A place to call home
Chapter 5: old friends
Here I bring you chapter 6, folks. Nothing much to say in this author's note, other than to enjoy and be sure to leave a review or two. They help bring chapters here quicker.
Clementine slowly opened her eyes after a goodnight's sleep, but instead her eyes meeting her comfortable bedroom, instead, she was inside a very familiar RV. She panicked slightly and leaned up, wondering what in the world had just happened. One minute she was in her bedroom and now she was in the RV that the group used at the motor inn to escape the bandits.
She looked at her hands and appearance, and to her surprise, she could not believe it. She was nine-years-old again and wearing the same dress she always wore during the first three months of the walker apocalypse. At first, she considered running, but then she turned around and sitting next to her was a familiar face. "Lee...?"
What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to have died? But here he was, alive and well, his gentle brown eyes looking down at Clementine in concern.
"What's wrong, sweet pea? Did you have a bad dream?" he asked. His deep yet smooth voice sounded just how Clem remembered.
("I thought you were dead.")
("What...?")
("I...I...don't...")
("...")
"I...I don't..." Clementine looked to the right where Ben was keeping guard over Lilly who was sleeping against the RV couch with her hands tied behind her back. The teeanger had a Glock 17 in his hand. She turned towards her left where Kenny was driving the RV, and with him were Katjaa and Duck, who were both sleeping.
She turned back towards Lee, confused to what was happening right now. She was speechless.
Was everything that happened beyond this point a dream? That would mean that Lee never died, and Omid, Christa, Sarita, and the cabin group never existed. Clementine looked up at Lee to make sure that he was still there, and he was.
"Hey, whatever it was, it's over now," Lee reassured her, smiling softly.
With everything she saw, could Clementine possibly change the fate of everyone she knew. She knew Duck was still going to die, regardless of what happened next, but she might be able to save Katjaa, Ben, Omid, Christa, Chuck. She knew her parents were still dead of course, but that did not mean it would affect Lee's fate.
"Lee. Duck's got bit." Clementine stated the obvious, but she tried to keep quiet to avoid Kenny hearing. "He's...He's going to become a walker."
"Clem, we don't know what exactly happens yet," Lee whispered. "Maybe he's just sick."
But Clementine shook her head in disagreement.
"Lee, I'm not stupid. I know it's going to happen to anyone...Even my parents...I know they're gone." Clementine confessed whilst he played her hands together. She did not want to say it, but after everything she learned, she could not deny it.
(?) Lee will remember that.
Lee was certainly surprised by what his adoptive daughter had just told him. Earlier today, she had been pretending to talk to her parents on her radio like usual (little did he know she was actually speaking to someone else) and now she just admitted to her parents being dead.
Lee sighed and looked down. He was probably remembering having to butcher his brother, who had likely gotten bit and turned. At that, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Clementine was returning his concerned look from earlier, so Lee spoke again.
"I'm okay, Clem. Just...thinking. It's not your fault."
Clementine looked at the ground.
(Tell Lee about stranger)
(Don't tell Lee about stranger)
She decided to tell Lee about the man on the radio.
"Lee...There's something I need to tell you." Clementine confessed as she took out her walkie talkie and handed it over to Lee, but she kept it off to avoid the man talking any moment now. But at least this was before she told him they were heading to Savannah. "Lee, remember that car we found with all the supplies? The guy who owned it contacted me on my walkie talkie. I wanted to tell you, but I thought you would be mad. I didn't tell him anything though."
(?) Lee will remember that.
Lee looked a little surprised, but luckily didn't seem angry. He looked at the walkie-talkie and placed it to the side, and looked back to Clementine. "Thank you for telling me, Clementine. I'm glad you were honest and I'm proud of you for that."
Clem smiled lightly, she was more than glad that Lee was alive. But now she was wondering how she was going to save everybody from a certain death.
Whilst they were hear, Clementine decided to ask Lee a couple of questions she had never got the chance to ask him, and the first one was about Larry. "Lee. When we were trapped in the meatlocker, what made you want to help Larry? He left you for dead and was always mean to you. What made you want to help him?"
