Early in the morning
Ethan, who was still sleeping on his bunk bed, was then kicked gently in the stomach, making him wake up to look it was from Troy with his rifle aimed at him. He stared at him coldly, with Troy doing the same as the two of them weren't backing out.
"...Get up." Troy said with his rifle still aimed, with Ethan still staring until he sighed and got up to see the group near the door being opened by Carver and the others, in which he walked over next to Crystal, Clementine, and Sarah.
"There's been increased walker activity along the fence so be mindful when outside these walls." Carver said. "The herd's moved a bit closer as of this morning, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll be hit. Know we're monitoring the situation. Now there are some folks who might be sore after what happened yesterday, at how things went. Well, that's all in the past now." He looked at all of the group members, including the new ones. "Some of you are new to this community. Some of you are members that went astray. But know you can find redemption and forgiveness here, by proving your worth through what will be undoubtedly hard work."
"Redemption, huh?" Ethan thought while looking at Clementine and Sarah, seeing Sarah talking to her as he put his finger over his mouth, with her noticing and nodded.
"...Reggie, you're nearly back in." Carver said, making Reggie smile. "Keep following the path, and we'll welcome you back in open-" He then noticed Sarah still talking, with Ethan noticing with wide eyes. "Carlos!"
"...Yes?" Carlos asked in a small bit of fear.
"Your child seems to be in need of correction." Carver said, making Carlos' eyes widen. "I can't have this kind of behavior one day one of your reform. You discipline her now. One good smack in the mouth should do it. It'll make her think twice before opening it up again."
"You're not serious." Ethan said out loud, making Carver look at him. "Is this seriously how YOU run things? Hitting a kid? You really are fucked up."
"Ethan!" Crystal said in fear, with Carver staring until he laughed a bit.
"You've got guts kid. I like that." He said as his laughter faded away. "But we can't have that go unpunished. Let's deal with Carlos first, and then you." He looked at Carlos. "Go on. We'll wait. Otherwise Troy here will do it for ya." Carlos stared at him until he sighed, and turned to Sarah, making her scared.
"I'm sorry Dad. I'm so sorry!" She said.
"...Close your eyes honey. It will only sting for a second." Carlos said, with Sarah doing just that until he quickly slapped her, knocking her down on the group and began to cry, making him try to help her up.
"Stop!" Carver said, preventing Carlos. "You're not coddling that girl anymore. Let her just sit there and think about what she's done." He then faced Ethan. "You're next. Crystal. Give him a good punch to the face, teach him to shut his mouth too." Hearing this made her eyes widen.
"I-I can't! I don't want to hurt him!" She said with hurt in her voice, making Ethan pat her shoulder and her looking at him.
"Just...Do it. Do it so you can get it out of the way." He said, making Crystal's eyes widen in shock but nodded with he slowly preparing her fist, with him closing his eyes, and punched him as it also sent him down onto the group.
"ETHAN!" Clementine yelled in complete worry, making Crystal start to cry for doing that but Ethan slowly got up, revealing to have the punch worsen one of his bruises.
"I'm...Ok..." Ethan said to Crystal reassuringly until he looked at Carver silently.
"Troy, get Carlos to his post. Everyone else should have their assignments. It's time to get to work." Carver said, making everyone scramble to do their work.
"You. You're working in the armory." Tavia said to Clementine, and then to Ethan. "You follow me too. That way I can give you your own job."
"Alright..." Ethan said until he looked at Crystal. "...I'll see you then...Please take care of yourself." She looked at him while crying a bit, but nodded. "Alright...Let's go." They all followed Tavia to the armory, and entered in to see Bonnie inside. "...Oh great."
"I guess one of you are starting your day with me." She said to them, and then to Tavia. "Mind if I talk to the guy for a quick second? Alone? Shouldn't take long."
"Well, alright. Don't take too long." She said as left, with Clementine looking at Ethan and he nodded.
"Go on." He said as Clementine nodded and left, leaving him and Bonnie alone and looking at each other. "Alright, what do YOU want?"
"...I suppose I owe you an apology." She said. "I wasn't truthful when I crossed ya'll back in the lodge and I was shown kindness I never would've expected from a group of strangers."
