A/N: On this story goes! 200 REVIEWS! WOO! I'm buzzing, thanks for everyone who has reviewed so far!
Maximo and Lockdown thanks for your reviews and as for you Guest ,I also hated the lack of interaction you get with Bonnie and Mike at the museum. That part was easily the most uplifting and best part of the episode and I wished it could have lasted longer. Rather than bringing the focus back too the Luke/Kenny conflict. (I'm tired of them arguing! I'd prefer to listen to Bonnie and Mike, and Mike needs to eat that damn raccoon!)
Pegomyegoo- I can't answer that at the moment but I appreciate your review and interest in the story!
apathy- Thanks, I'm glad you noted the latest part in the comic. I think it's a really interesting prospect Kirkman has brought up, although some people think the walkers really are talking, I imagine it's somebody using the zombie guts idea, for a more sinister purpose. And thanks for letting me know your thoughts on who will die. I love that your speculating, but I can't reveal anything yet...
obsessed naruhina fangirl- Thanks for the review! and yeah I think Molly was awesome but as for Lilly I'd imagine she still be pissed at Kenny, although it's been a while, he killed her father and (if left behind on the road) he was the one who instantly made the suggestion to leave her. Having a reunion between those two would be an interesting prospect indeed...
As for discussions (this is an random one) but how do you think the zombie outbreak started? Seeing as it an unanswered question in every walking dead media.
Rebloxic- thanks for the reviews and as for the question. I do feel it has spread to the rest of the world. Otherwise they'd be some sort of international response (planes flying overhead, like the film 28 days later...) added to the fact it's been two years into the apocalypse and there's been no sort of major rescue programme etc... so I think it's worldwide.
and FunFX2012 thanks for the review! and I'm still enjoying your story AquaDestinysEmbrace!
Night was descending over the pine forest as the temperatures dropped to dangerously low levels, Nick's own breath came out as blue mist in front of him, as his legs ached and his back was sore from the walking they had done all day...
"I thought the cabin was meant to be around here?" Sarah asked, she was tired after a full day of treading through this thick vegetation, lugging a heavy bag after her.
"I thought it was" Nick responded through his chattering teeth, as he moved onwards, he was so certain it was around here, he had been around this area of forest before. So where the hell was the cabin? He felt disoriented, as he ascended a small incline he was certain that he would end up sleeping out in the cold night...
So when he reached the top of the incline, when he saw the dark outline of the cabin, he actually laughed in sheer relief. The cabin was well hidden when he thought about it.
"It's here, looks like we'll be sleeping in a bed tonight!" he mused in a jolly manner to Sarah, whose half lidded eyes, snapped open in joy as (through her poor vision) she caught the black silhouette of the cabin ahead of her, (which was slightly darker than the blue-ish black hum of the cold backdrop of the night.
"Thank God" she breathed, as she and Nick stumbled like hungry walkers towards the front door. Each of them were completely exhausted and simply wanted to lie down. It was due to this fatigue that Nick was less cautious when he approached the cabin, he never got to say a proper goodbye to it. Coming back to it's front door it was a strange place to return too.
To his surprise the front door swung open. A quick glance around the hallway told him that the cabin still appeared neat from the inside. Sarah closed the door gently behind him. She turned the lock and with a comfortable click, the front door locked which gave her a sense of security.
Nick pulled out his glass shard as he gazed into the blackness "Hey! Anyone there!" he shouted into the gloom. He doubted if any cut throat bandits, lurking behind closed doors, or pieces of furniture would answer him. Yet... someone innocent could be lurking around... as highly unlikely as that was.
The silence that followed was unnerving.
Nick slammed open every closed door in the cabin. Expecting a bandit to charge out from him in the darkness. He held his breath and slammed his shoulder into the door as it flew open. Yet nothing stirred. He looked behind every corner, he looked in every nook and cranny of every closet or small hiding space. He checked under all of the beds and checked to see if there was anything that wasn't there beforehand that had been left there. The sort of things squatters would leave behind.
Nothing, the cabin was still brimming with old objects they had failed to pack with them the first time, but it appeared that nothing or nobody had been through here. It was untouched. It was a miracle seeing as there was all sorts of scarps of canned food left, in the darkest corners that Luke and the others failed to pack during their last hasty exit.
"It's brilliant, it's untouched, it's hard to believe right?" he asked of Sarah who nodded.
