Sorry for the long pages of writing. I had so much fun writing the dialogue of my new original character Maya and playing with the story a bit. Hopefully, the next chapter will not be as long.
Chapter 4: Wayfaring Strangers
Clementine sleeps peacefully in Louis's arms that night and AJ sleep in his bed across from her. She dreamt of pleasant dreams and felt Louis's warm embrace around her waist as she burrowed deeper in the crook of his neck, with her nose and hand grazing over his chest and upper arms. She is unaware of Louis's restless night as he fights with flashes of memory of killing that woman on the boat. The dreams have been subtle the last several nights and, recently, have worsened, where it shakes Louis out of his sleep and leaves him terrified, and guilt gripped at his heart.
Louis shuttered awake at that moment as sweat formed on his forehead. He sits up in Clementine's bed as he tries to slow his breathing to a controlled state. He closed his eyes and tried counting, but his PTSD flashbacks kept coming. He reopens his eyes as he looks down on Clementine's peaceful sleeping face. She was the only thing that kept him grounded, even when she was not awake or aware of his night terrors. He will tell her the truth about what he has been dealing with later. Clementine has enough on her mind when trying to learn how to walk again with only one foot. Maybe they both can heal and learn from each other's trauma and help each other. Louis eases his body back down to lay next to hers, places his shaking hand on her waist, and focuses on the sound of her soft breathing to calm his own body and mind down.
Hearing Clementine breathe in slow rhythms helped Louis gain control of his breathing as he slowly opened his eyes to gaze at her in her cute sleeping pose. She doesn't even know that she is helping him with the simplicity of her breathing calms Louis right down. He thank the universe for having her in his life. Louis closes his eyes once more and focuses on his breathing to get him to drift back into his slumber before he has to get up to go scout out the new survivors with AJ in the morning.
The morning sun broke its first light as the golden rays lit up Clementine and AJ's room. Louis felt a nudge on his foot. He grumbles at the poking and shaking of his foot. A slit of his brown eyes peaked at who was nudging him awake.
"Louis…" a voice hissed his name in a low whisper so it didn't wake up the figure sleeping next to him.
Louis grumbles again and muffles into the pillow. "Louis…" the voice repeats. "Time to get up, sleepy head."
Louis groans a bit. Then he turns his head to the left to see who it is. "AJ, why so early."
"We got that thing to do, remember? Scouting the caravan." AJ softly whispers so he doesn't wake up Clementine.
Louis slowly moves out from Clementine's close embrace, so he doesn't wake her. He smiles at her beautiful face and wishes he could be in her dream world. Before he climbs out of bed, he leans down and leaves a soft butterfly kiss on her cheek and smiles a tender smile as he pulls away, just staring at her sweet face.
Louis then climbs out of her bed and meets AJ by the bookshelf. Louis walks over to the desk that has his boots beside it, and he puts them on. AJ grabs hold of his knife in case of danger as he puts on the new hat that Clementine gave him. Once Louis was done tying his boots, AJ motioned for the door, and the two left Clementine and AJ's room without waking up Clementine.
Once in the hallway, Louis looks down at AJ with Clem's hat, "You know I will never get used to seeing you with that hat on. That hat will always remind me of Clem."
"Well, she said I can have it," AJ says as he walks in pace with Louis to the front doors. Aj looks at Louis, who had a tiring look in his eyes, "Sounds like you had a rough night last night."
Louis gazes down at AJ and then up in the foggy courtyard of the school, "Just didn't get much sleep." Louis tries not to let AJ know of his nightmares.
AJ already knows, "Sounds like you had a nightmare last night. You have the same groans Clem does when she has a nightmare about the Ranch. You want to talk about it."
Louis looks at AJ and shakes his head, "No, I'm fine."
AJ knows Louis is not willing to talk about it, so he drops it as Louis opens up the gate to go to the spot Aasim and Louis spot the Caravan. A little way on the pathway there, AJ then asks another question, "so are you going to be living in mine and Clem's room now?"
Louis smiles at him, "Did Clementine mention anything to you."
"No, you just seem to spend a lot of time with her and me when before you hadn't. Just curious if you have your own room to go to." AJ scans the horizon for walkers.
"Maybe because I enjoy your and her company a lot." Louis smiles.
"Are you going to move in with us?" AJ asks the daring question.
"Clem and I haven't discussed that far yet, little dude," Louis advises him.
"I think you should," AJ said bluntly.
"Should what?" Louis turns his gaze onto the small child.
"Talk about moving in. She obviously likes you, you know, and she sleeps better when you are with her." AJ pointed out. "I haven't heard her have any nightmares in a while."
Louis smiles at AJ's comment and feels warm to hear AJ says she sleeps better when Louis is around. "We will discuss it later this evening. I want you to be okay with me joining you guys."
AJ takes his gaze off the horizon and to the ground as to think, then he smiles up at Louis, "I am fine with it, as long as you keep all the smushing face things to a minimum."
Louis lets out a chuckle, "You mean kissing."
"Kissing," AJ repeats the words, then with a puzzling look, he gazes up at Louis. Then asks, "Is that what smushing each other's faces is called, like what you and Clem do?"
Louis halts for a moment in his pace as he looks down at AJ, debating if he should have this conversation with him without Clementine present. He then cleared his throat and decided to tell him, "Yes. It is how Clem and I show how we care for each other."
"Oh…" AJ looks down for a moment and then looks back at Louis, "like love."
"Right." Louis nodded and soon started walking again.
AJ falls in line with Louis and asks, "Do you love her?"
Louis looks down at AJ, "What?"
"Do you love Clementine?" AJ asks again.
Louis doesn't want to express that he does, and neither Clementine nor Louis said those three words to each other and really meant them. But he can't deny that he has love feelings towards her and fell for her hard. He carefully gazes at AJ and answers the question. "Yes."
"Have you ever told her you did?" AJ asks.
"No." Louis repsonds.
"Because?" AJ presses on.
"Because I want to express how I truly feel about her in a special way, where I want to say those words and mean them when I voice it out loud to her," Louis answers Clementine's adoptive son. "Saying 'I love you' is a big deal, little man. Especially in these times, because anything could happen." Louis pauses as he looks at AJ, then he adds, "Plus, Clem and I just started our relationship, and saying I love you early on in a relationship would be a bit rushing."
"I guess I don't understand how this goes." AJ shakes his head.
"Because you are too young to know this, and Clem would have my head if I revealed too much. Come back to me in a few years when you are a bit older with your first crush or first love." Louis snickers a bit.
