Chapter 2: From The Pines
Warning: (M) Written depictions of Gore and other subjects.
Rating: (T-M) Not entirely kid-friendly.
Pairings: Louis/Clementine, etc.
A/N: I hate it when I rewrite unnecessary things. I keep repeating things too much! Hopefully, I didn't with this chapter.
Also! Clementine is 11 years old, and Louis is 13. Just so y'all know! Sarah's 15 by the way.
[. . .]
Chapter 2: From the Pines
[. . .]
Moments Later
[. . .]
The morning was fresher than most. It was welcoming with a light breeze rustling through the pointed leaves of the trees surrounding them for miles, nothing else but the silence that mocked the noises of nature.
An abandoned red delivery truck sat still and rusting in between the pines. The dead walking among often stopped to bang or collide with the truck, emitting a small noise that attracted the few that were near. If not for its iron surface, the two individuals inside would have surely been food right about now.
But that was of little importance.
The growls grew louder the more the walkers hit against the metallic surface, worrying the little girl that stood close to the double doors of the truck.
"Well, they shouldn't be able to get through that," Pete told the little girl wearily, enclosing the two doors with a metal bar between the handles used to open them. "On the downside, we can't get through them." He added solemnly, setting himself down by the door with his injured leg outstretched. He groaned from the movement and relaxed once the burning pain stopped after he pulled it close to him and held it.
Clementine stared at it. A lot was processing through her mind; where they were, how they would get out, where the others were... if they were safe... She had little time to dwell so much on something that created a mass catastrophe.
"What're you lookin' at?" Pete asked, glaring a tad bit at the innocent girl, "Starin' ain't polite."
Clementine eyed the bite-like mark swollen red on his leg. "How are you feeling?" She asked, polite despite Pete's statement, sitting on her knees.
"Well other than this bite I'm just peachy," Pete said sarcastically, stern in his tone of voice. He casually looked around, and then stopped to look at an object sitting neatly on top of a crate beside Clementine, "Hand me that there," He instructed.
Clementine turned to see what it was and found a saw. "Are you sure?" She asked him.
Pete was gruff with his reply. "I got nothin' to lose. Other than my Piggly wiggly's, of course." He looked at his foot sadly.
This wasn't a good idea, she knew that. They had cut Lee's arm, she remembered, and in the end... He didn't survive. It happened to everyone eventually. Cutting his leg off wouldn't work. He wouldn't walk, for one, and second, he would bleed to death. She wanted to tell him that the plan on cutting the leg would only worsen their situation, but she held her tongue, holding onto a bit of hope that he may be right.
With reluctance, she grabbed the saw and handed it to him.
He took it with great care and set it well near his knee, positioning it in a way that would cut through. He held it there for a moment, staring at it with narrowed eyes, considering if cutting it was the best approach.
Clementine looked away idly, opting to focus instead on the objects scattered around in the truck. She waited for the moment she would hear the sound of skin razored open and the sudden gushing squelches of veins being popped. It never came.
Pete squeezed his eyes shut, having the impulse to do it and get rid of the cut. He mentioned and remembered his cousin who survived it. In the end, his cousin ended up dying from the infection. Nobody knew if it was because of the bite itself, but he was sure it was because he cut it anyway; there would be nothing to help him get rid of it. But he wanted to. He didn't want to die, not yet.
He gripped the handle tight, holding his breath, digging the saw a little into the fabric of his pants—
He groaned and threw it away, "I'd bleed out like a stuck pig. What are you gonna do? Carry me outta here on your back?" He clutched at his head, looking at the ground. "Hell." He hissed, tired, "Just... Just give me a minute." His words went soft and his expression faltered, clearly envisioning into coming to terms that he was going to...
"Try to get some rest," Clementine suggested, staring at the man worriedly, questioning how they were to get out of this situation. She stepped to the side and looked at the stack of opened and unopened boxes, calculating what to do next. Perhaps there would be something useful in the boxes if she looked hard enough. "There's a lot of stuff in here." She approached the metal stand full of boxes and peeked inside some of them. "I'll try to find something to help," She told him, moving some things out of the way.
Pete let out a sigh and the tiny amount of hope he had that sparkled in his eyes vanished. He leaned onto the walls of the truck and closed his eyes, his head going back.
Clementine stopped searching to look at him. This wasn't good. If Pete was bitten, which he pretty much was, that would mean he would turn. She wondered how long it would take; she could recall only taking a few hours before the person full became one. It took a while for Lee because he fought it, but those who fell asleep with the sickness after being bitten never woke up.
At least, not until they became the living dead. If Pete somehow managed to fall asleep and die... that would mean that she would be inside a truck with no escape from a 239-pound zombie trying to eat her. And she wouldn't be able to run, because if she did and opened the doors, more zombies would be waiting for her outside.
She would be stuck.
With a sigh of her own, she stepped away from the boxes and went toward her trusty purple backpack in hopes that she had something useful in there. She almost always had something to help her.
She opened her bag and looked inside. There was a water bottle, her lighter she thought she lost, and Louis's stack of cards... She frowned sadly and suppressed the hopeless feeling building up from inside. They had taken Kenny's drawing she made... there was nothing new here and the small rock knife she had from before was gone too. Also the creepy doll head she kept to light up her way whenever it became dark. Louis kept his cards luckily... She picked them up and examined them, squeezing the sides a bit with her thumb and index finger as he would always do. They didn't bend, and she put them away.
The water bottle was picked up too and she shook it. Not a noise of the water was heard.
"Anything in that?" Pete asked, breathing a little too hard for his liking.
Clementine shook her head.
"Damn."
She closed her bag and put it back down to look some more. Instead of going to the stand from before, she went to the red and white box in one of the corners. Leaning down, she opened the lid and looked inside only to find small packs of cigarettes. No food or water.
Pete glanced at her. "What's in there? Anything we can use?"
'Red and Gold,' she read as she picked up one of the boxes and showed it to him.
He eyed it carefully. "Gimme one of those," He finally said after a moment's thought.
She handed it to him and he took it, "Probably tastes like pine tar by now. But I'd smoke a dead coon's tail if you had one." He paused, ripping the plastic and opening the lid to reach out a small rod of some sort. "Got a light?" He asked.
She smiled slightly at such a question and grabbed her backpack to get her trusty butterfly lighter, gladly taking it out and flicking it on. She leaned it over toward his cigarette when he held it against his mouth, watching marvelously as the tip ignited to an orange-yellow when he took one good inhale. She imagined Louis's shocked expression if he saw him smoke.
He exhaled the smoke through his lips and coughed a bit with a small smile forming on his face. "Well," He said, coughing a bit more, "That tastes about as bad as it smells."
Clementine wasn't amused. "What now?" She asked with impatience.
He inhaled once more. He exhaled.
"We wait."
She sat down and felt miserable. Just how long would they wait until they were both dead?
She closed her eyes.
She questioned if it were soon.
"That Louis fella'..." Clementine opened her eyes to look at him. "You guys been together for a long time?" Pete asked, and the look on his face might as well be suicide.
Clementine recognized that look. It was the same look she saw every time the life in someone's eyes vanished. The acceptance of death. "Yeah," Clementine replied softly, bringing her knees close to lean against them. "We have. He's the only person who's stayed."
Pete nodded solemnly. He looked at the metal of the truck's walls blankly. "Don't lose him, kid." He said and brought the cigarette to his lips for an inhale.
Clementine didn't reply.
[. . .]
She hadn't realized how dark it had gotten. The windows that displayed the outside now looked hauntingly cursed, with the dark trees and walkers proving as an odious background of doom.
She fell asleep the moment she sat down. She had no idea she could do that, but when she woke up, she was aware of how dreary her body felt. Her vision adjusted and then focused dizzyingly at the hunched body lying dead on the floor, twitching.
Her heart stopped the moment Pete let out a pained gasp, making her eyes widen and immediately scoot back in fear. Had he turned? Was he waking up now to kill and eat her? He kept moving the longer she tried to find a solution. She stood quickly and quietly, aware to keep herself away from the dead thing. Something red caught her eye from below her and she picked it up, holding the saw close to her. Well... it seemed this tool was useful enough now.
She walked forward, trembling in her step, "...Pete...?" She called to him at an attempt at humanity.
There were suddenly sounds of raucous coughs coming out of his mouth. Clementine instantly relaxed; Walkers didn't cough or attempt to sit up. They growled and moaned in agony. Pete was still alive...
"Dammit," Pete rasped, slowly trying to place himself up, "I feel like ten pounds of shit in a five-pound sack." He said and began to cough some more.
Clementine put the saw down, examining his face. There were now large eyebags and his skin looked much paler, his eyes taking on a lighter shade in color. He looked almost completely turned, if not for the normal look of despair on his face. Zombie's faces were blank.
Pete spitted out something black. "Jesus," He mumbled, clearing his throat, "Stuck in this can the whole damn day." There was a pause while he stared depressingly in front of him, coming to terms with his life. "You want to hear something funny?"
Clementine didn't say anything.
"I've been thinkin'... and I don't want to die," His eyes were wide, expression soft, tone lightly humorous.
Clementine's eyes drooped when he coughed harsher.
He pounded his chest with his hand. "Never thought I'd be the kinda idiot to say somethin' like that. But there it is." He gazed at the other side of the truck, sad and disheartened. He didn't even feel his bitten leg anymore.
Clementine couldn't do anything about his bite. She wished she could. She wished she could magically make it go away so that she didn't get to see a nice man leave a world so cruel. It was childish thoughts of hers, things she wanted to believe. But there wasn't anything left for her to believe in, and as much as she didn't like it, she knew he was going to die eventually. There was nothing that could be done.
"I'm scared, Clementine." He admitted.
Clementine could only listen. I can't do anything. I'm sorry.
"Jesus, I'm scared," His tone became lighter, and the sound of desperation in his voice made her heartbreak.
This was all my fault. She knew it was dumb of her to say. She hated hearing such a thing, even. And yet, she said it anyway. "You're going to be okay," She didn't notice how hesitant she sounded.
He didn't glare. He only stared at her begrudgingly. "At least spare me the bedside bullshit." He muttered.
She frowned. "...Sorry." She said. My fault. My Fault.
Pete's eyebrows screwed together. There was an agonizing silence when he continued to stare at the iron wall, clutching onto his lifeless leg that he pulled close against his lifeless body. "Would you... Would you promise me you'll watch out for Nick?" He asked.
His question was so silent. The remorse was clear on his face and the hope he had was gone, as he knew his life was only minutes away from death.
"I love that stupid kid." He said lovingly. "No matter what you think... he is a good boy. He's been playing a tough hand, but he is a good boy." Pete's eyes began to water and he didn't bother to wipe them away, for he knew that the swelling of his chest and the tears that would fall would soon be over. There was nothing left to lose except the happiness of his son.
Clementine didn't wait to respond. "I'll do what I can," She promised him.
Pete promised he'd take her promise to his grave. He knew he'd remember it, even in death. "Thank you." He told her kindly.
He looked at the wall again. "Been almost a day. They ain't gonna find us."
Clementine was confused when she saw him stand. He groaned due to his weakened state weighing him down. Pain surged through his chest that made his heart stop momentarily, making him catch his breath. "Where are you going?" She asked, standing too.
She saw him open the doors slowly. "I ain't gettin' outta this. You're gonna have to make a break for it." He turned around to look at the little girl. "I'll buy you some time," And he looked outside again.
Clementine started breathing fast. She was going to lose another friend? "You're coming with me," She insisted, not trying to let go of another.
"To do what? Die a couple of hours later than now?"
She frowned. "To say goodbye to Nick." She muttered.
There was a contemplative look on his face. He would want nothing more. Nothing less. "Alright." He mumbled, dry, "I'll try," And he meant it. He knew he wouldn't make it, though. His life was over and all that awaited him was the sweet escape of death.
Clementine nodded and reached down to pick up her backpack. She slung it over her shoulder as he stood more proper this time, coughing a bit more. The walkers luckily didn't hear.
"Well..." He held onto the wall and started, "Like my daddy used to say... We're burnin' daylight." A determined look came over his face. "Let's get this over with."
Pete opened the rusted door and jumped out at the same time Clementine did, wobbling over a bit to attempt balance. Because of his numb leg, he couldn't move or do anything with it.
A sickening growl resonated beside them.
Pete turned and withheld a gasp when he noticed the lurker, instantly running.
Clementine ran too in response, and it wasn't long until Pete had fallen over, alerting the rest of the beings. She stopped, eyes widening.
Pete looked defeated. With a groan, he said, "This ain't gonna work. Go on now, find my nephew!" He hissed, staring at the walkers wide-eyed as he stood once again.
Clementine ran to him and pulled at his hand, "Get back in the truck—"
He shoved her away lightly, not out of anger but pure terror, "I said go! Goddammit, go!" He urged her, pointing away from the place they were in.
Clementine stood away in shock, "Wait—!"
"Go!"
She tried not to feel broken. She looked away and ran; she tried not to.
"Take care of that boy!" She swore she heard him say, but she couldn't be too sure because she was so busy twisting in turns to avoid the zombies in her way. Somehow, deep within, she knew he wasn't talking only about Nick.
That was the last she heard him speak before she heard a thud followed by growls in every which way. The night was still young, and she had nothing else to do other than run.
[. . .]
She had run all night. Her legs felt sore and her ankles were almost numb.
She stopped at times to catch a break, but that would only be for a few minutes until she would run again. If that wasn't enough, her lungs felt like they were slowly burning, dry, and scaly from the amount of air she consumed through her already stone-cold nose. She felt like she was going to pass out any minute. But the panic... The panic of being eaten kept her going.
She stopped running to take a breather when she arrived at the small cozy cabin. It was through the back, and she was glad that after hours of searching and getting lost, she had found it. Her hands were placed against her thighs as she leaned over, gulping air. Tired as she was, she needed to get inside quickly and alert the others. Merely walking made her legs almost buck.
The door opened and she looked around in the kitchen, ignoring the immense pain and the black spots that appeared at times due to her exhaustion. She found a worried Carlos sitting across from a suddenly relieved-looking Rebecca, who seemed to look at her as if she was her savior and not the annoying pest from before.
Carlos stood from his seat when he saw her. "Clementine, are you alright?" He asked, concerned with scrutiny. She was surprised. She didn't expect that from him. He stopped and looked behind her, "Luke's not with you?"
Rebecca's face fell and she stood as well. "Where's Alvin?!" She asked, and anxiously looked behind her to see for herself if it was true that she was alone.
"What happened?" Carlos walked toward her, "It's been hours. Where are they!?" He demanded, though his stress wasn't directed at her.
Clementine blurted out the only thing she could. "Pete got bit."
"What!?" Rebecca cried in alarm, horrified.
"What happened?" Carlos asked again.
"Walkers," Clementine replied, not knowing what else to say. She knew she wasn't explaining much, but there were so many things going through her mind she couldn't form a sentence. And she had to breathe deeply to talk, as she was still feeling her heart burst through her chest.
Carlos closed his eyes and then opened them, looking away from the little girl. "My god..." He muttered in disbelief.
"Where were you? Where were you exactly?" Rebecca demanded, glaring at the little girl.
Clementine looked solemnly shocked. "Down by the stream," She replied.
Rebecca turned to Carlos immediately, "We gotta go."
"Just hold on a minute," Carlos stopped.
"My husband is still out there! Get. The. Guns!" She hissed at him, glaring heatedly toward the male. She wasn't about to lose her husband, much less let anyone rest until they find the love of her life. He will not go without meeting the baby.
Carlos wanted to argue. But he decided not to and ran out of the room to retrieve the weapons she ordered.
Rebecca looked at Clementine, "Luke and Alvin went out looking for you. I told them not to go." Rebecca dreaded, sounding more sad than angry. "Dammit Luke..." She cursed, worried out of her goddamn mind.
This is my fault. All my fault. Clementine felt sad tingles course through her body. She had this erroneous feeling to cry, but no tears would come out. Perhaps the fear she had was holding them back.
Carlos was back in the room holding one sniper rifle and a pistol. He handed the sniper to Rebecca and took the pistol for himself. Rebecca took it gladly, heading straight for the door once she did.
Carlos turned around before he left, "Clementine, can you... can you please watch Sarah?" He asked, gentle and bewailed still, "She's upstairs. Just... Distract her. And don't tell her anything. She gets... nervous." He frowned at the revelation the situation would have on his daughter.
Clementine gave a firm nod and an assuring smile. "I'll take care of her. You can trust me." She replied, honest.
Carlos's face morphed to one of relief. "Thank you," He said, meaning it. "You'll be safe inside. Just don't open the doors for anything. We'll be back soon." He affirmed. "And... thank you," He repeated in honest gratitude, leaving and closing the door just after.
That left Clementine to the silence of her thoughts.
In truth, it took her a few moments to gather her thinking bubbles. There were just so many things going on that she had yet to process them properly in her brain. It was like temporarily, she was comatose.
As her numbness dissipated away, she was hit with a wave of mild emotions, suppressing the more anxious and saddened ones. As a little girl, she was smart and acted accordingly, but it seemed, even for the tiniest bit, she couldn't understand a full one hundred percent why the things happened the way they did. If it were up to her, she would treat everyone with respect and caution, not... insincerity nor ungratefulness. She often wondered to herself, as Louis comforted her the nights she felt lonely, how someone could be so cruel.
Ah... But she understood. Somewhat. Louis had yet to... grasp such introductions. And speaking about Louis...
An unsettling feeling bounced in her stomach.
If Luke and Alvin went out looking for them... Where had they gone? Where was Nick? Louis?
Her heart throbbed at the thought of Louis dead in the middle of nowhere. She imagined his body, eaten, asphyxiated, and otherwise a corpse, left to melt away not in her arms, but in the middle of nowhere where she couldn't mourn him.
She flinched in lonesomeness at the thought of never seeing him again.
She shook her head. No, Louis was just as smart as she was. He ran off with Nick, and he must be there, with him, not alone and suffering.
He's safe.
Louis always managed to get out of trouble. It was like it was in his nature. She too was the same, though it was more due to her hiding than anything. No matter the challenge, they would always make it out... Together. He was the only one she had left and the thought of losing him brought the same terrible feeling as losing Lee. Perhaps less, perhaps more, but it was enough to break her.
It was always like this. Constant running, constant fear... It ran like a cycle both mentally and physically, not letting the soul rest. In every which way there remained something to obstruct or cut the string of fate, and so far, the two kids had yet to tear the red string that held them close. Clementine could have died, but Pete had taken her place. Louis could be dead...
She made her way out of the kitchen and went straight for the stairs. She stopped to look at the living room before she could, noting the differences. It was much colorful than at night. It looked Christmas-like, cozy with virtue, and the door she came out of had an unnatural color of a brown shade. Mahogony, possibly?
It was nice.
The stairs looked nice, too, now that she saw them. She didn't even notice the fancy rug at the middle stop of the stairs.
She frowned.
If only Louis was with her to explore the place... He'd probably make stupid jokes to make her feel better. It was his supposed 'specialty' that he loved to share at really bad moments. Clementine never minded it. She liked his jokes. Most of them. If he was here, he'd be willing enough to distract her from the constant misery of this life.
There was a rough knock.
She stopped at the beginning of the stairs, holding onto the wooden bars. Did someone knock, or were her ears playing a trick on her?
She waited for another knock, trying to confirm her suspicions that someone was there. For a few moments, there was nothing. She almost went up the stairs and ignored it for something else, because who could be knocking on the door if the others weren't back? Unless...
There was another knock, which startled her. Okay. She definitely heard that one, it was clear. It made the eery silence of the cabin that much greater despite emitting the sound of a soft knock on old grimy wood. Strangely, the sound of the wood reminded her of her treehouse.
A third knock came by, and this time, it came with a few mumbles. They were almost unrecognizable. It was enough to be recognized as a human though, and not a walker or animal. Walkers wailed. Animals huffed.
Clementine gripped the handle of the staircase anxiously, staring through the door of the kitchen. She couldn't detect anything in it because it was at an angle, so she couldn't perceive from where she was to see who it is. Plus, the little window decorating the back door of the home was blurry. So much for the recognition.
The responsible thing for her to do in this situation was to alert Sarah and tell her to hide while she went to go see who it is. There was also another option to lay low and pretend there was nobody else here, but that would probably mean an invitation for the strangers to gather any supplies left in this supposed 'abandoned' house. It all depended on how she executed everything.
She had promised Carlos.
The knocking became frequent now. The mumbles were still mumbles, but they progressively got louder. It sounded so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She swallowed, hoping it was someone she knew. They had a key, though, so they should be able to open it.
But perhaps it was Louis? He wasn't given a key.
She thought about it. She should warn Sarah.
"Clem?" She heard as she slowly came down the steps, not loud, and sort of mumbled. This made her stop. It sounded like her name, but...
Before she could think any further, she was back in the kitchen, observing the back door curiously.
There was a soft jingle on the golden door handle that sluggishly reflected her countenance.
Clementine chilled and her breath caught in her throat. Didn't Carlos and Rebecca just leave? Had they forgotten something? Surely that after running out they would be far off...
"Hello? Is anyone there?" It was a small masculine voice.
The voice of a little boy.
Clementine bit her lip. Could it be...? But Carlos said not to open the door...
"...Anyone...?"
She paused. It sure sounded like him. Did he say her name? Or was that just a mumbled version of 'open'?
"...Clementine?"
It was him.
She ran to the door and opened it, "Louis—" She was breathless when she was quickly engulfed in a tight hug, her body going warm at the sensation.
"Oh my god, Clem!" Louis said, happy, hugging her even tighter, "Thank god! I was so scared—I thought... I thought something happened to you..." He whispered against her shoulder, burying his head in it.
Clementine wrapped her arms around him, feeling her heart soar in relief and a small surge of happiness course through her body. For a moment, she forgot what happened to her only hours ago. She was too entranced with knowing that Louis was alive to be thinking of Pete's death.
As they hugged, she realized she needed to keep the house shut and most of all, secured. Her responsibilities came first, and who knows who'd come in while they were distracted.
She pulled away with reluctance. "Get inside before any walkers show up," Clementine said, still smiling despite her statement while allowing Louis to enter and close the door. She made sure to lock it well, all three of the locks posted.
Louis rubbed at his arms and looked around for himself, as the kitchen looked different in the day than at night. For one, he saw that it was yellow instead of brown. The warmth of the fire put out only moments ago had reached in the very room, and soon, he realized he had stopped rubbing his arms. He looked at Clementine who wore a frown instead of the smile he saw seconds ago, making him frown too.
"...Where's Nick?" Clementine asked first, her eyes drooping. It was almost like she was expecting bad news.
Louis became grim. "I... I don't know. I..." Louis clenched his kid-like fists and furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the ground with a bit of anger and a bit of sadness. He looked at her again. "...Where's Pete...?" He asked. She could see there was more sadness than anger now.
Clementine felt like something cold was smacked against her head. "He... He got bit." Clementine replied, grimacing.
Louis's eyes widened. "W-What..?"
"Yesterday, in the morning, when we went out to fish, he was on the other side and I think a walker got him." Clementine paused, remembering the horrid realization dawn on Pete's face the moment it happened, "That's why he screamed and shot the walker."
Louis swallowed. "And that's when the walkers came..."
Clementine nodded. "And we got separated."
"Oh gosh..." Louis rubbed the side of his face, looking away from Clem in incredulity. He pulled a little at one of his dreads he had redone himself a little off about a week ago, unable to believe the news. Louis had seen him alive yesterday. And now... Louis looked at her and pulled a sullen look. "He helped you escape, didn't he?" Louis asked.
Clementine was confused as to how he knew. "Yeah..." She replied, sad, all the same. "He stayed behind to distract the walkers so I could get away." She explained.
Louis shook his head. "Nick did the same. And I was running all night."
"To here," She finished for him.
Louis nodded. "My legs still hurt. A lot." He mumbled.
Clementine rubbed at the fabric of her jeans. "Mine does too." She looked at the stairs. "We should go upstairs. Sarah's here with us."
"Really?" Louis perked up at that. "How long has she been waiting up there?"
"A few minutes." She replied.
"Then we should go up there and tell her... How exactly are we going to tell her?" Louis asked, smiling sadly.
Clementine rubbed at her arm. "The only way we can."
"Can't anybody else tell her?"
"They all left to look for us," Clementine took a look at the back door, "From what I heard, Luke and Alvin went to look for us first. And then I came back by myself, so Carlos and Rebecca had to leave too. They left me in charge to take care of Sarah." She frowned at it.
Louis felt a jolt of panic run through him. "Do you think they'll be okay?" He asked, hopeful that they would be.
Clementine wasn't sure. So she sighed, "I hope so."
Louis looked at the stairs. "We should tell her, about what's going on. She's probably wondering why nobody's coming to her room." Louis pointed his thumb back at it. He chose to forget the worry of the other's coming back and Pete's death, deciding to try and focus on Sarah first.
