Chapter 29- Altered Skinny Dipping
"I don't trust you." Jacob put simply. His eyebrows were furrowed as he stared straight into Lottie's un-matching brown orbs.
The red-haired woman only stared back, half surprised, half expectant of Jacob's behaviour. They had been sitting in the small cave for quite a few hours now, surely Jacob would've made his decisions by now? Right?
"Look, I'm sorry but I gotta go. I have friends out there..." Jacob added as waiting for Lottie to respond was taking far too long.
Jacob then stood up, the feeling of being upright felt foreign for a few moments, but he soon regained his balance. Lottie only watched.
"You wouldn't make it one mile." she spoke from the ground.
Jacob turned and looked down at the redhead.
"Not in here I won't." he replied, adjusting his beanie. (Yes, it was probably the twentieth time Jacob had adjusted it in the cave...)
"I can help." Lottie said calmly, standing up but not moving any closer towards the man.
"I don't need your help." Jacob spat, however the words didn't come out as harsh as he thought.
He turned and started walking forward. The cave was dark and damp and Jacob couldn't see where the opening was, but he continued to walk. Lottie's footsteps echoed behind him.
"Do you trust me?" Lottie had asked again, now walking beside Jacob.
Jacob breathed in before replying.
"No."
Lottie's eyebrows knitted together in a way to show that she thought hard on what to say next.
"It's probably dark now, last I checked walkers were roaming around as well..." Lottie explained, her voice still calm as Jacob's footsteps came to a halt.
"What?" he questioned. Jacob fully understood what Lottie had said, he just wanted to know what she meant by it...
"Look, I'll let you go. But honestly, you won't make it one mile leaving now..." Lottie explains truthfully, watching as Jacob turns back to face her once again.
"You know how to mess with me now, don't ya?" Jacob said. He couldn't help but to not feel too angry...
"Now, now don't get your knickers in a twist!" Lottie teased as her expression went from neutral to grinning again.
"I don't wear knickers, thank you very much!" Jacob replies, his 'thank you' overly sarcastic.
"We'll see about that." Lottie says suggestively as she starts walking back to their spot, Jacob trailing behind slightly reluctantly.
"Stop with the creepiness, if I were a girl and you were a man, everybody would be freaking out! I'm a guy but I feel a little uncomfortable too, ya know!" Jacob complains all while Lottie just smirks.
"Everybody can't freak out because it's only you and I..." Lottie responded, turning around and walking up close to Jacob. She then proceeded to use her pale finger and draw an invisible line down Jacob's plaid shirt.
Jacob drew back, the same 'I'm giving you a chance, don't screw it up' expression on his face.
"Look, I hate you but at the same time I don't hate you as much as some others, but I will leave. I want to leave, but unfortunately you're right. Goddamn just let me sleep!" Jacob rants as he goes to sit down on the same spot where he had been held up for hours.
Lottie followed suit.
"You whine too much." Lottie says, not a single care in her voice for Jacob's complaints.
"Whatever." Jacob replies, folding his arms as Lottie simply smiles.
Cheshire cat, she's a fucking Cheshire cat.
"Alright, keep your head down." Clem whispered towards Imogen who nodded. Both girls were kneeling behind a large bush, listening out for any voices or walkers that could be around the area. So far the river seemed abandoned.
Clem carefully stood up, she outstretched her arms, aiming at nothing in particular as she searched the area with her eyes. It was too foggy to see perfectly, but luckily all Clem could spot was the river itself, the bridge and the dozens of trees surrounding her.
"Alright Imo, you can stand." Clem said, making her voice slightly more audible but keeping her tone low for precautions. The area was quiet but no less eerie...
Imogen stood up, her axe still in the 'ready to strike' position.
"It looks okay." Imogen point out as she also scanned the area with her blue eyes.
"Yeah, it does..." Clem replied, lowering her gun before tucking it back into her jeans.
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Imogen questioned excitedly. The blonde lowered her axe and skipped along the ground before stopping at the edge of the river.
Clem smiled and followed after, also excited to see water that she could easily clean up in.
Imogen knelt down in front of the water and placed her axe on the ground. She then cupped her hands together, gathered some fresh, cold water and splashed it all over her face. She squealed at first because of the temperature but giggled as she could feel the icky blood wash off her pale skin.
