Suffering: Male Reader x TWDG (slow updates)

Chapter 51: Gamma

A Few Days Later

You sit next to Charlie and Lydia, at a meeting with all of the other Whisperers; discussing their next strategies.

"The Delta have practically been defeated, mostly due to the Militia and for that we have to thank them!"

A lot of people begin cheering and whistling.

"But of course, we have to make sure that the Militia don't find out about our existence."

You raise an eyebrow at this, how long have these people known about the Militia? And why did no-one in the Militia know about them? You suddenly realise that the Delta kidnapped people for their army. That's what they did to Richmond, and what they did to Dixieland too: which is how the Militia learned of their existence in the first place. They must've been kidnapping conscripts for their war with the Whisperers.

It makes sense now. You're just so glad you weren't wearing your Militia uniform when they found you, otherwise you'd be dead by now.

"But it's weird," Alpha continues, "that young Y/N here, came to us just after. Tell us, were you part of the Delta?"

All eyes fall on you. You let out a sharp breath and dart your eyes across the crowd of bloodthirsty savages, a crowd you're a part of, a crowd you want to escape.

"I attacked the Delta," you say, trying to exude some level of confidence. "I did it, I butchered them like the dogs they are."

There's a deathly silence that lolls over the crowd. One of those loud and obnoxious silences that pierce your ears. An awkward silence that consumes all. Everyone is listening intently, judging, coming to their own conclusions about you.

"Liar," Beta growls, but Alpha puts a calming hand on his chest.

"No," she says calmly, "no, I saw something in him when we met for the first time. Y/N, step forward."

You get up and quickly walk forwards, standing in front of everyone.

"The mask you wore," she continues, leaning in to you, her breath warm on your face as she studies your features, "you were one of us before we even met. Faceless, brutal." There's a pause as she looks out into the crowd, "You are more than just a mere follower. I think you were chosen; by the world, to join us, forge a new future with us, for us!"

She waves her arms in a grand gesture, egging the crowd on who begins cheering. Beta however, growls and whispers something in Alpha's ear, she nods and turns back to the crowd.

"To prove my theory, Y/N shall be subject to a trial, a fight. If he wins he shall be reborn; as Gamma."

You look over the crowd and spot Lydia. She smiles at you. You have no idea what Alpha means with being 'reborn as Gamma' but if Lydia doesn't seem concerned it can't be that bad, right?

Whether Alpha noticed Lydia smiling at you, or whether she just had a particular distaste for the girl, she called her forward. "Your opponent," she shouts, mainly to the crowd but clearly directed to you. Your eyes widen, are you really going to have to fight Lydia?

Lydia steps forward, her head lowered. She clearly doesn't want to do this and you certainly don't want to either.

You hear Alpha declare the fight to have begun but it still hadn't registered in your brain. Lydia, clearly not one to hesitate, darts forward and punches you in the gut, causing you to recoil backwards. Using this to her advantage, she strikes again, this time hitting your jaw, which you could swear made a popping noise.

You stagger backwards once more. You weren't willing to fight her but you've changed your mind now. This change of heart doesn't matter though as Alpha steps in and stops the fight, she looks at you furiously and pulls something out of her pocket, throwing it at you. It's your skull balaclava.

You stare at it in your hands for a moment before putting it on. You are no longer Y/N, you are Ghost. And Ghost is brutal, Ghost is efficient, Ghost is you. The real you.

The fight continues. You give Lydia no time to react, closing the distance between yourselves in an instant and cleaving your fist through the air, right into her nose. Blood spurts out as she falters in her movements, tripping up slightly over her own feet, allowing you to attack again.

You kick her legs out from under her and she sprawls to the floor, dazed. Not giving her any time to fight back, you get on top of her and begin dealing blows to her face. You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn to see Beta, his face a mix of his usual broodiness and an unusual emotion that you believe may be respect.

You cease the beating and look over your handiwork. Lydia's face is covered in blood and bruises, almost akin to the masks the Whisperers wear. She looks quite honestly horrible and you feel somewhat bad for her.

"Good job," Alpha says, placing a hand on your shoulder before turning to the crowd. "This is Gamma!". There is a roar of applause at her words before, one by one, people filter away, back to their assigned jobs.

You're left standing there, with Lydia on the floor and Charlie approaching.

"You did what you had to," he says solemnly. "Still, it's a shame. You know who Alpha is to Lydia, right?"

You shake your head.

"She's my mum," Lydia says, sitting up and rubbing her jaw tentatively.

"And she'd deliberately put you in a fight?" you ask, slightly stunned at the revelation.

"Yup," she replies, "it would've been worse for you though, if you hadn't properly fought me. That's why I had to strike hard; make sure you understood you didn't have a choice in the fight."

"You certainly did just that," you say, offering her a hand up. She accepts and you haul her to her feet. "So what did she mean with the whole Gamma thing?"

"That's your new name. You are Gamma. I guess that puts you somewhere up there in the hierarchy, not that we really have a proper one. It's basically just Alpha, Beta, then just one big clusterfuck," Charlie says, picking at a scab on his hand