Molly sat on bench with her arms folded, rubbing them tenderly and wincing in pain. She sighed deeply and stared at the bordered up fences that surrounded the pen. Her eyes flowed along the wooden boards, occasionally stopping and squinting at what she thought was a weak spot before they fell upon the broken ladder on the wall close to the shutter.
If she still had Hilda maybe she could parkour her way up there, grip onto the ladder with her hook and escape with ease. But of course, Carver's guards took it on arrival. She almost chuckled when she realised that she had only been here a week. It felt like she had been living in this hellish prison for a lot longer. She hated this place almost as much as she hated Crawford, which was a bold statement, since Crawford had taken her sister from her. Molly pushed the thought of her sister away and concentrated on the task at hand. Maybe she could parkour her way up without Hilda and latch onto the ladder with her hands.
Molly shivered when she felt sharp shooting pains rushing down her arms. That idea wasn't happening.
The shutter was flung open and a group of people shuffled into the pen, around eight to be exact, escorted by several guards carrying AK-47's. Great, more people. She thought sarcastically. A moment later, Reggie, the one armed man, rushed past her and made his way towards the group. 'Hey, guys' was the first thing she heard coming from the other end of the room. Molly rolled her blue eyes at him. Weirdo.
She grunted and turned away, continuing to examine the area around her from her seat and try to plan out an escape. But then again, what was the use? She'd been there long enough to realise that there was no way out. May as well just sit there and wait until they were forced to turn in. That was until she heard some familiar voices coming from the group over by the shutter.
Molly whirled her head round and stared at the new arrivals, whilst trying to picture the faces that the voice belonged to. She looked each one of the survivors over and none of them looked familiar. Although, Reggie was blocking her view slightly and they all were clumped together so she couldn't quite see all of them. She wracked her brain. Who were those voices? Think, think, think. She watched the group for a moment longer. Maybe I'm just hearing things.
That was her conclusion on the subject until she met eyes with a young, dark skinned girl. She had bright green eyes and curly, short black hair which was tried back in two bunches. On top of her head was a white and purple hat with the letter D on the front, along with a few blood stains.
As soon as the girl spotted the young woman, her eyes widened and she cried out "Molly!"
All eyes were suddenly on Molly as she sat there stunned. Clementine. Memories of Savannah and Crawford came flooding back.
"Well, holy shit" a old man breathed. Molly glanced at him and flashed him a brief smirk which wasn't returned. Kenny. He had changed a lot since Savannah. His moustache had become a bushy, grey beard. But he still had his orange and white ball cap.
After being a little shell shocked, Molly shook her head and moved from the bench. She then proceeded to walk over and approach the group "Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes?"
Clementine smiled warmly in response. Molly was slightly taken aback by how much she had aged. It didn't seem that long ago that she was wearing a dress.
Kenny dropped his folded arms by his side and formed a weak smile "Of all the people to run into, we run into you" he murmured.
Molly placed her hand on her hip and leaned to one side, turning her head towards Kenny and smirking "Hey, gramps, nice beard" she replied teasingly, purposely trying to ruffle his feathers. She may have knew him for only a few days, but she knew him well enough that he had quite a short temper.
"Ain't lookin' too bad yourself" he responded.
The strangers which Clementine and Kenny seemed to be with we're confused by Molly's presence, but to be honest she couldn't care less about the rest of them. "Why don't you three talk in private and catch up?" an Indian lady, who seemd quite close to Kenny, suggested.
Molly nodded at the Indian lady in approval "Follow me" she said, leading Kenny and Clementine over to the bench she had been sitting on. She sat in her original place while the other two sat across from her. The three were silent for a brief moment before Molly spoke up "So, new crew, huh?" She commented, glancing at the others who were still talking to Reggie.
"Yeah..." Clementine murmured, her voice trailed off.
"I guess since Lee ain't around then he didn't make it"
Clementine gave a pained expression and lowered her head sadly. Kenny glanced at the grief stricken child and decided to explain for her "He got bit after you abandoned us" his tone became lower at the end of his sentence, hinting that he was annoyed by her actions back in Savannah, and Molly caught on to it.
"Hey, I left because I thought I was better off on my own. Plus, I wanted to make the decision of choosing who to take on your boat a little easier on you" she informed him.
Kenny ignored her explanation "Anyway, the fucker on Clem's radio kidnapped her, so Lee went after to him. I got separated, though..." His voice trailed off "Couldn't find them after that, but Clementine had to, y'know, take care of Lee before he could turn. That about right, Clem?" He asked the little girl.
Clementine nodded briefly in response.
Huh. Not much has changed, she's still pretty quiet. Unless it's just because I'm here.
