A/N: Guess who's back? Back again? Daisy's back, tell a friend. Or you can just read the chapter below. Now for the warnings: I almost cried while writing this, and it takes a lot to make me cry. So that's your warning, bring tissues. Now you can read.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead Game.

It Just Happened

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 15


Screams filled the house on the warm day. It's been five months since the leader of Olympia talked to Clementine and Luke about the shack. He let them off and the situation was never to be talked about again to anyone. However, as of now, it didn't matter. It was the last thing on Clementine's mind right now.

"Come on, Sheila! Push!"

"I'm trying!"

Sheila went into labor earlier that morning. Clementine was helping her set up a machine they got from the hospital across town, then her water broke. Hours later, the woman was now lying on the bed with Clementine and Andie on each side, holding their hands as she pushed tried the baby out with three women helping her.

"You're doing fine, just keep pushing." Clementine said to try to help.

"Just push the fucking thing out!" Andie exclaimed.

"For god's sake, Andie!" one of the women said to her.

"No!" Sheila grunted. "Keep saying shit like that! It helps get this little fucking shit out of me!"

"Fucking push!" Andie yelled again.

Clementine felt like her hand was being crushed from Shelia's grip as she pushed again. After what felt like forever, there was a cry, and Clementine saw a slimy baby being pulled out and held up.

"Congratulations, Sheila. It's a girl."

"Clementine, the scissors."

The tween grabbed the scissors from the nightstand next to the bed and handed it to the woman who asked for them. The woman cut the cord and as another got a bowl of water and a soft rag to clean the baby.

"Girls, can you go get Sheila's husband?"

"Yeah. Anide, come on." Clementine responded.

"I'm coming." Andie said back.

The two left the house and continued down the street to the farm. They've managed to get the solar panels to work, though they were mostly used for cold storage at Don's house and for the medical equipment at the hospital house. The way they connected the power to both is extension cords that ran up the street to the farm where the generator is. There has been some talk about moving the hospital house closer to the farm so it would be easier to get there in case of an injury. However, it would require moving someone out of house closest to the farm and that house was smaller than the one the medical equipment and supplies are in now.

"It's hard to believe that we have a baby now." Clementine said to Andie.

"Yeah…" she responded, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"What do you think she's going to name it?"

"Beats me."

It sounded like she didn't care. Clem knew that Andie wasn't a fan of kids, she hated babysitting, but this wasn't like her. She expected to her to say something like how the baby won't stop crying or how they'd have to change the baby's diaper or joke about stupid names, but nothing.

"Hey, are you okay?" Clementine grabbed her arm and stopped Andie for a moment.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Andie asked.

"You don't seem to be excited about the baby."

"Excited?"

"That wasn't the right word, but ever since we found out Sheila was pregnant, all you ever said about the baby was that it was going to be annoying to hear it cry and to change it, but now that it's here, you're suddenly different."

"I just don't want to get too attached to it. It's a baby, and there's so much that could happen to it." Andie retorted and began to walk ahead.

Clementine sighed before catching up with her. "I know."

AJ died because he was shot by Arvo during his rage-induced shoot out, and even if he didn't, she always wondered what it would be like if AJ was with her and Luke. The other part of her wondered if AJ would have died a different way; starvation, hypothermia, walker ambush, the possibilities were practically endless. Poor AJ.

"Let's just find the husband and get back." Andie said bitterly.

"Rodney should know where he is, right?" Clementine asked.

"He should, but I have no idea what he's doing today." Andie told her.

The girls continued their way to the farm, following the power cord on the ground. It didn't take long, they found Rodney's father and he got the husband. Clementine and Andie saw him run past them on their way back to the hospital house.

"Do you want to go goof off in the town?" Andie asked. "They're going to be too busy with the baby to worry about us."

"What are we going to do?" Clementine asked.

"The hell if I know, I just don't feel like babysitting." Andie said.

"The twins will be pissed." Clementine told her. After Sheila's water broke, she went to get Andie who was babysitting the kids at the time. The twins stopped by to visit her, and because Andie was needed to help with Shelia going into labor, both Tad and Tyrone had to watch the kids until it was done.

"They'll get over it."

Wanting to skip work and go explore in the city was normal for Andie, but she hasn't been herself lately. She's been grumpier ever since they found out a baby was coming and she began to explore the city on her own or skip work to go hunt just to be by herself, even when it was raining. As angry as some of the mothers were for her behavior, they excused it as a phase, and Clementine almost believed it; whenever she tried to talk to Andie, she'd hardly give a response or tell her that one of the kids or moms were pissing her off. However about a month and a half ago Andie changed, she stopped leaving in the middle of the day, and she looked out of it all every time Clem saw her. Andie slowly came back to herself and has opened up more now. Clementine never brought it up in fear of her acting out again.

"There they are now." Andie said seeing the twins outside the hospital house. The kids are in the house next door so the girls were curious about why they were outside.

"Clem! Andie! Catch!" Tyrone tossed them each a walkie talkie.

"One of the moms took over babysitting." Tad said.

"When did we get these?" Clementine asked.

"Rodney found them in one of the stores in town last year. We now have power to use them, so we each get one." Tyrone explained. "Speaking of which we were supposed to call him when we found you two. Rodney?" he talked into his walkie.

"Ty?" Rodney answered back.

"We found Clem and Andie."

"Great, I want to show you guys something. I'll give you directions on how to get there."

"Do the mothers know about this?" Clementine asked the twins.

"The walkies have just been distributed today. The five of us have one, Rodney's dad has one, there's one with the mothers, and some guys on the farm have one. We're fine." Tad assured her. "Rodney, where are we going?"

"I need you guys to go north on 86th street, then turn left on 7th avenue. It's a neighborhood not that far from everything there. When you get to 7th, find the house with the number 5309 and knock on the door."

"On our way." Tad responded before the four of them followed Rodney's directions.

It didn't take that long to find the neighborhood, it was only a few streets over and the house was easy to find because it was at the end of the street. The house looked small from the outside and it was only one story. Once the four of them gathered at the front door, Tyrone knocked and Rodney soon opened the door.

