Chapter 10
Clementine yelled when she pulled the trigger of the gun yet again, jumping slightly as the bullet lodged itself into a box.
"You almost had it that time! Just try it again, this time a bit higher." Roslyn said gently, raising Clementine's arms and helping her aim.
"I've done this five times! What if I can't get figure this out?" Clementine whined with a disappointed pout.
"Hey, you shot it once with Lee's help. Remember his advice?"
"Squeeze the trigger steadily."
"And my advice?"
"Don't put your hand on the trigger or aim if you don't plan to shoot."
"Good job, Clem. Now, just breath slowly and stay relaxed. If you're too nervous or shaky, you'll miss." Clementine nodded, turning back to the bottle, trying to steady her breathing as Roslyn covered her ears. Clementine fired, and she soon beamed when the bottle exploded into small glass fragments on the floor as the bullet soared through it.
"I did it! Just like you told me!" Clementine exclaimed, bouncing on the soles of her shoes as Roslyn smiled only slightly down at her.
"See? I knew you could do it, Clem! With some practice, maybe you can learn to shoot like Lee or Kenny." Roslyn stated, ruffling Clementines hair.
"You think so?"
"I know so." Clementine smiled wider and hugged Roslyn, the older girl not hesitating as she hugged her in return.
"So, any other tips Chuck gave you?" Roslyn asked, turning to Lee once Clementine released her.
"We'll need to come up with a plan once we get to Savannah. I'll need to look for a map or something." Lee replied.
"I think that's a good idea." Clementine remarked.
"Can we help out?" Roslyn inquired.
"How about you two try to come up with something while I search the train. We all know Kenny's unstable now, so it's best if you stay here."
"Cmon, we can help."
"Roslyn, I need you to stay with Clementine. Understood?"
"But–"
"Understood?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Thanks. If either of you need me, you'll know where I am." With that, Lee left the car sky only Clementine and Roslyn stood there in temporary silence.
"You have any ideas what we should do first when we get over there?" Roslyn asked as she and Clementine both took a seat near the sliding doors of the train car.
"We have to look for my parents and your dad." Clementine answered, almost as if it were that obvious and simple.
"But what about finding a boat to get to safety? Doesn't that seem like the best option?"
"I don't care. I want to find my mom and dad. Yours too."
"Clementine, you need to understand that my dad is probably…he's probably long gone by now."
"How can you say that? Just because you haven't seen him, doesn't mean he's not alive."
"What're the chances that he's okay, Clem? And if we find him along with your parents, then what?"
"We bring them with us."
"Everything isn't so simple, Clementine…."
"But this is. I know they're out there and they're trying to find us like we're trying to find them! Saving people is more important than anything!" Roslyn was prepared to argue, but she noticed the stubbornness swirling in Clementines bright eyes, her lips pursed as she waited for the older girl to speak. Instead, Roslyn just sighed and leaned back so she was laying on the floor of the car.
"I know there's no use debating it. Sure, well try to find everyone once we're in the city, okay?"
"Thank you!" Clementine's face lit up and she grinned from ear to ear, causing Roslyn to hide her own half smile. They only had to wait a moment or so for Lee to return, but it seemed to be taking longer than it should've. Due to this, of course, Roslyn became worried and couldn't help but glance out of the window on the door not far from where she currently laid. Outside, she noticed Lee speaking with Ben, his eyes wide as he spoke frantically to the teenager. 'What happened this time?' Roslyn wondered, her body tensing up as horrid scenarios filled her idea to try and answer her question. She shook her head to try and forget her thoughts as she stood up, Clementine raising and eyebrow curiously at her.
"I'm gonna check on Lee and Ben, 'kay Clem?" The child nodded and Roslyn made her way to the door slowly, watching Lee speak to Ben almost secretively.
"Hey guys. Whatcha talking about? Is it something the rest of us should know?" Roslyn asked as she opened the door, Ben and Lee staring at her as she gave them questioning looks.
"Well, actually…" Ben began, but he became silent when Lee gave him an intimidating stare.
