Welcome to chapter 11! Sorry this took over a month, finals and things like that happened. Now it's here though! Enjoy and don't forget to favorite and/or review!
I couldn't breathe, I couldn't stop thinking. Why did he call me JJ... how does he even know my name? The back of my head started to ache, must've been from when I hit the ground earlier...
"Do you know this man?" I heard Sarita ask... what do I say? There's something so familiar about him... I looked over at him. His hazel eyes were watching me like a hawk, black hair slicked back, this guy looked pretty much like an older me. I looked down towards his belt, noticing a rather shiny looking pistol, what was this guy planning on doing?
"Y-Yeah..." I mumbled out, I couldn't pretend not to know the guy. The signs were obvious, him knowing me and him looking like an older me... This was my dad.
The man started to laugh, "What's with that weak 'yeah'? Boy, of course ya know yer father! C'mere!". He opened up his arms wide. I groaned as I had flashbacks of being under the water, his rugged hands holding me down... this was Joe Lesmer. I started to shiver slightly as I walked up to him. He wrapped me in a strong embrace, leaning close to my ear whispering to me, "Yer lucky you weren't alone.". He let go of me, but didn't take his arm off of my shoulder.
I watched at Joe eyed up Sarita, "Now I don't mean to be rude, but I sure could use a bite to eat, Miss...?".
Sarita smiled warmly, "My name is Sarita, would you like to come back with us? I'm sure there's something for you.".
"Ah, Miss Sarita... M'Names Joe. That sounds just great." Joe yanked on my arm, signaling me to go with him and Sarita. I pulled back, earning a stare from both of them.
"I-I'm gonna stay back, look for...for some...supplies." I took my arm out of Joe's grip, walking to the opposite side of the museum, "I'll make sure it's safe for Rebecca too...". I saw Sarita nod, then walk out with Joe.
I couldn't hold myself together any longer, I had to sit down for a moment. I...I just let him into our group! What was I thinking?! What if something happens to Sarita? Oh god, Sarah and Clementine... What have I done...? Putting my hands on my head I contemplated what my actions could bring. This could get somebody killed. Please, if it does... let it be me. I don't want anybody getting hurt because I messed up.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if this place is safe. There's no doors here! I slowly got up, walking over to the corpses lined up against the wall... They all had a bullet wound in their head, they don't look like they ever turned either. They were so tiny... they must've been around 9 at most.
I took glances at their name tags, they were peeling off but I could still read them pretty well. Angela, Danny, Megan, Kevin, Logan, Ethan, Fred... Now that I look at them, I realize how many there were. Sighing, I looked around the museum some more. I saw a pile of backpacks thrown into a corner, maybe there's something in there? I opened up a light orange backpack that had a bunny sticker on it, finding a pack of markers, a notebook, and a tube of bubblegum chapstick... Huh, I know who would want this. I picked up a white bag with a tiny bee sticker, searching through it I found the same contents as the first, along with a pack of chalk. I could feel a tiny smile form on my face, I'm sure two certain kids will enjoy this.
I put each bag on a different shoulder, when I saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye. Turning around I saw a gun in the hand of what I assume was the teacher. I walked over, checking the gun for bullets, it had a few leftover. I threw it into the orange backpack, I could hear footsteps coming, I gotta hide- Oh... it's just Bonnie with Mike, Clementine was tagging behind with them.
"Oh, my god..." Bonnie whispered under her breath as she saw the children, turning her gaze over to me, "You're still back here? I thought ya went back already...".
"Nah, I'm headin' back right now... so, uh, seeya...?" Man, could I get anymore awkward? I saw Bonnie hold back a laugh as I walked out. Once out of sight I started running, I needed to get back.
I could faintly see Luke and Nick sitting on the ground, standing up as they saw me running. "Hey, slow down... You okay?" Luke put his hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, um, y-yeah...", I scratched the back of my head. Looking over I saw that Nick has new bandages, he's looking better too, "Carlos patch ya up already?".
"Yeah, said I would've bled out if I waited to patch it up..." I watched as he shuffled his foot around a bit, looking down at me, "So... thanks."
"Oh, uh, no problem..." I chuckled, patting Nick's shoulder, causing him to flinch "Shit, sorry.". Luke joined in with Nick and I as we all laughed together.
I looked around, seeing no sign of Joe. Did he really just take some food and leave? That's a relief, but I don't really know if I should trust it or not.
I could hear laughter behind me, turning around I saw Mike carrying two jugs of water, Clementine and Bonnie following behind him. I went up to Clementine, "Clem, you got a minute? I need to tell you and Sarah somethin'.". Clementine shot me a concerned look as she nodded her head.
I looked around for Sarah, she was sitting with Rebecca. I headed over with Clementine, sitting down across from Sarah and Rebecca. I smiled at Sarah, "What're you two talkin' about?".
