A/N: If this is your first time, welcome to reading Son of a Tyrant. I can assure you that the story is a good one. It's a unique twist to Season 2.
As for veterans who have read this story, I'm going to start cleaning up SoT of grammar mistakes. Key word is try.
Finally, this is important. THE F-BOMB IS NO LONGER CENSORED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. PROCCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL. Sorry if that's yelling, but I need to get my point across.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Clementine's eyes fluttered open to see the hard, grey stone of a once cleared out pathway that led to the river and a fire pit in front of her. On the other side of the burnt-out fire pit was a boy. He had thick, shaggy brown hair and appeared to be much shorter than her. He wore a dark green hooded sweatshirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. He was asleep in an upward position with his head tilted down. Clementine cringed a bit noticing that the boy was in a very poor position for sleep.
She started to get up but she shuttered from the pain that was where her waist was. She must have hit something while being in the water last night. Her pain gave way to surprise when she saw that she was covered by a blanket. It must be the boy's blanket. She really hated to wake him up but she needed to know what happened last night.
Clementine looked to the boy and crawled over to him. She shook him a bit and said, "Excuse me, hello?"
The boy woke up and stretched before addressing her, "Sorry, I'm a little tight." The boy said.
Clementine nodded and said, "Hi, I hate to just bombard you with questions but… Do you know what happened last night?"
"Yeah, I found you passed out in the river and dragged you ashore." The boy responded. "I thought you weren't going to make it. I was really afraid that you would have died from hypothermia."
Clementine was shocked at how close to death she must have been. However, she smiled at the boy and said, "You saved my life. Thank you." Suddenly, she could feel her stomach growl. She clutched it and blushed. "Sorry, I guess I'm really hungry."
"That's fine. I have some food in my backpack." The boy said as he reached for his nearby backpack. He rummaged through it until he found a bag of fruit gummies. "Here, you want to split the bag; they're a little hard and stale but they still taste very good."
Clementine's eyes widened and she started to drool a bit. "Yes, of course!" Clementine exclaimed. The boy smiled and scooted over to give Clementine room to sit down next to him. She sat next to the boy and popped a gummy into her mouth. It exploded with flavor, strawberry in particular. She hadn't eaten a gummy in years. Before the apocalypse, Clementine ate healthy food like her parents but every once in a while, her parents would treat her with gummies and other sweets. She ate another gummy and chewed on it slowly to savor the taste. "I haven't had these in years." Clementine said. The boy smiled at her. "What's your name?" Clementine asked.
"My name's Keith." The boy said as he popped a gummy in his mouth. He chewed on it and swallowed before he asked, "What's yours?"
"I'm Clementine." Clementine responded.
Keith smiled at the girl and continued to eat the bag of gummies with her.
After the apocalypse, there were few times that Clementine could admit that she felt relatively safe but Keith's campsite was warm and inviting for some reason. She enjoyed his company, and the two soon finished the bag of gummies. Keith started to pack up which included rolling the blanket up, placing it in his backpack, and zipping his backpack.
He stood upright and went toward a broken-up boardwalk with Clementine following behind him. The boardwalk was out of reach for both. Keith looked at the crumbled-up walkway and examined it. After a couple of minutes of pacing around and examining it, he sighed and said, "There's no other way. I'll have to give you a boost."
Clementine nodded and Keith got underneath the walkway. He got down on one knee and brought the other close to his chest. His hands were cupped and he waited for Clementine. She hesitantly walked to him and put one foot into his cupped hands. He grunted and brought her up the walkway. She grabbed onto a piece of wood and grunted as she hauled herself up.
She looked down to Keith and said, "Glad that's over."
"Sorry." Keith said. "If there was another way, I would have taken it. Okay, I'm next; I'm going to need you to grab my hand. Keep in mind, I'm short so you will have extend your arm."
Clementine giggled at his criticism toward his own body and extended her arm as much as possible. "Okay. Can you reach?" Clementine asked.
"Only one way to find out." Keith said as he jumped up and grabbed onto Clementine's hand. She grunted as she struggled to bring Keith up but eventually she got him up onto the boardwalk
"You know Keith? I was actually very short when everything happened." Clementine said.
"Yeah, rub it in." Keith said. "I'll beat you in height one day."