"...And yet you used us." Ethan said coldly and in anger. "What's your point? You're telling me stuff I already know."
"It's just... I know that now people are dead, and I can't help but fell I'm to blame." Bonnie said, making Ethan angrier.
"Really? Well NO shit! I never would have expected it!" He said, making her sigh.
"You're really making this harder than it needs to be." Bonnie said. "I apologize. Which don't count for much-"
"Oh...So YOU think that a simple sorry is gonna fix EVERYTHING huh?!" Ethan yelled in complete rage, surprising Bonnie, and pointed at his face. "Look at this. LOOK AT THIS! This shit is what Carver DID to me. Carver nearly killed Alvin, shot down Walter, and this is the kind of shit HE'S CAPABLE OF! You lead him here, and you lied to us. YOU LIED TO US! I showed you some sympathy and gave you food, and THAT was how you repaid us!" He banged his fist onto the table in sheer anger, showing Bonnie how filled with rage he was in. "...I could KILL you right now! I should have when I had the chance so more people would be alive! I-" At that moment, his eyes widened for he realized that was the kind of things his dad would say and that he slowly became like him, with him looking at Bonnie to see hurt in her eyes. "...I'm sorry... I didn't mean that I would-"
"No...It's ok." Bonnie said, trying to keep the hurt in her voice in. "I just wanted you to know that...I'm sorry, which is really all I can offer now." Ethan stared at her, with him hearing the small amount of hurt in it, and sighed.
"...I'm not going to forget what happened. You know that, right?" He asked with her nodding slowly. "...I'm sorry if I...hurt you more than I should have...And...I'll keep in mind of your apology." He turned, walked to the door, and opened to see Clementine and Tavia. "Alright, she's all yours. Take me where you need to."
"Alright. You're working in the Armory." Tavia said to Clementine, making her nod and walk inside. "You. You're working on the fences outside. I'll lead you to where you'll be working." She walked to the location with Ethan following until the make it to an outside and secured fenced made by pieces of wood. "You're repairing and replacing any weak points of the fence so lurkers don't get in. I'll be checking up on you shortly." She walks inside, leaving Ethan to look at the fence begin to work on it by nailing down and parts with a hammer and nails.
Thirty Minutes Later
Ethan kept working on it and also focusing the task at hand until he heard the door open behind him, seeing it was Tavia as she looks at his progress.
"Not bad for a first time being here." She said. "Come on. We got another job for you." Ethan nodded, put down his supplies, and followed her to a greenhouse on top of the building. "You'll be working in there with Reggie. Follow what he says, ok?" He nodded again and walked inside to see Reggie, Clementine, who was now wearing a Light Blue jacket with a Raindow streak on it, Sarah and Crystal inside.
"Ethan!" Clementine said as she hugged him, with him hugging back with a smile. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry too much." Ethan said until he looked at Crystal, seeing her eyes a bit red. "I'm sorry if I worried you, but I'm really ok."
"Alright guys, enough of that." Reggie said, with them looking. "We gotta do good guys. The camp is counting on us. I'll show you on what to do, it's easy." He walked over to a plant that had berries on it. "Grab a pair of sheers." They all did so. "So we're picking these berries, and putting them in the basket. Simple. And if you see any dead branches, just cut them off and stack them for composting. Got it?"
"Yeah...I got it." Ethan said and looked at Crystal with a weak smile, in which she looked with a sad expression, and the two of them walked over to a different table and started to work on the plants. "Are you ok?"
"I'm sorry..." Crystal said, with Ethan looking. "I'm so sorry I did that to you. I didn't want to-"
"Don't. It was my own fault. I made you do that to me." Ethan said while shaking his head. "I won't let you have to do that again. I promise. I'm not going to do anything that might hurt you." Crystal looked at him while slowly holding his hand in support, with him doing the same. "We're going to be ok. I promise."
"I know we will...I'll be ok when you're here with me." Crystal said with her smiling weakly, making him smile.