"Kinda feels empty though" she said sadly sweeping a gaze over the new layer of dust, that had muffled their footsteps on the creaky wooden floorboards. Nick had to agree with her there, but they still had supplies...
"Well this place is pretty secure, we should get some rest and see what we can gather tomorrow" he muttered to her as she nodded. They proceeded towards Sarah and Carlos' old bedroom. She had to choke back a sob as she lay on the double bed, it was almost as if she could feel her father next to her.
But he was gone. He was never coming back. She curled up as she faced the floor, (although she was still clothed, in something other than her comfortable pyjamas) she pulled the duvet up to her chin as she tried to get comfortable under the blankets. Trying to snuggle her head into the comfortable pillows...
"Night" Nick said from Nick to her.
"Night Daddy" she said back. Trying hard to imagine (that just for a second) that her loving father was still here.
Too Nick, he knew she was remembering Carlos, but he couldn't help but feel as if... as if he was somehow being a good replacement. He wasn't father material...
But... Sarah's comment made him smile, as he drifted off too sleep.
Night was now fully beginning to creep up into the pen, as Clementine nervously twirled strands of her growing black curls of hair in her fingers. Tonight was truly, the night.
She was leaning against her bunk, awaiting for when Russell face would come out of the darkness. Her body's response was that of flight or fight. She would have to flee to the armoury and then fight with her weapons. As she felt her heart beat faster in her chest and knots become tighter in her stomach.
No one else spoke much either, they conversed in low tones. Their eyes all swishing back to the shutter every few seconds. The atmosphere was starting to drive Clementine crazy, as much as she was dreading the uprising to start, she knew it had to be done.
To finally get rid of Carver.
"Hey Clem?"
Bonnie sounded as nervous as she felt, as she approached Clementine.
"I was thinking, before shit hits the fan... that maybe... you'd want to show Luke that drawing?" She reminded Clementine. In her nerves Clementine had forgotten about the drawing she had stored in her pocket in her jumpsuit. Right now she slowly pulled out the crumpled thing and gestured at Jane to follow her. The short haired woman followed Clementine as they approached Luke's bunk, as Bonnie, Shel and Stephanie stayed where they were. But were closely watching the scene.
Luke was still laying on his bunk. His eyes vacant as he gazed upwards.
"Luke" Clementine called to him, as he snapped out of his stupor, his face filling with a pronounced warm, as he turned to face her.
"Hey Clem" he responded as Clementine's hazel eyes locked on his own.
"I... drew you something" she admitted shyly.
"What? Not a hideous self portrait?" he joked, remembering vividly the one's Eddie and Wyatt had drawn of each other.
"No... I think... well... we all think... you deserved something after losing all your stuff. I know it's not much... but..." she handed him the drawing to him as his eyes locked on it.
"Tah-Dah" she muttered nervously, wondering what his reaction would be.
He looked down at the drawing Clementine had made for him. In a nutshell it was a drawing of his parents. Based off every little detail Luke had told Clementine about his parents, from his father's hair and eye colour, to his mother's large nose and big eyes. Based off their age and building up these images from Luke's own face. She had done her best to paint a picture in her mind of Luke's parents. No doubt it was poor replacement for an actual photograph. But it was all she had right now.
"Well?" she asked nervously after his face showed no signs of emotion for all full minute.
He finally looked up, suddenly sniffing, he didn't need to say anything. He simply pulled Clementine in for a hug which she returned, when they broke apart, he eventually got out... "It's... amazing... thank you... so much Clementine..."
She highly doubted it was "amazing" but yet Luke seemed generally happy to have the drawing. As he gazed upon his new treasure Jane caught his attention with a loud cough as he looked up again.
"Destroyed Locket my ass Luke. Look what I had to smuggle you from the scrapheap" she muttered with disdain chucking a battered, burnt yet still intact locket from her pocket. The damaged thing landed in Luke's open palms as he blinked for a few seconds, opening it, he saw the small photograph of his family that was inside had been burnt to black crisp. Yet the locket was still here... damaged but... still here.
Words couldn't express the gratitude he felt towards Jane in those few seconds. He simply stood up and pulled her into a bone crushing hug too. "Thank you" he breathed into her ear, as she smiled warmly as they broke apart.
"Just... don't lose it again" She responded, trying hard not too feel to touched (or secretly aroused) by his hug and the feeling of his body on her own... Shaking such thoughts away her light smile remained in place, as they both gazed at each other. Once again Clementine's cough was the thing that brought a red cheeked Luke back down to earth.
