Thanks to gaara king of the sand for helping.
"Sarah… I've been thinking…" Carlos started, "I think you should learn how to use a gun."
Sarah's eyes widened surprised by her father's word. "I already know…"
"What?" Carlos asked in shock.
"I… N-Nothing." Sarah stammered.
"No…" Carlos shook his head. "How do you know?"
"C-Clementine taught me." Sarah said.
Carlos let out a sigh. He thought about scolding the eleven-year-old, but quickly decided against it. The child had been through a lot. He didn't want to scare her any further.
"We didn't have any bullets." Sarah said.
"We'll have to do some practicing." Carlos said.
"Really?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah." Carlos replied. He wanted Sarah to be able to protect herself, especially after what happened at Howes.
Sarah gave a small smile. "Okay."
"Carlos…" The doctor turned at the call of his name to see Luke, who was holding Clementine's hand. The girl's gaze was glued to the ground.
Carlos raised a brow, "Luke?"
"You got a patient." Luke said, gently nudging Clementine forward.
"Clementine?" Carlos raised a brow. "What happened?"
Clementine didn't offer a response.
"Show him, Clem. It's alright." Luke said.
The child was still for a moment before showing Carlos her arm.
"What happened to you?" Sarah gasped.
"It was an accident." Clementine claimed.
"It doesn't look like an accident." Carlos stated as he examined the girl's cuts.
"It was." Clementine said nonchalantly.
Luke let out a sigh, but said nothing.
"What did you use?" Carlos questioned.
"It was an accident." Clementine only repeated.
"Well… How did this accident happen?" Carlos asked.
"A piece of glass." Luke answered.
Carlos frowned, "Alright… We'll get you fixed up."
"Okay…" Clementine said.
Clementine was silent as Carlos took care of her wounds. Sarah watched her friend's expressionless face. She was worried about the younger girl.
As the doctor cleaned her arm, Clementine didn't give a reaction, other than a slight tremble of her shoulders.
Luke was surprised, he knew she must be in a great deal of pain, but she surely wasn't showing it.
Once Carlos finished cleaning the wounds he started to bandage the girl's arm. He spoke gently to the child, "How are you doing? Physically, I mean…"
"…Okay…" Clementine said, sounding unsure.
"Is that so?" Carlos asked.
The child only nodded.
"You're not sick anymore?" Carlos asked her.
"Umm… I threw up earlier…" Clementine admitted.
"Maybe you have a bug or something…" Luke said.
"B-Bug?" Clementine asked confused.
Luke chuckled at her innocence, "Like a virus, Clem."
"Am I going to die?" Clementine asked.
"Of course not." Luke said.
"But…What if I want to?" Clementine mumbled.
"We're not going to let you kill yourself, kid." Luke told the girl. "No matter how much you want to."
"Why not?" Clementine asked. She didn't sound upset, or confused. She just sounded tired.
"Because we care about you, Clementine." Luke said. "We don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Why?" Clementine asked. "Don't you think I'm dirty?"
"No. I would never think of you like that." Luke said. "None of us do."
"Promise?" Clementine asked.
"I promise…" Luke reassured her.
"Okay…" Clementine muttered. "I'm tired."
"You just woke up not too long ago." Carlos said.
"I know." Clementine replied.
"Have you eaten anything yet?" Carlos inquired.
"No." Clementine groaned. "It makes me sick."
"You have to eat something. That's probably the reason that your energy is so low." Carlos stated.
"But I'll throw it back up." Clementine argued.
"We'll try something light." Carlos said. "An apple or something."
Clementine brightened. "I love apples. They're my favorite fruit."
"Well, there you go, kiddo." Luke smiled, happy to see the girl smiling. "We'll see if anyone has an apple for you."
"Okay…" Clementine nodded before suddenly asking, "Are you going to play with Jane some more?"
Luke's eyes widened and he swallowed nervously. "Uh… What?"
When he heard Clementine's words, Carlos raised a brow at Luke.
