Me, Aj, and (Y/N) have been searching.. for a long time. For a place to call home.
Just when we thought we found a huge stash of food..
It turned out to be a trap..
That could have been the end.
But I woke up.
(Y/N) and me were both saved by a guy named Marlon. The leader of a community living inside an old boarding school.
It felt like a chance of having a home... a real one.
We had to go back to the train station, to see if any of the food survived the explosion.
But someone else had the same idea.
When (Y/N) came inside and saw what was happening, she knew she had to help us. While Aj distracted the man, she prepared to push him out the window...
But she couldn't.
I reacted, and pushed the man out the window. Though he didn't want us to get away that easy, and tried to shoot (Y/N) as he was dragged out.
Lucky she survived, but her arm was cut badly. We grabbed what we could, and ran out as fast as possible.
That night, I found Marlon and Brody in the basement, arguing about the man we'd seen. And I learned why Brody was so afraid.
The man was part of a group of raiders they'd run into a year ago. Marlon traded Tennessee's older sisters to the raiders, to keep himself safe.
He attacked Brody. And locked me in the basement with her.
When she turned... I had to stop her.
Marlon stole Aj's gun, and tried to convince them that I had murdered Brody. Though.. (Y/N) didn't believe it.
She tried to convince Violet that I was telling the truth. But it didn't work. With my last moments drawing near, she defended me.
Her words were enough for Violet to open her eyes, and she backed us up.
With everyone against him. The fight was out of Marlon.
(Y/N) and I agreed to give him a second chance, though I wasn't as convinced.
But then..
Marlon was dead...
And Aj pulled the trigger...
He remembered what I taught him.
To never hesitate.
The bright sun shined in my eyes and I groaned and fluttered them open. I was exhausted. The events that happened in the early morning caused me to not get a lot of sleep. I sat up and held my head. I looked over at Aj's bed but didn't notice him. I smelt something familiar and looked over. Aj was using the coffee maker. I frowned at him. He turned to me and he held two cups in his hands.
"Made you and Clem some Coffee.." he mumbled. He handed me a mug and placed the other mug on the dresser for Clem. I looked into the mug with a smile. Aj frowned.
"It was in the kitchen.. Tenn said I could have some.. I didn't steal it..!" He told. I nodded.
"Thanks buddy.." I took a sip.
"I'm surprised you remember how to make it.. we haven't had coffee in a long time.." Clem spoke suddenly. She climbed sown the ladder and I moved over so she could sit next to me. Aj handed her the extra mug.
"You put it in hot water.." Aj told. Clem nodded.
"Your right.. thanks." Clem smiled, she took a sip as well. I looked at my reflection in the coffee and I sighed. I took another sip and Aj spoke.
"Last night.. with Marlon.." Aj told. My heart sank and I looked at him.
"I heard Louis.. and.. what he called me.." he mumbled. He then looked at me and Clem with sad eyes.
"Am.. I a murderer..?"
I looked at the body in shock. Clem did as well. Louis stepped forward, sadness all over his face.
"No!" He yelled out.
"Oh my god..!"
"Shit!"
"We can get medicine.. from the nurses office..!"
"He's dead! The kid blew his brains out!"
I looked at the body then at Aj. His hands were holding the gun and I didn't know what to do or feel. I felt so light headed that I thought I was gonna pass out.
"Aj.. you..-" I muttered but I was cut off.
"You shot him... he's dead.. you're a murderer..!" Louis then glared at Clem and me.
"You promised Marlon! You told him we could fix things..! What the fuck did you teach this kid?!" He hissed, I couldn't say anything. I know me and Clem didn't teach him this. We never did. But then why...
"Louis called me a murderer. But we're supposed to kill bad stuff. Monsters?... did I do a bad?" He asked us. He looked super scared and upset.
"Louis.. was right. Sometimes people do bad things, like Marlon did. But when you shot him, he wasn't a treat to us anymore. If you kill someone that's no longer threatening you, that's murder." Clem explained, I nodded in agreement. Aj turned away and walked to his bed.
"What are we gonna do?.."
Lighting struck and everyone was still frozen. Mitch walked up next to us and glared at me and Clem. I looked at everyone and they all were glaring at Aj. My eyes widened, I took a step forward but a hand pulled me back. I looked and Violet held me back. She then stood in front of Aj protectively, cleaver in hand.
