Clementine slowly shifted her eyes open in an attempt to adjust to the bright, unrelenting daylight. She desperately tried to spot AJ in the hazy, blurred result of her concussion. As she arose from the bunk bed, she analysed the entirely unfamiliar and desolate room surrounding her and started to panic. She was alone for the first time in what seemed like forever and all she could think about was finding AJ.
Her head span as she reached for the locked doorknob on the opposite side of the room. After several unsuccessful attempts at knocking the door down she fully realised the gravity of her situation. She scanned the dirty, white walls of the dorm and found a dingy cupboard. She searched the cupboard for her means of escape, finding it in a small children's colouring box in the form of a small knife.
Clementine crept over to the door and silently picked the lock. She gingerly poked her head out of the entrance, scanning her surroundings before she moved into the hallways. She noticed the scribblings on the walls and wondered what kind of place she had found herself to be in. The last thing she could remember were the walkers closing in on her as she crashed the car. Confusion plagued her mind as she searched the building for her companion.
Suddenly, a voice rang throughout the hallways, seemingly coming closer.
"Shit!"
Clementine looked around, finding a small ledge to hide behind. It was a rudimentary attempt at hiding, but it would work for what she had in mind. She pulled out her knife and pounced on the approaching figure. With her knife to his throat she asked that had been overwhelming her.
"Where is AJ?" she demanded, in such a cold voice that the boy trembled beneath her.
The boy stared up at her like a deer in headlights and failed to comprehend words. His eyes trailed over to the side of the hallway at a tall approaching figure.
"Drop your knife. Now," she continued, unaware of the approaching man, "Do it!"
"How about you do the same?"
The voice was right behind her and startled Clementine. She slowly angled herself and the boy, so she could see the man behind her. He seemed young and had a bow aimed to her head.
"We've got your boy, he's safe."
This made Clementine stiffen, she needed AJ. She had risked her life raising him and she couldn't let that become a wasted effort. Lee briefly crossed her mind and she decided it was better not to risk anything, for AJ's sake.
"If you want to see him again, you'll have to drop the knife."
The man was inching closer and Clementine could make out his blonde hair. She assessed the situation once more and decided to drop her weapon. As the knife clanged against the ground, she immediately felt the most vulnerable and defenceless she had felt in years.
"It's your turn" she said defensively.
"Good, that's good." stated the man appraisingly.
He did as she asked, putting the arrow back into the sheath on his back and lowering the bow. Clem felt her panic reduce slightly at this action, yet she was still entirely uncomfortable with the situation. Noticing the wary look crossing Clementine's face, he sighed and stepped further out of the shadows.
"Look, if we wanted to hurt you, we would've by now," he said honestly, "Considering the circumstances, I'll let this little standoff slide. But you only get one strike."
Clementine was beginning to form a rudimentary opinion on the man, he seemed to entitled for her likings, though it was only a first impression. It was at this point the little boy backed away, still trembling from their encounter. Clementine noticed the side of his face was scarred tremendously, with scar tissue spreading from the top of his forehead to the side of his ear. While Clementine was staring at the frightened child, the man kept talking.
"Now, are you going to behave so you can see your boy?"
"Truce, now please, just take me to see him."
Clementine hated how meek and timid she sounded, but she couldn't risk becoming aggressive and losing AJ once again. The man stepped further towards her and she could make out his full profile. He was blonde, with a mellow looking face and a frankly awful haircut.
"Sorry for tying you to the bed and all…" he started to speak quite awkwardly, "You were in, uh, pretty rough shape when we found you. We had to take precautions. You know, just in case."
Clementine only gave a lengthy silence, allowing him to finish his tirade.
"But you're safe now, so is your friend. I'm Marlon and that's Tennessee." as he said this, he motioned to the frightened boy standing beside him.
Clementine couldn't help feeling bad for the boy, she had seemed to frighten him immensely. Though that would be expected of a child that young, she had thought to herself.
"We call him Tenn for short, he doesn't really talk much."
Looking at his wide, brown eyes staring back at her, Clementine admitted he was probably much less likely to talk to her after the altercation anyways. She told Marlon her name and he escorted her to the courtyard.
