- Clem?

AJ's low voice caught the girl's attention, and she slowly turned her head toward him, looking up at him with an arched eyebrow.

- Why did Brody yell at you? You didn't do anything wrong.

he asked, laying his head on his arm as he looked at her with a sleepy expression.

- Because she was nervous. She was worried about the people in the forest.

She answered, turning her head upwards with a faraway look.

- But she didn't have to shout at you.

he said, and Clementine sighed softly.

- Remember when you lost that Spider-Man comic book? You got really nervous and yelled at me. People do stupid things when they're nervous, that's why you have to learn to control yourself, so you don't end up doing something stupid.

She answered with a slight smile on her face as she remembered that moment, and AJ looked at her with a silly expression.

- I know, you told me to always take a deep breath when I'm angry, but it doesn't always work.

he said, turning to the side and looking up.

- As you grow up, you learn to control yourself. When I was younger I was also quite emotional at times.

She said, remembering the very few fights she had with her parents, or when she had hung out with Crista and the others soon after they left Savannah. At that time she was often angry with Carley, who blamed her for Lee's supposed death, and sometimes she argued with Ben, because the boy still didn't handle extreme situations well enough.

- You don't talk much about when you were younger.

he said, and Clementine looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

- I mean. You've known me all my life, you know everything about me, but there's so much I don't know about you. You mentioned that you were kidnapped, how did that happen? And you also mentioned a guy who abandoned you, but then, he took care of me, and died saving other people, who was he? And what about the guy who took care of you, what did he look like?

he asked, staring at Clementine with a certain intensity.

It was obvious that the boy would be curious about her past, she had taught him so many things that other people had taught her, and she always mentioned them vaguely.

She just didn't like to talk about the past, it reminded her of her failures, and always made her feel worthless.

- I know I don't talk about myself much, but... it's just that I don't like to talk about them, I... I feel helpless whenever I remember them. Especially when I remember Lee.

she said with a heavy sigh. She looked at AJ and smiled slightly at his expression.

- Okay... There was this guy that I met, right after everything happened. We met up with his family on a farm. Lee saved his son when he was grabbed by a zombie, and since then, we started traveling together.

She began, leaning over his arm and turning to AJ, who was looking at her intently.

- We stayed together for a few months, and that's when things started to go wrong. He got into a fight with Lee over a guy that Lee tried to save, even after he had a heart attack. The motel where we were staying was attacked by bandits a few days later, and he drove off in an RV, leaving Lee and me behind.

AJ grimaced in disgust, and Clementine just stared at the floor as she felt her mind being flooded with memories.

- Lee got us out, and... well, some things happened, I thought they were both dead. A few years later I met Kenny again, he seemed sorry for what he did, and I forgave him. We started to get back together soon after... well, we were kind of forced to be together.

She looked up, wondering if it was a good idea to talk about AJ's parents at that moment.

She had never really talked about them with the boy, she had only said that they died when he asked, but that was it.

- We were together for a long time, and he took care of you for a good time. Every now and then I would see him put his cap on your head while he talked about taking you out to sea, to learn to be a fisherman, and his son would get jealous, even though he didn't show it.

She said amused as she remembered Duck complaining once, saying that his father spent too much time with AJ on his lap. He crossed his arms and looked down at AJ in Kenny's arms.

She missed it.

- We got involved with some pretty crazy people. He and his son died trying to get out of there, not before saving some people from all that chaos. Thinking back now, I think he got redemption for what he did.

She said with a distant look, she liked Kenny and Duck, losing them was... devastating, even more so together.

- What is redemption?

he asked, slightly confused. The girl felt as if he had several questions in his head.

- I don't really know. I think it's when someone who did something really bad, does something really good to redeem himself... something like that... he paid for the wrong he did, and got forgiveness... I think it's something like that.

She said confused, she herself didn't really know what it was, she had only heard other people talking about it.

- So... even if someone tries to kill us, he can still save our lives if we forgive him?

He asked with a raised eyebrow, and Clementine sighed lightly.