Clementine nodded, and they went up the stairs together.
[. . .]
Louis was the first to climb the stairs and the first to open the door. He flung it wide, "Say Cheese!" He was caught off guard and flinched when a flash of something white forced his vision to blank quickly.
Clementine only blinked a little in shock, making a face of discomfort out of the fear that it was something else entirely.
Though they relaxed when they saw Sarah.
"I found this under the house. There were all kinds of old stuff!" Sarah explained to them eagerly, looking at them and then at the camera delivering a photo. She took it and smiled.
"Really? Nice!" Louis said and approached her, gladly taking the photo she was handing to him. Clementine peeked over his shoulder to see how it turned out, even if it was still a little black.
"It's so cool!" She glanced at Clementine, who had finished studying the photo, "Take one of me!" She said and passed the camera. "Please?"
Clementine took the camera and stared at it. She wasn't in the mood at all. Pete just died and everyone else was gone; why would she even bother doing something else other than grieve? It just wasn't in her system anymore to feel happy in such sad times like this. But then again, this was Sarah. Carlos told her to distract her and to keep her company, just enough not to trigger anything. Clementine didn't have the heart to say no either way.
"This photo's nice." Louis praised and pocketed the picture. "And sure! A picture wouldn't hurt anyone." He replied for Clementine, giving Sarah one of his wide smiles. He glanced at Clementine, "You wanna take it, or should I?"
Clementine felt a little relieved, and from the look on his face, it seemed he understood that. "Um... Sure." Clementine said and gave him the camera, granting him a small smile to thank him silently for his volunteer.
He took it eagerly from her hands as Clementine took off her backpack, thinking that maybe it was best to lay it down after such a long night. Louis hadn't carried anything with him, so he was already settled in.
"Get me in a good pose, okay?" Sarah told him as she took a step back, pressing herself almost against the table by the wall. Louis hadn't actualized how small this room was.
"Okay," He replied, and moved the camera up, the lens hitting her from the waist up, "Tell me when you're ready!"
"Okay!" Sarah said between her big toothy smile, "I'm ready!"
And he took the picture, capturing her upper frame. The photo came out a second later and he lowered the camera to look at it. "Nice!" He complimented too and presented her with the photo for her to keep. "This camera's pretty neat. I haven't seen one of these in forever," He said and gave her the camera.
"I thought they were all destroyed or something," Clementine shrugged, looking a little down. "What good is a camera anymore, anyway?"
Louis frowned sadly at her.
Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "What's wrong?" Then she remembered something important, "Um... Where's my dad?"
Clementine opened her mouth—
"He's fine!" Louis interrupted, flicking Clementine lightly on her hand.
Clementine glared at him.
Sarah looked at him. "...Are you sure?"
"Positive!" Louis looked gleeful.
Clementine did not. And one anxious survey from Clementine alone let Sarah know what truly was going on.
There was this wide-eyed look on her face as she turned around, facing the window, her back to them. Everything that was bubbling in worry popped and sudden realization stung her very core, pouring from her eyes in small volumes of hurt.
Louis stopped smiling when he heard the sharp inhales and exhales that Sarah gave out. He looked at Clementine, confused as to why Sarah was acting this way, only to receive a look of utter sadness from hers.
This made him slump his shoulders, hating that the good mood was killed so suddenly. He felt like a jerk when he heard some sort of hiccup from her, a mix between a gasp and inhale. He should've just told her as they planned.
"S-Sorry," She stuttered and turned to look at them again, "I-I just need to..." She didn't finish her sentence for she sat down, right on the spot, bringing her knees to herself like a scared child.
Both Clementine and Louis glanced at each other in worry. They looked at Sarah again and stared, waiting for her to compose herself.
"It's okay, Sarah." Louis then said after a few minutes of silence. "They're fine."
Sarah nodded dumbly as if she hadn't just heard what he said. She stared off into the wall, observing the vacancy.
Clementine had opted to sit by her. Maybe words weren't what she needed, but perhaps a clear view that someone was there for her.
Sarah looked at her.
Clementine smiled.
Louis wasn't sure why, but something different rose from his childish self when he took witness to her smile. It was like a spark of something, something he didn't know of. But it made him feel... happier.
It worked for Sarah, too. After a few seconds of consideration, Sarah pushed away the heavy feeling lumping her throat and stood. "Want to see what I found?" She asked them but only looked at Clem.
"Sure," Louis replied and smiled as she scurried past, under her bed.
Clementine stood too and walked over to Louis just to stand beside him, watching curiously while Sarah brought out a box.
She opened it and kept the object hidden from their eye as she stood properly, turning around. "Will you show me how to use it?" Sarah asked innocently, presenting a pistol gun.
Louis held back a gasp as Clementine's eyes widened, a million things beginning to run across and wrap themselves over her brain. It squeezed and made something awful return, a sense of sadness, remembering the gun she had, and the one she was forced to use to kill the person she cared for the most.
Sarah was smiling brightly. "I couldn't find any bullets," She shrugged, still holding it out for them to grab.
Louis eyed the gun wearily. "Um..."
"If something's wrong, I should know."
Clementine swallowed uneasily.
"What if I have to use one?"
Louis scratched his neck anxiously. "Actually um... I don't know how to use one. Erhm—Well, I do, but I'm not... too good with it," He admitted sheepishly. Clementine was going to correct him that he, did not, in fact, shoot one before, but she let it slide.
"Oh..." Sarah said and looked down. But then she was quick to ask Clementine the same thing. "Do you think you could teach me?"
Clementine stared at the gun wearily. Guns weren't scary but... They brought awful memories. Sarah was right though, what if she had to use one? She could help the group if she knew. "Okay..." Clementine paused to give Sarah a stern look, "But it's not a toy." She lectured, making sure her sternness was powerful enough to scare her to listen.
Sarah frowned a bit. "I know." She said.
"I thought you were teaching me," Louis whined jokingly, pouting.
Clementine rose an eyebrow at him. "Well, I was. Maybe I'll continue telling you how to use it if they give us another gun," Clementine replied, which earned her a playful scoff.
"Not fair. I was totally first."
Sarah looked very scared all of a sudden. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
Louis's eyes went wide. "Whoa—It's okay! I was kidding," He said awkwardly, chuckling a bit to ease the tension he accidentally created.
Clementine nodded. "He was kidding, it's okay. He's just a big dummy," She assured Sarah, giving her a smile that relieved her.
"Hey!"
"Maybe he can learn with me?" Sarah asked hopefully.
Clementine shook her head. "He knows the basics."
"First things first," Louis stepped in, poking the gun in her hands, "You gotta remember that this gun here? It's just a thing. It's a dumb thing that can't work only if you pull this little lever here," Louis pointed at the trigger.
"Exactly," Clementine agreed.
Sarah looked at the gun and then attempted to point it at the window. "What... does that mean?" She asked, pretending she was aiming at something.
Louis and Clem looked at each other. "Um..." They both said, thinking.
"We don't know," Louis replied sheepishly.
"But it's good to know that either way," Clementine added.
"Right."
Sarah pursed her lips. "I thought it'd be heavier," She admitted.
"So did I! What a coincidence," Louis smiled at Clementine. Clementine just looked at him as if he were ridiculous.
Sarah lowered the gun and looked at Clementine, "So what do I do?" She asked, excitable.
Louis hummed in thought. "Well—"
"The most important thing to know is to always aim for the head," Clementine budged in, reaching with her hands to fix Sarah's arm positioning of the gun.
"Uh-huh," Sarah said, affirming that she understood as she held the gun in front of her, outstretched.
"Unless it's a person trying to hurt you," Louis continued.
Sarah looked a bit scared when she directed to Louis who was on the other side of her. "...Then what do I do?" She asked.
Clementine glared out the window, "Just keep shooting." She replied darkly.
Louis blinked at her. "Um... Or you could also try shooting some other body part to stop them from shooting you too," Louis clarified, which made Sarah understand a bit better.
"Okay..." Sarah turned to Louis and pointed the gun right at his head, "What should I shoot?"
"Don't do that!" Clementine scolded as Louis ducked on instinct.
Sarah's eyes went wide and she pulled the gun down as if stung. "S-Sorry! Sorry!" She whimpered, issuing Clementine a distressed glimpse.
Louis frowned, "It's okay! It's fine. It was an accident, it happens!" Louis laughed a bit, uneasy at the thought of getting his head blown off.
Sarah shook her head. "...Maybe I should just practice outside..." She mumbled, walking to the window sadly.
"Probably," Clementine mumbled, casting a once-over at Louis to see if he was fine.
He didn't catch Clementine's stare and instead sighed at Sarah. "We could, but that would mean that we're going to rebel against what your dad said." He explained.
"There's that tree," Sarah told them, ignoring what Louis just said.
Louis shrugged at Clementine. Clementine face-palmed.
"Hey..."
Louis and Clem looked at Sarah simultaneously.
"Luke's back!" She exclaimed happily.
Louis's gaze found Clementine's.
Oh no.
Somehow, they knew that was a little out of the blue.
To check if Sarah was right, they both approached the window she was at just a moment ago, only to find the shadow of someone walking toward the cabin. They had yet to know if it was Luke or not.
"I don't think that's Luke..." Clementine mumbled.
"Yeah... Wouldn't he have come with the group or something?" Louis asked, turning around just in time to see that Sarah was already making her way out of the bedroom door to head downstairs. He tapped Clementine's shoulder to alert her, and she turned, suddenly feeling a bit panicky when she did so.
They went downstairs after her.
[. . .]
As they made their way down the stairs, a dark figure passed through each window. It looked like he was taking a good circle around the place, investigating it. Clementine squinted her eyes to check for the man Sarah thought of as "Luke", confused when she would find a coat instead of his regular shirt.
"That's definitely not Luke," Louis whispered in her ear, suddenly fearful.
Clementine couldn't help but agree.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs they found Sarah pressed against the wall, her expression one of sudden shock.
Louis and Clementine approached her, "That's not Luke," The girl whispered, breathing in and out quickly.
The three children turned their heads a bit to look at the front door and found another man reflected fuzzily on the window.
"Guys...! I think—I think I know him," Sarah said, and her voice had risen to a squeak, fearful.
Louis jumped a bit when three knocks followed.
"He can't see me," Sarah said quickly, "You have to make him go away," She looked at each of them with wide eyes.
Louis furrowed his brows, "Why can't he—"
"Go and find somewhere to hide," Clementine told her without a beat, troubled.
Sarah looked around, "Where!?" She asked, panicked.
"...Hello?"
"Clem—Louis...! I can't breathe... I ca—I can't breathe...!" Sarah physically shook as her hand pressed at her chest in an attempt to ease her lungs to inhale.
"Shhhh!" Clementine told her.
"Go hide upstairs," Louis notified her, fumbling with his hands as he watched Clementine slowly make her way to the door, "Under—Under the bed! Yeah! He won't find you there!" Louis instructed, pointing.
Sarah didn't need to be told twice. She dashed off to the second floor, leaving the two new kids to deal with the problem.
Louis looked at Clementine and walked to where she was, "Clem—"
"Shhhh," Clementine shushed, eyes wide.
"What are you going to do?" Louis asked quietly.
Clementine didn't reply and reached for the lock on the door. When she did, Louis and Clementine stepped back when the man opened the door for himself.
They stared at the man a bit wide-eyed. "...Hello," Louis mumbled timidly, attempting a wave. Clementine continued to make eye contact to make sure he wouldn't try anything. So far there wasn't much of anything.
The old man smiled. "How are ya?" He asked casually, bringing a cold shiver down their spines. This guy was creepy.
Clementine held the door handle tight. "Okay... How are you?" She asked in return. Politeness was the only thing that could keep a man or woman from attacking you. Internally, Clementine questioned why a stranger would want to hold a polite conversation out of nowhere.
The stranger shifted his weight on his other leg. "Well, I'm doin' just fine, thank you." He paused and placed one hand on his hip, "My family and I are set up ways downriver. I'm kind of surprised we haven't run into each other." He strived a kind smile. Louis noted how sudden he spoke.
Clementine ignored what he said to eye his gun a bit cautiously. Something nagged at the back of Clementine's mind that the man not-so-casually ended up around here. Something dark must have motivated the old coot to appear before them, because no matter who it was, one does not just come by for a lively chat with others who could potentially hurt him. Clementine wasn't sure what his motive was, but she was certain that this stranger's intention is malicious.
Louis felt quite the same. He felt a disturbance upon hearing the stranger speak with his deep, scratchy, voice, accenting the scorn and disrespect with chivalrous talk. The way he looked at them didn't help either. His eyes seemed extremely attentive to their bodies as if studying them for likely disregard, and the expression on his face indicated that he faked his presentation to them.
It made Louis uncomfortable, and like Clementine, he was sure the stranger hid something awful.
"What are your names?" He asked with a simple simper.
Clementine narrowed her eyes and shifted closer to the wooden door, "What's your name?" She challenged in return.
"Yeah..." Louis narrowed his own.
The stranger let out a small chuckle. "My name is George, children." He replied and extended his arm out for a good shake of his hand.
Clementine felt uneasy when he took a glance at it and then at his face. Swallowing her suspicion, she reached forward and grasped his hand in a greeting, intentionally avoiding her name.
Louis went a little closer to Clementine when she did so.
He took her hand and muttered a good-natured, "Pleasure to meet you." The man with the beard frowned deeply upon noticing Clementine's glare and Louis's suspicious look.
He was a little irritated from what Louis could see when they had yet to reveal their names. Good. The man should know that his arrival was unwanted.
Something shifted in the gaze of the stranger that caused a pool of treachery in their little hearts. It was moreover a casual glare and with forced politeness that made the stranger sound scary, he spoke, "You mind if I come in for a bit? I've been out all morning and this heat has me cooked," He explained rather carelessly and stepped inside, pushing the door out of the way.
Clementine and Louis walked back, "Hey what—"
"Just having a look around, kiddo. No need for any trouble," The man replied to Louis, faking an assuring smile.
Louis swallowed.
"We do mind," Clementine said, glaring at him. Uninvited, he stepped into the house all unannounced. How dare he act so rude?
The stranger ignored her and turned his head from left to right, observing the cabin. He noticed a mounted fish on the wall and stepped closer to look at it, humming in compliment when he did so. "This is a nice place. Is there anyone else around?" He asked, turning to the two kids in question.
"Just me and my friend," Louis replied, unaware that he was holding onto Clementine's shoulders.
The stranger didn't look convinced. "Really?" He asked.
"Yeah... We take care of ourselves," Clementine told him, crossing her arms in an intimidating way.
The stranger placed both hands on his hips. "Well then, I'm impressed," He said, sounding surprisingly genuine.
The two kids only stared; Clementine with annoyance, and Louis with uncertainty.
—George, shrugged his shoulders after receiving such stares from the kids. His expression morphed to one of blankness, coming to terms that with these two kids he wasn't about to go anywhere. "Well, I'll cut to the chase. I'm out lookin' for my people. Seven of them, to be exact." He began to walk further into the cabin, still moving his head to look around, "They've been gone a long while and..." He turned to the two kids with fraudulent sadness, "I'm worried they might've gotten lost. Maybe you two have seen em'."
Louis feigned confusion. "Who were they?" He asked.
George, as he had revealed himself to be called, sighed. "A couple of farm boys and an old man..." He delayed, "Spanish guy and his daughter. Quiet girl, a bit taller than both of y'all." He smiled, "A big black guy," He extended his arms, "This big. And a pretty little pregnant lady." He explained rather thoroughly, his eyes boring right into their little childish souls.
Louis almost regretted asking.
"That's a lot of people to lose," Clementine commented.
"Tell me about it," George crossed his arms and scratched at his beard, "This whole damn thing is a pain in the ass." He said as he kept turning his head from left to right, noticing a door practically next to the mounted fish.
Louis and Clementine both watched anxiously as he opened the door and peeked inside, unable to see the way the expression on his face changed to one of incredulity. He opened it completely and entered, taking another inspection throughout for himself without the children's permission.
They followed him inside just to keep an eye on him, hoping that, again, he wouldn't try to hurt anyone or disturb anything besides what he's just done.
Both saw him stop by the table and continue to eye around, grasping his surroundings. He turned and walked toward the kitchen counters, "Well, looks like a damn tornado ran through here. It seems like a lot for only two kids," He mentioned, smiling nonchalantly at the two as he leaned back onto the counter.
"I don't ever do the dishes," Clementine lied, placing her arm on one of the counters.
"Yeah... They're pretty gross," Louis said and scrunched his nose up when he took a look at them. "Besides, there's no... water... to..." He stopped talking when the man eyed him up.
"That's a good point," He nodded eventually, seeing as the air around had become thick, "Even if, believe me, I don't do them either." He admitted, but Clementine knew he wasn't convinced of their story.
She looked at the counter closest to her. Something dawned to her; in the middle of two cups lay a knife, sharpened and clean, sitting neatly in the center. There was a small tug from her shoulder that alerted her that Louis had seen the knife too and that he too, also felt something incredibly terrifying steal their souls.
"Just passin' through or y'all been here a while?"
Clementine shifted her eyes from the knife to the old man. He continued to talk as she searched for an answer to his question, feeling the presence of Louis very much as jittery as she was. He was holding her close, trembling only a little over the stranger at proximity. She wasn't mad that he was because I mean, who wouldn't be? There's a stranger in your home that you have no idea who or where he's from, looking for the exact people you've been sheltered with. The two children knew there was nothing good about this man.
"Just passing through. Going North," Clementine finally answered, nodding her head upward. She felt Louis clench her shoulders a bit tighter.
The man looked at the back door. "A lot of people headed that way lately," He told. "Me? I don't get it. Just as much nothin' up there as there is down here. And I can't stand that Yankee weather."
"The cold slows them down," Clementine told him.
The man frowned. "That's not worth the trade in my opinion," He said.
Clementine unintentionally eyed the knife again, as it was making her nervous. Louis noticed the man discern her to do so.
He followed her gaze and turned to it himself, making Louis' blood run cold. He grabbed it.
"Where does this go?" He asked carefully, making Clementine jump a bit when he held the knife up, nearly as if he were leading it directly at them. He had this nasty look on his appearance that indicated he was offended but otherwise complacent.
Clementine looked at another counter and then at him, "Um... In-n that drawer there..." She advised, pointing to it. Clementine cursed at herself for stuttering.
Both kids were relieved when he had walked over to the counter and put it away without trouble, closing the drawer hard. It made Louis wince from the sound.
Naturally, he turned back around to them and smiled as if he hadn't just stared them down menacingly, and made his way out of the kitchen and back into the living room. This time, he decided to look around thoroughly.
"Well this is a real nice place," He said, walking around the couches, "Kind of cozy."
The children remained silent and opted to watch him, following him around with dread running through their veins. When will this guy leave? They were getting tired of his random wanderings.
He, in sudden recognition, stopped in front of the green, worn couch to look at an orange-plated shirt laying to wrinkle by the pillows that decorated the furniture. He smiled at them, "I knew a guy that always wore shirts like this. Doctor."
They froze.
"Real smug son of a bitch." He contemplated. "But a smart man."
Clementine frowned, uncomfortable. "What happened to him?"
The stranger held the tiny scorn in his voice. "Let's just say we had our differences. Sooner or later people close to you will find a reason to cross you. Happens every time." He said to them, glancing between both of the two children holding each other.
Louis glowered. "That's not true. I'll never leave my friend."
Clementine rose her eyebrows in surprise.
The man chuckled. "Maybe not now but eventually... Perhaps you will," Was all he said before taking a few more looks. He stood in place now instead of walking more around, which both angered and relieved Clementine. She was sure he already looked enough, what more did he want?
He took a look at the messy table with chess. "Well, well," He hummed, examining the game, "White's in trouble. Three moves away from checkmate," He announced to the two kids as he crossed his arms, stoic.
They remained silent, unsure of how to respond to him.
The silence remained as he looked upstairs to find all doors open. He didn't move anymore and just continued to study the area, memorizing it just in case he would come back. The silence stopped when he was done snooping around. "Well, I think I've troubled you long enough. I can let myself out." He declared and worked his way out of the front door.
The children stepped away when he made his way over to them to get by, giving them each a smile that threw them off.
Clementine had yet to get her answers from this man. "W-Wait! Who are you?" She asked before he left through the door. There was something angry that pierced into the ears of those around to hear.
The stranger, who the children knew was not named George, grabbed the doorknob, and turned his head to take a look at them. "Y'all have a real nice day now." He replied simply with an even tone, closing the door the moment he spoke.
Louis stared after it, confused.
Clementine furrowed her eyebrows. This... this wasn't good.
There was a noise upstairs.
"Is... Where is he?" Sarah's petite voice asked.
The children looked up to see her emerging from the room she hid in. Louis nodded over at the door, "He's gone," Clementine said.
All three of them looked at the door below.
"What if he comes back? What'll we do?" Sarah asked them, coming down the stairs.
Clementine let out a terrified sigh. She sure hoped he didn't.
"I don't know," Louis replied somberly, still staring even though he couldn't see the blur of the coat from the door's window anymore.
[. . .]
The three kids sat beside one another on the green couches that centered the living room.
They each were bowled over from the events that the day has brought upon them, and they sat, contemplating the experiences and the possibility that they were in danger.
Louis held onto his stomach as the sensation of being in trouble always made him queasy; he hoped that the man wouldn't return to murder them all. It was bad enough that the stress of having the others gone was also in his head; not to mention what their reaction would be when they would tell them about what happened. Were they going to get kicked out? They won't be able to survive. What can they do? Was there any way to avoid disastrous confrontation?
Sarah was thinking differently. She was scared she was going to be left alone, and she was scared that the man managed to find them. She escaped from him once and she knew that he was bound to catch up at some point. After presenting himself, Sarah recognized him as the man who worried her father to death, and she was so scared that something would happen to him because of the things she was told and the things she had seen.
For Clementine, this whole situation was a mess. She didn't expect someone to be after their group, and now, it was her responsibility to tell the others. If not, then the sickening persistence of fear that she hated would eternally misfunction her until the man would come back again. She needed to find the group immediately. The last thing she wants is to put the group in jeopardy. It was a troubling thought to process.
All three of them hoped silently that they would find a solution to the stranger's appearance.
"We need to find the others," Clementine told them both, standing abruptly with a tired sore still straining at the joints of her legs. She almost fell from how heavy they felt.
"We can't go outside!" Sarah said, astonished, looking after the girl.
Louis stood and walked behind her, "Clem, we don't even have weapons. What if we get lost out there too?" He asked, opening the door of the kitchen for her.
Clementine regarded him gently. "I know. But if they don't come back... We can't stay here." She muttered, entering the area.
Sarah frowned and politely muttered a thank you to Louis after going through the door, "I'm... I don't know... I—"
Louis closed the door, "Didn't you tell me that Carlos told us not to go outside?" Louis reminded, leaning against the counter.
She didn't reply.
As soon as the three entered the kitchen, Nick was the first to open and enter through the door.
"Clementine," He said, surprised, as she was the first that he saw before noticing the two other kids. He had a shotgun in his hands, and Louis, silently, queried how he was able to retrieve one. Behind him, the rest of the group minus Pete was present. Louis's question vanished.
They entered and Louis stood by Clem to make room for Sarah, who had run at her dad to engulf him in a loving hug. He watched, a little upset that she had to go through something stressful without her dad, but a little glad to see that her dad was back to comfort her properly.
"Sarah," Carlos said, breathing a sigh of relief. He put the gun down on top of the wooden table and returned the hug.
Luke walked up to the two kids in wait. "Louis, glad to see you came safe and sound. We found Nick a miles' way from here, and he told us you'd ran off," He explained, bringing forward a hand for Louis to shake.
Louis took it and shrugged, "Yeah. I made it back here a little after Clem came," He smiled at her.
Clementine delivered one of her own at him.
Luke frowned, "They told me about Pete. You know where he is, right?" He paused as Clementine gave a nod, "Come on, let's go."
Sarah let go of her dad and looked to the floor. "A man was here," She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What!?" Carlos exclaimed.
Rebecca let go of her husband and came forward, "What did she say?"
Sarah glanced at her, troubled, "Someone came to the cabin."
"What!?"
"Clementine and Louis talked to him."
Rebecca looked at Clementine, unbelieving, "And you just opened the door for him!?"
"Calm down Rebecca," Luke said softly, motioning with his hands in a downward motion.
"Calm down!? I am calm! You calm down!"
Louis glared at the pregnant woman, fiddling with his yellow long sleeve on his right hand, "It's not like he gave us a choice!" He hissed.
"He was coming in either way," Clementine breathed.
Carlos glared at the little girl. "I told you not to open the door for anyone!" He suddenly stopped, eyes becoming wide, "Did he say his name? Did he say what his name was?" He gave the others knowing looks, and the adrenaline pumped through his body at the thought of it being the one man they were hiding away from.