"Back off! All of you!" She warned. Louis stepped forward.
"You talked Marlon down, and then they fucking murdered him!" Louis yelled. I looked over at Mitch who was staring daggers at me.
"Take Aj, go inside." Violet told. I nodded and ran up to Aj. I grabbed him and Clementine followed.
"Oh?! Just let them go back to the dorms? What happens the next time one of us, does something this kid doesn't like? Should we expect a bullet too?!" Louis asked, he was clearly pissed. I pulled Aj behind me protectively.
"That's not what happened!" Violet replied. Louis glared at her.
"It's exactly what happened! It was over. Until little Mr. Trigger-Happy decided otherwise!" He spat. I stepped forward.
"No.. he wouldn't do that.. please don't think that..!-" I began. But that statement pissed Clem off, she stepped forward.
"Fuck you Louis! He's a little kid! So shut your fucking mouth!" She spat back. Everyone's eyes widened at her words and Louis simply glared at her.
"We get it Louis. So just back off okay?" Violet spoke, trying to calm him down. Though it didn't work.
"Back off?! Seriously?!" He yelled. Clem looked at me and tugged my arm. I grabbed Aj's free hand. We looked at each other in the eyes. I just felt like crying at the situation.
"Clem?"
"Clem..?"
I looked at Clem who seemed to be staring into space. I nudged her a bit and she snapped out of it. Aj sat on his bed.
"If I'm a murderer am I gonna die too?" He asked. His question made my eyes widen in shock. Clem looked at him with the same expression.
"What?! No..!" She told him. Aj looked down.
"Well I think murderers are like monsters and.. I know what happens to monsters." He told us. I shook my head.
"We can forgive them Aj.. murderers.. even some monsters.. they all get a second chance.." I told. Aj looked at me.
"Some monsters.. not all?" He asked, I looked at my coffee mug. I didn't know what to say.
"When bad people.. like murderers, try to make it right. That when other people forgive them." Clem added, I nodded. Aj slumped a bit.
"That sounds hard.." he replied, I placed my mug on the table.
"Yeah.. it is.." I spoke. It was silent for a bit as we all though of what we can do. Clem slid over a bit and patted the seat in between me and her.
"We're gonna fix this. You me and (Y/N)." Clem smiled at me when she said my name, I smiled back at her.
"We're gonna help you atone." Clem told, as Aj jumped on the bed next to us. He gave us a confused look.
"Atone?" He questioned.
"It means.. that you make up for things that you've done wrong." I explained. Clem nodded.
"We're gonna make it alright with the others.."
"For gods sake someone help me with this..!" Ruby whimpered as she looked at Marlon's body. I looked over and my heart sank. Clem kept pulling me and Aj by the arm. I looked at the ground trying not to think about it. Suddenly Clem stopped. I looked up and saw Mitch blocking the way to the dorms.
"We saved you from that car wreak and you fucking murdered him?!" Mitch yelled. Clem and Aj glared at him.
"Get back Mitch." Clem demanded.
"Get. Back." Aj also lashed out. I stood in front of them both protectively.
"Just..-" Before I could finish Mitch pulled his knife on me. I looked at it in shock.
"Or what? Your gonna let him kill me too?! Then who's next, Aasim, Willy?" Mitch snapped. Before I could say anything Clem had grabbed Mitch's knife and had dropped it on the ground. Mitch shook his head in disgust.
"Screw you guys." He muttered before walking away towards Marlon's body. Clem shook her head and continued to walk to the dorms. I looked down where the knife was dropped and picked it up. I looked at it and held onto it as I ran inside with the two of them.
I stared at Mitch's knife that I had placed into the table. I sighed and looked at Aj. Clem was doing the same.
"Hey.. What is it..?" Clem asked him. Aj looked down.
"You've killed a lot of people.. you told me your friend Lee became a monster. But you didn't kill him because.. he wasn't a treat. Is that why you didn't kill him?" Aj asked, looking Clem in the eyes. I looked at Clem, curious myself. She stayed silent for a bit before speaking.
"I.. couldn't." She simply replied. Aj turned to me.
"Did.. you go through something like that (Y/N)..? Did someone you cared about become a monster?" He asked, my eyes widened. I sighed.
