Chapter 2

Broken

Clementine

Clementine didn't even have enough strength left in her to scream any longer. Luckily, they had landed clear of the river, and instead hit the snow beside it. But her leg...her leg felt like it had been torn off completely. She had to look over herself to make sure this wasn't true. She dropped her head against the snow, gasping and sobbing in pain.

Luke, who had landed a few feet away, immediately heard her cries and bolted up to her, "Clem...?"

He grabbed her hand that had been grasping her leg and put it aside hastily. Then, he pulled her over and brushed the hair out of her eyes to see her cloudy, hazel eyes. Tears were running down her face like a river; the pain was so agonizing she couldn't focus on Luke's frantic expression.

"Clementine!" Luke called, shaking her shoulders gently, "Are you okay? What-" He instantly stopped talking when his eyes trailed down to the heavy amount of blood that was staining the lower part of her jeans and that was turning the white snow a faint crimson, "Wait...oh, no,no,no,no!"

Through the tears, Clementine could actually see how worried Luke's face was as he quickly rolled up the sleeve of her jean. He uncovered her disfigured limb that almost looked even worse than it felt. Coated in blood, her leg was twisted in a rather awkward position that made it not even look like a leg at all. When Luke realized how bad the injury really was, the shaking of his hands were beginning to be visible.

"Clem...Clem, I..." Luke ran his fingers through his chestnut hair nervously, "Okay, okay. Just...let me get ya outta here."

Luke quickly ripped off a strip of the cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it around the wound. When he tied the knot, another spasm of pain came to life through Clementine's leg. She let out a faint cry, still unable to move.

"Shh, it's okay," He gently brushed his hand through her hair comfortingly, trying to quiet the young girl, "I got ya." Luke knelt down lower and raised Clementine off of the ground slowly, making sure he didn't hurt her. The walkers on top of the cliff were beginning to crawl down to them, still hungry for flesh. Luke didn't care at all about that. His top priority at the moment was to find shelter where he could treat Clementine's broken limb. He bolted off, downriver, keeping his friend close enough to keep her warm.

Clementine's ears seemed to stop functioning, because after a few seconds while Luke ran, all of the noises vanished, and she could hear her own heart beating. The pain in her leg was getting worse and worse, and the cloth Luke had tied to it was just getting soaked in her own blood.

Clementine must have hit her head pretty hard in the fall, because the world around her was blurry. There were flashes of white here and there, then some red.

This must be what it's like to die...

The wind was getting worse, and cold along with pain were not a very good mixture. Clementine expected Luke to just give up and abandon her, but he didn't. He was sprinting so quickly down the river, and he never broke his pace. His expression was so...worried. Luke looked at nothing else but in front of them, except for checking on Clementine every now and then. The icy wind looked like it didn't bother him, or he just didn't care about anything else at the moment.

The blood loss was starting to set in. Clementine's eyelids felt like heavy weights, and she couldn't resist slowly shutting them. Now, it was only a matter of luck whether or not she ever opened them again.

A few days before Kenny left, Clementine was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, looking down at her hands. She let her legs swing off the side in boredom, tapping her feet on the floor in a bland rhythm. Luke and Kenny were outside, doing God knows what. Her black glock laid beside her on the dark red cloth, glistening from the candlelight. She lifted her hand and adjusted her hat with a sigh.

The door to the room swung open, making Clementine jump. She instinctively whipped her hand onto her gun, but let her fingers relax when she realized it was only Luke and Kenny. They set down their rifles against the wall and gazed warmly at the girl sitting on the bed.

"Hey, Clem." Luke spoke up first. He was carrying a small brown bag in his hands as he strode over to Clementine, "I got ya somethin'."

He reached into the bag and pulled out a colorful booklet. A...coloring book?

Luke held it in front of him, grinning lightly, "Look what I found ya! I found it in one of the rooms down the hall, I thought you might like it."

Clementine took it from him and looked at the cover that had a pink unicorn flying in the sky along with puffy clouds. It had a little dried blood on it, but the book still looked beautiful. She flipped through the pages quickly, catching quick glimpses of kittens and ponies that were uncolored.

"I found this box of crayons with it, too." Luke took another thing out of the bag and set it down next to her.

A whole ten pack of crayons!

"Wow..." Clementine gaped, not knowing what to say, "I-"

"Oh, please!"

Luke and Clementine both looked up to see Kenny leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he frowned at them. His good eye hardened as he exchanged his glare towards Luke.

"She don't want that garbage, Luke." Kenny snapped, his eyebrows furrowed angrily, "Clementine ain't a little girl anymore."

Luke looked back at him, the smile disappearing from his lips as he faced the older man, "What? I thought it would cheer her up a bit."

Kenny shrugged, "You don't need to worry about cheering her up. She ain't your responsibility. Leave her be."

