THE REASON

chapter one : archeress
[ season five – episode one ]

   KLOE RHEE PUSHED a door to a random building open, her heart thumping out of her ribcage as she tried her best to get as far away as possible. She was going back for Reina –– that wasn't a choice.

But first, she had to get a weapon. She was currently defenseless, and on her way on her escape, she had heard Gareth order someone to come after her. The building she had entered though consisted of a few people, and they all stared at her as if she was crazy.

In instinct, Kloe's hand wrapped around the familiar weapon in her belt –– her pocket knife that she found on the highway. She held it up, backing away as the small group of individuals started to approach her.

"Get her!" a man shouted from another entrance, one that she had seen outside with her not so long ago with Reina. "Gareth wants her dead!"

Kloe gulped as they all turned back to her, reaching toward their desks for their guns. Before they knew it, she spun on her heel and pushed through another room.

She grunted as she almost tripped from the pace she was going. She slammed the door shut, pressing her back against it. Her eyes darted everywhere around her in an attempt to find something else to push against the door.

Her dark brown eyes landed on the unit beside her, and she didn't think twice before scurrying away from the door and to the side of the said unit. She gathered up all her strength and pushed down the unit, making it virtually impossible to get through the door from the other side.

As she spun around again, her eyes trained onto another door. She sprinted over to it as many men pushed their bodies against the door Kloe had just secured.

She grabbed onto the door handle and pulled it open, but just as she did, a hand grasped onto her shoulder and pulled her with force. She grunted from the pain that rang from her shoulder before the person squeezed his hands around her wrists, restraining her.

She groaned loudly as she lifted her leg and kicked the man in the knee, causing him to flinch back and wince with pain. She instead took hold of his wrists and twisted them, a few bones cracking as she did.

The man yelled loudly as he suffered. Kloe didn't care though. She had other plans –– and being caught by a bunch of assholes wasn't one of them. She clenched her fist and brought it to the man's cheek, his head shifting to the side from the pressure.

As blood trickled out his mouth, his head shot up to the woman, who once again had her fists raised. "Goodnight, sir," she whispered to him before slamming her fist across his face, completely knocking him out as he fell to the ground.

Kloe stared down at him for a moment, silently scoffing to herself. She whipped her head back up, realizing that she was now back outside and she was facing the entrance to the community.

This was her chance to run out of there and get Carol. But someone also had other plans.

A woman's knee met Kloe's stomach, causing her to fold over and clutch her torso with discomfort. She let out a small grunt of pain before snapping her head up toward the woman.

Kloe's expression fell when she spotted the arrow held at her forehead. She was one slip away from death.

"You're not going anywhere, missy," the woman with Kloe's own bow stated firmly. "And I've decided that I'm claiming this bow."

Kloe's eyes stared at the way the blonde haired woman held the bow, and her eyes lit up somewhat when she noticed the way she was holding it. She was holding it completely wrong.

Her hand wasn't sitting on the rest properly –– and the arrow was in between the wrong fingers. If the woman was to release the arrow, it would completely miss Kloe's head by a mile away.

Kloe pursed her lips. "Well, this is awkward," she forcefully chuckled, folding her arms over her chest as she watched the woman in front of her, showing very little fear.

The woman scoffed loudly, "How is any of this awkward, huh? You're about to die, and you find this awkward? You're definitely insane."

"Maybe I am," Kloe nodded, pouting her lips. "But..." she took a small step forward, causing Blondie to pull the bowstring back further, "I'm not leaving without my bow."

"You're not leaving, psycho. You're gonna die."

"No, I don't think so," Kloe commented as she took another step forward. "Go on. Shoot me, Blondie." As if the woman had listened to her, she released the string and the arrow flew forward. Although, as expected, it bluntly missed Kloe's head and hit the wall behind her. "How embarrassing."

Without second thoughts, Kloe ducked down with speed and kicked out her leg, swinging it across as it met the woman's own legs. With the force of Kloe's legs, the woman's legs flew to the side, causing her to fall down onto the ground with force.

Her head smacked down onto the ground, and it instantly knocked her out. Kloe hastily crawled forward, wrapping her fingers around her own bow. She couldn't help but slightly smile as she took in the familiar feeling of her bow.

"This is my bow, bitch," Kloe smirked as she took the quiver off the unconscious body. She swung it over her own shoulder, gripping onto an arrow from it and setting it in her arrow rest.

Not hesitating to waste any more time, the Rhee woman dashed forward for the exit of the place. But before she could leave, she peered over her own shoulder and muttered out,

"I promise I'll be back."

...

Reina Salazar couldn't help but peep out of the small gaps in the container in hope to spot the Rhee woman –– but as expected, she was nowhere in sight.

