A Shred of Hope (The Walking Dead) (The Final Season Retelling)

22. A History Lesson

"So, you knew her and lied to us?" Violet asked angrily. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

Jonathan quickly looked around, making sure there was no one within earshot of their conversation. "Nobody here knows about my past with her."

"What do you mean?" Clementine asked. She knew they had him cornered, quite literally. They had evidence of his past and she wouldn't hesitate at all to use it against him.

He sighed. "Beth and Matthew had been married for just a couple of years when the roamers came around. All of us were separated but we managed to find each other a few years after. Jared, my wife Ellie and I were at South Home and Beth and Matthew were at Georgeville. They had a daughter called Andrea."

"How does that matter?" Violet interrupted, furious.

"Things were fine until a couple of years ago. Matthew found out about the deals that Georgeville's leader, Alan, had made with some raiders. They weren't losing people to walkers outside the walls- they were being traded for the community's safety. When Matthew realized, he tried to confront Alan but there were quite a few people involved in this," he narrated.

"So, he was killed?" Clementine asked.

"Beth turned up at my house asking for help. But there wasn't much I could do. I asked her to stay but she wouldn't leave Matthew and Andrea behind. When she got back, Alan had all three of them locked up. When we found out, Ellie wanted to go and I didn't want to risk it-"

"You were willing to let family suffer?" Louis asked. He almost had a surprised look on his face.

"It wasn't like that," Jonathan defended himself. "You didn't know Alan. The man was a monster. Ellie and I had an argument and we decided to sleep it off and decide the next day. Turns out she left in the night for Georgeville without saying anything." He looked pained as he spoke, as if remembering his nightmares. "When she tried to talk to Alan, he threw her in the lock-up with Beth and her family."

"What happened then?" Clementine inquired.

"Alan exiled Matthew. Told everyone he was throwing Matthew out for conspiring against the community. They took him away and no one saw him again. But we all know what that meant."

Clementine looked at Louis and Violet.

"And... Ellie?"

"They were in lock-up for a few weeks. Andrea got a fever and they refused to help her. She died in the cell with Beth and Ellie," Jonathan said. "Beth wasn't the same after that. Couple of weeks later, Georgeville was attacked. Whoever it was razed everything to the ground. Beth was able to escape but... Ellie didn't. Beth could've helped her but she didn't. My wife risked her life for that woman and all she did in return was let her die." He grit his teeth as he spoke.

"How do you know all of this?" Violet asked.

"One of the kids escaped in that carnage. He had the task of bringing them food once a day in the lock-up. You met him yesterday- Alex. He told me what had happened."

"And Beth? When did she join Delta?" Louis asked.

Jonathan chuckled mirthlessly. "Beth didn't join Delta. She formed it. Don't know how she did it, but the next thing I know, we're at war. She attacked South Home and before we could do anything, the place was gone. Jared and I barely made it out. That's when we came here to Miletus."

"So, you planned to get her yesterday?" Clementine was piecing the timeline together.

"Yes. A scout had seen her pass the highway. We knew Delta was the opposite direction so we laid an ambush. I shot the wrong van though and that's going to cost us more men in this war."