4
Clarke comes to with a wince. The fog like feeling drifts away as she blinks, her vision clearing, and she recognizes a dull pain in the back of her head. She blinks, trying to remember what had happened. She remembers someone shouting her name, but it starts to get blurry after that. Was she knocked out?
Shaking the confusion away, she feels a presence to her right and turns her head to see Murphy, who gives her a small smile. She frowns in return when she realized that he was kneeling. So was she, in fact, as well as the rest of her people. They’re all in a line, confusion and wariness etched onto their faces.
Feeling frustrated at the situation she got her people in, she finally looks up to the people that stood before her. They look wary and confused, betraying the emotions Clarke refuses to show as she stares blankly. Eyeing the few with weapons, her eyes finally rest on the man in the beige shirt that had stepped forward, tilting his head.
“I’m Rick Grimes” he speaks, introducing himself. He had a charming southern twang, and an air to him that just screamed leader. Clarke stares at him warily, eyes narrowing in suspicion that was well deserved. After everything they had gone through. Every little thing, every person, was suspicious.
“We haven’t told them anything princess, we were waiting for you to wake up” Murphy mutters to Clarke as he shifts slightly, feeling antsy. Clarke doesn’t even turn as she nods, letting her fingers graze his softly as a thank you and a sign of comfort. She doesn’t smile like she wants to when he seemly calms down and stops shifting.
“Hey! Shut it!” one of the few with a weapon shouts gruffly. He had long brown hair, an icy glare and a crossbow.
“Or what? You’ll kill me? You wouldn’t be the first to try” Murphy snarks, grinning when the man glares harder. Clarke sighs, hiding her amusement. Murphy just couldn’t help himself, could he?
“Maybe we should torture em instead” the man suggests with a huff.
“Wouldn’t be the first to do that either” Murphy shrugs, smirking when the man scowls. Amused, Clarke bumps shoulders with Murphy before looking to Rick.
“I’m Clarke Griffin, and these are my people” Clarke states, watching as Rick eyes her group before glancing back at her. Staring straight back at him, Clarke bumpers shoulders with Murphy again before standing up, ignoring the various weapons that were now pointing at her.
“What is this? What do you want? Do you want to hurt us? Kill us? Do you want to know about us? Steal our stuff? Just tell us what’s going on so we can get shit sorted” Clarke orders hands, resting just above her hips.
“I’d show a bit more respect to Rick if I were you” a woman speaks, taking a few steps forward. She was a pretty brunette with a twang like Rick’s. Clarke has a feeling they’d get along if she wasn’t on the wrong side of the woman’s gun.
“Do you actually think I’m scared? That my people are scared? What you’ve gone through is a warm hug compared to the crap we’ve been through” Clarke states, eerily calm. She raises an eyebrow as the woman glares, looking ready to charge.
“Ok ok, weapons away everyone” Rick orders calmly, waiting until everyone had put their weapons away before turning to Clarke.
“We want to know who you are, we want to know about you guys, where you come from and what you’ve gone through. If you have a camp or not. And if we trust you, we’d like to welcome you here. Though you all have to answer three questions first. You all look young; I want to give you all a chance” Rick states.
Sighing, Clarke turns her head, eyeing Bellamy who stares back at her for a few seconds before nodding. Clarke nods back before turning to Rick.
“We’ll answer your questions” she states.
“Good. How many walkers have you all killed? Or, biters, as you called them” he speaks, asking the first question.
“We’ve all killed a lot, though we don’t keep track, so we couldn’t give an exact number” Clarke states, watching as Rick nods.
“That’s fair. How many people have you killed?”. The second question is met with a beat of silence. And then another.
“Two hundred and fifty, give or take”. Clarke doesn’t blink as weapons and wide eyes are trained on her. She didn’t exactly expect a hand shake and a hug at her answer.
“I’m not called Wanheda for nothing” she shrugs, watching as looks of confusion are thrown her way at the name.
“You’re Wanheda?” the man with the crossbow and the ice-cold glare asks, eyeing the blonde. She could hear the slight sound of surprise in his voice.
“Wanheda?” Rick asks, glancing from Daryl to Clarke, looking confused.
“Commander of death” Clarke speaks. Rick frowns, staring in surprise before glancing at the rest of her people.
“At least two” the snarky one shrugs.
“I don’t know how many I’ve killed, but I’ve killed a few” another states. She had long black hair tied in braids, paint decorating her face.
“Same as Clarke” the man next to her states. He had a face full of freckles and a head of curly hair.
“Same as Clarke and Bellamy” someone else answers. The rest answers with zero.
Not sure if he wanted to know the reasons, he asks the final question.
“Why?”.
“My people were taken and experimented on. Tortured and killed. I did it for my people” Clarke states, crossing her arms as she stares at Rick, wondering what he was thinking. Rick is frowning, but he gets it. You do anything for your people, and Clarke’s people were being tortured and killed. He’d have to ask her about it. Eyes softening, he gives her a sad smile before glancing at the snarky one.
“I was hung for a crime I didn’t commit. I got my revenge on the two people that were involved, haven’t killed a person since”. Revenge. Rick couldn’t judge the kid; he wouldn’t be the first person to kill out of revenge. So, he doesn’t linger, and instead stares at the girl with the face paint.
“I killed a few people who were a danger to our people, and at some point, Clarke” she states. Rick nods. That’s fair. It’s not like he hadn’t killed people who were a danger to his people. Nodding at her, he eyes the man with the curly hair and freckles.
“Monty and I helped Clarke” he shrugs. Monty being the only other person who had given him a number. Rick nods.
“Clarke. I’d like for you and your people to come inside and talk to myself and the council. I’d like to hear your full story and know what you’ve gone through. After that, we’ll make the decision on whether you and your people can stay or not. Sound fair?” Rick asks, watching as Clarke nods.
“Good. Come on. I have a feeling this is gonna be a long chat”.