- No, Kenny was different, if it was anyone else in his place, I think I would have shot him the moment I saw him. It's complicated, AJ. You can save someone's life, and they can try to kill you. The thing is, you have to know when to help someone, what will happen if you help them, what you will get in return, and most importantly, if it's worth the risk.

She explained, realizing that AJ didn't quite understand. She understood that it was something difficult to do, and extremely complicated.

Humans were unpredictable. You couldn't be sure of anything involving people.

- You know, I think you should try to sleep in bed. No one is going to show up here, human or zombie. And if they do, the chair in front of the door will make a lot of noise, and we'll wake up on the spot.

Clementine said after some time in silence, looking at AJ with an amused smile.

- You're also lying under the bed.

He said, returning the smile, making Clementine laugh softly.

AJ had picked up this habit from her, since she always slept under the bed in every place they had ever been.

So it was kind of her fault.

- Do as I say, not as I do.

she said, getting out from under the bed and standing up, causing AJ to look at her confused.

- Where are you going?

He asked, putting part of his body to the side, watching her.

- I'm going for a walk, you can stay here, sleep. You have your knife and revolver, you know what to do if someone tries to get in.

She said, taking her machete and placing it on her back, checking the amount of ammo she had immediately afterwards.

- Can't I come with you?

he asked, getting up.

Clementine stared at him thoughtfully for a moment.

- If I take too long, go to Marlon's office, if I'm not there, go to the courtyard. And if I'm not in either of those two places, take your gun and hide in that alley next to that tree in the courtyard. Wait for me, if I don't show up, point your gun at Marlon's head and force him to talk.

She instructed him, and AJ stared at her with a certain gleam in his eye, attentive to her every word. After a while, he nodded his head in agreement.

Clementine put her hand on the boy's shoulder for a few moments, until she turned and left the room.

AJ took his weapons and sat on the bed, leaning his back against the wall as he stared at the door, thinking about the story Clementine had told him...

Waiting...

(...)

Clementine propped herself up in the corner of the hallway in front of the entrance door. She stood with her arms crossed as she stared at the empty courtyard, waiting.

She knew that Marlon was still awake, which was exactly why she decided to go to bed early.

That was one of the only times she would have a moment alone with him.

The door to the main building was opened, and Clementine waited patiently as Marlon and Brody walked through the courtyard, heading toward a specific place.

"I didn't expect Brody with him at this hour, but whatever" She thought, looking with an arched eyebrow at the underground entrance they had just passed, right in the corner of the courtyard ahead.

Clementine sighed softly and followed them, the last time she had entered a place like that, she had been trapped and a zombie had almost caught AJ, who was only three at the time.

If she had time, she would look for another entrance, but since Marlon and Brody had entered that way, she might not find another way in.

- You are unbelievable!

She heard Brody's voice, just as she opened that door.

Clementine looked out into the courtyard, making sure there was no one else there before she entered.

She went downstairs and left the door open, just in case.

- Hey, HEY! We're in this together! You're not going to put all this shit on me!

Marlon's angry voice echoed through the dark hallway, and Clementine was paying close attention to their conversation as she slowly approached.

- They're fucking back! How can you be so calm?!

she heard Brody say, and almost smiled when she saw that her suspicions were right.

- Damn it, Brody! We don't even know if it was them! It could be anyone!

Marlon said, and Clementine could see the silhouettes of the two people further ahead, lit by the flashlight Marlon was holding.

- Oh please, Malon! Who else uses Bible pages as cigarettes around here?! They are back! And it's only a matter of time before they find us, you know that!

Clementine hid behind one of the cabinets in the middle of all that junk, glaring at the two of them.

The girl rolled her eyes at how loudly they were arguing, it would wake up the whole school that way.

- I don't know shit! Neither do you. God damn it, Brody, calm the fuck down!

Marlon said, looking angrily at Brody as he pointed his finger at the girl's face.

Clementine didn't like this, Marlon seemed very agitated, besides he was twice as big as Brody, he was angry and alone with her in a remote place.

That would not end well.

Clementine came out from behind the closet and walked slowly toward the shelf in front of her.

- We have to tell the others, tell them what you did! What we did! Damn it, Marlon, you know you can't hide this forever!