"Glad you guys made it!" Rodney opened the door wider to let in his friends, shutting the door behind them.

The house was practically empty on the inside. Some chairs circling a table in the living room, a bed in the other room, the walls were completely bare and there was a pool in the fenced backyard which gave Clementine chills because it reminded her of the day she almost drowned, the same day Abigail died. She wished Abby was still with them now, she would have loved it here. She would have made working at the hospital house more fun.

"Welcome to the Breakfast Clubhouse." Rodney greeted.

"Please, please, don't call it that." Andie said. The cannibals at the hospital referred to them as the Breakfast Club. "And I swear to god, Rod, if you give us code names based off of it, I will end you!"

"I'm won't. I mean, I might give us code names, but it won't be from that. Anyway, this is our home away from home, our secret hideout. My dad knows where it is and he promised to stay away from it, so this house is ours." Rodney told the group.

"Our own hang out, nice!" Tyrone said aloud.

"And since this place is ours, we get to write on the walls." Rodney pulled out five sharpies and gave one to each of his friends. "Confessions, promises, art, quotes from those who are no longer with us; the wall is now our canvas, I figured it'd be a good way to vent and to make this place our own."

"This is really cool, Rodney." Clementine said.

"We've even got a pool! Please tell me we're going to be swimming in it." Tad asked.

"You bet your ass we will, I just have to clean it out of all the leaves and sticks and other shit that fell in." Rodney responded.

"Well, since this place is ours…" Andie walked over to a wall and wrote her name on it. "Might as well claim it."

Rodney followed suit, writing his name on the same wall, then Clementine, then the twins. It was nice that they had their own private place away from everything. Clem made a note to herself to tell Luke about it, as well as make sure he doesn't come here. She could see her and her friends having a fun time here, goofing off, playing games, swimming, just being here in their place, where they could just be kids for a moment.

The five of them stood back and looked at their names on the wall, smiling at the fact that they now had a getaway.


"Clementine, where's Andie?" One of the women asked as she entered the hospital house.

"She went back to babysitting." Clementine informed her.

Rodney's dad radioed his son on the walkie talkie telling him that he needed to come help on the farm, so the five of them went back to work. The house was quiet, despite Clementine's expectation to hear a baby crying.

"Is the baby okay?" Clementine asked.

"Oh, yes, the baby is fine. She and Sheila are in the other room if you want to go see, her husband went to go get Sheila something to eat, he'll be back shortly."

Clementine nodded before the woman left. The tween walked to the room the woman directed her to and stood in the doorway, seeing Sheila resting on a bed with a tiny baby swaddled in a pink blanket in her arms. Sheila then looked up and smiled at her.

"You don't have to keep standing there, Clementine. Do you want to see her?"

Clementine smiled as she walked to the woman's bedside, wanting a closer look at the baby. It looked a lot better now that it's cleaned up.

"She's cute." Clementine said.

"Thank you."

Quick footsteps came into the room along with heavy breathing. Clem saw a man holding a granola bar on the other side of the woman's bedside. "Here you go Sheila." Must be her husband

"Thanks, baby." Sheila said in response before looking to the tween on the other side holding the baby out to her. "Clementine, do you mind holding her for a bit?"

"Of course." Clementine accepted the baby into her arms.

She looked down and the sleeping baby and couldn't help but smile. It's moments like this that bring out the good in the world. Like when Rebecca let her hold AJ, she smiled then too. It was genuine, sure she's smirked before holding AJ, but Lee was the last person to make her smile, actually smile. The baby stirred a tiny bit, and Clementine rocked her to keep her calm. She missed AJ, a lot, he would have been so big now. Clementine felt her stomach turn, as she continued to look at the baby. Her smile faded, she could have been holding her own kid by now. It would have been wrapped up in a blanket just like this, sleeping in her arms, with its cute little face poking out. Her baby…

"Clementine?"

She shot her head up, looking at Sheila who had her arms out. Clementine gave her baby back to her mother.

"You've done a lot today, you can go on home. If they ask, I'll let them know I let you go." Sheila told her.

"Thank you." Clementine excused herself and left the house and walked back home. Luke was still at work, so she had the house to herself for a while, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Clementine walked into her home and went into the other bedroom that still had her box fort set up. She's been debating on moving in there and giving Luke a full bed, but she hasn't been giving it much thought.

She began to pace around the bedroom, thinking about her baby. What would it have looked like? Would it be a boy or a girl? Would it look like her or her dad? She wanted it, she really did, and Luke would have helped her with whatever she needed, but this was a world about survival. There's no telling if the baby would have miscarried because she was so young, or if she did bring it to term, her own chances of survival weren't good, and she didn't know about the baby's chance of making it. She was worried about leaving Luke alone with the baby or completely alone if she and the baby both died.

God, she could only imagine what that would do to him. He'd never forgive himself, she knows that for a fact. He'd be a mess, knowing that he indirectly caused her death. She didn't want to do that to him.

Taking the pill Abby gave her wasn't easy, she was debating on if this was the right thing to do. In terms of survival, it was, but it didn't make taking it any easier. After she asked Abby and Luke to give her time alone, she almost stuck her fingers down her throat to make herself puke up the pill. She never did because she knew it would keep the most people alive, otherwise, it would have most likely been a suicide for her and a walk through hell for Luke.

She hadn't thought about it since the night Luke found her looking at a nursery and she told him that she wanted it. She never gave it much thought because she didn't like to think about it. It was hard for her.

Clementine tore open one of the boxes and looked through it, anything to get her mind off the baby. The box was full of old toys and stuffed animals. Luke looked through some of the stuff with her after they first arrived and he found a college banner. From what he thought, the room probably belonged to someone who was in college and this is what the person decided to leave behind. A lot of the stuff was pink and they were both able to conclude that it belonged to a girl.

