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Chapter Text

It was a knife. 

There was nothing but blood in his line of sight, and he didn't even register lunging forward until he felt Aasim's arms wrap around his chest, and Ruby's hand snatch the collar of his vest.

"MITCH! NO!"

He stared, frozen in Aasim's arms, at the sight of blood. Mitch's body dropped to the floor, and Lilly plunged the knife into his eye.

It was a knife.

Aasim's voice swam in his ears, but he didn't register any words as he was dragged back away from the grisly scene. His face held nothing but shock and tears that started streaming down his cheeks. His legs wouldn't work, his hands shook.

"...Willy. Will!" Aasim shook him hard, setting him down among the tall grass. "Willy, hey! Come on, we-we need to move!"

It was then that he realized just how deep his breaths were coming in, how quickly they were being forced out. His jaw trembled, trying to work into words that got caught in the back of his throat. His hand lashed out, and his wrist met Aasim's hand.

"Will, we need to go. Admin building, remember?" Aasim gently slapped Willy's cheek, eyes alight with fear. "Come on, let's go!" He looked up, watching as Ruby ran ahead, following the plan.

Willy snapped his head to gaze through the grass. Lilly had stood up. "Kill who you have to!" She cried out, "Take the rest!" 

Kill who you have to.

Willy stood up, his chest burning with a breath that he finally let out. His entire figure was trembling now, his once wide eyes now narrow, shock melted into a fury beyond belief. Once again, Aasim's voice zoned out of his ears, and all he heard was the crackling fire and gunshots around him.

For a moment, he looked down at his hands. Breaths forcing in and out quicker, he locked his eyes back on Lilly. It was as if the flame around him was lighting the fuel to his own fire. A fire that no water could douse or no sand could smother.

This was a fire to be extinguished by blood.

He heard his footsteps quick against the grass and concrete, but he didnt know what he was doing until his head slammed into Lilly's abdomen, effectively knocking her down. A clatter drove his attention to her knife, just outside her grip. 

He easily snapped his hand forward, knee on her chest, and secured the blade in his grip. Lilly shot for his wrists, but he jerked his knee up higher to hit her in the chin.

"Woah, hey!" Lilly reached again for his hands, this time catching his unoccupied hand. "Stop! You- you don't want to do this!"

Willy silenced her with a pained scream. 

"YOU KILLED HIM."

A searing jolt in his shoulder made him wrench to the side, head flying up to see where the bullet came from.

A boot to his chest threw him back onto the hard ground, and now Lilly was over him. He reacted in time to kick his leg up and keep her at some sort of distance, but the knife in her hands was already gleaming in his eye. 

"What a fucking disappointment," Lilly seethed, catching him in a vice grip by the throat. 

His head was forced up, but his eyes stared down, not the slightest hints of terror. He saw the waver in her eyes, and knew there was nothing but steadfast determination in his. 

With a breath, her words faded away. The flames around him burned brighter around his closed eyes, he felt his foot digging into her stomach. His hands were up, grasping at her collar.

It was a knife that killed Mitch. 

Her knife.

"Any last words?" Lilly asked, the waver in her eyes starting to fade. She had made up her mind. He slowly opened his eyes.

He didn't know how it happened, but the next thing he saw was blood. 

Bright fiery crimson leaking from her neck, wide eyes staring him down in surprise.

"You talk too much."

With a sick twist, he snuffed out the candle in her eyes.

Chapter Text

He doesn’t remember much after that.

He felt people grabbing at him, and he didn’t care who it was since they all left him alone after he fought back. His arm burned as he dragged himself along the ground to the graveyard as bullets whizzed over his head and flames burned around him. He heard the raiders’ voices talking about him as he pressed himself against the graveyard’s gate.

“Yeah, the little weasel-lookin’ one! He slit her god damned throat!”

“What!? Where the fuck’d he go? I’m gonna wring his damn neck!”

He still had the knife, clutched tightly to his chest as he gasped for air that wouldn’t enter his lungs fast enough. Now that he was allowed this little moment of respite, he took time to smear the blood off his hand onto the dirt. It wasn’t quite enough, as the dirt and gravel only stuck to his skin, and the stench was ever-present on his vest.

Get it off me.  

He scrubbed his hand against the dirt more fervently, tears brimming his eyes as the crimson didn’t wash away.

Get it off me!

He tossed the knife down and lifted up a corner of his vest, wiping the back of his hand off, but all that did was sting with the grating of the dirt on his hand and smear the blood onto him even more.

Get it off get it off GET IT OFF GET. IT. OFF.

“Willy!”

His head snapped up and his bloody hand immediately lunged for the knife before he registered that it was Omar who called his name.

“Woah, woah! H-hey!” Omar held one hand up, the other clutching his leg. “Hey, Willy, are you alright?”

Willy didn’t realize how haphazard he was gasping until he felt the tears spilling down his cheek. Omar’s voice finally fitted into his mind, which brought his guard down a little. “Omar,” he sobbed. “They... I… Mitch…”

“Hey,” Omar grunted, sparing a look outside the graveyard before hauling himself past the gateway to sit beside him, seething in pain. “Look, there’ll be time to freak out later. We need to stay hidden for now, okay?” He looked the younger boy over with worried eyes. “What’s with all the blood?”

Willy swallowed hard, staring at the knife in his hands. The searing pain in his shoulder hadn’t let up; in fact, it was starting to get worse. He just tapped the flat end of the knife to his shoulder in a silent gesture.

Omar understood immediately, eyebrows shooting up with concern. “Fuck, I see it now. Uh…” He looked around, then settled his eyes over his pant leg, which already had blood from his own gunshot wound staining it. With a uff, he leaned forward and grabbed the end of it. “Here, hand me the knife for a second.”

Willy’s wide eyes trembled. “No,” he answered simply. “I need it.”

Omar sighed. “Well, do you have anything to put over that wound?”

Willy shook his head again, jaw set. “Doesn’t matter.”

Omar sighed more heavily, a sign of disappointment. "Willy, this isn't the best time to start that nonsense. Come on, we need to–"

Footsteps coming close silenced him enough to stop pestering Willy, now bringing his injured leg closer to his body with a hiss.

Willy's eyes shot to the gateway, where a long shadow spilled into the graveyard, cast by a strong, built man.

A raider.

A monster.

"Come on, kids," the man drawled, the gun in his hands rattling as he stepped forward, right past them. "Isn't it past your bedtime? We need to start getting home!"

Willy swallowed hard, barely breathing. His hands ached at the tightness that he held the knife, staring up at the man with his undoused fiery rage. He thought that killing Lilly would have put it out, but it seemed to only add tinder to the smoldering embers.

Omar's eyes went wide at the man, and he did his best to hold his breath, but the pain in his leg was far too great. Much to Willy's dismay, he let out a sudden seething cry.

The raider immediately turned on his heel, a sick smirk on his face. "Aw, come on," he said, putting the gun to his side and stopping down to lunge for Omar. "Hide and seek's over."

Willy's mouth curled into a small, tight frown as his wide eyes focused on the raider's hand snatching Omar's collar. Almost on instinct, his hand shot out and smacked the raider in the arm. 

"Don't ," he warned.

The raider growled, thrusting the gun up to hit Willy hard in the jaw. " You get the fuck over here," he demanded, keeping Omar grabbed by the throat with his free hand, standing up to his full height to drag the boy with him, who kicked and thrashed in a panic. "And don't try anything, unless you want this little fucker gettin' popped."

"Don't!" Willy screamed, shooting up and lashing the knife out at the arm that held Omar. He didn't stop there; he stabbed again, making sure the raider let go of him. Don't you kill him too. Don't kill anyone else!

"Little fuckin—!" The raider struck him across the face, finally causing him to fall down. The knife in his hands cut into his arm, his injured arm, and clattered away from his grip as the raider grabbed him by the collar. "Alright, little stab-happy. How about you come along?"

Willy kicked his feet out as he was lifted off the ground, but his energy was spent. He heard Omar choking and coughing, and in his heat of the moment, Willy was glad that the raider was leaving him alone. He already had a wasted leg, no way would he have survived going back with them. Maybe he could survive with them, hold out long enough until the other kids came for him.

He was being dragged by his hair kicking and thrashing on the way to a horse-drawn cart, which already held one limp body. As his energy wilted, he heard a stranged scream from above.

“What the fuck-!” The raider yanked hard on him as a body thudded to the hard ground beside them. Willy gasped, recognizing the old man that waving a gun around while they were hiding. And on top of him was Clementine, seething with pain.

“Clem…!” Willy managed, raising a weak arm out to reach towards her. “Clementine!” His vision was swimming with black snakes, he could barely get her name past his teeth.

Clementine groggily shook her hair out, her hat nearly falling off as she locked eyes with Willy. At the sight of his bloody, exhausted state, she drew in a gasp. "Hey," she managed, trying to struggle to her feet. "Hey, put him down!"

"Ah-uh!" The raider shot his rifle up, quickly locking the barrel into her cheek. "I wouldn't move an inch if I was you!"

Willy's knees sank into the ground, the blood from his slashed arm flowing where his limp hand scratched against the rocks of the pathway. He managed to cough to let Clementine know he was alive, but the words faded in and out as she and the raider argued.

"Lilly put high marks on you, but to do this much ?" The raider hissed, shaking his head. "I don't know whether to blow your fucking brains out right now or save it for later."

Clementine growled back, mouth tight in a sneer. "You'll waste a bullet on me either way, so make your fucking choice!"

"I just might!" The raider snapped back, shoving her back with the gun, dragging Willy along as he stomped forward.

"You better put him the fuck down," Clementine cried, eyes on Willy for just a moment. "He's just a little kid!"

"A little kid that had no trouble knifing Lilly down!" Willy let out pained, scared whimpers as the raider lifted him by his scalp to his chest. "Nah, he's coming with us and answering for what he's done."

"You started this!" Clementine screamed, standing up and glaring down the barrel aimed at her forehead. "It was you who decided to fuck with us ! She killed Mitch… do you realize what that's fucking done to him!?"

"What makes you think I care?" The raider's finger closed around the trigger.

"Stop," Willy begged, reaching up with his bloody arm to clasp his fingers around the raider's wrist. It did nothing, as he expected. He couldn't even afford to feel his terror over the seeping exhaustion that lulled his eyes closed. 

The last thing he heard was an anguished scream, and he fell away from the raider's hands and dropped to the floor.

All he saw as he lay on the ground was Louis over the raider, doing his damndest to fight back.

His arm came forward in a final attempt to reach toward anyone, and his hands closed around the blade of Lilly's– no, his– knife.

Slowly, he stuffed it into the inside pocket of his vest as the black snakes took him over, constricting his head that softly hit the ground. 

Chapter Text

When he came to, it was only a few minutes later. He felt his bloody arm being bound by something, and there was an awful feeling clouding his skull. His body bounced with every bump the cart ran over, jostling him left and right. 

As his eyes groggily fluttered open, he saw Louis in his line of sight, hand over his face in an attempt to wipe what could be blood or dirt off his face. Instead of fire and gunshots, it was all his and Aasim's hoarse, desperate screaming.

"You fuckers are gonna regret this!" Louis promised, ripping his hand away from his face to scream at the raiders riding a horse next to the cart that held them. "Once they come for us, you're gonna be fucking dead!"

"Ruby!" Aasim screamed out, and Willy could hear the sob in the back of his throat. "Clementine– anybody! We're out here!" 

Willy's breath shook as Aasim curled his arm around his in a protective manner, and he realized then that he was laying in the boy's lap. He couldn't bring himself to sit up, the ache in his head doing enough to keep him down.

A sharp CLANG silenced both of the boys as one of the raiders on the horse slammed his gun into the side of the cart. "Y'all don't shut up, you're getting thrown to walkers!" 

Walkers…

The world stuttered. 

What the hell is a walker?

And it was bright.

He jerks his head up, finding himself in his room. There was no dust in the air, or tears in the ceiling. Looking down at his hands, he doesn't see a trace of blood or grime. He reaches up to his hair and feels it soft, freshly washed. In a small fit of tire, he tousles it a little to hang out of his eyes.

The light is streaming through the window, of which late morning sunrise filters through, catching particles of dust in the warm rays. For a moment, he wonders why he's here. Wasn't he just…

Was it a dream?

A crisp knock immediately jolts him out of bed as the Headmaster wastes no time opening the door, without giving him a chance to answer the door himself. The looming figure makes him shrink back a little. 

"Adam," he says, voice gruff despite his smile. "It's parent meeting day. Don't you want to see your mom and dad?"

Adam huffs, face darkening at the remembrance of why his roommate was gone now. "They don't come no more," he simply states. He turns back to his bed, wanting to slip back under the covers.

" Any more," the Headmaster corrects, crossing his arms. "And besides, they were sorry they couldn't visit last time. They sent me an e-mail saying they'd be here today."

Adam doesn't meet his eye. "I ain't gonna wait in the gym alone again. I'll wait in my room this time. You can send 'em up here."

"Willy."  

The headmaster's voice was different. It wasn't his voice. It was someone else's. But who…?

He looks up, head jerking back a fraction when the sun cut out for a moment. 

"Willy…! Hey, snap out of it!"

The world stuttered. 

"I said, y'all shut the fuck up!"

A sick pain made him hiss, looking down at his grimey arm, wrapped in a piece of cloth soaked in blood.

"Look, he's bleeding out! He needs a doctor!"

His shaky gaze raised up to see Louis glaring down the raiders on the horse beside them. He didn't know he was sitting up until he turned his head to face Aasim, looking him down concernedly.

"Willy," Aasim managed, sniffling and squeezing his uninjured shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? What were you talking about?"

"I…" Willy managed. His confused eyes were locked onto his bleeding arm. "I-I don't… we were…"

He remembered.

"Mitch."

His eyes were already gushing with tears as Aasim pulled hin closer.

"Oh my god… no, no, Mitch–"

"I know," Aasim said as Willy pressed his face into Aasim's shoulder. "I'm so fucking sorry, Willy. If-if I had known—"

CLANG

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" The raider screamed, making Willy flinch hard against Aasim's chest, curling up and keeping his injured arm close to his body.

He felt Aasim's arms wrap around him, but he was zoned out again. His eyes were locked to the door to the cart, teary and unable to blink.

His breath hitched.

Aasim felt his tense up. He nudged his head in a silent are you okay?

Willy couldn't answer, even when he heard Louis call his name out quietly. 

He couldn't stop staring at Mitch, standing stock still in front of the cart door. His face was darkened by the lack of light, but Willy could still make out the sickening gouge in his face.

Willy whimpered, trying to move away from him, but there weren't many places to go.

Mitch tilted his head, blood and gore spilling out of his face. And slowly, he knelt down.

Willy couldn't help but sob. "I'm sorry."

Mitch didn't speak. He just stared at Willy with the only eye he had left, pale face void of emotion.

Willy tried again. "Mitch, I-I'm sorry. I tried to help you!" He cried. "I tried, I sw…"

Mitch still wasn't moving, or reacting in any way.

He just stared.

And Willy stared right back.

Chapter Text

When the cart stopped, nobody moved.

They found themselves at a beachfront, by a river that housed a pretty large boat.

One of the horses let out a nicker.

Willy wouldn't move on his own volition when the raiders jumped off the horses, when the angry one came to the cart door. Mitch was gone now, had been for a while, but Willy was still staring at where he was. 

The longer he stared, the more his brain clouded. What was he staring at? Why was his heart hammering in his throat? 

Why was there blood on his arm?

Why did it hurt?

Where's Mitch?

"Come on." The raider's voice was raw from screaming. "Out the cart, now."

Louis was the first to react, only to shift himself to kneel in front of Willy and Aasim. "I'd be a lot more comfortable if you dropped the gun."

"Yeah, well. I'd be a lot more comfortable if all my friends came back from that shit alive. But we don't always get what we want, do we?" The raider snuffed. "Don't make me come in there."

A horseshoe scraped against the sand.

Aasim moved, being careful around Willy. "Louis, come on. We can't put up a fight right now."

Louis turned back to Aasim with a small grimace. "Wouldn't hurt to try."

A hard boot came into the cart, and Willy curled inwards, grasping at his pant leg uncomfortably. The raider's voice grated uncomfortably in his ears. "Something you kids are gonna learn is to follow directions."

A horrible rustle accompanied Louis's alarmed cry.

"Get. The fuck. Out of the cart!"

Willy looked up and found Louis being yanked out of the cart by his collar, to which he screamed as his face hit dirt.

Willy just watched, curled up in his ball, as the raider took Aasim next and pulled him out.

The raider locked eyes with him with a snarl.

"This is the one?" Another voice asked, and Willy gently turned his head to the side to see another raider peering at him through the bars. "Scrawny little thing."

The raider at the door nodded. "Yeah, I fuckin' saw him!" He replied as Louis and Aasim were taken up by the third raider by their arms, out of Willy's view. "Little fucker just ripped Lilly's throat open."

Willy looked down at his bloody hand. Did I do that? 

The raider beside him chuckled, elbowing the cart to make him flinch. "Well, I can't wait to see how he holds up," she said, a harsh drawl to her voice making Willy's heart skip a couple of beats.

The raider at the door leaned into the cart, stretching his arm out. "Alright, little fucker. You ain't got your knife anymore, so no more stabbing me. Get over here."

Without thinking, Willy just held out his arm and took the raider's hand, to which he was violently ripped out of the cart and thrown chin-first onto the ground.

"Ow!" He cried, twisting to glare at the raider. He didn’t know how to react other than that, but he did nothing as the raider struck him across the face with his rifle. “Agh- stop it!”

“Oh, I wish I could,” the raider hissed, kneeling down and taking Willy by his injured arm, causing him to writhe in the tight grip. “But you killed someone I really care about. And I’m not letting that slide.”

“‘Ey, yo,” a new voice boomed, and Willy was given a little wiggle room as marching footsteps dragged him towards the boat. “We don’t need these kids coming back to camp half-dead.”

“But he killed–”

“I saw.” The woman narrowed her eyes at him. “And unless you want less soldiers than we came here with, you’re going to ease the fuck up.”

The raider faltered, but sighed angrily and started dragging Willy to the boat without a word.

A horse whinnied, bucking up a little. Willy kept his eyes on the treeline, watching numbly as walkers started coming through the forest, attracted by the noises the carts made.

“Aw, shit,” the raider whined, pulling Willy to stand up on his own, but his knees buckled almost instantly. “Okay- hey Mike!” He called, to which footsteps jogged towards them. Willy squinted though his haze and tried to get a look at the raider, but the blackness of night shadowed their features. “Take this one to the boat, I’ll handle the walkers.”

Willy was grabbed by a softer hand than the previous raider, but it still ensured he wasn’t going anywhere. They looked him over with a visible whoof . “This one’s in rough shape. The hell’d you do to him?” Willy uncomfortably jerked his head away from the raider's hand tracing a scuff on his cheek from the raider's gun.

“He had it coming,” the first raider snapped, and a couple bullets plowed out of the gun.

Willy swallowed hard as the raider, ‘Mike’, wrenched his injured arm behind his back. “Okay, c’mon.”

Willy couldn’t respond as his feet lazily worked under his weight, and he was turned away from the treeline to a pier jutting out from the black water. His head felt like a fuzzy ball of cotton, and just breathing made him sick to his stomach. A breeze blew from the water, causing him to shiver. When did I get so cold?

He felt some sort of relief when he heard Louis’s voice. “He needs a doctor! He’s gonna bleed out!”

Willy sighed softly when he was lined up next to Aasim, who only turned his head to look at him with worry. “Yeah,” he agreed, “he-he’s not looking so good.”

“We’ll have a look when we get back to camp,” a voice snapped. “For now, y’all are gonna sit and wait. Not much else you can do.”

Mike muttered under his breath, then spoke up. “Enough talking. I gotta wrangle in Gad before he gets the attention of every walker in the woods.” He let go of Willy, who shuddered in a gasp and immediately leaned into Aasim.

Willy felt Aasim’s arms around him, supporting him. “Willy, hey, you alright?”

“Hurts,” was all Willy could muster. His eyes were locked onto his poorly-wrapped arm, which was still wet with too much blood. He’s gone blind to the smell by now, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He just felt worse.

“Let’s get him into a cell,” the new female raider said, “We’ll frisk you once he's taken care of.”

“How about you just kindly escort us home?” Louis asked with sick sarcasm dripping from his tone. “We’ll be out of your hair, you’ll be out of ours… a win-win situation if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Louis,” Aasim groaned with panic.

“What?” Louis held his hands up. “These guys crashed our party uninvited, I’m not about to give them a place to stay." he shrugged and crossed his arms. 

The raider scoffed, rolling her eyes. “We got a smart mouth here?”

“Smarter than yours,” Louis shot back, unable to fight off a smirk from his face.

Willy felt his heart jump, but just for a moment before it sank into his shoes. The sound of the gun raising made him look up, the raider aiming it at Louis’s stomach.

"Do you need a warning shot?"

He gasped, and shot his arm out, catching the raider’s wrist. “Don’t!” He tried stepping to the raider, but his weight dipped forward and Aasim had to catch him. He tried to ignore the static flooding his head, but he couldn’t help it as his vision blacked out. “D-Don’t…” he tried again.

“Then tell your buddy here to shut his trap.” The raider easily jerked her wrist away and nudged Louis forward with the gun. “Start walking, let’s go.”

