A/N: Happy Holidays! Enjoy this chapter! Must go celebrate! Bye!
Disclaimer: I own what's mine and not what is TellTale's.
It Just Happened
Daisyfan5534
Chapter 10
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Clementine made her way to the front door of the house. Once she opened it, she was greeted by the man who let them stay here.
"Morning, Clementine." Donald said.
"Morning." she responded, curious to why he's here. "Luke already left for work."
Like he said he would, Luke worked on the farm. Clementine helped out at the makeshift hospital and babysat some of the children, as well as getting to know the people here. Since she was still a child, she didn't have to work as much as Luke did.
"I know, I passed him by on my way here." He told her. "May I come in?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Clementine let him inside before shutting the door.
"So, how are you guys settling in?" Donald asked the child.
"We're doing alright." Clementine responded.
It's been only a week since she and Luke first arrived. There was no trouble or anything bad happening, just the occasional walker that managed to get into town.
"Is the house okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's fine." she told him.
The man started walking around the house. He inspected the master bedroom where Luke and Clem slept, then the bedroom down the hall. It was the same as when the two first arrived. Everything was cleared, minus the boxes everywhere.
"We never got around to unpacking all of the boxes." Clementine explained to him.
"So where do you sleep then?" Donald asked.
"In the other bedroom with Luke." Clem told him.
"Are you okay with that?" he asked.
"Yes."
Clementine could tell that he wasn't here for a checkup.
"I get it." She spoke.
"What?"
"I know why you're really here."
"Well, Clem," Donald bent down to her height. "I'm going to be honest with you. It's just not every day you see a grown man show up with a little girl, you know."
"Yeah."
"I am responsible for what we are building here, and I need to know all the people in this town are safe."
"Now it's my turn to be honest." Clementine said after a quick pause. "I can promise you that Luke never wants to hurt me in any way, shape, or form." She said, phrasing her words just right.
Clementine thought for a moment. "Luke and I have been in that truck for a long time. If he was doing something to me, don't you think I would have done something by now?"
Donald sighed. "I guess you are right."
"Speaking of the truck, we would sleep in it because we don't necessarily have the best luck in finding houses for the night. There's not a lot of room and Luke lets me sleep on his chest because of it. I'm used to sleeping next to him and he's used to making sure I'm safe and that I get sleep."
"Alright, I believe you." Donald stood back up. "But if you have any problems with him or anyone here, don't be afraid to come to me."
Clementine nodded. "Okay."
Two weeks later…..
"I'll raise you a crayon." Luke said, rolling a blue crayon into the middle of the table.
"I bet the same and I'll add a pencil." Clementine responded adding the items to the pot.
The farm boy studied her face before flipping the final card down on the table. The sun had fallen and the two were done with work, so after finding a deck of cards and a bunch of crayons and pencils in the boxes in the other bedroom, they decided to wind down with some Texas Hold'em.
They've been enjoying their time at the place. It was safe, they got food and the people were nice and friendly. They were both happy and that was all that mattered.
"Three of a kind. Read it and weep, kid."
"I don't think that's possible, Luke." Clementine said as she put her two cards down, revealing that she had a straight.
"Damn it." Luke muttered as the child pulled the pile of crayons and pencils to her. The man started collecting the cards before he shuffled them back in the deck. "One more round?"
"Yeah." Clementine said as she organized her crayons and pencils.
Luke dealt the cards so the two could begin their last round. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Clem and Luke were both confused, but the farm boy stood up.
"I'll get it. Don't cheat." He glared at the child as he set his cards down.
Luke answered the door to see Rodney standing there.
"Luke, just the man I wanted to see." the teen said, trying to sound like an adult.
"What's this about?" the farm boy asked. Rodney never came to houses unless he needed something.
"Alright then, I'll cut to the chase." Rodney responded. "Well, my dad thought that the current state of the town was big enough to start some sort of council, and he wanted you to be on it."
"Really?" Luke was surprised by this, he was only here for a few weeks and he's already a part of a council.
"Yeah." Rodney said as he quickly glanced inside to see Clementine bring a finger to her lips as she was being sneaky. He nodded once before going back to Luke.
"Why? I mean, I'm glad that your dad wanted me to be apart of that, but still."
"He mentioned that you were part of a community that fell and he didn't want that to happen to ours. Plus, you went through some hell, and we could use a guy with experience."
"How do you know that I went through hell?"