Clementine held the coloring book closer, surprised by Kenny's words. She thought that it was really kind of Luke to give her this. And she half believed that Kenny would think the same.

"Well, what exactly are you doing for her, huh?" Luke shot back, his brown eyes flashing, "All you do is mope around here and there, never givin' her the light of day."

Clementine knew that wasn't true. She set the book down, "You-"

"Now, hold on a second!" Kenny straightened up and walked stiffly up to Luke until they were only a few inches away from each other, "I'm the one that lost an eye for her. Risked my LIFE for her safety!"

Luke crossed his arms, "I mean, you haven't done anythin' since we were separated from the group. Name one thing that you did for her."

Kenny opened his mouth to shout something back, but Clementine talked first, "Stop!" She yelled loud enough to make them both turn and stare at her, "I like the book, okay? And you both have done all you can. Please don't fight!"

Luke let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. Kenny gazed calmly at Clementine for a few moments before turning back to Luke.

"Come on outside. We need to talk about somethin'." Kenny gave one last glare at the young man before turning and walking straight out of the room, grabbing his rifle on the way. Clementine knew for sure that Kenny wouldn't hurt Luke in any way, but his actions still seemed menacing to her.

Luke looked down at her, his eyes full of sorrow, "I'm sorry, Clem. Enjoy that coloring book, I'm glad you like it." Then with that, he strode across the room and exited, closing the door gently behind him instead of slamming it as Kenny had.

Clementine suddenly felt very, very sad. She looked down at the coloring book, holding it in her cold, pale fingers. Not motivated to draw in it any longer, she threw the book against the bed and decided to lay down instead. Sobbing quietly, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to think of happier times before the dead had starting walking.

But no happier moments came.

Not a single one.

Clementine's eyes flew open. The first thing she saw was wood. Her first feeling was pain.

She leaned forward, very confused of what was going on. Apparently, Luke had found shelter, just like he said he would. But what was wrong with her leg? Why did it feel like it was on fire?

Gazing down, she caught sight of her leg, wrapped in white cloth and laid in a soft pillow. Her memories hit her like a rock. Images of the icy river and the bloody snow around her flashed through her mind. Then, it was Luke's arms lifting her off of the ground, holding her close as he ran. Her leg had broken, hadn't it? She couldn't remember...

The door to the room suddenly clicked, and Clementine jerked her head over to see Luke standing in the doorway. He was holding a white cloth in his pale hands, his eyes lighting up when he laid them on Clementine's figure.

"Hey, Clem." His voice sounded very hoarse and tired against the stiff walls, "How are you feeling?"

Luke strode over to her beside and sat down on the side of it, gazing at her with his soft, dark eyes. He didn't look so great, either. There were faint circles under his eyes, his cheeks hollow with fatigue. His smooth, black vest was still plastered with dried blood, and he smelled like rotten guts and other disgusting things. The light brown hair that he owned was coated in snow and dirt.

"Uh..." Clementine didn't even remember his question, she was too busy scanning his features. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

"I get it," Luke's voice snapped her out of her daze, and she blinked up at him, "You're tired. I figured you might have had a headache, judging by that gnarly cut on your forehead."

Clementine watched as he leaned forward and pressed the cloth onto her head. The headache she had before she passed out was pretty much gone already, but the feel of the warm towel felt really nice.

"My leg..." She muttered, closing her eyes tightly as more pain surged into her leg.

"Shh, I know." Luke lifted her head gently and tied the warm rag so it would wrap around her forehead. Then, he pulled back and looked down on her leg, "It got broken pretty bad. But I...I fixed it up best I could for ya."

It still hurt pretty bad, but the pain wasn't even near what it was back by the river. She could move her toes now, another ability she didn't have before.

Clementine gazed back down at her leg, then at Luke. Her golden eyes sunk into his as she spoke, "Thank you."

Luke gave her that bright grin that he used most of the time when things were going their way. Clementine's leg was healing, Luke wasn't as injured from the fall as she was, and he had found them shelter...

"You're probably wonderin' where we're at right now," Luke went on, straightening up, "It...it was like some sort of miracle that I found this place! All abandoned and boarded up in the middle of nowhere. The second I saw it...man, I was so happy that I could get ya somewhere safe."

Clementine gazed around the room, its windows boarded and draws hanging open, picked clean, "How big is it?"

"Only one story," Luke told her, the excitement in his voice not faltering at all from the detail, "But its got a lot of rooms, and I even found some antibiotics in one of the drawers. After I patched your leg up...I was sitting in here for hours, just waiting for ya to get up..." He glanced away as if something was bothering him, before letting out a short smirk to break the silence, "Huh, it's kinda funny that the short two minutes that I leave to get you a warm cloth, you finally wake up. I-"

"Wait, wait," Clementine cut him off, processing all of the things he just said, "You haven't slept at all? Since we've been here...?"