Willy ambled his way, unable to walk on his own. Aasim helped him, thank you so much. 

Despite all the light flooding into his eyes, Willy’s vision was almost black. His breath stung like someone was forcing it down his throat, ripping at the sides of his lungs to make them expand. He felt a sensation at the back of his jaw, dotting tears into his eyes.

He was so cold.

Even when he entered dim lamp and torchlight he was cold.

It’s so cold…

The world stuttered.

Maybe a jacket wasn’t such a bad idea.

He looks up just in time for a snowflake to touch his nose.

He’s ambling around the school’s parking lot, checking every car in every space. It has to be here,  he swears. It has to. His eyes gloss over a Georgia license plate, onto a Virginia one. Then another from Georgia. West Virginia, Vermont, New York...

His eyes burn with tears as he gets to the end of a row. Where is it?

He goes to the next full row of cars, squinting in the snow with his arms wrapped around each other. His breath comes out in little clouds, and he takes a moment to watch it travel up to the white-gray sky that sent sprinkles of cold to coat his hair and eyelashes.

He goes back to his search, stopping at a black car. He bends down a little to read the license plate, wiping foggy breath and frost from the cold metal, freeing his fingertips to the bone. 

His lungs sink.

Not a Tennessee plate. Where is it!?

The tears are hot on his red cheeks as he stops in the parking lot, being shadowed by a taller figure.

“There you are!” 

He looks up to see his roommate, bundled in a coat and scarf with a smile on his face.

His chin quivers. “Mitch?”

Mitch comes closer, uncrossing his arms to reach out a glove-clad hand to him. “Hey, Adam. I was wondering where you ran off to.” He doesn’t notice the tears until another beat of silence passes. “Hey, are you okay?”

Adam looks up to meet his eye, a whine lacing his voice. “I can’t find Daddy’s car.”

Mitch pauses, watching the poor boy’s face as he tries to hold back tears.

Adam starts to push past him. “Daddy said he’d be here this time. He said he could see me for Christmas.”

Mitch grabs his arm. “Adam-”

“He said he’d be here!” Adam cries, unable to stop the deluge of tears streaking down his face. “He promised me! He said it over the phone!”

His knees buckle and hit the cold, sharp asphalt. He’s staring ahead, sniffling with small whimpers escaping past his throat.

Mitch kneels next to him, gently rubbing a circle into his back. “Hey, I’m... I’m sorry.”

“Why’s he lying to me, Mitch?” Adam pleads, turning to his friend. “I asked him, and he sai-”

The world stutters to black.

No… no, what?

Mitch is still knelt down to him, but now he looks different.

He looks terrifying.

His eye is clouded and white, mouth slightly open to expose rotting teeth. The left side of his face was dark and bloody. He bows his head down with a sick groan, spilling wasted brain matter at hs shoes.

Willy gasped, his legs shooting him backwards right into Louis’s side. The older boy immediately took to holding him, but Willy couldn’t make out the words he said.

He squinted at the doorway, and Mitch was gone.

“...hear me?” Louis came into Willy’s focus as a creak signaled the door closing. Willy looked around and saw a single cot, old wood making up the walls and floor, and a small window barred off to prevent escape.

“Hey, Willy!” Louis now fills his vision, eyes serious. “What are you talking about?”

Willy blinked, eyebrows furrowed. “What?” He says through a thick throat. He looked down at his hands, surprised to find tears falling from his chin. “Wh-what happened?”

“You were talking about your dad,” Aasim butted in, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. “And, like, completely ignoring us.”

Willy sighed, leaning into Louis’s coat as the boy wrapped an arm around him. He relished in the warmness, not replying. He found it hard to speak with the lightness in his head and the sickness in his throat.

“How you feeling, buddy?” Louis asked after a small moment, shooting Aasim a silent worried glance.

“Cold,” Willy simply replies, eyes glazed over and staring at the wall.

Louis’s hand pressed against his forehead, seething. His eyes on Aasim clouded with a worry storm, and the boy was bunching his sleeves in his fist. “He’s burning up.”

“That’s not good,” Aasim murmured. He inched closer to tousle Willy’s hair with warm fingers. “Hey, stay with us, Will. We’re gonna get you some help, okay?”

Willy breathed slowly, but nodded to indicate he heard. 

He brought his arm up to his chest, under the warmth of his vest. His eyes widened as he closed his fingers around a familiar handle.

He still had it.

Chapter Text

They were going to take it if they saw it. He knew that much for certain.

What he didn’t know is when they were coming.

They had been left alone for a while now, but Willy heard noises above their heads. Footsteps, voices, laughter.

Why are they laughing? How can they laugh after this?

His head was light, but it was getting the weight back slowly. He kept his injured arm laying palm-upwards over his knee, the other wrapping around his feet. His head leaned onto the wood of the walls, eyes staring up at the ceiling. He tried mapping out where the footsteps were landing on the ceiling, but he couldn't make anything like that out.

Louis was fine glaring at the cell door, arms crossed tightly over his chest. He had tried to get a raider's attention a couple times, but it appeared as though he'd given up for now. 

Aasim on the other hand was taking up the cot, elbows propped on his knees and his hands were covering his mouth as his eyes studied Willy, evident of fear and worry.

Everyone was scared, there was no denying that. An uneasiness wafted through the cell, being carried by the waves outside. The gentle lapping of the waters against the side of the boat offered some semblance of peace, although nobody was anywhere near peaceful. The boat rocked and creaked, which only made Willy feel sicker.

Finally, as the moon rose away from the window out of sight, footsteps approached the cell.

Louis scoffed as a figure came to the door. "You done with your fucking smoke break? Willy's been bleeding out back here for the past hour!"

He came to the door in an attempt to intimidate, but everything about his act fell away when the door clicked and unlocked.

Willy lowered his head to catch the figure walking into the room, features blurry by his tire and the shadows cast over their face. Louis's jaw dropped, and he actually staggered back a bit.

Aasim finally looked up, ripping his eyes away from Willy just to have the same reaction as Louis, jumping up and moving back a couple paces.

"...Holy shit," Louis breathed. The raider chuckled in his direction, shifting the kit in their hand to the other. Then, they reached up to adjust the crossbow strapped to their back.

Aasim took a tiny stagger forward, holding out his hand. "...Sophie?"

The figure laughed a little louder, although pain was evident. 

"You always got us mixed up, didn't you?" a voice said, and as it filtered through Willy's ears he couldn't help but freeze up.

Despite what should have been a cheery reunion filled with hugs and crying into one another's shoulder, nobody moved towards her. She seemed to expect this, and sighed sadly, starting to Willy. 

He looked up as Minerva knelt down to him, the softest of tired smiles on her face. With a quick scan over his state, she sighed. "Wow, they really roughed you up, huh?" 

Willy bowed his head and nodded.

"It's not like those fuckers just knocked politely," Louis said, coughing to expel a lump in his throat. "Minnie, what the hell? What are you doing here?"

Minnie shrugged as she opened the first aid kit set next to her. "Dorian told me to come here to see how you guys were holding up."

"You know what I mean."

Minnie smiled a little, looking back at him. "It's been a hell of a time since we last saw each other, Lou." She tilted her head a little. "How's Tenn?"

Louis raised an eyebrow.

"It's been a while," Minnie continued, pleading a little. "I just… is he okay?"

"Those raiders didn't beat him during the raid, if that's what you're asking," Aasim said. "I hid him best I could."

Minnie couldn't help but grin. "Thanks, Aasim. I, uh… appreciate it. At least he wasn't hurt." Her smile dropped quickly, and her eyes went to the floor. "They said that things went south at the raid, and… you three were all we got."

Willy felt his stomach churn as the smell of rubbing alcohol wafted into his nose. He stayed silent, his mind reeling.

"Going south is putting it a little lightly," Aasim muttered darkly, crossing his arms and watching closely on Willy. "They set everything on fire."

Minnie turned with a raise of her eyebrows. "Then you must have felt right at home, huh?"

Willy squirmed as Minnie pressed the stinging, awful smelling rag against the mean scuff on his cheek. 

He hated this. So much. He couldn't even be glad Minnie was alive, the sorrow in his heart weighing him down too much. And the way she was talking…

"Are you one of them?"

Minnie flickered her eyes to Willy as she ripped off the covering for a large square bandage. "What do you mean?"

"Are you one of them?" Willy repeated as Minnie pressed the bandage to his cheek. "Lilly said you wanted to come to the school for the raid."

Minnie's eyes darkened. "I heard you killed her."

Willy wriggled, the weight of the knife in his vest suddenly doubling. Don't show it. You need it. Don't let her take it.

"Dodging the question," Louis chimed in. "You really wanted to go on that raid?"

Minnie sighed, gently taking Willy's hand to observe the slash on his arm. "I wanted to go and see if I could convince you guys to come. It looked like you had other plans."

"Well, yeah," Aasim said, "we were doing fine at the school. We didn't need to get dragged into this."

"Neither did I," Minnie said, a hardness starting to tinge her voice. "But Marlon decided differently."

Aasim opened his mouth, but shut it and snuffed.

Louis replaced him in the conversation. "'Sim's got a point. We didn't do anything to these guys, and all of a sudden they're busting up in there like they own Rosie, just because… what, they wanna ruin everyone's life?"

Minnie sighed, wanting them to understand. "No, Louis, it's… it's a lot more complicated. We're doing what we have to to keep ourselves floating in this war."

Aasim coiled back on the cot, growing silently angrier.

"I can't believe you," Louis said. "I… I almost don't wanna believe it's you, Minnie. I…" he stepped just a little closer to the open cell door, just to peer out of the hallway. "Wait. Where's Sophie?"

Minnie took out a roll of ace bandages silently, her breath shaking a little.

"Minnie."

"She's…" Minnie shook her head. "She died fighting for the Delta. Went out swinging like she always did." She twisted back to meet Louis's eye, sad yet determined.

The already sour mood in the cell rotted further.

"...Shit," Aasim murmured, his anger chipping away.

"It was… not the best day, I'll tell you that." She took the rag that still smelled horrible and swiped it over Willy's arm, trying to clean off blood and infection.

Immediately, the pain made Willy hiss and jerk his arm back. "Fuck!" He swore, clutching his wrist. 

"I know," Minnie said, "it'll hurt for a—"

"—Shut up!" Willy demanded, his voice raw. The pain subsided in his arm, but not his heart. "How can you talk like that about them?"

Minnie faltered. "Huh?"

"Why do you think we're okay with this?" Willy demanded. "How are you okay with this? They shot Omar!"

She jerked her head back. "Hold on—"

"They-they tore down the gate! It's completely broken now, everything's on fire!" His voice rose as the fire in his eyes sparked again.

He was scared for a moment, remembering that this is how he felt when he was wrenching a knife into Lilly's neck. He kept his hands away from his vest.

"Will," Minnie tried again, but was shot down.

"They were pointing guns in our faces, and-and chasing us, and shooting us–" Willy grabbed at his hair, shifting away from Minnie's hand.

"Willy. Hey, just calm—"

"He's dead !" 

Willy's eyes were home to tears soon enough, as if the tracks on his face hadn't yet dried. He was staring at Minnie, but it wasn't exactly at her. More through her.

Minnie's shock was unmaskable. "Who? Who's dead?"

Willy choked out a sob, unable to spit the name out. He didn't want to believe it himself.

So, Louis did for him. "Mitch."

Minnie whirled around, eyes like a deer in headlights. "What?"

Willy grabbed at his hair with his injured arm. "She didn't even know his fucking name. She just stabbed him in the god- damn eye!"

"You have no clue how hard it was to hold him back," Aasim snapped with sad eyes to Willy for a moment, and Minnie turned to meet his glare. "I think Willy deserved to get that one in."

Minnie's hand flew to her mouth, crystal eyes pooling with tears. “No,” she said, “He’s not… Lilly wouldn’t …”

“She did,” Willy spat. “And I did.” His angry gaze was on his muddy shoes, but his voice held an air of righteousness.

The knife felt so heavy in his vest.

Minnie shook her head, using the back of her hand to swipe at her eyes. “...Shit.”

It was a thick, uncomfortable silence that followed. Aasim kept his protective eyes on Willy, and Louis leaned against the wall, a foot propped up with arms crossed and eyes narrow. Minnie was careful with her movements as she continued to fix Willy’s arm, as if one wrong move would make everything explode. 

She noted the blood caking Willy’s shoulder. “Something hurt up here?” She gently asked, brushing her finger against his arm as she rolled up his sleeve.

Willy had gotten good at ignoring the bullet in his arm, but an instant dull pang shot through his arm as she touched the wound. His grunt was enough to indicate that something was wrong.

“He got shot,” Louis said, not moving his gaze from the open cell door. “Bullet might still be in there.”

Minnie hummed with sympathy, rooting around in the first aid kit. “I mean… I have pliers, but I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”

“Ruby is,” Aasim blurted, clenching his hands around his jacket cuffs. When Minnie looked at him, he shrugged. “Louis got shot when he and Violet went to help out Clementine. Ruby dug it out with some tweezers.”

Minnie’s eyes softened as she turned her attention back on Willy. “Well, glad to know she’s still doing good with that.” She took the rag and poured more rubbing alcohol on it. Her softness gave way to confusion as she started cleaning the wound to Willy’s hissing. “Wait, who’s Clementine?”

“She helped us,” Willy managed to say, trying to talk to keep his mind off the pain. “We saved her from a car crash, and she came back to the school. When the raiders showed up, she helped us prepare the school.”

Minnie paused, clicking the pliers in her hand. “She… helped you against us?”

Aasim nodded. “Yeah. She’s the reason they only made off with three of us. If it wasn’t for her… I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead.”

Minnie didn’t reply as she closed her fingers around the sides of Willy’s wound. Instead, she addressed Willy. “Okay. Not gonna lie, this is gonna hurt like a bitch.”

Willy just slowly blinked in response.

Minnie slowly pried the edges of the hole in his arm outwards, and Willy could just clench his hand. It hurt , but he didn’t care to react.

God, it hurts. It felt like she was jabbing a needle into his bone marrow, finding the deepest part of him to hurt, to where he couldn't reach in and ease it. He didn’t let it show other than tears that started running from the corners of his cheeks.

The bullet made a small clink as it fell to the ground, and the pain only eased when Minnie started wrapping it with bad-smelling bandages. He didn’t meet her eye when she tried to, only burying his face in his knees.

Minnie sighed as she started packing things up. “You’re welcome, Willy," she said with an angry sarcasm.

“Oh, excuse him for not talking,” Louis snapped. “It’s not like he just watched his best friend die or anything.”

Minnie stood up with a scoff. “Well, he better snap out of it by tomorrow, because all of you are getting put to work.”

Aasim’s eyes narrowed with disgust and confusion. “Am I supposed to believe that you got over Sophie like that ?” he snapped his fingers to emphasize his last word.

Minnie tensed.

Then, a knock on the cell door sounded. “‘Nerva. You done in here yet?”

Minnie kept her eyes on Aasim as she replied. “Yeah… we were just catching up.”

The blonde raider that had escorted them to the cell walked in, hand on her hip. “What’s the damage?”

Minnie looked down at Willy, who didn’t move from his ball. “He got a bullet to the shoulder, and a pretty bad cut on his arm. Other than that, he’s okay.”

“We’re fine too, thanks for asking,” Louis jabbed, uncrossing his arms. “Just a little banged up from getting a rifle smashed into my head. Nothing important.”

“Well, you’re still running your mouth,” the raider shot back, “so you seem fine to me.”

“Yeah, nothing more than a splitting headache and the looming fear of probably dying soon.” Louis beamed a sickeningly fake-sweet smile.

“Louis,” Aasim called, worried. 

Louis raised his eyebrows at him. “What? We’re stuck in here with some fuckers who want us dead. Might as well have a bit of friendly banter while we’re at it.”

“We don’t want you to die,” Minnie pleaded. “You have it all wrong!”

“Do I?” Louis challenged, stepping closer to Minnie. “Because last time I checked, bald-ass out there was beating Willy senseless just because he didn't like watching his best friend get murdered in front of him." Any humor had left his voice, and he was nothing but deadly serious. "Last time I checked, you fuckers were setting our home on fire and shooting anything that moved.” He only got closer as he ranted, and now he and Minnie were almost nose-to-nose.

“And last time I checked, you didn’t even like killing walkers . And now, you’re okay with this ?”

A tense beat of silence was broken by the blonde raider getting between them, facing Louis with her hand on his chest. “Okay, smart-mouth. You got any weapons you’re hiding?”

Louis smirked in her face. “Unless you count bad puns, I think we’re good.” He held his hands up as the raider started patting him down, searching for anything hidden. “Woah, watch the touching! I might get the wrong idea.”

“I don’t think they have anything, Gina,” Minnie said, staring hard at the first aid kit in her hands. "All we used at the school was bows and arrows."

Gina rolled her eyes as she finished her search on Louis. "Well, if you've been listening to Gad for the past thirty minutes, they use knives too." She made her way to Aasim. "Get up."

Willy tried to block everything out, but it was so hard. He kept trying to think about something else.

Something other than the blood on his arm.

Something other than the raiders.

Something other than the shouting and the anger

Something other than the knife weighing him down.

Something other than Mitch.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?"

His arm was snagged.

No.

Gina yanked Willy to his feet, to which he gasped, a lightning bolt striking him down to the core. 

His breathing immediately went ragged as Gina started patting down his arms.

No. Please, don't. Not again. No.

"Gonna probably do a double check," Gina murmured, mostly to Minnie. "Just so Gad shuts up enough to let us get some sleep tonight."

Her hand traveled lower, onto his chest and then around his underarms.

Stop. Stop it. Please.

He writhed under the touch, a tiny whimper escaping his lips. He only stared straight ahead with wide eyes glazed over with terror.

Gina shook her head, using one hand to open his outside vest pockets to check for anything. All she pulled out was a clump of lint and an old quarter.

Stop touching me. Stop it.

Aasim stood up from the cot upon hearing Willy's ragged breaths. "Hey, Willy. Are you okay?"

"Stop," Willy gasped as Gina knelt down to start frisking his legs. His foot jerked out as her hand clasped around his ankle.

Gina just scoffed. "Fat chance, kid. What are you hiding?"

"Stop," Willy pleaded, a little louder. His blood pounded in his ears, drowning out whatever Louis and Aasim were saying.

Stop, stop it. I don't want to. No.

He was sure the pressure in his veins was going to burst. Hot tears pricked his eyes, and he tried to breathe in deeper but it was like he wasn't breathing at all. The air just wouldn't come in.

His wild eyes found Aasim as a steady hand clasped his shoulder. Aasim's lips were moving, but Willy couldn't hear anything other than his own voice in his head.

Stop stop it please. Please just stop this once.

Gina's hand hit the inside of his thigh.

And he shrieked.

Chapter Text

He sits angrily in a blue plastic chair next to the Headmaster’s office, arms crossed tightly. 

Beside him is Mitch, holding an ice pack over his left eye. The boys don’t say anything for a while, deciding that silence is a valid response to what just happened. Adam has his eyes boring holes into the railway leading down the stairs, while Mitch peers through the ice pack at him with upturned eyebrows.

Adam must have felt Mitch staring at him, because he grumbles under his breath. “I wasn’t tryna’ fight.”

Mitch hums, shifting the ice on his face. “Tim said you started it.”

“Tim always says I started it!” Adam stomps his foot on the floor. “ He’s the one always startin’ shit!”

Mitch shrugs. “Well, duh, I’m not disagreeing with you.” He looks to the stairs, hearing the distant chatter of a class in the common room. He looks back to Adam. “What did he do this time? You know, before I got there.”

Adam’s jaw was set, eyes narrowing further with rage. “Same thing h’ always does.”

Mitch’s eyes widen and he sighs, just a little disappointed. “Really?”

Adam shoots his eyes to his roommate. “I don’t like it! I told him to stop, and he won’t!” The tears are already building up in the back of his eyes as well as his voice. “He thinks it’s funny, and he knows I hate it! I hate him !”

Mitch drops his head to his shoes for a second, letting the ice pack fall into his lap. “Adam,” He says, and just by the tone of his voice Adam knows he’s gonna get all lecture-y. “The reason he keeps ragging on you about it is because he knows you hate it. You can’t keep letting him get to you like that.”

“What am I supposed to do!?” Adam cries, swiping at his teary face. “All it does is make me feel bad, an-and I start rememberin’ what Momma did, and...!”

“Hey.” Mitch wraps an arm around Adam’s shoulders. “Adam, breathe.” As he did so, Mitch continues to speak. “Look, I know it’s pretty much my job to take care of you since your dad fucked off, but you need to stick up for yourself too. I can’t always be there to help you, okay?”

“I’on’ know how,” Adam mumbles, sniffling and using his shirt to wipe his nose. “I-I can’t.”

“Sure you can,” Mitch assures, keeping a waver out of his voice. “You just gotta start not reacting. I know it’s hard, ‘cuz of your mom, but…”

Adam shifts away from Mitch’s arm, hugging his own around his chest. “He pisses me the fuck off.”

“And you know what would piss him the fuck off?” Mitch has a tiny smirk on his face as Adam meets his eye. “Not getting a reaction out of you.”

Adam’s gaze travels to his socks. He suddenly finds the mismatched blue and yellow very interesting.

“Think about it. He only calls you Willy just to piss you off, and laugh when you scream at him. If you don’t give him that, he’ll feel like you do right now.”

