OMMIGOSH GUYS! THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER!
Ommigod, what am I gonna do with my life?
UGHH
No review time, but I still love ya.
Now... for the last time on this story...
BATMAN OUT ;)
Nick and I trudged forward. Our feet sore from our long journey and our bodies cold from the harsh weather. My teeth slightly chattered as I pressed my folded arms harder against my midsection and in a helpless attempt to warm myself up. Nick noticed this awhile back and had offered to make camp, but I had rejected the idea. I've been so focused on finding Wellington that I've started to sound like Kenny when it came to the topic. Nick hasn't said anything, so I didn't think to much about it.
Nick shivered and turned to me, "Regret leaving yet?"
"Not even a little," I shot a smile at him.
He returned the gesture before looking ahead, "You see that hill up there?"
"Yeah," I nodded. A sly smirk replaced my smile as I narrowed my eyes at my guardian, "Wanna race?"
"Clem," He chuckled, "No."
"Please?" I pouted and made my eyes big.
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"Well..." he bit his bottom lip after his sentence trailed off. I was going to say something, but before I could I felt Nicks hand put pressure on my shoulder to gently push me into the snow. I let out a small sound of surprise when the snow made contact with my body.
"Hey!" I playfully yelled at Nick, who was now laughing and running to the hill. I grinned and stood up, wiping some snow from my shirt sleeve as I began running myself, "You cheated!"
I was halfway to him when I noticed he had stopped in his tracks. I assumed it was because he didn't want me to fall to far behind or something like that, but when I got there he still didn't move. He was staring, more like gaping, at the scene in front of him. When I looked ahead myself, I was startled myself. My lips parted, eyes widened, and body relaxed when I realized what had been right in front of us.
"Nick..." I didn't take my eyes off the long walls that held the place together, "Is that..."
I couldn't really tell you what he was doing, since our eyes weren't on each other. But he knew what I was thinking, "I think so."
We found it.
Wellington.
Nick and my own eyes finally met. We just stood there for a second before we both dashed toward the place. Our lips tugged into huge smiles and we weren't focusing on how much it hurt to run. We were safe. We were where we wanted to be. For the first time in a long time things were gonna be ok. We were-
My thoughts were interrupted when someone shot a gun and the bullet landed in the ground not horribly far from my feet. This made Nick and I stop, knowing a warning when we saw one.
"HANDS UP!" I heard a voice. I looked around for a person, but I soon realized that the sound came from over wellington. Nick and I obeyed, slowly lifting our hands upward, "DROP YOUR WEAPONS."
When the demand came through, I looked over at Nick to see what he thought. He gave a slight nod, indicating that I should listen to the woman who was bellowing orders at us. I took my gun out of my jeans and threw it to the snowy ground.
"APPROACH THE GATE!"
Slowly Nick and I walked. Hands still up. When we got closer, I saw a woman. Her hiar was dark brown and tied into a huge bun. She smiled at us.
"Hey!" She greeted, happier then anyone I've seen in a long time "I'm Edith!"
Nick and I exchanged glances due to her awfully cheery attitude. Never the less, Nick stepped forward (Making sure that I was behind him in case we were attacked... that softie) and looked up at the girl who had introduced herself as Edith.
"Hey, I'm Nick and this is Clementine, " He said as he gestured toward me. He eyed the front gate, obviously eager to get in. Not that I could blame him, I was doing the same thing. He looked back up at the woman and hesitantly asked, "Is this Wellington?"
She gave a warm smile and a firm nod, "A lot of people call it that."
Nick and I once again turned our heads so that they were facing each other. We were positively gleaming with happiness. I gently pushed past him to speak up.
"Can we come in?" My voice came out as more of a plead then anything else.
Edith's smile was practically ripped from her face. She turned her eyes elsewhere before responding, "That's the bad news."
My face etched the image of confusion as Edith reached down and threw a green, full bag down to the snow
She moved a stray piece of brown hair away from her face, "Inside that bad is food, medicine, some water, along with some very-"
"What?" Nick interrupted her, his tone one that I couldn't put a name on, "What is this?"
"I'm sorry," The woman sadly said before she continued, "But... we're over capacitated as it is. We're not excepting new members."
There was a slight pause to allow Nick and I to process this. We're not allowed in? After all this? After Carlos, Omid, AJ, Sarah, Rebecca, Luke... after everyone? Now that it's just us? After all of this searching and searching and searching... that's it? How could that be right? I bit my bottom lip. I didn't quite understand. I mean, I understood we couldn't be accepted in, but after all of this?