Nothing really stood out to her, all of the things in here must have been sentimental to the girl who kept these for all these years. There was a teddy bear, a yellow duck, a pink cat, a pig, and at the very bottom she found a baby doll. Clementine pulled it out, it was slightly smaller than the baby she held earlier today, it was more floppy and its head, arms, and legs were made of plastic while its body was comparable to a sack of flour, only lighter and less full. Figures, of course, she'd find a baby doll, of all the things she could find.

Clementine threw the doll to the ground and started her way towards the door. She didn't want to keep thinking about her baby. Her hand began to turn the doorknob, but she stopped halfway and placed a hand over her stomach and she thought: just for a moment. Clementine looked back at the baby doll laying on the floor then she slowly let go of the knob and walked back over to the doll and picked it up, cradling it in her arms as she would a real baby.

She took a seat on the bed behind her and continued to stare at the toy in her arms. Clementine brought it closer to her chest, hugging the doll tightly before she shifted it back to her arms. Just for a moment, she wanted to pretend, she wanted to know what it felt like to hold her own child in her arms.

"I'm sorry." She said to it, apologizing from throwing it earlier. "I'll take care of you."


Over the past week, Clementine has been taking care of the baby doll as if it was an actual baby. Every chance she got to be alone with the doll she took, she even did it at night after Luke had gone to bed. Clementine was able to convert one of the boxes into a makeshift crib where she would place the baby doll every time she was done with it. She wouldn't do much with it whenever she was able to play with it. Other than pretending to feed it with an imaginary bottle, she'd talk to it about everything, from work, to her friends, to Luke. Most of her time spent with it she was just cradling it as she dreamed about the baby being real and what it might have been like with her and Luke taking care of it. She became so enveloped with taking care of it she would worry about the baby when she's not with it.

Seeing Shelia's baby only made her want to ditch work and play with her doll. She couldn't stop thinking about her baby, the pill, what it might have been. It wasn't a decision she should've had to make, it wasn't something she should've had to go through, but there was a lot of things she shouldn't have had to go through either.

Clementine was working with Andie, taking inventory of all the medication they had and both girls could hear the newborn baby cry in the other room. Every time it wailed, Clementine would have to suppress the urge to leave and take care of her baby doll.

"Fifteen pills of the oxy-whatever." Andie said as she put the pills back into the bottle.

Clementine wrote the number down on the clipboard paper. The baby wailed again and she dug her fingers into the board she was holding, wishing it to be her doll.

"God I can't wait until it learns to not cry." Andie muttered.

While Andie was slowly going back to her old self, something was still off. Though she's less negative about the baby, she still avoided it every chance she got. Clementine has seen her hold the baby once because Shelia needed to do something that required both hands and Andie looked down at the baby in her arms for a long second, then turned her head up and away, not wanting to look at it. The look on her face when she turned away was like she was holding something back.

"Who the fuck names these pills? How about something I can read?" Andie said turning the label to Clem so she can write the name down.

The baby wailed again, and Clementine paused briefly to breathe out her nose. She wanted to be with her baby so badly. Hell, maybe the doll missed her like some weird Toy Story thing. Andie heard her breathe, giving her a glance before Clementine finished writing the pill name so she could count them.

"And then final count for the final bottle is eleven." Andie looked at Clem who stood there lost in thought. "Clem?"

"Huh?" Clementine snapped out of her state and looked at her friend.

"Eleven for this one."

"Oh, thanks."

Andie had noticed that Clementine has been acting different since the baby arrived. She didn't know what it was but it worried her.

"Are you okay?" Andie asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Clementine asked back.

"I don't know, you've been kind of weird lately."

"You're one to talk Andie."

The girls stood there in silence for a moment, wondering what to do now that they've confirmed that something is wrong.

"Did you girls finish?" Debbie asked as she walked up to them."

"Yeah, here." Clementine said giving her the clipboard.

"Hey, is it alright if Clem and I go into town for a bit? We were talking about getting the kids new toys and some new stuff for the baby." Andie asked. "Also I'm going to lose my mind if I have to keep hearing that baby cry."

"That's nice of you girls. Just be careful and be back before sunset." Debbie told them.

"Will do." Andie turned to Clem, jerking her head towards the door. "Come on."

Clementine followed Andie out of the house and down the street. She knew exactly where they were going: The house a few streets over that Rodney showed them. The girls didn't say a word to each other the whole way there, they just walked in silence.

Once they finally made it to the house, Andie and Clementine went inside and checked around to make sure they were alone, they were. With that confirmation, they sat down on the floor.

"Clem, what's up?" Andie asked.

"You first." Clementine responded. "Andie, you've been acting differently for a while, a long while. I'm worried."

Andie sighed, bringing a hand to her face to cover her eyes. "I... I didn't mean to act like a bitch to you if I was. There was just a lot on my mind."

"Are you depressed?" Clementine asked.

"No, kinda… It's not depressed-depressed, but I'm- I'm just…" Andie moved her hand from her eyes to her mouth. Clementine saw that she was on the brink of crying. Andie wasn't one to cry, even when Clem saw her completely shaken up after she was raped. If she's crying then this is serious.

"Hey, it's okay." Clementine reached out for her other hand and held it. "I'm here. You can tell me."

Andie gave out a shaky breath as moved the hand from her mouth and placed it on top of Clem's. "I've been... hiding something from everyone ever since we got back from the hospital, at first I thought I was just sick, but… I wasn't and I didn't know how to tell anyone."

"Andie?" Clementine was concerned.

"The- the fucker who raped me… he…"

Then it clicked for her, it's the same thing she and Luke thought after they left that horrible shack. They both thought Clementine was sick, but it never went away. Andie taking naps during the first month she came back, Clem remembered how she slept a lot back in the cabin and the library, how randomly tired she was that she and Luke excused for her being sick. Everything clicked; why Andie was being weird about the baby while Sheila was pregnant, why she'd always ditch work, why she wouldn't look at the baby when she held it, why she wore baggy clothes for a few months.

"You… You're pregnant?" Clementine was in shock, but something was off. She looked down at Andie's stomach then back up at her. Andie stopped wearing the baggy clothes for little more than a month now and her stomach was flat. It's been about six months since they got captured at the hospital, she should definitely be showing.