"Clementine mentioned that the two of you had seen some bad shit and she was very surprised about the amount of normal people here."
"I won't argue with that." Luke responded. "I'll do it."
"Great, the first meeting is tomorrow." Rodney informed.
"See you then. Thanks, Rodney."
"Same to you Luke."
The farm boy closed the door before making his way back to the table. Clementine was absent from the game which confused him.
"Clem?" He called.
No answer.
Luke inspected the living room and the other bedroom. Nothing. Finally, Luke walked into the bedroom he and Clementine shared, hoping to find her. He heard a muttered "shit" come from the bathroom connected to the room. The door was closed and Luke didn't really have any other idea where Clem would be.
"Clem?" He called as he knocked on the door to the bathroom.
"Luke? Fuck..." The little girl muttered.
"You alright in there?" Luke asked.
"Um... Can you do me a favor?" The child asked. She sounded worried and almost embarrassed.
"I guess, what do you need?" He responded.
"You know the nightstand on my side of the bed? In the bottom drawer, there should be a blue bag. Can you get that for me?" She asked.
"Uh... Sure." Luke was really confused by the request, but he did it anyway.
Once he retrieved the bag, he couldn't help but notice that on the tag it said 'A.G.'. Luke had no idea what it meant, so he just ignored it.
"Clem, I got it."
The door to the bathroom opened slightly and a small, thin arm came through the crack. Luke put the bag in her hand which quickly retracted into the bathroom.
"You need anything else?" Luke asked, trying to understand why she's even in there.
"No, but can you go away? Please?" Clementine asked.
"Okay... I'll be out there if you need me."
Luke walked out of the bedroom and to the living room, waiting for Clementine to be done with whatever she's doing. The little girl eventually came out with the blue bag under her arm, heading straight to the front door to put her shoes on.
"Where do you think you're going?" Luke asked.
"I-uh… forgot that I needed to help one of the mothers at the hospital house." Clementine said trying to tie her shoes as fast as she can.
"Really?" Luke had no clue why she was acting this way. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No!" she said quickly. "I-I can go alone."
"What about the game?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter. Besides, you would've won anyway." Clementine said tying her other shoe before walking out the door. "Bye, Luke!"
"Clem-" It was too late, the door was already closed and Luke decided to let her do whatever she needed to do. He was still confused on what happened.
The farm boy made his way back to the table to put the cards away. He picked up his two cards to see they were both Aces, then Clementine's card which were a five and a Jack. Didn't Clem say that he was going to win anyway?
Luke expected that Clementine would cheat, but that wouldn't be a reason to up and leave. He started thinking back to the blue bag Clem asked him to get for her. The letters A.G. on the bag stuck out to him. He remembered it from somewhere, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
He sighed before looking at the red Ace in his hand. When he dated Abigail back in high school, she used to call him 'Ace' when he tried extra hard to impress her to the point she laughed. Luke missed her, maybe she would know what's up with Clementine. The girls did spend their time together talking about girl stuff… Wait, Abigail's last name was Gates… A.G. If that bag was Abby's then why would Clem need it? Luke finally put the final piece together. I mean why else would Clementine act the way she did around him.
"Ah, shit…" he muttered. Abby was right, Clem wasn't going to be a little girl forever.
A couple days later….
It was early in the morning, the sun's rays entering the house of the two survivors. They were both awake, but they just wanted to get a bit more rest before they had to go to work. As of now, Luke was a part of the town council and Clementine was a big help to the ladies at the hospital house. The work would get exhausting at times, but it was worth it. They were safe.
Luke rolled over, wrapping an arm around Clementine before kissing her cheek. "Morning, birthday girl."
Clementine smirked. "It's not my birthday."
"It feels like October. It's more or less your birthday." Luke said. "Hey, you want to hear a joke?"
"I have no choice, do I?" Clementine asked as she rolled over to face him.
"Why was six afraid of seven?" he asked.
"I don't know why?" she replied.
"Because seven ate nine."
Clem smiled slightly as she shook her head at Luke's attempt to make her laugh.
"What do you call a pig that knows karate?" Luke asked. "A pork chop."
"You're so weird." Clementine said in annoyance.
"How do you make a tissue dance? You put a little boogie in it." Luke said, ignoring the child.
"If you tell me one more joke, I'll give you a punch line." Clementine mentioned.
"Nice job." Luke commented on Clem's unintended joke.
"I'm serious, I'll hit you!" Clem hissed.
