To remember…
After what Clementine perceived as an eternity spent, Violet pulled herself back from the kiss. Her hands still on Clementine's cheek, Violet removed one of them and with the other's thumb, she gently caressed Clementine's face.
"Better?" Violet asked with a caring, sentimental voice. Her red cheeks were complimenting her bashful look towards Clementine.
How could she be not better? Those heartfelt compliments Clementine just received were already enough for her to feel like she was above the clouds. And with what just happened, Clementine couldn't help but feel her friend's company has been nothing shorter than a blessing for her this whole night. She desired nothing more than expressing her gratitude towards the level of affection Violet just displayed to her. Clementine rushed her body towards Violet to hug her:
"Thank you…" Clementine said with a low, shaky voice. She was done crying but the aftermath of it was still in effect.
"Clem…" Violet yipped. She started to chuckle to what she was seeing. Clementine, real confused as to why Violet suddenly started to laugh, broke the hug to look at her. Violet said nothing, but with a huge smile on her face, she pointed towards the ground behind Clementine with her finger.
"Oh shit!" Clementine yelled as soon as she realized what happened. In her effort to hug Violet, she completely forgot AJ was still on her leg which resulted in AJ waking up as his head fell down to the ground in an instant. Completely oblivious to what's going on, AJ slowly straightened up. While rubbing his head:
"Ugghh, what happened?"
"Sorry, sorry little guy." Clementine could only say as she was trying to wipe her eyes and face, while Violet was chuckling behind her.
"We should get him to bed." Violet said as her chuckle subsided. Clementine, with a timid smile of her own, nodded as she prepared herself to carry sleepy AJ. She held him from his waists to raise him upwards.
"Jesus…" Clementine grunted during her effort to carry AJ. He was getting quite heavy, but not heavy enough for Clementine to not be able to bring him back to his room. With little AJ's head resting on Clementine's shoulder, the girls started walking downhill towards the building.
The next morning, Clementine woke up quite vividly. The alarm clock she threw away yesterday was still sitting where she left it. Not that it mattered cause today was the start of weekend and the weekend meant no school for AJ. As she straightened up on her bed, her family photo frame that was still standing on her end table greeted Clementine. With a longing smile, she reached for it to touch her parent's faces right before she got ready to wake up AJ.
After they were done with their morning routine, both went downstairs to cafeteria for their breakfast. They saw Violet, sitting alone on an empty table already enjoying hers. After the duo filled their tray, they went straight towards Violet's table to fill up the empty spots. Clementine sat right in front of Violet, AJ beside her.
"Good morning." Clementine said as she sat on the table.
"Morning." responded Violet with a smile. She looked a bit bothered to Clementine's eyes, despite her smile. Afterwards, Violet lowered her gaze towards her tray, still smiling and with tiny hints of blushing on her cheeks. Despite her drunkenness, it looked like Violet remembered last night which the realization of it caused Clementine to smile and blush as well.
Meanwhile, they heard heavy footsteps that was closing in on their table. Clementine looked behind her to see Louis slowly approaching. He was stomping a bit dramatically as his hands were swinging in front of him while walking. His posture was also terrible since his head was so sunken that it was almost in front of his chest.
"Good… morning?" Clementine asked in a jesting voice as Louis sat beside Violet. He immediately responded by shaking his head slowly as he made a gun with his hands, pointing it towards his head. He also had an overly-dramatic frown on his face which clearly implied that he was definitely not having a good morning. Poor guy was dealing with a serious case of hangover. Violet smiled as she watched what Louis was doing. Her eyes look tired but understanding. It seemed she was also suffering from the same thing, but probably it wasn't as intense as Louis'.
They all continued to enjoy their breakfast in silence for a while. After a couple of minutes, Louis made an "Oh…" sound as he looked like he remembered something. His hand went towards his inner pocket to grab the notebook and pen.
"Your birthday's close, right?" Louis wrote and showed it to table right afterwards. Clementine was a bit abacked at the fact that Louis remembered her birthday. Even she completely forgot about it. With the help of Commonwealth's calendar system and thanks to AJ's school schedule, nowadays Clementine was finally able to track the dates just like the old days.
"Oh shit, today's 24th, isn't it?" Clementine asked. Louis immediately started nodding and with a smile, he signed:
"Reunion?"
"Uhh, wouldn't that be Monday?" Clementine asked. A reunion within the week would be hard since not everyone would be able to attend, she thought. In response, Louis put on a neutral face and sulked to imply the meaning "I don't mind." Violet couldn't help but imitate him with the same gesture, only with a half smile. Afterwards, with an illustrative tone:
"We could gather earlier, and not keep it as long." Violet said, accompanied by Louis' nod of agreement. Her friends' effort to plan out this birthday rejoiced Clementine as she couldn't help but smile towards them.
