Clementine sat against the power transformer, idly bouncing her leg up and down. The sun wasn't up yet but she could tell it was close to morning, the sky was faintly lit with navy blue and she could make out a few clouds here and there.
The child had been up for a few hours now, ever since her dream of Carver mercilessly beating her over and over, she had been to angry to fall back asleep; almost to the point of wanting to break something, or more specifically, someone.
The hostage, Buricko was a perfect candidate but how would she explain beating a man in the middle of the night? Sleepwalking? She just beat him in her sleep?
Nope, no one would believe her, even if she tried. Instead, she just sat there, against the transformer internally battling her emotions. One question that came up in her mind that intrigued her curiosity, all the way up to this point was, why did she feel so... cruel?
As in, killing without guilt? Everything she had done so far, torturing Carver, killing the kid, Arvo. It wasn't that she felt bad about it because she didn't. She didn't care.
What she wanted to know was why she didn't care. Prior to being beaten by Carver, she probably would've felt guilty about having to do those things, she might not have gone through with it but she did and she even took pleasure in it as well and that was what she wanted to know. Why did she get off on it?
She wouldn't have it any other, don't get it wrong. She loved the way she was now, everyone she had hurt was for a reason therefore, they deserved it.
"Hey Clem." Clementine turned to see Sarah quietly tip-toeing over to her... with the infant in hand. The teen slowly sat down next to the child.
"Hey Sarah, did you... sleep alright?" The child asked.
"Yeah, it was okay. Just a bit uncomfortable with the baby." The teen glanced down the infant, gently rocking it back and forth. How sweet, Sarah's becoming a mother. Clementine sarcastically thought. "He's so cute, isn't he?"
"What?"
Sarah looked back up at Clem. "The baby. He's so adorable."
If you say so... . "Yeah, yeah he's does." The child simply answered. She didn't think anything of it, she didn't care about it and Clementine was just glad Sarah was talking to her. The way the teen acted yesterday, practically running away from her and not talking to her, Clementine thought she didn't want to speak her again.
"What do you think we should name it?" Sarah suddenly asked.
"We? You mean me?" Clementine frowned.
"Yeah. Last night, I asked my dad what we should name him and he said it was up to me."
"Oh." She didn't want to scare away the teen so she played along. "Uhh... I dunno, Vincent or something?" She said, taking a wild guess.
"Vincent? Hmm, that sounds like a-ooh! What about Alvin junior?" Sarah enthusiastically said.
Clementine shrugged her shoulders. "Alvin junior?" Oh please. "... I like Vincent better."
"You sure? I-I mean, if you want-"
"No, forget it. Alvin Junior's better because it's Alvin's child."
"And Rebecca's."
Clementine sighed and there was a pause between them. Heaven forbid the day where she would be the one to take care of this drool factory. The area went quiet again.
"You know, I miss the cabin." Sarah said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, me too. I wish we could go back to that place."
"It was so much better than where we are now."
"And the beds were better too." Clementine said with a smile.
"Clem?" The child stopped and turned behind her at the new voice. Luke was awake, his elbow propped up and a frown on his features. "Who are you talkin' to?"
Clementine threw him a incredulous look. What the hell type of question was that? "What are you talking about? I'm talking to..." she trailed off, staring at the empty space beside her...
where Sarah was supposed to be.
She paused for a second, trying to process what had happened. She quickly scanned around group and she frowned when her eyes layed upon a sight of a sleeping Sarah, infant cradled in her arms.
Sarah was still sleeping? But if she was still asleep then... . Clementine turned back to the empty space beside her... . Who the hell was she talking to?
"Clem?"
The child looked back at the man, his eyes still filled with sleep. "Huh?"
"Who're you talkin' to?"
"I-I... uhh... I-I was just thinking out loud." She lied.
Luke sighed, rubbing his face. "You should go back to sleep." He then layed back down onto the ground and his eyes closed. "We probably got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow."
Clementine nodded, still confused. What the hell was going on? Did she just imagine that whole talk with Sarah or did that actually happen? She didn't even know what was going on, one moment she was "speaking" to Sarah and then she sees her sleeping soundly next to her father.
Clementine was behind everyone else while they traveled through the woods. It was now day time, the sun shining brightly in the sky with minor clouds.
The child was still thinking about what had happen early in the morning, the Sarah predicament. Did she really hallucinate that entire conversation with her? It was hard to believe that that really happened. That she actually imagined a conversation with her friend, was it lack of sleep? It was a fair guess but the child wasn't tired, it was like she had just woken up in the morning and was ready to start the day.
"How much further!?" Kenny abruptly said, shaking the child out of her thoughts.
"Close." Buricko answered.
"You've said five fuckin' times already!"
"Is close, patience you ебать..." Buricko muttered the last word under his breath.
