CHAPTER FORTY TWO,
betrayal
WHEN NATHAN BARTON entered the nurse's building, he could hear the wailing. It bounced off the walls of the building as shrills, so full of anguish that it sounded like someone was cursed with an agonizing death.
He peered into an open door and realized it had been Keri, the woman who showed no hospitality to anyone before- was sobbing her heart out as she held onto what appeared to be a corpse under a white sheet.
Nathan could make out the blood seeping through the white from the stomach area and head, and that's when he recoiled and continued down the hall.
Upon entering the room everything became silent, the only sound that could be heard was Keri's cries. All eyes had turned to him, making him feel uneasy. It was as if he was a kid again and his mother had caught him being disobedient.
He glanced at all the men in the room and caught the Governor's emotionless stare as Dr.Stevens treated him. He felt a wave of disgust when he caught half of his hearing organ torn off - as if someone had ripped through it.
"What the hell happened to your ear!?"
He wasn't answered at first. Merle was leaning up against the wall next to Martinez, who sat on a wooden chair with an ice pack to his head.
"Samantha attacked me." The Governor finally spoke.
Nathan's jaw dropped, disbelief washing over him. "No, she couldn't have-"
"She did the same thing to me too," Martinez's voice cut him off, the soldier's head snapping towards him. "Knocked me out with my own gun."
"I can understand why it could be shocking - I was incredibly shocked too," Sadness contorted the Governor's features but Nathan was able to make out anger in his eyes. "She killed James."
"What?" Nathan whispered, his knees wobbling and he held onto the wall for support. He looked around the room, trying to string together sentences. "Is that who Keri was hugging in the other room?"
"She wanted to be the one to put 'em down." Merle's southern drawl confirmed.
His brows became furrowed, trying to wrap his head around with the fact that Samantha did that. She might have a temper, but she's never killed anyone over it.
"Why would she do that?" Nathan demanded.
The Governor sighed. "Martinez caught her helping Elliot escape, and it seemed like something snapped inside of her and she attacked him," He was frowning now. "She was brought to me, and James was just there at the wrong place and the wrong time."
"But, sir-"
"What you need to understand is that as the world evolves, so do the people," His leader interrupted sternly. "I know she's you're best friend, but just because you think you might know someone doesn't mean they will never change."
Nathan was panicking on the inside, his thoughts going crazy as he kept thinking about her. The same woman who brought him so much comfort and so much warmth even through the bitter cold of winter, the same woman that made him so distracted that she made him forget all of his demons.
Because of Samantha, his ghosts hadn't haunted him in months.
"I trust you, and I trust that you aren't hiding her either. I have all my men on every inch of the wall making sure she doesn't escape."
Nathan looked at him. "What are you planning on doing if you find her?"
The Governor didn't say anything for a moment, and it seemed like everyone else in the room was waiting for his answer as well.
"I want to help her."
He appeared genuine with his words, but despite that Nathan was against it. "I'm her best friend, I can talk to her-"
"I don't think that's a good idea, she can hurt you too."
"I can get through to her." Nathan pressed pleadingly.
"Nate, it's not a good idea, especially with the state of mind she's in," And then every detail of his face went serious. "Do you know where she might be at?"
The soldier glanced around the room and saw all eyes were on him again. He swallowed down a lump and looked back at the Governor.
Nathan did know.
━━━━━
Her back met the wooden floor of her bedroom after slipping through the window. Exhaustion took over and her breaths became heavy, her heart rapid in her chest.
Samantha had been hiding between buildings for what seemed like hours, avoiding the guards that patrolled the streets that were seemingly looking for her. They were trying to find her, and as much as she wanted to escape, she felt like whatever consequence she was going to receive if she was ever found she ultimately deserved.
Through the moonlight that shone through the glass, Samantha could see the red on her hands. Not only was it on her hands, but she could taste it too - feel it on her skin.
There was blood everywhere and it made her lost. She was breathing blood, not air.
It wasn't hers.
Her chest felt as if it was caving in and it squeezed out broken sobs. The reality of what she had done made her clench her cheeks as tears flowed down.
She killed a man, she killed a good man.
If this is what surviving was, it didn't feel right. Where there was life, there was hope.
