<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Clarke was cautious as she approached Bellamy and his new friend. She had heard from Octavia and some of the others, that Bellamy had shown up and that he had brought a friend with him. She knew that things between Octavia and Bellamy would be difficult to say the least, and she was right. She pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and exited her and <br/>
Lincoln's bedroom, where Octavia was now inside talking to him. They had all been through so much in the last few months since they had come to Alexandria. She sighed softly and looked up and locked eyes with Bellamy.<br/>
<br/>
She gave him a sad smile. "Hey, Bellamy.." The young woman said softly, and then she walked over to her friend and the young woman that stood beside him. She stared at the brunette woman for several moments, before she forced herself to look away, and stepped forward to hug Bellamy. "It's good to see you, and I'm glad that you're okay. Or well, <br/>
as okay as can be with how differently things are for everyone now." She glanced over at the other woman again, and gave Bellamy's friend a tiny smile. "I'm Clarke. I've known Bellamy and Octavia all of our lives."<br/>
<br/>
"We lived next door to each other and our parents were friends before we were born." After she spoke, she turned back to Bellamy. "I heard about what happened with you and Octavia, and I'm sorry." She sighed softly. "I know that it's been months since you and Octavia have seen each other, but a lot's happened since then, Bellamy. A lot of bad things. Come on, let's go find an empty room and the three of us can talk privately." A few moments later, she led the other two people into an empty room and closed the door behind <br/>
them.<br/>
<br/>
Then, the blonde motioned for the two of them to take a seat at the table in the room, on the couch, or on one of the beds. And she took a seat on the floor in the middle of the room. "When everything started, Octavia was by herself in your old college apartment for a week. She was confused, alone, scared, and didn't know what to do. Lincoln and I had been studying for exams one night with the TV on, playing an old movie. The movie was interrupted by a news broadcast that talked about a virus that had started in Los Angeles, and was spreading quickly."<br/>
<br/>
"It took a week to get to DC, and then a few days to get to Virginia. From there it spread like wildfire. People started to get sick and started dying. And while that was nothing new, what happened next, was. When people died from the virus, they didn't stay dead. Their eyes changed color, and their skin changed, and they got back up and from then on, started chowing down on other people. And from then on, it was known that bites or scratches were the number one way to get infected. But other ways included getting sick from a regular disease and dying, would turn you into one."<br/>
<br/>
"Basically, any way you die now, turns you into one of them. And the best thing to do is to take them, or it, out with a shot to the head to make sure that they stay down and can't hurt anyone else." Clarke paused for a moment, and then decided to move on. "After that first week, Octavia, Lincoln and I decided to stay together. We killed as many walkers as we came across, and then cleared out the dorm as much as we could, and then took off in each a separate car that was loaded down with as much supplies as we could fit inside of them."<br/>
<br/>
"We spent the first two months living in our cars, taking turns sleeping, and staying awake to keep watch, so that we didn't get attacked. On the first day of the third month, we met Glenn, who ended up saving Octavia from getting bitten by a walker. She had been trapped in a building full of walkers by one of the Saviors, Simon, and nearly died. Simon had locked her inside and while she was scanning a room for supplies, Lincoln and I had been across the street scanning a bigger building. When we heard her scream, we took off for the building she was inside."<br/>
<br/>
"We found Glenn trying to get inside, and he and we did. Glenn killed the walker by cutting it's head off." She looked down and then back up at the two of them. "That afternoon after Glenn saved Octavia, he brought us here to Alexandria. He talked to us about the community and how they were getting things going, and trading with other communities. <br/>
How it was mostly a safe place to live, and raise families, and to have as good a life as one still can." She paused again, and decided to move on even more. "Octavia has a boyfriend named Carl."<br/>
<br/>