The two chuckled at their joking comradery and walked up a set of stairs that led to a clearing. Clementine and Keith looked over at the clearing and their eyes widened. The clearing had a couple of graves in the far left of the clearing, while on the far right there was a dead walker with a flagpole sticking out of its skull.
Clementine then realized that she needed to find Christa. "Christa are you there?" Clementine called out for her guardian.
Keith looked at her with a questioning stare and he asked, "Who's Christa?"
Clementine looked to him and said, "Christa is the woman who is taking care of me."
Keith nodded, and the two looked around the clearing to try and find her. Neither had any luck, and Keith said, "Maybe she's still out there, just not here. We'll keep an eye out for her."
Clementine gave Keith a nod, and they started to walk down a trail that led further into the forest. Both children walked on somewhat terrified by their surroundings. Clementine held her arms and Keith kept his right hand over a large knife that was clipped to his belt. The trees didn't help with the atmosphere; they stood over the two with an intimidating look.
The two children noticed a fallen tree on the path. Clementine struggled over it but it was Keith who had the hardest time. He wasn't very short for his age, but he was average height for a twelve year old boy. "Grr…I hate being short." Keith growled as he struggled to get over the tree. Clementine suppressed her laughter with her hand as Keith continued to crawl his way up the fallen tree trunk. Keith huffed and jumped off the tree and stuck the landing.
The two walked down the road while keeping their eyes on the trees until a flock of crows came out of nowhere. The two gasped and took a couple of seconds to get their bearing. They kept going until they heard a rustle from the nearby bushes. Keith went into action and grabbed his knife. He crept toward the bushes with his knife at the ready.
Keith got closer and closer until he saw a dog sniffing the ground. His face went from worry to happiness in a matter of seconds. "Hi boy!" Keith exclaimed. The dog turned around and growled at him. Keith was shocked by the dog growling at him and he started to back away.
"What is it?" Clementine asked.
"It's a dog." Keith replied with a huge grin. Keith focused his attention to the dog. "It's okay, boy, it's okay…" The dog stopped growling and barked. Clementine rounded the corner and the dog turned back to being defensive. Clementine raised her arms as if to surrender as Keith said, "It's okay, boy, this is my friend."
Clementine got down and checked the dog's collar. "You're name's Sam." Clementine said. The dog released a bark which didn't seem to be intimidating. The dog snapped his head toward the other direction, and he walked further down the trail. "What's he doing?" Clementine asked.
"Something other than us must be in his territory." Keith remarked. Clementine turned to him with a questioning look and Keith explained, "I had a dog once."
Suddenly, the dog stopped sniffing and started to run in a barking frenzy. "Hey wait, what'd you find, boy?" Clementine asked.
The two children ran after the dog. The dog stopped at an abandoned campsite and sniffed around. The campsite was completely destroyed. Pots, pans, and empty food cans littered the area. One of the tents was burnt to a crisp while the other laid in shatter pieces. And a rusted-out van sat near the edge of camp.
"I know this place looks bad but we should try to find some food." Keith said.
"Okay." Clementine said and the two walked over to check for any food. Keith was careful in checking the shattered tent while Clementine looked into the van. Neither was having much success until Keith spotted something.
"Hey, Clementine look, a Frisbee." Keith said. She exited the van and went to Keith who was holding the Frisbee, but she wasn't the only one. Sam went over and waged his tail and stuck his tongue out in an excited manner. "Hey you want to play?" Keith asked the dog. The dog barked in response and Keith threw the Frisbee. The dog ran along and caught it while it was in midair. "Good boy, can you bring it back over?" Keith said. The dog did so and waited for another throw. Keith handed the Frisbee to Clementine and he said, "Here, you have a go at it."
Clementine smiled and said, "Thanks." She looked at Sam and said, "Okay boy, go get it." She threw the Frisbee and Sam caught it again.
Sam brought the Frisbee back to the two children and they took turns until Keith threw it too far and it landed in the bushes. Sam's ears went down and Keith looked to Clementine with a frown. "I'm sorry." Keith said. He then looked down at his arms which didn't appear too muscular looking and he continued, "I guess I don't know my own strength anymore."
"It's okay." Clementine said. "It was fun while it lasted. I know that this has been the most fun I've had in a long time."
