Clementine had her back propped up against the trunk of a tree, her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and she had a neutral expression on her face.
A man named Troy, along with Carver, were standing a few meters away, next to the parked van, waiting for Sarah to finish.
Clementine looked disguisedly at Troy, with cold, murderous eyes. Although vaguely, she remembered him, he was one of the men who had shot at her and Duck, and it made her very angry because she was forced to look at his face.
What was worse, he had his machete. The girl was going to kill him as soon as she had the chance, with her machete, which he wore around his waist.
She sighed as she waited for the girl, trying to think of a way out of the whole situation, but after all that had happened, she wasn't too willing to think for nothing.
"We'll have to wait until we get to that community. They managed to escape once, surely it must be possible to escape again" - She, turning away from the tree and looking at the girl who was walking towards her.
Sarah - Thank you for coming with me. It's scary out here.
She said, turning back to where she came from.
Sarah- I know they made you... But it's still nice that you came.
Clementine looked at her for a moment, enigmatic.
Clementine- You're welcome.
she said, starting to walk back to the van.
Troy stepped away from the van and took a few steps toward them as the girls arrived.
Troy- Did everything go well, girls?
He asked, causing Clementine to arch an eyebrow and cross her arms, while Sarah grabbed her own wrist and turned her face away.
Carver- Troy, tie them up.
The two approached the back of the van, waiting for Troy to grab the ropes again.
Clementine stared at the radio Carver was holding, a mixed feeling of anger and nostalgia at the memories flooding her mind. It was the same model as the one she had.
Carver- It's not polite to listen to other people's conversations. Has anyone ever taught you that?
Carver's rough voice brought her out of her thoughts, and her golden eyes stared into the brown ones of the man who was staring at her.
Clementine- said the man who had been spying on us at the inn.
She said, louder than she meant to.
"Oh shit"- She thought, slightly regretting having said it so loudly, she always got that way when she was angry, and although she had learned to control her emotions, it wasn't often that she was taken hostage and locked in the back of a van, right after seeing two good people die by the hands of the same man.
She sighed, watching as Carver walked up to her with an unfriendly expression on his face.
Clementine felt a strong burning sensation on her face, and the impact of Carver's hand made her small body hit the ground.
Sarah- No! Stop it!
Carver- You don't want to test me girl! I'll pass every time!
He said in a harsh tone, but Clementine just ignored him, putting her hand over her bruised cheek.
Clementine- Was that supposed to scare me?
She asked neutrally, looking into Carver's eyes as if it was nothing, as if she hadn't even felt his slap.
The girl then stood up, ignoring the woman's hand that tried to help her, being followed by Carver's enigmatic look.
Clementine - A man who beats little girls. Really scary.
She raised her hands to Troy, who tied the rope around his wrist with a neutral look, but clearly intimidated by Carver's gaze.
Clementine still looked at the man, watching his angry brown eyes acquire an amused, and even a little... proud look.
"What the fuck...?" - She thought, slightly annoyed by Carver's "animated" gaze.
Carver-...Put them in the van, we're going, we still have some road ahead of us.
He walked to the front of the van and Troy opened the back, pointing a pistol toward Clementine as he signaled for her to get in.
Sarita- Are you all right?
The woman asked, and Sarah nodded at her.
Kenny- What the fuck did he do to you? Hey! Did he hit you?! Hey, Carver you son of a bitch!
His calls were ignored and Troy just closed the back of the van, leaving the group in the darkness of the vehicle's interior.
Clementine - I'm fine. I've been through worse.
She said, feeling her body sway to the side as the van began to move.
Kenny looked at her for a few moments, lowering his head and sighing, calming down.
Kenny- Damn, of all people, why this asshole?
He asked softly, more to himself than to the others, but loud enough for them to hear and look in his direction.
Pete- Huh, so you do know him.
Kenny- Unfortunately- He answered in mid sigh, looking at Pete.
Rebecca- I've never seen you at camp, how do you know him? - She asked, tired, more mentally than physically.
Kenny- Me and... a friend of mine... we were wandering along a deserted road, near a town, a long time ago. We heard some screams, we decided to check it out, you know? They were cries of despair, so we thought we would help.
He raised his bound hands, fixing the cap on his head.
