It was too late to escape now. The boat had begun its journey down the river several hours ago and they were probably miles from where they were taken. Breaking out would be considerably more difficult now.
The sound of AJ tapping his feet on the metal floor reverberated all through the cell and down the hall.
Clementine sat on the end of the bed, lost in thought. She was trying to devise a strategy, some kind of trick they could pull to escape.
They knew very little about the boat they were being held in. They had no idea how many guards there were, how many of them are armed, how many locked doors were between them and freedom.
The list went on and on in her head until she arrived at a decision: they would bide their time, wait for the right moment to escape, exploit every bit of knowledge they could gather about their captors.
She was shaken from her train of thought when the door at the end of the hall was opened, the rusty hinges screaming as they ground against one another.
"Someone's coming." Brody whisper-yelled across the hallway.
The stranger's footsteps thundered down the holding area, providing a terrifying forewarning of their presence.
A stern looking blonde woman with a scarred face stopped in front of Clem's cell.
"Hands up." She said, sounding bored.
She raised a gun and lazily aimed it at Clementine, who did as she was told.
The scarred woman unlocked the cell and gestured for Clem to step forward.
She stepped out into the hall, with AJ following closely behind. The woman slammed the door in his face and locked it again.
"Hey!" Clem exclaimed, taking a step towards her.
Clem was shoved back and the gun levelled with her face. She could see the rifling in the barrel clearly with how close the muzzle was to her.
"Back the fuck off and start walking that way."
"Hey, leave her alone!" Brody shouted.
The woman ignored her, fixated on Clementine. AJ stood on his tiptoes, peering out of the cell at the altercation. Clem stared back at him and gave a small nod.
"I'll be back AJ, don't worry." She reassured him.
She did as the scarred woman said and began walking towards the exit. Clem was led up a steep, metal staircase and out above deck.
The ship's crew turned their heads, watching her as she passed.
She walked across the ship to the stern before being lead down another set of stairs to a doorway below deck. The woman opened the door and pushed Clementine inside.
The room resembled an office. There was a wooden desk in the centre, various maps and diagrams pinned on the walls and a bookshelf adorned with numerous volumes.
Behind the desk, there was a woman with her head down studying a map.
"Brought her down for you." The scarred raider said.
"Thanks, Gina. That'll be all." The woman at the desk replied.
Gina nodded and stepped out, shuttling the door behind her. The woman at the desk marked something on the map with red marker and waved Clementine over.
"Sit." She said, not looking up.
Clementine pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. The woman put down her pen and finally looked up.
Clementine furrowed her brow, the woman looked familiar. She couldn't quite place her, however.
"It's been a long time, Clementine. I'm not sure if you remember me, you were just a kid the last time I saw you."
It finally clicked in Clem's head. Hearing her speak again jolted a long forgotten memory of her days at the motor inn outside Macon. It seemed like forever ago now.
"Lily?"
Lily smiled slightly.
"It's good to see you again."
"I thought you died." Clem said bluntly.
"I came close." Lily said with a steely expression.
"What happened to you, after..."
"After Lee left me behind?"
She paused, a slight smirk on her face.
"I drifted for a long time. I was alone for years, then I found the Delta. Actually, they found me."
Lily paused and shuffled the papers on her desk. She put away the map she was looking at in the top drawer before continuing.
"The kid that's with you, what's his story?"
"AJ's parents died when he was a baby. I've been looking after him ever since."
Lily raised her eyebrows, intrigued. She leaned forward and interlaced her fingers, resting her elbows on the table.
"You must have struggled, raising a kid out there alone."
Clem looked at the ground. Lily had hit the nail on the head, raising AJ was the hardest thing she'd ever done.
"You won't have to worry about that anymore. The Delta has strong walls, solar panels, fresh food, hot water. Provided you give back to our community, you can stay."
"That sounds good. Great actually." Clementine admitted.
Lily grinned and sat back in her chair.
"Why did you kidnap us though?" Clem added.
"Kidnap?"
"Your people knocked me unconscious and put me in a cell, same with those other kids down there. Why wouldn't you just tell us what you told me about your community from the start?"
"If a stranger came up to you and said everything I just said, would you believe them?"
"That's fair." Clem shrugged.
"I'll have a guard escort you back to your cell." Lily said nonchalantly.
"Wait, what?"
"Sorry, Clementine. Rules are rules, I can't bend them, even for you."
She opened one of the desk drawers and took out a walkie talkie. She flicked the switch and called for somebody through it, it wasn't long before the blonde woman from earlier came back.
"I think you'll be one of our best soldiers yet." Lily smiled as Clem was strong armed out the door.
Clementine had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn't sound good.
YOU ARE READING
The River (Clemerva)
Fanfiction"I haven't been avoiding her. I mean, I have. But it's not... I just don't want to talk to her until I know exactly what I want to say. Fuck, relationships are hard." The redhead sighed. "I wouldn't know, I haven't been in one before." Clem shrugge...