AJ and Louis continue making their way out passed the old safe zone, clearing out occasional walkers that roam the woods. Still, nothing life-threatening. Louis slows his pace down as they approach where he and Aasim found the Caravan survivors. Louis drops down in a crouch as he weaves through the tall blades of grass, keeping 'Chairles' close by. AJ does the same as they take cover behind a thicket of brush and tangled weaves of vine-like trees.
AJ peers through the thicket at a small camp. There was a little girl about his age, several grown-ups older than Clementine and the rest of the Ericson kids. One grown woman who has reddish hair seems to be their leader. There was a young adult with glasses who was helping this little girl out with something. Two older female teens were making some breakfast for the group. AJ guest they looked to be about Clementine and Violet's age. AJ can't make out the other two adults in the group, but one adult looks big from where AJ is, and he slides closer to Louis for support. He felt Louis tense up as he looks up at Louis.
"Is this the Caravan you and Aasim saw yesterday?" AJ whispers.
"Yes, but we only saw the young adult with glasses, the two female teens, and one adult, the redhead," Louis whispers back. "I think this must be where they made camp."
"Do you think it is safe to make contact?" AJ asks.
Louis looks at AJ and then back at the group. Louis doesn't want to make the hard call here. He doesn't know if this group of survivors is friendly or like the Raiders. "Let's just wait and see, okay little man."
"So, scouting," AJ replies.
"Yes." Louis answers. "I don't want to risk everyone back at home if this is a potentially bad group. Let's play this smart."
"Who do you think these people are?" AJ asks.
"I don't know. Survivors like we are." Louis replies. "We know it is not the Raiders because they don't have young kids like that little girl down there, and they don't seem to be in any militia, err..fighting force group."
AJ scans the group of strangers and pulls out a pair of binoculars. Louis looks at AJ and asks, "You spot anything that these guys are hostile?"
AJ scans their camp and sees a small shelter area where they do the cooking. He sees several tents and what looks to be a construction of a small hut or cabins. He sees many weapons, probably to fend off walkers and kill for food. He sees the redhead Louis was talking about, talking to an older man who is black like Louis and even shares his freckles, and the redhead lady glancing down at a map to make plans for something. "Not that I see out of the ordinary of weapons of war. Just usual shotguns and pistols for hunting and lots of knives." AJ responds. "The red hair lady seems to be glancing at a map and making plans of something."
Louis casts his look at AJ and asks, "Can I have a look, bud?"
AJ hands Louis the binoculars, and Louis looks through the lenses of the binoculars to see what AJ is seeing. He sees the older redhead as she gestures at the map of the person she is talking to. The man has his back turned, but he looks old with gray hairs coming out of his small form of hair.
"Louis?" AJ asks.
"Let's get back to where it is safe, and we can plan how we want to go about this," Louis whispers to AJ. AJ nods, and both of them backtrack out of the thicket. Once they are back in familiar lands and there is a buffer between them and the other survivors, Louis comes to a halt.
"So what is the plan?" AJ asks.
"I think we should play it safe for now and hold off for a bit," Louis said.
"But Clem said we should make a trade or something." AJ reminded Louis.
"I know she did, but I also want to play this out the smart way where we don't come off as the hostile ones," Louis said. He sees AJ look away in frustration. Then he comes up with a solution, "How about we tell Clementine of what we saw and go from there, and come back and scout out again."
"Okay," AJ said with a huff of disappointment.
"Don't sound disappointed little man. We just want to be smart and not have our home under attack and put people in danger here. Can't trust people easily nowadays, especially in these hard times." Louis responded.
"They don't seem all that threatening." AJ comments.
"True, but people do things out of desperation, especially when food is involved, and shelter," Louis said. "But enough of serious talk, how about some hunting before we turn in? Don't want to come back empty-handed."
AJ giggles, "yeah."
Clementine slowly opens up her eyes as she notices Louis and AJ have already left to take a look at the caravan. She wonders how it is going. Clementine rises from the bed as she stretches from her night's rest. She looks to the bedside and grabs hold of the crutches, and makes her way outside. She is getting used to the idea of crutches but would like to move without them.
It is a little chilly this morning as she senses summer has moved on to the beginning part of autumn. Ruby was feeding the horse as Aasim and Willy were making something out by one of the picnic tables. Violet was on watch lookout, and Omar and Tenn were out fishing. Ruby looks at Clementine as she comes out of the dormitories, finish feeding the new horse and makes her way to Clementine.
"How is your leg?" Ruby asks.
Clementine looks down and sighs, "Wish I didn't have to use crutches all the time."
"I know. I mentioned something to Aasim last night after you went to bed early. He and Willy are making and designing you a prosthetic foot and a cane for supporting weight to help you move around a bit, so you don't have to use those crutches all the time." Ruby told her.
Clementine glances at Aasim and Willy and then readjusts her gaze to Ruby, "That explains it."
"What?" Ruby knits her face.
"When I came out of the dorms, I saw supplies out on the table and the two of them working on it. I thought it was more weapons and traps or some project." Clementine responds to Ruby's question.
"Yeah, I sent Aasim to supervise because I don't think Willy has the best idea or solution that will be practical and reasonable for making a prosthetic foot for you. But knowing how Aasim is, he would be doing most of the work." Ruby giggles.
Clementine smiles as she sees Ruby blushing, "So when do you and Aasim start to become a thing?"
"Shortly after the boat rescue and when you were unconscious. I find him very sweet. He was scared on the boat, and we had a moment, then he confessed to me he liked me." Ruby blushes, and a giddy smile forms on her face when she talks about Aasim. Her blue eyes gaze in his direction, and a bigger smile forms on her face.
"Well, I am happy for you two and glad I am not the only one pining for someone." Clementine giggles.
"Oh, hun, you are doing more than just pinning for Louis. You got it bad with him, don't think I haven't noticed the looks you two were giving each other last night during dinner." Ruby teases Clementine as Clementine rolls her eyes. Ruby glances around to spot Clementine's new romance flame, "Speaking of which, where is Louis? And AJ."
Clementine looks at the redhead and smiles, "I sent them off to scout out the caravan this morning that Louis and Aasim saw when hunting yesterday."
"You trust Louis with this mission?" Ruby arches her left eyebrow.
"He has AJ with him, in case Louis, well…." Clementine trails off.
"Does what Louis does," Ruby added in.
"Right. And I do have enough faith and trust in Louis as well." Clementine said as she leaned on her one crutch to relieve pain from her right foot.