Rebecca simmered down and her expression of anger morphed into worry, "Maybe it wasn't him." She whispered, placing two protective hands over her belly.
"You know damn well who it was," Alvin hissed, crossing his arms.
Rebecca glared and copied her husband's stance, "Did he say his name?" She asked the two, the glare of before coming back to her worried eyes.
"Yeah, but, I think he was lying," Clementine said.
"What?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes further.
"He said it was George," Louis added.
Rebecca glanced wearily beside her, "George?"
Carlos shook his head, "Look, you two, just... Just tell us what he looked like."
"What was he wearing?"
"Did he sound... different?"
"His voice was gravelly," Clementine replied, overwhelmed by the questions.
"Like how?" Carlos pressed.
Louis moved his hand in the area around his throat, "It was like... Deep and scratchy. Or something," He answered.
Sarah whimpered a bit, "He talked about you, Dad." She murmured, which made the group freeze in realization.
"Yeah," Louis added on, grabbing their attention, "He said he lost like, seven people." He became grim, "He talked about what they were wearing and it all matched you guys, and we told him we didn't know anybody that matched the descropshin."
"Description," Clementine corrected.
"Right," Louis replied, sheepish.
Carlos began to scratch at his beard. A pondering look washed across his countenance and he turned away from the children, thinking.
Sarah became worried. She recognized that look. For as long as she's been alive, it was the same look he would make whenever he was about to execute a big decision, whether good or bad. She spoke, "You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?" Sarah looked at her dad pleadingly.
Luke turned to the little girl, "Of course he won't Sarah, all right? Your dad's the nicest man I know, which is why... he's not gonna do anything crazy or... not nice. Right?" He narrowed his eyes at Carlos who shook his head as a reply.
Louis chuckled a bit from Luke's way of interpretation, which was promptly disrupted by Clementine's elbow jabbing him in the side. He let out an "Ouch," and frowned at her, rubbing at it with a pout on his face as Clementine looked onward as if she hadn't just murdered his rib.
Carlos placed a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder, frowning at her sadly, "You know these are bad people, sweetie... They will do or say anything to hurt us."
Luke regarded the other two kids in the room, "Alright, what do y'all think? Did he seem like he'd be coming back?" He asked, glancing left and right from the little boy and girl.
"Honestly... I don't know," Louis replied, sighing, "Seemed like he was looking around."
"He was looking for you guys. He might," Clementine said, giving Louis a concerning sight.
Carlos let out a sigh. "He was scouting," He explained, troubled, "We got lucky. He wasn't expecting to find us." He looked at the children, "Louis and Clementine must have surprised him. If they hadn't been there..." He closed his eyes, thanking the Lord and savior for saving his daughter, offering each a blessing in his head.
Clementine glanced at Louis who's frown matched hers.
"Well, he was too smart to stick around. But he'll be back with the rest. We don't have much time." Carlos continued talking, giving everyone a doubtful expression that seemed to make them wonder what their fate would come to.
Luke crossed his arms. "He's right," Luke agreed, sighing, "Everyone pack up. We're movin' out." He announced, refusing to let the small spark of the angered fear show as to not let the group know he was coming as a coward on them. Not that anyone thought like that. The two children thought it was reasonable to be afraid. What else was there to do other than run at this very moment?
The others left with uncertainty after his announcement. The vibes surrounding them became uncertain and brittle with terror, and soon, standing in this home seemed almost impossible to breathe in.
"Alvin," Rebecca called before leaving the room, reminding Clementine of what she saw a few nights before. She questioned herself why she looked more afraid than the others, and she hoped it didn't have anything to do with the child she had yet to give birth to. Then it would become a serious problem, and everything would make sense.
Louis shook his head. "Why—"
"Why did you leave his camp?" Clementine asked, beating him to the question. It was the only one that was available to ask at the time.
Carlos looked distraught. "Because we had to," He mumbled. He walked to them, "I don't know what he told both of you, but William Carver is a dangerous man. He is the leader of a camp not far from here, and he is very smart. We were... lucky... to escape," He frowned and the wilting of his voice sent terrifying chills down the children's spines. "Look, I'm sorry to involve both of you, but now that he's seen you, you'll be safer with us."
Louis grabbed onto Clementine's hand. "Okay," He said, nodding in rhythm with the girl.
"We have to leave," Carlos said one last time. And with that, Carlos and Sarah left, most likely to pack their things as well.
Nick was the next to come by, and he looked at Louis, "We have to find Pete." He said, urgent, still sounding sluggish.
Louis furrowed his brows.
"We'll get him on the way out, Nick." Luke replied, looking at him and then at Clementine, "Clementine, you know where he was, right?"
Clementine nodded solemnly. "Yeah..."
"Alright, everybody. Grab your stuff. Let's hit the road."
[. . .]
They exit the cabin not long after Luke dismissed them. After everyone grabbed their belongings and a few extra materials from the cabin just in case, they ventured off into the direction Clementine began to lead them.
Louis stood beside Clementine, following after her as the rest were doing. He was troubled and anxious because of their 'runaway' situation, and the little food in his stomach that he was given didn't sit well. He had this urge to vomit and he was always moving at least one part of his body; not including his legs since he kept walking. His fingers always twitched and he moved and clenched his sleeve forward as to keep them still.
"What are we going to do?" Louis asked her, glancing at her and away from the walkers that roamed elsewhere far, but near enough to hear them.
Clementine looked at him and a weary look crossed her features. "Whatever we can. We have to keep moving," She muttered with certainty, even if her appearance mirrored concerned lethargy.
Louis nodded and let out a sigh. As much as he wanted to believe Clementine, he knew her well to grasp her unsure nature. He never faulted her for telling him plans that he knew they just made up along the way. She was at least there to push them forward, and that's more than enough for him. All he's ever done is get them into trouble, not to mention slack on all activities that were meant to be for survival purposes.
"Louis?"
Louis blinked away his thoughts that repeated ever since this started. He looked at Clementine, "Yeah?"
Clementine was staring onward, troubled. With her conflict, however, Louis could see the fondness he always saw from her since he met her. "Thanks for having my back." She murmured kindly, though she did not smile.
Louis was surprised. "But I didn't do anything," He argued, frowning. "I just cowered behind you like some weak loser." He drooped a bit.
Clementine was surprised to hear him say such a thing. "No, you didn't. You stood up to that Carver guy," She shook her head, "And... You—"
"Clem," Luke spoke, jogging a tad bit to catch up to the two kids in the front, "You said it was just up here?" He asked, pointing at a path that was almost completely hidden by the trees in the way.
Clem's words died down in her throat and she looked to where he was pointing, puzzled for a moment. "Yeah," She said after realizing what he was trying to tell her, "Just little ways."
Luke nodded and walked forward, leading the group now himself.
Louis looked at Clementine, "You ran farther than I did! How the heck didn't you get tired?" He asked her astonishingly.
Clementine shrugged. "I don't know... I guess I just focused on not getting eaten by walkers," She replied solemnly.
Louis nodded, "Man, I wish I could run just as fast as you. I'd probably be like Superman," He grinned cheekily at her.
Clementine stared at him dryly. "You do run faster than me. You just go slow because you don't want to leave me behind." She pointed out.
Louis's smile died down. "Yeah. Well, I don't exactly want you to die. You're important to me," He said genuinely, surprisingly serious.
Clementine blinked, completely taken back from his sudden change in demeanor.
He looked at her beseechingly. "I mean, who else is going to put up with my stupid jokes?" He asked, smiling brightly upon seeing a hint of a smile pull up on her lips.
Clementine shrugged, trying to fight off the smile that threatened to be brought to the light. It was bad enough that her body, mostly around her chest area, began to act funny. It wasn't even as hot as it would've been for her to feel warm from her cheeks to her neck, nor was it cold enough to make her stomach queasy. It confused her and she wondered if she was coming up with a cold since she would always get some whenever the seasons would change. She presumed that it was probably just an effect of their situation, which made her permanent blankness return.
Beside her, Louis noticed someone walk up to them. He turned to look, both of them did, as their instincts usually acted up at the same time, "Hey you two..." The soft feminine voice called to them, surprising them.
Rebecca slowed down when she caught up to them, "I'm sorry if I gave y'all some shit back there," She paused to sigh, "I'm just a little on edge," She stated, not looking at them, wearily staring at Luke.
The two both stared at Rebecca, confused.
She continued, "It's just a tough time right now, with the pregnancy and all," She murmured, looking at the two before looking away guiltily upon seeing their precious babyfaces. "Alvin can probably relate."
Louis's annoyance from before simmered down. "Oh... It's okay, Miss Rebecca," He answered, smiling, "We understand."
"It's okay, we can handle it," Clementine replied monotonously, shooting her a soft look.
Rebecca smiled at the two children. Then, she frowned, "If it's not you two I'm yellin' at lately, it's Alvin, and then I'm in real trouble," She explained, shaking her head dejectedly.
Clementine nodded sharply, "We're not little kids."
"As Clem said, we can handle it," Louis repeated, assuring Rebecca with one of his goofy grins.
Rebecca felt a motherly warmth envelope her being upon seeing Louis, "I felt the same way when I was your age. My dad was always givin' me shit, and I always thought," She glared, "That he didn't know a damn thing."
Louis understood. Clementine showed little importance.
Rebecca's glare softened to sorrow, "I know you both did your best back there. You know, none of us would make it on our own. Sometimes... It's hard knowing how dependent I am on everyone..." She frowned deeply out of realization, "I'm not used to that. I'm not comfortable with that. I'm supposed to be a mom soon," She looked past Luke and into the horizon, "I guess I need to work on my patience."
Louis and Clementine looked at each other. They looked at her again.
"Alvin and I still don't know what to call her. Or him, if that man gets his wish. God help me," Louis moved out of the way when Clementine noticed another path and went towards it, "Any ideas?"
Louis stared at Rebecca, uneasy when Rebecca frowned from Clementine's departure. He attempted a condolences smile, "Well... Between you and me, I'm hoping it's a girl because girls are just as cool as boys," He paused to notice the group following after Clem, including Luke, "But if it's a boy... Maybe naming him after Alvin might be cool," He offered.
Rebecca smiled fondly at the boy. She reached down to pat his head, "That's a good suggestion. I'll keep a note of that," She told him and began to walk with the group.
Louis followed suit, a smug grin plastered on his face, "Thanks! Clem always says I'm terrible at naming stuff, but I know I'm good."
[. . .]
The smugness along the way on his face fell when he noticed the red truck next to a few dead bodies.
He stopped right alongside Luke, suppressing a small gasp when he saw the carnage. Don't get him wrong, he's... inevitably gotten used to seeing piles and piles of dead bodies both gutted or slain down, all of which managed to traumatize him in his childless life since this all started. He'd seen people get shot, walkers get stabbed; he's even seen his family become corpses of the dead. Nothing he saw would be new.
But... Why did it frighten him when he saw many of those bodies full of dysfunctional holes with brown puss slowly draining from their bodies? It was disgusting, and it smelled horrible. It baffled him even; he saw goops of human feces. Vomit also littered, still fresh, and he almost gagged from the mixed cheese smell and rotting flesh combined.
Nick was by the truck, trying to open it when Louis arrived. He managed to do it but he almost fell back, and Louis winced when he stepped on some of the long guts coming from one of the walkers plastered beside a tree.
"He's not in here," Nick announced, and Louis frowned when he turned to the group with utmost desperate sadness.
Clementine looked indifferent. "This was the last place I saw him..." She told them truthfully.
"Maybe he's around here somewhere," Alvin spoke up from behind, shrugging.
Nick looked distraught, and Luke, out of support, placed a kind hand on his shoulder.
Louis watched the interaction and remembered what Nick told him back in the shed they took refuge in. He could see, now, that as Luke muttered something the others couldn't hear, Nick was right.
He stood by Clementine when they parted and began to search, the others standing by. Carlos stood behind Louis, holding a rifle, "Keep your eyes open. And stay in sight," He advised, glaring around him.
At that moment he noticed a blood trail. He poked Clementine's arm and pointed to it when she gave him his attention, watching the way her eyes suddenly centered and followed after it.
He walked with her when she began moving in the direction the blood was leading them to, and he took into a recognition that the blood was fresher and beyond red rather than the brown the other walkers carried.
The blood led to behind a rock.
"Anyone see him?"
"No."
"Damn. This whole situation is messed up."
The kids stopped to gaze sadly upon reaching the rock.
"Pete..." Louis muttered sadly, looking away when he saw the fresh guts that spilled from his abdomen. He unintentionally went to grab Clementine's hand, and she, in turn, grasped his.
The others had looked for them, and both Luke and Nick were first to see.
"Oh my god."
Louis looked at Nick and winced from the way his voice shook, widening his eyes when Nick began to tremble and step away. Nick looked at Clementine, desperate still, "W-What happened? What the hell happened?!" He asked, his voice rising and choking against the sorrow that began to build up tremendously in his soul.
"He's been shot," Carlos replied, staring at the body with just as much sorrow as Luke and the others.
Clementine's eyes widened and she squeezed Louis' hand in the process. "He... He didn't have a gun..." She breathed, alarming the group.
There was a stunned silence.
Louis looked around, seeing Luke reach forward and bring Nick close, comforting him as the others were doing. He looked at Clementine, and then at Carlos, "Who could've done this?" He whispered, terrified. If there was no gun... Who had such power to disembowel him completely and obliterate his skull?
"Son of a bitch..." Alvin muttered angrily, having a feeling of who it could be.
Carlos looked cautiously around. "We need to go," He ordered. The others looked at him briefly before leaving, doing as he said. As Carlos left to lead the group, Nick stayed behind, as did Luke.
Louis chose to stay as well, and Clementine, as to not leave him be, had done the same.
"He's gone, Nick. He—He's gone." Luke told him softly, solemnly reaching for him, "We gotta get movin'. Come on, man."
Nick roughly removed Luke's grip and stared despairingly at his now dead Uncle. He was unable to perceive anything else other than grief from his only family member that stayed long enough to care for him. He couldn't help but blame himself. If he hadn't had run off, maybe... Just maybe, his beloved uncle would still be alive.
"He wouldn't want to see you upset," Louis said softly, pulling at one of Nick's sleeves, "He would want you to keep going."
Nick looked down in remorse. Of course, he would.
He relented as Luke placed a hand on his shoulder, leading him away from the only man he ever thought of as a true father.
[. . .]
Once again on the road, Nick had asked one final time. "Tell me," He said, "Tell me how it happened."
Clementine couldn't. So she told him the only way she could without hurting him beyond anything else, "The last thing he said was... that he wanted to say goodbye to you." She muttered, and she could sense the distress from the others who heard.
Nick hadn't said anything. At least, nobody heard him say anything. But Louis did.
Luke shook his head and tilted it only inches to escape a glance at his friend, finding him slowed and in the back. The way his body sagged made it clear to them all that it hit him hard. And Luke knew it was normal. He was no fool. Nick loved his Uncle more than anything, and as far as Luke knew, he was the only one who brought the spirits back in him even if Pete was known to make him angry. It troubled him and it made him feel useless even if Luke himself knew that he wasn't, but by not being able to be there for Nick, he felt despicable. He tried, always.
He glanced at the two kids holding hands and thought for a moment. A question he always thought, but never got an answer to. Soon, the question was gone, as it always was because he didn't grow up accepting it. "I'm worried about him. Keep an eye on him for me, would you?" He asked them all, even though the trio knew that he was talking to Louis mostly.
Louis, out of understanding, nodded his head.
A small hopeful smile caressed the young adult's face. "You guys sure you still want to come with us?" He asked, his tone lighter despite the despairing breather they just took.
The two children glanced at each other.
"Look, I know we got off to a rough start. And I can't make any promises it won't get rougher. But we all know you two now. And we may not be perfect, but we look out for—"
"We don't have anywhere else to go." Clementine deadpanned.
Louis shot her a dry look.
Luke wasn't offended. "Well then, welcome to the party," He introduced, smiling at the two kids.
Louis offered a fist bump, and Luke took it.
"Yeah, thanks," Clementine said, not at all in the mood.
Luke chuckled, "We're... We're smarter than we look," He said.
"Right," Clementine replied. Louis poked her playfully on her cheek, to which she glared at. He immediately pulled away.
After a moment's worth, the two children heard Luke speak.
"I figure we got about four or five days to reach those mountains. Now, if they're trackin' us," He removed a large map of the area from the pocket of his jeans and showed the kids, "We should be able to lose em' up there."
"Five days?" Rebecca asked, voice shaking.
Alvin placed a loving hand on her shoulder, "It's gonna be okay, Bec."
"We have to keep moving now," Carlos regarded, glaring forwards, "It's our only choice."
And they walked, each questioning if their life would ever become the peaceful one it was before.
[. . .]
5 Days Later
[. . .]
They came across a bridge.
After five days of exhausting walks and mostly sleepless nights due to some keeping watch should the walkers come close, they found themselves staring at a large bridge and a lake so big they couldn't even see it end.
The tired folks stopped to stare and Louis, among one of the tired ones, was practically leaning on Clementine while she walked, unbothered. She was tired too, but with the added warmth of Louis' head leaning on top of her own, she was warm enough to keep herself awake and running. Strangely, she felt comfortable having him this close.
They sat on rocks and Clementine had carefully brought them to one, benefitting herself by leaning against him as well. The two children, one still awake enough to listen, stared at the adults and waited for a plan to go across.
Luke took out the same trusty map from days ago and looked at it, studying it for almost the one-hundredth time that week. He seemed indifferent and then he looked at Clementine, noticing Louis sleeping on her. A sheepish smile appeared on his face. "Clem. Mind givin' me a hand?" He asked, and Clementine already knew what he was hinting at.
With a bit of a push against Louis' direction, she poked him a little too hard on his rib which sprung him awake, triumphantly getting him off her. Ignoring his whine of protest, Clementine walked to the large rock covering their location and climbed it, taking out her small binoculars when she did.
Louis stared at her, tired. He didn't know why Rebecca grabbed his attention and shook her head when he kept looking, and though curious to know, he was too tired to care. So, he opted to look at the floor as Clementine did her job.
"See anything?" He heard Luke call, and Louis sighed, already aware that this short break was not going to be enough for him to keep walking his lazy butt off. In fairness, he did appreciate Clementine carrying his half-asleep state. God knows he needed it after insisting to keep watch with Luke and the others.
"She better see somethin'. We've been walkin' for a damn week," Alvin grumbled.
Louis couldn't help but agree. Not that he was pressuring his friend to look better. He was just begging for a good night's rest.
"We've got to find some shelter."
Louis agreed with that too.
"There's the bridge," Clementine told the group.
Luke looked beyond the rock. "And does it look passable?" He asked.
"I think so," Clementine's petite voice replied.
Louis chuckled a bit, thinking it was adorable. Sarah shot him weird looks.
"Good," Luke replied.
Clementine looked to have moved the binoculars, "There's a little house by the bridge."
"How big is it?" Carlos asked. Louis bit his tongue from telling them that Clementine already said little.
"It's pretty small."
Louis held himself back from making jokes. Partly because, again, he was exhausted.
"There's a lift... or something."
Luke hummed. "Chair lift? Must be that ski resort," Luke said, looking at the image of the said resort on his map.
Clementine stopped looking to ponder, setting the binoculars down. "I've... never been skiing." She admitted.
Louis perked up at that.
"Bec and I went once," Alvin chimed in.
"It wasn't pretty," Rebecca humored.
Louis hummed and swung his feet back and forth. "What if I take you one day?" He asked, smiling.
Clementine looked into the binoculars again as she answered, "That would be cool. If you can get it to work." She replied, peeking at him with a hint of a smile.
Louis shrugged, "You never know, Clemster."
"Don't call me that."
"Okie, Dokie."
Rebecca watched the interaction, amused. Call it her mother senses, but she was pretty sure Louis had a liking to the girl. She couldn't blame him. She was a lovely young lady with a big heart, and though she had acted hostile towards her, Rebecca held no grudges. She was proud, in an odd way, because Clementine wasn't a girl who took shit from anyone. Anyone with that personality had won her respect no matter what.
"There's a building on the mountain," Clementine then announced, focusing the binoculars.
"What's it look like?" Luke asked.
"It's big," She replied.
The group turned to look at each other. Big was good news.
"That looks like a good place to spend the night," Luke said, earning various nods from the group.
After seeing nothing else other than trees for miles, Clementine put away the binoculars and climbed back down from the rock. She plopped herself next to Louis and leaned her head again, which surprised him but not enough to consider it as unusual. He came to know that Clementine liked physical contact, just not from people other than him. Wait...
"We have to cross that bridge. Let's go," Carlos said, wanting to do so immediately and with haste.
"Hold on now. We can't all go springing across that thing, okay? If we get spotted out there, we're gonna be trapped." Luke argued.
"Going around that lake will take too long," Carlos pointed out, glaring.
Luke leaned a hand on one of his hips, "Right, but... look, we've got no idea who's out there. Okay? I'm gonna sneak across and make sure it's clear before we bring the whole group over." He explained, waving his hands around to further input emphasis.
Louis got a bit dizzy from watching.
Carlos copied Luke's stance. "You think splitting the group is a good idea?" He asked carefully.
Luke shrugged nonchalantly. "I never said it was a good idea. But it's better than risking everyone at once." He assured.
Alvin stood, "What's your plan?"
"The kids and I can scoot across low and slow and make sure nobody's waitin' for us on the other side," Luke answered, grinning over at Louis and Clementine.
Alvin frowned a tad bit. "We'll have a tough time coverin' you from back here."
Luke could not be convinced. "Well, we'll just turn back if it gets hairy." Luke shrugged off, becoming a tad concerned at the thought.
Carlos could not be convinced either. He crossed his arms, pondering as he turned his gaze to the floor. He looked to Luke again after a moment's contemplation, "The kids should stay here." He said, looking at them as a full-on dad, "They're..."
Louis and Clementine took it the wrong way. So did Luke. "They're what?" He asked, glaring at him as all three simultaneously folded their arms, offended.
Carlos's expression morphed to parental worry. "They're only little kids, Luke." He murmured, shaking his head.
"They're valuable little kids," Luke replied. "I mean, hell, if this little girl can sew up her arm and Louis take down a few lurkers, they're fit to cross that bridge!" He argued, roughing up Louis' hair. Louis glared at him for that.
Alvin nodded in agreement. "He's got a point," He said. He stopped talking when Carlos glared.
"We can do it," Clementine glowered.
"Yeah! We're big strong men—and women," Louis added, and flexed his arm. Clementine rolled her eyes.
Luke chuckled. "See? No problem." He shot Carlos a smug look. "It's gonna be fine, okay? We'll signal you guys in ten minutes. Just watch for a light on the far side."
Nick stood up and clenched his shotgun. "I can go too."
Luke's adventurous nature left him for a moment. He seemed sad but stern, "You stay with the group," He dismissed.
Nick glared. "I'm fine, Luke." He refuted.
Carlos pointed accusingly at Luke, "I don't like this."
Luke waved him off. "Yeah, well, when's the last time you liked anything, Carlos?" He said as he turned around, walking away playfully. The kids looked at each other and shrugged, following after the male.
"If somethin' happens, I'll cover you." Nick sounded desperate.
Luke paused, considering.
But not for long.
"Come on," He said, nodding toward the trail ahead for the kids to follow.
[. . .]
Pulling along Louis, Clementine caught up to Luke in no time, and after about a few minutes that seemed less had passed, the sight of the bridge became grand. They stepped over squirrel carcasses and rotten fish along the way, and Louis tried not to go crazy trying to figure out how the fish managed to reach up so high.
Clementine busied herself by looking around. Always the cautious one, she did not once let go of Louis, afraid that his curiosity would wound him roaming lost in the middle of nowhere. It was no surprise that at times, she had to hold his hand tight and pull him back from wandering off.
Luke, unbeknownst to them, was watching. He marveled at the younglings' teamwork and wondered what could be that they had that their group lacked. It was like a thick, strong bond that could be wilted, but never broken. It baffled the adult, but, like others, he supposed such bonds were possible because they were two kids who thought better of everyone.
Needless to say, he trusted both. Perhaps Clementine a bit more since she seemed to be the responsible one in the relationship. He sighed. He only wished that Nick could be the same.
"Hey, uh, sorry about that," He said, twisting back to peek at his group members, "I just could really use you two for the eyes, and right now, I don't trust Nick to tie own his shoes. They're just still on edge over the Carver thing."
Louis perked up and regarded the adult solemnly.
Clementine narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "It's been five days. Why would Carver still be following us?" She asked, confused. He would have to be desperate if he's still after them.
