A/N: I want to thank everyone for the support and I will try not to butcher this fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or The Last of Us. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

"Are you kidding me?" Clementine asked as she looked at the amazing sight of the mall lit up. Usually the shrubbery that tried to reclaim the land from manmade structures ruined the scene, but it was actually vibrant against the light. A lit up carousel was the centerpiece on the whole floor and it was accompanied by the two SUV's that were used in the brick-throwing competition from earlier.

"Told ya." Duck said as he walked towards the carousel.

"Wait. Won't the soldiers spot the mall being all lit up?" Clementine asked as she followed him to the carousel.

"Nah, the exterior lights don't work." Duck explained.

"How do you know that?" Clementine asked.

"This Firefly, Russell, told me all about it." Duck replied as the two arrived at the carousel. "This looks fancy. You want to try it?" Duck asked.

Clementine smiled with a nod and she quickly went to the nearest horse figurine. She grabbed onto the pole and huffed as she tried to pull herself up onto the ride. "Wow, I've always wanted a real one of these." Clementine remarked. "Okay. So how do I look?" Clementine asked Duck as he stood behind the control panel to the carousel.

Duck scoffed and said, "Maybe you should grow some more, then you wouldn't have such a hard time getting on that thing."

"I would if I could." Clementine sneered.

Duck chuckled and said, "Ready or not, here we go." Duck pulled a lever on the control panel and the ride started up. Soon the figurines were going in an up and down motion as the platform moved forward. Additionally, a beautiful song could be heard from the ride.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Clementine exclaimed, not expecting the ride to run like it did. The combination of both motions made it feel like the figurines were galloping. Her surprise immediately gave way to excitement and she started to laugh in pure joy. She saw Duck in her excitement and exclaimed, "Duck, come on! This is a blast!"

"No you got this." Duck said. "Keep going." Clementine replied with laughter as the ride continued. This was the most fun that she has had in her whole life. The ride made her feel like the stresses of her life vanish. She had one goal: have fun. Something that she never had when she was young. "This is awesome." She was about to pass Duck again and she exclaimed. "Come on up here, Duck. Sit next to me."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Duck said with a chuckled. He climbed over the gate and stumbled up to the figurine next to her. Both children laughed as the carousel continued its circle. Unfortunately, the ride started to slow down and the music started to slur. Twenty years without regular maintenance had left the machine without much life left in it.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Duck exclaimed.

"Ah man." Clementine said sadly.

"I just got on." Duck said as the ride came to a complete stop. "Live!" Duck then sighed knowing that the ride's life was over and said, "Well, phooey."

"Well I loved it, so there." Clementine said with an appreciative smile.

"Oh…" Duck said as he realized that he forgot to give Clementine something. He pulled out a small book and said, "I got something else." Clementine looked to him questioningly as Duck cleared his throat. "What does the triangle say to the circle?" Duck asked with mischievous smile.

Clementine's face brightened and her eyes grew wide. "What is that?" Clementine asked.

"You're so pointless." Duck said.

"No way! You found another pun book?" Clementine exclaimed.

"What did the cannibal get when he showed up to the party late?" Duck asked. Clementine pondered for a couple of seconds until Duck said, "A cold shoulder."

Clementine laughed. Despite the joke being a little dark for her taste, Clementine still found it funny. "Here." Duck said with a chuckle. "This is for you."

Clementine accepted the pun book and looked over the pages of the book. "You know, you might become my favorite person again." Clementine said happily as Duck got off of the ride. "Just saying."

"I knew you would like it." Duck said with a chuckle. Clementine climbed down from the ride and followed the boy. They hopped the fence and Duck continued, "Come on, let's hear some more jokes."

"Okay." Clementine said as she looked through the book to fine a good joke. "I heard two peanuts walking into a park… one was as-salted."

"Haha! That was nice!" Duck exclaimed. Clementine joined the boy in his laughter until she found another joke.

"A boiled egg in the morning is really hard to beat." Clementine said. They both laughed again as Clementine continued to look for any noteworthy jokes. She made a disgusted face and shook her head at book. "Yuck." She said.

"What? What is it?" Duck asked.

"One of the jokes is really disgusting." Clementine said.

"Hey, come on, let's hear it." Duck said.

Clementine sighed and said, "Did you know that diarrhea was hereditary, it's in your jeans."

Duck laughed as Clementine shook her head. "That was funny." Duck said.

"That was gross." Clementine said as she looked for a new joke. "I'm glad that I know sign language… it's quite handy."

Clementine giggled as Duck looked to her with a confused look. "Eh… that was kind of weak." Duck said.

