A place to call home

Chapter 2: making plans

Hey, everyone, thank you all for the feedback so far. A Writer With Mixed Interests and I appreciate it. Although this story may not be long in chapters, it will be long in words/chapter length, just thought I'd let you know. Enjoy the chapter, folks.


Clementine woke up the very next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking. She climbed out of her bed and put her shoes back on, and decided to head downstairs. Sarah and Carlos were in the living room, and Luke and Nick were talking amongst themselves near the tables. Rebecca and Alvin were outside, and Walter was cooking beans. Sarita and Kenny were still asleep.

Sarah turned around and noticed her younger friend descending the staircase, and perked up. "Hi, Clementine! How did you sleep?"

("Great.")

("Not good.")

("Okay.")

("...")

"Best sleep I've had since we left the cabin." Clementine answered as she yawned and stretched out her arms. She walked into the living and sat down on the armchair.

"Anything I missed?" she asked Carlos.

"Nothing much. The wind turbine is still off and the ski lodge is safe." Carlos answered whilst he was looking at a map.

"I hope those bad people don't find us," Sarah commented innocently, fiddling with the buttons on her light blue jacket.

"It's okay, Sarah, they won't find us." Carlos assured, placing his hand upon her shoulder for comfort

Sarah couldn't help but smile at that. She was glad that her dad was still safe.

At that moment, Kenny and Sarita emerged from the stairs at the same time, both having just woken up. "Mornin'!" Kenny called to everyone.

"Morning Kenny!" everyone greeted simultaneously.

Sarita was dressed in her usual clothes but her hair was a mess. Nevertheless, she walked with her boyfriend downstairs with the others.

"Ah, just in time, because breakfast is ready!" Walter called. He'd clearly had a rough night, but nonetheless, he was going to be strong. "If someone could go get the two outside, that would be nice. Alvin and Rebecca, right?"

"I'll get them." Carlos said, setting down the Map as he proceeded to get his friends.

As the doctor left to fetch them, Clementine got up and decided to go and checkup everyone. She already checked up on Carlos and Sarah.

Clementine first decided to go and check on Walter. She stood on the opposite side from him whilst he was cooking.

("What's cooking?")

("How are you doing?")

("Walter.")

("...")

"Hi Walter. How are you doing?" she asked.

Walter glanced at her with a glum expression, but sighed. "As well as can be, despite the circumstances," he answered. "But I know Matthew would want me to carry on. I've still got Kenny and Sarita."

"I know how it feels." Clementine agreed whilst placing a hand upon her arm. "I lost my parents, Lee, and a lot of people from my old group. Kenny and I are the only ones left from our group."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Clementine," Walter responded. "I still stand by what I said last night; it must be hard growing up in the middle of all this. You're a little girl caught up in this...hell of a world now."

("It's never easy.")

("I'll be all right.")

("I'm tough.")

("...")

"I'll be all right." Clementine reassured the older man with a supportive smile across her face. "I've survived for more than two years in this world. As long as we stick together, we can all survive."

(?) Walter will remember that.

"That sounds like a good plan, Clem," Walter replied with a light smile. "It's best to just stay positive."

Clementine nodded in agreement and decided to go check on some more of the group before breakfast.

Clementine approached Nick and Luke at the table, and both men were talking with one another. She decided to check up on them, especially Nick who came so close to death last night. "Hey guys." she waved.

"Hey Clem," Luke gave her a small smile, while Nick nodded at her. "You doing okay?"

"I'm doing okay I guess." Clementine answered, rubbing her hand up against her arm. "How are you guys?"

"A hell of a lot better now," Nick replied as he scratched the back of his neck, offering a weak smile. Clementine gave him a half-sympathetic, half-relieved smile in return.

"I think we're both good," Luke added.

"Okay. That's good, I guess." Clementine agreed. She turned back towards the kitchen to see breakfast was almost ready.

The doors to the ski lodge opened where Carlos, Alvin and Rebecca walked inside and proceeded over towards the dinner table. The others joined them and all took a seat by the table.