"One more." Luke begged. "What did the weirdo give his friend for her birthday?"
"Better jokes." Clementine guessed sarcastically.
"Nope, a noogie!" Luke grabbed the little girl, pinning her arms down to her body with one hand while the other took off her hat before curling his hand into a fist and started messing with her hair.
Clementine growled as Luke messed with her. He released her after a while and got up from the bed. "I actually did get you something."
"Really?" Clementine asked.
"Yep. Wait here." Luke left the room to retrieve the gift for the birthday girl. He soon came back with his hands behind his back.
Clementine sat up, curious to what he got for her. He moved the item behind his back in front of him to show the child. It was a blue jacket. She stood up from the bed and approached Luke taking the gift in her hand. The fabric was soft and light and the jacket had a hood.
"I found it in the other bedroom and I thought you'd like it." Luke said.
The little girl put the jacket on and zipped it up. It was a bit big on her thin body, but it was warm.
"I like it." she said with a smile. "Thanks, Luke."
"You're welcome, kid. I figured that you needed something to keep you warm. It's not much, but it should keep you warm until we find a heavier jacket." Luke replied.
"It's better than the one Bonnie gave me, that's for sure."
"That jacket wasn't that bad…" Luke tried to defend the dead woman, but Clem was right. Seeing a badass child in a rainbow jacket was kind of funny. "Alright, it was bad."
Clementine shook her head. "You're a dork, but I love you."
"You know what? I'm going to start calling you 'sissy.'" Luke smirked. He enjoyed annoying the child, she was like the little sister he never had.
"Don't make me take it back." Clementine snapped.
The farm boy laughed, grabbing Clem's hat off the bed and putting it on her head, making sure to cover her eyes with the bill. "Come on, sissy. Let's go to work."
The little girl sighed as Luke started walking away, he always found some new way to bug her. She ran up behind him and hopped on his back, forcing him to give her a piggy back ride. Luke didn't complain, it was her birthday and he annoyed her.
He adjusted her on his back before carrying her out of the house and taking her to work.
The blackberry bushes on the edge of the farmland shedded their fruit and they were ready for winter, but they were becoming overgrown. Luke was cutting the bushes down and putting the branches in a bin so they can use the scraps for compost and weapon crafting.
"Luke!" Donald called.
The farm boy put the machete in his holder and turned to the leader.
"I forgot to ask you this at the meeting, but how did you and Clementine manage your supplies? The two of you had a good amount when you arrived."
"That was mostly on luck… sort of. On our way here we found practically a bomb shelter, it came with a cost, but when we found all of that stuff…"
"Where was it? And how much was there?" Donald asked.
"Wyoming, and there was a lot." Luke responded. "I know where this is going to lead."
"It'd be great for winter." Donald mentioned.
Luke sighed. "I know it would."
"Do you remember how to get there?" the leader asked.
"Probably. Does that mean we're going on a road trip?" Luke asked.
"Us and another guy, that way we can take shifts driving and sleeping. I don't want to be away more than we need to. Rodney can watch the place while we're getting the supplies."
"If it means a better chance at winter, then I'm up for it." Luke responded.
"Great, are you alright with leaving in a couple days?" Donald asked.
"Yeah, that's fine." Luke said.
"Alright. Thank you, Luke. This means a lot to the town." Donald told him. "I'll let you get back to work."
And with that, the leader left, letting Luke think about what he was going to do. He was going to go back to the place that was the scene of his worst nightmare. The bad side to this road trip was that he knew that Clementine would kill him if he left.
Babysitting the children wasn't a hard job since they were only four of them and they were all pretty much good kids, but every now and then they'd be annoying and constantly bug the one watching them. And today was that day, and Clementine was watching them.
She was trying to color with one of them, then another started pulling on her arm because he wanted to play, and the third child was fighting with the fourth about who Clem liked more while she did her best to calm them down. The twelve-year-old was annoyed needed help.
"Children! Lunchtime!" one of the mothers called.
All of the kids stopped what they were doing and ran to the dining room. Clementine closed her eyes and breathed a sigh in relief, glad that she finally had a break.
"How are the rugrats, Clem?" a voice spoke.
She opened her eyes to meet the soft, blue eyes of a teenager. "Just great, Andie."
Andie was the closest girl to her age, because all the other women in this town were adults. She was fourteen, blonde, and a good friend… in a way. They liked messing with each other since it was one of the few things that brought them both joy, but Clementine automatically went to her for woman problem. Once she told her, Andie hugged her and was happy that Clem joined womanhood. The twelve-year-old didn't understand why she was so excited about it, this was all so new to her.
