Clementine rode on Shade, her face down while Hannah led them through the forest. It was stupid to trust someone she barely knew, but at the same time, someone her own age was less likely to hurt her than some random adult was.
It was sad that this was what the world had come to.
Their pace was slow in steady, seeing as Hannah wasn't in any rush to catch up. Clementine herself wasn't really in any particular rush either, come to think of it. The only real consequence she had for being out here so long was getting an earful from Kenny back at Richmond. The sun was beginning to set now, bathing the sky in a fiery orange light. Long shadows fell across the land from the trees in the forest.
"You don't mind being away from your friend for another day or two, do ya?" Hannah asked nervously. Clementine's eyes flickered up to look at Hannah.
"Not really. The worst he'll do is lecture me angrily and then let me go."
Hannah huffed in amusement. "Alright. There's a storage house up ahead where we can wait out the night." She said. Clementine stared at Hannah blankly for a moment before speaking.
"How long have you been in this place?"
"Few months I guess, though I was too nervous to approach any of the settlements until a week ago. Probably should've stayed in the woods..." She said, that last part mostly to herself. Clementine rose an eyebrow at her and looked back down.
The sun set quickly, taking its warmth with it and leaving the world in darkness. The sky was a deep blue, with white, glittering spots dotting the sky. Hannah looked up at the sky only for a brief moment before continuing. Clementine looked up, through the canopy of leaves, trying to get a good view of the sky.
A voice in the distance cursed loudly, shocking both Hannah and Clementine. Shade whinnied in response, pawing the ground anxiously.
"Hey, shh, shh," Hannah whispered, putting a hand on the horse's head.
Then, in the distance, another voice spoke.
"Batter up, fuck-face!"
Clementine and Hannah shared a look, and then headed towards the voice quickly. The sound carried them to a dirt path in the middle of the forest, with a few walkers surrounding the path. Javier was desperately trying to fight off two walkers, but he'd somehow ended up on the ground with a metal baseball bat a few feet away. To Clementine's surprise, Shade lurched forward, running out onto the path. Clementine froze, clinging onto the horse as her reared up and brought his front hooves down on one of the walker's heads. Javier was able to swipe his baseball bat off the ground, allowing him to kill the walker.
Javier turned, eyeing Clementine, before snickering.
"What?" Clementine asked snippily, sitting up quickly. Hannah came hurrying around to face Shade's frown, a worried look on her face.
"Clem, you okay?" She asked quickly. Clementine nodded, sliding off of Shade and standing next to Hannah.
"So sorry, he doesn't like walkers." Hannah said, gently rubbing Shade's nose.
"Who does?" Javier asked. Hannah and Clementine shared a look before looking back at Javier.
"I thought you guys went to Richmond." Hannah said. Javier frowned and turned, walking down the path.
"We did," Javier began. "Kate's fine, Gabe and Mari are with her... But..." Javier closed his eyes, shaking his head. "The New Frontier took over, and my brother is one of the people in charge."
Hannah and Clementine exchanged a surprised glance. "Wait, if your brother is in charge then why are you out here?" Clementine asked. "Which one is your brother?"
"David. We got kicked out because we defended ourselves from the assholes who shot at us." Javier spat. Hannah frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder. Clementine glanced at her, then up at Javier.
"How is he? David?" Clementine asked softly. Javier sighed.
"He's fine... And a lot happier now that he has his family back." He replied. Clementine looked down, a small smile on her face.
"Did Kenny tell you that we were part of the New Frontier once?" She asked. Hannah frowned at that.
"I trust what you told me, Clem, but Kenny lied to me and told me y'all where their prisoners."
Clementine gave Hannah a surprised look. "He lied to you?" She asked, feeling anger begin to rise up inside of her.
"There it is." Someone spoke up. Clementine looked up and saw that, ahead of them, Kenny, Conrad, and Tripp were walking side by side. The person who spoke- Tripp- was referring to the storage house that Hannah had previously been taking Clementine to.
"Wait, does the New Frontier own that place?" Hannah asked in surprise. "That's just the place I was taking us to."