"Maybe they stole his favorite knife?" Louis suggested, glancing at Luke's Machete stripped to his back, "The one Luke has can't be his. I mean, look how awesome it looks!" Louis's eyes sparkled and he attempted to reach over Clementine to touch it.
Clementine pulled him back and glared. He pouted.
Luke hummed to think. He paused, "What's the most important thing in this world? Besides my machete," He grinned when Louis scoffed.
Clementine thought back to her past.
Louis only glared at Luke's machete.
"What does everyone want? And no, Louis."
Louis huffed and grumbled something about 'getting that knife'. Luke idly smirked at him in return.
Clementine thought back to Lee. To her previous group. She thought back to her parents and her friends in school, before the world fell to oblivion. She thought about many things, coming to only one single conclusion each time.
"Even the gangs. What do you think they're all after?"
Clementine became solemn. "Family," She replied quietly, looking to see that her answer was correct when she took to look at him.
Luke agreed. "It's a tough world out there without people you can trust."
Louis pondered that thought. He looked between himself and his friend to gaze at their intertwined hands, which she, had yet to let go of. Louis hadn't even noticed he'd been holding her hand; had she? The thought of physical contact was innocent to him. He thought it was normal for kids to hold hands. Wasn't it? Finding Sarah all by herself had riddled that belief. He supposed because there wasn't another kid around, but she could always hold hands with the adults. Though, then again...
The little boy found himself no longer staring at their conjoined hands but at Clementine who was busy talking to the only other adult near. Louis wasn't even paying attention because the fact of the matter didn't intrigue him. Trust, however, that was a topic he'd never imagined to think about.
He agreed with Luke. He trusted Clementine with his life and far beyond that. He can't perceive a world where they never met. Maybe if the apocalypse had happened later; he wouldn't be anywhere near where they are. He'd most likely be stuck at some poor excuse of a school.
He furrowed his brows. Holding hands meant they trusted each other. He wondered... Did she trust him the same?
He looked at her. She was still talking to Luke. Barely, with his short attention span, he heard words about mistakes and regret. He winced at that. Clementine was known to be upset, and he, despite everything, was the opposite. On many occasions, he'd gotten himself in trouble for being optimistic, and Clementine, being his most trusted and bested comrade, had to be the one to get him out of trouble. It was always his fault.
Clementine always said otherwise. But she was always quiet when he would rant about it.
Was their trust belittled because of him?
"Louis?"
He stopped looking empty in exchange for Clementine's voice. He looked at her and then noticed Luke looking at him too. "Oh... uh... What?"
"We're here," She replied.
Louis then realized he was pulling her along still. "Oh," He then blushed, stopping, "Sorry. I was uh... Thinking about the sky being purple. Yeah." He grinned at Luke and hoped he would believe him.
Luke looked at the sky. "Pretty sure it's blue." He replied jokingly.
Louis peered at it too. "Well, yeah, but that's what it wants you to think." He responded.
"Ya think?"
Clementine stared at the two of them. Great. Now there were two of them.
Suddenly, there was a growl.
On instinct, the trio froze and brought out their weapons; Louis was surprised to see Clementine holding the hammer from the shed. "Walkers," Clementine whispered, looking behind her before noticing two upfront by the entrance of the bridge.
Louis blinked at her. "Well, what else could've made that sound?" He asked, flipping the knife in his hand.
Clementine glared at him.
"I don't know, Wolves usually roam 'round these parts," Luke mentioned, still looking at the walkers cautiously.
"What type of wolf could do this noise?" He imitated a walker. "I mean, it would have to be undead. Ouch!" He hissed as Clementine caught his ear and dragged him along, prompting Luke to follow as well.
They walked up to a rock and crouched, looking over it. Clementine let go of him to make him stop whining, and Louis replied by flicking her in the head. Needless to say, Clementine almost broke his finger.
"Two of em'," Luke muttered more to himself than them, peering with his narrowed eyes. "We can't shoot em'. Too much noise. Think we can take em'?" He asked, clearly joking. Of course, they could.
"Let's do it," Clementine and Louis said simultaneously, grinning at him mischievously.
Luke grinned, "I like your style." He stood but hovered over the kids, yet to leave, "Y'all take shorty, and I'll take the big one," He instructed, pointing toward the walker with no legs laying against another rock nearby.
"What if I take the big one, but with your cool knife?" Louis suggested, beaming courageously and side-glancing the weapon he held.
Clementine smacked her face. "Louis, this is serious," She scolded.
"But I would look so cool!"
"Hate to break it to you kid, but Clem's right. Too risky."
Louis sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot." He mumbled.
"It's alright. Next time?" Luke offered Louis a fist bump.
Louis pretty much exploded with joy, taking the greeting eagerly. "You bet!"
Luke chuckled. He turned to Clementine, "So, are we a go?" He asked, holding back another laugh when he looked at Clementine's tired face.
"We're taking the small one. Got it," She assured, nodding her head.
Luke nodded back and then departed from the rock, off to behead the only walker that was standing.
Meanwhile, the kids began to inch closer to the fallen walker.
"Do you want me to hit him, or do you?" Louis asked, throwing his knife from one hand to the other.
Clementine nodded, "I can do it. If I miss, then you can." She replied.
"But you never miss."
"Not my point."
"Okay."
And so, they reached the walker, who immediately began to growl when it spotted them. Luke managed to take the other walker down when Clementine took her strike, succeeding in killing it. Unfortunately, it got her hammer stuck from how deep she penetrated the hard but otherwise rotten skull.
Louis winced and watched her tug about three times, seeing no successful retrieve of her hammer.
"Go ahead. Give it a good pull," Luke said, putting away his machete, "It should come free." He told, approaching them from behind.
Clementine huffed and wiped some blood off her face. She tilted her head slightly to sneak an angeled look at him, "I know. I've done this before, remember?" She glared, "In a shed?"
Louis could physically feel the guilt radiating off of Luke the instance she said it. He could even see it in his face. He furrowed his brow at Clem, "What if I can remove it for you?" He asked politely, moving closer toward her.
Clementine didn't want to. She was strong enough to perform male work ethics and she didn't need Louis helping her; she could manage by herself. Looking at Louis to straight-up tell him a flat no—that it was appreciated but unwanted—she stopped and her expression softened when she saw the worried stare he was giving her. It took her a few seconds until she relented, emitting a tired sigh as she stepped away from the corpse.
Louis smiled and grabbed onto the wooden grip tightly, expecting the hammer to be hard to remove since the sharp edges were deeply buried in the smelling squiggles of the brain. However, upon giving it a sharp tug, it came easily off. Some of the brains were ripped and so the brown blood splattered against his face, which made him cringe from the result.
"Here," He said, handing her the dripping hammer, "It was easy," He boasted.
Clementine took the hammer and stared at it, "Not for me it wasn't," She muttered, glaring at the skull afterward, "How did you do that?"
Louis shrugged, smug as he pulled at his sleeve and wiped the blood on his forehead, "With my hands," He replied.
Luke gave a good hard pat on the two kids, "Nice work," He complimented, suppressing the deep pride he felt rise from watching the two.
Louis remained still but Clementine came forward a little, "Thanks! Clementine did most of the work," Louis said, earning a kind smile from the girl. "And by the way," Louis became blank, "Ouch."
Luke's smile faltered a bit.
But then Louis smiled again.
And the adult's smile returned.
[. . .]
Every day, you learn something new. For Louis it was every other day; he thought of survival as a day-to-day task, even if he spent most of his time running or crushing walker guts with Clementine at his side. He learned many things from Clementine when he stopped to listen to her for once, and in those times that he's done so, his belief was slowly diminishing because hers took over.
Either way, they both learned. And currently, Louis had learned one thing:
He hated heights.
Even if the rusted metal he walked on felt sturdy enough to cross, he couldn't help but glance at the wood adorning the main path and spotting just a hint of tremendous height from in between the planks. For that he was holding onto Clementine, afraid that he'd fall through or misstep onto the wood that might just break from under him.
Clementine was just as cautious. Though, much to Louis's surprise, she did not look scared that she was walking over a colossal amount of height below them. Louis noted that she would also occasionally glance around to what he thought were walkers, and he'd have to remind himself that he was fine when she would stop walking.
"Why did it have to be so high up?" Louis muttered bitterly, glaring at the waters.
Clementine didn't mind that he held onto her tightly. "I thought you were fine with heights," She muttered back.
Louis looked at the back of her head in annoyance. "Well, yeah, but not when it's this high," He hissed.
"All heights are dangerous, Louis," She replied.
"Oh..." He mumbled, realizing, "Yeah... You're right."
Clementine rolled her eyes at that.
The two children then stopped when Luke did. Various growls interrupted their ongoing conversation, and by instinct, the two kids glanced behind them to spot a few walkers coming through the fallen irons of the bridge.
"Walkers," Louis mumbled, spotting more than a few from in front of them.
Clementine would have taken the perfect opportunity to joke back from earlier, but as always, she took it seriously whenever such inconvenient situations occurred.
"Shit," Luke cursed, and Louis froze.
He snapped his head at the adult, "What are we going to do?" He asked, backing away when Luke moved retrograde to get the walkers off.
Luke, at the question, hardened his features. He brought out his weapon, "The only thing we can do." He replied, advancing to one of the walkers that came from behind.
Louis and Clementine simultaneously drew their defenses out when they saw him slice through one of them.
Clementine was the one to pull away first in an attempt to bash the walker that came crawling from under a destroyed car, leaving Louis to fend off two of them who were moving too quickly for his liking.
The first one scrambled fast and tripped on its legs, allowing Louis to bring his trusty knife down and into the walker's cranium when its head was up for display on the ground. The other fell on him after tripping on the dead one, and he moved, aiming his knife right into its face when it did. He breathed heavily and attempted to pull the knife away, struggling when the cracked bone of its nose scraped against his knuckles.
With a wince, he pulled it away and ignored the cut that formed on his knuckles, crawling back upon doing so. He wiped some of the blood off his face, glaring at the thing when he stood. Stupid walkers.
Clementine came up behind him and unconsciously tripped onto him afterward, catching him off guard. Louis caught her out of instinct when she released a yelp, grinning bashfully when she glared. Growls upon growls echoed that reminded the babies that trouble was still around, and Louis then gasped when two more came in their way, "Clem—"
Clementine composed herself quickly and struck at the knees, ripping the hammer away to do a complete 180 turn jab right into the corpse's head.
Louis was pulled up and side-stepped when the walker remaining picked up its pace to ram into them. It fell over upon missing its target.
The two kids peered over and nodded at each other in compliment after Clementine struggled to pull the hammer out. They turned to their leader eventually, marveling when Luke cut through the faces of four coming in a row.
However... His victory was cut short when the wood gave in from under him.
"Luke!" The kids then cried, running toward where the gaping hole was now made.
They heard more muffled groans and the kids tried their best to ignore them, as the issue of a now struggling Luke holding onto almost nothing was at hand. When they looked over, they found that deep gashes of red were running down the side of his face.
"I'm—I'm okay," Luke assured them, still in shock from the fall, "I just..."
They heard a deep groan and the kids then realized that an impaled walker was right in front of them. It reached over and caught the torn fabric of his pants, keeping the poor male at bay. "I'm stuck," Luke admitted and attempted to kick at the walker only to fail and slip slightly.
Louis leaned more and tried reaching for him, "I can't reach!" He panicked, pulling away when Luke put his hand aside.
Luke shook his head, "It's okay, you two. Look, we-we'll figure something out," He said, and regarded the walker who was slowly cutting itself to reach him with worried eyes.
The kids stared hopelessly at the male.
Luke looked behind the kids and yelled, "Behind y'all!"
Something like dread plummeted in their stomachs. The kids moved away and stood upright as quickly as they could, alarmed when they turned to where Luke was warning them about.
Louis brought out his knife and without thinking struck at the walker's knee, moving away so that Clementine could swoop her hammer against its head.
Unfortunately, Louis almost got caught by two others going for him from the other side, and because Clementine hated hammers all of a sudden, she realized that the hammer didn't hit the walker's head, but rather, its jaw.
It growled and pulled at the tool like an angry dog would, forcing her hand to shake and struggle from the sharp bond. As before, it took her three tries before pulling it clean off, both the hammer and the jaw. But because she used so much force, she realized that she was toppling over the edge. Again, she barely had time to move when the jawless walker lunged at her, causing her to release a quiet gasp when the impact of moving more over the edge had made the hammer in her hand fall into the swallowing waters below.
The walker, with it, fell, and Clementine hid behind one of the large metals around the edge, looking behind her to spot her useless but only weapon drop. Another walker was coming her way again and she had nowhere to go other than down. But, as her mysterious luck would have it, she didn't need to move at all when Louis grabbed Luke's machete off the ground to swipe at the walker coming toward her.
Louis cut halfway through its neck when he stumbled and fell, bringing his blood-coated knife for a sink in the hanging head when the body collapsed.
It was without slight effort when Louis stood again and ran for Clementine, pulling her to the stable ground with panting haste.
With a quick and extremely appreciated thanks, the kids took a look around to find aid for Luke's helplessness, only to spot a long, sturdy metal tube by the ground. Louis grabbed it and ran to the hole where Luke was quickly becoming tired.
"Luke!" Louis called and Luke saw the boy with the girl handing him the tube, which he gladly reached for and placed. It was then when he pushed his legs to stand right on the flattened tube, giving a quiet groan when it broke and fell from his weight.
But the kids weren't so worried. Luke was able to stand properly to pull himself up on the broken ledge.
The kids moved so that Luke could catch his breath, watching him bend and pant slightly. He stopped to look at them, astonished by their bravery, "Thanks, you two."
The two kids nodded kindly.
Luke sighed and shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. He glared in the direction they were going, and with much more caution, addressed, "Let's keep going."
[. . .]
They walked further until they reached past the center of the bridge, stopping briefly to look around.
"Well, that was scary," Louis announced, frowning as he tried to get rid of the blood on his hands.
Clementine looked at him attempting to remove the stains and looked at herself, covered a bit less from the foul substance. "Yeah," She murmured, "It was."
Louis took a look at her sadly upon hearing her softened words. "We're okay," He told her quietly and began to follow Luke when he continued his uneasy pace. "We made it out. Walkers were gonna jump on us at some point," He smiled wistfully.
Clementine knew. She was fully aware that their luck at being unbothered was going to run out. "Yeah," She agreed, though she didn't like the idea of it, "I guess so."
"It was getting boring anyway," Louis lied, trying to suppress the thought of Clementine falling over the edge, "The walkers distracted us from being hungry!"
Clementine looked at him grimly. "I'd prefer if it was boring," She mumbled as a reply. She thought about what would have happened if she died falling too.
Louis frowned. Then, a smile made its way to his face. "It was pretty awesome how you turned to beat up that smelly corpse back there, though."
Clementine blinked her way out of her traumatic experiences to look at him, surprised. "What?"
"I said it was pretty cool," Louis repeated, smiling, "You know. Killing smelly's is kind of your thing."
Clementine wasn't sure how to respond. Her melancholy was mixing into her unexpected swell of joy from hearing him compliment her, and she wasn't certain if she should be sad that she had to kill them as a little girl, or if she should be glad she did because of her sudden skill. "Thanks," She replied, attempting a smile, shy, "You weren't bad either." She told him instead, choosing to disregard her sadness for his sake.
Louis grinned and flexed his knife. "Well, I mean, it's nothing new," He shrugged off, causing her to laugh quietly. Nothing could explain the way his giddiness towered upon hearing her laughter again.
From in front of them, Luke turned, observing. A small smile formed on his lips when he saw Louis make faces that caused Clementine to laugh. Although her laugh was subtle, Luke could see the glittering mirth in her eyes as she watched the goofy boy attempt jokes and other things. Genuinely, Luke was extremely indebted to these two kids.
He turned forward. He wished they could live a normal life. A life of misery as of this one wasn't meant for their innocent souls.
"My nose hurts!" Louis said, rubbing it while glaring at the girl.
Clementine didn't smile. "Oops. That's funny."
"Yeah, but you didn't have to flick it!" He said, blushing a tad bit.
"But your nose is cute." She said honestly. Again, she stared indifferently, meaning nothing odd about her words.
Louis huffed. "Oh yeah? Well, guess what?"
Clementine rose an eyebrow when he reached over, "Yours is too!" and flicked her nose.
Now it was her turn to feel the pain of a flickered nose. "Louis."
Louis smiled upon seeing her disappointed expression. "See?"
"That wasn't fair," She argued weakly, even if deep down she knew it was. Briefly, her losses passed through her and the small joy she got at teasing Louis vanished. It angered her that she thought about her sad life, and because it angered her, she forced herself to forget.
"Well, it's not my fault you have a cute nose, is it?" Louis threw back at her.
"I guess so," Clementine replied simply when Luke had stopped.
The two kids bumped into his outstretched hands when he did so, and they each turned to see what had caused the adult male to stop here at all times.
"Y'all see him?" Luke asked quietly with his eyes intently glued onto the figure on the end of the bridge, glaring at the male in the distance.
Louis and Clementine nodded in unison. "Yeah," They replied, and once again, the queasy permanent feeling settled on their empty stomachs.
They witnessed the guy with something in his hands come closer.
Luke scowled. "Just play it cool." He paused, and his face softened, "And Clementine, you do the talking."
Louis snapped his head at the adult, "Huh?"
"What? Why me?" Clementine hissed, widening her eyes in slight anxiousness.
"Yeah!" Louis cried, frowning in fear, "Why her?"
"'Cause I don't wanna get into a fight. You really think he'd shoot a little girl?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
"I'd shoot me," Clementine replied, frowning. Louis looked scared all of a sudden.
Luke was appalled. "Well that's one hell of a thing to say," He said, flabbergasted by her dark response.
"I'm just saying," Clementine mumbled.
Luke sighed. "Well, if it comes to that, I'll shoot him first," Luke assured.
"What if I talk?" Louis suggested, eyeing the figure coming oddly closer, "Maybe... he's nice?" He offered weakly.
Luke and Clementine regarded him with unease. "You sure?" Luke asked, hand on his gun, "I'll have your back if you do."
"Totally," Louis chirped, "Maybe he can help us?"
Clementine narrowed her eyes at the man who stopped a few feet from them. "I don't know..."
Louis walked a bit forward, "It's worth the risk."
Clementine frowned and said nothing.
It took a few more moments until the stranger arrived close enough, and from there, the three could see he had a shotgun.
"Well," The mysterious man spoke, a little strained, "Who are you?"
Luke took a threatening stance. "Well, who's askin'?" He barked.
"I am," The stranger replied just as fierce.
"U-Um," Louis cleared his throat, "I'm Louis! And these people here are my friends, Clementine and Luke!" Louis replied loudly, just so that the stranger could hear.
"Louis, Clementine, and Luke." The man repeated as if taking notes. A few moments passed with silence as they waited with bated breath.
And then he came closer.
"Huh," He hummed, and the kids could see the male's face clearer, "You guys don't look like assholes. Are you... assholes?" He asked, hinting more on the humor side. "No offense or anything. But you know how it is out here."
At this, Louis grinned. "I think we look more like animals!"
"I'm not an asshole," Clementine replied and crossed her arms.
"Hey!" Luke and Louis cried, offended.
"Fair enough," The stranger smiled, "You folks headed north, just like everyone else?"
"'Everyone Else'?"
The man was now close enough for a one on one conversation. "I see at least one group a day move through here. You all look the same." There was a sad frown on the stranger's face. "It's like a great migration of the dazed and confused."
"Do you know Carver?" Clementine asked.
"Carver?" The stranger humored her, "Like George Washington Carver? The peanut guy?"
"That's his name?" Louis asked, astonished.
Clementine scowled, "What? He's a man."
"Never heard of him. Now I want some peanut butter, though," The stranger paused to smile, "I gotta say. You guys look like shit. If you need food, I've got some canned stuff in that station back there."
Luke simmered down his defense and shot a suspicious look at the stranger. "Well, that's, uh... Awfully nice of ya." He placed his hands on his hips. "What's the catch?"
The stranger smiled and shook his head. "No catch. I've got plenty." He replied politely.
Luke smiled in return. "Well alright then, thank you."
"Awesome," Louis whispered, causing Clementine to smile at him.
"Hey, no problem. Nice running into friendly faces out here. Like I said, I've got food and supplies back in the station. And if you want..." The stranger stopped talking and looked past the three, his eyes becoming wide.
"What the fuck, man?" He yelled, alarmed, and all three of them turned around to spot Nick running toward them.
"What the hell is he doin'?" Luke said, angry.
Nick looked in fear. And then Nick had lifted the gun.
Louis gulped, confused.
The three turned to see the stranger pull up his gun as well.
Luke raised his hands in defense, "No, no, no! He's—Wi—He's with us!" He stuttered, moving him and the children out of the way.
The stranger narrowed his eyes at Luke and looked at Nick once again, debating.
"Nick!" Luke yelled, waving his hands overhead, "Don't shoot!"
"Nick, no!" Louis yelled.
"Don't shoot—"
A single shot rang out from one of the rifles. Luke instantly brought the kids down with him to protect them from the shot, feeling his ears ring when the shot betrayed in an echo against plumped skin.
Suddenly, they heard gurgled water and gasps for air.
The three looked up to find the stranger holding onto his blown neck, thick oozes of blood squirting in every which way direction. It seemed like he pointed the rifle in his hands at Nick, but it was with vain that he toppled as tears left his eyes at the sensation of being unable to breathe. He swayed from left to right, and in one wrong turn, he fell over the edge, plummeting into the cursed lake below.
Louis instantly felt sorrow. Clementine felt him hug her.
Luke and the children stood and ran toward the edge, watching the dreaded becoming of a corpse of the man fall.
Nick came running up from behind. And Luke turned, walking toward him with ferocity in his eyes.
"Did I hit him?" Nick had the nerve to ask, "Where is he!?"
"I told you not to shoot," Luke hissed angrily, dismissing his questions.
"What?" Nick asked, confused, "Who was that guy?"
"Why didn't you wait for a signal!?"
"We thought you were in trouble!" Nick narrowed his eyes, "You were wavin' your arms!"
Louis held Clementine tight. "He was going to help us..." He murmured.
Nick softened.
"Dammit, Nick! I told you not to shoot!" Luke growled.
"How was I supposed to hear you!? You gave me a clear shot!" Nick argued.
Luke looked overhead. "That shot rang out for miles. We gotta get off this bridge, let's go," He hissed through his teeth, and looked behind Nick to spot his group members approaching. He waved his arms to come forward to let them know. Nick closed his eyes in anger and let out a breath, following after him.
Quickly, the rest followed through.
"Are you okay?" Clementine asked Louis softly as they walked, as it seemed Louis wasn't going to let go anytime soon.
Clementine felt his nod against her head. "Yeah," He whispered, "Just... I'm not used to seeing people die yet."
Clementine felt numb. "I don't think we ever will."
And, it was the truth.
[. . .]
Rebecca sat down on a fallen tree and rested, breathing deeply as she placed a protective hand against her stomach. "Who the fuck..." She gulped air as she looked at the others catching their breath, "Was that back there?"
Luke breathed and exhaled. "I don't know," He said, unsure.
Alvin looked surprised. "Looked like he had a gun on you." He said.
Nick shook his head, "That asshole drew on me! He was about to shoot."
Luke looked at Nick with a glare. "Oh, was he?" He asked, irked.
"I'm telling you, man, he drew first," Nick insisted.
"Well, that's not what it looked like to me," Luke growled.
"It wasn't Nick's fault," Louis muttered.
"What did you see, Clem?" Alvin asked, "Was that guy gonna shoot?"
Clementine felt Louis hug her closer. She felt uneasy.
"Fuck you, Luke," Nick snarled, pointing at him, "You've been on my case this whole week."
"And why do you think that is, Nick?" Luke asked, irritated that his friend of many years has yet to admit that he killed a man in cold blood. Was he in denial? Did he know he did, and he's trying to justify his actions as to not feel like a murderer?
"Because you're an asshole?" Nick replied, sneering at him. Luke narrowed his eyes even further.
Clementine frowned and looked at Alvin. "He wasn't going to do anything," Clementine said honestly, glancing at Nick briefly before staring at the ground.
Nick waved a low hand, "I know what I saw."
Luke scowled. "Either way, you could'a hit one of us." He emphasized, which resulted in Nick wilting a tad bit at the realization. Even if, Nick did not deter what he believed.
"Yeah, but I didn't."
Luke relented, knowing that Nick was most likely in pain from what happened recently. Luke wasn't a fool. He can detect a broken man when he sees one. He was a broken man himself. "Look, I... I know Pete was close to you, Nick, but you can't—"
"Don't fucking talk about him," Nick threatened, glowering. A desperate sadness pulled at his eyes then. Clementine noticed it just as Luke did.
Carlos looked at Luke. "Do you think he was with Carver?"
