Kamille flinched as the soldiers tightened their grip on her arms, dragging her behind Travis to somewhere behind the labs building.
"They stop eating their victims after a while," Willy was rambling, and Kamille wanted to clock him in the face. "Did you know that?"
She wrinkled her nose at the scent of the dead, a strong wave overcoming them all the closer they got to where they were going.
"Something else we discovered. Blood goes cold and they just kind of lose interest. Of course, then you turn. See how that works? Undead procreation."
They were led past some weird-looking stable, the ground becoming muddier when they approached a dug up pit. Half of the pit was full of infected, fenced off in a snarling, drooling, gruesome bundle. The other half had, maybe, eight or nine infected, walking about groggily, unable to escape from the depth of the pit.
The soldiers began to shove Travis forward, attempting to push him into the pit, and Kamille tried to shake out of her own guard's grasp when she realised what was happening.
"No! Don't do this!" she screamed, trying to get free so she could help Travis, but Willy merely laughed as Travis was finally shoved in, landing on his face.
Travis jumped up instantly, forced to be aware of his surroundings and fight back. Kamille gasped as the infected began to take notice of him, turning to him hungrily.
"You can do it!" Willy cheered him on sarcastically. Travis shoved forward at the closest infected, nailing him to the ground before smashing a concrete brick on him. "There you go."
Kamille shivered at the laughs coming from the soldiers holding her, forcing her to watch Travis fight for his life in a bloody pit.
"Gladiator-style that shit, man! Get creative!" Willy shouted to Travis.
"Please, let him out of there!" Kamille yelled to Willy desperately. "He'll die!"
Willy ignored her and watched as Travis eyed the infected by the fence. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" he teased, watching as Travis lunged forward to the infected, pressing it to the fence before stabbing it in the head with a sharp rod.
"I don't think he can," another soldier said with a laugh, shaking his head.
"I don't think he can either," Willy agreed with a smirk.
Kamille felt tears blur her vision as she watched the horrific sight before her. She wanted to look away, but she had to make sure Travis was alive.
"I'd put money on it," the soldier said with a shrug.
"How much?" Willy asked, glancing up at him.
"20K?"
Kamille tried to escape the soldiers holding her, hoping their grip had loosened as they watched the fight, but she was wrong as they squeezed her arms tighter, definitely leaving a bruise.
"You're a feisty one," Willy commented, laughing as he looked to Kamille. "If Travis here looked like he needed the help, I would definitely consider sending you in with him."
Kamille squeezed her fists tightly. "You fucking bastard."
Willy laughed as he looked back to Travis, watching the man as he beat down the remaining infected. There were times when Kamille felt her breath shaking and her stomach clenching as she saw Travis on the brink of being attacked, but somehow, he always managed to get out and kill the infected.
Kamille wasn't sure how long her eyes were stinging with tears and her nose was tickling with the overwhelming scent of dead, but she soon saw Travis panting as he turned to meet Willy's eyes.
Willy smirked. "Very impressed... Mr. Maori."
Travis yelled with anger as he swung the concrete block up at Willy, the soldier easily dodging it with an amused smile.
"But you should save your strength," Willy added, walking towards the top of the fence that separated the other group of infected from Travis. "You're gonna need it."
Kamille's eyes widened as she watched him lift the lock, letting the fence unlock and the infected push their way through.
"You fucking arsehole!" Kamille shrieked, trying desperately to get out of the soldier's grasp so she could get to Willy's smug face and punch it. "You little bitch! You fucking motherfucker!"
But Willy ignored the countless insults hurled at him, instead laughing as he looked to Travis who was forced to fight for his life once again.
–
Kamille was breathless, throat closed up and tears dried on her face as she looked down to Travis. Blood coated his skin and clothes and he wore an expression void of emotion, but he was otherwise unharmed. He'd killed all the infected with his bare hands, the dead bodies laying all around him.
"Travis!"
Kamille and Travis both looked around, trying to find the familiar voice. It was Madison, her eyes taking in the scene before her.