“Mmm,” Adam mutters. It’s true, what Mitch is saying. “But… every time he says it, I just think about-”

“I know,” Mitch says calmly, “and that’s okay. You can’t help that. But you can’t let Tim know that, or he’ll make you feel worse.”

Mitch sits back from him as he sees the gears working in Adam’s head. He can’t help but smile when he knows he said something right.

Then, the door to the Headmaster’s office opens, and out the man himself steps, along with Tim and one of the school counselors. “Adam,” The Headmaster calls, “Timothy has something to say to you.”

Adam barely spares Tim a glance.

“I’m sorry for calling you Willy,” Tim forces out, hands balled into fists. “And I’m sorry for punching you, Mitch.” It’s clear he’s being forced to say this, likely under threat of detention.

Adam almost forgives Tim on autopilot, but Mitch’s hands shift to nudge his elbow. So he sits back in his seat and scoffs. “Whatever.”

“Yeah, sure,” Mitch adds, “You’re only sorry until Headmaster leaves.”

“Mitchell.” The Headmaster narrows his eyes behind his glasses. “Timothy is trying to apologize.”

”And I’m just saying.” Mitch shrugs and crosses his arms. “He’s gonna keep messing with us ‘till we go home.”

“Well, with this little stint today, it’s obvious you three need more work. You’re not going home any time soon.”

Adam bites his tongue. I ain’t even got a home to go to. Maybe Mitch can take me to his house once we leave. That sounds like fun. 

“At any rate, don’t you kids have a class to go to?”

Adam stands up from his seat with Mitch, who now holds the ice pack against his bruised eye again. He, along with Mitch and Tim, all walk the stairs. Adam doesn’t want to go to class, he hates Social Studies, but listening to the teacher drone on about George Washington for an hour was better than getting stuck with Rosie in the Headmaster’s office.

His foot hits the bottom stair for only a second before he feels Tim shove his shoulder, causing him to stumble and fall, an audible whoof being followed by a pained cry as his palms hit the floor to break his fall.

“See ya later, Willy !” He jeers, standing over him with his fists at his side. He’s demanding a fight.

He feels a flare rise in his chest, but when his eyes lock on Mitch, he remembers.

He stands up and rolls his shoulder with a crooked smile, brushing off his shirt. “Bye, Timmy!” He hops on his toes before bouncing out of the Admin Building, Mitch right beside him.

“See? What’d I tell you?” Mitch laughs, throwing his arm around Adam’s shoulders. “He’s gonna keep trying to make you mad—”

“—And I won’t give it to ‘im!” Adam finishes bravely. 

He and Mitch share a laugh, but Mitch catches Adam's despondence as they lapse into silence. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Adam stuffs his hands into his pockets. "It's just…" he shakes his head. "Nevermind. It's stupid."

"No, it's not," Mitch says , "spit it out."

Adam's troubled eyes stare at the concrete as they stop at the stairs of the History Building. "You ain't gonna leave me, are you?"

Mitch jerks his head back. "What?"

"What you said by Headmaster's office," Adam elaborates, "You said you can't always be there. That's fine, but… you ain't gonna leave for good one day, right? You ain't gonna be like Daddy?"

"No!" Mitch exclaims, eyes worriedly looking his friend over. "Hell- fuck no! I would never!"

Adam breathes in shakily with a shrug, keeping his shoulders hiked up to his ears. "Sorry, I just… I don' know what I'd do if you wasn't here. Not jus' with Tim, but with everything. All the bad dreams, and those times when I start screamin' an' kickin', and–"

"Adam, it's okay," Mitch says. "You're fine, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

Adam fights back tears as he meets Mitch's eye. "Ya' promise?"

Mitch smiles bitterly, then comes forward to wrap Adam in a hug. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

The world stutters.

Cross my heart...

And he's right back to blackness and anger.

Hope to die.

"Would you leave him the fuck alone for five seconds!?" Louis screamed over Willy's terrified half-whimpering, half-screaming. "Give him a damn break!"

"You better watch your tone," one of the raiders snapped, unstrapping the rifle from her back.

"Please," Aasim begged, "This is all really stressful for him, and—"

"—It's stressful on everyone," Gina fired back, rubbing on her bruising face where Willy had landed a couple good hits. "That gives him no excuse to do that shit!"

Louis's angry eyes land on Minnie, whose crossbow was drawn and loaded. "Minnie, don't tell me you're with this horseshit. You know what Willy's been through."

The raider with the rifle in her hands sighed aggravatedly. "It doesn't matter! We've all been through tough shit. The little fucker is gonna have to get used to worse."

"This is fucked up!" Aasim cried, reaching up to grab at his hair while keeping his stance over Willy, who had scrambled himself in the corner halfway under the cot. "What the fuck is you guys' problem!?"

Willy's hands were over his ears as he tried squeezing his body as close to the wall as he could. His elbows hurt as they scraped against the chipped wood of the floor, and his throat was stinging from all the screaming he was doing.

Worst of all, his arm was on fire. All of the fighting back against Gina had caused his bandages to come undone, leaving his injuries open for Gina to target. Blood pulsed from the wound, coating his arm yet again in crimson that smelled like pennies.

"Aasim, Louis!" Minnie snapped, a crack in her voice almost showing. "Back off, now !"

Willy cracked an eye open, seeing Louis facing off against Minnie with a hard glare through Aasim's shoes. His breath was short, shallow, and his face was beet red.

He felt like drowning.

"Did you frisk him at least?" The raider asked, content with keeping her rifle on Louis as Minnie aimed her crossbow at Aasim. 

Gina sighed, trying to vent off her anger as she brushed her hands over her jacket. "Yeah, I managed to before he started throwing punches. He’s got nothin’.”

“Then why’d he start making a scene like that?” The raider grumbled, piercing her eyes at his pathetic figure.

“He doesn’t like getting touched like that,” Aasim explained, “He’s- it’s complicated, okay?”

“Yeah,” Minnie gently agreed. “He always had issues with people touching him back when our school was still running.”

“Was it always this bad?” Gina rolled up her sleeve a little to look over her forearm, which Willy had kicked. 

Minnie shrugged. “Honestly can’t remember, ma’am.” She looked to the other raider with a pleading look. “Dorian, we should leave them alone for tonight. It’s been a stressful night, and it’s gonna be busy tomorrow if we wanna get home soon.”

Dorian stared Minnie down for a minute before lowering her gun away from Louis’ face with a huff. “Fine. But that one is getting put on high fuckin’ watch.” She jerked her head in a let’s go motion before looking at Aasim and Louis. “You two might wanna learn what it means to stay in line. Ain’t no way we’re looking kindly on tonight, no matter your reasoning.”

Louis sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “And there ain’t no way we’re looking kindly on you .”

Dorian just growled under her breath as she turned away and stormed out of the cell, Gina in tow.

Minnie went to follow, closing the cell door behind her, but she paused. She looked back at Louis with a grimace. “Guys, please. Don’t fight back and get yourself killed. You can’t win this.”

“We don’t want to win anything,” Louis snapped back, wrapping his hand around one of the bars of the cell. “We just want to go home.”

“This is your home now,” Minnie stressed. “And this is your family. No more Ericson's, alright?”

Louis stepped back from the door with what could be described as a snarl on his face. “Yeah, ‘cuz the last thing we need in a family is a bunch of adults who think they know better.”

Minnie left without another word, leaving Louis and Aasim to deal with Willy.

Willy’s whimpering had died down, but his breath was still ragged, and he had hardly uncurled from his frightened ball.

Aasim slowly knelt down to him, voice soft. “Willy, hey. It’s okay, they’re gone now.”

Willy’s eyes opened, looking up at Aasim. Through a strained voice. “...’Sim?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Aasim wanted to reach out to hold him, but thought better of it and just offered a smile. 

“Are they coming back?” Willy slowly got up off his elbows, keeping his bloody arm to his chest. Finally, his breath started to even out, and his tears slowed.

“Not soon, at least,” Louis assured. He tried to smile, but Willy’s state brought it off his face. “How you holding up?”

Willy looked down at his arm with a deep intake of breath. “Tired,” he said, noting his drooping eyelids. How late was it? How long had it been since they were laughing around a bonfire? How long had it been since Mitch…

“You can have the cot tonight,” Aasim offered. “You probably need the most rest out of all of us after that.” 

Willy got to his knees on his own, but then hesitantly accepted Aasim’s offer for help standing up, to which he immediately tumbled onto the cot. There was just a flat pillow and the rattiest blanket he’d ever seen as a form of bedding, but it was better than nothing. With help, he clambered underneath the blanket and laid his head down.

It couldn’t have been five minutes before Aasim and Louis heard his deep breaths, and knew he was asleep.

“This is fucked,” Louis said softly, pulling dreadlocks out of his face as he sat against the wall to get a glimpse of the sky out of the cell’s window. “All of this is just… so… fucked .”

“I hear you,” Aasim says back, taking a seat next to him and pulling his hood over his hair. “I just… kinda wanna go home already. If they act like that about Willy, then…” He gently lolled his head to look Louis in the eye. “I don’t even wanna know what they’ll do to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Louis furrowed his eyebrows as he returned Aasim’s stare.

Aasim waved his hand in a silent gesture of are you kidding me? “All those smartass comments are gonna get you killed, Louis. You’re gonna keep talking, and you’re gonna take it too far.”

Louis hesitated but shook his head, staring back out the window. "Nah, they need us alive one way or the other. If they knock us out, we’ll wake back up.”

Aasim was still unsure. “Hope to God you’re right.” His uneasy gaze traveled to Willy's sleeping figure. "I hope he's okay. He's been…"

"Out of it," Louis finished. "You see it too."

Aasim nodded. "Even before… what's-her-name started patting him down. He's like… it's like he's sleepwalking."

"And he's either saying something about Mitch, or something about his dad." He brought a knee up to his chest to rest his arm.

"Mitch…" Aasim echoed, feeling the smallest of tears prick his eyes. "He's… really gone, huh."

Louis shifted the lapel of his coat to sit higher on his shoulder. "...Yeah, he is."

"Fuck," Aasim murmured. "It's… it's gonna be weird without him. Y'know?"

Louis nodded solemnly, though the corner of his mouth turned up a little bit. "Remember when you went to sit on the couch one night and Mitch forgot one of his knives there?"

Aasim breathed out the smallest of laughs, reaching a hand down to his knee. "Aw, yeah. Cut my ass up." He followed Louis's gaze outside the cell's window. "Or that time when we went hunting, and you got caught in one of the traps. Mitch had to climb up and cut you down."

Louis laughed a tad louder. "Dropped me on my fuckin' neck, the bastard." He rubbed the back of his neck in memory. He put his hand to the ground, finding a fairly sized rock beside him. Picking it up, he ran his thumb over the jagged surface.

"He was a dick," Aasim said, "but… couldn't help but love him."

"Especially if you were Willy." Louis now looked in the boat's candlelight at Willy. "I don't even wanna imagine how he's feeling, if that whole thing just now was anything to go by."

Aasim tightened his hold on his jacket sleeve. "You know we gotta look out for him now, right? We… we can't let those psychos get to him again."

Louis swallowed with a nod. "Yeah, I kinda got that. Until he can get back on his feet again." His gaze dropped to the rock in his hands.

"Hey," a voice was gentle, but loud enough to make both boys jump. 

Louis glared at Minnie through the cell bars.

"Less talking, more sleeping," Minnie ordered. "Trust me, you're gonna need as much sleep as you can get 'fore tomorrow."

Aasim shrank back, but Louis tensed. 

"Fine," he snapped at her, "but you little shits better not lay a damn finger on Willy, you hear me?"

"Can't make any promises," Minnie replied. "Especially with Gad." She turned her head up towards their ceiling, where footsteps were still sounding. "Although, he is on his fifth tonight. With luck for you, he'll be too hungover tomorrow to even do anything."

Louis rolled his eyes. "With luck, we're getting off this fucking dinghy tomorrow."

"Actually, it's a steamship. Dinghys are a lot smaller."

Louis glowered at her. 

Noticing this, she leaned an elbow through the bars with a ticked-off smirk. "What? I thought you wanted some friendly banter."

Aasim flinched back as Louis hurled the rock in his hands at the door, causing a loud clatter.

Willy only stirred a little.

Minnie jumped back from the door, a small period of shock on her face.

"Shh," Louis hissed at her, fighting the smirk off his face, "we're trying to sleep!"

Chapter Text

A gust of humid wind hits Willy's face as the door opens, and he turns away from Mitch in time to catch a somewhat familiar figure walk into the storm raging outside.

His heart is already pounding with the panic of the roaring school around him: faculty keeping students huddled together, half of them shouting over their phones in fragmented phrases. Students holding onto one another while sharing terrified glances.

Willy is situated in his own huddle consisting of Mitch, Violet, Minnie, Sophie, and their little brother Tennessee. He's pressed against Mitch's side while leaning back into Sophie's shoulder, but he can't help but stand up when he sees the kid exiting the building.

"Willy!" Violet hisses, shooting her arm out. "He said stay down!"

Willy turns back to Violet with alarm. "Aasim just walked out!"

At the mention, a faculty member– was it Mrs. Jackson?– came up to them, phone halfway to her ear. "What was that?" She asks, then into the phone, "I know, sweetie, I'm gonna get there as soon as I can." Then, back to Willy. "Hey, who walked out?"

"Aasim!" Willy repeats, pointing to the door. "He just ran out!"

"During a tornado?" Mitch scoffs, getting to his knees. "He needs to get his ass back in here!"

"God dammit," Mrs. Jackson hisses, then goes back to her phone.

Willy blanches, eyes wide at his teacher. Sure, the kids say more than their fair share of bad words, but this was an adult swearing.

What's wrong? All this worry over a tornado…?

"No, no, not at you," Mrs. Jackson continues, stammering over the phone. "I gotta– look, Jill, I'll be there as soon as I can. Just keep me posted on Cody, I'll– I know, alright? I gotta wrangle in these kids and I'll be there."

She hangs up the phone, running a hand over her hair. "Okay, just stay seated, okay? We don't need more kids running off."

Thunder claps outside.

Tennessee babbles out a whine, and is quickly shushed by Minnie.

Willy swallows hard as Mrs. Jackson starts to the door, but then he watches as another teacher calls her name, and she quickly deviates from her original plan. He sits back down next to Mitch and Sophie, but his eyes are on the floor, thoughts on Aasim.

"What is even going on," Sophie cries, hand to her hair in panic. "This seems like a lot to go through just for one tornado."

"Yeah," Willy agrees, biting his lip in concern. He looks out the window and watches the trees swaying with the rain.

"Tornados are strong," Mitch says, "it could tear the building apart."

"Then why are we just sitting here?" Minnie shot back, her breath hitching. "We should at least be in the basement, or-or under our desks!"

"Shut up!" Violet snaps, sweeping hair over her shoulder. "Your screaming is just making us more nervous."

"I can't help it," Minnie defends, crossing her arms, biting her lip to ease back tears.

Willy still stares ahead at the door that Aasim left through. It periodically opens and closes with teachers coming in and out, many with their bags.

Everyone is so panicked. When someone isn't shouting, they're crying or telling someone they're scared. 

The lights flicker for just a second.

Willy stands up once more when he doesn't see Aasim come back into the building. He feels his wrist being grabbed, and quickly jerks it out of Mitch's grasp.

"Willy, don't be stupid," Mitch warns.

"Aasim's out there!" Willy repeats. "Ain't nobody getting him, either!"

"That's his problem!" Violet snaps, turning away from Minnie to look him in the eye. "Willy, sit the fuck down!"

Willy doesn't listen. He wades past huddles of kids, past the teachers paying more attention to their phones, out the doors of the Admin Building.

Aasim has two suitcases stacked next to him, his little blue umbrella hardly shielding him from sheets of rain.

Willy sighs, crossing his arms. "Aasim, what are you doing?"

Aasim turns to catch a glimpse of Willy before turning back to face the frenzied parking lot. "Waiting," he replies. His leg bounces in anticipation.

Willy raises an eyebrow, nudging his foot against the suitcases. "You really think your daddy's coming in this storm? There's a freaking tornado !"

"They said they'd be here," Aasim snaps, clutching his umbrella tighter. A sheet of rain blows nearly horizontal, splashing both of the boys. "Mom an' Dad were on the way this morning."

"Well, come on and wait inside," Willy urges, swiping rainwater from his face. "Teachers don't want anyone gettin' out in this storm."

Aasim opens his mouth, but the doors crashing open reveal Mrs. Jackson fumbling with her phone and her car keys.

"I know, I know," she pants, "look, I'm getting in the car right now. Jesus, just…! Keep him in your sight, okay? Don't let him run off! I'll be there by tonight, I promise."

"Mrs. Jackson?" Willy's upturned eyebrows give away his worry. "What's happening?"

"Nothing," Mrs. Jackson says, giving a watery smile. "My son's just come down with something, it's okay." She quickly looks over the two with a huff. "You two get inside. You don't wanna catch a cold."

"I'm waiting on Mom and Dad," Aasim explains, turning to glance at her. "They'll be here any second."

Mrs. Jackson purses her lips. "Aasim, lots of the highways are shut down. Cities are getting put on lockdown, and so is the school."

Aasim's gaze turns angry. "They said they were coming."

"The Headmaster is shutting the school down for a bit," Mrs. Jackson tries. "Even if they did come, they aren't allowed to come in."

"Aasim, come on," Willy says, stooping down and grabbing his shoulder. "You can wait inside."

"No!" Aasim jerks his body away, throwing his arm over his suitcases. "I'm waiting out here!"

"I don't have time for this," Mrs. Jackson snaps. "Aasim, now. Get inside this building, so I can go home and see my fucking son, okay?"

Her voice is deep, authoritative, and Willy backs off immediately. He takes steps towards the door, but freezes when Aasim doesn't move.

Aasim hunches back under his umbrella, watching the frenzy of cars.

Mrs. Jackson growls, and stomps past them to her car.

Willy doesn't move for a moment; he watches Aasim sit in the rain,  barely flinching at the howling wind. 

So he takes the seat beside him under the umbrella.

Aasim spares him a glance, but his attention is right back on the madness of the parking lot. His eyes scan over everything shining through the thunderstorm, and the longer the boys stay there, watching the cars leave, the more they stop believing that there is actually a tornado.

They sit in silence. They watch as the cars all slowly start to leave, and Willy watches as Aasim's face grows more desperate; his eyes flicker over the parking lot.

They're soaked to the bone by the time the door behind them opens again. Willy senses someone kneeling down next to him, and anticipates a hand clasping his shoulder.

"What the hell are you two doing!?" Mitch demands, rainwater dripping from his hair already.

Willy just shrugs as he tears his eyes away from the empty parking lot to look at Mitch.

"Waiting."

Willy is jolted awake by his head slamming into the floor. 

Immediately, he groaned and his eyes shot open, squinting in the harsh torchlight bathing the cell in orange light.

"...said, get the fuck up!" A hand roughly yanked on him by the collar, and the sleep in his eyes started to fade as he started to thrash around.

"Careful," another voice snapped-- it was familiar. "He's a fighter."

"Good." The hand let him go, and he immediately slumped to the floor in front of the cot. "Then that raid wasn't for nothing." 

Willy brought his knees to his chest, blankly staring at the floor in front of him. All at once, he remembered his current situation.

More importantly, he remembered what Mitch taught him.

And he remembered to keep his hands away from his vest.

"Get those two up to the top deck," an angry voice said, "I'll handle this fucker."

"Don't go too hard," Gina snapped, "he needs to be in working condition by the time we get to camp."

"No promises," the angry voice replied, and Willy stamped down the urge to squirm.

Footsteps marched out of the cell, and Willy barely looked up as the angry raider from last night knelt down in front of him.

He had a growl on his face, hidden mostly by his shaggy beard. His bald head was covered by a black, flat-brimmed cowboy hat, which halfway hid a bandage on his temple. Otherwise, he looked how Willy remembered him in the firelight at the school.

"So," he drawled, voice evident of tire. " You must be the one who beat Gina to hell, huh?"

"You can't let him know he's getting to you," Mitch's voice echoed.

So Willy met his eye with a confident smirk. "You must be Gad." He sat back on his hands, tilting his head the slightest bit.

Gad nodded. "Names go around this boat faster than a boiler fire." He tilted his head right back. "Although I can't say I've heard yours."

Willy blinked.

Gad sniffed, and Willy caught frustration in his eyes. "What's your name, son?" He rephrased.

"My name's not son ," Willy muttered darkly. Then, as he spoke louder, "you call me William."

Gad froze for a second, almost jerking his head back at the authority in this kid's voice. Then, he laughed. "You're really testing your luck. Aren't you, William ?"

"I don't test my luck," Willy said confidently. "I test people's patience."

"Well mine is already starting to wear thin with you." The playfulness left Gad's eyes, and he leaned forward. "Tell me, William. What was going through your head when you put a knife into my friend's neck?"

Willy swallowed, coming forward to put his arms on top of his knees, trying to ignore the sharp ache in his injured arm. His eyes flicked downwards, memories from the raid starting to pour in.

He remembered the blood on his hands.

He remembered the knife in his vest.

He can't let it show.

He looked up with a blank stare. "She talks too much." 

Gad narrowed his eyes. "Is that it?"

Willy tilted his head the other way, finding a tiny smile on his face. "I like your hat," he said, keeping a crack out of his voice.