"No, I mean I was, I didn't know I was pregnant until my stomach started bulging, and when I found out, we were already getting ready for Shelia, so I decided to stay quiet about it until I could figure out how to tell them, but…" Andie paused for a moment. "You know how I didn't come in for work because I was sick that one time?"

Clementine nodded. Andie's grandma came into work to inform the moms that Andie fell extremely ill and wouldn't be there.

"I wasn't sick, I woke up that morning and something felt... wrong. I went into the bathroom and… it- it didn't make it." Andie finally said. "There was so much blood, my grandma had to help me clean it up."

"Oh my god." Clementine breathed. It miscarried, that's why she wasn't showing now.

"I didn't want it at first. I wanted to throw myself down a flight of stairs, but I could never bring myself to do it. But when I was on the bathroom floor... surrounded by the blood and… I miss it. I want to know what it's like to be a mom because I don't get it!" Tears began to roll down Andie's face and she sniffed. "I don't even know if I would have been a good parent, but I would have loved to teach it how to kill walkers, and how to hunt, and all that survival shit."

Clementine was doing her best to hold back on her own tears because it was Andie's story, but that last part hurt. She cracked; she let out one sob, trying to keep the rest in. The little experience she got from taking care of AJ wasn't enough to completely understand what the mothers feel, but she kind of understood it.

"I know." Clementine said through her tears. That would have been fun, her and Luke teaching their kid how to survive.

"So…" Andie cleared her throat as she wiped her tears. "So, what about you? Why are you acting so different?"

Luke's voice ran through her head about them never talking about the shack to anyone again, but technically this was more about the baby, and it might help Andie to have a friend who understands.

"Andie, you have to promise me that you'll never tell anyone about this." Clementine started. "I mean it, this could put me in huge trouble, and Luke… No one is supposed to know. I- I'm not even supposed to tell you this."

"Woah, it's okay I promise I won't tell a soul." Andie nodded. "Not a word will leave my mouth, you can trust me."

"Remember how I told you about the guy in the shack?"

"Yeah…"

"I- I lied." Clementine took a deep breath before continuing. "There was a shack, there was a guy, but he wasn't the one who raped me."

"Then who…?" Andie asked then saw the look in Clem's eye as if the answer was obvious, then Andie got it. "It was Luke?"

"It didn't happen like the way you think. It wasn't like that. The guy, he made us do it. Luke didn't want to, I didn't want to, but he had a gun at us and we didn't have a choice. Luke fucking hated himself for weeks because of it." Clementine explained.

"Fucking hell… That's-"

"Then I started to become… 'sick.'"

"No…" Andie shook her head, knowing what she meant.

"Luke brought it up and I took a couple tests, and we ran into one of Luke's exes, who was studying to be a doctor, she was the one who confirmed it."

"You were? Wait-" Andie thought for a bit. "Then what… what happened to it?"

"Luke's ex had this pill. She said that it would stop me from being pregnant and the baby wouldn't come if I took it… so…" Clem couldn't finish her sentence, she was trying to stop herself from crying.

"You took it." Andie concluded.

Clementine nodded, wiping her eyes as she did so. "I wanted it, I wanted it so bad! But it probably would have killed me and I couldn't leave Luke alone with a baby, and if we both died, god, I don't even know what he'd do. I just wanted to do the right thing, what would keep us alive, and that meant me not having it."

"Clem…" Andie couldn't believe that her best friend went through that. She thought that she didn't deserve it, any of it. Andie always thought the world now was stupidly unfair, this is just absolute bullshit. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, my plan was that if I died giving birth, I would have wanted you to take care of it." Andie said through her tears.

"Really?"

"You know I don't trust the moms enough to take care of it, besides you deserve a second chance."

"I would have done the same for you, you know that, right?" Clementine choked out. "Though Luke would have custody, I'd want you to help him and teach it shit."

Andie breathed out a smiled and Clementine smiled back then the two pulled themselves into a hug, crying into each other's shoulder. They held on to each other, taking in what they've told each other, knowing that it was safe with each other. It was okay, it's what friends were for. It felt so good to let it out to someone who understands. They were there for each other and it felt like they'd always be there for each other. After a while, they both calmed down a bit, but they still held on to each other, not ready to let go yet. Eventually, they pulled their head out of the other's shoulder to wipe their tears off.

"I'm glad I have you." Andie said.

"I'm glad I have you, too." Clementine said back before taking a moment to completely calm down. "We- we should go get those toys for the kids before the moms have our heads for lying."

Andie smirked as she nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should. You know what I've always wanted?"

"What?" Clem asked.

"I've always wanted those stupid best friend necklaces with the fucking two heart halves. We should get those while we're at it." Andie suggested.

"Yes, of course." Clementine responded with a smile as she nodded her head. It was good to hear Andie be like her old self, swearing and all.

"And before we go, I think we should write something on the wall."

Andie and Clementine stood up walking over to a wall as they picked up two sharpies from the floor. They knew exactly what to write. Once they finished, they stepped back and looked over what was written. The girls then wrapped an arm around their waists and walked out of the house together, leaving behind what was written:

I promise to keep Clementine's secrets

I promise to keep Andie's secrets

Right below the two messages were two hearts, one under Clem's and one under Andie's. They both knew what the hearts stood for, and despite the sad meaning behind the hearts, they were glad they could share it together.


Clementine and Andie finished their trip in town, delivering the new toys to the children. They both put on their new friendship necklaces, pleased to see how happy the mothers and kids were about the toys. Not long after, Clem and Andie were allowed to go home for the day. One of the moms told Clem that Luke stopped by to come get her, but because she wasn't there, he went home. She was excited to go home, she wanted to hold her doll and play with it for a bit. Unfortunately, she had to avoid Luke for a bit to go play with it, she didn't want to wait until nightfall when he's asleep.

She opened the door to her house to see Luke on the couch, and without a second thought, Clementine started towards the hall.

"Hey, Luke."

"Clem, can you come here for a bit?"

"In a minute okay?" She needed to check on it.

"We need to talk."