"There's no one around," a girl that was only two years younger, Isabelle Marshel, spoke up beside her, her back pressed against the wall of the container. "It's like everyone's gone."

"Yeah, because they're after Kloe," Zayn Schmidt pointed out the obvious. It was dead silent in the container filled with people –– so even if anyone was to have a small conversation to themselves, the others would immediately be a part of it.

A meter beside Isabelle, Glenn Rhee tapped his arm with anxiousness as he stared down at the ground. He couldn't help but be worried for the safety of his wife. He felt a rather large amount of relief when Reina announced that she was alive, but knowing that possibly the entire community of Terminus was after her was enough to drive him insane.

He ran his hand through his black hair, taking a deep breath before pushing himself off the wall. "We have to do something. Anything," he mumbled as he joined Reina's side, peering through the small cracks.

"Like what?" a man with ginger hair and a mustache named Abraham Ford asked. "We're trapped in here. There ain't no way of getting out of this shit hole unless one of those joyful bastards let us out of here."

"Which we already know they're not gonna do," Brianna Schmidt-Parson commented, her knees brought up to her chest as she sat on the ground. "Most of us have been in here for almost two days. If they don't let us out, then thirst will finish us off."

"We're gonna get out," Rick assured, his voice low and gruff. "I don't know how, but we will."

Reina shook her head out of distress, rubbing the back of her neck as she took a few steps back. And just as she did, a little hatch from above her opened, causing everyone in the container to look up at it.

As it opened, the very man called Gareth had a clear look of anger present on his face. With the gun in his hand, he clicked it and aimed it straight down at the Salazar girl, making her breath hitch in her throat.

"Tell me where she went right now!" he shouted. "She took down two of my men and bolted. Now tell me where she is before I send this bullet through your head, jokester."

Reina held her breath and glared, slowly shaking her head. "Go ahead. You'll have to kill me if you want answers–– oh, wait. You can't. Because if I recall correctly the dead don't talk. Especially when they've been shot through the head."

"Fine, I'll shoot you in the chest. Then you'll bleed out and turn in there," Gareth threatened, smirking smugly down at the woman whose face had clearly fallen. "We can't let someone go when they know what we're really up to. I mean, look people, we need to eat somehow! And if that bitch gets out there and lets the world know, then we're all dead."

"Maybe you're better off that way," Zayn growled as he took Reina's side, sending the man a deathly glare.

"Like I said, people, I will shoot her in the chest right now if you don't tell me where she went!"

"How the hell would I know anyway, huh? You locked me up in here! I'm not a fucking telepath. I can't just talk to her with my mind. Who the hell knows where she went. She could've gone anywhere," Reina shot back.

"Yeah, well it wouldn't surprise me if you could," Gareth seethed. "She gave one of my strongest men potential brain damage. You know how much that's gonna affect this place?"

"Good on her!" Reina replied. "Are we talking about that blonde chick that had her bow? Because I would've done the same thing. She didn't even know how to handle the damn thing correctly –– even a dumbass could see that!"

There was a long moment of silence while Gareth only stared down at the Salazar girl, who only glared back in return. After a while, he finally set down his gun and smirked. "You people made the wrong choice coming here."

Jayce Bryant snorted, "Yeah, made that very clear, asshole."

Gareth ignored the Australian's comment and continued, "Because not only are you people gonna be killed, but she will too." Glenn's muscles tensed up as he clenched his jaw. "You see, all you wonderful people in here will have a meaningful death. But her––?" he cut himself off, scoffing,

"She'll die for nothing."

And with a blink of an eye, a guy with a mask appeared out of nowhere as Gareth climbed down from the container and dropped some sort of bomb inside of it.

The gas that shot out of the bomb made everyone inside of the container fall into a state of unconsciousness.

...

Kloe ran as fast as her legs could take her, dodging past every walker she stumbled across. She knew that Gareth had sent men out after her, and she was getting tracked by them.

They knew exactly where she was –– after Gareth's threat toward Reina, he soon figured he didn't need her anyway. He just wanted Kloe dead before she even tried to stop people from going in.

She held her breath as she listened to the two people that were on her ass. She hauled herself up onto a tree, and she hid in between the branches. She only had her bow and pocket knife. But there were good things with the two weapons –– and that was that they were quiet.

She swallowed thickly as she set her arrow in the arrow rest, pulling back the string as she aimed directly at one of the men's heads.

But then to make things harder for Kloe Rhee, an acorn that was on the branch she was on slithered off and hit the ground, catching the two men's attention.

"Fuck––" Kloe muttered before they both spun around, aiming their guns high as their eyes landed on the woman. Out of nothing but fear, she hopped out of the tree, her ankle twisting once she hit the ground. She hissed with pain and squeezed her eyes shut.

