Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help.
The next day came and Clementine was feeling anxious. She knew Ray said they were going to leave. She just wondered if escape would truly be possible.
Clementine was up bright and early. When someone opened the door, Clementine had hoped it was Ray. The child's hopes were dashed when she suddenly felt herself being pinned to the bed.
She tried to struggle away but was held tight.
She was whimpering from the pain. Struggling as she was used against her will. Until eventually, she passed out.
When Clementine felt a hand on her shoulder, nudging her awake, her first thought was to panic.
"Hey, Clem… Time to wake up…" Came a gentle voice.
"D-Don't hurt me!" Clementine exclaimed.
"Shh…" Black, short hair slightly covers a worried face. Concerned brown eyes, meet her own.
Clementine feels panic slowly fade away.
"Those assholes are gone. We gotta get out of here…. I'm going to finish packing some supplies. Then I want you to be ready to leave." Ray spoke in a calm voice.
Clementine nodded.
"Stay here, sweetie…" Ray said to the child.
Clementine frowned. She didn't want to be left alone.
Ray noticed her reaction. "I'll be as quick as possible." He reassured the child.
Clementine sighed but nodded. She just had to trust him.
Without another word, Ray left the room.
Looking in the pantry, he found a burlap sack and began filling it with whatever food he could find. After that he gathered up some medical supplies, and anything else he figured would be useful.
He continued his pack until he heard a sound. Ray nearly froze in place as he glimpsed a man through the window. "Damn it!" They shouldn't have come back so fast…
He needed to get Clementine and they needed to get out of there.
Ray quickly ran towards the room Clementine was in.
The child looked towards the man. "Ray? What's going on?"
"They're back." Ray simply said.
"W-What?" Clementine stammered.
Ray didn't respond. He scooped the child into his arms. Clementine gave a flinch, but she didn't protest. Ray made his way into the hallway.
The two froze as they heard the front door open.
Ray noticed Clementine's fearful expression. He needed a plan…
"It's alright… I need you to do me a favor, okay?" Ray said gently, placing the child down.
"Okay…" Clementine agreed.
"We're gonna leave." Ray said. "You gotta listen to me… You hide in the closet. Don't come out until I call your name. Understand?"
Clementine frowned at that, glancing to the nearby closet Ray was talking about. "The closet?"
"Yeah, sweetie…" Ray said.
Clementine didn't like the thought of being in a closet. She remembered how that crazy man she spoke to on the radio.
"Please, Clem…" Ray said to her. "I need you to do this. I'll get Lance out of here and then we can leave…"
"Promise?" Clementine asked.
"I promise…" Ray said.
"…Okay, Ray…" Clementine said.
"Thank you…" Ray replied.
He quickly led the child towards the closet. Opening the door, he let the girl crawl inside.
"I'll be right back." Ray whispered to her.
Clementine nodded, trying her best to be brave.
Ray shut the door and started down the stairs. He noticed Lance sitting on the couch.
"Back so soon?" Ray asked.
"Yeah… How's the kid?" Lance asked.
Ray shrugged. "I think she's asleep…"
Lance raised a brow. "You think? Weren't you just upstairs with her?"
"I was using the bathroom…" Ray lied.
"Whatever…" Lance said. "Guess it's time for her to wake up…"
Ray watched as the older man stood. Ray felt nervous as the other man made his way upstairs.
After a few moments, Lance returned wearing a frown. "Where is she?"
Ray tried his best to play dumb. "What?"
Lance shot him a dark look. "The kid. Where the fuck is she?"
"I thought she was asleep…" Ray said.
Lance glared harder, "The room's empty…"
"But-" Ray was interrupted by a punch to the face. He stumbled slightly from the hit, placing a hand on his sore cheek. Before he could register what had just happened, he felt another punch in the gut.
Ray staggered back before he could hit him again. Then he managed to block another hit.
Lance let out a groan. "All you had to do was watch her! You can't do anything right."
Ray didn't offer a response.
Lance scoffed before heading for the front door.
Ray assumed he was going to look for Clementine. He waited until the man was gone, and a couple moments after that to be safe.
Over the sound of her own heartbeat, Clementine could hear the awful commotion downstairs. She was so scared; she could barely breathe.
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when the closet door opened. She clenched her eyes shut, terrified that she had been caught.
Clementine flinched as she felt someone suddenly touch her. "NO! NO! Nooo!" She yelped in fear.
"Hey, hey. It's me." Ray spoke.
For a moment the child was so stunned by Ray's sudden appearance, that all she could do was sit there immobile.
"Ray?" Clementine asked, slowly coming back to reality.
"Yeah. Come on, Clem. Let's get out of here." Ray said, offering the girl his hand.
Clementine hesitantly accepted Ray's hand and the man helped the child to her feet.
"You're hurt…" Clementine said, noticing the bruise on Ray's cheek.
"I'm fine, Clem." Ray said.
Clementine shook her head. "Don't lie...You got hurt, because of me."
"It's not your fault, Clementine." Ray said. He didn't want the child to worry about him. "Come on. We gotta go before they come back."
Clementine nodded, walking from the closet. "My clothes..." She whispered, looking down at what she was wearing.
Ray took a look at her, noticing that she was wearing nothing, but a dirty, oversized t-shirt. "Where are they?"
"I... I don't know." Clementine said.
"Okay..." He sighed. "Wait here."
He searched around for the child's clothes, but was unable to find them. He started to rummage through his bag, finding a clean sweater for her to wear. It was big, but it would be better than nothing and at least she'd be warmer.
He returned to the injured child and offered her the sweater. "Here."
"Where are my clothes?" Clementine asked.