Keith smiled at her before it fell to a frown. "Well, I was unsuccessful. What about you?" Keith said.
"I couldn't find anything." Clementine said.
"Darn!" Keith grumbled. He looked up and he said, "Well there is one place we haven't looked."
Clementine looked up to where he was looking at and cringed. It was the trashcan which had flies swarming all over it. Keith approached the object while he pulled the sleeves of his hooded sweatshirt up. He hesitated for a minute but pushed hands through the garbage and hoped to find something. Finally, he felt a metal cylinder.
"Jackpot!" Keith exclaimed and he pulled out a can of unopened beans.
Clementine and Keith went over to a log which was in front of a burnt-out campfire. Keith retrieved his knife and was about to stab into the can until he heard a very familiar gurgled groan. He lost all concentration in the can and he walked to the source of the groaning and growling. Clementine followed behind and they went over to see a walker tied up to a tree.
Keith's eyes widened and Clementine noticed the boy's fright. "Are you okay? Did you know this guy?" Clementine asked.
Keith shook his head to get out of his daze and he stuttered, "Uh…no, I….I'm just…shocked. I mean…whoever did this must have had a grudge against this guy."
"What makes you say that?" Clementine asked.
Keith pointed to the ropes and said, "Someone tied him up. There's no way he could have tied himself up."
"Who do you think did this?" Clementine asked.
"I'm not sure but I don't want to find out." Keith said as he got up and brought his knife up to strike. The walker snarled and growled but only for a few seconds. Keith stabbed the walker in the skull which killed the undead creature. He pulled his blade out of the creature's skull and noticed a red-handled pocket knife that was sticking out of the arm of the walker. He pulled the pocket knife out and cleaned the knife on the ground before he handed it to Clementine. "Here, that way you and I are armed." Keith said. Clementine nodded and took the knife.
The two went back over to the log and Keith stabbed the can of beans open. He looked inside the can and saw that the beans weren't rotten. He smiled and tilted can to Clementine, "Here, you first." Clementine smiled and cupped her hands. Keith poured some of the beans into her hands and then into his. The two enjoyed their meal until Sam came up and whined at the two. "How can I say no to a face like that?" Keith said as he offered a handful of beans to Sam.
Sam snapped at the food and gulfed it down in one bite; however, he wasn't satisfied and he snapped the can out Keith's grip.
"Hey, don't eat it all." Clementine said as she grabbed the can from the dog. Sam immediately growled and clamped down on the girl's arm. In one quick move, the dog brought her to the ground; it was surprising how strong the dog was. The dog lunged for her, but Clementine used her arm to keep the dog at a distance.
"Clem!" Keith exclaimed. He ran over and tried to pry the dog off Clementine without much luck. Keith brought out his knife and stabbed it into the dog's skull. The dog sent out a loud yelp before it went limp. Keith opened its jaw so that Clementine could get her arm out and Keith dropped the dog's corpse to the ground. He went over to Clementine and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Keith, you…you just killed a dog." Clementine said surprised by Keith's actions.
Keith looked down ashamed that he had to kill the dog, but he quickly became frightened. "Clementine, your arm…"
Clementine reached for her arm and cringed as she felt the sting of a bite. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds until Keith said, "I-I don't have any medical supplies on me." He sighed before he continued, "Well, I hate to say it but we're going to have to keep moving until we can find some medical supplies and then I could stitch up your arm."
Clementine nodded and Keith helped her up. Keith turned to the dog's corpse and approached it to retrieve his knife. The two then went down the path and away from the camp and the dead dog.
As Keith continued down the path, Clementine started to fall behind and eventually stopped altogether to lay down next to a rock. Keith looked back to see her slouched against the rock and he ran up to her. "Clementine, are you okay?" Keith asked.
Clementine only groaned in response. Keith put his hand on her forehead and said, "You got a bit of a fever. That dog must have been carrying something." Suddenly, a twig snapped and a groan accompanied it. Both children perked up and saw a walker approaching them. More growling and groaning came; it was like they were being surrounded. "Shoot! We got to move." Keith said as he helped Clementine to her feet. She was still exhausted and partially slumped on Keith. In turn, Keith supported the girl while keeping his right arm around her back.