"Maddie," Travis mumbled in disbelief. "Maddie?"
"Get him out of there!" Madison shouted, looking around, and that's when her eyes landed on Kamille. "Kamille! Let her go!"
Kamille felt her shoulders relax when she saw Madison's reassuring presence. A part of her wondered why Alicia wasn't with her, but she tried not to worry herself with that as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Let them go!" a man who was with Madison shouted, pointing to some soldiers. He wasn't wearing a uniform like the others, but he seemed to have held some kind of authority there.
Madison ran to give Kamille a hug, making the raven-haired girl groan at the suddenness. She soon gave into the embrace, closing her eyes as she felt better now that she knew the older woman was safe and okay.
"You're okay?" Madison asked, eyes looking over Kamille with concern.
Kamille nodded, then nodded to Travis who had been helped out the pit. "Go to him."
Madison looked between her eyes before nodding and squeezing her arm comfortingly. She turned and ran to see Travis, but he had soon spotted Troy standing on the other side of the pit and was lunging towards him angrily.
"Hey, whoa, hey!" Troy grunted as Travis tackled him to the ground.
"You wanna learn something?! I'll teach you something!" Travis shouted, about to land a punch in his newly-bandaged eye, but was pulled back by some soldiers. "You piece of shit!" He tried to fight against the soldiers, but they pulled him away. "He tried to kill us!"
"We're okay," Madison said, reaching for him protectively.
"He tried to kill us!" Travis repeated, still fighting.
"We're okay, Travis!" Madison called to him as the soldiers turned him around to face the blonde. "We're okay, we're okay."
"Madison, you don't get it," Kamille got out, moving towards them, clutching her arm. "It was Troy who did this."
"It's okay," Madison repeated, obviously knowing something they didn't. "We're safe."
"Maddie, I found Nick. He's here," Travis told her.
Any sense of composure Madison had was now out the window at the mention of her son. She stepped back a little, eyes desperate as they flickered between Travis and Kamille.
"Where is he?" she muttered.
"Mom!"
Kamille froze momentarily, recognising Alicia's voice. She didn't know if she'd imagined it, but when she saw Madison spin around, she knew it was real.
"Mom!" Alicia called out again, spotting Madison before escaping the hold of the soldiers who'd brought her there.
Madison and Alicia ran to each other, meeting halfway into a tight embrace. When Alicia opened her eyes, she spotted Kamille and widened her eyes.
"Kam!" she shouted, before letting go of her mum and running to her girlfriend, tears forming in her eyes.
Kamille smiled uncontrollably as she held Alicia tightly, tucking her head into her neck. She was so sure she'd never see her again, that she'd die at the hands of Willy and only ever be able to think about what if.
"I thought I'd lost you for good," Alicia mumbled, pulling away but holding Kamille close. "I thought you were gone and I'd never see you again."
Kamille wiped away her tears, eyes meeting the lovely green ones she'd missed more than she realised. "I know. I thought that, too. I'm just so glad you're safe."
Alicia looked her up and down. "Are you? Did they hurt you?"
Kamille reassured her with a smile, pushing her hair from her own eyes. "I'm fine."
Alicia was nodding, still concerned as she looked over Kamille, but the older girl was distracted by Nick who had also been dragged in by some soldiers. He was fighting to get free, but soon saw his mum and ran to her desperately.
"Nick," Kamille got out, spinning Alicia around to show her.
Alicia squeezed Kamille's hand before moving forward to her family. Nick spotted her and stretched out an arm, clutching her tightly when she joined into their shared hug.
Kamille felt a lot better when she saw the Clarks reunited. She didn't think about what they'd endured to get to this point, nor what would happen next. She simply thanked Allah that they were all okay for now.
–
"You sure she's gonna be okay?" Nick asked, holding Luciana's hand as she lay on the makeshift bed.
"I'm doing the best I can," the woman who was tending to Luciana's bullet wound said.