"Just don't understand how a guy like Louis, out of all people, found someone who can take his nonsense. Even when growing up altogether, sometimes Louis just drives me crazy." Ruby shook her head.
"I guess you don't choose who you tend to like. You just do," Clementine responds.
"You mean love." Ruby corrected her.
Clementine's face lit up, and she felt a little redness on her cheeks. "Yes, but I don't want to say those words yet. My feelings of love for him are still new and unknown right now. And I don't want to get my heart broken if anything happens to him."
Ruby nods. "I get it. I am still scared of confessing my feelings for Aasim." She watched as Clementine was getting tired of standing, so she suggested to go sit down by the picnic tables. Clementine and her sit on the benches. Then Ruby asks Clementine how her romance came to be, "So what is your story with Louis? What made you choose him."
Clementine thought for a moment as she reflected on her memories of meeting him. The first time he introduced himself, how he played the piano and sang in his cute off-key voice, and his intuitive sense of caring for AJ. But what got her to like him and start to fall for him was his sense of humor in this world which made her laugh. And also got her to see life through a different set of lenses and just have fun now and then. Especially in these dark times. Clementine looks back at Ruby and answers her question, "I guess what started it all was his ability to make me laugh and have fun and make me forget about running and defending myself from this dark and cruel world." Clementine smiles and then adds, "And his damn dorky smile gets to my heart every time. It reminds me of a boy I grew to care for back when the world went to hell. And not to mention he is musically inclined, and something about how he plays got to me."
Ruby shook her head as she smiled at Clementine, "You're the only one who laughs at his stupid jokes. Vi sometimes does, but she plays it off as annoyance than actual laughing."
"He has some good ones I will give him credit for that. But sometimes, it is fun to clap back and counter his jokes with flirting comebacks." Clementine snickers.
Ruby giggles too and soon get up from the seat, "Well, I got to plant some herbs in the greenhouse. You want to come with me."
"Thanks, but I got lookout duty after Violet," Clementine says. Ruby casts her gaze downward, and Clementine picks up on that. "What's wrong."
"Since Violet has difficulty adjusting after the boat rescue, Louis, Aasim, and I agreed that you and Violet should not interact for a bit. So I swapped out your lookout shift with Willy's for this evening, and Willy will be taking your shift after Vi's." Ruby said.
Clementine shifts her gaze to glance up at the watch lookout where Vi is. Then she turns her eyes to Ruby, "Why is she mad at me personally? Because I almost died by her psycho ex-girlfriend."
"We don't know why she is acting this way, Louis is still trying to communicate with her, but she is also latching out at Louis. He told me a few days ago when you woke up." Ruby answers Clementine. Ruby looks at Clementine and adds, "Honestly, I think it is jealousy."
"Jealously? Because of what Louis and I have," Clementine asks.
"Partly, maybe. Maybe seeing you two share happiness and true love is causing some enviousness to enter Vi's heart because it reminds her of what she had lost before you and AJ came to this school."
Clementine looks up at where Violet is as she utters the words that feel like bile in her mouth, "Minerva."
"Yes. Those two had love we all wish we had. I was jealous for a while of her and Minnie. And Violet never got a chance to say goodbye when Marlon and Brody told everyone the walkers killed Sophie and Minnie. So I know you and Louis do not mean to when you two express your happiness to each other, but it reminds Violet of who she once loved and lost." Ruby explains.
"Do you think she will ever accept me as her friend again and my relationship with Louis?" Clementine asks.
"I think in due time, yes, but you got to give her that time and space so she can mourn and piece back together her broken heart." Ruby smiles as she puts a hand on Clementine's shoulder, "She will come back to you."
That comforting smile puts a small smile on Clementine's lips, "Thanks, Ruby. I know you are a healer in terms of a medical sense, but you also have a touch of psychology."
Ruby laughs at that, "I guess Aasim is rubbing off on me each time I spend with him. He taught me this."
"Well, you do a good job at it," Clementine adds.
"Thanks. Well, I got to get going to the greenhouse you are welcome to come to join me if you want. Omar and Tenn should be back here soon, hopefully with something." Ruby sighs.
"Thanks, but I will stay out here and enjoy the peacefulness and wait on what Louis and AJ bring back with the caravan report." Clementine smiles at Ruby. She then adds one more comment before Ruby heads in the direction of the greenhouse, "However, in the future, I would love to help you out in the greenhouse if it is okay for me to leave the walls."
"Greenhouse is fine, just no hunting or fishing for a bit until Aasim and Willy give you better support and a more permanent solution to your left foot. The crutches are to help you move about a bit, so you are not hopping." Ruby mentions Clementine's stump. And Clementine couldn't agree more with Ruby's advisement even though she hates using the crutches, but she won't admit it to anyone. Clementine watches Ruby turn to head in the direction where the greenhouse as Clementine looks out at the gate and waits for Louis and AJ to return.
Louis and AJ hunt some rabbits together to take back to the school for dinner. Aj managed to fix a trap as he came over to Louis. Louis takes the dead rabbit and slings it over his shoulder. AJ looks up at Louis and says, "Well, at least we won't go hungry."
"True. But still, I wish there was something better to eat than just rabbit and fish all the time." Louis huffs out his disappointment. "A change in the menu would be nice."
"Maybe we can scout out a bit farther," AJ suggested and pointed east. "Like in that direction."
Louis looks at where AJ is pointing, "Maybe in a few days, okay, bud. I also want to ensure we don't cross paths with this new group until we learn more and what Clem thinks."
"Okay." AJ sighs. They walk down a stony pathway just off from the fishing shack. "You want to fish?" AJ asks.
Louis looks ahead and then back at AJ, "Nah…fishing was never really my thing, even back when the world went to hell." Louis looked down at AJ, who looked kind of sad. Louis then adds, "You know what, bud, if you want to fish, I will leave you to it as I take these rabbits to Omar, and let him know you will be fishing, and give Clem my report. I think Tenn should be at the fishing shack with Rosie anyways."
AJ then hugs him and turns down the pathway to the fishing shack. Louis watches him go as he shakes his head at the little child. He is glad AJ wants to help the group and ensure everyone has enough to eat. Especially with winter fast approaching here soon. Louis turns to head toward the school with two rabbits over his shoulder. The leaves were turning his favorite color as autumn was just starting. It is his favorite time of the season, as he wants to share this moment with Clementine once they have time alone together. And he still needs help making her the tree house they dreamed about together.
