Clementine looked at AJ with narrowed eyes as she placed the knife on the table between them.
As soon as the boy saw the blade in front of him, his eyes widened, and Clementine knew at that very moment that she had just discovered something she probably shouldn't have known.
She had been curious, to say the least, about the knife that AJ always tried to hide, and she could tell whenever he hid the blade under the mattress, or when he hid it under his shirt.
She was just waiting for him to tell her why he was hiding that knife, and more importantly, where he had gotten it.
She didn't remember him taking it from the ship, or from some of the bodies of the Delta members.
The girl crossed her arms and sat up in bed, not looking away from the boy's nervous face.
- So... where did you get this knife?
she asked, waiting for him to start talking.
AJ avoided looking at her eyes, concentrating on staring at the floor with his head slightly lowered. After a while, he sighed defeated while muttering softly.
-... I found her...
He said vaguely, trying to find a way out of this question. He hated it when Clementine got angry, or scolded him.
It was obvious that the girl wouldn't be satisfied with a vague answer like that, he needed either a good excuse, or to tell the truth.
The problem was, he couldn't think of anything very convincing, and he had told the man that he wouldn't talk about him, even more so when he was already leaving the next day.
- AJ, you are not in any trouble. It's not like you can't have another knife. I just want to know why you're hiding it.
She said, sighing slightly and propping her elbows on her legs, looking lightly at AJ, who still seemed a little uncertain about what to answer.
A little hesitant.
- Does this have to do with your morning outings? You always leave in the morning, and take time, sometimes even a few hours, to come back. I trust you, and I know you can take care of yourself, you're the toughest little boy I know, but the fish, the rabbit, the apples... what aren't you telling me?
She asked again, patting the bed three times, a silent call for the boy to sit down beside her.
AJ stared at her for a moment, and then took short steps toward the girl, sitting down at her side.
She just stared at him, waiting for him to start talking. AJ closed his eyes and sighed lightly.
- I met a guy in the forest.
He said quickly, glancing at Clementine's face, and grimacing slightly at her incredulous and concerned expression.
But she didn't say anything, and AJ realized that he had better keep talking.
- He's not a bad guy, and he's not with Delta. He gave me his knife as proof that he wouldn't try to hurt me, or hurt anyone here.
He explained, looking at the floor, getting a little more tense when he heard the tired sigh Clementine gave, and hoped she wouldn't do anything bad to that man, he was nice.
-... When did you meet him?
she asked, but AJ had the slight impression that she was already suspicious. As she herself had said, she noticed his delay every time she went out in the morning.
-... A week, maybe more. He is a nice guy, I only hand him the knife when I am there. And he even taught me how to make fish traps, and skin animals. He doesn't want to hurt us.
He said quickly when he saw the worried expression of the girl, who went back to resting her elbows on her thighs and lowered her head slightly, thoughtfully.
-... How many people?
She asked after a while, and AJ thought he saw a spark of anger in the girl's eyes.
Not surprisingly, Clementine's mind was flooded with memories of when she had done something similar.
She had trusted a stranger and talked to him for days. A man who seemed like a good person, but that resulted in her being kidnapped and three bullets in the body of the man she saw as a second father.
- He is alone. He has been on the road for a long time. He really is a nice guy, and he has given me food all this time. Some fish, apples. We have already spent a long time just talking, I haven't said anything about school, he never asked. And he's leaving tomorrow.
He said, trying to convince the girl that he was not a bad person.
AJ understood her concern, and why she was so hesitant, but, as she herself had said, if she really trusted him, then she would believe what he said.
Or at least, she would try to believe it, to give it a chance.
- AJ, what did this man tell you? What exactly did he say he was doing here?
she asked a little more seriously, looking deep into AJ's nervous eyes.
- He said he was passing through, looking for someone he lost a long time ago. He said he didn't want anything to do with us, that he would stay here for a while, and then leave. He doesn't have a gun, I checked, he only has a knife. And he even taught me to use all my senses whenever I leave this place, so I won't be caught by surprise by anything.
He explained, and Clementine continued to stare at him, thoughtfully.