"I couldn't find them." Ray replied.
"Oh..." Clementine frowned. She accepted the sweater.
"Hurry up and get dressed. Make it quick." Ray ordered.
Clementine nodded in response.
He walked out the room, grabbing the girl's shoes from the bedroom she had been trapped in. He headed downstairs and waited for her to come down as well.
"Ray?" Her small voice called after a few moments.
"I'm down here." Ray called back.
She made her way down the steps and over to him.
He glanced out the window. "Come on, Clem. We gotta go."
"Yeah, I know. My legs hurt." Clementine said. Her legs felt as if they would give out any minute.
Ray reached out to help the girl but Clementine flinched.
"Clem…" He tried to touch her again but she jerked away.
"No!" Clementine cried out, stumbling backwards.
"Clem...I'm going to carry you." Ray said. "You can't walk."
"I can…" Clementine claimed. "I can handle it…"
"We gotta get out of here. It'll be faster if I carry you." Ray said.
Clementine shook her head. "No…"
Ray sighed. She was his main priority. Ignoring her protest, he scooped her into his arms and darted for the back door.
"No! No! NO!" The child started to panic.
"Shh… Shhh. It's okay, Clem." Ray said in a soothing voice. "Please. It's me, Ray. I'd never hurt you."
Clementine could feel her heart pounding, but forced herself to calm down. Ray would never hurt her… He was helping her…
Ray didn't slow down until they had made a good distance away from the house.
After an hour or so, Ray figured they were safe. When he finally stopped, Clementine was asleep.
Ray took a seat on a log. He took the time to think about what their next move was going to be.
Another hour passed before the child in his arms gave a slight stir. Ray decided he should wake her so she could eat.
He lightly nudged the sleeping girl. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up."
Clementine groaned in response. "Is it morning time?" She asked, opening her eyes.
"I just wanted you to eat something." Ray explained.
"Okay…" Clementine yawned, shifting in Ray's arms.
Ray set the little girl on the ground and dug through his bag. Pulling out a can of soup, he used a knife to open it before he offered it to the child.
Clementine ate in silence before offering the rest of the can's contents to Ray. The man accepted the food and started eating.
"It's cold." Clementine muttered, giving a small shiver.
"…Hopefully we'll find some place warmer soon." Ray said.
"Yeah…" Clementine said.
"I guess we can camp here for the night." Ray suggested.
"Okay." Clementine agreed. "Sounds good."
Ray gave they child a small smile.
Clementine looked around the area. "We're by the river." She noted.
"Yeah… We are." Ray nodded.
"Maybe we can look for Christa." Clementine said.
"Who's Christa?" Ray inquired.
"She's my friend. We got separated by those bad guys. The ones who hurt me…" Clementine told him.
"I don't know, Clem…" He didn't want to disappoint the child, but there was no point in getting her hopes up if her friend was dead.
"Please…?" Clementine asked. "She's probably looking for me now…"
"How do we know she's still alive?" Ray questioned.
Clementine paused for a moment, a frown on her lips. "They said they killed her… But Christa's strong…. She won't die that easily."
Ray was silent for a moment before speaking, "I'll think about it, Clem."
"Okay. I guess that's better than a no…" Clementine said.
The two fell silent again before Clementine asked. "So what did you do before all this?"
"Was in the military. Didn't last long though. My mom got sick and I headed back home… By time I got there it was too late." Ray informed the child.
"I'm sorry…." Clementine said.
"Don't worry about it…" Ray muttered before asking, "What about your family? What happened to your parents?"
Clementine lowered her head. "They went on vacation and left me with a babysitter… They said they would come back, but they never did…" Clementine said. "I miss them…"
"I bet…." Ray sighed. "So have you been with Christa this whole time?"
Clementine shook her head. "This man found me… At the beginning of all this, hiding in my treehouse. He took me with him… Protected me. We met up with other survivors and tried to make this work, but eventually everything fell apart…" Clementine explained. "The man's name was Lee. He's the reason I'm alive today. He taught me how to survive."
"Well, Lee did a pretty good job then." Ray said.
A small smile grazed her lips, "Thanks…"
"…What happened to him…?" Ray was hesitant to ask the question.
"He got bit… And I had to shoot him…" Clementine said, fighting back tears at the thought. "It was all my fault."
"No," Ray shook his head. "Don't say that."
"It's my fault. He's dead because of me."
"It's not your fault." Ray said. "These things just happen..."
"Why? Why do bad things have to happen?" Clementine asked sadly.
Ray didn't have a good answer for that. "I don't know, sweetheart…"
The rest of the day flew by after that and nighttime came.
Clementine was shivering from cold. Ray felt awful that he had nothing to keep her warm.
The girl distracted herself from the chill of the night by asking Ray questions.
"Ray?" She called.
"Yeah, Clem?" Ray replied.
"Did you have any brothers or sisters?" Clementine asked.
"Why do you ask?" Ray questioned back.
Clementine shrugged. "I... just want to know."
"Yeah." Ray smiled. "I had a little sister."
"What was her name?" Clementine wondered.
"Her name was Kayla." Ray said. "My mom would get sick easily so I was always taking care of her."
"What about your dad?" Clementine asked.
"We didn't have the same fathers… Believe it or not, that asshole, Lance is her father…" Ray said.
Clementine didn't want to think about those bad people… "What happened to her?"
Ray went silent.
"Ray?" Clementine called.
"Time for bed, Clem…" He said, deciding they talked enough for the night.
Clementine wasn't going to push it. "Okay…"
The girl closed her eyes and eventually the child managed to fall asleep.
Ray sat up for the remainder of the night, trying to forget unpleasant memories of his unfortunate past.