"That was silly." Clementine said as she straightened herself up. "A short psychic escaped prison… he was a small medium at large."

They both laughed for several seconds and Duck said, "That was the best one so far."

"Alright." Clementine said as she placed the pun book in backpack. "That's enough. I'm putting this away. Until next time, puns."


They both continued to scope the mall's ground floor until Clementine spotted a picture booth. "Ohh… come on Duck, this looks like fun." Clementine said as she dragged the boy to the machine.

"Do I really have to? It looks too cute, and you know how I don't like cute things, with you being the exception." Duck said.

"Aww, thanks." Clementine said with a sweet tone. "Come on, please."

"What did I ever do to deserve this punishment?" Duck asked. Clementine started to frown and she looked down sadly. Duck sighed and said, "Alright, I'll go through a round of this, but that's it." Clementine sent a thankful stare and the two entered the machine.

"How do you start it?" Clementine asked.

"You just following the instructions, I think." Duck replied as he closed the curtain. He sat down next to Clementine and analyzed the screen. "Okay press that middle button to start it."

Clementine did as he asked and the screen changed to show three different themes. Her eyes widened as she analyzed her option. She quickly pressed the button that indicated love.

"I like your style Clem." Duck said with a smirk. "Are you also going to kiss me?"

"No, Duck. We're just having fun." Clementine replied as she pressed the button that said okay. The screen changed with a sound effect and Clementine, "Oh okay. Smile." She told her friend. They both straightened up and looked to the screen. The screened flashed and the loud ring could be heard indicating another photo to be taken.

"Okay, scary face." Clementine said. She and Duck pretended to growl and had their hands out as if to grab someone with their fingers extended in a creepy grab. They showed their teeth and made it so that they looked as scary as possible. "Quick, move in, move in!" Clementine suggested. Duck obliged and they growled once again. The screen flashed and took the photo of the two.

"Oh, let's do an ugly face." Duck suggested, finding himself wrapped up in the excitement of the photo booth.

"Yeah." Clementine chuckled. Duck stuck his tongue out and tilted his head as Clementine looked at the screen cross-eyed with a serious look. The booth flashed again taking their photo.

"Alright, we're down to the last one." Duck said.

"Silly face!" Clementine chimed in.

"How about something different." Duck said.

"Like what?" Clementine asked with the counter of the next photo to be taken getting closer and closer to zero.

In one swift movement, Duck removed her hat and placed it on his head and kissed her. Her cheeks became red and the booth flashed again. "Alright, we're done." Duck said as he separated from the girl. He took Clementine's hat off and handed it to the blushing girl.

She couldn't believe what just happened and asked, "D-D-Duck, wh-what was that?"

"Well it was a love themed photo take." Duck said with a mischievous grin. "And like you said, we're just having fun." Clementine didn't know what to say and instead placed her hat back on her head. Duck looked over the photos that were taken. "I have to admit, the last one's a keeper."

"We're throwing that last one away." Clementine said.

"Oh come on, Clemmy. Don't be that way." Duck said with a smirk.

"That first one is just as bad." Clementine said. As she noticed what Duck did in the first photo, the boy laughed and received a push from her. "You and your bunny ears." Clementine said.

"Still, it looks pretty cute." Duck said. "Come on, even you can't deny that."

"Alright, yeah, it is pretty cute." Clementine said in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Let's print these out." Duck said as he pressed the button that was beneath okay. The screen went to one of the characters holding a cell phone and it read: Share on Facebook, with a lowercase f next to it.

"What's a Facebook?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know." Duck said. "Maybe it prints our faces in a book." Clementine shook her head and pressed the button underneath where it said 'no' on the screen. "Oh, okay. We can just print our pictures." Duck said as he pressed the button underneath 'print' on the screen.

The machine immediately indicated that it was out of paper. Clementine frowned, figuring that they wouldn't keep the photos from today. "Hit retry." Duck said. "Machines this old will sometimes jam. It might just need another try."

Clementine pressed it again only to receive the same message. "Oh come on." Clementine pouted.

"Maybe you just need to bang it, a little bit." Duck said as he hit the screen. An error message popped up followed by another hit from Duck which stopped the machine altogether. The lights went out within the machine and both children jumped slightly. "Uh oh." Duck said.

"If anyone asks, it's your fault." Clementine joked.

"Why are you always blaming me for everything?" Duck asked with a smirk.

The girl shrugged and said, "I don't know, it's easier that way." Clementine replied.