"Nothing you should be worried about." Lee responded.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I'm asking Ben." Ben seemed genuinely surprised at this as Roslyn looked up at him.
"I'm going to ask again. Are you sure there's nothing I should be told?"
"I…well…nothing really, I guess." Ben answered uncertainly. Roslyn pursed her lips and glanced over at Lee.
"You start going over strategy with Clementine. I wanna talk with Ben, okay?" Lee nodded and entered the car where Clementine was waiting, leaving the pair of teens to speak.
"Absolutely nothing I should be concerned about?" Roslyn asked, her tone softer and quieter this time.
"…no." Ben wouldn't look her in the eyes as he spoke.
"Well, if that's the case, are you alright? You've kept to yourself and refused to even look at any of us."
"I'm fine, Roslyn."
"You keep telling me that, but let me tell YOU that you're a horrible liar."
"Roslyn , I've told you enough times–"
"And I've told you enough times that you can tell me anything. I know you're not fine. None of us are. So if you wanna stick with that lie, fine, but don't expect me to believe a word of it!" Roslyn sighed and ran a hand through her hair, leaning on the railing beside Ben as she gazed at him worriedly.
"Roslyn, I can't tell you everything."
"Ben, you're such an idiot! You don't get it, do you? This group, right now, is held together by honesty. Lee admitted he'd murdered someone and Kenny did the same when Duck was bitten. On top of that, whenever I did something like kill a woman on the street, I told you!"
"Roslyn–"
"I never kept anything from any of you, and yet you can't trust me!"
"Roslyn!" Ben grabbed Roslyn's shoulders roughly, cashing her to stop talking as she looked up at him with surprise.
"I DO trust you. I just can't tell you this one thing, alright? You'd hate me and wish I was dead or worse and I can't live with the ONE person who actually trusts me to stop trusting me!"
"Ben…I could never hate you. I've never found a reason to thus far, and I doubt that I ever will."
"Don't say things like that! I know they're not true and you would know what I mean if I told you, but I can't!"
"Why not?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"…you're right. I won't because you won't let me understand."
"That's not what I–!" The train lurched as it came to a screeching halt and Roslyn had to keep Ben from falling over the railing. When the train finally stopped and everyone wasn't being thrown around like rag dolls, Roslyn released her grip on Ben's sleeve as she stared at the ground. Ben looked ready to say something, but shut his mouth as Roslyn climbed down from the train to see why they had stopped. Kenny's loud swearing and the tanker hanging down from the overpass gave her a pretty good idea.
"Calm down, Kenny. We can just walk the rest of the way to Savannah. It can't be more than a few miles from here." Roslyn suggested, hands on her hips as Kenny turned and scowled at her.
"That's probably the most idiotic idea you've had, Roslyn." Kenny grumbled.
"I'm sorry, but do you have a better plan? No? Then stop complaining."
"Don't I have a right to, considering our newest problem?"
"No, because that," Roslyn pointed to the oil tanker with a growl, "is nothing compared to everything else we deal with everyday."
"How do we get to the boats, huh? Unless you can grow a pair of wings, we aren't moving!"
"I ain't got much experience with y'all's fortitude, but we could probably deal with that. We've got a train." Chuck said.
"That tank ain't full of milk, Chuck. That's gas or diesel; something that'll explode."
"YOU gotta get a hold of yourself. This is a crew here."
"This ain't anything."
"Yo! You keep screaming like that and you're gonna get your face chewed off!" Everyone was surprised to hear a man's voice coming from the overpass and looked up to see one standing alongside a taller woman.
"Are you guys gonna be trouble? Because we could just keep walking." The woman said.
"No, we're friendly!" Lee called up to the strangers.
"Don't start anything, Kenny." Roslyn muttered when Kenny raised his hand slightly.
"That's what everybody says." The woman stated.
"We know." The man said something to the woman, though quietly enough that the group on the ground couldn't hear them.
"Better not be plotting against us. We've gone through enough in the past few hours." Roslyn yelled.
"Trust me, we're not." The woman replied.
"How do I know you ain't lying?"