Kamille watched them, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Since being reunited, the guy in charge – Jake Otto – had apologised profusely for the way they'd been mistreated, and moved them to a brighter-looking part of the facility. AKA a place where there weren't guns pointed at them.
Kamille saw the leader as he was talking to Madison just ahead, giving her all the supplies she needed but also trying to convince her to take them all to a camp he and his family had. His family included Troy, who happened to be his brother. Madison was adamant on leaving to go elsewhere, not with him, but he was persistent.
Kamille didn't know much about him, not having spoke to him herself, but he sounded genuine. He was nothing like his brother or some of the other soldiers there, but then again, he could have been lying. Madison was best to stay guarded.
"Hey."
Kamille looked up and smiled when she saw Alicia approaching her. She joined her, taking a seat beside her on a crate.
"You hurt?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing with concern as she rested a hand on Kamille's leg.
"What?" Kamille hadn't realised she was rubbing at her left arm gently. She dropped her hand. "No, I'm good."
"Take off your jacket," Alicia said, though it was more of an order judging by her tone of voice.
"Alicia–"
"Please," she added, cutting her off. Her eyes met Kamille's, softening as she nodded slowly.
Kamille had no choice but to listen, slowly tugging off her jacket to reveal her arms in a tee shirt she was wearing. There was a purple-red bruise, almost handprint like, formed into her skin on her upper left arm.
"They did that to you?" Alicia asked, eyes widened as she held her arm gently.
Kamille wasn't sure how to tell her that she'd had it lucky, if anything. "It's nothing. Just a little bruising. It'll go away."
Alicia frowned, eyes lifting to meet Kamille's. Brown met green as a mixture of emotions were exchanged in a simple glance. Alicia broke their gaze as her eyes trailed back to her arm, before following it down to her hand. Slender fingers lifted Kamille's hand gently and rubbed on the skin, at the number written in marker pen.
43
"They treated you like animals," Alicia muttered, noticing how the marker wouldn't rub off. "I..."
Kamille pulled her hand away gently, before raising Alicia's head by guiding her chin upwards.
"I'm okay," she promised. "We couldn't have known this would happen, but it did and now we just have to keep moving forward."
Alicia nodded, before leaning forward to press a haste kiss to Kamille's lips. The older girl barely registered it as Alicia pulled away.
"We'll get out of here soon," Alicia said, intertwining their fingers. She looked out to the others, who were doing their own thing. "All of us. Mom is getting a truck and Luciana is getting patched up, then we'll be on our way."
Kamille nodded, relieved to hear that.
"Thank you for sticking with Travis back there," Alicia added, earning Kamille's attention. Her eyes were filled with gratitude as she continued. "Travis and Nick told me what you did. How you let Nick go and how you wouldn't leave Travis behind. You did the best you could given the situation and I am so grateful."
Kamille offered a small smile. "They're family, darling. We don't leave family behind."
Alicia mirrored her smile, sending butterflies in Kamille's stomach.
"How did you and Madison get to us anyway?" Kamille asked, still not sure on how they'd got out of wherever they were.
Alicia nodded in Madison's direction. "Mom. She stuck a spoon in Troy's eye and forced him and his brother to lead us to you."
Kamille's jaw dropped as she suppressed a laugh. "She stuck a spoon in his eye? Bloody hell, that's intense. I mean, the arsehole deserved it, but holy shit, that's dark."
Alicia chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I guess. But it worked and we have you back."
Kamille still couldn't quite believe it as she shook her head with disbelief. At least that explained Troy's newly-bandaged eye. Madison was certainly something.
Their smiles faded from their faces when they heard the sound of gunfire close by. They stood up, looking ahead with confusion, as Madison raced towards them from the truck she was packing.
"We gotta go! We gotta go now!" she yelled, before turning around as an infected hobbled towards her.
Everybody jumped into action when seeing the infected appear out of nowhere, dozens of them infiltrating the facility and leaving them surrounded.
"Nick, behind you!" Madison shouted as she fought off some infected.
"Alicia, over here!" Travis called, moving to help Luciana off the table.