"Ah'm really startin' to think that you're full of-" The sound of a rogue growl had caught the child's attention and immediately saw where it came from. A walker had just appeared in front of a boulder, sneaking up behind Kenny.
Clementine didn't hesitate to pull out her pistol and fire into the monster. Mistakingly, she fired three shots with the slip of a finger. The first made impact to the back of the walker's skull but the other two strayed into it's back. It fell dead onto the ground.
Kenny then bolted around, glancing at Clementine and the dead walker. "Holy shit! Where the fuck did he come from!?"
The child shrugged. "I dunno, he just... popped outta nowhere."
"Ah'll say, thanks Clem." He threw a grateful smile at the kid.
Carlos then walked up beside her, eyeing the dead walker on the ground. "That was a good shot. Be careful next time." He gestured at the two stray bullet holes on the walker's back. "Just in case if you might hit someone next time."
Clementine didn't argue with him, he had a point she agreed with. The walker was behind Kenny and if it had fallen a too soon, she may have hit Kenny by accident and the thought alone brought on some slight guilt.
She then felt him place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We need to keep moving, there could be more around."
The group continued their long trip, they could see the end of the woods, where they could actually see anything that wasn't trees or a stag of bushes. They left the woods and was greeted by a frozen lake. "There." Buricko gestured further to the right.
Clementine followed his expression and saw a cabin just across the river, but that wasn't all; the cabin still looked like it was in construction.
"That piece'a shit? It's half built!" Kenny exclaimed.
"That's great, we spent a day getting here only to end up with this." Clem commented.
"Exactly, ah bet'cha there ain't shit in that house anyway!"
"There's supplies." Buricko interjected.
"Oh okay so... you're an idiot and also... a liar." The child responded.
The man then snapped at the child, staring daggers into her soul. It was slightly unnerving to say the least. "Тупая маленькая сука!"
"Hey hey! Back the fuck up." Luke stepped between the two, his rifle in hand and finger on the trigger.
Buricko then heard a click come from the left of his ear and he turned only to find himself at the end of the barrel of Kenny's gun. "Don't even think about it." His voice laced with venom.
"Alright, guys, guys!" Mike exclaimed as he stepped forward. "Alright? Enough! Can we just concentrate on how we're gonna get across the river!?"
Kenny and Buricko both stared at eachother for a moment, both ready to murder the other. Luke was still in front of Clementine, shielding the child from the raging bull. Honestly, she was quite surprised that he actually stood up to protect her. If anything, she would've thought he'd be protecting Buricko, not her.
After a few moments, the two men finally calmed down.
"So, how exactly do we... get across 'ere?" Kenny inquired, looking around the river and all the way around of his end.
"Ah don't see another way across," Luke added.
"We walk." Without saying anything else, Buricko started marching off and just a couple of steps later, he began walking across the iced river.
"Hey! Hey!" Kenny hollered to no avail, the man kept walking. "That motherfucker." He muttered before he went after him.
The group watched as Kenny "speed walked" his way up to him. Shortly after, Carlos then started. "Let's not just stand around, come on. Be. Careful, try not to clump together! If there's too much weight, the ice will break." The doctor went over to his daughter to comfort her. Sarah wasn't freaking out but she still seemed like she was stressing.
Everyone began walking across. Mike was the first to go, Sarita, Sarah, Carlos, Bonnie then Luke and Clementine; all in that order went after.
From a distance, it seemed like Buricko and Kenny had already made it across the river. Clementine wasn't afraid but she was still wary of the surface she was ambling across. She didn't know how sturdy the ice was but she wasn't going to take any chances so she decided to take her time no matter how long it took.
It was all silent, everyone took their time walking across the iced river. Even Sarah was doing okay for the moment which was good, we didn't need her struggling and panicking every step of the way.
Suddenly, Clementine heard a hissing crack come from below her. She quickly glanced down at her feet to see a small crack that had formed under the tip of her left shoe.
"It's okay, Clem." She heard Luke say. "We'll be alright."
"There's walkers," Sarita said.
"There's only a few of them, we'll be fine." Mike responded.
Clementine then heard something crack followed by the sound of something dropping into the water. She turned to see two walkers falling under ice.
She then continued further. A few moments later, she saw Bonnie looking back, a horrified look on her face. Great... what she worried about now. She turned back and the color from her face drained from existence. Walkers were still approaching, some fell threw the ice some managed to stay on the surface and here was Luke standing on thin, cracking ice.
He gulped, his eyes wide as they hopelessly stared at the cracking ice beneath him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure move. "Don't come over here!" He shouted. "A-ah can make it... it's-it's fine!"
"You sure?" Bonnie asked concerned, not quite believing it.
"Yeah!" The man glanced at the walkers behind him.
