No kidding, Clementine, she thinks to herself, feeling as if she's treading in on a VERY touchy and VERY private part of Clementine's past. What the hell am I doing here?
Max herself doesn't look any different; maintaining her usual style of a grey sweater, white shirt and jeans with her camera bag still strapped across her shoulders and hung down near her hip. And she certainly doesn't feel any different physically, aside from the unwavering butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being able to pull something like this off.
But she had to squint for a moment in order to recognize Clementine. Even without the hat alone, she'd practically look like a total stranger, especially considering that the blue and white, dirty old thing is practically glued to her head every single day. Seriously, Max has her own suspicions that the girl's almost stapled the thing shut and that it's latched its wool into her brain. But that's not the only striking detail that's different from before. No, Clem's hair is a messy bush of ebony locks, all entwined to lead Max to believe that she had just woken up around this time frame. The PJ's, bare feet and old, alternative rock t-shirt are also a pretty dead giveaway as well.
Her eyes, however, are what really sticks out to the teen, whose own eyes are always taking imaginary photographs herself. Clem's eyes look… well, to be blunt, they look stunning. Full of warmth and light, the golden-coloured irises don't show the miserable, depressed and lonely eighteen year old Clementine that Max has slowly come to know back in Arcadia Bay, but yet an entirely different girl entirely. It's almost as if Clem, back home in Atlanta, had some sort of purpose to keep going. Just by appearance alone she can tell that Clementine was a much happier camper back home.
The more that Max thinks about it, however, the less of a surprise it becomes. All of her friends – her real friends – would be back here, along with her entire world and pretty much everything she knows. The girl has got roots in this city, which would've probably made it excruciatingly difficult for her to have to pack up and leave.
The deal with her parents is another matter entirely.
Backing up slowly until she nearly knocks a dining room chair over, Max holds her hands out in an effort to quell the beast advancing towards her. Clem's more than likely freaking the fuck out right now, and probably wondering how Max could've possibly managed to travel back like this. It's weird though – Max has never once been to Clementine's childhood home, and has no recollection of ever even meeting the girl aside from a few weeks back. So how is it even possible that she could travel back to such a dark, grizzly time in the young girl's life? Creepy.
"Max," Clementine repeats her question lowly, standing just a few feet away from her, "why am I back here, and what the hell are you doing in my house? What did you do?"
"I… I don't really know…" she admits, perplexed and scared because, at least in this instance, she really feels as though she has no control over her time-altering ability. "One minute Chloe and I were snooping around in the principal's office, and the next I ended up here with you… That's all I know, Clem!"
"No, that… that doesn't just happen," Clementine remarks suspiciously, seeing right through that little, white lie as I continue to try and convince her otherwise. "You told me that the farthest you could go with your power is to go back for, what, ten minutes at the maximum? And now suddenly you can come into my past? No, it doesn't work like that…"
Caught up in her own web of deceit as Max comes to accept that she may have been right about that up until recently, she lowers her gaze to the floor as Max hears her walk away – probably to try and figure out just exactly why the two of them are back here and how to get home. Max wonders how long it'll be before she figures out that today is the night that her parents get shot out in the city…
Not wanting to butt in anymore right now, mainly because she doesn't want Clementine figuring out that she and Chloe were snooping around inside of her personal file, Max decides to take a look around the main floor of the girl's childhood home in order to keep her somewhat occupied. Odd how reminiscent it is of Max's own place back in Seattle… a nice, suburban dwelling with a television in the corner (although it seems that some kind of emergency broadcast is on for some reason or other), a few couches in the living room and some creaky stairs leading up to the second floor. On the wall hang two pictures of the family – a fairly old one where Clementine's hair looks more like a jungle than anything else, and what appears to be a fairly recent one with her and her parents standing in front of… the Seattle Space Needle…
Get over yourself, Max scolds, lightly knocking her hand against her head a few times to get all the paranoia out of her already troubled mind. This is just a coincidence – no way does that have any connection. I mean, what would that have to do with… with…
Standing up on her tippy toes to fully see the frame for herself, Max, in a startled frenzy, plucks the frame off of the wall and brings it over to the kitchen table so that she can see it under the pale light. Having to blow a thin layer of dust off as she can hear Clementine rooting around upstairs, Max's right eye starts to twitch. In the bottom left corner, further to the left-hand side, she sees it for herself. The picture's been photobombed by the unlikeliest of sources.
