An Alternate ending to If Only They Knew. Big thanks to Louche for the idea.
There are few changes, mostly towards the end.
Luke felt sick to his stomach with every minute that passed by.
Holding that little girl, who had been put through hell, made his heart clench. He could feel her little form trembling. He heard her tiny whimpers, her voice asking if he hated her.
Luke felt hot tears dripping down his cheeks, he pulled the child a little closer, being careful not to hurt her.
Carver deserved to die, Luke decided. He deserved a very slow and painful death.
The man was a horrible person. How anyone could hurt a child like that, was beyond Luke. No one deserved that. Luke couldn't help but feel at fault. He didn't know how that little girl couldn't hate him.
After dressing the child, he turned on the PA system as Clementine had told him to.
He was surprised that the girl was so selfless. Still thinking about the group even while she was injured. He then made his way back to the child and pulled her small body into his arms.
"Are we leaving now?" Clementine asked quietly.
"Yeah, Clem." Luke responded. "We're leaving."
"That's good." Clementine said.
They left the room, Luke carrying the young girl in his arms.
"Luke…" Her tiny voice pulled his attention to her.
"Yes?" He spoke.
"I'm tired…" The child said.
"I know, kid." Luke replied. He knew the girl was tired. She had to be completely exhausted.
He was getting lost in his thoughts. His mind was racing. He was unaware of the person approaching him from behind until he heard Clementine release a fearful whimper.
Luke looked down to the girl, seeing the look of horror in her eyes. "What-" Luke was cut off when he felt a cold metal touch the back of his head.
He tried to turn, but he heard a familiar voice. "Uh, uh, uh."
Clementine clung to Luke and he could feel her trembling again.
"Isn't that precious?" Bill sneered.
"Fuck you, Bill." Luke huffed.
Clementine kept quiet, wrapping her arms around Luke and laying her head on his shoulder.
"You're fucking disgusting. She's a kid." Luke snapped.
"She enjoyed it." Carver said. "I'm sure you did too."
With a glare, Luke stilled, keeping the girl in his arms. "You're a fucking monster-"
"Ah-ah-ah. Careful, Luke. You don't want to insult me. Not when I have a gun to your head, now do you?" Carver asked.
"No," Luke replied, bitterly.
"Good. Now I want you to put her down." Carver ordered.
Luke could feel him press the gun into his head and had no choice, but to put the child down.
The girl could barely stand; Luke couldn't believe that Carver was still torturing the little child.
"Walk." Carver aimed the gun at Luke, catching Clementine by the arm. The child tried to yank away.
Carver pulled her up into his arms, holding the gun to her head. Luke wanted nothing more than to grab that gun and shoot the man, but Carver deserve a much worse death than that.
Carver ordered for Luke to walk, pressing his gun into Clementine's temple. Luke had no choice but to listen.
Soon enough they arrived at the stockroom. The group was being held at gun point by Tavia, who was holding the baby in her arms, Hank, and another guard.
"Clementine!" Kenny yelled, "Put her down, you piece of shit."
"Nu-uh." Carver refused. "You wanna go, I'm not stopping you." Carver said. "But you're not taking her. Or my baby."
"He's not yours!" Rebecca cried.
"He IS mine." Carver replied. "And so is she. Ain't that right, honey?"
Clementine shot him a glare and started thrashing.
"Since I own her, I could just kill her." Carver shrugged.
Luke felt something snap in him. He was going to kill that man. He wanted to murder him in the most vicious way possible.
"Let her go, damn you!" Kenny yelled. Mike and Carlos grabbed the man, holding him back.
"No! Please, don't!" Sarah screamed, latching onto Nick fearfully.
"Let go!" Kenny snapped at the two holding him back.
Luke felt a firm hand grasp his arm and looked to Nick, before he could even realize that he was slowly stepping towards Carver.
Sarah's sobs… Clementine's thrashing. It was all making his anger grow more.
Carver placed the child on her feet, telling her how good she was.
Luke narrowed his eyes. "You're a sick fuck." He spat.
"I think Clementine disagrees. She enjoys what we do. Don't you?" Carver touched the top of the girl's head, but she didn't move. "Who do you belong to, honey?"
Clementine didn't answer.
"Good girls answer their masters." Carver sighed. "Now, who do you belong to?"