"We will just-"

"Clem, I found the doll."

She froze. Clementine looked over at Luke to see her doll in his hand, holding it by its arm. Something came over her as she rushed over to him and pulled the doll into her arms.

"Don't hold her like that!" Clementine exclaimed. She looked down at the doll, securing her grasp on the toy.

Luke was taken aback by her reaction. He didn't think she'd be like this about a baby doll. "Clem, I heard you get out of bed last night and go into the other room. I know because that door creaks."

He was right, the door to the other bedroom always creaked when it opened and closed.

"I get that you never got to have a childhood, but this is weird. Aren't you a bit old to play with a baby doll?" Luke asked with caution.

"You don't understand! She's not just a doll!" Clementine couldn't take her eyes off the doll. She didn't want to have to talk about this twice today.

Luke was confused. "Clem, how long have you been doing this?"

"A week. It doesn't matter."

"You've been acting weird all week, is this why?"

"You just don't get it!"

"What don't I get?"

"The baby!"

"What about the baby? It's a toy, Clem."

"My baby!"

Luke paused at what she said. Of course, they got a new arrival at the beginning of the week; a new baby. Luke noticed that Clementine changed a bit at home, she wasn't talking as much and she'd sometimes be in the other bedroom when he got home, but he never probed her about it. It wasn't until he heard her get out of bed last night to go into the other room when he started to become curious. At first, he thought that she was trying to distance herself from him because she wanted to try to get used to the idea of having her own room and her own space, but when he saw the baby doll, it kind of freaked him out. Luke didn't get why she was doing this, but the way she's holding it and her outburst- it made sense. They never really talked about the baby, they never had a reason to. They didn't like to talk about what happened in the shack, and the baby was an accidental result of it. Luke thought that Clem got everything out the night she told him that she wanted it, but seeing how she's latched onto a baby doll, it's clear that they never completely resolved it.

After getting no response from Luke, Clementine ran to the other bedroom and shut the door. She wanted to be alone. Clem climbed on the still bare mattress and placed her back up against the wall with her knees up, the doll resting up against them. She held the doll's plastic hands then placed her forehead to the doll's for a moment and closed her eyes. Clementine thought over what she did the past week, how she snuck away to be with a baby doll, taking care of it, pretending to feed it, talking to it as if it was real. She pulled her head away and stared back at the toy, seeing it as it is- a toy. Her illusion of pretending it was real so she could pretend to hold her baby herself was no longer there. She thought about what she said to Luke, how she referred to the baby as her and she, for the first time. Over the week she's been referring the baby as it, but that outburst proved one thing. She was getting attached to it, despite telling herself she wouldn't. She couldn't lie to herself anymore.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Clementine heard the door open with a creak.

"Hey," Luke, she knew he'd come to check on her. "Can I come in?"

Clementine gave one nod.

Luke closed the creaky door and sat on the bed next to her. "Sorry I didn't say anything, just of all the things, I didn't think it would be about this."

"I never wanted to talk about it. The shack was enough, we didn't need this, too." Clementine said.

"We talk about everything, kid, it's how we move on. That choice should never have been something you should have had to make. You wanted it, Clem, I know you did, and you still gave it up."

"I didn't want to risk leaving you alone."

"You... you wouldn't have." Luke wanted to tell her this back when they last talked about the baby. "Abigail wasn't going to let you have it either way; said that you were too young."

"So… I never really have a choice."

Luke couldn't look at her, but he still shook his head.

It made sense why Abigail told her that it could kill her when she was making her decision with the pill, she was trying to persuade her to take it, it wasn't just doctor's advice. It kind of hurt to know that there was no hope for the baby making it no matter what she chose, but at the end of the day, Abigail was looking out for her, she wanted her to live.

"Did you ever think about it? The baby?" Clementine asked. "I like to think it would have been a girl."

"A little girl, huh?" Luke thought for a moment trying to think if the baby ever came to mind.

"Yeah, a brave little girl. And she'd love the absolute crap out of you."

Luke chuckled a bit. "I did think about it back when we found out. How we'd raise it together, how I'd teach it whatever you didn't teach it, probably math."

Clementine rolled her eyes at that.

"How it would never be able to call me dad…" Luke continued. "Because of the risk of what people would think."

Clementine looked over to him, finally taking her eyes off the baby doll. She hadn't even thought about that. She did think about the lies they'd make up like how it was some other guy that raped her or something along the lines of that. But after all that, they'd be lying to everyone that he wasn't the dad when he was. That never came to her mind.

She let go of the doll's hand and took a hold of Luke's.

"That was when I stopped thinking about it, because that hurt." Luke admitted.

He gently squeezed Clementine's hand. It's the simple things like this that remind him, the both of them, that they could get through it. Whatever battles one was facing, knowing that they had the other to fight with was great and it made fighting easier. The simple things like holding hands when they were upset, or how Clem lets him play with her hair when he needs to calm down, or how Luke lets her cuddle up to him when she's scared. Just being with each other, made it easier. It made living in this world easier because they had each other.

Clementine looked back at the doll, she didn't have a use for it anymore. She didn't know what to do with it now, she didn't want to let it go, but she had to if she wanted to move on. As hard as it may be, she had to move on for real this time.


It's been a couple days since they talked about the baby. Clementine ended up burying the doll in the backyard, Luke stood by with her. He offered to dig up a small hole for the doll, but Clementine insisted that she had to do it. Luke saw how hard it was for her to actually put the doll in the hole; he knew how badly she wanted it, it was almost like she was grieving twice, but she never really got the chance to grieve over it the first time. He suggested that she could plant flowers on the grave, but she just gave a shrug in response. She hadn't said much since she buried the doll and she was taking her time with the grieving, Luke could tell.

Clementine had the day off today and Luke hoped that she would take the time work out whatever she's dealing with. He tried to ask if he could help in any way, but she would always shake her head in response. He didn't know how to help her shake off the baby blues.

"Luke, you alright?"

The farm boy turned to on of his work partners for the day, Jimmy. "I'm fine."

