Luke:
Luke looked down at the young girl as the made their way to the bridge. "Hey, kid, sorry about dragging you along here, but I need the help. Andy's not in much shape to do anything, Nick's a wreck, Carlos has to watch out for Sarah, and Alvin's looking out for his wife. That leaves you."
"Its okay. I can handle it." Clementine said confidently.
"Well, you won't have to handle it for long. Carlos thinks that if Andy was gonna kick the bucket, he woulda done it already."
"Oh, well... thats good."
There it is again. Luke thought to himself.
"Luke, I've been meaning to ask you... why is Carver still following us?"
How to put this... "What's the most important thing in this world?"
"Wouldn't that you depend on who you ask?"
"In that case, what do you think matters most to Carver?"
"Safety?"
"Kinda. Think about it. What's the one thing that we've got that Carver, or any man really, would even consider walking hundreds of miles to get back?"
Clementine thought for a moment before answering, "Family?"
"Bingo. It's a tough world out here with out people you can trust, and I can't imagine going through this without having someone to care about." He saw the lingering confusion in the young girl's eyes. "Look... You can ask Rebecca, I don't want to get in the middle of this." He saw Clem's eyes widen with understanding.
"We've all made mistakes, ya know. Done things we've regret. It wouldn't be right for to go talking about someone else's past. I've got more than enough splinters in my own eye, so to speak.
"I know what that's like." She said in the same sad tone she used when she poured out to him on the couch less than a week ago. How she blamed herself for the deaths of so many people.
"Yeah." Luke said sadly.
They were at the bridge now, the sunset light casting everything in a pale shade of orange light. the bridge looked passable, but still looked fairly ragged. This bridge has probably gotten more traffic since the plague than it got in the past 15 years.
There were two lurkers in front of the bridge, one that was torn in half and "sitting" up against a rock, and the other was just standing there. "Come on, get down." Luke said as he motioned towards a rock that the two of them could hide behind.
"Two of us, two of them. We can't use guns." He looked down at the young girl, "what do you think."
"Lets take 'em." Luke saw her smile from the moment he asked her for an opinion.
"I like the way you think kid." He pulled out his machete and pointed." I'll take the big one, you get shorty. You've got your hammer, right?"
"Yep."
Good, lets go.
Luke creeped up to the lurker in front of him, who was blissfully unaware of it's fate. He had done this thousands of times. Once he was in range. He swung his blade right down the center of the monster's skull, killing it instantly.
He looked over to his left towards his young ward and saw her trying to pull her hammer out of the short one's skull. "Just keep on pulling, it'll come free."
"I know, I've done this before. Remember? In a shed?"
Luke frowned at the memory. I'd probably have taken the whole ordeal with a lot less grace then she has.
After a couple of moments, she managed to pull the hammer free. "Nice job Clem." He said as he reached down for her to give her a high five. We must look ridiculous, he thought to himself, I'm soaked in blood and I want this little girl to give me a high five.
She gave him the high five regardless. "Good work Kid. Come on, lets get moving." The two of them walked side by side down the bridge.
"You see him?" He asked Clementine as the hooded man walked down the bridge. He looked like he had some sort of rifle with him.
"Yeah."
Luke out his hand next to his holstered gun. "Just play it cool. And you're doing the talking."
"I don't want to get into a fight. Do you really think he'd kill a little girl like you?"
"He wouldn't be the first to try." Good point.
"Well, you'll be fine. If he tries anything, I'll just shoot him first. Just don'to make any sudden moves. And don't piss him off.
"Luke, maybe you should do the talking. This is dumb."
"Yep. I'll do the talking. You just try to look adorable."
The man on the other side of the bridge started talking, "Well, who are you guys?"
"I'm Luke. The girl's name is Clementine."
"Luke and Clementine." The man seemed to think about there names before coming a bit closer. "Well, you don't look like assholes. Are you assholes? I'm not trying to be rude, but you know how things are out here... you meet lots of assholes."
"We're just people. We're kinda lost." Luke said.
"Let me guess:" the man said as he walked up to a close distance to the two of them "You're heading north, just like everyone else?"
"Everyone else?"
"I usually see about one group a day come this way."
"Have you seen a man named Omid?" Clementine spoke up? "He would have come this way sometime recently?"
"Omid? I can't say that I have. Sorry." The man turned to face Luke again, "Look, the two of you look like shit. If you need food, I've got some spare stuff in the station over on the other side"
Is that so? That sounds awfully convenient of you. "Thats nice of you. What's the catch?" He asked harshly.
"No catch. I've got more than enough left over."
I'll play along for now. "Well alright then. Thanks." He forced himself to smile in spite of the bad feeling he had in his stomach.
"No problem. After I get you guys some food, you're welcome to come..." Luke saw the man squint his eyes. "What the hell man?"
Luke turned around and saw Nick sprinting across the bridge. "What the hell is he doing?" His question was answered when he saw nick lift up his crossbow at the stranger. Within moments, the stranger had lifted up his rifle.
Luke lifted his hands "No, no, no! He's with us, don't shoot!" he turned around to face his friend, "NICK, DON'T!"
"Don't shoot!" the girl cried out.
Luke grabbed Clementine's shoulder and forced her to the ground, and hit the floor. When he looked up, he saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of the man's neck. He lifted up his rifle, fired a single shot somewhere in Nick's direction, and stumbled off the bridge.
AN: I'm sorry this chapter took a while longer than usual to be finished. there's been a death in my family, so things have been really busy over the last few days.
Also, the next chapter might be delayed based on what happens in the next episode. Regardless, have a good week, and enjoy In Harms Way.