Luke stared at her, his eyes slowly turning a little sad, "Look, that don't matter right now. The important thing is that you're okay."

Clementine shook her head slowly, narrowing her eyes, "Luke..."

"Don't worry about me," He reassured her, lifting a tired hand, "I...I'm fine.

"No," Clementine shot back, "You're not. Go get some rest...please?"

Luke stood up and ran his fingers through his air, sprinkling flakes of snow all over the bed. He didn't notice until he looked down at the white specks that now coated Clementine's clothes. She covered her smile, trying not to laugh as he looked at the mess he made.

"Was that from...?" Luke gestured at the sheets warily,, his face screwed in confusion.

"Yep."

He let out a frustrated sigh and placed his hand on his forehead, only causing more snow to drift out of his hair. Clementine chuckled out loud and brushed some of the flakes off with her hand.

"I'll go get you a new blanket," Luke sighed, the corners of his mouth rising into a small grin as he leaned forward and adjusted her hat gently on her head. Then, he turned and walked out of the room, still sort of swaying on his feet from fatigue.

Afterwards, he better go to sleep...

The next day, Clementine's leg was starting to feel a whole lot better. Luke finally got some hours of sleep, which meant they were both full of energy. Laying in the bed all day was beginning to get boring, and it took a lot of begging until Luke finally let her try walking for the first time since the accident. It was early in the afternoon when Luke said he would help her out of bed. He fed her a special lunch, which consisted of peaches, beans, and a few crackers that he had found in the kitchen. It was one of the tastiest lunches she ever had since Kenny died.

Clementine sat at the edge of the bed, her feet swinging off of it. She remembered that time back in the inn when she was with Kenny while Luke was outside on watch. They were talking about the early times when they were with Lee. Not a single word was said about the bad times. Their conversation was all about the better days.

They were sitting at adjacent beds, talking back and forth to each other.

"Remember that one night back at the motor inn?" Clementine had giggled, smiling brightly at the bearded man, "When we were all eating dinner and telling jokes?"

Kenny's eyes lit up, "Of course I do! Duck was yappin' at you through the whole thing. How could I forget the most enjoyable night at the inn?"

"Then when Lee cracked that one joke?" Clementine beamed, "I don't remember it...but it made me laugh so hard that juice came out of my nose!"

Kenny and Clementine chuckled together for a few seconds,their spirits lifting as they remembered the good ol' days back at the motor inn. It was true though, Lee had a really good sense of humor that could cheer anyone up. Now, just the sight of him would make Clementine the happiest little girl in the world.

"Hey, Clem."

Kenny's serious tone made her look up at the man. He was looking down at his hands, the grin no longer on his lips.

"...Yeah?" Clementine inquired warily, looking sadly at him.

"Why did you do it?" Kenny lifted his head and shrugged, "Why did you talk to that guy on the walkie?"

Guilt slammed into Clementine all over again. She really never wanted to think about Lee's last moments.

"He said he knew my parents," Clementine replied flatly, seeing that it was the only explanation for her actions.

"Yeah, and you just believed him?" Kenny snapped, one of his eyebrows raising curiously.

"I was eight."

"Well young or not, you got Lee killed." He roared, "I'm just warning you never to trust anyone that fast ever again. You-"

"Shut up!"

Clementine brought her hand down on the nightstand beside her bed furiously. It made the lamp shake and topple over onto the carpet with a smash. It didn't break, but it was enough to make Kenny jump.

"Don't talk about Lee! EVER!" Clementine boomed, her golden eyes flashing with rage, "You hear me?"

Kenny stared at her, wide-eyed. After a few moments, they darkened with guilt and he shut them, "Clem, I'm sorry...I-I have no idea why I said that. I'm real sorry, darlin'."

Tears began forming in her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly with her sleeve. Not wanting Kenny to see her suffering, she turned away from him and laid down, sniffling softly as she thought of Lee. She couldn't believe he was dead. It was all her fault, too. The idea was for nobody to get hurt! All she wanted to do was see her parents, and the stranger had tricked her into falling into his trap.

She'll never forgive herself.

"Clem?"

Clementine jolted up, snapping out of her thoughts. She turned her head and spotted Luke in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob as he looked at her.

"Huh?" She asked, rubbing her eye as her vision focused on her friend's figure.

"You doin' alright?" Luke asked, walking up to her. He lifted her chin gently so that he could see her flushed face, "You're lookin' pretty pale."

Clementine moved his hand away and gazed up at him, "I'm fine, Luke."

Luke frowned at her lightly before putting his hand on his hip and transferring it to a smile, "Alright, then. You ready to walk?"

Clementine looked down at her broken limb, moving it slightly. It still felt really, really sore; but she couldn't lay in bed for any longer. She had to walk. Or atleast try to.

She raised her head and nodded, "Let's do it."