"Clem!" No response.

"Clem!" Nothing once again.

"Clem!" Finally after Aj's persistent yelling, Clementine slowly opened her eyes.

"Aj?...Where…. Where am I?" Clementine asked as she scanned her surroundings. It was dark. Very dark. All that she could see as she looked around was Aj, only because he was right in her face screaming at her.

"We're in the basement of the school, those sons of bitches locked us down here" Ruby said as she walked close enough to Clementine for them to see each other. "You okay?"

"Yeah i'm fine, I think. How did I go out anyways?" She tried to think back to what could've happened, but the last thing she remembered was being forced into the back of the military truck by Ramirez and his goons.

Ramirez.

He was going to pay, that Clementine knew.

"Well, I don't know really. You just passed out in the back of the truck. We were all really worried about you. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes I feel fine" Clementine responded as she went to stand up. "Where are my crutches?"

Louis walked over to the trio with a look of fury on his face. "That asshole Ramirez took them." He clenched his fists, wishing that there was something he could've done to stop him.

Clementine sat back down against the wall and cracked her knuckles. She wouldn't be able to walk, but she had to find a way to escape from the basement. The place only gave her bad memories, it was the one part of the school that she tried to avoid ever since the incident with Marlon and Brody.

"We have to get out of here" Clementine said as she once again looked around the area. Her eyes were slowly but surely adjusting to the dark, so everything was becoming clearer. The basement was completely emptied out, with the rest of the Ericson survivors scattered around the floor, along with Javier and Gabe standing in the corner near the basement entrance.

"And then what?" Violet asked as she pointed to the ceiling. "There's about fifty people above that'll shoot right when they see us try to leave. It's pointless."

"Well we can't just stay here" Clementine argued. "They're going to kill us either way. We have to do something." Clementine had enough of getting bullied around by these guys. If she was going to go down it was going to be as a warrior, not as a prisoner.

Violet shook her head as she sat back down. To her it was pointless to even try. "Knock yourself out then Clem. The door's locked and there's nothing down here to open it up with. We're stuck."

"We can't just give up!" Aj yelled as he ran over to the basement doors. "We're gonna get out of here guys, we have to." He started furiously shaking the doors to the basement with all of the strength in his small body. Sadly, his efforts were not rewarded as the door didn't budge at all.

Aj pouted as he sat back down next to Clementine and crossed his arms. It was starting to become clear to everyone that Violet might be right. There was no way to escape, they were trapped.

"This wouldn't have happened if you all just listened to me." Violet chimed in as she punched the wall. "We could've killed these bastards and they wouldn't have been a problem anymore. But no, it's a better idea to trust one of their own to help us right?" Violet turned her head and glared at Clementine who was looking straight down at the floor. "Good call Clem, like always."

Clementine's head shot up as she locked eyes with Violet, staring her down. "You know, you always seem to have a problem with what I do, but I don't see you fucking stepping up and making any big decisions! If you don't like me then fine, I don't care. But your constant bitching isn't helping anyone. So unless you have something to say that will help us get out of here, shut the fuck up!"

Clementine completely shocked the room. Everyone was silent, and surprised at what they just heard.

Violet sighed. Clementine was right and she knew it, her complaining was accomplishing absolutely nothing. She was just looking for someone to blame for the mess that they were in, and Clementine was an easy target. She mumbled a few choice remarks and stopped talking.

"What was that Violet?"

"Nothing."

"Alright then. Now, everybody look around. There has to be some way out of here."

The group listened to Clementine, partially out of fear after the verbal beating she gave Violet, and scanned the room.

"There's nothing here" Louis said as he searched through the dark basement. "They must have taken everything out of here."

As the group scoured the room for any means of escape, the doors flew open. Bright lights appeared from the entrance as Ramirez descended down the stairs with two soldiers on each side of him with flashlights in one hand and pistols in the other. "Everyone in a line!" He ordered, forcing everyone against the wall.

"So who the hell was making all that noise down here?" Ramirez asked as he scanned his prisoners. No one responded, unwilling to cooperate.

Ramirez's face quickly turned to anger. "Someone better answer me fast, or i'm gonna start guessing who did it." He studied each person one by one, watching for any signs of nervousness.

Ramirez stopped once he got to Aj. "Hmm, you look a little guilty squirt. Now why is that? Did you do something you shouldn't have?" He bent down to Aj, bringing his face inches from the kid's.

"No, I didn't," Aj responded, keeping his cool. "Now get out of my face, your breath stinks."

Ramirez didn't find that very funny, the insult only succeeded in making him angrier. "I'm not fucking playing with you kid, tell me the truth." He took a machete from his waistband, and pointed it right towards Aj's leg. "You wanna end up like your mama over there, squirt?"