Brody shouted, and Clementine stopped walking, looking at Brody with one eyebrow arched through the gaps in the shelf.

- We haven't done anything! And it's going to stay that way!

Marlon shouted angrily, running his hands through his hair in nervousness.

- What if they find us, huh?! What are we going to do?! We can't just hand over more of our people to them like we did before! They won't get just two people, they'll get everyone!

Brody said, and Clementine's eyes widened.

Now it all made sense.

"So the twins didn't die... Marlon handed them over to those guys... Son of a bitch, if he's thinking he's going to do this to me and AJ, he's fucked" Clementine thought in anger.

She took the magazine from her pistol and removed a few bullets, leaving only one in the chamber.

Soon after, she stepped out of her cover.

- So that's what happened... I have to say you guys can't keep a secret.

Clementine said, startling both of them, who looked at her in surprise.

- Clementine? What... what are you doing here?

Brody asked in shock, and Marlon sighed angrily, running his hand through his hair and closing his eyes tightly.

- I had my reasons for suspecting that something was wrong. Marlon made this somewhat obvious to anyone paying attention.

She said, crossing her arms and looking seriously at Marlon, who was shaking his head in frustration.

- So, can one of you two start explaining who these guys are? And why did you sell two of your own to them?

She said in a cold tone, alternating her gaze between Marlon and Brody.

- It's none of your fucking business!

Marlon said angrily, shining the flashlight in Clementine's face.

- That flashlight will be up your ass if you don't get it out of my face right now.

The girl said coldly, and Marlo stopped pointing the light in her face, but didn't seem intimidated.

- The people you saw earlier today... they...

- BRODY!

Marlon shouted, causing the girl to cringe in fright and shut up.

- Don't worry, Brody. Go ahead, I'll deal with Marlon... if necessary, of course.

Clementine said, walking to the side while keeping her eyes on Marlon.

- We told everyone that they had died because...

- Shut the fuck up, Brody!

Marlon shouted again, and Clementine put her hand on her pistol, glaring at Marlon.

Brody was silent again, but she seemed more determined to speak.

- Because it would be easier to hand over...

- I said shut up!

Marlon shouted. He tried to attack Brody with the flashlight.

The girl cringed, waiting for the impact, which never came.

Clementine was faster than Marlon, and aimed her pistol at him before he could hurt Brody.

- One more move and you die. I don't care what the others will think.

She said in a cold tone, pulling Brody close to her with her other arm, without taking her eyes off Marlon.

- He wanted to deliver others too, in case those people came back! I wanted no part of it, I wanted to tell the others! But, he always forced me to be quiet, he always threatened me every time I tried to say something...

In one swift movement, Marlon hits Clementine's hand with the flashlight and takes out his gun.

He pushes the girl to the side and aims the gun at Brody's head.

However, Clementine quickly recovers and stabs Marlon in the shoulder with her machete.

The boy groans in pain and accidentally pulls the trigger.

The gun fires, and Brody groans in pain as she is hit in the leg, falling to the ground.

Marlon quickly recovers and slams the handle into Clementine's face, causing the girl to fall to the ground.

He grabs the machete and takes it from his shoulder, throwing it to the ground.

- This had nothing to do with you, Clementine! You shouldn't have gotten involved!

he said angrily, pointing the gun at the girl's head as she slowly stood up.

- I was going to hand you and AJ over, we didn't know you, and the others wouldn't miss you that much, and besides, we wouldn't have to hand Tenn and Willy over to them. Maybe you would still be alive, those guys don't kill, they use who they capture, as slaves. But you had to get involved in this, and now you and AJ are going to disappear.

He said, and Clementine just stared at him coldly, arms up in surrender.

Despite her unchanged face, the girl was smiling inside, Marlon fell like a duckling.

The boy aimed the gun at Clementine's head and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

The gun didn't go off.

- The gun is unloaded.

She said quickly, kicking Marlon in the leg and reaching for the machete that was on the ground.

But Marlon recovered quickly and kicked Clementine, knocking her to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, he got up and ran from there, his hand gripping his wounded shoulder.

