SILENCED [TWDGS4 Clouis]

-. ..- -- -... . .-. 7

[LOUIS]

"Louis?" I hear Clem's voice from out the door.
She enters the room. I glance at her, but look back at the piece of paper I'm writing on. Her footsteps sound in the small room as she walks.
"Louis." She repeats. I look at her, frowning. She hangs her head, so that her hat hides her eyes.
"Louis. I... I really like you. I really do. And I wish there was something I could do to... to reverse." There's sorrow swimming in her eyes. Not knowing what to do, I continue looking at her. She continues:
"I'm just really sorry. I didn't want this to happen to you. I didn't want anything to happen to anyone but they're all being hurt around me."

Her tears start falling. I get up and embrace her, and she hugs me back. When I back out, we stare at one another's eyes. Her eyes are Golden and fierce, but they're sad. Very sad, and confused about what to do. I smile. And I lean in for a kiss. I want to tell her that I forgive her, but I hope she gets the message from this. After a bit, we stop, and Clem, face red, smiles.
"I love you Louis. In a different way than I've ever felt before."

~~~

I pull back the string of the bow. It tenses and I raise it for aim.

Bullseye now.

I release. It's a perfect shot. With a proud grin, I walk up to the target and twist the arrow, edging it out. I reposition myself towards a walker head a good distance away. I pull back, raise, aim, and release. It hits the ground right next to the stick. Sighing, I put the bow on the bullet-scarred bench and walk up to the arrow to dislodge it.

Bang.

I gasp at sound of the gunshot, and dislodge the arrow and run to the bow.
"What the fuck? What was that?" Aasim shouts from the other side of the yard.
I shrug and shake my head.
"That didn't sound like a pistol.." Violet says, emerging from inside of the admin building.
We all run to the gate, Omar and Aasim opens the gate and me and Violet run out, me aiming the bow, her the pistol.
"Who's there?" Violet yells.

Another gunshot echoes off the trees.
Clem runs out of the bushes, panting. She takes cover by the side of the wall. We mirror her, all apprehensive about what's happening.
"HOW DARE YOU!" A man roars from in the forest. We hear another gunshot. And then we hear his footsteps emerging from the forest.

"What did you do?" Violet whispers.
"I stabbed him. He jumped me. I didn't mean to—" Clem stresses.
"It's ok, let's just just stop him. You knock him out." Violet whispers to Clem and walks out into the gateway. She puts her hands up.
"Calm down sir." Violet says, her tone completely controlled. I think she's getting good at the controlled tone, because it seems as if she can't stop using it. I notice that Clem has disappeared.
"Where is she? The girl?" He replies, his voice raspy.
"What does she look like?" Violet asks.
"I don't know. She's a toxic presence. She can't live." His speech is fragmented, and he's breathing heavily.
"I don't know of any lone survivors. Do you?" She raises her voice, and the man lets out a scream.

I peek around the wall to see Clem strangling him. She's got something in her hands which she's forcing on his neck. It's only half a minute before he's blue and out. She lets him fall, and he slowly regains his colour, but his eyes don't flutter.
"I was expecting impact, to be honest." Violet says as she starts dragging his unconscious body across the yard. The others get out of their hiding spaces.
"What the hell just happened?" Aasim asks and Omar shrugs.

I notice AJ approaching Clem. He asks,
"Is he a threat?"
"Probably, but we shouldn't mistreat him." Clem says and AJ nods.
"He's a threat alright. I just really want to know where he got this rifle." Violet says.

~~~

I look at the man. I'm guarding him currently, and it's an eerie silence in the basement. I cast my mind back to everything. This is the second time we've held someone in our basement. Have we become aggressive kidnappers? Carefully, I inspect the rifle. It's a piece of art, made of fine, firm and sleek wood. The metal on the barrel isn't even rusty: it's only a few months old. And it feels powerful just holding it. Violet's right on being interested in this thing.

After some more admiring, I place it back down on the ground, and sit there. It feels like I'm hearing the heartbeat of the Earth as I sit, lonely, inside the basement. Just as I start believing that he's basically dead and will never wake up, his eyes snap open.
"You fucking KIDS." He roars, struggling in the seat, but he's tied by ropes to the chair. No way he can snap strong rope. I shake my head and glower at him. He's skinny, with dirty skin and black hair. He also looks aged, or worn down.
"I have a group, and they're all gonna slit your throats." He growls. A group? Dread tugs at my stomach. I note it down mentally and continue staring at him. He isn't phased by my constant stare.
"They'll shoot your heads off!" His voice cracks as he screams. His breathing is heavy, as if he just did several minutes of exercise. Eventually, he relaxes his efforts on breaking the rope and hangs his head down.
"Just don't kill me, else my friends will kill you." He growls.
"Where are said friends?" Violet says out of nowhere. I look behind me in surprise. Violet is scarily sneaky sometimes.
"I... I don't know." He looks up.
"You sure you have friends?" Violet questions.
"Oh yes! Tens upon tens, all armed with machine guns and..." his voice falters, "actually, most my friends are dead, I think."

Violet smiles victoriously.
"You've lost your mind, haven't you?"

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