Decisions

/

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Being stuck in the middle was a new thing for Clementine. In the past, she had always been picked close to last for her ragtag soccer team. She was small, scrawny, weak, and timid. At least, she had been before her own babysitter had tried to take her face off with her teeth. A person had to grow a spine before they had it ripped out of their body.

Clementine had adapted in admirable fashion; Darwin had nothing on her. She attacked first and questioned later. Her neutral expression became a death glare rather than a meek smile. She kept her trusty hammer in the belt loop of her ripped jeans. The scrawny girl had taken a level in badass.

Even so, she was still surprised to be picked first for something for once.

"Clementine, come sit over here with me and Sarita!" The eleven-year old looked over at the plastic picnic tables. Kenny was smiling at her expectantly, and Sarita was looking at her equally warmly.

"Um…Clem?" A tentative voice met Clementine's ears, and she looked over at the other picnic table. Luke was looking at her, grinning and gesturing for her to join them. Nick was shoveling food into his mouth.

Clementine looked back at Kenny's table. The grizzled Floridian smiled, a little bit insecure. Sarita watched the young girl curiously.

Clementine glanced at Luke. The man slowly lowered his hand, not gesturing for Clementine to join them anymore. Luke's smile shrank and finally, he looked a little disappointed as he turned back around to the table. Nick looked up; his blue eyes met Clementine's. The eleven-year old watched him for a moment. The abrasive man watched her for a moment longer, then frowned, looking back down at his food.

Clementine scratched her head and walked over to Kenny's table. The bearded man welcomed her. "Hi, Clem! There's plenty of food here, so eat up! Have all the peaches and beans you want!"

"Thanks." replied Clementine absentmindedly, sitting down. As she ate, she watched her group interact at the other table. Luke glanced back only once. When he met her gaze, he quickly looked away. Clementine didn't miss the look of disappointment on his face. Nick didn't look over.

"Clem?"

The girl looked at Kenny. Evidently he had asked her a question and was waiting for a response.

Clementine smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. What did you say?"

"I was asking if you wanted to stay with our group when the rest of your people leave in the morning."

Clementine just looked at him, astonished. Kenny was smiling at her benignly, but as he saw her expression, his smile began to fade. "What's the problem? Don't you want to stay with us?"

"I…" Clementine looked over at her group. Alvin was urging Rebecca to eat another spoonful of peaches and beans, but the pregnant woman was waving his hand away. The eleven-year old looked back at Kenny. "I couldn't just leave them. Pete just died and Rebecca's going to have her baby and…"

She trailed off as Kenny's face darkened. Sarita's eyes were on Kenny, gauging his reaction. Almost imperceptibly, she scooted slightly away, and Clementine saw the shadow of a purple bruise on her cheekbone.

Kenny slammed his fist on the table. "Dammit, Clem!" Clementine, frightened, looked at her group. Luke had looked around at the loud noise, and his eyes were on Kenny in a death glare as he stood up.

"You're staying with us, and that's final!" Kenny was shouting now, and Sarita stood up, backing away from him. "I mean it, Duck!"

Kenny's shouting stopped abruptly as he realized what he had said. Slowly, the grizzled man lowered his hand, and he picked up his spoon quietly. Slowly he began to eat again. Sarita quietly began to clear the plates that had been tipped over by Kenny hitting the table.

"Is there a problem, Clem?" Clementine felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Luke standing over her. Nick was just behind him. Luke's eyes went to Kenny, who was forlornly eating.

Clementine paused, looking at Kenny. The man cradled his head in one hand and ate with the other.

"No, Luke. It's fine. Just bad memories," Clementine finally said.

Luke nodded, still watching Kenny eat. "Okay," he replied. "Just let me know if anything's wrong." The young man moved back to his own table, accompanied by Nick, who trailed him like a lost puppy.

Clementine looked at Kenny. The man was rubbing his temple and looking sadly down at his plate of food. "Oh, Jesus, Clem," he said plaintively. "I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"It's okay. I understand," she replied. "I miss Duck, too."

Kenny looked at her. The Floridian's eyes were watery and bloodshot. "You're a good kid, Clementine," he said gruffly, patting her on the shoulder. Then he groaned, getting up from the table and addressing everyone.

"I'm going to turn in for the night, folks. Feel free to stay up as late as you want but keep the lights to a minimum. We don't want this place to stick out like a sore thumb." Kenny shuffled away from the picnic table and shambled upstairs, disappearing into a room.

Clementine got up and walked over to the other picnic table. Luke looked up as she approached.

"Listen," the young girl began, "I…Kenny…"

Luke raised a hand, silencing her. "Hey, don't worry. It's fine. I understand; you wanted to catch up is all. If I was in your place, I would've done the same." Nick just frowned, meditatively stirring around his remaining food with his spoon.

Luke trailed off as Sarita approached the group's table. "Oh, hello, Sarita," Alvin greeted, smiling. "The food was really nice."

