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Chapter Text

Even before she unlocked the door, Clementine knew something was terribly wrong. Aasim mentioned that Violet was in pretty bad shape, but she hadn't expected this. Slouched over, back to the door, body bound to hell and back with belts, and what looked to be a blindfold over her eyes, she sat still, not even breathing. 

"Violet?" Clementine asks softly, not wanting to startle her badly. Instead her entire body went rigid, she looked ready to fight. The brunette hesitantly reached for her shoulder, but before she could a sharp pain erupted in the back of her head, almost immediately knocking her out. "Violet...?" She repeated, and heard Louis and AJ's voices in the background too.

Fuck, this isn't good.

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Clementine woke up with her head pounding, the pain made her groan as she tried to sit up. She looked to her right to check the exit on instinct- fuck, it's locked. Should've known Minnie's antics. Clem scowled and faintly recalled what had happened- she was in here to check on Violet, Minerva probably knocked her out, locked the cell door, and got Louis and AJ into cells too. Then Violet, wasn't she...? Clementine turned her attention to her, and exhaled from the shock again. She knew that Violet could've gotten seriously hurt, and usually the raiders take it a little too far. "Violet, are- are you okay?" The brunette stuttered, her hand reaching out to the hunched over figure of Violet again. "It's me, Clementine. We came here to save you, Aasim, and Omar." She elaborated, not even sure if Vi could hear her. "Do you understand, Violet?"

At last, the girl turned her head in Clementine's direction, still looking ready to lash out at any second. She could see Vi's anger despite there being a blindfold over her eyes. "I'm going to get those restraints off of you, Vi-"

"Clementine, don't." Aasim's worried tone reached Clem's ears just as she was going to start unbuckling one of the belts that kept Violet bound. "The last time she tried to get them off she... it wasn't good, Clem." He told her, definitely upset about what had probably happened. Clementine took it as a sign to not touch her, but the sight was almost unbearable to behold. Violet heard this and slowly maneuvered her body to face her supposed savior. She tried to tilt her head up, though she would've been looking a little over Clem's head if she could actually see. "Hey, Vi, a little bit down." Clementine said, kneeling in front of her to inspect her.

Violet adjusted her head's position to look straight forward, exhaling deeply through her nose as if she were troubled by something. Clementine carefully cupped her face with her hands, tracing over the wounds that seemed to have been made by a knife or something of the sort. The injuries covered the right half of her face, already scabbed over but still sending shivers down Clem's spine. And not the good kind, she told herself, thumb running lightly over some of the cuts that had found a home on her friend's skin. "Violet, these wounds... am I allowed to take the blindfold off?" She asked Vi, who's head and shoulders slumped in shame. Even without words Clem could figure out what she was saying. "Yes...?"

"You can, but... you may find something you don't like." Dorian says, voice just outside of Clem's cell. Shit, she's here to keep us guarded. Clem realized. She laughed viciously. "Go and see what kind of beauty was inflicted on the poor girl."

Clementine swallowed dryly because of that response; she was suddenly very afraid of what may be waiting on the other side of the blindfold. Is Vi gonna be like Kenny? Her hands were unsteady as they reached behind Violet's head and tugged away at the knot securing it there. She heard her blood rushing and heart pounding. God, this is taking too long. She suddenly jumped as Violet let out a severely muffled noise of pain, which might've been from accidentally snagging her hair while undoing the knot. The gag was doing it's job quite well.

Before lowering the blindfold from Vi's face Clementine took in a huge breath, and breathed out just as forcefully to strengthen her resolve. She then slowly let her hands down, a new worry popping up each time she saw a cut that must've surely been painful to bear at first. "Holy..." Clementine trailed off, seeing the sudden well of tears in Violet's eyes. She seemed to be happy to see her. "Hey, Vi. I'm glad to see they haven't poked your eyes out." Clem somewhat joked, scooting closer to the other girl and wrapping her arms around her, something that Violet tensed at.

If not for the gag Clem was sure Vi would be sobbing and telling her that she thought she'd never see her again. Her chin rested on Clementine's shoulder, tears of relief and sadness ran down her face like a water facet. "Did they hurt you anywhere else?" The brunette asked, pulling away to study Vi's expression. She didn't seem to hide it, nodding almost reluctantly. "Where?" Clem asked, rubbing her friend's shoulder out of habit. As a result Violet turned her head away from her and avoided eye contact. This time she shook her head to say no. "That doesn't make sense. Are you hurt or not?"