"He's younger than her. He's 18. Don't give her any crap. Carl's not a child. He can and does take care of himself, and the people here. He's a good man. And your sister already got grief from his father in the beginning. But now, well, now they're together and no one questions it, or says anything about it really.. Not after.. Well, not after what's happened..." The blonde sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Carl and Octavia have been together as a couple for 7 months now. They love each other, and they share a bond that no one can break.."<br/>
<br/>
Clarke looked at Bellamy and for the first time since she started to tell him what his sister had been through, she forced herself to make eye contact with him. "Carl's father is named Rick. He runs this place.. Alexandria. Carl doesn't remember what life was like before everything got screwed up. His father taught him how to fight, how to shoot a gun, how to kill.... So that he'd be able to protect himself. And they both taught Octavia and Lincoln and I the same thing. But it was more for Octavia. They wanted to make sure.. It got out of hand, but none of them want to admit it..." <br/>
<br/>
Her hands twisted in her lap. "It's been 10 months since the world basically ended. I keep track of the days, and Octavia does, too, but for a different reason. Two months went by and we were adjusting to being here. Carl and Octavia had met our first night here, and despite their age difference, they had become fast friends. The two of them, along with another girl, Beth. She was 21. By the time we had been here for 4 months, Carl and Octavia had become a couple. Shortly after they got together, Octavia found out that she was pregnant."<br/>
<br/>
"She had barely had a chance to tell Carl, before she was kidnapped by Simon, the same Savior who had locked her in the building with the walker. She had been out on a scouting mission with a few others, looking for both food and people to bring into the community.." The blonde stopped talking, and rubbed her hands over her face as she forced back tears. "Simon kidnapped Octavia and brought her to the Saviors. She was trapped there for a month and a half, and tortured while she was with them. They made sure not to do much damage to her face."<br/>
<br/>
"You can see what remains of her busted lip, but the scars on the the rest of her body are much worse. But that's nothing to the mental scars she has. Negan, Simon and the rest of the Saviors beat Octavia until she miscarried. It was for revenge against Rick and Carl, for not bowing down to what Negan wanted. Octavia has said she doesn't blame them, but that's all she'll say about it. But she doesn't need to say anything else. The torture and abuse she suffered for that month and a half, say it all. She was scratched, punched, slapped, shoved, and even whipped.."<br/>
<br/>
"The evidence is all over her body, with the exception of her face and neck. When Carl found out that Octavia had been kidnapped by the Saviors, he tried to rescue her himself. He was able to do it by killing five guards who were with Octavia, while Negan was with one of his wives. The guy has about 7 of them.. Anyway, Carl managed to get Octavia out, but she was a mess. He had brought her back to their bedroom and then pulled me aside that night and asked for my help. Octavia wasn't even conscious at that time. There was blood everywhere."<br/>
<br/>
"She had a black eye, all the bruises and other marks I mentioned earlier, plus she was bleeding all over the place from her injuries, and from.. the miscarriage. I ended up needing help to treat her. I got help from Carl and Octavia's other best friend, Beth. We took care of Octavia and kept her away from most of the others while she tried to cope with the loss. <br/>
A month ago, Beth was killed by Negan in front of all of us. He had some of his men kidnap a bunch of us when they were out scouting around for more people and supplies."<br/>
<br/>
"They spent a week torturing Daryl, Rick's best friend, and then they killed him. They had managed to get information from him on secret entrances on how to get in here. They captured Beth, Daryl, Denise, Morgan, and several other people and killed them. So, to say that your sister has been through a lot in the last few months is an understatement. <br/>
She's not the same person that she used to be, before all of this happened. So much death and so much pain in a short amount of time has changed her, Bellamy. There's no way <br/>
it couldn't."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not saying she doesn't love you, because she does. More than almost anything. But, she's angry, scared, in pain, and lashing out at the one person she knows will never hurt her.." Clarke said and wiped her eyes. "I'm gonna stop talking for now. I know you're going to need some time to take in what I've told you so far," She said and then fell silent <br/>
to let him process it.</span>