Meanwhile everyone was busy with the conversation, they didn't realize Aasim entering the cafeteria and filling his tray. He sat beside AJ right after Violet was finished.
" 'Sup, guys?"
"Hey, good morning." Clementine said as he sat down which was accompanied by the rest's greetings.
"Oh, hey! Before I forget again..." Aasim said before even touching his breakfast. "...Yesterday, Mercer said Maggie wants to talk to you." he completed while looking towards Clementine. A bit surprised:
"Did he say why?" she asked.
"No idea. It didn't look urgent, though. Maybe… a social call?" Aasim responded.
"Naah…" Clementine said within. A leader of such a huge community wouldn't summon a citizen just to have a social call, she thought. She couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. She only met Maggie once, on their arrival to Commonwealth and the later interactions Clementine had with her was always via proxy, mainly Aasim since he was training to be a trooper. This was about to be a first for her. She was almost done with breakfast and saw no reason why she shouldn't go right after it.
"Alright, let's see what she wants..." Clementine said in a neutral voice to not show her nervousness as she stood up. The moment she did, Clementine instantly realized she was about to leave AJ behind alone. They always spent the weekends together, playing in the child park, chatting while taking a stroll around Commonwealth, helping out on AJ's schoolwork… Clementine didn't want this day to be any different just because of this upcoming meeting.
"...Wanna escort me, little guy?" Clementine asked in a tender voice.
"Yep." AJ immediately answered as he took another piece of bread from his tray and stood up. Together, they waved goodbye towards the table as they left the cafeteria.
As they left Violet's sight, she dropped her gaze at her breakfast again, looking a bit concerned and thoughtful.
The meet…
It took the duo approximately 15 minutes to reach to the building where Maggie's office was. Unlike their dormitory, which was located closer to the south exit of the Commonwealth, Maggie's office was at the center of the busier part of the grounds.
With the help of the guards within the building, Clementine and AJ reached the door that lead to Maggie's office. It was open and they entered the doorframe. The room was quite big, with a long, wooden desk located in the middle of it. Behind the desk, there were huge glass windows with very long curtains hanging on it's sides. A part of it, right in the middle, was actually a glass door which looked like it lead to a balcony.
Clementine saw Maggie sitting on her chair behind the desk, talking to a tall man that was standing right in front of it. She wasn't sure if she should intervene at first but thankfully, Maggie noticed the duo's presence and with a smile and an inviting hand gesture, she invited them in.
The man looked behind him in response to Maggie's invitation to see Clementine and AJ. After a brief stare in which he understood what's happening:
"Thank you for your time, Ms. Greene. I won't disappoint you." he said with a decisive tone. His voice was deep and a bit gravelly.
"I've no doubt, Martin. Thank you." Maggie replied with a smile and an affirmative voice. She stood up to greet the duo, as Martin turned his back completely and started walking towards the exit. While he was passing by Clementine, she couldn't help herself but examine him. He was at least a foot higher. He didn't look old, maybe a couple years older than her. With soldier-cut black hair, brown sharp eyes and thick eyebrows that was close to his eye-line; it didn't look like he's an impressionable person. His face was completely devoid of expression as he passed by Clementine.
"Hello, Ms. Greene!" AJ greeted as Martin left the room.
"Hey AJ." Maggie said with a welcoming smile, as she forwarded her hand to shake AJ's hand which he accepted. Clementine, feeling like she had to explain:
"I know you asked for me, but…"
"No! No, it's completely fine. Better, even…" Maggie cut Clementine as she directed her hand towards Clementine, as well. Afterwards, Maggie gestured them to take the armchairs in front of her desk.
Maggie looked like she was on her mid twenties. She was wearing a navy blue jacket that had a white shirt overflowing from the opening on its neck area. Her black, real short, a little frazzled hair was falling elegantly to her face and neck. Her relatively high cheek bones and overall facial features gave Clementine the impression that she was overall a kind and understanding person.
"How are you feeling, Clementine?" Maggie asked with a sincere tone.
"I'm quite good, Ms. …"
"Doesn't look like it…" Maggie cut as she squinted her eyes a bit in jest. "Your eyes are a bit droopy." she completed with a smile towards the end.
"Hah!.. Yeah, the last couple of days have been, a bit exhausting." Clementine answered with a timid voice.
"Is there a problem?" Maggie immediately asked. Her voice and gaze gave the expression that she was genuinely concerned.
"No..." Clementine simply answered, but then she felt she had to add: "...Not anymore. It's handled, ma'am. Thank you." Maggie responded with a glad and understanding nod. After a brief silence, Maggie continued:
"How are the Ericson kids?"