When the blonde teenager didn't answer Clementine got up and sighed. "I'm gonna find a way out. Don't worry." She reassured her, then turned her attention outside of the cell. Dorian was now gone, her footsteps echoing on the metal floor of the brig before fading away completely, leaving the troubled youth alone for a moments. "Hey, Louis, AJ? Aasim? Omar?" Clementine called for the names of her fellow teenagers, who all almost immediately showed up. AJ's head popped up from behind the sheet metal, while the other three stopped their nervous waiting and pacing and came up to their respective cell doors. "Hey, we're all here." Louis chirped with a somewhat sarcastic tone in his voice. AJ nods enthusiastically. "Nobody got hurt." He reports with hope reflecting in his eyes. Clem turned her attention to Aasim and Omar. "Do you mind telling me if Vi got hurt anywhere besides her face or not? At first she said yes and then denied that she was harmed." She implored. "And I wanna know if you two are okay as well." Clem quickly adds, crossing her arms and casting a glance at Violet.

Aasim nods. "We're both fine, but we aren't supposed to talk that much. Then...uh, Violet's situation is a little hard to explain." He answered anxiously. "She was trying to fight back, that's where the belts came from. And the gag...she was trying to sing to us. They didn't like that." Aasim turned away for a second, rubbing his temples and sighing. His back rested against the cell door when he continued. "I think they might do worse to her, but I'm not sure. As for her hurting..." He looked back at Clementine. "I, uh...Omar, could you explain the rest?" He asked. Clem could see the intense fear and worry is his eyes. The chef of the troubled youth came to light with an expression reflecting Aasim's. "There were dude raiders. They came into her cell and might've tortured her. The gag muffled what could've been screaming." He confessed, his eyes on the floor almost in shame. "Fuck." Clementine breathed and turned to Violet, who was watching with an expression of concern. "Is it true?"

Vi paused as if she was thinking, then hung her head, still silent.

Clem cursed again, quietly and under her breath. She tried to get a good look at the latch of Louis and AJ's cell door. "The doors don't look very well made, maybe that something we could use." The brunette observed, an eyebrow raised from curiosity.

First she would have to get to work on figuring that out...

Chapter Text

Clementine knew she didn't have a long time to plan her escape before Dorian came back. She bent down and inspected the welds of the sheet metal, denying her access to the latch of her cell door. Maybe if I had a tool to chip away at this...Clem reached for her knife but couldn't feel it in her back pocket. "Fuck, must've taken it while I was out cold." She shook her head and stood back up to check on AJ. "Hey, goofball, do you still have your shiv?" She asked, a little smile on her face as she used his nickname. He checks his own back pocket, smiles back, and nods. "Yep. They only took the big knife." He replied, holding it up. "Alright. Slide it over, won't you?" Clementine prompted him, and looked at the gap under the sheet metal expectantly. Sure enough, AJ did what he was told and she saw the little piece of glass slide in her direction, then bump against a box positioned against the wall. She exhaled in relief, bent down, and picked it up.

She heard a noise come from Violet, and looked over to see her staring intently at the shiv, her eyes wider than full moons. Clementine realized that she may never look at a knife the same way ever again. Vi noticed that she noticed, and her eyes trailed over to the wall on her right, like the cracks in the wood were more interesting than Clem's Mission Impossible. Clem shrugged it off easily and continued to plan a way out.

She checked the area for Dorian before she got to work. Don't think she's going anywhere fast. I have time. Clem knelt beside the sheet metal, then positioned the shiv against one of the welds and started to chip away at it. It made some annoying tapping noises, sure, but she was able to get one off after a few times. When she tried to get the others off, a bang startled her and she dropped it behind her. "Hey! Whatever you're doing, don't." Dorian snarled, shaking her head. "It ain't worth it." Clem glowered at her for a moment, trying to figure out how she was going to escape now. Does she just have to wait for Dorian to go away again? Does she-

"She awake yet?"

Shit.

Dorian turned her head and nodded obediently. "Yes ma'am." Clementine heard Lilly chuckle and her footstep drew closer. Dorian stood at attention while the ruthless woman came into view. Clementine heard Vi shuffle and remembered that she no longer had a blindfold on. Probably should've put it back on her, Clem fretted, but it was too late now. Lilly could see Violet without it, and smiled devilishly at the genuinely terrified expression that the blonde teenager had. Her eyes were wide, almost attentive to her captor's expression. Her legs drew close to her chest, thankfully not too restricted for her. "Good." Lilly commented as her eyes were still locked onto Violet.