What the hell is Max doing in Clementine's family picture?
Ring, ring! Ring, ring! Ring, ring!
Not knowing whether Clem's going to get the phone, or whether or not she herself should be picking it up instead, Max waits out the message until she hears the voicemail come across her ears. It doesn't take her long to figure out just who it is that's calling their household this evening.
"Hey, kiddo! It's Mom, and we're just on our way to the movies now – I hope Gravity is as good as you said it was. I still think it's gonna be a snore-fest, but your father won't let us watch Despicable Me 2…"
"It's gonna be awesome, hon!"
"Anyways," she continues, sounding bored already yet amused at the same time, "I don't know if you're asleep yet or not, but we're gonna be home just after one or two tonight, okay? Kenny and Katjaa are in town so we figured we'd head over to the pub downtown and order a few drinks. Love you, and don't have any boys over!"
Hearing some chuckles on the other end of the line courtesy of Clem's father, Max sinks to the wall as she tries to let all of this sink into her brain. There would've been absolutely nothing Clem could've done to prevent this – not unless her power was to teleport to different locations and warn them before the devastation occurs.
"So that's how it happens…" Max whispers quietly as she watches Clementine traipse down the stairs; that icy look in her eyes turning into a scolding one as she slaps her thigh with indignity.
"What are you doing? We need to get out of here! Get off your feet and use your time-reversal thingy so that we can go home!" she tells the teen, who simply looks over at her as though she just lost her best friend. Puzzled, Clementine's gaze lightens up a little bit as she doesn't even notice the picture on the table. "Hey… you alright? What, uh… what's wrong?"
Simply pointing over to the message receiver on a little table by the other wall, Max wraps her arms around her knees as Clementine carefully walks towards it. Taking one look back at her friend, Clem pushes the play button as she hears her mother's sweet, angelic voice talking to her on the other end.
The more she listens, the more her knees start to tremble. Like a haze of frosty memories that she had chosen to keep buried for the last few months, Clementine starts to remember everything that happened; not even needing to look at the date to understand exactly what period of time they're in right now.
"…no…" she snivels, furiously wiping tears out of her eyes with the back of her shirt sleeve as the message ends. Recalling the time correctly, she reminds herself that Kenny will wake her up from her slumber very early on in the morning to give her the grave news, and that William Carver will have taken away the two most important people in her life. Two people who can never be replaced, even though Lee's been trying his absolute best.
But all of a sudden, understanding the present company that she's in right now, her eyes shoot open like lightning bolts as her face regains that lost feeling of hope. "Maybe things don't have to turn out like they did before," she says aloud, practically bounding over to Max and lifting the girl to her feet as she sniffles once more. "Max, please… I'm fucking begging you here…"
"Clem… I don't know if…"
"We have to try! Please – there has to be a reason that we've been brought back here, right? It's… it's destiny!" she exclaims jubilantly, practically prancing up and down with excitement at the mere possibility of seeing her folks again, alive and well. Placing her hands firmly yet softly on her shoulders, Clementine glances over at Max with desperation seeped into her voice; her eyes changing in seconds flat to those of a more hopeful nature. "Max, I would do anything… anything in the world…" she tells her honestly, listing off potential rewards just so that Max will comply. "Money, praise, jewelry… fuck it, I'll be your god damn personal servant for the rest of your life if you help me with this! Please, Max… I… I just want my family back…"
The time-shifting teenager can almost see Chloe saying those exact same words, and were she ever aware at the time of what was going to happen to her own father, the girl would likely be asking her the exact same request. And what a request it is… trying to change something of this nature, especially when Max doesn't even know the people that need to be saved? This is bound to have some potential unforeseen consequences that'll cause some sort of ripple effect. Wasn't Warren always going on about distortions in the space-time continuum or something of that nature?
However, telling the poor girl no might be as much of a dick move as they come. Even if something bad may come out of this which may lead to some nasty stuff down the road, a family bond may very well be at stake here, and, for better or worse, Max knows that she wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that she just let Clementine's parents die without even lifting a finger. This "Carver" person has to be taken down, no matter the consequences.
"…alright…" Max sighs, nodding her head more affirmatively as Clementine's grin grows wider. "Yeah, let's do it. If there's a chance for us to make a difference, then we've gotta take it."
