Evolving
"I want to stay. With you," AJ's voice was breaking as he spoke. "I know what'll happen. And… and I don't care. I don't want to go. I just want to sit next to you and…" The little boy, so mature for his age, looked down for a moment. "And stay. Like that monster couple, from the train station. Even if someone kills us later. We'll just sit, for a really long time. Please. Let me stay."
Clementine's heart was breaking as she gazed at the little boy she had raised from birth – who she had worked so hard for, bled to find when he was cruelly taken from her. She remembered his parents, Rebecca and Alvin, and spoke for them as she said her next words. She spoke for Lee, who had to make the same decision long ago that she was making now.
"Sorry, kid, but no. I have a job for you," Her weak voice sounded in the barn, somehow louder to AJ than the moans of the walkers still struggling around the perimeter. "I need you to get back to your room, I need you to sleep in your bed, and have friends and grow tall. Taller than I ever was, I hope." She took a deep, staggered breath. "I need you to live, AJ. For me. That's your job now."
She saw AJ's resolve break as he looked down. "Okay, Clem. That's my job." For a moment, she let herself do what she hadn't done since Kenny had died in that car wreck and she was left all alone with a small child to care for; she gave everything she had been through her full attention. She remembered the faces of Lee, Kenny, Rebecca, Alvin, Javi, Gabe… and her most recent loss, Louis. She wondered how he was feeling right now, hopefully back at the school. Probably still devastated over the loss of Tenn, but Clementine can't bring herself to regret her decision to trust AJ, however harsh that may sound. She knew that Louis would watch after AJ for her, regardless of the rough patches he had with the little boy. One of the things she knew in this world is that if she could protect the ones she loved, even if it was unfortunately at the cost of another… she would do it – and she was ready to leave this philosophy behind for whatever came next. She knew she had strengthened AJ's trust in himself as well, which would hopefully allow him to make tough calls in the future and continue surviving. After her moment of self-pity, however, she steeled herself and kept moving forward.
"Last rule," Clementine said.
"No!" The little boy, face and body covered in the guts of another, looked down and sobbed.
"What do we do if I get bit?" AJ's resolve was gone now, and tears were making their way freely down his small cheeks. She hated the hiccups coming from his mouth but pushed on anyway. "Are you gonna make me say it?" He hugged the axe closer to him, and if this were a different world, it probably would have seemed like some kind of security teddy – but it wasn't, this was the world they lived in, and Clementine kept speaking. "Fine."
"Just leave." Clementine's life-long philosophy of never letting a friend turn crumbled as she gazed at the four-year-old. She didn't want him to have to do this; she didn't want him to have to go through what she did with Lee all those years ago. Pulling that trigger was one of the hardest things she had ever done.
"I can't let you turn into a monster," AJ shook his head.
"You have to," Clementine said firmly, looking at her little boy. "Remember your job," she said, and pointed towards the ceiling.
AJ looked up towards the gap in the ceiling and started having a full-blown panic attack. Clementine beckoned him closer and held the boy one more time in her arms. She quietly sang to him the song she'd sang to him since she was a baby – "If we have each other" by Alec Benjamin.
As she trailed off, she kissed AJ on his small forehead. "I love you, goofball. Just remember that I'm still around, even if I'm gone. Be a good boy and get back to the school. Take care of Louis and the others for me, okay? You have to go now."
The little boy threw the axe to the ceiling before climbing out of the window. He gave one last longing glance at the only mother he'd ever known before leaving the barn behind.
.
Clementine was alone.
As she looked at her leg, she grew angry. What did she do, did her kid do, to deserve this? Why did this world suck? Why did Minnie feel the need to go bat-shit crazy and ruin what was left of her life? She couldn't believe that after all she'd been through, after working so hard, she was sitting in a barn alone, dying.
Her leg was still bleeding profusely – it reminded her of when she had been bit by that dog (she couldn't remember its name anymore – Steve? Something like that?). She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, and she passed out.
.
When Clementine came to, she didn't know what she expected. Maybe to be back at the Motor Inn, before they had gone to the farm? On the RV after they had left Lilly behind? Maybe even back at the school, before everything with the raiders had went down, or just some random place where everyone she had once known was alive and happy, like in Tenn's picture. What she didn't expect was for her leg to be killing her, and to wake up on the floor of the barn that she had remembered dying in.
