When The Camellia Wilts | The Walking Dead Fanfiction

When Justice Is Vengeance Part III

"Memories fall apart, too. And then you're left with nothing, left not even with a ghost but its shadow." 

- Miles 'Pudge' Halter 

It was like a stand off between two forces. 

After they surrendered, all weapons were seized and their hands were all tied up at their back. 

They were gently escorted into Aliya's office for further questioning and negotiation. A safety precaution. If they were to stay at the warehouse, they had to follow its laws and rules. If they were to leave, they would leave with a pack of ration and only knives. 

Aliya slowly made her way to her chair, holding the edge of the table for leverage and sat down. "Close the door." Bray nodded before closing the door behind him. Only James and Kiefer were inside with Aliya. Katy opted to stay with Elisha as the number of injured has risen the past few hours. 

Aliya caught James' gaze and nodded at him, making him clear his throat and acknowledge the newcomers. "I'm James," He pointed his thumb at Kiefer, "this is Kiefer." He nodded at Aliya's direction, "This is Aliya. She's the head of the warehouse." She didn't miss the intrigued lift of the brows that the group gave. 

It wasn't really new to her as people often assumed that it was James and Cecil who were the heads of the warehouse as it was usually them who would welcome people. Aliya was staring at them in their face, trying to look for any sort of, give away, of any malicious thoughts or threats. 

Everybody was holding their breaths, waiting for her to speak. Once she inhaled slowly and opened her mouth to speak, she demanded all of their attention. "You surrendered." It wasn't her rubbing it on their face. Rather, it was a statement and a bit of a question. They surrendered, and other than being outnumbered, she wanted a hopeful answer. 

The woman nodded, "Yes we did." Aliya nodded without replying, waiting for a follow up. "W-we can be great assets for the warehouse. We'll earn our keep." It was good to hear, but now she wanted assurance. "How do I know you're not a threat anymore?" It was the young man on the woman's left side that spoke up. 

"All we really wanted was a roof over our heads and food in our stomach." She nodded silently, waiting for others to speak up. The young man on the right was just sat there silent, looking at the ground. "They took us under their wing, we were trying to earn our keep." She was nodding but her eyes were trained on the man on the right. 

His fist was clenched so tight that it was turning white. Aliya's head tilted a bit in curiosity, her brows slowly creasing in intrigue. When the woman in front noticed this, she gave a hesitant glance at the young man, before holding his hand and squeezing it, making him look up. 

"These are my nephews," she held the young man on left by the hand, "this is Jeremy," she then looked at the young man on the right, "this is Gab." The others then introduced themselves, trying to plea their case. The woman was named Stella, she took her nephews under her wing when all of this began.