Minerva was there too, standing silently behind her boss. Lilly, however, was a lot less quiet. She grabbed a cell bar with a nasty scrunched up face. "I want you to tell me, where's Abel?" She asked, looking really pissed off about his absence. "He's dead! We killed him, put a knife to the side of his head!" AJ chirped from behind her. Lilly turned back and even though Clem couldn't see it she knew she was angry. "Dammit, you little monster!" The older survivor snapped, banging on the cell door in anger. "It was my call." Clem defended her charge, and Lilly looked back with what looked like disappointment. "I killed Abel, not AJ."

Her captor turned around with a large frown on her face, only serving to make her look uglier. She pulled out a gun. "Back up." Lilly commanded her, aiming her handgun at Clementine, who did what she was told. AJ's shiv knocked against the back of her boot, and she slid it under the bed to keep it from view. She hoped nobody heard it, though. Lilly's eyes flickered to the soldier to her left. "Minerva, unlock the cell." She said calmly, her expression smoothing out all emotions from itself as she watched the ginger pull up the latch and swing the door open. There was now nothing between her and Clementine. The younger of the pair felt like she should've been afraid, being held captive like this, but she wasn't. She felt generally pissed off about the entire situation.

"Normally, with the trouble you caused, I'd shoot you and toss you overboard." Lilly started, slowly walking inside of the cell. She stopped for a moment, and smiled. "But I'm genuinely impressed." The woman admitted with the smuggest grin that Clementine has ever wanted to wipe from somebody's face. "First you organize these idiot kids into a fighting force, kill two of my most experienced soldiers, then sneak onto my boat under the cover of a herd? If I bring a prize like you back to the Delta that might make this whole clusterfuck of a mission worth it." Like all villains in a story, Lilly's smile turned somewhat malicious. Clementine frowned. "If you let my friends go, then I'll do whatever you want. I'm the most valuable, right?" She asked. Her captor laughed. "This isn't a negotiation. I'm taking all of you back home." Lilly said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Y'know, my father Larry, he was a military man. Never wanted anything to go to waste. He always told me to turn the lights off when exiting a room. Despite how much he yelled about the cost of electricity, I could never remember to hit that switch. So, one day, he let our power get cut for an entire week. No more hot showers, no more hair driers, no more ice cream sandwiches. Just a miserable family sitting in the dark." She rambled, sounding more toxic by the sentence. Clementine scowled and crossed her arms. "And how was that supposed to teach you a lesson? Was it supposed to help you learn that asshole runs in the family?" She shot at the older woman. Lilly's eyebrow raised. "My father wasn't the nicest person, but he showed me the effectiveness of teaching by example." She answered coldly, a poker face as her front. It only served to make Clem angrier.

"Is that what this all is? An example?" The brunette asked, trying to take a step forward. Minerva aimed her crossbow at her and she quickly stopped in her tracks. Lilly held a hand up, and Minnie reluctantly lowered her weapon a little bit. The oldest in the cell then motioned with her handgun for Clementine to move in front of her. "There is no example just yet Clementine, but I would certainly like to teach you one. Do you see that squirt over there? I know you took her blindfold off. She couldn't have done it herself...Too stuck in her hair, and her hands are bound a little bit too tight." Lilly almost cooed out the last part. "She was a handful when she first came in, kicking and biting. First we found all the spare belts on the ship, used 'em to keep her from hurting us anymore." The raider held up her arm. Near the wrist there were deep scratch and teeth marks. "And then she used her beautiful voice to sing to her friends." Lilly spat out the word beautiful like it was a swear. "I would cut out her tongue for it, but some of my fellow raiders convinced me not to." She gave Minerva a long, pointed look before facing Clementine again. "However, I'd like to make an example out of her for you. What would happen if you, say, tried to stir up trouble at the Delta." Lilly smirked, standing up and turning to Violet, who was now pressed against the wall and shaking a little. "Don't you dare fucking touch her-!" Minerva aimed her crossbow again like a warning, silencing the brunette effectively. Lilly looked back with that damn smile still on her face.

