Two days later
Clanging of metal off metal. The squealing of unoiled wheels. The buzzing in his ears, especially the buzzing in his ears. The sounds he could hear, before his eyes were ready to open. As soon as his heavy eyelids stopped resisting, he wished he didn't try to wake up. The area around him, it looked grungy, dirty. Someone, could have been male or female was rushing around him. Tying something to his arm. His vision was blurry, yet he could see the most confusing thing in the situation.
Clementine, arms folder, eyes drifting off to the side. She was standing behind a glass window, men and women stood beside her, again arms folded. They all watched as the undefined person tended to Luke. His vision suddenly snapped, he was able to see clearly. He whipped up his head. The people behind the window began to panic. One, the biggest and most important looking man pressed his finger down.
"He's awake!"
The person ran to the other side of the room. With Luke's vision intact he observed his surroundings.
Four walls, all black. One window Luke was able to see them and they were able to see him. The room was a medium size, a table sat below the window, the person trying to sort out something frantically. The table was metal and a trolley also made of metal was close to Luke's left arm which had something tied to it. Luke's eyes were drawn to it; he looked at himself, nothing was wounded or missing.
What was going on?
His hands were tied to a metal chair, his legs also tied. He moved, struggled but nothing would budge. Luke lifted his head, staring into the window, his eyes looked evil further spurring on the people's worries of Luke.
Clementine asked the man something. Clementine opened the door and the person who was still sorting out something left. Clementine was wearing some new clothes. She had new jeans and a green leather jacket, with her purple top underneath.
"I'm sorry."
"Clem? I don't understand."
"They found you, passed out. Covered in blood, with me lying next to you, covered in blood."
"What's goin' on?"
"If you would let me finish. They want you dead, for hurting me. I tried to tell them it wasn't you but they thought I was protecting you."
"I'm gonna die?"
"Yes. I tried Luke!"
"What!? No! Clem, you've got to tell them!"
"I've tried. I'm sorry!" Clementine said as a tear rolled down her cheek. She ran over to Luke and hugged him tightly. She whispered something into his ear. "I need you to stay strong, I'll try and persuade them. I won't let you die."
The people behind the window watched with bated breath.
Clementine held Luke's left hand. "You'll be okay." He held onto her hand, wrapped his three fingers around her cold skin and smiled at her for what could be the last time.
The person that was tending to Luke came back into the room. "Your time is up."
Clementine let go of Luke's hand and swiftly turned around. "He didn't hurt me! Fucking believe me!" Clementine shouted.
"You have to leave."
"No! Let him go!"
"Clem, leave it. They're not gonna let me go."
"I'm not letting you fucking die!"
Clementine inched towards the metal trolley, picked up a scalpel and pointed it towards the person.
"Don't fucking come near us!"
"Clem… put the scalpel down."
Clementine glanced over at Luke. "I'm sorry…"
"Go on, put it down."
Clementine slowly placed the scalpel on the trolley. The bigger man calmly walked into the room.
"Listen to me, 'kay? You've done what you can."
"No!" Clementine turned to the man. "He didn't hurt me! Some men, they raped me! Punched me, knocked me out but it wasn't Luke! It wasn't him! He helped me!" Clementine yelled, her anger was beginning to rise.
"Clementine stop! Just, stop. Before you do something you'll regret."
The man turned to the person who had been trying to get Clementine out of the room. "Quella, untie him. I've heard enough of this."
"Okay Quentin."
"Luke? That's your name?"
"Yes."
"Guards! Take this man to debrief."
"Yes sir!" Two guards said in sync. Quella untied Luke's legs and the men pulled him up and each grabbed one of his arms and guided him out of the room.
"Clementine, follow me. We'll watch Luke's debrief."
Quentin, Clementine, the guards and Luke walked down hallways and up the stairs. Luke looked out a window, he was trying to work out where they were. It looked like a small town, the building had a concrete path leading out to a gate.
"What building are we in?" Luke asked the guards who had let go of him but were pointing guns at him instead.
"It's a school." One of the guards replied.
Luke nodded, they walked down a hallway to the last door at that end. The guards opened the door, one went inside with Luke while the other stood outside with Quentin and Clementine.
Another man from the situation beforehand arrived outside the door, before going in Quentin whispered something in his ear.
The man walked in. The room was small, almost like a large cupboard but it was big enough for a table, two chairs and had room to spare for one guard. As if the room was imitating an interrogation room.
The man sat down opposite Luke. "Hello. My name is Curtis. I'll be asking you a few questions, got it?"
