And we are back again my beloved readers and reviewers. See, as promised, faster updates =) Can't guarantee that they'll always be this fast, but I will do my best. Thank you all for your lovely reviews, and favorites, and follows, it really does mean the world to me. And now, on with the show!
She couldn't hear the hiss of metal moving through air when the door to her cell opened, but she'd seen the flicker of shadow underneath and slid smoothly from her bunk onto her feet. Her fingers clenched to fists as the door opened and it was hard to deny that she was relieved when it was Mal, not Jenner or Milton come to fetch her.
"Relax," was his opening statement. "Are you always this jumpy?"
She flexed the fingers in her hands, popping the knuckles to loosen them. "I have a reason to be," was her response. Since being trapped here she was forced to speak significantly more to be understood, and as such her speech was not as mangled as it used to be, although she did still often have to repeat things. Mal was usually quick to understand her though, in part because he did not just pay attention to the words, but to the way she held herself and her body language. He usually guessed the meanings of her communication if not always the specific words.
"Why? Have any of us hurt you since you were brought in?" Luna couldn't hear the carefully balanced tone between genuine concern and huffed exasperation, but she could see it written in his face. It irked her immediately.
"We should not be here. You should not be here," she told him gruffly. She was tempted to fold her arms over her chest, but didn't, just in case she might need to fight. That was what her life had boiled down to over the past several days. Looking for exits, weaknesses, anything she could take advantage of should she need to.
"Why not?" Mal asked casually, shrugging on broad shoulder. "There's food and shelter here. Other people. And none of the things outside trying to eat me."
Luna wrinkled her lip in disgust. "You follow Jenner's orders like a bitch. You are not free to do as you please, because you are afraid to face the world." A shadow of her father's snarl grated between her teeth and she liked to think he'd proud of her for sticking the truth to the man standing in front of her.
His grey eyes, so like the steel of her knife, turned just as hard. "You know nothing of the world." The tension in his jaw and throat reflected the growl in his tone that she couldn't hear. "I do not have to explain myself to the likes of you."
Luna's brow furrowed, but not for long. She took a step closer to him and was pleased when he held his ground. A rumble of approval hummed in her throat as she looked up at him. He was a good four or five inches taller than she was, but just like on the first night here, and every night after, she didn't let that ward her away.
"Only to your reflection," she hissed.
His face morphed rapidly between severe agitation, trying to suppress it with cool indifference, and something that might have even been fear. He finally managed to stop trying to crawl out of his skin and shifted so he was directly facing her. He admired her for her continual attempts to unnerve him, to cause him and anybody she dealt with as much aggravation and pain as possible. She would not take her punishment or confinement lying down; indeed she was determined to go out in a blaze of glory, reckless rushing and all. It was almost endearing, if it weren't for the fact that he was the one that had to put up with it most of the time, and whose neck was on the line if she caused trouble.
"Defiant to the end. It'll never get you anywhere you know," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest.
She clicked her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him and refuse to dignify his remark with a response. Instead she turned away from him and lounged on her bunk, waiting to see what he would do.
For a time he simply watched her, but he could not take the quietness between the two of them for very long. It felt too much like he was being stalked and about to be eaten alive, though she had not moved except to watch him closely with her eyes. "It would seem my boss has decided to let you out of here. For good behavior as it were."
Luna's eyes flashed like azure coals, but before she could speak, Mal continued.
"You and Judith can see each other, and I worked it so that you can share a room. If you'll come with me, I'll take you down to commons where you can see her, and meet the rest of us."
She stood up again. "The rest of us?" she questioned.
"The other members of generation one. Anyone born after the outbreak." She couldn't hear it, but she could see the inflection in the way his throat twitched and the way the tendons in his hand flexed just ever so slightly.
"Are you one of them?" she asked, loosening the growl in her voice as much as she could. She was sick of fighting with words in circles with him. It was a game she wouldn't win and it was exhausting. Maybe the key to getting out of here was to play along, to get in as deeply as she could, so she could find the secret. Her instinct rebelled at having to play such games, that was more Judith's tactics, but as her father had told her once 'you have to play the hand you're dealt.' She had asked him who had said that to him, and his eyes had grown dark with sadness and old pain as he'd said it was his brother. He'd refused to say anymore on the subject and she'd let it go, not wanting to see her father distressed like that.
