"If I could some how drag you out there myself..." Clementine mused, muttering to herself. She wanted Carver to feel helpless, alone, scared. Completely devoid of all hope. She wanted him to break. The walkers were closing in and the others were already outside covered in walker guts.
By the time she would've finished torturing Carver, she knew she wouldn't have any time to smear herself in rotten organs.
She lifted her hatchet, high above her head and slammed it down onto Carver's left forearm - becoming stuck halfway.
The man grunted loudly, breathing heavily through his clenched teeth. It was clear, that he was trying not to give the little sadist any satisfaction that she was desperately craving for. Little did he know, she was doing this for justice just as much as she was doing this for vengeance.
Alvin, Reggie, Walter. Who knows how many more people this psychopath has murdered. People who didn't deserve it. People who were killed for one petty mistake. Reggie... Who knows how many more people he would kill if he was given a second chance. Power hungry maniacs like Carver deserve to be put six foot under. It wasn't fair to the dead, the passed... or the living.
The hatchet was still lodged into the man's arm and he was still grunting... I suppose that's what happens when you have a hatchet deeply embedded in your arm. "I know it hurts, if you scream; I'll think about making it quicker," Clementine said. Her voice indifferent but cold.
"Y-y-you s-see?" Carver grunted out.
The child frowned at him, not knowing what he meant.
"T-this. T-t-this is what... m-makes us the same."
To his surprise, she slowly nodded at him; almost like she was agreeing with him. "Except... you'll be dead and I'll still be walking."
The sadist brutally yanked the hatchet out of his forearm, bringing a little more than just blood with it. The atrium was immediately filled with the agonizing shrieking of Carver. The child's head and crushed orbital began to ache with throbbing pain. God! I shouldn't have pulled to hard! Her vision slightly slurred.
Her free hand gripped the left side of her temple, attempting to stop herself from falling over. After a few moments, her vision began to recover and the throbbing pain slowly started to fade away.
The hall was still filled with horrified screams and the child slowly turned to look at the man below her and nearly puked at the sight of his mutilated arm.
It's bone was popped out of it's socket and thumb with it. Veins spilled out of the skin, blood poured out of the tubes like a waterfall and suddenly the child realized he didn't have long before he eventually succumbed to his... no not injuries, mutilation.
I gotta get outta here. Clementine walked around the near-dead man and over to the roller door. She took one last glance at Carver. He was no longer screaming. In fact, he looked dead. Good riddance.
The group was already covered in walker guts... they still waited for her. The only one missing was Jane to which Clementine didn't have much care for. If she wanted to stay, she could. No one was going to force her to stay, like Carver did.
Kenny looked up at Clementine, glancing between her bloody hatchet. "You okay?"
"Y-yeah... I am now." She got down from the ledge, into the parking lot.
With Kenny's help, she quickly got herself covered up before the walkers got closer.
"Everybody ready?" Mike asked in a hushed voice.
Kenny turned back to the group. "The walkers are gettin' clos-"
"What in the actual fuck is goin' on 'ere!?" The unmistakable voice of Carver's biggest boot licker came running from the atrium. Troy looked at the group. He clearly looked disgusted even a bit horrified. "What is this sick shit!? Somebody say sumthin' before ah start-hey!" He aimed his AK at Luke.
From the side, Clementine watched. Stressed, anxious, not for herself but for Luke. One wrong move and he could be killed. She could just pull out the revolver she had but the boot licker was already on edge, he would most likely open fire on all of them if he saw her. But then something caught her sights.
Something coming from the atrium of the store walking toward them. "Hey, Troy!" The child shouted drawing his attention.
"The fuck-what!?" He then noticed the bandage around her eye. "You got fucked up, kid!" He added, letting out a little malicious laugh.
She couldn't find it in herself to be mad, considering Carver's dead body was walking up behind him. In a couple of seconds, the boot licker's going to get his throat torn open by his own master. That thought made her chuckle.
"You remember when you punched me? Back in that comic store?" Clementine flashing him half a grin.
"The fuck about-" A hand gripped around the man's mouth pulling him back exposing the left side of his neck and the reanimated Carver bit into it.
He ripped out a huge chunk of flesh, it spurted blood. Troy dropped his weapon and began aimlessly trying to get the walker off of him. By now, his entire left shoulder was completely drenched in his own blood. Clementine could see the utter shock in the man's eyes. The sheer look of fear.
"We need to go now!" The child quietly yelled at the group, seeing the herd drawing closer.
Clementine tried to keep her composure as she trailed behind Sarah and Carlos. She was fairing well keeping her anxiety under control. As long as no one got hurt, they were perfectly fine.
As for Sarah though... she wasn't doing so well. She looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack.
Walkers were one thing, but the shooters on the roof? Clementine didn't even want to think about what would happen if someone got shot. No matter how much she hoped that it wouldn't happen, it was completely out of her control.
Carlos quietly tried to calm down his daughter. She still looked like she was a second away from panicking. Clementine was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Clementine? Clementine?"
"What?" The child whispered back to the doctor.
"Could you try calming her down?"
"How?"
"Just try to keep her calm, you're her friend. Just say something, anything."
Clementine then glanced at Sarah. The teen was shaking and she was frantically looking at every walker that passed by, wide-eyed. "Sarah, just focus on your dad."
"C-c-clem... I-I... I can't do this," came the panicked teen's reply.
"Yes, you can Sarah. We're already half way through. If you can make it this far, you can make it all the way. Just focus on walking, Sarah."
"C-clem..."
"I'm scared too, Sarah. All we can do is move for-"
A yelp of pain was suddenly heard and they all turned to the source which came from the right.
It was Nick... he'd been shot in the neck. The man tumbled forward but didn't make very far until a walker snatched onto his neck and another grabbing onto his arm.
His screams echoed over the horde of the dead. Walkers were now agitated and Clementine and Sarah stood still. Paralyzed. Shocked and in denial.
It didn't even register to the child that her friend had just gotten mauled alive just a few steps away from her. The man that risked his life to save her back at the shed. The man she'd gotten close to, dead. Just like that. No goodbye, no nothing. Nothing but zombie meat now.
It made her sick to her stomach. Her breathing hitched and she got a quick look around only to come face to face with a female walker. She immediately ducked out of the way only to collide into another and she fell to the ground. If it wasn't bad enough, the throbbing pain began to ache in her temple once more. The sound of a nearby gun was heard, shouts from numerous members from the group. The situation was no longer under control.
She couldn't stay there, walkers were all around them and their cover was blown. She needed to get out of there.
The child tried her best to push through the pain. She stood up, shaking only to weakly fall to the hard concrete ground. She managed to stop herself using her hands. Unfortunately, they began to tremble, struggling to hold herself up. Every worst possible thing that could've happened to her was all happening at the same time.
Using all strength she had left - in which, was rapidly declining. Despite every warning in her body telling her to stay put, she finally managed to stand up.
She barely made it two steps before she finally gave out and everything went black.