Author's Note: So, before writing this, a whole lot happened. In the story, like I said there would be, there was a sizable time skip. In this time, Clementine has aged, which will be illustrated through words in the story, but she's around ten now, whereas in the second season canon she was eleven. I just didn't think it made sense for it to take that long for the group to head north. As for the setting, it, as well, is similar to the second game's. Anyways, imma just explain in the actual chapter, so enjoy.
…
Season Two Pilot
Chapter Seven: Luxuries Long Gone,
"Clementine?" Carley called.
The woman stood next to Lee, holding her stomach, a practice growing more and more common over the past few months, although now Clementine was starting to worry.
The aforementioned girl loped out from behind some brush, she looked tired. They had already been walking for a long while that day, she needed a bathroom break, but now that they had stopped, it was apparent that she didn't want to walk anymore.
The girl looked not only tired but exhausted, both physically and mentally. It had been roughly two years since she had lost someone, but even now, she missed the people she knew, missed meeting new people, and most of all missed sleeping in one place. Ever since Savannah, they never really stopped. North seemed as good a direction as any, and Lee figured there would be more to hunt up there, so Carley and Clementine dutifully followed.
Clementine didn't look the same as she did back then, but she was still the same girl at heart, even if she had to become more fierce to protect those around her. She was a lot taller now, almost six inches is what Lee told her, and she stopped wearing clothes that she deemed as too "girly," Lee figured that it was a phase, but Clementine assured him that it was for safety. Function over fashion, or however people used to put it.
With a lack of maps, Lee's geographical knowledge was the only resource that the group had to know where they were, and if Lee was honest, he had no idea, but it was getting colder the further they walked. They had to be making progress. To what? They weren't particularly sure, but there had to be something better, there had to be something somewhere.
"I'm okay, no bites," Clementine affirmed.
The two adults grinned at her and finally gave her the good news, "Hey, Clementine, we're gonna stop for the night," Lee said.
The girl grinned and pulled her backpack off of her back. She tossed it on the ground and rifled through it, looking for something. She couldn't find it, she was sure she left it in-
"Clem," Lee called.
She turned her head and spotted the tent. Her face glowed as she walked inside the thing. The two adults only looked at each other and chuckled. She loved that tent. If it wasn't for her glow, the adults swore they would have caved a long time ago, but she made it worth it, and now… they had another thing to worry about, especially considering the difficulties it would bring. Then there was Clem, they weren't quite sure how to tell her about it.
,Lee uneasily glanced over at Carley. They had been talking about this for a few days now. She knew what he wanted to do, she understood why he wanted to do it, but she was afraid of getting the girl's hopes up again. After what happened last time she had hope, in Savannah, it was a scary thing, but it felt unfair for her to not know.
"Clem-" Lee started, but Clementine started to say something as well.
"Guys-" Clementine was interrupted by Lee.
"Go ahead," Lee warranted.
"I- Okay, I was thinking about that day again," Clementine started.
The two adults made that same uneasy eye contact but for a different reason this time.
"What is it this time," Lee asked.
Clementine mulled it over for a second, taking off her hat and laying it aside as she prepared herself for another difficult conversation.
"I killed her, I killed Lilly. I know I had to, but it doesn't feel good. I want to be strong, like you Lee, but I don't want to kill people," she explained.
There was a moment of quiet, Clementine staring into Lee's eyes, pleading for some uplifting answer. She knew what it took to survive this world, her mother didn't have it, her father didn't have it, not even Lilly had it, not anymore. She didn't want to be weak. She wanted- needed to be strong. She needed to be strong for her new family. She didn't know what she would do if she lost Carley or Lee.
"Clementine," Lee said, earning her attention.
He continued, "You are strong. Hell you're stronger than me. I wish that I hadn't killed so many people back there, but I did. Killing people isn't strong, keeping everyone alive is."
Clementine took his affirmation with a grain of salt. She didn't agree that he was weak, nor did she feel strong, but she thought it made her feel better. She still felt horrible about the whole thing.
"But Lee-" she started.
Carley interrupted her quickly, "It's not a good thing to kill, Clementine," she explained.
"But I want to keep you safe," Clementine replied.