"You..." I muttered under my breath, quiet enough for no one to hear. Anger rose into my system, causing my blood to boil, my teeth to grit, and my voice louder, "You're just going to cast us away?!"
Edith looked like a little girl who had been caught stealing a cookie form the jar and was now being scolded and punished for the action. She moved yet another strand of hair before repeating, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" I asked, tears threatening to kiss my cheeks and stream down my face, "Do.. do you have any idea what we had to do to get here?!"
"Well... not to sound rude, but a lot of other people here have gone through some pretty fucked up things and they got here before you." She argued.
My hands clenched into fists and my breath became hitched. I yelled, "You cant just-"
"Just take Clem!" Nick's cut me of. He sounded like he was half demanding and half begging, "Please, just take Clementine! She's just one little girl! you can make room for that, can you? Please... just take her..."
"I..." Edith stuttered, not sure what to say.
"Please!" Nick said again, emotion racking his voice and added a slight quiver, "I... I need her to be safe! And I know it's safe in there! Please take her! take your supplies back if that helps! Please, just one little girl. She's well behaved. She wont cause trouble... just one little girl. Please!"
"I... I'll ask," Edith said as she turned and went into her community.
(AN: You should play "Let her go," By Passenger when reading the rest of this. Sets the mood. Tis optional though.)
As she went back in, I turned to my guardian. With pissed of eyes, I spoke sharply, "Nick!" what the hell are you doing?!"
"If she say's it's alright, you're going," Nick told, not asked.
I folded my arms, my eyes still glossy, "No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"YES, you are!" He hissed, turning towards me.
The sound of Edith coming back out caught our attention. Taking back her position, she declared, "We can take the girl... but just the girl. I made the case that-"
"Thank you!" Nick breathed,, "Thank you so much! You wont regret this."
"Nick," I scolded again, "I just told you I'm not leaving!"
'Yes, you are," he repeated, "Listen Clem, I need you to be safe!"
I shook my head violently, "I'll be safe with you! We've come this far together, you really want to just leave me here! Why? I'm not going! There is no way you'll make me go! I'm-" I shut up when I noticed a tear leak out of his eye. This was hard for him...
He turned to me, and kneeled down to my height. Firmly yet gently, he placed his hands on my shoulder and matched his teary eyes with my own, "Clem, think about it. A place where you don't have to worry about finding shelter at night-"
"Stop it!" I demanded, starting to cry myself.
"Where you don't have to think about starving-"
"Stop!"
"Or keep a gun under your pillow-"
"STOP IT!" I yelled, my eyes shut, hoping that when I open them I would discover that this was all just a dream. But I knew it wouldnt be, I knew that when I opened them I would still be outside wellington and being asked to leave That's when it hit me, and it hit me hard. This was real. I was being asked to leave the man I thought of as a father and possibly never see him again. I was being asked to go into a place that sounded like absolute paradise... without him. I was being given an offer, but at a great cost.
"NO!" I yelled, "No, no, no, no, no, no! Stop it Nick! Just, just stop it! I'm not leaving you! You promised me dammit! This is why we left is to stay together! I'm not leaving! That's that!"
"Clementine," He begged, "Please! DO this so I know you'll be fine. Do it so you can be safe. Do it so that you can be protected. Do it for me."
I cried, letting my hands rest at his chest and sobbing into the crook of his neck. Do it for him... Do it for him...
C'mon Clem...
Do it for him...
Let him go...
"Alright," I shook and whispered just loud enough for him to hear me, "Alright Nick... I'll do it... I'll go. Just, just let me go and I'll do it."
This made him wrap his own arms around mt midsection and cry himself. One of his hands came up to tangle his fingers in my hair and press me closer. He sniffed before saying, "Thank you Clementine... thank you for everything. I am very glad to have met you, Clementine. You don't need me anymore, alright? You're strong Clem, you can do anything. You will always be my baby girl, alright? I'm sorry Clem... I love you."
"I love you too," I cried harder as he pulled away from me. I took a step back as he grabbed the back of supplies. We began walking in different directions, both of us silently crying our eyes out. Edith opened the doors to Wellington for me. I walked up to the door, and just halted. Once I pass this entrance I'm officially leaving him. This saddened me, so I did the unthinkable.
I looked back.
He was far away, just starting to walk up the hill. I waited and waited for him to look back to, but he didn't. But I kept watching. kept waiting.
I kept doing that...
Until...
He was just another...
Shadow on the hill.