Chapter 25:
It was half an hour later that, with the help of Half Light, Clark heard footsteps coming towards their room, and then stopped at their door. A moment later, there was knocking on the door, Clark already by it, coming face to face with Lilly when he opened the door.
"Clark?" She was surprised and then worried. "You should be in bed."
"I'm fine." He stepped back from the door, leaving it open, which she took as an invitation and stepped inside. The room was dim, the curtains doing their job. He closed the door behind her, quietly, as Lilly settled at the edge of the bed, with Clementine greeting Lilly.
Then her eyes moved over to him once more, looking at him. He was taller now, from his previous height of 5 feet 7 to being over 5 feet 10. Thanks to surgical destruction that was no longer available, his muscles were also more defined. He didn't resemble any bodybuilder or gym rat. It was more of a fighter's build. You wouldn't see his muscles bouncing or bulging with every step, but if Clark flexed, it would pop up.
"You look better… And taller." She finally told him, and Clark nodded, going back to settle in next to Clementine. "You two okay?" She finally asked, letting the worry bleed into her tone.
Clark exchanged a look with Clementine, but in the end, they nodded. "Yeah, we're okay." He told her, but that didn't seem to relieve her at all.
"The bite marks." She finally asked, as the lovebirds' eyes shot up in realization and understanding of her worry. Finally, Clark moved the covers enough to show her the bite marks. There were a couple of them on his hip, more on his legs, such as the calves and lower thighs.
But Clark only showed her the ones on his calves, watching as her eyes went grimmed, cursing and almost exploding in anger and helplessness. Meanwhile, Clark and Clementine just watched, communicating with their eyes before they both nodded together.
"I'm immune." Clark finally broke the news, watching as Lilly froze.
"What?"
"I'm immune." He repeated, slowly, showing more of the bite scars that were scarred now, showing no signs that they were getting worse. If anything, Lilly could see a little how it was healing.
"To the infection. To the disease. To most poisons." He paused because there was more, and she deserved the full version. With a sigh from Clementine, she began, giving her a summary of what Clark could do, since when it all started, and more.
She proved it by using the horn, asking Lilly her favorite fruit, which was peaches, surprising Clark, and then, a moment later, a stunned Lilly was staring at the peach in her hand and then the horn that disappeared a moment later.
"That's why you came back from those hunts, a turkey and then a full adult deer?!" she said finally.
"Yes… Partly."
"With Cornucopia, we should have fewer issues with food now," Clementine told her, watching as the stunned Lilly swallowed and nodded, her expression changing, calculating, but hopeful.
"I wanted to tell the group- everyone, tomorrow. About my abilities-"
"No." Lilly refused, firmly, before standing in front of them, walking side to side. Clark was surprised, and so was Clementine. "Why?" He asked, and Lilly shook her head.
"Cause it's too risky. Too dangerous." Seeing the duo's expression, Lilly sighed.
"I'm not against you telling everyone that you're immune. But keep the healing and everything else to yourself. I'll talk with Kenny and Lee, tell 'em that they should keep it to themselves." She began, hand on her shin, eyes distant.
"Why?" Clark asked again, and Lilly stopped her pacing to look at him properly.
"Because people do stupid things when they find out someone can fix their problems." Her voice was flat, not unkind, just certain, the way her voice got when she'd already run the calculation and didn't enjoy the result.
"Right now, you're the hunter. The provider. Everyone respects that because everyone understands it." She looked at the horn that had just vanished. "The moment they know you can pull food from thin air and cure the infection with a touch, they stop seeing a person. They start seeing a resource."
Clark thought about that.
"They will expect you to do everything for them." Clementine frowned at that. "And when- not if- when you fail, they will blame you and then burn you alive, like back in the dark ages."
"She's right," Clementine said quietly. She wasn't looking at either of them, her eyes somewhere on the middle distance, her fingers finding the ring on her left hand the way they'd been finding it for days. "Larger than Life is already doing it." Lilly connected it to a trait that he got. "They already lean on you more than they know." She paused. "If they find out there's more-"
"They'll lean harder," Clark finished.
