Suffering: Male Reader x TWDG (slow updates)

Chapter 59: Survive

Clementine sat at her desk. Rosie, her dog, lay in a dog bed at the far wall, just under a graffitied picture of the old principal. To her right stood Alvin Jr.

"There could still be people out there," she said bluntly. "People that could put all of us at risk."

"But the risk is justified," you say calmly. "If we can't find food we'll die. That's not an opinion, it's a simple fact." You glance over to Violet who stands next to you, her arms crossed and an unimpressed look slapped across her face. Clearly she thought this conversation was a lost cause but you felt strongly that you could sway Clementine.

"We?" Clementine asked. "We haven't even decided yet whether you can stay or not. There needs to be a vote; we're a democracy here."

Violet snorts loudly.

"Vi, don't start," Clementine warned. "You've been finding food okay. The both of you make a good team."

You and Violet both lock eyes with each other. Ever since your first time hunting together, you'd repeatedly left the safe zone in search for prey; perhaps in a way that didn't help with your case now.

"Well. . . you see -"

"We've been leaving the safe zone," Violet says, interrupting you.

"What?" Clementine's face began to turn a nasty shade of scarlet. "You disobeyed me? I put my faith in you that you wouldn't go breaking my trust, faith that you'd stay within the boundaries I'd set."

"Yeah well the boundaries suck, and it's not like we're kids anymore. We can all fend for ourselves just fine; you were here for the whole Delta thing."

Clementine narrows her eyes at that retort. "Vi. . . I helped with a lot of that. And I mean a LOT."

Violet shook her head. "This is bullshit. When you first arrived here you didn't care about the safe zone either. Remember the train station?"

"Didn't that severely escalate the whole Delta situation?" Clementine clapped back.

"Violet has a point Clem," Alvin said. "Y/N too. If we can't find food we'll die. And if they've been going outside the safe zone the whole time anyway then who cares?"

"That's not the point AJ," Clementine says, more softly this time. "It's the fact they've been disobeying me the whole time."

"Look," you say, stepping forwards to try and mediate. "We may as well get rid of the safe zone as there's no real need for it. And it's not like anyone's been following it anyways."

"Anyone could be out there," Clementine retorts.

You and Violet exchange glances. You both agreed before this meeting to omit any mention of the people you'd heard walking through the forest as that'd certainly jeopardise any chance of removing the safe zone restrictions.

"If there were people out there, in the forest, don't you think they'd have found us by now?" you ask.

Clementine holds her head in her hands. "Fine. The safe zone can go, but you need to promise that if you find anyone, you stay away from them and immediately report it to me. We don't know if the Delta will attempt to retaliate against us or not."

"Done," you and Violet both say in unison.

"And tomorrow Y/N, we'll hold a vote on whether you should be offered a position in our community."

And with that the meeting was adjourned. On your way out of the admin building, Violet had a smug look on her face. "We did it, we actually convinced her," she said happily.