Chapter 13: Bentford

Dwight. That was the name of the asshole who stole my brother's crossbow. If he was still alive, I had no clue. Thanks to Preston, I knew that little fact. And so much more. The little facts like Tobin and Carol. Along with the big events like Alexandria being threatened.
But I just couldn't quit feeling the renewed hope that swelled within me. I was one step closer to home. So close to seeing both my brothers, Carl, little Judith - who should at least be eight by now - Rick, and the others. And it all was going to start today. We had the council meeting, and afterwards I went over to Keira's. My hair has gotten a bit longer, so she was cutting it.
As Kiera finished up, the copper strands only fell an inch or two past my shoulders. Two inches of the reddish brown hair that had once been attached to my head, now lay limply on the ground.
"I think this looks good for you." Kiera told, handing me the hand mirror.
"Thank you." My lips curled at the corners. I was going to keep it down. "I hope you don't mind the kids possibly staying the night."
"Are you kidding? Those two are like a niece and nephew to me. I absolutely adore them."
I chuckled. "Good to know. They love you too." Kiera had become something as close to a nanny or aunt as the twins had right now. Then again, considering the only aunt they had was a year older than they were. "Thank you again, Keira. I honestly don't know what I could do without you." She gave me a warm smile.
"Don't tell Bow I said this, but life was starting to get boring here. Before you and the twins came." She paused, and I looked up at her from the chair I still sat in. "When you arrived and became part of the council, everyone just... cheered up. Like you were that missing piece, and now the puzzle is complete. Things looked up. Hell they still do. Even some of the people who've never seen you before still love you."
I gave a small laugh. "Well I like this place too. CJ and Angel love it here." I guess I was absentmindedly distracting myself. It was a matter of time before we went to the hilltop. Then, to Bentford. The door opened, revealing Ian and Nate.
"Hope, it's time to get goin'." I stood as Ian walked into Kiera's home.
"I hope you won't mind with another haircut." He ran a handover his golden brown hair. Then he grabbed my shoulder before I could walk past him. We stared at each other for a few seconds. Sometimes I'm for certain that this twenty-five year old forgets I'm only nineteen, others, I just can't tell. "Good luck." Ian told softly, giving my shoulder a squeeze before letting go, and we parted ways.

There was a whistle, then a snap.
"Hey. Hellooo?" A hand waved in front of my face, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at Jesus, before smacking his hand away.
"Very funny Paul." I shook my head.
"Ouch. Well someone's a little defensive."
"Oh and you're just Mr. Happy Go Lucky all the time too." I shot.
Jesus put his hands up in mock defense. "Easy there Dixon."
I sighed. "Sorry. We're just... Going to another community after we're done here. First time I'm gonna see my step brother in. I don't know how many years."
Jesus gave me a small smile. "Understandable. C'mon." He waved for me to follow, and I did so. I couldn't help but think of Daryl's reaction if he ever met Jesus, it almost made me smile a little. We walked by the fence inside the hilltop, away from everyone else. "I'm going to say a few things, and only once." We slowed our pace. "There's this group, they've been getting more violent lately. That may have been provoked, but still. I want you to keep your guard up. Watch yourself, and the twins." He looked me square in the eye. "These bastards have been majorly pissed off. I want you to be careful." I didn't notice both his hands on my shoulders.
"Jesus.." I hesitated, trying to make sense of my own words.
"There's more people. I ran into two of them-"
"Hope!" Bow called, side by side Gregory. The two leaders looked at me, before my eyes met back with Paul's.
"Thank's Jesus. I'll be fine." I patted his arm. "Really, I will. You can come anytime to EastHaven, just to make sure." I gave him a small smile, before walking over to Bow. Bow patted my back as the two of us walked away from Gregory.
"Be careful out there, Bow." There was a warning threaded through Greg's voice. I never really liked him. He seemed to have a slight limp type gait. I forgot who said it, but someone had told us he had been stabbed.

I took in a deep breath.
"Turn here." I instructed Bow. He turned down the road I had told him from Luke's instructions. Then an unsettling feeling swirled in my stomach. I didn't like it. Trees blocked our view of anything on the left side. What looked like storm clouds gathered that direction as well. "Left turn." I said hesitantly. Something was very, very wrong. The moment Bow turned our car down the last turn, we were close to the gates. That was when I found out the darkened sky, wasn't an upcoming storm, or normal puffy white clouds. It was smoke.
No no no no no no no. I threw my door open before Bow even stopped the vehicle.
"Hawna!" They shouted after me, but I was at a dead run swiftly getting to the gate. No one watched it, hell, it was open.
"Luke!" I screamed, pulling the gate open. Rushing into the town, both white and black smoke rose from several buildings. Others were destroyed. It looked like a ghost town. It was, a ghost town. "Luke!" My heart was almost beating out of my chest. "Luke." My voice cracked as my knees buckled. "No. Luke, no. No." My fists clenched tightly, as I hugged myself. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. It just couldn't. But the reality of it was, it was. And reality sucks. But there was one thought that I still couldn't come to terms with, but I just couldn't ignor.
Bentford, had fallen

A/N
Almost forgot this.
Well. I'm not gonna say anything. ?

What happened to Bentford?!
What is Bow HIDING?
What. TF. Is happening?

Please remember to vote and comment... Aanndddd until the next chapter!