"That's supposed to be our job," Carley joked.
"I don't want you to die," Clementine exclaimed.
There was a tense silence as Clementine's face fell. She didn't mean to snap at Carley, but she knew what she wanted, she shouldn't have been such a burden on the two, she wanted them to be happy together, and if she was going to get in the way of that…
"Clementine," Lee called in a calm tone.
She slowly turned to face him with her arms crossed. "We don't want to die either, but there's not always something that you can do about it. You are all that matters to us anymore, it's our job to keep you safe, not the other way around," he explained.
That still didn't help her feel better.
"You're a pretty nice shot too," Carley remarked, Clementine turned away to hide a grin.
From behind her, she heard whispers from the two, she turned around with a questioning expression.
"What?" Clementine asked in a sweet tone.
The two looked at each other once more before Lee ultimately became the one to start talking, "We have something to tell you…"
"What is it," Clementine asked with unrestrained curiosity.
Lee took a deep breath before finally giving her the news, "Carley's having a baby."
Without hesitation, Clementine's face exploded with joy as she tackled the two. It didn't take long for her to ask the next important question, "Are you going to be a dad?"
Carley answered that question for him, in a sly tone, she joked, "How else was I gonna have fun around here?"
Clementine tackled the two in a tight hug. It had been so long since she had received good news, Lee and Carley were having a baby! She was gonna have a little brother or sister soon, and after all she had been through, this was good.
For the first time in months, she went to bed with entirely positive thoughts. She didn't worry about the baby or how they'd protect it, she didn't worry about being strong, she only allowed herself to be happy, for once, happy.
…
By the time morning came, the group continued their typical routine, waking up, stretching, walking, and that was all. Clementine fantasized about what the baby would look like as they walked. The two soon-to-be parents smiled as they watched Clementine smile. They didn't spare themselves from worry as she had, but seeing her so happy was special, they were going to enjoy this day, even if their tired bodies continued to wear, even if they needed to stop, today they would be happy, together.
It was roughly dawn when the group started to become too tired to walk, an hour sooner than the day before, but they were finally getting out of the woods, so once they got there, they determined they would be able to justify stopping.
Once they reached that point, they weren't sure what to do. It was much too early to set up camp, but they were far too tired to continue walking today. Their dilemma wasn't helped by the fact that there were clearly places to be scavenged. After short deliberation, the group finally decided to loot a nearby millhouse that looked over a creek, as good a place to stop as any.
As the group approached the door, they reminded Clementine, "What do we do once we get inside?"
She instantly answered, "We look for exits," earning her a pat on the head before the group finally opened the door with a kick.
They grew silent to listen for walkers, they could hear footsteps upstairs, as good an indicator as any. Clem tiptoed through the house, peering around every corner, both searching for an exit and searching for any potential danger to her family. She did what she was taught, looked from the bottom up, and double-checking was good. As she diligently searched, Lee and Carley's focus switched to scavenging. Clementine was more careful now, she wouldn't start looking for supplies until she was sure, absolutely sure, that there was no lingering danger to her family.
Clementine kept this routine throughout her entire search of the first floor, normally she would have taken her time to finally search some, but there was this feeling, this tug for her to finish the job. There was this new, foreign worry, Clementine didn't understand it. It was this new feeling for no reason at all. It was the baby, the baby needed to be safe.
Clementine only got one foot onto the stairs before Carley came around a corner quietly. Clementine hadn't even heard her at first. Her first words made her jump, "You don't have to do that Clem, we can relax for a second."
She quickly calmed herself, playing off her fear by ignoring it entirely. She listened to Carley's words. She looked upstairs, into the void that was the darkness of the unknown, it wasn't scary to her anymore, almost enticing even, but she listened, she obeyed Carley's requests, slowly stepping down from the stairs and into the kitchen.
She looked back up those stairs longingly, not to run into danger, but to protect those she loved from it. Regardless, she wasn't one to disobey Lee or Carley's word, so she listened no matter how it made her feel.
She walked into the kitchen with one eye always trained on the stairs. The house was relatively plentiful, with supplies in nearly every place they looked, something that they had been a bit low on in the past few weeks. Beans filled their bags and their stomachs and now they had some fruit as well. The rest of the food was too old to consume, as were a lot of things by now.