"Clem seems to care a lot about you, hm?" The Delta member drew closer to Violet, grabbing her by the back of her hair and forcing her to stand up. Clementine could see that her lags were shaking, her entire body was vibrating with fear. "Tell me, wouldn't you like to learn to protect yourself against the boys who came in here earlier? I heard they did some nasty things." Lilly offered, squishing Violet's cheeks likes she was some elderly lady gushing over her granddaughter and how much she's grown. She sounded somewhat motherly, and Clementine shuddered at the thought of this monster of a woman having a baby and actually being able to take care of it. She also thought about Jane. Her baby would never be born.

When Violet didn't answer her captor's question Lilly turned her head to the wall and smashed her skull against the wooden surface. She made a pained sound, probably a yelp, but it was too muffled to be sure. "Answer my questions next time, slut." Lilly snarled in her ear before giving her another head slam.

And another.

And another.

Clementine saw the pained expression on Violet's face in reaction to the harsh treatment and she had to bite on her tongue to keep herself from yelling. Now that Vi was in Lilly's hands and at her mercy who knew what that ruthless bitch could do to her? Besides, Minerva was watching her like a hawk. When Clem looked into her eyes, though, she saw sadness. Was it because she still cared about Violet? There was no other way for Clementine to put her finger on it.

"You're lucky I don't break your nose right here and now, little girl. Hell, I think it would be fun to watch." Lilly hissed in Violet's ear. Clem could see that her friend was both in pain and uncomfortable about her situation. The oldest in the cell forced Violet's head in Clementine's direction, even though the blonde girl refused to make eye contact. "Do you think you'll behave now? I have the ability to hurt this one far worse than what you just saw, and if you don't follow my command, I will use any method I can to make you follow it." Lilly threatened, forcing her captive's head to now look up at a painful angle, exposing her neck quite clearly. "Minerva." She started, keeping her gun pointed at Clementine. The ginger stood at attention, posture going completely rigid while still keeping her own weapon aimed at Clem. "Come over here. You earned a prize for your loyalty to your people."

"Lilly, stop! Don't do this to her!" Clementine begged, heart beating a thousand miles a minute. God, she didn't want Violet to get her head hit against a wall, and she was especially terrified of what Minerva might do to her.

"Yes ma'am." Minnie replied to her leader and only her. She made her way over to Violet, who had now been forced onto equally shaky knees, her head still forced up that angle that was so uncomfortable to look at. Lilly smiled as she sized up Clementine. "This isn't a negotiation, Clem. This is just one of the many orders I give out. It's a good order. Minnie is being a good girl." She cooed at her soldier, who almost puffed her chest out in pride at those praises. Clem glanced at the spot that Minerva was just at, only to find it replaced by Dorian.

"Your first task is to harm her in any way you see fit." Lilly said, allowing Minerva to grab at the back of Violet's hair to keep her neck exposed. The woman then released her hand from Vi and sat back down on the bed, leaning against the wall like this was going to be a great show. Her handgun was still pointed at Clementine. "Watch the demonstration, why don't you?" She made it sound like one of her dreadful orders rather than a question. Clem swallowed dryly and tried to read Violet's expression.

Minerva's right hand trailed from the back of Vi's head to her cheek, brushing away a few tears with her thumb and easing away the gag that kept her from talking. "There, there, Violet..." Her tone was saccharine, and the blonde girl knew this, biting her lip as her first action after getting back the ability to call for help. Minnie tilted Violet's head up again, very slowly, seeing the bump in her throat and tracing over it with two fingers. Her expression soured immediately, and her iron grasp on her ex-girlfriend's hair was regained as her other hand balled up into a fist.

"Minnie, no!" Clementine gasped, even though she knew her cries would do nothing. She closed her eyes before it happened so all she heard was a choked noise, like somebody got punched in the throat, Minerva's grunts of effort, and cries of pain from Violet as she endured whatever horrible shit the ginger was putting her through. Holy fuck, I can't believe this is real. Is it real? I really want it to not be. Please let this jut be a dream. Thoughts ran around like speedy little walkers in Clementine's brain. She knew what was happening behind her eyelids, she just didn't want it to be true.

