening them. In my blurred vision I could make out a person, a little girl. Farah. She was staring intently at the bunks next to me, "Who is she?" she turned her head to me, tilting it to the side. I sat up, turning my attention to the person Farah had in question. Who I saw was sweet little Clementine, curled up in her bunk, "That's Clementine, hon'. She's new here.". Farah looked down at her feet, then back to me "...Is she your friend?", this seemed weird, I answered "I...guess so?" the warm turned into cold, turning my head, I saw that Farah was gone. "I was your friend too..." echoed through my mind, suddenly a loud noise woke me.
It was snoring. I turned over, peeking down to see who it was making the loud noise. The older man at the last bunks mouth hung wide open. Being a light sleeper sucked, I wake up to the smallest sounds. I pulled my hood over my head, trying to block out the noise, slipping off into sleep again. I was plunged into the red water again, this dream again. I knew why I had this dream, whether I wanted to block this out or not. The man holding me down, my father, was not very...kind. No, that's an understatement. My father, Joesph Carson Lesmer, was a very violent man.
My mom would always tell me to go in the other room when he'd come home. I never knew why, but now I do. One day I was alone with him, my mom at work, he asked if I wanted to play a game. Being a child I was excited and accepted...the rest was a blur until I reached the tub. He went on and on about how I was so dirty, and how I needed to be 'cleaned'. I nearly gave in, until Devin caught him, screaming. The only evidence I have of this now is the scar on my bottom lip, I remember Devin would tell me how cool it looked...
I opened my eyes, seeing the sun rise peek through metal bars, I hopped out of bed and headed for the door, waiting for Wyatt. I paced around the door for what seemed like hours, then it opened. "Dude, you're up already?" Wyatt was there with Russell, I walked out of the pen shutting the door behind me.
Laughing I answered him, "I told ya man, I always wake up early.", looking over at Russell I questioned him, smiling, "You chillin' with us this mornin', Russ?".
He looked over to me, "Yeah man, what do you guys even do in the mornings?", Russell wasn't extremely friendly yet he wasn't very hostile. I laughed lightly, "Well, last time we talked 'bout before we came here... Did you have anybody with ya before comin' here?".
Russell's face changed slightly, cringing in disgust. He started to speak, "I was with this guy...". He continued off, "His name was Nate, that guy was a fucking sociopath.". Nate? No no no, it couldn't be.
I had to know, "Russ, did this guy happen to have a truck? Or a hat? Really buggy eyes?" Russell face froze up, he remained silent, "C'mon, Russ, I need to know if that's my man...".
He spoke up, "Yeah...yeah, that sounds like him.". Oh my god, I swear if I ever see that asshole I'm gonna punch him.
"Hey guys, remember your pal Wyatt?" Looking over I saw an annoyed Wyatt. "Do you know when you're getting out the pen? Troy would beat our asses if we ever got caught doing this.".
I crossed my arms, leaning on my one leg. "I haven't gotten a word in with Troy since he got back, so I dunno man." That's when I heard footsteps, lots of them, with the sound of Troy's voice in the distance.
"Shit, C'mon." Russell spurted out, basically throwing me back into the pen. I went to turn my head forward, and was greeted by four people staring at me. The pregnant lady, the indian soccer mom, that one girls dad, and Nick all sitting at a table together. I silently sat down next to Nick, occasionally looking over to him and the pregnant lady on the other side of the table.
"Hey, um, are ya...Clem's mom?" I asked the pregnant woman, her face scrunched up, as if she was offended. She questioned me back with a "Why? 'Cause I'm black?". Oh jeez, I really got myself into this. "Jesus, no, ya look really...'motherly' is all." I hung my head in embarrassment.
"Oh, well...I am going to be a mother soon...You said your name is James, right? I'm Rebecca...sorry for givin' you shit." she seemed nice, maybe hostile at first, but that is good these days. She looked down, holding her stomach, whispering "Oh, Alvin...you were supposed to be here...". I didn't know what to say, so I backed down from the conversation. After a few minutes Rebecca looked up at Nick.