As soon as she had her bag full of supplies, she pulled her knife from her pocket-sheath and stood guard in front of the stairs. She knew she wasn't allowed to pursue her suspected threat, but she wouldn't just let it go ignored. Carley and Lee gave uneasy looks at her, but she either didn't notice or didn't care, they weren't so sure which.
After all, was said and done, the group left the house unharmed, they never checked the danger, never confronted the problem. As long as they were all safe, Clementine was ultimately happy. It didn't bring her any comfort to leave the problem sitting upstairs, and there was no ignoring that. In the end, she decided to just let it go, opting to hold her tongue, this time at least.
The group kept moving, they were tired, but the break gave them enough power to trudge forward for a little longer, and if it meant getting off of the road sooner, she was all for it.
As they walked, they started to notice a trend, there were more walkers up here than in the forest. They weren't quite sure what it meant. They had been in this new world for over two years now, so it could have just been walkers from a collapsed group, but even if the feeling remained unspoken, the trio all worried for the same thing, people.
It sounds cliche to say that the people were the real danger, but they simply were. The longer that people lived in the new world, the less threatening walkers became, thus, people became the biggest threat. Clementine knew this well, in the last two years, since Savannah, she hadn't directly interacted with many new people, but what they had seen…
They largely kept from other people after that. Whether it was a dairy that was masked as a haven only in guise for a deathtrap or a vindictive man who lured people to him to kill them for wrongdoings, the three had watched a lot of terrible things happen. The only silver lining was that they, themselves, and their loved ones were not a part of the horror. This was the trade for remaining isolated.
For Clementine, it was odd not to meet new people, but if they could be avoided now, she viewed it as safer. As for whatever was ahead of them, they would rather not find out.
Just keep going North, a thought that persisted in her mind, unhalting, unwavering. They just needed to keep going. It had to be better somewhere.
All was silent, one could hear a twig break from an odd fifty or so feet away as clear as if it were right next to them, but too much quiet always serves as a warning, something was bound to happen.
It was faint, hard to notice at first, but as they continued on their current trajectory, the sounds grew nearer and nearer. The soft pitter-patter of bullets polluted the air, against their will they were subjected to it and doomed to experience what was sure to be yet another terrible thing.
They continued with uneasy steps, hoping that the gunfire would mask them, that they might be allowed to pass unnoticed, spared from more unforgettable horror.
Just as they always did, the bullets stopped as suddenly as they had started. Like a weight was lifted off of them, the silence returned.
"What are we gonna do Lee?" Clementine asked.
He appeared to take a second to mull that over. The day was still young, but the area was active. Moving forward would be a risk. Sitting around would be a risk just as big, but there was a chance tomorrow could be calmer. That was when they would move.
"We head into the town. We need to settle down for the night, hopefully we don't get noticed. It's just too risky to keep going today," Lee explained.
The two females looked to Lee, they trusted him and his judgment above all else. He had kept them alive this long. As the group grew closer to the town, the sense of unease only grew. It was the most danger that they had been in for a long time.
The group gave it their all, sprinting across the street as fast as they could as they ducked into the first alley they found. They took a moment to catch their collective breath, Carley grabbing at her stomach. Now that Clementine got a good look at it, she was starting to show.
As Lee peered around the corner looking at the street, Clementine found a door leading into a shop. Without saying a word, she slowly turned the doorknob and walked into the dark room.
As she squinted, she was able to see the place better. She immediately did what she had been taught to, found the exits. There were only two doors, no windows, or at least they were mostly boarded up and barred shut.
The next step was the most obvious, she looked for walkers. She looked around first, because those would be the most dangerous, then looked to the floor for any crawlers. It was tough to see, but she was able to spot one body, potentially a walker. She tiptoed toward it, slowly pulling her knife from her side. She held it high and as she made it to the body, she heard it groan. As fast as she could, she jammed the knife into the thing's head.
The groaning stopped and Clementine felt a burst of adrenaline, it was her first kill on her own! She didn't even need Lee's help.
