Episode 1: Other Survivors- Part 1/4
It was just another day at Ericson's. The rays of light from the summer's sun was as bright and wonderful as ever. The birds were singing their sweet tunes and the school had been free of walkers and attackers for a few months now. Life could not be any more perfect for the youngsters. It was as if the apocalypse was not happening around them.
Clementine smiled with her head placed on Louis' shoulder as the two held hands while sitting down on the stairs outside the school building. They watched as AJ played a game around the table with Violet, Aasim and Ruby. It meant so much to her that her goofball was happy. A few years back, she would have never imagined her life being the way it was now. She had her goofball with her, a group of wonderful friends, a gorgeous boyfriend and a place to call home. The wait was so worth it, and she would not have it any other way.
"Uh, Clem? I know that I am comfy and all, but I really should get back to the protecting the school business." Louis smiled.
Clem sighed. "I wish we could stay like this forever. For a moment it was as if there are no walkers, no threats…just you, me and the whole family here at Ericson's."
"I know. I wish we could stay like this for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, we have duties. But it makes these moments with you that more special."
Louis gets up and then helps Clem get up by passing her crutches. Once the two had got up, they made their way to join the rest of the gang at the table.
"What game you playing, Goofball?" Clem asked AJ with a bright smile.
"Aasim is trying to teach me how to play Draughts, Clem."
"I never knew we had Draughts." Clem said.
"Ruby and I found it when we were searching through Minnie's old things." Aasim explained. "Never would have thought of her as a Draughts fan."
"Live can be surprising that is for sure." Clem said. She then looked at Louis, who nodded in agreement.
"Anyways, Omar and I are going to search around the safe zone to check if any of the traps have caught anything for dinner. After that, we plan to kill off any walkers heading towards the school." Louis explains.
"Do you guys need any help?" Aasim asked.
"Sure." Louis smiled. "The more the merrier."
"Do you want to go with them too, AJ?" Clementine asked.
"Yeah." AJ said looking cheerier now. "Draughts kinda sucked anyways." AJ then turns to Aasim. "No offence."
Aasim just smiled. "None taken little dude. To be honest, I was getting pretty bored myself. Be nice to get out of the school for a while."
Aasim and AJ got up and started to walk out of the school gates with Louis. Clem and Ruby watched as they left.
"Stay safe." Clem shouted to the four of them.
Clem turned to Ruby and smiled. "So Ruby, if they come back with nothing, do we have any leftovers or rations left?"
Ruby's smile dropped. "Unfortunately, we have nothing. So, I hope those boys come back with something."
Clem began to have a look for concern. "I hope so too. I will not allow any of us to go hungry tonight or any other night for that matter."
Ruby just nods to Clem's statement.
There was a moment of silence between the two girls. Clementine was the one to break this silence.
"Anyways, how's Violet been coming along? Last time I checked, she needed assistance walking to the bathroom from next door."
"She's finding it hard, you know, not being able to do look out duty and look at the stars like she always used to. All that shit that was important to Vi."
Since the incident on the boat which resulted in Violet losing most of her sight, Clem was filled with nothing but guilt and self-blame. Although, Violet never blamed Clementine for her trying to stop the bomb with Minnie and making herself mostly blind, it did not stop the guilt that Clem was feeling. She believed that if she was able to save both Louis and Violet that night, Vi would not be suffering like she is. However, Violet did not want people to feel sorry for her. So, everyone does as Violet wishes and tries to carry on like nothing happened because regardless of the circumstances, Violet will always be Violet.
"I wish I was able to save both her and Lou that night. If I could have stopped it, Vi would not be in this fucking mess." Clem said in a sad tone.
Ruby placed a hand on Clem's shoulder as a way of reassurance. "It's not your fault, Clem. The raiders were fast to abduct Aasim, Omar and Violet like they did. And Violet seems happy enough. It's just going to take some time-"
"Ruby, it's been several months now, and she is still struggling. You know, some nights I hear her cry herself to sleep in her bedroom. Or she gets frustrated because she can't find a card that she dropped during one of our card games! Ruby, her life has been destroyed and it's all my fault." Clem starts to cry.
Ruby hated seeing Clem upset or any of her family for that matter. She slowly wrapped her arms around Clementine as a way to comfort her.
Clem took her time until she returned the hug to Ruby.
A few moments later, Clem had calmed herself down and her and Ruby released from their hug.
The two girls just looked at each other. Ruby gave Clem a smile, hoping this would help her to feel better.
Clem just managed to give Ruby a little smile as she was still filled with upset and guilt.
"Remember Clem, nothing that happened during the raiders situation was your fault. If anything, it would be the raiders most at fault for taking our friends from us to begin with." Ruby reassured.
"Thank you, Ruby." Clem said in a grateful tone.
"Anytime Clem. You're one of us and the number one rule of being a family is to stick together and look after each other."
"AJ and I are so lucky to have found you guys. We could not be happier."
"We're glad to have met you both too, Clementine." Ruby smiled.
