The Silent Type (Gabentine Fic)

On The Road Again

We've been walking for three days now and I'm pretty sure I have quads like a fucking weight lifter who only does leg day. Me and Clem haven't been close to each other over the days. Probably because I avoid her anytime she's comes within 5 feet of me and walk fast to be beside Mariana. Clem looks pretty pissed when I avoid her and will probably cut the back of my ankles with a butter knife when she corners me. However, I like to think of myself as an escape artist who can get out of everything and anything. So, I don't worry about her and her butter knife very much.

We make our way down a deserted highway and see a sign that says, "Evergreen Sunoco, 3 miles ahead". Javi shouts out a thanks to Jesus and him and Kate journey farther ahead of us. Mariana has on her Walkman and sounds like she's listening to Staying Alive by The Bee Gees. That leaves me and Clem at the back. I'm off in my own world thinking about how I never got to finish the Percy Jackson book series when I'm yanked back by the shoulder, spinning around to face death. By death I mean Clementine. And she looks pissed. Great.

"Gabe.....we need to talk about that poem." Clementine says with annoyance in her voice.
"And don't run off like you've been doing or I'll punch you in the balls."

I grimace at the threat and look at her with exasperation as I motion towards my mouth. She quickly pulls out a pen and piece of paper from her bag, meaning that she's been ready for me to give my explanation to her. I take my writing utensils and get to work on my pitiful answer.

The poem was about you. I write them because I can't express my feelings vocally and burn them before anyone else can read them. But, Mariana called me to finish my chores before I could burn the evidence of my feelings for you. I guess I like you? Sorry. It's just I've never felt this way before and don't know what I'm feeling. I understand if you don't feel the same and I hope we can still stay friends after this.

I shove the paper back to her and start walking again, not wanting to face the rejection head-on. I hear a gasp behind me and assume it's from disgust of my feelings and start running to catch up to Javi and Kate. As I'm running I hear Clementine yell out at me.

"GABE. WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RUNNING OFF!"

That makes me look back and I see her hauling ass towards me. By now we got the attention of the group and hear Javi say something about being young and in love. He doesn't know that I'm about to lose the ability to have children and probably be scarred for life. I quickly make my way into the gas station and give it a quick one over before barreling into the bathroom. Not five seconds after I lock the door I hear Clementine on the other side, banging on it to let her in. I give her about five minutes and I hear her footsteps fade off and sigh in relief. I slowly open the door and look both ways before making my way out. What I didn't count on was Clem having Mariana come back to make it sound like her footsteps leaving and she actually being behind a food rack. I knew I was fucked when I heard her whisper into my ear.

"Gotcha"

I whip around and trying running away but, Clem tackles me to the ground and pins my arms above my head. Before she can speak, we hear voices outside that definitely weren't our groups voices.

"I thought you said there were two more? I don't fucking see them and I'm tired of looking. Let's just head back with these three."

Me and Clem look at each other before hastily moving to our feet. We duck behind a window and see three dirty looking men with Javi, Kate, and Mariana knocked out on each of their backs. I move to stop them before Clem pulls me back down and signals for me to stay put.

"Whatever Max. It's on you if we get in trouble by David again. You know how pissed he gets at us for not following orders." The one of the men say to the other one, apparently his name is Max.

"Jesus Christ Badger, could you be more of a pussy? Just load up the fucking bodies and lets go!" Max yells at Badger as he dumps Javi in the back of a blue pickup.

They finally leave and I rip out of Clem's grip and start making my way to where the truck drove. I hear Clem swear under her breath and runs up to my side and tugs on my arm to get my attention. I whip around to face her with a go-to-hell look before stalking off again.

"Gabe! Wait! Those guys, I've seen them before and they're trouble. They're with a group called the Final Frontier and they took AJ." Clementine cries out behind me.

My steps falter and I sigh and turn around to see Clem with a look I never thought I would see on her face: fear. I walk back to Clementine and motion for her to continue with what she knows about them fuckers. She takes a breath in and begins to talk in a quiet voice.

"I know their name because I was with them at one point. I didn't know they were bad guys at the time and was with them because AJ needed food and shelter, which they had both and much more. They're stationed in Richmond and they have a big community with heavily guarded gates and it's run by three main leaders. Joan, Clint, and the last guy is a real prick. His name is David. He's the one who took AJ away from me and he's who I want to kill."