Either this man was using AJ to approach the school and kill them from the inside out, or he really wanted nothing to do with them.
And from her experience, she believed more in the first option.
But she had to admit that it made no sense for him to teach AJ those things, or to hand the only gun he had to the boy, leaving him unprotected.
Maybe he had a hidden gun, or he knew how to deal with the zombies without needing one.
And again, Clementine believed more in the first option.
She sighed, it could be a rather troubling matter, but at the same time, it might not be a big deal.
But she was used to expecting the worst in the simplest of situations, so she would have to check this matter out herself, thoroughly.
- I am meeting him again tomorrow. He leaves in the morning. That's when he will tell me his name.
AJ said, and Clementine looked at him with an arched eyebrow, slightly confused.
- It's a game between us, if I guess his name, he will teach me something he knows. So far I haven't gotten it right, and he doesn't give me many hints.
He answered, and Clementine stared at the floor again, not knowing what to think anymore.
She would just do what she always did, and check to see if this man was a threat, or not.
- Okay, tomorrow we'll go there with you. If he is as you say, fine, we'll leave him alone.
She said, getting out of bed and picking up the knife on the table. She looked at the blade for a few moments, she would return the knife to the man herself, if he wasn't dangerous.
- Don't hurt him... he didn't hurt me.
AJ said, and Clementine looked at him for a few moments.
- I won't hurt him if he doesn't try to hurt me, don't worry.
She said, walking to the door and leaving the room shortly after.
Clementine looked at the blade for a few more moments, it was a good knife, the weight was excellent, and it looked very sharp, which only made her a little more intrigued.
She walked past the courtyard and up the stairs to the main building, into Violet's office, arching an eyebrow slightly at the sight of Louis there.
- Clem? What are you doing here at this hour?
Violet asked, rising from her chair and looking at Clementine with a mixture of surprise and excitement, happy that she was there, apparently.
Clementine sighed slightly; she knew the feelings that the two people in front of her had for her. She just didn't know how to deal with it.
- AJ found a guy in the forest. Alone. He's been talking to him for a week now.
She said, standing in front of the table and crossing her arms.
Louis and Violet looked at each other, slightly disappointed, but this was hidden by the worried expressions on their faces.
- Oh, please, no more Delta members.
Louis said with a tired sigh, sitting down in the armchair in the corner of the room.
- A week? He's been near the school for a week?!
Violet asked, getting a little more worried.
- AJ said he was a nice guy, they talked a lot. AJ didn't say anything about the school, apparently, they talked more about that guy's life than about AJ's life. Well, all things considered, I find it a rather... curious situation, I suggest we go see him tomorrow morning and confirm it with our own eyes.
Clementine said, sitting down in the chair opposite Violet's desk, alternating her gaze between both Louis and the girl.
- And what do we do with him?
Louis asked, leaning his elbows on his thighs.
- If he's the way AJ said, a nice guy, and just passing through, nothing. We'll let him go his own way.
she replied.
- And if he's not?
Violet asked, crossing her arms and sitting back in her chair.
- Then we kill him. The odd thing is that he always handed his knife to AJ every time he returned to school. A guarantee that he wouldn't hurt anyone here. At least, that's what AJ said.
Clementine took the knife from his waist and put it on the table, she had to admit that the knife was beautiful, besides seeming to pierce a body with ease.
- Ok, that's weird... hmm, I don't know what to think.
Louis said, looking at Violet.
- The three of us are going there tomorrow, we don't need to alert the others, they are still half affected by Delta and everything that happened. I'll take the bow, you two take the weapons, I'll stay hidden in the forest, in case there are more people with him that we don't know about.
Violet said, and Clementine nodded, taking the knife again and putting it around her waist, leaving the office shortly after.
(...)
Clementine walked calmly along the riverbank, looking at the surrounding forest, and giving AJ a quick glance at his back. The boy had insisted on going first.
Unlike the other times she had been in similar situations, Clementine was not feeling the same bad feeling she always felt in dangerous circumstances, or when there was danger close by.
In fact, she felt something else, an anxiety, that even she couldn't explain.
- It's just up ahead.