Ruby was always full of great advice. The day that Clem and AJ had met her she came across as this moody, hot-headed and easily annoyed individual. But deep down, her heart is in the right place and she deeply cares about her family and their safety.
"Anyways, I have look out duty before AJ this afternoon, so I best go and check on the back-wall defences." Clem explained.
"Of course. But be sure to be at the table when dinner is ready."
"Will do." Clem smiled.
Ruby smiled back at Clementine.
Just like that, the two went their separate ways for their duties. Clem had look out duty while Ruby would be setting up the cutlery and the cauldron ready for Omar when he gets back with the others.
Clementine finally arrived at the bell tower and remembered that Violet used to love going to the bell tower. Violet even told her that sometimes after she had checked all the defences, she would star gaze. This suddenly saddens Clem as it reminded her that Violet would not be able to enjoy the stars the same way she used to.
Clem took the stairs which the students managed to build, so she could get up to the bell tower while being able to use her crutches. With her condition, she would be unable to climb the walls that Violet used to. The stairs were a good idea for both her and Violet to access. It helped them to get to the top of the bell tower for those occasions where they wanted to relax and watch the stars.
Within five minutes, she made it to the top. Using her crutches, she managed to make it to the balcony.
Clem looked over the balcony and saw the view of the school. The sight was incredible as it made her feel so high up.
After gazing at the sights for a moment, she made her way to the wall. She looked at the skies, trying to understand why Vi always made a fuss of looking at the skies when at the wall. She had to admit, it was a lovely place to sit and star gaze.
All of a sudden, Clem started to feel a bit drowsy and a bit weak. It was probably nothing, so Clem decided to carry on as normal. Clem returned to the back wall to check the defences. Everything seemed to be in order. Suddenly, Clem started to feel a bit lightheaded. She needed to sit down. She sat herself downright next to the back wall. Maybe if she closed her eyes for a few moments, she would feel better. So, she did just that.
Deep in the woods, the boys continued the hunt for the school's evening dinner. They walked two by two. At the front were Omar and Aasim. Omar being to the left and Aasim to the right. Behind them were AJ and Louis. AJ was to the left and Louis to the right.
"How much further do we have to go now? My legs are starting to feel funny." AJ complained, feeling fed up with being outside the school. He just got to the point where he needed to be back at home.
"Not far now little dude. Just hang in there." Louis reassured AJ.
When the gang arrived at the traps, there was nothing to be seen. So, they decided that they would go out and do some hunting instead since Louis and the boys had brought their bows and arrows along with them.
"Why do we have to use these bows and arrows? Why can't I use my gun?" AJ asked.
"Because the sound might lure in walkers and that is the last thing that we need when trying to hunt for our dinner." Louis explained.
"Oh, okay."
There was silence with the gang, until Louis just being Louis decided to make the journey more interesting.
"Who's up for a game of I Spy?" he smiled.
"I Spy?" AJ gave a look of confusion.
"It's a game where an individual looks for something to spy and then the others have to guess what that person is spying. So, for example: I spy with my little eye, something tall and green…"
"Tree." Aasim smirked as he answered straight away.
Louis gave a look to Aasim. "Right. A tree. You see AJ? Its pretty simple."
"Sounds a lot of fun." AJ smiled, liking the sound of this new game.
"Marlon and I used to play it all the time." Louis said feeling a little sad. He and Marlon were best friend for all them years and when he thought he knew him, he betrayed everyone at Ericson's. Traded Sophie and Minnie like they were items and tried to put the blame on Clementine for Brody's death. As much as he hated to admit it, live was much easier without him. However, Clementine came like a guardian angel and promised protection from the raiders and saved so many people. She is without a doubt an amazing leader.
"Can I go first?" AJ started to get a little excited.
"Why of course, little dude." Louis smiled at the young boy's enthusiasm.
"Okay… I spy with my little eye, something… tall, funny and loud."
"Aasim?" Louis joked.
"Fuck off dude!" Aasim shouted in an annoyed tone.
AJ just giggled. "No."
"That tree over there. You know, the one with the funny trunks. Its also pretty tall." Omar pointed towards the tree.
"Is it loud though?" Louis smirked, knowing that he had a point.
Omar forgot about that part. This made him feel like such a dunce. "Oh…yeah. You do have a point there…"
Louis and AJ laughed. Even Aasim had a chuckle come out of him.
"I give up." Louis said feeling defeated.
"Already?" Aasim smirked.
"Dude, fuck you!" Louis gave a miffed expression.
Aasim just put up his middle finger to Louis in jest.
"Are you sure you are ready to give up? You'll kick yourself Louis. It's right under your nose." AJ smiled.
"Well unless it's fresh air, I have no clue what else would be under my nose."
"You." AJ smirked.
"Oh, why thank you..." Louis smiled, tugging at the collar of his coat. This was until he realised something. "Hey…what's wrong with being loud?" Louis said half joking.
"It's because you can be so obnoxious." Aasim said, giving a slight smirk.
Louis started to take things a bit personal. "Oh, and you think that you're so perfect? Don't even get me started about that one time when you tried to cook!"
