Chapter 98: 98-Staying In The North For Troy
Clementine:
Still, Haiden helped him up and walked him to the carriage. Inside, I saw Ian already there.
"Ah, you’re all back," he said, but his smirk faded when he saw Yorick’s condition. He looked terrible, and it hurt me deeply.
That’s when I knew Yorick was in a very bad state and heading for a deadly outcome. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. With tears in my eyes, I watched Haiden lay Yorick down on the seat.
"I guess we should take the baby back home. The monsters will eat him here. At least he’ll get a proper memorial, a goodbye, and a grave on the mainland," Haiden suggested, taking the baby from Yorick’s arms.
There were only four of us in the carriage; one was missing, it was Troy.
"Where’s Troy?" I asked Haiden.
"I don’t know. We lost track after last night," Haiden answered shortly.
By then, the others had boarded the train. We placed the dead baby on the seat, and Haiden took his baby from me. I kept staring at Yorick and then at the door. Then I made the hardest decision, but I think it was the right one. I put my baby beside Yorick and stepped back until I was outside the door. The door shut suddenly behind me. I moved so fast that Haiden couldn’t stop me.
"What the hell?" I heard him shout from inside.
"He needs a baby to make sure he doesn’t come back. So once you land, please take him to the hospital. Get him care," I yelled.
"I’ll go find Troy," I added, watching all the squadmates look at me through the windows, shocked. I don’t think anyone expected someone to do that for their squadmates.
I couldn’t face Haiden’s expression. I didn’t want to because I could tell he was upset that I stepped out without telling him my plan. But I wanted to carry this burden alone instead of dragging anyone else into it. It was my choice.
With that, I watched the train leave.
Until the train vanished, I saw Haiden struggling with the door, likely trying to pry it open. I knew once those doors shut, there was no way he could open them again. Now I was on my own. As the train disappeared, I heard shouting behind me. I turned and saw Oriana and another girl from her squad running toward me, the other girl cradling a baby in her arms.
"The train left?" Oriana asked, looking confused, shocked, and hurt. I could tell they were terrified because of the baby.
"Yeah, it just left," I replied, worried for them.
"How could they do this to us? We have a child with us," Oriana snapped, pointing at the baby. I recognized the other girl, Oriana had introduced her to me before. She was the twin of another squad member.
"Valerie, hold the baby tight." Even while upset, Oriana found time to criticize how Valerie was holding the child. I realized it must have been Valerie who had rescued the baby.
"What are we going to do now?" Valerie asked. She was usually quiet, but when she spoke, her voice was gentle.
"We’ll wait, obviously!" Oriana barked, making me narrow my eyes. I had always seen her act overly sweet to everyone. I’d never seen her with her own squad, so it surprised me she could be so sharp. Or maybe they were just scared. Weren’t we all?
"It’s okay, Oriana. She’s holding the baby just fine," I told her with a pointed look. After that, she seemed to relax a little.
"They took the bags with them," Oriana muttered, glancing around. I pointed toward one near the benches.
"Oh." She sounded flustered. The bag was right in sight.
"Give me the baby. I’ll feed him," Oriana said to Valerie, who shook her head and held the child closer.
"I saved him. I can take care of him." The way she stared at Oriana made it feel like a challenge. I guessed she’d had enough. I didn’t want to stick around to watch them argue, I needed to look for Troy and check if there were more babies.
"Fine. It’s not like I’m going to steal him from you. I can always come back and spend a week. I’m not scared," Oriana muttered as Valerie walked past her to sit on the bench with the baby.
"The train won’t be back until tomorrow," I told Oriana. She slowly nodded.
"You didn’t get the baby either?" she asked, pouting.
"No," I answered, lying. "But I have my squad mate here, so I didn’t board." Her expression told me she was already judging that choice.
"Wow. Fine." She rolled her eyes. "I thought you said your squad mates bullied you. Why stay for him? You could’ve left and come back." She sounded like she was judging me, but I didn’t care. That kind of pressure had never worked on me.
"Are you really not scared of coming back here, Oriana?" I asked, referring to what she had told Valerie earlier. She only shrugged, looking cautious.
"I found this road between the village and the big city. If I just have food, I’ll be fine there," she said, likely talking about the same road where I’d once found Ian sitting. She wasn’t wrong. We’d been there for hours before, and no monsters had appeared. But if they did, we’d be in trouble—there weren’t many places to hide.
"And where would you get the food from?" I pressed, genuinely curious. I half-expected to end up back here as punishment too, since I knew there weren’t many babies left to save.
"There are plenty of fruits in the woods, Clementine. Wait—are you thinking about coming back? Oh my God, that would be amazing. We could actually survive if we’re together." She grabbed my hand, eyes wide, a bright smile on her lips. I wasn’t sure why she was always like this with me, because I’d seen her be rude to Valerie.
"Yeah, I mean, if there are no babies left–" I didn’t have to finish, she understood.
"Yeah, well, there are none left. I did a head count back when others were carrying babies toward the station. I only stayed behind because I was trying to help Valerie, who had an injured leg." She glanced at Valerie, then rolled her eyes. "And this girl is giving me attitude. Can you believe that?" she muttered, clearly annoyed.
"Ugh," I made a small sound, my worry for Troy growing.
"Which of your squad mates is missing?" she asked, snapping me back to reality.
"Troy. I haven’t seen him since last night," I answered, feeling low. We’d been best friends for so long, and it hurt to think we’d fallen apart because of a misunderstanding his family had caused.
Then I caught the smile on Oriana’s face like she knew something.
"Oh, I saw him next to that big mansion early this morning. He was holding a baby girl."
My eyes widened with joy, but the feeling faded just as quickly. Why hadn’t he come back? Why hadn’t he returned to the station if he had already secured a baby?