But Samantha took a life away, a life that had meaning - a life that had a family. James did not deserve to die.
She made herself feel absolutely sick.
Samantha got up from the ground still silently crying. She felt weak, but she needed to be strong in order to get the hell out. Her brother would be able to comfort her, but he was no where near.
She saw her bag on the bed and the sword that Merle got her glinting in the moonlight. Before she could touch them however, the lights to her bedroom turned on.
Her heart leaped to her throat and she whirled around. Her best friend stood there with shock on every detail of his face.
"Nate!" She sobbed, falling into his arms like a wounded child.
Nathan could feel her fingers in his hair, her heart pounding in her chest and almost going in sync with his. He always wondered what it would sound like if
it ever did.
"Jesus," He whispered into her hair and she pulled away. There was so much shame in her eyes, so much deep etched sorrow.
She was covered in so much blood.
Samantha's hands were wrapped around the fabric of his short in balls, and she slowly fell to the ground and he fell with her. "I did something horrible," She wept. Nathan hasn't seen her cry this much since Dale died, but that was out of loss - not guilt. "James, he's-"
"Dead," The soldier finished solemnly and she looked up at him through bloodshot eyes. "I was just with the Governor."
Fear and hatred swirled around in her pretty greens and made them visibly darken. "We need to get out of here, we need to go."
She hurried from the ground and over to the bed.
"We need to talk about what happened!" Nathan grabbed her elbow but she jerked his hand away, looking through all her belongings to see if everything was in here.
"The Governor is going to kill me, he's going to get rid of me."
"Just like you did with James?"
Samantha paused, slowly turning to look at him. Nathan was leaning against the dresser with a deep frown on his lips.
More tears flowed down her cheeks, the guilt consuming her. It felt like she was drowning in it and she couldn't seem to find the surface. "That was an accident." She whispered.
"Putting a bullet through someone is never an accident-"
"You would know!" Samantha snapped, wiping the snot from her nose angrily.
Nathan could feel that familiar shifting in his emotions, but he took a deep breath and tried to keep them restrained.
"Look at you, you're covered in James's blood - you're covered in the Governor's blood." He said slowly, biting down on his lip.
"I wish it was just the Governor's blood," Samantha muttered. "He has this whole town bewitched and now it seems like you are too."
"I'm not under anybody's spell." Nathan stated firmly.
"Then lets leave tonight!" The brunette beauty said earnestly. "I know a way out without them noticing. They have a little error in their security and if we can just go now-"
"I'm not going anywhere," The soldier said through gritted teeth. "I can't go anywhere, and neither can you- look at you, you're completely erratic and not in the right state of mind."
"I am completely sane!" She seethed, frustration reddening her face as she rubbed her head.
"This is exactly how Shane acted after he killed Otis!"
Samantha whirled around and got into his face, teeth bared like a provoked animal. "Don't talk about him like that as if you're so innocent!"
Nathan's hands clenched into fists and he could feel his fingernails digging into his skin. His best friend shook her head to control her temper and sat on the bed.
"Why?" She questioned, rubbing her head. "Is it because of Andrea?"
"There nothings out there for me," He paused, looking away from her. "I'm important here."
"You're important to me!" Samantha exclaimed, her eyes beginning to tear up. "We need to leave, we need to keep fighting, the Governor-"
"I'm tired of fighting!" Nathan yelled, slamming his fist onto the dresser. She could make out the blood in the little crescents on his palm, his outburst making her silent and many different emotions running through her as Nathan ran his hands through his hair angrily and harshly. "I'm tired of chasing ghosts, I'm tired of always running," He continued, the thought of going back out there making him exhausted and angry.
"Shane is dead! You aren't going to ever see him again!"
Nathan was was sent towards the wall when her hand met his cheek, his skin became flamed and stingy, but he was too focused on her to acknowledge the pain. Her chest was heaving up and down heavily, her face contorted into rage.
Nathan saw the hurt there too, and he felt shame hit him in the gut, unable to meet her eyes as he walked out of the room.
Samantha watched, the fire inside of her slowly dwindling and she followed him. He was sitting on the couch with his gaze forward, his mind elsewhere. Nathan then glanced at her with that same look again.
