"What do you mean, you have to leave?"
Clem's tiny voice broke Louis's heart, begging him to stay with his best friend. They were sitting inside the tree house at her place, the frail evening sun shining through the makeshift window her father had cut open. Her face fell, the baseball cap on her head covering it almost completely, and Louis reached out to her.
"I'm sorry, Clem," he managed to say, though his voice caught in his throat. This could possibly be the last time they ever saw each other.
"I don't understand, though," Clem whispered, looking back up at him with teary eyes. "Why are you leaving me?"
Louis struggled to find words, frowning as he racked his brain for answers to her questions. The cold autumn wind blew through the window, and they both shivered. When he noticed her shaking, he opened his arms, embracing her tightly. "Remember that stuff I told you? About my dad."
"Yeah," she said, her voice becoming stronger now. She was all too aware of his father's attitude towards her best friend, and she did not like the man. "What did he do this time?"
"He…" Louis trailed off, closing his eyes in response to the memory. "He got drunk the other day."
"I thought you said he quit that stuff," Clem said, frowning.
"He said he did, but I think he was lying," said Louis sadly, staring at their intertwined fingers. He rubbed tiny circles on her palm with his thumb. They always did this when one of them was upset, to remind each other that they'd always be by each other's side. Now, however, he was breaking that promise.
"So did he hurt you again?" she whispered, afraid of the answer that was to come.
Without a word, Louis rolled up his sleeve and revealed a sizeable welt on his forearm. Clementine squealed, inspecting the wound closely and looking back up at Louis. "You never had marks before!" she exclaimed, her voice raising an octave.
Louis smiled at her, thinking about all the times she'd fuss over him when he told her about his father. He didn't mind, though. He loved the way she cared about him; the same way he cared about her when he comforted her after not getting a good grade on a test. He shook his head slowly.
"It's okay, Clem," he assured the girl, who stared at him with a perplexed expression. "He won't hurt me anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"That's actually why I'm leaving," he explained, a pained expression crossing his freckled features at the thought of leaving his best friend behind. "When Mrs. Duncan saw this mark, she called the principal. They're taking me away from my dad."
"They're taking you away from me too, though," she said sadly, looking down.
"I know."
"But where will you go?" she asked, the undertone of a plea in her voice, begging him not to leave her behind.
"I don't really know," he admitted, frowning. "It's supposed to be a temporary school for children like me, until they find me a good family."
"Do you know how long that could take?" she asked innocently, now fiddling with his hand absently, like she used to do when they spoke about totally mundane things.
"Mr. Pinzer said it could take up to a year or two." He offered her a reassuring smile, which she hesitantly returned. "But hey, I can ask them to find me a family here in Georgia," he added, putting on a brave face for her sake.
"We could be neighbors!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together at the prospect.
"Louis, your aunt's here!" they heard Diana call from down below, making their hearts drop. This was it. Louis's aunt was picking him up to take him to West Virginia, far away from Clementine. They looked at each other, unspoken words staying on their lips. They didn't have many words left to say to each other. Instead, Clementine threw herself on him and embraced him fiercely, wiping the tears away.
"Don't forget our promise, okay?" she told him, kissing his cheek.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he assured her, blushing slightly. "We'll get married one day."
"Pinky promise?" she said, raising her right hand and sticking out her pinky finger. Chuckling, he indulged her and wrapped his own pinky with hers.
"Pinky promise."
Clementine jerked awake, sitting up abruptly. She looked around the room she was in, and frowned. Where am I? she thought to herself, rubbing the side of her head. A bandage covered almost half of it, and she realized her left hand was duct taped to the bed pole. She easily removed it and sat up, examining her surroundings.
She was in what appeared to have been a school dorm. Beside the one she was on, there was another bed on the other side of the room. A desk with a single wooden chair stood to its right. She stood up, carefully walking toward the door and turning the knob. Of course it's locked, she thought.
Clementine turned back, searching the room for something to force it open. The early morning sun seeped through the window, making her job much easier. Right when she was about to lose hope, she spotted a toolbox inside the closet near the desk. She reached for it, standing on her tiptoes, but could barely graze its plastic surface.
Using the chair as a stepping stone, she took the toolbox and searched its insides. She sighed in relief when she produced from it a palette knife, which she pocketed. Setting the box on the desk, she turned to the door and used the knife to wrench the lock open. She heard a click and the wooden door stood ajar.
When she opened it, standing in front of her was a boy, his hand extended about to grip the doorknob. He wasn't much older than her, she realized. He had bright blonde hair styled in a mullet, and he had a bow strapped to his back. He eyed her up and down and nodded approvingly.
"You're up," he stated matter-of-factly, stepping aside to let her pass. Warily, she walked out into the hallway. The walls were filled with years old graffiti, most of it made up of vulgar words and insults.
"Who are you?" she demanded, crossing her arms.
"Name's Marlon," he replied, extending his arm to her. She looked at it with suspicion, and after a while he lowered it awkwardly.
"Where's AJ?" she inquired again, her little boy's whereabouts unknown to her. The boy named Marlon started walking down the hall, and she warily followed suit. They got to the outside door, and he opened it.
"Relax, he's doing just fine," he assured her, letting her pass and walking through the door after her. "He's been a little terror since he arrived."
"Excuse me?"
"He's been dying to see you, but we couldn't take the risk of you turning," he explained, walking through what appeared to be a rundown courtyard. There was a mast in the middle, a tattered shirt waving at the top. "Hence the duct tape."
"Makes sense," she reasoned, nodding. "What is this place?" she asked, looking around at the courtyard, where a number of kids were milling about. A couple of them spared glances for the new girl, and then returned to their tasks.