Clem chuckled at the girls behaviour, she was still young at heart despite them being the same age...
"C'mon Clem, this feels so nice!" Imogen exclaimed, splashing more water over her face and into her wavy blonde hair which she untied from its original ponytail.
"Alright..." Clem replied with a smile, kneeling down beside Imogen after taking off her backpack and placing it on the ground, along with her gun.
Imogen grinned happily before she gathered some water and proceeded to splash it over Clem's face.
Clem screeched in shock before wiping away the water from her eyes.
"You little bitch!" Clem almost shouted all while laughing as Imogen rolled over on the floor clutching her stomach.
Clem gathered some of the cool water and threw it onto Imogen's face, in which the blonde screeched at the cold contact.
"That's what you get!" Clem teased, gathering more water and splashing it over Imogen's dirty clothes.
Imogen couldn't hold her laughter any longer. She crawled to the very edge of the river, before standing up and pulling off her boots quickly.
"What are you doing?" Clem asked as she watched Imogen strip form her boots but nothing else.
"Getting cleaned up!" Imogen replied enthusiastically while Clem stood up.
"Are you sure? We have no change of clothes and we can't sleep in wet clothes!" Clem blurted out quickly as Imogen kept peaking at the water, reading to launch herself into the river.
"Don't worry Clem, we were going to have to wash our clothes anyway, they were going to get wet no matter what!" Imogen explains, with the same enthusiasm, a permanent smile etched onto her dripping wet face.
"What are you suggesting?" Clem questioned, her famous confused face most defiantly on show.
Imogen sighed before re-thinking her idea.
"What about we sleep in our bra, knickers and socks? They will stay dry and we can get cleaned up in our dirty clothes. We need to wash them, the smell is killing me!" Imogen explained almost impatiently while Clem still thought over what Imogen wanted to do.
"Imo, we'll freeze to death!" Clem said, concern in her voice. She wanted to have a little fun in the river to get her mind off Luke, but it was too risky.
"We'll make a fire!" Imogen retorted, her tone of voice sounded as if she was pleading but she still had an innocent smile on her face.
"In the dark? People will find us..." Clem replied sternly, however she couldn't help but to smile as Imogen hopped around desperately, wanting to get into the water.
"I've heard no one, it'll be fine!" Imogen argued back like a young child in which Clem stifled a giggle.
"Walkers could get us..." Clem considered.
Imogen let out an impatient moan but laughed slightly as Clem started to giggle, obviously not mad with her but considering the fun idea...
"You know what? Fine." Clem suddenly said. However, before she could continue, Imogen let out a yelp of success.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Imogen spoke breathlessly as Clem chuckled, trying to get the blonde to calm down.
"It's okay, but we still shouldn't clean up together, I'll keep watch just in case something happens, okay?" Clem explained while Imogen listened intently, nodding her head.
"Okay! I'll keep watch for you, right?" Imogen asked as she already started to pull off her leather jacket.
"Yes, exactly. I'll look away so you can take your... undergarments off." Clem replied while Imogen giggled again.
Clem then turned away and went to go rooting through her backpack. She still couldn't believe she kept hold of it since leaving the cabin. It felt like years ago... However, it wasn't like there were many supplies in the first place. No medicine, one can of beans, two nutrition bars and a plastic bottle full of air.
Not too long after, Imogen was done putting back on her filthy clothes. Her lilac bra and surprisingly matching knickers were placed on the ground beside her axe. Her socks were there also. Clem turned around to see Imogen grinning excitedly.
"Well? Get in, it'll be dark soon!" Clem says, happy that Imogen looked somewhat in her zone, no worries about how fucked up everything was around them...
"Yay!" Imogen cheered, her voice high pitched as she threw herself into the water, splashing around in half excitement and half 'Oh my God, the water's so cold!' manner.
Clem chuckled, zipping up her backpack and watching as Imogen messed around, not any concern for anything around her.
"Keep the noise down!" Clem hissed in a tone of voice just above a whisper. Imogen stopped splashing around and gave an innocent 'Oops, I forgot' expression before quietly going back to rinsing away the dirt and blood from her hair, clothes and skin.
Clem smiled to herself, envious that she made herself wait her turn to get into the water. This is also meant that Imogen's clothes would have more time to dry off.