"Do you remember that night?"
Samantha frowned, not saying anything.
"That night where snow first hit and we were in that cabin," He looked away from her as if he were ashamed. "Over the months, I haven't stopped thinking about it. I thought about us whenever I could feel everything closing in, I thought about you whenever I thought about Jason."
She had been dreading this moment.
Samantha could remember how cold it got, not knowing where her group or her brother was creating an abyss that sucked all the good from her soul and made her want to get drunk on something else, to feel something other than how empty that hopelessness felt.
Nathan was there, and that had marked her decision.
It was a night of bare limbs against one another, desperate for friction and distraction. What was supposed to make her feel better made her absolutely feel worse.
Samantha knelt down, her movements grabbing his attention and he watched her. She could see it all there in his irises. They said many unspoken words, but she didn't want to hear them at all.
"I'm thankful that you have my back," Her voice was slowly and careful. "But that was a mistake."
There was an understanding in his eyes that made him appear sad. "I know."
She could decide what made her uncomfortable the most. His confession that brought on the silence between them, or the blood that stained on her skin like some fucked up painting.
Samantha felt like if it stayed on any longer, she would vomit.
She got up and she felt Nathan's eyes burning into her. "Sammy."
She was halfway down the hall when she looked over her shoulder. There was contemplation and conflict battling on his face, a secret on his tongue that he wanted to say but he didn't know how to. Samantha cocked her head to the side, confused.
He never spoke.
She continued to the bathroom, deciding a quick shower before leaving was the best idea. Samantha believed that by the time she got out, Nathan would have his head out of his head ass.
She didn't know how she would walk the road without him. Samantha has never been alone, and she wasn't going to start tonight.
Avoiding the mirror had always been her thing ever since the world ended, but as soon as she stepped into the restroom she caught her reflection. The woman she hasn't looked at in a year stared back.
Samantha was gaunt and skinny looking, darkness shadowing beneath her eyes and she looked beaten. The world had been a hard war, taking away her strength yet she still continued to push. That was obvious on her features.
The mess of blood surrounding her mouth area and her clothes and neck made her look like a madwoman, but she was just another killer. Her heart felt heavy in her chest and she begin to strip, cringing at the outlines of her ribs as her long, dark hair fell to the last one.
The shower didn't help her either. Red filled the tub as if it were raining blood, and she brought her hands to her face and watched as it fell. That's when she started to cry.
"No..." She whispered, the images of James falling to the ground making her sink into the tub. She kept repeating no, it rolling off her tongue as if it were a silent prayer. She kept hoping it didn't happen, hoping that she hadn't pulled the trigger.
But James was still dead, and Samantha had been the one that ripped him away.
Samantha felt disgusting, she felt like a horrible human being that shouldn't breathe in the oxygen when there was others that needed it the most. If she hadn't been so stupid, none of this would've happened.
She turned off the shower with tears still running down her cheeks, feeling weak as she stepped out and turned back to the mirror. Thankfully it was covered by a layer of steam, so she wouldn't have to face that haunting woman again. Samantha turned on the sink and dipped her head, bringing some of the water to her lips and taking desperate sips.
It was the door that opened behind her that caught her attention, and she turned around.
She caught sight of that familiar denim cap and cold eyes before everything went black.
━━━━━
Her head was pounding and her body was screaming when she woke up, glancing around the room to try to decipher where she was. It was dim, a flickering light bulb hanging over her head and exposing the brick walls of the space she was in. Samantha didn't recognize where she was.
She tried moving but it felt like she had been beaten, her bones crying from underneath her skin and she let out a gasp, before finally noticing she was barely wearing any clothes - a black bra paired with underwear keeping her from being completely nude
Samantha touched her neck and her veins went cold, the absence of the 22 making her heart race. Now she was really freaking out, forcing her body up and looking around the room frantically.
The door that led into the room opened and the sight of him made her back into the brick wall, a shaky breath leaving her lips and fear gripping her heart.
Philip Blake entered the room casually, taking a wooden chair from the corner of the room and setting it at the table in front of her.
Samantha could see gauze wrapped around where his left ear should've been, and she fel a small quiver of satisfaction.