As she allowed herself to smile, from the door she had entered from, she heard Lee call for her, "Clementine!" he shouted.
He ran in through the door and scanned the room for her quickly. He found her and rushed in, examining the room for danger.
"Lee?" Clementine asked in a confused tone.
He continued checking every square inch of the room until he felt satisfied with Clementine's safety. When he determined that the place was safe, he called Carley into the room and shut the door, blocking it with a shelf.
He then placed his forehead in the palm of his hand, not facing Clementine.
"What did we tell you about going into places alone," he asked in a calm, yet unmistakably frustrated tone.
Clementine crossed her arms. She just cleared the place, she was safe, she did everything that he taught her. Was she supposed to just act like a baby her whole life?
She didn't respond to Lee's accusatory remarks. Carley was still catching her breath, unable to insert herself into the conversation.
"You could've gotten yourself killed! Clementine, I told you not to do that! Why can't you just listen to me?!" Lee angrily prodded.
Clementine turned away from Lee, crossing her arms tighter and continuing to defy him.
From behind her, beyond her vision, Lee made to yell again, but cut himself off at the last second, shoving his face back into his hand.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he took a second to cool off. Before he could continue asking her questions, Carley finally entered the conversation, "Did you do what we taught you?"
Clementine's annoyance turned to confusion. She answered in a befuddled tone, "Yes."
Lee glared at Carley, she glared back.
Continuing to lock eyes with Lee, Carley continued, "Were you safe when you killed the walker?"
Lee turned to Clementine as she responded, "Yes, I walked up quietly and stabbed it right in the head."
"Then everything is okay, so both of you, chill the fuck out! Lee, she knows how to survive, she's going to start doing these things one way or another, so it's time we let her start learning." Carley explained.
As Carley continued, Lee's anger turned to confusion as well. Why was she taking Clem's side?
As if answering his question, Carley continued in an instant, "Clementine, you can't just go running into places without saying anything, we are trying to keep you safe. You don't need to be in such a rush to grow up."
The two both angrily huffed out words, but no real argument was made.
After a short, awkward silence, Lee finally broke the silence, apologizing, "I'm sorry, just please don't do that again."
Clementine finally turned and faced him, nodding with her head down.
Lee quietly walked to her and hugged her before walking around the store, searching for supplies. Carley patted down a spot for her to sit. Clementine obliged.
Softly, she spoke, "I'm not weak," she said. It was a truth that she not only wanted to convince Lee and Carley of, but she needed to convince herself more than anyone. She was only ten years old, but she was tough. She knew she couldn't survive on her own, but she wasn't comfortable depending on everyone, nor did she want to put them in danger.
"I know," Carley said, pulling Clementine toward her. The girl leaned on her shoulder, staring at nothing. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. It was only then that Lee returned to Carley.
"I-" Lee started.
Carley immediately interrupted him, "I know," she said. He didn't mean to get so mad, he didn't know what came over him, he just… he wished things had gone differently.
Lee was silent. He held out a bottle of water for Carley, which she laid by her side.
She continued, "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to yell."
Lee nodded.
Lee's eyes drifted to Clementine.
"She's growing up too fast," Lee said.
"I know…"
The night came early for the group. Things felt safe in the dark storeroom. It was dangerously familiar. They remembered what happened the last time they spent the night in a store. Good people died.
Lee sat down next to Carley. She leaned on him and Clem leaned on her as the three all drifted off to sleep. Usually, they would have left someone to watch out, sleeping in shifts, but they were tired, emotionally and physically, and they were human.
…
That was just the problem. They were human. Humans were mistake-bound. Mistakes weren't a luxury afforded to many people these days.
It was Clementine who woke up first. She expected there to be quiet, she expected it to be dark, but when her eyes opened, she was jerked from her calm as she started to piece together the situation. The groans, they were so loud. It was a mystery that they were able to sleep through them for so long. They must have been surrounded.
Deja vu hit her all at once as she saw the light peeking through the windows. The boards were being torn from the windows. She was at a loss for words. She felt so hopeless.
She turned and noticed Carley and Lee, they were asleep. She shook Carley desperately until she finally opened her eyes.