His thoughts and plans lead him to the geats of the school as he pushes open the old familiar door and comes into the side entrance. Louis sees Clementine sitting on the couch by the practicing target, relaxing and reading a book. Louis smiles at the sight of her, and he can't help but be in a trance of her beauty. The late afternoon sun lit her up in just the perfect lighting that made Louis speechless and can barely breathe. Louis was so caught up in admiring Clementine's beauty he didn't even see Omar approach him.
"Are those for me?" Omar asks as Louis is awestruck by something. He looks at where Louis is staring, and he can't help but chuckle at Louis's infatuation with Clementine. It is quite obvious the guy has it bad for her. "Louis?" Omar asks again, but still no response from Louis. Omar tries again, this time waving his hand in Louis's eye view to break whatever captivated his attention, "Earth to Louis?"
That time Louis shook his head in response, "huh….what?"
"Are those for me?" Omar gestured to the rabbits on Louis's shoulder.
"Oh yeah." Louis takes the rabbits off his shoulder and hands them over to Omar.
"You okay, man? You seem out of it," Omar asks, looking at Louis.
"I'm fine. Never been better." Louis answers.
Omar shook his head, "Right."
Louis caught onto Omar's raised octave on the word 'right', "What is so funny?"
"You." Omar laughs.
"What about me?" Louis asks.
"You're smitten over Clementine just now. You have it bad for her. You are a walking cliché, dude." Omar gestures over to where Clementine is at.
"Do you have some rabbits to skin for dinner tonight? I will gladly take those back to the woods to feed the walkers." Louis said with a sneer comeback of having Omar tease him of his romantic feelings towards Clementine. Louis then brings back his old charm by saying, "Can you make anything other than stew? How about some rabbit chops or something."
Omar didn't give an amusing look to Louis's last comment, "Not helping Louis."
"Just wondering," Louis snickers.
Omar shakes his head as he goes to the prepping area to make up tonight's meal. Louis then makes his way to Clementine as his heart rate increases slightly. Before he makes his way to her, he thinks of being charming and romantic and heads to the flag pole to pick a beautiful purple wildflower from around the pole plot. He plucked it from the small wildflower plant and held it between his fingers. He then makes his way to where Clementine is still reading.
Louis comes up to the couch's armrest, and Clementine stops her reading and gazes upward at Louis, "Hey," she said so sweetly. And Louis smiled a warm, tender smile to her.
"Hey, back," Louis replies. He felt Clementine reach for the ends of his jacket and pulls him down to her lips. He was not expecting it as she caught him off guard, like how she stared at him during one of their card games. Louis didn't have time to think, and the next thing he knew, her lips were locked onto his, and he melted as his heart was beating a million miles per hour. He felt her fingertips grazing over his cheeks in a tender motion, then she pulls away, leaving him feeling helpless and puddy over her. Louis slowly opened his eyes as the cutest smile on Clementine's face made him all flustered and speechless. "wow…um…was not expecting that.."
Clementine lets out a soft happy giggle at Louis's flustered fumbling over his words. "You are too cute at times." She then straightens up to have Louis come sit beside her.
Louis let out a giddy chuckle, and his eyes were filled with so much love and admiration for her. He settles down beside her as he takes the purple flower and tucks it behind her left earlobe, and tenderly kisses her cheek. "Well, I will be extra cute then." Clementine lets out giddy laughter and smiles up at him with adoring eyes.
Willy was walking nearby as he groaned at the two of them, "gahh..can you two please get a room so I don't have to see all the mushy stuff."
Louis snaps out of his love gaze with Clementine as he turns his attention to Willy, "When you get older, you will understand, bud." Willy rolls his eyes as he heads toward where Violet is to do lookout duty.
Clementine snickers as she moves away from Louis a bit so they have space between them and do not show too much public display affection in front of the entire school. She gains control of her emotions and eyes him with the report of the Caravan, "So, how was this morning? Did you get any intel or make contact with the other group."
Louis leans back and looks at her, "Yes, we scout of the group, and I didn't feel comfortable making contact with them just yet."
"Louis.." Clementine looks at him.
"I want to ensure it is safe to do so so I don't endanger people here or you and AJ. We will keep an out for them, darling at least I know where their camp is. And besides, I want a little bit bigger group besides me and your kid, Clem. I want to do this smart." Louis looks into her amber eyes. "I don't want to put you or AJ or anyone else at this school in harm's way in case these people are hostile." He reaches out and strokes her right cheek tenderly with his finger.
Clementine looks at him with soft eyes and nods in understanding for Louis to be cautious. She adores this new side of him, being caring and protective of her and AJ. She reaches out and takes hold of Louis's other free hand and gives it a squeeze of reassurance and understanding of his worries, and validates his feelings. Very softly, she spoke to him, "So, anything about this new group?"
Louis removes his hand from Clementine's cheek as he tells her what he and AJ spotted, "There is a redhead that AJ and I guess is their leader. She had blue eyes like Ruby's but not, and she was older. There was an older man I couldn't make it out who it was as trees and bushes blocked my few, but he looked to be Cuban of some sort or maybe black, hard to tell. He may be this woman's, right-hand man."
Clementine nods to what Louis is telling her, "Anything else?"
"They have a few weapons on them. Maybe a few shotguns and pistols, but no military ones, from what I can tell. And some knives. Just standard weapons to protect from walkers and use of hunting." Louis answers her. "We did spot some teenagers in the group and a small girl around AJ and Tenn's age. Two of the older teenagers were females. I gather they are sisters or related to each other, as they look to be Asian or Indian descendants. And there was an older boy who could be a young adult with glasses and brown hair."
Clementine looks at her boyfriend and processes the information she is telling him. She then asks, "You didn't catch any names, have you or heard them talk."
Louis casts her a look and shakes his head, "Unfortunately, no. We hid in the bushes where we could get close enough to their camp without giving away our position or making our presence known, and where I was that had good cover, couldn't make out any voices or what they sound like." He sees Clementine nodding at the information he is giving her. "You still have that map?"
Clementine looks up at him, "Yeah, why?"
"I can point to you where their camp is so we can avoid that area until we feel safe to make contact." Louis looks at her.
Clementine nods as she takes out the map inside the pocket of her jean jacket and lays it out in front of them so Louis can point to where the Caravan group made camp. Louis scans the map and retraces his and AJ's steps this morning to where the camp is. Looking over the map Marlon had made years ago, he followed the river toward the end of the paper and halfway between the hunting grounds and the boarding school. "Here." Louis pointed at the map.