AJ said after a while of walking, and Clementine looked at Violet. The girl nodded to her and entered the forest, walking slightly crouched and holding her bow tightly.
Clementine held the rifle firmly in her hands and followed AJ, walking a little slower.
The first thing she saw, was a man crouching with his back to her, fiddling with something she couldn't quite make out.
She looked around quickly and focused her eyes on the man's bare back, noting all those numerous scars spreading across his body. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about it.
The man looked huge, and with so many scars, he had certainly been through a lot. In other words, he was an experienced man, used to going through situations where his life was at risk.
But as she thought this, there was something familiar about his broad back, something she hadn't felt in a long time.
- Hey, I was worried that you had already left.
AJ said in a genuinely excited tone, and ran towards the man, standing right next to him.
Clementine's eyes widened, a little surprised that the boy had simply dropped his things on the ground and ran to the man.
- Hey, kid. You came earlier than I expected, actually.
The man said, and Clementine's eyes widened again.
Her body locked up and her mind replayed the words she had just heard. More specifically, the man's voice.
Though huskier, more tired, slightly different from the way she remembered it, it was still the same voice she heard in her mind every day.
The man stood up, and looked at AJ, it was then that Clementine put her hands over her mouth, dropped the rifle and looked at the man with tears already in her eyes.
Scars covered his face, his stabbed eye preventing him from seeing her at the moment, his beard, a little larger than the last time she had seen him. His arm, missing until the beginning of his bicep, the arm he had torn off with the machete that was on her back at that moment.
More serious, harder expressions. A certain experience in his expression lines.
But there was Lee, different, and at the same time, the same as she remembered.
The world around her seemed to stop in time, and her eyes focused only on Lee, who turned slowly, and like her, widened his eyes as soon as he saw her.
- Clementine?
His voice called her name, and the tears became heavier, streaming down her face with force.
It only made her realize how much she had missed him calling her name; at the very mention of it, it seemed as if all the memories she had of him in the past came flooding back into her mind.
She ignored the surprised looks from AJ and Louis and ran towards Lee, jumping on his lap as she entwined his neck with her arms, and his waist with her legs.
The same way she did as a child, hiding her face in his shoulder.
Lee was static, he watched the girl running towards him almost in slow motion, and when she hugged him, the tears that he had been holding back for so long finally decided to run down his face.
And all the emptiness he had been used to living with, was slowly filled by the girl's warm embrace.
He squeezed her back tightly, and also hid his face in her shoulder. Unable to stand, he kneels down with her still on his body, and lets all those feelings that were trapped in his chest free themselves, and new ones take their place.
The warmth of her body, though now much larger, was the same as he remembered, the same feeling.
And he didn't think it would be as pleasurable, as good to have her on his arm again, as it was at that moment.
They both trembled and sobbed, as their arms pulled each into a tighter grip.
For Clementine, the warmth of his body was one of the best sensations she had ever felt. His embrace, just as she remembered it, seemed to cover her whole body, just as she had imagined and missed so much.
They both felt as if they had gone back in time.
Clementine felt like the same little girl again, before all the horrible things she had been through had caught up with her.
Lee felt like the same good-hearted teacher he had been years ago, and best of all, he felt like a father, who had seen his little girl transform into a complete woman.
They pulled their faces apart slightly, and looked deep into each other's weeping eyes.
- I found you.
He said, the only words, of the many that wanted to escape his mouth, so many things he wanted to say. And that now, he would have the chance to say them, not just imagine what it would be like.
A small smile formed on their lips, after they had finally been reunited after so many years.
With him there, Clementine could say that she felt like home, with one hundred percent certainty.
He hadn't stopped looking for her, even after all those years. And she couldn't be happier and more grateful than she was at that moment.
And now, Lee thought about something he always thought would happen, but never really seemed to.
After so many years of searching, after so many years of being beaten and thrown to the ground, so many years of struggling to survive, so many years of running after the shadow of the little girl he loved so much, he could finally say that his journey had come to an end.
All the things he had been through were worth it.
He had found her...
Nothing else mattered at that moment, no bad thought, or unhealed wound would take that moment away from him, he wouldn't let it.
He found her...
Now, he could finally rest in peace.