"You don't." Roslyn nodded before the guy spoke up.
"You guys gotta problem with your train?"
"Yeah, you're standing right in front of it." Kenny said in a barely tolerant tone.
"Dude, it's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here. Send up your buddy to have a look, if you want." Lee took a few steps forward until Kenny stopped him, mistrust fogging his eyes.
"Anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape." He muttered.
"If I come up there, you better not be murderers or thieves!" Lee called up as he approached the ladder on the side of the overpass.
"I guess you'll have to find out." The woman responded before looking back to speak with the man beside her. Roslyn was already at the ladder, her hands on the rungs, when Ben took hold of her arm.
"You can't go up there! What if they kill you?" He said.
"Then I'll have to be careful." Roslyn replied, trying to shake her arm free from Ben's grip. He didn't let go.
"Roslyn…I'm sorry about what happened on the train."
"Don't worry about it, okay? We'll forget about it tomorrow, I bet, and I promise I'll be fine." Ben nodded and released Roslyn, the girl ruffling his hair before climbing the ladder as fast as she could to catch up with Lee. Once she was at the top, Roslyn peeked over the edge to see Lee speaking with the people.
"Why didn't you stay with the others?" Lee asked as Roslyn climbed up and sat silently on the ground.
"'Cause we don't know them or what they're capable of and you know what happened the last time we met strangers." Roslyn answered.
"At least someone remembers to be wary of new faces." The woman said, smiling somewhat as she looked over at the man. Now that she sat in front of them, Roslyn could see the woman was definitely taller than the man, with dark hair and skin standing out against her brighter clothing.
"I'm sorry, okay? I just think this group is what we need." The man mumbled, dark eyes nearly the color of his hair looking at the ground.
"So, care to explain who you two are?" Roslyn asked, somewhat impatient.
"I'm Omid." The man introduced, offering her a friendly grin.
"And I'm Christa." The woman said with a nod.
"Lee. The girl's Roslyn." Lee said.
"Nice to meet you!" Omid said, earning a smile from Roslyn.
"So, you planning on helping us with the train or what? I mean, we could use the help." Roslyn said.
"We'd be happy to–"
"How do we know we can trust you?" Christa interrupted.
"You don't." Christa actually managed a smile at Roslyn's answer before she nodded. Her eyes, Roslyn noticed, wandered towards the ladder and Roslyn followed it, only to see Clementine climbing up onto the overpass.
"Oh man, you guys have a kid! Do know how long it's been since I've seen a kid? What's your name?" Omid asked excitedly. Roslyn raised an eyebrow at Omid and instinctively put her arms on Clementine's shoulders and brought her closer to her.
"Calm down, Omid." Roslyn said as Omid rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"I'm Clementine." The child introduced quietly, smiling over at Omid and Christa.
"See? Things are looking up!" Omida told Christa, still grinning from ear to ear.
"You aren't her dad. He down there?" Christa asked Lee.
"It's that obvious, huh?"
"To me it is."
"No, he's not down there."
"What about Roslyn? She her sister or something?"
"Nope, hard as it is to believe."
"So, how'd you come across these two girls?"
"I was in an accident when all this started. Actually, I was incarcerated."
"Sick, got any prison tats?" Omid asked, earning a stern look from Christa.
"I didn't make it that far. I met Clementine while trying to find help in her house. We both ran into Roslyn at a pharmacy."
"Everybody down there cool?"
"We're either harmless, depressed, or Chuck. Not much to worry about, so, yeah. I'd say we're cool." Roslyn said with a shrug.
"I'd hope you're harmless."
"Would we be anything else with two stupid teens, a homeless guy, a little girl, and Lee?"
"I suppose not. You're definitely an odd sounding bunch though."
"Trust me, I know. So, you gonna help?"
"Tank's your real problem. Get rid of that and the rest will be easy. Still, if we see anything we don't like, we're outta here."
"Deal. How about you meet the rest of our people, if you're still wary about us." Christa nodded and Roslyn proceeded to lead everyone back down the ladder past their only obstacle to a chance at safety.