For a few days, Lexi remained in the infirmary to rest and recover her strength. Although, Law was thankfully overemphasizing just how severe her wounds were in an effort to extend the amount of time Margaret would be forced to let her stay. He didn't tell Lexi this, but he had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what was going on. Technically, he'd be able to take the stitches from her gunshot wound out later that same day or possibly tomorrow, but he told her she still had another week to go. Margaret trusted his 'doctor's intuition,' but Lexi was medically trained as well. Granted, the brunette never brought up the fact he was lying, but she was smart enough to figure out what he was doing.
Tara seemed to pop in at random moments when she was supposed to be away at dinner or lunch, as if to be sure Law wasn't verbally abusing the poor woman. After that first time of seeing Lexi cry, the redhead didn't seem to trust him around his own patients. Huh. Maybe he'd overdone it the first time.
Margaret had visited the brunette a few times, asking questions when it seemed appropriate. She still seemed reluctant to press the issue further than what was necessary, as if fearing the brunette would break down and cry with the slightest provocation. After the first few days, both Law and Lexi agreed that it would be realistic if she began to tell bits and pieces of information as she slowly warmed up to the new camp, eventually gaining small amounts of trust in those helping her. Any pieces involving what actually happened to her there were omitted, which he understood, but she did give them some insight into who these people actually were.
The most important question was, where were they and how far away was their encampment? However, seeing as Lexi was brought away from where she'd escaped to while unconscious, there was no possible way for her to know where the hell she even was in relation to the other group's camp. Judging distance while running for your life normally was obviously a fairly low priority anyways. So, there was a big blank space in their knowledge of this obviously dangerous and hostile group, with no way of filling it in without intentionally scouting them out. Not to mention, doing so might cause more problems than simply leaving them alone. What a predicament.
Nonetheless, Margaret would always thank her for whatever information she could tell before the black-haired woman would leave, looking decidedly more frustrated and worried each time. Law knew Margaret wondered if they were in actual danger keeping Lexi here, allowing her to get back to full health. Just how serious were these people at finding her, and what lengths would they be willing to go to do so?
It was during one of those times when Margaret came to visit Lexi that Margaret sighed before leaving, gesturing for Law to follow her out. This was strange, since she'd taken a great effort in limiting their time spent in the same room since their little field trip. Something Law was not averse to, to be quite frank. Figuring it was a discussion of some importance, Law did so. Something was obviously on the camp leader's mind, and he'd be lying if he tried to deny his curiosity.
The metal door clanked shut behind him as he followed after her. Margaret led them between the gaps of the infirmary trailer and the one beside it, leaning against the metal wall with a frustrated and worried expression. They were vaguely shielded from view to most of the camp, though there were few people wandering about outside anyways. This time of day most were off doing their jobs to keep the camp fed and safe.
"I want the truth from you, nothing less." The black-haired woman suddenly blurted out, staring hard at the doctor with a look he couldn't quite read. Suspicion? Anger? No, neither of those. "Lexi. Is she trustworthy?"
Law frowned, struck for a moment that perhaps she'd somehow found out about their previous acquaintance. Had Shashi and Penguin let it slip? Or perhaps he'd let on that he knew more than he was letting on? Dammit. Making things worse hadn't been his intention at all.
In his hesitation, fearing that the lie had been seen through, Margaret must have taken his silence for confusion or another reason entirely, because she rubbed at her forehead and chuckled without humor. "I'm a bit reluctant about the woman, honestly. I mean, she looks innocent enough. A pretty face shows up at just the right time and saying the right things, but…who's actually that kind of person in this world anymore, you know? Maybe you were right this whole time. Maybe we can't trust people like we used to. I guess I have to thank you for making me see that, even begrudgingly…"
There was that small token of relief that swept through Law as he realized her question had not been borne of any suspicion on his part. That had been too close, and the flood of adrenaline at almost being found out began to wean. However, it was deflating to know that she was still set on not taking Lexi in at all. There went possibly convincing her to reverse her decision. The set jaw and little nod to herself made it clear to Law that she'd made up her mind and there was no turning back.
Seeing what her intention had been in her first line of questions, he visibly relaxed against the trailer and stuffed his hands in his pockets casually. "I haven't noticed any inconsistencies in her story so far. Nothing out of the ordinary for the situation, at least."
