3:01 PM - January 10th, 2026 - Jenny's Porch
Art [Clementine]
Even with Christmas now a close memory, snow wouldn't quit falling in piles right above Clementine's hat as she jogged across the nearby road. She nearly hid under Lee's jacket, scarf hanging just under her nose. Nowadays she missed those earmuffs more than anything. Carried by a pair of dirty gloves was an awfully large bottle of apple juice. Jenny'd said to bring snacks that day, which happened to be extra trying seeing as Lee never had any.Everyone did always say she was good at improvising, though!
Clementine stopped by Jenny's door in a slow halt, careful not to slip on any ice. The shaky girl leaned forward slightly, eyeing the frozen water under her boots. Lacking a real mirror, she made sure her reflection had its teeth clean, pigtails tidy, and sweat not too noticeable.
All she had to do next was ring the doorbell. Be cool, be cool.
Dot [Jenny]
It was another cold Saturday morning, growing ever fiercer in its intensity as winter grew harsher; Jenny found the cold the perfect reason to stay indoors for the day. Usually, they'd all gather at her house for game night on Sundays, but today just seemed perfect for it. Especially since Clementine finally agreed to actually come to one of these get-togethers, after some intense coaxing by the older teen.
Not that she didn't enjoy hanging out with Clem alone; she'd gotten the girl out of her shell, for the most part, and had become a legitimate highlight of her week when she'd come over or help out with her work in the garage. Underneath that aging, dirty baseball cap was the noggin' of a smart, caring girl, and she found her refreshing to have around.
So when her doorbell rang, she quickly slid across her hardwood floor in her socks, opening up the door hastily. "Clem!" She practically cheered the girl's name before pulling the girl into a hug, dragging her indoors by her hand. "You're just in time. We already got everything set up in the living room. Parents are working for the next couple hours, so we get to chill in peace."
Smiling widely, she prepared herself to drag Clementine into the living room. "C'mon, I want you to meet the gang!"
Art [Clementine]
Clementine fell ill to a sloppy smile and a pair of bright, rosy cheeks, forcing the girl to further hide under the large scarf of hers.
Jenny was always a little much, but not in a way she really ever minded. She was totally fearless, vocal about everything, never too shy of getting physical. She just... felt like a normal person. With a mom and dad, and a house, and a room to trash... who never had to lose a friend, or kill someone who deserved it. Same way it made her feel prudent, to Clem there was something sort of attractive about it. Like this was her shot at being like other girls, just one time.
If that was even possible anymore...
Her bottle of apple juice left on the kitchen table, she was dragged straight into the lion's den. Clementine felt weak at the knees. The smile she forced lay behind a cream scarf, and her wave nearly obscured by sleeves longer than her arms.
She'd never had to talk to this many people her age.
Dot [Jenny]
Jenny closed the door behind her friend, following her excitedly into the living room, where her two friends were already neck-and-neck on a game of Mario Kart. Jenny plopped herself down on the couch behind her two friends, patting a spot next to her for Clementine before pointing towards her friends with a gentle wave of her hand.
"These two idiots are Kevin and Nicky. Kevin's probably the biggest nerd here, besides me, and Nicky likes to think she can outrun a car." Jenny's smile widened then, turning into a smirk just as quickly. "She says she has before, but I don't believe her."
Kevin barely glanced towards Clementine as she entered the room, but just long enough to flash her a small smile. "Hey. Welcome." He returned his gaze back to the game, fully immersed in kicking Nicky's ass probably.
Looks like he was losing too.
Art [Clementine]
Clementine snuck past the TV screen so as not to get in the way, stepping through a minefield of cable chords and old cartridges. Like the flip of a switch, following Jenny's lead, Clem flung her behind at the couch, trying to shake away all those jitters by letting it a little loose. Bouncing up and down, she went right back into her own head, looking sideways at Jenny and her friends. 'Kay. We're having fun today. I can be fun.
She squinted at the tube television sitting atop a pile of books - lit and bright with sparks and colors. Engines roared, tires scraping against banana peels, karts sent flying by flashing turtle shells. Clementine felt enthralled like never before. The girl's eyes were wide as though nothing else ran through the space between them. And on top of all that, a dumb grin too hard to wipe off. The other girl with the gym shorts, the one Jenny called Nicky, she stood up on top of the couch, fast enough for Clem to miss it completely. Nicky looked intense, braided hair then resting over her brown eyes and dark skin. That tough grimace of hers quickly turned into a sneer. "Suck my dick, Kev!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, tumbling back down and bursting into laughter as her green dinosaur crossed the finish line in first place.
