- So where were you planning to go?
Louis asked after a while of walking, walking beside Clementine with a somewhat relaxed expression.
- Anywhere that would be good enough.
She answered simply, looking around. There were no zombies along the way, which was a shame; she hoped they had at least dispersed a bit.
- So you didn't have a place in mind?
Violet asked from beside her, not as relaxed as Louis, and with a slightly more serious expression.
- Yeah, sort of.
Clementine replied.
- You said you've been on the road for years, have you spent all this time just wondering?
Violet asked again, turning to Clementine and looking at her with a curious expression.
- Yes. The places out there are all destroyed, zombies have taken over... and the people who are left want to take everything for themselves, it's hard to find a place that doesn't suffer from constant bandit attacks.
She answered, remembering all the attacks she had suffered during those years. It was almost a miracle that she was still alive, or that she hadn't lost any of her limbs due to the precarious situations she had been through.
- Maybe you have already found it. We would love to have two more members in the school.
Louis said, looking at her with a friendly smile.
Clementine stared at him thoughtfully for a while. They were too relaxed to suffer from other people's attacks, plus they probably knew how to deal with the dead.
The school did look like a good place, it would take some pretty heavy weaponry to destroy those walls, and the walls were pretty high.
- We'll see...
She said after a while, looking forward again, still thoughtful. She needed to meet everyone first, to make sure they wouldn't attack her during the night.
- What's the matter? Don't you trust us?
Violet asked, looking at her with an arched eyebrow.
- Don't judge me, I've met too many assholes who act nice and then try to kill me at the first opportunity.
She said, looking at Violet for a moment.
- Oh, boy. We knew things were pretty bad out here, but... why?
Louis asked.
- Several reasons. They want my supplies, or they're just crazy, or because I killed some people in their group, it goes on and on.
She answered, ignoring the surprised looks on both their faces.
- hmm... why did you kill people from their group?
Louis asked again, a little uncertain.
- Because they were either a bunch of lunatics who kill others and take their supplies, or because they tried to capture me, as I said, the reasons vary.
She replied, looking at the three zombie bodies on the ground that AJ had killed some time ago.
Clementine took the machete from her back and looked at the few zombies around. Further on, just outside the forest, the train station was infested with the dead.
However, she already had some experience in getting through herds.
- Okay, each of you take one zombie and rip out its teeth and arms. Use them as camouflage to get past the others.
Clementine said, looking at the two, who looked at her like she was crazy.
- Ahm... you're kidding, right?
Louis asked, and Clementine sighed slightly, turning around and sneaking toward one of the zombies ahead.
As she got close enough, she grabbed him by the back of the head and put her machete between his mouth, ripping his jaw open. Soon after, she grabbed the zombie's arm and sliced it off with her machete.
She looked back for a few moments before walking with the zombie towards the horde ahead.
Louis and Violet opened their mouths, surprised to see that Clementine was not being attacked as she walked calmly through the dead.
They looked at each other for a few moments, and then did the same, catching up to Clementine in no time.
- Holy shit... it works.
Louis said in a whisper, still impressed as he looked at all the zombies he passed by.
It was incredibly cool, and incredibly scary...
- Shhh.
Violet grunted, but inwardly admitting that that was quite... different. She never thought she would walk through the dead.
As they reached inside the station, Clementine turned and closed the door as soon as they passed, pushing the zombie forward.
- When you pull out their teeth and cut their arms off, they lose the will to attack you.
She said, watching as Louis and Violet let go of the zombies with some hesitation.
Louis let out an excited giggle as he stood in front of the zombie and wasn't attacked.
- Cool, I have a pet zombie now!
He said with a smile, waving his hand in front of the zombie's rotting face, which remained motionless.
- How the fuck did you figure that out?
Violet asked, putting a hand on her waist and looking at Clementine with a confused expression, mixed with a smile.
That "discovery" would certainly make their lives easier now.
- Years on the road, I have discovered many things.
She answered simply, walking toward the next door.
- Is this the guy you killed? He's an adult.
Louis asked, looking at the man's bloodstained body on the ground.
Clementine bent down and picked up the man's pistol that had fallen beside his body, mentally scolding herself for forgetting to pick it up.
Ammo was almost as rare as diamonds in those days.
- So what if he's an adult? Stab him in the chest and he dies, just like all the others.
Clementine said simply, putting the pistol in her waistband and walking toward the living room.
She looked down at the destroyed floor, where she could see some of the destroyed food strewn across what had once been a trap door.
The girl walked over to the hole in the floor and jumped down, crouching down and looking around.
A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she saw that there was still plenty of food down there.
Too much food, actually.
- Grab the bags, there's still plenty down here.
She said, crouching down and crawling toward the nearest pots.
Louis and Violet took the bags and helped Clementine fill them with food. In total, two bags were full, and the third was only half full.
But still, that was a lot of food. It would last for a long time.
- Okay, I have seen more food in these bags than in all our years at school.
Louis said, slung one of the bags over his shoulder.
- It must have been close, right? The explosion and all, I'm surprised you made it out of here in one piece.
Violet said, looking at the damage the explosion had done.
- Yeah, that's my life in a nutshell.
Clementine said, picking up a bag and slung it over her shoulder, walking towards the three zombies soon after.
- I still can't believe these guys aren't attacking us.