As Imogen was too busy messing around in the river, Clem decided it would be a perfect opportunity to peel out of her clothes in order to remove her undergarments. Truthfully, Clem didn't want to get back into her filthy clothes but firstly, they were going to have to get washed anyway, and secondly, she didn't want to wash herself naked. Cleaning up while covered was the best choice...
Besides, if her bra, knickers and socks got wet, she would have to stay up all night naked. She would rather be half nude rather than going all natural... especially in these weather conditions.
Not too long after, Clem had managed to place her white undergarments (plus socks) besides Imogen's and was now only in her purple long-sleeved shirt and jeans. It felt awkward, not wearing a bra or knickers, especially under blood-coated clothes, but it was only temporary.
...
After just under ten minutes, Imogen was finished and pulled herself away from the water with a huge smile on her face.
Her clothes looked fairly clean and a good amount of blood and mud had been washed off, which left Clem excited to getting her purple top looking purple again.
"Your turn, I'll get a fire started!" Imogen explained happily as Clem nodded and made her way into the water.
The water was beyond freezing but it wasn't to a point where Clem thought she would get hypothermia, it was almost relaxing. (Like going into a sauna and not worrying about burning to death because of the heat...)
"You alright in there?" Imogen called out, noticing that Clem indeed felt the temperature of the water now that she was fully submerged from the shoulders down.
Clem turned around and nodded with a grin but quickly turned around and blushed when she saw that Imogen was standing fully naked, her lilac bra in her hands.
"Jesus Imo, could've told me you were naked!" Clem bellowed in which Imogen giggled, her sweet laughter echoing in the forest.
"Whoops, sorry!" Imogen replied, slipping on her undergarments. The fabric dampened as her skin was still dripping wet but Imogen didn't mind, she was happy to be clean.
"It's okay." Clem replied with a chuckle.
...
After a few minutes, the cold water became too much to bare...
Clem didn't understand how Imogen could last so long in the water, goosebumps coated her skin as she desperately tried to clean herself and her clothes as much as possible.
"Goddamn Imogen, how'd you last so long?! I'm freezing!" Clem explained, splashing water through her curly black hair and using her fingers to comb through the mess.
"I dunno, but I've got a fire started!" Imogen replied happily as she knelt by a small fire in her bra and knickers, holding up her ripped jeans to dry them quicker.
"Thank God!" Clem sighed. She finally gave in and pulled herself out of the biting water. Her clothes hugged her figure, in which Imogen giggled as Clem shivered, teeth chattering as she sat down by the fire.
"I won't look." Imogen says, putting down her jeans and passing over Clem's undergarments.
"Tha-thanks..." Clem replied, taking hold of her dry clothes and quickly stripping out her wet ones while Imogen politely looked away at trees behind her.
Once changed into less clothes, Clem surprisingly felt warmer.
Imogen's ideas were not that bad after all...
"Look at us, two girls half naked in the middle of the forest. When did it come to this?" Clem joked as Imogen turned around and nodded her head in agreement.
"It's pretty reckless, but hey! It was fun!" Imogen added, now holding her jeans back up to dry besides the flames.
"Yeah, I'll give you that. I still hope we find the others though, god I miss them..." Clem explained while squeezing access water out of her clothing before holding it up to dry.
"Me too, I bet they would love to get cleaned up!" Imogen responded, now lifting her red plaid shirt to dry.
Clem chuckled.
"Yeah, they'll be all bloody and filthy while us ladies will be fresh as daisies!" Clem said, exaggerating her voice in a humorous way. Imogen tried her best to stifle a giggle.
"Clem, we should've skinny dipped!" Imogen says after finally stopping herself from uncontrollably giggling.
"I was cold enough with clothes on, so no thanks!" Clem replied with a laugh. She shuffled closer to the fire and held out her top to dry.
"Still, it would've been fun..." Imogen remarked, imagining the scene take place inside her head.
The drying process took a long time but no danger came around making Clem feel more grateful than anything...
Luke was still out there, along with Seth and Jacob.
But having moments like these with Imogen were something to remember, a distraction from the unforgiving reality.
Clem looked up into the dark sky and watched the glowing moon...
Even in a dark world, beauty still existed.
Strangers who could make you smile, also existed.
And for that, Clementine was grateful.
