The Ruins Part 2 (Sequel to The Ruins)

Chapter 31

Mal never slept. Her skin is tight and sweaty, she feels the imprinted scars on her back burning from the nightmare. She continually wipes her dried tears away; why she had to ruin everything. Why she never learned to follow.

Mal washed and dressed to her usual clothes and did her job as a constable and talking to the people. She hadn't done much today- just patrolled the wall and asked around about people for inform which none were interesting when she passed by an open garage to see Jessie inside, looking forlornly at a pile of twisted metal on the ground.

"Hey," She said, taking a step inside, "You alright?"

"Oh, hey, Mal. Yeah, I'm fine. Just...someone must not like wolves." She replied, indicating the pile. "It was a sculpture I was working on with the boys. I walked out here and it was like this."

"Someone came in here and did this?" She could make out how it was supposed to be an wolf now, but several pieces had broken off in its tumble to the ground. "I can look into it for you. Try and find out who did it."

Jessie shook her head, blonde ponytail bobbing. "It's not a big deal, Mal. Really. What would happen if you did find them?"

Mal shrugged. "Some kind of consequences. If we're going to start searching for suspects and find the missing kids, we've gotta start somewhere, right?" She gave her a small smile. "Besides. I need somethin' to do today."

After that she goes back to Tom's home. The house empty and quiet; Max was off with Jessie's brother, John, and a few other teenagers, the kids were with the other kids with Jessie's youngest brother Kirsh as well, and AJ was soundly asleep in his crib upstairs. Mal was just about to go check on him- for the fifth time in a half hour, she was a little more than paranoid- when a knock at the front door interrupted her.

She answered it, surprised to see Perry, Jessie's father, standing there with a couple of beers in hand. The man didn't wait for an invitation, opting to walk right inside and into the foyer between the kitchen and living room. Mal caught a whiff of him as he strolled by- the beers in his hand were clearly not the only ones he'd had today.

"Hey, Mal. I was havin' a beer, thought I'd bring you one. Heard you helped out my daughter today." He offered one of the bottles to Mal expectantly.

Mal eyed the bottle but didn't take it. "I'm good, but thanks. And I didn't do much earlier."

"C'mon. Don't tell me you're still on duty."

"I kinda always am, you know." Mal replied.

"Even at the party. I saw you. Your friends were drinking there. So, what's your story with you and..."

Perry trailed off, and Mal supplied the missing name. "Negan."

"Right, Negan." She withdrew the offered bottle, seeming to grasp that Mal wasn't going to take it.

"I wish I could've done more today," Mal said, "I didn't get much. I asked around to see if anyone saw anything, no luck."

Perry shrugged, seeming unbothered. "It was just a wolf. In the grand scheme of things, I think we'll live." Mal nodded, unsure of what to say to that. Sure, the sculpture wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't like there was much else for her to do today but look into it, and Jessie had seemed upset about it.

"Heard you were exiled by Negan," Perry suddenly said, and Mal nearly startled at the sudden change in topic. She tried to keep her face impassive- this wasn't a subject she was keen to discuss with a tipsy stranger, especially one giving off the vibes Perry was. She'd tried to brush off their initial meeting as poor word choice and her own paranoid discomfort, but even now, she felt like something was not quite right with Perry. "Guess it's hard, especially losing someone and being abandoned to your own community and people. Negan's such a prick. But some people like his charm."