But nonetheless, she pushed herself forward and ducked down at any bullet that flew her way. The men followed her without hesitation, one of them reaching down for their intercom. "We have eyes on her! She's around the perimeter!"

"Great, now get her!" Gareth crackled through the speakers of the walkie, slightly irritated. He was currently setting up the row of men that Kloe knew to get slaughtered –– sliced across their throats to drain the blood out of them.

Gareth lowered down his walkie as he smugly smirked at the faces that were getting lined up with gags in their mouths through a door that had a glass window to peek through.

He pushed open the door, catching the attention of Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Glenn Rhee, Jayce Bryant, Zayn Schmidt and Bob. He grinned proudly as he wiggled the walkie in his grasp. "They got her," he told them, somewhat lying as he watched a few of their faces fall. "Aw, were some of you close to her? That's sad."

Even though someone brutally got a bat to the back of their head beside him, Glenn narrowed his eyes and glared at Gareth. He hated everything at that point. He hated how he couldn't get out of the hell-like place and go save his wife.

"Uh, sir?" the voice of a man spoke wearily through the intercom. "She's gone. We had her, we swear. But she just vanished––"

"Come again, Jeffrey," Gareth told the man, his eyes glued onto the men in front of him with gags in their mouths. "Jeffrey, goddamnit, what do you mean you lost her?!"

"He never said that, bastard." Gareth's expression fell as Glenn and Zayn's heads both lifted in unison, their eyes broadening at the female voice crackling through the intercom as she continued. "You wanna see me, ask politely and I'll think about it. Only if you tell me where they are."

Kloe released the button, glaring into the air as she stood in between two unconscious, deceased, bodies. "Where is Jeffrey and Mark?" Gareth questioned through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about them anymore. They'll wake up soon," Kloe stated, her head whipping over to the side as she eyes the entrance to Terminus. "Also, do you mind if I return with people like you?"

"What do you mean, people like me?"

"Jesus, how stupid are you? The dead people, dumbass. They eat people. And that sentence sounds a lot like you and your bunch," Kloe retorted as she started walking forward, edging closer to the place.

"I'd be careful what you say if I were you. I got some of your friends in front of me as we speak, and they're hearing all of this. Except, they can't exactly speak since they're one bat away from death."

Kloe momentarily paused as she swallowed thickly. "Who?"

She never took her finger off the button for a moment, meaning there was nothing but a static noise on the other end. Just as she was about to remove her finger, someone fired their gun and the bullet that came from it went straight through the walkie.

Kloe dropped several pieces onto the ground out of shock. Her eyes were wide, and she didn't take second thoughts before grasping onto an arrow from her quiver and aimed it at the person.

It was a woman –– one with jet black hair. Kloe pulled back the string and immediately let go, the arrow flying forward and setting in the center of the woman's head, making her fall backward.

Kloe felt an instant large amount of remorse in her body as she stared across at the now deceased woman. "Oh God, oh God..." she whispered, her face scrunching up with guilt.

"Hey," a familiar gray haired woman, who was covered in walker guts and was knelt down, taking out her knife from one of the mens' throats, caught Kloe's attention.

Kloe watched as Carol stood back up and set an assuring hand on her shoulder. Whilst Kloe was getting chased by the two men, Carol had grabbed onto her and pulled her into the bush.

They'd both waited for the two enemies to rush past them before they took them out –– correction, Carol took them out. As much as Kloe wanted to kill these people herself, she didn't have the heart to and it made her feel sick to the stomach.

But the moment she heard her own arrow forcefully set itself into the woman's skull, she felt everything inside of her drop to its lowest. In her mind, this was the second person she'd killed –– when in reality she had only killed one.

The first person she thought she'd killed was Vickie Parson. But she hadn't. The woman had died before Kloe drove her knife into her brain out of mercy –– therefore she hadn't killed her.

"The first time always hurts the most," Carol murmured as she wrapped her fingers around Kloe's upper-arm, leading her away as the herd of walkers got nearer and nearer.

...

"Well, that's depressing," Gareth breathlessly laughed as he held the intercom that was nothing but static on the other end. "Either she died, the walkie dying along with her –– or she decided to destroy it."

Zayn breathed heavily through his gag, scowling at the malicious man who was callous. He chose to believe the second option of what had happened to the other intercom. He turned his head to the left of him, being next to his brother-in-law.

Glenn Rhee panted, staring at the gray concrete flooring. His emotions were very much recognizable. He slowly lifted his chin up to Gareth, who set the walkie back into his pocket and lifted up a book that was in his free hand and began writing.

If looks could kill, Gareth was a hundred percent more than dead by everyone that was lined up –– ready to be hit in the back of the head with a metal bat then have their throats sliced open to drain the blood out of them.