"Yeah."
"Who is Clementine, to you?"
Luke knew the answer, she was his only surviving friend but recently it had become more, she was a sister to him now. "She's my, sister."
"Oh really?"
"Really."
Luke glanced over to Clementine. Hearing what he said she nodded.
"How did you find Clementine, in the forest?"
"She was lying, next to a tree. Blood was dripping from her nose, cheeks and her head. She had bruises all over her face."
"Pretty convincing. Sounds like you could have inflicted them, look at her! She has a face so battered up, it's unbelievable her eyes weren't hit."
"You really think I did it? Don't you?"
"Why were you split up from Clementine anyway?"
"We escaped a van when we were betrayed by someone we thought we could trust. His name was Max he wanted to trade us in. The guy who helped us to the van, Joshua, let us go. We ran but men chased after us. We found a house to hide in, we stayed there for two days before they found us, so we split up. Most of the men followed me. I lost them when I climbed up a tree. Clementine and I had arranged a meeting spot. I waited for hours but she never came. I went lookin' for her and found her like that."
"Again, convincing."
"It's the truth."
"One more question, have you ever hurt Clementine?"
"No!"
"If you fail this. We will take Clementine off you and kill you."
"You can't do this."
"Stay here. Do not move."
Curtis left the room and began talking to Quentin. Clementine backed away from them and ran away crying. Curtis ran after her and Quentin entered the room.
"What did you do to her?"
"She overheard us talking. We're going to execute you unless you tell us the truth."
"I have told you the truth!"
"So tell me. Why did Clementine scream to tell you to stop when she woke up?"
Luke closed his eyes, trying to remove the moment but having to remember it in order to survive. "The last thing I did before she passed out… I killed a man in a slow painful way because he allowed his men to rape her. I couldn't let a man like that to live. She tried to stop me but I killed him anyway. Pushed my machete straight through his heart and shot him in the head."
"That's insane! You're not fit to look after a little girl."
"She's more than a little girl."
"Whatever you think isn't the right mentality. We were going to give you a non-public death, quick and painless. But now I think the best way for you to pay for what you've done, is to hang you."
"What!? No! You can't kill me! Clementine needs a friend, a brother. She won't be able to cope with the guilt!"
"But you just said-"
"Doesn't mean she doesn't feel guilt. If you do this… she'll never forgive you."
"If she doesn't forgive me, she can always leave the camp."
"Why can't I leave?"
"Because you're dangerous."
"Just listen to me!"
Quentin got up from the seat, he walked towards the door; he placed his hand on the handle and looked over his shoulder. "It's a good day to be your last."
"I'll explain! Please!"
"It's a good day…" Quentin said as he opened the door and left.
Luke sat back in his seat and looked up at the guard still standing proudly.
"You agree with this? With any of this?"
"No… it's wrong especially in this world but it has to be done."
"Just, just let me outta here."
"I can't, I'm sorry."
"…When will I be hanged?"
"Soon."
"Great. Just, great."
Luke stared at the dark walls of the room, his eyes batted from one side to the other. He got lost in thought, wondering what his friends felt when they knew their death was coming. All of Luke's guilt began to consume him but instead of blocking it out he let it take over as he knew that he was going to die.
Clementine approached the room and glared at Luke. Blaming him for failing the questions. A small but sad tear rolled down her cheek. She tried to hold back her emotions but wasn't able to, she fell to the floor crying, before long guards pulled her up and took her away. Luke watched as they almost dragged her across the hallway. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, the guard behind him placed his hand on Luke's shoulder.
"Don't, you'll give them more reason to kill you sooner than later."
Luke slowly sat back down, he placed his head on the table and placed his hands on the back of his head.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No, I'm sorry."
Luke sighed he propped his head on his hands and waited for the guards to take him away.
After a short while two guards entered the room, they looked at the guard standing at the corner. He nodded and left while the two guards pulled Luke up from his chair and tied his hands behind his back with rope.
"How many people have been executed?"
"At least thirty." One of the guards answered.
The cold, empty walk to the gym was daunting, knowing it could be the last time he ever saw the outside, he stared out a window. The sun was beginning to set and there was no clouds in sight but only seconds after that clouds covered the sun, blocking out the light.
The guards shoved Luke forward into the gyms, a crowd of people surrounded him. They all watched as they walked up the middle of the gym. Instead of a basketball hoop at the end, there was a stand with a noose tied to some wood.
"This is where I die?"
"Yes, this is where you die."
