𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗦 | 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜
❝𝖨 𝖦𝖮𝖳 𝖦𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖳 𝖳𝖤𝖠𝖢𝖧𝖤𝖱𝖲.❞
𝗜 𝗥𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘, the heat searing my skin, Javier right behind me and Clementine yelling at me from a distance.
Javier: Kate! Mariana!
Emma: Fuck! Mari!
Clementine: Goddamn it, you’re gonna get yourselves killed!
We kept running, killing walkers nearer the truck, but soon the New Frontier caught sight of us and Clementine managed to pull us both behind cover as they shot at us. I got back up, shooting both the soldiers with my pistols, bringing Clem with me as I ran alongside Javi, reaching the truck.
Javier: Kate!? Mariana!?
We checked the truck, but the doors were open and nobody was inside.
Emma: The fuck…?
Running away as more walkers flooded through the crack in the wall, we found ourselves back in the middle of the square, chaos still ensued. David ran over to us, blood on his face and a dark bruise forming around his neck.
Javier: Kate!? Mariana!? Gabe!? David!?
Emma: Mari!
David: Over here! Where’s Kate and Mari!?
Javier: They’re not here. They must’ve gotten out.
David: If something’s happened to them… If you’ve both gotten them– you two better hope she’s alive.
Javier: Shut up, for once, and help me find them!
David: What do you think I’m doing?
Our feet trampled through the square, our voices strained as we searched all over for the two missing women.
David: Kate! Mari!
Javier: Kate!
Emma: Mari!
A walker in the distance fell to the floor, David’s eyes widened as he thought it was Kate.
David: Kate!
Javier: David, wait!
Emma: David, that’s not–
The walker sprung up at David as he reached it, Javier and me running over to pull it away from him. Instead, a crowbar swung through the air, cracking its skull open and sending it flying to the floor. Behind it, Kate and Mariana appeared, slightly banged up, but other than that, fine.
Kate: We found you!
Mariana: Oh, thank God…
David: Kate, Mari, I’m so glad you’re–
Kate: Javi! Thank God you’re alright!
She pulled him into a hug as Mariana did the same to me.
Mariana: I thought I was a goner back there.
Emma: Me, too.
Javier: You’re both alive! We thought we’d lost you both back there.
Kate: Same.
A gunshot zoomed past us, hitting a walker, David staring at the two of us with shock.
David: What the hell’s the matter with all of you? Focus on your surroundings!
We all let go, turning around to see Gabe getting surrounded by a group of walkers in a far corner of the square.
Javier: There’s Gabe!
Kate: Lead the way, Javi.
All of us ran over, shooting the walkers in the head as we went.
Clementine: Gabe, get the knee!
He went for the walker’s knee, but it didn’t fall, it only tripped slightly. He got scared, backing off again.
Emma: Hook your leg around it! Make sure to pull it to the ground.
He did as I said, finally dragging the walker to the floor and stabbing it in the head.
Mariana: Nice one!
Gabe: I got great teachers.
Javier: You alright?
Gabe: I’m fine.
Kate: Look at them. There’s so many!
The walkers began to group together again, and we all backed up together, circling to make sure we didn’t get attacked from behind.
David: We’ll be safer inside! Get in!
We all followed after the man as he made a pathway through the walkers, running into a building and barricading the door behind us.
Javier: That should hold them for now.
David: You two put up a good fight out there.
Gabe: We don’t care what you think.
Mariana bit the inside of her cheek, turning away.
David: Gabriel, do not take that tone with me! Mariana, look at me!
Gabe: You murdered that man! After they let you go. You’re a killer, just like they said.
Emma: You killed Clint!?
Kate: You did that?
Mariana: Why, dad!?
David: You don’t understand. It was them or us! I had to do it! They would never let us go! They still would’ve killed us, sooner or later.
Javier: You screwed up, David! You were completely out of control! Now everyone in town’s going to think you’ve lost your mind.
Gabe: His brains… splattered all over me!
Mariana: I nearly died!
David: You are my son and daughter. I’m doing what any parent would do to keep you safe. You do not get to judge my actions. Do you hear me?
The boy and girl didn’t listen, walking to stand behind Javi instead.
David: Hey, do not walk away from me! When someone speaks to you, you stand up and answer them. Even if you don’t want to.
Javier: David, that’s enough.They’re not little kids! They don’t need that from you.
David: What they need is to learn to keep their opinions to themselves until they understand what the hell they’re talking about. I’m just… I’m trying to protect you both. I lost you once. I won’t let it happen again. Okay?
Javier: We made it through alive. Let’s just be glad about that.
David: We need to check the other entrances. Make sure we’re safe. Gabe, Mariana, wanna help me out?
Gabe: Javi?
Mariana: I don’t know…
David: Gabriel! Mariana!
Javier: Just be careful, both of you. Lot of muertos out there.
David: Mari, Gabe and I will watch each other’s backs.
Clementine: I’ll help too.
Gabe: Okay.
I leaned over to Clementine, whispering in her ear.
Emma: Be careful, okay? David’s not to be trusted.
Clementine: I know, don’t worry.
She patted my hat teasingly before walking off with Gabe, Mariana and David.
Javier: Hey, Clem’s with them. It’s fine.
Emma: Yeah, Kate. Clem will know what to do if things go bad.
Kate: It’s not that. It’s– let’s just… I’m all over the place. I need to focus on something. Anything. Just need to focus. On… whatever.
Javier: Let’s just go upstairs. The further we are from these doors, the happier I’ll be. I just want to get as much distance between us and the muertos as I can.
Kate: Yeah… yeah, okay.
Emma: I know it’s random, but I’m really craving, like, a hotdog right now.
Javier: Huh?
Emma: I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve eaten in the past seventy-eight hours.
Kate: That’s… not good.
Emma: Well, no shit, Kate.
We walked up the stairs, Javier getting the hint I was dropping of distracting Kate by talking about random food we were craving. But when we reached the hallways above, everything went to shit as our eyes landed on the amount of injured civilians milling about, some groaning in pain.
Kate: Oh, my God. This is a fucking nightmare.
Child: Mommy, it’s them!
Kate: I’m just glad Mariana and Gabe aren’t here to see this right now. Fuck, I can’t believe what I’ve done. They’re not gonna trust us ever again, Javi. And I wouldn’t blame them.
Javier: We’ll get through this. Together. We have for years, right?
Kate: But what about these people, Javi? They’re not as lucky as we are.
Emma: Kate, it’s not your fault.
We continued to walk down the hallway, finding a woman crying over a dead body, whispering muffled sobs into their no-longer-listening ear.
Kate: But it is. I did this to them. That hole is there because of me. This is all my fault.
Javier: Listen to Emma. What happened was an accident. A bad one, but still… You didn’t do it on purpose.
Kate: But it’s still my fault. I can’t leave until I make this right. All of this. Let’s fix this. As best we can. Please, Emma, stay until then.
Emma: I have to ask Clem, Kate. But I’m on your side here.
Javier: And you know I’m staying. Let’s make things right.
Kate: I don’t know if it’s actually possible. But I feel a lot better knowing you’re there too.
The man smiled and I couldn’t help but find their dynamic cute. They were in love, and that was pretty obvious. Was I that obvious, too? Oh, fuck…