Ashes (Clementine X Male Reader Book 2)

Aftermath-End

Three years and ten months after the fall of Salvation...

Brooklyn's POV...

"They're at the gate?" I ask as the guard walks with me. Someone has arrived with the offer of negotiations. They must have heard about us from one of our trade partners.

"Yeah. They're alone too." Why would anyone show up alone?

"Open the gate!" I call out before I reach it. A few people push it open, revealing one vehicle and a man standing beside it.

"Finally." He starts to step into the community.

I stop him when I reach him. He looks... Familiar. I don't know how. "Who are you? What do you want? Where are you from?"

"That's a really hostile tone." He says. "Maybe I should talk to someone with a cooler head."

"Answer the questions. You're not talking to anyone else." I don't like his attitude. He gives me the vibe of someone who isn't looking to negotiate but is looking for information. He's probably some raider.

"My name is William." I try not to react. "I'm from a community called Anarchy." This is... "We'd love to open trade with you." He smiles. That's why he looks so familiar. Marina has his nose, his ears, his eyes... He knows. He has to. There's no other reason he would show up here. Someone must have ratted us out. "Do you know me? You look a little shocked."

"No. Never heard of you." I put a hand behind my back and open and close my hand three times. I wanted a simple signal to tell the people on guard duty if William ever showed up. I never expected to have to use it. Someone should be going to find Y/N right now.

"Can I speak to your leader?" He asks.

"No. You can speak to me." I'm not putting Don in a room with him. I'm not letting him into the community.

"Are you declining my offer? That's a real shame. I'd have loved to get to know you guys. You look like you're doing pretty well for yourselves." He looks off behind me. "You have children too." He chuckles.

I turn around. The guard has reached Y/N, but he's right in view of the gate with Marina holding his hand. "Yeah. That's, uh, my husband and daughter." I improvise. I can't tell him anything.

"Really. You look kind of young to have a daughter that age. What are their names?" He asks with a sick smile on his face. He knows.

"Emma and Y/N," I tell him without hesitating to make up a name for Marina.

"Lovely family you've got. You should hold onto it for as long as you can. My wife was killed a few years ago, and my daughter was kidnapped." Kidnapped. I could kill him. He's right here. I could end all of this... He has people somewhere. If I killed him, they'd come. If I let him leave, and he suspects Marina is here, he'll come back with those people. But there's a chance he doesn't come back. "If you could keep an eye out. Her name is Marina."

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye out. I'll make sure my people know." I just want him to leave.

"Thank you so much." Something about the way he says that unsettles me. He walks back to his car. The gates close as he turns the car around. I watch him until the gate is sealed.

"Barricade the gate." I start directing the guards. "Don't let anyone in until I tell you otherwise. Turn everyone away, no matter what. They could be dying; I don't give a fuck. No one in, no one out." Locking down the community is the best thing we can do right now.

-

Your POV...

You stare. You watch William until he gets in his car. You watch his vehicle until the gate closes. You watch the gate.