"Well, right. I pretty much believe that she was captured and escaped that group. Someone put that collar on her, and I can't see why she'd try to deceive our camp for any reason by putting it on herself…unless…" Margaret bit her lip as she quietly left her sentence hanging vaguely with downcast eyes, searching the ground like it had all the answers to her concerns.
Law watched the leader a moment, wondering what sort of suspicions she may be placing on the recovering brunette inside the trailer. "You think she's a spy?"
"Woodsfield is otherwise impossible to lay siege against. We have weapons, sturdy walls, and plenty of places to lie in wait should they manage to get inside." Margaret glanced back at the infirmary trailer, as if seeing Lexi through the metal sheeting. "If they truly were set on attacking us, they'd lose lots of people going the conventional method. An inside agent could give them a shortcut inside."
The amount of paranoia that this other group had caused Margaret to begin feeling was surprising, honestly. He'd thought her the cool-headed, 'look at the situation rationally' kind of person. Not this…'don't trust a single soul and plot against your own people' sort of thinking. What was going on with her? Law shook his head, crossing his arms.
"Where did all this come from? Laying siege? That's a bit grandiose, don't you think?" For as paranoid and untrusting as Law was, even Margaret was sounding a bit extreme.
The camp leader sighed in frustration. "I'm normally not one to jump to conclusions, but with an aggressive group like that possibly right at our doorstep, I want to be prepared for anything. We can't afford to take chances anymore."
Law shook his head again, still not believing something quite so outlandish. They didn't even know if this group knew where they were. Margaret's theory had a lot riding on it, for as much sense as she was trying to make. Still, better to get back to the situation at hand. "I highly doubt she's a double agent."
Margaret raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"
He shrugged. "Think about the circumstances. The fact that the scavenging team found her unconscious in the woods a few miles away was rather lucky in and of itself. If they wanted to have her 'infiltrate' the camp, so to speak, they could've done so in a way where the chance of us finding her wasn't so low. There're a lot easier ways to infiltrate a camp like this."
"Maybe…" She nodded, still not looking all that convinced. "There's just something about the way she acts…like she's too familiar with…I don't know…I can't really explain it." These musings were punctuated by a few shakes of her head, as if she still couldn't understand it all. But Law merely shrugged, as if it wasn't of any concern.
"Who knows what she's seen up to this point? This may not be anything new to her."
"Which begs another question." Margaret pointed out. "Is she as innocent as she makes herself out to be? I mean, why exactly are these people looking for her?"
"…" Law cocked his head, thinking that the answer was rather obvious. She escaped. They wanted her back. Or dead, for defying their control. Was that so difficult to understand?
"I mean, she could have murdered people from their group and now she's on the run." She continued, gesturing around her to prove her point. "We don't know what she could have done before she got here. Maybe she's the bad guy here and we don't even know it."
It was getting harder to feign ignorance about Lexi as Margaret continued on her tirade. For as little as Law actually knew about her…he knew Lexi. She wouldn't needlessly kill, nor would she readily side herself with people who abused women. The specifics of what they did to them were unclear, but Law had a sneaking suspicion. It wasn't that hard to imagine the horrors she may have witnessed. Or endured.
"We only know one side of the story. And she's obviously hiding things from us." Margaret seemed to be working herself up in this little witch hunt, trying to justify kicking her out early, but Law was quick to shut that shit down.
"I don't care if she caused the whole damn apocalypse to begin with. She's my patient, and I will see that she recovers to full strength."
"So you're completely ok with helping a possible murderer? Someone we know nothing about, and who could possibly be a danger to the camp? There are a lot of things we don't know right now." Margaret squinted warily, as if seeing him in a different light. Law stepped forward in anger, thinking that she was becoming a bit too hysterical for his liking. Things had gone too far.
"Just because the world has gone to shit doesn't mean I've lost my humanity, nor does it give you the excuse to either. I took an oath and as long as I'm a doctor, I will uphold it."
Margaret silently brooded, no doubt thinking once again how much of an asshole he was. Law didn't care either way. Even if it wasn't Lexi that he was treating, his argument would not change. It was the entire reason he became a doctor to begin with, to help people indiscriminately and heal those back to full health again. If she didn't like it, she could find someone that actually gave a fuck.