Like the previous night, the former cabin group sat on one table together while the ski lodge group sat on the other table together. Clementine had sat with Kenny the previous night, but today, she decided to sit with her new friends.

"Here you go, ladies and gentlemen." Walter said, holding a huge pot that he set down onto the table. He grabbed small bowls and placed the right amount of food into each one before pushing them over towards their guests.

There was a chorus of "thank you's" before everyone began eating. There were different types of chatter between both groups.

"So, anything we got to do today?" Kenny inquired.

"Well, did you fix the transformer last night?" Sarita inquired, raising an eyebrow as she took soft bites out of her food.

Meanwhile, on the other table, Carlos decided to point out something while they were all together as a group. He placed his spoon down and decided to ask everyone (including Sarah) an important question: "Does everyone think we're safe here?"

No-one answered and merely turned towards one another, followed by a shrug.

Clementine could not help but ask what he meant by this. Was it due to the walker attack last night?

("Why?")

("Yes.")

("Uh..")

("...")

"Why?" Clementine inquired.

"Well, we do want to keep moving north, but we have to think about some things." Carlos explained as he averted his eyes towards Rebecca. "Rebecca is close to giving birth to her baby now, and we were almost out of food until we came here."

"I think we could stay here awhile," Luke decided. "I mean, Walter said that there was plenty of food and supplies, right? I think Rebecca could have a safe birth if we stay at least a few weeks. What do you think?"

"I'm gonna agree to that," Nick announced.

("I think we should stay.")

("I think we should go.")

("Let's ask them.")

("...")

"I think we should, but we should ask them first." Clementine agreed, willing to try anything if it meant staying with both her group and Kenny's group.

(?) They will remember that.

"I think it's a good idea, too." Rebecca agreed, placing her hands upon her pregnant belly to comfort her baby. "I'm not sure how long I can keep walking."

"I like it here," Sarah spoke up after she took a drink of water. "I hope they let us stay."

As if on cue, Walter approached their table. "How is everything?" he asked pleasantly.

"It's delicious." Clementine smiled, but she could not help but wonder how Walter, Kenny and Sarita could eat the same thing every day. She certainly would have lost her appetite.

"The breakfast is very good, thank you." Carlos thanked and was about to ask Walter about them staying for a while, but he decided to wait until breakfast was over.

"Do you need any help with anything after breakfast?" Alvin asked, willing to show their gratitude for giving them food and allowing them to stay here.

"I may need a few of you to help me move some supplies upstairs, if that's all right," Walter replied. "Kenny was wanting to work on something outside. You can ask him if he needs anything."

"Sure, we can help," Nick nodded. "It's the least I...we...can do."

Walter understood what he meant by this and gave him a nod in agreement.

"Alvin, Luke and I can help Walter. Clem, you and Nick should help Kenny with whatever he needs outside. Rebecca, you should rest easy for now. " Carlos suggested, acting as the group's leader like usual.

He turned towards Sarah and realized she was the only one who had nothing to do. She helped Sarita decorate the true last night, but apart from that, there was nothing much she would do around here.

"What can I do, Dad?" Sarah wanted to know. She loved to help out, and helping out was something that she very rarely got to do anymore.

Carlos was about to open his mouth to reply when Sarita came over with a medium-sized box.

"Hello, everyone, enjoying your breakfast?" Sarita greeted in a friendly tone whilst she set the box down onto the ground for a moment.

"Yes, thank you." Carlos answered, examining the box all curious like. He could not help but wonder what she had inside.

Sarah couldn't help but peer into the box before anyone could say anything. She pulled out some gold garland and saw some other holiday decorations. "Dad, look at all this! This is so cool!"

"Would you like to help me decorate the place, Sarah?" Sarita offered with a slight smile across her face. She and Sarah had bonded over such a short time and were now close friends.

Sarah nodded in agreement but she turned towards her father for approval of course.

Carlos allowed her help Sarita again. After all, she had nothing better to do other than read her book. "Okay, Sarah, after you finish your breakfast, you can help Sarita."

Sarah beamed; she was glad that her father was finally letting her get involved in things.