"Did you win?" Clementine asked, and Nicky returned a glance.
"I crushed him. Just the worst racer in the whole Mushroom Kingdom."
Clementine blinked once and pursed her lips.
"...That's the name of the-... Mm, Forget it."
Dot [Jenny]
"I'm not the worst racer," Kevin responded indignantly, his frown quickly turning into a smile as he chuckled. Jenny watched the display with a wide smile, shifting in her seat on the couch until she was comfortable.
And with a grin, she joined the fun. "He totally is."
"Don't you start, Jen," Kevin added, almost on the verge of pouting, before he pushed himself up, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from where he'd sat them down on the coffee table. "Beat her for me, will ya?" Jenny nodded enthusiastically before catching the remote that Nicky threw to her while Kevin slinked out of the room, quickly choosing her usual character – cause Toad was the cutest - before shifting in her seat to scoot closer to Clementine.
"Watch me while I play, I'll try and teach you the controls as we go," Jenny whispered, and with that, she cleared her throat, raising her voice so Nicky could hear. "Hey, bet you five ration cards I'll beat your ass."
Art [Clementine]
"Nah. You get to lose for free," Nicky joked and fired up another game. They selected their characters like they'd done so a thousand times before, at the speed of light, and landed on a race track called Rainbow Road. Clementine sat upright, eyes glued to the screen as if a single second missed would be too much. The numbers 3, 2, 1flashed on the screen, and both racers dashed onward across an actual rainbow up in space.
Nicky kind of nailed it, actually. There were lots of tight curves and about twice as many turtle shells zig-zagging through the track, but not one of them stopped Nicky's dinosaur from winning another easy first place. Jenny's mushroom-boy wasn't as lucky. Both Clem and the loser sat in silence while Nicky's playful laugh warped into a snort.
"So, which one's the gas pedal?" Clementine asked, flashing a nervous smile.
Dot [Jenny]
Nicky always was the best player in their group, and Jenny absolutely hated her for it sometimes. Granted, that didn't stop Jenny from acting cocky the instant her hands were on the controller, but Nicky showed her up by claiming first place, though she still managed to nab second place. Screw you, AI drivers! Still, she accepted her defeat with poise, sighing before shifting in her seat, showing Clementine the controls while doing so.
When she'd explained everything she had to, she looked over to Nicky, holding out a hand. "Lemme play her real quick. Not fair to her to throw her in with the Mario Kart Sensei."
She winked towards Clem. "Unless you want the challenge."
Art [Clementine]
She shot Jenny a nervous smile, her eyes fleeing when the other girl's pair sought them out. "I wanna play you." And not... totally embarrass myself.
Clem kept changing which hand held each side of the controller, silently begging to know how you were supposed to do it with only two. One minute glancing away from the TV and they were already selecting their racers - Jenny picking her mushroom boy like how you'd pick the same clothes to school. Clementine leaned toward the big dragon with the big teeth and the big kart. He was gonna eat 'Toad' for breakfast. Nicky, sitting comfortably and basking in her glory, quietly cheered the new girl on. "Clementine?" She waved at her. "Hey, you can do it. Just don't drive into the water."
But then... once the race started, Clem lagged behind the entire time. She'd run into walls, had wheels stuck in the sand, and crashed straight into the same pool of water every single lap. Her cheeks were flushed by the end of the third one, boiling in frustration as she forgot which button did what for the seventh time. The final lap tune kicked in and all hope was lost.
Dot [Jenny]
She honestly felt bad for Clem; that pond she kept driving into had always tripped her up when she first started playing, and it took countless hours of practice to nail the course without crashing. Clem would get there someday, she'd make sure of it.
The final lap came, and Jenny managed to secure a huge lead; then again, Clem was behind the rest of the bot players in the game, so it wasn't much of a competition anymore. She crossed the finish line without much fanfare, passing Clem an apologetic glance when she eventually made it to the end herself.
"Not bad for your first game, Clem," Jenny said through a small smile, glancing up just in time to see Kevin closing her front door, the acrid smell of cigarette smoke following him in. Jenny's nose flared, yet she ignored it. They'd had that fight enough, no need to have it in front of her new friend.
Kevin glanced towards the screen as it showed the list of racers and their placings in the race, scoffing. "Damn, Jen, you even give her a chance?"
Jenny rolled her eyes, looking towards Clem once more. "Ignore him, he's a dick sometimes." Brown eyes returning to Kevin, she indicated the other two controllers on the ground in front of the TV. "Alright gang, it's time. Let's fucking go."