"Where is Luke? It's been days, Nick." Rebecca sounded worried, who is Luke? Nick sighed looking up at Rebecca, he put his hands on his head, this may be a bad time to ask about him. The older man with a hat came walking over, I could hear the indian soccer mom lady say, "Good Morning, Kenny." to him. So his name was Kenny...
All of a sudden the door opened, Bill and Troy walking in. Bill spoke up, "Rise and shine, everybody! We have a very big day ahead of us!" He sent Troy off to wake up the rest of us, the one girls father went over shortly after to wake his daughter. I followed Troy over to Clementine's bunk, watching to see how he is around kids.
He kicked Clementine's side lightly, waking her. Clementine scrunched up her face, "Don't kick me.". Looking down to the ground for a second, her gaze lifted back to Troy, "It's rude.". I couldn't help but give a faint laugh at the two. Troy looked back at me, annoyed, and then back to Clementine, "Get up. Bill's gonna have a word." We all headed over to the rest of the group, Bill started to speak.
"There's been increased walker activity along the fence so be mindful when outside the walls. The herd's moved a little closer as of this morning, but that still doesn't necessarily mean we'll be hit. Know we're monitoring the situation. Now... There are some folks might be sore about what happened...at how things went." I looked around, seeing Rebecca's face twist in disgust. I wonder what Bill means. Bill continued on over my thoughts, "Well, that's all in the past now...some of you are new to our community. Some of you are members who went astray. But know that you can find redemption here...forgiveness...by proving your worth through what will be undoubtedly hard work." Bill smiled, "Reggie, you're nearly back in. Keep following the path, and we'll welcome you back with open arms."
I overheard somebody say "How'd you sleep?" Bill stopped talking, looking at the girl for a second, then continued his speech. "Let Reggie be an example to you all, salvation is available but it must be...earned."
I heard Clementine whisper, "Pay attention, Sarah..", and yet another name I've learned today.
"Kenneth will be taking over Reggie's duties outside the walls." Kenneth? That just sounds so...so weird. "Michael will continue on showing his value."
Sarah spoke up to Clementine yet again, "I just thought it was nice to finally-".
"Carlos!" Bill yelled, making me jump a tiny bit, he seemed really angry.
"...Yes?" Sarah's dad, now known to me as Carlos spoke up, voice dripping in dismay.
"Your child seems to be in need of correction." the stern look on Bill's face made me worry, what did he mean by 'correction'?
Carlos spoke back up, "I'm sorry, I—Sarah, a-apologize to Mr. Carver."
Sarah grabbed her arm, looking up at Bill, "S- I'm...sorry, sir."
"No, no. That ain't gonna cut it." Oh no, what is Bill getting at here? "I can't have this kind of behavior on day one of your reform." He turned back to Carlos, pointing at him. "You discipline her now, Carlos."
Worry was painted all over Carlos' face, "How do you propose that I-", before Carlos could finish his question he was cut off by Bill.
"One good smack across the mouth should do it. It'll make her think twice before opening it up again. Go on, we'll wait." A silence panned over the room, as we all looked at one another. I tried my best to hold in my fear, this reminded me way too much of my own father.
"My... I'm not sure with my hand that I could-" Carlos was again cut off by Bill.
"Well, that's why you got two hands, Carlos. Come on, and not some namby pamby thing, all right? A good hard smack. Otherwise, Troy here will do it for ya. I don't think you want that. He can be... overzealous. Is that the word?" Bill asked, turning back to face Troy.
Troy smirked, "If it means I"ll slap the shit our of her, then yeah.". Wait, what? Was he kidding? No way... Carlos hung his head, turning towards Sarah.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry..." she started to plead, but her pleads did nothing.