It wasn't long before everyone cleared their bowls, which were distributed over to Walter so that they could be put away for washing, and went over to their assigned tasks. Nick and Clementine walked outside to where Kenny was waiting.

"Hey, y'all, we need to start building a secure wall to put over the windows," Kenny instructed. "That way, no lurkers or bandits will be peekin' in."

Clementine took note that not every window around this place was boarded up and was glad to see Kenny one step ahead. She stood forward and offered her services. "What can Nick and I do to help?"

"Can you get me those pliers on that table over there?" Kenny asked, nodding in the direction of a small table full of tools. "Nick, hold up this wall for me."

Clementine nodded and walked over to grab the pliers on the table like Kenny had instructed. She handed them to him, but now there was nothing more she could do. "Anything else I could do to help?"

"You can just hold the board with Vanilla Ice over there," Kenny responded, earning a grunt from Nick in return.

Clementine chuckled slightly as she placed her hands upon the board and helped Nick keep it steady for Kenny to nail them down. Whilst Kenny hit the nails through the wood, it brought back a couple of memories to Clementine.

She remembered back in Macon when the group was held up in the motor inn. She remembered Larry and Mark building up a fence to block off their home. Sure, Larry as a jerk, but Clementine did feel safer with that wall. How she longed for the old days.

She wondered about Lilly, whether or not she was still alive. She desperately hoped for Christa to still be alive as well. Maybe she should tell Kenny what really happened...?

"Clem? Clementine?"

Clementine was pulled out of her thoughts as she turned to look at Kenny.

"You okay?" the bearded man inquired. "You can stop holding the board now."

"Oh. right." she nodded, taking her hands from off the board and placing them onto the next one. For now, she decided to talk to Kenny about Christa and the bandits later.


Meanwhile, back in the ski lodge, Carlos, Alvin, Luke and Walter all worked together to carry some boxes upstairs near the bedrooms. Whatever were inside these things were heavy.

"Whew, those are heavy." Alvin admitted, setting the box down and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "What's in those boxes?"

"Oh, just some canned food, first-aid kits, water bottles," Walter listed. "We found all this when we first arrived."

"That must've been a lucky break," Luke commented.

"I am surprised none of this food was off date by now." Carlos admitted, walking back down the stairs with the others to fetch more boxes. He studied his surroundings and had to admit this place looked fantastic. "This place is amazing."

"Better than the cabin, anyway." Alvin responded, placing both of his hands into his pockets as they walked. He noticed Carlos and Luke give him a stare to say "Excuse me?" that caused him to shrug in response. "What?"

Carlos dropped the subject for now and picked up another box. "Let's keep bringing them up."

Nearby, Sarah and Sarita were decorating one of the support beams together to make the place brighter. Sarita stood on a ladder and carefully placed the decorations around, occasionally asking Sarah for a hand.

"Can you pass me the tape, please, Sarah?" Sarita requested, holding out one hand.

"Sure!" Sarah exclaimed, reaching out and picking up a roll of tape. As Sarita taped some garland to the railing, she commented again. "I really missed seeing Christmas decorations. It's been so long! One time I asked Dad why we couldn't decorate and he said that there wasn't anything to decorate with. But now we get to!"

"Christmas is a wonderful time of the year." Sarita commented, accepting the tape that she used to hold the decoration in place. She stepped back down from the ladder and observed their work together. "Looks beautiful. What do you think, Sarah?"

"It's really pretty," Sarah replied with a smile. "I can't wait for everyone to see it!"

"I'm sure they'll love it." Sarita agreed, picking up the box of decorations and proceeding over towards another support beam.

A little while later, everyone was done with their work for now and decided to relax for a while. It was around midday according to Walter's watch and now no-one else did not have much to do. For a place that had electricity, they sure could do with a TV. But then again, they would probably have no channels.

Kenny had the job of fixing the transformer that he and Luke went to fix last night, but without proper tools, they were unable to get it working. He decided to go and get it fixed now while they had light, but he needed someone to go with him, and that someone was the young girl with a hat.