Mal's eyes sparked like steel being struck. His lips twitched into a smirk and her blood began to simmer in anger. He took her question for curiosity, as if she cared, as a weakness, and it made her want to have her knuckles meet his teeth with significant velocity to prove him wrong. He seemed to see this desire written all over her face, but when she did not move, his smirk turned into an all out shit eating grin.
"You're smarter than you look, Luna," he countered. She was grateful she couldn't hear his voice, because if she'd of been able to hear the sneer and mocking businesslike tone that he used she was sure she would have decked him for everything she was worth. As it was she tried her best to cool the wild heat in her gut by reminding herself that they were going to let her out of this metal box, as long as she didn't screw this up.
His hand fell on the knob of the door and Luna couldn't disguise how badly she was clambering for him to open it. She tried to restrain herself as much as possible, to avoid having to show him that she did care immensely about the power he had over her, but it was no use. She wanted it too badly and they both knew it. To his credit, he didn't let that knowledge cross over his face.
Much anyway.
His wrist twisted and the door opened. He was curious to see if she would bolt and try to make a break for it, and he half expected her too, so he had to let out an exhale of relief when she didn't. She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet and clicked her teeth at him.
"Lead the way," she said pointedly.
He chuckled softly, mostly just in his eyes, and then walked out with her following close behind. There was little to see at first as he led her through the metal and stone hallways but she still soaked it all in as much as she could, both as a change of scenery, and for future reference.
"Is this underground?" she asked him as they walked up another flight of stairs.
He nodded to her, twisting slightly on his shoulder so she could see his face. "When what was left of law and order came back to reclaim this place, they figured it was safer if they rebuilt underground. That's what we've been doing the past two decades."
"We?" she asked quietly.
He shrugged his shoulder again. "We. Anybody who's been down here working."
"How long have you been here?" she asked as he led her through a corridor that was more spacious and well lit. She couldn't hear the voices floating from behind the doors or occasionally through the halls, but she could smell that the air was different. It was less harsh and metallic and carried with it the flavors of heat and sweat, signs of inhabitation. There were people close by.
"A long time," he murmured quietly. When she stared at him blankly he realized she hadn't been watching him as he responded, so he repeated it, with less inflection. She blinked in acknowledgement and she slid up from behind him to stand nearer to his side so she could keep a better watch on him. For what had to be the millionth time she felt the pang of disappointment and loss from missing Judith's presence watching her back, warning her of the things she couldn't hear.
He led her through a menagerie of hallways and corridors until they reached a set of double doors. He held his hand out for a moment to stop her from walking right in and met her eyes carefully.
"These are the rest of the test subjects. Don't pick fights, or they'll just throw you right back into the cell, got it?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't dignify his caution with a response, at least not a verbal one. There was fire in her eyes and a hard slant to her mouth that told him everything he needed to know before she all but kicked the door open and marched in.
She was met with about thirty pairs of eyes all staring at her as she flung the door open with a lot more force than was strictly necessary. Mal stood at her shoulder, watching and waiting, ready to intervene if he had to, but he realized that Luna was a lot more animalistic than most. She needed to establish her boundaries and her rank amongst the group. She didn't know how to interact like most people. He kept that in mind as he watched the unfolding scene.
She had never seen so many of her age-mates before, but one set of eyes she felt herself all but burning for sheer joy. She let out a strangled but happy sound of excitement and wove her way through the crowd of chairs and couches and other pieces of furniture and flung herself into Judith's arms who as soon as the door had opened had turned with the rest to see what was going on.
The sisters embraced amongst the hurried flurry of whispers and twitching looks. Luna nuzzled Judith's neck, a rumbling sound in her throat as she pressed her face into her sister's neck and shoulder. When she managed to pull back she was hard pressed to let go, but she did so she could sign.
"I missed you."
Judith grabbed her for another embrace before squeezing Luna's hand and signing as well. "I missed you too."
Mal watched the two girls closely, tipping his head to the side as he did so. Leland sidled up to him, watching as well.
"How has Judith settled in?" Mal asked quietly. Like a watchdog tending sheep, Mal considered himself the head of the young test subjects that Jenner had collected over the years, and as such, he knew almost all of the comings and goings of the group, and he made it his business to make sure nobody started trouble.
"She's taken to it ok, a lot like most of the others. Biggest thing was she wanted to see Luna." He kept his tone low and his eyes firmly fixed on the pair who had now settled into rapidly communicating with their hands. It unnerved him slightly that they could speak without anyone else knowing what they were saying, but he couldn't begrudge it, not when Luna was legitimately deaf.
"And the others? How have they responded to her?"
