Sweat dripped down Kenny's forehead as he stood completely still, trying not to piss off the person behind him.
"Now look, there ain't no need for hostilities. I'm sure we can figure this out civilly…" Kenny gulped, slowly turning around.
"There isn't anything to "figure out". You're going to turn around and leave, or you'll earn yourself a nice shiny bullet in the brain" The younger man snapped, the gun in his hand not moving even for a second.
"I get it, I'm impeding on your property, but you gotta understand, I lost a lot just to get here" Kenny tried to explain, yet his pleas fell on deaf ears.
"I don't care if you're fucking group got torn apart by biters, you still can't just waltz in here" The young man growled, before motioning behind him. Another man appeared from behind a stack of crates, wielding a similar weapon to his companion.
"So, here's how it's going to work. You are going to grab your shit, I'm going to escort you out, and you're never going to come back, y'hear?" The first man explained, having calmed down.
"I'm afraid I can't go back out there. I've lost too many people to those damn things, and I ain't losing my own life to them as well" Kenny explained, hoping the two before him bought his bluff. As it turns out, they didn't.
"Welp, then it looks like more bloods going to be spilled here" The second man chuckled, aiming his gun towards Kenny's head. Kenny knew he was a goner, he just hoped Clem would make it out of here. Unfortunately, Clementine doesn't think as logically as Kenny, as she jumped out of her hiding space, and running towards her guardian.
"Wait! Please, don't kill Kenny! W-We'll leave, just don't kill him!" Clementine cried, hugging Kenny's waist with tears beginning to stream down her face.
"Hold on, you got a kid?!" The first man exclaimed, dumbfounded about seeing anyone so young anymore.
"Two, actually. One of them is a fucking infant. THAT, is why we're in here. I'm trying to keep these two safe, and I don't know about you, but I think Howes is pretty damn safe." Kenny muttered, throwing his arm around the younger girl, trying to calm her down.
The two men looked at each other, trying to read the others face.
"Stay here. We'll be back" The first man sighed, opening the door to the dorms and exiting, with the latter following. Kenny and Clementine stared at each other for a few moments, unsure of what was happening.
"We can't just fucking kick them out! Whatshisname – Kenny, he has 2 kids for crying out loud!" Jake exclaimed, trying to reason with his long-time friend.
"I get that, and I don't want to kick them out, but the guy seems like someone who would hold a grudge. I don't want to be living under the same roof as someone who plans to slit our necks while we sleep" Kris explained lowly, a tinge of guilt evident in his voice. He had never been one to be merciless, in fact, he always saw himself as a big guy with a big heart. Yet, he still wasn't convinced.
"Put them on a probationary basis! We put them to work around the store, and see if we can properly trust them" Jake reasoned, trying desperately to convince Kris to let the new faces stay. It had been so long since they had seen anyone still surviving, especially with 2 children. Kris rubbed his temples in frustration. He so desperately wanted to believe his friend, but his gut kept screaming bad news. He was torn between letting Kenny and his kids stay, or sending them away. He stood there for a few moments contemplating the decision before finally caving in.
"Fine, they can stay. But we're keeping a close eye on them, got it?" Kris sighed, a smirk forming on his normally neutral face. Jake's eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree, and he thanked his friend excitedly.
"You wont regret this!" Jake grinned, trying hard, and failing, at holding in his excitement. Kris chuckled at his behaviour, but a small seed of doubt was firmly planted in the back of his mind. But, he decided to ignore it for the time being.
Kris lead the way back into the room, and saw the irritated face of Kenny in front of him.
"Well? You decided to kick us out yet?" The older man grumbled, obviously furious. Kris tried his hardest not to lash out at him, which in the end worked.
"Well, we talked it out. We're letting you stay for now, just don't make me regret this. If either of you try anything, you're straight out of here. Sound fair?" Kris explained, keeping a neutral face. The young girl wore a shocked look for a few moments, processing this information, before it changed to one of happiness and relief.
"Thank you so much! I promise, we'll be good and not cause any trouble. You have my word!" The young girl chirped, hugging Kris tightly. The young man was taken aback at first, but quickly settled down and hugged the child.
"Well, since we're livin' under the same roof now, might be useful for us to know yer' names" Kenny sighed, picking up AJ from where Clementine had him stashed underneath the bed.
"I'm Kris, and he's Jake. What about you two?" Kenny looked at the two, before sighing and standing up.
"Names Kenny. This is Clementine and AJ" Kenny explained, pointing to the young girl and the infant.
"Well, why don't we head downstairs, I'll get you two some food and you can tell us a bit about yourself." Jake offered, holding the door open for everyone to leave. Kenny was the first to leave, followed by Clementine, Kris and finally Jake. The four made their way down to the kitchen, and got Kenny and Clementine a can of beans and a bottle of water each. They talked for a few hours, exchanging stories and such, before Kenny decided to head back to the dorms.
"I'll see y'all in the morning. Clem, you comin'?" Kenny motioned for the young girl to follow him, but she shook her head in response.
"I was going to stay down here for a bit and get to know Kris and Jake a bit better" Clem explained. Kenny looked her in the eyes, before sighing and walking off to the dorms.