"I guess…" She reluctantly agreed, seeing the logic in his thinking without really wanting to admit to it. Her eyes stared past him to the center of the camp, looking but seeing nothing, too occupied with her own thoughts. "Either way…how much longer does she have before we can send her off?"
Law stared at her another moment, just to make sure his point got across. "A week, I expect. The gunshot wound is healing slower than I'd hoped, seeing as we don't have the proper sterile environment and medication to speed up the process."
"…and there's nothing you can do to help that happen faster?"
"Unless you want me to take the stitches out early, and risk the wound opening again, which it assuredly would, then no."
"…" Margaret mulled this information over for awhile, finally nodding slowly and turning to leave with a sour expression. "Alright. I'll check back in a few days, just to see if she's improved. But," she said, pointing a finger at him and pausing in her next step, "if you think she's well enough before that week is up, you come straight to me. I don't want to waste more resources than I need to to keep her here, especially if she's putting us in danger."
He raised a brow but said nothing, and Margaret turned to head towards another part of the camp. The black-haired woman carved a path through the few people milling around the fire pit, which wasn't lit this early in the afternoon. The doctor watched the woman go, before returning to the trailer where his nurse and patient were waiting.
"Are we really just going to let Margaret kick Lexi out once she gets better?" Penguin questioned with a concerned expression of doubt. He shifted on the bed to find a more comfy spot, staring out the window to look at the camp. "I mean, after all we've been through it just…feels wrong."
"Definitely." Shachi chimed in, holding back a yawn.
"We've only met her a handful of times." Law countered, not actually disagreeing that she was warranted the courtesy of letting her stay, but simply wanted to state the fact out there. He tried blinking away his consciousness as he lay in bed, attempting to fall asleep yet again, but what had once only been occasional insomnia back in the day of the living now evolved into a nightly struggle to find sleep. This night was no different.
"Still, in that time, she's managed to save our asses a few times." Shachi jumped in with another good point, staring up at the ceiling in boredom from the other side of the trailer. The two others hadn't been able to find sleep either, even so late at night, and so they spent the time conversing quietly among themselves. Their conversation was interrupted by a guard walking slowly across the top of their trailer. Once it faded, they picked back up where they'd left off.
"Isn't there some way to convince Margaret to let her stay?"
Law let out a heavy sigh, but Penguin jumped in before he could respond. "Speaking of her, what the hell happened on that little trip you guys took? You never told us."
There was a moment of silence that hung between them, Law somewhat surprised that they'd asked that question. It had been nearly a week since then, and he hadn't thought much about it afterwards. He supposed he had neglected to tell them the reasoning why. Nor did he really want to, per se.
"Yeah, what's up with that? Where'd you guys go?" Shachi supplied, turning over in his bed to see into Law's part of the trailer behind him. "You guys were gone a lot longer than I thought you'd be, too."
Law shrugged, not thinking much of it. "We went to see if I could help treat another survivor she knew about. Name was Zach. He was too sick to survive much longer though. Had to kill him." He summarized, conveniently glossing over the whole 'I-sort-of-fucked-our-camp-leader' part.
"Ah…that's awful." Penguin rubbed the back of his head. Before everything had pretty much gone to shit, there were a few times when Law would be unsuccessful in a surgery or operation, and they lost the patient. It always hit him pretty hard back then.
"Yeah." Law agreed with disinterest, not really wanting to talk about it. It wasn't his proudest moment, but it had needed to be done.
"Still, Margaret's seemed pretty pissy about all of this ever since then. Way to get her riled up." Penguin gave Law a pointed look, before chuckling.
"I wouldn't change what happened." He admitted, giving a shrug.
Shachi yawned heavily, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle the sound. "Well, maybe next time you can-"
BANG! BANG!
In an instant, all three of them were up on their feet, crouching low in the trailer at the sound of gunfire close by. The shots were followed by something hitting the ground heavily, then screaming, and then running feet. The shots continued, and Law's eyes widened, realizing that Damien's group must have found the camp. All in an instant, the safety the camp had provided up to this point was shattered. Shachi and Penguin must have felt it too, because they held a fear in their eyes Law hadn't seen for a long time. The very real threat that they could die today loomed over them.