Kenny- When we arrived, this guy, Troy, was beating up a woman, while some of his friends were standing around, just watching- He lifted his face, but not looking at the group, focusing his eyes on some random point.
Alvin - Man, I always knew he was an asshole.
Nick- I never liked that guy, hated it when Carver put me with him to do guard duty or leave camp.
Kenny- I'm surprised he didn't put a knife in your neck. Anyway, we arrived and this friend of mine killed some of the men watching, I killed the rest, leaving only Troy. When we went to kill him, Carver showed up. In short, he and my friend had a fight, this friend of mine won the fight and tried to stab Carver, and almost succeeded, that's how he got that scar.
He stopped talking for a while, lowering his head and sighing as his mind was invaded by past memories.
Rebecca - Hah, I like this guy already.
Alvin - That makes two of us.
Nick- So it wasn't you guys who left Troy blind in one eye?
he asked, remembering the man's injury. Kenny looked at him, shaking his head negatively.
Kenny - The wound was nasty, and as you saw, pretty large, we thought he was dead... ah fuck, if only Luke hadn't run away, maybe we would have had a chance to do something.
Nick- What do you mean?
Kenny- Exactly what it seemed, a guy tried to attack me from behind, we fought, I asked Luke for help, who was supposed to be on my side, but he was gone. I don't blame him, he worried about his life.
He said, in a relatively calm tone, something Clementine would doubt would happen if it were a few years ago, he would probably curse at Luke by every name he could think of.
Nick: Bullshit! Luke is not a coward!
He said in a loud voice, clearly annoyed.
Kenny- In that case, he was, but maybe it's a good thing that he wasn't captured.
Clementine- He can try to help us, somehow.
They looked at her, and Nick calmed down a bit.
Kenny- I hope so.
They were silent for a long time, just listening to the roar of the van's engine.
Clementine-... How many people are in the camp?
The girl's question broke the silence, drawing a few pairs of eyes in her direction.
Rebecca- Last time we were there, a few dozen, but Carver can be quite... persuasive, there might be more now, why?
Kenny- Holy shit. Dozens of people, it's not going to be very easy to get out of there.
Carlos- What? What are you guys thinking?
Kenny- You don't plan on just sitting here and taking this shit do you? We have to get away from Carver, at best, kill him, and we need to discuss how we are going to do that.
Rebecca- We got help from the inside last time, I doubt we'll have the same luck again.
Carlos- Are we really going to do this now?
Clementine - If not now, when?
Carlos- It's like Rebecca said, there may be more people inside. I doubt that we can get through that many people without attracting attention, the risk of getting into a firefight is high, and this thinking that somehow, we will get some weapons.
Kenny- It is exactly because we are taking risks like this that we have to discuss what to do.
Clementine - Exactly. Besides, I think it's perfectly possible that we can get out of there, even with so many people.
Nick- How can you be so sure?
She was about to answer him, but her body rocked violently to the side, and she felt her back slam lightly against the cold metal of the van.
They heard Troy mutter something about the brakes not working, and the back of the van opened.
Troy was looking at them seriously with an Ak-47 in his hand, with two women beside him. Clementine could see Carver walking further ahead of the place.
- All right, up and at'em.
A large, dark-skinned woman said, giving them passage. They got up and walked out of the van.
Clementine looked around, analyzing the huge place they were in, and especially at the huge amount of food boxes that were stacked in a few specific places.
They passed through a double door, and Clementine took a quick look at the numerous guards there, all armed with Aks-47s or heavy weapons, such as shotguns and a variety of rifles.
Her golden eyes focused on a booth above, where Carver was leaning on a table while saying something into the microphone.
"Shut up, for God's sake"- She mentally wished, not being able to stand to hear the man's nasty voice any longer.
Troy- You come with me "doc", we have a job for you. You too Pete.
He said, walking away from the rest of the group. Carlos just followed, saying nothing, helping Pete on his way.
Clementine heard Sarah say something softly, but just ignored it, the girl would have to grow up eventually, and she wouldn't stand in the way of delaying that.
Clementine- You have to start learning to take care of yourself without your father Sarah, you have to grow up.
She said softly, making the girl look at her, apparently a little annoyed.
Sarah-I don't care. And don't tell me to grow up. You're just a little kid. I'm older than you.