"So, a little birdie told me that it's your birthday, today." Andie said. "Congratulations on being ten, or thirty. Your height and maturity are so different, it's hard to tell."
"I choose thirty because then I'm older than you." Clementine responded. "Who the hell told you about today?"
"I may or may not have overheard Luke wish a good day to the birthday girl." Andie smirked.
"Andie, what have I told you about listening in on people's conversations? I will ground you!" Clem acted as if she was in charge of her.
"Okay, mom."
Clementine and Andie weren't the closest in friends, but they gladly took what they could get. Clem's sass has improved ever since the two have been talking to one another, and she knows that Luke could vouch for it.
"That reminds me, I don't think you've met my grandmother." Andie mentioned.
"No, not yet." Clem admitted.
"You want to meet her, or do you want to stay and watch the kids?"
"Take me. Please." Clementine begged with a slightly sarcastic tone, but she knew it wouldn't be enough. "Save me from this nightmare, my queen. I shall serve you for all eternity."
"Yes, ma'am. Come on."
Finally happy to get a break from babysitting, Clementine followed Andie down the street to a smaller house. They both walked inside to be greeted by the smell of an apple-cinnamon candle in the kitchen they were in.
"Gran, always lights candles. She doesn't like the smell of rotting corpses outside." Andie said.
"I can agree to that." Clementine spoke aloud.
"Andie? Sweetie, are you home?"
"Yes, gran. I want you to meet someone." Andie responded to the voice.
An old woman walked into the kitchen with her cane. She looked so sweet and in her sixties. The second she saw Clementine she quickly made her way over to her.
"Oh my, aren't you a cutie." The old woman pinched her cheek lightly, not wanting to hurt her. "What's your name?"
"Clementine."
"Oh, isn't that pretty. Well, don't be shy, come sit down." the elderly woman invited.
The pre-teen looked at her friend before walking in further into the house, to the living room and took a seat on the furniture.
"The youngers here call me Granny, but if that's too weird for you, Molly is just fine." she said. "So did you come here all by yourself?"
"No, I came here with my friend, Luke." Clementine responded.
"What's he like?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, he's one of the few people who have gone out of his way to keep me safe. I hate him for it sometimes because he gets beaten, but it's who he is." Clementine explained.
"He sounds like a nice boy, you should bring him over sometime."
"Hell yeah, you should!" Andie chimed in. "He's beautiful."
"Andie!" Clem exclaimed in shock.
"What?" she said with a smirk.
"Well, Clementine, is he?" the grandma asked.
"I mean, I guess…" Clementine admitted. "But he's like a brother to me, not to mention he's twenty-seven." she made sure to direct the part about Luke's age to her friend.
"So? I can wait four years." Andie said in response.
Clementine groaned quietly to herself at what Andie said.
"I apologize for my granddaughter, she can be a bit of a pain sometimes." Molly spoke.
"I can see that." Clementine agreed. "So, what did you do before all of this?"
"I worked in Las Vegas as a police officer. I got to bust many assholes in my day." Molly responded. "Even though I look old now, doesn't mean I can't take care of what I need to do."
"Do you know any good stories?" Clem asked.
"Stories? Hell, with all of the things I've seen, I could write a book series and become a millionaire. The only thing in my way is the damn walking dead." the grandmother said. "It's good to see a young face learn the ropes of what this is. You keep that head up, you hear? It'll get you through more than you think."
"I will, thank you."
"You know, I hate being in this house all day. Those mothers say that an old woman like me, shouldn't be outside with all things considered."
"They are right; it's for your own safety, but they don't know what's right for my grandma." Andie said. "Come on, I'll help sneak you out of the house. Clem, you in?"
"Yes."
"Great, let's mission impossible this!" Andie said in excitement.
Clementine smiled before joining her friend in escaping the house. For once, in a time like this, she's finally been able to say that life is good. She had friends, she lived in a safe place, and she had Luke.
Nothing could be better.
A couple days later…
Luke grabbed the keys to the keys to the truck before tucking them into his back pocket. It was early, the sun had slowly begun to rose and most of the town was sleeping. The only reason he was up was because he had to leave. It was for the good of the town. All of those supplies back in Wyoming, back in that stupid shack where he and Clementine had to…
He opened the door to the master bedroom to make sure Clementine was still sleeping, and she was, peacefully. The farm boy approached the girl and knelt down beside the bed, being careful not to wake her up. Luke really didn't want to leave, but he was the only one besides her that knew where the radio shack was.