Lilly nodded once, sharp and final. "Tell them you're immune. That part they need to know, especially with the bite marks." Her eyes moved to his calves again and then away. "But the rest stays between the people who already know."
"Lee and Kenny."
"Lee, Kenny, and me." She met his eyes. "I'll make sure they keep it quiet. And I'll watch the group. If someone starts pushing in ways they shouldn't—" She didn't finish that sentence, but her meaning was clear.
Clark looked at Clementine. She gave him a small nod.
"Okay," he said.
Something in Lilly's shoulders came down slightly, a drop of tension that came from an outcome she'd been bracing against not arriving. She stayed where she was for a moment, her hands still, her eyes moving over him once more in the way she'd been doing since she walked in. Something that had a little more worry in it than she'd probably intended to show.
"You scared us," she said. The words came out flat, which for Lilly meant they cost something. "Lee did a good job covering most of the injuries-" she looked over the bite scars and then the ones from the accident that he showed to her. "But I think everyone saw a few bites. They were worried and well… helpless."
Clark didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what to say. He thought that the only ones who cared about him were Lee, Carley, and Clementine, but it seemed that he was wrong. Even if he didn't fully interact with them, they cared- which, for some reason, was an eye opener.
"Thank you." He finally told Lilly.
"For what?"
"Caring. About me." He spoke again, looking up her eyes as she stayed stiff for a moment. If it was day time and the room a bit brighter, Clark and Clementine would have seen the blush on her face. But she snorted, waving it off. She noticed Clementine almost dozing off, which was what she used to get away.
She looked at Clark. "Make sure she actually sleeps." She turned to the door and then stopped, her hand on the frame, her back still to them. "We're supposed to get two guests tomorrow. They said they needed gas, and I put a term for trade."
Clark waited to see where she was going with that.
"Food and medicines for a few gallons of gas. But now that you're okay, we can go back on our words-"
Clark shook his head. "No, while we- I can take care of the food part, pills, bandages, and other things would be useful."
With that, Lilly nodded, closing the door behind her and returning to her watch. When she got to the top of the RV, Mark was waiting for her, a blanket wrapped around him, and he invited her in, which she took.
"Everything good?" Mark asked, and Lilly nodded. For the first time since the outbreak, Lilly rested, as her head gently landed on Mark's shoulder.
"Yeah, everything's good."
…
…
…
Morning came quicker than expected for the motel group. While the rays of the sun warmed the group, their mood was still dark and grim, almost in grief, except for Katjaa. The older woman was finally smiling and carefree after almost a week of worry and grief.
So much so that Larry of all people glared at her to be mindful of those who, at least, were feeling helpless regarding Clark's situation.
Only for Katjaa to spill the beans after noticing the depressed mood. That Clark was immune to the virus or whatever it was that turned people after the bite. That was the least damning thing; the worst was that Kenny had told her that he had abilities, and one of them was that he could heal them from diseases, heal Duck.
Lilly, hearing it, bristled with rage and anger, but kept it to herself, watching as her group was stunned and then excitedly marching down towards Clementine's room. Before they could take another step forward, Lilly's anger burst, and she yelled at them.
"Stop!"
The word cracked across the parking lot like a gunshot, and everyone froze mid-step. Katjaa, who was leading the charge towards the room, froze. Ben, behind her, flinched and almost curled in on himself, her father, who followed out of curiosity, and even Mark, who had jumped down from the RV and was looking towards that door with excitement. All of them froze.
That's when Lee and Carley finally left their room, while Kenny finally joined them as well, watching the gathering with confusion.
"What's happening?" Lee asked.
"Kenny told Katjaa about Clark's abilities," Lilly said, without looking at him. Her eyes were on the group, still frozen in the parking lot with the stillness of people who had been caught mid-motion. "And Katjaa told everyone else." The people in the parking lot frowned up at her, and then at Lee.
Lee's expression moved through several things and settled on something tired. He looked at Kenny.
Kenny had the decency to look away first, before snorting and looking forward once more.