Clementine looks where Louis is pointing, and she notes, "You said they already made camp?"
Louis nods, "Yeah, several tents I think of a tarp and something similar to what we have for cooking their meals. And already putting in a perimeter for what I can see by the young adult male and one of the siblings of the Indian girls."
She looks at Louis, "Okay, I will make a note of it and make sure Aasim or whoever is out hunting or scavenging keep clear of this area until we can be sure they are safe and friendly and they are not trying to fuck with us." Clementine then places her hand on Louis and gives him a sweet smile, "You did good, Lou. I'm proud of you for your first solo mission without me."
"Really, because I was nervous as hell and afraid I got us caught." Louis turns his gaze to the distance.
Clementine reached out and placed her one free hand on Louis's face and made him look at her, "You trusted your instincts, Lou, you and AJ made it back safe and not harmed, and you didn't risk putting this school or me in danger. If you feel you made the right call, I believe you." She then leans over and kisses him lightly on the cheek to give him some encouragement. When she pulled away, she could tell he was blushing from her gesture, and he turned to look into her eyes. A soft goofy smile came over his face, and their heads slowly moved towards each other as both of their eyes grew heavy, and both Clementine and Louis closed their eyes to feel the passion when their lips met.
Before they could seal a kiss, a voice made Clementine jerk away from her romantic moment with Louis, "Clem!"
Clementine jerks away from Louis as she turns her head towards the approaching voice. She blushes a bit and tries to hide her love gaze from Louis as AJ comes in from outside the gates to greet her. Once AJ is a few feet from them, he stares at Clementine and Louis as both look slightly embarrassed at displaying their love for each other. "Hey, kiddo." Clementine manages to say once she hides her teenage moment.
AJ looks at Clementine, who still was red in the cheeks from having her romantic moment with Louis, "Were you and Louis kissing or making out?"
Clementine's eyes open with shock as she looks at AJ. Her gaze slowly moved to Louis, "You told him about kissing and making out?"
Louis coughs as he lets out air, "I only told him about kissing, that is it, because he asked about it, honest."
Clementine looks at him through narrow eyes, "You swear."
"Yes." Louis crosses an x over his heart and then holds up three fingers, "With scouts honor."
"Willy told Tenn and me as we walked through the gates back from fishing." AJ interrupted the two teenagers. Both Clementine and Louis drop their gazes on each other, and both of their gazes go to AJ. AJ continues to talk, "He said you two were making out, and you needed to get a room."
Clementine looks at her adoptive son and then puts her head in her palm as she leans forward and mumbles, "Oh my God." Louis tries to hold back a smile as he tries to be serious for a moment with Clementine's embarrassment of having her hormones get the best of her. Clementine raises her head as she looks at AJ, "I will tell you in a bit, okay bud, but no, Louis and I did not 'make out' what Willy claims we did. Did you bring the fish to Omar?" AJ nods in response to her question. Clementine sighs as she looks at her adoptive son, "Okay, go play with Tenn as I got to find Willy and have a talk with him as well, on certain things to tell you and certain things not to."
"So you and Louis did make out?" AJ asks as he looks at her and then at Louis reading the situation between them.
"AJ.." Clementine warns.
"Play with Tenn and drop this conversation, got it." AJ then gives a thumbs up as he gets the message and heads to where Tenn is waiting at the picnic tables.
Once AJ left, Louis let out the laughter he was holding in, and Clementine looked beside her, "It is not funny, Louis."
Louis settles down from his laughter, "Actually, my darling, it is funny and adorable."
Clementine, with a confused look, looks at him, "How so. I am trying to protect his innocence here, and he doesn't need to know of…." She pauses as she scans the area around her for listening ears, and in a low whisper, she spells out the words, "He doesn't need to know of S-E-X yet. He is too young."
"Clem, sweetheart, he will know of it someday. Especially the more you and I show affection." Louis tries to be calm about it.
"That is someday, like when he is fourteen or older. Not now, when he is six going on seven. I want him to be as little much as I can here. And I don't know how to begin to have that 'talk' with him when I am not even sure of myself how it goes." Clementine casts her gaze at AJ playing with Tenn.
Louis read her expression, "I will do it if you want." Clementine turns her head to look at him with an eyebrow arched. Louis then corrected his phrase, "Err…Having the 'talk' with him, I mean…when he gets older, if you want. It might be better coming from a man to a young boy embracing his manhood if you can catch my drift."
Clementine looks at her boyfriend, "You will do that for me?"
"Yes. I adore that kid." Louis leans over and kisses her cheek. "And your shyness on this topic is all so very cute and adorable."
Clementine puts her hand over Louis's mouth and eyes him with flirting eyes, "You're not off the hook that easily for telling him about kissing, either, prince charming."
Louis shyly looks at the ground and then eyes her with adorable eyes, "How much trouble am I in?"
Clementine looks at him, and then she can't be mad at him for telling the truth to her adoptive son, "Not as much trouble as Willy will be in. We will discuss it after dinner and lay out some boundaries for AJ to know, okay."
Louis agrees with her, "Okay. I will follow your lead, darling." She reaches for her crutches as she slowly gets up from the couch and makes her way over to the picnic tables for supper. Louis follows alongside her, "And to be honest, Clem, I only mention what you and I do when we express our affection, and I left it like that and told AJ to talk to you about it. I didn't overstep or go in depth about different forms of kissing. He called it smushing faces, and he is the one who brought it up, not me. You are the one who is raising him, so I leave it to you to have these tough talks with him."
Clementine looked at Louis as he held a soft gaze at her, and she appreciated Louis being cautious about answering questions from AJ when she is not around. She pauses in her walk and reaches out to take hold of his hand to have him look at her. "I very much appreciate that, Louis. Very much. And as much as I hate to admit this, AJ is growing very fond of you and views you as a father figure, like what I saw in Lee when he took care of me." She eyes him closely as she breathes out the words she wanted to say the other day but doesn't know how to ask, "What I am trying to say is, I wouldn't mind having you help me co-parent him and raise him."
Louis was shocked, and this was a big trusting step Clementine was asking him, "You sure? He is….well…your child."
Clementine then closes the gap between them, leans up, and kisses him on the lips for a few seconds, then pulls back and eyes him tenderly, "Yes, I am sure. I see how you care for him. You put his needs before your own and always have AJ's best interest at heart, which is what a parent does. Known it since the day I first came here, and how you continue to care for him even when I couldn't. You earn my trust in caring for AJ, Louis, and I wouldn't trust anyone else but you in co-parenting him." She closes the gap once more and leaves another kiss on his lips, and she smiles when she does that. Clementine pulls back and holds his hand as she continues to walk to the tables with him.