"You got walkers on the way let me help you-"
"It's too big for both of us. A-ah just..." Luke decided to take one hesitant step forward. "A-ah just gotta be-OAH!" The man yelped as his leg fell through the ice, his whole body now touching it.
Clementine's first instinct was to run toward him. The walkers had just touched the ice and Luke was now inches away from falling through.
"S-stop! Stop!" Luke exclaimed, stopping both Bonnie and Clem.
"Whatdoyameanstop!? You're gonna fall through the ice!" Clementine shouted at him.
"N-no, a-ah'll be fine! A-ah... j-just need to pull mahself out!"
"What so you're gonna do that on your own!? You need help!"
"Don't worry about me alright!? Ah got it!"
The child didn't know what to do. Her nerves were going off the charts and her heart was beating faster than any rabbit's could. Her first thought was to ignore the man's pleas for her to stop and just go over and help anyway but the ice being too thin was what stopped her; so she just decided to take Luke's word at face value, if he said he was going to be fine then he'll be fine... even though he practically wasn't.
"Ya need to help!" Bonnie suddenly said.
Clementine then turned at the redhead, a frown on her face. "N-n-no! She's gonna fall-"
"Clem, you're light! You could-"
"N-no, Clem! Stay away from me!"
"Clem, just go back for him-"
"Bonnie shut the hell up, okay!? Clem? Clem!? Hey, look at me!" Both the adults were shouting at her, it was honestly hard to focus and listen to either one. She turned at look with a confused yet worried expression on her face. "Pull out your gun and shoot those damn walkers! Okay? Just cover me, ah can get mahself out!"
Bonnie then pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the approaching walkers. "Clem, you can make it but you need to go now!"
"N-no, Clem... i-it's too dangerous. Ah just need time!"
Everyone was now shouting at her for to do something. She could faintly hear Kenny and Mike's voice from afar. It seemed like Luke had the opportunity to get himself out, he just needed time but the walkers were getting closer. The ice that was beneath him was already weak, going over there would've put them both in danger. The best decision was to give Luke the time he desperately needed in order to get out and as if she was going to listen to Bonnie anyway.
Clementine pulled out her glock on one swift motion and aimed it at the walkers.
"Okay, o-okay, good! Just-just cover me! Ah'll b-be out in a sec!"
Clem wasn't listening to him, she was already firing her pistol at the approaching walkers. She shot one of them but missed then fired again. She could hear Bonnie and Luke talking in the background but she was too focused on the decayed corpses to know what was going on. She fired a couple of more shots, taking out the walkers in a smooth motion.
There was one walker left and she aimed her weapon at it only to stop when she finally noticed Bonnie walking over to Luke. "Bonnie what the hell're you doing!?" The woman continued to walk closer to the man, ignoring his demand to go back. "BONNIE!"
"Ah got'chu." The redheaded woman held out her hand. She was within arms reach of Luke.
Clementine was now fuming with anger. The ice wouldn't be able to hold her weight, what in the living hell was this harlot thinking!? She's going to get him killed! In one swift motion, she aimed her pistol on the woman in a desperate attempt to try and get her to stop. "Bonnie I will shoot you if you do not-"
Suddenly, they both fell through the ice, stopping her mid-sentence. It was silent. The child stood there, wide eyed and her gun still trained on where the redhead was a moment ago. Now, she and Luke were gone, stuck somewhere underneath the ice; trapped underwater.
Clementine sighed in disbelief, lowered her gun and started pacing. She suddenly heard banging underneath the ice. Desperately, she scanned everywhere, like a bug snapping it's head in every direction. The child saw a faint outline of a figure mercilessly banging on the ice.
She ran over to it, swiping the snow away with her free hand to get a better look at who it was. She was filled with relief as she came face to face with Luke. Clementine lifted her up her pistol and slammed it as hard as she could onto the ice. She could hear the others telling her to stop but in that moment she didn't give a damn about what they were saying. Luke was in trouble and he needed her!
After a few more hits, she lifted up the butt of her gun and using both hands; brought it down onto the ice, finally smashing it. She fell through, immediately felt her entire body freeze in the water. The sheer temperature of the water nearly caused her to take a breath but she had stopped herself just in time. Once she had regained somewhat of her composure, she warped herself around for a few moments, searching for Luke.
The child didn't need to look far. Her vision was blurry but the faint outline of a machete on the back of a figure. It wasn't hard to decipher that it was Luke but that wasn't the problem...
The problem was was that he wasn't responding to her. Not even acknowledging her presence being there and then she realized something was very wrong...
Clementine could feel herself getting weaker as she was struggling to hold in her breath. Not to mention the freezing temperatures she was in. Suddenly, she felt the collar of her jacket being pulled and she was out of the water. The child was dragged onto the ice again, shivering and breathing erratic.
She could hear voices but she was too weak too even figure out who it was. Whoever it was, lifted her up off the ground and she immediately felt the person running...