Law ran over to his bag, desperately searching through it for anything that could possibly be used as a weapon, adrenaline pumping through his veins with each scream and gunshot outside. In the back of his mind, he blamed Margaret and her insistence that they hand over their weapons when entering the walls, knowing that he'd stand a much better chance at fighting with his sword in his hands. There was nothing remotely sharp or suitable to be wielded offensively in his bag, and he cursed under his breath, pausing when he heard the laugh of a man at the front of the camp.
"Residents of the camp, listen up!" The man shouted into the now-deafening silence. The gunshots had stopped, and the screaming had stopped. Whether that be because the shooting had ceased or because the people outside were all dead, Law couldn't quite tell.
"My name is Damien! I'm here because you all have something that belongs to me, and I don't take too kindly to having my things taken!" Damien continued, sounding pretty confident in himself. If so, all of the armed guards were probably already dead.
Swallowing past the hesitation, Law gestured for Shachi and Penguin to put their bags under the beds in the trailer, then get under them as well. It was a tight fit, but it would have to do. There were no other hiding spots that Law could see in their makeshift home. Damien continued to talk outside, and Law crept over to the window facing the inside of the camp to see what was happening. Thankfully the small curtain gave him enough cover not to be seen as he looked outwards.
"Once I get my property back, me and my men will be on our way!" Damien waltzed around the area next to the fire pit with an amused grin, one of about a dozen of his armed men holding Marve at gunpoint. One of them looked much younger than the rest, watching the group leader with wonder and awe. Law frowned, glancing back towards the camp guardsman. He looked roughed up at the very least, and Law wondered how they'd gotten past the main gate with him on lookout.
There was no one else in sight, but Law was willing to bet the rest of the residents were watching as well, and Margaret was most definitely listening at the very least. Law squinted to try to see this Damien guy a bit better. Brown, shaggy hair. Dirty and disheveled clothing. What looked to be a cigarette between his lips. All in all, he looked like a nasty piece of work.
The group leader continued to yell into the night, knowing he had an unseen audience. "I've been looking a long time to find her and see, the thing is…I don't like waiting. So the longer I have to wait," he implied, nodding to the man holding Marve hostage, "the more people will die."
The camp guard widened his eyes, but without warning or time to cry out Damien's man shot him point blank in the back of the head, splattering blood all over the place as the he slumped dead. It felt like there should have been someone audibly upset at the man's death, but the residents cowering in their homes did not budge for fear of their own death. Law watched as the man's blood spread across the grass. Damien stepped across it uncaringly, keeping his eyes on the trailers for something or someone in particular.
"Now, if your leader would be so kind as to step outside so we can have a little chat…" He intoned, cocking his head to the side when Margaret's trailer door opened, and the woman stepped out into the clearing. Holding her head high, she walked slowly over to where Damien and his men were standing.
"So, you are Damien." Margaret said stiffly, eyeing the large group of men with guns in both fear and disdain. They all looked just as awful as the woman had described them as. All armed, dirty from traveling, and smelly as hell. She resisted the urge to gag as their stink wafted in front of her nose. For the sake of the camp and herself, she forced her face into an expression of neutrality. "I've heard quite a lot about you."
"Hmm, hopefully all good." He chuckled, finding his joke funny. She did not. "Your name?" He asked, giving a wide grin, finding some sort of amusement in this whole situation. She supposed he could, given the advantage was all in his favor. Margaret tried not looking at the corpse of her most trustworthy guardsman, knowing she'd be tempted to puke if she did.
"Margaret." She responded.
"Well, Margaret, I'm here for a pretty little brunette who managed to run away some time back." The camp leader couldn't help but shiver at the condescending and cold eyes he flashed her underneath that amused facade. "And wouldn't you know it, my men managed to track her straight here. So, if you'd be so kind as to bring her out here, I'll happily be on my way."
Margaret didn't like this guy one bit, but the threat of having more of her people killed for the sake of a woman she didn't even remotely trust was a bit ridiculous, and made her decision all the easier to make. For as much as she hated Damien, cooperating was her only option at this point. She crossed her arms, forcing down the hint of guilt at what she was about to say. It was better this way. For the good of the camp. "You'll leave once you have her?"