"Really? You seem kind of out of it." Jimmy continued.

"I'm fine, really, it's just Clem."

"What's up with her?"

"She's been thinking about her family recently, and she's gotten pretty upset about it." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Must be hard to lose them at a young age."

"Yeah. I just wish I could help her shake it, but she keeps pushing me away."

"She'll come around eventually."

"One can hope."

They both resumed working. Luke was working in one of the vegetable patches along with Jimmy and Daniel. The patch they were working in was along the fence line furthest away from the leader's house. Everyone who worked at the farm liked working in that spot the most. Don doesn't check it that often because of how far it is, and all they had to do was make sure the vegetables are growing and harvest them when ready. However, there was one downside to working there.

"Luke! Jimmy! We got walkers!" Daniel called.

Walkers were most likely to be there. There was a wooden fence, but it's not tall; walkers would walk into it and trip over the top and get in. It's even got the nickname of walker patch.

Luke and Jimmy ran over to Daniel to help him fight the walkers trying to get in. Two walkers fell over the fence and were now crawling their way to them, Daniel kicked one of the walkers over and stomped on his head to kill it. Jimmy did the same to the other, while Luke hopped the fence to keep the other walkers at bay with his machete until the others came to help.

"We got more back here!" Luke told them after killing one before it could get in.

Beyond the fence is the woods, it's only used for hunting during the fall and winter to prepare for the crop shortage.

"Might as well clear them out too." Daniel said as he and Jimmy hopped over the fence to help Luke.

There weren't that many, other than the few they took care of they had to kill four more.

Daniel kicked a walker over that was hunched over something, killing it. "Last one… shit man."

"What?" Jimmy asked as he walked over to what he was seeing. "Oh, seriously?"

Luke finally came over to see what they were talking about, and what he saw made him upset. A dead cat, the walker was eating it.

"Poor thing." Luke bent down next to it. The cat's chest was torn open, head almost completely off.

"So do we bury it or something?" Jimmy asked.

"Might as well so it doesn't attract more of them." Daniel responded.

Luke looked over the cat and noticed something about it.

"I'm going to let Don know about the walkers." Daniel told them.

"Wait, hold on." Luke said quickly.

"What? We have to-"

"I know, just be quiet for a minute."

Luke scanned the area, his eyes locking on a bush. He carefully walked over to the bush and sat down in front of it, lifting a branch.

"Hey, little guy." Luke pulled out a kitten from the bush.

Soon after he brought the kitten out, five more kittens came out of the bush and began to climb onto Luke, meowing as they did so.

"Shit, the cat was a mom, too?" Jimmy said.

"I used to work on a farm, and my boss had a pregnant cat. He sold the kittens, that's how I knew." Luke explained.

"Poor things don't have a mom now." Daniel sighed.

"Well, they seem to like you, Luke." Jimmy smirked at the sight of Luke being covered in kittens.

"What can I say? Cats like me… ow!" One of the kittens was climbing up his arm. Luke grabbed it and held it up. "This one's got claws."

"I'm going to radio Don about this." Daniel said before going back on the farm land.

"Jimmy, see if you can find a box to put kittens in." Luke told him.

"Got it."

Luke couldn't believe that he found kittens. A cat was one thing, but fucking kittens, there was fucking kittens on him. Jimmy managed to find a box and he brought it back to Luke. One by one, Luke put all the tiny animals in the box. He was relieved that they weren't climbing on him anymore, but something was still off. Luke looked back at the dead cat then to the kittens in the box.

He lifted the bush branch back up and put his head to the ground to get a better view inside the bush and found another kitten. The little thing must have been too scared to come out.

"Hey, it's okay." Luke assured the kitten as he slowly reached his hand it to get it. He scratched behind its ear for a moment before he picked it up and pulled it out of the bush. The little kitten was black with white on its feet that made it look like it was wearing boots. "There you go, go join your brothers and sisters." He said as he put the kitten in the box.

Seven kittens, no mother, what were they to do? Luke stood up and picked the box up as he walked back into the farmland.

"Don said to bring the kittens up to the house. He wants to see them." Daniel informed him.

Luke nodded and started his way there. The other downfall of working at the furthest patch from Don's house: it was the furthest from Don's house, the longest walk, one of the worsts if when carrying heavy things back. Good thing the kittens were light.

"Are those the kittens?" Donald asked as Luke approached the house.

"Yep." He responded as the leader let him inside. Luke set the box on the table before turning to Don. "So what's the plan? What do we do with them?"

"I sent Rodney into town with the twins to raid a pet store. I'm thinking about letting people keep them. It might be the best for little things."

Luke turned back to the kittens in the box, the little black kitten with the white boots caught his attention. It still looked scared compared to her siblings. He would be too, but the poor thing was shaken up. Then an idea popped into his head.

"Mind if I take one?" Luke asked.

"Sure go ahead." The leader responded.

Luke picked up the scared cat and held it in his hand. "I'm going to take her home real quick."

"Don't take too long."

"Yes, sir."

He knew exactly what to do. Luke headed towards his house, speed walking there because he couldn't wait to see her face. As he walked up to the front door of his home, he hid the kitten behind his back then opened the door. The kitten was so small it fit in one hand. He immediately spotted Clementine reading a book on the couch.

"Hey, kid." He greeted.

"Hey." There wasn't any warmth in it like usual, just sadness. "Why are you home early?"

"I'm not." He told her.

Clementine stood up, setting her book down before stepping towards him until they were in front of each other. "Then why are you here?" She asked.

"Listen, I know you've been having a hard time with the baby an all and, well…"

Luke pulled his hand out from behind his back and held the kitten out to her. He saw Clementine's mouth drop at the sight of the kitten, her face lighting up. She looked up at him then back at the kitten and covered her mouth for a second before she moved them to talk.

"What? But-!" She didn't know what to say, she was completely surprised. Never did she ever think she'd ever see a cat again, a kitten nonetheless. "Where did you find him?"

"He's a she, and we found her with her brothers and sisters in a bush. A lurker got their mom, couldn't leave them alone so we took them in. This one was scared when we found them, I thought you'd like her."