Duck gave out a defeated chuckle and relaxed back into the seat he was in. Clementine joined him and the two contemplated on the next course of action. "Sooooo….." Duck and Clementine said almost simultaneously. They looked to each other unsure of what the other was about to say.

"…You wanna keep exploring?" Duck asked.

Clementine nodded and said, "Yeah, I'd like that."

The two got out of the photo booth as they could hear Vera announcing, "Attention, the 6 AM shift starts in ten minutes. All drafted citizens must report for duty. Anyone absent-"

"Ugh, I hate that lady." Duck said as he interrupted the announcement. "She's so boring to listen to. I absolutely want to fall asleep when I hear her."

"Yeah, she sounds mean." Clementine said.

"Ha, you know Vince told a joke about her." Duck said. "He said that she wouldn't sound so much of a dick if she had a cup of coffee."

"What is a coffee?" Clementine asked.

"I have no idea." Duck said. "I tried to ask, but the whole room was bursting in laughter." Duck's eyes widened and he grinned. "Clem, check this out! One of the escalators is working!" Duck then ran towards one of the escalators with Clementine following quickly behind.

Both paused at the sight of the escalator and Duck huffed, "Okay. It can't be that tough. I mean people from before figured this out." He placed one foot on one of the moving steps but his other foot didn't follow. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Duck exclaimed. Finally, he regained his balance by picking up his other foot and placing it on the moving step with his other.

After watching Duck get on the escalator, Clementine knew how to proceed on the device. She hesitated for a couple of seconds until she finally stepped onto one of the steps with both feet. "Whoa." Clementine said as she tried to regain her balance. It was a weird feeling being on the escalator but soon both started to enjoy it.

They both eventually reached the top. "Okay, that was fun." Clementine said.

"Ha, yeah. It isn't even supposed to be a ride." Duck said. He looked over some of the former stores and his eyes widened. "Clem, you are not going to believe this."

Clementine didn't have to follow his line of vision to see what he was talking about. They both looked to a lit up arcade and their jaws dropped in amazement. "No way!" Clementine exclaimed as she ran into the store with excitement.

It was now Duck's turn to follow as he exclaimed, "Wait up, Clem! We don't know if there are any infected in there!" The boy followed the girl inside to see her at once of the video games trying to press start.

"No, no! Please don't tell me it's busted!" Clementine exclaimed. To her sadness, the blue error screen remained.

"It's busted." Duck said bluntly.

Clementine sighed and said, "I really wanted to play this game. Darn."

"You can still play it, you know?" Duck explained.

"How?" Clementine asked.

"Okay, come here." Duck said as he placed her left hand on the joystick and her right hand over the block, punch, and kick command buttons. "Now, close your eyes."

"Are you trying to kiss me again?" Clementine asked with a smirk.

"No, just do it. I'm going to show you how to play a busted game." Duck said. Clementine closed her eyes and Duck continued, "Now, you're playing as the badass archer known as Sniper."

"Really?" Clementine asked as she opened her eyes.

"Eyes, Clem." Duck said.

"Okay, sorry." Clementine said as she closed her eyes again.

"He stands at the edge of the Shadow Temple, an ancient mystical building where they hold the tournaments of the immortals." Duck explained the scenario as Clementine started to form a picture in her head. "Your opponent, Blackfang, steps out of the temple. He's a strong mercenary and crime lord who wants to use the tournament to gain more control. And you are his next opponent. The music starts to pick up as the match begins. Are you ready?"

"Bring it." Clementine replied with a smile getting wrapped up by the thrill of the fight that was about to happen.

"Round one starts. Blackfang rushes towards you. He throws a double punch your direction. Jump up!" Duck explained. Clementine did as Duck had told her. "Nice, he overshot you. You landed right behind him. Quickly punch him in the back." Clementine pressed the punch command button and Duck continued, "You nailed him with a wicked punch that took fifteen percent of his health!"

"Haha, alright!" Clementine cheered.

"He spins around and attacks you with a shadow punch attack!" Duck explained.

"What do I do?" Clementine asked.

"Hold back and block to counter the attack." Duck explained. Clementine went left with the joystick and pressed the block command button. "Nice, Sniper used the bow just in time to block the punch. You skid backwards but took no damage. The final block knocks Blackfang off balance. He could recover any second. Quickly counter with a Fire Blitz Arrow! Go up, down, and punch." Clementine did as Duck had asked and he exclaimed. "Nice, that took out a decent size chunk of his health."

"Alright!" Clementine cheered.