Leland shifted slightly. "Hit or miss. She was talking to Harley and Chris yesterday, seemed to be ok. She ate breakfast with me and Tau this morning."
Mal nodded. "If I'm right, Judith will help bridge the gap between Luna and the rest of the group. With her being deaf, I'm sure Luna has even less experience with social norms, which is why she acts the way she does."
"Oh you mean like a wild animal?" Leland shot back with a slight twitch to his lips. He clearly had not forgotten that Luna had almost killed him down in the catacombs.
"Precisely." This was delivered with a slight smirk that Leland did not appreciate and he showed this by hissing a cussing remark underneath his breath. Mal smoothed his features over easily enough before he could begin to sulk and continued. "If you can, don't let Luna talk with Raoul, or Simon for that matter. They will provoke her unnecessarily."
"Isn't that the whole point though? That she has to learn to get along in a group?" Leland asked.
Mal shrugged. "That's just what Milton says. I know enough to know that Luna doesn't just defend herself. She goes looking for trouble."
Leland paused. "What about the cage…"
"No!" The word was sharp, and if Leland was not mistaken, peppered with a cadence of nerves. "Not yet. They both need to trust us."
Leland nodded and Mal slipped through the crowd towards the two girls who immediately dropped their hands when they saw he was approaching them. Luna tilted her head at him with a dissatisfied look.
"You're the only one who's got a gun," she commented.
Mal shrugged, his fingers unconsciously brushing the top of the holster wrapped around his thigh. "I have permission."
Luna snorted. "Hand-licker," she hissed, raising her palm and pretending to lap at it like a dog would lick its master's hand. Angry heat bloomed in his veins but he cooled it before it could show itself on his face.
"Notice the dog gets fed and a warm place to sleep and scratching behind the ears. Things you don't have," Mal pointed out.
"And get's fat and lazy and too stupid to think for itself. And can't care for itself in the wild," Luna shot back.
"Ok enough," Judith intervened, seeing that Luna was gearing up for a fight. It was going to take all her energy just to keep her from shooting both of them in the foot. She pulled on Luna's arm and forced her to meet her eyes even though she used her hands to speak.
"Don't pick fights. Not here, not now, or they'll split us up again. Do you want that?" The movements of her fingers were tense.
Luna gritted her teeth. "Someone needs to slap him until his teeth bleed."
Judith sighed. "What would that accomplish? We're stuck here. We have to make the best of it. We don't do that by kicking the hornets nest."
Luna didn't respond. She knew Judith was right, but it stung her pride and made her blood boil to admit to it. Her silence was enough for her sister though, who exhaled a breath of relief. Mal slipped out of the room but Leland was quick to take his place.
"If you'd like, I can take you down to the dorms that you'll be using so you can get settled in," he said.
Luna surveyed him with a coolness that made him nervous. A smile filled with sharp white teeth graced her face and if there had been less animal like wildness it would have been pretty.
"Smells like fear," Luna growled verbally. "Relax. You're not worth the time to hurt."
"Luna," Judith said sharply.
"Hey! Why don't you shut your mouth? You just got here, crazy bitch. Why don't you have a little respect?"
The sharp words were delivered from a brawny teenager that had a height and weight advantage on even Mal. Tendons flexed in his meaty hands as he approached Luna, Judith, and Leland, brown eyes made of molten lead watching them with calculated disdain and disgust. A thatch of dark brown hair covered his head that swung back and forth, eyeing the newcomers with distrust and anger.
"Raoul, it's fine," Leland tried to diffuse the situation.
"The hell it is. This little bitch has caused so much trouble and everybody's tip-toing around her like she's queen bee. I got news for you princess, you gotta earn your stripes here." His square, strong jaw pushed towards Luna's face and she bristled, baring her teeth.
"I'll start with you!" Luna snarled. There wasn't an ounce of fear or cowardice in her as she spoke. If anything her blood was flaming and her muscles twitched eagerly for a hard scrap.
"What's the matter with you? Your family never teach you how to speak like a normal person?" The jibe was accompanied by a sneer.
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Judith spat, getting in-between Raoul and Luna. "She's deaf!"
Luna grabbed Judith by the shoulder and slung her out of the way so she was no longer in between her and Raoul. Anger burned something fierce in her eyes and Judith realized she'd made a mistake, and just made the impending shit-storm go from bad to ten times worse.
"I'll rip your throat out with my teeth if you give me reason." There was no lie in Luna's eyes, or in her voice, which was murderous. "Don't think I can't."