Chuckling with mirth at the prospect of having her loved ones alive once again, Clementine can't contain her excitement and optimism as she wraps her arms around Max in a tight embrace. "Oh my god, Max… You have no idea how much this means to me… Thank you so much…"
Nodding her head as she rubs gentle circles on the girl's back, Max grows silent again as she sees the picture on the table – still unchanged as she sees herself pointing out some landmark with her own family in the background. It can't get much creepier than that… but what if it means something? What if she and Clementine are even more connected to one another than they even thought possible beforehand?
"Let's get to work," Clementine cuts these thoughts off as she pats Max on the arm and slings a leather jacket onto her body from the coat rack; completely forgetting to put on her shoes as she rushes out the door and into the night with Max following close behind.
Under the dim illumination of the street lamps the two of them run – deeper and deeper into the heart of Atlanta to try and get to Clementine's parents before time runs out. The crickets chirp in the grass and weeds on people's lawns, giving the city a much more vibrant feel even though most of the younger residents are likely asleep.
For the adults though? On a Saturday night, the place is absolutely bumping with entertainment fever. Although the natural beauty of the Oregon coastline within Arcadia Bay is breathtaking in its own right, this is what the town can never fully deliver – a unique, city-dweller experience. It's not exactly the cultural hub of the United States like Los Angeles or New York City could be considered as, but the building blocks are there. Pubs line the street they're on as they pass by a bunch of sneering, drunken men and women make cat calls to the teens as they race by.
"Where ya goin'?" one of them drunkenly slurs, trying to chase after them but falling onto the sidewalk as all of his friends start to chuckle hysterically. "We… we ain't even had our date yet, young thing! Don't I at least get a kiss goodbye?"
"Gross…" Max mumbles as she tries to keep up with Clementine's outrageous pace; fueled only by her desire to get things back to the way they were before. "Ugh… I think my lungs are gonna burst! Could you please slow down a little bit?"
"Not until we get there…"
"Do you even know where we're going? I'm pretty sure we've passed this same street twice now."
Stopping herself at the crosswalk, just in time for a particularly aggressive driver to roll down his window and yell profanities at the teens for not watching where they were going, Clementine does a quick double-take of her surroundings. The broken bench with graffiti strewn all over, all of the closed daytime restaurants on the other side of the road, that antiquities shop that's definitely seen better days, the rows upon rows of pubs in behind them… yeah, they've passed this place numerous times by now. This entire time, as Clem has apparently gotten caught up in her own anxiety and worry, she hadn't even noticed that the two girls have been running in circles.
"Shit…" she swears before kicking the sidewalk with her bare foot, really wishing that she would've brought a pair of shoes along with her now. "Do you know what time it is? Does it say on your phone or anything?"
Digging through her pocket and pulling it out, Max is discouraged to find that the cellular device is getting very messed up by the time rewind; with the screen all messed up and filled with static as she shrugs her shoulders.
Discouraged that they may have wasted some valuable minutes trying to find the movie theater, Clementine sighs as she watches Max rewind time once again by sticking her hand out. However, she quickly notices that at this point in the ball game, with the two of them already far back in time as it is, Max's energy is quickly waning. Blood slowly flows out of her nose and onto her chin as Clementine tries to help her to her feet.
"That probably gave us a little bit longer, at least," Clementine appreciatively comments as they head back towards the pubs. "Come on… they're bound to let us in if you've got a bloody nose. We can get you cleaned up, and maybe we can get some directions from one of the people inside. I can't believe that I don't remember how to get there…"
Not needing to be told twice, Max allows Clementine to lead her towards the first pub that they see – affectionately titled "The Loose Goose" as they approach the main entrance. The only thing standing between them and their objective is a bulky, bald African-American with a slightly-torn ear and a somewhat friendly demeanor. Immediately recognizing him as the bouncer for this establishment, Clementine gulps as the two of them approach.
"Hey now," the man halts their progress, smirking at them as he folds his arms together. "Sorry girls, but I'm gonna have to see some ID. Legal age to get in is twenty-one. Sorry, but I don't make the rules."
"We're not trying to drink here!" Clementine exclaims, feeling slightly annoyed as the bouncer looks down at her pyjamas with a wry smirk and a chuckle.
"Yeah," he jokes, seeming like a pretty kind soul despite his slightly menacing appearance, "I can see that."
"We just need some paper towels so that she can get her nose cleaned up," Clem explains, lightly nudging Max forward as the man's eyes widen a little bit. Clearly he hadn't seen the girl's face properly until now.