Violet's yelps and cries did nothing to make the situation feel better. Then it suddenly stopped. "Next task. Do whatever pleases your fantasies the most, Minnie." Lilly's voice sounded very pleased with what was happening. "Yes ma'am." Minerva's reply came quick and quiet, and Clementine opened one eye meekly to see what was happening. She was horrified once again at the sad sight of Vi's still broken body. Angry red marks covered a good portion of her face and neck. Minerva's left hand traced across her handiwork before it reached Violet's lips. She pressed another two fingers to her bottom lip, prying her mouth open forcefully before practically shoving three of her fingers down her ex-girlfriend's throat, successfully pulling what would've been a scream if Violet could breathe properly. Minnie now held her delicate throat in her right hand, constricting the blonde's air flow severely. "Alrighty, then. You're now at my mercy. Must be terrifying, right? That's how I felt when you abandoned me, but now that you're here, we can be together again." She rambled, almost nervously, but her tone was too forceful for her to sound actually afraid.

Clementine couldn't find the voice to properly express her feelings. She couldn't believe the words coming out of Minerva's mouth. I can tell that they might've showed love a bit roughly... She notes and tried to keep her eyes peeled away from the horrifying sight set before her. "You belong to me, and me alone, Violet. Do you understand?" The ginger-haired raider asked with her voice hissed into Vi's ear, similar to how Lilly did. When she only got a choked cry in response she pulled her fingers out of her captive's throat, making sure to scratch what she could with her nails. She halfway chuckled at the more agonized sound that she had forcefully ripped out of the girl she had once loved. Apparently now she just loved torturing her.

Minerva's other hand found a grip on Violet's neck, forcing her back on the wall with a hard thud. The worst thing about the situation was that the blonde couldn't even fight back, Clementine decided. It wasn't fun to watch, even though Lilly seemed to be enjoying the show. "Cut her, Rockingham." The woman's cold voice was laced with happiness, and for what Clementine had no idea. Minerva followed her orders swiftly, unsheathing her hunting knife and bringing it closer to Violet's face.

"What kind of lesson is this?! What kind of teacher are you?!" Clementine yelled in an attempt to draw Minnie and Lilly's attention away from Violet. The younger of the raiders turned her head to Clementine and gave her a look of both guilt and surprise. "It's the only teaching I know. You of all people could understand that." Minerva answered, and carefully sliced her blade against Violet's right cheek, rightfully earning a cry from the pain. "What the fuck are you trying to teach us then? To cut up our friends' faces when we have different viewpoints?" Clem pressed, almost crying when she saw the long trail of scarlet, and another one was placed beside it. She was only offered the slight relief of biting her tongue again, but she'd be damned if she didn't take it.

The almost-screams that she heard for what felt like a stupidly long time finally ended when Violet's voice was raspy and cracked. Minerva pulled her knife away from her ex-girlfriend's face and inspected the damage she dealt. "Good. Now everybody knows you're still mine." She commented, smiling like it was something to be proud of. Clementine wanted to screech in frustration.

Louis did it for her.

"Why the fuck are you doing this? Why would you hurt Violet to teach us a lesson? It's obviously me you want, so leave her alone!"

Lilly paused in her smugness for a second before peeking out of the cell she was in, looking Louis dead in he eyes. "Fine then. Pull the mouthy one out of the cell, Dorian. Gag that slut again, Rockingham. I'd hate for her to scream at us more than she has already." She replied, already looking like she had a few tricks up her sleeve. Fuck, still not a fun situation.

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Her heartbeat could probably be heard for miles and miles. Clementine was sure of it. She watched in slight horror as one friend was gagged again and the other one was pulled out of the prison cell, squawking in protest as to not be harmed. AJ joined in on the riot, yelling at Dorian that if she hurt Louis he'd hurt her. However, his threats were ignored and the woman threw AJ's friend to the ground.

A stream of curses escaped Louis's lips before Dorian put her foot to his back, keeping him from standing up properly. "Easy." She said, brandishing a meat cleaver and holding it above her head. "Stay. Still." Her bark was sadistic. Fuck. Clementine felt her eyes widen by the second as she was forced to witness the act of monstrosity.

Louis called out to Clementine. "No, no... Please, Clem!" He looked up with terror in his gaze. The bad part was, Clementine wasn't sure if she could even help in this situation.

Then she saw AJ creep towards Dorian, a determined look on his face. His steps were silent as he approached the woman. "Don't make this hurt more than it has to." She hissed at Louis, preparing to mutilate him. Clementine, out of fear and admiration for her brother in-spirit, nodded to him to attack Dorian, just as she added to her last statement with, "Just. Breathe."