"I thought you found the locket, not Jane" Shel told Stephanie.
Stephanie shrugged "Well I told Jane she could take the credit. A little white lie can do good sometimes. and look at them... after everything they've been through, they deserve each other. They deserve a bit of happiness. Hell I reckon I'd make a good cupid" Stephanie laughed as Shel nodded. Bonnie stood next to them, never feeling so alone or heartbroken.
She had always liked Luke, he was handsome, brave, charismatic. Whatever she felt for Leland paled in comparison for what she felt for Luke. Never had someone understood her, or was as nice to her as Luke was, she spent days gushing over him while working. But she knew she would never have him... no matter what she felt. She was older than him and he would go with some nice younger girl... she wanted him to be happy. More than she wanted herself to be happy. So she simply smiled when Jane and Luke shared a very deep hug...
Burying her own feelings. Luke saw her as a friend and that was that. She had to start realising that maybe she didn't deserve him. After all she was a drug addict before all this. She killed Dee. Leland left her soon after. She had led Carver to the ski-resort resulting in Walter, Johnny and Alvin's deaths. She had done terrible things and maybe not having Luke was a form of karma. Yet she would smile through it, she was an expert in hiding her true emotions. Maybe that's why she turned to drugs in the first place... because she never felt like she had no one to open up fully too...
But there was no danger of getting high now. Drugs were nothing but a distant memory. She would simply have to bear the brunt of the pain.
Unless she died later that night, which she hadn't ruled out.
As Bonnie stood there, Rebecca also gazed on the scene. It was touching of Clementine and Jane to do that of Luke. She also saw Eddie and Wyatt share a joke "Even now..." she thought, despite all this death and destruction they still smiled and maintained a strong friendship. When she looked around she saw Kenny and Sarita holding each other's hands and talking softly too each other... Stephanie and Shel laughing together...
She sighed. Knowing that at the end of this uprising only 2 to 3 of them would be alive. She knew William Carver far too well, his guards obeyed his every command and they were organized. With his brutality (added to the fact they had failed to outwit Carver for nearly a week or two now) she knew this uprising may have been successful but at the massive cost of life.
There was no herd to distract the guards. It was going to be a bloodbath.
And all she could do was sit here on her backside and moan. She hated relying on others. She loathed it. Knowing that everyone else had fought and defined Carver and worked in torture, while she just lay here... day after day... it was driving her nuts.
She caught the form of Troy walking past the shutter. She decided (if she wanted to actually do something) now she had to act now.
"TROY!" She bellowed from her bed, as every pen dweller and the man himself turned to her.
"What!?" he snapped, glaring at her through the holes in the metal shutter.
"I... I need to see Bill about something! It's urgent!" she shouted.
"Can't it wait till morning?" Troy moaned at her.
"No...it has to be now!" Rebecca yelled, as Troy got onto his walkie talkie to Carver, Sarita turned to Rebecca "What... are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm gonna make sure my baby is safe. When this whole uprising starts, I need to be there for the baby. I'll also try and distract Bill if I can" she informed Sarita as more heads turned at this news.
"If you're gonna do that, be careful" Kenny warned her. She found it ironic that it was Kenny of all people telling her to be careful...
"I will be, but if something happens to me, promise me you'll look after Alvin" she told the group sadly.
"We will take care of him" Sarita promised, as Rebecca let out big smile. As she did Troy clanked open the shutter, training his rifle on the pen dwellers.
"Bill says you can go for a quick word! Now get your ass moving!" he snapped at Rebecca who leapt off her bed and (despite being a little shaky on her feet) proceeded forwards. Others offered to help her walk along.
"Nah, I got this. I'll see you guys soon" she said to them as she left the pen.
Feeling dreadful.
Troy opened the door to Carver's office as Rebecca walked in... taking a deep breath as she urged herself to move forwards and try to speak rationally to the man she hated with every fibre of her being.
Troy closed the door behind her, as she looked forward towards where Carver was staring directly at her.
"Well...well Rebecca... baby. You come to rip my head off?" he asked with a dry smile.
The way he called her "baby" made her want to rip his head off indeed. Yet she maintained her temper, as she inhaled and muttered "I want to see Alvin"
"Billy's in his cot" Carver responded coldly at the use of the name "Alvin" Rebecca couldn't care less, she slowly walked forward and gazed at her son who was sleeping peacefully in the small cot besides Carver's desk. Draped in clean blankets of aqua blue.