"Raoul! Back off!"
The slight ring that had begun to form around the adversaries dissipated like flies kicked off a carcass. A boy similar in build and appearance to Raoul came up and clapped him on the shoulder and forcibly tugged him away from Luna and Judith. "Easy killah' no need to go starting trouble."
"Oh lay off of it, Simon. Little bitch could use a lesson or two," Raoul growled, his fingers curling to fists.
"Ain't that the truth," Luna spat right at his feet.
The so dubbed Simon, who looked remarkably like Raoul except for the dirty blonde hair on his head, pushed Raoul further away. "Ain't a fair fight. You'll get your chance later, go on."
Raoul grumbled something and flipped the group off but retreated. Simon turned back to Luna, Judith, and Leland, and exhaled a short breath of relief.
"Sorry about that. Raoul doesn't take kindly to strangers. Never has. I'm Simon, his older brother." He extended his hand and it was cautiously accepted by Judith but pointedly not by Luna.
"What chance?" Luna asked, referring to what Simon had said to his brother as he had walked away.
Leland cut his eyes at Simon, silencing him, which was something to be said considering Leland was a bare five seven to his at least six foot stature and weighed at least thirty or forty pounds less than he did. Simon shrugged.
"You'll find out soon enough," was all he said before he retreated back to where his brother was leaning on one of the tables near the back wall.
It was only now that Luna really bothered to take in her surroundings. They were in some kind of large common room, there were couches and chairs scattered in various places, several large bookcases full of books, a large table covered in green felt in the corner, and several ancient metal machines that she dimly recognized as arcade games. She'd seen them once on a supply run with her parents and Carl had excitedly explained to her how they worked. These were not dusty relics or uncared for however, and so Luna could only assumed they worked. Cables ran to plugs in the walls and she recalled stories of electrical power that lighted up homes and buildings and made an infinite number of machines work. Her father had explained it to her when he would give the family's vehicles tune-ups.
"If you'll follow me," Leland said, gesturing to the door and to Luna and Judith. Judith followed willingly but Luna was slower to do so, eyeing Raoul who was leaning on the felt covered table. She remembered listening to Carl talk about a run that the boys had made into town for alcohol and since there had been no Walkers, they'd played a few rounds of a game called pool. Luna didn't see the appeal to shooting balls into pockets with sticks, but she suspected the fun lay much more in the whiskey and shit talk between the men.
Leland led them through several more corridors, passing a few adults who acknowledged him as they went. Luna kept a very close watch on everything, hemmed in at her shoulder by Judith. She understood the silent communication- to just go with whatever was happening. It wasn't long until they turned down a long corridor lined with ten doors on each side. Leland took them to the last door on the left and used a key on a chain from around his neck very similar, or the same, as the one Mal had on the first night they'd been brought here, to unlock the door. When they did, they were greeted with small quarters, two bunk beds on opposite side of the room, a dresser between them and a rack on either side at the foot of the bunk beds. On the right side the rack was full of clothing, almost to the point of being overstuffed, and there were shoes tucked up under the side of the bed.
"You'll be sharing this room with me and Tau. The longer you stay the more stuff you'll accumulate, trust me," Leland explained.
"What about the stuff we came here with?" Judith questioned. "It was seized at the base in Colorado. We'd like it back."
"Ah, that's right, I remember Mal mentioning it. You can't have your weapons back, but the clothes you had have been laundered and are in the bottom drawer." He pointed to the dresser.
"Where are our weapons?" Luna growled as Judith moved past her and opened up the dresser, surprised, and somehow relieved, that Leland had spoken the truth and the clothes they'd had on were folded neatly right where he said they would be.
Leland fidgeted uncomfortably and Luna's tongue flicked behind her teeth. He made it too easy to scare him. Her mother would have taken advantage of that and purposefully frightened him, just to fuck with him, but she was a lot more interested in the end goal.
"Where are they?" she demanded.
"In the armory. But like I said, you can't have them. Only people with special permission can carry inside." He was flinching back away from her and now Judith turned and let her fingers close on Luna's upper arm and pulled her away from where she was advancing on Leland.
"Don't," was the clipped sign from Judith's free hand. "Don't ruin this for us."
Luna snarled and clicked her teeth at Judith. "Maybe you should keep your mouth shut!" Luna signed back, yanking her arm free from Judith's grip.