"So, here we are," The Governor spoke. She didn't speak, a look of contempt growing on her face. "Believe me, I didn't want it to come to this, but you left me no choice-"
"You attacked me." Samantha hissed, her voice shaking and she could feel a familiar burn in her eyes.
The frown on his face made her stomach turn. "I'm truly sorry that it's come to this. I really did like you, and I really thought you could help us."
"I think the person that needed the most help in this town is you," She retorted. "You're a monster."
"I'm a leader," He corrected, a rising edge of annoyance in his tone. "People believe in me, they need me."
"The Messiah Complex is getting old," She drawled, leaning forward. "I can see right through you, and soon everyone else will too. Once they do, I hope they hang your corpse," The tears were hot, but she kept her chin lifted and her eyes hard. "Better yet, I hope they put your head next to your little trophies in those tanks."
The Governor was silent, but she could see the impatience in his muscles as they ticked. A sudden chuckle left his lips "Not if I have people like Nathan on my side it won't."
Samantha's glared. "He's my best friend. He'll always have my side, and once he finds me I'll expose to the town what kind of a monster they follow."
The smile that spread across his lips held triumph, it making a shiver crawl up her spine.
"If he was on your side you wouldn't be here right now."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" Samantha demanded, all confidence fading away
"How do you think you ended up in here?" He said, his smile cruel. "You attacked a leader of a community who provided sanctuary. You killed a man who had a family - how do you think that looks on you?"
Samantha felt all the color drain from her face, her heart falling at least a thousand feet as she stared at him in shock and denial. "Liar." She breathed.
"Nathan sees it. He's the one that told us where you could be."
Betrayal was something she wasn't use to, and the pain was almost indescribable. It was like a knife, twisting and deepening in her heart. The thing that hurt the most was the person she trusted was the wielder.
Nathan Barton, her best friend of sixteen years, a man she trusted with every fiber and every secret of her being - had betrayed her.
"I'm tired of fighting!" She remembered him saying.
Was he tired enough that he would do this?
Samantha felt like she had been abandoned and left to rot. Now, she was in the hands of a man who was probably going to make her pay - and by the glint in his eyes, Samantha knew that she was right.
The Governor leaned forward, his eyes like acid as they grazed up and down her skin. "Take off your bra." She felt her body stiffen and she stared at him, trying to figure out if she had misheard him.
"What?" She whispered, the malicious smirk that ghosted his lips making her realize how serious he was being. "No, I won't."
His features darkened. "Do it." There was a hidden threat layered behind his words, as if something bad would happen if she didn't follow through.
"I don't know if you're having trouble hearing me with the lack of two ears, but no." Samantha spat, but she sounded pathetic. Her voice was shaking and full of cracks.
She no longer appeared strong, and the Governor fed on that.
That's when she saw the anger burn his eyes and the Governor stood from his seat, resembling a predator as he approached her. Samantha was frozen to the ground she stood on, her blood pumping in her ears and tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
She felt his body brush up against her and his tall presence stand behind her. Samantha swallowed the lump in her throat when his fingers traced down her tattoos, his touch making her feel vile and sick. She wanted to run, to fight back, but it seemed that her fear betrayed her and would not let her be the victor today.
Samantha felt his fingers run through her hair, his breath hot behind her and nasty against her neck when suddenly, he grabbed the back of her head and slammed it onto the table. She let out a loud cry, waves of pain washing through her.
That's when that horrid thought passed through her head, a thought that made her finally break down. It was the act that stripped away dignities and broke down souls, the act that has been around for centuries and preformed almost everyday - it was the very thing that made the world dark and dangerous.
"There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a powerful man."
That's when it really hit her that she was truly alone - that whatever was going to happen to her was inevitable.
"You don't have to do this," She sobbed, her chest and stomach cold against the table. Samantha could feel everything crumbling around her when she heard his low chuckle, more sobs shaking her body and more desperate. She was terrified. "Please, please, please."
Her pleads were ignored.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote
i hated writing that.
my pms are always open if you need anyone to talk to. If you're ever down, if there's ever any problems, i want you to know that there's somebody there for you even if we don't know each other personally.
words ; 3635
edited ;