AJ pounced right at the affirmation, grasping at whatever he could use as a foothold and catching whatever he could in his teeth. Dorian screamed from the pain, elbowing AJ off of her. "AJ!" Clementine shouted, worried for him. He looked down at the ground in anger and spit out the chunk of ear that he had in his mouth. Dorian realized what was in front of him and reached up to touch her bleeding ear. She wrinkled her nose. "Son of a BITCH!" She yelled and kicked AJ square in the gut, causing him to roll over.

"That's enough." Lilly called from the other cell, but her gaze still lingered on Violet, who was sharing the space with her. "He bit me-!"

"I said that's enough."

Dorian fell silent as she glared down at AJ, then she dutifully returned Louis to the cell, forgetting that she was supposed to punish him in the first place. AJ sat up in pain. "You deserve to die." He says angrily, like he was now holding a grudge. He was now standing up, his eyebrows knit together. "We'll kill you!" He exclaims, determination evident in his voice.

Lilly turned around with interest. "You think you can kill me?" She asked, walking up to AJ. "I know I can!" AJ got into a fighting stance, ready to take on his captor right then and there. "We'll throw you in the river! Or put a knife right to the side of your head!" He told the older woman.

"Big talk for a little guy..." Lilly said coldly, not believing AJ's threats. He breathes in and meets her gaze with fire in his eyes. "I know I can do it." His answer sent chills up Clementine's spine. "I killed Marlon... He wasn't a monster but you are." AJ took a step towards Lilly, holding his arms up like he was holding a gun. "Bang." He said, acting like he was shooting her.

The raider seemed unfazed by his newest threat, kneeling down to become level with him. "So you killed Marlon... huh." She mused, a thoughtful look in her eye. "I'd bet you'd make a great soldier."

"Leave him alone." Clementine started to panic, afraid of what training would do to AJ at such a young age. "This is between us." Lilly paused in her speech, never taking her eyes off of the child in front of her. "Clem seems to care a lot about you." She notes. After a moment or two an evil smile spread across her face. "C'mon. Let's go have a chat. Just us." She snatched AJ's wrist and pulled him out of the cell, down the hallway, ignoring his cry for Clementine as they passed her cell.

Clem ran up to the cell door, yelling to Lilly about touching him, but Minerva closed the cell door in front of her face with a soured expression coloring her face. "No, please!" She had a hard time controlling her volume as she once again watched Lilly take away part of her family.

"Keep an eye on her, Minerva." The oldest of the raiders barked at Minnie, who turned to focus on Clementine with a sharp look.

"Lilly, don't!"

"Get this thing moving. I want to be away from here. Fast." Dorian nodded dutifully. "I'll start up the boiler." She replied, walking off to fulfill her order. Clementine, shocked, looked over at Minerva, who noticed her gaze and turned to her. "Don't. Don't you dare look at me like that." She snarled. "This is the only way we survive."

"Are you serious right now?!" Louis- bless him- yelled from the other cell. "After everything that she's done... You're just gonna help her?! FUCK YOU!" His rage seeped out of him faster than he could moderate it. Thankfully he was able to distract Minerva long enough for Clementine to crouch down and use AJ's shiv to chip away at the welds holding the door's sheet metal in place.

She was able to get the door opened before Minerva realized what was happening. "You all need to understand. This is the only way." She turned to Clementine but the smaller girl was able to stand back up like nothing happened. "Lay down, stay in line, or you die. The people you love die!" Her face was starting to become riddled with sadness. She looked like she was remembering her sister.

"If you just do what they say, you can live. All of you." Minnie told Clementine, but at this point she wasn't listening. She readied herself for the absolute bullshit that she was diving into, and rammed the door with all of her strength.

She quickly recovered from her attack on the former Ericson's kid before lifting up the lock from Louis's cell, and she heard him warn her about Minerva before she was struggling again. What came next mixed itself into a blur. A pain in her shoulder, still struggling against a gleam of death. More shouting from Minnie. Clem felt blood spray her face and felt the weight of her attacker shift off her. Louis was holding the crossbow that Minerva had dropped, looking like he regret his decision to the point where he was crying.

With an unconscious raider laying beside her, Clementine returned to her cell to check on Violet, who was already untying her blindfold without any belts binding her. She looked upset as well- perhaps she heard everything. The remnants of her capture discarded in the corner, she made sure not to bump Clem's shoulder as she made her way into the hallway of the brig. She wasn't saying a word.

The sight of Minerva made her back away a bit. It wasn't enough to make her run away, though. The Violet that Clementine knew was a tough little shit. But this version of her seemed different. She set to unlocking Aasim and Omar's cell with a lack of dialogue. Louis filled the void for her.