Judith's pride was stung. She had made a mistake by what she had blurted out before in the common room, or at least Luna would have seen it as a mistake. By exposing her weakness, it was going to be more tempting for someone to take advantage of Luna or to try and hurt her. Judith was of the opinion that the more information that was on the table between them and their captors, the less friction, and therefore, the less conflict, there would be. But Luna had always been much more animalistic than herself, and she suspected that she hadn't just learned it from her parents, but she'd been born with it. Who was right and who was wrong was determined by who was left standing at the end of a fight as far as Luna was concerned. Growing up with Judith had tempered that, but it was less evident now that they were away from their family.
"Who is allowed to carry?" Judith asked, turning back to Leland who didn't seem to have breathed this entire time but now let out a very cautious exhale when Judith gently nudged Luna back towards the bunk a few feet further away from their host.
"Out of us, only Mal is allowed to carry inside," he explained.
"So he's the leader." Luna deduced with a rough growl in her throat.
Leland shrugged. "I guess. I mean he's the one who deals with Milton and Jenner most of the time. He organizes the patrols and the runs into the city that we do."
"Wait, runs?" Judith demanded. "What runs? I thought the city was a no go?"
Leland shifted his weight lightly on the balls of his feet, as if preparing to have to jump out of the way. "Not exactly. Every so often we still have to go out into it and bring back supplies. Mostly to the chemical plant on the other side of town. Jenner needs things from the factory for his experiments. And it's also our chance to bring back things that we want if we can risk finding it. There parts of the city that are more crowded than others."
"And the tunnels. That's how you get around," Judith reasoned.
Leland nodded. "Ever since the world fell apart, Jenner and whoever he had with him have been working on the expanding the complex that was started beneath the CDC when it was built. It's been slow going because we have to work mostly by hand and sometimes the Walkers find their way in. We're trying to connect our tunnels to the sewage system so that we have access to the entirety of the city but because they've been so out of repair a lot of places are blocked off and caved in."
For her part Luna remained quiet, at least at first. She wanted to talk to Judith about it, but not when Leland was here, even if he couldn't understand their sign language. "So how come Mal gets to carry inside?" she questioned.
It wasn't Leland who answered. The door swung open again and another teenager walked in, a girl who stood at an impressive five foot ten with a sturdy, muscular build and a mane of hair so thick and curly and long it reminded Luna of pictures of a lion's mane she'd seen in some of the books that she'd grown up with as a child. Her skin was a deep tan color, like the hides of cougars her father occasionally had hunted when they came too close to camp. Her eyes were a bright liquid brown with a soft auburn tone like the reddish hues of leaves in the fall. Luna remained still and let the situation soak into her system, taking her time before settling on a reaction due to the girl's strong, muscular build and the look in her eye that reminded her of her father- stern and take no prisoners. It made her wary, but it was also incredibly refreshing after Mal's infuriating smirk and Leland's shakiness.
"Mal gets to carry because he's Jenner's favorite."
"Luna, this is Tau, Tau, this is Luna, the one who will fill the last slot for this room." Leland's voice was soft, and because Judith could see that Luna was watching Tau, she signed what Leland had said, all under the observation of Tau's quick gaze.
"So you're the one causing all kinds of trouble," Tau said, her voice deep and husky, not that Luna could hear, but she did not miss the glimmer of humor in her eyes. "Good on you, it's nice to have a little life spark back into this place."
Luna snickered. She liked this girl already. "Is Raoul always such an asshole?" she asked, her thick voice grating on the words, but Tau seemed to understand just fine, if her laughter was anyway to judge.
"Raoul thinks he's such hot shit, but he's sore cause him and Simon were denied permits to carry inside the building. Probably not a good idea to pick on him though, his little ego just can't take it."
Leland snorted with laughter and Luna did too. Judith joined in more cautiously, but she was relieved to see that Luna was finally getting along with someone without a knock down drag out fight first.
After Luna and Judith settled in as much as they could Tau began to explain more about the daily running of the facility. "You'll figure out the routine here pretty quick. Breakfast first, then duty stations. After morning chores we break for lunch, then go back to work until dinner. After dinner you're off shift and free to do as you please, unless you have a night shift job. Most of us don't have those though; only Mal, Leland, and a few others have night jobs." This she said with a small smile and briefly tussled Leland's dark hair. Under her large hand he flinched but playfully batted her away, and immediately Judith felt more at ease. Tau continued once Leland had ducked out from her under mussing grip. "Once a week we meet with Jenner for a progress report to change one of the conditions of the experiment. If he says jump, you don't ask how high, just jump as high as you can."
