Description: Louis must take risks to get information on Clementine's whereabouts. His trip might prove to be a double-edged sword, however.
Wordcount: 3196
A/N: I hope you guys have been enjoying the series so far as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Shit is about to go down for Louis and the gang so be ready! I love and appreciate every one of you for sticking by this story. Enjoy!
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"How much farther do you reckon?"
Lizzie's question broke through Louis's thoughts. They were walking down the main avenue of an abandoned town a few miles from the Hilltop. Luckily, they still had Javi's car, so it had been a short ride. He looked up from the map, pursing his lips.
"We should be getting there in a couple blocks," he assured her. He stashed the map into his back pocket, looking around.
The street was deserted. Rusted cars were strewn around. A few lamp posts had been torn down, their cables wrapped around the poles. They saw corpses littering the streets, most of them mangled or mutilated in one way or another. This must have been one of the first towns to fall, Louis thought ruefully, imagining the chaos that must have spread through the major cities.
As they got to a crossroads, he stopped in his tracks. He held out an arm for Lizzie to stop. He looked around, examining the storefronts. On one of the corners was a Laundromat that advertised lowered prices in the summer. Some of the other stores included clothes shops and a small supermarket. The signs on the corner read 'Lawrence Street' and 'Lincoln Avenue.'
"We're here," he announced, checking the map once again and nodding. "This was the last place Maggie heard from these guys."
"They last checked in about three hours ago," Lizzie said, her hands on her hips. "They could have gone anywhere within a forty-block radius, even with walkers blocking their way."
"Well, I don't see any walkers right now," he replied, shrugging. "I suggest we spread out and search for clues in these stores. Jesus said they were looking mainly for electrical supplies, so the Laundromat and that hardware store are our best bet."
"You take the hardware store," she suggested, offering the man a soft smile. "Holler if you need anything."
"Right back at you," he said, making his way to the store with his trusty chair leg at his side. As he pushed the door open, a little bell announced his arrival. He looked back at Lizzie, whose back was turned to him. Taking a deep breath, he ventured in.
Inside, the shelves that occupied most of the space were picked clean. Dust covered their surfaces. He deduced that no one had been here in years, let alone the last day. He paced the narrow aisles, carefully inspecting whatever anomaly his eyes could pick up.
The shelves themselves contained nothing out of the ordinary aside from the occasional splatter of dried old blood. When he got to the back office, it was pitch black. He used the flashlight provided by Maggie to shine into the room, 'Chairles' at the ready. He almost jumped when he heard a low growl to his left.
A walker was lying against a wall, both its legs trapped underneath an old-timey television. Its boney arms flailed weakly in his direction, "Poor guy must have bled out," he breathed, shaking his head solemnly.
With a well-placed swing of the chair leg, he crushed its skull and put it out of its misery. No matter how many times he did it, he never got used to the feeling. He did a quick sweep of the rest of the room, cursing under his breath when he came up empty of clues or supplies.
He slowly walked through the store once more, inspecting the shelves in search of anything he'd missed. He didn't get very far when a blood-chilling scream tore through the street and his eyes perked up. Pushing open the front door, he ran full speed in the direction of the scream. Once outside, he caught a glimpse of a couple of walkers lazily droning inside the Laundromat, and Lizzie's screams erupting from it.
He ran inside, catching the attention of one of the walkers. With a strong swing of his makeshift bat, he swatted its head clean off. In front of him, Lizzie struggled with a robust walker as another had a strong grip on her curly black hair. Her hunting knife lay on the ground next to her, out of reach.
He decided the big guy was a priority, and with running momentum, tackled it to the ground. Unsheathing his own knife, he plunged it deep into its skull. Quickly getting to his feet, he used 'Chairles' to shatter the other walker's arm, loosening its grip on Lizzie's hair. The rotting hand fell to the floor, releasing her from its deathly grasp, making her trip.
Louis disposed of the second walker with ease, breathing heavily and turning to Lizzie, who was still on the ground. "Need any help with that?" he joked, offering her a hand.
She took it and heaved herself to her feet. They both stood silent for a moment, their hearts in their mouths and breathing with difficulty. When they had composed themselves, she looked into his eyes, sighing with relief. He gave her a lopsided grin and was startled when she did the last thing he expected her to do.
She kissed him.
Too stunned to act, Louis's eyes opened wide, his hand releasing 'Chairles' onto the floor. Once he regained control of his body he swatted her hand, which was resting comfortably on his chest, away from him. He forcefully pushed her away, his mouth agape and his brow furrowed. At that moment, he looked like a deer in front of two massive headlights.
"What the fuck was that?" he exclaimed once he regained his voice.
"I'm sorry," she blurted, stepping forward. He raised an arm, stopping her advances.
"Stay back," he hissed, venom in his voice. "Do you remember why we're doing all this? Why we're going into this shithole to rescue these people for Maggie, huh?"
"I... I d–," she stuttered, searching for words that wouldn't come.
"We're here because I need to find my wife, Lizzie, and fast!" he growled, his voice dangerously low. "What even gave you the idea that I'd be okay with that?"
"I thought we... had something," she trailed off, looking down abashedly.