"Think I might follow his example. Seeyas in the morning" Jake yawned as he stood up and headed in the same direction as Kenny. The space grew quiet around them, making for an awkward silence between the remaining two.
"So, how long have you known Kenny?" Kris asked, trying to start a conversation with the child.
"About 2 years. I've known him since everything started…" Clementine trailed off, obviously saddened by something. Kris could see this clearly, and moved next to the young girl and placed an arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, is everything alright? You seem a bit upset" Kris asked, trying not to make the girl more upset than she already was.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering… stuff" Clementine sniffled, holding back tears. Kris felt genuinely bad for Clem. She was, what, 11 years old? Yet she had to go through so much shit. She was tough, that's for sure, but even the strongest of people eventually collapse.
"Well, you might not trust me yet, but if you ever want to talk about anything, come see me" Kris offered, hugging the girl. Clementine tried hard to keep the tears back, but in the end, she broke down and began sobbing into Kris' shirt. She kept a grip on Kris and cried for a good 10 minutes before passing out in his lap. Kris smiled warmly as he picked the girl up and walked her towards the dorms. Silently, he creaked the door open and saw Kenny at one side of the room, asleep, and Jake laying on the other side, also asleep. He walked over to Kenny and laid Clementine in one of the cots next to the man, before finding a bed next to Jake and lying down. He sat there for a few minutes, replaying the events that occurred moments ago, before eventually dozing off.
"Kenny? Oi, Kenny. Wake up" Kris shook the man slightly, which made him stir, but still refused to wake up. He shook Kenny again with a little more force.
"Kenny, wake up. We got shit to do" Kris shook him a third time, and accidentally rolled the man off the bed. Kenny hit the ground headfirst, and groaned aloud. Kris stifled a laugh, trying so hard not to laugh out loud. The older man sat up from the floor, and scowled at Kris.
"The fuck was that for?!" Kenny shouted, rubbing his forehead where he hit the ground.
"I was trying to wake you up. Jake and Clem went out to the creek to fish, AJ is asleep still, and you're helping me do inventory." Kris explained as he grabbed Kenny's hand and hauled him to his feet.
"Wait, you shit bags took Clem out without speaking to me first?!" Kenny growled, grabbing Kris by the collar. Kris jumped back, but kept a straight face.
"Hey, Hey, Hey, easy now. The creek is barely a few minutes away, they'll be fine. Jake said he was going to teach her how to catch and gut fish for a few hours, then they would bring whatever they find back, and that's our dinner" Kris explained, trying to pry Kenny's hands from his collar. Kenny seemed reluctant at first, but eventually let him go.
"She better be alright, or its your ass" Kenny grumbled, before departing the dorms. Kris couldn't help but frown as he left the dorms. It wasn't exactly the smartest of ideas, even Kris protested the idea, telling Jake how Kenny would react, but he simply shook it off and left with the young girl.
"For fuck sakes Jake, you better bring something good, or I'm going to kick your ass" Kris muttered as he left the dorms to finish counting their supplies. He was taking care of the food and water while Kenny counted the ammo. Once he arrived at the kitchen, he walked in and grabbed a notepad off the bench, and began counting the assorted cans of food, water and other non-perishables in the kitchen.
"See Clem? It's easy as" Jake laughed, throwing another fish into the cooler between him and Clementine. They had been fishing for around 2 hours now, and caught around 5 decently sized fish.
"I say, we catch one more good fish, and head back to Howe's. What say you, madam?" Jake joked in a mocking British accent.
"Oh my god, your version of a British accent is so bad!" Clementine laughed, clutching her sides. She almost fell off the stump she was sitting on, but she managed to stay seated where she was. Jake looked towards the creek, focusing on the rods. The two lines sat bobbling in the weak current of the creek, and as the two watched, they saw many fish swim past the hooks downstream.
"Damnit, they aren't taking the bait" Jake groaned, as he drew his line in and cast it back out. Clem went to do the same before she felt the rod almost get ripped out of her hands.
"Jake, Jake! I-I got a bite!" Clementine exclaimed happily, grabbing onto the reel in an attempt to keep the fish hooked.
"Good job Clem! Now, reel it in. Pull the line in, and get the fish!" Jake cheered as he saw Clementine struggling with the rod she held. The line kept getting closer and closer, pulling the fish out slowly, until Clem gave one hard pull and ripped the fish out of the water. The fish was quite large, the biggest they had caught so far. Clem's eyes shone as she marvelled in her first ever catch.
"Good job Clem! That was amazing!" Jake praised the girl, as he grabbed the bag of tools from beside him.
"Would you like the honours of killing and gutting the fish?" Jake offered her the bag, but Clem refused to take it.
"No thanks, catching is enough. You can gut it" Clem explained, reeling in Jake's line.
"I'll gut this, then we can head back" Jake made quick work of gutting the poor fish, before he stuffed it in the last cooler with any space.
"Welp, lets head back, shall we?" Jake grabbed the second cooler and stood near the path back to Howes. Jake led the way as the two made their way back to the massive hardware store. They were completely oblivious however, to the figure watching them from atop a rocky cliff nearby.