"So, what do you say we work on this? That way I don't get my ass kicked for you." Ethan asked with Crystal nodding and the both of them worked side by side for a long amount of time, with him noticing Clementine walking over to Sarah to help her. "You think she'll be ok? Sarah, I mean."
"I don't know. I hope so." Crystal said while working, with them keep doing so until they all heard the door outside open, with them seeing it was Carver.
"Oh no..." Sarah said while Reggie look to see Clementine's basket for the berries empty.
"You didn't do any of your work Clem!" He said in fear until Carver entered inside.
"Just checking in to see how the new ones are holding up." He said and looked around to see most of the baskets filled but not Clementine's, making him angry. "Reggie, what the fuck happened in here?"
"Look Bill, they're new and me and my arm-" Reggie tried to say.
"Shut up. Shut the fuck up." Carver said in anger. "You better have an explanation for this. And I mean now."
"It was my fault." Clementine said as Carver looked at her. "I didn't show Sarah well enough, I guess..."
"Nah, this ain't your fault." Carver said. "Why don't you four wait outside? Reggie and I have a few things to talk about." They all walked out, leaving them to talk but was muffled.
"This is my fault." Clementine said sadly, with Ethan patting her shoulder.
"No sissy. It wasn't your fault. You did what you thought was right, and you did it." He said until suddenly Reggie was pushed out of the door, with Carver grabbing him while screaming, and pushed him off the building, making him land on the ground and killing him, shocking everyone.
"Weakness...Incompetence...It put us all at risk, and it won't be tolerated. You think about that the next time your asked to do something." Carver said while everybody looked at each other quietly. "Now get down stairs and do work you've been given to. Now." Everyone except Sarah walked back inside, still from the shock until Tavia walked up to them.
"Hey kid. Bonnie needs you." She said as she looked at Crystal and Ethan. "Kid, you help Troy look over the area. Crystal, help Carlos with what he's doing." Both her and Ethan looked at each other.
"...I'll see you soon. And maybe we can talk tonight, like you said." Ethan said with Crystal nodding.
"Yeah...Same." She said as the two of them walked different directions, with Ethan following Tavia before being handed a rifle near a door leading to where he needs to go.
"You know on how to use these?" She asked with Ethan pointing it at a wall, adjusting to it, and nodded. "Good. Now you're watching out for anything that might come out. Don't hesitate to shoot if it's dead or alive." He nodded again, and walked out while looking to see Reggie's dead body, making him cringe, and Clementine walking down the direction he's in. He waves slightly until she's grabbed and dragged inside an old comic book store.
"Shit!" He yelled as he ran to and inside, seeing it was Luke. "Luke! What are you doing here? How did you-"
"Listen to me, ok? We don't have much time. I followed ya'll the best I could. Haven't had a night's rest since ya'll got nabbed and...Well this is the first chance I've got to talk to somebody." Luke said while looking around. "They're everywhere. They've got guards. Watching everything. There's a big heard of lurkers south of us. It's bigger than I've ever seen in these parts. It's gonna hit this place. I know it."
"Could be worse. Me and Clem saw a ton of them back in Savannah, Georgia. They were everywhere." Ethan said as he looked at Clementine. "You remember, right?"
"Yeah, I remember." She said, making Luke shake his head.
"Doesn't matter. It's coming, and it's gonna be soon." He said. "I've been looking around for places to...To get ya'll free, but I haven't found anything yet. We just...We just need to find a plan a way to get you and...everyone..." He slowly began to fall asleep, until they heard somebody walking down the area.
"Luke!" Clementine said, waking Luke up.
"Sorry. Shit...Ok. Troy ain't gonna like you being late." Luke said while looking at them. "Listen to me, one of you try to meet me back here tomorrow, about this time because I-I need to get one of those radios, ok? Can you do that? I just need to tell ya'll what's going on with them guards, you know, figure out their schedules of patrol they're on."
"Where do we get one?" Clementine asked.
"I think in the stockroom. I ain't too sure, though. Just keep an eye on a charging station. They put most of them on there at night." Luke said. "One of you just meet me here tomorrow at this time. If I'm not here, then wait as long as you can 'cause I REALLY need one of them. Just let them know I'm ok-"
"Clementine! Get out here where I can see you!" A voice yelled outside, scaring them.
