I felt myself stumble and trip over the dirt and rocky ground beneath me as I got out of the brush of the woods behind me. I looked desperately around and soon spotted Luke still sitting on the bumper, the best part was Luka wasn't with him. I ran towards him my shoes slapping against the hard frozen ground beneath them. He looked up and smiled slightly at me as I hugged him quickly AJ in between us.

"What made ya decide to come back?" Luke asked happily after a moment of pure silence. I broke away from the hug and hopped up on the bumper with him cuddling close for not only warmth but also safety.

"I almost got bit! AJ TOO!" I exclaimed still out of breath from the long sprint that I had just pulled off.

"Holy shit, are you two alright?" he asked worried. I nodded and swallowed hard still gasping for air.

"We were... just about to head out." Luke told me his soft voice settling me into a calmer mood. It was like silky melted chocolate. Why was it such a guilty pleasure? Did I like... like Luke before I lost my memory partially? Probably judging from the fact that a rush of that feeling of butterflies-in-your-stomach came over me and pulled me under. I dug my nails into his shirt and buried my head into it too feeling tears about to start flowing out.

"NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN, AND NEVER LET ME LEAVE YOU!" I shouted into his shirt my voice so muffled I wasn't sure he understood. I felt him wrap an arm around me and pull me into a hug.

"I won't Clem. I won't." he said. Silence filled the air in between us as my sobbing stopped. Nothing but pure silence.

"I need you to be strong though. Can you be strong right now?" he asked me. I nodded and wiped away a few more tears before smiling at him.

"I missed you." I said quietly.

"I missed you too Clem." he said as he hopped off the bumper and set me on the ground.

"Are we going to Wellington?" I asked partially happy partially sad. He nodded and opened the back door of the truck for me to climb in which I did. Lily, Glenn, Mike and Luka... Jack, Christa and Nicholas all came out, each of them carrying a duffel bag.

"Clem? I thought you left!" I heard Luka exclaim dropping her duffel bag on the ground with a large thud. I ignored her and instead put my feet up on the console whilst crossing my arms staring straight ahead.

"It's fine, you don't gotta talk to me if you don't want to." Luka said. "I mean if I had a crush on someone and then my friend kissed them I'd be pretty pissed too." I darted my head at her and furrowed my eyebrows. Luke's face went red hearing as the last part 'if I had a crush on someone' came out of Luka's mouth.

"Wait a minute you do-"

"Shut up." I said painfully as I stared up at the ceiling of the truck desperately wanting this conversation to end. Luka chuckled.

"You didn't know that?" she asked and Luke shook his head no but also yes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked a confused look on her face.

"I just, I did know but like I- I thought she'd probably be over it by now and so I-"

"Luke shut up!" I shouted again my face burning. Luka was grinning from ear to ear as she hopped into the passenger seat and threw her duffel bag into the back with me. Lily sat in the drivers seat, Jack back with me along with Luke and Christa. Nicholas, Mike, and Glenn all sat in the far back, like the outside of the truck. I looked up at Jack who was sitting to my right. He was grinning widely his eyes squinting almost.

"You like Lu-uke, You like Luke!" Jack teased. I felt my face burn red again as I slapped a hand over Jack's mouth.

"I knew it! You do like him don't you!" Jack said his voice muffled by my hand.

"JACK SHUT UP!" I whined clenching my teeth. I heard a chuckle and looked to my left to see Luke a half smile on his face which was also red.

"What?" I asked harshly. He just shook his head at me still smiling.

"Hey she's got a point at least." Christa butted in. We all turned and face her as her face lit up red too. "I mean like, at least she doesn't like Jack, that'd be a fatal flaw." Christa said.

"HEY!" he shouted trying to get at her but his seatbelt restraining him. Christa laughed. "I take strong offense to that Missy!" he said leaning back in his seat his arms crossed.

"Why? Do you LOOOOOVE her?" I asked making him blush widely.

"No I- just- I..." Jack struggled to get words out.

"Awww... Jack has a crush on Christa." I teased making his face turn a deeper red.

"Shut up." Jack said pouting. "You like Luke so I wouldn't be talking."

"Yeah but at least I don't stutter about it." I said grinning. Jack and I turned our heads to Luke and Christa who were cracking up behind us.

"Hey you two, quit it! I don't wanna be hearing about crushes the whole ride." Luka shouted from the front.

"Luka likes Luke!" Jack and I said at the same time.

"No I mean- I- GUYS STOP THIS SHIT!" she shouted her face bright red.

"Lets be honest everyone has a crush on Luke." I said.

"Yeah!" they all agreed besides Luke who's face was bright red like he was being pinpointed as the target, and Lily who had oddly been quiet the whole time. I opened the back window.

"Glenn, Mike, Nick!" I shouted. "Do you agree that everyone has a crush on Luke?" I asked. Glenn laughed and Mike looked confused. Nicholas blushed which was... odd. "Do you?" I asked. Glenn and Nick agreed but Mike still looked confused and lost which I let him be.

"They agreed. Besides Mike, he seemed lost. But that's only temporary!" I told them.

"What was their first reaction?" Lily asked. The first thing she'd said the entire drive.

"Why?"

"Those guys tend to have interest first reactions to things." she explained. "Like sometimes it uncovers something they've been hiding and stuff." Lily explained. I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see.

"Well, Mike looked lost, Glenn laughed and Nick blushed." I said. Luke's eyes went wide and not quite a frown or a smile was on his face. Lily almost choked, as she recovered she soon piggybacked on my answer.

Lily: Nick *Cough* *Chest pound* Nick blushed? *Embarrassed for Nick smile*

Me: Yeah, why?

Luke: (Silence)

Christa: No wonder we couldn't find a girl he liked.

Me: Wait... so you're saying...

Lily: *hysterical laughing*

Nicholas: *Pouting in the back his arms crossed*

Me: Everyone DOES have a crush on Luke.

Jack: I've known him since forever, how have you guys not picked up on that before?

Me: *Eyes wide* Holy shit,

Luke: *Frowns* Clem don't swear. It's not ladylike.

Me: I'm not ladylike though.

I felt the truck come to a halt as a speaker in front of us told us to stop. Lily stopped the truck and we all got out holding our hands in the air.

"Approach the gate. And don't even THINK about pulling out a weapon." The woman on the intercom said. As we got closer the woman came into view.

"How do we join?" I asked as we stood below a windowish gap above us.

"You're just in luck. I'm Edith, who are you guys?" Edith asked.

"I'm Clementine, that's Luke, over there is Luka, there's Christa, that's Jack, Nick, Glenn, Mike, Lily, and the most important of all little AJ." I said pointing to each person as I said their name. Edith came down and opened the gate for us.

"You're just in luck, a few weeks ago we weren't accepting new members."

"Glad we came this week then." Luke said a light smile on his face that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside even though he wasn't smiling to me.

"Oh Luke!" I shouted taking off Nick's hat and handing it back to him as I pulled out my own. He smiled.

"Thanks." he said as we all walked in to safety. So we thought.