"You and Jane were playing?" Sarah giggled. "That's weird."
"Yes… It is, especially when they were supposed to be getting that gate open on the deck." Carlos said, giving Luke a look. "Care to explain?"
Luke scratched the back of his head, saying nothing for a moment. "Clem… She got the wrong idea…"
Clementine frowned at that. "I'm not a liar…"
"I know…" Luke said to the child. "I… It was just-"
"I'm not a liar! I'm not!" Clementine snapped.
"I ain't calling you a liar, Clem." Luke said.
Clementine wasn't listening to him. "I'm not a liar. You're a liar!" The child starting tugging her arm from Carlos, who had just finished bandaging it.
Carlos released the girl, not wanting to hurt her.
Luke knelt down and tried to touch the panicking girl.
"NO! NO! Stop it!" Clementine yelled, yanking away.
The noise was drawing attention from the others. The group was just hoping that the child would settle down, they didn't need any walkers. Lucky for them, they hadn't seen many since they arrived.
Kenny, in particular approached, "What the fuck are you doing to her?" Kenny demanded, glaring at Luke.
"Wha- Nothing." Luke said. "I didn't do anything to her."
"Bullshit!" Kenny spat. "What the hell happened?"
Kenny turned to Clementine, looking worried.
"Don't touch her." Luke warned. He knew Clementine was panicking, touching her would only make it worse.
"Shut it, shithead!" Kenny snapped before calmly speaking to Clementine. "It's okay, darling…."
The child was trembling, eyes wide as if she was in shock. Both Luke and Carlos knew that she'd react violently if Kenny touched her.
"It's alright, Clem." Kenny deliberately kept his voice low. "I'm not going to hurt you." He slowly raised his hand toward the little girl, touching her shoulder lightly.
The child's response was to flinch, letting out a scream, so loud they thought she was in pain.
Kenny jumped, startled. Sarah's eyes grew wide and she covered her ears as her friend screamed.
Clementine quieted down and started to whimper. "Don't touch me… Don't touch me…" She mumbled. "It hurts… It hurts…"
"W-What hurts?" Kenny asked.
Clementine didn't answer. Instead, she began rocking back and forth, looking distraught.
Luke hated seeing the girl like that. He slowly took a step towards her, Carlos grabbed his arm to stop him, but Luke gently said, "It's okay…"
Carlos let him go and he continued to approach the child.
"Clem…" Luke called her name as he walked towards her. He carefully pulled the girl into his arms.
Clementine tensed and immediately started struggling. "No, no, no, no, no…." She chanted over and over.
"It's me… It's Luke." Luke said into the girl's ear. "I'm not gonna to hurt you, sweetie. No one's gonna hurt you."
He wasn't going to let her go until she started to calm down.
Slowly, Luke felt the young girl wrap her arms around him, burying her face into his neck.
"I'm sorry…" Clementine mumbled.
"Don't be… you have nothing to apologize for." Luke said.
"I want to be strong…. I don't want to be scared anymore…"
"I know…" Luke said, "You are strong. You're the strongest person I know, Clem."
It was true. The girl had endured so much. She was stronger than anyone Luke knew.
Clementine clung tighter to him.
Luke held the girl, letting her calm down. After a couple moments he asked her, "Are you okay?"
"Yes…" Clementine said. "I'm hungry…"
"Alright." Luke replied. "We'll get you some food."
"Can you put me down?" Clementine asked in a tiny voice, "Please?"
"Yeah…" Luke placed the child onto the ground. "How about you stay with Sarita for a bit?"
"Okay…" Clementine replied.
"Here, I'll take you to her." Kenny said.
Clementine just nodded. Kenny took the child's hand and led her away, Sarah hesitated for a moment before following.
Luke let out a sigh once they were out of earshot. "Is that normal?"
"What?" Carlos asked.
"The episodes..." Luke said. "The freak-outs she has. Are they normal?"
"She's been through a lot. Traumas like this can stay with a person for a long time." Carlos said.
