A New Mission

"I just don't understand," Clementine said, as she and Jeff walked. "Who would take the kids?"

"Well," Jeff began. "Who have we dealt with in the past who might've found out we're still alive"

"That's a long list, Jeff," Clementine replied.

"Indeed," Jeff said. "Let's see… those bandits that nearly killed me, before we met the cabin group, Carver, Jane, Mike, Bonnie,..."

"Mike and Bonnie?" Clementine asked. "They might've sided with Arvo, but I don't see them getting revenge. And those bandits were killed by Carver, who himself was killed by you, wasn't he?"

"That leaves Jane, of those you let me list," Jeff replied. "But I don't see her doing that to us. Once we kicked her out, she just vanished without a care about what happened to us."

"There's still others," Clementine said.

Before Jeff could reply, they noticed the familiar sight of Richmond, in the distance. Without a word, they ran to the gates, hoping the kids were inside, as the people at the ranch assumed. They were tired by the time they reached the gates, where Max was standing watch.

"Well, well," he said. "Good to see you're back."

"I see you've been forgiven, Max," Jeff replied.

"Took them a couple days, but they finally understood I was only following orders," Max said.

"Not that your redemption story isn't interesting, Max," Clementine interrupted. "But, we need to speak to Javier and Kate. It's urgent."

"Sure thing," he replied, as he pushed the button to open the gates.

Shouting their thanks, the team hurried inside.

After some searching, Jeff and Clementine were relieved to find their newest friends inside the church, gathered together for a meeting.

"Hey, you're back!" Gabe said, as he was the first to notice them.

"Good to see you," Javier added, as he and the others gathered around. "Where are the kids?"

"That's why we're here, Javi," Jeff replied.

For the next ten minutes, Jeff and Clementine explained what happened from the moment they left until their return. Everyone was just as surprised as they were to learn that someone had taken the kids.

"Where could they be?" Eleanor asked.

"We were hoping the people at McCarroll Ranch had been right to assume that whoever collected them had brought them here," Jeff replied.

"We haven't seen them," Kate said. "Unless they were snuck in, they're not here."

"Just great!" Jeff said, throwing his hand up in frustration. "The kids have been kidnapped."

"But who would do that?" Conrad asked.

"We have quite the list of enemies," Clementine replied. "Though a large portion of them are confirmed dead, there's still the ones we don't know the fate of."

"I can help you look for them," Gabe volunteered, before anyone else could speak.

"I appreciate your offer, Gabe," Jeff said. "But this is our mission. We've taken care of them for a few years, now, so it's our job to get them back."

"Where will you go?" Mariana asked.

"We'll stay here for the night," Clementine replied. "Then we'll head south, as that's the direction the people at the ranch said their abductor likely took them, rather than come here."

"So why did you come here, when they were taken south?" Javier asked.

"We believed there had been a mistake," Jeff replied. "But we were wrong."

Everyone saw the sun was setting, so they decided to end the conversation there, for the night, and went to bed, with Jeff and Clementine getting an empty apartment for the night. As they got ready to go to sleep, Clementine spoke up.

"What if we don't find them?" she asked, as she laid down.

"We will, Clem," Jeff replied.

"But will they be alive?" Clementine asked. "Or Dead, or bitten? What do we do then?"

"We'll deal with it, accordingly," Jeff replied. "But I believe we'll get them back alive."

"Promise?" she asked.

"I promise," he replied. "We'll start search first thing in the morning."

"Sounds good," Clementine replied, before closing her eyes.

Her last words lingered in Jeff's head, taking him back to the day they met. She had said those exact words when he promised to protect her.

"I'm happy to know you still have faith in me," he whispered, as he drifted off to sleep.

Hello again! Yes, it's a short chapter, but I promise things will get better, as the story goes on. Since the first details of Season 4 have finally come out, it's safe to say I have deffinitely come up with my own story, so far. Who else is excited for the season to come out?

undyingrage98489- You'll have to wait and see. Like Jeff and Clementine said in this chapter: They have quite the list of enemies still unaccounted for.