Clementine was happy. He had never seen her so positive before. She's still sassy, but usually her mood was cold and distant. Now she's opened up more to him and at times she would act like a child. Just last night he found her in the backyard, lying on her back so she could look at the stars.
When he asked her what she was doing, she told him that she was waiting for a shooting star so that she could make a wish. Luke gladly joined her, happy to see her wait anxiously for a shimmer of light across the sky so she could make a wish like any child would do.
Clementine shifted in her sleep, but she didn't wake. Luke thought it'd be a good time to leave before she woke up and force him to let her join him on the road trip. He leaned forward, kissing her temple lightly before he whispered into her ear. "I love you."
"I love you, too." the little girl muttered in her sleep.
Luke was able to catch that before he left the room and walked out of the house. That was the plan. To make sure she didn't know about the trip at all until he was gone, because he knew it'd end up in an argument. If he didn't come back for some reason, and they left it at that, he knew that Clementine would never forgive herself.
It shouldn't be a difficult journey. Luke knew where he was going and there was going to be three of them. One to drive, the second to keep the other company, and the third to sleep before switching shifts. This way there'd be a continuous drive, only stopping to get gas. Donald said that they shouldn't be gone for more than a week.
"Luke, about time." Donald said as he saw him approach the truck. "Sleeping beauty is already in the backseat, do you want to drive first?"
"Might as well." Luke said as he got in the truck.
Once the three were ready, he started the vehicle and began to drive. It's been awhile since he drove the truck and he got a small hit of nostalgia after being in it for that short time.
"So, how long have you and Clem had this?" Donald asked, trying to make conversation.
"A little less than a year." Luke responded. He looked in the rearview mirror, noticing the third guy with them was sleeping with his back up against the door. "I'll tell you now, don't sleep up against the door. Your back will feel like hell."
"Is that so?" Donald said.
"Believe me, I would know."
"So you know where you're going?"
"I think so, I just got to do some backtracking."
"How did you and Clem find it?"
Luke stayed silent, cursing himself on what happened. "We were at Mount Rushmore and we were about to leave. There was this guy who was looking into the truck, trying to find a ride to his uncle's radio shack. When we confronted him, he said that his uncle was prepared for natural disasters and said that if we give him a ride there, he'd give us some supplies."
"And you went along with him?" Donald implied.
"We were running low on water, and he said that the place should have power since the uncle had solar panels and a generator. Clem didn't trust him, so I told her that if he did try something she could shoot him or at least hold him at gunpoint." Luke explained.
"Is he dead?" Donald asked.
Luke paused. "Yeah, he's dead."
"Are you upset that he is, or is it for the better?"
The memories came back again, he can still hear David's voice and every, little sound Clementine made. Some of the scratches on his back that she made had scarred. That day haunted him in his sleep and every hour he's awake. It's the one thing that's burned in his mind forever.
"It's for the better." Luke said bitterly.
"Alright then."
The conversation ended there. Luke was a bit shocked but relieved that Donald didn't go any further with it. He knew that the leader would be thinking about what went on there, but he knew that he'd never guess what happened. He probably should have talked about the situation with Clementine, in case it ever came up. Well, he could do it when he gets back.
"Clementine, would you be a dear and get my husband? He was feeling sick this morning, and I want to make sure he's alright."
"Yes, ma'am."
Clementine walked out of the hospital house and made her way to the farm. She hasn't really been on the farm since she worked with the women at the houses, but Clem was curious to see what it was like. Besides, she wanted to be more of a help than just fetching things and babysitting. Maybe she could help Luke.
Once she found the husband, she told him to go see his wife. With that task out of the way, Clem could look for Luke. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to start. The barn flashed in her mind, and she thought that'd be a good of a place as any to start.
Clementine casually made her way to the old barn, she wasn't in any hurry. She could hear some grunting inside, but it was too young to be Luke. Going inside to investigate, she found Rodney who was sliding a rod in the sleeves of a plaid button-up.
"Rodney?"
"Hey, Clem." he said after he saw her in the doorway.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm trying to make a scarecrow. Those stupid birds have been trying to eat our crops, so I'm solving the problem." he explained.
"Do you need any help?"