"Close your eyes, honey. It's only going to sting for a second." Carlos was trying to make it seem better, but I get the feeling even Sarah knew that was a lie. Sarah closed her eyes, waiting for impact. Carlos raised his hand, freezing up.
"Do it." Bill demanded, Carlos closed his eyes "I- I can't..."
"Just like I thought." Bill stated coldly, "Troy.". He called Troy over to us, Troy dropped his gun.
Carlos started to panic, "W—Wait, no! I'll do it, please just let me-" Carlos' pleads fell on deaf ears.
Troy roughly grabbed Sarah's arm, lifting his hand quickly. I closed my eyes, afraid to watch.
SMACK. I opened my eyes, watching as Troy let go of Sarah's arm, her falling to the ground and crying.
I could see Carlos' eyes widen, he started to speak "Sarah, I'm sorry-" .
Bill got in Carlos' face, pointing his finger into his chest "Stop! You're not coddling that girl anymore!" he screamed in his face. Turning over to look at Sarah he continued, "Let her sit and think about what she's done." Acting as if nothing had happened he returned to his original position, "Troy, get Carlos to his post. Everyone else should have their assignments. It's time to get to work." he said as he walked out of the pen.
Troy walked towards me, "C'mon, you're at the fence again.". I nodded, heading outside. I could see the fence was starting to bend, walkers were definitely getting worse, I need to fix some of the cracking support beams to keep it up. Luckily all of our scrap wood and metal is piled out here, and my toolbox.
I stretched my arms out, yawning. I walked over to my toolbox, taking out a hammer, some nails, and a roll of duct tape somebody must've added in earlier. I went up to one of the cracking beams, hammering in a nail through the crack and then wrapping duct tape around it. I have to admit, I have no idea what I'm doing. I continued doing this to the rest of the supports for what was probably an hour or two.
I searched around, Troy wasn't here yet, meaning I didn't have any assignments yet. I turned around to see what seemed to be a comic shop, oh man, I haven't been in one of these since I was a teen. It couldn't hurt to take a look, could it? I decided to go inside, to my surprise there were still comics.
A specific book caught my attention, it was titled 'The Walking Dead'. I picked it up, skimming the pages, looked lame. Don't really wanna read about walkers while it's a daily part of my life. I put the book back on the shelf. Walking around the room, I swore I heard something shuffle around. I decided to go over to the source of noise, behind a bookshelf. It was a...man?
The man stared at me, raising his hands as if he was caught by the police. My eyes shifted around nervously, I finally spoke up "...Uh, H-Hey there...? I'm...um, I'm James." I reached out, putting the mans hands down, "No need to be on defense, I...I ain't a guard." The man shot me a confused look, he looked like crap. His skin was a sickly pale color, and his eyes were dark. Was be bit? "Are...ya bit?"
"If ya ain't a guard then who the hell are ya?" the man asked, he added in "And no...I ain't bit."
"Good, good. That's a good start. I'm a...whaddya call it...a resident? I live in the pen." I held out my hand cautiously, not sure if I should trust this guy or not. "Mind tellin' me yer name?".
"I'm Luke, don't make me regret tellin' ya, okay?" he grasped my hand weakly to shake it, poor guy, when was the last time he ate? Wait, Luke. Rebecca was talking about a Luke earlier.
"The folks in the pen were talkin' 'bout a Luke, you happen to know a Rebecca...or a Nick?" as soon as I spoke the names Luke's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "They're real worried 'bout you."
"Please tell them I'm doin' just fine, nothin' to worry about." Luke smiled weakly, he wasn't fine. The poor guy looked almost like a walker!
"Don't ya worry, Luke. I'll make sure yer folks get the message." After assuring Luke, I heard footsteps outside.
"James! Where the hell are ya?!" It was Troy, I've never snuck away from my post before. I looked over to Luke, giving a small wave as I walked outside to Troy.
"Sorry, Troy. I got done the fence early...so I went to look at some comics..." I felt ashamed, lowering my head.