"Uh oh, he grabbed you." Duck said. "Break free from him, by mashing punch." Clementine hit the button repeatedly four times until Duck said, "Okay you're free. Now hit up, punch, and block to use Bow Charge." Clementine pressed up on the joystick and pressed the punch and block very quickly. "Quick block, he's coming right at you." Duck explained. In response, Clementine pressed the block button immediately.

"Nice." Duck said. "You got it. Now press down, forward, punch for a special move called Triple Arrow Sting." Clementine did followed Duck's directions as explained. "Yes, he's down for a couple seconds. Kick his ass!" Clementine's smile grew wider and wider until it became a grin. This was a blast!

Clementine nodded and started to press punch and kick repeatedly until Duck said, "Uh oh, he's getting back up, use a slide to put him back on the ground. Press forward, down, and kick." Clementine did as Duck asked and he said, "Nice Clem, he's down to a quarter of health. Okay, time to use some combos, press up, punch, punch, kick to use Archer's Fury."

Clementine did as she was told as Duck said. "Nice, now press kick, punch, up, punch to use Arrow Assault." Clementine pressed in the buttons correctly.

"Alright Clem. He doesn't have much health left." Duck explained. "Stun him with Flare Blitz Arrow." Clementine nodded and went up and down on the joystick, followed by punch on the commands. "Alright, now time for a finishing move. Press up, down, back, forward, punch to unleash your most powerful move, The Phoenix Arrow." Clementine performed the tricky command and Duck exclaimed, "The screen fades slightly darker as Archer grabs his last arrow. He pulls back the bow and the arrow slowly starts to catch on fire. Finally, Archer releases the arrow and it automatically turns into a giant fiery bird that burns Blackfang into nothing. It's over! You won Clem!"

Clementine opened her eyes and she looked to Duck with an appreciative smile. "So, not bad for your first game, huh?"

"Yeah, thanks Duck. That was so much fun." Clementine said.

Duck chuckled and said, "Well, let's keep going. I bet there are plenty of things we can get into."

"Actually, I think we should head back." Clementine said solemnly. Her expression was a complete twist as opposed to earlier where she was having the time of her life. "I need to head back."

"You got plenty of time." Duck said.

"Duck, I-I can't miss this morning's meeting." Clementine said. "It's mandatory. If I skip out, I'm going to be doing toilet cleaning duties for a couple months." Duck looked down sadly as Clementine continued, "We'll just pick up where we left off, tomorrow."

"I can't." Duck replied.

"Well, we could do it some other day then." Clementine suggested.

Duck approached her and shook his head sadly. "No Clem, I can't do it any other day."

"Wait… why?" Clementine asked.

Duck sighed and said, "Because, the Fireflies want to position me in a different city. I argued with them to stay here. But you know how Marlene is. Nothing's easy with her. Everything is a test. They're picking me up tomorrow."

Clementine looked down sadly and then back to the boy. "I'm sorry, Duck. I wish things could have been different." Clementine said.

"That's it?" Duck asked. "We've been friends all our lives and that's all you have to say?"

"Well what do you want me to say?" Clementine asked.

"Well how about some friendly advice?" Duck said. "You've always been smarter than me, you can figure something out of this, can't you?"

"Duck, you're in it too deep." Clementine said. "I-I can't just fix all of your problems for you, especially something this big."

"So what? You think I made a mistake?" Duck inquired. His anger was starting to escalate as a result. This was just like the last time that they met.

"I'm not saying that-" Clementine exclaimed as her own anger was starting to get the better of her.

"Oh yeah, it certainly sounds like I've made a mistake." Duck said angrily.

Clementine then realized something and asked, "Duck, why did you bring me here?" Duck hesitated for a couple of seconds until the girl exclaimed, "Answer me!"

"I don't know… I just wanted everything to stop for a couple of minutes, maybe I could just stay here." Duck said.

"That's a death sentence. Marlene would hunt you down." Clementine said. "You want my advice? Just go. Go with the Fireflies. We'll say our good-byes and hope that we never see each other on the battlefield when we're older."

Duck was unsatisfied by the girl's choice of words and said, "I'm going to check out the place."

"Duck." Clementine said trying to stop the boy. He ignored her and continued to walk away from her. "Duck!" Clementine said a bit more loudly, but the boy continued to ignore her and opened the door to the hallway.

Clementine sighed and said, "Dang it, Duck." She opened the door to follow the boy and was greeted with a destroyed hallway. Part of the hallway ceiling was destroyed and was only supported by debris that had gotten in. "Duck!" Clementine called for her friend. She received no response and ran down the hallway. She ducked underneath a couple of pipes and continued to search for the boy.