"We have to go. This boat's gonna explode any minute now." He says, worried about everyone besides Minerva.

"I can't leave yet. I have to find AJ." Clementine's determined voice made nobody question her. Aasim turned to her. "We better see you on land." He starts to make his way towards the exit with the other kids. "You will." Clementine answered with the same determination that AJ had before.

Chapter Text

Water, swirling all around her... Clementine was scared of the rushing by her ears. Had her hearing got damaged? No...probably not, but she didn't like taking chances. She kept herself breathing and looked around, her mind swimming as much as her body was.

Shit, is everyone okay?

She barely could hear over the crackling of fire, added onto the sounds of the river she was immersed in. But all Clementine had to hear was the faintest sound of AJ calling out for her and she felt something inside of her begin to rear its head up stubbornly. No, she won't die, and she won't let AJ die either.

So here she was, washed up on the river banks with AJ coughing up some water beside her. He looked completely exhausted and much smaller than his adopted sister remembered him being. After a thorough once-over Clementine reluctantly let him be rescued in the arms of Louis, who acted kind to AJ, maybe as a sign of gratitude for saving him from Dorian earlier.

"Hm. Seems like you two became fish people for a while." His theatrical teasing brought Clementine down to earth again. "Is...is Violet okay?" She hesitated before asking- she knows she didn't do much to help her back on the boat. Louis gave her a smile for reassurance.

"She's a tough cookie. I'm sure she can shake off whatever they did to her." He answers, pulling off his trench coat and draping it around AJ.

"Here you go, little man."

Clementine tried to dry herself off as much as she could before realizing how many walkers were in the area. The explosion must surely be why they were getting closer to the little ninja family by the second. Louis reached inside the trench coat wrapped around AJ and brandished a knife to defend his friends.

Clementine didn't have a knife anymore, so she started to pick up rocks and throw them to hopefully distract the walkers. They somehow to get out of their situation, don't ask me how, I'm just the writer.

They met up with the rest of the Ericson's crew, who helped them fend off the rest of the walkers. "Hey, you're alive!" Willy exclaimed excitedly. He goes to hug AJ while Mitch observes to keep him out of trouble. Right, Mitch. He was still recovering from Lilly's attack on him. Maybe Violet would be happy to see he made it alive.

The thing is Clementine just couldn't find her.

"She went ahead with Ruby back to the boarding school." Aasim explained, watching over Omar as his friend started to stretch out his legs again. Clementine was still worried. She hasn't heard a peep out of Violet yet.

"I'm gonna go after her. To see if she's okay." She reported to Aasim, who smiled and nodded in response. Clementine wasted no time following the trail that led to Ericson's.

Her steps almost slowed halfway there. The lights outside of the school were out. She couldn't see any in between the branches. Clementine's pace quickened instead. She wasn't ready for more drama.

She saw Violet on lookout, so she exhaled in relief that she was okay. "Hey!" Violet's head snapped to attention at her voice. "Let me in, will you? There others will be here soon."

The gates in front of her opened promptly, but she never saw Vi stray from her post. Instead she was greeted by Ruby, who wordlessly gave her a once over, then a wide smile.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Her thick southern accent relaxed Clementine. "I'm guessing you came back early to check on her." She predicted. "Yeah" Clem's voice lowered so that Violet would have to strain her hearing to eavesdrop. "Could we discuss this somewhere else, though?" Ruby nodded, turning and making her way to the front of the school as if on command.

So, while the situation was kinda scrapped, Clementine was still afraid. Not just for Violet- for James, who has mysteriously disappeared during the explosion, for Brody, who could've gotten extremely nervous that the boarding school hadn't been very well defended during the rescue, and for the kids that were still trying to get back home. She hoped that they'd be fine without her, at least for a second.

But maybe a second was too long.

Chapter Text

"Violet, get down from the lookout station. It's been my turn for four hours."

Mitch sighed dramatically at his friend's lack of response.

"I swear to god, Vi, you're gonna starve if you stay up there. Go eat some fucking food." He told her, his volume considerably increased. He swore that Violet was losing her hearing.

Who would've guessed, she didn't come down. So Mitch came up. With a few grunts of effort he climbed up the ladder and saw that Violet had curled up, watching the entrance intently. "Hey, you haven't eaten in a while." The bomb maker said and sat down next to Violet. She turned her gaze to him for a few seconds, only long enough that he could notice it. He stifled a shiver at her cold stare.