Quentin and Curtis stood on the platform, with their hands behind their backs; they looked proud and content with what they were about to do. The guards placed Luke on the spot where the platform would collapse and snap Luke's neck.
One of the guards took the noose and put it over Luke's head, he felt the rope against his neck tighten slowly; it was warm and it rubbed against his neck. The guard finished tightening it and stood beside the other guard that was hovering over the lever that would cause Luke's death.
Clementine walked into the gym with guards behind her, she locked her eyes onto Luke and he raised his head and clasped eyes with Clementine. She walked a couple more paces before running forward. The guards caught her arms and pulled her back, she struggled and squirmed kicking her legs and moving her arms as much as she could but the guards wouldn't let go, still she tried.
"LUKE! LUUUUKE! LUUUUUUUUKE!" She shouted his name, over and over and over.
"Any last words?" Quentin asked.
"Yes… Clementine!?"
Clementine stopped moving but the guards didn't let go. She nodded her head and waited for his words that would be his last.
"Just remember, remember nothin' was ever your fault. 'Kay?"
"Okay, okay." She said, almost crying.
"I'm sorry but this is the only way." Curtis said. "Hello! People of Ellien! This man." Curtis pointed to Luke. "He was a man of the outside. But two days ago, he killed someone. This person looked like a solider so we have decided because of his method of killing and who he killed that this man should die. After finding out what he did, we decided a hanging would be better and would have a better effect than the injection!"
The crowd of people roared at the speech, they were excited and began to chant.
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" They repeated.
"NO!" Clementine pleaded. "STOP IT!" She yelled. But no one listened.
The guard that hovered over the lever placed both hands on it, he got in position and as he was about to pull it back…
"You, guard. Stop that right now!"
"Okay, ma'am." The guard released his grasp on the lever and stood up with his arms behind his back.
"Garnet?" Quentin questioned.
"What's your daughter doing here? Curtis said
"I don't know."
"This man. He did what was right, he didn't kill in cold blood."
"How do you know?" Curtis asked.
"Because I was there, I saw what happened to Clementine."
"You were there? Without a guard?"
"Yes Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. Anyway, I'm sad to say I watched it happen. And the man this man killed did indeed order Clementine to be raped and hurt but not killed. In the middle of it, he told his men to move and he began to rape her. Which I'm sure this man didn't know. Did you?"
"He said he ordered it, not that he did it himself."
"See? This man did the right thing. He shouldn't be hanged, he should be let go along with Clementine."
Curtis stepped forward. "Alright, that's it for today everyone. Go back to your rooms."
The crowd disappeared in a matter of seconds, sounds of muttering and sighing could be heard as they left.
The guards pulled the noose off Luke's neck, he staggered off the platform and approached Garnet.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
"Curtis, you just let a guilty man live."
"He did it for Clementine... Garnet saw what happened, he wasn't lying. She confirmed that what Luke did was the right thing. You can't allow a rapist to live."
The guards let go of Clementine, she ran towards the stand, she ran up the stairs and then ran into Luke, hugging him.
"I thought I was gonna lose you."
"You almost did, if it wasn't for Garnet. Thank you again."
She smiled at Luke and placed on hand on her hip. "See what you almost killed Dad? Do you see?"
"Yes, I see. Come on I'll take you to the armoury, you can take your weapons and leave."
"At least offer them some dinner, Sir." One of the guards said.
"Okay, you'll have dinner first then you can leave."
"Okay."
The canteen was full of life, the same people that wanted to watch Luke die were happily eating their dinner, their lives hadn't changed from the incident but Luke's did. The whole situation caused him to think differently. Luke and Clementine stood in the line with their trays, waiting to get their meal.
"New rules. We don't kill if we're angry. Okay? I didn't feel it then but now I feel guilty, I know I shouldn't've killed him."
"I agree. Anger causes people to do strange things. I know that too well."
"Yeah."
Clementine and Luke sat down at an empty table, they looked down at the tray which was filled with lots of vegetables and a small portion of meat. That meat being a deer.
"Fresh vegetables, I haven't had these since, before."
"Carver's camp had tinned ones right?"
"Yeah but these are fresh. …When did we have that racoon?"
"Well, that was and then. Amanda found us… four days, then you found me… it's been two days. Thirteen days, two weeks."
"That's why I'm starvin'."
"Let's eat!"
Clementine and Luke couldn't have devoured the meal quicker, they were weak and had no fat reserves left, with the added running they wouldn't have been able to go far without more food. Quentin sat down at the table, immediately Luke and Clementine stared at him coldly.