She then noticed a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway which had an exit sign over them. She ran up to the doors and opened them to find a storage room. She looked around the storage room which had several manikins standing in different parts of the room. Clementine gripped her right arm feeling nervous of all the manikins; it felt like she was being watched by the lifeless dummies. "I'm getting out of here. This is just creepy." Clementine said and she headed for the exit.

She opened the door to find Duck staring at a music display. Clementine approached him and released her right arm. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" Duck asked.

"Duck, please talk to me." Clementine said.

"Why should I?" Duck inquired. "That was your best advice? What the hell? I've been in worse situations than this and you got me out of those. So why can't you help me now?"

Clementine sighed and said, "Duck, I don't know what else I can do for you. Besides, you never really took my advice…" Clementine sighed and continued, "My gosh, you make me feel like a mom sometimes!"

"Well you certainly act like it." Duck hissed.

"Because, I'm worried about you!" Clementine exclaimed. "Duck, I was afraid that the very thing that I dread the most happened for forty-six days straight: I was afraid that my best friend died. And the only thing that I will remember him for is that picture that was tacked on my wall and his last words which I can't even repeat because you cursed at me." Duck looked to Clementine sadly as she sighed. "This whole day… do you feel guilty or something? Why would you bring me here?"

Duck shook his head in disgust and sighed. "I'm supposed to be holed up on the other side of town. I get caught as a Firefly, I'm dead." Duck said. "Guilt did not make me cross a city full of soldiers, Clementine. And yeah, I did some shit that I don't know how to take back, but- I'm trying." Duck then scoffed and said, "Speaking of…" He took off his backpack and threw it to the ground. It was partially open and its contents were revealed. It was their water guns that was confiscated by Bill. "Remember those water guns that Bill took away." He looked up to her to see her very surprised to see the water guns again. "I nearly got shot for these. Surprise."

Clementine went over and picked up the water guns. She examined them and said, "Okay, first, I'm going to destroy you. Then we'll talk." Clementine said as she started smile. She handed one of the water guns to Duck who smirked.

"You're about to get drenched." Duck chuckled.

"Let's see what you got, Firefly Boy." Clementine said as she started to pump up the water gun.

"You getting scared yet?" Duck asked. In response, Clementine blasted him with water. He replied with the same thing and soon both were starting to miss to avoid the other's attack. They separated from the standoff which allowed them to rebuild pressure within the water guns. Once again, they attacked each other with the water guns. Both laughed as they continued to get drenched. "Ah… man." Duck said as he held up his hands in surrender. "Forget it, I'm drenched."

"I think we both are." Clementine said as water dripped from her thick black curls. "How about we make this interesting? You go hide, while I count to five. Whoever gets hit first loses."

"I like that idea." Duck said. "Close your eyes; I'm going to go hide."

Clementine obliged and even placed an arm over her eyes to prevent peeking. Duck ran off as Clementine counted to five.

"You ready?" Clementine exclaimed. Upon receiving no response, Clementine decided to use the wooden displays for cover. She continued to search for the boy, but then she heard footsteps from behind. She turned around but was too late as she received a blast of water. "Oh come on."

Duck laughed as he approached her victoriously. "That was easy. Sneaking up on you from behind is the oldest trick in the book. Best two out of three?" Duck said.

"You're on." Clementine said as she started to count again. Duck ran off once again to find cover and waited for the girl to fall into his trap.


Once again, Clementine used the displays for cover. She then spotted a figure running from a set of displays to some refrigerators. Clementine smirked and ran towards the other side of the refrigerators, hoping to out-flank Duck. She quickly turned to the other side to see that the boy had was nowhere.

She looked perplexedly at the gap until she heard, "Over here." She looked right next to her to receive another shot of cold water. She yelped as the boy exclaimed, "Haha! We got the Water Gun Champion, right here everybody." Duck danced in victory as Clementine rolled her eyes at the boy's antics.

"Alright, alright, you got lucky." Clementine said.

"Luck?" Duck asked. "Hah, that's a laugh." He then aimed the water gun towards Clementine and smirked. "You want to go again?"

"I-I do, but I…" Clementine said as she looked down sadly.

Duck sighed as he lowered the water gun and said, "You gotta go back… I gotta go back."

"Yeah…" Clementine said sadly.

"Well, can I at least walk you home? You'd be pretty surprised by how many pedophiles and creeps live in the lower part of the QZ." Duck asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Clementine said.

"Come on, let's go get my backpack." Duck said. Clementine nodded and the two walked off to retrieve Duck's backpack.

To be continued.