Luke huffed. "I don't know. I..." He paused, closing his eyes as to dissipate his anger, "No. I don't think so. He fell over." He replied, still eyeing Nick with disappointment in his eyes.
"He fell off the damn bridge?" Alvin asked in shock, shifting his hands uncomfortably in his pockets as he tipped forward with widened eyes.
Carlos became stoic and glanced at the hill waiting for them to climb. "We have to keep moving," He said as if he hadn't said it thousands of times before.
It was then when Rebecca spoke did Louis notice how terribly tired she looked. "I can't. I need a minute," She mumbled, her voice just as tired.
"Fine." Carlos eased and stared at Nick. Nick side-eyed him quickly with anger before looking away. "Luke," He paused, watching the other male turn in question, "Can I talk to you alone?"
Louis shrunk back when Nick bristled in place as Luke glared at him one last time while he made his way over to Carlos by some trees. Something sad pulled at his little soul upon seeing Nick deflate and sit by the small station the man had promised they could get food at.
"He didn't mean to," Louis said out loud.
Only Clementine heard him. "Maybe," She doubted.
Louis pulled away to stand next to her like he always did. "He made a mistake." The little boy said.
"We all make mistakes," Clementine replied. "Big and small."
"He was just trying to help us," He looked at Nick.
Clementine looked at him too. "I know." She glanced at Louis, "Maybe you should talk to him."
Louis brushed one of his dreads away from his face. "Okay," He paused, "Do you think—"
"Hey, Clem, you got anything to eat? Bec's dyin' here."
Louis and Clementine turned over to where the bittersweet couple resided.
"Alvin, I told you. I'm fine," Rebecca dismissed.
Clementine deflated a little. "Sorry," She said, "I'm out."
Alvin nodded in understanding. "I wish we still had those juice boxes." He paused, glancing at Louis, "What about you, tough guy? Got anything?"
Louis checked his baggy jeans with the big pockets, feeling only a few items and his knife. "No," He pouted, "I'm sorry."
"Damn," Alvin frowned.
"The man did say he had some food, though," Louis perked up.
Alvin looked at the small station, "Do y'all mind checkin' it out?" He asked, turning back to them. "Maybe we could spend the night here." He pondered, "A little small for us, though."
Rebecca smirked from behind her, "You could use a little downsizin'." She joked.
Alvin smiled, "You're one to talk."
Rebecca softened, looking at her husband with renewed fondness.
"Sure," Clementine replied, shrugging. Her eyes followed after the guy who sat down next to his wife. "You don't have to come, Louis. I know how worried you are of Nick," Clementine told the boy, softening her glare.
Louis rubbed his arm. "You sure?"
"Yeah. You can just check up on the others. I'm gonna see if I can find the food," She said.
Louis nodded. "Okay... Well, if you insist."
"Thanks, Clem," Alvin then said, appreciative. Clementine refused to roll her eyes. They could never do anything, could they?
"Let me know if you find anything cool in there," Louis says when she withdraws away from him, feeling cold in the warmth of the sunny sky. He sees her turn to him and nods solemnly, indifferent. Not a smile was seen.
Louis deflated. So much for seeing her smile again today... How long will this journey be?
How long until everyone slowly disappears?
Louis wasn't sure. After seeing the kind man die by the hand of one of the group members meant to be trusted, he wondered if the walkers were truly the bad guys in this world. So much violence was seen, and most of it was from the living.
And him? He was only 13. Already, he had to see what not even a sane person should. Blood, guts, and everything else in between... Everything that smudged the soil with the ruby stain of war. Within himself, he knew that this time with his new friends wouldn't last. Time would waste them away, and he would be forced to witness it all.
Louis looked at Nick sitting on the bench.
The worst thing was... He won't be able to comfort Clementine. Not enough. Not enough for her to genuinely be happy again. Granted, he'd never seen her fully happy. She was often a serious and sad individual. But he liked to picture her happiness, at least, to what it was before the world became hell.
He hoped... Even if that hope flickered sometimes, that he would get to see her happy. Maybe one day, a different day where not everything was ruins and blood, he could be blessed by it.
But for now...
He stopped in front of Nick, and the man glanced up.
He would have to shed blood, sweat, and tears for it.
"They're probably talking about me right now," Nick muttered, glancing over where Luke and Carlos discussed. Nick looked at the trees in front of him squaring his shoulders, "'Luke'," Nick started, and Louis could tell he was imitating Carlos, "'He is becoming a danger to the group.'" He stopped to look at Louis's reaction, hoping for a smile.
Nick remained indifferent when he saw Louis's concern. He sighed. "Sorry. Shouldn't have made fun of him."
Louis looked back. "I dunno," He mustered up a small grin, "That was sort of a good impression."
Nick nodded. "At least you think so," He shook his head, and frowned. Deeply. Curious. "So who was that guy?"
Louis was taken aback by the troubled look in his eye.
"I swear, it looked like he was holdin' you guys up. I figured he was with Carver." He moved his hands in exasperated honesty.
Louis rubbed his head. "He seemed like a nice dude. He offered us food and everything."
Nick immediately became disheartened. Louis could've sworn a dull color replaced his brightness. "Damn," Nick said regretfully, "If... If Alvin's in front of me, he takes that shot." He tries to justify. Louis knows he is trying to find an excuse. But he honestly means no harm.
"What a fuckin' mess." He sighed out, shaking his head. A squeezing pain entered his body. Guilt, he realizes. He stares at Louis. "Maybe I am losing it. I don't know, anymore." He mumbles, empty.
Louis shook his head. "You were just trying to save us. It was an honest mistake. I know I make those all the time," Louis granted Nick a smile.
"But to the point where you take a life?" Nick asks him.
Louis kept his mouth shut.
Nick stared down at his hands. "I didn't think so."
"It wasn't right," Louis agreed, rubbing his arms, "But it was an act of violent nobility."
Nick looked at him.
Louis recalled back to the books of his past. "I read that in a book once! It was about a hunter and a princess. He saved her life, but he had to go to jail because he killed her father. Because the dad was being really mean to her and stuff," Louis furrowed his brow. "Even though the princess told him not to do it, he did it. Because he felt that her dad would kill her. But it was a mistake."
Nick sighed.
"He wanted to help. But it was a mistake."
"Sounds terrible," Nick said honestly.
Louis thought about it. "Yeah, maybe. But he was only trying to help. Noble violence, I remember the book saying." He paused. "Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe it was a bad thing."
"Louis," Nick closed his eyes. "I get it. I do. But I still killed him when I shouldn't have." He looked lost, "Nobody should die just because it makes it right. Life is all we've got. There are other methods of justice. Besides," He huffed, "If he was a good man... Then that makes me a murderer. You're trying to help me. But I know you don't believe yourself."
Louis looked sad. "Yeah. I know."
Nick nodded. "Thanks though. For trying," He held his stomach, deciding that talking about this would only make him even more somber than he already was. "God, I'm hungry. What time is it?" He asked.
Louis watched him look at his wrist and wither apart. "Damn." Nick said, and punched the bench, "Damn!"
"What's wrong?" Louis asked him, confused.
Nick cast him a dreary look. "I left my watch back at the Cabin. It was Pete's." He leaned down and placed his head on his hand, upset, "He gave it to me. It was the only thing I had left of him."
"Oh," Louis perked up, and immediately reached for his pocket, "You mean this one?" He asked, handing him the watch.
Nick looked at him in disbelief.
Louis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... I did some snooping when I shouldn't have. I just thought this watch was pretty neat."
"That's..." Nick took it from the boy and smiled, like really smiled, and clenched it. "Thank you," Nick told him earnestly and put the watch on, "This means... Thank you." He stopped to stare at his watch, still smiling.
Louis smiled brightly. "It was my pleasure!" Louis smirked, "Maybe I should start snooping more..."
"You know what?"
Louis inclined his head, distracted from his mischievous thoughts.
"I'm gonna go talk to them," Nick said, standing now with renewed vigor. He nodded his head at Louis as he walked past, "Thanks again, Lou. I owe you."
Louis waved at him. "Gummy worms are preferable," He grinned.
Nick snorted and walked off. "Sure man."
"I'm so sure," Louis replied, but he was already out of earshot. It made Louis falter a bit and look around, alone. But not really alone. He could see Clementine searching from the open door. Maybe he could join her.
"You okay, babycakes?"
Louis looked away from Clementine to spot Rebecca looking at him from the fallen log. "You look upset," She tells him, frowning, motioning him to come closer.
Louis walked towards her with a sad smile. "I'm okay. What about you?" He looked at her stomach, remembering, "You look a lot more tired than anyone else here."
Rebecca moved a tad to let him sit next to her. And he does. "I'm alright. I just need a little rest." She assures him and holds her stomach. A habit, Louis takes notice of.
Alvin rose an eyebrow, "And some food."
Rebecca closed her eyes, exasperated. "Alvin."
"The man said there was food," Louis tells them both, swinging his legs back and forth, "We'll find some."
Alvin nodded. "At least that man was good for somethin'. A shame he had to die, though."
"Yeah..." Louis muttered. "Clementine is pretty good at finding stuff. I should go help her."
Rebecca smiled at Alvin knowingly. Alvin shook his head.
"Yeah, maybe you should go, hon. I'm sure she'll appreciate the company." She tells the boy, eager.
"I'll go with ya," Alvin says, "Just so, you know," Alvin shrugs, "No weird stuff happens."
Louis gets off the log and issues him a curious look. "Like the smelly's?" He asked.
Alvin blinks. "Oh," He nods his head, "Yeah, of course. Gotta make sure y'all are safe."
"But it's inside a house. We're fine."
"We can never be too sure." Alvin tells him, "Now come on, tough guy. We ain't got all day."
Louis looks at Rebecca, confused. Rebecca merely smiles and shoos him off, which only further confuses him.
[. . .]
Clementine and Louis stared at the new weapon they found in genuine interest while they left Alvin to admire the little food they found in the small station.
Holding it out with her small hands, Clementine raised it above her head and experimented with a few swings, smiling in satisfaction from its firm grip. She handed it to Louis so that he could test it out for himself, watching carefully as he tried a few strokes himself.
"It's pretty dandy!" He says, and lowered it to eye level to examine the steel, "And strong!"
Clementine nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. It's good enough to knock some walker heads."
Louis smiled and handed it back for her to place it in its black scabbard, "It's a pretty big knife, I think it's more than useful. What else did you find?" He asked and huddled close to her with a curious glint in his eye.
She shrugged. "An old cot, busted radio..." She stopped and looked at the chest, open, "And the food."
"Speakin' about food," Alvin interrupted, and the two kids looked at the man, "There's not a lot of food here."
"We know," Clementine says.
Alvin frowned. "Y'all know that Rebecca is eatin' for two. You think you can keep this between us?" He asks, and this prompts Clementine to scowl.
"What do you mean?" Louis asked, raising an eyebrow, "What about the group?"
Alvin sighs. "I know, I know. I'm just... Worried, you know? Rebecca needs this more than the rest of us."
Clementine shook her head. "The whole group should decide."
Alvin nods, "I know, you're right. I don't mean to go against the group. It's just... hard right now," Alvin admits. "As a father, I gotta keep my wife and child in priority first."
Louis deflated. "Yeah. We know." He looked at Clementine who looked at him, "We understand."
Alvin smiled. "Thank you, you two. I'll take your word for it, first. I'm glad y'all are with us," He saddens, "It's a shame. Nick was a good guy. He still is a good guy, but he's just losin' it. God help us now." He murmured and turned around to grab the food. "Tough is all we gotta be now."
"Yeah..." Louis muttered, and looked outside to see the rest of the group, "I guess so."
Alvin smiles at the two. "Y'all make one helluva team, y'all know that?" He said, stopping by the door.
Louis brightened. "We do, don't we? We're team Awesome." He winks at Clementine.
Clementine rolled her eyes.
Alvin chuckled, "Reminds me of myself at your age," He looked at the window to spot his wife, "One hell of a guy."
"Agreed!" Louis said.
Then, the atmosphere changed completely when deep groans erupted from a distance.
Alvin stopped, narrowing his eyes in disbelief, "The hell is that?"
And the two kids walk forward, cautious, suspenseful. And then they pale, widening their eyes, "Walkers," Clementine whispers, and Alvin bolts out the door.
Louis and Clementine follow closely behind, "Walkers!" Louis shouted, stopping himself before bumping into Luke.
"Yeah," Luke said, stern, "We saw. We gotta move," He nods his head at the hill, "Up."
And the group had run.
[. . .]
Dusk arrived before the hasting breaths of the exhausted individuals could. The twilight sparkle of the moon began to rise in the sky, and through tired shaking steps, the dispersed set of people trotted on the slightly steep terrain, allowing the twinkle of the stars to drench their body in setting light.
Straying behind, Clementine held Louis's hand, looking up at the seats and the enormous ski lodge that awaited their arrival. She stared indifferently, ignoring the depletion of her legs and the strain on her arm from the partial drag of her friend. Another temporary stay... And she couldn't help but wonder why the bad feeling in her gut wouldn't go away.
"Clem..."
Clementine turned wearily towards Louis, who rubbed his eyes and tried to catch up to her pace, "I'm tired..." He muttered, looking sad.
Clementine stopped briefly, unaware of Luke behind them. "C'mon Louis. We're almost there," She told him, and she wouldn't admit that if it wasn't for him holding her too, she would fall.
Louis sighed. "Why do we have to keep walking so much...? This is so dumb," He complained, though he already knew the answer. He was much too faint to reason with himself.
Clementine remained silent. She figured he was only complaining because of his state. She would be too if she didn't find it tiring to complain as well.
Forward from them, Nick, with his rifle ready, along with Carlos who crouched beside him, waited in a corner, staring at the front doors of the lodge.
Rebecca came up from behind them, weak and tired, holding her stomach. "...Well?" She huffed, moving her hands as she continued climbing, "What are we waiting for?"
Carlos glanced at her, "We have to be careful."
Rebecca placed her hands on her hips and stared, incredulous, "Careful?" She asked, breathless, "We've been on the road for five days. My back is done bein' careful."
Alvin, who seemed fine, walked past the two overworked adults and eyed the boarded windows. "Doesn't look like anybody's home," He said. He stopped at the door that was also blocked, "Damn. Nailed down tight."
Clementine fell with Louis when he gave up and sat himself down. She yelped a tad, but didn't complain, and allotted Louis to lean on her when she composed herself beside him. The warmth he gave helped her out.
As the others looked around, the two kids sat alone by an equally tired Sarah. One of them fell asleep partially, while the other stared vacantly out the exceeding mountain.
They sat there, together, recuperating, glad for the small moment of peace. Louis took that opportunity to snuggle closer towards her, wrapping his arms around one of hers.
Luke took notice of it and smirked. "Y'all tired?"
Clementine stared at him dryly. "We've been walking non-stop for almost six days. What do you think?" She snapped, bored.
Luke laughed. "I was just askin'," Luke replied, lighthearted.
Clementine said nothing and merely stared at him. She had a hunch he was going to ask her for another favor.
Luke turned away from the two kids to gaze beyond the Mountain with them. His eyes squinted after a moment, and he walked closer toward the edge of the balcony.
Clementine was too tired to even care about whatever he saw. She preferred to sleep now. Yes, sleep sounded like a great idea...
"I'm hungry," Louis suddenly said.
Clementine's eyes widened and she stilled. She relaxed after a second's notice when the voice didn't sound in danger. "So am I," She whispered to him, and her sleep let in some room for her hunger.
"Do you think we'll find some food here?" He asked, and removed his head from her shoulder to look at her.
Clementine noticed the sleep in his eyes that reflected her own when she turned her head to look at him. "I don't know," She answered honestly, tilting her head to look at the others, "Someone probably took it all." She sighed.
Louis sighed as well. "This sucks. We're always left with the scraps." He paused, looking at Luke, "We should ask Luke if he has any more food."
Clementine contemplated. "No," She decided, faltering, "He gave us all of his food when we were walking back at the bridge, remember? Besides, it would be mean if we kept bugging him," She whispered, feeling guilt.
Louis frowned and nodded. "Yeah..." He glanced at Sarah, "Are you okay?"
Sarah stopped staring at the wood on the ground to look at Louis alarmingly. "I-I'm fine. Why?" She asked, confused.
Louis shrugged. "We're all pretty busted. So I thought..."
Sarah relaxed. "No, I'm... I'm okay." She stopped to look at Clementine. "What about you two?"
Clementine looked at Sarah. "Super tired," Louis replied for both of them. Clementine couldn't agree more.
Sarah's shoulders sagged. "Yeah. I want to sleep and eat. But..."
Clementine ignored the rest and instead looked at Luke again. He stood there, trying to look at the mountains...
The grown man turned around and walked towards the children. Clementine braced herself to do whatever he was about to ask her to do.
"Louis," He coughed awkwardly on his fisted palm, making Louis regard him, confused, "Mind uh... Giving me a hand? It'd be good to know if anybody's actually back there—"
Louis brightened. "Sure!" He said and stood up, though winced when his legs protested the movement. Luke smiled warmly at the boy and gave a thumbs up to the two girls. Clementine rose an eyebrow while Sarah got back to brooding.
Walking back to the edge of the balcony, Louis practically leaned over to see. All he saw were trees.
Luke noticed. "Could probably get a better view from up top. You'd have an easier time gettin' up there. You feel like takin' a look?" He offered, pointing at a white ladder.
Louis gulped. "Uh... Sure..." He told him, completely unsure. He... hated heights.
Walking beside Luke, Louis tried not to imagine unrealistic scenarios of him dying. It was proven worthless when he stared up at the ladder, completely shitting his pants, upon arrival.
And then he heard Clementine's footsteps.
They both turned, "I'll do it," She replied, monotone, staring at the adult.
Luke seemed confused. "What?"
Clementine looked at Louis. "He hates heights." She explained simply.
"Oh," Luke scratched the back of his neck, "Uh, sorry kiddo. Didn't know."
Louis crossed his arms, "It's fine. I could do it."
"No," Clementine walked past him and began climbing the ladder, "You can't."
"Oh, phooey," The child grumbled. Luke was perplexed.
"Well... Alright then," Luke mumbled, worriedly watching the smaller child climb.
Louis was now scared for Clementine.
Slowly but surely, she began to climb. The first few steps were easy, Louis could catch her. But when she reached the middle...
"Careful!" Luke cried when Clementine missed a step and slipped a tad.
Clementine scowled. "Yeah, I know!" She replied, stressed.
Luke winced.
Louis was beginning to have a panic attack.
"You know, now that I look at this," Luke began, grim, "I realized how stupid I was."
Louis quirked an eyebrow. "What?"
Luke kept his eyes glued to Clementine's small form. "When I was a kid we used to jump rooftops downtown. I had one helluva blast during those times."
"Sounds dangerous," Louis said with a sparkle of joy in his eyes.
"Sounds stupid," Clementine replied.
Luke chuckled. "Yeah... Yeah, it was." He paused, "The trick was not to look down though." He informed. This irritated Clementine more.
Louis blinked. "But we always look down. It's like, instant." He said.
"Instinct!" Clementine corrected.
"Right," Louis replied.
Both males jumped in fear when Clementine missed another step and yelped.
"Whoa, whoa!" Luke said, stretching out his arms, "You're fine, just look at me! You're fine! Just... ease it down for a second!"
Clementine groaned, "You just told me not to look down!"
Luke faltered and looked to the side, thinking. "Uh... Right."
"She does have a point," Louis said.
Luke sighed.
After a few mere moments of silence and the sound of Clementine's shoes hitting metal, Louis was relieved when she made it to the top.
He heard a brief call from her that alerted them that she did, which made Louis smile.
"See anything?" Luke asked, unable to see her.
Louis couldn't either. He cursed to himself when he began to overthink.
"Just the bridge!" She answered.
Luke and Louis began to hear some commotion.
"Wait!" Clementine said, and Louis started panicking when Luke told him to stay and watch her, "I see something! Lights?"
"Clem?" Louis yelled, anxiously looking at where she stood and then towards the group that now had three new members, "I-I think you should come down quick!"
Clementine set her binoculars down and felt her heart plummet. She looked downward, "What?" She asked, and looked towards the ski lodge.
"I think we're in trouble!" He exclaimed, alarmed, "There's—"
"I'm coming!" Clementine said after she had already started coming down, "Hold on!"
"Hurry! I think one of them has a gun!" Louis cried. Oh no. He's panicking. Not good. Not good.
Clementine jumped the last few steps and stumbled into Louis, who, despite his state, calmly caught her and began running to the lodge with her.
"This is scary!" Louis admitted, slowing down behind the group.
"Listen, everyone, just stay calm..."
"Who are you!? Are you trying to rob us!?"
"Excuse me honey but do I look like a fucking thief?"
"Come on," Clementine said, pushing through them slowly, wondering why she recognized the barking voice, "We need to see what's going on."
"They'll shoot us!" Louis hissed.
"Everyone calm down."
"Hey man, you calm the fuck down!"
"Sarah, get behind me!"
Clementine said nothing as she reached the center of it all with Louis closely behind.
"Just tell us who you are."
"We ain't here to rob nobody. Put the gun down, man."
"Fuck that!"
Clementine stopped. Louis did too, bumping into her. What...?
And then the area became quiet.
With wide eyes and a heart that pulsated hope with more vigor than before, Clementine gazed at the man she thought died along with the others so long ago.
In turn, the man with the long beard and signature worn, orange cap stared back with equal shock, perplexed and disbelieving.
Slowly, he lowered his gun, orbs set in a sparkle of flabbergasted delight, recognizing the small frame of someone he once knew. The little girl that kept one of the closest friends he'd made alive. The little girl who had been given all his group could manage.
The little girl by the name of Clementine.
Around them, everyone stood, confused. Some still held their weapons up while others softened, unsure of how to process whatever it was that was going on.
Then, her, sweet, delicate, and broken voice pierced the bewildered silence.
"Kenny!?" Clementine whispered in blithe alarm.
"Wait," Luke said, shaking his head, "You know this guy?"
Clementine didn't reply. No, she was too surprised. Too confused. Too hopeful, to be able to. Fate was so cruel to her, that she couldn't process that who she saw in front of her wasn't dead, or an illusion. It was Kenny. One of the friends Lee had made.
She ran toward the man himself, engulfing him in a tight hug she thought she wouldn't ever get to give.
"Clementine?" Kenny said softly, returning the embrace with a father-like vigor.
Louis stood in place. Was this the man Louis saw in Clementine's drawing? "Clem?" Louis muttered softly, from the crowd, "Is that...?"
Clementine parted away from him with the biggest smile he'd ever see on her.
"Yeah," She said, and watched as Louis walked toward her, "This is Kenny."
Kenny smiled at him.
"Heya."
[. . .]
Louis wanted to explode in joy.
After Kenny had asked for Clementine's vouch for the group, the three individuals allowed them inside to settle. And inside, boy oh boy, Louis was in heaven.
The first thing he noticed was that it was warm. Cozy, and downright comforting. It made him instantly relaxed, and the aches on his legs were momentarily forgotten.
The second thing he noticed was how big it was. There was a second floor, and because this was a ski lodge, there were many rooms. He would get his own room here! He'd get to make one of them his playroom, even, as he had before.
And the last, and his most favorite, was how decorated it was with Christmas things.
It was homey, so homey in fact that it made him want to laugh and smile and everything a kid would want to do. It was colorful, full of life and spectacle, and it made his heart sprout with unattainable joy to see that his favorite holiday was put up in ruined, but complete display.
"You guys have a Christmas Tree?" Louis asked, jumping up and down a tad as he looked at it with awe.
Walter looked behind him and smiled. "Sure do! Would you want to take a closer look?" He asked, polite.
"Can we!?" Sarah walked forward. Carlos placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back, frowning.
"Not now Sarah," He said, and Sarah deflated.
Louis turned around and sighed, staying back. It would be rude if he went and touched the tree, he realized. These people barely knew him.
Walter looked a tad sad. "Please, make yourselves at home. You can leave your things over there," He informed kindly, inclining his head toward the clean bench by the front doors.
"The hell we will," Rebecca growled.
Nick looked away from Rebecca to glare at Kenny. "Yeah, I'm holdin' on to my rifle, thanks." He gruffed.
"You're our guests here. There's no need to worry."
Nick swerved on Kenny, "Tell him to put his gun down then."
Walter gives Kenny an anxious look, "Kenny?"
Kenny made a face. He glanced at Clementine with an eyebrow raised, and Clementine looked at Louis, asking the same.
Louis blinked and noticed the look on Kenny's face examining him in surprise. "Uh... They're cool," Louis said awkwardly, smiling.
Clementine smiled and looked at Kenny with a nod.
And Kenny said nothing as he descended the steps and placed his gun on the very bench Walter offered the cautious guests.
The rest followed. Clementine as well, depositing her purple backpack underneath.