"Hey Clem, you mind comin' with me to fix the transformer?" Kenny asked.

("Maybe later.")

("Sure.")

("No.")

("...)

"Sure." Clementine agreed, searching in her backpack for a moment until she retrieved a Glock 17 for protection. She placed it into her back pocket and followed Kenny out of the ski lodge.

"So Clementine, how you holdin' up?" Kenny wanted to know as the two walked towards the transformer. Albeit he was glad to see the little girl again, he couldn't help but worry for her.

"I've been doing a lot better since I met you again yesterday." Clementine answered, still somewhat surprised to see Kenny again. At first, she thought it was a dream.

"That's great," Kenny smiled down at her once they reached the transformer. "So...that group in there. How did you meet 'em?"

For a moment, Clementine debated on whether or not to tell the truth. But eventually she decided that the truth might be the best, but she decided not to include the part where they locked her in the shed. She didn't want to cause any more drama.

"It's a bit of a long story." Clementine admitted, but she decided to tell him anyway whilst he got to work on the transformer. "I was with Christa about a week ago, but she left to fetch some wood and we were attacked by bandits. We got separated and I fell into a stream. After I woke up and got back onto the land, I found a dog but he bit me and could have killed me. I had to kill him..."

Clementine paused for a moment and rolled up her sleeve, revealing her bandages up. She decided to continue the rest of her story.

"I was too weak to carry on, but Luke and this other man Pete rescued me and brought me back to the cabin. Carlos stitched up my arm for me and they allowed me to stay. But Pete got bit and died, and this man named Carver arrived. Carlos told me he was dangerous and we had to get away before he chased us. We headed north for a week until we found your guys." Clementine ended the rest of her story and rolled her sleeve down.

By now, Kenny had paused his work and approached Clementine. "I'm sorry all that happened to you, darlin'. You shouldn't have to go through what you did." He paused. "So this Carver, why is he chasing you?"

"Carlos told me they use to be apart of their community, but they escaped because he was crazy. Now he's trying to get them back. I think we're safe though. He doesn't know where we went and can't exactly asked directions, I guess." Clementine answered, but there was another reason and that was what Luke told her yesterday.

He mentioned the most important thing in this world was family, hinting either one of the members were his family or Rebecca's baby was possibly his own, but Rebecca would not cheat on Alvin, would she?

"Well, you're safe here with me, I can promise you that," Kenny reassured her, giving her a smile. "Now, can you hand me that screwdriver there?"

"Sure." Clementine agreed, feeling relieved to hear those words from Kenny. She knelt down whilst handing him the screwdriver. "So, do you know exactly what to do? It all looks...Confusing."

"It was at first, but Matthew taught me what to do when Sarita and I first got here," Kenny explained. "...Matt was a real good guy."

Clementine sensed a hint of sadness, but decided to change the subject for now and ask about Kenny's story. "S-o-o-o-o, how did you escape in Savannah? Christa told me you were trapped in an alleyway and Ben was stuck. She mentioned you put Ben out of misery, but after that, they couldn't see what happened to you exactly."

"Boy, Clem..." Kenny took off his hat and ran his fingers through his graying hair, unsure if he wanted to share that information with the little girl. "That's a long story, but I'll tell it." He continued to work on the transformer. "I was almost bit plenty of times. One of them fuckers even grabbed my arm and tried to take a nip outta me, but I pinned 'im against a wall and slammed him hard." Here he pounded his fist against the wall. "Not too much happened for quite a while, but then I took shelter in this old restaurant. My beard, it was probably longer than holy hell itself." A laugh. "But then Sarita came along, and we grew pretty close pretty quickly. But we traveled north, like y'all, and found this ski lodge. Matthew and Walter were suspiciously nice, but Rita and I grew to trust 'em."

"Wow. Sounds tough." Clementine admitted, but when he mentioned Sarita, she thought back to the previous night when Sarita had mentioned Kenny didn't talk about before and when Kenny rudely snatched a box off of her. "Kenny, can I ask you something?"

"Anything," Kenny glanced at her, his eyes softening.

