"Are we at the river yet Louis?" AJ asked in a worried tone.
"Don't worry lil' dude. We're already here." Louis replied as they both walked through the clearing of the woods. There in front of them was the river in all its glory. What made this night so special however was the full moon and the stars that lit the sky up something beautiful. Louis knew it was a great idea to come to the river at midnight for this moment…and for the opportunity to get some late night fishing done. Louis took AJ's hand and lead him to a wooden boat that the group would always leave near the side of the river for their fishing tasks. "Look at that lil' dude. A boat just for us. What do you say we get some fishing done before Clementine wakes up?" AJ was still nervous about coming out to go fishing at this time of night. He thought about what clementine always told him and he she wouldn't approve of this .But, Louis assured him it would be fine and that it would be a great idea for the both of them to spend some quality time together now that him and Clem are together. However, even Louis knew of the grave consequences that would await him if Clementine woke up and found out about the two's risky stunt. Fortunately, they ran into very few walkers on their way to the river.
"Alright buddy lets get this boat into the river so we can catch some fish. Wouldn't want everyone at Ericson to starve to death right?" Louis joked.
"Everyone's…gonna starve? Including us?" AJ asked, a hint of fear in his innocent voice.
"We'll no not really..I was just teasing little buddy. Everyone is gonna' be fine. However, they'll be even better once we bring em' some delicious fish. Trust me." Louis re-assured . Aj smiled at the thought of everyone feeling better with more food to provide. The two pulled the boat into the river and continued to paddle their way far out from the shore. Once they got far enough they wasted no time putting their makeshift fishing rods to use.
"Now what do we do Louis?" Aj asked.
"Hehehe..half the fun comes from sittin' back and relaxing lil' dude. The other comes from actually catching the fish." Louis explained.
"Okay..sooo…when exactly will we get some fish?"
"Hopefully soon lil buddy *yawn*…hopefully soon." Louis said, stretching in his seat.
Clementine had woken up from another nightmare. So far this was the twelfth one she has had total and she was getting sick and tired of it. "When will these damn nightmares end?" She asked herself, rubbing her face with the palm of her hands. She looked over to her side to see if AJ was still sound asleep next to her. He was not. This wasn't necessarily strange to her since AJ has had the tenacity to sneak into her boyfriends room at night. She couldn't help but smile at the idea of Aj huddled next to Louis sleeping soundly like a small child would with their parents when feeling scared to sleep by themselves. She liked the thought of that so much that she got up and headed straight for Louis's room just to see if she was right and if she was it would be a sight to see. When she got to Louis's room she opened the door to find that he too was gone. Now she felt as if something was wrong. Louis wasn't the type of guy to just and vanish from his room in the middle of the night. Aj, she could see that happening, him and Louis in the same night? Something was definitely wrong. She looked around in his room. While calling out to both of them. "AJ?…..Louis? Are you guys in here?" She called out only to be met with no response. She figured maybe they were in the kitchen so she checked there only to find no trace of them. She checked to see if Aj was in Tenns room. Maybe they were up all night coloring. She was wrong. Tenn was sound asleep in his room. She checked the principles office only to see Violet asleep at the desk. No sign of AJ or Louis. She went around checking each room in the school and still no sign of Louis or AJ. Now she was really worried. The only place she hadn't checked was outside. She quickly walked to the main entrance and flung the doors open. Nearly hitting Willy and Mitch who just so happened to be near the doors when Clementine got their.
"Whooooaaaa holy hell! What the hell's was that about?!" Mitch exclaimed.
"Have you two seen Aj and Louis?" Clementine asked.
"Nope. I haven't seen em," Willy replied. "Did ya' check Louis's room?"
"I checked and they weren't there. I checked all around the school and still couldn't find them?" Clementine explained, getting more worried by the second. Clementine turned her attention to Mitch, hoping to get some answer from him. When she looked at him he could tell she wanted a response. So a response he gave her.
"Alright I..may know where they are but-"
"Mitch!..where the hell are my boys!?" Clementine interrupted.
Two hours had passed since Louis and AJ left to go fishing overnight. So far they managed to make…a little bit of progress that was for sure. The boys managed to catch three fish. It wasn't much but it was definitely a start. AJ was on the verge of falling asleep on Louis since he was already slumped against his back. He always loved being close to louis since his coat provided comfort and warmth. Louis was always happy to provide that for his little man. "You okay back there?" Louis asked, Earning only a yawn as a response. He chuckled, knowing that AJ was pretty close to passing out. "I'll take that as a yes th-"
"What was it like Louis?" AJ interrupted?
"..what do you mean?" Louis replied.
"What was it like to go to school when you were my AJ?" Louis was silent for a bit. Even though it had been long ago he did remember the pros and…cons of his past normal life. He remembered the the strict teachers, the hard lessons, the bullies, and he remembered why he was sent to that school to begin with. But he also remembered the fun things he learned, the music he played, and the friends he made. He remembered when he met Marlon and Violet and how they made his days at the school worth being their. He always remembered the good times. Times he wouldn't wouldn't change for the world. Louis looked at AJ and smiled.