"They're quite well, too. They should be enjoying their weekend, back in the dorm." Clementine answered with a smile. She felt like she should express her gratitude for the safe haven that they were fortunate to enjoy for quite some time now.
"Oh, you mean that old, stinky building?.." Maggie gently retorted with a disgusted voice in jest. Then, she fixated her eyes on Clementine's. With a smile and caring voice:
"...Don't worry, we'll get you your own homes, soon." she said. Aback by this news, Clementine's eyes almost protruded. She was already thankful for the Commonwealth's efforts to make them feel like they're home, but with this…
"However..." Maggie said, cutting Clementine's thoughts. She even looked a bit saddened. "…I'm afraid we can't provide every single one of you your own. Most likely we'll have to ask you to share two houses, since-"
"You're kidding?.." Clementine intervened, still a bit shocked. With a smile full of gratitude, she continued: "...I can assure you ma'am, that won't be a problem for us." she completed. Her smile still on her face, Clementine glanced at AJ to see that he was excited. It seemed he also loved the idea of having a home, a literal one.
To dismiss…
Maggie couldn't believe that she and AJ took this news so well. It was incredible to see someone be so grateful towards something that she saw as a minor favor, since lately she had to deal with bunch of voracious people that think they are entitled within the community just because of their background.
After these wonderful news, Clementine started to feel even more optimistic about herself and AJ's future here. It was a sight for sore eyes for Clementine to witness such care and generosity from someone she barely even knew. However, this train of thought lead to Clementine feeling like she owes something. All this welfare was given to her without any payback expected in return. As Maggie looked like she was about to say something, Clementine unconsciously intervened:
"Ms. Greene? Can I ask something?"
"Of course!" Maggie's eyes flashed with anticipation and curiosity.
"Why am I not assigned to a job?.." Clementine asked with a soft voice. After a brief silence, which within Maggie started to smile, she felt the need to add:
"...Is it because I'm disabled?"
"How old are you, Clementine?" Maggie asked immediately after Clementine's question with her ongoing affectionate smile.
"Umm…" Clementine got confused. She didn't understand the resemblance between her question and Maggie's, at first. After a brief silence, she replied:
"...I'm 17. 18, within couple of days, actually."
"And that there… is your answer." Maggie responded with an even greater smile. Clementine couldn't help but look shocked. All this time, she thought the reason behind Maggie's unwillingness towards giving Clementine a job was her being disabled. The idea of it being as simple as a child privilege matter never even crossed her mind, because ever since she started travelling with AJ, Clementine unconsciously stopped acknowledging herself as a child.
"That's… it?" Clementine asked, still in disbelief.
"That's it." Maggie simply answered with a simple nod. Clementine was still confused, however. Violet and Louis were definitely over 18, but they didn't have any assignments, either. After a brief silence, she asked:
"Then, what about my friends? If age is the real factor…"
"They didn't want to..." Maggie answered, in anticipation. Then continued: "...To be honest, I have no idea what to make of Violet, nor did she ever came with a request. And… your unfortunately mute friend…" she stopped and put her right hand's fingertips on her forehead in mild frustration. Clementine understood that she was struggling to remember Louis's name. Still surprised, and a bit amused:
"Louis?"
"Louis, yes. Thank you..." Maggie thanked as she smiled back towards Clementine. Maggie continued with a bit more serious tone: "...I contacted Louis a couple of times. Learned a lot about him in our exchanges..." As she finished her sentence, Maggie's face started to reflect a bit of sorrow while she continued:
"...He didn't want to at first, but eventually he shared that he is knowledgeable in musical arts. After realizing why he didn't want to mention it, my mind was set..." Maggie explained as she started to smile towards the end.
"...You'd be surprised how many people want to learn playing guitar in the apocalypse..." Maggie explained with a chuckle. Clementine raised her eyebrows in surprise. Not to the fact that people wanted to learn playing guitar of course, but because of Maggie's wish regarding Louis. As she was about to mention Louis' possible unwillingness towards this job, Maggie jumped in with an explanatory tone:
"...I forwarded him the idea two times, even sent some instruments to him but unfortunately, he kindly declined both..." Then, Maggie looked at Clementine, forwarded her head towards Clementine a bit while squinting her eyes:
"...But I'm stubborn..." she said and with a smile: "I really believe that an endeavor like this can help him regain his confidence towards… well, pretty much everything." she added. Maggie's optimism and foresight impressed Clementine. She also didn't know those guitars Louis was letting collect dust on his room were gifts from Maggie. She could clearly see why people look up to her with trusting eyes, as well as herself now. In order to show her gratitude for Maggie's efforts towards Louis, Clementine smiled and said:
"That would be incredible, ma'am. I'll… see what I can do."