"We're planning baby names." Rebecca replied, soon letting out a groan of pain. This reminded me of when Quinn was in labor... heh, Farah took 26 hours to come out. I could remember those hours as if it was yesterday, I was only 13 at the time, so I missed school the next day.
"I was thinking about Ella!" Sarah exclaimed, gleaming with joy.
"Aww, that sounds cute... Clem, Sarah, close yer eyes for a sec. Okay?" I instructed, taking the backpacks off my shoulders once they closed their eyes, plopping the orange one into Sarah's lap and the white one into Clem's lap.
I looked over at Rebecca as the girls opened their eyes, I could see a genuine smile form on her face. Sarah looked over at me, "What's this?".
I bit my lip, smiling, "Open it!". I watched Clementine and Sarah open their bags, their faces lighting up as they looked inside.
Clementine took out the notebook, already starting to color in it with her new markers. Sarah's face twisted in confusion as she pulled out the pistol I put in there, "Is this for me...?"
"Jesus, you gave her a gun?!" Rebecca yelled at me.
I flinched at Rebecca's loudness, "S She needs to be able to protect herself, Bec!".
"And how is she gonna do that? She doesn't even know how to use it!" Rebecca argued against me, she had me there... Sarah didn't know how to use a gun.
"Actually... Clementine showed me, back at the cabin." Sarah remarked, looking down at her new gun.
"She what?!" Rebecca looked over at Clementine, "Clementine!".
"She asked me to! It's not like it was loaded!" Clementine defended, sighing as she looked over at me.
"I want to be able to protect myself..." Sarah said as she put the gun back into her backpack.
"I know sweetie, just... just ask your dad first. Okay?" Rebecca said as she groaned in pain.
I saw Jane walk up behind Clementine, "I'm taking Clem to check out the deck, we won't be long.", then walked away with Clementine following behind her.
I looked around, "Bec, where's Troy?", I didn't see him at all.
"He's..." Rebecca moaned in pain "He's in the tent.".
I nodded as I headed over to the tiny green tent near the entrance of the site, slowly opening the curtain of the tent.
Troy was sitting there, just... staring at his stump. I sat down next to him, "You... okay?".
He spoke up, "I can still feel it movin'... it's fuckin' weird.", looking over at me. I took a seat down next to him, sympathetically patting him on his back a bit.
"... That took some balls, you know." Troy spoke up, looking me in the eyes.
"You were dying, anybody would do it." I retorted, my head clouding with thoughts of earlier...
Troy shook his head, "I wouldn't. Hell, I don't think half of the people out there would either. ". That made me think, would they really not? I could see somebody like Sarita doing it, she was kind... she reminded me of my mom in a way.
"James!" I heard my name being yelled from outside the tent, that masculine spanish voice could be none other than Carlos. I looked over at Troy, he gave me a nod and I stepped out of the tent. As soon as I got out I was face to face with the doctor. "What is this?" he asked, holding out the gun I had given Sarah earlier.
I sighed, "Listen, I can explain, she needs-", I was cut off by the doctors yelling.
Carlos' face scrunched up, "What do you know about what children need?! This is my daughter, you do not know what she needs, she is not like other children-" I cut the doctor off this time.
"Doc, she needs to learn! You can't have her bein' a liability! I know pretty well what a child needs, and it's protection! I'm tryin' to help your girl, I didn't even get a chance to help my own-" I closed my mouth quickly, not wanting to finish my sentence. I could see Carlos giving me a questioning look. As I walked away I gave Carlos some advice, "Listen, keep the gun if you want... just know that you might not be there when she needs it.". Man, that felt cold to say, I just want her to be safe... maybe I pushed it.
I walked over to Bonnie, who was sitting on a picnic table, "You alright?" she asked.
"Heh, could be better." I replied, sitting up on the table next to her, "I just... I want to make sure things go well, but I seem to make them worse. You ever feel like that?"
Bonnie glanced over at Kenny and Sarita, "... Yeah. I got'cha.". She turned her attention back to me, "You did what you thought was right. You're a good man, James.".
I gave her a small grin, "Thanks, Bon.". Looking over, I saw Nick biting his nails in his usual pensive pose.
"What happened back there? With Nick and Troy?" Bonnie asked.
My grin went away as I thought of it, Troy's screams ringing in my head. "Troy came out when y'all were leavin', started fightin' with him... he got bit. Nick got shot, we all ran for it, it was a mess, Bon." I brushed a hand through my hair, "I had to cut off the hand, fuck, didn't know what I was doin'. I got attacked by a walker later, Nick saved me... It was his uncle.".
Bonnie eyes widened, "Pete? That must be... hard on him.".
"Yeah, I can't even imagine... You knew Nick before the breakout, right? Was he always like this?" I questioned, Nick was... unstable. It was natural given the circumstances. I don't think any of use are completely stable.