"I'm sorry, I should've realised what it's really like out there."
"You can't imagine. You've done well for a camp."
"It's been here almost four years. We have fifty residents now."
"Still, every camp falls."
"That's being pessimistic."
"Ever heard of Wellington?"
"Yeah, it's a camp in Ohio. Some of our habitants came from there after they were rejected."
"It fell, one year ago."
"Really?"
"You don't know anything, do you?"
"Seems like I don't."
"Humans are more dangerous than a lurker could ever be." Clementine said.
"Are you guys ready to go?"
"Yes." Luke said.
"Luke, is it right to leave?"
"Clem these people execute. This ain't a good camp. It's fine to lock people up, but execute?"
"Yeah, but isn't it the same as out there?"
"No killing out there is different. You do it to survive, these people do it for control."
"The armoury is this way." Quentin walked in front while Clementine and Luke lagged behind. The walk was short but cold, the whole building was cold. They reached another cupboard near some changing rooms. When Quentin opened the door they were greeted with what looked like hundreds of guns piled high. Luke's machete lay at the front with his gun on top of it, next to that was Clementine's backpack, knife and gun.
Luke picked up his machete and gun, positioned them in and turned to Quentin while Clementine sorted herself out.
"Where's the exit?"
"If you follow me, I'll take you to it." Quentin walked off down the corridor with Luke and Clementine walking behind.
The three walked from the enclosed corridors and into an open area where the exit was placed. Lockers – some standing, some lying on the ground – were in the middle. Luke took a long hard look at them, he looked down at Clementine and raised his eyes back up to the lockers.
"You would've gone to a school like this. Used lockers like that."
"I miss school. I know most kids wouldn't but I do."
"Maybe I could teach you some Art History." Luke chuckled as if he knew Clementine would reject his offer.
"Thanks but no." Clementine giggled.
"Have you guys always got on? I remember my sister, we fought all the time. I wish I had spent more time being nice to her instead of fighting with her." Quentin sadly mentioned.
Luke looked at Clementine and then back at Quentin. "We, uh. We used to fight a bit when we were younger. Still do sometimes but we try not to in case it's the last thing we say." Knowing it was a lie but somehow referencing the truth. When they first met, Luke wasn't on her side but afterwards he was. They kept having arguments over the last year and so on.
"It's good to know some siblings don't fight. So, here's the exit. You better go now before it gets dark."
"Yeah. Well, I hope your camp survives."
Luke and Clementine almost reluctantly left the camp, knowing it was somewhere safe but they were scared to get close to anyone and they were scared the camp would fall.
"Wait, hold on!"
A woman in her early twenties ran towards Luke and Clementine. They turned around and looked at the woman.
"Please take me with you. I'm sick of being stuck in that shit hole."
"Garnet?" Luke said.
Clementine examined Garnet. She was resting upon her sword which was slotted in a sheath around her waist and was holding a backpack in her other hand. She had her hair lying on her left shoulder, it was long and blonde with brown amongst the strands of blonde hair. Her eyes were a vibrant blue and her face had no scars unlike other survivors. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with another buttoned shirt on top tied in the middle with the sleeves rolled up and jeans that tightly clung to her legs but were untucked, covering her boots.
"Why?" Clementine asked.
"Because I wanna survive, I don't wanna live there until that place is taken over or someone turns on us."
"You know anything about survival? Luke questioned.
"I've been training out here. Killing some of them, what do you call 'em? We call 'em walkers. Anyway, I was training with other members of the camp, how to shoot a gun, how to kill them with a sword but we were banned from leaving without a guard. Then the guards stopped us from training."
"Walkers?" Clementine asked but was ignored.
"How long you been in the camp?"
"Since it started. Y'know my Dad is the leader."
"He'd let you leave?"
"Of course not! I'm escaping. We should go if you'll let me come with you."
"Luke? We should only let her if you're sure."
"Fine, okay. You can come with us."
"Alright, follow me. I can get us into the cover of the trees." She said as she swung the backpack on.
The three walked out of the gate in a straight line, Quentin watched from the window of the second floor.
"Sir, should we go after her?"
"No, she was bound to grow up sometime. She'll come back if she wants to. I can't force her to stay here anymore."
The sky slowly darkened, it was getting to that time of year when the days got longer. More daylight meant a better survival but also meant you were outside for longer, closer to your death. Clouds floated away while reds and oranges took over what was left of the blue sky. The noise of the birds died down as the day got near to night. The trio were walking in a field towards the cover of some trees.