"You know, there's not many people our age alone out there. I take it you know how to look after yourself?" he said.
"Sure, I do what I can to get by." said Clementine
"Don't we all" he deadpanned.
The courtyard opened in front of Clementine, littered with vines and tables, even a cooking fire. Children and teenagers were sparsely spread through the space, though one stood out. A small boy, with dirty blonde hair and slightly bucked teeth stood staring openly at her. He edged closer to her, not breaking eye contact at all.
"Uh, hi there?" questioned Clementine.
The boy ran off to the other side of the courtyard, leaving a dazed and confused Clementine behind. She brushed off the awkward encounter and looked around her in awe and disbelief.
"What is this place?"
"Well, you can probably tell it used to be a school, but now, it's whatever we want it to be." responded Marlon.
"Who's in charge?" inquired Clementine.
"I am. Probably sounds strange, kids run by a kid. But we do all right for ourselves." he said this crossing his arms and proudly observing the school.
Well, that explains the sense of entitlement, Clementine thought to herself.
Suddenly, a young voice called out from somewhere near the gate to the courtyard. It was that same child who stared at her.
"We've got walkers, Marlon!" he called out urgently.
Marlon was needed to dispose of the walkers near the front gates, so he gave Clementine instructions to get to the room in which AJ was being held.
"The kid is inside, I think he's with Louis." he said whilst already walking away.
"Louis?"
"Just follow the music and you'll find him."
Clementine squinted her eyes at his receding figure, visibly frustrated. She moved to the entrance to the building once again, still quite desperate to find AJ. She was relieved, however, as this seemed to be a fairly innocuous group with little to no intent to harm.
Clementine entered the building, in awe at the sheer size of the shelter they managed to possess and listened for music. Suddenly, the softest melody was heard from down the hallway. It filled Clementine's ears and left her with an irreversible joy. It was the first time Clementine had heard music in what seemed like forever.
As she neared closer, blindly following the sound of the piano, she found herself staring into the eyes of angry, redheaded girl. Her yelling quickly snapped Clementine out of her piano-fuelled daze.
"Bout' time you woke up!" she yelled into Clementine's face, "Your boy just bit me!"
"Well, you probably provoked him." Clementine deadpanned.
"Tapping him on the shoulder ain't provoking. Well, screw you both!" she said, storming off in an inelegant huff.
Clementine shrugged her insults off and continued a short walk in search of the alluring piano music. She finally reached an open door facing into a spacious, elegant looking room. Inside the room she saw AJ – much to her relief – watching a boy, just about her age, playing the piano. Clementine, unwillingly to cease the music, stopped within the doorway and listened to the soft hum of the melody. Both the combination of knowing AJ was alive and listening to the sweet sound of music nearly brought her to tears.
Just as she composed herself, AJ turned and faced her, with a look of pure relief and joy on his face.
"Clem!" he exclaimed, "You're OK!"
They both joined in the middle of the room, hugging each other fiercely, to the amusement of a certain onlooker. After parting, Clementine patted him down, checking for any injuries and god forbid, any bites.
"I was afraid you were…"
Clem immediately cut him off, "You don't have to worry about me. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."
Before AJ could speak, Clementine cut him off once more.
"AJ, you have to listen to me. That girl out there said you bit her. Is that true?"
"I didn't mean to. She snuck up on me!"
Suddenly, a much deeper voice rang out from the back of the room.
"You're not dead. That's good." said the man from the piano, "watched your kid for you."
"My name is AJ!" piped AJ
"Excuse me!" the man said playfully, "I watched AJ for you."
Clementine suddenly felt her heart flutter, which confused her quite a bit, so she wrote it off as nerves. She could tell she would particularly like this boy, his joking, playful personality was immediately on display. He absolutely leached positivity, something that was rare to come by nowadays.
"I hope he wasn't much trouble." Clementine said sincerely.
"He was a bit of a handful, but I got off light compared to Ruby." He responded.
"AJ doesn't like people coming up behind him." informed Clementine.
"Don't ever do it." AJ threatened.