Alicia raced to his side, helping him with Luciana, as Nick grabbed a weapon from the tool bench beside him. Kamille went for Adam's knife hanging from her sheathe that had been returned to her after Madison got to them, and joined Nick's side in holding off the infected long enough for Alicia and Travis to help a barely-conscious Luciana move forward.
"Mom!" Nick shouted as him and Kamille were following behind the others.
Kamille followed Nick's gaze, seeing Madison slowly getting surrounded by infected, unable to keep them all at bay. Without thinking, she and Nick headed towards her, taking out the infected one by one to get close to Madison.
"Over here! Get in the chopper!" Jake was shouting, and Kamille barely caught a glimpse of the helicopter in her peripheral vision before she was stabbing another infected in the neck.
Swinging her knife around and splattering blood everywhere was tiring, and the more Kamille took out, it seemed the more were replacing them. She didn't even have chance to check if Alicia and the others had gotten to the helicopter because she, Madison and Nick were surrounded, the infected closing in.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out and fired around them, making them all duck down as the infected began to fall to the ground. The sound of tyres screeching got their attention and the three of them looked up, seeing a truck pull up and none other than Troy Otto standing in the back of it, shooting down the infected.
"Get in! Come on!" he yelled, taking out the infected surrounding them.
Kamille looked between Madison and Nick uncertainly, glancing over her shoulder to see if the helicopter was out of the question. She seriously didn't trust Troy, not after what he'd done.
"Come on! Get in the truck!" he shouted again, and they had no choice but to accept the help as the infected were snarling louder and louder, closing in quicker and quicker.
"Come on!" Madison said to Nick and Kamille, before leading the way into the back of the truck.
Kamille felt extremely uncomfortable, but the literal life-threatening situation they were in forced her to follow Madison, trusting her despite it possibly being a mistake. She followed them both into the back of the truck and looked out to the helicopter which was now rising into the air.
Kamille's heart was clenching with pain as she watched it go higher, Alicia being inside of it. She'd just gotten her back, only to lose her again.
"We'll meet them there," Troy promised, looking to Madison. "We're all going to the same place now."
He looked between the three of them before staring up at the helicopter that was high in the sky. Kamille was still catching her breath as she glanced at him, her skin itching at the sight. She didn't like this one bit. But it was the only way to see the others again and she wasn't alone.
Looking to her side, she saw Madison and Nick sitting beside her, looking as bad as she probably did. Blood coated their skin and stained their clothes, but they were alive and unharmed, and that's all Kamille could ask for.
–
Kamille clenched her jaw with discomfort as she heard the heavy, way-too-loud rock music coming from the radio in the car. Judging from the looks Madison and Nick wore, they were growing agitated too.
Troy and his pal driving had been playing it for a good portion of the car ride and it was the most annoying thing Kamille thought they could do at that moment. They'd just been separated from their family and they were listening to music? Seriously?
Madison leaned forward, to Kamille and Nick's surprise, turning off the radio with the click of a button before sitting back comfortably in her seat. Troy merely glanced at her questioningly, but did nothing in return, not even turn it back on.
Kamille didn't know where they were going, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. The only thing keeping her sane was knowing the Clarks beside her were safe and that she'd soon see the others at whatever their destination was.
They'd been driving a few hours into the night, several trucks following close behind theirs, and were deep into the country; it looked like deserted land and away from civilisation. It seemed they were approaching something though, some sort of occupied land with people living there.
As the car drove past some cattle, Kamille spotted the few buildings dotted around the land in the distance, tents pitched with families playing outside like it wasn't the end of the world. The gated off entrance and fenced off outskirts threw her off, her finding it all too neat to be true. These were Troy's people and they definitely couldn't be trusted.
There were guards out front, armed and dressed in uniform like Troy and the others back at the facility. One of them approached the car as it rolled to a standstill, Troy rolling down the window to speak to him.
"Joe," he called. "Man, who d'you piss off to draw guard again, huh?"
The guard, Joe, wasn't impressed. "Your father wants to talk to you."