"So you guys are what? Brother and sister." Garnet asked.
"Well, you could say that but-"
Clementine interrupted. "We're friends. We met a year and a half ago."
"Been travelling together that whole time?"
"Pretty much." Luke said.
"Was anyone else there? Seems kinda strange, you would just start travelling. Something must've happened."
Luke's eyes drifted away from Garnet, he looked off into the fields and said nothing. Clementine looked up at Garnet and dropped her head.
"What happened? Something bad then?"
Luke finally snapped back he looked at Garnet and then Clementine.
He sighed, thinking of what he lost. "A friend of mine and I were comin' back from a stream, we were lookin' at fish traps. I saw some lurkers and when we got close one got on top of someone. I killed it with my machete and my friend took out the rest. The person was Clementine. Later, we thought she was bit by a lurker but turned out it was a dog. At the time our doctor couldn't tell. We locked her up in a shed. Huh, a shed… She escaped to get supplies for her arm, even stitched it up, and killed a lurker in the shed. We got her sorted out and I decided she would stay with us. We had to move on, it's a long story. Everyone, all six of our friends died in no more than two weeks. The group, we were with. They thought I died in a lake. I found Clementine a month after that and we have travelled together ever since.
Clementine looked at Luke she began to think of everyone and dropped her head again.
"When I thought something bad, I just thought one person died. Not six."
"More people died than them." Luke closed his eyes and stayed silent.
"How did they die, walkers?"
"Some of them… I don't wanna talk about it."
"It was my fault, if I wasn't careless with the dog, you wouldn't have found me and everyone would be alive."
"Clem, we decided we would share the guilt. It's my fault, it's your fault. We should've paid more attention to those lights… Dammit Kenny!"
"I tried but you got distracted."
"You guys have been through a hell of a lot. I don't, know if I wanna be out here. I've gotten used to people dying but from the cold or hunger. I'm not sure how the bite works. Oh no, oh god. I-"
"Don't come with us then. Go home. The outside ain't for everyone." Luke said.
"It took me sixteen months to get used to the outside. Eventually, you'll have to get used to it or, you die." Clementine said.
Garnet looked around in panic, she looked over her shoulder and looked off into the distance before gaining composure and stomping her foot off the ground.
"I'm sorry, I panic sometimes. No, I want to be here."
"Good." Clementine said.
"Keep calm okay?"
As the day plunged into night, the three had set up camp amongst the trees. Clementine curled up by the fire and Luke lay next to her. He stared at the tops of the trees and then at the twinkling stars.
"What did happen in those sixteen months? You talk about the first three months with Lee, you talk about when Omid died; you talk about everything we went through and what you went through when I wasn't there but you never talk about those sixteen months, why?"
"I don't because there's nothing to tell."
"You don't even talk about Christa, she looked after you longer than anyone else."
"Why does it matter?"
"'Cause something bad must've happened for you not to talk about it."
"Quoting Garnet? Hm. Okay, I'll tell you."
"Go on…"
"Christa was pregnant… after Omid she lasted a month. At that point, she knew the baby was late. She went into labour one night, I helped not that much but enough for the baby to be born. It didn't cry, it didn't move. And then…" Clementine began to cry before continuing, her voice crackled and broke as she talked. "It turned. Christa didn't want to so I, I had to kill it." She cried, louder and louder. Luke turned over and hugged her, she cried into Luke's chest. He brought her closer and rubbed her back as she continued to cry and mourn. "We didn't even check its gender. Christa was never the same she already hated me because of Omid. She would never talk to me, she would only read notes on bulletin boards. Ones that said things about Wellington."
She continued to cry; Garnet turned her head to the side, she observed the two hugging and Clementine. Knowing what her camp nearly did she turned over and whispered. "Screw you Dad."
Clementine's crying reached its climax, not talking about Christa for so long meant her emotional bottle exploded with sadness spewing out.
"Clem, it's okay. I shouldn't've… asked."
"You, always."
"Ask the worst questions… someone's gotta do it, I guess."
Clementine closed her eyes, she began to think of Christa in great detail. "She's still alive."
"Probably."
Birds.
The birds.
The birds sang.
The natural alarm clock.
"ARGH!" Luke shouted.
"What?" Clementine asked, moving away from Luke's grasp.
"Just, a bad dream."
"What happened?"
"The lake…"
"You don't wanna talk about it."
"No."