"STOP!" Clementine yelled at the top of her lungs.

Ramirez glanced over to Clementine. "Why should I?"

"Because it was me. I did it. Do what you want to me. Just don't hurt him, please."

Ramirez laughed as he walked over to Clementine, dragging his machete along the wall, creating an ominous scratching noise. "Really? That story sure doesn't make sense. You see, I find it real hard to believe that you could get up and walk over to the door, and try to open it, without your crutches."

Clementine cursed in her head. She almost forgot about that for a second. "I-.."

"It was me. I did it." Louis nervously said. He wasn't going to let Clementine or Aj get hurt, even if it was at the cost of his own safety.

Ramirez put his machete back into his waistband and walked towards Louis. He didn't actually suspect it was Aj who did it, but he knew if the boy was threatened then whoever did would come clean. "Now, why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"I-...i'm sorry." Louis responded as he looked down at the floor, ready for whatever punishment was coming.

"Well that's really unfortunate, pal. If you just came clean in the first place, there wouldn't have been any problems. But you wasted my time… and that's something I can't get back. So it's only fair to take something you can't get back too, don't you think?"

Louis continued to look down, knowing there was no way to get out of this. "Do…. do what you have to."

"Very well." Ramirez grabbed Louis by his hair and threw him into the middle of the large basement. "Now, what is it I should take? Your hands? Feet? Tongue? Ears? No, those aren't enough for what you've done to me. You know what i'm thinking? Your life." Without warning, Ramirez started slamming his fists into Louis' face.

"Stop!" Clementine yelled as she instinctively shot up, only to lose her balance and fall face first into the ground.

One of the other soldiers ran over and pressed the barrel of their gun onto her head. "Don't move, unless you want to be next." The man ordered.

Ramirez continued his beating, fist after fist, after fist, after fist, straight to Louis' face. "This is taking too long, time to speed this up." He then alternated from punching to stomping Louis out in his military combat boots. He smiled as Louis's blood splattered all over his hands and feet.

"You gonna waste my time again? Huh?"

Louis struggled to open his mouth and speak. "I-.." He was cut off by Ramirez stomping on his chest, forcing him to cough up a dangerous amount of blood straight onto Ramirez's face.

Ramirez smiled as he licked the blood from around his lips. "Alright i've had my fun." He drew his machete from his waistband once more and pressed it against Louis' throat. "Now it's time to end this."

"THAT'S ENOUGH RAMIREZ!"

Ramirez sighed and dropped his machete. A shadow of a giant quickly descended down the stairs.

"Have you lost your fucking mind Ramirez! When did I give you the order to go down here and beat the life out of anyone?" Sanchez asked as he walked up to Ramirez and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Hey, he made a move at me! I had to deal with him."

Sanchez looked down to Louis. He was barely alive. His face was completely covered in blood, almost to the point where he was unidentifiable. His breathing sounded like wheezing, and he seemed as though he was clinging to life. "Oh really? Is that true?"

"Yes." Ramirez stuck with his story. "He went for my machete so I had to put him down."

Sanchez walked up to Clementine and kneeled down to her level. "Clementine. What he's saying, is it true? Did your friend over there really go for his machete?"

"No!" Clementine infurtiantly yelled. "He didn't do anything! Your friend is a fucking psychopath!"

"Thanks for the honesty, Clem." Sanchez turned back to Ramirez. "So you lied to me then? Is that what we're doing now Ramirez?'

"You're going to believe her over me? Seriously boss?"

"Fine then." Sanchez turned over to one of the other soldiers in the room to get another account of the story. "Morris, who's telling the truth? And don't you fucking lie to me."

Morris glanced over to Ramirez, who motioned his thumb around his neck from behind Sanchez's back, indicating that he was going to kill Morris if he told the truth. "Uh- Ramirez. Yeah. Ramirez is telling the truth. That boy went for his machete."

Sanchez glared at his soldier for a couple seconds and then turned back around. He knew what the truth was, but there was no way to prove it. "Ramirez. If you disobey my orders ever again and do something like this, I will kill you myself. You got it?"

Ramirez snorted and laughed. "You gone soft on me boss? It's almost like you're on these kid's sides. Turning on your men…. That's a real shame."

Sanchez grabbed Ramirez by his neck and pushed him against the wall. "Don't fucking question me Ramirez. Just follow my orders and stay in line, if you know what's good for you. Because I've just about had it with your bullshit. Know your fucking role, and play it. Understood?"

Ramirez was screaming on the inside but masked it with a smile. "Understood, boss man. Now get your hands off me."