Louis's heart swelled with Clementine's words as he walked hand and hand with her. He can't believe she trusts him in co-parenting AJ with her when Louis isn't even sure he is a good fatherly role model, as he still feels like he fucks up a lot of the time.
Over the next few days, Louis helped Clementine get better at walking and coached her while Aasim and Willy worked hard to make her a prosthetic foot, as promised by Ruby. It was early afternoon when Violet, AJ, and Louis went out scavenging for supplies, medicine, and any material they could find, to fortify the school to keep it well guarded.
Violet keeps her eyes peeled for danger as AJ takes the rear, and Louis walks a pace or two behind Violet. He still doesn't know what to say to her, and since they left the school, it has been a silent, intense walk. Every time Louis tries to speak, he bites his tongue back on words to say. It was weird having them all paired together as Violet still held some tension between her and Clementine.
Violet caught on to what Louis was trying to say but couldn't as she grunted her teeth finally, after walking for a good 3 miles from the school, she spoke to him, "What?"
Louis looks at her, "I didn't say anything."
"No, but I can hear you thinking about it." Violet huffs. "Say what you got to."
Louis looks at her and down at the ground, and he decides to tread lightly on this touchy rough road. "How are you doing this afternoon? I heard you kick ass in hauling fish the other day. Best meal I had in a long time."
Violet looks at Louis, "Is this your idea on small talk, Lou?"
"I'm just making polite conversation," Louis replies. "Trying to be civil here."
Violet then heaves out a sigh. She focuses her eyes forward, finally answers Louis's question, and praises her. "I'm fine, and thank you for the compliment."
Louis looks at her, "you're still angry at Clem?"
Violet halts and turns at him, "I'm not angry at her, just…..I can't handle your happiness with her right now, okay."
Louis slows his pace as he looks at Violet, "What do you mean?"
Violet looks at Louis as tears form her hazel eyes, "Seeing you with her and you two share the 'in love' look, or the 'I can't get enough of you' look reminds me of what I had lost and never got a goodbye."
Louis looks at Violet as she talks about her love for Minnie. And for the first time and sees his best friend hurting, and he feels guilty for sharing his love and affection for Clementine and doesn't even think of considering Violet's hurt feelings. "Shit….I'm sorry, Vi. I'm just so happy that I let my love affections…."
Violet held up her hand to stop him, "You don't have to explain, Louis. I know all about those first love feelings with someone you are passionately crazy about and can't get enough of them and their touch. And I want you to be happy as you deserve to be loved by someone who likes and loves you back, and I don't want my jealousy to get in the way of something beautiful between you and Clem. But can you understand how seeing your happiness with Clementine hurts me in what I lost in Minerva, not just once but twice?!"
Louis said nothing as he started to see Violet's pain. He sighs, "I guess I can try and be more sensitive around you. I'm sorry, Violet, for everything….I will never understand your pain and what you are going through."
Violet casts a look away as she knows Louis is trying to understand her pain, which is more than anyone at the school tried to do after the fight with the Raiders. "No one at the fucking school will ever fully understand this because you all are experiencing your first love for the first time." She refocuses her gaze back at Louis. "you have no fucking idea what it is like to lose someone you once loved twice."
Louis looks down at the ground for a moment, then returns Violet's gaze, "How can I help with your pain Violet?"
Violet looks away, not meeting his gaze. She heaves a sigh and continues to walk, "I don't know. Turn back time before all this shit happened and bring back the old Minnie I once loved, or keep her dead and let me mourn the old memories of the girl I loved and not the fucking psycho who I trusted and was deceived as she tried to kill all of us a few weeks back." Violet kicks some stones as she lets out her anger in herself for trusting Minnie. "God….I feel so stupid in trusting her, all because I thought we could go back to how we once were, or the thought of us rekindling our relationship."
Louis paces with her as he tries to console her broken heart. "If I had a magic time machine Vi, I would if I could bring back what you once lost. Fuck, I would go find a magic lamp and rub it so a genie would pop out and grant you three wishes." For the first time in a while, Louis got her to crack a smile in the midst of her broken heart.
Violet looks at Louis and leans her head on his shoulder as a thank you. For a moment, she softly spoke to Louis from one friend to another, "Clementine is a lucky girl, you know."
Louis casts his look downward onto Violet, and he dares to speak and break this rare moment coming from her, "Lucky how?"
Violet spoke out her blessing she is giving Louis of having him being in love with Clementine. "To have a funny, charming guy who knows exactly what to say to cheer someone up when feeling blue." She smiled up at him, a real smile this time, and soon she pulled away a moment later and said, "Come on, let's see if there is something in this old log cabin that we can find that will be useful." She cast a look backward at AJ, who found a frog as he is chasing it. "AJ…AJ! Come on. I need your help in here."
AJ stops chasing the frog and goes to assist Louis and Violet in exploring the old log cabin. Violet eased in carefully to make sure it was clear of walkers. She poises her meat cleaver out for protection. Louis had Chariles read on hand as well, and AJ with Clem's old knife. Violet scans the old rotten dim living room, and in a low whisper, she voices out loud, "all clear."
AJ nods as he rounds the corner and inspects the small dining area, "It's clear here too."
Louis was about to step in the direction of the bathroom when all three of them froze when they heard moans and groans coming from the second level of the cabin. Louis eyes Violet and she does the same, and he silently moves to the stairwell that leads to going upstairs. Once Violet, Louis, and Aj make it to the entrance to the stairwell, Louis and Violet look at AJ. In a low whisper, Louis spoke to AJ, "AJ buddy, Vi and I will deal with the walkers upstairs, hang back until we give you the all clear, cool." AJ nods as he understands what Louis is saying. Louis comes to Violet's side and silently nods for her to go up first. Violet went first slowly up the stairs, and she used military finger codes to verbally talk without saying a word.
Louis understands some of it as he follows her lead. When they reached the top of the stairwell, the noises of the groans were getting louder. Violet was tense and ready to strike at the first walker. Louis looked where she was heading. He notices the floor is not going to hold them, so he reaches out and grabs hold of her arm, forcing her to halt. Violet whipped around and almost sliced open Louis's arm. Louis quickly jumped out of the way, and before Violet spoke to give away their position, he pointed at the floorboards of what Violet was about to walk on. Louis mouth the words in a very low whisper, "The floor is about to go."
