Flames.
Death.
Destruction.
Slaughter.
McCaroll Ranch.
AJ.
The Infinites.
The sunlight pouring in through the window roused Clementine from her disturbed sleep. Yawning, she pulled herself to reality. Her hand instinctively reached for the space beside her, instead, finding nothing.
Her eyes snapped open as she sat upright, her sleep vanishing within an instant. AJ wasn't there. She looked down to the side, noticing Louis and Violet asleep on the mattresses that were laid on the floor.
Clementine sighed, realising everything that had happened was not a nightmare. It was very much real. She looked around at the room she was housed in. Jonathan had offered to let them stay for a while. The room was quite bare, save for the necessities like the bed, chairs, table and a large dark brown closet.
The white walls seemed to have been painted recently. The bathroom door was right opposite her bed and the room door was to her right, across the mattresses. Pulling the covers off of her, she got up. Her cap lay by her bedside, as well as her bag. Their stuff had been recovered from the van, thankfully, which meant she still had most of her belongings, save for her weapons.
She lingered at the foot of the mattresses, debating whether to awaken Violet and Louis. Deciding against it, she stepped past them and let herself out of the room. The bedroom opposite hers was still shut. A staircase to her left led downstairs.
Holding onto the handrails, she slowly made her way down, still slightly dizzy. She noticed the photos along the wall. She recognised Jonathan from them, but not the boy and the woman, although, it was safe to assume that they were his wife and child.
Reaching the bottom, across was the main door. To the left was the living room and to her right was the kitchen. Light spilled in from all the windows around. The sounds coming from the kitchen told her to head over there. She walked in to find Jonathan sitting at the table, eating. A hot, steaming mug accompanied his food.
"You're awake early," he remarked, looking up from his breakfast.
"Yeah, I've been told that a lot," she replied.
"How's the head feel? And the shoulder?"
"Better than yesterday. Still feels dizzy, though."
Jonathan gestured at a chair at the table, waiting for her to sit down. "It's a pretty nasty cut on your head. Might take a while. Your shoulder should be healing faster, though." He took a sip from his mug. "There's some coffee on the counter, if you'd like."
Clementine nodded. She picked out a mug from the wall cabinet, pouring some hot water into it and mixing it with the milk powder. Adding a spoonful of the coffee powder, she stirred the hot liquid, reveling in the feeling of holding a hot mug of coffee in her hands.
She sipped some of it, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the first taste of coffee in months. The warm mug felt comfortable in her hands as she headed back to the table.
"I'll arrange for some clothes for the three of you, if you don't have any," Jonathan said. "There should be enough people with your size. Check the closet too. There should be some that might fit you."
"Thanks," Clementine replied.
"There's some breakfast for you over in that pot there." He pointed towards the counter. "Jared had his, so it's just for the three of you now. Finish it off."
"Jared?"
"My son. He's out on watch right now. Should be back home any minute."
Almost as if on cue, the front door opened and a young man entered with disheveled black hair. Clementine pinned him at a few years elder to her. He wore a brown jacket and blue jeans. He pulled off the rifle slung across his back and propped it against the stairs. Making his way over to the kitchen, he cast a curious glance towards Clementine, before proceeding to talk to Jonathan.
"Dad, you could've told me at least. I learnt about it from Anne when I went to talk about our meds situation."
"I couldn't, Jared. Gareth picked the group. He didn't want any leaks."
"And look what that got you," Jared replied. "She got away anyway. I could have helped. All you had to do was tell me."
"You know I can't disobey the Council. It doesn't work that way."
For an instant, an anger showed up on Jared's face, quickly dissipating. He sighed. "Come on dad, you've gotta start letting me take part in these things. If I'm ever going to be on the Council, I need to know how things work."
"You'll take part in it when we think you're ready, okay? Let it go for now." Jonathan gestured at Clementine. "This is Clementine. We found her and two of her people at the wreck. Beth had taken them prisoner. She escaped with the other prisoners."
Jared stared at Clementine for a long second as if wondering what he should do. "I'm Jared," he introduced himself, extending his hand to her.
Hesitating before shaking it, her mind told her there was something very familiar about him. Maybe she'd seen him before, but where? Casting the thoughts out of her head, she returned to her coffee as Jonathan spoke.
"Are you returning to the Hall?" he asked.
"No. I wanted to check things outside. We need to put out some roamer traps. I'll work on that," Jared replied. With that, he hastily left the house.
"What's the Council?" Clementine asked.
"It's kind of like a democracy. I'm the one in charge here, but there's a Council for designated tasks. Someone looks after the weaponry, another after the food, supply runs, fortifications and all that. I make sure everyone does their job," Jonathan replied.
It sounded a little like the New Frontier to her, although there was no one in charge over the four leaders there. Maybe this place wouldn't fall like the Frontier did, victim to the whims and fancies of one of the leaders.
"So, you've always been at Miletus?"
"No. I came here a couple of years ago. Just before Beth took over and started attacks on us. I think I told you that yesterday, didn't I? Anyway, been here since then. It used to be a just a simple town. Still is, just with better walls."
"Do you know Beth?" Clementine asked.