Clementine picked up her machete and stared at Marlon's back, walking away. She wouldn't run after him, she didn't have to.

Besides, even if he told some lie to the others, she had Brody by her side, as victim and witness.

She could hardly believe that a trick she had seen in a comic book had worked. Marlon actually confessed what he was going to do when he saw that the gun was loaded.

"Thanks, punisher"

Marlon had dug his own grave, now, she just had to wait, there was no reason to act in haste.

- Are you all right, Brody?

She asked, bending down slightly to help the girl to her feet, serving as a support.

- Yes ... yes, I'm fine ... thank you, Clem. Thank you so much, I'm... I'm sorry for the way I acted before.

She excused herself, uneasy, trembling, shocked. She seemed incredulous that Marlon had tried to kill her, she felt betrayed.

- Don't worry, it's okay, I don't get angry easily.

She said, helping Brody walk towards the exit. Clementine smiled when she saw the doors open, Marlon was so desperate that he didn't even think about locking them in there... it wouldn't change much, but it was already something more.

As soon as they both went up the stairs, their eyes focused on the group of people that were around a desperate Marlon.

And AJ was pointing his gun at his head while asking about her, just as she had said.

- Why are you bleeding?

Omar asked, looking worried and confused at Marlon, while at the same time looking fearfully at AJ.

- Where is Clem?

AJ asked again, walking slowly to the side while having Marlon's head in his sights.

- She... she attacked me! She tried to kill me, she tried to kill Brody!

Marlon shouted in some desperation, looking around in nervousness, hoping that someone would believe him.

AJ looked at him in surprise, and started to lower the gun slowly, but as soon as he saw Clementine approaching with Brody by her side, he aimed again at Marlon's head.

- What, Malon? Say that again, I can't hear you in that desperate voice.

Clementine shouted mockingly, drawing all eyes to her.

- Brody, you... you've been shot!

Violet said, staring wide-eyed at the wound in her leg.

- I'm fine. I'd have a hole in my head right now if it wasn't for Clementine.

She said, and they looked at Marlon wide-eyed, hardly believing what they had just heard.

- That's... that's a lie!

he shouted, in a futile attempt to change the game in his favor.

- You're the one holding the gun, dude.

Clementine said calmly, handing Brody to Ruby, and then crossing her arms.

Her golden eyes then fell on Tenn over there.

- Oh, Tenn. I found something really nice for you.

Clementine said, looking seriously at Marlon, who gave her a desperate look.

- Don't even think about it, Clementine!

he shouted, pointing his unloaded gun at her. The girl just smiled at that.

- You know that story about your sisters being killed by zombies? So...

- Shut the fuck up!

he shouted, pulling the trigger several times in the futile hope that some bullet would come out.

He was desperate, panicked, not thinking straight.

- That's right, it was a lie. They didn't die, Marlon sold them out.

She said, staring at Tenn's incredulous expression.

- What?!

Violet shouted, alternating her gaze between Marlon and Clementine.

- Whoa, wait a minute. There must be some misunderstanding.

Louis tried to calm the situation down, trying not to believe what he had heard.

- "Misunderstanding" my ass, Louis. Marlon sold Sophie and Minnie to the people Clem saw! And he planned to sell Tenn and Willy next time! He tried to kill us both because of it!

Brody shouted, causing Louis to shut up, and look at Marlon with a lost look.

- Marlon... buddy, that's... that's a lie, right?

he asked, almost in supplication.

Marlon didn't answer, he just looked at the ground and shook his head. Frustrated, panicked, nervous...

- Please ... tell me this is a lie.

Louis said again, feeling his eyes starting to get moist.

- You sold them out, you son of a bitch!

Violet shouted in anger, running towards Marlon, who had a tearful expression on his face.

A gunshot echoed through the place, Marlon's body fell to the ground with a hole in his head. All eyes fell on AJ, who still had the gun pointed at his body.

The boy lowered the gun and straightened his posture, looking puzzled at all the incredulous looks that were being sent his way.

- What? I aimed for the head.

AJ said, putting the gun back in his waistband.