"Oh for fucks sake, come on! I need you at the kitchen!" Troy grabbed my arm, dragging me to the kitchen, I've never done work in the kitchen. Hell, when's the last time I was in a kitchen?
While being dragged by Troy I saw Russell and Wyatt, waving to them. They looked concerned, but that's normal around Troy.
Opening the doors I could see somebody else was in here already, the Indian woman. Troy pushed me into the room and slammed the door behind me. I looked at the lady, confused on what to do. "So...uh, what're we doin' in here?".
"We are counting the supplies in the pantry.", the woman replied, looking at the supplies already. "I'm Sarita." she told me, handing me a checklist.
"N-Nice to meet ya, Sarita." I grasped the checklist and went over to one of the shelves. Canned green beans...canned corn...canned carrots...c-chips? Hmmm...this could work. I pocketed the small bag, hoping Sarita didn't see me. There was canned cheese...canned everything. All of the sudden the doors flew open, Bonnie came running in.
"James! The fence is goin' down, we need you!" she yelled, I ran with her to the outside, the fence was tilting, walkers gathering on it. If those supports snaps the fence goes down.
I ran over to my tools, grabbing my...my saw! Yeah, I'll use my saw! Grabbing my saw, I ran over, swinging my saw down onto the walkers heads. Troy was helping from his post on top of the expansion, shooting the walkers. Wait, noise attracts walkers. "Troy, stop shootin'! It's attractin' more of them!" I yelled back to him while bashing walkers with my saw, I don't know if this was even helping.
"Like hell I will!" Troy yelled back at me, shooting even more. My saw was creating a mangled mess, blood was splattering everywhere, I was about to puke. Bonnie was actually getting the walkers off, stabbing them in the heads. I could see more walkers gathering, all because of the damn noise from Troy's gun!
"Troy! Stop with the fuckin' gun! You're bein' an idiot!" I screamed at him, I was not losing this fence. I will not lose this fence.
"You want me to stop?! I'll fuckin' stop!" Troy slid down the ladder that leads up to the expansion, running over to the fence, bashing the walkers heads in. Thank god.
Soon the walkers stopped gathering, it was finally over. Bonnie panted, "I gotta get goin', thanks for helpin'." as she walked inside. I waved bye as I crouched down to access the damage on the fence. Two supports nearly snapped, they need to be fixed somehow...all of them do. Somebody suddenly grabbed my shoulder, picking me up.
"Listen up, next time you fuckin' try tellin' me what to do I'll knock the shit outta you!" Troy basically spat in my face.
"Troy, yer shootin' was attractin' more of them! It could've got us killed!" I pushed Troy off of me. Big mistake, he looked furious. He raised a hand at me, but stopped when we both heard yelling from the roof.
"NO, NO, NO, NO! PLEASE, BILL! NO! NO! NO! NO! PLEASE!" It sounded like...Reggie?
Troy started to speak, "What-" he was cut off by screaming.
I could see Reggie's body falling off the roof as he screamed –SPLAT. His...his body hit the ground.
I can't—there's too much blood...I fell to the ground, vomiting whatever food was in my stomach as I heard walkers tear apart the fresh corpse.
I could hear Troy whisper to himself, "Jesus Christ..." he must've put his tough guy facade back up because his voice returned to its normal state, "Just get back to work, I'll be back soon.".
As Troy left I stood back up, feeling queasy. Oh wait, I need to get these chips to Luke before he comes back. I walked into the comic shop quickly, "L-Luke...? Ya in here still?"
I could see Luke peak his head out form one of the shelves, "Over here.". I walked over, reaching into my pocket for the chips, suddenly Luke tackled me. Wrestling me to the ground somehow I started whispering to him loudly, "What're ya doin'?! I brought ya food!". Luke stopped wrestling me, getting up.
"Shit man...I-I thought ya had a gun." he reached out his hand, helping me up off the ground.