Louis said, snapping his fingers in front of the zombie's face, which remained motionless.
- Only use this trick in small hordes like this one, where we don't stand between them for too long. If it takes too long, the others will notice. But otherwise, it's a very useful trick.
Clementine said, looking at them.
- Beautiful, tough, independent, and a zombie tamer. Do the surprises never end?
Louis said dramatically, making both Violet and Clementine roll their eyes.
She opened the door quickly and they began to walk back through the horde.
(...)
Clementine killed the last zombie that walked near the school gates ahead. She pulled her machete from the rotting skull of what had once been a woman, and looked around.
Louis and Violet were taking care of the zombies next to them and approaching her.
- I expected more from you, Violet. Where is that fire in your eyes that you always had when you killed the zombies? That passion in every move? Your movements have become ugly. You get a B.
Louis said dramatically, looking at Violet, who just sighed.
- Fuck you.
She said simply, and Louis faked an incredulous frown.
- That hurt, B-. As for Clem here, she did have beautiful, precise movements, the passion that you don't have Vi, she gets an A+. Maybe you can learn something from her.
He said, pointing at Clementine and smiling mockingly at Violet, who rolled her eyes.
- It's not about being beautiful, Louis. It's about being effective.
Clementine said, causing the boy to look at her with a betrayed frown and Violet to laugh slightly.
- Hahaha I like her already.
- That's not fair, I feel like you guys have teamed up against me. Two tough girls against good old Louis here. Where is the honor in this alliance?
He said dramatically, and Clementine just ignored him, focusing her eyes on the gates ahead.
- They're back!
The same boy from before shouted, and soon, Tenn opened the gates, focusing his eyes on the bags they were carrying.
- Is everyone okay?
Marlon asked, stepping up next to Louis and looking at the bags.
- "Okay", my dear friend, is your euphemism. We're doing great.
Louis said, placing the bag he was holding on the table in front of him, and taking out a few jars of food.
- Please, from now on, call me "Louis, the zombie tamer."
Marlon's eyes widened as he saw all those jars being taken out of just one bag, completely ignoring what Louis had said.
- They really brought food!
The gate boy shouted, and three other people that Clementine hadn't talked to yet approached, looking surprised at the bags.
- Holy shit...
Marlon said in a whisper, looking at all the jars lined up.
Clementine looked at AJ, who was walking towards her with a slight smile on his face.
- How was it?
the boy asked, standing next to her and looking at the reaction of the people in front of her.
- It was fine, I told you it would be. And you, everything went well here?
She asked, looking at the boy, who nodded.
- Tenn is very nice... he is a little quiet, but very nice, and he draws very well. Willy is fun, but a little weird. I talked to Mitch a little bit, but I can't tell you much about him.
He said, pointing to the people whose names he had mentioned.
Clementine stared at him for a while, thoughtfully.
- And then? Do you like it here? Do they look decent to you?
she asked.
- Hmm... I think they're nice, they don't look like bad people, if they were, they would have done something already, right? I like it, it's better than staying in that car.
He said, frowning slightly at Clementine's arched eyebrow.
- Can we stay?
he asked, and Clementine sighed, still thoughtful.
They really did seem like nice people. And she had liked Violet and Louis, though she didn't show it.
- Well... our car was stolen, so I guess we can stay until we get another one.
She said, smiling slightly at AJ, who also smiled, but only for a few moments, turning into a serious expression soon after.
- I don't want to go back outside, Clem. It's scary out there.
He said with his head down, and the girl sighed. She understood the boy, it was awful on the outside, but, it was so hard to find a safe place.
She had been in so many places that she thought would last, but after a while, they were destroyed, just like all the others she had been in.
Maybe it was only a matter of time before that place was destroyed too.
She had become so used to the idea that she would never find a safe place, so used to sleeping on the hard floor of some abandoned building, so used to dealing with bandits and zombies alone, that it was even strange to think that she would have people by her side to help her.
Or that she would have people by her side who wouldn't try to kill her.
- We... we can stay for a while, see how things unfold. If it's good, then we'll stay, if we can.
She said after a while, placing her hand gently on AJ's head, who looked at her and smiled satisfied.
- Hey, um, Clementine, right?
A girl, probably the same age as her, approached with a gentle smile.
- I'm Brody, nice to meet you.
She introduced herself, and Clementine shook her hand, waving to the girl in greeting.
- He is a sweet little boy.
She said with a smile, looking gently at AJ, who was slightly embarrassed.
- Yes, he is.
- It's amazing to have found all this food. We have to thank you.
She said sympathetically, looking at the bags that Louis and another boy were carrying from there.
- Where did you come from? I mean, Marlon didn't tell me how he found you.
She asked, and Clementine arched an eyebrow.
- Hey, I see you two are getting to know each other better.
Marlon approached before Clementine could say anything, alternating his gaze between the two of them with a calm expression, but Clementine could see a certain nervousness in the boy's eyes.
- Do you remember the last time we met someone around here? Yup, never.
The girl said, looking at Marlon, who smiled slightly.
- I hate to interrupt, but, can you help me with a few things?
Marlon asked, nodding somewhere random.
- Sure. Talk to you later, Clementine.
The girl said, following Marlon.
There was something about Marlon that bothered her, and of all the people there, he was the only one who gave her a strange feeling.
And usually her instincts were always right.