"He doesn't have to heal anyone else, just Duck." Kenny's jaw tightened, his voice dropping to match hers, the fight in it raw and specific. "You understand that? My son. If Clark can fix him-"
"Clark is eighteen years old." The words came out flat and deliberate. "Just yesterday, he came back injured and unconscious. Heck, you were the one to tell us how he got it!" She pointed at him, glaring.
For a moment, it seemed like it would hold. Then Kenny stepped forward beside Katjaa, his jaw set in the way it got when he'd made up his mind about something and wasn't going to unmake it without a fight.
"Lilly." Kenny began, "He can cure my son and my wife. That's all-"
"YOU'RE NOT!" She screamed at him. "That's not what you're asking at all! If he says yes to your family. What about mine?! What about Carley, Mark, and Ben?!"
Hearing what she herself said, she snorted in ridicule. "If he says yes…" She whispered, the image of the boy, barely an adult, came to her, knowing that there was no hypothetical situation. If they asked, if she and others asked for him to cure them of this disease or whatever it was that they are infected with. Clark would do it without hesitation.
Her eyes hardened, and her glare intensified, going back to the group, to Katjaa's worry and relief and hope and determination- her eyes opened wide in realization- before she shut them, her anger intensifying.
"You know he'll say yes." Her voice had dropped back down, which was worse than the shouting. "You know that. That's why you told Katjaa. That's why you're standing there instead of knocking on that door yourself." She watched his jaw work. "Because you knew if you asked him directly, he'd say yes, and you'd have to watch him do it, and you'd have to live with that."
Kenny's eyes went to the door of Clark's room and then away.
"So you let everyone else do the asking for you."
"That's not-"
"Kenny." Lee's voice, from behind him. It wasn't loud. It was managed, but the hardness in it, Kenny knew he had ended his friendship with the only friend he could possibly have in this new world.
Kenny turned.
Lee was looking at him with an expression that wasn't anger and wasn't disappointment anymore. It was something more specific than either. The face of a man who had been in a room five days ago and hadn't forgotten what happened in it, he regretted it.
"We were there," Lee said. "In that apartment. I remember what we said to him. What we-" He stopped. Choose the honest version. "What I let happen. What I was ready to do, at the end of it, before he made the choice himself." He looked at Kenny directly. "I'm not doing that again."
The words came out quiet, even, and final. "He spent fifteen minutes as something none of us has a word for, in pain that we can't imagine, because we needed him to. Because I needed to get back to Carley, and you needed to get back to Katjaa and Duck."
The parking lot was very quiet.
"That was yesterday," Kenny said. His voice had lost the certainty it had started with. Not the argument, not yet, but the certainty. "This is different. This is just one touch-"
"It doesn't matter." Lilly shot back, tired and exhausted. "It doesn't matter." She repeated to herself, seeing the look in their eyes. The look that said Clark Rogers was no longer a human being. Instead, he was their solution to every single problem. A resource that would keep giving.
This is what she feared would happen when- not if- when others heard the news of him being special last night, in Clementine's room. But the secret didn't last even a single night. 'He should leave.' The thought came to her, filled with pity, but also hypocrisy, as she wanted to go with him. Already, she thought of bringing her dad and Mark as well.
Katjaa, beside her husband, had gone still in that way that was now considering the words she blurted out and her action. But it was too late. Everyone knew now, even if they had no proof. They saw a way to survive more easily, and they were taking it. Katjaa's hands were folded in front of her, and she wasn't looking at Lilly anymore. She was looking at the door.
"He'll say yes," Lilly continued, quieter now, the anger still there but underneath something else. "If you walk up to that door and you knock on it and you ask him, he will say yes. Without thinking about it. Without calculating what it costs him." She paused. "He will keep giving and giving, while we will just take more and more. We can't even offer him anything in exchange."
The parking lot stayed quiet.
Katjaa's hands were still folded in front of her. Duck had appeared from somewhere and went behind his mother's hip, and his eyes were moving between the adults with the attention of a nine-year-old who understood that something important was happening and hadn't been told what.
Ben was against the wall of the motel, arms wrapped around himself, looking at the floor.
Larry, her dad, was the one who spoke.
"So what?" His voice was at its usual volume, but it had lost the edge it carried when he was looking for a fight. "We just pretend we don't know? We sit on it?"