Clementine tried to force words out, but she couldn't. She opened her mouth, but no sound left, so she dropped her head.
Carver smirked, self-assured that things were going his way. "See, she's mine. She'll always be mine."
"Let her go, please, just let her go." Sarita begged
"You wanna leave, go. But she's not going nowhere and neither is my baby." Carver could feel the little girl's hand on the side of his pants. He chuckled, "You jealous cause I'm not giving you attention?"
Kenny broke from Carlos' and Mike's grasp and took a step forward. He didn't have to do anything, however as a gunshot rang out and Carver let out a yell, falling to the ground.
Everyone's eyes widened and they turned to Clementine who was holding Carver's gun.
Carver fell to the ground, holding a hand over his bleeding stomach.
"Bill!" Tavia cried."
Luke took the opportunity to yank the gun from her hands, and point it at the other guards. "Drop the weapons."
The guards did so.
"Kill him." Rebecca said.
"Rebecca…Rebecca, sweetie, my God... How did we get her you and me?" Carver said, shaking his head.
"Shoot him." Clementine said, eyes dark with hate.
"Clementine, honey… not you too." Carver said. "You know you don't want me dead. Who would make you feel good if I was gone?"
"Shut up!" Clementine snapped. "I hate you. I HATE YOU! Just shoot him."
"W-Why don't you shoot me?" He asked the child smugly.
"I would," Clementine said.
"Why don't you?" Carver asked again.
"Gun's out of bullets." The girl scoffed.
"Ain't that a shame." Carver chuckled.
"Shut the fuck up Bill." Luke growled.
"Some balls you got…" Carver said. "I guess it's different when you're the one holding the gun."
Luke didn't respond. He only sent the man a cold look.
"You gonna shoot me now?" Carver asked. "Go ahead then."
Carver laughed at him, a weak but mocking laugh that made Luke hate him even more.
"I'm not afraid of death." Carver said.
Luke shot him a glare. He wanted to make Carver beg for his life, but instead the man wore a smug smile on his face. Luke felt his blood boil as Carver taunted him.
"G-Go on and pull the trigger. Don't be a bitch…" Carver said.
For one moment he hesitated, but once he saw the smirk on the man's face he felt angry boil over. The bastard thought this was a game.
Finally, Luke had enough. Fury coursed through him as he remembered what the man had done. How much he had made Clementine hurt. How he had scarred that girl for life.
In a flash, he aimed the gun and fired.
The explosive sound of the shot echoed with total violence.
Luke fired multiple shots, making sure not to hit any vital spots. He wanted the man to suffer.
Carver cried and pain and weakly moved to try to get away, but there was no chance. There was no mercy for him.
After pumping nearly ten bullets into him, Luke stood over Carver's blood-splattered body and shot him twice more, right below the waist.
Luke could have just shot him once and ended it there, but he had other plans for the man. For Luke it was not enough just to merely kill him. He wanted him to know he was dying, that he was only minutes, if not seconds away from death.
He fired one last shot, a single round into Carver's neck. Blood spilled from his carotid artery. The man's screams where suddenly drowned out by a deep gurgling sound as Carver tried in vain to stop the blood from flowing.
"How does it feel to have your life slowly draining from you, you bastard?" Luke asked.
Carver couldn't respond. Not that Luke expected him to.
A look of terror filled Carver's eyes as the man realized he was going to drown in his own blood.
Luke turned to Clementine, who had stayed and watched the entire scene.
Most of the group had left to wait outside, not wanting to witness the brutal execution.
Kenny and Rebecca were beside Clementine. The little girl stood wide eyed, still trembling in fear.
Luke slowly approached the girl, but she flinched back. "Hey… It's okay…" He spoke gently. He pulled the child into a hug.
Luke knew it would take a long time for Clementine to recover from the saga of nightmarish events. All he could do was be there for her. He hoped time would heal and rekindle the trust she once had for people.
Clementine's eyes flashed towards Carver. The man was quickly losing blood, Clementine had no sympathy for him. She never thought she would want to see a person dead, but now she wanted nothing more than to kill him herself.
As Carver laid out on the ground bleeding to death, Clementine felt Luke pick her up. She shuddered as her eyes met Carver's cold gaze one last time before Luke carried her out of her hell. Finally, releasing her from her prison.
