Let's see... If I were upset, where would I go? I would go somewhere dark, to be alone... And... Ah. There you are.
Near an old rusted plane near the gates, Hannah spotted the capped girl- whose name was Clementine if she remembered correctly- was sitting against one of the metal walls in Prescott, her knees up. Her arms were crossed over her knees, and she was looking down, her cap hiding her face.
Clementine was African-american with a slightly lighter complexion than most. She was wearing a bluish-purple bubble jacket, along with a red scarf with faded white stripes, gray pants, and black boots. Her hat was white and blue, with brown speckles staining the white part of it.
Hannah didn't want to think about what the brown speckles were.
Hannah walked around the rusted plane, raising an eyebrow at it, and up to Clementine, looking down at her with a smile. "Hey." She said. Clementine bristled and looked up, her eyes wide. When she saw Hannah, she frowned and looked away.
"Did Kenny send you?" She asked.
"Nope, I sent myself. Kenny certainly didn't try to stop me, though."
"Of course he didn't..." Clementine mumbled. "Who are you, anyways?"
"I'm Hannah." Hannah said, sitting down in front of Clementine. Clementine rose an eyebrow at her. "I'm not gonna leave until I make you smile, alright? This world is pretty crappy, I get it... So bear with me, i'll try to make it less crappy."
Clementine sighed and readjusted her legs so that she was sitting criss-cross. "Fine." She grumbled.
"I'll start off with some normal conversation," Hannah said. "What did you think of my performance earlier?"
Clementine scoffed, perking up a bit. "I think you're crazy. I mean, what's up with the 'yee-haw' shit?"
"It's the call of my people of course," Hannah said.
"What are you, a cowboy?"
"Obviously." Hannah said with a proud grin. Clementine snorted at that, and Hannah could almost swear she saw the corner of her lips twitch upwards.
Good, i'm making progress.
"Where are you from, Hannah?" Clementine asked. She seemed to be more relaxed now that she knew that Hannah didn't come to pester her about the argument she'd had with Kenny. Hannah couldn't help but to feel pleased that she was making her more comfortable.
"Texas. That's where all cowboys are from," Hannah said with a smirk. Clementine rose an eyebrow and her lips turned upward at that statement. "In fact, that's where I found my trusty steed, Shade." Hannah stood up and turned, whistling loudly. A few moments later, the sound of hooves against the ground could be heard, and a black Clydesdale horse with a white star shape on his forehead came trotting around the corner, snorting. Clementine's eyes widened in amazement and she stood up also, bristling a bit.
"Relax, he won't hurt you," Hannah said, putting a hand on his nose. "You wanna pet him?"
"Yes." Clementine answered almost immediately. Hannah took a step back, gesturing to Shade's nose. Clementine reached out nervously, trembling a little, and brushed her hand against the stallion's nose. He snorted, causing Clementine to momentarily jerk back, but then she settled her palm back onto his nose.
"He's a sweetheart," Hannah said, reaching up and gently stroking his mane. Clementine seemed entranced by Shade's soft nose. Shade snorted and nudged her shoulder. "Hey, I think he likes you."
Shade nickered softly, nudging Clementine again. "What's he doing?" She asked, tensing up again.
"Relax," Hannah said gently. "That just means he wants you to ride him."
"What? Me? I've never ridden a horse before!"
"Well, it's never too late to learn," Hannah said cheerfully. She turned to Shade. "Down, boy."
Shade obeyed Hannah, bending his front legs down and lowering his head. "Come on now, I don't have to tell you how to mount a horse, do I?" Hannah asked, looking at Clementine.
"No, of course not." Clementine said, holding her head up proudly. She went around to Shade's side and hopped onto the horse's back. "See? Easy-"
Clementine yelped when Shade stood up abruptly, holding onto his neck tightly. Hannah grinned and snickered at her. Clementine's cheeks became dusted red.
"Shut up." She said, slowly sitting up. She tested her balance, a nervous look on her face.
"It's alright, really," Hannah said. She whistled, causing Shade's ears to stand up straight. "Shade, follow." She said, walking away from the rusted plane.
"What, what're- where are we going?!" Clementine asked.