"Hay, that's not a bad idea…"
Clementine glared at him in response as she walked over to him.
"Get it? Because I need hay for the scarecrow?"
"No, I get it, it was just really stupid."
"I know, that's the point. Okay, here." Rodney passed Clementine red thread. "Start by tying that around the sleeves so they stay in place. I'll start tying the second stick to the first."
"Got it."
Not much conversation happened between the two as they built the scarecrow. Clementine was happy that she got to do something else than the usual. After the sleeves were tied and the cross was made, they started sewing worn-out boots to a pair of jeans. Each of them took a leg so they could work twice as fast. Rodney made a comment to Clem about this being easy for her because she had to sew up her own arm.
Once the pants were connected to the boots, they started to stuff it with hay. When the shoes were full with hay and it was up to the knees of the pants, Rodney cut a hole in the crotch to slide the rod through it and bring it up to the button-up shirt. They sealed the cut fabric to the wooden rod with tape before continuing to fill it with hay.
"Well, we're about halfway done, I'd say." Rodney said aloud.
"This has oddly enough been kind of fun." Clementine admitted.
"Working with the ladies isn't the most entertaining thing in the world, I take it?" he implied.
"You can say that again." she told him.
"Andie feels the same way. I assume you've met her."
"Yes, I have. She's the only reason why I like working over there; she takes the boring out of everything we have to do."
"It really does suck to be a teen right now. Well, you're a pre-teen, but you get the gist of it."
"It's not that I don't like it, I just don't like being treated like I'm eight and I can't do anything. Thus making me do practically the same thing every day."
"I get that. I mean, you carry a gun and an ice-pick around, ready to kill something and you're not even five-feet tall." Rodney said. "Help me stand him up."
The two got the scarecrow up, making sure to hold the pants because they haven't sewn it to the shirt yet. After buttoning the first shirt button, Rodney started sewing the pants to the shirt as Clementine kept the pants from falling down. Once it was all sewn, Clementine had to continue stuffing it, as Rodney buttoned it and sewed the sections in between so no hay would fall out.
When that was done, the teenage boy started stuffing a pair of gloves and adding it to the arms, then he started working on the head. Clementine had a to stuff a lot of hay into the scarecrow and Rodney came to help after the head was done.
After they finished stuffing the body, they attached the head and they were done. The two carried the scarecrow out of the barn and into the field. They got to the middle of the crops and stuck the scarecrow in the ground. Their hard work was done.
"It looks good." Rodney said aloud.
"Hey!"
The two turned around to see Andie walk towards them.
"Andie, what's up?" Rodney asked.
"I- Nice scarecrow." she said.
"Thanks, we spent all day working on it." Rodney responded.
"Not the point. I was looking for you, so I could find you." Andie looked at Clementine. "The moms were on my ass wondering where the hell you were."
"Tell them they don't need to worry, I can take care of myself perfectly fine." Clem responded.
"I did, and they didn't listen." Andie explained.
"So they sent you to look for me?" Clementine said.
"No, I sent myself. I didn't want to get another question about where you were."
"Well, none of them are my mother. Did you tell them that?"
"Oh, I should have said that instead. Maybe they'd listen." Andie took a mental note before changing the subject. "So what were you guys doing? Making out and having a secret love life?"
"How did you figure it out? Because that's definitely what we were doing." Clementine said in response.
"Oh, yeah totally." Rodney chimed in. "I was showing her the places you wish you could get."
Andie scanned his body quickly. "I don't know what you're talking about, because there's nothing to show."
"No, the one who has nothing to show is you." Rodney fired back.
"Okay let's be real here, I have more than Clem." Andie responded.
"Wait, guys, come on this doesn't matter." Clementine said trying to calm the storm before she shot. "What matters is that I can kick both of your asses and you'll both be kissing mine afterward."
The three laughed shoving Clem a bit at her comeback.
"Damn, you know how to spit fire." Rodney said.
"No kidding." Andie said. "I should go back and let the mothers know that you aren't dead, Clem."
"Andie, tell them she was with me and that I was teaching her how to hunt."
"Dude, I know that you don't know how to hunt." Andie said.
"Yeah, but they don't know that. I need you to tell them that, so I can send you both out tomorrow to hunt for food." Rodney explained.
"You're sending Andie and I to go hunt for food?" Clementine clarified.
"Yeah, I'm in charge. I make the rules now!" Rodney said.
"Rod, you are amazing." Andie said. "It's going to be us against mother nature, sissy. We'll make them bow."
