The Bird And The Worm (Violentine)

Chapter Sixteen: Shot

“I’ve seen these ones before. Fighters: both of ‘em. You’ll like ‘em.”

“We’re looking for a kid; runs a community near here.”

“Marlon.”

Clementine grit her teeth, bending her spine in attempts to relieve the pressure from the boot on her back. “Sounds like the name of an asshole.”

A groan left her lips as the boot pressed down. “Do you or do you not know where it is?”

Fuck if she was going to let them go take the rest of them; even if they had been thrown out. “I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”

-

Clementine stared at the pipes above her, twitching as the water fell on her head. It was like fucking clockwork.

She couldn’t even remember what day it was. Based on their feeding patterns, guard switches… Probably somewhere around day four. Maybe.

A twitch.

A sigh left her lips. Her stomach had started to churn days ago due to lack of sleep. She was in a constant state of cold sweats and headaches, body doing its best to make her sleep while the guards did the opposite.

A twitch.

She shifted her hand through the rope, yawning with a slight wince as the raw skin around her wrist rubbed up against the rough material. She watched as the guard at the door was approached by another.

"Hey,"

A twitch.

She momentarily closed her eyes as the two continued talking, only to open them and find herself in an entirely different setting.

She glanced down at her hands, small and unmarked, taking note of the walkie talkie in her hand.

"Hey,"

A twitch.

Her eyes blew wide at the voice from the device, heart leaping into her throat.

"...Lee..?"

A chuckle came through the other end. "This is different. Normally you choose the train, or the motel…"

A twitch.

She glanced around the old wooden boards that had once made up the box she called a treehouse.

"Why here…?"

She swallowed, feeling her eyes well with tears. It made sense.

"I- I'm trapped…"

A few seconds of silence passed before she heard the sound of knuckles tapping on glass. A twitch. She opened the small door on her left, glancing down to the patio doors and finding the man on the other end standing just behind them.

"How so?"

Her lip quivered. "I'm stuck here. They won't let me leave, and- the only way to make them stop is to tell them where the kids are…"

A twitch.

"...so you can't do that, huh…"

"I can't let them hurt them, Lee. If anything happened to AJ or Violet-" "-shh, slow down, sweet pea,"

She closed her eyes at the name, a tear spilling out of her eye.

A twitch.

"Lee-"