She'd only been trying to help. She never wanted to make Kenny mad. She never wanted to make him hate her. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, pill bottle in her little hand. In the silence of the room, she remembered what had brought her to this point of no return.
I'm back...To put it simply, I've been busy...but, yah, I'm back. And here's a new fic.
Requested by a guest, who wanted me to write a fic where Kenny yells at Clem and unintentionally causes her to harm herself and he is the only one that can help her.
Was originally gonna be a one-shot, but I got into writing it and decided to make it longer! And I didn't kill Luke, so yay for that.
Sooo...please,
ENJOY.
Warning: Will contain self-harm, suicide attempts, and thoughts, and swearing. Proceed with caution.
"Is there any other way to get there? Do we have to cross the lake?" Clementine questioned. She had a bad feeling about walking on the ice.
The firefight from earlier had left their attackers dead, including Arvo, who had received a mercy killing from Mike after his being bitten by his sister. The group didn't get away without injury though. Rebecca was dead, and both Mike, and Luke had been shot. And taking a bullet to the leg had proved to be a real struggle for Luke, who was limping along and trying his best not to slow the group down.
Now the group stood in front of an icy lake that would ultimately lead them to an unfinished house, that they hoped had some supplies.
"We should've stuck to the treeline." Jane sighed.
"The fastest way between two...things is a straight line." Kenny said, looking down to Clem.
"It's not far. Just be on the lookout." Bonnie said. "Maybe there's a way around."
"I don't see any." Luke spoke.
"If we just go real slow, it'll probably be okay." Clementine said.
"Yeah. No need to rush this." Bonnie agreed.
"We need to spread out. Just to be safe. Less weight the better." Jane spoke.
With that, the group cautiously begin to make their way to the house, keeping a slow, but steady pace.
Clementine couldn't shake the bad feeling in her gut. Her stomach was in knots, she couldn't help, but feel something bad was going to happen. As she trudged forward, she heard the ice beneath her feet start to crack.
"We're okay. Don't worry." Luke assured the child.
Clementine swallowed, but slowly continued walking.
"We got some walkers behind us." Jane informed the group, looking over her shoulder. "It's only a few of 'em. We should be all right." Mike spoke.
"Let's just get to the house." Bonnie said.
The group continued to slowly inch forward until the startling sound of ice cracking grabbed their attention.
"Fuck." Mike cried.
"That's two less to deal with." Jane said.
"Just stay spread out and we'll be fine." Bonnie tried to reassure.
"You're okay." Luke said as he noticed Clementine looking down to the ice beneath her. "You're fine."
Clementine didn't reply. She sent a glance over her shoulder to see the walkers.
"L-Luke..."
"It's fine. Just keep going."
"They're...They're g-going to get me!"
"No. No they're not." Luke hushed before trying again to get the girl moving. "You're fine, Clem."
The words did nothing to ease her fear, Luke wasn't sure she was even listening as the girl stayed as frozen as the ice they were walking on.
"H-Help me!" Clementine pleaded, frantically, eyes filling with her tears.
"Calm down!" Luke called. "Just calm down, Clem." He moved a little faster trying to catch up to the girl, he knew he couldn't get to close or the ice would break, but he needed the child to listen to him.
" I c-can't..." Clementine shook her head, she tried to take a step, but the ice only cracked more. "K-Kenny!"
"You're good, darlin'." Kenny tried to stay calm, not wanting to make the child panic. "You're okay." He didn't know what to do.
"Clem, try to take a step." Bonnie piped in, seeing the child's fear.
Clementine looked over to the woman, shaking her head once more. "I can't. I can't!"
"Yes, you can, sweetie." The red head encouraged.
"The ice is going to break." Clementine protested.
"No. Clem, you're light. It ain't gonna break." Bonnie said, hoping her words would sooth the girl's fear.
Clementine however, wasn't buying that. "Yes, it will."
"Clementine!" Jane called, grabbing the girl's attention. "Don't be stupid! You're gonna get yourself killed." Jane snapped.
"Clementine, just...just close your eyes and take a step." Kenny ordered.
Clementine hesitated for a moment before doing as the told. She closed her eyes and finally managed to take a step.
"Shit!" Luke swore, preparing to run over as he noticed a walker moving close to the girl, probably interested in all the noise the girl was making. How did none of them notice it getting so close. He completely forgot he had a gun as he, ignoring the pain in his leg, started to sprint over to the child. "Clem!"
Bonnie had also noticed the walker creeping up behind the little girl, she quickly pulled out her gun, shooting the walker.
Clementine let out a small sound of fear, opening her eyes, heart pounding as she heard the ice crack behind her and the walker fell through. She hadn't even noticed it sneaking up behind her.
Luke sighed in relief before looking down. His eyes widened as he realized that in his rush to save Clem he had caused the ice beneath his own feet to crack.
"Luke?"
"Don't come over here." Luke quickly said, noticing the Bonnie and Clementine's attention was now on him. "Okay, I can make it. It's fine."
"You sure?" Bonnie asked.
"Yeah." Luke replied, unsure. He gave a nervous glance over his shoulder.
"You got walkers on the way, let me help you." Bonnie pleaded.