"They do now," Javier replied. Hannah scoffed, frowning at that. "David sent us there."
"I trust him," Clementine said. "But... I don't think Kenny does." She added, her eyes trained on Kenny's back.
"It's now or never-" Tripp began, looking over his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise. "Shit. When did you two kids get here?" Tripp asked in surprise.
"We got here when we heard Javi shout 'batter up.'" Hannah replied. Kenny looked over at them and smirked.
"I'm surprised you didn't scream like a cowgirl," Kenny said. Hannah stiffened for a moment, her nostrils flaring.
"Uh... Yee haw?" She said flatly. "Is that better?"
Clementine giggled from beside her, earning a smile from Hannah. Kenny only rolled his eyes in response.
Hannah looked over her shoulder, whistling at Shade. His ears flitted up and he looked at her, giving her all his attention.
"Shade, follow," She murmured.
"Now!" Tripp ordered, standing up and bolting through the cluster. Everyone followed his lead, pushing through the hoard. Clementine ducked under a walker, and when Hannah ran past it, she clocked its temple with her crowbar.
They ran into a fenced area, with Clementine quickly closing a gate. The fence was too frail to hold off the walkers for very long; carefully, she placed her hands on the fence, pushing against the hoard. Tripp, Kenny, and Conrad all followed her lead.
Meanwhile, Hannah ran over to a chain and pulled down with all of her strength. A metal gate next to her began to lift up.
"Javi, help!" Hannah ordered. Javier didn't hesitate; he pulled down on the chain as well. Shade was quick to crawl through the gap and into the building.
"The gate's open!" Javier called. Clementine rushed away from the fence, diving into the room. Kenny followed, with Tripp and Conrad trailing closely behind him. They dived into the room.
"Come on, we got you covered!" Tripp barked. There was a creak on the other side, and when Hannah and Javier let go of the chain, the gate remained open.
They wasted no time in diving into the building. When they did, Clementine and Kenny let go of the chain on the other side, allowing the metal gate to slam down.
Hannah panted a bit, and then looked up. The ground was made from smooth concrete, and the walls and frame of the place was made from strong metal. There were dark red storage units stacked atop each other on the ground. Each one had white labels painted on, with different settlement names on them.
"Clem," Hannah whispered softly. Clementine perked up, and Hannah nodded at one of the red crates.
"Those are supplies from Prescott."
"Wait a minute, you're right..." Tripp said, peering at the storage units. "There's shit from all kinds of settlements!"
Outside, a few gunshots went off. A voice spoke, cursing.
"There's so many out here! Come on, let me in!"
Javier went for a door beside the gate, only for Kenny to lunge at him and push him away.
"No! You're not lettin' that fucker in!" Kenny snapped. Javier glared at Kenny.
"Maybe you don't like him, but he's my brother!" Javier shot back. Tripp grabbed Kenny and pulled him away while Javier opened the door, allowing David to come in. David came in quickly and then slammed the door, ushering Javier out of the way. David pushed a small metal crate against the door, then relaxed.
"Good to see you again, brother," David said, looking up at Javier. Javier smiled warmly at David.
"David?" Clementine asked tentatively. Kenny huffed and looked away, crossing his arms. David spun around, a surprised look on his face. He smiled warmly at her.
"Well, i'll be damned. 'S good to see you again, kid." He said, putting his hands on his hips. Clementine smiled back at him genuinely.
Shade snorted softly, nudging one of the metal crates. David walked past, frowning.
"The hell's this?" He asked, inspecting the crates.
"I was hoping you could tell me." Tripp said. "You got crates from Prescott here."
"I had no idea about ANY of this, I swear," David said, turning to look at Tripp.
Hannah walked past David, further into the storage unit. Shade followed her.
"The hell...? Hey, you look kinda familiar." David commented. Hannah looked back at him, an eyebrow raised.
"It's possible you've seen me during the times you're out and about," Hannah said. "I mean, i've been here a while. It wouldn't surprise me, honestly."
David hummed in response, leaving it at that. "You got a horse? Damn, that thing's bigger than me!" David said, an amused look on his face.