Clementine grew weaker with each step until Keith was practically carrying her. "Clem, I can't carry you." Keith said before a walker knocked them both down. Another walker came in from the right and was going to attack Clementine, while the other walker that knocked the two children down tried to chomp down on Keith's neck. Keith struggled with the walker and saw that Clementine was struggling to get up. He yelled to get his adrenaline pumping but even with the extra strength, he could only hold the walker back for so long.
Meanwhile, the other walker got on top of Clementine and was about to bite down on her leg when an arrow landed into the walker's skull. Two men came into view. One was armed with a machete and the other was older and armed with a crossbow. The older man reloaded as the other man noticed Keith struggling with the walker and sliced the walker's head off. The one armed with a crossbow aimed and shot another walker as the man armed with the machete helped get the walker off of Keith and helped him up.
The man armed with the crossbow reloaded and shot another walker that was coming toward them. "I'm out." The man said to the younger man. "Grab her and let's go."
The man armed with the machete said, "Come on kid." He squatted down and picked Clementine up and turned to Keith. "Try to keep up with us." He and the older man then darted deeper into the forest with Keith following close behind.
They finally stopped and the older man with the crossbow huffed, "I-I think we lost them."
The younger man looked behind and then to the older man. "Yeah we're good." The younger man replied. The two looked down to Clementine as she seemed to relax in the younger man's grip. "Hey kid, you alright?"
"I'm fine… just let me go." Clementine said as she struggled out of the man's grip.
"Clem, it's alright." Keith said. "They saved us back there."
"Yeah, kid, you were barely able to crawl away from that lurker." The man that was carrying her said. "You're in bad shape, kid." The man started to walk forward and Keith walked alongside him to keep Clementine calm.
"What are you two doing out here?" The older man asked. "Where are the people you are with?"
"Yeah, because there's no way you two have survived this long on your own."
"I was with my friend when we were attacked." Clementine said.
"I found Clementine in the river and brought her to shore." Keith explained.
"Wait, who attacked you?" The man asked. "I mean did these say what they wanted? Were they looking for anyone?"
"They probably wanted the food we had. We were cooking some kind of weasel." Clementine replied.
"They attacked you for a weasel? Man that's low." The man said with a disappointed tone in his voice. "Well anyway, my name's Luke and this here is Pete." The man motioned to the older man. "And I'm guessing your name is Clementine." Clementine nodded in response and Luke looked to Keith. "What's your name?" Luke asked.
"Blake." Keith lied. Clementine looked at him with a perplexed stare, but Keith stared back to the road and avoided her stare.
"Well it's nice to meet you both." Luke said and he looked down at Clementine. "Pete and I are going to take you back to our cabin. You look like you could use some-" Luke stopped himself as he looked down at the bite on Clementine's arm and he jumped back. "Oh shit!" Luke exclaimed as he dropped her.
Clementine grunted when she hit the ground and Pete looked at Luke with a questioning stare, "What? What is it?" Pete asked.
"She's- She's been bit man." Luke said. He began to pace back and forth and he exclaimed, "Shit, shit! What are we going to do?"
"No, it was a dog." Clementine said.
"I didn't see no dog, Clementine." Pete said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Come on kid! We saw you with all of those lurkers back there." Luke said as he continued to panic.
"No it's true. It was a dog. I-I had to kill the dog with my knife to prevent it from hurting her." Keith said.
"You what?" Luke exclaimed.
"Pease just look at her arm. She's telling you the truth." Keith pleaded with the two men.
"Oh right, and have her bite down on Pete's neck." Luke argued.
"My neck? Why am I the one?" Pete asked.
"Because man, I don't know a dog bite, from a lurker bite, from a mosquito bite!" Luke exclaimed.
Pete looked down at Clementine who sat there hoping that the men would believe her. Her eyes turned to Pete and widened like sad eyes. Pete huffed, "Alright, let's take a look."
"Hey man watch yourself." Luke said. Clementine glared at Luke in response and he said, "Hey don't look at me like that. You're the one who's bit here." He then turned around to avoid her stare.
Pete rolled up Clem's sleeve and examined the wound, "See."
"Is it as they say?" Luke asked.
"Hmm… I don't know. It could be dog." Pete said. "We'll take her to Carlos and he can have a better look."