"Clem, I want you to know that every life has value," Lee explained. "And that includes Larry. Helping kill him wouldn't have made things better for me."
"Oh." Clementine nodded in agreement to assure her guardian she understood. Whilst they were on the topic, she decided to tell him about her nightmare since it would be a while until they reached the train. "Lee, do you want to know what my dream was about?"
"Sure, sweet pea. You can tell me anything."
"I was eleven-years old and I was with this new group." Clementine began her story but decided to skip out the part of the events of Savannah. If history's events repeated, it would be strange for Clementine to know all of this. "There were seven people. Luke, Nick and his uncle Pete, Carlos and his daughter Sarah, Alvin and his wife Rebecca. We were all together trying to escape from this man named Carver. He was dangerous and wanted to get us. A dog attacked me in my dream too, but I had to kill it. It almost killed me, but Luke and Pete saved me before walkers got to me. At one point, I was left with a choice to save Nick or Pete, but Pete got bit anyway. I tried to help him but it was no use. We arrived at this ski lodge and Kenny was there with this other woman Sarita and this man named Walter."
Lee nodded every few seconds or so to let Clementine know he was listening.
"We stayed there for a while. Walkers attacked us one night and everyone could have died, but Kenny saved us with Luke. After that, we all stayed together and tried to head for a place called Wellington that was suppose to be a safe fortress where everyone could survive and live freely. But then I woke up and here you were. I was...It was like I was a different person, Lee. I had my hair cut short to stop walkers or people from grabbing me, I knew how to use a gun, and did what I could to survive."
Lee looked surprised. Clementine couldn't tell what he was thinking about at that exact moment. "That must've been some dream. Do you think it was trying to tell you something?"
Clementine was about to answer with it was a warning for the future, but that would sound silly, even in this day and age where the dead roamed the Earth. However, she did have an alternative answer for him nevertheless.
("That I'm alone.")
("What I need to do to survive.")
("I don't know.")
("...")
"I think it was telling me what I needed to do to survive. I think I should cut my hair short and maybe you could teach me how to shoot? I know it sounds a little crazy, but after being with you, I know that no matter what age you are or how tall you are, a gun is what saves your life from now on."
Lee gave the little girl a smile. "I think you're absolutely right, Clem," he said. "When we find the time, I'll teach you everything you need to know." They still had Carley's Glock 17 in their possession, so they could use that.
"Thank you, Lee." the young girl smiled widely. She drifted her attention back towards the sleeping Lilly and then her expression changed to a curious one. She turned back towards her guardian. "Lee...Why did you let Lilly back into the RV after she shot Carley? She could be dangerous."
They were both glad that Lilly wasn't awake to hear that. Lee sighed, looking over at Lilly as well. Ben glanced at them nervously, but then turned away and kept quiet.
"I don't know, Clem," he admitted. "Do you think we should have left her?"
("Yes.")
("No.")
("I don't know.")
("...")
Clementine was not sure how to respond to that. Now she knew how tough it was for Lee to be the one to handle all the tough choices. "I...I don't know...She could be dangerous, but if we left her, would we be any better?"
"We would be leaving her to die," Lee responded. "We may have done the right thing. It's just like I told you, every life has value."
"I guess." Clementine skeptically agreed, but like it or not, she knew for a fact there was going to be times where they would have no choice but to take a life and it would be someone who was not a walker.
"Why don't you try and go back to sleep, Clementine?" Lee suggested. "We'll be on the road for awhile."
"Okay." Clementine nodded in agreement as she closed her eyes and lied her head down against Lee. The older man smiled and placed his arm around Clementine as she slept. With their motor inn gone, it was going to be a while until they found somewhere safe, but together, they could win this, especially with Clementine's future knowledge.
Well, well, this was certainly surprising. Has everything that Clementine has experienced turned out to be a dream all along? If you wish to find out, stay tuned for chapter 6.