Violet eyes her footing and notices Louis is right. She looks back at him and nods for him looking out for her safety. She scans the side beams and motions for him to slide on the side beams. "It's sturdier over here, Lou." Louis followed Violet, and they made it to the end of the hallway and a bedroom door where moans of a walker or walkers could be heard. Violet noticed this door was locked. Louis comes to stand beside her shortly.
"Should we open it?" Louis asks.
Violet looks at the door and then at Louis, "The cabin owners didn't want to harm others. So they locked themselves in this room. As far as I am concerned, those walkers or just a walker can stay in that room. Less trouble we have to deal with."
Louis nods, "Sounds good to me."
Violet looks over her shoulder and into the bathroom to the right. "There might be some medical supplies in that bathroom. I'll scout it out. You head back down to AJ and see what you can find in the kitchen or something."
Louis nods to her plan. Before he leaves, he turns to Violet, "Vi…please be careful. I don't trust this flooring up here."
Violet grabs Louis's hand and gives it a tight squeeze for reassurance. Louis watches her go first as she softly feels around for solid flooring that is not soft. Then he makes the opposite direction and heads back down the stairs, where AJ is on guard for danger. AJ turns and looks to see if Violet is behind him, "Where is Vi? Did you get the monster?"
Once Louis is safe on solid ground, he looks to AJ, "Monster is locked in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and Vi is checking out the bathroom upstairs for medical supplies. You and I go in the kitchen and find something, food, supplies, anything." AJ nods as he walks beside Louis. AJ managed to find a couple of cans of beans, canned peaches, and a can of dog food.
When AJ and Louis made a second look around, they heard a loud bang from up above, followed by a Shit and a fuck from Violet. AJ and Louis looked at each other, then Louis made a beeline for the stairwell and called up to Violet, "Vi!"
"I'm fine. Just fucking go!" Violet calls out.
Louis was not going to leave Violet behind, "Violet, I'm coming."
"Louis! No, don't! I will meet you outside." Violet screams.
Louis was about the answer when he heard and saw the walkers. "Shit! AJ move." Louis and AJ make a beeline for the exit, and they run out of the log cabin as AJ slams the door behind them, trapping the zombies inside the house. AJ looks up on the side roof where Violet escaped through the bathroom window.
AJ calls out to Violet, "Violet!"
Louis looks up and sees his friend, "Vi, come over this way and jump. I will catch you."
Violet looks in the direction Louis is pointing at as it is not as steep, the only problem a walker is in her way, and if she puts any pressure on the roof, she and the half walker will go down into the house with the rest of the walkers. She looks for something to strike at the walker, and she spots Louis's chair leg. "Louis, give me Chairles"
Louis looks at his most trusted weapon, then at Violet. He closes his eyes and her, "You better give him back to me." Louis tosses Chairles up to her, and she grabs it before it slides down.
She raised Chairles over her head and smashed the walker's brains in. When it was no longer moving, she took Chairles and herself and ran to safety and took a flying leap off the side roofing into the air and hoping Louis was good with his word. Louis caught her as the jolt of her landing knocked Chariles loose and fell between them. Louis looks at Violet, and he pants, "You good."
"Yes. Thank you." Violet hops down out of Louis's arms and back on solid ground as she watches as Louis shakes his arms of the pain of the hard landing Violet made. Violet hands Chairles to Louis, "I think this belongs to you."
Louis snatches his most valued weapon from her. "You get the medicine or find anything."
"Yes," Violet answered. "You and AJ find anything in the kitchen."
"Some food and matches." Louis replied, "What the hell happened."
"A few walkers came out of a joint room to the bathroom. I didn't have time to be careful to go back down, so I told you to run, and I escaped through the window." Violet said. "Well, I guess this is one visit only in that fucking cabin."
AJ smiles and giggles at Violet's remark. He then stops short when he sees a flash of an animal he has never seen before. He whispers to Louis, "Louis, what kind of animal is that."
Violet and Louis look in the direction of where AJ is pointing at. Violet looks at him and answers, "I can't believe it. It is a wild bore."
AJ looks up at her, "A what…."
"A wild bore, like a wild pig. They are rare to find, especially out here. " Violet answers Clementine's kid.
AJ looks at her, "So should we kill it and take it back to eat."
Violet was hesitant. "We don't have our bows, so we can't exactly hunt it down and shoot…." When Violet was in the middle of explaining, Louis was already in the crouch stalking the wild bore. "Louis!" Violet hisses. "Louis, we don't have the tools to kill it with." Violet rolled her eyes as Louis was not listening.
Louis was about ten feet from the wild pig, as his mind was thinking of something other than a rabbit for tonight. Five feet, he can almost taste the tender meat in his mouth. He was close, but he stepped on a twig, and the bore heard and ran farther into the wood for safety. Fuck! Louis ran after it keeping it in his sights. Louis was fifteen feet from the bore as he rethought his battle plan. Violet and AJ were several yards behind him. He inches closer and closer, and suddenly the bore was standing, then it wasn't. Louis froze in mid-air as he saw an arrow slice through its neck. Neither Violet nor Louis snagged a bow and arrow when they left the school.
Before Louis could run back toward safety, he was knocked on his feet by an Indian girl with fast combat skills. "Don't you fucking move dread head. That bore is mine."
Louis held his hands up out of mercy, "You can have it."
Louis eyes this new stranger as if he has seen her or she is familiar. She held the bow up to Louis's neck, "How do I know you won't try and kill me and take it?"
AJ and Violet rush to defend Louis. AJ holds up his knife at the new girl, "Don't hurt Louis, or I will hurt you."
Louis looks at Clementine's adoptive son, "Shhh, don't give away my name."
This new girl looks at the young boy, the blonde, and the tall black guy with dreads named Louis. She lowers her weapon slightly as she casts at the three kids. "You are not from the correlation up north, are you."
Violet looks at her, "No. Who are you, and why did you threaten my friend."
The stranger puts down her weapon and eyes the three of them, "My name is Maya. I'm with a group not far from here. Who are you, people? I gather one of you is name Louis since your friend gave it away."
Louis looks to Violet, and she looks back at him, then to this new girl named Maya, "I ain't telling you shit. I don't know who you are or if you are trying to fuck friends and me over."