"Wonderful!.." Maggie simply responded as she seemed genuinely excited. However, Clementine's original concern towards having a job within Commonwealth didn't escape Maggie's focus. She stood up, her face back to being serious, she started to explaining while slowly waltzing around her half of the office.
"...The thing about having a profession here, Clementine, is that it's completely voluntary. And that, is the reason why it's working. You see, way before you and your friends arrived, there was a completely different system in place. People would get jobs completely based on what they did before the apocalypse, not based on what they wanted..." Maggie was right beside the desk as she finished her sentence. She stopped and looked towards Clementine. With a slight gloomy voice, she continued:
"...The worst part of it was, people would also get unique perks based on those early professions. For example a skilled engineer would live in a two-story house, whereas a mere construction worker would have to settle for a tiny shed..." Maggie dropped her gaze to the ground and continued:
"...In time, people started to oppose this system. The discrimination they faced started to be unbearable. Riots were held, even blood was shed..." She stopped, her face got sorrowful as she continued again with a much more dreary voice:
"...It took… great sacrifices to dismiss that system..." Clementine noticed how Maggie was getting sentimental over this specific remark. She was curious, but didn't want to pry into it as Maggie started waltzing again to continue explaining with her original, serious tone and expression:
"...As soon as we did, people started to become more understanding. Caring. They started to feel like they owed this place again as they witnessed equity's return to their society. And that, was the starting point of what we have here today. More people joined and they also started feeling the same way. And in time… it became the norm. Like an unwritten law..." Maggie was right in front of the glass balcony door as she was done with her remarks.
Clementine understood the ideology behind Commonwealth's system completely. The more Maggie explained it, the better she appreciated it. However, she couldn't help but sense it's potential vulnerability. With a low, concerned voice:
"That… might not last, as well."
The precaution…
"Elaborate, please." Maggie said with a calm voice. For a second Clementine freaked out, thinking that she just offended Maggie's leadership. She looked at Maggie but, in contrary to her expectation, she didn't look angry or judgmental. She seemed curious as to what Clementine had on her mind. After a brief silence, Clementine gathered her thoughts and explained:
"The people live here today know the old world. They remember what this apocalypse took from them. Arriving here, seeing how it's a place that looks and feels like the old world makes them care for it, protect and maintain it..." She stopped for a second to adopt a voice that sounded a bit downbeat:
"...But… in time, people will forget. Well, not forget, maybe but… Take what they have here for granted..." Clementine finished. However as she did, a likelier and more sensible perspective to her concern dawned on her. Maggie did not peep, in anticipation to hear more of this potential threat to her society.
"...Not only that, but the children that are going to grow here will have no idea. It might take… more than one generation but eventually… All I'm saying is, they might not be as grateful as the people here are today."
"Oh, wouldn't I know it…" Maggie sighed as she turned towards the balcony. Again, for a second Clementine got afraid that she was insulting Maggie's ideology. But suddenly, she heard a couple of tapping noises that came from where Maggie's standing. Clementine leaned backwards on her armchair to try to see what's going on and as she did, Maggie opened the glass door and gave Clementine a clear view.
"I don't understand this one." Clementine heard a boy on the balcony ask. He looked coeval to AJ and was sitting on a little desk, pointing at the book in front of him with his pencil.
"Hey Hershel." AJ slipped in as he waved a hello to his schoolmate.
"AJ's here?" Hershel queried in surprise and took a look inside. He smiled and returned the wave as he saw his classmate. Clementine deduced that the boy must be the 'president's kid' that she remembered AJ mention as his friend a while back. Clementine couldn't help but find it funny the fact that AJ knew more about their leader than she did.
Maggie took a peek at the problem Hershel was struggling with. After a second of consideration, she straightened and turned to AJ.
"How about you help him out, AJ?" Maggie asked softly. AJ immediately flashed a glance at Clementine in his usual asking for permission fashion. Clementine, in delight of another one of his silly and yet cutely mannerism, couldn't see any reason against the request as she reckoned how bored AJ must have been getting because of all this adult talk.