"Don't call me sissy, I get enough of that from Luke!" Clementine called as Andie walked away, then she remembered why she stayed at the farm. "Rodney, I meant to ask. Where's Luke?"
"Luke? Didn't he tell you?" he replied with a chuckle in his voice.
"Tell me what?" Everything good Clementine felt over the past week suddenly left her body.
Rodney hesitated for a quick second, noticing the curiosity in her voice. "Luke left with my dad and his friend."
"What? Why the hell would he do that?" she was dumbfounded and confused.
"Luke said you two came across some natural disaster bunker under some shack. My dad said that they shouldn't be gone for more than a week." he explained.
Clem's eyes widened. She knew where that place was, and she remembered what happened there.
"Did he really not tell you?"
"No! I think I would have remembered him telling me that he was leaving, especially if he was going back there!"
If she and Luke found the place on their own, and David didn't exist or he was dead, then she probably wouldn't have minded so much, but David was a real, as well as what happened. Yes, those supplies would be amazing for the town, but if they find out what that sick man made them do…
"Clem?"
"What?"
"Are you okay?" From Rodney's eyes, she looked like a deer in headlights. She sounded terrified and afraid.
The child snapped out of her trance. "I'm fine." she responded bitterly.
"Is there anything you need to tell me?" he asked.
"No." Clementine said firmly.
Rodney could tell she was pissed and maybe a bit upset.
"Thanks for everything, Rod."
With that said, Clementine ran off. She had no idea what she was feeling. Luke left her. She made it inside her house, closing the door behind her. Clem turned towards it and pounded her fist on the hard material.
"Damn it, Luke!" she cursed to herself.
She pressed her back up against the cool surface of the door as she started to rub her face to calm down. "One week. It's just one week." Clem sighed. "Get a hold of yourself. He'll be back… Yeah, he'll be back."
Four days later….
"Right there."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
The truck pulled up to the abandoned shack. Even from outside, it gave Luke chills. "The generator should be around back." He said.
Luke started walking around the building to the back. He imagined what the struggle between Clem and David was like because that's what was happening while he was doing this last time. She was right, they shouldn't have trusted him. If only he found out sooner.
The farm boy flipped the generator on, amazingly it still worked. Luke made his way back to the front and guided the two through the front door.
It was cold and the air was stuffy. Luke just wanted to get out as soon as possible, he didn't want to be in this place any longer than he had to. Especially with David's rotting corpse stinking up the place.
"Is that the guy?" Donald asked.
"Yeah." Luke said not even looking at him. He just made his way to the trap door and opened it.
After a few hours, the three of them had everything from the bunker loaded into the truck. Donald wanted to get the solar panels and the generator loaded too so they could try to get power back. That took the rest of the day to get all of it unhooked and loaded. When it was all done, they got back in the truck.
All Luke wanted to do was sleep. Since he was the last one to drive, he got to sleep for a few hours. Donald said he'd do one last sweep of the shack before they left to head back to Washington. Luke just needed the day to end. It was hard to load everything into the truck because he had to pass David's body every time to get more supplies. Now that they were done, it didn't take long for him to pass out.
Donald looked in the bunker one final time before investigating the shack. He didn't find much, just some wires in boxes and some old microphone. He then looked at the control panel and noticed another box with a cassette player inside.
On the ground right next to it was a pile of broken cassette tapes. Donald sifted through them only for it to be tattered, broken tape reels and casing. There was a lot of them, and it was hard to tell how many. He picked up the walkman and found that there was a cassette tape inside. It had two names written on it written in red sharpie, none of which he recognized.
He grabbed the walkman with the tape in it and walked out of the building to the truck. It was time to go back home.
Two days later….
Heavy breaths filled the room as Clementine woke up from a nightmare. It was the middle of the night and she could hear the rain pour harshly against the roof. It couldn't have been a more perfect night for Carver to bug the child. Clem glanced over to where Luke would be sleeping, remembering that he's still gone. He'd be back tomorrow, but Carver said he wouldn't. She didn't believe him, why would she?
Thunder roared in the background as Clementine thought about Luke. She missed him, it was weird not seeing him every day. The second he comes home, she was going to kick his ass. She was still pissed about him not telling her that he was leaving. Clem just had to wait until he came back… If he comes back. No, he's coming back, she wouldn't let Carver manipulate her.
