I paced around the cell, holding my hands to my head as I took in breath after breath.
Violet: Please, Y/n/n, sit down.
Y/n: I can’t. I can’t. She hasn’t woken up. I need to know she’ll be okay.
AJ had been following my actions, doing what I was doing around the cell.
AJ: She’s gonna be okay, right?
Violet: Y-Yeah, don’t worry, buddy.
I heard some stirring from the other cell and ran to it, followed by AJ and Violet. We saw Clementine get up from where she was laying, going up to Louis, who sat in the corner and we couldn’t see him that well. Or hear him, for that matter.
Clementine: Louis?
The boy seemed to hug her as she smiled.
Clementine: What did they do to you?
There was still more silence as nobody spoke, then Aasim explained the horrifying truth.
Aasim: No! No, no. Don’t. They, uh… they cut out his tongue. He just, uh… he kept fucking talking.
I took a shuddery breath and put my head in my hands at the news. These raiders were going to fucking die when I had the chance.
Clementine: Oh, my God. I’m sorry, Louis… We’re getting out of here, okay? Let’s get you home.
He nodded and then some sort of thump was heard, sending the boy back into the corner. My heart shattered, I had never seen Louis like this. Like he was broken.
Clementine: Shhh… It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s… okay. You’ll be home soon.
Then she got up, looking through the door.
Aasim: Clem, are you alright?
Clementine: I’m fine. Where’s AJ? Y/n?
AJ: Over here!
Y/n: We’re all good.
Clementine: Thank God.
Violet: Shit. At least we’re not moving yet. We’ve still got time to figure this out.
The girl nodded, then seemed to catch something at the bottom of her cell door. I furrowed my eyebrows, watching her crouch down to look at it. Then she peeked her head back above the metal.
Clementine: I might be able to chip away at this if I had a tool or… Damn it. They must’ve taken away my knife. AJ! Y/n! Do either of you still have your knife?
Y/n: Nope. Sorry.
AJ: I do! They didn’t find it. Only the big one.
I ruffled his hair as he smiled proudly.
Clementine: Good. I need you to slide it over to me.
He crouched down, sliding the knife under our cell door, over to hers. She got it and we heard the sound of scratching metal as she started to chip away at it. Then Dorian stormed over, hitting the metal, making Clementine jump back and drop the shiv.
Dorian: Hey! Whatever you’re doing… don’t. I promise you, it ain’t worth it. Step back!
And then the devil’s voice was heard.
Lilly: She awake?
Dorian: Yes, ma’am.
Lilly: Good. I’ll take it from here.
Dorian stepped back from the cell, letting Lilly walk up to Clementine.
Violet: Shit.
Y/n: Get away from her!
Minnie walked up to the cells too, hitting our door, harshly, with her crossbow. Then she pointed it at Clementine.
Lilly: Where’s Abel?
AJ: He’s dead. We killed him. Y/n put a knife in his head.
The woman turned around, glaring at me and AJ.
Lilly: Fuck. You little bitch…
She slammed her foot into our cell door.
Lilly: Damn it!
Clementine: We showed him mercy. He was terrified of turning. So she stopped him from having to. We gave him what he wanted.
Lilly: I’m sure you did.
She then took out a pistol, pointing it at Clementine.
Lilly: Back up.
As Clementine did, I watched her quickly kick the shiv under the bed and I internally praised her quick thinking.
Lilly: Minerva. Open the door.
Minerva: Yes, ma’am.
She did as she was told and opened the door, letting Lilly enter the cell.
Lilly: Normally, the trouble you cause, I’d shoot you and toss you overboard. But I’m genuinely impressed. First you organise these idiot kids into a fighting force, and kill two of my most experienced soldiers. Then you sneak onto my boat under the cover of a herd? I bring a prize like you back to the Delta, it might make this whole clusterfuck of a mission worth it. Someone like you, so young, with so much potential… You’re far too valuable to kill.
Clementine: I’m not your ‘prize’. You’re crazy if you think I’d ever fight for you.
Lilly: Everyone talks like that when they first join. You’ll come around.
Minnie entered the cell, following after Lilly, who sat on the bed.
Lilly: You know, my father, Larry, was a military man, and when I was a kid, he had all kinds of rules. The thing that bugged him most was waste. If I ever left a light on after leaving a room, he’d flip. No matter how many times he ranted about the cost of electricity. I could never remember to hit that switch.
Clementine: So?
Lilly: So one day he let our power get cut. He liked ‘illustrations’. To show the actions have consequences. No more TV. No more hair dryer. No more ice cream sandwiches. Just a miserable family sitting in the dark.
Clementine: Well, I guess asshole runs in the family. Is that the consequence? That you’re an asshole?
Lilly: The consequence is: I never left the lights on again. My father had his faults, but he showed me the effectiveness of teaching by example.
Clementine: Oh, is that what this is? A lesson?
She took a step forward, but Minerva raised her crossbow, aiming it at her. Lilly stopped her, raising her hand to tell her not to shoot. Then she gestures to Clementine with her gun, and Clem moves to stand in front of her.
Lilly: I want to tell you a story. Let’s call it ‘The Parable of the Twins’. Two girls were taken from their home, and brought to a new place to live. They had to leave their friends and family behind, and that was hard at first. They shed a lot of tears. But the new place was a good place. The people there grew corn and raised pigs, and the twins ate well for the first time in years. They had hot showers. Clean clothes. Beds. They were given guns and trained to use them. The people there were kind to these girls. All that was asked in return was that they help defend the group. You see, this place had a lot of enemies, killers and thieves, who wanted what they had. They needed help fighting, or they’d lose everything they built. Their crops, their power, even their lives.
