Hey guys! I've been noticing the lack of reviews as of late. Seemed like my request for you to let me know about your thoughts and predictions about the story just kinda got snobbed, I guess. It's okay, I know you guys are reading but it would be really nice for you to drop a review and make me feel more motivated. You guys are the only reason that I keep going, plus my want to tell my story.
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Enjoy...
Kenny was at the driver's seat, gazing at the tracks that beheld him. Katjaa was at the other seat, no words were said. They were in mourning.
"You want to talk about it?" Kenny finally spoke up in what seemed like forever. Katjaa still remained silent. She wasn't ready to talk about it.
"You were ready to kill yourself, Kat. Why?" Katjaa was close to breaking down once again, she didn't want to be in that dark place again. "I... I don't want to talk, Kenny. Not now."
"Not now!? Our son is dead, and you almost left me! I think now is the best time to know why!" Kenny finally snapped at her. Katjaa sniffled, holding back the tears that were ready to come out.
"I'm sorry... I, I couldn't handle it. I couldn't imagine a life without our son, Ken. I'm sorry..." The woman's voice was starting to crack. She was deteriorating mentally once again.
Kenny then noticed the tears welling in her eyes, he came closer to her, and comforted her. They needed each other now more than ever.
"It's okay, Kat." Kenny shushed her. "We'll get over this. We will." Katjaa was able to let the tears flow in Kenny's arms. She wasn't vulnerable, unlike earlier. She was isolated with him. Kenny continued cuddling her, he then saw something.
"Oh, shit." He got out of Katjaa's seat, Katjaa looked at him peculiarly.
"What is it?"
Kenny stared at the big towering sight, Katjaa noticed it as well, and understood why Kenny was gawking at what will be a troubling situation.
"We need to tell the others. Now."
Clementine was still seating with Lee, the boxcar was quite silent, Lee had just talked to Ben. He now knew, although he wasn't as angry at him as Clementine. Clementine was looking quite impatient, though he didn't know why.
They then heard something in the distance. A voice. Definitely Kenny's.
"OH SHIT! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!"
Finally. That was what Clementine thought as the train slowed down, stopping at an unspecified location.
"What was that?" Lee was eager to know. As always, Clementine kept a straight face, she knew every single thing that was supposed to happen. But she played along.
"I don't know."
The others finally emerged out of the train, to see the problem just ahead of them.
A giant tanker, dangling of some kind of skyway.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" He loudly cursed out into the distance.
"Kenny, keep your voice down." Katjaa reminded Kenny cautiously. "I know Kat, it's just... fuck."
Ben then came from behind Kenny, inspecting the large cylinder object blocking the way of the train.
"Can we just... walk?"
Kenny stayed silent.
"That's fucking stupid, Ben."
"I don't know." Clementine finally said. But she does know. "Maybe we can go up the skyway, and check out the tanker." She suggested.
"Now, who gives you the fucking right to speak up!?" Kenny still didn't come to terms with Clementine. He didn't even care if what she was suggesting was good, the only words he could hear from her were from earlier. At the RV. As if it were playing on repeat everytime he looked at her.
"Now, hold on there. I think that's a good idea." Lee agreed with Clementine, although she didn't need to do anything with him. He genuinely agreed with his surrogate daughter's plan.
"I'll go up there. Clementine can come with me." He didn't know what forced him to say that but he did. She seemed to know how to take care of herself. Plus her hair was recently cut off, so it would take extra work for a walker to kill her.
Clementine smiled at him, now there was the joyful and innocent look from her that he missed so much.
"Any objections?" None.
"Okay then." The man walked before Clementine kneeling before her. Clementine was confused, this didn't happen before. He then reached for his back before handing the object to her.
A Glock 17. It had been a long time since she was granted ownership of the gun, or did anything with it. The only thing she had done was slide the safety on and off. She stared at her old friend, smiling. She considered it more soothing than a lullaby at night.