Glancing around, she saw that everything was the much same as it was before she passed out. What she found curious was the fact that she didn't have a fever – the fever that always sets in once someone has been bitten, like the one Duck had the entire time they were in the RV. Why wasn't she getting extremely sick? She was doubtful, but a tiny smidgen of hope started to blossom in the pit of her stomach.
This is James's barn, Clementine thought. Maybe he left some medical supplies around?
With great difficulty, she managed to get to her feet thanks to the help of a board on the ground nearby. Not as easy to use as the axe had been, but it was still something. She was surprised at how much easier it was than a few hours ago, probably helped by the fact that her body had gotten a bit of rest and hadn't been fighting raiders, pulling off rescue missions, and getting bit by walkers for hours straight. She hobbled around the perimeter, searching for anything James had left behind that could possibly help her. She found a backpack by one of the hay bales, and looking inside found some basic first aid equipment. This is the same stuff he used to help patch AJ up after he got shot, Clementine thought. He'll probably hate me more now, since I'm stealing from him. Her mind went back to their fight in the cave, and how he had told her to find someone else the next time she needed help. She liked him, she did; but she would never trust him again after he tried to take AJ from her. He lived in a delusional world. The world may not be kill or be killed, but it was pretty damn close.
"This is gonna suck," Clementine echoed herself from all those years ago in the shed, right after she found Luke and his group. She pulled out hydrogen peroxide, a needle and thread, and bandages from the bag and fell back to the ground. It was painful to stretch, but what in her life hadn't been painful?
As she closed the last stitch and covered it with a bandage, she felt another wave of dizziness come over her and she passed out.
.
When she came to for the second time, she realized that once again, she didn't have a fever. What in the hell is going on? How am I still alive? Clementine questioned herself. I should have been a walker by now! By the fact that it was morning, she deduced that at least a day had passed. Maybe I'm not going to turn…
The hope in her heart was growing ever more powerful. She had stitched up her leg; it was no longer in danger of getting infected if she could keep it clean. Some of the walkers had left the barn, growing disinterested since they couldn't obtain their meal. The only ones still around were the ones closest to her, which could still smell her. She saw her knife on the ground where AJ must have thrown it after cutting the rope and gave a mental jump for joy. Obviously, it couldn't be literal since she had a bum leg, but the thought was still there.
Grabbing it, she hobbled to the door, leaning on her board for support. Through the cracks, she stabbed three walkers in the head, their bodies landing on a heap on top of each other outside the door. No, definitely not people. James was completely wrong. Peeking her head outside the door, she looked around for signs of more walkers. She saw another four staggered about between her and the cover of the woods and started towards the nearest one. Unable to use her leg to kick them in the knee, she had to revert to her inferior tactic from when she was eleven and go straight for the head. The first two went down with little difficulty, but the third narrowly missed her arm as the blade went into its skull. The fourth went much as the first two, and Clementine made her way into the cover of the trees.
I need to find the river and follow it. She hobbled through the trees for about five minutes before coming to a familiar spot – it was where her and AJ had went fishing all those days ago with Violet and Brody. She gave a small cry of joy before continuing to hobble down the path that she knew led to the school.
"Keep moving forward," she grunted, leaning heavily on the board to support her weight. She hobbled toward the shack that held their fishing supplies, set on grabbing one of the fishing spears to use as a cane instead of the board. As she laid the board against the wall and went to grab a spear, she felt another wave of dizziness take over her and, on the verge of passing out, thought I'm so close.
.
She woke up even more determined than the past two times. I'm so close, she reiterated to herself. She pulled herself up with the help of the table in the middle of the shack. She bit back a hiss as she got up – maybe she wouldn't die, but she was in a lot of pain because of her leg and having to travel. She grabbed the spear and went to the door, pushing it open. By the look of the sun, it was about midday.
She left the shack and started down the path. If she remembered correctly, it was about a ten-minute walk to the school. Anything outside of ten minutes was outside of Marlon's old safe zone. She couldn't help admiring the scenery around her as she hobbled; fall was starting to set in, leaves were changing colors. Fall was her favorite time of the year, even if it did get cold at the end; it was the most beautiful, in her opinion, and in her nearly 10 years without a home she had had plenty of time to admire it personally. Her pale skin gripping the spear was a dreadful offset to the colors around her, however, and she turned her mind back to walking without falling as she stumbled a bit. I'm coming, AJ.