Luna's teeth clicked. "Did Mal not tell you? I almost killed Jenner the other night. I don't take orders from him." She neglected to point out how he had threatened Judith's life in order to force her compliance.
Tau's eyes went wide. "No. He didn't say anything." Her voice was soft and she cut her eyes to Leland.
"Don't test Jenner, Luna. It won't end well for you," Leland said quietly.
Tau nodded in agreement. "You're not the first to make trouble. Aggravating Mal is funny, but don't push Jenner. He's killed people for a lot less."
Luna shrugged. "I'm a Dixon. I'm not afraid of some psycho in a white coat." Underneath the rasp of her voice she
Tau's eyes went wide and Luna tilted her head at her surprised look. She didn't bother to ask what, she didn't need to.
"The adults tell stories of someone named Dixon. How he killed Jenner's right hand man years ago, and drove off his lieutenant." Tau tilted her head and now her eyes took on a suspicious gleam. "You related?"
Luna smirked, something Judith could have kicked her for. The last thing they needed was to rouse suspicion or distrust, but Luna reveled in any sense of power or intimidation she could have. Judith understood why, but that didn't mean she liked it one bit.
"So my dad is the subject of your ghost stories. This'll be fun." Her teeth gleamed in the harsh lights of the dorm room and Leland grew tense. He drew himself up to his full height and stared Luna down with as much authority as he could.
"Don't start trouble. Or you'll get thrown right back into the cells."
"He's right, Luna." Tau's voice was filled with warning. "Just because we're here and they look out for us doesn't mean we're not disposable. They've always been able to find more of us. You're replaceable."
Luna bristled but didn't argue after a look from Judith. She turned back on the rest of the group and began to rifle through the bottom drawer of the dresser, effectively shutting down. Judith sighed but accepted it. At least fur wasn't flying.
"How often do they bring new ones in?" Judith asked Tau.
"Whenever they find them. You two are the newest ones we've had for months though." She swept pieces of her thick hair away from her face and then plucked at a heavy duty band around her wrist and began to tie her mane back. "It's nice to have another set of roommates. The room always felt off kilter."
Luna looked up. She hadn't heard what Tau had said, but she could see the sadness in her eyes and she could see the way she stared longingly towards the bunks that Luna and Judith would occupy.
"What happened to the ones before?"
Tau squared her shoulders and tightened her jaw as much as she could. "One of them died in an accident in Jenner's lab. Another was bit down in the catacombs." When Luna didn't understand, she elaborated. "The tunnels beneath Atlanta's streets." She rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and did her best to shake off her sadness, but a shadow of it remained in her eyes. "Come find us for dinner, I'll introduce you to some of the others and we'll figure out where to put you for work." Tau turned on her heel and left and Leland was close behind.
"She doesn't like to talk about it," he explained quietly. "Both of our old roommates were close friends of hers."
"So people still die here. Despite the walls and the guns." Judith's voice was not cold but neither was it friendly. Leland seemed to understand and nodded sadly.
"We do everything we can, but it still happens. When we go out to scavenge for anything that's left we do our best but we're not fighters. Maybe you two can help us with that." His eyes gleamed with a tenor of hope and maybe longing. "The way you two took out that group of Walkers in the tunnels. I've never seen anything like it before."
Luna was silent and this time she deferred to Judith. She could see the wheels in her sister's head spinning a mile a minute. She always got that look, just like her father did, when she was formulating a plan, and right now it was very clear that it wasn't exactly set up yet, and to not ruin it.
He left them alone in the room but didn't shut the door after he left. Judith did however and as soon as it was closed she spun around to face Luna.
"That's our in," she hissed. "That's how we get them to trust us."
"By making them more dangerous to us than before? Good plan." This she signed, giving her throat a rest from all of the talking she had done.
"Luna, we're never getting out of here unless they help us!" Judith's eyes were sparkling like ice crystals caught in sunlight. "If we help them, they'll trust us, and then maybe we can persuade them to help us. What's it to them if they let two of us go?"
Luna's eyes narrowed and she repeated the sign she'd thrown at Mal as an insult, pretending to lick her palm like a dog. Judith remembered the conflict from earlier and furrowed her brow. "What about him?" she demanded.
"He's Jenner's bitch," she elaborated. "He won't trust us. Even if we help his friends. If they are his friends at all."
"They are," Judith said firmly. If she had learned anything over the past three days of watching the rest of the group of experiments interact with Mal, it was that despite all his sarcasm and coolness, he did care for the other kids. "He watches out for them. Anybody has a problem, they go to him."