She grabbed, it pushing the slider, the magazine popped off, she catched it, inspecting the number of bullets. Full. She popped it right back up. Lee was impressed, she really did know how to use a gun. He smirked at Clementine, Clementine shrugged the smirk so casually, as if holding a gun were a normal thing.
"Let's go."
The duo walked off to the skyway, Clementine knew what she was going to see when she gets to the top.
After a short walk, the two finally made it. Lee and Clementine stared at the top of the ladder, inspecting it. They knew it was going to be a long climb.
"Uh... why don't you go first, Clem? you have the gun after all, and I'm there to make sure you don't fall." Good. He was trusting her, but not that much. He still felt an attachment to her. False attachment can lead to manipulation, and Clementine was directly intending on manipulating Lee, but only to spare her friends a horrible death.
She smiled in response, Lee smiled back at her. She then took her first steps at the ladder, Lee followed her. They climbed the ladder together.
30 seconds later, they made it, or rather, Clementine had made it to the top. Just as she peeked out on the road in the skyway, there she saw the two people she was expecting to see.
The girl didn't have the time to explain herself before being cut off by one of the people.
"Holy shit, Christa! Do you see this!?" The man obviously had a very easy-going and jolly look on him. While the other woman kept a straight posture, she was obviously quite the level-headed type. As expected of her longest companion.
"All I see is a little girl, doesn't mean that we should join them right away." She scoffed, distrusting the group they heard just now.
Lee then climbed up, walking next to Clementine. Omid was even more overjoyed at the sight of the man.
"And she has her father! See? We're going to be fine there, Christa!"
"I'm not her dad, I just found her in her house. Her parents are uh..." Clementine looked down, although still looking quite normal, if you count normal as lifeless and bleak.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Omid said.
"So what's her name anyway?"
"Clementine. What's it to you?" She then looked at him, arms crossed with a focused stare on her face, eyebrows narrowed. This along with the sass brought along with her statement, caused Omid to chuckle quite a bit.
"She reminds me quite a lot like you, Christa." Omid remarked, Christa then snapped out of her trance to see her and the little girl in exactly the same position, arms crossed, with a firm posture. Lee seemed to notice this as well, as Omid gotten a smirk out of the man, who was eyeing the two women.
Christa then uncomfortably shifted to another position, now standing quite more limp and free than Clementine's more restrained posture.
Lee and the duo then exchanged the usual expected dialogue, Clementine did nothing but stare at the train and the others, the exchange became much more distant, she was focused on what was coming next, she was planning out the things she needed to.
Kenny and Katjaa were resting in the engine cab in the train, although they managed to let Duck pass by in their minds for at least one moment, they still had something to discuss about.
"I'm telling you, something's not right about her." Kenny angrily stated at the woman, although he didn't raise his voice at her.
"Listen, Kenny. She's just a little girl. She's been through a lot. You know that." Katjaa said, she was supposed to talk about Carley and... Duck. but she left it at a vague note, she didn't want to talk about it again, not after just having what counts for a normal conversation with her husband.
"Little girls don't go just... 'rationalizing' death like it's a stroll by the fucking street. You saw her talk about Duck, Kat... she even knew how to fucking use a gun! How long has she kept that shit from us!? Maybe letting us know that a little girl can shoot a gun, can help us prevent a shitload of things from happening. Especially when she's this close to Duck." Kenny argued, but the conversation was becoming closer to having Duck as the subject again, she didn't want that. She stayed silent, allowing for Kenny for another word.
"She's definitely got something up her sleeve, she even stopped..." Katjaa then looked down, her eyebrows slanting upwards, as she frowned, Kenny then looked at her, feeling sorry. He didn't mean to take it that far, they wanted to take their minds of Duck and what she did for a while, but they pulled themselves back on that level.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... we should just keep an eye on her from now on, Kat." Kenny said, his voice soft. Katjaa just nodded, she didn't say any words. Something then caught the redneck's eye.
"Speak of the devil..."
Lee and Clementine came down from the ladder, along with other two unnamed people. One a man and another a dark-skinned woman.
"Guys, this is Omid and Christa." He obviously referred to the two people right behind them.