"It's fine, I'd do the same." I laughed lightly, pulling the bag of chips out of my pocket, "Here ya go, they're probably stale though." I handed them over to Luke, who quickly grabbed them. Opening the bag and stuffing them in his mouth.
While he was eating I got up, starting to head out the door "I gotta go now, but I'll try sneakin' ya some food tomorrow." I could hear him say 'Thank you' as I walked out.
Once I got out I grabbed my toolbox and some scrap wood and carried it over to the fence, maybe putting planks across the support beams would help hold it up? I placed a plank of wood horizontally in between the beams, nailing it into place. I continued doing this to every set of beams, for what seemed like hours. That's when Troy came back out.
"You finished?" he asked, acting like nothing had happened earlier. I gave him a simple nod while putting my supplies back in their place. "Good, it's time for dinner. Come on." he ordered me, I got up, walking inside with him.
I looked at Troy's face while walking, "'Bout Reggie...Why would Bill...".
He looked over at me, "That ain't our fuckin' business." He lifted up the pen door, letting me walk in.
Everybody seemed to be here, except Carlos. Nick and Sarah were in a corner of the room while everybody else sat and ate. I walked over to one of the full bowls, it was oatmeal with blueberries in it. I picked up the bowl, heading over to everybody else first.
How should I tell them about Luke? I pondered the thought for a second, "E-Excuse me...". Mostly everybody looked in my direction. "I, um, I found yer friend. Luke.".
Rebecca stood up, "Where is he? Is he okay?".
"He wanted me to tell ya he's doin' okay, he's in the comic shop next to the expansion. I'd check on him if I were y'all. It might make him feel better." I answered, Luke did look sick, but I won't lie to Luke by telling them.
"Thank you, James..." Rebecca walked over, hugging me. This was pretty awkward, but it made me feel good, like I helped somehow. I patted Rebecca on the back, after she let go I went over to Sarah and Nick.
Sarah was sitting with her arms around her knees, sobbing, and Nick was sitting next to her trying to calm her down. I sat down next to Nick, "She okay?" I asked while eating my oatmeal.
"No...she's still shaken from earlier. I can't get her to calm down." Nick sighed, I could see he was trying his hardest. That's when an idea popped into my head. I moved to the front of Sarah.
"Want me to braid yer hair?" I asked her, biting my lip nervously. Sarah looked up, cheek still bright red, and nodded slowly. I pulled two hair bands off my arm, motioning her to turn around, which she did slowly. I started braiding her thick hair with a slow, calming pace. I hummed to myself while looping around the braids.
I finished up her two braids, this reminds me of old time with...Farah. Sarah seemed to have calmed down a tiny bit, but she was still upset, I should try to take her mind off of this. "Hmm...how 'bout we play go fish?". Sarah's face lit up, and she nodded. "Ya gonn' join in, Nick?" I looked over, smiling at him. He looked like he needed some cheering up too.
"Uh...yeah, sure." Nick answered, forming what seemed to be a small grin. I shuffled over to my bunk, grabbing the playing cards out of my bag. I sat back down with Nick and Sarah. I gave them each their cards.
Oh, that reminds me about something important, Luke. "Uh, Nick. About yer friend. I...I found him earlier. Next to the expansion, he wanted me to tell ya he's okay.".
Nick's eyes widened, "I knew he didn't leave...", he looked down at his cards smiling, "You got a king of hearts?"
Looking through my cards I saw...a king of hearts. "Sure do." I smiled at him, handing him the card.
At least tonight was left on a better note.
twdg-tlou-4eva: James' dad's character is going to be explored in later chapters, so you get to learn more about James and his Father's relationship.
lllooneytoonbro: Don't worry, I like Devin more too haha, Devin is left as ambiguous for now. Who knows where he is?
Don't forget, I'm more likely to answer questions if you ask on the tumblr, all-our-flaws. You can ask me or the characters things and I sometimes post updates or art!