"Yes," Lilly said.
Her dad looked at the ground. Then at the door. Then he turned and walked back toward his room, his hand pressed flat against his chest in the way when his heart was giving him trouble, and Lilly watched him go and said nothing.
She worried for her dad, finding it weird that he was the one to let it go when he needed Clark's help the most.
The parking lot began to reassemble itself. It was hesitant and reluctant and without any of the usual morning energy. People moved back to where they'd come from with the heavy shuffle of people who had been handed something and didn't know where to put it down.
Katjaa touched Duck's shoulder and steered him gently toward their RV. He went, but his eyes stayed on his mother's face, asking a question she wasn't answering.
Kenny hadn't moved.
Lee was still watching him from where he stood, with the expression that wasn't asking him to do anything, just waiting to see what he'd do with what he'd been handed.
"I just want my son to be okay," Kenny said. His voice had nothing left in it. Not the frustration or the volume or the stubborn fuel that usually kept it going. Just the sentence, stripped down to what it actually was. "That's the whole of it. That's all I've got."
"I know," Lee said.
"And I want Clark to be okay." Carley finally spoke up after the whole affair. She still looked sick, but she was pushing through it to say her piece.
"He's… They're the closest thing to a family I've got, Kenny." Carley squeezed Lee's hand, leaning a little on him. "I don't want-"
Clark suddenly burst from his room, eyes frantic, "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" He ordered, running to Carley and Lee, shoving them down, and then going to Kenny, tackling him. As soon as Kenny was down, he used Double Jump to get to Lilly, wrapping himself around her and turning on Stone Skin and Superhuman-
The first shot would have hit Lilly right in the head if Clark hadn't brought her down to the RV roof. The second shot hit the motel wall, and the third hit a window, breaking it. That's all it took for everyone to jump behind covers and get down.
"FUCK 'EM UP!!" An unfamiliar voice ordered from behind the tree lines, shooting at their position. Clark took at least five hits, not from pistols, but rifles. Each hit broke down his Stone Skin, buffed Superhuman ability, and finally, Thick Skin would absorb the leftover impact.
"Clark!" Lilly shouted, about to glance back at him. But he kept her down, using his body as cover. "I'm going to push you over- ugh." Another hit.
"Do it!"
With a little push, she fell from the roof of their watchout to the safe side, letting out a small yelp as she hit the ground with her rifle. Immediately, she crawled under the vehicle and took aim. Through the fence's holes, she could see figures covering themselves behind the trees-
BANG
"Fuck!"
One down.
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AN: Yoyo, surprise chapter.
Finally, we're getting into some action. The reveal about Clark's power, I didn't want to write it like this. I thought that I'd have Clark reveal it himself, but nope. While writing the chapter, it just came out that Katjaa was the one to do it. I was surprised, but kept going, and this is how it turned out.
For those of you who suspect that Clark heard it all and that the commotion had woken him up. Yes, you are right lol. It's implied that Clark let Lee and Lilly fight the battle for him since he did promise Clementine that he'd take care of himself. Clark is a self-sacrificing fool, and he wouldn't have been able to deny any of the group. So, why not hide and have those who care for him fight it out?
The strong hint that I dropped that's the case is that during all of that commotion, Clark didn't leave his room. But even before the shots rained down on the group, he was already telling everyone to get down due to noticing it with Half Light.
Anyway, that's all I've got. For the next story, I think I've settled into MHA.
I dislike the anime/manga due to the main character and others. But I love the powersystem and the settings, that everyone has powers, and it doesn't include aliens or demons or angels and such. It's purely power.
I wanted to write an X-Man/Marvel or DC story, but that includes all that magic, aliens, dimensional beings, etc. I need a "pure" system like MHA. The Boys is another one. Instead of quirks, it's V1/V5. Another good series is The Alphas. I've got ideas for Naruto as well, but again, that contains the space aliens, which, if I do write a story about Naruto, I'd cut that part entirely. No space aliens or Kaguya. Just Madara being the finale boss or something. It'd be a Massive AU. I wanna tip my toe in One Piece as well.
Anyway, enough of me rambling. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a good day.