"His beautiful" She uttered.
"Isn't he? He hardly cries you know?" Carver told her as he paced around his desk, watching Rebecca like a hawk.
"Have you been looking after him?" she asked of Carver, turning to face him. Carver retained a neutral face as he looked down at the baby "Of course I have, I wouldn't kill my child".
Rebecca closed her eyes sadly. She could deny it all she wanted, but the truth was right in front of her. Carver was the baby's biological father.
"His our child" she finally admitted to him. The first time she had ever said that phrase out loud to William Carver. The first time she had ever spoken the truth out loud and it hurt her. However Carver's green eyes widened in surprise, he did not expect Rebecca to admit to such a thing.
"So... you finally accept that I'm the father?" he asked approaching her, as she looked up at him.
"It doesn't mean I feel anything for you" she snapped turning back to her child, hoping that her ploy would work, and sure enough Carver fell for it.
"Baby... I know you fucked me to get me to lighten up on Luke and the others. But... there was something else wasn't there?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow as he leaned in close to Rebecca.
"At one point... maybe there was Bill. But I loved Alvin and you have Tavia now" she told him coldly. She knew that playing hard to get would only make him try to get her harder. She knew William Carver far too well and once again Carver fell for her ploy.
"You really think Tavia's got anything on you?" he asked, his voice husky, as he caressed her cheek and jaw softly. Whatever sort of warmth Rebecca felt for him was replaced with an ice in her gut. But she could play her part very well if she wanted to seduce William Carver.
"I think you shouldn't fuck Tavia then and fuck me then if that's how you feel" she told him sternly.
"Baby... Tavia offered me. I couldn't refuse. I'm only a man after all. Besides the real woman I wanted was acting... so cold towards me..."
"After you murdered Alvin, what else do you expect Bill!?" she snapped harshly at him.
"Come on, he was your husband and all. But we all knew that fatass didn't... please you as much as I could"
Rebecca didn't know how she didn't shout. How she didn't throttle him upon these words. Yet to her own amazement, she managed too control her rampaging emotions as she remained silent. Carver seemed to be getting closer to her with each passing second. He expected an answer. She turned to Alvin in his crib. and the people back in the pen. They were only people she truly loved. Not this monster.
So she would protect them, at whatever cost.
"I'll do whatever you want me too. If you let me see him" she offered gesturing towards her son in his crib.
"You're Billy's mother. You don't have to do anything for me. We could be a true family" he smiled as he leaned in closer, Rebecca wrapped herself around him, as she drew herself into his face. Ready to kiss him... however at the last second he seemed to recoil as she pushed Rebecca away from him.
"How do I know you're not tricking me!?" he growled.
"And now the idiot thinks" Rebecca thought to herself, however she maintained her demeanour as she muttered "I... I'm not sure what I feel about you Bill. You've killed so many people... but you've done that all too protect my child, and you are his father..." she placed her face in her hands as she pretended to sob into them. Carver didn't come to comfort her... what a gentlemen...
"I'm not falling for this" Carver snapped, Rebecca wiped away a fake tear, as she looked at him with her wide bronze eyes.
"I'll prove it too you! I'll prove that this is real Bill, that this isn't just some deal! I just want to look after my child and...!"
Bill cut her off, as he muttered.
"How? How are you gonna prove to me that what you feel is real and not just some set-up by the other guys in the pen?"
With a regretful sigh, Rebecca opened her mouth... knowing full well she was going to have to do this, to gain Carver's trust.
A full hour had passed since Rebecca had left the pen. Russell still hadn't appeared even though it was late into the night.
"What's taking so damn long!" Kenny exclaimed in impatience once every minute. Some lay on their bunks trying to ease their queasy stomachs. Other paced around the campfire. Luke and Jane were having a heartfelt conversation that Clementine was trying to overhear (she guessed she was being nosy, but she wanted something to distract her from her growing nerves) however as she did a sudden crashing into the shutter made her jump up.
"GET YOUR ASS INTO THAT PEN!" Came Carver's roar.
"FUCK YOU BILL!" Was Russell's comeback.
"Dammit what's going on now?" Mike muttered as he (along with several others) ran towards the shutter than was being opened.
A beaten Russell was thrown (head-first) into the cold gravel floor of the pen. The maternal Sarita was on him in an instant, shielding him from further harm, as Carver emerged from the hardware store, a large smile onto his face.