She stood and bumped into Louis, who put his knife, picture, and camera on top of her precious bag. "Sorry," He apologized, smiling.
Clementine smiled back. "It's okay." She looked at Kenny and then back to Louis, "Come," She told him.
Louis yelped a tad when she pulled him with her.
[. . .]
The two kids stopped following after the group when they noticed the pretty Fire Place lighting up a section of the lodge that reminded them of their old homes, eyes sparkling in wonder.
Kenny, who had stopped with them, smiled warmingly at the children's faces.
"It looks so cool!" Louis addressed, walking toward it with light dancing in his eyes, "It feels like actual fire..." His hand reached forward just enough to feel it, not burn him.
Clementine sat down on the sofa, "That's because it is," Clementine said.
Louis walked back to her and sat down with her, "Um, sure, I knew that." He lied. Clementine gave him a dry look.
Kenny had sat on the same sofa, opposite them. "You two sure seem close," Kenny said, smiling at the boy.
Louis smiled. "Clementine's my best friend." He said.
Clementine softened. Kenny's smile became wider when he saw her duck her head and mutter something.
He reached forward, "Still wearing this dirty old thing, huh?" He asked, tipping the hat downward.
Clementine shook her head and smiled.
Louis looked at it. "She's had it before?" He asked, curious. He figured she just found it when she met him.
Kenny nodded his head. "Back when this whole shitstorm started," He began, breathing in deeply, "She wore it as if her life depended on it," He stared at the hat.
Louis raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
Clementine shrugged. "My dad gave me this hat." She answered simply. Louis remained quiet.
"You know," Kenny began, too hopeful for his own good, "I half expected to see Lee walk up next to you."
Clementine stiffened. Louis grabbed her arm in support.
"You guys were like two peas in a pod."
And then as quick as Clementine's smile appeared, it vanished.
Louis was taken aback.
Kenny became crestfallen almost immediately afterward, "Oh shit... I didn't mean to—" He stopped, frowning, "It's just... hard not to think about it, you know?" He whispered, glancing at Louis in a saddened manner.
Louis frowned in return.
Clementine's heart ached. "...He saved me," She told, remembering.
Kenny looked tragically astonished, "I knew it. I knew he would," He closed his eyes and breathed in, melancholic, "That guy had a fire in him sure as shit." He opened them.
Louis felt Clementine lean onto him.
"Hell..." Kenny murmured. "He was a hell of a guy."
Louis and Clementine stared, silently waiting for him to continue.
Kenny's shoulders sagged, tired, "...When my son... Well... He took care of him." He looked at the fire, "I'll never forget that."
Louis bit his tongue from asking. By the looks of the older man, the topic of his son was a touchy subject. Louis was quite a fool whenever he asked personal questions. He'd often hurt people unintentionally because he caused them to remember.
He would hope he wouldn't do any of that again. He'll just ask Clementine all about it later. She always had answers for his curiosity.
Kenny gave Louis a tiny smile. "Where'd you end up?" Kenny asked Clementine, nodding towards Louis, "By the looks of it, you got yourself a new little boyfriend."
Clementine flushed and glared, "He's not my boyfriend." She muttered.
Louis tilted his head, sheepish, "Nope, not at all!" He cleared his throat, "I'm her best friend. She worships me," He smirked at her.
Clementine turned her glare toward him now.
He dropped his smug quickly.
Clementine sighed. Thankful that her flush gave away, she looked at Kenny, "After..." She stopped, thinking deeply, "After... I walked for a long time. I needed to find Omid and Christa."
Kenny nodded.
Clementine's frown unknowingly softened after a certain memory. "I had to pass the mansion places... And then—"
"She found me," Louis gave Kenny a sad smile.
Kenny frowned at the look on Clementine's face.
"Yeah, I did..."
"We were together with Omid and Christa," Louis said, saddened.
Clementine's vision clouded. "Omid... Well..." She stopped.
"He died," Louis told Kenny bluntly, "We were with them for a while until a girl came in and shot him in the chest."
Kenny's eyes widened.
"Christa was pregnant," Louis added, "And she lost the baby after Omid died. It was only me, Clementine, and Christa for a while afterward."
Clementine closed her eyes. "And then we got separated. Some guys caught us..."
Louis lamented. "She's gone..."
Kenny lowered sadly at them. "It sounds like it ain't been easy for you two. I'm sorry, kiddos." He said and meant it. "I wish I could'a found you two sooner."
Louis shook his head. "It's okay. People die a lot these days... I guess we hoped Christa would still be with us." He shrugged.
Clementine rubbed her arms, thinking about things. She looked at Kenny again, "Christa told us you were dead."
Kenny smiled, "I am! This is all a dream..." He pretended to look around the room, fantasized.
Louis and Clementine looked at each other in worry.
Kenny then laughed. "Sorry," He chuckled, making the two kids relax, "Bad joke." He hummed and let the grin on his features disappear, "For some reason, I tried to save that fuckin' shitbird, Ben..."
Louis glanced at Clementine. "Ben?" He asked.
"I'll tell you later," Clementine promised. Louis approved.
Kenny breathed. "It became a damn cluster," He resumed, reflecting on it, "Couldn't help the kid. But I got out." He shrugged.
Louis seemed uneased by his nonchalance. Clementine sensed it and gave a small pat on his hand that held her arm.
"Long story short, I got lucky. Real lucky." He pondered, and the neutrality on his countenance became melancholic, "I spent a long time alone after that. It uh..." He breathed in, regaining his pride.
"And then I met Sarita, thank god," He smiled at them, "Gosh, it's great to have you back. And it's great to meet you, Louis. I know you kept Clementine safe, and I'm thankful for that."
Louis's smile brightened, "My pleasure! It's super cool that I met you too! Clementine didn't talk about her past all that much, but I knew about you," He grinned.
Kenny laughed.
"Catching up?" A woman spoke, thick in the accent and gentle in tone.
The two kids looked behind Kenny, finding a small Indian woman with short hair holding onto his shoulder.
And with the brightest smile, Kenny turned to the woman and placed his hand on hers, "Kids, this is my girl, Sarita. Ain't she beautiful?" He asked them, turning with the same joy from earlier.
Sarita looked at the children, happy, "It is nice to meet you two. Louis and Clementine, was it?"
They nodded.
"It's cool to meet you too!" Louis said. Clementine waved at her.
Kenny turned toward the lunch tables, "Hey Walt, where's Matthew? He still out there rootin' around?" He called, curious.
Walt stopped to laugh, "Of course he is," He said, confident, and resumed walking, "Well, I'll start dinner."
Louis's stomach grumbled at the mention of dinner. "I'm hungry." He said.
Kenny laughed as Sarita left him to go talk to the other guests. "Don't worry kid, you'll get your supper soon enough." He promised, amused by his bluntness.
Louis grinned, and Clementine rolled her eyes.
"Well," Kenny sighed, "I have stuff to do." He nodded at them, "We'll talk later, alright?"
The kids seemed excited and agreed.
While Sarita left to go talk to Carlos and Kenny to bring in supplies with Nick and Luke, the two kids sat alone on the sofa, tired.
"I'm hungry too," Clementine then said, laying back on the sofa, copying Louis, "Walter said he's starting dinner."
"We should go check it out," Louis grinned at her.
Clementine stared at him. "You're just trying to get a portion before everyone else," She exposed, bored.
Louis pouted. "Is that bad?"
"Super bad."
Louis sat up and poked her arm, "Oh come on, Clem, please? I promise I won't ask for any!" He grinned.
Clementine groaned. "Fine, but if you do I'm gonna take away your knife. And your camera."
"Ugh, fine, deal."
[. . .]
Walter smiled when he saw the two kids approach. "Hey, you two. Settling in well enough?" He asked them, stirring the beans in the pot.
Louis's mouth watered at the scent.
"Yeah, thanks," Clementine answered for them, polite. She glared and elbowed Louis when he kept staring at the pot.
He winced and blinked, confused, until he realized what Clementine was hinting at. "Oh! Yeah, we're doing cool! Thanks," Louis replied, sheepish.
"Excellent," He complimented, "Wanna help me prepare dinner?"
"Boy, do I!" Louis clapped his hands.
Clementine rolled her eyes.
Walter chuckled. "If you don't mind, could you bring me the salt over by those tables over there?" He pointed at a dark area, "It would be a great help."
"Sure!" And Louis was off.
Clementine looked at the pot, confused as to what was in there.
"So how do you know Kenny?" Walter asked, hoping to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. "He and Sarita have been a huge help. Matthew and I barely knew what to do around here the first few weeks."
Clementine looked toward where Louis was searching for the condiment. "We're... old friends. I met him after it happened," She said vaguely.
Walter nodded with a frown. "When he was with Lee? Yeah, he only told us a little."
Clementine sobered.
"Connecting with people is so important," He said, pointing at her, "I don't know what I'd do without Matthew." He turned to the side when he saw Louis running to him with the small container full of salt, "It's what keeps us motivated."
Clementine saw Louis stop beside her and hand over the salt.
"Here!" Louis said, smiling.
Walter took it gratefully, "Thank you, Louis." He thanked, salting the... beans.
"You two remind me of my students," Walter admitted, setting the salt down sadly.
Louis tilted his head. "We do?" He asked.
Walter agreed. "I can't imagine what it's like growing up in the middle of all this," He stated, grimacing as he stirred the beans once more.
Louis shrugged.
Clementine narrowed her eyes. "Everyone underestimates us." She said, cold.
"Yeah," Louis accepted. "It's kind of annoying."
"I'd expect you to use that to your advantage," Walter suggested.
Clementine looked to the side and crossed her arms.
Louis shrugged once again. "We do." He admitted.
"Sometimes," Clementine continued.
Walter smiled at them. "Smart."
Louis smiled even bigger. "Thanks!"
Walter chuckled a tad and mixed the beans one more time. He paused, scooping only a slight handful, humming when he placed the food in his mouth, "Almost done. Would you two honor me in tasting the first course?" He asked them, still holding the spoon full of beans.
Louis was vibrating.
Clementine sighed. "Louis would want to. I can wait until everyone gets some," She said.
Louis kept jumping.
"You sure?" Walter asked her, pouring a bit of the food on Louis's excited hand.
Clementine watched Louis eagerly eat the tiny beans, "I'm sure," She said.
"Well alright then," He complied.
"Are those peaches?" Louis asked him, pointing at another pot full of yellow fruits while munching the food.
"Sure are," He said, handing him the can.
Louis took the empty can and examined it. "Hey, Clementine, look," Louis almost shoved the can in her face, "It looks like you!" He swallowed the food.
Clementine blinked. "Oh... Yeah, it does," She smiled at him.
Walter laughed. "Any way you two, I'll take it from here. Thanks for the help," He said, grinning.
"No problem," Louis replied. Clementine just stared.
And the kids remained when Walter picked up the pot of hot beans and moved it elsewhere.
"Well then," Louis said, feeling accomplished, "What should we do now?" He asked.
Clementine could've sworn an objective appeared in the corner of her eye. She ignored it, "I dunno." She said. "What should we do?"
Louis tapped his chin in contemplation. Then, he perked up, "Explore the lodge, duh!" He said.
Clementine furrowed her brow. "Um, sure. But—"
"Come!" He grabbed her arm, and as she did to him earlier, he dragged her along with a yelp.
[. . .]
"I haven't seen one of these since..."
"Before?" Louis finished for her, staring at the tree.
"...Yeah," Clementine murmured, her beautiful hazel eyes reflecting the gorgeous colors of red and green.
"I had a big one of these," He stopped, scrutinizing the tree, "Bigger than this one."
Clementine looked at him. "Really?" She asked.
Louis smiled, saving the image of this tree in his mind. "Of course. My family..." He stopped and frowned, looking down, "During Christmas, they'd go all out. A lot of my family members came to visit. I was always forced to wear a suit," He shook his head, "I hated it."
Clementine became gloomy.
"But, the only thing I really loved about those parties were the Christmas decorations. It made me feel hopeful," He turned his gaze to her. "Plus, they were pretty awesome looking in my room."
Clementine hummed.
"Hey Louis," Sarah greeted, turning to her two friends with a big smile, "And Clem!"
Clementine waved as Louis stepped forward, "Hi," He said, and pointed to the tree, "Nice tree!"
Sarita chuckled. "Thank you, Louis. Would you two like to help?" Sarita bent down and grabbed an ornament, "Here Sarah, you take this and string them up over there," She instructed, handing Sarah the decorations.
Louis quickly gave Clementine another smile before bending down himself and picking up a green one.
Clementine smiled back.
"You knew Kenny before me," Sarita told the kids, "It must be incredible to see him again."
Louis placed the object on the tree. "Actually, Clementine knew him. She's only told me stories," He corrected.
"Oh," Sarita blinked, "Well," She smiled sadly, "When I met him... He's very different now. But you must be glad, Clementine." She said.
Clementine paused to look at Louis. Louis felt her eyes on him and stopped to look back. "Did he say anything about before?" Clementine asked hesitantly.
Sarita's shoulders sagged. "No," She said, and reached into the tree to fix the hanging sparkles, "He won't talk about before I met him."
Clementine looked at the tree again. "Oh."
Louis turned around and gave her a pink adornment. "Come on," He said, "Don't make Sarah and I do all the work," He joked. The smile he wore radiated immensely.
It was quite contagious. "Okay," She answered simply, taking the object he was handing her and placing it on the tree when she got close.
Louis flicked her hat, "Was that so hard?"
Clementine smacked his arm away. "Don't push it," She told him sternly.
"Hehe..."
Sarita sighed contently and looked at the tree. "Perfect," She said, "Now we just need the topper."
"We can go get one!" Louis volunteered.
"We always had an angel on top of our tree," Sarah voiced.
Clementine said nothing.
"My family didn't celebrate Christmas, but I still love the decorations," Sarita informed.
"For sure," Louis agreed, "The decorations make anything awesome. It brings life."
"Precisely," Sarita murmured.
"Come on," Louis murmured to the girl beside him, pulling her with him, "Maybe the topper's upstairs."
Clementine, silent as ever, followed him.
[. . .]
"It's crazy. Why would they follow us this far?"
Louis froze upon hearing Rebecca's fatigued voice and turned to Clementine, troubled.
Clementine's eyebrows knitted together, and walked ahead herself, pulling Louis along until they reached the top.
"We can't be sure," Carlos replied.
The kids paused momentarily to take witness to the three adults huddled together by a bed, and walked up to them.
"It's been a week man. We gotta be outta the woods." Alvin grunted, shoving his hands in the pockets of his warm jacket.
Carlos crossed his arms, "We can't be sure. They might be tracking us."
Louis felt his heart accelerate. Tracking? Could those people do that?
Alvin looked flabbergasted. "Trackin'? What do you think they are, ninjas?" He asked, incredulous.
Rebecca's glare softened when she looked at the kids. "Clem, Luke said you saw some people in the valley?"
Alvin issued Clementine a skeptic's look, "People? Way down there? How?"
"She's got binoculars, genius."
A pause.
Then, "Yeah, yeah..."
"She saw lights," Louis answered them, scratching his head. "Probably flashlights."
"They were moving around a lot," Clementine further clarified.
Carlos gave the two adults frightened looks. "We have to assume they are back there." He frowned, "We cannot take any chances. We leave at dawn."
Upon hearing his words, Louis's merry delight died down quickly, and once again, his childish fantasies were replaced with real-life horrors. He thought he'd get to enjoy this time peacefully, but alas, he recognized that there wouldn't be peace anymore in his life if he kept constantly fighting for it.
"But we're safe here for tonight, right?" The pregnant woman asked. She looked at the two men around her for answers.
But they remained silent.
And Louis took that as a challenge. "Yeah, the people here are super nice," He answered, attempting a smile. "Walter makes super good food, and Sarita is super nice. I like Kenny more though because he's one of Clementine's old friends."
Carlos processed the little boy's words. He turned to Clementine, "What do you think, Clementine? Louis favors them. You didn't tell them anything about us, did you?"
Louis glared at the doctor.
"We have to be careful. They could be hiding something." Carlos said while looking at the boy with sad eyes.
Clementine shook her head. "No. He mentioned someone else, that's all. I don't think I can trust him," She answered honestly.
Louis felt a little foolish now.
"But he doesn't seem like a threat."
Louis felt a little less foolish now.
"Someone else?" Carlos furrowed his brows, "Who?"
"Some dude named Matthew," Louis responded. "His friend I think."
Alvin let out a huff. "Look, I don't care what that man said, we're stayin' here tonight." He demanded, placing his hands on his hips in an aggressive nature.
Carlos didn't say otherwise. "Just talk to the rest of them. They trust you both. See what you can find out," He ordered gently with a wave of his hand, "I'm going to go find Luke."
And then Carlos was off, walking down the stairs that were no longer filled with joy in Louis' eyes. Something dark settled within him. And it seemed Clementine took notice of it.
Before Clementine could ask, however, the voice of a dizzied Rebecca spoke, "Honey, I don't feel so good," She whispered, holding onto her head.
The kids turned to the pregnant lady, alarmed.
"Bec, what's wrong?" Alvin asked, crouching down.
Rebecca slouched forward, "I just need something to drink," She said, breathless.
Alvin nodded, quickly standing up, "You got it. I'll be right back," He assured.
And as quick as he promised, he drifted downstairs.
Louis walked toward Rebecca, "Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
Rebecca smiled warmly. "Just got a little dizzy," She told him.
Clementine didn't believe her.
Rebecca's smile fell. "I can't even take care of myself. How am I supposed to raise a child?"
Louis glanced at Clementine, uneasy.
"I mean, how can anyone now?"
Clementine shook her head. Louis looked at Rebecca again.
"Everything is so fucked up."
"It's not gonna be easy," Clementine said bluntly.
"But it's not impossible," Louis added. "You're a strong mom, ma'am. Your baby's gonna be super strong too," He grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
Rebecca chuckled. "Thank you, you two." She sighed, "I know it's gonna be hard."
Clementine and Louis saw Rebecca place her hand on her stomach.
"But at the same time..."
Rebecca rubbed her belly, and Louis watched, reminded of his mother when she was pregnant, "I already feel a little less lonely."
Louis couldn't understand why the sight of her filled him with melancholy and happiness all at once. Maybe he was happy another person would join. Maybe he was sad that said person wouldn't entirely survive for long in such a place.
Maybe he was sad over all the little hope that was whisked away with a single action throughout his life.
"Because I know that no matter what happens," She smiled at the children, "I'll get to meet someone new."
Clementine offered one of her own. Louis beamed, "I hope it's a boy! He'd be like my little brother!" He said, eager.
Rebecca laughed at Louis's enthusiasm. Her smile almost reached her eyes. "She's kicking. Want to listen?" She asked them both, moving her hand to the side.
"Can we?" Louis whispered.
Rebecca nodded, and Louis, along with Clementine, stepped forward and reached for the woman's bulging stomach. They crouched down and placed their head against it, waiting. At first, Louis didn't really feel anything, but upon waiting, he could faintly feel the light kicks of the little one.
"Woah..." He muttered, moving his head away, "She kicks hard."
Clementine nodded, "That's so cool," She said uprightly, smiling.
Rebecca chuckled. "She's gonna be a runner."
Louis could tell that for sure. He questioned if it was meant to be as a childish type of run, or the run that happened when life was in danger. He decided to push the negative thoughts aside to let instead the happy ones roam free. A baby was meant to be a happy thing.
Instantly, the laugh that was previously on Rebecca's face wiped away to sadness. She sniffled all of a sudden, bringing her hand up to wipe at her eyes and hide her face.
Clementine felt it coming.
"What's wrong?" Louis asked softly, confused.
Rebecca exhaled shakily and looked at them, eyes becoming a tad red. "If he finds out it's not his, he'll kill me." She muttered, desperate.
Louis's eyes widened. Immediately, he turned to Clementine, who he found was staring at the pregnant woman wistfully.
"I don't know what to do..."
Louis blinked and looked at Rebecca again.
"I can't believe I'm asking children for advice." She sighed, "But I guess nothing is weird anymore."
"What?" Louis muttered in disbelief, "He wouldn't do that!"
Clementine rubbed her arm, "He won't kill you." She said, confidently gazing at the woman.
Louis seemed shocked that Rebecca would think such a thing. Alvin is nice, and the little boy knows he loves her to his dying breath. Alvin isn't the man she thinks he is, at least, by desperate standards.
Before Louis could get any word in, however, Alvin came up, holding him from saying anything else.
Rebecca noticed before he did, though. "There's my man," She said, delivering a smile as Alvin parted the two kids in his way to go to her.
"You all right, baby?" He examined her, handing her the bottle of water lovingly.
Rebecca stood and took it, "I'm fine you big dope," She cooed.
"Just need to get some food in you," Alvin told her.
Clementine walked to Louis as Alvin pampered Rebecca with affection, deciding to ignore the gross actions of adults. "Let's go find the topper," Clementine reminded Louis, tugging at his sleeve. Already, he was growing taller than she. She could've sworn a week ago he was her exact height. Now he was only a few inches higher.
Louis gave her a brief nod.
"Thanks for stayin' with her, y'all," Alvin suddenly mentioned, giving the two kids his signature dopey smile.
"No problem, sir!" Louis addressed.
Alvin looked across the lodge, "Can you go ask that Walter guy when we're gonna eat?" He asked them, concerned.
"Sure thing," Louis answered, and walked backward, tripping on a box.
"Ouch," He muttered, holding himself onto the railing.
"Thanks," Alvin replied, turning back to Rebecca.
Clementine looked down. "I found the topper," Clementine told him.
"Huh?" Louis looked to where the innocent little box lay, "Oh, neat! Let's get the angel one Sarah wanted. It would look cool!"
Clementine said nothing when she picked up the porcelain topper colored of white and gold, and she also did not say anything when she heard Sarah's exclaim of excitement when she placed the delicate object onto the top of the tree. Instead, a warm feeling settled inside her when Louis had said that the angel reminded him of her, just with blonde hair.
"It looks nothing like me," Clementine ended up saying later when they descended the stairs, indifferent.
Louis didn't notice her happy mood. "Could've fooled me," Louis went on, "You're sort of a savior."
Clementine didn't think keeping him alive for selfish reasons was something a savior would do. Neither letting people die on her behalf. But she said nothing and hid the troubling memories once more.
"Honestly, it's dangerous to be this kind. But they can't help it." Sarita looked at the kids coming down the steps, and then an eager smile appeared on her aging features, "Wait until you meet Matthew. He's a real character."
Louis perked up.
"The first time we met he called me Rita. So I call him Matty now."
"That's nice," Louis said, sincere.
"It's kind of our little war," Sarita chuckled.
Clementine furrowed her brows. "What does Matthew look like?" She questioned, cautious. Louis was unsure why she asked that, but he speculated she thought of something he didn't.
Sarita pondered. "Oh, he's a handsome man. A little shorter than Walter." She paused, looking at the window, "He should be back soon."
Something told the kids that he wouldn't. As Louis ignored it, Clementine could not. Not when Nick had killed a man, and that man could've been him.
Sarita turned to the benches of wood propped by the door. "Clem..." A wary Sarita looked at her, "I wanted to ask you... Does Kenny seem different... to you?"
Louis paused from reaching an ornament upon hearing Sarita's question. Clementine stilled.
"I didn't know him before, and well..." She frowned, "I'm curious. He has good days and bad days like everyone else. But lately, I get the feeling he's... struggling," She muttered.
Clementine issued Sarita a blank glance. "He does seem different than I remember," She admitted.
Sarita became stoic. "In what way?" She asked.
Clementine spoke, "I'm not sure," And Sarita suddenly became depressed.
"He seems fine to me," Sarah whispered to Louis, and Louis rose an eyebrow.
"But you don't even know him," Louis said.
"You don't either," Sarah pointed out.
Louis hung the red ball on another branch. "But I don't know what to think of him. I have no idea if he's cool or not. Clementine said he is," He grinned at her.
Sarah pushed her glasses up her nose. "Good point..."
"Well you four have been busy," Kenny voiced, strolling through to greet the three kids and new partner.
Sarita turned, masking the look of surprise on her face to one of joy. "Kenny! Isn't it great?" She asked, and went to grab the box she was supposed to take somewhere else before she interrogated Clementine.
Kenny, of course, stopped her, "I got it, hon."
Sarita pulled it back, "I think I can manage, Ken."
Kenny grabbed it with only a tiny amount of force from her arms, insistent, "I said I got it."
The three kids remained quiet as he turned away and walked off, stunned by the sudden rough tone of the older man.
"Damn," Louis said.
"Swear," Sarah said.
Louis apologized.
In front of her, Clementine saw Sarita relax. "Always has to play the gentleman," She chuckled, seeming appreciative, "But I'll tell you, when I met him, he couldn't lift a fly."
Clementine side-stepped to allow Sarita to continue working on the pretty tree.