"You guys sleep forever." Garnet said. "Had to take a watch or two. Not that there's many walkers around here, there ain't but I thought you guys needed the rest."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep." Luke said.
"I know you guys have been doing this for a long time. I thought you needed the rest, don't worry."
"Yeah."
Clementine sat up. She placed her hand on her forehead and rubbed her eyes.
"You have any food? Our journey will be long." Luke said.
"I have a lot of dried pasta in my backpack and I have carrots and apples that I stole."
"Apples!? Please, can I have one?" Clementine pleaded.
"Sure! You too Luke?"
"Naw, I'll have one when I'm hungry."
Garnet crouched down by her backpack and slowly undid the zip, she pulled out an apple and passed it to Clementine.
"You not having anything?" Luke asked Garnet.
"No, I had a lot of food before I left, I'm good."
"Alright."
"You call 'em walkers." Clementine stated while biting into the apple.
"Yeah, why?"
"I used to. Because of Luke I now call 'em lurkers. I corrected myself for a long time but I ended up calling them lurkers."
"Interesting…"
"Remember, for a brief time I called them walkers? After the, lake. I wanted to honour everyone and call them lurkers again."
"I remember."
"Hmm… Let's head out." Luke said.
"Where're going?" Garnet asked.
"We don't know anymore."
"We decided we would just wander until we found somewhere." Clementine said.
"Somewhere? Like a camp?"
"No, a house. We haven't been able to find anything yet." Luke said.
"Are you really that afraid of camps?"
Luke snapped. "Yes. They always fucking fall. If you don't wanna be here, go home."
"Wha… I didn't…"
"Don't push him Garnet. He's going through a rough time. He's not normally like this."
The bushes rustled, Clementine and Luke withdrew their guns – resulting in Clementine dropping her apple - they aimed at the bushes.
"What are you guys-"
A man rose from the bushes and held up his hands. He was dressed in a black long sleeved shirt with buttons fastening it together. He had short black hair and brown eyes. His face had been in one too many fights, one scar was cut across his forehead and a scar was clear to see on the back of his hand. And for his weapon of choice, he had a bow and arrows over his chest, somewhat reminding Luke of Julia.
"Andy!" Garnet ran towards him and jumped into his arms.
Luke and Clementine lowered their guns and put them away. "Andy?" Luke questioned.
"He's my boyfriend, I told him to come along if you let me leave."
"Alright, the more the uh…"
"Merrier? Sorry for the abrupt entry. I was making sure it was you."
"Nice bow."
"Thanks, that's a good weapon you've got there. A machete is useful."
"Definitely."
"Did you bring more food?" Garnet queried.
"Yes, all that I could carry in my pockets." Andy patted his trouser pocket. "Where are we going, north? South? West? East? Somewhere in between?"
"Clem and I were originally tryin' to find a place, a house where we could live."
Andy thought for a second, he raised his head to the sky and went deep into thought. "I know a place, yeah. It isn't too far from here. In the mountains. Secure."
"It sounds perfect." Clementine said.
"Yeah, it does." Garnet agreed.
"Lead the way Andy." Luke said.
"Right!"
"Once we're over this hill, you'll see what I'm talking about."
And so they did. Above the hill the four had been climbing there was a vast valley, v-shaped perfectly cut out, green mountains rolled on and on their peaks snow was splattered. The mountain Luke, Clementine, Garnet and Andy were walking towards had a stream trickling from the top to the bottom where it lead off into a river. Trees covered the surrounding area but the mountain was bare although it did have a path carved out, leading to their destination. The sky was a weak light blue, the sun had barely rose above the tree line and thin clouds dominated the sky, undoubtedly it had been a day of non-stop walking.
"I am, tired." Garnet said.
"Never had a night of no sleep?" Luke asked.
"No, have you?"
"Yes, many times."
"Luke's not the only one, I have too Garnet and I suppose Clementine is the same. You see, we're a different kind of survivor."
"Sleep is a luxury in this world." Clementine said.
"Yup." Luke said.
"Okay, we go up this path and we'll be at the house in no time."
"What's it like?" Luke said.
"It has two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with two single beds. It's open, you walk in and there's two doors leading to the bedrooms, one on each side that then opens up into a living room and a door at the end for the kitchen which also has a table and chairs. It has a garden that's big enough to grow crops and it has a bathroom but it doesn't work."
"How do you know this?" Garnet asked.
"Because I lived here after the camp I was in before fell. That's how I know it's safe. I only moved on because a herd was nearing."
"Well, apart from the risk of a herd it sounds great."
"Yeah, we'd be trapped."