"She's mine?"

"She's all yours, sissy."

Clementine reached her hands out to the small kitten and picked it up. It was so soft and cute, and it put a smile on her face. It was hers.

"Remember: keeping a pet is a responsible job and-"

"I know, I know."

Luke couldn't help but smile at the sight of her being happy. After a couple days of doing everything he can to try to cheer her up, all it took was a cat to bring her back.

"I'm glad you like her." Luke said. "I have to get back the farm now. You and your cat have fun."

Clementine took her eyes off the kitten for a bit to see Luke start to leave. She set the kitten down on the couch then quickly ran to Luke and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck as she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

Luke hugged her back to keep her from slipping; she was still too short, her feet couldn't touch the ground. "You're welcome, kid."

"I love you, so much." She said as he set her down.

They let go of each other and Luke pulled the bill of her hat over her eyes, "I love you, too." He said. "I'll see you when I get home."

"Okay." She responded as she fixed her hat.

Luke smiled at her, so happy that she's getting back to herself. Just seeing her immediately fall in love with that kitten made his day.


After a long day of working, Luke came home to find Clementine dangling a piece of string in front of the little kitten, the kitten was trying to catch it. Clementine was giggling as she played with it, and Luke couldn't be happier to hear that from her after a week of her being closed off. The kid appropriately named the kitten Boots because of the white on its feet.

Despite working in the best patch of the farm minus the walkers that were spotted there, he was exhausted and Luke went to bed early. He was only asleep for about an hour or two before he woke up. Luke didn't know why so he tried to go back to sleep. As he closed his eyes, he could hear footsteps coming up the hallway to the room.

"Come on, Boots." he heard Clementine whisper as the footsteps came closer.

He listened to her yawn as she entered the room. Luke was facing the wall and his eyes were closed, she didn't know he was awake. Not that it mattered, she was probably going to bed now anyways. The weight of the bed shifted slightly, letting Luke know that Clementine was getting in bed.

"You can sleep with me." Clementine yawned as she lifted the cat onto her stomach as she laid down. Clementine used both hands to scratch behind her cat's ears, resulting in the cat purring. "I'm sure Luke won't mind."

Luke's only concern was that he might accidentally roll over the kitten, other than that he didn't mind.

"I'm really glad he found you. I know what it's like to be all alone." She whispered to the kitten. "I mean you had your brothers and sisters, but still it's hard to lose your family."

She thinks Luke is asleep, that's why she's talking to the cat.

"I guess I'm your mom now, and that makes Luke your dad. He would have been a great dad, I know he would have. Luke is just great; he's really sweet, he makes me laugh, he's kind of an asshole, but I still love him."

Luke had never heard her say any of those things to him, the asshole part, yes, multiple times, but the other stuff, no.

"Sometimes I think I don't deserve him. He has the biggest heart I know, and he cares so much about me, and for the longest time, I had no idea why. I thought I was a stupid, worthless kid; everyone around me just kept dying and a lot of it I thought was my fault, I was worried that I'd get him killed, too, but he's still here." Luke heard her sigh. "At first, I thought he only cared about me out of pity, that if I wasn't a little girl, he would have left me long ago, but he proved me wrong. He made me feel like I was worth something, that I was worth caring about. He made me feel loved, and I hadn't felt that since I was with Lee, and before him was my parents."

Hearing that made Luke feel honored, to be up there at the same level as Lee and her folks meant a lot. He knows how important Lee was to her.

"God, he'd be so fucking cocky if he heard all of this. As much as I love him, he'd never let me live what I said down. Probably be just like the two thing."

Luke smiled to himself at that, he teases her every now and then about the two thing. She's right, he'll never let her live it down, he shouldn't even be hearing this.

"You know, the only reason I'm alive is because of him. I probably would have died without him, multiple times actually. I don't know where I'd be if he wasn't with me, he's kept me safe from all the sick fucks out there. I can't thank him enough for that, I only wish I could do the same for him, he deserves it."

She did save him. That's the one thing he hasn't told her. Back before he even met her, the only thing keeping him alive was being in groups. He started off with Nick, Pete, and Nick's mom. That took them to Carver's where they met Carlos, Sarah, Alvin, and Rebecca. After seeing how crazy Carver was, they escaped, and for some reason, they all looked at him to lead the group. That surprised him; Luke figured that the only reason he did was that he butt heads with Carver a lot, but still it was a lot. Leading that group stressed him; the constant worry of Carver finding them because of a possible mistake he might make, making sure all of the group members were safe and fed. It pushed him, a lot more than previous times, and at some moments he wouldn't have cared if a walker bit him, the stress, living, it was close to being too much for him. Pete took him hunting one day to talk to him, away from the rest of the group. Luke was on the point being done with everything, and Pete caught onto that. They talked and while it did make Luke feel better, it didn't feel like enough. Then on their way back, they found a little girl pinned to the ground by a walker, and he saved her life. That was the day he met Clementine.

After talking to her that same night, hearing what she had to go through at such a young age, he realized that she wasn't just some kid as if sewing up her arm wasn't enough, she's not stupid. Clementine was smart and aware of the world she lives in, she was one hell of a fighter and she wasn't even five feet tall. He still remembers when Carver sent them on that five-day hike to the mountains, the nights when he'd take watch and Clementine would stay up with him because she couldn't sleep. He'd insist that she'd go to bed, but she'd refuse and say she can't sleep, and after that they'd talk for a bit about random stuff, trying not to wake the rest of the group up. It was nice to talk to her, she was definitely wise beyond her years, and he trusted her. The more they bonded, the less Luke wanted to end it all. Then came the day Arvo shot the entire group, with the only survivors being him and Clem, his goal was to keep Clementine alive. It shifted the more time they spent together with just the two of them; it changed from keeping her alive to teaching her to live. She gave him a purpose for living. She was the reason he was alive today.

Clementine wants to pay him back for keeping her alive, all she had to do was live.

"He's my everything, you know?" Clementine stopped petting the kitten for a moment, to which the kitten responded by rubbing her face on her hands. "You just want to be petted, huh?"

