Chapter 26- Devastation

- General POV

Lilly turned, directing her voice to those hiding in the dark. "Minnie wanted to come along tonight. Tell you how well she's adjusted to her new life with us. How happy she is." She coaxed with her manipulative tone. A pang of worry hit my gut, forcing me to look to Tenn, who had stood up. I shook my head at him, trying to keep him from exposing himself. Thankfully by this point in time, Mitch and Willy had already placed the bomb, and we're just waiting for the right time to make it go off. His mind already made up, Tenn walked out of his cover, exposing himself to Lilly and the other raiders. "F*ck" I muttered under my breath. "Where is she?" He asked innocently, not realizing the true danger of his actions. "Come with me, I'll take you to her." She offered, manipulating the boy who hurt deeper than most knew. "Tenn, get away from her!" I shouted to him, who dodged her hand as she tried to grab him. "No!" He protested, finally starting to understand. Just then, the bomb exploded, scaring the horse with the cart off a little ways, but being lured back by a raider. Tenn retreated back to cover, and Clementine ducked under the table as one of the men fired a shot at her. Just then, Mitch ran out, ready to kill Lilly. As he reached her though, she pulled out an unseen knife, slicing it into his throat as he gasped for air. "Sh*t!" She cursed as she realized she killed a 'recruit'. Mitch fell to the ground, barely having a chance to move before Lilly was on top of him, stabbing the knife into his head to prevent him from turning. "MITCH!! NO!" Willy cried from behind cover, being held back by another one of the kids. All the others fired their bows and arrows at the raiders, attacking them from where they hid. They were fully exposed now, and would most likely have to fall back soon.

Just as one of them turned to shoot at Louis, Clem shot an arrow into his leg, making him fall back and cry out from pain. When he saw what had pierced his skin, he snapped it off like no big deal, and kept going. "Team, fall back!" Clementine shouted and ran for the admin building with a few others. The rest stayed behind the half-broken brick walls and continued to fight the remaining raiders, who didn't follow Clem and the others into the building. Little did they know that they were being lured into a trap. The few of them ran up the stairs, hiding behind a wooden board they'd put up. Watching carefully, Clementine cut the rope just as one of the raiders walked beneath a trap. Instantly, a duffel bag full of bricks fell on the man, crushing him under its weight and killing him. "Nooo!!" A woman shouted, enraged by the death. She grunted angrily and marched up the stairs. Now, they retreated up further as she shot at them. They trapped her with a couch, pinning her against the wall. The last raider left was Abel.

In one of the rooms, Clem yelled at AJ to lock the door, as Abel had started a fire inside the building, making it hard for them to breathe. Before he could though, Abel kicked the door open, knocking AJ to the ground and focusing on Clementine. "Your friend Lilly ain't around this time. So we'll have a nice little chat, you and me. Alone." He said menacingly. As he reached to grab her, she slashed at his hand with her knife, leaving a deep hash on his palm. "You little b*tch!" He fell back from the pain, landing on the ground. "Clem... I can't..." AJ cried from the side of the room, momentarily distracting Clem. "AJ, stay back!" She warned, but just as Abel kicked her down, making her drop her knife. She got up, grabbing it, but just as she was about to deflect his hit, he slapped her hard enough to make her spin around, allowing for him to pin het against the desk, completely defenceless. He held her arm in a hurtful position, keeping her from moving away. "You know, whenever I see someone like you: weak, small, afraid, and still alive? Well... I decide I need to fix that. Bet a lot of folks died to get you here." He taunted as Clem struggled to get a way out. Finally, her eyes landed on a small figurine of a light house. Reaching for it, she jabbed it up at him quickly, hitting him squarely in the eye and allowing for her to get away from him. As he stumbled back near the balcony, Clem rammed into him, pushing past the glass doors. She now held him against the balcony, kneeing him in the crotch when he tried to attack her. After a fair amount of struggling, the wood broke, making them both fall down to the ground.

Clementine awoke to the sounds of screams. Screams of pain. She pushed herself up with her hands to see Abel underneath her, his leg twisted. Broken and twisted unnaturally. Just as she was going to get up though, he grabbed her leg, still trying to fight. He never knew when to quit, did he? Finally, she kicked him in the face, trying to get out of his grasp. Just as Abel was going to grab her again, Rosie came out from nowhere and bit his arm, taking care of him so Clem could get away. As she was about to stand, she heard the click of a gun. Lilly. There she was, pointing her gun right against Clementine's head. "Don't do this Lilly." She half threatened, but it was more of a plead. "I have to." She said surely, but she couldn't hide the slight pain held in her gaze. "We were like family once. You wouldn't hurt family." Clem tried to talk her down. Luckily for her, they caught someone's attention. "I... Sh*t..." She tried to remain strong. Just then however, Louis tackled Lilly, making her shoot the gun but ultimately missing, and struggling with her on the ground. Clem ran to where she saw the bow and arrows, ready to shoot one but seeing both Louis and Violet in a struggle. As much as she wanted to help both, she knew she could only save one. That one was Louis.

Without much hesitation, she aimed at the raider fighting Louis, and shot her in the shoulder, allowing for Louis to escape. Before she could shoot another arrow though, Violet was knocked out and shoved into the cage. "We've cut our losses! Fall back! Pull in and fall back!" Lilly shouted from the gates, and all the raiders made their way out, being shot after. Lilly gave Clem one final 'I'll be back' look before smashing a molotov onto the ground and running away with the rest. Clem and the others fought the remaining walkers that had flooded in as they closed the gates.

Once done, the remaining kids made their way to the middle of the courtyard to show their presence. "Aasim, Omar, and... Violet. I never thought someone would get her..." Louis trailed off, looking in despair at the gates. "We'll get them back." Clem said with determination. "How?" He asked. "Well, we have someone who knows where the raiders are." She nodded to Abel, who had been tied up and unconscious. They all crowded around, ready to get their answers.

I'm sorry that the end is really dicey and such. It's kinda hard to get through all the fighting so soon. Not only that but I've been focusing on another story I have going recently, and I'm really tired right now. So sorry about the end, but... It'll get better soon. Thanks for reading!