"Relax, we're going slow. We're just talking a walk around Prescott. We're getting to know each other," Hannah said lightly, giving Clementine a warm smile. Clementine seemed too busy focusing on not losing her balance to notice. "I usually have a saddle on him, but I wasn't planning on going back out tonight, so I took it off of him."
"How long have you had him?" Clementine asked, slowly getting more comfortable. Hannah walked a few steps ahead of Shade, leading them down a dirt road. There were metal buildings and concrete buildings erected on either side of her; from what Hannah understood, most of the metal buildings had been built after the corpses came back to life.
"I found him when he was a foal, Not long after all of this started." Hannah said. "It's a shame, really. Poor thing was all alone."
"Where you with anyone in the beginning?" Clementine asked.
"Not really... I just had a little horse following me around from store to store. Eventually, he got big enough to where he could carry me. So, I taught myself how to ride."
"So you've never been in a group before?" Clementine asked, raising an eyebrow at Hannah.
"Well, I never said that... I was alone for the first few months of this, that's all. What about you?"
"I was with a group at the start of this. Kenny was a part of that group." Clementine said, looking down. There was now a sad look on her face.
"Ah, by the look on your face, i'm guessing it didn't go well. I won't pry." Hannah said with a shrug. "That man, Javier? How'd you meet him?" Hannah asked.
"Uhhh... I pointed a shutgun at his back." Clementine said bluntly.
"Why's that?"
"He and this other guy were inside of a truck, and I was trying to get the truck, but it ended up crashing in a ditch." Clementine said, sounding defeated. "He said he had a van, and I was gonna take him to the junkyard in exchange for it, but Kenny won't allow that."
"Why do you want a car so badly?" Hannah asked.
"I want to get out of this place." Clementine said stiffly. Hannah looked up at her, raising an eyebrow, and shrugged.
"Okay. And What about Kenny?"
"He wants us to stay since it's safer here." She said with a sigh. Hannah hummed.
"I think it's about time for me to settle down... I've been all around the U.S by this point, and I'm tired. I'm... Retiring." Hannah said decisively.
"What? You can't retire, you don't even have a job." Clementine said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Can to. I'm a retired traveller," Hannah replied with a grin.
"We're the same age, I think..."
"Then you should retire too," Hannah said playfully.
"Retire from what?" Clementine asked.
"Retire from riding the horse in one direction. We're circling back around to the plane," Hannah said, stopping. Shade stopped as well, and when Hannah turned around, heading back down the dirt road, Shade turned, following Hannah. Clementine scoffed.
"Real funny." She said flatly.
"I know, i'm simply hilarious." Hannah replied, glancing back and meeting Clementine's amber eyes. Clementine rolled her eyes, but on her face, there was a smile.
Mission accomplished. The lights inside of the buildings were beginning to go out, signalling that people were beginning to turn in for the night.
"I think I might follow them to the junkyard." Hannah said suddenly. Clementine looked at Hannah raising an eyebrow.
"Why? You won't get anything out of it."
"I haven't seen a functional family in ages," Hannah replied. "I just thought it would be nice to see them reunite and help them out, y'know?"
Clementine hummed in response, looking up. "I guess that's one way of looking at it. The last functional family I saw was Kenny's." She said, shaking her head and looking away. "They're gone now."
Hannah looked up at Clementine with a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm guessing you were close to his family?"
"I was. His wife and son were both very nice... I miss them." She said sadly. Hannah faltered for a moment, her lips twitching. However, she kept her face neutral.
"I'm sorry about that."
"It's just... I've seen so many groups, people as close as family, fall apart... It's awful every time." Clementine said. Hannah looked up, and to her dismay, she saw Clementine doing it again- looking down, hiding her face, allowing her shoulders to sag, hunching over...
I can't let anyone else give up.
"Hey," Hannah said softly. "It doesn't have to be like that with you and Kenny. You two really care about each other, I can tell... Just talk to each other. Whatever's the matter, whatever it is, i'm sure you'll get through it."
Clementine frowned a bit, pursing her lips. "I hope you're right." She murmured.
(A/N)- apologies if you find the more dialogue-filled chapters boring, i'll be getting back into the main plot in chapter seven :)