"Y-Yeah.. of course.. I didn't want to but.. I had to.. I couldn't let them suffer.." I told him. Everyone was quiet for a bit. Aj looked at Clem.
"I love you, Clem." He told her. She gave him a frown.
"I love you back.." she whimpered, Clem wrapped her arm around him and gave him a hug. I smiled at them. Aj finished then gave me a hug, I was a bit shocked at first but I hugged him back.
"Thanks for protecting me and Clem, (Y/N).." he told, I gave him a few pats on the back.
"Of course.. I always will." I looked at Clem who was smiling. Aj pulled away and that's when a few knocks where heard. We all looked over and the door opened and Tenn walked inside. He closed the door behind him.
"Hey." He greeted us, he walked over and stood in front of us, I frowned.
"Hey Tenn.." I responded.
"Violet said to come get you for the funeral.." He told, we all looked a bit confused.
"Really?" Clem asked.
"We used to have them more.. but then we stopped. Seems right though... I brought you something." He offered something to Aj and he looked at in shock. It was the Firefighter figurine from the second day that we got here.
"I figured, you would be afraid, with everyone all upset.. but you were brave last night. Like a firefighter." He smiled, Aj shook his head and nicely pushed the figurine away from him.
"No.. firefighters are good.. I'm a murderer." Aj admitted. Tenn shook his head.
"No your not, you have to have a trial first. They decide that stuff in the courtroom. That's how it works.. Er worked. Before." He reassured him.
"Okay. Find us the courthouse." Clem spoke up, he voice kind of annoyed. I grabbed her shoulder.
"Clem..." I spoke. She sighed.
"What's that?" Aj asked.
"That's where the trials happen. You appear before a judge." Tenn answered.
"Sadly there's no more judges or courtrooms anymore.." I mumbled, Tenn looked at me.
"I guess your right." He agreed.
"You sure you don't want your firefighter?" Tenn asked one more time. Aj nodded.
"You should keep him.. because your good like him. But maybe we can play with them later?" Aj proposed.
"Sure. After the funeral. They buried them already, Vi will start it soon." Tenn explained, he tucked the firefighter figurine into his pocket.
"See you out there." He gave us a wave and walked out the door. I stood up and grabbed my coat, bag, and Machete. I put them all on and Clem explained to Aj how we needed to show people we cared. I agreed and me and Clem quickly gulped down our coffee. We all began to head outside towards the funeral.
We walked outside and the sound of crying was heard. I immediately frowned as the cry's met my ears. Clem began to walk towards the funeral and Aj wondered off and looked at something on the ground. I walked up to him and noticed he was staring at a pool of blood on the ground. His face was hurt.
"I did that.." he mumbled. I pulled him into a small side hug and turned him away from it.
"Come on.. let's get going okay..?" He nodded and we continued to the graveyard. We walked over and I noticed the two new graves that were in the graveyard. Two wooden crosses were edged with the names 'Brody' and 'Marlon'. Ruby placed a flower crown on top of Brody's grave, My heart sank. Everyone turned and glared at us in disgust. Their stares were frightening to me and I quickly looked away.
"Oh god.. their here." Aasim announced, Violet shot him a glare.
"So what? They knew Brody didn't they?" She replied.
"Yeah But Marlon-"
"Just leave them alone." Violet demanded, quickly cutting Omar off.
"Shit.." Louis mumbled, and looked away. I gripped my coat. It was really awkward, and me, Aj, and Clem didn't know what to say.
"Clem?" Aj turned to her, Clem looked at him.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Why do people have funerals?" He asked.
"It's a very old tradition. Going back thousands and thousands of years." Clem responded.
"It's how people say goodbye to the ones they care about." I added, Aj nodded.
"Does everyone get a funeral?" He also asked.
"People do. Some animals too." Clem answered again.
"Even monsters?" Clem looked at me, I put my hand on Aj's shoulder.
"Not always, but everyone deserves to get one.." I explained. Aj nodded and we all focused back into the funeral.
"Tenn.. you ready?" Violet asked, turning to him. Tenn nodded and walked over to Brody's grave. He placed a picture on the grave. It was a cute drawing of the beach.
"Brody, you always said you wanted to go to the beach. So I drew it for you." Tenn turned to Violet and she gave him a smile. She then walked in front of Marlon's grave and she looked down at it.