Sarita smiled modestly. "Well, thank you," she said, laughing, "but I did not make it. Another member of our group, Walt, did." She glanced over at Clementine. "In fact, Clementine helped him make it. Didn't she tell you?"

Luke looked over at her. Clementine was a little wary at the look in his eyes. It said, You need to be careful around people you don't know.

"No," Luke said slowly, "she didn't."

There was a silence.

"Well, maybe she forgot," Sarita said, smiling again, albeit a little forcedly. "Anyway, I just came over to tell you; there are cots in the room with the Christmas tree as well as couches your group can sleep on."

"Thank you, Sarita," Alvin said graciously, smiling at the Indian woman. "You've done more than enough for us, especially Rebecca and I. We're very thankful."

Sarita smiled demurely. "It's been no problem. I hope you rest well. Good night." As Sarita backed away, Clementine looked at her cheek again. Was it just a shadow, or did Sarita have a bruise on her cheekbone?

As the Indian woman walked away, Carlos called to her. "Sarita?"

Sarita turned around and came back to the table. "What is it?"

The Hispanic man paused for a moment, glancing at Sarah, who was absentmindedly fiddling with her spoon. Then he looked back at Sarita.

"Did Kenny…how did you get that bruise? On your cheek?" Clementine watched Sarita, interested in her response.

The woman blushed and turned her cheek away from Carlos. "Oh, I…I just was careless. I ran into something. But I am fine, please don't worry about it." Sarita laughed, but it sounded very forced and fake.

Carlos watched her wordlessly for a few seconds. "Okay," he replied finally. "Good night, Sarita."

"Good night," the Indian woman replied quickly, and strode upstairs quickly. When she was gone, Luke looked at Carlos.

"What the hell, man! You don't need to be making waves! You knew perfectly well what that bruise was from-"

"I wanted to see what her response would be," Carlos interrupted. "If she would tell us the truth about Kenny."

"Wait a minute," Clementine interjected, "You think Kenny hit Sarita?"

Carlos folded his arms. "I don't see what else it could conceivably be, Clementine. People don't just go around…running into things."

"Kenny wouldn't hurt a fly!" Clementine defended. "He's a good man! He saved Christa's life, he saved my life, and he tried to find us a boat so we could all be safe."

"Okay," Luke conceded, "but, either way, Sarita has a bruise on her cheek."

Carlos looked down at Clementine sagely. "People change, you know. How long has it been since you last saw Kenny?"

Clementine thought for a moment. "Maybe…two and a half years? When I was eight, almost nine. I'm eleven now."

Carlos nodded as if he expected such a response. "Have you changed in two and a half years, Clementine?"

"Yes," the eleven-year old admitted. Carlos glanced over at Sarah. He put a protective arm around his daughter and looked squarely at Clementine.

"I'm not accusing Kenny, but the evidence is against him now." Carlos said. "Either way, we're leaving in the morning. I don't trust him, least of all around my daughter." He turned to Sarah and tightened his arm around her. She smiled as he hugged her.

"But…" Clementine trailed off as Carlos pointedly began talking to Sarah. She looked at Luke helplessly, but the young man shrugged.

"You can't argue with the logic. Besides, it's up to you to decide whether Kenny is a changed man. Decide for yourself and make the judgment your own way."

"And what's your judgment?" Clementine challenged. Luke raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, don't bite my head off! I barely know the guy! I can't pass judgment!" The young man got up and picked up his plate, walking it to the cafeteria counter and setting it down.

Clementine sat contemplatively. Did Kenny seem like a changed man? Maybe. She was only eight then; she hadn't picked up on a lot of the adult stuff. She was too busy coloring. But she vividly remembered Kenny always being gentle and kind toward Katjaa and Duck.

Clementine remembered the day's afternoon. When Sarita had picked up a box, Kenny had snapped at her. "I'll get it," he had said, snatching the box out of her grip. Sarita had laughed it off. "He's so chivalrous," she had said, but Clementine had not missed her flinch as Kenny had moved toward her.

Was Kenny a changed man? Clementine couldn't know for sure, but one thing she did know, she was definitely leaving with the rest of her group when the time came.

/

A/N: *braces self for abuse from readers* I know you guys all love Kenny, but as of Season 2 Episode 2, I am really starting to dislike him. There's something…different about him. He's not just a redneck Floridian anymore. Now he's an unstable redneck Floridian. I'm just here to explore those different facets of his personality. I'm going to diverge from the game's storyline quite a bit, being that I will probably release chapters faster than Telltale (challenge accepted, Telltale? Episode 2 took forever to release!). Be ready for the next chapter whenever; I'm not about that deadline life.

Read, review, tell me what's wrong and whether I should continue this or just let it go (pardon the pun) to the walkers. I don't want to waste time on a story nobody will read when I could work on Last of Us fics. Love you guys! xx