Gad stood up, fixing his hat so it went lower over his eyes. "Alright, William. Get up, you're with me."

Willy stood up as best he could, but he had to lean on the wall as Gad grabbed the torch from the doorway. A mix of blood loss and exhaustion nearly forced his eyes shut, but they snapped right open as Gad kept a tight fist on his collar. A sick feeling in his stomach started to build, and he swallowed a lump in his throat.

He was in a daze as they made their way up from the boiler deck, and he shuddered when a breeze blew into his frame. His eyes registered torchlight, and his ears heard the water beneath the pier they walked on. Somewhere, there were voices.

Gad stopped him in his stumbling tracks. "Alright," he said, "first order of business is taking care of these underwater deadheads."

Willy grunted as a quick pain struck him in the ribs, and fumbled as a flashlight was forced into his hands. He looked up as he heard Gad handling his gun.

"You just shine the light at the water, so I can see where I'm shooting. Alright, I'm not gonna trust you with a weapon any time soon."

Willy stared at the flashlight in his hands, trying to breathe and clear his mind. For a second, he pondered just how long he could keep up his act.

He wondered how long it would be until they found his knife.

"Well," a new yet familiar voice said, boots marching up to the two from the pier's edge. "Way, hey, and up she rises. I didn't think you'd be up this early, G. Not with how much you drank last night."

Gad grunted, rolling his shoulder as Mike patted his back. "Gina woke me up. I don't wanna be out here any more than you do." His gaze shot to Willy, and he raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Am I supposed to be wasting bullets into this water, boy?"

Willy tensed. "Don't you call me 'boy.'"

"Then use the fucking light." Gad roughly elbowed his injured shoulder, smirking when Willy's tough guy act fell away with a hiss.

Willy swallowed hard, clenching the flashlight with a tight grip as his balance swayed. He shook his head, forcing his thumb over the switch on the flashlight. He heard Gad's voice in his ears, but he didn't know what words were being spoken as he pointed the glaring light at the black water.

Luckily, it didn't seem to matter. Gad didn't make any aggressive stances towards him in that moment, and just aimed his gun at the waters.

Willy only flinched at one bullet leaving the gun, but quickly stood his ground at the rest of the sharp noises. Water whizzed at his knees, and the noise sharpened his sight enough to see the walkers barely moving beneath the surface of the water. He couldn't help but have his mind wander.

What's it like to be a walker? Is it really just… being a monster? What if you have no control over your body? God, that's scary.

They're still moving underwater. Can they breathe?

They don't have to breathe, I don't think.

What's it like to not breathe? To just… hold your breath forever and not let it out. Or to never even breathe in, ever.

Are they in pain?

"Gad!"

Willy leaped at the shrill cry, whirling his head around. He spotted Gina storming near them from the boat, and his heart suffered a pang of fear.

"What?" Gad asked, rather annoyed. He didn't seem to notice– or care– that Willy was shakily backing up with every step Gina took forward. 

No no no, leave me alone!

Gina noticed him, her glare softening the slightest bit. "Hey, kid. Calm down, it's not you I'm mad at." She paused, and then scoffed. "Pff, for now."

Willy's eye twitched, and his hand tightened on the flashlight.

Gad scoffed at his reaction and slapped him on the back. "Calm down, William."

Willy jumped, drawing in a quick gasp as he flinched away from Gad. The flashlight turned towards his face, to which he hissed and fumbled for the switch to turn it off.

"Don't know what the hell his deal is," Gina muttered, watching as Willy clumsily got his situation under control. "Or yours!" She fixed her eyes on Gad with a sneer. "The hell do you think you're doing, firing off bullets this early!?"

"Dorian told me to—"

"—She hasn't told you shit all morning! I know, cause I was the one that woke your drunk ass up!" Gina snatched him by the arm. "What she did tell you was to leave the fuckin' boy alone. She is going to deal with him, not you."

Willy was wracking his brain, trying to calm down. He stared at the dead bulb in the flashlight, teeth grit in a grimace. The anger wasn't directed at him, which was helpful in calming his nerves. He looked up to Gina and Gad as he hardened his face.

"William," Gina said, snatching the flashlight from his hands. "Follow the stairs. Go up to the top deck, get some breakfast before you get to work." She crossed her arms, eyes on Gad. "We don't need soldiers on empty stomachs."

Gad scoffed as Willy walked back to the boat with a high head. "If you ask me, none of these little shits have earned their meals yet."

Willy swallowed hard as he ducked his head into the entryway of the boat, ambling down the hallways to the stairs. He had a tight frown on his face, and his hand jammed inside his vest to grasp at the knife in his pocket.

Stupid, stupid! He yelled at himself. Now he knows you're scared. They all know you're scared. You weren't supposed to let them know!

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he started up the stairs, indignant eyes on the dark floor ahead of him. 

You need to do. better, Will, He heard Mitch say. They're just gonna keep getting to you if you give 'em something to get at.

"I know," he mumbled, crossing through the hallway where their cell was. he stopped for a moment to stare through the bars of an empty one across from the one he, Louis and Aasim were thrown into. "I can't help it…"

Sooner or later you're gonna have to build thicker skin. With the people you're around right now? You'll die if you don't.

Willy sighed as his foot hit the bottom stair leading up to the top deck. "I know. I'm workin' on it."

He turned behind him, barely surprised when he saw Mitch and his bloody face standing at the end of the hallway. Hands in his jacket pockets, he looked rather calm.

"I'm workin' on it," he echoed in promise with a grim nod.

Mitch nodded right back, and Willy caught him smiling a little.

Good.

Chapter Text

On the top deck, he came into the torchfire just in time to catch the butt end of a story told by one of the raiders.

"...I was like, hey, that ain't your gun! Motherfucker thought he could slip past me! You know, the guy that does inventory?"

The other three raiders chuckled, one of them rolling their eyes. Among them was Minnie, who had a bowl in her hand and a playful smile on her face.

Willy felt sick to his stomach, but he just rolled his eyes at them and searched the deck for Louis and Aasim.

"Willy!" He turned his head in time to find Louis coming up to him with long strides and his arm extended. "Christ, there you are!"

"Yeah, where you been?" The raider who was telling the story asked, turning from the fire to look him over. "You were s'posed to come up here!"

"Don't go blamin' me about it," Willy snapped, narrowing his eyes. "It's Gad's fault; he's the one who dragged me out there."

Dorian crossed her arms at him with a glare. "Are you gonna keep runnin' your mouth like that, or do you want to eat today?"

Willy silently challenged her, his upper lip curling into a snarl.

Minnie broke the staring contest between them, gingerly stepping closer to Willy. "Um, here." She offered the bowl in her hand to him, which was half full with some kind of… oatmeal? The fuck is this? "You can have the rest."

Willy hesitantly took the bowl, not returning her smile. Instead, he turned back to Louis and followed him to where he and Aasim were sitting by a crate, which offered them torchlight while still being a ways away from Dorian, Minnie, and the other two raiders.

"Not gonna lie, I was pretty freaked out when you weren't following us up here," Aasim said. "Are you okay? How's your arm?"

Willy shrugged honestly, taking a spoonful of the muck from the bowl. "I'm alright, 'Sim. Gad just thinks he can scare me." He looked at the half-scabbed gash in his arm and hummed. "Arm's okay." What I meant to say was it hurts like fucking shit, but it's fine. I'm fine.

He jammed the spoon into his mouth, and immediately recoiled at the overly-salty taste. "Augh!" It was slimy, and had an aftertaste that reminded him of dust, or sand. "What the hell…?" 

"Yeah," Louis laughed. "I guess it takes a certain palate to think this stuff's good."

"Omar could do a lot better," Aasim agreed with his own smirk.

Despite the horrid taste, Willy swallowed. He needed to have something in his stomach, and this would have to do until they got back home. He forced himself to take a couple more bites. 

"Mmm," Louis groaned distastefully as he ate from his own bowl. "Yeah," he said louder for the raiders to hear, "I miss our rabbit stew already."

"Oh, shut up," one of the raiders snapped at them, "It's not that bad!"

"We can't bring perishables on the ship," Minnie explained. "Sorry it's not a five-star porkchop cuisine."

"God, I can already hear Omar," Louis said, pretending to ignore them as he looked to Willy and Aasim. He raised his voice to mimic Omar's crudely. "Are you kidding me with this shit? What do you think you're doing, wasting salt like that!"

Willy cracked a grin and joined the mimicry. "My grandmother can cook better than this, and she's dead!"

"We're not forcing you to eat," Dorian growled. "And we can sure as hell force you not to."

Aasim's smile faded, and Willy's barely turned down. He felt a spark in his chest… was it pride? Satisfaction? Whatever it was, he had to tamp down a smirk as he saw the anger in Dorian's stance.

"I'm noticing you guys are being a little wishy-washy," Louis pointed out, leaning back on the crate and crossing his arms. "One second you tell us to eat because we need to be healthy for whatever-the-fuck you need us for. But then in the next breath you want us to starve!" He barely backed down as Dorian stepped closer, but Willy felt him tense up. "Like, is it one way or the other?"

Dorian knelt down to be eye-level with the three boys, fury evident. "I want you to shut up and listen," she demanded. "You think this is a game? You think we've been exaggerating the shit we go through daily? That little front you put up back at your school doesn't hold a fucking candle to what we go through back home."

Willy blinked simply, running his hands over his shorts to stave off the urge to back away. He stared at her with the slightest of bored head tilts. "I missed the part where I'm supposed to care."

The entire top deck froze, every pair of eyes on Willy. Even the fire seemed to stop crackling, shock shattering wordlessly through everybody.

Willy shrugged at their staring. "What? That little sob story won't get you far, not with me."

Aasim was the first to break the silence by stammering. "W-Woah. He doesn't mean that, I—"

Dorian shot her hand out, catching Aasim by the throat.

"Hey, hey –!" Louis started.

"Shut. The fuck. Up ," Dorian hissed, staring deeply at Aasim and cutting off Louis. "You don't answer for him, he answers for himself."

Pain rose in Willy's throat, eyes locked on Dorian's arm. He had his knife…

No. Save it. 

"Easy," one of the raiders said from the fire, leaning back on his stool. "Don't start pulling a Gad on us. You're the one that said we should go easy on 'em."

"Not when he's sayin' shit like that!" Dorian took her hand away from Aasim's throat, using it to snatch the bowl from Willy's lap. "I don't think you were hungry anyways." She gained a threatening, serious tone as she addressed the boy. "I have half a mind to toss you overboard. You know we got walkers underwater?"

Willy calmly nodded on autopilot, remembering their gentle movements as he saw them from the flashlight's beam. 

"They can't breathe down there."

A flash of confusion dotted Dorian's face, and even Louis cast him a sidelong glance of alarm.

Willy noted her lack of response, and knew the floor was his. "You think they're in pain?" He asked Dorian, not tearing his eyes away from her. "Imagine not being able to breathe. You think they're just drowning forever?" He didn't even know what he was saying, but he felt fear rippling through the deck as he spoke. "...Stuck in that moment where… where they're so close to dying, and their lungs are bleeding, but they just can't black out."

He kept talking, his voice growing raspy with tears building up in his throat. "It won't make a difference if you toss me out there. So go ahead, throw me overboard. It doesn't mean a god damn to me." His hand reached up for his knife, but at the last second he clutched his shirt instead. "Either way, it'll be a day without walkers before I fight for you."

Once more, silence took hold of the deck, with Aasim having a hand over his mouth. Louis's eyes were wide, mouth agape with a sad horror. When Willy's eyes went to Minnie, he saw her take a step back, eyebrows turned up with a deep frown.

Dorian stood up from her crouch with a hard expression Willy couldn't read. All she did was turn to Minnie and say, "You're gonna keep an eye on him today. If you could chop one of the skinny trees out there down for fuel, that would be great."

Minnie swallowed and nodded. "Y-Yes ma'am." She locked eyes with Willy, who just scoffed.

Great. Now I have to spend the whole day being babysat. What else is new?

Dorian scratched the back of her head, adjusting her bandana as she looked to the other raiders. "Armando, wrangle in Gad before Gina bites his head off. You two start loading mags, straighten up that damn armory. Sullene, take the other two here for briefing on how shit works around here." 

The raiders stood up, Armando letting out a stretch. "Aye aye, cap. How long till you think she starts running?"

Dorian gave a shrug. "My guess is two days. Today to chop the wood up, tomorrow to get it loaded… maybe an extra day just to get everything situated, and make sure nobody's gonna be following us." She paused and nodded. "Yeah, count on setting sail in two days."

Minnie approached Willy hesitantly, and he stood up with absent eyes. "Hey," she said softly. "It won't be so bad once you get into the swing of things. I can show you how things work around here, if you just let me."

Willy swallowed hard and didn't respond. He just watched as Dorian walked past him to go down the stairs.

Armando passed by with his hands behind his head. "I dunno what y'all are talking about. Kid's got balls."

Willy glanced up at him, confused as Louis and Aasim got to their feet. "Huh?" He shied away as Sullene got closer.

"Fact that you got the guts to say shit like that to our faces," Armando elaborated. He smirked and reached his hand forward to ruffle Willy's hair. "I like him." He turned to Sullene with a cocky look.

Willy tamped down a scream rising in his throat. In an instant, he shot his hand out, easily smacking Armando's arm off his brown locks and sending the raider backwards a couple steps.

"Aow!" Armando held his wrist where Willy hit, glaring him down with eyes like a deer in headlights. "What the hell, kid!?"

Willy let a tremor run through him.

"Don't you fucking touch me."

Chapter Text

"Are you gonna help me, or just stand there?"

Willy rolled his eyes and cast them away from his bloody arm to Minnie. "I don't know if you've noticed, but my arm kind of doesn't work right now."

"You have two," Minnie insisted, dropping the axe over her shoulder to the dirt beside them. "Don't tell me you already lost your hatchet."

Willy raised his right hand, wiggling the small axe in the air. "Right here. I ain't that stupid."

"Well, make sure the only thing you're cutting is a tree." She turned away from him to grab the torch from the ground, looking around the forest. "Any of these trees look good to you?"

Willy turned around, keeping his slashed arm close to his chest. As he looked up at the canopy far up, he found himself smiling. Despite his predicament, the woods were always pretty. The leaves swayed calmly in the near-dawn, and birds hadn't yet begun to chirp, so there was a calm quiet among them.

He pointed to a tree a little in front of Minnie. "That one."

Minnie turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "Excuse me? I wanna get home soon . Just chopping that down would take a week."

"You asked if any of 'em looked good," Willy said, striding up to it and using his hatchet to chip off some of the bark. "It's good for climbing."

Minnie sighed deeply, coming to his side. "Look. I know this isn't the best situation you can be in—"

"You're putting it a little lightly."

"—but there's nothing you can do about it," Minnie finished. Her face was hard, crystal eyes gleaming in the torchlight. "You're with us now. You're gonna deal with it, whether you want to or not."

Willy stayed silent, biting his tongue. He just followed behind Minnie as they wandered around the woods.

I'm not with you, he silently argued, were you not listening on the top deck? I'd rather drown than be with you guys. You'll see. Once they come save us, it's over for you.

"Here we go." Minnie interrupted his inner thinking as she stopped at a tree so thin, Willy could feel like he could take it down with his hands. "It'll be enough to get us home, at least."

Willy shrugged. "I think some walking a mile or so that way—" he motioned with his hatchet in the vague direction of the school— "would be enough to get us home."

Minnie rolled her eyes, but dug the blade of her axe into the bottom of the tree. "Look. I miss Ericson too, but Delta has so much more to offer. We have actual cornfields, pastures… we raise our own pigs and cows, too. you'll be a lot better off."

Willy's mouth turned down as he watched Minnie swing out and strike at the tree with her axe. "I don't care how much food they have." He raised his hatchet and made a pitiful attempt of chipping off bark. "We have enough to get by at the school."

"Yeah," Minnie grunted, striking at the tree again, "and aren't you sick of just living day to day? Eating what you catch, because it's all you got?" More wood chipped off the tree with another hit. "We have enough to last the school years ."

"Rub it in, why don't you?" Willy struck harder at the tree, feeling a flare rising inside him. "I don't fucking care. You still fucked with us when we told you not to. You still took us, from where we were happy ." You still killed Mitch.

"Well, now you know how I felt." Minnie stopped chopping at the tree, eyes on Willy. "The day Marlon gave me and Sophie away like that." 

Willy's eye twitched, and he hacked at the tree while trying to ignore pain in his arm.

"Marlon just tossed us out like that ." Minnie snapped her fingers to try and get his attention to no avail. "But Delta? Delta's given me everything I need to survive. They welcomed me with open arms, and haven't dropped me at the slightest convenience like he did." She shook her head and adjusted the fuzzy collar of her jacket. "Sophie couldn't see it, but Delta is ten times more loyal, and caring, than any of those fuckers back at the school."

Willy's throat closed up the smallest bit as he hacked at the tree again. "We should get this tree down."

"You didn't even try to look for us, did you?"

Another strike at the tree.

"Did you?"

Willy still wouldn't meet her eye, using his hatchet to chop at the tree bark. He was doing a purposefully sloppy job, wanting to prolong this as long as he could.

"Figured." Minnie scoffed and shook her head, then swung back and connected her axe to the tree with a crack.

Willy took in a deep breath as he shaved off a piece of bark. "He's dead."

"You told me," Minnie said, the anger ebbing out of her voice. "And I'm sorry about Mitch. Really, I am–"

"No," Willy interrupted. " Marlon's dead. Him and Brody."

Minnie dropped the axe. "What?"

Willy nodded. "Yeah. Was a rough night." He kept chipping at the tree as he talked. "Marlon bashed Brody's face in. You shoulda' seen it, you couldn't even recognize her. Me and Mitch had to drag her out of the basement."

Her eyes were wide with confusion, her expression flickering with their light source. Slowly, she asked, "...What happened to Marlon?"

Willy made his hand into the shape of a gun, and aimed it at his head with a small "Pchew." 

"Bullshit."

Willy nodded. "Yeah. AJ shot him right 'tween the eyes."

"AJ?"

"Clementine's kid," he explained. "Marlon was screaming and waving a gun around, and I guess he got scared." He shook his head, eyes boring into a small trail of ants on the tree. "I used to hate him for it, but once he explained himself… I guess I can't be mad at him anymore."

Minnie picked up her axe, silently listening. She made another crack at the tree.

"Clem and AJ are the reason I'm still alive. If it weren't for them warning us about you guys… If Clem hadn't taken over and set things right, they would have killed us."

"We wouldn't have killed you," Minnie defended.

Willy's eyes darkened. "'Kill who you have to. Take the rest.'" He looked up to Minnie's face. "That's what she said. She fucking killed Mitch, and told them to kill the rest of us."

Minnie didn't have a retort, so Willy went on.

"It's not like they're caring about us either. They didn't care that they shot Omar. They didn't care that I was bleeding out last night, or that I didn't like being touched." A pause. Then, "I don't think you did, either."

"I—!"

"Don't pretend you did!" Willy raised his injured arm for her to see. "I saw you. You had that crossbow aimed right at Louis's head."

"I was making sure he didn't—"

"Didn't what? Try to help me?" Willy unknowingly had stepped closer, needing to bend his head upwards to look her in the eye. "Help me calm down and get my breathing in check? I felt like I was six feet underwater in that fucking cell, and all you cared about was making sure Louis didn't move and hurt your raider friends?"

His arm burned with memory of the prior night– or was it earlier this morning? He stepped away from the taller girl and looked at his injury, trying to more tightly wrap the loose, bloody bandages around it, the bandages that didn't fall off after his scuffle with Gina. He then snapped his glare back up to Minnie, awaiting some kind of answer. 

Minnie just sighed and made a soft hit at the tree. "Let's just get this tree down."

Willy felt an angry smirk on his face. "Oh, now you don't wanna talk."

The morning slowly became brighter as the two worked on cutting down the tree. Minnie didn't try making conversation with Willy, which he appreciated. The last thing he wanted to do right now is force himself to be buddy-buddy with her, or sit through more explanations of why Delta was so much better than Ericson.

He didn't care if he starved for the rest of his life, he'd choose Ericson over this bullshit any day. 

He was doing fine at Ericson. He was living with people who cared about him, who loved him. 

And then they had to go and fuck it up.

Willy turned his head and jumped at how close Mitch was to him. He tugged his hatchet out of the nearly-down tree, staring up at Mitch's gory face. While it was still unnerving to see the shattered bits of skull missing, he stopped his squirming.

Mitch wasn't staring at him, though. His single eye was on Minnie, who took the last hit at the tree.

You need to go home, Mitch said. You have your knife.

Willy swallowed. Hard. He can't mean…

Sure, he stabbed Lilly with no issue, and wouldn’t mind seeing Gad bleed, but… He couldn’t kill Minnie. He just couldn’t.

Mitch shook his head, a gob of blood dropping to the floor as he did so. She’s changed. She’s changed way too much. New hair, new jacket, new weapons… He trailed over to Minnie, his feet barely leaving the ground to move.

New family.

Willy's grip tightened on the hatchet in his hand as Minnie's voice swam in his ears. Mitch was starting to pulse and fade.

This isn't Minnie. Not anymore.

"...to me?" Minnie waved her hand in front of Willy's face. "I said get back."