"Hey, let me talk to you! Let me talk to you for a minute," Bob begged, his voice muffled from the gag wrapped around his mouth.

Gareth rolled his eyes as he stepped forward, "What?" He pulled the gag down from Bob's mouth –– the man taking a few breaths before speaking.

"Don't do this. We can fix this."

"No, you can't––"

"You don't have to do this!" Bob yelled, stopping Gareth from returning the gag into the man's mouth. "We told you there's a way out of all of this. You just have to take a chance." Bob shared a glance with the other men beside him, then turned back to Gareth, who was jotting more things down into his notebook. "We have a man who knows how to stop it. He has a cure. We just have to get him to Washington. You don't have to do this, man. We can put the world back to how it was."

Gareth rolled his eyes again, shaking his head skeptically at the man on his knees. "Can't go back, Bob."

"We can! You don't have to do this––!" He was stopped and his voice turned back to muffles once Gareth put the gag back in his mouth.

The man with dirty blonde hair knelt down in front of none other than Rick Grimes, and took the gag out of his mouth. "We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it. We also saw the two girls walk in without weapons, but come out with weapons. Had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. Now, I know that there was a double barrelled shotgun and an AK-47, but what else was in it?"

Gareth waited for the Grimes man to respond, but he only stared into his eyes, not daring to blink.

"You hid it, right? And you left it in a place you knew the archeress and jokester would find it. And you did that in case things went bad?" Gareth wondered, everyone now glaring across at him. "Smart. Still, we'll find it. But it's too dangerous to go out there right now, clearly. Since one, there's the dead surrounding the place, and two, your little friend is possibly still out there and took two more men out."

He then took out his long blade and gripped onto the back of Jayce's head, bringing him forward. He aimed his knife at one of the Bryant man's dark brown eyes, Gareth's own eyes showing no remorse to do what he had to if he had to.

He drifted his eyes back to Rick, whose gag was still out of his mouth, and pursed his lips. "What else was in the bag? I'm curious. And it was a big bag –– big enough to carry more than just two guns." Silence. "You really gonna let me do this?"

"Well, let me take you out there. And don't tell anymore of your people to hunt for Kloe. Let her come to us. And we'll show you," Rick recommended, tilting his head to the side slightly as he eyed the man in front of him.

"You see, Kloe, was it? Well, if you couldn't tell, we're not exactly on great terms –– so, not gonna happen. But this might." He pulled Jayce's head down more, causing him to grunt as his eye got closer to the tip of the blade.

"There's more guns in it," Rick quickly answered. ".44 Magnum. IMI Uzi. Automatic weapons. Sight scope. And a machete with a red handle... That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."

Gareth's stoic expression with straight lips soon turned as the edges of them lifted up. He chuckled humorlessly as he released Jayce's head and slid the knife back into its sheath in his belt.

He sighed as he leaned forward, putting Rick's gag back into his mouth and patted his shoulders. "Thanks." He stood up and began walking backward as he looked up at the two men standing behind the lined up men. "You have two hours to get them on the drier. I'm gonna go back to public face. Now's the time we can get messy, but we need to dial it all by sundown."

"Got it," one of the men replied in acknowledgment, nodding his head.

"Yes, sir," the other replied nonchalantly after.

Glenn felt his body tense up once again, since he was next in line. He tried to gulp as he prepared himself, but he felt a small nudge beside him. His head whipped over to the side, and he caught the eyes of Zayn.

The Schmidt man sent him a single assuring nod, unnoticeably motioning his head to the outside where his sister currently was. Glenn read his expression like a book with huge words inside, and he tried to take deep breaths.

That was until gunshots erupted from outside. Everyone stopped and turned their heads to the wall behind them. And everyone inside that room knew exactly who it was.

Gareth groaned silently as he took out the walkie he had only just put back in and changed the channel. He brought the intercom up to his face. "Hey, Chuck? Is that the girl?"

The man with the bat shrugged, unfazed. He positioned himself behind Glenn, lifting his bat above his shoulder. Zayn's eyes filled with fear as he watched the Rhee man squeeze his eyes shut.

But stopping the man with the bat, more gunshots shot through the air in the distance. Glenn lifted his head and looked out the immensely large window behind everyone, and his eyes soon filled with hope.

"Shit, don't tell me she got you too, Chuck, answer me––"

Gareth was interrupted when an explosion happened. The ground shook extraordinarily, and the sound of everyone's breathing was no longer heard and was replaced with a rumbling sound.

Kloe Rhee was winning.

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words: 4054
6th march 2023
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AHHH AND THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE REASON IS OUT BRO–– I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK (yea and i totally didn't accidentally post this part on white flag but we'll pretend that never happened)

ANYWAY I HOPE YOU ENJOYED <3