"Oh, right," he said, chuckling. "Welcome to Ericson's boarding school for troubled youth," he announced, extending his arms to showcase the school. "I think you and your boy fit that description."
"Us? We're pure angels," she corrected, crossing her arms.
"Yeah right," he snorted, mimicking her, "well, your little angel, threatened to shoot if we didn't bring him to you."
"He's pretty attached to me, yeah," she said apologetically, scratching the back of her head. "So who's in charge here?"
"Well, I am," Marlon said slowly, shrugging.
"You are?" she asked incredulously. "There's not an adult in charge?"
"Well, since there are no adults in the first place, nope."
"No adults, huh?" she inquired, nodding approvingly.
"They all took off as soon as shit hit the fan, so we've been mostly on our own all this time."
Before she could answer, Clem noticed from the corner of her eye someone staring at her. Turning to her right, she spotted a young boy with sandy brown hair and big round eyes. Frowning, she said, "Um, hello?"
Startled, the boy sprinted off toward the tables without saying a word. Marlon shook his head and looked at Clementine.
"Don't worry; it's just that we don't usually see new people around here," he assured her.
"I can see that," she said slowly, watching the boy bound off to join another kid who looked to be about his age. "You still haven't told me where AJ is," she said, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"Marlon, walker!" came a voice from the watchtower, interrupting them.
"Fuck, I gotta go take care of this," he muttered, readying his bow. "Just go into the admin building and look for Louis."
"Louis?"
"Right, sorry. Just… follow the music, you'll find him!" he called out, already going to deal with the situation.
Nodding to herself, Clem turned around and walked into the admin building. She was in a main hall, a grand staircase branching out at the back. The walls were decorated in much the same manner as the ones in the dorms. Straining her ears, she heard faint piano music coming from somewhere on her right. A small hallway led to a turn, from which a redheaded girl burst through, clutching her hand.
"Oh, there you are," she exclaimed angrily, rounding on Clementine. "Your little boy just bit me!"
"I'm sorry, he's never like this," she quickly apologized, frowning. "He gets upset when he's not with me."
"Well, boohoo," the girl mocked, storming off into the main hall. "You better control that boy," she called out to her before exiting the building.
Sighing, Clem followed the growing music until she saw a door standing ajar, leading to a much bigger room. She looked through the gap into the room, and spotted AJ standing beside a boy her age that was playing a grand piano. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and walked inside. The sunlight poured through the open window, engulfing everything in a light yellow hue.
A floorboard creaked as she took another step, and AJ turned around. When he spotted her, his eyes lit up and he smiled. "Clem!" The boy ran to her, and she kneeled, opening her arms to embrace him.
"You're okay," she whispered, holding him tightly. He held him at arm's length, patting him up and down.
"Yeah, no bites," he assured her, nodding.
"You had me worried for a second," she told him, pursing her lips.
"You're not dead," the boy at the piano said, suddenly stopping his music and turning on his seat. "That's good."
Clementine turned to the boy, who was staring at the pair intently, smiling at them. Clem stood up, nodding at him. His brown hair was up in dreadlocks, and his brown eyes were alight with excitement. He wore a dusty old trench coat over a green button-up shirt, and his jeans were tattered and ripped in places.
"I guess, yeah," she replied warily, crossing her arms. There was something about this boy that tugged at her unconsciousness, but she couldn't place it.
"Name's Louis," he informed her, flashing another grin.
"Clementine," she replied, surprised when Louis did a double take. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Somehow, she felt like she'd seen him do that before, even though they'd never met. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Uh, no," he stammered, shaking his head. "I'm just… can I ask you something, Clementine?"
Taken aback by the request, she nodded curtly, "Sure, go ahead."
"Where are you from?" he asked, tilting his head, "I mean, before all this started."
Thinking for a second, Clementine answered, "Georgia, why?"
If Clementine had been expecting any reaction at all, it wasn't Louis bursting out in laughter. She and AJ shared a look as the teen tried to keep his composure.
"I can't believe this!" he exclaimed, standing up. She had to look up now because of the height difference. "Clementine, it's really you?"
Confused, Clem looked into his brown eyes and gasped, realization hitting her. Louis? It couldn't be. They hadn't seen each other in over nine years; it just couldn't be possible. She stepped forward, examining his features closely. His freckles covered half his face, and his brown eyes held a glint of the light hitting them from outside. This was her best friend, alright.
"Lou – Louis?" she stuttered, blinking rapidly.
"Yeah, it's me," he assured her, offering a reassuring smile. Instead of answering, Clementine launched herself at him and hugged him fiercely, clinging to him for dear life. "Told you I'd come back to you," he whispered, his chin settling on the top of her head.
"You took your time," she teased, breaking the embrace and staring up at him. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face, but AJ was still confused.
"Can anyone explain what's going on here?" he said, bringing the teens' attention back to him.
"Sorry," she apologized, turning to the boy, "Louis and I used to know each other before the apocalypse," she explained.
"Really?" AJ said, raising an eyebrow at Louis, "How come you never mentioned him?"
"Exactly, why didn't you talk about me all the time?" Louis added, smirking and crossing his arms.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Lou," she said, looking away. "But I'm glad we found each other."
Putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Louis said, "Me too." They smiled at each other and sat down on the piano stool. They shared stories of their respective journeys, every now and then having to explain small inside jokes to AJ, who was all too glad to be a part of this. Clementine thought about her best friend, and how incredibly lucky she was to have found a familiar face in this world. Now that they'd found each other, there was no way in hell she was letting anyone rip her best friend away from her.