"Holy shit, Lee!" Carley shouted. Lee jerked up from the bench they sat on. Wordlessly, he gained an understanding of the situation. Even still, Clementine and Carley looked to him for orders.
He looked as though he had as little idea what to do as them. Each second was agonizing. They stood in the middle of the store watching as the walkers grew closer.
Clementine looked around the room. She could see why Lee struggled here, there was nothing.
"Are they in the alley?" Carley asked.
Lee ran over to the door that they had entered from and placed an ear to it.
He backed away from the thing and continued to look around, that was all the answer she needed.
As Lee aimlessly and desperately scoured the room, Clementine took some initiative. They still had the gun bag. He wouldn't approve of her plan, but she had to act.
She reached into the bag and pulled out a pistol, the only type of gun she could control. Carley watched as she did this, but didn't say a word, either out of confusion or hope, she seemed to trust Clementine.
She brought the gun to the front side of the store and glanced out of the rapidly crumbling defenses of the store. She made sure the safety was off and she had a bullet in the chamber and looked out the window again. It was hard to see, there was a blur of deteriorated bodies, but she finally found something of use, something that could make noise, a car.
She had to stand on top of a store shelf to aim at it, she aimed down the sights and breathed deep before firing. She just had to hope the car had a battery.
Clementine rattled off three shots into the side of a car, which drew Lee's attention. The man rushed over to her and made a simultaneously confused and misunderstanding glare. When she finally heard it, she was thrilled, the car's alarm blared harshly in the street. The groans of the walkers grew stronger as well, a good sign.
Lee ran over to the window and looked outside. Just as planned, the walkers, like moths to a flame, surrounded the car. Lee then ran to the door they entered from and cracked it open just enough to see outside.
"Holy shit. It's our chance, we have to hurry!" Lee commanded. Clem and Carley gave no objections. Lee was the first one out, clearing the way for the other two. Carley was next, limping through the door slowly and grabbing at her stomach.
Clementine was last, she followed closely behind Carley, even pushing her forward. At the end of the alley,, there was a crowd of walkers. As Clementine shut the door loudly, they turned and saw the trio. By another stroke of luck, they were able to find a ladder right behind them. Quickly, Lee shoved Clem up first, then Carley, then himself.
The second their feet touched down on the roof, Lee grabbed Clementine by the shoulders and frantically checked her for bites. There were none. He then checked Carley, she was just as lucky. Lee fell on his back and let out a heavy sigh. Clementine wasn't as tired. She took the moment of peace to see what they were up against. She looked over the edge of the roof and gasped.
The streets were not only full of walkers, but the streets around those were full as well. It was the most walkers she had ever seen at once, maybe even more than she had ever seen in the past two years.
"Lee, you should come and see this," Clementine suggested. The man looked up from the ground below him and slowly walked over to her side.
"Holy…-" Lee started.
"Shit." Clementine finished.
He looked down at her in surprise.
Carley, from behind her, joked "Woah, who are you and what did you do with Clementine?"
Clementine smiled but quickly reminded herself of their situation. She glanced back over the streets and wore a determined face.
"We'll make it out of here, somehow," Lee said as if to convince himself.
Behind them, Carley continued to struggle for breath. Lee turned around and tended to her, holding her hand and helping her calm down.
Now alone, Clementine still looked over the edge. She straightened her hat and scanned the area. Her initial idea was to hop roof to roof, but with Carley's condition, she wasn't sure she would be able to.
She continued to glass the town until she set her eyes on something unusual. Deeper into the town she saw a strange figure in the middle of the crowd. She couldn't even tell the person's gender. They stood in the middle of the crowd, covered in walker's, guts, still only staring in one direction, directly at her.
…
Author's Note: Okay, that's where I'm gonna cut it off. A bit of a change of pace. Clementine is gonna be a badass, and wow, Carley's pregnant. I had this planned a while back. Clementine having people around her for longer was due to make her grow apart, and it's up to her and the group whether she can grow into not only a survivor, but a good person. It's crunch time for her and now the group. This season is before the game's season two and things are shaping up. I'm very interested to see how this progresses, but I already have some ideas. This season should be pretty damn interesting.