"Jake already talk to him?" Troy asked.
"Jake ain't here. That's the thing, he ain't been here since he left. He's overdue."
Kamille chewed on the inside of her mouth nervously as she heard of the others' lack of arrival. They were in a helicopter so they should have arrived before them.
It was quiet for a moment, before Troy looked over his shoulder at them all. "Alright, alright, get out. Get out of the truck."
"What?" Nick asked, leaning forward.
"Get out of the truck and wait outside," Troy repeated, his voice raising with anger. The door beside Nick was opened by the guard as Troy continued. "Now! C'mon, get out!"
Nick did as he said, Kamille and Madison following after him with confusion.
"Joe, watch them," Troy ordered, before the truck drove through the gate, leaving the three of them standing there.
Joe glanced at the three of them with narrowed eyes, before glaring at Kamille with hostility and returning to his post by the gate. The three of them edged forward, near the barbed wire fence, and took in the sight of the ranch. It was a warm, sunny day and the grass was especially green, yet Kamille felt shivers running down her spine at the creepiness of it all.
"They're not here. Let's just backtrack and find them," Nick said quietly, shaking his head, before turning around to walk away.
"Backtrack to where?" Madison asked, also turning around. "We don't know where they are. You don't know where you're going."
"Better than goddamn waiting," Nick retorted.
Kamille looked to Madison with a frown. "He's not wrong. They should be here. We can't just stand here and do nothing. They may need our help."
"We leave, get lost, they show up, then what? They have to go find us?" Madison asked rhetorically, staring between both of them in that mother-knows-best kind of way. "Overreact now could get us killed."
Nick exchanged looks with Kamille, the two of them still on the wall about what to do. Finally, he looked to his mother with a stern expression.
"Okay, and what if they don't show? Right, what if it is just us? What's the play then?"
Madison looked out ahead into the distance, subtly glancing at the guard, before looking to her son.
"Hug your mother," she muttered.
Nick pulled a face. "What?"
"Just do it."
Kamille shrugged her shoulders when Nick looked to her with a questioning gaze, before hugging Madison as she asked. Kamille watched the two, wondering what the heck was happening, before she realised Madison was leading Nick's hand to the gun in her back pocket. Kamille tried not to let her expression change as the guard watched them by the gate.
"Where d'you get that?" Nick asked quietly.
Madison pulled away, looking between them both. "Pit stop last night. Glove box of the fuel truck."
Kamille didn't know what to think, still baffled in the presence of firearms. Madison rested a hand around her shoulder, pulling her into her side, along with Nick, and she feigned a smile so the guard wouldn't get suspicious.
"We bring our family together, take what we need, and stop anyone who gets in our way," she whispered.
Kamille saw the determination shining in her eyes. She would do anything to keep her family safe, and Kamille admired that, but she wondered how far that would go. Was there even a line to cross in this new world?
–
"Armed patrol at the gate here. Perimeter watch on the ridge, but most of these folks are civilians."
"Well we are not civilians, okay?" Nick was sat on a bench near the perimeter, made of wooden sticks under a small hut that blocked out the sun. "We do not need this place, we don't need these people."
"Nick, we need someone to treat your girlfriend," Madison said, facing her son.
Kamille watched, her foot scraping the soil beneath her subconsciously, as Nick stood up angrily.
"Listen! We are not breaking bread today with the people who killed us yesterday."
"They didn't try to kill us, we don't know them!" Madison tried to reason, and Kamille decided to step in when she saw Madison giving in.
"You don't understand, Madison," Kamille explained, her voice calm but full of power. "These people are associated with the likes of Troy, and Troy is not good people. He is not safe. As long as he is here, this is not safe. He tried to hurt us... Luciana can get help elsewhere. We can find somewhere else, but these people can't help us."
"You don't have to like what you need to survive," Madison tried to explain. "You exploit it. You turn it to your advantage."
"We use them to treat Luciana, fine," Nick agreed. "We use them, we go." Madison gave him an unimpressed look as he added, "Believe me. You don't want me here any longer than necessary."