She said loudly, drawing attention to herself, and Clementine sighed in irritation.
Clementine- You ain't shit! You may be older but out there, that shit doesn't matter, I survived on my own strength, while you were spoiled by "Daddy". If you don't want to grow up, fine, but don't get in the way of people surviving, and the way you are, that's what you're doing. Not cooperating with anything or anyone, always hiding behind your father, scared. Completely useless!
She said, annoyed by the girl's childish attitude, which should have matured by now, especially after what they had been through, but she insisted on hiding in that childishness, leaving all the responsibility to the people around her.
"Maybe it's not completely her fault, Carlos should have taught her a long time ago" - She thought, ignoring the sad and hurt look on the girl's face and the surprised looks from people further ahead.
She didn't like to be hard on people who didn't deserve it, and Sarah, although her childish and pure attitude was a relatively good thing, needed to mature, and if that meant Clementine had to be rude to the girl, then so be it.
She just couldn't continue to act like a child, or she would surely risk even more the lives of the people around her, maybe even her own.
They stopped walking, and Clementine watched the woman, who she found out was named "Bonnie," open the sliding overhead gate.
They walked slowly in, having their ropes removed from their wrists before they passed through the gate. And Troy approached them in the meantime.
Troy- You'd better get some rest today. You won't get much rest starting tomorrow. You''ll all work hard.
He said and left the place, closing the gate behind him.
Clementine quickly looked over to the barricade beside her, already looking for some way or another to help her out of the place, ignoring the footsteps that approached behind her.
- Dad?
Clementine looked over, immediately recognizing Duck's voice, and an involuntary smile broke out on her lips.
Her golden eyes focused on the boy in front of her, who was responding to Kenny's tight embrace, who seemed to whisper a few words.
Clementine walked towards them, ignoring the stares from the people around her.
They held each other for a while, and both dried the few tears that streamed down their faces. That was the first time he had ever seen Kenny tremble so much, the same thing with Duck. The boy didn't shake like that even when he killed for the first time.
Kenny- Thank God... Oh God, I thought I lost you. - he said in a wistful tone, trying to hold back the tears that were stubbornly streaming down his face. He held Duck's shoulders firmly, staring into the boy's eyes.
Duck- I thought so too, I thought you died back in Savannah.
He said with a relieved and genuinely happy smile on his face.
Duck- Hey Clem, I knew you were alive.
His brown eyes focused on the girl, who pulled him into a light, quick hug, pulling away a few seconds later.
Clementine- You worried me, you owe me one for making me walk around for so long looking for you.
Duck- No way, you worried because you wanted to. I can take care of myself.
He said, amused and cocky.
Clementine- Yes, of course, you can take care of yourself so well that you ended up being captured by a psychopath.
She replied, ironically, teasing him a little.
Duck- You were captured by him too, Miss. I guess you can't say much about me.
They smiled, and soon the girl's eyes focused on the people approaching from behind.
Clementine- Crista, Carley, good to see you again.
She said, looking at the two women, who had serious expressions on their faces.
Crista- It's... good to see you too Clem.
Carley- Huh, I see you found Kenny.
The woman said in a neutral tone, looking at Kenny with a certain disdain.
Kenny- It's great to see you too Carley.
Carley- I wish I could say the same, but I don't feel the same way.
She said bitterly, causing Kenny to particularly didn't care what the two women thought of him, his problem wasn't with them, even though he had treated them badly the last time he saw them, they had managed to find a moment of peace between them.
Clementine then searched with her eyes for the other people, getting a confused expression for not finding them.
Clementine- Where are Ben and Omid?
she asked, and the women's expressions grew darker. An awkward silence hung in the air.
Duck- Carver killed them.
Clementine looked at him with a strange glint in her eye, she didn't care much for the two of them, she thought they were dead anyway.
Crista- They wouldn't have died if "someone" hadn't killed two of his men.
The woman said bitterly, clearly putting the blame on Duck.
Duck- Fuck you Crista. It wasn't my fault. You can hate me all you want, but keep your mouth shut.
He said seriously, glaring angrily at Crista, who looked at him with scorn on her face, but said nothing.
Clementine sighed, mentally preparing herself to deal with two bitter women who blamed both Duck and herself for the loss of loved ones.
