SILENCED [TWDGS4 Clouis]

-. ..- -- -... . .-. 3

The cold water hits me hard, and I'm paralysed in the water. I see plenty of flames above surface, and there's walkers dropping into the water like stones. I try swimming, but one of the walkers grasps my arm, pulling me towards his mouth. I struggle, twisting and turning, and force it off just about in time, and kick off.

I emerge, and thankfully I'm still in the shallows, and I haven't drifted off yet, so I start swimming towards the bank. I grab onto one of the lasting supports left from the pier and look around. Violet is all the way over, up shore, killing walkers. Omar and Aasim are swimming out, but I can't seem to see Willy near the bank. I look at the boat, and notice his hands squirming close by. But I can't shout for help, or assistance, so slide back into the water.

I swim as fast as I possibly can manage. Willy's drowning. I see the problem underwater: Willy has one leg stuck in the debris, and another caught by a walker. The walker is also stuck, but Willy is drowning and I have to be fast.
I make a uncoordinated stroke and swallow a mouthful of the filthy, disgusting water. I recover for a few moments, and then the waves hit me.

The boat had rolled over, and released one final wave, and it hits me hard. I do flips over and over in the water, seeing nothing but a flurry from my stinging eyes. Something grabs my leg, and I find myself helpless to do anything. A few moments later, it's calming, and I prepare to kick the walker off, when I hear Willy's voice.

"Lou...is!" He chokes.
I grab the hand and pull it up. Thank god. It's Willy - he must have broken free when the debris was shifting. Slowly, I struggle against the water.
"Violet!!!" Willy screams.
I can't see much, as I'm focusing on breathing and swimming, but I'm almost sure Violet heard him. And then I feel that the water is thicker than before, so I raise my head and look. Oh my god.

I do a panic turn, dragging Willy back with me, away from the patch of oily water. As I struggle to go around the deathzone, the fire races me. I start swimming faster and more desperately when I reach my capability. My exhaustion catches up with me and my limbs become heavier than lead.
On my last stroke, I stop swimming and my eyes stop seeing.

~~~

"Louis, are you awake?" Violet wakes me up.
I try to lift my head to nod.
"Oh thank God. The others are preparing to get on the path, but we wanted to wake you instead of carrying you."
I sigh and nod, before closing my eyes again.
"I know it's hard, but we're carrying enough bodies back home."
My eyes jolt open.
"Clem and AJ are in a terrible state. We found them somewhere near the banks. AJ's leg has been impaled, and we can't deal with you being unconscious."
I heave myself up, and get off my wooden 'bed'. I nod slowly, even though every step will be dreadful. I would do it for the Little Guy and Clem.

So I start walking, and I can't help but notice something: it's almost evening. I must have been out for hours and hours. Why would they take that long just to start walking home?

The trees forge the path, and the ground is worn by hundreds of steps. Perhaps this was a busy trading location? It's by a river with plenty of fish. I follow on with the group, keeping to the very back. My limbs are still heavy, and lifting my wounded leg is a chore.

I start recognising the paths. We're getting close. The school must be pretty broken down, and it isn't really safe, but it's the best hope. We can rebuild it, eventually.
"We will need to rebuild the school into a safer state." Violet says. Apparently, she's been thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, we'll have to get the gates fixed up and the towers patched up. We might need to patrol." Aasim says.
"Do we have the resources for this?" Omar asks.
"We'll improvise."

~~~

We see those gates that I know so well. I remember the things that happened before all the raider shit. The card game with the others. The game of 'Flip, Marry, Kill' and the fun time with the walker piñata. But now, the atmosphere was much more grim. There are a few drops of rain starting to land, and air still smells of light smoke from the explosion.

"Get Clem and AJ to to Ruby right now!" Violet whisper-shouted. The front door to the main building opens as Ruby comes out.
"Tenn, Willy, you watch the gate. Willy, the bow is inside Clementine's room.
Violet instructs everyone, giving us all the right roles.

"Louis, you stay with me. Let's get to Marlon's room." Violet turns to me.
I give her a quizzical look.
"I have this idea and I need you to confirm it first."

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Thank you all for reading. The story isn't a recount of Episode 3 from now, and this is all based on my ideas and imaginations, which I look forward to writing. Please remember to vote, it's the driving force of the story :)
Thank you all for 100 reads already!