Louis left the few remaining colorful orbs for Sarah to finish to meet up with Clementine who was now walking off back into the cafeteria area. "That was weird," He whispered, slowing his speed when she stopped.
"Not so loud," The little girl scolded, glaring.
Louis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry! This place is worrying me."
Clementine lifted her eyebrows. "Is it because of the guys following us?" She asked voice laced with concern.
Louis sighed. "Maybe. But... I just can't shake the feeling that all this good stuff is going to go away," He muttered, crossing his arms. "Like... This is super awesome, don't get me wrong. It's been ages since I saw a Christmas tree. But seriously, everyone here doesn't like each other! Someone is going to snap, I swear."
"Not only that," Clementine eyed Walter setting down the bowls of food onto the benches, "But they keep talking about this Matthew guy. He's supposed to be back now I think," Clementine murmured.
"So?" Louis quirked his head.
"So," Clementine continued, "What if it was the guy Nick shot?"
Louis's eyes widened. "There's no way," He mumbled.
"Yes way," Clementine pointed to the door, "That Matthew guy was right by this big lodge. That could've been him. There's no way it wasn't."
Louis frowned, uneasy. "That's crazy. If it is, then we're screwed."
"Yeah, I know," She sighed, "We have to figure out if it's him or not."
Louis snapped his fingers, "Is that why you asked Sarita what he looked like?" He looked at the woman, "Because she might tell us if it was the dude?"
"Yeah," The little girl nodded, looking away when Walter lifted his head in their direction, "We can't be too sure."
"Gotcha," Louis said worriedly. He paused. His brown eyes were coated with fear. "What happens if it was him? What... What do we do then?"
Clementine shivered at the thought. "I don't know," She said, "But we'll figure something out."
Louis wasn't too sure about that.
"Well everyone," Walter called out, smiling and waving his hand from where he now sat on the tables, "Dinner is served! C'mon, let's eat!"
The two kids swallowed.
[. . .]
"We can't sit next to each other," Louis observed, frowning.
Clementine saw the two groups wave at the kids. "Yeah..." She looked at Kenny's table, "You think you'll be okay sitting at Luke's?"
Louis smiled kindly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Will you?" He inched a look at Kenny, "He seems pretty calm now."
"Yeah," Clementine smiled back, "Go eat with them, then tell me what they tell you."
Louis nodded.
And the two kids separated, satisfying both groups of elated individuals.
Louis apprehensively took his seat next to Luke, hearing the soft murmur of his voice call out to Nick.
"You okay man?" Luke asked the gloomy man, equally sad.
Louis crinkled his eyebrows together when he saw Nick deflate. "Yeah..." Nick whispered back, "I just... I wish I hadn't pulled that trigger."
"Just try to forget about it," Luke replied, sincere.
Louis looked between the two of them. Nick turned to the little kid. "You alright, kid?"
Louis smiled. "I'm okay. Just super hungry," He looked at the food in front of him, "It's super good. You guys are going to fall in love with this."
"Really?" Luke asked, chuckling, "Alright big man, I'll see for myself," He challenged, scooping a portion into his mouth.
Louis did the same, smiling cheekily with his mouth full when Luke nodded in appreciation.
He swallowed, "Not bad," He admitted, "To be honest, I thought this would've had a weird taste."
"Nah," Louis waved off, eating more, "It looks funny, but it's still pretty good!"
"True that," Luke agreed. There was a brief pause the adult took, assessing the faces surrounding them at the tables. He then turned his head back, glancing at Kenny. Luke's smile was instantly replaced with suspicion. "So what do ya make of 'im?"
Louis lowered his spoon onto the bowl. "Huh?"
"Clementine's friend," Luke picked up a spoonful once again, "Kenny."
Oh. This again. Louis rose an eyebrow. "I dunno. He seems pretty nice. Maybe a little hotheaded." He answered.
"Hotheaded?" Nick intervened, narrowing his eyes, "What do you mean 'hot-headed'?"
Louis sweated. "Earlier... I saw him get mad when the Indian lady didn't allow him to help," He murmured, "But that's it. He seems really good friends with Clem. And if Clem says he's cool, then he's cool."
Luke nodded slowly.
"Does he seem dangerous?" Carlos spoke up, making sure to keep his voice down so that the others wouldn't hear.
Louis shook his head, suppressing a groan. "He's just some guy Clementine's friends with."
"They seem too friendly to me," Nick said. "Accommodating random strangers in their home? A little suspicious."
Louis blinked dryly at him. "Or they're just super duper nice."
Nick grunted.
"Walter was tellin' me that his family died," Luke whispered, sounding melancholic.
Sarah shook, "That's horrible."
The whole table went silent at such dystopian news.
"Things like that can hit a guy pretty hard," Luke continued, sighing.
Louis seemed surprised. "Well, Clementine didn't tell me. I just know that she drew Kenny and his family on a piece of paper a long time ago," He looked at his almost empty portion, "There was a lady and a boy."
Luke grimaced.
"He lost his whole family?" Alvin breathed, shocked.
Louis took a chance to peek at Clementine. She was still conversing with the older man, seeing smiles on both their faces. "I guess so. His wife and kid," Louis answered. "Maybe that's why Clementine never liked talking about it. She only mentioned Kenny a few times." Louis gave the table a sad stare, and the others surrounding him gave him their full attention. "She was probably friends with the boy. I know she and the mom were sort of close. Apparently, she always kept the children safe, when the guys weren't around."
Alvin shook his head. "Man. I can't imagine losin' my wife and kid. I'd go mad." He turned to Rebecca, "I'd lose my purpose."
Rebecca grabbed his hand and squeezed.
"That's my point," Luke said sadly, "No man is fine if they lose their family. What if he snaps?"
Carlos took his time to answer, "Well, whatever happens, we must be ready to leave. If it is true that Clementine does trust this man, then that is good news for us. Either way, we are leaving at dawn."
Louis nodded slowly. "I forgot about that," He admitted. His stomach suddenly dropped. Louis eyed Clementine once more. "Do you think... Do you think she'd stay?" He murmured, anxious.
Luke and Nick took a look at each other.
Sarah slumped.
Alvin seemed disbelieving, and Rebecca had a kind smile on her face.
"I doubt that, hon." She told the little boy, who seemed pleasantly confused.
"Really?" He asked, "But the old dude knows her longer than me."
"You clearly haven't seen the way she acts around you kid," Alvin pointed out, "Y'all are like two peas in a damn pod."
Kenny said that about Lee and Clementine earlier. Two peas in a pod...
Did that mean they were inseparable? Would she really go with him, just like he would go with her anywhere?
He considered his words, contingent on them. He knew Clementine well, and he was saddened that she wasn't quite fond of the new group. Though, he could understand why. They locked her in a damn shed.
She would want to stay. The problem was, Louis would admit he'd feel sad if he saw the group leave. He'd had hoped...
His eyes cast a ravenous glance at the food in front of him. He heard people from the other table disperse, clearly finished.
He had yet to finish his part. "Sorry," Louis told the table, and stood up, grabbing his plate, "I'm gonna sit with Clem."
The now talkative group paused to give him a brief acknowledgment that they heard, and troubled, Louis eagerly scurried over to take a seat next to Clementine.
Clementine heard him approaching and turned her head with a small smile when he sat beside her.
"Hi," Louis said, timid.
"Hi," She greeted back.
"Well ain't this pretty."
Louis looked at Kenny. "Hi, sir." He waved.
"Heya kiddo. We were just talkin' about ya." Kenny said, shooting Clementine a playful look.
Clementine glared at him.
"Huh?" Louis tilted his head.
"Nothing," Clementine mumbled, pushing her empty plate away from her.
Louis looked at it in surprise. "You finished before me?" He asked, stunned.
Clementine crossed her arms. "I was hungry."
"So am I!" He stated. To emphasize, he devoured three spoonfuls in one go.
Kenny laughed. "Well, ya certainly weren't lyin' when you said this kid loves his food." The adult joked, nudging the extended hand of Clementine set on the table.
Louis issued a raised eyebrow in her direction. Clementine shrugged at him.
It was then when Luke and Nick decided to follow Louis, taking seats beside the two kids. Oddly enough, none sat next to the supposed stranger across from them.
Nonetheless, Kenny greeted them both with a kind smile. "Hey there."
Luke seemed surprised, only for a moment, before releasing a small smile of his own. "Hey," Luke replied. Nick merely nodded.
"Hope you like the food," Kenny said earnestly.
Luke seemed a tad uncomfortable all of a sudden, "Oh... It's... It's great. Thank you."
That didn't go unnoticed by the two kids.
Kenny didn't really mind, however. Clementine was surprised he didn't. "Peaches and beans." Kenny said, "Great for nutrition. Not great on the way out though, I tell ya," He wheezed, barking out a laugh upon seeing the two recoiled features of the adult males on the table.
Clementine made a face.
Louis wrinkled his nose, though Clementine couldn't tell if it was because he was holding in a laugh himself or disgusted by the joke as she was.
Either way, Kenny was having the time of his life. After his laughter subsided, he glanced at Luke and then at Nick once more. "So... It's Luke... and Nick. Luke and Nick. You guys sure do look like a match," Kenny stated as if saying something too obvious to let pass.
Luke snapped his head at him in mild confusion and repent.
Nick glared, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kenny waved it off, "I'm just sayin' you look like good friends, that's all."
Luke shook his head, seeming tired of the conversation.
The two took a look at each other and saw the tired look in both of their eyes.
Deciding to ignore the older man's jokes to avoid further trouble, Luke deemed him with moderate curiosity and wonder. "So what was your plan here?" Luke gestured around at the lodge, "Hold out for the winter?"
Kenny became serious after the considerably personal question. "Actually... we were thinkin' of movin' on. Somewhere up north." He replied. The wrinkled and broken eyes of a man who had it all and lost it all looked at the little kids sitting idly in front of him, ignoring the empty plates they both had pushed forward on the table. "You two ever heard of a place called Wellington?"
Luke frowned, "Wellington? The hell is that?"
Kenny's blank look became a scowl. "A place."
Luke glared, "What kind of place?" He asked, questioning where the elder was going with his speech.
"A good one, Einstein," Kenny remarked.
Louis and Clementine gave a nod. "Yeah," Louis said, tapping his fingers against the table, "Christa was going to take us there."
Kenny smiled at them. "Supposed to be a big camp up near Michigan," He added, and Luke relaxed upon hearing one of his questions answered.
Nick perked up, "Michigan?"
Kenny glowered, "You got a hearin' problem, kid? Yeah, Michigan. Think about it," He looked around at the table, "Freshwater, lots of land, and cold-ass winters so the walkers get slow."
Louis grinned at that. "That sounds pretty awesome, actually."
"Well, it sounds like bullshit to me," Nick hissed.
Clementine could feel the immediate anger that radiated off of Kenny from where she sat. And from Louis' constant worried glances, Clementine assumed he did as well.
Kenny issued a scathing death glare at Nick. "Listen, Vanilla Ice, I don't know what your deal is, but you're more than welcome to take off in the mornin'." Kenny snapped at him, sneering at the sheer audacity these morons had at disrespecting his plans.
Nick sneered back. "Well, that'd be just fine by me."
Louis resisted the urge to groan. It was like these adults did nothing but squabble!
Kenny turned to the kids, "What's the deal with these guys, Clem?"
Louis shrunk back a tad when he wasn't mentioned.
"Hey, fuck you, buddy."
Luke sighed. "It's fine, Nick. We're not stayin'."
"They're stayin'," Kenny hissed.
Louis and Clementine looked at each other, confused.
Luke did the same. "Wh—S'cuse me?"
"You heard me," Kenny sassed.
Clementine could see the flaring tension slowly elevate into conflict. Ignoring Louis's saddened look, the little girl shook her head and sighed. "Please... Don't fight." She said, sounding exasperated.
"Yeah," Louis crossed his arms, furrowing his eyebrows, "It's not cool to fight."
Kenny and Luke relented. Nick, among the quiet ones now, did the same.
Walter strolled up behind them wearing a frown of his own, clearly haven heard their argument. "Gentlemen, please. There's no need for this."
A fleeting silence ensued where only the angered grimaces remained.
"Now look, we've all had a long day." Walter said, suggesting the plates that remained with food in front of them with a flow of his arm, "Please, eat."
None had opted to pick up a single utensil after that. With the tension in the air being so thick it was nearly suffocating, the three males didn't find it in themselves to continue their pretending civility toward one another. In clarity, they'd broken it.
The two kids, always the poor ones lodged in between such stupid disputes, remained silent and clearly unhappy to be dealing with more baloney the adults liked to cause. At this point, Clementine was growing quite tired of having to tell everyone to remain calm. The only escape she had with all of this was when Louis distracted her, and even so, he couldn't do anything without anything or anyone being apprehensive of him.
It was irritating.
There was a tired grunt that came from in front of them. "Pass me that can, Duck."
Clementine's blood ran cold when Kenny registered the can in front of Louis, who, Louis, in puzzled worry, remained still to ponder who he was talking to.
It was then when Kenny gasped and realized his mistake, and the crestfallen look of a broken man had edged and engraved itself on the wrinkled face of a lost father.
Luke and Nick didn't seem to understand. "Duck?" Luke asked, looking around at the table, "Who's Duck?"
Louis kept silent, and Nick, beside him, softened the hardened look in his eyes at the sight of Kenny.
"Duck was his son..." Clementine murmured, quiet all while she eyed her old friend. Louis's eyes widened. In an immediate second, the tension was replaced with despair.
Luke's regret was eminent on his face. His orbs, wide and full of saddened realization, reflected an understanding that he cast on the older man. The fury of before dissipated, and now, silent, Luke sullenly sat to think about what'd he just said.
The two kids awkwardly shifted in their seats, feeling off-balance from such a revelation. Perhaps... Perhaps mentioning the boy was a bad idea.
Walter cleared his throat behind them. "Hey, uh... kids. Would you two lend me a hand outside for a moment?" He asked, uneasily glancing between the three males.
Louis was out of his seat immediately, going after Walter. Clementine followed right after him, sticking to him almost like glue.
Departing, Clementine snuck one last glance at Kenny.
Her heart broke upon seeing the resigned look in his eyes.
[. . .]
Outside, the cold seeped through his clothes and startled the little dread-headed boy. Because he was already so used to the warmth of the lodge, he hadn't expected the freezing winds that moved the loud wind turbine right outside. He thought because he'd been outside for five days getting little to no rest, he'd be used to it.
Turns out his miscalculated inference was a mistake.
"I'm sorry about that," The adult that came spoke uneasily behind them, grabbing the attention of the two children who'd walk out quite quickly from the scene.
Louis stopped rubbing his arms and, as always, waited beside Clementine as Walter caught up to them. Curiously, he peered at him.
"I used to be a teacher," He continued, looking at them sadly, "And I remember what it's like to be caught in the middle of two cliques."
Louis made a face. "Was it worse?" He asked him.
Walter sighed. "Believe it or not, kid arguments are tame compared to... Grownups."
The kids didn't argue with that.
"I'll suspect they'll find common ground soon." The balding man assured them, afterward upon seeing the tired looks on their faces. The kids knew not to believe him, though, because they'd seen far too many arguments end with more conflict. "It may take a little time, but that's just how these things work. Everything will be fine."
"I hope so," Louis huffed, placing both hands on his hips. "We've been dealing with a lot of arguments for no reason. It's annoying," He admitted, glaring at the soil below his feet.
Walter nodded and began to walk, assuming the kids would follow. They did. "I'm sorry you kids need to deal with these things. It's usually the children who suffer at the expense of the adults."
"No kidding," Clementine mumbled.
Walter frowned. "Even so, it's best to keep a level head. Things always work out in the end, one way or another."
Louis nodded at that, questioning if he should believe the wise words from the former teacher. His belief was partly that; perhaps, there was a reason behind it even if he'd lost so much. Maybe, he thought, in the end, things would make sense. Things would work out.
Clementine believed otherwise. Things often didn't work in her favor, so it was up to her to see the benefit or the consequence of any decision she made. Plans needed to be made before she could act hastily. Things became what they were. Not everyone was fortunate with good luck.
And luck... counted for a lot.
"Listen, relationships are like any machine." Walter started, smiling at the kids that now walked on either side of him, "You don't throw them out when they break down. You get your hands dirty and you grease the wheels."
Clementine said nothing. Louis just stared at him.
"What?" The boy said, quirking an eyebrow.
Walter chuckled. "It's a metaphor. It means you work out the problem, and you try your best to overcome it together."
Louis immediately snuck a peek at Clementine. Clementine didn't seem to be listening all that much.
"So," Walter smiled at them, and stopped walking, "What do ya say? Will you help me work on them?"
But then Louis' theory went out the window when she spoke. "We'll try." She shrugged.
Louis, for once, didn't feel like trying. Already, he felt tired, and the ache on his legs came back. He wondered at the moment if Clementine was experiencing the same thing.
"Atta' girl." Walter turned to Louis, "Louis?"
Louis pondered. Maybe when he wasn't so tired, he'd try to make Kenny and Luke see eye to eye. He sighed and mustered up a tired grin. "It's worth a shot."
"Wonderful. I'm glad."
"And I'm super tired," Louis said. He clamped his mouth shut when Clementine glared at his bluntness.
Walter laughed. "I'm sure you two are." He paused, discarding the proceeding words from his mouth. Then, "I'll tell you a little secret."
The kids regarded him curiously.
"They say the world is over, but guess what? It isn't."
The kids blinked. Was this guy mad?
"People are more political now than they ever were before."
The children continued to stare.
"In the end," Walter looked at the woods, and the previous feeling that something was up, came to him. "We can't change the world."
Clementine looked behind her to check and thankfully found nothing. Louis didn't even notice.
"All we can do is continue to learn from each other," He breathed in, and exhaled slowly, "To empathize, and use our heads."
Louis found himself silently agreeing. Clementine wanted to refute instead that people became more ruthless than before.
The older man cleared his throat and looked at the wind turbine. "'All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.'" Walter set his eyes on the two kids once again, "Steinbeck. Have you guys heard about him?"
Louis shook his head. Clementine just gave him a look.
Walter placed both hands on his hips with a smile. "Well, we have plenty of time to get you guys caught up on your reading. My partner Matthew is amassing quite the literature collection. I think you'll like him."
The kids' stomachs dropped, and they felt nauseous, almost.
Walter didn't seem to notice. "In any case," He continued, "The point is: as long as we have our wits about us we can always make the right choice." He paused, and Walter's brilliant smile broadened, "Right?"
"Right," Louis confirmed, slightly perplexed.
"It's never that easy, though," Clementine pointed out.
Walter nodded. "On some occasions, that is true," He placed a hand on her head, "But that's where having people to rely on comes in. You're never truly alone."
Clementine unhelpfully glanced at Louis.
Walter gave them a knowing smile and stepped back. "There are points in your life where you'll certainly feel that way. And I'll tell you now, life isn't full of butterflies and roses."
"Duh," Louis voiced. Clementine shot a dirty look at him.
"But, again, you'll find your way."
Louis fiddled with his fingers. "I guess you're right," Louis said, swallowing down the impending doom reaching for his gut.
Clementine shared his anxiety.
This time, Walter noticed their discomfort. Furrowing his brows, he opened his mouth to ask if everything was fine, however, before he could utter but a single sound, someone else cut his voice short.
"Heya kids. What are you three talkin' about?" Kenny asked, coming up the small hill with a rifle in his hands. He wore a tired smile on his face, his eyes the only indication of his ongoing sadness he just couldn't seem to shake off.
Walter exchanged his concern for a smile. "Oh, politics," Walter replied suspiciously.
Kenny rose an eyebrow, "The hell?"
"Being from Florida, I would imagine you know all about politics, Kenny."
Kenny shook his head with a grin. "Man, I know the one advantage of livin' in the apocalypse is not dealin' with that shit no more," The bearded man spoke, walking past them in a slightly bouncier step than he was coming up with, "I was just about to check the windows 'round back before the storm hits."
Louis quirked up. Deciding he had enough of all the sappy sadness surrounding the air, he figured he'd help. "Can we help?" He asked the adult, looking at Clementine.
Kenny exchanged a smile with Walter. "Sure. Knock yourselves out." He indicated forward, happy over the boy's enthusiasm. It reminded him a lot of his son, Kenny noted in ache.
"Cool," Louis grabbed Clementine's hand without comply, "Let's go!"
Clementine was then hauled forward, holding onto her hat to catch up with both Kenny and Louis's quick speed.
They both almost toppled over one another when Louis bumped into Kenny's outstretched hand, halting them from going any more forward.
Louis blinked and rubbed his eyes, questioning why Kenny held them back, until he noticed the woman peering through the glass in the back. He felt Clementine tense beside him, and both kids looked towards the adults who seemed to stare cautiously at the red-head.
Walter's hand placed itself on Kenny's shoulder, telling him silently to keep back and let him handle the situation. Kenny said nothing, allowing the middle-aged man to do so. The male stepped forward, "Miss?"
The woman was rattled straight. Startled, she stopped looking inside and stepped back, putting her hands in the air upon noticing the gun shifting in Kenny's hand. There was a fleeting silence where no one spoke, both fearful and cautious of the new stranger before her accented and soft voice pierced the air. "Please, do you have any food?"
Walter softened and walked closer. "Are you okay?" He asked, kind. The kids stood beside Kenny, one weary, and another suspicious.
The woman looked down regretfully before meeting Walter's eyes again. "I... saw the house and... I have a family. We're starving," She pleaded, looking to the side.
Probably where she came from, Clementine noted.
"We live down there," She pointed, vague and mellow.
Kenny didn't buy it. Neither did Clementine. Louis was still unsure, but it seemed Walter was all for helping.
"O-Of course," Walter cleared his throat, frowning, "Why don't you come in, miss...?"
Her sad eyes and frown made her look genuine. "Bonnie," She replied, breathing out.
Kenny kept his gun up, but not pointed. "...Walt, I don't know," Kenny whispered, glaring, "You're just gonna let her in like that?"
Walter angled his head to look at his friend, "It's fine, Kenny," He assured.
"We don't know this girl," Kenny countered.
"Then we'll have to get to know her, right kids?" Walter said, indicating his need of support from the two kids caught yet again in the middle.
Kenny scowled, not liking the way his friend was talking. "Walt."
"How much damage can this poor woman do?"
"I don't know," Louis said, a crinkle forming in between his brows.
"Check her for weapons," Clementine mumbled.
"Yeah," Kenny agreed.
Bonnie could tell two of them already were cautious. Sighing, she rubbed her hands in an attempt to both melt away the cold and look innocent, "Thank you, really, but that storm'll be on us soon and I gotta get back to my family..."
Walter frowned. "I'll bring something out to you, then."
Bonnie shook her head. "You don't have to do that." She said quickly.
"Why not?" Louis then piped up, "You said your family was starving... You kind of need it," He included in, innocently. Worried. Bonnie looked like a mix of touched and afraid.
Clementine's eyes sharpened and she looked to Kenny if he caught on. By the look on Kenny's face, it seemed he did.
Before either of the two could say anything, Walter stepped in. "No, no, it's fine," Walter eased.
"What about your people?" Bonnie questioned, sounding rougher.
Clementine scowled at her tone, and Louis was slowly coming to terms that she didn't seem all too good. He even asked Clementine, to which she agreed.
"We've got plenty," Walter smiled warmly, and the woman was caught off-guard, "You stay put. I'll be right back."
She remained silent when Walter left the scene, quite surprised and a little upset too. Clementine didn't know why if the woman was getting food, but she didn't want to question it. If Walter thought it best, then so be it. She only hoped that what they were doing wasn't a mistake.
Kenny stayed, thankfully. Both kids felt protected, even though one thought they really didn't need protection. The woman would probably runoff, and she didn't look the type to harm children. Although... The two kids were a prime example of looks being deceiving.
They heard a shuffle.
Louis stopped staring at the pretty trees to look at the woman, watching her come closer only a little.
She rubbed her neck awkwardly, attempting a smile. "I... have a little girl like you." She addressed.
If not for Louis, both Kenny and Clementine would've ignored her feeble attempt at befriending them. "Really?" The little boy asked, "What's her name?"
Bonnie replied fast, "Bella."
"That's cool," Louis politely said. "How old is she?"
She lowered and put her hands on her knees to look at him properly, "She's ten."
"Well, Clementine's eleven," Louis said proudly.
Clementine glared at him for giving away information.
Bonnie looked happy again. Louis didn't know why. "I would'a thought older than that," She chuckled.
Louis shrugged. "She can look old..."
Clementine punched him.
He pouted.
"What about you?" Bonnie asked him, growing kinder, softer.
Louis fixed his shirt. "I'm thirteen, miss." He replied, puffing out his chest.
"Well, ain't you a man now," She joked, thoroughly enjoying the enthusiasm of the child.
