Ashes (Clementine X Male Reader Book 2)

Aftermath-Promise

The Next Day...

"Look." Marina holds up a doll. It's ugly.

"Nice." You tell her. She sets it down in a bag next to you and runs away. You're in Linda's house, gathering some things Marina wants to take. You tried leaving the bag in her room, but she's been running to you whenever she grabs something she wants. She always wants to show you.

"Look." She brings a picture book and holds it up to you. "Can you read it?"

"Maybe later. We've got stuff to do." You take it as she hands it to you and start flipping through it. Did you ever read this? Did your mom or dad read it to you? It might have been around when you were her age.

"Look." She shows you a stuffed animal. It was found outside the community and fixed up from the look of it.

"Cool." You put the book down in the bag as she leaves again. You went from killing walkers every day to watching a little girl run from her room to show you all the things she wants to bring along with her.

You stand up and walk to a shelf lined with picture frames. All of them have a picture of Linda and Marina. You wonder where they found a camera to do this. "Daddy?"

"Yeah." You turn around, not thinking about her calling you dad anymore.

"What are you doing?" She's holding some clothes in her hands.

"Just looking." You tell her. She shows you the clothes she brought and leaves again after placing them in the bag. When she's gone, you take one of the photos and put it into a pocket on the side of the pack. You don't want her to forget what Linda looks like. You wish you had a photo or something of your parents.

"Look, daddy."

-

You lie down on the couch, your head in Brooklyn's lap. "How are you doing?" Brooklyn asks.

"Awful." You've finally gotten Marina into her bed. You had to read her that book she brought home. "I'm so tired."

"You should probably sleep before she wakes up from nightmares later." Brooklyn's been waking up from Marina's crying too. It's an every night occurrence.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this, Brooklyn." You admit. "It's not even been that long, and I feel like giving up. I can't do it."

"You're doing great." She tells you. "You just don't realize it."

"How?" You sit up. "Cause I feel like I'm just doing the bare minimum. She needs someone that really takes care of her."

"You can't even see that you care enough to send her to someone else because you don't think you're good enough." Brooklyn hits you. "You're too hard on yourself."

"She needs someone that knows what they're doing." You try to tell her. She's acting just like everyone else.

"You'll do fine. Quit worrying." Just as Brooklyn finishes talking, you hear Marina starting to cry in her room. She's quiet and probably hasn't even fallen asleep yet. You begin walking toward her room. "You're doing great, Y/N," Brooklyn says before you open Marina's door. She reaches for you as soon as you come in. She's begun to expect you.

Seeing her like this breaks your heart.

-

No POV...

There's a knock at the door, and then it opens. "William." the visitor speaks when they enter.

"What?" William replies. He's been relaxing, reading a book, and drinking a small amount of alcohol.

"They found her." The visitor informs William. He closes the book and stands up.

"Linda?" The news shocks William. He never thought he'd actually see her again.

"Before you-" The visitor begins to speak but is interrupted by William as he pushes past them.

"Where?" He asks, scanning the area.

"At the garage." The visitor feels it might be best to let him see for himself.

William walks to the garage in a hurry. He doesn't notice the worried looks. As William arrives, he sees the group sent to search for Linda huddled together. They are smaller now than when they left.

"Where is she?" William asks them as he approaches. "Where is Linda?"

"Wait a second." One of them stops him before he reaches the garage. "There's something you need to hear first."

"Tell me where she is." There's a hint of aggression in William's voice.

"In the back of one of the trucks. Furthest one to the left." William breaks off from them and approaches the truck. He pulls open the tailgate and freezes.

Linda is dead.

He gets into the bed slowly and bends down over her. He reaches gently to her face, staring in horror. "It didn't have to be like this." He can see she was bitten, but someone put something through her head. "Who did this?!" He yells. No one says anything. William pulls a pistol from his waist and aims it at the group. "Who?!"

"We don't know!" Someone yells. "She was like that when we found her." William keeps the pistol trained on the group. "We have news. If you'd like to hear it."

"Talk." If they give William a reason, he'll shoot.

"She had a child with her."

William does not move. Another shock. "What did you say?"

"There was a little girl with her. We looked everywhere, but we couldn't find her."

William looks back at Linda. "Whoever did this. They took her." William knows immediately that the child is his. "What did she look like?"

"We never really got a good look at her."

"Did you hear a name?" William steps out of the truck, holstering his pistol.

"Marina."

"Marina." William looks at Linda once more. She was stuck on that name before the apocalypse. "Spread the word that my child has been kidnapped. Spread it to any community that will listen." He will have her. "Come get me when you find her. No one does anything until I arrive. I don't want a repeat of this." He points to Linda. "Now go. I have to bury my wife."

William pulls Linda from the truck and begins carrying her away. "I will bring our daughter home, Linda. I promise."