Clementine fell to her knees, her crushed eye tingling under her eye patch made of bandages. Her other eye had tears flowing down the lines in her face, rolling down her cheek and dripping into the freezing snow. The blizzard was relentless and that bitch had left a week old baby out here. He was tiny and fitted perfectly in her arms. Her second chance, gone. Her possible redemption, gone. She had already failed Christa's child, forced to watch as his head got blasted open by a shotgun blast. And she had failed another... It freezing to death in the cold and bitter wind. She and Kenny should never have trusted Jane with AJ. The breeze howled like a wolf that had just spotted his next meal. Clementine heard the snow crunch heavily behind her from her position on the ground. A firm hand landed on her shoulder.
"Any luck, Clem?" The southern voice spoke, Luke, she realised. She closed her eye and exhaled.
"I'll fucking kill her." She growled, lips curling like the dog that tore into her arm. The lacklustre job of sewing up her arm panged ever so slightly. Slowly, she rose: she barged past Luke and started marching back toward the barely visible gas station.
"Now hold on, Clem," Luke said, his voice panicked. He clutched the arm of the short teen barely above her elbow. "I get it, I really do. But you need to think this through."
Clementine escaped from his grasp and continued. "Like fuck you know what I'm going through." She bit.
The teenager ignored Luke and slammed open the doors. Her one good eye instantly landed on the woman behind her indescribable, unending rage. She stood there, cowering away, hand resting beside her leg. She trudged up to Jane, reeled her fist back and delivered a powerful blow to the woman's nose. Blood exploded from the sudden impact.
"Why?" She screamed, watching like a hawk as Jane staggered. Clementine brought her fist back once again and let it fly. The older female caught it and rammed her shoulder into Clementine's midsection and tackled her to the ground. Her back hit the cold floor and she gasped. She brought her knee into Jane's groin and quickly rolled around. Her fists repeatedly smashing into the woman's face. She felt a large hand suddenly wrap around her own. She quickly broke out of the hold but it was just enough time for Jane to headbutt her.
Clementine cursed. She clutched her now broken nose and stumbled off the woman. The blood running down her face warm and metallic. Jane rushed at her. She grabbed the teen by the head and used her momentum to crash Clementine's face into the window and watched as she went careening through it, shattering the glass into thousands of sharp tiny pieces. Stars burst into Clementine's vision and everything swayed drunkenly. Her cap and eye patch had fallen onto the snow by the time she realised what was going on. Jane was perched on top of her, knife in hand. The woman stabbed through the air and Clementine brought her hand in front of her face.
She screamed as the knife impaled through her hand like butter. The momentum carrying the blade into the ground, pinning her to the floor. Clementine thrashed helplessly in pain. Jane swore as strong arms wrapped around her neck and threw her off the teen.
"What the fuck did you do?" Kenny roared at Jane.
"I-" Jane began.
"She killed AJ!" Clementine interrupted, also screaming.
"No! I did-" Smack. Jane's head snapped back and slammed into the thick snow. Kenny huffed and drew his hand back once again.
Luke got between them. "Jesus, stop! We can work this out civilly."
Clementine yanked the knife out of her palm and stood. "You're defending this crazy bitch!" She cried.
"C'mon... You know that ain't true, Clem!"
"Move, Luke," Kenny growled. "Don't get in the fuckin' way."
"Like hell I am!" He rebutted, confidently.
The Floridian tackled Luke to the ground and Clementine rushed past them, knife in hand. She swung the knife down and Jane rolled out of the way. Jane grabbed a metal bar laying on the floor and instantly swung it at Clementine, catching her in the knee. The knee instantly shattered and the teen fell onto her back, crying out once again. Jane walked to her and raised the bar above her head, preparing to deliver the final blow when Clementine's good leg shot out, colliding with the woman's shin. She dropped the pipe and fell on top of Clementine. Her fingers found their way into Clementine's busted eye. She screamed. She was in pure agony. Her hand fell onto a lone glass shard laying beside them.
Clementine suddenly struck the makeshift weapon into Jane's head. It crashed through her right temple and exited through her left eye. Blood splattered onto Clementine's face, painting it red. The teen instantly relaxed under the corpse, her frustration gone. The brunette pushed Jane's dead body off her. Sitting up she could see Luke pinning Kenny, both of them staring at her. Kenny punched the man on top of him to the side.
"You alright, Clem?" Kenny asked, pushing himself up.
"No... No, I'm not." She muttered, gazing absently through the hole in her hand. A baby crying filled the cold air. Clementine looked at Kenny, eye wide and urged him to go. Luke stood up and hobbled over to the injured girl as Kenny ran off. He was holding a pistol down by his side. Clem eyed the weapon.
"Can I-I have the gun?" She whispered.
"W-What? Why?"
"Look at me, Luke. I'm a fucking mess. My leg is fucked and there's a damn hole in my hand," Clementine looked down sadly. "I'm as good as dead..."
"No," Luke pocketed the gun and sent her a stern look. "You're stronger than that, Clem. I know you are. Please, think of all the people who care for you."
"Who? They're all dead because of me." She said, bitterly. The man dressed in orange bent down and began to inspect her injuries. The glass from the window had seriously scratched her face up. She was bleeding, a lot.
Luke sighed. "Remember back at the cabin? When we threw you into that shed? How you broke out and patched yourself up? Now you've just got to do that again, Clem."
"How? You make it sound so simple, we have no medic-"
"Not physically, Clem. Mentally."
"I... I can't, Luke." She denied.
"Yes, you can," Luke supported. "I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, but you're tough. Tougher than I am that's for damn sure."
"T-Thanks, Luke."
"Don't mention it." He smiled, not unkindly. Kenny's figure approached the two, AJ in hand. He seemed happy, yet worried at the same time. Was he worried about her? Why?
"Shit, Clem... She alright?" He asked the other man, his brow pointed. Luke sighed, stood and covered his face with his hands.
"Honestly, it ain't pretty." He finally said. "Take a look at her yourself. As much as I hate to admit it... Wellington's her best shot. She'll easily die if we go back to Howes and... She needs a proper doctor for this."
Kenny looked at him curiously.
"If that hole in her hand gets infected..."
"We'll have to chop it off." Kenny finished, going white at the thought. Clementine grimaced at that. There was a long pause before Clementine finally broke it.
"This was all for nothing... I killed her, for nothing." She muttered, clutching her hair and falling onto her back. She screamed into the sky and the years of built-up tears finally released.