Willy jerked his head back from her hand. His eyes stared hers down, and he know there was a wildness in his that she could see.

"Hey, are you okay?" Minnie asked, cautiously taking a step forward. "You look sick."

You need to go home, Mitch's voice echoed.

He stared at the hatchet in his hand.

For a moment, the world stuttered, and he was surrounded by flames rising into the night sky.

He shot his eyes down, and saw Lilly, facing the stars with frozen eyes glazed over with death. Her mouth was still open in surprise while warm blood pulsed from her neck.

In his hand, was his knife. Coated, caked, drenched in the metallic cherry red. His hands were slick with it, his hair hung heavier at the edges, and he tasted its bitter tang on his tongue. His heart quickly picked up pace, and his lungs filled more haphazardly. The deeper he breathed, the less air that came in. 

I did it, he thought to himself. I killed her. I fucking killed her, fuck—!

His lungs were screaming for air by the time the world stuttered again, and this time he was underwater. Oddly enough, he could still see in murky blue light that bounced off the waves above and sent streams of light swirling all around him. 

There were walkers surrounding him from all sides; arms out, mouths burbling with snarls that never reached his waterlogged ears.

He blinked, taking a sluggish step forward to stare deeper into an underwater walker's eyes. They were white and milky, like any other walker, but in the fractaled light he could stare at this thing for hours . It looked like a familiar face, the face of an old friend. The face of someone he missed, but he never knew for a second of his life.

He looked down at his hands again. Finding not his knife, but his skin chipping away the slightest bit as it was carried with the current.

Was he turning into a walker? Was he already one?

"Willy!" 

A hand shot forward and took him by the shoulder. Instantly, he recoiled from the shock that jerked him back to reality and struck his arm out.

"Oof—!" Minnie groaned and staggered back, arms to her stomach. "Ow, what the fuck!?"

Willy flung his arm back into his body, both hands clutching around the handle of the hatchet as he stared at Minnie with horrified eyes. “I- I didn’t… fuck, I’m sorry, I…”

Minnie righted herself with a growl. "Honestly, Will! You're not gonna keep getting away with that bullshit!" Willy backpedaled with every step she took forward, angry and threatening. "I don't care how scared you are, you cut it the fuck out!"

Willy cried out with the roaring rush of blood in his ears, and swung his hatchet out.

Minnie just growled again, catching him by the wrist and shoving him into the tree that was ready to fall at any second. "I said, fucking stop !" His wrist jerked, and the hatchet fell from his grip. "You're going to stop, or you're gonna fucking die before we even get to camp! Don't you get that?" Her breath was hot on Willy's face, with a twinge of panic lacing her tone. "These guys will fucking kill you if you pull that again. You can't just go around punching anyone you want, just 'cuz you're scared! We're all scared!"

Willy felt a flash of memory, and stopped his squirming in Minnie's vice grip. His glare didn't soften, but the corner of his mouth turned up.

"I thought they didn't want to kill us. Isn't that what you said?" He reveled in the hot anger radiating from her stance. "Even if they did, you wouldn't give a shit. You wouldn't."

Minnie's grip went loose around his wrists, and his arm burned with pain he tried to ignore.

Willy's glare went to a simple frown. "Mitch was right," he said, sadly shaking his head. "You got yourself a new family now, and all we are is walker guts." 

It was Willy's turn to be angry, and Minnie's turn to shrink back. "Do you know how long Violet bugged Marlon about what happened to you and Sophie? No, you don't. You weren't there when she was sobbing her fucking eyes out over you, when she could barely drag herself out of bed to go to your funeral."

"We fucking mourned you," Willy went on with a thick voice. "We're still mourning you! Tenn is still drawing you and Sophie smiling in heaven with your parents because he can't imagine anything else. Louis can't even play Don't Be Afraid without wiping his eyes because it reminds him of you. And I see Aasim every time he opens that history book he's still writing in; he always skips the pages where he writes that you and Sophie died."

Minnie's hands were balled into fists, head bowed down to glare at the leaves and listen to the birds sing. Willy wouldn't stop, though.

"Tell me what the Delta did for Sophie," he demanded. "Did she have a grave? A eulogy? A toast at that cushy-fuckin'-buffet you have up there?" He noted her expression with a snarl. "Not even a she will be missed , huh? I thought so."

"You don't know them like I do," Minnie defended weakly, unable to even look up.

"Yeah, I don't," Willy snapped, pushing at the tree that started to creak and buckle away from them. "That's 'cuz there ain't much to know!"

The tree crashing through the forest offered only a moment of rest for Willy's voice. As the birds flew away in a flurry of feathers, and the dust billowed from the dirt, and animals scurried every which way, he never broke his glare.

They kept the stare for a while before Willy finally broke out of his daze enough to stoop down and grab his hatchet. "You only water one flower, the rest of 'em start looking pretty parched, don't they?"

Minnie grabbed her axe with a troubled grasp, not replying. The air beside Willy went cold, and this time he didn't flinch at brain and blood spattering on the leaves in front of him.

Mitch crossed his arms as he gave Willy a side-eye. Er… side eye-socket? What would that be?

I guess this'll do it for now, he said. Maybe she'll turn around. I still wouldn't trust her. As far as I'm concerned, she still doesn't give a fuck.

Willy nodded and stared at the tree stump as Mitch faded, letting sunlight soak into Willy's frame through the dappled leaves.

With luck, they'll be finished with this dumb tree soon. Then he could go back and see Louis and Aasim, and be far away from Minnie.

His mouth tightened as he glared her down, adrenaline still coursing through him from his ranting. He didn’t know he had that in him. As he thought back on what he said, he was sure he heard Mitch whispering the words he yelled in his ear, or at least something along the lines of what he said. Was he speaking through me?

I just gave you a way to put your words. Willy whipped his head up, but didn’t see Mitch standing anywhere. You knew what you needed to say. I just helped you say it.

Willy sighed as he watched Minnie hack at the tree lying on the ground. Then, he raised his hatchet and dug it deep into the tree stump, feeling tears sting his eyes.

This is fucked. 

Mitch was dead . Why was he still talking to him? He knew it wasn’t real, Mitch wasn’t actually standing there. He was making it up, and he knew this.

Could he not let go? Was that it? He didn't get any time to say goodbye before he was knocked out and thrown into the back of the cart.

Maybe he just needed time to grieve. Then maybe Mitch would go away.

They're not gonna give you a break, he told himself with disdain, you need to go home.

I need to go home.

Chapter Text

Willy eventually had to help Minnie in chopping the tree up into fuel-sized pieces. He couldn't just stand around for a few hours and do nothing. 

With heavy hands, he had situated himself next to her, taking whatever strips she had cut from the fallen free and chopping them into quarters. He figured it was an easier job than trying to cut from the actual tree, what with only being given a tiny hatchet. 

Work was slow, and tiring, but he found himself thinking that he’d rather do this than have early-morning lookout duty. There was something about the monotonous activity that let him vent out his frustrations better than watching for walkers outside the gate.

At least Marlon let you sleep in long enough to see the sun when you woke up, he reminded himself bitterly. As much as his feelings were muddled about Marlon ever since his and Brody’s death, what he did know was that he was a good friend. He wasn’t the best leader, and ever since Minnie and Sophie “died” he grew more distant, but he was always there for Willy to some extent whenever Mitch was busy.

Hot sun beat down on his neck as he split the half of one strip of the tree in quarters. He didn’t realize how much he was sweating until he felt a drop fall from his forehead onto his arm.

Minnie seemed tired too, as she swung her axe down and buried it into the tree trunk as starting for another strip of firewood. “Hey,” she said gently, huffing with exhaustion. “I think we should take a break for a sec.”

Willy shot her a glare, but wouldn’t say no to a break. He dug his hatchet into one half of the wood he split, and graciously dropped to his knees, settling himself with his back against the tree and his legs splayed outwards to sink into the half-dead grass. He was breathing in deep, not realizing just how hard he was working until his eyes flitted to the pile of wood next to the tree stump.

Minnie settled herself next to him, with one leg pulled up to rest her arm on. “For someone who’d rather die than work for us, you’re working pretty hard.”

Willy rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Suck my dick. It’s not like you’re giving me a choice.” He flung a handful of grass away from him, ignoring a throb in his arm. “I just wanna get back to Louis and Aasim.”

Minnie huffed, wiping her hairline with her jacket sleeve. “Well, don’t worry. They’re not going anywhere.”

“They could be,” Willy shot back. “Fuckin’ raiders are doing god knows what with ‘em.” He scratched his head, trying to think positive. “Or maybe they found a way off that shit.”

“Fat chance,” Minnie responded with a simple shrug. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Willy side-eyed her. “You know I could run off right now?” He challenged. “I could book it, and you’ll have to explain to those raiders over there how you had one job, and you lost me.”

Minnie side-eyed him right back for a beat of silence. The glint in her eye was dangerous, sharp, as if challenging him right back. 

Then, she shuffled with her belt loops and unsheathed a pistol. “I’d really like to see you try that one.” She traced the edge of the safety lock with her index finger as she looked at the gun barely bigger than the size of her palm. “Twenty-eight confirmed kills with this pistol alone, and I really wouldn’t mind making it twenty-nine.”

Willy’s eye twitched as a pit opened in his stomach. “Not walkers?”

“Enemies,” Minnie confirmed, laying her arm back on her leg with the barrel of the pistol facing Willy. “They had it coming.”

Willy paused. He looked down at his arm, using his hand to trace and smudge blood along the edges of his injury poking through the bandages. He wracked his brain for a comeback, hoping Mitch would come along and help him set his words right. But there was no blood splattering in front of him, no gusts of cold breeze, not even a shadow Mitch would cast.

“It’s not just yourself you have to worry about,” Minnie said, snapping Willy out of his daze. “You run off, you realize Louis and Aasim are still with us? God , they’d get fucked up.” She tilted her head upwards to stare at the sky through the trees. “It’s best that you just stay in line here.”

Willy almost gagged out of uneasiness. His hands clenched tight around each other, sending another sear of pain through his arm. His thoughts were clouded and troubled.

How was this Minerva Andel? She was nothing like the girl Willy remembered. It’s like there was a girl named Minerva sitting next to him. She talked like her, had that slightest of lopsided smiles, who knew the same friends she did and laughed with the rest of them… but he had no idea who she was.

Minerva Andel wasn’t a killer, and she’d never be proud about it. She was cocky, sure, but that just came with her Popular Girl complex. Underneath all the boasting was a genuine girl who loved her sister and her little brother, who preached pacifism every day like the courtyard was a church, who cried the entire day after she killed her first walker. Minerva Andel was there for him once he came clean about what got him sent to the school, after Mitch had told them when he couldn’t because he was too ashamed. 

He knew that he had caught a quiet moment, and closed his eyes, drowning himself in memory.

"What'cha got there, Will'um?"

Willy looked up at Minnie, a goofy grin on his face. "A knife. Mitch gave it to me!" He shifted the homemade knife from hand to hand, beaming at the handiwork of his older friend. “He said I need it for protection from the Deadheads.”

Minnie smiled sweetly at him, taking the seat next to him on the torn couch sitting in the courtyard. “Well, as long as you stay in the walls, you won’t have to worry about them.”

Willy shrugged. “What if I haf’ta go hunting? Aasim and Marlon can’t be doing that work all the time!”

“Then Louis and Mitch will take care of it.” Minnie nudged his elbow. “I was just passing by to remind you that Ms. Martin has us on Greenhouse today. We gotta make sure those plants are growing.”

Willy stuck his tongue out, feeling his thumb across the handle of the knife. “Why can’t Brody do it? Or Violet.”

Minnie scoffed. “The girls aren’t always gonna be doing the Greenhouse work. You need to learn how to do it too.”

Willy wanted to argue, but the hungry pit in his stomach begged to differ. “What if the food won’t grow?” he asked, looking at Minnie worriedly. “What if we have no food when winter hits, like Aasim keep saying?”

Minnie shook her head. “Aw, Will. It won’t get to that. Aasim’s just worried now that he sees the birds flying south. There’s still plenty of rabbits in the woods, and the creek hasn’t frozen up yet, so we still have fish. Plants take a while to grow is all.” She paused, still seeing that Willy was unsure. “Hey, did you know you can grow potatoes in a barrel?”

Willy looked up, eyebrows furrowing. “Huh?”

“You can!” Minnie insisted. “They like to grow when it’s wet and cold, and you can put ‘em in a barrel, or one of the soil troughs, and they’ll grow like they were in the ground!”

That got Willy’s attention, his eyes wide with wonder. “Woah, how can we do that?”

Minnie stood up off the couch, bouncing on her toes. “I can show you. It’s actually pretty easy, as long as we got potatoes going.” She gave him a sly smirk. “You know, if you really wanna be doing girly greenhouse work.”

Willy jumped up, stuffing Mitch’s homemade knife in the gun holster on the back of his pants. “Okay, okay. I get it.” He gave Minnie a giddy smile, which made her giggle. 

“Come on,” she said, starting to jog off towards the greenhouse. “Those ‘taters ain’t gonna grow themselves!”

Willy opened his eyes to a crow cawing in the distance. Sadly, he curled and uncurled his gritty fingers, wiping off some chips of caked blood.

The girl beside him wasn’t Minerva Andel, even if they shared the same face. Who was she?

She stood up, nudging Willy with her foot. “Okay, back to work. You have your breath back.”

Willy got to his feet with a groan, feeling his head spin and his arm sting. Still, he couldn’t let Minnie know how weak he felt. It was bad enough that Gad and Gina knew he was scared, he didn’t need to let Minnie know too. He grabbed his hatchet with his good arm, starting to hack at the strips of wood to split them into firewood. To keep himself entertained, he just let his mind wander wherever it wanted.

He remembered the raid, first. How he felt so confident that everything would be okay, even though something inside him knew things would go wrong. He remembered the pang in his chest when he saw Tenn leave cover to ask about his sister. He was so stupidly hopeful, and it nearly made Willy sick.

“Tenn nearly got himself killed last night,” he said to strike up conversation. Maybe if Minnie realized just how ruthless they were when she wasn’t looking… maybe she could turn around. Maybe he wouldn’t have to use his knife.

Minnie paused in her movements for a moment. “Almost? Or did he?”

Willy shrugged as he split more wood. “Almost. Lilly brought you up, ‘cuz we were hiding. She said that you missed him so much. So he ran right into her, asking where you were.”

Minnie grunted as she swung her axe into the tree, silent otherwise. Her eyes glimmered, though, as a means to tell Willy to continue.

“He didn’t want to go with them, he just wanted to know if you were okay. He wanted to see you so fucking badly.” Willy dug his blade into the chunk of wood he laid in front of him, twisting it side-to-side to listen to the splintering of woodshards. “She grabbed him by the collar with a knife in her other hand. Was ready to slit his fuckin’ throat.”

Minnie swung her axe down again, snapping him a look. “Liar.”

Willy raised his eyebrows at her. “You weren’t there. He was damn lucky that bomb went off, or he would have been dead.”

“I may not have been there, but I know Lilly wouldn’t treat new soldiers like that.” Minnie landed another hit on the tree, chipping off more chunks of wood.

“We are not soldiers,” Willy defended. “An’ besides, she didn’t mind when Omar got shot. She didn’t mind at all when she was stabbing Mitch in the head. Or when she asked if I had any last words.” He met her glare, throwing his hatchet down and crossing his arms. “You weren’t there. You don’t know shit.”

Minnie narrowed her eyes. “I noticed Abel didn’t make it back. What happened to him?”

Willy looked back on his memory, and surprised himself with a giggle. “Fell out of the balcony. Right down next to me, and Clementine was there too. He got his ass kicked by a girl, that’s what happened to him.”

“Was he dead?”

Willy gave her a look. “Minnie, I was bleeding out and being dragged by my hair. How am I supposed to know?”

Minnie looked down, fingers tightening around her sleeve. “Lilly was supposed to put him in charge if she didn’t make it. We didn’t really think about if he would die, so…” She shook her head. “Whatever. Death happens.”

“It doesn’t have to happen,” Willy insisted. The anger that had been fueling his talking all day had now washed away, and he felt strangely empty without it. “This whole war doesn’t have to happen, Minnie. You can come home.”

“We’ve been over this!” Minnie snapped, turning away from him. “This is my home now. And it’s yours too, so just forget about going back to Ericson.” Her head stared up at the treetops, fists clenched at her sides. “You’re never going back. Not tonight, not a year from now, not ten years from now. Just fucking forget it!”

Willy felt his throat close up, and his eyebrows turned upwards. He would have snapped back, but the way Minnie’s voice choked up…

Did she not want to be here?

Chapter Text

A distant shuffle in the leaves suddenly snapped his head to the left, and he caught the movement of something in the trees. “Hey,” Willy muttered, “keep your voice down. Walkers, you know?” Minnie’s yell still rang in his ears. Just fucking forget it!

Minnie turned to him, opening her mouth in disbelief, but she bit back whatever she was going to say and swung her axe back at the tree, making a lopsided cut that chipped off a chunk of wood.

Willy shot his head back to where he saw movement, and definitely saw a figure moving now, ducking behind a tree. Was it a walker? His hatchet tightened in his hand, squinting at where the silhouette was.

Then he saw another one, smaller. It moved too fast to be a walker. Squinting further, he saw a hand reach up to fix a hat upon their head. His eyes widened. Clementine?

“ William .” The sound of wood thumping on the ground made Willy turn his head, watching Minnie expectantly raise her eyebrow. “Back to work.”

“I saw a walker,” Willy forced out, turning away from Clementine’s hiding spot.

Minnie shook her head. “Whatever. As long as it’s not over here, I’m not wasting a bullet on it.”

Willy nodded, pretending to agree, and he picked up the piece of wood Minnie dropped on the ground.  Whatever Clementine was doing, he hoped she had a plan. She normally did, which gave him some relief. Okay, he told himself. Act natural. You just saw a walker. You just. Saw. A walker.

He wasn’t chopping wood for two minutes before he heard the quick rush of footsteps towards them. In a leap of panic, he jumped to the side and watched as Clementine snatched Minnie by the hair with one hand, pressing a knife to her throat with the other. Immediately, Minnie gasped and dropped her axe, hands up in surrender.

Willy watched in awe as Clementine hissed in her ear. “Have you hurt them?” She demanded.

Minnie’s mouth opened and closed. “I-I don’t know what you’re-”

Clementine pushed her head farther up, digging the knife deeper into her neck. “I’m not fucking around!”

“No,” Minnie answered, shooting Willy a sideways glance. “We don’t hurt them. We need them to fight.”

“Good luck with that,” Willy snickered, elation bubbling up inside him. “I think I made my point clear enough already.”

“Willy!” Clementine smiled gratefully. “Hey, are you okay?”

Before he could reply, another voice called out. “Clem, wait!” 

Through the grass came Violet, AJ and Tenn. Violet’s eyes were wide with shock, and it looked like Tenn had stopped functioning. “That’s… that’s Minnie!” In the moment, Willy realized that Violet had put on a new jacket. He couldn’t exactly place where it came from, but it definitely didn’t fit her yet.

Clementine’s expression changed, and she took the knife away from Minnie’s throat, allowing her to turn around and face them. Her eyes immediately went to Tenn, a small gasp escaping her. 

Both siblings stared at each other for what seemed like forever before Tenn rushed forward, throwing his arms around her back. Willy felt a smile on his face, watching as Tenn laughed in relief. It was nice to see he was happy, at least for a moment.

“It’s you!” Tenn cried, pulling away from Minnie and taking her hand. “I-I mean… it really is you, Minnie!”

“Yeah, it is!” Minnie laughed, squeezing his hand tightly. Her eyes looked him over, as if inspecting for bites. “How are your boots holding up?”

Violet crossed the distance to meet Willy concernedly. “Are you okay?” She asked, “I saw you got roughed up really bad last night. They haven’t fucked with you any more, have they?” Her eyes landed on the scuff on Willy's cheek with alarm, then grew only more surprised at the sight of his bloody arm.

Willy tilted his head, unsure how to answer at first without sending her into a panic. “Well,” he hesitated, “I’m doing as well as I can be. You know, considering. They haven’t hurt Louis and Aasim either.” What I mean to say is that I’m pretty sure I’m three steps away from completely having a meltdown because I keep seeing and talking to my dead brother, but let’s save that for when I get home. His finger picked at the bandages on his arm. “What about you guys? How’s Omar?” He wanted to keep the questions about anything other than him. He didn't want to think about his situation any longer than he had to.

“Ruby’s got him resting,” Violet said, crossing her arms. “The bullet went all the way through his leg, so we didn’t have to worry about digging it out. All he needs is to keep pressure off it, according to her.” She smiled the slightest bit. "He's been keeping Rosie company, it's all he really can do."

Willy smiled, relieved. “Thank God for that." Maybe it was a good thing that Willy let himself get taken. It was either him or Omar. "Um… have you buried Mitch yet?"

Violet's happiness left her eyes, and she nodded solemnly. "Yeah, we, um… we did. We haven't made the cross yet, since it wouldn't feel right having a funeral for him without you there."

Willy blinked slowly, feeling a sting behind his eyes. Mitch was buried. He was dead . Can he please stop showing up now? You're in the ground now, Mitch. Just rest for a bit.

Minnie's smile chipped away by the time she looked at Violet, untangling her hand from Tenn's. "Wait… is that Lilly's jacket?"