At this, a look of shock and surprise clouded his face, immediately replaced by a grin.
"Loud and clear, little man." he said happily, "Thankfully, I was able to calm him down with my alluring music."
His fingers brushed over the keys once more, playing a soft and simple melody. Clementine had to agree with him, his music was transfixing. As he was playing, he softly stared at Clementine.
"I'm Louis."
"Clementine." she responded naturally.
"Oh, totally forgot," he said playfully, "Marlon left your bag around here somewhere."
"Don't worry, I've got it." said Clementine as she began to walk towards her bag.
"No," stuttered Louis before regaining his composure again, "No, I'll get it."
"If you insist." Clementine said, while she questionably looked at him.
He seemed sincere enough to Clementine, kind, maybe even reliable. He energetically leapt off his piano stool and raced to the other side of the room to claim the backpack resting against the wall. He calmly walked back and handed her the bag.
"Milady." he said cheekily, with the smallest wink.
Clementine blushed slightly, confused at his slight and sudden flirtation. She brushed it off as a part of his playful demeanour, but it still left a resounding effect on her composure. She pulled out her knife and placed it in her sheath. She looked down into the contents of the bag, assessing whether to give AJ his gun. Perhaps giving it to him would come off as slightly stand-offish. She decided it against it for now.
Louis sat down and continued playing the same song, softly concentrating on the movements of his fingers before looking back up at Clementine.
"Do you know any others?" asked Clementine
"Well… There is one, but you're armed."
Clementine raised an eyebrow at him curiously, "Please, can you play it?"
"Well if the lady insists." he teased
His fingers began to move over the keys again as he smiled at Clementine once more. Suddenly he started singing, much to Clementine's shock.
"Oh my darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling Clementine. You were lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine."
He looked up at Clementine expectantly, judging for any reaction whatsoever. She was smiling widely without realising it, his voice was soothing, and she found the song amusing. After seeing her smile, Louis continued playing once again.
"Light she was and like a fairy. And her shoes were number nine. Herring boxes without topses. Sandals were for Clementine."
He finished and turn towards AJ and Clementine, winking at Clementine with an enormous grin on his face.
"So, what did you think, lovely Clementine." He teased
"It was really lovely." She honestly responded.
Louis looked a little shocked but was flattered by her unusually honest response.
"I didn't expect a nice, honest answer. Everyone else here is pretty sick and tired of it by now, but it's nice to make someone smile." he said genuinely.
"And what about you, little man." He asked with a smile.
"It's loud," AJ said as Louis' face fell slightly, "Loud is bad."
"Loud isn't always bad, AJ. The monsters can't hear us from here and there's a nice big wall." reassured Clem.
"Come and have a go, little man"
AJ agreed, the nickname beginning to grow on him, and leapt up onto the piano stool eagerly. Louis instructed him on which keys to press and soon after AJ was capable of playing a simple tune.
"Listen, Clem! I can play it!" said AJ excitedly.
"Yeah, Clem, come have a listen." Louis said, exaggerating her nickname while smiling cheekily and patting the spot next to him on the stool.
"Oh, all right." said Clem as she sat down next to Louis.
AJ began playing 'Hot Cross Buns' rather amateurly, but his pure delight instantly overrode his incompetency. Louis leaned over to Clementine, laughing slightly and asked,
"Well, what do we think of my new apprentice."
"He was, uh, really good," said Clem, "I'm proud of you, goofball."
"Clem, don't call me that in front of Louis!" he said embarrassed.
Soon enough, the door to the piano room opened rather aggressively. The intruding figure was none other than Marlon, though he looked more agitated than before.
"Louis, Clementine. It's time for dinner." Said Marlon as he stormed out angrily.
"That was weird. He's not usually so aggressive. Did you manage to annoy him within one day?" said Louis jokingly.
"I hope not, he was being really nice to me." Clem responded.
At this comment, Clementine noticed Louis frowned for a small second. His frown was immediately replaced with a large smile.
"I'm starving, let's get going!" AJ exclaimed
"So am I, little dude. Come on, lovely Clementine." He said whilst playfully pulling Clementine off the seat, "Let's eat."