No Time To Die- ARTHURMORGAN x O/C

part 33- 5 days

It's been 5 days since Claudia has last seen Arthur and the others, she has shut everyone out. Sometimes, Charles would bring in some stew from Pearson for her and checks in with her daily, so he knows that she hasn't died of alcohol poisoning. Miss Grimshaw, sometimes comes in and tidied the place up picking up empty bottles and stubs or cigarettes off the floor. Abigail keeps Sadie busy, asking her when she will go and get John but Sadie just tells her to stop worrying about the bastard.

The sun rests low in the sky, casting a golden hue over the camp in Lagras—a patchy mix of light and shadow stretching across the clearing. The sounds of the swamps seem distant, drowning in the memory of what has transpired. Claudia sits hunching over leaning against the wall in one of the rooms, her fingers wrapping tightly around a half-empty bottle of whiskey, the remaining amber liquid swirling like the thoughts in her mind. It has been days since everything  has changed; days since the shadows of misfortune crept into her life once more.
The bank heist was supposed to bring them joy, a new beginning, a chance to escape their dire existence.
She started drinking to forget, to drown the memories of laughter and shared dreams. Now, that same whiskey was both a balm and a curse, pulling her deeper into darkness. The camp around her throbs with a heavy silence, each crackle of the fire from the main room echoing the void left by her friends. Eager conversations fill with hopes and schemes turns into a whispering reflections of loss.
Claudia lifts her head to see Charles standing over her, as he barged through the door. His expression angry but a glimpse of concern washes over his faces
"Claudia," he begins gently, "you need to stop this. It won't help you heal."
She scoffs lightly, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "Heal? I don't even know what that means anymore, Charles. They're gone, they're fucking gone."
"I know," he replies, his voice steady but soft, "But drowning yourself in drink won't bring them back. It will only make the pain harder to bear."
"Maybe I don't want to bear it," she shoots back, her grip tightening around the bottle, "Maybe I just want to forget for a while."
Charles sighs, sitting down in front of her, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "Look, I know it feels like the world has crumbled around you—it has for all of us. Hosea and Lenny... they were family. But if you give in to this, you'll only lose yourself, too."
She falls silent, bitterness churning in her stomach along with the whiskey, yet deep down she knows he is right. The intoxication makes her float away from the grief, but the mournful truth will always pull her back in.
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Claudia challenges, looking away, as Charles seems to choose his words carefully.
"I want you to think about what they would want. Lenny wouldn't want you to throw your life away like this. And Hosea... he would yell at you to get up and stop drinking, he would be so disappointed you. I know Hosea was close to you but you need to get over it and stop drinking."
"You know, the day before he died he took me fishing as I was angry at Dutch. He said it would calm me. When we were fishing it felt like it healed me, because I never got to experience this when I was a child. Hosea was like a father figure to me, which Dutch never was and will never be. I just find it hard without him, like I've got no one to turn to." Claudia slurs taking another sip of her drink.
"We need you, Claud. Me and Sadie can't keep on doing this by ourselves" Charles gets up toward the door, he knows that he will never change her mind, "oh and we have found John. They have moved him to Sisika and, we have buried Hosea and Lenny together no too far away from here. I went and stole their bodies from the law."
"Thanks Charles, for everything you've done for us and me" Claudia speaks up, he nods leaving her by herself. She finishes the drink in her hand and tries to get up, the room spinning. Finally, she gets up and enters the main room where everyone is sitting. Eyes follow her as she makes her way to the door, leaving the cabin. The muggy, humid air hitting her. She takes out a cigarette and lights it, exhaling the smoke.
"There you are, you enjoying relaxing, drinking and sleeping all day?" Abigail mumbles carrying crates towards Pearson, her shoulder brushing past Claudia's.
"You got a problem, Miss Roberts?" Claudia slurs dragging out the 's', Abigail places the crate in a huff and turns around meeting Claudia's gaze.
"Yes I do, while everyone here is helping out for us to stay alive. All you do is mope around, being a drunken fool!" Abigail voice raises, Claudia throws her cigarette on the floor extinguishing it with her foot, "Hosea and Lenny death has been hard on us all but we've got to be strong, and wait until the Dutch and the others are back."
"They are not coming back, Abigail. Do you really think that they are going to come back to the once place that everyone wants them dead!" Claudia shouts, getting the attention of everyone inside; Charles opens the door to see what's going on.
"They wouldn't do that, we are a family"
"A family, are you serious? We are outlaws, everyone around here want's every single one of us dead! Can your tiny brain comprehend that?" Claudia snaps back, the volume of her voice raising.
"You're a cruel woman, Claudia Jenkins! A woman with no heart! Do us a favour and get lost, you do nothing around here anyway!" Abigail yells back, she storms back inside slamming the door behind her.
"That's enough, both of you!" Charles calls out to her, his voice stern, "stop shouting or the bounty hunters will be up here killing us all!" Claudia walks over to her horse, stumbling over her own two feet. Charles watches her as she mounts her horse, "where do you think you're going?"
"Somewhere away from here" Her voice cracks, pulling the reins away from Charles. He sighs knowing that he can't say anything to change her mind, the only people he knows who could is Hosea or Arthur, however they are both gone.