"So..." He mused to the pen dwellers as Clementine felt her gut sink... "You were gonna distract me, use this idiot..." he gestured at Russell "...to bust you out of the pen. And the plan was to grab weapons from the armoury and take me down?" he laughed loudly into the cold night, as Kenny's face fell the furthest as he raged...
"WHO!? WHO TOLD YOU!?"
He received his answer a second later, as Rebecca came out from the darkness, smiling in a sinister manner at Kenny as she told them all "I told him"
No one could speak. Everyone was in shock. Rebecca had betrayed them. Rebecca had sold them out to Carver.
"Rebecca... how could you?" Sarita asked. She was too appalled at Rebecca to rage at her, she (like many others were still in shock) Rebecca simply smiled and kissed Carver on the cheek, as more jaws fell through the floor as he placed an arm around her.
"I can't believe you all fell for it. I was only looking out for my baby" she told them all.
"But... all the stuff you said about Bill... hiding your birth from him..." Bonnie spluttered.
"All forgiven, Rebecca here has earned her way out of the pen. She agreed to be part of the family and serve the community" Carver mused, as Rebecca looked on. Giving her best evil witch glare to any of the shocked faces that came her way.
"Fucking... bitch" Russell spat at Rebecca who merely shrugged off the insult.
"Now all of y'all get to bed! The party's over!" Carver snapped, as he closed the shutter with a bang that snapped everyone back their senses.
"She... can't have done that! She had to be... up to something!" Bonnie tried to reassure everyone desperately.
"She fucking betrayed us! I knew we shouldn't have trusted her!" Kenny raged, as he began swearing rapidly and under his breath at a brick wall as he tried to control his growing anger and frustration at the situation.
Others simply returned to bed. Disappointment after Disappointment had exhausted them into miserable slumbers. Clementine included, as she lay on her bunk as Kenny was arguing for how Rebecca had really betrayed them, while Bonnie and Luke were trying to assure them that Rebecca would never do such a thing.
"... She wouldn't do something like that! She has to be up to something!" Luke argued.
"She just fucking betrayed us! She just did do something like that!" Kenny screamed back.
"Even if she wanted too protect her baby, she still betrayed us and got me beaten and thrown in here!" Russell roared as Sarita helped him too a chair.
"Ah well, were all together now! Big hug!" Wyatt told Russell cheerfully, extending his arms for a hug. If Russell's glares could kill, Wyatt would be worse than dead right now.
"I knew this would happen. I'm such a fucking idiot for even agreeing to join in on this" Russell moaned, as he swore angrily under his breath, Vince however gave him a reassuring hand on Russell's shoulder.
"Yeah, you're in here. But you're on the right side man" he told Russell proudly. Russell looked up, it didn't make him feel much better. But it did help. However slightly.
"So now what do we do!?" Kenny asked in frustration.
"We wait to see what Rebecca has planned!" Luke answered as Kenny glared at him, while Sarita gazed calmly at Luke.
"Luke listen... even if Rebecca still had this planned. Why didn't she tell any of us?" Sarita told him calmly hoping that Luke would see sense, that Rebecca had indeed betrayed them for real. Yet despite this Luke shook his head.
"I dunno... but you gotta have faith guys! I just know in my gut there's no way she would fall for Bill! Not after what he did to Alvin! Not after what he did too us...!"
"SHE ONLY GIVES TWO SHITS ABOUT HER BABY...!"
Clementine let them argue on into the night. In a weird way she was relieved that the rebellion had been... well postponed. Because she was sure that many would die if it had been tonight. They now had Russell firmly on their side and there was still the faint hope that Rebecca had something planned. (added to the plus bonus they could get more guards onto their side with more time... but would Carver have simply killed them by that point?)
As much as Kenny and Sarita argued their case against Rebecca. Clementine had a strong feeling in her gut that Rebecca's words had not been genuine. After hiding her birth from Carver... after all the hateful things she said about him... there was simply no way she would fall in love with him once again. That kiss on the cheek... it had to have been fake.
She could understand Rebecca was protective of her child, but she knew that she cared a great deal about everyone in the pen.
"You're family" she told them, just after Alvin was born and she allowed everyone to hold her newborn son.
Clementine had faith in Rebecca. She wasn't going to give up hope, this rebellion wasn't over (as Kenny was arguing) it had only just begun it's final stage of escalation.