He shook his head. "Got to know about her when she attacked us once."
"And they've never succeeded?" Clementine was surprised to see a place that had stood for this long.
"You sound surprised. No, they didn't attack us too many times. They did take out a large supply run group that we had sent. None of us could figure out how they knew about it. Lost twelve good men and women that day." He stood up and carried his plate and mug to the sink. "I'm going to have to go now. Normally, I'd ask you three to earn your keep. But since you're new and wounded thanks to us, I'll give you a day off."
"Thanks," Clementine said, unsure of how else to reply to him.
"You're welcome. I'll be back by evening." He kept his washed utensils in a stand and made his way into his bedroom.
Clementine finished her coffee before following his example and washing the mug. She decided to eat once Louis and Violet were awake. She returned to the bedroom, finding them up and talking to each other.
"Hey," Louis greeted her as she entered the room. "We were wondering where you were."
"I was downstairs with Jonathan. I was asking him about this place. I met his son, Jared too. And had some coffee," Clementine said. She quickly recounted the details of their encounter.
"His son anything like him?" Violet asked.
"Doesn't seem like it. The attack on us yesterday wasn't too well known. It was just a few people who'd planned it. Something about leaks."
"So, his own son didn't know?" Louis asked.
Clementine shook her head. "Weird family, I guess. We got the day free though since they caused our injuries."
"Okay. I wouldn't mind some coffee, you know?" Violet said. "Haven't had that since Ericson's."
Clementine sat down on the bed. "AJ used to really like coffee. I'd found some and made it for his birthday. Or at least, I think it was his birthday. Either way, he loved it. Ever since then, I'd always look for more to give him."
"We'll get them all back," Violet said. "We're not going to let that bitch win again."
Louis looked up at her. "I know we need to get them back but I have no idea where to begin. We don't even know where Delta is, forget how it looks or how we even get in and leave undetected with even more people."
"It does sound difficult," Clementine said. "But there must be something that we can use."
"Maybe we can ask Jonathan for help?"
"Not yet. We barely know him."
"I agree," Violet said. "With Clem. We need to do this carefully. We don't want things blowing up in our face."
"So, what do you suggest then?" Louis asked, standing up.
"I don't know," Clementine replied. "It's time I changed the wound dressings," she said, changing the subject. "Anne said I should do it in the morning."
"Yeah. I've got the bandages in my bag. Take off the old ones and I'll give you these," Violet said, opening her bag in hunt of the new dressing. "Wash the wound too."
Clementine loosened the bandage wrapped around her head, slowly unwinding it. Pulling it off carefully, she placed it onto the bedside table and went to the bathroom. Opening the door, she stood in front of the mirror and the basin, looking at her reflection. A tired and haggard girl looked back at her, a stitched-up gash at the top of her forehead.
She stared at the mirror for a long minute before locking the door. Peeling off her jacket and t-shirt, she observed all her scars and wounds. It was a battlefield of injuries sustained in the past, right from knives to bullets. The New Frontier tattoo still sat upon her arm, reminding her of the time she'd lost AJ, only miraculously getting him back.
Things seemed to repeat themselves in the apocalypse. Finding people, making a home and then losing it to people that had no regard for others. It was a recurring theme, one that Clementine had hoped would end when she met the kids. AJ was her reason for trying and with him gone, she almost felt like it wasn't worth it anymore.
The thoughts still swam around in her head as she opened the tap and felt the water flow onto her fingertips. Scooping up some water, she splashed it onto her face, carefully cleaning the wound. It still burned at the very touch of her fingers, but the water did seem to soothe it. She quickly washed her arms too and proceeded to do the same for her shoulder after removing the dressing.
Thankfully, only a bruise greeted her from under the bandage. It had turned reddish now, but other than that, it didn't hurt as much as her head.
A knock at the door drew her attention away. "Clem? Here are the bandages," Violet said.
Clementine pulled her t-shirt on and opened the door, taking the bandages from the girl. Closing the door again, she placed it down beside the basin. Deciding to tie it over her t-shirt, she slowly wrapped it around her shoulder, finding it quite it difficult to do it by herself.
After several failed attempts, she finally succeeded. Looking in the mirror, she made sure it was tied up properly. She finished up her head wound dressing much quicker and exited the bathroom, carrying her jacket in her hand. "That took a while," she said to Louis and Violet.
"Clem? Louis?" Violet asked. She was standing in front of the open closet, staring intently at something in her hands.
"Yeah?" Clementine walked up to Violet along with Louis.
"Take a look at this." Violet handed a photograph to them.
It was a woman holding hands with a man and smiling into the camera. Only, Clementine recognised the woman. Feeling a chill run down her spine, she remembered the photo she had in the diary she'd found in the store with AJ.
Rushing to her bag, she rummaged around for the book, pulling it out. Holding it open, the photograph tumbled out of the pages, falling onto the bed. She picked it up. It was the exact same photo Violet had found.
She turned it around, reading the message behind it.
'2001: The Beth Rivers and Matthew Smith Home – Love, Jonathan'. She turned it around again. The woman in the photo was Beth, the leader of Delta.
A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you thought of it by leaving a review :D