Ashes (Clementine X Male Reader Book 2)

Accord-Ambush Part 1: Killer

What just happened? You look down at your hand that was on Aj. There's blood on it. You stare at it. Where did the blood come from? It can't be Aj's blood. Aj is fine. Aj is... You look down at him lying on the ground. There's so much blood. So much. "Aj?"

You crouch down and shake him gently. "Aj, hey." You turn him over. Why? Why did this happen? There's a hole in his forehead, blood seeping out, creating a pool beneath him.

You stumble back a few steps and bend over. You think you're going to throw up. "Fuck. Fuck." You start wiping your hand on your pants when you know you won't puke. Why Aj? He's... Just a kid... Clementine will be... Who would do that? Who would shoot him? Why'd they shoot him? They could have killed you. Could have killed anyone else.

You pull your hand away from your pants. There's still blood on it. Aj's blood is on your hand. You remember hearing shots. Multiple shots, but only one hit Aj. They were all in sync. You can hear people panicking around you, but they sound so distant. Was it someone in the community? No. They would have shot you too. They would have come for you... Was William following you? No. He would have attacked in a better spot. Somewhere in the open, not behind walls. He didn't know where you were... Somehow he knew you would come here and waited for you to arrive. He waited for you and set a trap.

Would you have ever let William go with a quick death? You don't know. But now you know that you don't want him dead. You want him dead only after you hurt him. He's here. He's here. Somewhere he's here.

"Hey!" Someone yells at you. You think they've been yelling at you for a while now. They shake you, and you look at them. "They're hiding in buildings outside the walls! We've got to-" They lose their face as another round of shots sound around the community. Their blood splatters across your face. You don't move to wipe it away.

Someone has their eye on you, and they're not killing you. They're trying not to kill you. They're leaving you alive. "Biggest mistake of your life." You look in the direction the shot came from and scan the windows. "Where are you?" You take a few steps toward the building slowly. "Where are you?" You're going to kill them. They killed Aj. You're going to kill them.

You see them on the top floor. The glass is gone, and you can clearly see them in the dark standing there. You run toward the building now, not caring if they're watching. Let them watch you; it won't help them. It won't change what's going to happen to them.

"Top floor. Top floor. Top floor." You mutter as you climb a smaller portion of the wall. After scaling it, you don't waste any time looking for a way inside the building. When you spot the door, you think it's too far away, so you pick up half of a smashed brick and throw it through the window, climbing through in almost the same motion. Where are the stairs? You can't lose them. You have to reach them before they try to get away. You'll catch them even if they do. "Top floor." You find the stairs and take them two at a time until there are no stairs left.

You pull out your knife. "Where are you?" You whisper. You slowly move through the floor, carefully placing your steps now. You find the window where they shot Aj from. Their rifle is leaned against the lower half of it. The community below is empty. Likely, everyone is hiding, trying to figure out what to do next.

Someone yells behind you. You turn around to see them swinging a wooden board at you. You duck under it and kick them. They drop the board as they stumble back and grab their stomach. You knocked the air out of them. "Who are you?" You ask and wait.

"You know. Why are you even asking?" They reply through gasps.

"Just to make sure." You look at their rifle. "You want this?" You pick it up with your free hand.

"I can't kill you."

"I know." You throw it over to them. "So what are you going to do? Because you couldn't beat me even if you were using it. And it's too late to run away." They stay silent and slowly reach down for the rifle. You start to laugh. "Good! Pick it up!" They raise it like a club. "So that's what you're gonna do? I wish you'd try harder."

"I can't kill you."

"So shoot yourself in the head because you fucked yourself as soon as you shot him!" You flip your knife in your hand, holding it by the blade now. "You should have swallowed the barrel and pulled the trigger." You hold your arms out. "I'll give you the opportunity. Shoot me or shoot yourself. But even if you shot me in the head right now, I'd still probably come at you."

They stare at you, unmoving. "I gave you the opportunity." You lower your arms. "You that scared of William? I'm standing right in front of you. A god in the flesh, and you're scared of him? And you think he's fit to raise a kid? Hell, you offed one for him."

"I'm sorry."

"You will be." You throw your knife at them. They look shocked the moment before it lands in the stomach. They step backward into a desk and fall to the floor, clutching the knife by the handle. You walk over. "Damn." You tilt your head and lean down in front of them. "That looks like it hurt. Gonna cry?" You reach down and grab their hand wrapped around the handle. "How long do you think you'll live if I leave it in?"

You look back at the window. There's plenty of ammo stacked by it. You pick their rifle up. "You're going to stay right here." You stomp on their knee, listening to their screams and coughs, until you hear something snap. "And while you sit here, crying and wondering where you went wrong, I'm going to walk over to that window, and I'm going to see how many of your friends I can pick off."

You laugh at them as you turn away. You scan the community again. Nothing has changed. The situation is still the same. You hear a radio to your right. It buzzes to life. "Jane. Jane, come in." You pick it up and listen. "Jane, I said to check in once you're safe. Has he reached you? Jane?!"

"Where are you?" You ask. You wait a few seconds. No one responds. "I hear you can't kill me. And I have your friend's rifle. Just like I told them, shoot yourself now." Someone is moving in that window over there. "I wonder if this one is you?" You put the radio down and aim the rifle. You slowly squeeze the trigger, wondering who they've killed. And then they're falling out of the window, plummeting to the ground below, still alive all the way down. You can see them trying to fly away.

"Who was that?" You have the radio again. "I wanna know if it was the one talking just now." There's no reply. "Ah, you're no fun." You chuck the radio out of the window. "I'm going to kill you all anyway."

You keep going. You keep searching the windows. You keep shooting. You keep killing. "How many are there?" You look back at... What was their name again? Does it matter? Jane. "I've killed four, I think. Two fell out of sight, so I hope they're still struggling." You set the rifle down. "See, I know you're not dead. I can see you breathing, watching me, moving around. So why aren't you answering me?" You stomp their face against the desk behind them.

"A display. That's what I've decided to do with you." You crouch down in front of them. "I'm going to cut your head off. Stick you on the tip of that rifle and lean you in the window there. And you can stay there until some sucker climbs the stairs and takes out your brain. Or maybe until you decompose." You pull the knife out. "Do you think this would work? Damn, I bet it'll hurt."

You do what you said you'd do. And it takes some struggling, but you manage. And you leave them in the window, stuck on the tip of their rifle. Endlessly biting at the air.

"Who's next?" You ask the air.

You'll mourn for Aj later. You'll help Clementine bury him. But first, you're going to bury the fuckers who took him.