Luna shook her head and shrugged. "They didn't give him the gun. Jenner did. That's all that matters."
"Maybe," Judith conceded. Luna watched as the wheels spun like the barrel of Rick's python when flicked and she tipped her head. Excitement like sunlight gleaming on metal burned in Judith's eyes. "You could find out for sure though. You could help him trust us."
Luna's teeth bared. "You've lost your mind!" she scoffed.
"I'm serious! He's too suspicious of me, but he doesn't think you're that smart. Looks like you're shoot first ask questions anger paid off, for once." A smirk twitched with her lips and she put both hands on Luna's shoulders. "This could be our ticket out of here, Luna."
"What makes you think that it would even work? I hate him, and I don't know how to play games." Her jaw tightened even as she signed, refusing to speak because the words put a bad taste in her mouth.
"That's just it. You don't have to play games. Just…get to know him. Show him you're not all bad. He's not evil, Luna."
Luna's eyes narrowed. "He's holding us hostage just because Jenner tells him too. He can't think for himself. Sure, he didn't throw the net on us, but he didn't do anything to prevent it."
"You don't know the whole story, Luna. Maybe he doesn't have a choice, maybe he's trying to make the best of a bad situation. Just. Like. Us." This she punctuated with signs that she drew into her sister's palm. Luna didn't pull her hand back and she stared into her sister's eyes. There was a pleading look there, a begging question for just a chance. It was against everything in Luna's nature, but she had to admit, their options were extremely limited. If they ever wanted to make it out of here alive, they were going to have to get creative, and Judith had the better handle on such skills.
"Give him a reason to think for himself," Judith encouraged softly. "You get under his skin. It's obvious. If he's as close to Jenner as I think he is, he's the one that can help us. If his friends support us, all the more power of persuasion."
Luna growled in her throat. "What makes you think it'll work?"
Judith squeezed her hand gently and sighed. She pulled Luna into an embrace for a very long moment, just trying not to go to pieces from the stress. Luna could feel her sister shaking and was surprised by it but she did not respond to it immediately.
"We have to try. Outright violence and trying to run out the door didn't work. It's our only chance."
When Judith lifted her head off of Luna's shoulder they met each other's gaze measure for measure. She could see the aching longing to go home and the loneliness for her family as much as Luna could feel within herself and a part of her was reassured. She nodded slowly.
"I'll do what I can."
Judith smiled and squeezed Luna's shoulder tight, and in that grip was all the answer that Luna ever needed to satisfy her questions of Judith's motives and end game. There was pain and loneliness there, but an absolutely unyielding desire to be trapped down here for the rest of her days, and a willingness to do anything she had to do in order to see themselves freed.
"We both will."
FanFicGirl10: Nooooooooooooo! YOU CANNOT KILL GLENN! He's my favorite. I hope this new guy abd Ben help Glenn survive. Cliffhanger, Update Soon!
Mm, will I be that evil and kill Glenn? Only time will tell xD He's one of my favs too. And as to the newcomer, mmm, I'm so excited to introduce them to you guys.
ObjectiveObserverFromAfar: Oh my gosh, my heart is breaking right now. I really hope you keep Glenn around, but I understand in the world of Walking Dead no one is safe...even characters we have come to know and love. But to be taken out by other living men after they've been able to survive for so long in the post-apocalyptic world-gah, I just wish Glenn was able to die warm in his bed with Maggie at his side. I am intrigued by this stranger and look forward to seeing who he/she is and how Benjy knows them. Great update! Don't keep us waiting too long :)
Indeed, this is The Walking Dead, and nobody's ever really safe. That's the most repeated phrase I've seen Robert Kirkman use in interviews when they ask about killing off charries. To me though it almost makes sense that if someone's gonna die, it's probably going to be from a threat that they're not used to, such as other hostile groups. Since this is almost 20 years into the future, anybody that has survived is probably ruthless and efficient at getting what they need- especially from preying on others who are less suspicious. Regardless of what happens though, Maggie will remain at Glenn's side, as would he remain at hers. Ooh, Benjy's mysterious recognition, I am sooo excited to throw this new element into the works.