"It was great lil' dude. I had good times at school when life was..you know…normal." Louis replied.
"I..I wish I could have a good normal life. I wish i could have gone to school and made friends." AJ lamented.
Louis couldn't help but feel bad for AJ. He was born into a horrific shitty world that is worse than the world that preceded it. He acknowledged that AJ would never get the chance to experience the the beauty of life that existed in the previous world. He would never get to have a normal birthday, a normal Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. He would never get to experience the joys of a normal day at school. Louis still recounts some of the bad days he had at school but they were at least better what he was going through today. Aj was forever stuck in a post apocalyptic world that could possibly never recover from its never ending nightmare. Louis noticed a single tear slide down AJ's cheek. That was not going to slide. Not if there was something Louis could do about it. He turned around so that his body was facing AJ's and put both hands on his shoulders. "Hey lil dude look at me for a second," Louis instructed. AJ's glossy eyes met Louis's kind and comforting eyes.
"Just because things are the way they are now doesn't mean everything in this life is all bad." Louis assured.
"What do you mean lou?" AJ asked.
"What I mean is that you're surrounded by people who can make this shitty world..you know..not so shity. You have great friends like Tenn, Ruby, Violet, and Aasim who care about you a lot. And good ol' Clem loves you to death kiddo. Don't stress the small things like school cuz you have something better than that. You got us and you got good ol' Disco Broccoli " Louis reminded
"Hehehehe Yeah I love Disco Broccoli cuz he's my favorite toy and I love Clem back too because she takes care of me…just like you."
Those three words were enough to make Louis smile. His heart warmed at the sight of seeing AJ smile once more. He was glad he could cheer up AJ the best way he knew how. "You feel better now kiddo?" he asked AJ, this time earning a gleeful nod from the small boy. "Glad I could cheer you up little buddy. But I think it's about time we get back to the school. We haven't caught much what we have now is good enough to keep the school alive and healthy thanks to us legendary fishermen." Louis struck a triumphant pose. AJ did the same.
"Yeah we're cool fishermen." He replied.
"That we are. Now let's get back to shore before clementine wakes up and notices we snuck out. Trust me the only thing scarier than raiders and walkers combined is an enraged mamma bear."
With that being said, Louis grabbed the oars to the boat and begin to row towards the shore. Aj couldn't help but stare up at the sky to observe the pretty stars and the ever glowing moon. He always wished he could fly up and touch them. He even once had a dream that he did just that and Clementine was there. He also had a dream that he and Louis played catch with the moon. Whenever he would dream it wasn't just Clementine who appeared in his dreams. Louis was there as well. Always there to entertain him. Always there to look out for him. "Hey Louis?" AJ began. Louis looked at him. "I love you too you know." If a person's heart could explode of pure happiness Louis would be a dead man by now. He always thought of AJ as the little brother he always wanted and to here AJ say the words "I love you too" to him was enough to almost bring him to tears…..almost, but not quite. Regardless, Louis loved his lil bro, AJ.
"Hey lil dude?" Louis said.
"Yeah Louis?" AJ replied.
"I want you to remember something okay? There's only one guarantee…this moment. Its the only thing you got. The only thing any of us got. I want you to promise me something okay?No matter how shitty life is. No matter how dark the world gets. Promise your big bro you'll find a way to enjoy life okay?"
Aj once again nodded. This was a promise he now intended to keep….no matter what. "Good lil dude. I'm proud of you."
The two had finally arrived back at the school with a total of four fish for all to enjoy. This would be enough to at least last the four days if they rationed correctly. Good thing Omar was good at that sort of thing. He alway made sure none went hungry. When AJ and Louis reached the main doors Louis motioned for AJ to be as quiet as possible.
"We don't wanna wake anyone up okay? Remember, a sleeping Clementine at is better than an angry mama bear Clementine got it?" Louis whispered.
"Got it." AJ replied.
With that being said they opened the doors to the school entrance and quietly made there way through the lobby and up the stairs. They made their way past each room until they got to AJ and Clementines room. Louis began to slowly open the door. "Well mister AJ I believe this is your stop my good sir. We simply must do this again someti-…..uh oh" Louis finished. AJ looked at Louis in confusion then directed his attention to what was in front of him. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. What awaited the two inside was what they had feared from the very beginning. The only thing that was worse than the raider and the walkers combined. They were greeted by none other than an extremely angry looking Clementine leaning on the desk that displayed all of AJ's heartwarming drawing. Her arms were folded and her posture complemented the angriest look anyone had ever seen. Her attention was not fixed on AJ no no no. Her eyes were glued to Louis. Her next murder victim was there with the audacity to bring her kid back from an unauthorized fishing trip that took place in the middle of the night unbeknownst to all but one person. It was as if time had came to a complete stand still for Louis. He knew he was in deep shit now. Clementine beckoned for the boys to come in, all the while never taking her vicious looking eyes off of a now terrified louis. "Both of you…get in here..NOW!" She yelled, not caring if the entirety of the school had woken from their slumber. The two boys did as they were told but Louis was hesitant to close the door. He knew that if he did things would escalate from bad to worse now that mama bear Clem was awake and really angry.
To be continued….