"We got it. You just hide." Ethan said with Luke nodding and hiding behind a stack of tables, with him and Clementine walking out to see Troy. "Don't worry too much! She thought she saw something and I decided to help out. You know, can't be too careful!" He stared at Troy, who was staring at them until he shrugged.
"Well kid, Bill radioed in. He wants to talk to you." He said to Clementine, with her looking at Ethan. "Go on!" Ethan crouched down to her.
"Look, don't worry about what he does. You'll be ok...I'm sure..." He said reassuringly. "I'll see you soon...And be safe." He quickly hugged her, with her hugging back. "I love you Clemmy..."
"I love you too Ethan..." She said with a small smile, making Troy annoyed.
"Alright, enough of that shit! Just go!" He said as Clementine stopped hugging and ran off, leaving Ethan alone with Troy. "Alright kid, your time of work is over. It's almost supper, so get going." Ethan nodded and walked back inside and toward their place until he saw Rebecca crying her eyes out.
"Rebecca?" Ethan asked as he walked over to her. "Hey! What's wrong?"
"It's Alvin." She said sadly. "Carver... Hurt him so badly."
"He what?!" Ethan asked in shock. "That bastard... Look, let's just go back. We all need to talk about something."
At Night
"...Cause we all know what happened this morning!" Kenny said while he and everyone else sat near the fire place. "I don't know what the son of a bitch is gonna do next!"
"So you wanna ring the dinner bell for a heard of walkers to show up?" Mike asked in skepticism. "How is that better?"
"'Cause this place will be fucking CHAOS when it hits!" Kenny said. "Nobody'll be paying attention to any of us, and that's when we go! That's our opening! We gotta find a way to drag them to us!" Rebecca looked at both Ethan and Clementine.
"Your friend here wants to get us killed by lurkers before Bill can do it." She said.
"Luke could help us." Clementine said, making everyone look at her. "He's outside. He wants a radio to help keep an eye on the guards."
"Thank you! Now that's a plan I can vote for." Rebecca said with a smile, with Ethan looking at all of them.
"I'm guessing you guys know about Luke then?" He asked with all of them nodding. "Good. We should think about something else we could use to help us..." He then remembered back in Savannah, about Molly and the bells. "What about making noise along with that? Luke can keep an eye on everything while we make noise to drag them away from us to make an opening?"
"Hey, yeah!" Kenny said in agreement. "Now we just need something really loud."
"That P.A. system Carver uses is very loud." Sarita said, with Mike nodding.
"There's speakers outside the building, pointing toward the parking lot." He said. "I saw them when we were walking to work."
"I saw them too!" Clementine said, with Ethan looking at her.
"Really?" He asked with her nodding.
"Ok...Now my question is this; How are we going to do that?" Crystal asked. "It's in Carver's office."
"There's a switch in there that turns them on." Rebecca said, with everyone looking. "I use to make a lot of announcements back in the day. I had it flipped once, luckily there wasn't much around that time to hear it. It was loud though."
"That's prefect!" Kenny said. "Ok, so we get that turd a radio and he keeps us posted. We fire up the PA thing, and bring the walkers to roll over this place. Then we get guns and shoot our way out. Whatever we can to get out. Improvise or something!"
"Alright, but we can't improvise in a plan. We need to find a way to get through them." Crystal said.
"Actually..." A voice said as they all looked to see Jane. "I do it all the time."
"...First words I hear you say, and it's crazy, stupid shit." Mike said with Jane shaking her head.
"No. When you cover yourself in their smell, rub the walker guts all over you, they can't tell you from them." She said, making Ethan remember again when Lee did just that.
"She's right." He said as they all looked at him. "When me and Lee were saving Clem here, we planned to get out of Savannah by rubbing their guts on us. It works. Lee tried it." They all stared at him in shock.
"Did you really?" Crystal asked with Ethan nodding.
"Yeah, me and Clem remember it fully. Right?" He asked as he looked at Clementine, with her nodding and smiling.
"Holy shit...Good one Lee." Kenny said to himself until he got up. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get that radio."
