The Rocking Dead: A New Beginning

Chapter 24: One of Them

Tom's POV: Eric finally calmed down some, so I let him in our room to take a nap. As I walked back out to the now empty main room, Blackie and Jelly returned.

"That was fast." I said.

"Well, there was an—incident." Blackie was hesitant on that last word.

"What happened?" I asked. Jelly looked ticked off, her arms crossed.

"We uh—ran into Negan on his way back to Alexandria." Blackie answered, saying the last part quickly. My eyes widened.

"What?!" I asked, turning my attention to Jelly, "Are you ok? He didn't hurt you did he?" I started checking her for any marks.

"I'm fine." She bluntly replied.

"She actually shot at him. Then proceeded to tell him off." Blackie explained. I looked at Jelly, as if asking her to confirm what Blackie said. She was quiet, just angrily staring ahead.

"You told him off?" I asked.

"He hurt daddy." She answered, "The least he deserves is a taste of his own medicine." I was surprised by what she was saying. I can't picture Jelly being vengeful. But I guess if someone hurt your father you'd be pissed off too.

"Why don't you head back to your room and relax? You don't have to worry about this stuff." I said to her, rubbing her arm, "He shouldn't bother us anymore." She quickly walked back to her room. "I think you're rubbing off on her." I said to Blackie.

"Either me or Penelope." He replied, "But I think she genuinely holds some resentment towards Negan. She's heard us talk about what he did to Eric, and after seeing Negan hit him with the pipe, she has a right to be angry."

"Tom, Blackie, I just got a transmission from Hilltop." Sebastian jogged in, walkie in hand, "They need you ASAP."

"They say what for?" I asked.

"Said they found one of the people who killed Vince." He answered. My mind stopped for a moment. They got a Whisperer? Maybe they can be of use.

"You up to go?" I asked Blackie. He nodded. "If Eric asks where I am let him know,  but make sure he stays here."
•
We finally arrived at Hilltop and were let in immediately.

"She's not talking much." Tara caught us up as we were walking, "Claims she's the only one left. But from what she's told Henry there's a lot of conflicting info. Maybe you two can get the truth out of her."

"What makes you think she'll spill the beans to us?" Blackie asked.

"I don't know. You're intimidating and Tom's pretty likable. Good cop bad cop maybe." Tara answered.

"Let's just get this done with and try to get something outta her." I said. Tara led us down to their jail. There was a young girl, can't be older than 18, sitting in the corner. She was clearly nervous when we showed up. Maybe she knows her people killed one of ours specifically. Tara left to give us some alone time with her. I pulled up a chair to sit in front of the cell while Blackie stood behind me.

"Let's start of with introductions." I began, trying to gain her trust, "Who are you?"

"What's it matter to you?" She asked, "Your people are just gonna kill me anyways."

"Well we wanna avoid that at all costs since you're just a kid." Blackie chimed in, "But we do wanna know who you are, where the hell you came from, and how many of them there really are." He was quick to get to the point.

"Lydia." She finally answered after a long silence.

"Thank you." I replied. "Now to get to the matter at hand here. Your people killed one of ours. A good man. Someone who was trying to defend us from what he thought were the dead. So do you care to explain why the hell your people wear those damn masks?"

"Protection." She said, "No one messes with the dead." I leaned forward in the chair.

"How many of you are there?"

"Just me. And my mom." She answered. "You don't mess with her."

"Ah. So now you're changing your story." I leaned back, "According to our friends you claimed you're the only one left. That we killed the others. Now why don't you start telling me the truth?" She huddled back a bit more, rubbing her knees.

Just then, I noticed bruises on her wrist.

"Come here." I asked as I stood up. She shook her head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just wanna make sure I'm seeing what I'm seeing." Eventually, she slowly got up and walked over. I motioned for her to give me her arm. She was hesitant, but obliged.

"Tom what are you doing?" Blackie asked. I didn't respond. Instead, I rolled up her sleeve, causing her to wince in pain.

Bruises resembling lashes trailed up her entire arm. I just stood staring at them in disbelief. Blackie did the same. I could tell she was getting uncomfortable, so I let go of her arm. God only knows what else she's hiding.

"Who did this to you?" I asked, genuinely concerned. She shook her head again. "Lydia," I continued, "Clearly someone's doing this to you on purpose. I don't wanna yell at you, and I'm sure as hell gonna make sure no one even tries to kill you. Please. I know you don't wanna trust me. But I promise you I'll make sure this doesn't happen again." She was silent.

"My mom." She finally answered. We sat and listened to her tell us her story, explaining how her mother tried to erase the real events from her memory and replace them with lies. My heart felt for her. How could a parent be this cruel?

"Tom, Blackie, we need you up here now." Tara came bursting in. We got up to help.

"It's her." Lydia said, "She's here for me."

"Well you ain't going back. Not on my watch." I assured her before leaving.

Blackie and I ran up to the guard post with Tara, Magna, and the others. A crowd of people wearing walker masks stood outside the gates. But the one person that stood out was a bald woman without a mask.

"I am Alpha." She said, "And we only want one thing from you. My daughter."...