Jenny once again chose her mushroom boy, watching as Kevin chose Luigi. This game was going to be awesome , she just had a feeling.
Art [Clementine]
The race kicked off to an awful start as Clem's dragon immediately went off the tracks and ran into a wall. Her kart's wheels spun helplessly on the grass as everyone else zipped right past. Nicky and her dinosaur, on the other hand, stuck real close to Kevin's mustachio-man up until the very end, when she got hit by two consecutive turtle shells.
Clementine's forehead was boiling with rage while the girl struggled her way to fourth place, smashing the break button at every turn. As the finish line approached, Nicky's kart slowed down to a halt because she 'ran out of gas,' allowing Clementine to snag third place at the last possible second. Clem didn't quite get it, but the other teen insisted it was a thing. "I won!" Clementine exclaimed. The fact that there were other racers other than Nicky, simply slipping through her mind.
"I love this game."
Dot [Jenny]
Seeing Clementine having fun made her feel better about the fact she and Kevin had practically lapped Nicky and Clem by the time they made it across the finish line. She gave her newfound friend a high five when she crossed the finish line herself, glancing towards Nicky with an amused expression. Looks like she wasn't unbeatable after all.
They played for a while longer, Clementine slowly getting better at the game. By the time they'd finished their last match, which they'd done tournament style, the sun had long since gone down, and her parents were probably on their way home. So, begrudgingly, they shut off the console, stashing away the controllers and heading back towards the foyer.
"You nearly had me there, N," she stated through a smile, exchanging fist bumps with Nicky and Kevin, who'd just came in from smoking. "Next week, same time. We'll pull out Smash."
With that, she turned towards Clementine, shrugging her shoulders. "You wanna hang out for a bit? Or do you gotta get home?"
She'd feel bad if she didn't get to talk to her friend alone today; she was probably overwhelmed from hanging out with her other friends all day.
Art [Clementine]
Clementine looked thoughtful - in a silly, aloof kind of way. She pulled at her scarf, staring at the blank empty white outside Jenny's window. The sun stooped behind the snowy mountains in the distance, letting them cast their wide shadows, like Jenny's enthusiasm cast one over Clem's stream of thoughts. She smiled, after, twirling a finger in between threads of yarn hanging from her neck. "Can we do a sleepover?"
Dot [Jenny]
Jenny would be lying if she said that Clem's proposition wasn't at all tempting, which is exactly why she grinned, letting the front door shut behind Nicky and Kevin as they each headed back home. "Dude, yes, I haven't had a sleepover in forever," she practically exploded in delight, giddy at the thought. "Mom and Dad are making stew, and I can teach you how to play Smash so you can beat Nicky next week. Fuck yes, this is gonna be awesome!"
"Maybe I'll finally get to see you with your hair down," Jenny nudged the other girl playfully, giggling. "You always wear it up like that."
Art [Clementine]
The wisecrack from Jenny had her ears burning up. Clementine duly hid what she could under her scarf, not that it did much. At least, never enough to hide such a big and loud smile. "Yeah. For sure..." She said, and suddenly nothing else was in the girl's mind.
When night fell, Jenny's neighborhood returned to its conventional silence. Most kids were comfy in their beds by that hour. Actually... probably most adults, too. Snow still gathered in tiny mountains outside the window, but inside, it was warm enough to stay barefoot. Clem had gone back home to do the tried and tested 'warn Lee first' routine; to grab a toothbrush while she was at it, and her comfiest pajamas: the plaid, violet ones. Clementine changed inside Jenny's bathroom in what had to be a rush. Sure wasn't any other name to call it, besides maybe panicked excitement. Her fluff of hair was all loose for the first time in a while, hanging off the top of her head in long, messy, brown tangles. For a second that didn't seem to end, the mirror there was her best friend. A brave ally only to be discharged when Clem was super sure she looked... kinda cute.They had one comb there, looking a little on the old side, but she put it to good use. Clem brushed all her hair to one side, and once that reflection of hers had her attention again, she could swear it was a totally different person on the other side. She breathed in, smiled, and gave herself a confident nod.
It felt like the whole world was staring at her when Clementine opened the door, but somehow it was just her. Just Jenny. The most she could do was send a nervous shrug her way, and try not to look scared. This was definitely outside her comfort zone.