Clementine tilted her head towards the balcony with a warm smile and AJ jumped up from his seat, headed for the balcony. Maggie closed the door and pulled back on the curtains enough for Clementine so she could see the whole balcony. Clementine appreciated the gesture with a smiling nod as Maggie went back to her chair. As soon as she sat on it, Maggie leaned towards Clementine and with a frustrated tone:
"The fact that you're concerned about an issue my community might face far into the future, and not being afraid to slap me with it…" she said but towards the end, she couldn't hold onto her act as she started to smile and complete:
"...Courageous, smart and foresighted… No wonder Ericson kids consider you their leader..." Briefly freaked out by the sudden change of expression, Clementine accepted the praises with a great smile at the end and a lowered gaze that reflected her slight embarrassment. Afterwards, Maggie corrected her posture, went back to her usual, kind voice:
"...Still… step by step. And speaking of steps, let's talk about why I wanted to meet with you, finally..." she said with a slight chuckle towards the end which was successful at making Clementine smile as well. The kids' study session, which both Maggie and Clementine knew was to be doomed to eventually become playtime instead, was convenient for Maggie too, since she opted that Clementine wouldn't want AJ to know what they're about to talk about now. Maggie continued:
"...Your judgement on people not being able to forget about the horrors of the outside world was really on point. However, you missed a slight detail…" Maggie paused a bit to see how Clementine would react to her remark which was and inquisitive look. Feeling glad that she seemed really involved and curious to know further about the matter, Maggie continued.
"…It varies, even within this generation. And what I mean by that is, not everyone had to endure the same level of fear out there. Most of the people that find refuge in Commonwealth come from other large communities. The people that come from those tend to be more cooperative and have better team mentality. People that… faced horrors less…" Maggie stopped briefly. Her face got a bit saddened as she adopted a gloomier version of her voice:
"...But there's also people coming that are hardened by those horrors. Ones that lived out there, within the horrors for too long. And as you can guess… they can be more… distrustful, more… let's say… like lone wolves..." Clementine understood exactly what Maggie was talking about as she couldn't help but put herself on the latter category. Maggie continued with her usual explanatory voice:
"...Being a… relatively long time survivor of those horrors myself, I've seen what could occur when you put people with these differences together. My former community suffered from this issue for quite some time. Now… within Commonwealth… an environment where a sense of society is blooming again, thanks to the people that preserve it for the common good, this specific issue merely causes any trouble. Not on a scale that would call for a precaution, anyways..." As Maggie finished, her face got tensed a bit as to signal that she was about to mention something dire:
"...However, when you put this same issue and apply it on a field where rules, discipline and team effort is invaluable… where lack of them could mean life and death… like military… A precaution becomes mandatory..." she finished. All Clementine could do was nod at this detailed explanation. She couldn't help but feel honored, since the leader of the community that she grew to love in time was sharing her wisdom with a mere citizen. However, she still couldn't understand why Maggie would want to meet with her specifically for these administrative business.
"...Now, I've had some reports from trooper lieutenants that pressed on this issue. Apparently, some troopers were having a hard time obeying orders or adopt themselves into their squads. Thankfully, it didn't cause any major problem yet but, like I said… It can mean life and death if a major problem was to occur. So, to try and mitigate this, I put forward a solution that claimed these troopers could be utilized differently."
"Like… another unit?" Clementine asked to clarify her own understanding towards all this. Also, she realized she didn't speak for a while. Clementine didn't want Maggie to think that she wasn't listening to her.
"Exactly!" Maggie said while making an affirming finger point towards Clementine and a proud smile. Afterwards, Maggie adopted a sincere voice as she said:
"I want you to know that my goal is not to offend you or judge you in any way by the offer I'm about to make…" It took Clementine a couple of seconds to realize what the offer was and as she did; her eyes got wide open in shock while Maggie leaned towards her on her chair, with the same sincere voice:
"… I'd like you to become one of the first Commonwealth rangers."
To survive…
In effect of this sudden exposition of intent, Clementine froze up. She didn't know how to act against such a serious and life-altering offer. However, she was quick to notice an irrelevance. She collected herself from her shock and asked with a neutral voice:
"Thank you for the offer ma'am, but I'm afraid I'm a bit confused. I mean… I'm not even a trooper. Why choose me when you could choose a trooper that might cause those problems?" Maggie started to smile proudly. She was satisfied with the fact that her judgement regarding Clementine's wit kept proving itself to be correct. With her usual, kind voice:
"An excellent question… with two simple answers, actually. Pride and experience..." Clementine was even more confused. As she was about to ask what she meant with the word pride, Maggie took the initiative to explain:
"...Pride, because the troopers have been a crucial part of this community way before I arrived here. People respect them, see them as the backbone of what we have here. In turn, this… unfortunately causes them to become more egoistic. It's… still a delicate matter that concerns me..." Maggie stopped, before adapting a more explanatory tone:
"...If I was to make those troopers into rangers, they might feel like they just got demoted which would cause ungratefulness and chaos. And chaos, within military, can result in… extraordinary detriments. So before we commit to a change so great, we need to make sure that this new concept could work."
"To make it as worthy of respect as being a trooper…" Clementine intervened to clarify her understanding which resulted in Maggie nodding affirmingly. At first, Clementine thought Maggie was insulting her by the word pride which confused her greatly especially since Maggie kept praising her throughout the meeting so far. But now that she understood the word wasn't meant for her specifically, she felt she had to add:
"What about experience?"