Maya looks at this chick as she likes her feistiness, "Okay, jeesh, calm down, no need to be hasty." She lowers her bow down to show she is not a threat any longer, "Look in good faith, I will lower my bow to show I am not threatening, and I am not trying to fuck you guys over. I didn't know there were people around here living, never know these days, especially with Richmond being at war and all and forcing other peaceful communities elsewhere."
AJ and Violet picked up the name Richmond as AJ spoke up, "You know of Richmond?"
"Yeah, everyone has heard of it, and Wellington. Bad shit is happening east and north of us out to the coastline. My group managed to escape without being caught in the crossfire. Lost a lot of friends and family due to that fucked up war." Maya said as she knelt to take the arrow from the bore's head. "So, who are you, people? Really. Is it just the three of you, or do you have a group nearby?"
Louis looks at AJ and Violet as Violet still does not trust this newcomer. Violet shakes her head at the two boys. Louis shrugs as AJ is the only one who speaks to them, "I'm AJ, and that is Violet and Louis."
Violet gave AJ a pinch to silence and warned him not to say anything more. AJ rubs the back of his neck as he looks at Violet and this newcomer.
Maya looked up at Violet and was intrigued by her character. Strong-willed, not giving in easily, "So, Violet, is it?" Gesturing to the only other female of the group, "Are you their leader or something."
Violet eyes Maya coolly, "I am not telling you anything. Take your bore and go your way back where you came from as we head back to we came from, and we don't have to cross each other again." Violet turns away from this new girl and tries not to engage, but something about her intrigues Violet.
"I take that is a no," Maya responds.
Violet stops in her tracks at her words and turns and whips around with fury in her eyes as she gazes at her. Louis steps in and holds Violet back, "Woa easy Vi, we don't want to seem too hostile."
Violet looked at Maya, who stood there eyeing her, then Violet spoke out at the new girl, "You think you got me all figured out, don't you? Well, you are wrong. Maybe I am these guys' leader." Violet gestured to AJ and Louis.
"I don't need to be convinced I can tell by your stance at the first meeting someone. It is kind of a gift I seek, and I can read people. So who is your real leader Violet." Maya pressures on and aggs on Violet some more. Maya is also captivated by Violet's eyes. Full of mystery and coolness.
"Clementine," AJ responded. Both Louis and Violet look down on the small boy as Louis holds worry in his gaze. Shit.
"Interesting." Maya snickers. "Where is Clementine at?"
Louis steps in front of AJ before AJ gives away the school's hideout, "Okay…I think we have got to go. You can have that bore for your group consider it a token gift in these nice woods and our meeting you. We will find something else to eat tonight."
Louis turns AJ around as he guides them away in the opposite direction. Violet looked at the girl with long brown hair as her rich brown gaze moved her. Made her irradiated in some odd way, at the same time calm. She turns and follows Louis and wondering why Maya isn't going to stop them. Violet then halts as she realizes they are not alone, "Louis, we are not alone."
"What do you mean…" Louis scans, and soon another girl the same age as Maya comes out of the bushes and the same as the young man in glasses. Louis grabs hold of Chairles to defend AJ with his life.
Maya follows them and steps between the young man and the girl, "Arvo, Aniya, let them go."
"But they threatened you how can they be trusted? They are part of the raids up north. Are they the ones who killed our mother!" Screamed the girl as she pointed the arrow at Louis.
"Aniya put down the bow, now. And they didn't threaten me. I threatened them, so technically, it was my fault." Maya said. "It was all a big misunderstanding, that is all." Violet looked at Maya as if she was strangely defending them and letting them go when she thought she would double-cross them. And this confused Violet a bit.
Arvo looked at the bore, "They're stealing our food too." The young adult spoke in a thick accent.
"No…no…no, they weren't, again misunderstanding," Maya said.
Arvo looks at the strange group, AJ pokes his head out from behind Louis, and Arvo squints his eyes to look at the hat with the D on it. A moment came back to him when he was seventeen, when a little girl of eleven pointed a gun at him, Mike, and Bonnie to stop them from stealing the food and truck. Arvo did what he had to defend himself from the adult who brutalized him. Arvo advances on AJ, shouting at him in Russian. Louis shields AJ from the advancing boy as Violet steps in to challenge him.
Maya also jumps in and stands beside Violet to push Arvo away from them, "What the fuck, Arvo!"
Arvo looks at AJ, Violet, and Louis, "Is she alive! Is the girl who wore that hat alive!"
AJ looks at Louis and Violet and the new girl Maya. Maya looks at Louis, Violet, and AJ and covers for them, "Who?"
"Clementine!" Arvo said. "She let her adult guardian named Kenny beat me and made me lose an eye!" Arvo gestured to his face.
Maya plays it cool, "And how do you know it is the same girl Arvo, that was five years ago?"
"Because she is the only one who wore a hat like that! And I will never forget her face." Arvo pointed to AJ's hat and then glared at the boy.
Maya glares at Arvo and pushes him away from Louis, Violet, and AJ, "Go get the bore and bring it to Bonnie, Arvo, and let these three go." Arvo looks at her and challenges her to look. Maya raises her knife from her back pocket, "Unless you want a matching scar on the other side of your face, I suggest you get a move on their buddy." Arvo gave a nasty look to Maya, but Maya didn't care. She guarded Violet, Louis, and AJ from Arvo's hostile stare and let him gather up the wild bore to return to camp. She then turns and looks to Violet, "I can talk my guys down. You go back to your group, Violet. I'm sorry this had to be like this. My group is not as hostile as we might seem, I promise."
Violet nods her appreciation to this new girl and nods for Louis and AJ to get a move on back to the school. She passed by Maya and muttered her thanks, "Thank you." Violet took one last look her Maya's rich chocolate eyes and felt something strange in her look.
Maya returns the gesture nod to Violet, "You're welcome." Maya locks eyes with Violet, and she thinks she feels some kind of electricity in violet's pale hazel depths. Maya watches the blonde girl leave, with the older boy in front, the young one in the middle, and Violet bringing up the rear.
The other Indian girl looks at her older sister, "Bonnie would not like this encounter, Maya."
"I know." Maya replies, "But they are no threat to us, just kids in the woods."
"What about Arvo? And what he said." Aniya asks.
Maya cast her to look away from the three strangers' silhouettes and onto Arvo, "Well fuck him. We don't even know if it is the same girl he is thinking of five years ago." Maya then turns and heads back to camp, "He can suck a dick for all I care. I am not getting into a brawl over something silly. Not even my problem. I got us a fucking bore, so Bonnie should be thankful for that." Maya picked up her bow and strapped it to her backside as she and her sister made it back to camp.