Willy's eyes widened a little as he finally recognized the well-worn item. So that's where it came from! How had he not recognized the blood on the collar?

Violet looked to Minnie with a shrug, running her hands over the sleeves. Her hard front was back up. "It didn't look like she was needing it anymore," she stated bluntly. "I'll grow into it."

Minnie's upper lip twitched, and Tenn stepped back when she clenched her hands. She snapped her glare to Clementine. "So," she muttered indignantly, "you must be Clementine. Willy's told me so much about you."

Clementine raised her eyebrow, unfazed by her anger. "Good things, I hope?" she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, he told me how you took over Ericson. How you killed Marlon."

AJ bravely stepped forward. "Clementine didn't kill Marlon," he said, "I did."

Minnie plastered a fake-sweet smile on her face. "Aw, that makes it so much better, little guy!"

"Don't call me little," AJ snapped.

“I didn’t ‘take over’ Ericson,” Clementine defended, “Violet’s the one that’s been making all the calls.”

“Really?” Minnie snorted, cocking her hip. “The Violet I knew was too scared to even talk to people, let alone play Class President.”

Violet opened her mouth, but snapped it shut and turned her glare to the leaves on the ground.

Willy scoffed at her, crossing his arms. "And the Minnie we knew wasn’t such a fucking bitch.” He turned back to Violet and Tenn with a shake of his head. “I wouldn't get your hopes up about this," he said. "I don't really think this is Minnie."

"What are you talking about?" Tenn asked, frowning. "Of course it is!"

Willy tsk ed with a shrug. "Sorry, Tenn. This Minnie's got herself a whole new family now. She cares about those fucking raiders more than she ever will about you."

Violet’s crossed arms went tighter around her chest, and she shifted the slightest bit to stand in front of Tenn and AJ.

"Shut your fucking mouth," Minnie snapped, starting towards him, but Willy wouldn't budge.

"Oh, don't start sugarcoating it just 'cuz Tenn's here now!" He glared up at her, and he heard Mitch whispering in his ear again. 

His instinct said to ignore it, but he welcomed it. "Are you gonna tell 'em you had a crossbow aimed at Louis's head last night?"

"What!?" Violet stared at Minnie disbelievingly, anger starting to spark in her eyes. "Excuse me?"

Minnie crossed her arms, rubbing her hand in the crease of her elbow. "He's… he's lying–"

"Are you gonna tell 'em that they're starving me, all because I don't like the fact I was kidnapped ?"

"Starving?" Clementine spat out. "I thought you said you needed them to fight!"

Minnie shot Violet a panicked look, and looked back to Willy when he started again before she could get anything out.

"Are you gonna tell 'em how you just held me at gunpoint and said you'd blow my brains out because I wanna fucking go home?"

Tenn's eyebrows shot up, and he stared at Minnie with concerned eyes. "Minnie…?"

"Tenn, I'm–"

"Are you gonna tell 'em Sophie's dead?" Willy swallowed hard, feeling the instant spike of anguish from Tenn and Violet. He didn't tear his eyes away from Minnie's expression, challenging her to argue. "Are you... or should I?"

"Minnie?" Tenn's choked voice caused both Willy and Minnie to look at his dolorous face, peeking from behind Violet. His hands where fumbled together, biting his cheek. "Is all that true?"

Minnie's silence was all the boy needed. He shrank back away from Minnie, preferring to stand next to AJ, eyes on the floor.

Willy looked at Violet with a righteous face. "Sorry, Vi. This isn't your girlfriend anymore."

Violet's gray eyes flickered from Willy, to Minnie. "Yeah, you're right," she said after a moment, gingerly stepping towards Clementine and lacing their fingers together. "It's not." Her nervous eyes stared Minnie down, and Clementine seemed ready to back her up at any second.

Willy's face turned to a wondrous confusion. Does that mean… her and Clementine…? He made a mental note to tell Louis and Aasim. Especially Louis, he'd love to hear what Violet's been up to.

Minnie clearly wasn't pleased by this, but Clementine spoke before she could get a word out. “We’re getting them back, Minnie. With or without your help.”

“Settle on without,” Willy muttered, turning away from them and kicking a chunk of firewood into the pile.

“I’d like to see you try,” Minnie shot back with a wavering voice. “How many guns do you have?”

“Just one,” Clementine responded after a moment, looking back and locking eyes with AJ. “But I think it can get the job done.” AJ nodded back at her, reaching behind him and pulling out his little revolver.

Willy blinked at him, and looked down at his belt loops. He’s had an empty gun holster sitting on his waist ever since the outbreak began. He never had a gun to put in it…

“Minerva!” 

Willy’s heart dropped, and everybody whipped their heads in the direction of Gina’s shrill cry. She was coming closer, along with someone else. He turned back to his friends. “Hide!” He hissed, backpedaling from them as they scampered back. Violet and AJ made a combined effort of dragging Tenn along. Quickly, he turned away from them and pretended he was just starting to take a break.

“Minerva!” Gina called out again, and this time Willy saw the blonde standing beside Mike from the boat. He picked at his hands, trying to get his heart to calm down.

“Rockingham!” Minnie called back, picking up her axe and waving with one arm to them.

“Dorian says to finish up soon. She doesn’t want William out here all day, gotta get him used to the boat.” Gina took a couple more steps forward so they weren’t shouting across the clearing at each other.

Willy rolled his eyes. “I already spent the night in it. Used to it, done.”

“Yes ma’am,” Minnie nodded. “I think we just about have enough for the ride home.”

“Good.” Gina smiled. “You’re on lookout once you get back. Walkers have been coming from all sides of the woods this past hour. You see any of ‘em around here?”

Minnie paused, and her eyes went to where Clementine, Violet, AJ and Tenn were hiding. Internally, Willy was screaming don’t say anything don’t say anything please for the love of god-

“Willy said he saw one a while ago, but it never came close by us.”

Thank god. There’s some good in you after all.

“Well, hurry up and get back,” Mike said, shifting his rifle to set over his shoulder. “I dunno how much longer I can handle Armando going on about some bullshit. You’re quieter.”

Minnie laughed, and gave a half-hearted salute. “Yessir, we’ll be back in a bit.”

The raiders walked off, back to the boat, and as soon as they were out of sight, everyone else came back out. Violet held a tone of disgust on her features, holding Tenn gently by the shoulder. Nobody spoke for a while, but then Minnie piped up.

“Our boat leaves back to camp in two days. Once we get there, it’ll be a couple weeks before we come back for the rest of you.” She swung her axe over her shoulder and turned away from them with a scoff. “Don’t say I never told you anything.”

"Wait," Violet said, coming to Willy's side. "Willy's coming with us."

Minnie looked over her shoulder, and let out a chuckle. She reached to her side, turned around, and in a snap, she had her gun aimed at Willy. "Like I said," she told him, a glint in her eye that made him shudder. "I'd really like to see you try that one."

Okay. Fuck the good in you, I guess.

It was a pained silence before Violet stepped forward, irritated. "You'd really kill us for trying to take him home? Really!?"

“Nah, hang on,” Willy said, swallowing hard and watching Tenn’s horrified expression. “That’s the one thing she’s right about.” She looked back at Minnie with a scowl. “If I go back home now, Louis and Aasim are still at the boat. They’d get left, and those raiders would tear them apart.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” Clementine hissed, fists at her side in anger. "You think treating them like this is okay?"

"Don't you fucking start," Minnie hissed, challenging her fiercely. "You don't know a fucking thing ."

“I dunno why you’re surprised, Clem,” Willy said, simply shrugging as Mitch started whispering again. He felt the cold shadow looming over him this time, felt Mitch’s arm resting on his shoulders. “These fuckers don’t give a god damn about us! Hell, they’ll string us up like a slaughter pig just to fucking laugh!”

“No, we-” Minnie started.

"Oh, don’t lie! I’m pretty sure if Gina didn’t get his ass, Gad would have already slit my throat. I know he's been wanting to."

“That’s not true!” Minnie said. “You don’t know them, so quit acting like you do just because of one bad morning.”

“There’s nothing left for me to know!” Willy snapped, glaring her down. “They’re raiders, they’re monsters, they’re murderers . And if that’s your family, then you are too.”

“That’s enough!” Minnie screamed in frustration, cocking her gun back and forcing it into Willy’s neck, obviously angered futher when he didn’t even flinch. His hand just snapped up, feeling the handle of his knife.

"Minnie, what are you doing!?" Tenn exclaimed, jerking away from AJ's grip to run a couple steps towards his sister. 

Minnie's eyes fell on him, and Willy saw hesitation. With a shaky breath, she said, "I'm doing what I have to in order to survive."

Willy's heart was pounding in his ears, his hand aching with his tight grip. He didn’t even care how obvious it looked, he almost had the urge to use it. The barrel of the gun was cold against his skin.

This wasn't Minerva Andel.

This was Minerva Rockingham.

Willy watched as his friends backed up, and Minnie stowed away her gun, in turn backing away from Willy. “Listen,” She said, eye still twitching in anger, “The only way you can save your people is if you let us take them. You come for them, you start your own war. And if that’s the last thing you want, leave us the fuck alone.”

Clementine hesitated, then shook her head. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

Minnie crossed the distance between them in an instant, nose-to-nose with the girl. She spoke in a low voice, hard and dangerous. “If I can’t change your mind, fine. Get yourself killed, I don’t care. But if you ever come near this boat again, you leave Tenn at home.”

Willy felt a flash of anger, but he tamped it down and watched AJ, gun in his hand. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and called out. “Hey, AJ!” He wrestled with the clasp on his gun holster, hearing the leather crack as he bent it. He drew it out of his belt loops and tossed it to him with a nod. “Put your gun in that. I promise, it’s a lot more comfortable than stickin’ it in your pants.”

AJ bent down to pick up the holster, tilting his head at it. But, he still nodded and smiled a little at him. "Thank you, Willy.”

He looked at Clementine, sticking his hand in his pants pocket. “And if you do come back for us… please have a plan. I’d hate for more of us to get killed over this shit.”

Clementine shifted her weight to her other foot, and nodded. “I can think something up.”

Willy smirked confidently, even though everything inside him was screaming in fear with Minnie glaring daggers at him. “Now, if you don’t mind…” Willy stepped towards Minnie, snagging her by the arm and yanking her away from Clementine. “We got a boat to get back to. See ya later!”

Chapter Text

Minnie offered no conversation as she and Willy made it back to the boat, arms full of firewood. More was strung up on Minnie’s back with some spare rope, as well as poking from the hood of her jacket. Willy had stuffed some of the smaller bits into his pants pockets, but most of it he carried in his arms. He tried to be gentle with his slashed arm, but he had to lay wood on top of it to carry.

When they both showed up at the pier, their anger towards each other was obvious to Dorian. "The hell are you so sour about?" She asked, displeasure biting her tone.

Willy rolled his eyes. "What do you think?" He shifted his arms painfully, keeping his gaze at his feet.

"We just had a little spitting match is all," Minnie muttered, nudging his ankle roughly with her boot.

Dorian sighed and crossed her arms. "Just like Sophie was, huh?"

Minnie swallowed before nodding. "Ah, yeah. You know how she got," she answered, a little forcefully.

Willy gave her a sidelong glance. Memories about Sophie must still be painful. So she doesn't care about me, but she cares about Tenn and Sophie. Is that all she cares about? 

Dorian grumbled a little, cocking her head in the direction of the boat. "Well, put the wood in the boiler room, get William to his cell, then go up deck and get yourself some lunch. You're on lookout with Michael."

"Yes, ma'am."

They started forward, but Dorian snagged Willy by the vest. His breath hitched, and he was thankful he was carrying wood or else he would have fought back. 

"William," she said, and he turned to face her hard glare. "Don't test your luck here. You may be able to get away with your bullshit at your school, but it's time to switch gears."

Willy blinked at her, offering no reply except a shrug before following Minnie.

They ducked into the boat, and Minnie glanced at him. "You're supposed to say 'yes ma'am' and 'yes sir' to the older soldiers," she said in an almost-whisper. 

"Oh, so like the teachers?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yes, exactly." Minnie nodded.

Willy deadpanned. "You know damn well I'm not going back to that shit. I'm gonna say 'okay' and they're gonna deal with it."

"They really aren't." Minnie rounded a corner, and they were in the boiler room before the cell hallway. "Whatever, you'll learn sooner or later." She dropped the wood in her arms into a bin next to the boiler, starting to unwrap the wood from her back.

Willy followed suit in dropping the wood into the bin, but a sharp flare rose through his arm. He seethed and jerked his arm up, feeling warm blood ooze from his wound. A shard of wood stuck out among the blood. "Aw, fuck." He grit his teeth through the flash of pain, foot tapping to vent a little.

"Well, that's what you get," Minnie said condescendingly. "You get a splinter?"

"Maybe a million," Willy snapped, pulling the wood out slowly, trying not to agitate his wound any further. He felt the pull of the wood as it fell from his arm to the floor, little sparks still shooting from his hand. He shot a glare at Minnie as he started walking towards the cell hallway. "You're not gonna fix it, so I won't bother asking." The horrid pain quickly subsided to the back of his mind on command. Just block it out. It's not important. 

"You shouldn't have gotten into a fight with Gina, or you still would have bandages to cover that up," Minnie reminded him, trading her fire axe for her crossbow. Loading an arrow into it, she started to follow right behind him.

"Well, she shoulda' stopped touching me when I told her to, or else she wouldn't have gotten hit," Willy snapped back. "God, don't y'all know anything about boundaries?"

"Willy?" A voice called out, and Louis's arm shot out of the cell's door. "Hey, Willy? That you?"

A smile bloomed across Willy’s face as he saw his taller friend. "Hey, Louis!" He bounced up to the cell door, unlocking it himself to step in. He couldn't stop his relieved, happy sigh as he threw his okay arm around him in a side-hug, thankful to be finally away from Minnie. "Are you okay?"

Louis watched as Minnie shut and locked the cell door, and his eyes went to the floor. "Well, we got a boat tour. It wasn't so bad, I mean… the halls are pretty cramped, but otherwise it's not a bad base of operations."

Willy read his tone. Unlike normal, he was forcing the peppy chip into his voice. Looking into his eyes, Willy saw fear. He stepped away from him, and caught Aasim sitting in the corner. "'Sim?" He knelt down, worry building inside of him when the boy barely acknowledged his presence. “Hey, Aasim, are you...”

Then he saw the black bruise discoloring his cheek, below his left eye. Aasim flinched back as Willy reached his hand forward. “It’s… not as bad as it looks,” he lied in a hushed whisper. His eyes were downcast, ashamed, and his breathing was unsteady. His puffy eyes gave away that he was crying.

“What happened?” Willy demanded in a low voice. “Which one of those gun-slingin’ motherfuckers-!”

“Willy, hey.” Louis laid a hand on Willy’s shoulder, eyes on the cell door. “Keep your voice down.”

Willy tensed at the touch, nearly reaching up and smacking Louis’s hand away, but he fought back the motion and staggered back, away from Aasim. “Why the fuck did they do that?”

Aasim shrugged, arms around his knees. “They… asked me a question, and… I thought I knew the answer.” He swallowed hard, not daring to make eye contact with the angry boy. “They don’t like stupid people wasting their time.”

Willy’s fists clenched around the cot’s pillow, and the thin casing nearly tore with his grip. “Stupid?” he growled. “If these fuckers were half as smart as you, they’d realize that all this shit is stupid!” 

Louis shrugged and crossed his arms. “Anyway… how was being in the woods with Minnie?”

Willy’s anger gave way to disgust. “Ugh. I'd have rather taken the boat tour.” He tugged at the pillow under his fingers. “She’s even more insufferable than I thought. Thinkin’ that these raiders are so much better than we are. Pretty much called every single one of us some lying, backstabbing traitors just because of what Marlon did.” Meeting with Clementine and the others was fresh in his mind, but he wasn’t sure if now was the right time to talk about that. Raiders could be listening in right now, and the last thing he needed was to expose Clementine.

Louis hummed, taking the spot under the cell’s window to lean against. “She’ll get off her high horse.” 

Willy shook his head. “Doubt it.” He sat down on the cot, feeling his hand along the rough canvas material he slept on last night. There was a crusted spot of blood from where his arm lay, and the blanket seemed to have more holes than he remembered seeing. He nudged the pillow with a twitch of his eye, feeling the cold underside.

His hand jerked as a colder material touched his fingers. Confused, he shifted the pillow aside and took the hand-sized item in his palm. “Huh. The hell’s this?” He turned it over in his hands, the cool metal seeming shiny and new. On one side of it, there were little holes, and the top had a strip of leather that read ‘Fathinshelf’.

Louis crossed the cell, gently taking it from Willy. His eyes brightened, and he let out a chuckle. “Fancy that! You found yourself a harmonica.” He handed it back to Willy, who took it again, a little more eagerly. “Remember those from music class?”

Willy shook his head, wonder guiding his movements as he flipped the instrument over and over in his hands. “I only remember the recorders.” He did have a vague knowledge of how to play it, but no way would he be any good. He held it out to Louis again. “Here. You’re the music boy, you should have it.”

Louis hesitated, head tilting in thought. Then, he pushed it away kindly. “Nah, I’m good.  It’d be nice if you learned an instrument too. Maybe once we get back home, we could have a duet.” He smirked at Willy’s eyebrow raise. “If anyone can make a harmonica and a piano sound good, it’s us.”

Aasim stood up then, arms hugged around himself, but a shy smile on his face. “What about me?” he asked, “Do I get to play anything?”

Louis put a finger to his chin, spreading his infectious smile. “Hmm… I see you as a guitar guy. Yeah, big ol’ six string!”

Aasim laughed, covering his mouth to stifle the sound. “Guitar? What makes you say that?”

“It just fits,” Louis answered. “Maybe there’s still one lying around. Marlon always said he wanted to find one.” His smile went bittersweet, and his gaze dropped to his shoes.

Willy turned the harmonica over again, finally putting it to his lips and letting out a little discordant noise. He tried again, this time isolating one of the notes to ring by itself. He took it away from his mouth with a grin. “I like it.” 

He clasped his hand around it, deciding to slip it in his pocket. His hand paused, remembering the woodshards in his pockets. “Oh, yeah. Y’all want some wood?” He dug into his pocket, dumping out a small pile from the tree he helped cut.

“Oooh,” Louis cooed, stooping down to pick up one of the woodshards. “Where’d you get this?”

“Forgot to put it with the rest of the firewood,” Willy answered, dumping out his other pocket. “Think we can use it for something?” He turned his eyes up at Aasim as he pocketed his harmonica.

Aasim shrugged. “I dunno. It looks a bit too flimsy to make into a knife or whatever.” He kicked a bit of it under the cot. "I guess we can keep some of it for… I dunno."

Willy looked to the cell door, not seeing or hearing anybody in the hallway. They must all be eating lunch on the top deck. He shifted to the corner of the cell, the farthest away from the door, motioning with a jerk of his head for the other boys to follow.

"What's up?" Louis asked, nonchalantly leaning against the wall next to him. His eyes, however, kept darting back and forth from him to the cell door.

Willy kept his voice just barely above a whisper. "When me and Minnie were in the woods, we ran into Clementine."

"What?" Aasim's fingers bunched his jacket sleeve up, eyes widening. "What was she doing?"

"Was she by herself?" Louis added.

Willy shook his head. "She was with Violet, Tenn and AJ. I think they were looking for us." He swallowed, crossing his arms. "Minnie told them when the boat was leaving. She… she only really seemed to care about Tenn."

Aasim hung his head. "Well… I guess Tenn would have most of her attention."

Willy's stare went into a glare. "I wouldn’t be mad about it if it wasn’t such bullshit. She kept trying to sugarcoat everything. Not wanting to own up to the shit she's been doing, since she wants Tenn to think she hasn't changed a bit.” His gaze grew cold at the floor. “Aw, but she has changed. She's changed way too much to even be considered the same person."

Louis's eyebrows turned up, his frown deepening. "She'll turn around," he whispered back hopefully. "She has to."

Willy felt tears sting his eyes as he shook his head. "I wanna believe you, but she had her gun at my neck, Louis. And her finger wasn't too far from the trigger. She was ready to fucking kill me just because I wanted to go home- because they want me back home." The weight of his statement sunk into his bones, making him slouch over and cover his mouth with his hands. 

"And that ain't the worst of it," he realized through his fingers, tears sliding from his wide eyes.

"...What is?" Aasim asked, leaning down a little to try and get a read on his facial expression. He then shot his eyes to Louis, equally as concerned.

Willy was staring at where the wall met the floor, flickering sunlight casting shadows from the bars of the window. "The worst part is that she's not sorry." He swallowed hard, hearing footsteps enter the hallway, but he couldn't stop.

"She's not sorry for anything. She acts like she is, but she doesn't care about us anymore." His breathing grew ragged with anger. "As long as we're against her and the rest of those raiders, she'd rather kill us than them. She doesn't give a shit about us anymore . "

"I'd sure hope you're right," 

The three jumped at Gad at the cell door. Gun in his hand and scowl on his face, he eyed them down. "Loyalty is the mark of a good soldier."

"Yeah," Louis immediately snapped, choking back his fear. "Well, we aren't soldiers."

" Yet, " Gad fired back. "You'll get whipped into shape soon enough."

"You wish," Willy spat. His eye twitched, fists clenched at his side in an instant. It almost scared him, how quickly he went from sorrowful to infuriated.