Dot [Jenny]
Electronic parts laid scattered across Jenny's bed as she fiddled with a handheld radio. This one had been giving her trouble for the past couple days, and with Clementine changing in her bathroom, she used this chance to try and figure it out. Turned out, it had a bad wire somewhere, which was an easy enough fix, but as Clementine opened the bathroom door, Jenny decided it would be best to leave that for the morning. Instead, she gathered up the parts, preparing to stash them on the desk sitting next to her bed, before looking towards Clementine with her usual smile, complete with a set of teeth that wasn't exactly perfect, but no one really was, so she just did her best to have the best hygiene she could.
Looking at Clementine then, honestly, she could barely recognize her.
"Damn, why don't you wear your hair like that all the time?" She let out a slight chuckle, relaxing onto her bed once more. "You'd turn heads all across town."
"Maybe get Carl to look at someone else other than Lydia for a change," she added with a hint of an eyeroll.
Art [Clementine]
She was the one about to roll her eyes, only an ugly laugh beat her to it. "Right. As if."
Part of her, though - a sneaky one; it kept tugging at the edge of her lips. Forcing smiles she just couldn't keep tucked away. It wasn't often other people told her she looked pretty. Pretty much never when you were on the road, right? Hearing it from Jenny, though... that was pretty cool.
Clementine swiped away the other girl's chords and transistors tossed around the floor, making space for a second mattress next to Jenny's bed. This was so cool! A proper sleepover, with snacks and PJ's, and no one to tell them what time to go to bed. It felt like they were holed up in a fortress where no one else could come in. A place just for them, where they made up all the rules. Some flock of bashfulness did come about, over being so pumped for a slumber party. But so long as no one else knew, no one could keep Clem from being the most giddy teen in all of Jackson. At least just for that night.
Clem only wished she was here, too.
Clementine glanced at Jenny's bed in an off-hand way, wishing the thought would go away on its own. It felt better to talk about it, instead of mulling over it until dawn. At least it felt that way, in the moment... "You know, I - don't remember if I ever told you..."
"When I met my friend Ellie, we were... all alone in this spooky suburb. Sort of like here in Jackson, only it was outside, and there was nobody else around. We were waiting for the rest of our group to find us... So, when it got dark, we did a sleepover. Sort of."
"And, uhm... It wasn't on the spot or anything like that, but we... we were best friends, after." The girl leaned her arms over Jenny's cushion, staring at her with the most hopeful pair of eyes she'd ever aimed at anyone. "So just think of it as a... a rite of passage. Right? We make it 'till morning and we're friends. Forever."
"Not - Not forever... If you don't want to... Maybe just for a while...?"
Dot [Jenny]
Looking at that hopeful gaze Clementine had on her face made it so obvious to her how much she really needed this: someone to talk to, to be their friend through thick and thin. It was something, honestly, Jenny had been hoping for since the day they met outside the garage. Because Clementine was probably the most real person she'd met since getting here, even more so than Kevin or Nicky, both of whom she adored like family.
And the thought that Clementine didn't think they were friends yet made this all the more necessary, because it was already true.
"About as forever as it gets in this world," Jenny stated through a smile of her own, lifting a fist and holding it out towards Clementine. "Bring it in."
Art [Clementine]
Clementine flashed her a grin, only to slip away from sight, right under her friend's nose. "You got it! One sec." She dug her hands into the mattress, searching. And before Jenny could get a second glance, a pillow flew right toward her face.
If nothing else, Clem seemed pretty amused. "How's that for bringing it in?"
It was a good throw.
Dot [Jenny]
The pillow had caught her off-guard, she was hesitant to admit, but she giggled all the same.
"You bitch!" She shrieked gleefully, grabbing the pillow and throwing it back at her. She was already moving to grab another before Clementine could even react.
It's on. It was so fucking on.
Art [Clementine]
Too busy laughing until her insides ached, Clem took a hard pillow to the head that sent her tumbling straight down. That, of course, meant war.
She used her pillow as a shield to Jenny's assault, and fired right back: one that flew right past Jenny's nose, colliding with the wall, and one precise shot that hit the other girl square in the forehead. The killing blow! "Yield!" Clementine cried as she charged toward the enemy camp, smacking her friend in the shoulder with a deadly pretend-axe. Now that she was hopping on Jenny's bed, Clem knew she was invincible.
Dot [Jenny]
Just as quickly as it had begun, Clementine had gained the upper hand. Weaponless – pillowless – Jenny tried to grab onto the girl's arm and knock her off of her, and safely onto the other side of her bed, but that was a fool's dream, it turned out. Instead, Clementine remained on her feet, poised for another blow with her pretend-axe, to which Jenny desperately held up her hand to stop her.
"I yield, O Knight of the Divine Axe!" She shouted. "Spare me, and I shall join ye on your quest!"