Louis pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. He leaned down and took his chair leg. "Look, I'm sure you're a great girl," he began, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "But I'm married, Lizzie. I love my wife very much, and nothing is gonna change that."
Lizzie scratched the back of her head, unable to meet his fiery gaze. "I'm sorry," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
He brushed past her, heaving the chair leg over his shoulder and stopping at the door. "Oh and, Lizzie?" he said, making her look up at him. "Don't ever kiss me again."
They walked silently down the avenue, looking around in search of the men they were supposed to rescue. Every now and then Lizzie would spare a fleeting glance for Louis, who kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. His head was a jumble of thoughts, none of them pleasant.
How had he been so blind? He should have sensed something didn't add up about her. She'd been way too cheery about this whole mission. As they walked, he kicked some rubble on the street, looking down at the ground. Right now, he couldn't concentrate on Lizzie. He had to find these men and bring them back safely.
"You reckon they could have gone this way?" he asked Lizzie, who just huffed in response.
Rolling his eyes, he kept walking forward. His question was quickly answered when they heard multiple muffled growls coming from somewhere down the street. They shared a concerned look, their eyes widening. Louis broke into a sprint, pinpointing the source of the noise to an abandoned bar whose sign was hanging loosely.
The burst into the establishment, weapons brandished. The faint light that seeped through the door illuminated the bleak scene ahead. Most of the tables were overturned, a few of the chairs splintered beyond recognition. The bar was covered in black mold and most of the alcoholic beverages had long ago been ransacked.
A few walkers roamed around, their low grumbling making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He counted seven of them. As they hadn't noticed them yet, he and Lizzie made short work of the stragglers, working together to take out those that took an interest in them.
When they were all dead, an eerie silence fell on them. Louis and Lizzie looked around in search for any remaining walkers. When they found none, Louis deemed it completely empty.
"Anyone there?" Louis asked into the dimly lit room, raising 'Chairles' over his head. "We're not here to hurt you."
"Don't shoot, please," a weak voice replied from behind the counter. A bloody hand was raised above it. "We're unarmed."
Louis looked to his left where Lizzie stood with her rifle trained on the bar. He gestured for her to lower it and she begrudgingly did. He approached them with his arms raised.
"I'm coming to you," he said. "Are you Mike and Chris?"
He turned the corner and saw the two men sitting against the wall behind the counter. One of them, a tall blond man with a shaggy beard was kneeling beside his friend, who was clutching his stomach as if his life depended on it. It probably did, Louis thought. Blood stained the man's shirt, spider webbing toward his chest.
"Yeah," the blond man said slowly. "Who are you?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow, his eyes never leaving Louis.
"Name's Louis. This is Lizzie," he gestured to the woman behind him. "Maggie sent us here to check on you. She seemed to think you might have gotten in trouble."
"And she was dead on," Lizzie commented with a bored tone, leaning on the bar.
The blond stood up, dusting himself off. "We ran into a bunch of walkers when we were trying to get in that back office. They cornered us and we got trapped."
Lizzie looked around at the now deserted bar, rotten bodies littering the floor every few feet. "Well, they're gone now. Let's go," she said sharply, clapping her hands together.
Both men shared a worried glance, pursing their lips. Chris took Mike's hand and nodded. The man on the floor straightened up with effort and lifted his bloodstained shirt up. Over his abdomen was a pulsing bite mark, a few rotten teeth still clinging to the torn skin.
"One of the fuckers got the jump on me," he explained, looking down at it. "Chris got it, but it was too late."
"I couldn't just leave him," exclaimed Chris, his brows tightly knitted.
Louis looked down at the bitten man, a tired sigh escaping him. Does this shit ever end? he thought ruefully. Shifting his weight to his right side, he turned to the blond man. "What about you? Are you hurt?"
The man shook his head, running his hand through his hair.
"Just leave me and get out of here," Mike groaned, clearly in pain.
"I can't do that, man," replied Chris, his voice breaking. "I can't lose you too."
The freckled man shook his head. They were losing precious time on a lost cause. "Look, he's not gonna make it. We gotta go before more of those fuckers show up."
"I'm not leaving without–," his sentence was cut short when a gunshot rang through the bar. Lizzie stood with a handgun in her hand pointed at Mike, who now had a bullet hole on his forehead, his body falling to the floor.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" exclaimed Chris, a bewildered expression on his face as he fell to his knees beside his partner.
"We can't keep wasting time," she said matter-of-factly. "Now get up and come with us."
Louis stared at the woman with wide eyes. Although her intentions were noble, her rash decision had definitely startled him. As Lizzie made her way outside, Louis kneeled next to Chris and placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, man," he whispered, taking a deep breath. "I know it's a horrible time, but you gotta come with us. After that gunshot, this place will be swarming with walkers."
"I didn't even get to say goodbye," lamented Chris, tears welling in his blue eyes.
The freckled man stood up, his hands at his hips. "Right now, you have to survive long enough to grieve him. I'll have to talk to Lizzie later."
Chris accepted his words, planting a final kiss on the top of Mike's head before standing up and following Louis outside. Lizzie walked ahead of them, her assault rifle in her hands. Louis made a point to walk beside the blond man, who kept dragging his feet with downcast eyes.