As the school came into view, she let out a sigh of relief she didn't realize she'd been holding in. The sight of its brick walls and gates filled her with a sense of belonging she hadn't felt since she had left her treehouse at the tender age of eight; she was coming home.
"No, no, no!" She said frantically, as she felt yet another wash of dizziness. The world went black.
.
Louis was on hunting duty for the day with Aasim. It had been nearly three days since they had rescued Violet, Omar, and Aasim from the raiders. Two days since AJ came back by himself, sobbing his eyes out, carrying an axe entirely too big for him to properly wield. He remembered it clearly.
.
He had been on lookout duty, on the top of the gate at the front of the school. He was anxiously waiting for any sign of Clementine and AJ in the trees. He had managed to avoid the walkers when they had been separated, and found himself back at the school only an hour later. He had made some wrong turns in the darkness of the night, and between that and taking down stray walkers it had taken him longer to get back than it should have. It was this fact that kept him hopeful for AJ and Clementine's return – if it had taken him that long, it would have taken them longer, what with Clementine's injury. I can't believe I left her like that, he thought. What kind of boyfriend am I? Guilt was clawing at him the entire time he waited.
He waited. For hours; listening to the noises of the night and the groans of walkers not so far away. As the sun rose and he could hear birds, he saw a shape in the treeline and readied his bow. At first, he thought it was a child walker because of how short it was, but he soon recognized the unmistakable hairstyle and stature of AJ. He hurried to the bottom of the gate and made his way outside, grabbing the child in a hug.
"AJ!" Louis exclaimed, holding the kid closer. He felt the anger and guilt he felt toward the child drain away as he took in AJ's face, streaked with tears. "Where's Clem?" He felt a seed of worry in his stomach that instantly grew into a tree when AJ let out a sob.
"She… she was bit…" AJ stuttered, letting go of Louis and hugging the axe. "She made me leave her! I didn't want to, but she made me!" The kid was hysterical. Louis felt his heart fall to his feet.
"What do you mean she was bit? How? Did you cut it off?" He asked frantically, trying to ease the sorrow in his heart. "Answer me, AJ." He knew he wasn't necessarily being the best 'adult' right now, not taking proper care of AJ, but he couldn't calm the racing of his heart. "I need to go get her!"
"She already looked like she was turning," AJ mumbled. "She was all pale and looked like she would pass out." His voice grew more frantic as he realized the implication of what Louis was saying. "She didn't tell me to cut off her leg! I didn't know that would work. Does it work?"
"Where is she?" Louis grabbed the kid by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. "I need to go find her, AJ. We have to.. we have to…" He trailed off, not wanting to think about what he'd find when he got wherever she was.
"In James's barn. It's not too far from the fishing shack. North of it. Clem taught me how to tell directions a long time ago."
"Go inside, AJ. I'll be back with her, one way or another."
Louis ran the distance to the fishing shack in five minutes, turning north when he got there. He kept running until he found what must have been the barn AJ spoke about. He saw the walkers surrounding the perimeter and carefully took out the few that remained. As he walked inside the barn, he was disheartened to see a blood stain near a hay bale and no Clementine.
He went back to the school with a broken heart and a will to take care of his dead girlfriend's kid.
.
It was hard. Nothing, since this whole damn apocalypse started, had been this hard – apart from Marlon dying, his best friend being shot in the head by a little kid raised in this hellish world. But he hadn't even gotten a chance to properly mourn for his dead best friend, what with the raiders and Clem and AJ being hurt and all. Now it seemed he had all the time to think, to think about Clem and Marlon and Mitch and Tenn… everyone they had lost.
He kept thinking about the night at the piano, the one time he and Clem had actually been able to sit down and talk for more than a few minutes, how they had talked about their feelings. She liked me too, he thought. And now she's gone. He remembered their brief kiss, cut short by Ruby calling Clem out for watch. I'll never have that again.
But he kept on living. That was the hardest part, he thought; the fact that he was living while she and others were dead. Survivor's guilt is a real bitch. But he continued hunting, he continued working on the newly recovered greenhouse, he comforted AJ as best he could, though that was more both of them just crying together at night in the room AJ used to share with Clem. Louis had moved in with him after that fateful day, because he feared what the kid would do after AJ told him that he asked Clem if he could stay with her. When he had been fishing one day he had found Clementine's hat in the river and given it to AJ, who had cleaned it as best he could and took to wearing it day in and day out. He continued playing his piano, no matter the melancholy that came with it. He took to playing for AJ in the afternoons, trying to teach him a few things. Earlier that day he had sang a song to AJ that he remembered loving as a kid, "If we have each other" by Alec Benjamin.