"We still need to find a way to get into the stockroom though." Rebecca said.
"I got a plan for that too." Jane said as she pointed at a ladder on the wall, which wasn't on the ground. "We just need to use that. The girl can climb up from there. Then just drop into one of the skylights over the stockroom. There are shelves and stuff for you to land on, so you probably won't fall to your death."
"You sure that's safe?" Ethan asked while Jane looked at him.
"Got any other ideas?" She asked him, with Ethan shaking his head.
"I'm just worried for her is all." He said.
"It's now or never." Clementine said, with Ethan looking at her, nodded, and hugged her.
"Ok...Just stay safe, you hear me?" He asked with Clementine nodding, walking over to the ladder, and started climbing up after Mike helps her up. "...Just stay safe..."
"Hey! What's going on over here?" A voice asked as the door opened, revealing to be Troy looking at them.
"Just enjoying the fresh air. That's all." Mike said with a smile while Troy staring at him.
"Just go the fuck to bed! Now!" He yelled as he left and closed the door, with Ethan still looking at the ladder.
"...Come on Sis... Get back here..." He said to himself while everybody went to their bunks except him. He kept waiting until he saw Clementine back with the walkie-talkies in hand. "You got them! Drop down and I'll catch you!" She nodded and dropped down, with him catching her. "Good! Now let's get to bed. He'll be back any minute!" They both quietly walked to their bunks and lied down. "Great job Clem. You did good."
"Thanks..." Clementine said, with everybody except Ethan, Crystal, and Kenny asleep.
"...I thought about Duck today, about his dumb little face..." Kenny said suddenly, making Ethan get up to look at him. "...First things that always come to mind are the dumb things he was doing...Kid was always running in circles. Every damn place we went he'd just run. Couldn't stop him...Makes it harder to remember he was a good boy."
"You were a good father Kenny...Duck couldn't ask for a better one." Ethan said, with Kenny looking at him and smiling.
"Thanks Ethan. I mean it." He said. "Long day tomorrow...One long day." He then fell to sleep shortly, with Clementine doing the same but Ethan and Crystal remained awake, in which they both got up and looked at each other.
"Alright...Let's do it." Ethan said with Crystal nodding, getting up, and the two of them walked to one of the boarded walls to see some of the walkers around. "Alright...So what did you want to talk about?"
"About...About what we were talking about two days ago, in the lodge." Crystal said.
"Well...Mind to refresh my memory?" Ethan asked with Crystal nodding.
"It led from Kenny into you... You asked back then if you were bad to me." She said as Ethan nodded. "I don't think you are... In fact...You're an amazing guy. You care for others, and you're also...The nicest person I've ever met..."
"That isn't fully true." Ethan said. "I'm sometimes not. Just a while ago, everything that happened started to drive me... Insane, almost like my dad... I'm trying to not make that happen again..."
"Even if you are... You'll be one person he never was...Caring and loving." Crystal said with a smile, making Ethan look at her. "And...I've never met another person like yourself...You're one of a kind...And I need to tell you something, in case something happens to one of us tomorrow." She stared down and took a deep breath. "...I...I've fallen in love with you." Hearing this made Ethan's eyes widen. "I know you've suffered a lot of pain, and that I look like that girl Emmy you cared for so much or replace her. I understand if you don't want to..."
"...Of course I do." Ethan said, with Crystal looking at him in wide eyes. "Emmy would...She would have wanted me to move on, and not dwell on what happened back then... Ever since I met you, I felt like...I could finally move on. She'll... Always be in my heart, for changing me into who I am... But my heart has more room than just her, Clem, Kenny, and Lee. I'm...Not afraid of what might happen anymore...I want to be with you, and always."
"You really...Mean that?" She asked, with Ethan nodding and holding her hand in support, making her smile and do the same with her other hand. "I love you...I don't want anyone to die tomorrow."
"...Neither do I." Ethan said before kissing her forehead gently, making Crystal smile until they both kissed each other on the lips, with it locking for a bit but then broke. "Let's go to bed, and hope for the best." Crystal nodded as they walked back to the bunks hand in hand and lied down on the bed, lying next to each other.