"Aw shit, eh?" he frowns in concern, tilting Max's chin up to get a better look at her. "Damn… look, I still can't let you inside, but how's about I go grab you a damp cloth to bring back? I'll just be – "
"Oh for god sakes, Mike, just let 'em in…"
Puzzled and a little bit surprised, Mike turns around to find a short-haired woman cleaning out some of the glasses with a linen cloth from behind the bar. "You sure?" he asks, probably not wanting his job to be on the line in case he does something that he's not supposed to. "I mean, remember when that kid in the Stone Mountain letterman jacket came by, and I let him inside for ten minutes? Bonnie almost had my head when he tried to order something…"
Rolling her eyes and scoffing, Jane (as her name tag implies) motions with her hand for Max and Clementine to come on inside the bar; with Mike reluctantly stepping to the side as she assures him that everything will be fine. "Don't get your panties in a bunch – they're not here to get shit-faced or anything. Right?" she probes, glancing pointedly at the two girls as they both nod their heads vigorously. Nudging with her head to the right, Jane proceeds to pour a glass of Guinness for one of the customers as she speaks up again. "Bathroom's down the stairs on the right-hand side. Can't miss it," she tells Max in particular, who thanks her quietly and scurries down the stairs. "You guys want a couple of waters or anything? It's weird to see folks in here without a drink in their hand."
"No, but thank you," Clementine shakes her head politely, deciding to take a look around the bar while she waits for her friend to return. In the meantime, she decides that the best thing to do would be to try and look around for any useful information she can find about this particular night.
Clem didn't go down this street on a whim – when she and Max had left the house, the girl was certain (nearly positive) that the theater would be in this general direction, so they can't be too far away. Perhaps somebody saw a shady character sprinting by or hiding out in the streets somewhere, possibly having spotted Carver and knowing where he might be hiding? Not that that's really going to do Clem much good by herself, since she can't really dissuade the man or try to tackle him to the ground without risking her own life.
But the cops in this town might be able to do something… even though she's really got no idea where to even send them.
Glancing at the television screen hung high in the corner, she reads that the time is about 12:53 in the morning; meaning that her parents must've been finished watching the movie and on their way to chill out with their friends at this point. There isn't anyone around who really fits the profile of Carver, so she comes to the conclusion that the murder didn't take place in this pub at the time. With only a few patrons around, each of them minding their own business and not trying to bother anyone else, Clementine can't help but feel a little overwhelmed.
Deciding right then and there that she needs some directions towards the movie theater, just in case they can make it in time, Clementine heads towards a couple sitting in a booth over by the windows. One of them is a dorkier-looking man with a slightly plump figure wearing socks and sandals to match his pine-green shirt, and the other is a pretty young woman who Clem almost instantly recognizes as Carley – a news reporter who she frequently sees on television.
"Umm… hi, sorry to bother you," Clementine apologizes, offering an awkward smile as she folds her hands together. "But my friend and I are a little lost… would you happen to know where the closest movie theater is around here? We had some… difficulties in finding our way around…"
Nodding his head, the man points away from the three of them as he explains that the movie theater is merely a few blocks away, but not down the street that she and Max had been venturing beforehand. "You can even see the lights in the sky from over here. See?" he tells her, with Clementine nodding as she can faintly make out the patterns in the distance. "I was always amazed at all of the motion capture technology some of these directors were able to use for some of the newer stuff… I'd love to get my hands on some prototypes for the cameras they're using."
"You're such a monumental dork," Carley teases, lightly punching him on the shoulder as the two of them share a tasty-looking chocolate sundae. Looks as though this is their date night. "Well, I hope you end up finding what you're looking for out there. What movie were you planning on seeing?"
"Gravity…" she trails off, lying about the flick but quickly excusing herself from the conversation as not only Max comes up the stairs, but also two of the last people she had expected to see come strolling in through the front doors.
"Clem? What are you doin' here?" Kenny questions as Katjaa walks in behind him, equally as surprised to see the eighteen year old as Clem feels her throat run dry.
If they're here, and this is the pub that they and her parents were supposed to meet at, then that means… Carver should be just around the corner.
Her stomach drops as she sees the bastard racing past the pub; barely anything but a shadowy figure as Mike urges the strange man to slow down.
"REWIND! NOW!" Clementine hollers over at Max as the entire bar looks upon the duo as if they've both lost their minds.