He was unprepared for the kid to burst into tears. "AJ! What's wrong?" He asked frantically, wrapping his arm around the kid's shoulders.
"Clem… Clem would always sing me that song," he whimpered, burying his head into Louis's trench coat. After everything with Clem, he had lost his desire to always be tough. He was actually acting like a kid, maybe for the first time in his life.
"Of course she did, little dude. Because you'll never be alone. She'll always be watching out for you and you'll always have me."
.
When Willy started yelling while on lookout, Louis was immediately on edge. Had the raiders come back? He rushed out into the yard only to be astonished at what he saw. Was that…? It couldn't be!
He ran toward the pair, Clementine passed out and being halfway dragged by Willy inside the gate. "What the hell? AJ said she was bit!" Regardless of what he was saying, he grabbed Clem from Willy and carried her bridal style back into the school. "Ruby! Quick! Clem's hurt!"
"Clem? But…" Ruby started as she got into the room, starting as she saw Clementine (obviously not a walker) passed out on the couch set up for the injured.
"I don't even know, but help her!" Louis nearly shouted. His thoughts were racing. Could it really be…?
Ruby got to work, checking Clementine's sutures and re-doing her bandage. She saw the bite mark on Clementine's leg and a puzzled look came across her face.
"This is… It's almost closed…" Ruby said. "It has to be days old! Why hasn't she turned yet?" She cleaned the wound and bandaged up the bite, extremely confused as to what was going on.
"Maybe… everything in the bite bled out of her leg?" Aasim chimed in, having arrived in the room after hearing the commotion.
"I don't know how that would have worked…" Ruby wondered. "Maybe she's… immune? This could change everything!"
Louis was pacing when out of the corner of his eye he saw AJ poke his head into the room. He must have woken up from the midafternoon nap he had taken. "What's going on, Louis?" AJ asked. He hadn't seen who was on the couch yet.
Louis hurriedly walked over to the boy and ushered him into the hallway. Leaning down in front of him, he placed his hands on AJ's shoulders and spoke to the little boy, "AJ… Clementine's here. She didn't turn."
AJ shook his head in disbelief. "If you get bit, you turn. I saw her get bit! You're lying to me!" He frantically said. "Why are you lying to me?"
"I know what you're feeling, little dude. But I'm not lying. Clem's right in there," he pointed to the door. "And she's alive. She hasn't woken up yet, but she's definitely not a monster."
"But…" AJ started like he was going to keep on questioning, but a hopeful look came across his face. "Is she really in there? Can I see Clem?"
"Of course, buddy. Let's go. Maybe she's awake," Louis led him into the room, keeping a hand on the small child's shoulder. He saw Clementine stir as they re-entered the room.
"Clem!" AJ exhaled, trying to run up to Clementine and jump on her.
"Careful, dude," Louis pulled the child back, mindful of Clementine's injuries. "Clem's still hurt, you don't want to hurt her more, do you?"
"No," AJ calmed right down, and walked up to Clem. Clementine slowly opened her eyes.
"Hey, goofball," she gave him a tired smile. "Guess I'm not leaving you after all." Her eyes filled with tears as she gathered up her boy in her arms. AJ buried his head in her chest.
Her eyes turned upward to meet Louis's as AJ silently cried into her chest. She tried to convey all of her gratitude in that one look, and Louis slowly leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"My little ninja family," Clementine murmured, kissing AJ all over his face before beckoning Louis down for a proper kiss.
Finally pulling away, Louis gazed at the two people that now meant the most to him in the world. He didn't know how it happened, how he got so lucky, but he knew that he would protect them with his life. He didn't know if God existed, but in that moment, he thanked him with everything he had inside of him.
.
A/N: So this idea came to me today as I was taking chapter notes. We've been going over DNA replication and mutation in my bio class, and how over time more and more mutations occur. I just thought, what if over a long period of time (~10 years), you've been infected with this 'plague'? Every time your cells replicate (all of them, every day of your life), there are chances for mutations to occur. Over a long enough period of time, a mutation could have occurred that would 'inactivate' whatever gene it is that causes this. Just a thought, this is my 'what if' story lol. Hope y'all enjoyed!