Art [Clementine]
"Denied!" Said the knight as she brought her pillow down to bonk Jenny in the head. The act ended right when Clem burst out laughing again, and dropped down on top of Jenny's cushion, belly facing up.
"Alright, I'm done." She wiped a tear from her eye with the palm of her hand and flashed a loud grin.
Dot [Jenny]
Jenny was laughing alongside her, gasping for air as she tried to speak. "I – wow, you totally just executed me. That's cold. Real cold." The grin on her face almost hurt, yet she managed to hold it all the same.
"Plus ten XP to your deviousness level," she finished with a chuckle.
Art [Clementine]
Clementine laughed. "You're talking gibberish again." She hoped her parents weren't awake to hear it too, or no doubt they'd be hearing pleads to pipe the whole thing down all the way from the other room. Wasn't it way past midnight? The thought alone had adrenaline pumping through Clem's veins, even when her eyelids felt so darn heavy.
The lights turned dim, soon, and Jenny's room went pitch dark. All but her bedside corner that gleamed warmly with a candle. Clementine was wrapped in blankets to scare off the cold, sitting excitedly while she tossed whatever small talk she could to make that night just a little longer. She'd ran through an entire mental checklist, and could very well go on forever, if anyone cared to listen. "Now," she said, "tell me something about you that no one else knows. The bigger the secret, the better."
Dot [Jenny]
Like all the other times Jenny had been reminded that Clementine didn't get the chance to grow up behind these walls, her knowing nothing about video games kept coming back. Still, she managed to chuckle at what her friend said, rolling her eyes.
As they settled in for the night, Clementine piped up in the darkness, asking a question that she, for a while, was unsure of how to answer. Living in Jackson, there wasn't much you could keep secret. Small communities, and all that. Still, there was one thing that came to mind, and sharing it with Clementine just… made sense, given the baseball-capped girl's experience.
"I, uh…" She started, rubbing at her eyes as if it'd make the words easier to say. "I'm not really good, outside the walls. Like… I've been out there, plenty of times. Spent months on the road with my parents before we got here, but… I just never learned how to survive out there. How to handle the infected. Kinda makes me envious, of you." She paused. "You know what you're doing. Even if you had to go through so much just to get there."
She rolled over in her bed, glancing towards Clementine in the pitch-black room, smiling. "Your turn."
Art [Clementine]
She listened, more fondly than Jenny could imagine, and Clem sighed through her nose when words failed to come. Maybe the whole idea was a mistake. Would've been easier to keep playing all night and just ignore the white noise, rest of the world be damned. Never worked. They were both still kids - little dumb kids that played pretend, until real life sunk back in and dragged them through the mud. Clem thought if not her, someone else would have to do it. She'd rather it be her.
Clementine braced herself, arms around her knees. It felt like plunging down a cave, always. But there wasn't a whole lot waiting at the bottom. "Honestly...? There's nothing to envy."
"I hate killing walkers. I hate killing people, too.
"And I have," she added, as if her friend wouldn't believe her otherwise. "More than once, and not 'cause I had to. Before... Before here, I hadn't had a home in forever. I barely remember my Mom and Dad anymore."
"Kind of wish I stayed with them, sometimes..." She felt ashamed for admitting it. She knew Lee would, too, to hear her whisper it, but he wasn't here. It was just them. It was just them and no one else. "You're so lucky, Jenny. Don't waste that envying me."
Dot [Jenny]
Listening to her words then, Jenny regretted saying what she did. Digging up old feelings no doubt Clementine would rather wish stayed buried. Still, she tried her best to put on a disarming smile, in hopes that would make Clementine feel better.
Like her mother would always say, you never want to go to bed angry, or sad, or anything, well, negative.
"I'm sure they miss you too," she eventually stated quietly, rubbing her thumb against Clementine's shoulder as if trying to reassure her. "You wanna talk about something else?" She offered the question as a way out, unsure of how to steer them into more pleasant waters in this midnight conversation.
Art [Clementine]
Whether Jenny heard her - really heard her, Clem couldn't know. All that stuff Jackson's barrier kept away, hidden like a bad memory... for people like Jenny, maybe it was. Something you could close your eyes to and forget about. She struggled so much to figure out what it was, before, the thing that made her friend feel so normal. Now it stared her in the face with that weak, forgiving smile that she could only nod back to.
Clementine realized that she was never going to fit in with them.
It wasn't so bad to pretend. Her parents, and Luke, and Ellie, and all in-between. Tune it all out. "So, here's one. What's your favorite color?"
Just one night of pretending. One night would do her good.