"Of course! Cross my heart." He spread his arms a little wider dramatically, as if trying to appease her hostility.
Margaret chewed at her bottom lip, wondering why she was hesitating so much. Damien seemed to notice it, because he stalked a pace closer, narrowing his eyes.
"Need I remind you," came his low and dark tone, "that I don't like waiting."
She swallowed thickly, visibly displaying her fear, and she nodded, pointing behind her towards the infirmary where the woman had stayed for the time she'd been there. "She's in there. Just take her and go. I don't want anyone else to die."
Damien gave a wide smile, gesturing to the trailer for his men to search. Two of them branched off and went in search of the woman, while the leader simply gave Margaret a cold stare. "Good choice."
Damien crossed his arms and cocked his hip, grinning in Margaret's face as if this were all some cruel joke. Margaret, Law had to admit, was holding it together pretty well in the face of the man who was threatening to kill them all. Though, based on what Damien had said thus far, Law had an inkling as to what conversation the two leaders were in the middle of discussing.
Just as he'd predicted, after several minutes of stiff discussion, Margaret pointed behind her towards the infirmary, gesturing nonchalantly, as if whatever she'd agreed to didn't matter anyways. Law narrowed his eyes and he almost couldn't hold back the growl of anger that threatened to leave his lips. Shachi and Penguin must have been watching him from their positions under the beds, because he could hear them shifting slightly.
"What's going on?" Penguin muttered from the floor, and Law shook his head, eyeing two of the ten men walking towards the infirmary quickly.
"Margaret's giving Lexi up to save the camp."
"Shit…" Shachi added, sounding just as pissed and confused as Law was.
He watched helplessly as they made their way to the infirmary to where Lexi was still staying. No doubt, she knew exactly who had arrived to the camp. However, there was no way she'd have an escape route out of the trailer. Law knew that one like the back of his hand, and besides the small window above the cot, there really wasn't any other feasible way outside. She was effectively trapped.
There was a sinking feeling in his gut as he watched Lexi being dragged by her hair, kicking and screaming, out of the infirmary trailer with two large guns being shoved in her face. Her cries were incoherent, more for the sake of crying out than saying anything in particular. The brunette was carelessly dragged across the grass towards Damien, before being roughly shoved to the ground and faced with the barrels of the guns again, told not to move or she'd be shot.
The younger boy with the group of men stepped forwards, watching Lexi with a sickening gleam in his eyes that Law didn't like. Law scowled, watching as the boy crouched beside her and roughly yanked at her head, forcing her head up to look at him. He smiled and said something to her, and she tried pulling away desperately. Her struggling only served to make another man angry, and he brutally kicked her in the side to make her stop. She cried out in pain, and Law clenched his fist in anger.
Damien stared from his position in front of Margaret, watching in satisfaction at the way Lexi was being treated, before laughing with a smile. He said a few things Law couldn't hear at this distance. Margaret frowned, taking a step back as Damien reached from something on his belt. Law's eyes widened, not quite prepared for the gunshot that came from the handgun Damien had brought to her head, piercing her brain and dropping her dead onto the ground. Margaret's blood splattered over him and his clothes.
"You know what? I've changed my mind. I'll be taking over this camp!" Damien shouted into the air, walking a bit further into the camp. "And my first decree is that everyone get out here in the open so I can see you!"
Law narrowed his eyes. None of the trailer doors opened at first, until one, then two, slowly cracked open and the occupants peered out in fright. Damien gestured for them to continue, and before long, most of the trailers were being opened to reveal the residents of the camp. Law refused to move, staring at the scene as everyone stood themselves haphazardly on the grass.
Shachi and Penguin wondered what Law was thinking, but seeing as he hadn't moved from his spot at the window, and he hadn't instructed them to get out from under the beds, they were willing to bet that he wasn't feeling inclined to obey Damien's order to come outside.
"Any stragglers we find inside will be shot!" Damien yelled out, gesturing for a few of his men to start searching the trailers.