Every few feet, a walker stumbled out of their hiding spot to approach them, only to be shot down immediately by Lizzie. Louis shook his head, wondering just what the hell she was thinking. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the spot where they'd left Javi's car.
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, painting the sky a bright orange. Louis got in the driver seat, turning the key. Silently, the trio drove away from the walker-infested town and toward the road. Barely half an hour later, after an agonizingly quiet drive, they pulled up at the Hilltop's gate. They got out, Chris looking positively ghastly as he took in the wooden walls.
Before they approached them, Louis stopped in front of Lizzie with a stern expression. "What the fuck was that?" he whispered, attempting to keep Chris from listening in.
"Whatever do you mean?" she said, crossing her arms.
"The merciless killing of a man!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
"Louis, he was bitten," she stated, shrugging. "We were wasting time. And like you said, we don't have much of that."
He opened his mouth to retaliate, but came up empty. Running his hands through his dreads, he started walking the direction of the gate. He signaled the guard, who nodded and opened it up for them. Once inside, Maggie and Jesus were already rushing toward them. The woman looked at the disheveled Chris and frowned.
"Where's Mike?" she asked.
Chris looked up for the first time since leaving the town and sighed. "He was bitten," he said simply, looking at Louis for a moment. The freckled man silently pleaded that he did not divulge how it had gone down, and the blond seemed to understand. "We had to put him down," he added.
"God fucking damn it," Jesus exclaimed, kicking a tire that lay near the wall and storming off toward a tent.
Maggie sighed, watching the man leave. She turned to Chris and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Mike, but I'm glad you're back safely."
He nodded, turning and walking toward a group of people sitting around a fire. He took a seat and accepted a beer from a young woman. Maggie looked back at Louis, tilting her head. "Did you run into any trouble out there?" she inquired.
Louis glanced sideways at Lizzie, who frowned, and shook his head. "Nope," he reported. "Just sucks that we couldn't get to them in time."
"Well, at least you got Chris back," she consoled him. "If Mike was bitten, there was nothing you could have done."
The man nodded slowly, his mind mulling over the evening's events. Maybe there was nothing they could have done to save him, but he reckoned Mike's execution could have been handled differently. Maggie led them to the admin building, going straight for her office.
Javi was waiting inside, his hands bound in zip ties. When he laid eyes on them, he sighed in relief. "Louis, Lizzie! You're back."
"What happened to you?" Lizzie asked, eyeing the bindings. The man looked down and chuckled.
"Jesus thought it would be funny," he said by way of explanation. The other two didn't inquire further.
True to her word, Maggie used her knife to cut off the ties, sitting down behind the desk. As the other three took their seats, she leaned forward. She thanked them again for their service, getting straight to the point afterward.
"So Javi tells me your wife could have been kidnapped by the Right Arm," she began. Louis nodded. "We've had a few run-ins with these people. Ruthless motherfuckers, the lot of them. Their business is taking people from larger communities than theirs and trading them for a whole lot of supplies."
"Then we gotta give them supplies," Louis argued, slamming his hand on the desk.
"It's not that simple," she replied sadly, shaking her head. "Usually they reach out to the community the people belong to with a simple message: 'For the greater good.' At first, we didn't know what to make of it, but we've had four cases so far."
"Did you give them the supplies each time?" asked Louis, cocking his head. The other two sat silently watching the exchange. Lizzie twiddled with her fingers as Louis spoke, almost disinterred in the subject matter.
"We did, but there's the problem. Javi tells me Clem is a fighter, right?"
"Toughest woman I know," Louis said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"That's what I feared."
"What do you mean?"
"If they've captured her and are trying to find out her group's whereabouts, do you think she'd give them away?" Javi said this time, speaking up for the first time.
Louis thought about it, scratching the back of his head. That didn't sound like the Clementine he knew. "No, she'd tell them to fuck off."
"Exactly. And even if she did tell them she's from Richmond, I don't think Myers will believe her. She was taken way outside our usual hunting grounds."
"Myers?" Maggie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Their leader," he explained. "He used to live in Richmond. He and his people were adamant that attacking other communities, like Richmond used to do under Joan's reign, was the only way to subsist. When he tried to organize a coup, I had to kick him out."
Louis cleared his throat, sensing the subject being changed drastically. "So, do you have any idea where their base might be located?"
"We have a rough estimate, yes," she replied, opening a drawer full of papers and withdrawing a torn map from inside it. "Every time we've met with their... 'representatives', it's been around this general area," she circled a zone about 30 miles in diameter, about a day's drive from where Louis knew Richmond was located.
"That's pretty close to where Clem was taken, actually," Javi said, scratching his beard. "I reckon we could send a scouting party by tomorrow and prepare a rescue plan in the meantime."
"Sounds like a plan," Louis said, nodding. He looked up at Maggie and smiled, "Thank you so much for helping us."
She smiled back at him and nodded. "My pleasure. For what it's worth, I really hope you find your wife."
"Thank you," he replied, standing up. With a short glance at Lizzie, he looked at Javi and grinned, "Let's go find my wife."