As the four continued towards the mountain, all life; the birds, the insects and the flies all disappeared, hiding away from something but it was unclear what that was. Andy began to run, Garnet, Luke and Clementine all followed behind, he stopped at the path that continued around the mountain.
"One quick walk up here and we'll be there."
"Let's go!" Clementine said as she ran off up the hill.
Before long the four had made it quite far up the mountain and beside them the house stood there, it was close to the edge of the cliff but was far enough away to ensure no one would fall off. Beneath the cliff, there was the stream leading off into the river, surrounding the river there were lots of trees. The path still continued further up the mountain, to the snow covered peaks. There was plenty of land around the house for the crops the group wanted to grow. It was perfect. Although, there was one issue. The door was open.
Luke withdrew his machete while Andy took off his bow, grabbed an arrow and placed it in the bow, he pulled the wire back and slowly walked into the house next to Luke.
The smell hit them first and then they knew, lurkers. The floor was covered in them, a lurker here, a lurker there; they were everywhere.
"Careful where you step." Luke whispered.
Andy prodded some with his arrow that was set to fire. "They're dead, I mean, they're really dead. Wounds in the head."
Luke approached the door on the right, the place was exactly how Andy described it. Luke opened the door slowly. Something or more someone was crouched over a lurker. Luke crept over to the 'lurker' he was about to swing when:
"Don't! I'm not a walker!"
Luke dropped his arm, the machete slowly falling out of his fingers in amazement. "Mike? Is that you?"
Mike stood up and turned around, he staggered back and shook his head. "Luke? You're dead!"
"Well, I'm alive. 'Kay? You on the other hand could be dead if you don't fucking explain why you left Clementine to die!"
"Clem's with you?"
"Yeah, but you've gotta explain!"
"Okay! We were trying to get away from Kenny then, Clem saw us. Arvo shot for no reason. Kenny would've killed us if we didn't run! I never saw Arvo after that. (If Bonnie is alive) Bonnie and I got separated a while ago, haven't seen her in months."
"Was it worth it?"
"No, not really."
Clementine walked into the room. "Luke- Mike!? You fucking-"
"Clem! You've… you've gotta see this." Mike said sadly.
"See… what?"
"You, you both need to see this."
Mike searched through a green bag, the one that once had the supplies in, he pulled out a green object, something wrapped in a blanket that was burnt and had many holes in it. He opened the blanket like a parcel, what it revealed was more closure than anything else.
"AJ!" Clementine said, she covered her mouth with both her hands and ran out of the room.
"Jesus, goddammit!" Luke examined AJ, his whole face was burnt and charred, pieces of his flesh had peeled off and his eyebrows and hair were completely gone.
Mike covered up AJ and handed him to Luke. "I saw the car crash when I realised it was Clementine, I investigated it and saw AJ. He was alive for a while but he died shortly after. I didn't recognise you, if I did I would've gone to the house… You can bury him."
"What'll happen to you?"
"I'm meeting someone in a nearby town. I guess this'll be the last time we'll see each other."
"Yeah. Well. Goodbye."
"Bye Luke."
Mike walked out of the room with the bag tightly in his grip, he continued his own journey even if he didn't deserve it in Luke's eyes.
"Who was that?" Andy asked as he walked into the room, now with his bow back across his chest.
"Someone… he was a part of my old group for a couple of days." Luke placed AJ on the bed and picked up his machete and put it away. "We'll have to clean up these lurkers."
"Yeah, it'll take some effort."
Surviving was one thing but hard work was another. Dragging those heavy bodies outside was tiring, putting them onto a pile was hard and digging a large hole for them was necessary. The day got warmer and every time another lurker hit the top of the pile it felt warmer and warmer. The sun had just passed by the middle of the sky, it beat down on the hard working survivors, they wished for a cool breeze to hit them but, it never did.
"What was that? Twenty lurkers?" Luke said.
"I'd say at least thirty." Andy replied.
"Are you sure? I'm thinking more forty." Garnet questioned.
"I'm sure it was only fifteen." Clementine admitted.
The three of them looked at Clementine as if she had just suggested they should kill each other, Luke was the first to speak. "Clem, it was more than fifteen."
"We better get these walkers in the hole. Help me push Luke."
"Okay. Hey Garnet?"
"Yeah."
"Can you and Clem dig a smaller hole, over there?" Luke pointed to a spot next to the house, it was an area that was constantly hit with sunlight and the soil was rich and dark.
"Sure."
"Why are we… oh, for AJ?"