"Experience, because in order for this unit to work, they have to be the best at what they are doing."
"Like?"
"Surviving..." Maggie answered simply which was responded with a head tilt from Clementine that indicated she didn't really understand what Maggie meant. With her same, kind tone, Maggie started to add:
"...Analyzing, organizing, hunting, fighting… pretty much everything a survivor needs to be able to do in order to surpass the harsh conditions out there. Now, I'm aware that those 'lone wolf troopers' most likely possess these skills but, like I said, I need ones that are not troopers, for now hopefully. And again, the best..." She smiled optimistically as she finished. Afterwards, Maggie leaned on her desk to get closer to Clementine. With her sincere voice:
"...Having survived on those conditions for such a long time… in your age and with a huge responsibility you yourself put on your shoulders… " Maggie said as she started to smile proudly towards the end. With the same tone and smile, she completed:
"…You are the perfect example of what I envision a ranger should be." Clementine couldn't help but feel embarrassed against these heartfelt compliments. She felt extremely honored that Maggie had so much faith in her capabilities. However, as Clementine started to ponder on those capabilities needed, she remembered that unfortunate fact about herself. Her grateful, radiant smile slowly withered to a bittersweet one as she said:
"I really appreciate all the compliments you've given me, ma'am. I… Honestly I don't think I deserve half of it…"
"Nonsense." cut Maggie with an artificially angry voice. Clementine's apparent humbleness elated her. With a more sorrowful voice, Clementine completed:
"But… I'm afraid I have to decline your offer. I'm sorry." she said as she looked right into Maggie's eyes towards the end.
"Why?" Maggie simply asked. She knew exactly why the poor girl was thinking that she couldn't do it, but Maggie wanted to play it along. It was the time…
Clementine was abacked a bit by this question. She opted that Maggie would understand what she was talking about. There was no way she didn't know about her missing leg. Hell, she mentioned it this meeting.
"Umm…" Clementine was having a hard time finding the right words to explain her reasoning. Maggie, a bit saddened to see Clementine struggle like this, decided to take the initiative:
"Do you believe your condition hinders you?.." she asked in a neutral voice. Of course she did. Not only because of the obvious physical challenges it brought, but ever since she got bit; Clementine felt her confidence shrink intensively. In addition, after AJ saved her, she couldn't help but believe that she became a burden to everyone all of a sudden. She began doubting herself, her past and her future even more than before. Without giving Clementine a window to say yes, Maggie jumped in with a sincere smile:
"...You shouldn't..." Clementine, again, didn't know how to respond. Maggie was still being kind and reassuring towards her which she appreciated greatly. Still, it didn't change the fact that-
"...Especially, since…" Maggie said all of a sudden, putting a stop to Clementine's thoughts. As she did, Maggie reached under her desk to grab something. She stood up and walked around her desk to sit on the armchair AJ sat before, during which Clementine noticed what Maggie grabbed. It was a big and opaque bag that Maggie put on the ground in front of herself as she sat down. With an even greater smile than she had before, Maggie looked straight into Clementine's eyes and completed:
"… it's about to get better."
To care…
What Maggie pulled from the bag left Clementine speechless. It was a new prosthetic leg. And from the looks of it, a lot more advanced one. The one that Clementine was currently using was, in no way, a detriment to her. Even though it was basically a long and thick stick with a shoe attached at it's one end and a stump seat on the other; it was still extremely better than using crutches which Clementine, as she received it, was more than rejoiced. She had to get used to it but, in time she found herself quite comfortable walking with it.
"This…" Maggie started as she held onto the new prosthetic in her hand, showing it to Clementine. "…is designed by an extremely gifted prosthetist named Sean Fluffle… and yes, apparently that is his real surname..." Maggie couldn't help but add that remark with a chuckle in an effort to release Clementine from her current confused state which appeared to be successful as she looked towards Maggie's eyes and smiled. Feeling glad, Maggie continued with a sincere voice:
"...He's been with us for over 2 years now and achieved so many extraordinary feats. And his latest one…" Maggie paused briefly. As she forwarded the prosthetic to Clementine: "…is this right here."
Clementine slowly reached for the prosthetic and grabbed it. The first thing she noticed was how it was a bit heavier than her current one which she immediately saw it as a good thing, since she found her own to be too light. Enough that at times, she would be able to move it unnaturally quickly which caused her to have balance issues.
Its overall color was a faded, matt blue and the material that was used making it felt extremely sturdy. So much so as if it was made out of steel, but the overall weight of the prosthetic seemed to prove that assessment incorrect since it wasn't that heavy. The upper part of it had a standard stump seat with some belts attached to it to provide support from one's thigh.