"Marlon was...." she began, everyone looked at her as she spoke but she let out a grunt of frustration.
"I can't. Not for Marlon. After what he did to the twins and Brody... I-"
"You didn't even like Brody! You were always mean to her..." Willy interrupted, Violet looked down in shame. She began to walk away.
"I can't.. someone else do it.." she mumbled.
"Bitch." Mitch snapped, Louis glared at him.
"Dude, don't." He told, Mitch turned to him angrily.
"Seriously Louis? He was your best friend! He wasn't perfect.. but he deserved better than to be gunned down by that kid." He hissed, he began to walk towards us. Clem pulled Aj a bit behind her.
"Aj killed him like it was nothing! We all saw it. And no one stopped him." Mitch added. Clem glared at him. And stepped forward.
"I don't appreciate your tone Mitch-" I grabbed Clem and she looked at me. I shook my head, I didn't want anymore drama.
"Yeah? Well I don't appreciate your kid murdering my friend!" Mitch spat.
"I get that Mitch. He made a mistake. But he didn't kill Marlon because murder was on his mind. He was only trying to protect us. But your right that Aj went to far." I spoke up. Mitch glared at me.
"I know what I did.. I'm sorry." Aj apologized. Looking at the ground sadly. Mitch shook his head. He stepped forward towards the group, everyone's eyes were on him.
"I know I'm a murderer.. but I'm gonna.. a..at.." He trailed off.
"Atone." Clem corrected.
"Yeah..! Atone it..-"
"Fuck. I can't listen to this." Louis spoke, he began to walk back to the school. I sighed and shook my head in disappointment.
"What I did was bad and I'm gonna make it up to you. I promise." Aj apologized, Violet turned to him.
"You don't have to make up shit! Marlon was a fucking murderer and a liar, and if we all asked more questions about Minnie and Sophie disappearing last year, none of this would have happened!" Violet stated, taking the blame off Aj.
"She's got a point."
"Shut up! It wasn't Marlon's fault!"
"Then who's fault was it?!"
"Listen.. whatever happened before. Aj shouldn't have killed Marlon." Clem told, Aj nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, he wasn't hurting anybody when I killed him." He added, I looked at the group, most of them still didn't agree. Mitch in particular, seemed to have had enough.
"See what I mean?! How can any of us trust these fucking people?!" He snapped, Violet glared at him.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I mean they gotta fuckin' go." Mitch told, me, Aj, and Clem's eyes widened.
"T-That's not fair! Aj didn't do anything wrong..! Yeah he killed Marlon, but it was a mistake.. he was only trying to help.. he's young.. he doesn't know better-"
"You know what will make it fair? A vote. Majority decides. They stay, or leave. Today." Mitch announced, cutting me off. I couldn't even say anything, I felt so betrayed.
"That does seem fair.."
"Are you serious? It's bullshit!"
"I don't want to leave.. but if you all decide we should, then we will go." Clem agreed, I looked at her in shock.
"W-What?! Clem..! That's not-" Clem looked at me with a serious expression. I couldn't believe she was agreeing to this! I crossed my arms and looked away.
"You may not like it (Y/N) but that's not up for you to decide." Mitch snapped at me. I shook my head in disgust.
"So our apology means nothing to you guys? Aj was trying to help, I get it. He shouldn't have killed Marlon. But he didn't know any better..! He was only trying to help!"
"(Y/N)."
"We helped you guys get food, and protected you from Marlon who could have put you in danger. It's not fair to just leave us in the dust!"
"(Y/N)!" Clem snapped. I turned to her. She shook her head.
"That's enough." She spoke. I looked away, my arms still crossed.
"You heard her (Y/N)." Mitch told. I rolled my eyes.
"A votes the only way to settle this or we'll be arguing forever." Omar agreed. Violet shook her head.
"Fine. I guess were fucking voting." Violet agreed, though she still seemed to not like the idea. She gave me a sad look for a second and I frowned a bit. Though, I had enough and decided to head back inside. I walked towards the entrance and immediately walked to our room. I closed the door and sighed in frustration. I walked over to my bag and grabbed my small mirror that I brought. I flipped it open and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked at the bandage on my left eye and sighed. I decided I should check it. I slowly pulled off my bandage and saw that my eye was healing up fine. Though, My vision was blurry. I sighed in frustration. 'I hope I don't go blind in this eye..' I covered it again and laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling.