"Hey, Vi." Mitch put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him again. "Holy shit, you're a long way from being fit to be on lookout." He breathes. Violet's pale green eyes were entirely bloodshot, pupils almost slits, like a cat's. She looked so angry. "Okay, listen. I don't know what you may be going through, right now, but you should know that I was trying my damn hardest to keep everyone safe. To keep everyone alive." He felt Violet shaking, possibly from the physical contact. "It breaks my heart to know that they did worse things to you than what's on your face. But that's not gonna change my opinion on you. You're still my friend."

Mitch paused, giving Violet's shoulder a few pats. She seemed like she was starting to calm down. But the fact that she wasn't talking was still scary. "Look. Nobody in the school thinks you're a freak or weird, or anything you might've assumed they think you are." He noticed that she started looking back to the woods beyond, as if she were dismissing his reassurances. "You don't see how much people care about you, Violet. We're all spooked about how you're behaving. I can't even remember the last time you ate something, let alone with us. You haven't been speaking, it's obvious you're losing sleep, and I don't know why either is happening, but I'll always be here to help. Please, keep that in min-"

"I know."

Mitch's face lit up. He gave Violet's shoulder a few more pats, like a reward. She started coughing, beating her fist against her sternum like that was why her throat was failing her. God, her voice sounded like she hadn't spoken in a million years; it was all hoarse and croaky. But, as weird as it may seem, Mitch was more than happy to hear her voice. It was like winning a million dollars.

"I know that you were trying." She continued, keeping her gaze on the entrance. "I could see that you were putting effort into something that was close to hopeless." Violet started coughing again, and slowly, she was uncurling from the bubble she had shoved herself into. "I want to stop being so prickly about it, but...I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself. How am I supposed to lay down and let people tear me apart like walkers? Just to see what kind of emotions they'll find? Will there be any emotions to even see?" Her hands folded up like Tenn's would whenever he was scared or nervous. Mitch thought about it for a second.

"What kind of emotions do you want them to find?"
"I don't know."
"That's a start. Confusion."
"You're starting to sound like a therapist."
"How would you know what a therapist sounds like?"

Violet was silent for a few moments. "It's not like you to be nosy." She said, stretching out her legs. Her expression turned into a bitter smile. "My mom wanted to at least see if I could straighten out all the bad shit that I witnessed, with my grandmother. Sent me to therapy for a week. I was somewhere around 8 at the time. Um...it didn't get better. I started having this thing where I'd try to draw that stupid rifle, the one that shot grandma in the chest. It got so bad that I scratched into the walls of my room, when mom was working and dad was too drunk to even walk straight."

"So the therapist mom went to was this tall and skinny dude, looked kinda like he was in his late thirties. He had weird side burns and the rest of his hair was kind of messed up, like somebody gave him a noogie for five minutes straight." Violet pressed her lips together, like she was trying to stop a bad thought from getting in her head. "I don't remember everything exactly, it was just a blur of him droning on and on about stuff and asking me really boring questions. I could remember that he always tried to hold me like a cat. I only realized why he would call me kitten when I was about 11." She gave a sigh, sitting straight and stretching. Mitch heard her back crack when she did so. "Your mother should've given you more than a week, Vi, but not with that guy. It sounds really awful." He responds.

"Hm. Well, it's not like you could fly from the sky and sock him in the mouth." Violet says, and then gives a small laugh. "Though it's be really funny if you could've done that."

"I can do that, what are you talking about?" Mitch joked. "I'll fucking fall from the sky right now and demand you to take care of yourself!" He tells Violet, then pretends like he's punching her in the face. He makes little 'pow, pow' sounds as he does it. "Take care of yourself!" He says in the weirdest voice he could muster. His happiness flung itself into space when he heard Violet start laughing. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Mitch answers smugly. Violet groaned in fake annoyance. "You have to eat, talk to somebody other than me, and then go to sleep. For at least the rest of the day."

"Ugh. Sounds like socializing."
"That's because that's included. Go live and have a small portion of your childhood back."
"Fine."

Mitch could tell Vi was grateful somebody wanted her to be healthier. Even if it meant following orders and talking to people again.

As he listened to the creaking of the ladder that signaled her descent, he felt special, being able to convince her to get down. And his lookout shift wasn't too bad either.