"It's too thin for both of us, I just... I just gotta be careful." Before he could even finish his sentence, the ice broke under him, causing him to fall.
"Luke, no!" Bonnie cried. Both her and Clem quickly made a dash towards Luke.
"Stop. Stop!" He ordered, causing the to pause. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
"No, you're not." Bonnie argued.
"I just gotta pull myself out." Luke mumbled, voice shivering along with his body.
"You need help, Luke!" Clementine spoke desperately.
"The ice is too thin. I got it." Luke protested.
Bonnie quickly turned her attention to the little girl, "You need to help!"
"No! You're gonna fall through!" Luke called.
"Clem, go. Go help him!" Bonnie ordered.
"No, Clem, do not." Luke said, shaking his head.
"Clem, just go back for him. You're light. You can do it." Bonnie said.
"Stop tellin' her that!" Luke snapped at Bonnie before turning to Clem. "Clem! Look at me." He said, waiting for the child to do so. "Pull out you're gun and shoot those damn walkers, okay. Just give me a little time."
"Clem, you can make it. But you need to go! Now!" Bonnie said, ignoring Luke.
"No, Clem! It's too dangerous. I just need some more time!" Luke said. Even in such a dire situation, he was more worried about the girl's safety than his own.
"He's gonna die, Clem!" Bonnie shot at the girl.
Clementine felt her heart clench as she heard those words.
"You guys gotta hurry!" Mike yelled, noticing walkers approaching.
Clementine quick readied herself. She had to help Luke. She couldn't just let him die.
I can figure it out." Luke mumbled, seeing a look of determination flash in the little girl's eyes.
Clementine, however, had already made up her mind. She started towards her friend, determined to save his life.
"Clementine, stop!" Kenny yelled.
"Clementine!" Mike called.
Luke's eyes went widen as the child approached him. He quickly shook his head as she got closer and closer. "Just go back. Please..."
"I got you." Clementine comforted.
"Please..." Luke stammered.
"It's gonna be alright." Clementine said, reaching out a hand to Luke.
Before she could react the ice broke, dragging both her and Luke into the lake below.
"Shit...Oh shit!" Jane tried to locate one of them in the water. After five minutes she was coming up empty handed.
Mike quickly raced over to help, handing AJ to Kenny. "You see 'em."
"No...Fuck... Help me look."
"Yeah. Alright."
The two of the reached through the water. Moments passing before Jane yelled. "Mike! Mike, help me!"
When she grabbed Luke, she tried to pull him up. She wanted to get Clementine first, but Luke was closer and she knew he was alive.
"Mike, help." She repeated. "Help me pull him up."
Mike quickly did so, helping Jane pull Luke from the icy water.
"We got Luke!" Mike called to the others.
"N-No, no! G-G-Ge-Get her!" Luke screamed as they helped him out of the freezing water.
You okay?" Mike asked.
"D-Don't w-wo-worry about m-me." Luke uttered through his shivers. "Get Clementine!"
Jane quickly started searching through the water for Clementine. She couldn't see anything. The water was too dark, and she didn't want to jump in there. She knew she'd probably freeze to death if she did.
Kenny held AJ in his arms, waiting nervously. When he saw them pull Luke free. He waited to see if he held Clementine with him. But he didn't see the girl.
"Where's Clem?!" He demanded, placing the baby into Bonnie's arms, Kenny quickly raced across the ice, not worrying if it cracked or not.
"She's still under." Mike replied.
"What?" Kenny asked, panicking. He quickly started digging through the water, along with Jane, trying to see if he could feel for the girl. "Get me...Get me a stick."
He was ready to jump down there and look himself, but he knew he'd probably die right along with Clem.
"That's not going to work." Jane said.
Kenny ignored her, looking around for a stick. "Get me a stick, Mike."
Mike quickly looked for one that would be long enough. He looked around running off the ice to grab a stick before tossing it to the man.
"We don't have enough time." Bonnie spoke.
"Yes we do." Luke said, watching in despair as they looked for Clementine.
"But how much time does she have?" Jane added.
"Shut the fuck up!" Kenny spat.
"Kenny-" Jane sighed sitting up, her hands were aching due to the cool.
Kenny ignored them and once again begin a desperate search for the child. Concentrating on the lake and trying to feel for the girl.
"It's been almost ten minutes. Luke's freezing we gotta-" Jane said.
"No. I-I'm f-fine." Luke said. "Get Clem."
"How was she when you had her?" Mike asked.
"S-She wasn't..." Luke trailed off, shaking his head. "I...I...I don't k-know. H-Her eyes were c-closed. She w-wasn't m-moving."
"Was she... dead?" Bonnie asked.
"I d-do-don't know." Luke said.
"If she wasn't then. She might be now." Jane said, standing up. "She's been under for too long."
"I got her! I got her!" Kenny cried as his stick caught something in the water. He pulled it towards him.
"What?" Jane asked, surprised.
"I got her!" He repeated as he recovered the child from the water.
She was soaking wet. And completely limp. For a moment, Kenny thought he was picking up a corpse. He quickly shook that thought away, running off the ice with her in his arms.
"It's alright darlin'." He said, pulling her soaked form to his chest. "You're alright."
He was waited for her to show a sign of life, but she never did.