Bang.
I looked through my journal at all the pages.
Bang.
I frowned as I looked at the page that had Ericson on it.
Bang.
It was half finished. 'We're out of here so quick that I didn't even finish it.' I thought.
Bang.
I frowned. It was really frustrating and I felt like pulling my hair out.
Bang.
I looked beside me at Clem. She was quiet, and she seemed to be thinking about something.
Bang.
I closed my journal and placed it on the table.
Bang.
I walked over and sat next to Clem. I looked down and tried to ignore the constant banging, it was getting annoying.
Bang.
Clem didn't seem affected by it and I was starting to get a bit worried about her.
Bang.
She was definitely stronger than me and Aj, but she seemed to be out of it this time.
Bang.
"Clem.. are you okay..?" I asked.
Bang.
Suddenly she sprung to life and glared at Aj.
"Aj stop! You'll break your toe or something.." She snapped. Aj didn't listen, and kept kicking the wall. I turned to him.
"Aj.. please.. just sit down..-"
"NO." He cut me off and continued to kick the wall. Clem looked at him in surprise. He gave the wall one last kick before stomping his foot on the ground in frustration.
"It didn't work! I did what you said and they didn't even care!" He snapped, letting out a sigh of frustration.
"I know I was bad.. but.. they don't wanna let me fix it!" He added, my heart sank.
"Aj.. breathe. Remember what we do when when were mad?" Clem asked, Aj ignored her and continued to kick the wall. Clem looked at me for help.
"Aj.. you don't want the monsters to come... right? So you can't be loud.. remember buddy?" I reminded him. He stopped kicking the wall and clenched his fists.
"Now. What do we do when we're mad?" Clem asked. Aj turned to us.
"We stop. And think.. and um.." Aj paused for a moment and turned to us fully.
"I'm still really really mad!" He groaned. I stood up and walked over to him. He continued to talk.
"I know I'm not supposed to get mad... or sad.. because then I do dumb things..!" I bent down to his level and he looked at me.
"You have every reason to be upset Aj. I'm upset too.. but you need to breathe and calm down. We'll deal with it together.." I reassured him. I put my arm on his shoulder.
"Now what do we do.. we stop.. think.. and..-"
"Breathe..." Aj finished, he took a few deep breathes. I smiled and rubbed his back to help calm him down. He turned to me.
"Feel better buddy?" I asked. He looked at me, his face was still angry.
"Still mad..?" I asked, he nodded.
"And uh.. I think I'm sad too.." he looked down. I gestured to the bed and Aj walked over. I followed him. Clem gave me a smile and I smiled back. He climbed up the bed next to Clem and I sat next to him on the other side. She put her arm around him and he leaned on her.
"I did what you guys told me to.." He told us. We both nodded.
"Your a good listener." Clem told him. I nodded.
"A very good one at that." I added. Aj smiled and reached out to me. He pulled me into the side hug and my heart felt warm. Me and Clem's heads were touching. We both had smiles across our faces.
"I wanted to make them feel better... but it didn't work.. why did you tell me to do that if didn't it work?" He asked. Clem looked at him in the eyes.
"I thought they would listen to us.. I didn't realize...." Clem spoke. I looked at her.
"We couldn't have predicted what they were gonna say.. we tried but.. it didn't work.." I muttered.
"But they don't hate you guys.. they hate me." He told.
"I think they hate all three of us." Clem informed. I nodded.
"I don't wanna go.. don't you (Y/N)..?" Aj turned to me. I sighed.
"Yeah.. I know you don't.. I don't either but.." I looked at my journal. We all were quiet for a little bit until Aj continued.
"I like knowing where we are all the time.. the bed, the food.... I like the other kids. Not all of them, but Tenn, and Louis, and Violet..." Aj added. I sighed. It was quiet until there was three knocks on the door. We all looked at the door and Louis and Violet entered. We all broke apart from our hug and stood up to look at them. Violet and I made eye contact and I frowned, Violet was the first one to look away. She then looked up, an upset expression across her face. She stepped forward and looked at us.
"We took the vote..."
"You have to leave."
(A/N)
Sorry for the late post guys! Still having family problems. I promise the next post will be out five day later as promised! Thanks for your patience. :)