"That's right," Louis said, "I can handle ten walkers at once."
Bonnie wasn't sure if he was joking.
"He's not lying," Clementine added for benefit, glaring still. "I saw him."
Louis couldn't tell if Clementine was telling her seriously or if she was just rolling with his lie. Clementine wasn't the jokester type.
Bonnie stayed eerily silent at that.
It was then when Walter returned with a big box of food, struggling mildly as he went uphill and then toward her. He was quite old, after all.
At the sight of the box, something strangely familiar to guilt surfaced on the woman's face. Clementine caught it clearly—after all, she knew all about guilt. So many had died for her, and she would never mistake the emotions on someone else that matched so well with her own. This only worried Clementine more. Just what was the woman hiding? Why was she so reluctant now to take the help she was supposedly needing?
She barely heard Walter talk with the woman, only paying half an ear of attention to her sudden genuine gratitude and weary tone. Louis was all for it, and Walter guided him closer, urging her friend to develop at least a small quantity of trust. Clementine didn't like it at all, and she stepped forward to ask Louis to come back inside with her, but the woman was already on her way.
Turns out, in any way, Kenny beat her to it.
"...inside and get to bed. Walt and I gotta talk for a second."
Louis cheerily hopped down the small hill, whisking past the adults with Clementine on his tow.
"She was kind of nice," Louis said, turning back to see the despondent look on Walter's face once they were close to the door, "...Why is Kenny mad?"
Clementine didn't turn back. She gazed at him instead, grim. "...Did that woman look suspicious to you?" Clementine asked him, and he frowned at her.
"A little," He admitted, "She needed help, but she looked like she felt bad. Maybe she's not bad?"
Clementine sighed. Leave it to Louis to find the good in everyone. "Normal people would ask us first. Not peep in the windows." She pointed out.
"I guess. But she was probably being cautious."
"It doesn't explain why she was trying not to take the help later," Clementine issued another point, stopping momentarily when Louis opened the door, "She was desperate."
Louis thought about it as he held the door open for her as she walked inside.
"She didn't sound desperate, though," Clementine added.
Louis closed the door and stopped by the entrance, causing her to stop too. He crossed his arms, "What do you mean?"
"When someone needs help like an emergency, they beg people, not watch like a creep. She has a family, she said. And," She paused, scowling, "If I know anything about moms, they'd be super worried about their children and stuff. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't leave her daughter alone."
"What if she had to?" He looked sad.
"That's an option, but it's unlikely," She scratched her cheek, "Her clothes were clean. And she smelled like a clean person. She probably has a group."
Louis looked skittish, then. "Then wouldn't that mean that she didn't actually need help?" He whispered, eyes widening.
Clementine nodded. "Yeah. So either she's not by herself and she just stole from us," She began walking up the entrance stairs, "Or she was scoping out the place to tell her group."
"Why would she tell her group?" He asked.
Clementine shrugged. "Maybe to steal from us. She could've also been looking for a place to live. But again, she must be living nice because she was okay-looking for a woman in this stupid world," She grumbled.
Louis swallowed. "I... didn't even notice," He mumbled.
Clementine rubbed her arm. "Walter didn't either," She said. "And he's an adult."
"But some adults are really stupid," Louis huffed.
"If she wasn't peeking in the windows, I would have probably noticed nothing," Clementine quipped, hoping to make him feel better.
Louis rubbed his neck. "Still though. How am I supposed to survive if I keep—"
"Louis. Clementine."
Both kids hushed immediately, and the atmosphere tensed considerably when they heard the crisp whisper beside them. They both looked sideways, spotting a terrorized Luke hiding between the pillars.
"Luke?" Louis questioned, instantly set on edge.
Luke waved them over, urgent in his motions.
Without much of a fight, the two scared kids scurried over to him, facing him now behind the pillar.
The kids noted the portrait in his hands. Well, Louis did. "What—"
"I gotta tell you two somethin'," Luke said in whispers, and immediately handed the photo to Clementine. "That guy in the bridge?"
Both kids looked at the picture and their blood ran cold.
"That was Walter's friend."
If not for her age, Clementine would have probably broken the frame from how hard she was clenching it. Louis, who wasn't faring any better, felt nauseous.
He held his stomach, fearful. "Oh god," He wheezed, shaking his head as Clementine looked up at Luke in disbelief, "I knew it."
Luke looked. "I figured somethin' was off, so I asked Sarita about their friend," Luke swallowed, thick and stressed, "And she told me. Who he was n' all that. They were already getting worried he wasn't comin' home yet."
"Louis and I were thinking about it," Clementine breathed, and Louis held her hand quickly. He was looking down, his other hand holding his stomach in absolute fear. "I knew he was. For sure. Walter kept... talking about him."
"Dammit," Luke cursed, running a hand through his hair. "Dammit, Nick. Now we're fucked. We're completely fucked. If Nick finds out—If Walter, finds out—"
"We have to tell him!" Louis then said, and Luke shook his head. "We can't leave him in the dark. That's—"
"No. No, that's—no. That's not an option. I know Nick, and who knows—" Luke stopped, "We're not tellin' Walter. Under any circumstance, we do not say a word. I-I mean, who knows what Walter'll do when he finds out."
Louis closed his eyes, shaking. "No. We gotta tell him. It's the right thing to do. What if he finds out anyway?"
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Luke hissed, "For now, we gotta lay low. Clementine."
She straightened.
"Do you still have that knife?"
She knew which one.
"Because if you do, and—and if it was Matthew's, and if Walter sees it, he's gonna put two and two together."
Louis pushed down the bile in his throat and relaxed. "It's with the other weapons," Louis said, looking back, "I can go get it."
"Get rid of it," Luke instructed, and Louis reluctantly let go of Clementine's hand, "I'll find Walter and run interference. Oh, and uh, keep an eye out for Nick."
"I'm right here," Nick's unmistakable voice came to join them at such an inconvenient time, "What's up?"
Before Luke could utter a word and diverge Nick from the hostile situation, Louis blabbered. "It's the man. You killed," He said, quiet.
Nick widened his eyes. "What?"
Luke sounded frustrated, "Louis, what—"
"It's Matthew," Clementine showed him the photo, "You killed him. His friend."
Nick almost dropped it. His hands shook, and he stepped back, locking eyes with Luke's. "Oh, Jesus. Oh god."
"Hey. Hey! Nick, shut the fuck up," Luke hissed in warning.
"I-I can't man," Nick began breathing fast, "I can't."
"Do not fucking blow it," Luke's lips curled downward and his eyebrows were angry.
"Blow it?" Nick said, incredulous, "No. It's—it's over. I have to tell him, Luke."
The kids stood between them, holding each other. Louis mostly was. Clementine was trying to remain calm while simultaneously trying to ease Louis.
Luke brought his hands up as if to unconsciously pull his hair. "What? No! You... Nick, you cannot do that. Are you fuckin' nuts?"
"I got to," Nick looked forlorn, "I can't live with that on me."
The kids stayed quiet.
"Nick, I'm warning you, this is fuckin' suicide," Luke snapped, "You're—"
"I have to tell him. I can't..." Nick closed his eyes, breathing deep, ragged, "I can't handle this."
Luke stepped forward, "Go. Kids. Deal with that... thing," Luke nodded his head over at the bags, "I need to talk with Nick."
Without anything else, Luke left, once again leaving the kids to settle by themselves.
[. . .]
Louis saw Walter outside.
Clementine didn't find the knife.
They were too late.
[. . .]
Louis's vision focused on the smoke.
"Just tell me," Walter half-sobbed. He was holding the knife tightly, posture stiff with intent. His face was crumpled in settling despair, and the cigarette almost broke from how hard he clenched it between his lips.
In front of him, Clementine and Nick stood, scared.
"Just tell me, son. Tell me what happened."
Nick began to sputter. Louis heard his poor explanation, the one of a man full of regret and fear and guilt. He couldn't see Walter's face now with Nick's hand in the way, since he was holding them up defensively, but he didn't need to. The anguish that came from the broken man's tone told him how he was feeling. It was how anyone would feel. It was how he felt when he had to kill his own parents.
"I didn't mean to," Nick uttered desperately.
Louis shook from the cold.
"I'm so sorry Walter."
He saw himself where Nick stood.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
It was a mournful cry that made him flinch in despair. A cry that was dire to live, desirous to set things right.
Louis knew Nick was good. He made a mistake. Just like Louis had.
And he wouldn't let him die.
"He was trying to protect us!" Louis bellowed, causing all spectators to jump.
The area became silent all of a sudden. Louis didn't care.
"Nick saved us. We were—We were okay, but he was just scared! He thought we were in trouble!" His teeth chattered, anxious. "I know him, and he lost his uncle super recently. He was scared to lose us too."
Walter softened.
"If... I know what he did was bad," Louis rubbed his eye, knowing the tears were oncoming, "But he is not a bad guy. He was trying to do the right thing. But he made a mistake. And he said he'd take care of us," Louis remembered when he was in the shack with Nick, stuck with only jars of beer to keep the adult company, "And he did."
He wasn't crying. But his eyes were red.
He didn't want his friend to die. He didn't want anyone to die.
He dared look at Walter, "Please don't hurt him."
Nick was speechless. Clementine was sad.
Walter was broken.
He looked at the knife that belonged to his lover, suppressing the intents of anger and revenge. Hurt pinched his heart, and he felt the tears fall down his cheeks and land on the sharp blade before he recognized what they were. His eyes burned, aching and fogging.
That was his best friend. His partner. And he died, all because he was too much of a kind person to help people. He was dead. And the man in front of him was the cause of it.
A man protecting his own. Protecting children.
It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. He wanted to kill him. He wanted his lover back. It was selfish thinking, but he didn't want to care. He wanted to be happy, to prevent whatever it was that happened. He wanted the man who killed the love of his life to feel his pain.
But Walter was a good man. He understood.
Broken, he stood, crying for the one person that had kept him alive through all else that he'd lost.
The passionate tragedy of what was revealed eased into pain. He tossed the knife away, looking at the children, empty. They were only children. This was not their fault. He could not take someone so important away from children cursed with tragedy.
And so, he decided.
And turned away, to grieve.
The rest of the group stepped outside sans Rebecca, Sarah, and Alvin when they heard the noise of the Wind Turbine picking up. "Walt?" Kenny called out, concerned and confused, "What's goin' on!?"
Walter said nothing. No, he only stared at the sky, thinking.
Luke saw Nick, and they exchanged words through the sadness hidden away in their eyes.
The grownups gathered up, worried, chattering among themselves when the sound of the machine became louder.
The children remained in the back, protected and guarded, thinking to themselves. They had no idea what just came up, and only one of them didn't care.
Louis was still upset.
"Louis," Clementine's soft voice called to him.
He glanced at her slowly, hurt. It looked like he wasn't going to cry, which was good, but Clementine knew he was far from okay. "Come on," She tugged his sleeve, "We need to help."
Louis didn't want to. He wanted to lay down and rest, tired. First the running, then Matthews death, and now this? He was so tired. So goddamn tired.
"Okay," He said anyway, letting her capture his hand and bring him along.
They were stopped.
Nick handed Clementine a gun, and Louis knew Nick remembered only Clementine knew how to shoot. He could see something else in his other hand.
Graciously, he took the knife Nick was offering him. The little boy grabbed it uneasily but thanked him sincerely.
Nick's only response was a sad smile.
[. . .]
Louis heard shooting far away, but he didn't pay attention to it for too long.
He was far too busy trying to drag a body away from Clementine's struggling small form.
After taking care of the Wind Turbine, Kenny and Luke had gone off to fix the generator. He had offered to tag along, hopeful in his attempt to help. But Kenny told him 'No', and it was only then that he realized that Sarita had also been denied. Not that it mattered, anyhow. Soon, when they departed, the walkers had come, drawn in by the noise.
Which was why he was in a predicament now.
After leaving, the walkers swarmed up. Many were headed their way, forcing the group to disperse.
The kids took a route to the lodge, being told harshly by Nick to leave before they got hurt any further. His reaction surprised Clementine but she didn't argue, and so, was the one trying to keep up when Louis bolted in heed.
There were about fifteen walkers in their path, and Clementine managed to shoot about nine of them. Unfortunately, her shot was not as accurate as it should have been because her nerves were in a spiral, so she had run out of bullets. Even worse, more were coming.
Louis had to step in and knife them down while Clementine distracted them.
Which was, again, what he was doing now. He pierced his knife into the rotten skull of the walker, kicking it away from Clementine. He helped her up, quick in his attempt, and began pushing her along to avoid another walker from diving in and killing them both.
He let out a breath, hiding inside the bench. Clementine kept a watchful eye, and Louis had to press himself back when Clementine backed into him. There was another one, reaching hungrily for them. Its soulless eyes were boring deep in his, and he sneered, bringing his knife in for a jab at its face.
It went limp, and with a grunt, Louis took off the knife, splattering his shirt. Great... More blood. "Come on," Clementine urged, already crawled out and holding a hand out for him to take.
Quickly he grabbed onto it and began to run, moving out of the way from two more walkers who dared jump at them. Inside the trees, he could hear screams, and it took Louis a second to realize runners were already chasing after them. Runners! Are you kidding?
He saw Nick shoot the few in front of them. "Go!" Nick said and then shot some more in the trees, dropping the ones that walked vigorously faster than the others.
Louis moved with Clementine but gasped when he saw a walker latch onto Nick. Nick, of course, dropped his gun and was now in a hard struggle of strength against the undead being, scared to death.
Louis was running to him, and Clementine was right with him, as always. But he found it unnecessary to save him.
Walter had shot the Walker and ran.
And Nick, unsure but thankful, had cast a grateful glance in his direction. Walter didn't take it, and instead, looked away to help the others.
Louis saw where the two were headed, and he wanted to join them. He wanted to help. But Clementine's insistent tug to get to safety made him decide otherwise, and so, he followed her in.
They bolted inside, and Rebecca, already standing by the windows, turned to them in alarm. "Kids! Are you okay?" She asked, walking to them.
Louis allowed her to inspect his face. "We-We're okay," He stuttered, breathing, "Just walkers."
Rebecca pulled away from Clementine and nodded. "Was—"
The sound of a machine gun broke their reunion.
"What the hell?" Alvin muttered, and Louis jumped, not hearing him approach, "What was that?"
Every one of them came closer to the window, crouching to hide. Louis was pulled down, and he didn't know why until he spotted them.
Around in a circle, about three people and another were shooting. The walkers fell like flies landing in a sparked electrical fence, splattering guts and brains onto the ground full of more bodies.
In the middle of it all stood a familiar man. And a woman Clementine knew all too well.
Louis gasped.
"Carver," Rebecca breathed.
They surrounded his friends, and Louis trembled when the bearded man came close to Carlos. From the safety of the window, he saw Carlos get punched, and he suppressed a whimper. Sarah, who was watching from upstairs, saw. She tumbled down the ledges, and Louis barely acknowledged her as she ran outside and hugged her dad. It seemed Clementine had snarked at her to stay, but the girl didn't listen.
As if Carver were looking at them, he turned to the building, pointing.
It was then that Louis acted. "We need to get out of here!" He cried softly, tugging on Clementine's hand.
Clementine nodded and followed after the adults who were already upstairs.
They stopped when they heard the noise of their footsteps, and Louis held his breath.
"Come on," Clementine urged him silently, so silent in fact, that Louis was sure she didn't let out any sound.
Going after her, he held her hand and watched, pushing her back behind him to see if there was an opening.
Clementine was asking Alvin who had a good view of them. When Alvin asked them to move, Louis did so quickly, making sure Clementine was with him the entire way.
He could hear one of the guardsmen talking, and the woman—Bonnie reply. She had been lying.
Louis stopped crawling when he met up with Rebecca. The sounds of guns clicking and ropes being bind roughly were heard, but he couldn't see anything. No, he was watching the window, searching if there were any more of those men. There was a gasp.
He turned and watched Clementine's head, too fearful to check for himself what was going on. There were various shuffles, and Clementine ducked down quickly, wide-eyed as a grunt and a punch happened all at once.
Louis couldn't breathe.
"I'm only going to tell you once," Carver's unmistakable voice snarled, "Where's Rebecca?"
The kids and Alvin regarded Rebecca with fear.
"Sarah, look away," Carlos pleaded, and Sarah did so, crying and sniffling.
Louis heard a scream of agony.
"Rebecca!"
He froze.
"Our baby deserves to be raised in a place of safety!"
Alvin clenched his fist hatefully.
"I know you're out there," His gravelly voice said, sadistic and intent with evil, "And Alvin. And Luke. And the children."
Clementine sobered.
"This is real simple. You want this over quick, you all play nice and show your faces." He ordered.
"Don't hurt my dad," Sarah's sobs echoed in the lodge, "...please...!"
Alvin shook his head. "He'll kill him," Alvin hushed.
"No, Alvin," Rebecca hissed.
"We gotta go down there," Alvin whispered.
Rebecca's voice shook. "I can't do that."
"Bec... The baby, you need a doctor," Alvin tried convincing.
"No," Rebecca was resolute, "Where's Luke and Kenny?"
Alvin was stressed. "How the hell am I supposed to know?" He sassed.
"They're still outside," Rebecca pleaded, "They can help us."
Clementine frowned, "We need to get out of here."
Rebecca was all for the plan. Alvin was not. He turned to the little girl anyway. "Only way out is through the windows."
"Clem can fit," Rebecca pressed.
"So can Louis," Alvin interjected.
There was another lament of agony. Louis continued to shake, and Clementine was growing impatient. Sarah's exclamation of her father reminded them of what was at stake.
"Louis can go," Clementine said.
"What the hell is he gonna do?" Alvin took a look at him, "He can't—"
"Shoot him!" Carlos's voice rang, and a shudder of terror washed over every one of them, "Somebody just shoot—"
Louis feared he was dead when he cut off. But hearing a grunt from Carlos after was all he needed to go.
"I'll go," Louis said, already by the window, "I-I need to find Luke. And Kenny. Kenny had a gun. He can—"
"Just go!" Alvin opened the window, "Go!"
"We'll stay here," Clementine said, trying to assure him.
It did nothing.
Louis slid through the window with a last shameful look and dropped with a grunt, landing on his knees. The chilly air ruffled his clothing, and the small flakes of snow made his skin feel cold in the parts that were exposed.
Unsure of where to go, he rounded toward the front, praying. He prayed he would find them—either of them or both if god thought it possible so that they could help. He couldn't hear anything but the howls of the wind, and his eye dared not look inside to see what was happening. His main priority was to find Luke and Kenny and rescue his friends.
But this was such a shit plan. There was nothing Kenny could do against four people armed with guns. Louis was just a kid, even. He had no idea where he was going.
He wanted to cry. But he didn't. He was just so scared. How was he going to help them?
He peeked the corner, fearful. He saw Kenny.
"Louis!" Kenny then called after spotting the boy.
Without a second's thought, he ran to Kenny as hidden as he could remain, thankful to find him. It was then and there that Louis had forgotten to check the window.
The Guardsman saw him, pointed his gun—
Louis scrambled up and dropped in fear when Kenny shot the window.
Louis saw, briefly only for a moment the dead body before Kenny pushed his head down to hide.
The entire lodge went silent, and Carlos was no longer screaming.
Louis gulped, "K-Kenny, where's Luke?" He hissed, seeing no sign of the man. There were so many other questions, but he could only muster that single one.
Kenny scowled and cocked his gun, placing a bullet inside. "Hell if I know," He responded heatedly, "He was whinin' about somethin' or other, so I told him to take a hike," He spat on the ground.
Louis felt like vomiting again.
It was then when Louis saw Kenny's face shift from anger to fear. "They got everyone," He said, and Louis' breath hitched, "They—"
"Is Clem okay!?" Louis asked, looking over himself. He saw Bonnie looking around behind a pillar for the mysterious gunner.
Kenny's jaw clenched. "They're fine. Tied up, but fine." His gun shook, and Louis assumed it was from anger. Now, he didn't know the man, not well. Clementine barely told stories. Observing him now, Louis didn't know what he was going to do. He was always a follower, so he hoped, and believed in his childish fantasy, that Kenny would know what to do and keep them safe.
Louis chanced another look. He almost passed out when he saw Walter get shot in the head. "No!" Louis cried.
Kenny cursed and pointed his gun.
They heard his voice. Carver's voice. "Now I didn't want to do this!" He exclaimed, and Louis knew it was bullshit, "But you ain't leavin' me with much choice. So here's what's going to happen!"
"Like hell," Kenny cursed and closed one eye to aim.
"I'm gonna march another one of your friends out here, and I'm going to put a bullet in the back of their head!"
Louis heaved.
"Or you can give up now! Your choice!"
Kenny pulled the trigger.
Louis covered his ears.
"Motherfucker," Kenny snarled, moving another handle on his gun to prepare and shoot again.
Louis held his eyes closed when he heard another shot.
"I can't get a good angle on 'im," Kenny said bitterly, stopping for a moment.
Louis said nothing and shook.
His friends. They were going to die. They were going to die and he couldn't save them. He can't save them. He doesn't have a gun. He can't shoot. He can't do anything. He doesn't want them to die. He wants them to live. He wants everyone to live but Matthew died and now Walter was dead and now—
"Kid!"
Louis looked at Kenny. His eyes were teary, Kenny saw. "We gotta move!" He said anyway, pointing at another good place to shoot. Kenny's fatherly instincts yelled at him to help, but he didn't have time to comfort a child right now. Everyone would die.
Without thought, Louis nodded and ran. He could hear Kenny's steps behind him, and Louis tried focusing on them to calm down. Kenny was the only one who could do something. He was the only one he had now. Nobody else could help his friends.
Kenny halted beside him, pointing the gun again. Louis hid, but he was looking now, trying to focus.
Carver was leading Alvin, gun pointed at his head. Louis sobbed, "He's has Alvin! He's going to die!"
"No he ain't," Kenny muttered determinedly, "Tough shot. But I can aim."
"Don't," Louis said quietly, "He-What if Alvin gets shot?"
Kenny thought about it, touching the trigger. "Ain't no other way." He said sadly.
Louis couldn't convince him. He wasn't Clementine. Kenny didn't trust him enough.
Kenny released the bullet and landed it on Carver's shoulder. Kenny grinned, and for a moment Louis thought he did it. But then he saw Carver get up again, and Kenny was too slow to put another bullet in the gun.
Alvin was shot in the head without remorse.
Louis heaved and almost vomited the contents of his stomach, turning away as soon as he saw the impact against Alvin's head. He could hear Rebecca's anguished cry, and he mistook it for his own that was pulsating in terror within his mind.
Kenny was outraged.
But it all came to a stop when the older man saw Carver holding Clementine.
Louis wiped his mouth, looking again and trying to be brave. His stomach churned and his heart stopped at seeing his friend squirm in the hands of that monster. Anger tore through him, but fear was holding him back from grabbing Kenny's gun and shooting.
Louis didn't have to say anything.
Kenny gave up right then and there.
[. . .]
Louis winced when he was dropped down beside Kenny.
The bindings were tight and they hurt his skin, and the rough handling from the guard with camo clothing was still stinging on his arm.
"Where's Luke!?" Carver demanded, hands on his hips. He was still moving them as if he wasn't just shot.
Monster, Louis thought hatefully, looking around. Sarita was on his other side, and she was silent, looking down. He couldn't see Clementine at all, but he knew she was alive and well. His innocent brown eyes met Bonnie's, and he crumpled on the inside when she saw the stoic glare he was receiving. Liar. She is a liar.
"Finally cut and run, huh?" Carver spoke again, drawing Louis' attention back to him. "Why am I not surprised?"
Louis froze in fear when Carver looked at him and walked briskly forward, "I warned you," He said, stopping in front of him, "I warned you not to follow him. Now, look where he's led you."
Louis was too fearful to feel confused. He thought he was being accused of something.
"But you're safe now," Carver eased.
Louis realized he was talking to Rebecca, and that he had gone over to hold her.
She was crying. She had been sobbing this entire time, and Louis had never felt so hopeless.
Why? Why did this happen?
He couldn't understand. He was exhausted, and he felt like he was going to pass out. The adrenaline that coursed through his body could only do so much to keep him upright. He had already spent enough of it running.
"We're going home."
Louis swayed. Nobody noticed.
"As a family."
Everyone was quiet. The mournful tears of Rebecca were the only sound muffling the defeating silence.
"Round 'em up," Carver ordered, and Louis bowed his head, numb. "We're headin' back to camp."
Louis heard someone with hard-pressed boots approach, and he was hauled up first, this time from a softer hand.
Louis didn't need to look to know it was the woman. Still, he felt sick. Sick and tired.
But there was nothing left to do.
[. . .]
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! This chapter was 41,000 words long and... hehe... It takes a while.
I hope you enjoy it!
Toodles~
Ana.