Bonnie stared at Nick while she talked, "He's never been an optimist, that's for sure. He's not like Luke, he has trouble with things...".
"Speakin' of Luke, are you two...?" I stopped talking as Bonnie looked over at me, "I mean, ya just, um-"
Bonnie laughed softly, "No, we aren't. We almost were... Luke stopped it.", her eyes saddened. I got the impression Bonnie still had feelings for him.
"Oh, uh, sorry... I should probably go check up on Clem n' Jane. They've been gone a while." I slid myself off the table, heading in the direction I saw Jane and Clementine walking towards earlier.
As I walked closer I could see the deck. I opened my mouth to call out to Clementine, but then I saw something was off. Jane was holding a boy at gun point, what was going on here?
I could hear a thick Russian accent yelling, "No! You are not nice people! You have already left me defenseless and now you take my sister's medicine?". Medicine? What're they doing up there?! I couldn't hear what they were saying anymore, but I saw Jane slam the boy into the rail, putting a gun to his head. Should I step in? What do I do?!
Jane let go of the boy, and he quickly took his leave, limping away. "What's goin' on?" Luke's voice startled me, making me jump a bit.
I got up from my hiding spot, "There was a guy, Jane was... well I'd rather not assume. You should probably ask her yourself.". I shrugged, maybe that guy was a threat. I didn't know what happened so I shouldn't say anything. I walked back to where everybody was, trying not to start anymore trouble today.
Sarita came walking up to me, "Did you see your father?".
I shuffled my foot around a tiny bit, "Oh, uh, no. He was gone already when I came back. He get some food?".
I couldn't say I wasn't happy he decided to leave, I can't say I believe he's gone either. Now I might've only been 7 when it all happened, but I remember how he was. Bastard would come home and go off the deep end, he held grudges for the stupidest things. He was a perfectionist, needed the job done and done right. Back then, during the whole tub incident, he got interrupted.
At that time I just met Devin, he always came around my house no matter how many times I told him not to... I'm glad he didn't give up that one day. He saw everything that happened and ran for it, my dad ran after him but it was too late. Devin had my neighbors calling the cops and well... the angry man with blood on his hands chasing after him was enough proof for them to call.
"James, are you okay?" Sarita spoke up, snapping me out of the daze I was in. Shit, I totally zoned out.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry, mom-", did I just call her mom? "Ah, sorry-"
Sarita started laughing, "It's alright.". She took a closer look at my face, "You're looking awfully pale, do you need something to drink?"
"Oh—Yes, please." I replied, watching as Sarita rummaged through one of our supply bags, pulling out a bottle of water. "Thanks...", Sarita and I parted ways after that, I headed over to Nick. Maybe he needed someone to talk to after that whole Pete thing.
Nick stopped biting his nails as he looked over at me, "Hey."
"Hey... You, uh, doin' okay?" I tilted my head down, "That whole thing... with your uncle-"
"I don't want to talk about it." Nick solemnly stated, his expression darkening.
"Oh, that's okay- We don't have'ta, um..." I kept trying to spark a conversation, but what would we talk about? How I nearly got Troy killed? How I fought with Carlos? Maybe I should just be friendly. "Want some?" I asked, holding out my bottle of water.
"Sure..." Nick took the bottle out of my hand, twisting off the cap and taking a swig of the water. Now if this was normal life I wouldn't be asking a guy if he wanted my drink, but in this situation it was necessary, right? Why am I reassuring myself? God, I'm a loser. Nick spoke up, "It's getting dark."
I looked up at the sky, it was getting dark fast, "Y-Yeah... I think Clem n' Jane found a good place for Bec. Speakin' of Jane I haven't seen her in a while, or Luke..."
"Oh, no... Clem... Clementine..." I hear Sarah whimpering, turning around I saw what she was seeing.
santiago pocini 20 - Well now you know! ;D haha Thank you!
Guest- Thank you!
lllooneytoonbro- Yeah, sorry it was so short I just wanted something out before 2015! Sorry if this is short too I wanted to leave it at a cliffhanger here hehe. We'll see what goes down at the lake, can't promise anything ;)
LittleLegSlugger- Other than James there's only going to be Joe as the other OC for the rest of season 1, sorry!
purplerox6060- James definitely likes Bonnie more than Lauren, they seem like pretty good friends at the moment! Who knows what will go down later though?
FR0ST-S3V3N- Ding ding ding! You're correct! I've seen so many ship names for James and Nick I should really set up a poll for this lol
Girlinthebluehat- Another correct! Knowing these two they are either going to gradually and awkwardly work their way into a relationship or just crash land into one! Hehe
kunaiZhatoko- Luke, Nick and James sure are getting close, into one big bro trio! Hehe We did get to see some of Wyatt, Russell, and Nate. Who knows if any others will show up in later parts? I'm sure James is wondering where Nate left to also!
hempgodxlt- Well, I think you understand now after this chapter! Haha
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