("Nevermind.")

("About last night.")

("...")

"Last night, Sarita mentioned you didn't want to talk about before and I saw when you snatched the box off her. Why did you snatch the box? And why don't you want to talk about before?" Clementine asked him two questions, but she hoped she was not being too pushy, especially after the day she watched when Katjaa and Duck died.

That made Kenny stop completely. Slowly but surely, he put down the screwdriver and glanced at Clementine, but he stared at the ground.

"I just...can't," he decided to say. "I can't talk about my wife, or my son. It's too much." Kenny massaged his temple, and Clementine noticed a more noticeable worry-line appearing on his forehead. "I still miss them, Clementine." He sighed and looked at the child before him. "I didn't mean to snatch from Sarita last night. My fuckin' temper..." He let out a sarcastic, bitter laugh.

("It's okay.")

("It was rude.")

("Have you done that before?")

("...")

"It's okay, Kenny, I know it's hard and the feeling never gets any better." Clementine reassured in a soothing voice, gently placing her tiny hand upon his shoulder. She knew it was hard to talk about their loved ones, especially her parents and Lee. She wanted Kenny to be okay, but he wouldn't be better until he opened up to his girlfriend. "Just talk to Sarita. You love her, Kenny and she loves you. I promise, it will make you feel better to let it all out. I miss Katjaa and Duck too, but they would want you to continue and still be the same loving father and wife they once knew."

(?) Kenny will remember that.

Kenny turned around, giving Clementine a small smile. "You're probably right, Clementine. I'll talk to Sarita later. You were always the one with morals." He glanced at the transformer, then back to her. "I'm about done here. Ready to go inside?"

"Yeah, let's go." Clementine agreed, standing back to full height as the two of them began to walk back towards the ski lodge. She was happy and relieved to see her words had got through to Kenny.


Meanwhile, back in the ski lodge, Alvin and his wife Rebecca were sitting together on a couch, cuddling whilst the fire kept them warm. Rebecca grunted slightly and rubbed her stomach that caused the attention of her concerned husband.

"You okay, Rebecca?" Alvin inquired with worry in his voice.

"I'm fine, just a little-omph!" she groaned more and leaned up slightly, placing her arms around her pregnant belly. She was definitely not fine. "Oh, ow!"

Alvin was now beginning to panic and supported their wife and held one of her hands as they stood up together. "Rebecca, what's wrong?" he did not need an answer when he spotted water leaking across the floor. "Oh, good God. Carlos!"

Carlos quickly walked into the living room. Nobody needed to tell him anything when he saw the water as well. Sarita and Sarah were watching as well with horrified looks in their eyes.

Carlos was already one step ahead fortunately for Rebecca and quickly debriefed the situation to everyone here. "Everyone just stay calm. Alvin, you and I need to help Rebecca back to your room. You have a big bed. Luke, you and Nick fetch my medical supplies from my bag. Everyone clear?"

"We're on it," Luke nodded curtly, and he and Nick went to fetch Carlos's bag.

"Anything we can do?" Kenny offered.

Carlos had only just noticed Clementine and Kenny had returned, but he heard his question nevertheless. He answered him whilst he helped Rebecca stand up and supported her. "No, I think this is everything we need. Sarita, can you watch Sarah for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course." Sarita assured, turning back towards the young teenager for a moment who was busy watching the entire event with the others.

"Easy, Rebecca." Alvin soothed, holding one of her hands whilst using his other one to hold her up. Carlos did the same on the other side.

Slowly, Carlos and Alvin eventually got Rebecca upstairs and escorted her into the hallway where all the bedrooms were. They helped her into her room and carefully lied her down onto her bed.

"I just need my supplies and then we can begin." Carlos explained after helping Rebecca into her bed.

In the main area of the ski lodge, everyone could hear Rebecca's screams from downstairs and could not help but worry for Rebecca. All they could do at this point was wait.


Chapter 2 is written, published and here for all of you to read. Looks like Rebecca has gone into labour and now it is up to Carlos and Alvin to help safely deliver her baby. Stay tuned for chapter 3.