Lightning suddenly flashed, scaring Clem to hide under the covers. She still hated lightning. She calmed herself down the best she could so she could go back to sleep, that was until another flash of light lit up the room. Clem could have sworn, from underneath the covers, she saw the outline of Carver himself. The poor child was terrified at that point to even try to fall asleep or even check to assure herself that there is nothing there.
After hours of forcing herself to stay awake, morning finally arrived. Clementine didn't see any shadows or outlines and she was relieved, but she took no chances. The girl quickly ripped the covers off of her and ran out of the bedroom. She didn't appreciate the mind tricks that her brain was playing. Tampering with her fears and nightmares and putting thoughts of 'Luke never coming back' in her head. He had to, right?
Clementine sighed, clearing her head before walking out the front door. Rodney was having her and Andie hunt again, which she enjoyed. She couldn't wait for Luke to get back today, then things would go back to normal.
Nightfall came and Luke wasn't back. Clementine was trying to occupy herself by finally going through the boxes in the other bedroom. She quickly got bored of that and built a fort out of the boxes and some blankets she found. While she waited for him to come back, Clem fell asleep.
The next morning she awoke inside the fort and searched the house. Luke wasn't back yet. This worried her for a bit, but she figured that he'd be back today. As the night drew closer and closer, Clementine started to think about her nightmare with Carver. It was so fucked up, and the worst was that he told her that Luke wasn't coming back, over and over again. Was he right?
The night went and gone and the next day came. Still no sign of Luke. She was getting anxious. Why haven't they come back yet? Did they get lost? Did they find out what happened at the radio shack? And if they did, would they...? Clementine hasn't been getting a lot of sleep because she didn't want to face Carver again and she was too worried about Luke to even worry about herself. All of these scenarios went through her head, making her situation worse.
Another day went by and Clementine was just sitting in her box fort. It was late in the morning and she was coming to terms with herself. Three people left so they could take shifts driving. There'd be no stopping, only for gas. They were just going to Wyoming and back, so they should have been back by now. And since they aren't, that means something went wrong.
What was the last thing Luke said to her? It was the morning he left, she remembered his faint voice telling her that he loves her. Clem's pretty sure she responded, but she was half awake at the time. The memory wasn't clear enough and now he's… he's probably dead. Of course, once her world was starting to become joyful and fun, this plot twist had to be thrown at her. Now, once again, she's alone.
She heard the front door open and close, at this point, she was too upset to even care.
"Clem?" The voice was southern and warm, she was almost in disbelief. "I'm back."
Clementine crawled out of her box fort and out of the room heading towards the living room. Her face lit up once she saw who was here.
"LUKE!"
The farm boy turned towards the voice, only to have Clementine jump up and hug him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as her arms tightened around his neck.
"Don't you ever fucking leave again!" Clementine yelled into his shoulder. "You hear me? You're fucking mine!"
Luke chuckled as he hugged her tightly. "I missed you too, sissy."
Clementine felt relaxed. All of her anxiety left her body and she was exhausted.
As much as Luke wanted to stay in this hug, he needed to discuss something with the pre-teen. "Hey, Clem…" Luke pulled her head back slightly, only to find that she fell asleep. Then he noticed the circles under her eyes, he could only wonder how much she had to go through while he was gone. Luke could tell that he worried the poor girl greatly.
He set the sleeping child down on the couch. As he stood up, Clementine grabbed his hand, uttering a "Stay…" in her sleep. Luke did so at her request, lifting her head up so he could sit down. He started to play with her curly hair, it's been awhile since he could relax for a bit.
The town had new supplies, they were going to try and start using solar power, and things can only go up from here. Nothing could make things worse.
It was late, all of the supplies were good and accounted for, and Donald had a good feeling that the town would make it through the winter. Speaking of the cold, the leader remembered Luke's bitterness towards the shack and the man who owned it. Something happened, and forcing Luke to spill wasn't going to do the trick. Which is why he did some snooping before they left the shack. That's how he came across the walkman and the one tape that wasn't destroyed.
The tape had the names of two people that Donald had never met before, and it was saved by the fact that someone didn't check the walkman. The man found his son's headphones and plugged it into the device.
Then he pressed play.
A/N: You guys are cool, and I'm thankful for every single one of you that reads my stories. I hope you enjoy them and yeah.
Also, you can stalk me now if you have a twitter. Daisyfan5534. It's new, but I'll be posting updates, and other stuff, and that. SO with that Happy Holidays and 2016 here we come!