Gad stared him down, eyes calm. “Can I come in?”

“No,” Louis said simply, crossing his arms with a tiny smirk. “Sorry, no adults allowed.”

“Aw, that’s too bad.” A jerk of Gad’s foot, and the cell door was unlocked, swung wide open to allow the raider to saunter in, a fast hold on his gun. “I was told to keep an eye on you kids, is all. So don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.” His eyes travelled to Aasim, backed into a corner with wide, silent eyes. “That one’s got the right idea. It’d be best to stand down.”

Louis matched Willy’s stare with a disbelieved huff. “Why’s it always the adults that think they know what’s best for us?” He wondered aloud. “Like, damn. With the teachers, I could kind of understand since we didn’t even know how to add double-digit numbers. But you?” He shook his head, a couple locks falling into his eyes. “I don’t believe you’re on the teacher’s roster.”

Gad was unimpressed as he took a seat on the cot, a deep frown behind his beard. “God, do you ever shut up?” He growled. “Armando’s bad enough, we don’t need two of him on this boat.”

“There doesn’t have to be two of us,” Louis said immediately, the words falling out of his mouth as though he practiced it in a mirror. “Just let us go home, and it’ll be a whole lot quieter. I’d say that’s a fair deal.”

“No, you know what’s a fair deal?” Gad asked, his voice icy cold. “You shut up, and I won’t blow your brains into the wall.” Louis closed his mouth, but seemed pleased that he was able to piss the man off. “Besides, it’s not really you I care about.”

Willy’s heart dropped as Gad turned his gaze to him. A beat of silence, then he asked, “The fuck do you want with me?” His arm stung as he crossed his arms, swiping a bit of hair out of his face.

Gad shrugged innocently. “I just wanna know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

“How do you keep fighting back?” Gad tilted his head, genuinely, morbidly curious. “I mean, let’s face it, William. You’re in rough shape.”

“Wonder who’s fault that is,” Louis muttered darkly.

“And I just heard from Minerva that you were out there screamin’ in her face, and that’s all you’ve been doing since you woke up this morning. How are you not tired yet?” Gad leaned forward, elbow on his knee, to stare deeper into Willy’s eyes.

Willy’s head was spinning as he swallowed a building lump in his throat. His arm stung again, as if begging to stop scraping against his vest creases, but he didn’t budge. He just let the pain build up as he answered. 

“I’m not gonna rest until each and every one of you motherfuckers is dead.” He already felt the tears stinging his eyes, and he shifted to look at the cell door, where Mitch was leaned against the frame, hands in his pockets.

“And why is that?” Gad’s voice swam in his ears, redirecting his attention. Willy’s eye twitched, sending a tear rolling down his scuffed cheek, under the bandages taped there. “Because, you made a bad choice to fuck with me,” he answered. “And I’m gonna make sure you pay for your mistakes.”

“What mistakes did we make?” Gad challenged, standing up and towering over Willy. “Protecting our people? Providing for our community? Making sure my friends and family live to see another sunrise?”

Willy wasn’t phased by Gad’s prose, for he knew that he was right- that Mitch was right. “You killed Mitch,” He spoke simply. “You shot Omar. You set our home on fire like nobody was living there.”

He stepped and turned away from the raider with a shake of his head. “I can say it all I want,” he realized then, “but you’re never going to care. None of you will. You’re too fucking chickenshit to have a goddamn heart. Nothing I say doesn’t fucking matter.”

“When a pig squeals before it’s slaughtered,” Louis spoke gravely, “the butcher doesn’t care. Sometimes, he even laughs.” He looked up to meet Gad’s eye, his own face melancholy, holding shadows of despair.

Gad sneered. “When the fuck did they start teaching little kids philosophy?”

“About the time they all abandoned us, and didn’t lock the library on their way out,” Louis said, shrugging with hateful sarcasm dripping from his tone. “Your view on stuff changes when you get ahold of some old man’s books.”

“Oh, you think you’re so mature just because you read some Steinbeck?” Gad laughed. “Keep up this hard-ass attitude all you want, kids. We’re gonna need attitudes like that on the frontlines.”

Mitch was standing right beside Gad, angry and as hateful as Louis was sounding. He looked to Willy desperately.

Don’t wait for Clem. Find a way off this fucking boat before it’s too late.

Willy stared him down, and he gave a singular nod, backing up next to Aasim. He didn’t want to tell Mitch he disagreed; he knew that Clementine had a plan. They just needed to wait for the right moment.

Mitch approached him, bending down a little to be at his eye level.

We can’t wait much longer, Will. We need to leave.

Chapter Text

Willy didn’t speak as Gad prattled on about something-or-other. He knew it was best if he just let the man talk. Mitch didn’t like his lack of action, but Willy knew he was doing right by biding his time. He was sitting on the floor cross-legged, hands grappled onto his shoes with his head bowed down to stare at the floor. 

Mitch was sitting next to him, back pressed against the wall and staring at Willy with his one dead eye.

Why aren’t you moving? He asked. The door’s wide open. You could make a run for it.

Willy wanted to tell him no, but the last thing he needed was for everyone to see him talking to thin air. Mitch was impatient; he always was. Fortifying the school with Aasim made Willy realize the importance of waiting, although the lessons didn’t sink in until later. 

Mitch wouldn’t let him focus on the memory, though. He was desperately insistent. Willy, he insisted. Come on, we need to run!

“No, we don’t,” Willy mouthed firmly. “Wait.”

We can’t wait. Willy, don’t start being stupid. You can’t keep freezing up and getting scared-

“I’m not scared.”

He felt Aasim’s eyes on him, but all he could pay attention to was Mitch.

Then act like it. Just get up, and run out the fucking door.

Willy gave a deep sigh in response, burying his head in his knees. “I can’t,” he whispered hoarsely.

“The hell is he saying?” Gad demanded, standing up from the cot to take a couple steps forward before Aasim blocked his path.

“Hey, l-leave him-”

“No, I wanna know what he’s saying.” Aasim shrank back as Gad knelt down, looking over Willy’s pathetic figure. “What did you say, William?”

Stab him and run, Mitch hissed. You have your knife, just do it!

“No,” Willy choked out, curling up even tighter. His hands were trembling at the thought of holding his knife, and Mitch hissing in his ear was enough to make him shake even more.

“No, what?” Gad asked, reaching his hand forward and taking the boy by the arm. “Hey! Are you listening to me?”

Willy shot his head up, a sick twist jabbing him in the stomach. His eyes were home to tears as he looked into the raider’s angry eyes, mouth opening and closing, trying to form some kind of sentence. “I-I… I’m not…”

I’m talking to myself. I’m fucking talking to myself, and everyone can see it.

He shot his eyes to Aasim, who was shyly sporting him an alarmed glance back. “Willy, are you okay?”

“He better be,” Gad muttered, taking his hand off of Willy as he stood back up. “Don’t you start cryin’, or I’m gonna give you something to cry about.”

Now’s your chance, Mitch tried, Get up and get the fuck out of here.

Willy’s heart was pounding– why was it pounding? Why was he scared? What did he have to be scared over?

Willy, stop being stupid and run!

“I think he’s having a panic attack,” Louis noted, alarm ringing his voice. He shifted over to reach through Aasim, waving his hand in Willy’s face. “Hey, Willy? Buddy, are you-”

"I can't!" Willy choked out, one of his hands reaching up to scratch violently at his neck. He tried to focus on the pain to snap him out of this, but it just made him panic more. His brain was alight with all the worst kinds of thoughts, all of which Mitch was screaming at him.

Get out of here! Mitch yelled, and Willy felt him grab his vest, as if trying to take the knife out himself. You need to leave, Willy! Just rip his fucking guts out and run!

"Hey, hey!" Aasim knelt in front of him, gently shaking his shoulder. "Willy, focus. Focus on me, okay?”

Willy’s ragged breath wouldn’t even out as Mitch once again reiterated his statement. You want him to die, he said all-knowingly, you want him to bleed, so just fucking do it! You have everything you need to go home! Are you even listening to me!?

Gad reached behind him and grabbed his gun, making sure everyone heard him cocking it back. Aasim tensed, turning around and blocking Willy from the barrel. “William,” he demanded, “You shut the fuck up and quit crying.”

“How is that helping!?” Louis cried, throwing his arm up in a what the hell gesture. “He’s having a fucking panic attack!”

“Aw, puddin’!” Gad drawled, snapping his glare to him. “He’s gonna have to learn to stop fuckin’ showing that he’s scared. We’re all fucking scared!”

“Easy for you to say!” Louis argued, standing up and getting in his face. "You don't have any god damn feelings!"

Gad let out what could only be described as a snarl, roughly shoving him back into the wall. "Watch your tone," he warned. When Louis didn't reply to him, he looked back at Willy, gasping on the floor.

He was drowning. Just like the walkers. He felt his skin chipping away. His lungs were screaming for air, his eyes were about to burst. He was sure his face was beet red, and his arm burned so much .

Aasim kept trying to ground him. Keeping an arm around his shoulders, he kept repeating, "Just breathe, okay? Focus, just breathe."

Willy couldn't hear him, horrified that Mitch's screaming turned into his own sick voice in his head. 

Do it! He cried at himself. Slice him open, make his guts spill out on the floor! Use your knife, just do it!

"NO!" Willy screamed with the only breath he had. "I can't, I can't—! "

A black spark of agony burst across his face as his head was kicked into the wall. The bandage on his cheek was loose from tears, ready to peel off, and the other side of his head had a dull ache snaking across his skull. He could only muster the ability to wheeze, reaching his painful arm up to clutch his head as another kick from Gad's leather boots collided with his stomach.

"STOP!" Aasim screamed, standing up on trembling legs. His fingers were twitching as he shoved Gad back with all his might, before common sense could kick in and make him realize what he'd done.

Willy didn't want to know what happened next. His fading vision saw Gad raise his gun, which earned a clamor of protest from Louis.

"No, don't!" Willy heard as he started to drift off, despite everything shrieking in him to stay awake. "Don't, don't you dare—!"

A deafening BANG from the gun silenced everything, and Aasim dropped to the ground.

Chapter Text

“Because you’re stupid, and your safe zone fucking sucks!”

Willy snaps his head up from his woodcarving, twisting his body to catch Sophie, Minnie and Marlon storm out of the admin building. Bright sunlight makes him squint, and he knows that whatever was going on was interesting when Mitch looks up too.

“How is it stupid?” Marlon demands, throwing his hand in the air. “We’ve lost three people out there. Three friends, who are never coming back. We need to cut off the area.”

“No, we don’t!” Sophie argues. “That meadow is full of prey. We can’t risk losing all that just because you’re scared of some stupid sack of meat that doesn’t even go that fast.”

“Says the fucking track kid!” Marlon shoots back.

“Guys?” Minnie butts in, voice timid and shy. “Hey, I think you both should calm-”

“No, ‘Nerva!” Sophie interrupts. “We’re tight enough on food as it is, and now Marlon wants us to starve even more!”

“Hey, shut up,” Mitch calls, standing up and crossing his arms. “Screaming at each other isn’t gonna solve anything.”

“Sure makes it a fuck of a lot more fun,” Sophie snaps. Her low ponytail is threatening to come all the way undone, and the fierce snarl she boasts is enough to make Willy shrink back.

"Sophie, you're being irrational," Marlon accuses. "The meadow is too far from the school as-is, so if you get bit out there, you're fucked. That's how we lost Trevor, Kiya, and Danté. It's how we're gonna lose you too if you don't fucking listen!"

"Marlon has a point," Minnie says, and she gives her sister a look of worry mixed with annoyance. "We need to stick closer to the school in case something happens."

"And I have a point, too!" Sophie says. "The point being that we can't keep holing back up behind concrete walls whenever something goes a little less than okay. Marlon can't keep restricting how much food we get to eat every day."

Marlon presses his hands to his face with an aggravated sigh. "Sophie," he speaks through his fingers, "I said no. It's too dangerous to go that far out!" 

"Too dangerous for you ," Sophie corrects, and she has a righteous tone in her voice. Her eyes blaze with determination for Marlon to see things from her perspective.

Willy watches as Sophie takes an exaggerated flop onto the recliner chair next to the couch he was sitting on, one leg over the arm of the couch. "Fucking ridiculous," she mutters, watching as Marlon and Minnie walk away from her to have their own conversation. "It's fucking ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Marlon has a point," Mitch says, leaning back and twirling his knife around his fingers like a drumstick. "What if someone does get hurt out there? Not just a bite, but like… broken leg, sprained ankle, that kinda' thing."

"We can learn from our mistakes," Sophie says. "We can build a small base out there, if he's got his dick in a twist over it. A little hideout where we can take care of ourselves and hide if we need to."

"Yeah, and where are we gonna get the materials for that?" Mitch raises his eyebrow. "It's not like we can just find some plywood lying around."

"We can take stuff from the old classrooms, the gym– like, come on!" Sophie throws her arms to the sky. "It's not that fuckin' hard! I'll do it myself if I have to."

Willy looks down at the semi-sharp end of his wooden spear. "But… what if someone else gets bit?"

"We'll deal with it then," Sophie answers. She turns over on her belly to hang her arm over the arm of the chair as she looks Willy in the eye. "I'm gonna tell you, little guy; this shit's stupid. Marlon thinks I'm overreacting because I'm arguing with him."

"Arguing by yelling in the morning," Mitch adds.

"I'm making sure he hears me," Sophie shoots back with a raised eyebrow. "And I'm making sure you hear me, too. I'm just proposing more options than pulling back the safe zone again." She sits up, more serious now. "I know you see it, we're getting less and less food every week. Next thing you know, all twenty-three of us are passing around a little bowl of soup, and we can only take one sip to leave some for everyone else."

"You need to chill," Mitch says bluntly. "Quit thinking of worst-case scenarios– you're just scaring everyone else."

Sophie glares at him, but doesn't respond in words. Willy sees the way her eyes flicker, the form her snarl takes on her mouth, how she doesn't bother to swipe stray locks of hair out of her eyes.

He looks back down at his spear, and starts carving the weapon once more.

Willy blearily blinked his eyes open, his heart thumping. Taking in his surroundings, he didn’t see Louis or Aasim. All he saw was a torch illuminating the room, which held shelves on all its walls stuffed with various items. He noticed himself to be tied to a chair by his wrists, and in front of him was a table, seeming to function as a desk. Papers were strewn about on the surface, halfway covering a well-charted map.

Steadily, his breath rose and fell as he whipped his head around, taking in lungful after lungful of stuffy air. There was no airflow, no windows, just the bleak torchlight and the sickening rock of the boat to keep him company. He tried struggling in his restraints, but a quick jab of pain from his open wound was enough to remind him he didn’t have the energy for it. His head was light and fuzzy, and the back of his neck ached with pain from holding his head up. 

Before he could ask himself questions, a chill climbed up his spine as Mitch appeared next to him. Willy caught the side of his face that wasn’t stabbed, so he looked rather normal. He had his default muted anger as the expression to wear this time, staring straight ahead. 

I told you not to wait, he said, disappointed. You could have stabbed him, and Aasim would have been fine.

Willy sighed, feeling a hot sting behind his eyes. He bowed his head down, and with a bit of effort he nudged his vest open to peer into his inside pocket. Even if he couldn’t hold his knife, it would make him feel better to know he had it.

Except he didn’t have it. His pocket was empty. Horribly, achingly empty.

Mitch studied his shocked expression. Now look what’s happened. They took it. Now, you have nothing. His face grew angry. You should have fucking listened to me!

Tears pricked Willy’s eyes, and his breathing grew ragged. “I-I didn’t…"

That doesn't matter.

Willy shot his gaze to Mitch, glaring at him. "Mitch, I don’t want to kill-”

You don’t have a choice. I don’t care if you don’t want to play, you’re in this game. And unless you want to die, you’re gonna have to win. Mitch stared him down, uneasiness creeping into Willy’s body. 

Willy looked down to avert his gaze, knowing he was right. "If I have to play, they have to stop cheating," he muttered, eyes darkening. "And they can't keep switching sides."

That’s gonna be impossible. If they bend the rules, you have to bend ‘em right back.

“I wish Sophie was here,” he said, moreso to himself. “She'd get us out of this shit, no doubt. She’d be busting down every door, giving a fuck you to every one of these–" 

He paused in his thoughts for a moment, his brain putting together a puzzle he didn't know he had the pieces for. Mitch tilted his head expectantly, spilling blood from his face. What is it?

“Minnie said she died fighting for them,” Willy muttered. He remembered her saying that, even if in the moment he was in a monumental amount of pain. “But… in the woods, she said…”

“Sophie couldn’t see it, but Delta is ten times more loyal, and caring than any of those fuckers back at the school.”

“Sophie hated this place,” he whispered.

A door behind him opened, and Mitch stuttered away. Willy hung his head as footsteps thudded behind him, though his eyes were wide with his realization..

He came to hear two pairs of footsteps; one stopping behind him and the other walking around him to sit at the desk. He didn’t want to look up- even if he could. His head weighed a ton of bricks, and his neck was tired.

“William.” Dorian’s voice was soft, gentle, yet demanding. “Are you awake?”

Willy breathed in and out as slowly as he could to get enough air into his lungs. “Yeah,” he weakly answered.

“Yes ma’am?” she corrected, raising an eyebrow at him expectantly.

Willy swallowed hard. “I ain’t no ma’am, Dorian.”

“Willy, don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Minnie’s voice chirped from behind him. He jerked his head up, almost turning to catch sight of her crossbow. 

Of course she's here. Why wouldn't she be?

“I’m just gonna ask you a couple questions, and you’re gonna give me a couple answers,” Dorian finished. Her hands were clasped together on top of the table. “As long as you tell the truth, you’ll be fine.”

“Where’s Aasim?” Willy blurted. “Is he okay?”

“I’ll ask the questions.”

“I won’t answer,” Willy snapped, wiggling in his bonds, “Unless you tell me if Aasim’s okay.”

Dorian paused. Her eyes flickered over the papers on the table, and she unwound her hands to drum her fingers on the surface. “He’s alive,” she finally answered, looking up to meet Willy’s eye. “I can tell you that much.”

Willy sighed in relief, hanging his head for a moment once more before he lifted his head again. “Alright.”

“Now it’s my turn.” Dorian reached under the table, and pulled something up from a drawer. Upon laying it on the table, Willy recognized his newly-coveted harmonica. “Where’d you get this?”

Willy swallowed, feeling his heart pick up pace. “I found it under the pillow," he answered warily.

“Under the pillow,” Dorian echoed. She looked up to meet Minnie’s eye, who returned her stare. “Minerva. You remember Donovan?”

“Of course I do,” Minnie responded with a nod. “The camp was always a little brighter with him around.”

“Give him some sticks, he’ll make a drum,” Dorian recalled fondly. Willy was surprised to see her smile. “Give him a word, he’ll make a song.”

Just like Louis is. “Let me guess,” Willy said, voice husky from exhaustion. “He’s dead.”

Dorian nodded, locking eyes with Minnie again. “It was on the frontlines. Bullet caught him in the neck.”

Willy swallowed hard, hating that he felt a pang of sympathy.

“This was Donovan’s harmonica,” Dorian finished, picking up the item. “Carried it with him like a good-luck charm, says it was from his daddy. He must have left it under the pillow when he got to the battlefield.”

Willy hummed. “Okay? And?” He knew what trick they were playing at. He couldn’t fall for their heart-tugs.

Dorian deadpanned, turning serious once more. “William, when Gina frisked you last night, she said you had nothing." She studied Willy as he froze, breath catching in his throat. "Which means," she continued, pulling a familiar item from under the desk and settling it on the table, "You managed to get your hands on this from between last night and a couple hours ago." The clatter of the metal resounded throughout the small room.

Willy stared hard at his knees, a throb in his arm making him squirm. Of course she has the knife. Now I'm never getting it back. "Hours?" he croaked. I've only been out a couple minutes, right…?

"Where'd you get the knife?" Dorian asked simply. Her hands laced together, blocking the weapon from his view.

Willy swallowed hard. What was he going to tell her? She wouldn't believe that Gina had missed it, even though it was the truth. He had to make up some sort of lie-

"William," Dorian stressed. "I'm not gonna ask again."

Willy looked up, a sudden determination on his face as he spoke. "Minnie gave it to me."

He heard Minnie draw in a surprised gasp. Dorian's eyes wordlessly turned upwards to stare at Minnie.

"Wh- no , no I didn't!" Minnie protested. "He-he's lying, ma'am!"

"She gave it to me when we were in the woods," Willy went on, "she said I needed it."

"No, I–!"

"Minerva." Dorian closed her eyes and stood up, displeased. "I know that tone. That's your voice when you're not telling the truth."

"No, I'm…!" Minnie lowered her crossbow. "Dorian, I promise I didn't give that to him. I didn't even know he had it!"

Willy turned back to face Minnie, putting a pout in his eyes he hoped was believable. "But… you told me that you didn't wanna see me any more hurt. You said that I needed a line of defense against these monsters. "

"Monsters?" Dorian repeated, raising her eyebrow. "Did you say that?"

"No!" Minnie defended, eyes wide with terror. "I promise . Willy was the one talking shit about us out there!"

"No," Willy shot back. "I only shit-talked you !"

Dorian seemed numb to the kid's squabbling, if a bit pissed. "One of you is lying," she said, "and I really don't give a fuck about what you were talking about out there."