"Nick."
"I don't know what I'll do," he said truthfully, before walking away.
Kamille sighed, recognising the defeated expression on Madison's face. She trusted the woman, but this wasn't something she could be comfortable with. Not now. Not after what had happened.
"Ma'am?"
A man approached the barbed wire fence from behind Madison, calling for her, and Kamille took that as her cue to leave and check on Nick.
She found the boy a little ways ahead, sat in the grass and staring out into the empty field. Taking a seat beside him, she said nothing as her fingers played with the grass between her crossed legs.
"I don't trust this place," Nick spoke first, eyes still cast ahead. "I don't trust these people."
Kamille nodded tiredly. "I agree."
Nick sighed as the two shared another moment of silence, both sulking in agreement, before speaking again, more sincerely this time.
"Thank you for watching out for Alicia and my mom."
Kamille looked to him, seeing him already watching her with a genuine stare.
"I left and you kept them safe," he elaborated. "Thank you."
Kamille looked down to her hands, unsure what to say. "Er... I think they were okay on their own. If anything, they looked out for me."
Nick shrugged. "I don't know. But you were there anyway, so thanks."
Kamille shrugged, too. "S'okay."
It went quiet again, the sound of Madison and the stranger from the camp having a chat heard in the background, before Nick broke the silence again.
"You and my sister are dating," he stated casually.
Kamille suddenly felt nervous as she looked to him. "How did you know that?"
He nodded knowingly. "When she found you yesterday. You were together. I know she cares about you a lot. You make her happy."
"She makes me happy," Kamille replied. "I love her."
"I know... you're part of the family," he said, meeting Kamille's confused brown eyes. "This place... whatever happens, Kamille, it'll be okay. You're not alone."
Kamille swallowed hard as she nodded, resting a hand on his knee and squeezing it gratefully.
"They're coming, aren't they?" she asked him, feeling helpless just sitting there, unknowing of the others' well-being.
"If they don't, we'll go after them," Nick promised.
Kamille licked her lips, offering a small smile. "Right."
The two sat there a little longer, staring out ahead, stuck in thought, before they heard Madison call their names from behind.
Dusting themselves off, they stood up and headed to Madison, seeing some old man by the fence, watching them with an untrustworthy smile on his lips.
"Welcome, Nick! Kamille!" he called out, and both of them looked to Madison with confusion. He looked to the guard from earlier, saying, "Joseph, the gate."
The guard opened the gate as Kamille and Nick approached Madison, uncertainty visible in their hesitancy to move further.
"Welcome to Broke Jaw Ranch," the man said with the same smile on his face, waiting by the gate.
"Madison..." Kamille began, unsurely.
"It's okay," Madison reassured as they approached the gate.
"I don't trust them," Nick muttered, shaking his head.
Madison glanced at him. "Don't trust them, trust me."
Kamille sucked up a deep breath before remembering that as she followed the two of them past the gate, into the ranch.
"Sir!" Joe called to the old man, stepping in front of the three of them, though his eyes were on Kamille. "All of them?"
Kamille felt her fists clenching as she glared at the guard.
"We got a problem?" Madison asked, looking between the guard and the old man.
Nick stepped forward defensively, in front of Kamille, as the old man rushed towards them.
"Joe, I said let them in," he said with a calm voice, but Kamille heard the underlying anger he held for the guard. "We don't want any trouble here. They are my guests."
Joe seemed reluctant as he nodded, clutching his gun tighter in hands before stepping aside. The old man apologised as he told everybody to follow him, and Kamille felt the familiar surge of discomfort in her stomach she felt the day she arrived in an American airport for the first time when moving there.
Nick motioned for Kamille to walk in front of him, and she nodded gratefully at him and gave a reassuring look to a concerned Madison before following them into the ranch.
//
just a reminder that things are gonna be a lil different from here at the ranch (compared to the show) as i've done it as how the characters would react to things with the addition of Kamille. You'll know what i mean eventually but yeah, enjoyyyy 😊