"That's what I'm afraid of..." Luke said. "Is this going to haunt her for the rest of her life?"
"I don't know... Perhaps she'll recover." Carlos said. "It'll just take some time."
"And if she doesn't?" Luke asked.
"There's not much we can do…" Carlos answered.
"Shit…" Luke swore. "It's so fucked…"
"Yeah…" Carlos had to agree. "I'm worried how Sarah's coping…"
"Did he do something to her too?" Luke asked, sounding horrified.
"Unfortunately yes, but nowhere near as bad as what he did to Clementine…" Carlos said bitterly.
"I'm so glad he's dead." Luke stated.
"So am I…" Carlos said.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Sarita asked in a kind voice.
"I'm really hungry." Clementine mumbled.
"Well, that can easily be fixed." Sarita smiled, digging into her bag.
To Clementine's excitement, the woman showed her half an apple.
Clementine beamed and accepted the fruit. The girl had only taken a couple bites before she stopped, frowning.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked her friend.
"I feel sick…" Clementine muttered, placing the apple down.
"You're sick?" Sarita asked with a frown.
"Y-Yeah…" Clementine forced herself to her feet, swaying a little.
"Alright… Let's go outside for a bit…" Sarita quickly grabbed the child, helping her outside, hoping some air would help.
The two had barely made it outside before the child started vomiting.
Sarita rubbed her back to comfort her, asking once the girl had finished, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" Clementine mumbled.
"You sure?" Sarita asked.
Clementine nodded, wiping her mouth.
"What happened?" They heard a voice ask.
Clementine looked over to see Jane approaching.
"She's not feeling too good. She threw up." Sarita replied.
Jane looked to Clementine for a moment before her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh shit…"
"What?" Sarita asked.
Jane didn't say anything, her tongue twisted in her mouth. "…I… I need to take a walk."
"You just got back…" Clementine pointed out.
"And I'll be back again." Jane said.
"Okay…" Clementine mumbled.
"Come on, sweetie. Let's get you back inside." Sarita said, placing a hand on the little girl's shoulder.
Clementine nodded. "Can I go to sleep?"
"Not yet, Clem." Sarita said. "If you sleep now, you'll be up all night. How about you hang out with Sarah for a while."
"Alright…" Clementine agreed, allowing the woman to lead her back into the museum. She wondered what was wrong with Jane.
For about the next few days, Clementine would vomit every morning. She was quick to become fatigue and was always complaining about stomach pain. The child was always sick, yet there was no fever, no coughing or sneezing.
Carlos tried to make sure she stayed hydrated, giving her water, but there were times when Clementine refused to drink it, saying it made her have to use the bathroom… and that it burned.
Carlos quickly figured that the girl had a urinary tract infection and explained to her that the water would help flush it out.
Still, he couldn't tell exactly what was causing the girl to constantly vomit. It seemed there wasn't a single food the girl could hold down anymore. Those apples Clementine loved so much, had become her worse nightmare. The once loved fruit would now cause her to throw up immediately.
The group was becoming concerned. Even Becca was worried about the younger girl. The teen would come over to check on the eleven-year-old quite a few times, and even though she insisted she didn't care, it showed she did.
"She throwing up again?" Jane asked, noticing Luke was looking to the museum exit with concern.
Sarita had once again taken the child outside to let her vomit. Luke wondered with worry what the girl was throwing up, considering she wasn't eating much.
"Yeah..." Luke mumbled.
Jane shook her head, looking upset. "This isn't good... She's too young..."
"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked the woman.
"She's pregnant." The words came out before Jane realized she had spoken them, she felt ill at the very thought. Clementine was too young; far too young.
"S-She's what?" Luke's face turned to stone and his heart sank to the floor.
"I... I don't know for sure... but I think she's pregnant." Jane said, turning away from him.
"Pregnant?" Luke blinked in surprise, voice raising an octave. "Like... pregnant, pregnant?"
"Yes..." Jane said.