Aasim turned back and gave an evil glare to Louis. "What's wrong with my cooking? For a beginner, I thought I did pretty good."
"Say that when your cooking almost poisoned Violet."
"It did not."
"Did too."
"DID NOT!"
"DID…TOO!"
"Shut up you two! Of all the petty things to argue over. We don't want to be luring in any walkers." Omar said, hoping to break the argument.
Louis crossed his arms and instantly went back to being sarcastic and slightly cocky. "Yeah, Aasim."
Aasim took a deep breath and placed his hand on his head, slightly messaging his forehead. "Oh god help me please…" he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, Omar had a look of pure terror in his eyes. "Get down!" He half shouted so only the boys could hear him.
Quickly, everyone dived into the bushes, into cover.
"What's gotten into you, Omar?" said Aasim.
"Shhh!" Omar hushed. "It's them."
"Who?" Whispered Louis.
"The caravan group." Omar explained.
There was a silence and all the boy's eyes widened.
They all watched and stared at the mysterious group, curious to know what they are doing and what they do during their day-to-day lives. The boys ensured that they remained out of sight, while also having a good look at the caravan group.
"What shall we do? We can't attack them as we don't know what these people are capable of, let alone risking the chance of accidently helping them track down the school." Omar whispered.
"I... I…I don't know. But we should get out of here as quick as we can without making a sound." Aasim whispered.
"Hold on! I want to try and get a better look at what we are potentially up against." Louis said while slightly peeking out of cover.
"What are you crazy?! Get down!" Aasim whisper shouted, while using his hand to force Louis' head down to get him back into cover.
Louis only managed to have a quick second glimpse before his head was forced down by Aasim.
"Hey! Watch the dreads, please." Louis whisper shouted, while using his hands to brush his dreads back into place.
"Louis. What did you see?" AJ asked.
"I almost made something out, until Aasim decided to yank my head back into the bushes." Louis glared at Aasim.
"Well what did you see?" Omar asked.
"All I saw was the back of a red head. I assume they are female." Louis explained.
"Anything else?" AJ asked.
"Nope. That's it." Louis shook his head.
"Guys, we should really be getting back to the school before those people grow suspicious." Aasim stressed to the group, getting very paranoid of being spotted.
Everyone nodded in response.
"Okay, follow my lead. I know the way back to the school like the back of my hand." Louis whispered.
This led to everyone rolling their eyes as they knew that Louis was not the only one who knew the directions. They also knew that he knew that too.
The boys made sure that they remained grouped together, while ensuring they would not give their location away to the caravan group.
Within the next five minutes, the boys knew that they were safe to get up and walk again at a normal pace.
"Phew, that was close. Way too close." Louis wiped a sweat from his brow.
"Indeed." Said Aasim, relieved that they all managed to make it out safely.
AJ all the while appeared to be deep in thought. Then he began to realise something.
"Hey Louis?"
"Yes, little dude?" Louis looked down at AJ and gave him a smile.
"A few months back, weren't we supposed to confront the caravan group under Clem's orders? What happened?"
Louis thought for a moment. "I don't know dude. I guess we got side-tracked with chores, surviving and duties as well as looking after those who were injured like Clem and Vi."
"Would it ever be a good idea to confront them or are they dangerous people?"
"I have no idea what to think of them at the moment, AJ. Our best bet is to report what we saw to Clem and see what she thinks we should do." Louis explained.
"Okay. I understand." AJ responded.
AJ would be lying if he said he wasn't feeling paranoid. He had the same nightmares every night the past few months. He was scared to lose Clem and the family they have made. AJ cannot imagine life without any of them, especially Clem. If it wasn't for Clem, AJ would either still be trapped and treated poorly at the McCarroll Ranch or even dead for that matter.
The school was not too far away now. The boys would be glad to get back already. All of them were tired, hungry and just wanted to be back home.
"Not too far now." Louis assured his tired friends.
"Good, I'm so hungry I could eat something as big as a monster." AJ said. He was definitely looking forward to getting back and having dinner.
The guys just chuckled in response to the young boy's comment.
"You sure about that, little dude?" Louis joked.
"What do you mean?" AJ gave a look of confusion to Louis.
"You're only little. You would explode not even halfway of something as big as a monster."
"Oh no, I don't want to explode!" AJ started to panic at the idea.
"I was only teasing, little man. You're all good. But make sure that once you are full, you don't force yourself to eat anymore. It will make you sick." Louis assured the worrying boy.
"Uh, I don't want to worry anyone, but I think I can see walkers at the bell tower!" Aasim panicked.
Louis then remembered that Clem was on watch duty at the bell tower. She might still be there because Clem would never abandon post. Maybe she ran out of ammo. Maybe she is in trouble.
"CLEM!" Louis shouted. He then ran as fast as he could to the school to get to the bell tower.
"Is Clem in trouble, Aasim?" AJ started to panic.
"I don't know, but we better not waste any more time."
Just like that, Aasim, AJ and Omar started to run as fast as they could behind Louis.
End of Part 1