"But—!"

"The fact of the matter is, Minerva, is that William had to get his hands on this somehow in the time between being frisked, and the time he came back to his cell after he was with you." Dorian picked the knife up from the table, flipping the blade between her hands. "And you were the one with eyes on him the whole day. Who's to say you snuck him something when you were getting your axe from the armory?"

"I only gave him a hatchet!" Minnie said, tears starting to prick her eyes. "And once we were done, I immediately picked it back up."

Dorian crossed the distance between them, deliberately slow. "I'll have Armando run an inventory check. If I find out you're lying, it's not going to be pretty. Is that clear?"

Minnie swallowed hard and gave a curt nod. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

Willy felt a pang in his arm as he dipped his head, remembering what he found out before they came in. "Um, Dorian," he asked, "Can I ask Minnie something?"

Dorian raised her eyebrow. "That's not how this works."

"It's just one question," Willy promised. "Please, I- I just have to. Please?"

Dorian softened. "Fine." She cocked her head in a motion for Minnie to come to the front of the desk so she was in Willy's line of sight. "You have two minutes."

Willy stared up at Minnie; eyes terrified and threatening to burst tears. For a moment, he recognized Minerva Andel, the day she killed her first walker. He took in a shaky breath, and asked.

"How did Sophie die?"

Minnie's trembling froze, terror melting into shock. She definitely wasn't expecting that question, he knew.

"You said she died fighting for the Delta," Willy explained, "but in the woods you said she couldn't see how great this place was. She wouldn't fight for something she doesn't believe in– so how did she die?"

Minnie slowly stepped back, her leg bumping against the desk. She hardly tore her eyes away from Willy, mouth opening and closing to form some kind of lie.

“How did she die, Minerva?” Dorian asked calmly, as if she didn’t know the answer herself.

“We…” Minnie tried, “We were on the frontlines, and she just-”

“Bullshit,” Willy snapped, his wrists aching in his restraints as he leaned forward to glare at her closer. “How did she really die?”

Once more, Minnie went silent, and Dorian scoffed. “Are you really that ashamed to admit it?” She asked. “All that time when you said you were proud to show us your loyalty… was all that a lie?”

“Admit what?” Willy asked, craning his head up to look at Dorian, oblivious to Minnie’s sob that escaped her mouth. 

“You said you’d only ask one question.”

Willy bit the inside of his cheek. Okay, I did say that. But what does Minnie have to be ashamed of? He looked back to Minnie. “Minnie, how did Sophie die?” His heart was hammering against his ribs as a realization began to creep upon him like dawn.

Minnie nearly buckled to the ground, having to keep herself stable by grasping onto the side of the table. “I… I…”

“You what?” Willy pressed. He had a suspicion, but his whirring mind prayed he wasn’t right. Though the way her knuckles turned white with her grip, the way the tears slid down her cheeks... 

“How did Sophie die, Minnie?” He asked in a thick voice. “How did you kill her?”

Minnie finally let out a sob, her hands flying to her face as she crumpled to the floor. Her knees thudded against the hardwood planks, and Willy’s heart sank. “I’m right, aren’t I?” He demanded, not wanting to believe it. “Sophie is dead, and you killed her.” He glared at her curled up on the ground, unable to fight the tears that pricked his eyes.

“Sophie convinced her to steal a raft and run away,” Dorian explained, and Willy felt the ropes around his wrists loosen. “And sure enough, they both got caught. Minerva had to prove her loyalty.”

Willy stood, keeping his arms together. He swallowed hard, his thumb tracing along the inside of his other wrist. "She had to choose between you and Sophie."

"And she made the right choice," Dorian stressed, directing the phrase to Minnie. She crossed her arms with a heavy sigh. "And here I thought we had gotten through to you, Minerva. Knocked some fucking sense into you."

Willy stepped back as Dorian walked closer to Minnie, still sobbing on the floor. "You made Minnie kill her?"

"We didn't make her do anything," Dorian snapped. "She made her choice."

The unsteady rock of the boat made Willy's stomach churn. Mitch was back beside him, but for once he didn't have anything to say.

It was a deafeningly silent moment that followed. The torchlight flickered and wavered, scattering shadows along the floor and cloaking Minnie in the darkness left from the desk’s shadow. Willy took a ginger step back, unable to bear Dorian’s cold glare for much longer.

This was his fault. If he had just kept his question to himself…

“William,” Dorian said suddenly. Her voice was a calm before the storm. “Out the door, up the stairs to your left. Get back in your cell, Gina’s on watch.”

“What happened to Gad?” Willy blurted. He almost blocked out Mitch seething, as if you even care.

“He’s not going anywhere near you guys,” Dorian promised, “Not after that shit he pulled. Go.”

He shifted his feet, flickering his eyes to the table Dorian was halfway blocking. “Can I have the harmonica back?”

Dorian shot her glare to him.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I mean, I know I'm not getting the knife back. I just thought…"

“If it’ll shut you up. Don’t you fucking play it.” Dorian tossed the instrument in his hands, practically shoving him to the door. “Now get the fuck out!”

Willy closed the door gently behind him, as if too quick a movement would cause an explosion. He plodded slowly down the tilting hallway, his stomach roiling with unease. “I just got Minnie in so much trouble,” he whispered to Mitch, gliding down the hallway beside him.

So? She deserved it. Didn’t you just hear what she did?

“Yeah, but… she looked so-”

Don’t let her fool you. She’s not sorry. If she wasn’t sorry for you, or Aasim, or Louis, she’s not sorry for anybody.

“But that was her sister .” Willy’s voice choked up, eyes boring holes into the ground as he stopped in the hallway. What if I had to make that choice?

He tried to envision it. He saw himself with a gun in his hand, standing on a bobbing raft in the middle of the water. He felt guns pressing into the back of his head.

He saw Mitch, defeated at his shoes. He looked angry, terrified.

"No. No, I can't."

Then you'd die, Mitch whispered to him.

"I don't care!" Willy whimpered, trying to shake the vision from his head. "I couldn't kill you!" 

He was hardly away from the door to his interrogation room, and now he heard voices raising from inside.

“...Can’t believe you would lie to me. Lie to all of us!”

“I-I wasn’t, I-”

“Then what the fuck are you crying for!?”

Willy swallowed hard, inching closer to the door. He kept his injured arm close to his body, glad to know it was starting to scab over again.

“I have a right to be upset, don’t I?” Minnie wailed. “She was my sister!”

“She was a traitor ,” Dorian snapped back. “It doesn’t matter if she was your sister, she isn’t anymore. Are you still thinking about those fuckin' school kids?”

A beat of silence.

“Minerva, we’ve been over this.” 

Dorian’s boots thudded on the ground, and Willy backed away from the door. He knew it would end badly if he was caught eavesdropping, so he started speed-walking down the hall, past the other doors on either side of the hallway. 

He got to the flight of rickety metal stairs, but stopped, looking back at the door at the end of the hallway. Sunlight was long gone, so all that lit his way were the flickering torches making his shadow dance on the walls.

He jumped when he heard Minerva scream.

Chapter Text

Willy hardly reacted when Gina snagged him by the arm and threw him into his cell. He blocked her out the second he saw Louis, with Aasim's head lying in his lap.

"Is he okay?" Willy immediately asked, stumbling and skidding to his knees to look them both over. 

“For now,” Louis rasped. He had a fresh-looking cut on his cheek, tear tracks streaking down to his jawline and a busted lower lip. Aasim had the same blackened bruise on his face, but now sported blood seeping through his shirt from his shoulder, which he was surprised to see was wrapped up; bandages poked through the collar of his shirt. His jacket lay on the cot, bunched up in a ball. Willy reached his hand forward and felt his warm forehead. "Is that bad?"

"Maybe," Louis whispered hoarsely. He didn't even look up to meet Willy's eye. "He's breathing, at least. He just needs to rest up."

Willy sighed, pulling his hand away and wiping it on his pants. "What happened to you?"

"Fought back," Louis answered simply, finally looking up to smile. "Gad tried coming up to him again and... I just lost it a little." He gently moved his arm to lift Aasim’s unconscious head up the slightest bit. “You shoulda’ seen his face when I shoved him back.”

Willy laughed a little breathlessly. “I wish I could, but I was kind of knocked the fuck out.” He leaned away from the two, bringing his knee up to his chest. “I’m alright now, though. Jus’ a little headache.” And my head is fucking spinning because now I know how Sophie died. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it.

“Where’d they take you?” Louis asked. “They pulled you up and saw you had a knife, and then they just… dragged you off.”

Willy kept his eyes on his shoe. “A little room with no windows. Not too far from here. They just interrogated me a bit. Asked a couple questions, and I gave a couple answers. She didn’t hurt me.”

“Good.” Louis sighed with a hopeful smile. “That’s good. I take it they took that knife?” Willy nodded, and his smile fell. “That’s… less than good.” He shook his head. “Where’d you even get that knife? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“ I got it from the-"

Wait, he told himself. You can't switch up your story. Even if it's just Louis.

"From… Minnie."

“Minnie?” Louis raised an eyebrow. When Willy nodded, he looked out the window of their cell. “Why’d she-"

“She said I needed it for protection,” Willy forced out. “And when I told Dorian, she wanted to start denying it.”

Louis studied him with silent eyes. He caught a lying tone, but before he could comment on it the cell’s door rattled. On a protective instinct, he set his arm over Aasim’s chest. “Hey, get the fuck -!”

“Relax, kid,” Armando said, slowly stepping into the room. In his hands, he held three bowls. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“You already have.” Louis glared at him icily.

“Don’t blame me for Gad’s bullshit. You wanna eat or not?" Armando cast his lazy eyes to Willy glaring at him, and he chuckled and stepped back. “Don’t worry, little guy, I got it. No touching.”

Willy breathed in, meaning to shoot something back, but he just growled and crossed his arms. “I thought I wasn’t allowed to eat?”

Armando knelt down to be eye-level with the kids, setting the bowls on the ground. “Dorian said it was best you didn’t starve before you get to camp.” He looked at Aasim, who was breathing shallowly. “He hasn’t woken up yet?”

“He just got shot,” Louis murmured, any anger he had fizzling out. “He lost a lot of blood, I’d be surprised if he woke up tomorrow.”

“Well, see if you can get him awake to eat a couple bites.” Armando stood up. “He’s gotta be as tip-top as he can once we hit shore.”

“Maybe trigger-happy out there shouldn’t have shot him, he would have been fine.” Louis, despite his words, reached forward and took one of the bowls for himself. 

“Don’t worry,” Armando said. “Gad’s getting his punishment." He paused, staring at Willy quizzically. "And so it seems is Minerva, if all that screaming was anything to go by.”

Willy swallowed hard, feeling Armando’s eyes on him. He jerked his hand forward, taking his bowl of salty mush. He couldn’t erase the sound of Minnie’s scream from his ears.

“I heard you got your hands on a knife," Armando said, practically demanding Willy to tell him everything.

Willy nodded, not swayed. “Yeah, what's it to you?" He jammed the spoon of mush into his mouth, shuddering at the taste. Still, he was grateful to have something in his stomach.

Armando snuffed, crossing his arms as his smile disappeared. "Hate being left in the dark about this shit," he muttered as he left. "Every time something on this fuckin' boat happens, I'm the last to know."

"Well maybe if you shut up and listened, you wouldn't be so fuckin' clueless," Gina shot back as she shut the cell door. 

The two's arguing faded as Willy focused his attention on his friends. Louis had gently moved Aasim to be sitting propped up against the wall. "Hey, Aasim," Willy tried, reaching forward and gently shaking his shoulder- the one without a gunshot wound. "Hey, wake up."

Aasim huffed, the corner of his mouth deepening into a frown. 

"'Simmy,” Louis coaxed, running his hand through Aasim's hair. "Come on, it's dinner time."

Aasim groaned, eyebrows furrowing as his bleary eyes blinked halfway open. "Wh… who's…" 

Willy blew out a relieved breath. "Oh, my god, you're alive."

Aasim suddenly gasped, his hand flying up to his shoulder. "Ow! God damn…!" His eyes tore across the cell, wide and terrified. He relaxed, though, upon seeing Willy, and then Louis.

“Hey, man,” Louis said, setting a bowl in Aasim’s lap. “They say you need to eat something.”

Aasim dumbly reached his hand forward, grasping his fingers around the bowl. “What happened?” he rasped, and Willy saw the cracks in his dry lips as he spoke. "I-I just remember that guy kicking Willy, and…"

"Don't worry," Willy said, taking another bite of his food. "I'm alright, Aasim. You need to rest up, and eat."

Aasim's dull eyes lowered, and with a shaking hand, he raised his spoon to his lips. 

"The answer's pretty obvious," Louis said, forcing down the food, "but… how are you feeling?"

Aasim sighed, reaching his hand to his shoulder again. "Like I just got struck by lightning. It's like… it hurts, but it's not easing up."

Willy looked into his bowl. "That can't be good."

"It's gonna be alright," Louis objected, hope stringing his voice. "With a bit of food and rest, you'll be okay."

Aasim shrugged dully with one shoulder. "Let's just hope you're right."

The three ate in silence for a while before the dryness in Willy's throat was almost too much to bear. He stood up with his arms hugging each other, and he shuffled to the cell door. "Hello? Gina?"

"You're not supposed to be talking," Gina said, and footsteps came closer to the cell door. Willy peeked out a little and saw her, rifle tight in her hand.

"I was just gonna ask for some water," Willy said, and he lowered his voice. "The, um… the food's really salty, and we haven't had anything to drink."

"Aasim needs it more than anyone," Louis added, raising his voice for Gina to hear him. "He lost a lot of blood."

Gina hesitated. Then, "I'll see what I can do. For now, just stop talking."

That's just their way of saying we're on our own. Mitch stayed at Willy's side, glaring at the door.

Willy sat down in front of Louis and Aasim again, feeling his head weigh heavy. He was surprised to see most of the food gone from his bowl. Was I really that hungry? He looked over and saw Aasim's bowl was still practically full. "'Sim, eat some more."

"Trying," Aasim replied tiredly. "I'm just… not hungry. I'm thirsty, more than anything."

"Gina said she's working on it," Willy said. "They'll get us something."

Since when do you trust Gina? Mitch hissed at him. She's a monster, just like everyone else. 

Louis watched Aasim with tears pricking his eyes and a deep frown embedded on his face. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered. "We're gonna go home, and be off this boat before you know it.”

Aasim sighed, forcing himself to take another bite. It was a long while before Willy saw him swallow. Willy focused on listening to the muffled voices above them, voices he could make out to be Gad and Dorian. Though, he didn't know what they were saying.

Sooner than he would have liked, he heard the cell bars rattle. He jumped and whirled around, drawing in a gasp.

One by one, four water bottles dropped to the floor of the cell, falling over and rolling with the rock of the boat. Minnie's arm drew back from the cell bars, and she didn't say a word. 

She just focused her single eye on Willy as he stood up. 

Her single eye, which was puffy and red and evident of crying that hadn't yet stopped. The rest of her face was covered with bandages blotted starkly with fresh red blood that had yet to stop flowing, resulting in trails of blood leaking down her cheek; her hair was matted underneath the white strips of bandages and poking out just the slightest bit.

"Minnie?" Louis called out, eyebrows upturned. "What the fuck happened to you…?"

Minnie dipped her head in, then used the same with-the-foot trick Gad used to open the cell door. "I just came for your dinner bowls." Her voice was raw, dull, flat. Any spark of defiance that Willy heard through the door was gone, as was any emotion in her eye; a stark contrast from when she had broken down crying in the interrogation room.

"Minnie?" It was Aasim's turn to get her attention, the corner of his mouth streaked with water. "Hey, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Minnie knelt down in front of him, taking the almost full bowl from his lap. "Stop talking."

"No," Louis objected, "what did they do to you?"

"What the fuck does it look like!?" Minnie snapped, taking his bowl from beside him. "Are you really that stupid to not get it?"

Louis snapped his mouth shut, pain crossing his face as if she slapped him. Aasim shrank into his shoulder as she stood up, only to stoop down to Willy’s feet as she gathered his bowl. The glare in her icy eyes was sparking the smallest of fires.

“You said you were mourning me.”

Willy furrowed his eyebrows. “Wh-what?”

“In the woods,” Minnie explained as she righted herself. “You were singing their praises about how much they still cared about me, and the first thing I see is Violet just throwing herself all over someone else.”

“Excuse me, what?” Louis leaned forward. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about what a big fuckin’ liar Willy is,” Minnie hissed. "Every single thing that comes out of his mouth is a lie. You never mourned me and Sophie," she accused, "you never gave a shit. Any of you."

Willy balled his hands into fists, his injured arm aching with the tension. "You can't say that about Tenn."

"I can sure as hell say it about Violet." She turned away from the three with what could be described as a growl. "And you."

"What did Violet do?" Louis asked. 

Willy sighed. "When we saw her in the woods with Clem… they looked pretty close."

Louis's eyebrows shot up, the smallest of smiles gracing his lips. "Oh? Like… together?"

Willy nodded, but Minnie spoke for him. "It looks like she's got herself a new girlfriend."

Louis's face darkened as he looked at Minnie. "What, is she not allowed to move on? It's been a whole fucking year, Min. And I'm willing to bet you haven't even thought about her until today."

Minnie faltered with a grimacing glare. "You don't-"

"Minerva!" Gina knocked loudly on the door frame. "God dammit, get out here!"

Minnie jumped, nearly dropping the bowls in her hand. "Y-Yes ma'am, sor-sorry." Her anger was immediately snuffed out.

"And you three." Gina came into the cell as Minnie shuffled to the door. "This is your last warning to shut the fuck up."

"Minnie started it," Louis said, sitting back down next to Aasim.

"Louis," Gina hissed, a warning tone that made Minnie flinch.

Willy ambled to Aasim's other side, sitting down and crossing his legs. The space between his eyes sparked with a dull pain; all this screaming and arguing was finally starting to fatigue him. 

"Jus' shut up," Aasim whispered, now a bit more aware of his surroundings now that he was hydrated; he had drank nearly half the bottle in his hand. 

Louis cast his glance to his friends, then huffed and leaned back onto the wall, arms crossed. He offered no words, but he didn’t have to; his dark eyes and tight frown expressed all his biting words he was surely running over in his head. Aasim took one last drink from the bottle in his hand, then set it down between him and Willy.

“I think we’re done playing nice with you all,” Gina said as she elbowed Minnie out of the cell. “Go ahead and get your sleep, ‘cuz once tomorrow hits and we set off this shore, you’re not gonna catch a break.” As she continued, there was just the smallest hints of sympathy in her eyes, flickering in the torchlight. “They don’t care if you’re bleeding out, they don’t care if you don’t like being touched, they don’t give a shit about how bad of a childhood you had. You’re gonna get whipped into shape sooner rather than later.”

Willy slowly breathed in and out, despite his thudding heart, as Gina closed the door behind her. His wide eyes searched the floorboards, looking for an answer to his endless list of questions.

What side is Minnie on? When is Clementine getting here? How much longer is Aasim gonna last?

Why am I still talking to Mitch? Is it even Mitch I'm talking to?

How much longer can I keep this up? They know I'm scared, so why am I still pretending to not be?

"Hey, Aasim," Louis whispered, grunting as he got to his feet. "You should sleep on the cot tonight. It wouldn't be very comfortable sleeping on the floor with a hole in your shoulder."

Aasim hesitated. "Willy, is your arm okay?" He whispered.

Willy shook his head with a smile. "Take the cot, 'Sim. You need it way more than I do."

Aasim took his jacket in his arms, hugging it to his chest with a deep breath. "Okay… g'night."

Willy watched as Aasim painfully laid down, his jacket sleeve covering his eyes, and before he knew it he was turning away from that sight and into Louis' shoulder, feeling his arm around his own shoulders.

"Just stay calm," Louis whispered, and Willy felt the tremor in his voice. It sounded like he was assuring himself, more than anything. "Any second now, Clementine is gonna come into this boat and kick every single one of their asses. They're not just gonna let us get taken."

Willy nodded. "I don't think we have time to wait for them to get here. We need to do something."

Louis shook his head. "What can we do, Will? We're not exactly in a fighting shape."

"Maybe you aren't," Willy murmured, "but I'm not quitting yet. They need to pay for what they've done."

Louis paused, keeping a worried eye on Willy, who was close to tears. "Willy," he finally said, "you're as exhausted as the rest of us. You don't need to keep pretending you're so tough."

Willy's eye twitched. "Where's the armory?" He asked, just above a whisper. "Did they show you?" He nervously glanced up to meet Louis's eyes.

Louis shrugged. "All they said was that it was in the lower deck. You really think they'd take us to see it?"

Lower deck. That must be where I was being interrogated. It's somewhere down there, I bet. "I'll find a way in there," he said matter-of-factly. "They have to have some of those… those bottle bombs, the ones they used at the school to start all those fires. Maybe I can use those…"

"Hey, woah." Louis took his arm away from Willy's shoulders, using his hand to grab Willy's. "Are you crazy !? You can't do that! Not while they have every eye on us!"

"We're going to get out of here," Willy promised, looking up at Louis with steadfast determination. "And I want to be damn sure these guys never come back for us again once we go. We need to destroy this boat, one way or another..."

He heard Mitch whispering in his ear again.

"...And we need to kill every last one of these monsters."