Luke heard her smirk followed by a yawn.

"Alright time for bed, Boots."

He heard Clementine turn over in the bed, listening to her huff as she went to sleep. Luke felt touched by her words, what she said meant a lot, he's never heard her say that about him. Not once. Hearing that he meant everything to her, just like she meant everything to him, showed that they needed each other. She was lost and he was depressed and they found each other, now couldn't imagine surviving without one another.


The day was very relaxing. Not a lot was happening today; the kids were well behaved, everything was going smoothly on the farm, and a number of survivors in the town now was up to fifty. Society was rebuilding with solar power and more people as for the walkers, they still were popping up every now and then, other than that, everything was fine.

"Nice day, huh?" Andie said aloud as she sat down on the porch steps.

"Yeah." Clementine responded as she joined her.

"How's Boots?" Andie asked.

"Great, she's a super sweet kitty. How's Tiger?" Andie also got one of the kittens that were found. It's been a couple days since they've had them and both girls fell in love with them.

"Tiger loves my grandma, and he likes to climb everything."

Clementine chuckled at that. Boots loved to explore the house and when she wasn't exploring she was cuddling up to Clementine, using her head to butt her hand because she wanted to be petted. The kitten warmed up to Luke too. Boots recently began to climb on Luke as he was falling asleep and curl up on his body. Last night she curled up on his head and Luke had to wake up Clem so she could get her cat. She tried so hard not to laugh at the sight, she found it funny.

"Clem, Andie."

The girls turned their heads to see the twins approaching.

"Afternoon boys." Clementine greeted.

"Afternoon." Tyrone said back. "You both look bored."

"You got that right." Andie said.

"Well we got some good news, there's a rumor going around that Rodney's dad will let more women work down on the farm this summer to help with all the crops." Tad informed them.

"I hope that's true. It'll be nice if we get to work other than here." Clementine said.

The town was mostly men when it first got started. As of now the male-female ratio evened out, though men still outnumber the women by a few. According to Rodney, when the town first started to get big, there were a lot of injuries happening on the farm because everyone was rebuilding the place to make sure it would stay protected. This lead Don to ask the few women at the time to tend to the injured, as well as to lessen the risk of more people getting injured. Then as the town grew and people began showing up with kids, and the jobs slowly became segregated; men worked on the farm, women watched the kids and tended to injuries. After the farm was finished adapting to the new life of people relying on it, injuries stopped and Don started to let more women help out on the farm. Currently, the ones who stayed at the hospital house were Clem, Andie, the one experienced nurse they had, and a handful of the mothers to help out and watch the young kids, the rest worked up at the farm.

"So where were you two?" Andie asked.

"Walker pit. Rodney asked us to check on it, it's getting pretty full." Tyrone said.

"How full?" Clementine asked.

"Some of the walkers are climbing on top of each other and getting out. We killed the ones that escaped, but still, we don't know what we should do about them." Tad explained.

"Shit, Rodney mentioned that there have been more walker sightings at the farm." Andie said aloud.

"More walkers, more risk of someone getting bit. Maybe we should take a day to clean the walker pit out?" Clementine proposed.

"There was one of those pool things at our hangout. The thing that looks like a hook, we could use that to fish the walkers out." Tyrone mentioned.

"Yeah, but what do we do with the bodies?" Andie asked.

"Hey, guys. What are we all talking about." Rodney greeted as he joined the group.

"Walkers. Walker pit is overflowing." Tyrone told him.

"Shit, really?" Rodney sighed.

"We're talking about killing the walkers and emptying the pit out." Clementine added.

"We just don't know what we'd do with the bodies." Andie said. "So what are you doing out here?"

"Showing new people to their new home. My dad told me to do it, which is odd because he's the one who usually does it." Rodney informed them.

"So? I don't see what the deal is. You are the leader's son." Tad said.

"I just walked into the house to get something and my dad told me to do it so suddenly. I don't know, it was weird." Rodney explained.

"Rodney, is it true that the farm is recruiting more women to help out?" Andie asked.

"Yes, and before you ask. Both you and Clem get to come down and help out, I vouched for you both."

"Thank you so much!" Andie exclaimed.

"Really, Rodney, thank you!" Clementine told him.

"No problem. Now that we're all together, I've been thinking that we start our own council." Rodney began.

"Like a legit council? What for?" Tad asked.

"We need to start taking on more responsibilities. After all, we're going to be running this place, not to mention that we're pretty much our own crew with our own agendas to help out the town." Rodney explained.

"Will we have a say in the actual council?" Tyrone asked.

"When my dad actually lets me on his council, yes." Rodney said.

"It'll be useful for when big shit happens, I guess." Clementine said.

"As much as I love the idea, what's going to happen? I mean the last and only big thing that happened was the fucking cannibals." Andie said.

"That's true." Tad added. "But still a good idea."

All five of their walkie talkies went off at the same time. "ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS REPORT TO THE BARN IMMEDIATELY!"

"Was that your dad?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… this has never happened, we never had a meeting like this, except after we all got kidnapped. My dad told me."

"Whatever it was it sounded important." Andie said.

"Let's go check it out, then. We are apart of Rodney's council right?" Tyrone suggested.

"Not officially. We haven't-" Rodney said.

"Still this sounds big, and we're probably going to find out sooner or later." Tyrone said before running in the direction of the farm.

Rodney chased after him, followed by Clementine, Andie, and Tad. Once they got to the barn, the five of them peaked inside, being careful not to be seen. Inside everyone was scrambling towards the back where Don stood on a hay bale, asking him what the emergency meeting was for.

"Everyone calm down!" The leader shouted. "We had newcomers today, and while that was great, they informed me that they were running from a herd. The herd is huge and there's a good chance it will hit us."

And like that, everyone's blood ran cold.


A/N: Thank you for reading! And looks like there's going to be some messy things happening in the future, you know with walkers and all. Anyway, please review and favorite, and also there is a new poll on my profile for a future story and I'd like to know what you guys think. See you next time :)