The prosthetic's whole shin area consisted of two parts. Lower one seemed to serve as a tight seat for the upper part. Noticing the small handle the lower part had on it's side, Clementine turned it, quite forcibly as it seemed that this handle was designed to not budge on it's own easily, which resulted in the upper part completely sink in to the lower's seat. To understand what that was all about, Clementine lifted the upper part which made clicking sounds as the prosthetic extended in length. On it's maximum length, the space between the upper and lower part got revealed a bit. As Clementine looked through the tiny gap, she saw that the lower part had a gear&lock mechanism which was in conjunction with a thick, extremely serrated metal rod from the upper part. Clementine understood that this whole system's purpose was to make the prosthetic easily adjustable to one's height.
While inspecting, Clementine couldn't help but not understand what this had anything to do with their assignment discussion. The prosthetic seemed to be a significant improvement, surely but…
"Check the ankle." Maggie said suddenly with her sincere smile while Clementine was busy with her thoughts. Prosthetic's ankle was covered by a leather-like fabric from all sides. As she started inspecting it with her hand, Clementine noticed the foot part of it moved a bit against her hand's pressure. Afterwards, in an effort to understand why it happened, she took a hold of the foot completely and started moving it back and forth to realize the ankle was, in fact, not completely solid like her current one's is. What was even more impressive was that as she moved the foot to either side and released it, the ankle would correct itself back to it's original position.
"How the f…"
"Open the cover from the foot…" Maggie said as she chuckled a bit to Clementine's reaction and her almost completed comment. As soon as Maggie said that, Clementine began inspecting the leather cover closely. It's upper end was completely attached to the prosthetic's shin area. However, thanks to Maggie's indication, Clementine noticed that the lower end of the fabric could be removed by taking out a couple of tiny but sturdy holders the foot area had on it's both rear sides which went into the holes the leather had on that end. After removing them, Clementine could easily curl up the fabric to see the ankle that it was designed to protect.
The shin and the foot seemed to be connected by a really big, circular hinging system. In addition, this hinge had multiple metal string contraptions all around it. It seemed like these strings were enabling the whole prosthetic to have an absolute posture, but also provide flexibility at the same time.
"It's… it's f…"
"For running, yes." Maggie cut with a genuinely happy voice as Clementine completely realized what this new item could mean for her. As she moved her armchair closer to Clementine enough that she could reach her while still sitting:
"Let's see…" Maggie said as she started leaning towards Clementine, her gaze down towards her, now old, prosthetic. Clementine, immediately understanding what Maggie wanted to do:
"No, ma'am. You don't ne-" Clementine had to pause. Maggie lifted her head just enough to give an intimidating gaze towards her, like how a mother would to display her anger towards her child. It was so intense that Clementine froze up. She could have never guessed someone as caring and sweet as Maggie could pull of such an bone-freezing death stare.
Afterwards, Maggie turned her gaze back to the leg as she started curling up Clementine's pant. She unraveled the belts and completely took off the prosthetic. She extended her hand and gave Clementine her usual kind gaze, in expectation of the new prosthetic Clementine was still holding in front of her horizontally. Clementine, not wanting to face that death stare again, said nothing and gave Maggie what she wanted.
"Hold your knees together, darling." Maggie said with her soft voice. Clementine, understanding why that was necessary, collected her posture by adjusting her right leg to be perpendicular to the ground and fixated her left knee on the same height as the other. Maggie re-adjusted the prosthetic's length to match Clementine's right leg. After she locked in the correct length for Clementine and bound the belts to her, Maggie stood up and forwarded her hand towards her. She held Maggie's hand while slowly standing up. Still holding Clementine's hand, Maggie said:
"Let's walk, shall we?" Clementine couldn't help but smile excitedly towards Maggie's offer as both of them started pacing slowly. At first, Clementine struggled since she was still using the same specific movement she had to get used to for her old prosthetic. Thanks to Maggie, she regained her balance and tried it again.
The contraptions on the ankle were working really well as Clementine noticed how easy it was for her to leave her left leg behind and extend it forward without worrying about falling over since the foot was always landing properly to the floor. With each step, the metal foot was hitting on the concrete floor. After they went towards the door and back to the desk together, Maggie released Clementine and asked:
"You're good on your own?" as she went back towards her armchair. Clementine made some marching on the spot to see if she's going to lose her balance again but to her surprise, she got the hang of it easily. With a huge, grateful smile:
"Yes, thank you so much, ma'am." Clementine said. Maggie responded with her own smile as she sat down on her armchair. Afterwards, Maggie invited Clementine to sit in front of herself again with her hand, which Clementine accepted. As she sat down:
"One last thing…" Maggie said excitedly, as she grabbed a couple of long boots from the bag. It looked like Maggie was about to, again, help Clementine out with it. At the sight of this, yet another great gesture, Clementine started to feel really embarrassed as she almost squealed:
"Ma'am, please. Thank you, let me handle it." Seeing how mousy Clementine was starting to get under this barrage of welfare, Maggie decided to concede and watch her wear the boots with a content smile.