"Yeah, for AJ."
"Wait, there's someone in that blanket?" Garnet asked.
"Yeah, a baby. Just dig the hole." Luke said.
Andy grabbed the legs of one lurker and Luke grabbed the arms, they swung it back and threw it into the hole. They did that for the rest of them until the hole was full.
"I'll fill it in, take some time to think. It's gotta be hard for you."
"What has?"
"Losing a child, it doesn't matter whose it was. I know how people get attached to people they shouldn't, especially when it's a baby. How old was it?"
"A month and a bit."
"Damn. Only a month? It had no chance, I'm sorry but it didn't."
"That's the worst of it."
Luke began to walk back to the house, to the room with the two single beds, the room in which AJ was lying on one of the beds. He slowly opened the door, he spotted the green blanket and picked it up.
"So many people died because of you. Carver, Rebecca, Alvin, Kenny lost his mind over you and Clementine would've ended up dying for you! I would've as well! I, I-" Luke cut off his sentence, he pulled the blanket back and looked at AJ's face. "I did this… you died because of me."
He covered AJ's face again, he cradled the dead body in his arms, back and forth, forwards and then backwards.
After a while Luke went outside with AJ in his arms. The sun was no longer visible, they were losing daylight fast. The moon was making an appearance slightly above the trees and the clouds hid behind the peak of the mountain.
"Is the hole ready yet?"
"Yes!" Clementine said.
Luke walked up to Clementine and handed AJ over to her.
"He never had a chance. If adults couldn't survive, then he was dead from the start."
"He would've got someone hurt, or killed."
"Yeah…" Clementine crouched down by the hole and carefully placed AJ in, she pushed the pile of soil on top of him and patted it down. She then traced 'AJ' into the soil and stood up.
"We'll miss you."
"Yeah, we will."
"I'm sorry, for your loss. It sounds stupid saying it in this world." Garnet said.
Andy walked up to the grave, he glanced down at it before guiding his eyes to Garnet and nodding. "We might be safe now, but we have all lost people. This world isn't fit for life anymore, it's not stable. It's broken. We're broken. But with all the upset and with all the guilt, we have friends. People we can trust. A baby would bring happiness in the old world but now, it brings death. Until we have communities that are secure, the human population will continue to dwindle however we should enjoy life because in this world, particularly in this world, every moment, every second could be your last."
"That was depressing." Garnet said.
"He's right though. This world is broken." Luke replied.
"I wish AJ made it, so many people died for his survival." Clementine admitted.
"I guess we should turn in for the night." Andy mentioned.
"I'll see you when you're ready." Garnet said before winking at Andy and entering the house.
"Hey, Andy. Just, try not to make a sound." Luke shifted his eyes towards Clementine indicating that she was still too 'innocent' to understand.
"Oh, yeah. Of course." Andy agreed, he ran inside just after saying so.
"You can go, I'll catch up to you."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I just wanna be alone."
"Don't take too long."
Luke watched as Clementine calmly walked inside. He stared down at the grave, at AJ's grave. In a way Luke put him there, maybe it was for the better. The alternative could have been worse.
Luke proceeded to the door, he looked to the side where the land ended and the cliff began. He loomed over to it, and right at the edge he glanced down; he fell back and embraced his knees. He observed the wind sway through the trees and the birds fly through the valley.
"You're not okay, are you?"
"No."
"What's wrong?" Clementine asked as she sat next to Luke, she crossed her legs and looked at Luke.
Luke pulled out the notebook, he flicked to the front and scanned down the first page. "Do you know why I began to write in this, I never used to but…"
"Why did you?"
"I wanted to see how much I had changed. To see if I would change." He flicked through the notebook to the tenth page, where he last wrote. "No more lies, if I'm not feelin' fine I'll tell you. We have to tell the truth, bottling it up is killing me." He grabbed the pages. "I'm not a leader anymore, all I have to be is your friend." He tore the pages out and ripped them in half. He threw them off the cliff edge. They all spread out, each piece of paper was picked up by the wind and was taken away.
"Okay. No more lies." Clementine got up. "I'll let you have some time to yourself." She went back inside and left Luke to ponder.
He continued to watch the surroundings, he gazed at the paper which had begun its journey to the bottom of the valley. Each piece floated down, hitting the edge of the cliff and being pushed out into the middle of the valley; they gently touched the top of the river before settling then sinking. He turned back to the trees where the wind brushed the tops of them and where the birds flew into them, never to be seen again that night.
"I was never fine."