Clementine: They threaten to cut out their tongues?
Lilly: They only do that to the ones who can’t keep their mouths shut. One of the girls saw that this was a place worth fighting for, and her tears dried. But the other twin… she could never forget her old home. She rejected every gift, every opportunity. Stirred up trouble every chance she got. She convinced her sister to help her steal a raft and leave on the river. Of course, they didn’t get far. What happened then, Minerva?
There was a pause and then she answered.
Minerva: I killed her.
Y/n: Minnie, what the fuck!?
Aasim: Fucking hell!
Omar: Jesus Christ!
Violet: Minnie, no… tell me it’s not true.
Lilly: Your own sister? Why would you do that?
Minerva: She was twisting my head with her lies.
Lilly: And?
Minerva: I made a mistake. I needed to show my loyalty to the place I call home.
Lilly: Like it or not, you’re one of my people now, Clem. The question is, which twin are you going to be? The loyal one? Or the dead one?
Violet was breathing heavily beside me and I saw AJ’s face scrunched up in anger. I felt my blood boil and I couldn’t take it anymore.
Y/n: You’re all the fucking killers! What the fuck have you done to her!? Fuck all of you raiders!
I hit the side of the metal door.
Y/n: All of you are fucking evil! Fucking psychos!
Dorian: Y’all better back away from the door!
Clementine: I’ll be the one who breaks out at night and cuts your throat while you sleep.
Lilly: Kind of what I expected you to say. But you’ll see I’m not kidding around. Pull the mouthy one out of the cell.
My eyes widened and Dorian opened the door in front of me.
Lilly: She clearly didn’t get the moral of the story. We’ll have to help her understand.
Dorian pulled out a cleaver, heading towards me as I tried to back up against the cell wall, then AJ and Violet jumped in between us.
AJ: Stop! Don’t hurt Y/n. Or I’ll hurt you.
Dorian: ‘Ey, yo. You better cool it or you’re gonna get yourself hurt.
She pushed past the two of them, grabbing my arm and throwing me to the floor. My head hit the side of the door, making me yell out in pain and then she twisted my hand in front of me.
Y/n: Oh, fuck! Get off! Get the fuck off me!
Clementine stepped forwards, but Lilly stopped her by cocking her gun.
Dorian: Easy. Stay still.
Y/n: Shut up. I’m not one of your fucking soldiers!
She seemed to get mad at this because she forcibly straightened out my fingers, raising her cleaver.
Y/n: Fuck, fuck. Don’t! No!
Dorian: Don’t make this hurt more than it has to. Come on. Just breathe.
I looked up to Clementine, tears blurring my eyes, but she was looking at something else and then she nodded. I felt something hit me as I flipped over onto my back. I watched AJ on Dorian’s back, biting her ear. Then the lady threw him off and I rushed over, helping him up, but he just spit out a bloody piece of the woman’s ear.
Clementine: AJ!
Dorian stepped forward, attempting to hit the boy in the face, but I stepped in front, making her kick me in the stomach. I landed on my knees as all the wind was knocked out of me.
Dorian: Son of a bitch!
Clementine: No! STOP!
Lilly: That’s enough.
Dorian: He bit me.
Lilly: I said that’s enough!
Dorian huffed and then pushed me back a bit, making me fall on my back.
AJ: You deserve to die. We’ll kill you!
Lilly raised her eyebrows, seemingly amused and walked up to me and AJ.
Lilly: You think you can kill me?
AJ: I know I can! We’ll throw you in the river! Or Y/n’ll put a knife right in the side of your head!
Lilly: Big talk for a little guy.
AJ: I know I can do it. I killed Marlon. He wasn’t a monster. But you are.
He mimicked firing a gun at Lilly.
AJ: Bang.
Lilly: So YOU killed Marlon. Huh. I bet you’d make a great soldier.
Then she turned to me.
Lilly: And you were the one who killed one of my best soldiers. Abel. And you’re now the leader of this whole school with Clementine. You’d be a good catch, too.
Y/n: Fuck you.
Clementine: Leave them alone. This is between us.
Lilly: Clem seems to care a lot about you two, huh? Come on, let’s go have a chat. Just the three of us.
Y/n: I’m not going anywhere with you.
Lilly: You don’t have a choice. I’m your commanding officer now.
She grabbed mine and AJ’s arm, dragging us out of the cell. She placed her gun on the side of my head, making me tense up and stop struggling. Clementine tried to run forward, but Minnie closed her cell door before she could.
Clementine: Don’t you fucking touch them!
We heard her bang on the door.
AJ: Clem!
Clementine: No! Please!
I sighed, taking deep breaths as the constant hitting of the barrel of the pistol hit my head gave me a reminder that I could die any moment.
Y/n: Clem, we’ll be fine. I’ll protect him. Please, just don’t get hurt.
Lilly didn’t seem to appreciate this reassurance.
Lilly: Keep an eye on her, Minerva.
Clementine: Lilly, don’t!
Lilly: Get this thing moving. I want to be far away from here. Fast.
Dorian: I’ll start up the boiler.
Fuck… the bomb. I didn’t have a chance to warn anyone though because I was yanked away by Lilly.