The entire crew still was silent, looking upon the duo a bit suspiciously.
"Not big on welcomes." Omid got the impression.
"It's been a rough day."
"Oh, I see. So, we just want to say hi and that your train is pretty cool." Omid joked. "But we're not looking for charity." Christa added.
"We need to cut that tanker down. It's the only way to... you know, get it out of the way." Clementine grumbled, Kenny once again glared at her.
"Who said it was up to you!?"
"Kenny..." Katjaa warned his husband. He really didn't need to do this in front of two new people. At least something good happened amidst all this chaos.
"LOOK. Clementine's right. It's the only way to keep the train moving, unless you want to ditch it, and walk on our own." Lee's statement caused Kenny to snap out of it, he warned him of the dangers and how long it would take before they get to Savannah.
"Alright. So, what are we going to do now? You want to start in on that tanker?"
"I'll get to know the girl for a minute, if you don't mind." Christa suggested, Clementine looked away, eyes narrowed. Christa smiled at the sight, she reminded her a lot of herself.
"Actually, Lee... mind if I borrow your girl for a minute?" Clementine then shot a glare of her own at Kenny, but Kenny ignored it like it was nothing. Lee looked at the man, eyebrow raised, feeling obviously suspicious of the man.
"What are you going to do with her, Kenny?" Lee asked, feeling exhausted. He was getting quite sick of their little scuffle, he wished it would just end.
"Don't worry Lee, I'm sure I can handle myself." Clementine reassured him. Lee shot one last look at Kenny, before letting her go.
"Fine, but don't try anything. Both of you." Lee warned, as he went to sit with Christa, probably to talk.
Kenny and Clementine went to the side of the train, Kenny made sure they're out of everyone's sight before talking to her.
"So, what do you want with me?" The girl simply questioned, eyes filled with fire. Kenny then stared at her as well.
"What I want is for you is to keep your little interests with yourself. I saw you. I saw you looking all sorry back there with Lee and Katjaa. Well, I tell you what? That shit ain't going to work with me. And if you try anything with Katjaa, you'll surely regret it." The man raised his voice at the little girl, but the little girl did not even flinch, she looked at him, straight in the eye.
"So what? Your going to kill a nine year old little girl in cold blood?" Clementine's voice was nonchalant. She knew Kenny can be pretty violent, but she looked Carver in the eye. Kenny was nothing to her. But Kenny still stubbornly kept his look at her.
"No. I'm not killing a nine year old little girl. I'm killing a manipulative fucking sociopath." Although it was true, that single statement infuriated Clementine, as she looked at him, with a glare that could disintegrate souls. But not Kenny's as he looked at her with an equally sharp glare.
"Stay the fuck away from my family." Kenny simply warned her, but Clementine never rested her face until he had finally left. One thing's for sure, the man had great instincts, he saw through her plan, or some parts of it, anyway. She respected the man, especially after the things he'd done for her in her past life, but he's bound to get in her way sooner or later in this life. She'll plan to take care of that when the time comes.
She then noticed Lee going to the abandoned house he was originally supposed to go in, she quickly caught up with him.
Lee noticed Clementine's shadow sprinting towards him. Lee turned around to see her already behind him. Fast kid.
"What did Kenny tell you?" Lee asked, eyebrows slanted. Clementine knew he was suspicious. He's suspicious of Kenny.
Clementine looked down, more sad than ever. "It's nothing." She simply said. This caused Lee to be more furious than ever.
"Nothing?!" Clementine was acting really hard to look sad, when she saw Lee finally frown, she knew she had him once again.
"He said to me that he'll kill me if I ever tried something with Katjaa." Lee now looked at the redneck, hatred filled with his eyes, he'll make sure to talk to him. Later.
"The fuck he did."
"Are you going to kill him?"
Lee looked at her, frowning. "No. But I'll make sure he never talks to you like that again." Lee asserted. Clementine felt a little satisfied. Kenny wasn't going to do anything to her, and he wasn't going to die, probably. And she still had full control over Lee.