"I'm sorry." Molly apologised. "If I knew things would've gone that way then I wouldn't have left like I did. Maybe I coulda prevented it or somethin'"
"It's not your fault. There's nothing you could've done" Clementine whispered softly.
"So... Where'd you end up? After you left us, I mean" Kenny asked, trying his best to change the depressing subject.
"A couple of days after I left the group I noiced that the city got completely overrun with geeks, where ever I went, they were there. It was impossible to stay. So I left Savannah. The rest is pretty boring. I just walked. Never really stopped. Raided a few places, stopped here and there. And then I ended up in this shithole" she growled angrily at those last words.
"How'd you end up in a place like this?" Kenny questioned, briefly glancing around.
"About a week ago a guard caught me snooping around outside the fence. I think his name was Tyler. He radioed in to Carver and asked him what to do. I thought he was going to shoot me on the spot. But instead I was taken to Carver's office. We talked to a while, I was a little... Uncivil. I think he liked that about me. Said I was 'strong-willed' and offered me a place in the community. I told him to fuck off. Then he told me that I 'didn't have a choice in the matter'. I've been stuck here ever since" she told them both with a grimace.
"You haven't found a way out yet?" he asked, he seemed surprised "I thought you of all people might have figured something out"
"I've tried, but when you try to escape, all you end up with is a beating"
"Shit, what?" Kenny exclaimed.
"They've hurt you?" Clementine asked, giving Molly a concerned look.
Molly rubbed her arms and sighed "I don't really want to talk about it."
"Let me see" Kenny insisted.
"I don't know about this" Molly replied, the thought of fists being swung at her returning. She shuddered. "I've already said enough. If Carver or the guards know that I've given this place a bad image, they'll flip"
"They do a good job of that on their own." Kenny scoffed.
"We want to help, Molly." Clementine added.
Molly hesitated before slowly rolling up both of her sleeves to reveal a large amount of bruises covering her arms. Some of the bruises were black and blue while others were tinted yellow. Kenny's eyes widened and Clementine stared in horror.
"Who did this?" Clementine asked.
"When I get my hands on the fucker, I'm gonna-" Kenny growled angrily.
"Carver. Or one of the guards. Mostly Troy. But Carver gives the order. I think they see me as their personal punching bag. They say it's for discipline. But honestly, I think Troy gets a thrill outta it"
"This is all the more reason that we should get outta here" Kenny grumbled, glancing at Clementine who returned his gaze.
"We have a doctor in a group, he could take a look at your arms" Clementine told her.
"It's fine. No need kickin' up a fuss" Molly replied, while rolling her sleeves down. She then proceeded to stand up
"That's enough excitement for one day, I'm going to turn in. If you want to have a look around and see if you can find a way out then knock yourselves out. But you may as well bash your heads against a wall. Oh, and Reggie will get pissed if you mess around. I've already had enough earache from that one-armed freak" and with that she turned and walked past the shelves, briefly glancing at the hat wearing young man who was lying on one, and laid down close to the black guy known as Mike.
The cold hard concrete was hard, but Molly was use to it. She'd slept in worse places, anyway. She had been lying there for some time as the group of new people moved around and talked behind her. She had gotten comfortable and was just about to drift off to sleep when she heard the shutters open and Troy yell "Every one get to bed!" and then the shutters slammed shortly after.
A moment later, she felt a presence close by to her. She rolled over and saw a man wearing a orange and white flannel shirt crouching behind her. "What do you want?" She grumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Molly, is it?" He asked. He had an accent, which Molly assumed was Spanish.
"Who wants to know?" She retorted.
"I'm Carlos. A couple of your friends told me that you had some injuries, may I see?"
Molly flashed Kenny and Clementine an angry glare. The two were lying on bed rolls underneath some shelves and were observing from a far. Once they saw her looking at them, Clementine rolled over and Kenny tried his best to avoid her gaze.
I told them not to kick up a fuss and they just go behind my back and arrange some sort of fucking appointment with some Spanish doctor behind my back. She thought frustratedly.
"So you're the so called 'doctor', huh?"
Carlos nodded in response.
Molly sighed "If you must" she murmured, rolling up her sleeves and showing him the bruises. Carlos took hold of her arm and examined her injuries. "Well?"
"They will heal in time. But the damage up here will remain" he said, tapping the side of his temple.
"What's that suppose to mean?" She growled.
"This seems to have affected you more than you are saying. I know what it's like to beaten. It's hard, you feel weak and helpless-"
"Don't try to sympathise with me!" Molly snapped, cutting him off "I'm fine! I don't need your pity!"
"I'm just saying that, I understand what you are going through."
"You have no idea"