Law's eyes widened, and he quickly moved away form the window, grabbing his own bag and zipping it closed, shoving it unceremoniously under the bed. The gap between the bed and the floor wasn't much, and Law could only barely fit underneath, but he managed to squeeze himself in beside his bag just enough to breathe without fear of suffocating. His eyes looked over to see Shachi and Penguin in much the same predicament, squeezed tightly underneath their cots in the other room. Law sent a silent prayer that this would work.
Before long, the door to their trailer was kicked in, and a pair of black boots tromped their way inside, pausing halfway into the main room to search the inside. They travelled further in, and Law held his breath as they neared the bed he was under. The man turned, shoving aside the comforter on his bed and opening drawers for anything or anyone. He did a thorough sweep of the room, looking on both sides of the bed, before heading back into the room where Shachi and Penguin were hidden.
The sound of cupboards and drawers being thrown open, as well as a stray gunshot or two as other residents hiding were found, were the only things Law registered in that moment, staring fearfully at the boots that made their way through the trailer. The seconds felt like hours, until whoever the man was had satisfactorily searched the trailer to his standards, and left with a slam of the door.
None of them moved from beneath the beds, even as Damien started speaking again. Law wanted to move and go back to the window to know what was happening, but it was too risky at this point.
"Great! What a lovely bunch we've got here." He laughed, clapping his hands together. "Alright, let's have the men stand over here, and the women over here."
Several minutes went by, and Law waited with bated breath for something to happen, anything to happen. The silence was killing him, especially not knowing what was going on. This was all so frustrating. Then suddenly, his conversation with Lexi popped into his head and he stiffened at the realization.
Unless Damien takes an interest in something or someone, they usually kill men on sight.
Just as the memory flooding his mind, he heard the first gunshots, and the beginnings of the screams. A barrage of gunfire, coupled with the shouts of death, and ones of fear from more feminine voices, overtook any other thoughts Law would have had. He shut his eyes, not having to watch to know what was going on.
The gunshots eventually died down, and all that remained was the wails of the women who had been forced to witness their male counterparts gunned down before their eyes. Law tried to block out the noise, but it was so desperate, he couldn't help but listen in morbid fascination.
"Alright, ladies, off with those clothes." The cries picked up in volume and fear, and Damien only laughed. Shachi or Penguin gasped in shock, and Law simply glared into the darkness of their trailer. Lexi's description of Damien, an awful man who mistreated women, was a severe understatement. "It's either that, or end up just like your friends here."
The sound of shuffling clothing began, and Law could only imagine the humiliation from the women. Perhaps it was better that he wasn't looking after all. The period of inactivity and silence was longer than before, until Damien instructed his men to 'take their pick.' Several of the women screamed, begging to be let go, but their cries were never stifled or answered.
"Kill the rest." Damien said some time later, and the gunshots sounded for the last time that night. And then, a heavy silence so thick Law felt like his breathing was being shouted. His heart beat slowly in his chest, for fear of being heard.
"Take the survivors and let's head back. Make sure the ropes are tight. We don't want anymore escapes." Damien said, and the women began crying again. The sounds of their fear began to sound distant, smaller, less distinguished, until Law could no longer hear them at all, indicating the group had finally left the camp.
For an unknown amount of time, Law did not move from his spot underneath the bed. The shock of what had happened still had yet to sink in, and so the nerves on his fingers and hands felt buzzed and over-sensitized as he slowly made his way out from under his hiding spot. It was difficult to shimmy his way out from underneath, but it was manageable. Shachi and Penguin followed suit a few moments later, shakily rising to their feet. They all avoided looking out the window, afraid of what they would find.
Stunned into silence, the three of them simply stood there, staring at each other, silently wondering how it was they survived and everyone else did not. A slew of emotions danced across their eyes. Should they be relieved that they'd survived? Angry that the women had been taken? Despair at the amount of death surely waiting for them outside? All of those at once plus more, how could they possibly voice that aloud?
How these circumstances had come to be felt almost surreal. Wordlessly, Law turned and retrieved his bag of things, slinging it over his shoulders comfortably. The others did the same, before Law started them towards the door to the trailer, laying his hand hesitantly on the knob. Law stared at the door before closing his eyes to brace himself for the sight he was about to behold. And then he turned the knob and stepped outside, his two friends in tow.
ns 15.158.61.45da2