"Can I come with you?" Clementine asked. Lee smiled.
"Of course you can, sweet pea. We're a team." Clementine smiled at herself. Lee smiled to her. The duo then walked off to the abandoned house.
Ten minutes later...
The duo made it to the abandoned house. Clementine opened it from the inside, as usual.
They saw the inside, it was filled with dark shadows around. The only light visible is the sunlight that came from the gaps between the wooden pallets that were blocking the windows.
"Goddamn it's dark in here."
"How about you prop it with that spanner of yours?"
"Good idea."
Lee then went to do as asked. He propped the door open with the spanner. Now with enough light to see where they're going. Lee checked out the room.
It had a gate, that surrounded 1/4 of the room. and behind it, revealed the exact thing they were looking for. A blowtorch.
"That's exactly what we need."
"Then open the door and get it." Lee raised his eyebrow at her. She wasn't that much of a smartass, a dozen of hours ago, but he didn't mind.
"If you insist."
He tried opening the door, but the he didn't see the door knob. It was locked, and it required a key to open.
Clementine sighed, she had to do everything, as usual.
"There's a gap right above the gate, I'll squeeze through, and get the tanker."
Lee smiled at her. "That's not bad."
Lee then helped Clementine, he carried her. His strength enabled him to make Clementine stand up in his own shoulders, as she went over the gap, dropping to the ground.
"Go on and grab the keys, Clem." Clementine nodded, face blank as usual. Funny thing is, her face was actually blank last time. But then she saw it. The black figure, coming from the shadows, and the other coming from the door.
"Behind you!"
Lee turned around to see two walkers. He tried to grab it, but he'd forgotten that he'd given it to Clementine.
"Shit. SHIT. SHIT! CLEM!"
BLAM!
BLAM!
She was right ahead of him as the two walkers fell down, each in one second. Lee took a dozen of breaths, relieved from that close call. Lee then looked sideways to see Clementine, the gun already back in her front pocket of her jacket. He hadn't seen someone with a dead-eye like that since... her.
Clementine then noticed something in the shadows, this time in her section of the room. She'd almost forgot.
BLAM!
The walker fell face-first on the floor. Blood spilling out of it's corpse. Clementine, holding the gun with one hand, putting it back in her front pocket.
Clementine then grabbed the keys, then opened the gate, allowing Lee to grab the blowtorch, and carry it with his left hand.
"Thanks, Clem. I gotta say, you sure are a great shot with that thing." Clementine smiled at him, actually genuinely smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah. For a first-timer, you'd already beaten in terms of markmanship." Lee complimented her. Clementine chuckled.
Christa then quickly came out of nowhere. "What's going on! I thought I heard shots!" She then went to see three dead walkers, and Lee and Clementine. Clementine seemed to have the gun in her front pocket.
"You made an eight year old kill three of these things on her own?"
Lee glared at her. "No. I was trapped. She saved me. I had no other way out." He explained, trying to justify his inability to Christa. Christa then hummed a chuckle in disbelief, she was about to go out of the room before turning around to Lee, eyes focused on his.
"Next time you decide to take care of a little girl. Make sure you're competent enough to at least save her from these things." Christa warned, before taking off.
"Fuck her." Lee insulted the woman behind her back.
Clementine chuckled. Lee wasn't expecting that kind of a response from a little girl for cursing a woman out. "Yeah, she does seem like a bit of an ass." She added. She knew her, it was true. Christa was the definition of a hard-ass.
"Hey." Lee playfully warned her.
"What?"
"You swore."
Clementine smiled. "Yeah, probably because I've heard too many from you guys." Lee smirked at her.
"Let's uh... go back to the group now shall we?"
"Sure."
Chapter four? Done-so. Hope you enjoy the story. Remember to let me know your thought about the story with a review, would really appreciate it. And if you like this story, don't forget to favorite and follow it. Also, in case you were wondering, I am going to do something with Lilly, in fact, that something is going to come soon. Don't worry. And as always...
Thanks for reading.