"Are you sure?" Luke asked.
"Well I'm sure that I ain't willing to leave an injured little girl in the wood, when we have a doctor who could make a better call." Pete said.
Luke scowled and said, "Nick ain't going to like this, not after-"
"You don't need to remind me of that, boy!" Pete snapped.
Luke lost his scowl and apologized, "Yes sir. Sorry sir." Pete put a comforting hand on his shoulder and nodded toward a structure in the distance. The structure was a cabin. The two men walked toward the structure as Keith helped Clementine up.
"Why did you lie about your name?" Clementine whispered.
Keith looked down with a frown and said, "Some things are just not that simple anymore."
"Hey, come on you two, keep up." Luke said.
"Come on." Keith said and Clementine followed. However, her pace was slow and she struggled to keep walking.
Pete looked behind and asked, "Clementine, are you feeling alright?" Pete asked.
Luke and Keith turned around as she responded, "I'm fine… I'm just… tired…"
"Well you better be fine because I ain't carrying you with that bite on your arm." Luke said.
"Clem, you need help?" Keith asked.
"Hey man, she's bit! Get away from her!" Luke snapped.
"So what?" Keith snapped at Luke.
Keith turned around just in time to see Clementine's eyes roll back and her body began to slump. He ran to her as Luke exclaimed, "Ah shit." Thanks to Keith's quick reflexes, he was able to catch Clementine before she hit the ground. He grunted as he lifted her up and allowed her to lean against him but he struggled. Pete and Luke walked up to him.
He turned around and glared at the two men, "Are you two going to help me or what?" Keith asked.
"What? So we can get bit?" Luke inquired. "Pass."
"Well I can't carry her." Keith said. "She's too tall."
"Here, I'll take over." Pete offered and he took the girl from Keith. The boy looked to Pete with a thankful stare. "Come on let's go to the cabin." Pete said and the three went to the building.
"You better be right about your friend being bit by a dog." Luke said in a harsh tone of voice. "I don't appreciate being lied to."
"I promise, she was bit by a dog." Keith said.
Luke sighed and he said, "Blake, I'm sorry about earlier. I mean I'm... we have had a bad experience and it just hasn't been easy to move on from it."
"It's okay." Keith replied. "I'm sorry too." Luke smiled to the young boy as he, Pete and Keith exited the woods.
"I'm going to go get Carlos." Luke said and he ran into the house.
Suddenly, two men and a woman came out of the house as Luke went in.
"What the fuck, Luke? What's going on?" A man that was around Luke's age exclaimed. There was some arguing among the two along with a pregnant woman and a stocky man exiting the house. They talked with Luke for a few seconds before they headed down the stairs. Keith couldn't hear any of their conversations but he knew it wasn't good. The pregnant woman approached Pete and Keith. Keith looked down with a frown and he sighed. He knew that he was about to receive hell.
"What the fuck is this?" The woman, Rebecca, exclaimed.
"Now hold up Rebecca." Pete said.
"You brought the fucking enemy to our fucking front doorstep!" Rebecca shouted as Nick and Alvin approached them.
"What are you talking about, Rebecca?" Pete asked.
"Rebecca please! I need your help!" Keith pleaded.
"My help? You must be out of your mind coming here, you little shit." Rebecca hissed.
"Rebecca, he's just a boy." Pete argued. "He said his name is Blake."
"Oh, so you fucking lied to him." Rebecca said to Keith.
"You know him?" Pete asked Rebecca.
"I'm sorry but I knew if I told you the truth then you wouldn't have helped me or my friend. If anything, you would have shot me." Keith said.
"What is your name, then?" A man with a hunting rifle inquired.
A few minutes passed by and Keith sighed. He wasn't sure what would happen when he would respond. "It's Keith." The boy said.
Nick and Pete looked at each other and shrugged. The name had no relevance to them. "Oh for fuck sakes, Keith Blake Carver!" Rebecca exclaimed to the two men. "He's Carver's son!"
Both men were surprised and looked to the boy. All four group member's eyes were on Keith while Nick raised his hunting rifle. There wasn't much Keith could do but stand there looking down to the ground. His secret was out and he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. To add on top of it all, he had successfully dragged someone he just met into this complicated mess.
…To be continued.