Brittney: YOU CRUEL CRUEL PERSON! GLENN, NO! You can't kill him! But I guess in a zombie filled universe people must die...mystery person I suspect is Merle by the description. Who else do we know is missing ring and pinky fingers? Can't wait for the next chapter! : )
Well, what I can tell you is the mystery person ISN'T Merle. Don't worry though, Merle will make an appearance soon enough, but obviously I can't say how or why. As for Glenn and his fate, don't worry, I have taken into a very steep consideration what will befall him, you guys will just have to wait and see ;)
Emberka-2012: Oh no, I hope they will save Glenn. Their group and without those losses so small. If Benji knew stranger before, he can be a doctor? "chunk of the hand"? So he was bitten?
It would be absolutely crushing if they were to lose Glenn, not just because of the emotional loss, but also as you pointed out, because they are so small as it is. Losing anyone else would put their odds for survival at even less. And I shall reveal all of who this stranger is, and how Benji knows them, as well as the issue of the hand, all in good time my friend =)
jouetdedestin: You cannot kill Glenn! :(
Oh but I can! The question is whether I will or not, and for that, you'll just have to keep reading….
Lacil: You really do know how to keep a girl on the edge of her seat! Wonderful update, it was nice to see our rescue crew make some headway before you threw another lovely and descriptive wrench into the gears. I can't wait to see where you take this! I was hoping for Benjy to cross paths with a former friend in the last story, so this was a very nice little surprise! I love a good bonus :) Very curious as to who this stranger will turn out to be and what she will mean to the group. As for Maggie, I was able to feel her pain and anger through your descriptions and I am very pleased at her ferocity where it concerned Glenn. And I have to say that I was struck when Fox admitted to herself that she fights better alongside Daryl, I too fight better next to my love. At least we aren't fighting Walkers, but you pinpointed the way a soul couple feels about each other and I loved it!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter, I'm almost nervous when I throw twists and things like this into the story, but it's part of what makes the Walking Dead fandom so great in general, because no one's safe, and anything can happen at any time. I definitely knew that in the sequel I wanted Benjy to have more screen time, and a little more of his background to be revealed, so I'm really excited to get to play around with him and this newcomer =) I'm not sure if anybody else had picked up on this, but I felt like when I was writing this chapter, particularly where Maggie was concerned, that there were strong tenors of similarity between her and Fox, and how they feel about things when someone they love is threatened. Maggie will do anything she has to do to protect her family, but especially Glenn, and the fact that she couldn't, that she's so close to losing him…I think it would be enough to make anyone ferocious enough to take on the whole world single-handedly. Ah, Fox, she has always known, but maybe not always admitted to the fact, that she fights better when she's at Daryl's side. When she knows he's with her, she fights twice as hard, in someways, to prove her worth, because there is a part of her that will /always/ operate from a place where she feels like she has to prove she deserves to be with him, and with the group. And I can't help thinking most people would fight stronger with someone that they cared about at their side…especially if facing a world full of zombies.
Jerrie D: Wow, Glenn is on the verge of dying and there's nothing that Benjy can do? OH THE AGONY! I know Maggie is having a hard ass time taking all that in. I really wonder what you have in store for the poor Asian. Omg, the blood drinking is what topped this whole chapter. I would definitely be in Benjy's boat right now. Ugh... but they're all strong for withstanding all of that. That's for sure. Great chapter over all but I'm really worried around what's going to happen to Luna, Judith, Mal and Jenner. I wanna know how gruesome his experiments get. :p
Mmm, there might yet be something Benjy can do, but he's gonna need help. A lot of help. Oh the Agony indeed, Maggie is not holding up so well right now, not that I really think anybody would if they were in her shoes. I would so be in Benjy's boat as well if I were forced to drink blood, but when push comes to shove, you'll do what you have to do to survive, even if you never thought you could get pushed to that point. As far as Judith, Luna, Mal, and Jenner, I have plenty up my sleeve, and the lengths that Jenner is willing to go to accomplish his goals is frightening to say the least….It's good to hear from you my friend, I was worried I had lost you along the way!
lunasky99: Oh my god!. I can't believe Glenn got shot!. He can't die, he just can't!. Loved the gun fight it was EPIC!. Who is it?.
Mmm, poor poor Glenn, he's not doing so hot right now is he? But he's hanging in there for now…and I'm glad you liked the action, I work hard to make those scenes as vivid and chaotic as possible. As far as who the newcomer is, you'll just have to wait and see!
RedneckBunny: Damn cliffhanging! I MUST KNOW THIS NEW PERSON! AND YOU MUST NOT LET GLENN DIE!
I'm getting good at cliffhangers hm? Well, better anyway. Ooooh, all the unanswered questions, in time my friend!