Sanchez let Ramirez go and turned over to Clementine. "I'll bring Johnson down here to look at the boy's wounds. Don't try to escape again, or you're going to regret it." With that Sanchez exited the basement, with all of the soldiers following. Seconds Later Johnson descended from the stairs as the basement doors closed behind him. He turned on his flashlight and aimed it at Louis, who remained in the same position, now unconscious.

"Jesus christ…." Johnson was in shock at what he saw. He kneeled down and took off a large duffle bag he had on his shoulder, opening it up and retrieving a first aid kit from it. Johnson kept his eyes on Louis, too guilty to even look at anyone else. He was the reason that they were here and he knew it.

"This is your fault." Clementine said as tears rolled down her eyes. "I trusted you…you piece of shit!" Clementie couldn't hold it in any longer. She bursted into tears, and let out a long, loud cry of desperation. It was something that was a long time coming. She was holding back her feelings for so long to remain strong for the group, but seeing Louis like he was, she just couldn't do it anymore.

Johnson still couldn't look at Clementine. He knew if he did, he would burst into tears himself. "I'm sorry…. All of you. I had no choice, Ramirez already knew what was going on. It was my idea to bring you guys here, they were just going to kill you otherwise. I know I don't deserve forgiveness… but I promise i'll save this boy. I promise."

Johnson placed his fingers on Louis' neck and checked his pulse. "He's still got a steady pulse. Which is a good sign. Unless there's any brain damage, his only long term problem will be the scars. But I can't judge that until he wakes up, sadly." He started to clean and disinfect all of the wounds on Louis' face, and checked for any more serious wounds. "The only serious wound I see is this gash on his left cheek. I'm gonna have to stitch this up." Johnson worked fast but careful, swiftly closing up the gash with needle and thread.

"Is he going to be okay?" Violet asked as she walked over to Louis' unconscious body.

"Well, he's not out of the woods yet. He definitely took a beating, that's for sure. But he should recover just fine, given proper rest and medication for the pain."

That of course didn't reassure anyone in the group at all. Rest was a luxury that they couldn't afford, so if they wanted Louis to recover safely, that meant staying as prisoners for who knows how long until he was better. It was just too much of a risk.

The group remained silent for a moment, contemplating what to do. Their thoughts were quickly cut off by the sound of gunshots coming from above them. Johnson immediately rose to his feet. "What the hell….. You guys stay put! I'll figure out what's going on." He quickly ran out of the basement, slamming the basement doors shut as he left.

Aj shot to his feet and ran to the door. He gave it a light push, and sure enough it opened. "Guys! The door's unlocked! Let's get out of here!" He ecstatically said as he ran back to Clementine and extended his arm out to help her to her feet.

Clementine shook her head as she listened above her. Shots were coming from all directions, along with yelling. Whatever was going on, it was serious. "I don't know Aj. None of us have weapons, and we have no idea what's going on. I think it'll be smarter if we just stay down here, until we find a clear opening of escape." She looked down to Louis, who was still out cold. "Plus, Louis is in no shape to be in a fight right now. We can't risk it."

"But we-"

"No Aj. We have to wait. Be patient ok? Once the perfect time comes we'll take it, I promise. Just wait, and listen closely." Clementine looked up to the ceiling, studying every gunshot she heard, trying to figure out what was happening. Whatever the conflict was, it was internal, because shots were ringing all throughout the school and the courtyard, not from the gate.

After a few minutes of restless waiting, the basement doors flew open again as Johnson ran down with two large duffle bags, along with four other soldiers.

"What's going on?" Clementine quickly asked.

Johnson clicked on his flashlight to reveal a look of terror on his face. "Look, I don't have much time to explain. But there's a fucking revolution going on up there. Ramirez gathered some people, and they just fucking turned on Sanchez. Everyone is fighting, and most don't even know who to shoot. This is our chance Clem." Johnson opened one of the duffle bags, revealing multiple assault rifles. "While they're out there fighting themselves, we can go up there and drive them out. I took all of the weapons I could find from the stockpile. There should be enough for everyone." Johnson wasn't sure he was ready for this, but he committed to it in an effort to make up for the wrong he did to the Ericson survivors. "We can do this, it's your only shot to get your home back." Johnson reached into the duffle bag, pulled out two crutches and handed them to Clementine. "You ready?"

Clementine rose to her feet with the help of Aj and grabbed the crutches. "I'm ready."

Everyone grabbed an assault rifle from the bag and Clementine grabbed a pistol. No one knew what was going to be the outcome, but they knew all knew one thing. It was time for a war, no other way around it. And they were going to win.

Hope you enjoyed, as always any feedback is appreciated. See ya next chapter.