"Look at all this shit, we're frickin' rollin' in it!" A familiar voice said. Shade blended in well with the surrounding area, so both David and Hannah ducked behind him, peeking out down a hallway with a metal shelf on the left side. Everyone else quickly pressed themselves against the wall, with Javier in front of everyone.
Badger and his friends came into view with duffel bags, setting them on a wooden table.
"Yeah, but we would've had more if you hadn't gone all trigger-happy on David's family." Max said. Badger scoffed.
"You mean the cowgirl? She's not even related to them!"
"You shot his wife, you dumb shit!" Lonnie said. "Look man, you gotta control your itchy trigger finger."
David's fists clenched and he shared a look with Javier, who nodded at him. David crouched down and crept around Shade, flanking the wall. Hannah stood, crouched down. Javier followed closely behind, with the other adults.
"Stay here," Kenny whispered to Clementine. She frowned, but obeyed, peeking around the corner as Kenny followed.
"Who gives a damn about them, anyways? David's been just fine without them." Badger said.
David stood up, drawing his gun on them. Javier followed, along with Tripp, who'd miraculously kept his rifle.
"That's where you're wrong." David spoke up, causing the three men to spin around. "What the hell's going on? You've been raiding settlements?"
The men exchanged a look.
"Clem," Hannah whispered. Clementine looked up at Hannah and saw her waving Clementine over. Clementine peered around the corner one last time before rushing around behind Shade.
"If we sneak up on them, we can block their way out," Hannah whispered. "Shade, lead... Quietly." Hannah murmured. Shade turned and began walking down the hallway with surprisingly soft footsteps, barely audible. An argument was beginning to spring up ahead, distracting everyone from the large horse treading through the hallway.
"That way," Hannah whispered to Shade, pointing at a spot near some stairs. "Stop."
"We don't need this!" Badger snapped. "We're leaving!"
"No, you're not," David snapped. "That's an order!"
"We only take orders from Joan now. No-one will believe you anyways." Max said, turning and starting towards the entrance. He smacked face-first into Shade's side, stumbling back.
"The hell?" He questioned as Shade turned his head to look at him. Hannah pulled her crowbar out and ducked beneath Shade, coming out to face Max with narrowed eyes.
"The hell?!" Mac exclaimed, backing away quickly. Hannah only stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"You!" Badger said, then laughed. "I'm surprised you survived that fall without cracking your head open!"
"You'd best listen to David if you want to live." Hannah said. Badger scoffed.
"Fuckin' weirdo," He said, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Wait, what're you-"
"For fuck's sake, they got us surrounded." Badger quipped. Lonnie sighed in agitation, following Badger's lead. Max was the last to surrender.
"Good. That's real good," David said. "Anyone have anything we can use to tie em' up?"
"There might be something upstairs," Javier offered. Hannah ducked underneath Shade, tugging on Clementine's arm.
"Come on, let's go find some rope," She whispered, heading up some stairs. Clementine followed without a word.
"Who trained Shade so well?" Clementine asked as they entered the room. The room had a pink hue in it, with pinkish metal pipes around them as walls. On the left side was a simple metal shelf with some cable ties and rope.
"Those teenagers I told you about? They did." Hannah said, swiping the cables and rope. She sighed sadly. "It's strange... All three of us met in a hospital by chance."
"A hospital?" Clementine echoed, following Hannah back downstairs. Hannah ducked under Shade again and presented her findings.
"That'll do," Javier said, taking the cables and rope. Hannah backed away and turned to Clementine.
"S' what I said, ain't it?" Hannah asked. Clementine snickered at the way Hannah spoke.
"Yep, in the beginning of this I woke up in a hospital. Last thing I remembered before waking was hearing someone say goodbye." Hannah said.
"Hannah, that's awful. You don't remember anything from before that?"
"I mean, I remembered things I learned in school and I remembered feeling certain things, but other than that, no."
Clementine frowned at that. "You don't remember why you were there?"
"No... One of my friends was there because of a concussion, and the other was there because she sprained her wrist. Fun stuff."
"Alright ladies, enough chit-chat," David said. "We're going to talk to Joan."