While dealing with the bindings of it, Clementine found herself thinking about Maggie. How could a leader of a goddamn city be this humble? This generous? This caring towards a mere citizen who isn't even providing anything to the society in any way? Not only did she kept praising her throughout their meeting, she also shared her wisdom and sympathy continuously. And with this huge gift…
However, towards the end of her effort to wear the boots, Clementine started to consider the possibility of there being wantonness behind Maggie's actions. She hated feeling this pessimistic but, she was also nowhere near ready to accept anything. Especially since this offer wasn't all about her, it would also affect AJ. As Clementine was done with the boots, with an extremely grateful smile and tone:
"Ma'am, you've done so much for me today, I… I can't find a strong enough word to describe it…"
"Eh, try meagre or… insignificant." Maggie replied immediately, humbling her own actions which was successful at getting a chuckle through nose out of Clementine. However, Clementine's smile degraded to a concerned frown as she readied herself for her question:
"But… I'm really sorry for asking this but… I have to..." She looked towards AJ through the glass who was talking with Hershel beside his desk. After a brief silence during which Maggie started to look a bit concerned herself, Clementine turned back to Maggie and asked:
"...Does all this mean that I'm assigned?"
To run…
Maggie started to laugh softly in embarrassment as she received Clementine's question. In her mid-laughter:
"Oh… dear, I'm sorry. It did look like a price of admission, didn't it?.." Maggie said, her smile reflecting a bit of guilt. Poor girl seemed to couldn't help but think that she was getting manipulated, which the realization of it caused Maggie to feel sad for her within. As her laughter subsided, Maggie leaned towards Clementine, with her sincere voice and caring smile:
"...Like I said before, it's voluntary. These are yours, whether you accept the offer or not..." After a brief pause, with an even greater smile, Maggie added: "...Consider it a birthday present."
That… was the last straw for Clementine's emotional balance as she started to tear up a bit out of relief and jubilance. Right after she voiced her insulting concern, Clementine was responded with even more kindness and affection. She reached to Maggie's hand and held it between her own two gently. Her grateful, teary eyes towards Maggie.
"Thank you…" was the only remark Clementine felt she could give. Maggie accepted the gratitude with a smile of her own as she joined her other hand to the touch, as well. After a moment spent, Maggie stood up to go back to her own chair. As she reached it, with her sincere voice:
"Anything else I can help you with, before we finish?" Maggie said which resulted in Clementine shaking her head slowly, still on her grateful and embarrassed state. After seeing her adorable refusal, Maggie walked towards the balcony to relief AJ from his duty but on her way, she got reminded of one last thing she wanted to mention. She paused, turned herself back towards Clementine and said:
"Oh, if you'd like to know more about the assignment before deciding, find Martin. He was the one I was talking before you arrived. He just accepted it and I informed him about it in detail. I believe… he's staying at the other dormitory."
"Of course, ma'am." Clementine agreed as she was finishing up on wiping her eyes. She agreed to Maggie's judgement that the more she knew before committing to something like this, the better.
Afterwards, Maggie returned to her previous effort to let AJ know that the meeting is finished as she opened up the balcony door. Both the kids turned their head to meet her, but both of them were looking at her awfully curious. With an eyebrow up and a squint:
"You rascals didn't even touch the book, did ya?" Maggie asked with a slightly accented and angry voice in jest as their continued silence and gaze proved her right. They were chatting up a storm here the whole time, most likely.
"Go on..." Maggie conceded as she had a little laugh. Looking at chuckling AJ, she tilted her head towards the office and added: "...we're done."
Clementine greeted AJ with a smile as both of them left the room after waving goodbye towards Hershel. Maggie smiled contently to the duo's depart. Helping another fellow mother who had it worse than herself did elated her.
While they were going down the stairs, Clementine re-felt the shock of seeing how effortless this new prosthetic made her movement. She started to smile as she couldn't help but believe that with this, as far as physical capabilities were concerned, she actually had a chance at surviving outside again.
As they reached the exit, Clementine analyzed how much time has passed. It seemed they still had a couple of hours before lunch and Clementine knew exactly how she wanted to spend it. With an excited smile and a sincere but challenging voice, she kneeled to AJ on sidewalk and said:
"Hey, wanna race to the park?"