A place to call home

Chapter 11: bonding

Hey, everyone, Assassin's Creed Master here. Regarding to my earlier author's note about which season did you think was better, there was one more thing I wished season 2 had added in: another armed with death moment. Seriously, they part was amazing and the music was epic as hell. It proves what Lee would do to save Clementine no matter what. Anyway, here's chapter 11.


Before long, every with the exception of Rebecca and her baby had awoken and ate their breakfast until they had something to do for the day. Maybe they could all get to know each other better since they would be together for a while.

Everyone sat in the living room, and those who weren't on the couch or in one of the chairs sat on the floor. There currently wasn't any work to do (plus it was too cold anyway), so they decided to talk about things they liked to do, their jobs, etcetera.

"I was a commercial fisherman before all this," Kenny spoke up first, his hand on Sarita's knee.

"You ever catch anything good?" Luke inquired.

"Anything that was payin'," Kenny replied with a shrug. "Mackerel, dolphin, that sorta thing."

"I worked in a coffee shop." Sarita said after her boyfriend was finished speaking. "It wasn't the best job in the world but it paid."

"I worked at the local hospital for around ten years." Carlos spoke up, but it did not take a genius to figure out his job. He continued whilst he and Sarah sat together on the floor. "It wasn't an easy job, but I was glad to do it if it meant helping people."

"I went to school!" Sarah piped up. "I really liked it too, even though there were these three mean girls there. But all of the teachers were really nice. My favorite subject with English!"

Carlos raised his eyebrows as he was unaware of his daughter being bullied, but he didn't make a comment. He would save that for a later time.

"I had three jobs before all this began." Alvin was the next one to speak up. "My first job was a security watchman, but I got caught sleeping."

This earned him a couple of chuckles.

"Next I worked at a local bar, but that job wasn't really much thing. And before all this, I got a job at a warehouse, helping to move stuff," Alvin finished and adjusted his glasses. "Rebecca worked as a waitress in a fancy restaurant."

"Luke and I started a pawn shop business a few years back," Nick announced. He was on the floor, leaning against the wall by the fireplace. "Long story short...it went to shit real fast." He chuckled.

"You can say that again," Luke laughed. "But it was fun, and we both know it."

"Yeah, yeah, it was," Nick smiled.

("I did school, too.")

("Most of you us had jobs.")

("Sounds...Fun.")

("...")

"I did school, too." Clementine spoke up whilst she was sitting in the armchair. "It was pretty fun. I got through first grade pretty easy."

The only people left to say their jobs was Walter, but Clementine already knew he use to be a teacher. That did not mean the others knew, too.

"I taught middle school for about thirty years before all this," Walter announced. "I liked my job, well...most of the time. I often found myself caught in the middle of two cliques, but Clementine already knows this." He sent a small smile over to the eleven-year-old.

Clementine smiled in return.

"Thirty years?" Carlos repeated, somewhat surprised. Nevertheless, he did not complain. "Wow, it must have been great to teach that long."

"It was wonderful," Walter replied with a nod. "I became a teacher because I thought it would be nice to help the younger generation grow a little."

"What kind of stuff did you teach?" Clementine inquired. She hoped when they found somewhere safe, maybe Walter could teach her a little. After all, knowledge is still good to learn.

"I taught literature and fine arts," Walter stated proudly. "Perhaps I could teach you a little." He turned his attention to Sarah. "And you said you liked English, would you like to learn too?"

"Yeah!" Sarah chirped, grinning widely.

("Maybe.")

("Sounds good.")

("No.")

("...")

"Sounds good to me." Clementine agreed. She had the feeling everything was going to be fine at this point as long as they were careful and stuck together.

And that was everyone's jobs since the apocalypse began. What else could they talk about?

AJ's loud cries could be heard coming from upstairs, signaling that everyone was now awake. Luke decided to bring up the next conversation while they waited for Rebecca to come downstairs.

"You guys wanna hear about when Nick and I jumped rooftops with friends of ours?" he spoke up, a proud smile on his face.

"Sure." Clementine nodded. She remembered Luke mentioning this when she was climbing up that metal tower.

"Hey, most of those were dares!" Nick scolded, pointing at Luke. But then again, he was smiling too.

"Yeah, MOST of them," Luke said almost sarcastically. "So anyway, we had this big guy, Charlie, right? He was the biggest damn daredevil I'd ever met. He would run all the way to the edge of the building, and then run and jump. I guess he encouraged us." Luke let out a laugh, and turned to his best friend. "Hey Nick, remember your old man catchin' us once?"

"He was an asshole," Nick responded with a grimace. Pete had been more of a father to him than his real father had.

"Did any of you get hurt?" Carlos inquired, but you could tell he was trying not to laugh. It was a first to see his humorous side.

"Someone fell once, I think," Nick replied. "Luckily it was a small building. But the kid was a dick anyway, can't remember his name now." This was the happiest the group had seen Nick since Pete had passed away, and the happiest Clem had seen him in general.

"I don't think I'd do anything like that." Sarita admitted. "I have a fear of heights."

("Sounds stupid.")

("Sounds dangerous.")

("Sounds fun.")

("...")

"I guess it was fun. For you guys, anyway." Clementine replied. She would never do anything that reckless, regardless of her age.

"Yeah. We were immature, but it was a shit ton of fun," Luke nodded in agreement.

Since they still had a while to kill, Clementine decided to bring up another subject that may keep them speaking for a while. "So, where are all of you from? I lived in Georgia near Atlanta."

"I was born in South Carolina," Nick raised his hand slightly. "Moved to Arkansas when I was...seven, I think. That's when I met Luke."

"I never moved from Arkansas until the world went to shit," Luke added. "Nick and I were roommates at the time. When this all started, we grabbed our families and got the hell out."

"Sarah and I grew up in Wilmington." Carlos spoke up whilst he placed an arm around his daughter. "After all this, we moved up to Carolina until we met up with Luke, Nick, Pete, Alvin, and Rebecca."

"I'm from Tallahassee." Sarita informed the group. "My family moved from India when I was very young and we lived there ever since. It was a great place."

"I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale. Clem, you know this," Kenny nodded towards the little girl. He turned to Alvin. "What about you?"

"Me and Rebecca are from Philadelphia." Alvin answered. "Rebecca was from Cherry Hill, but after we got married, we both moved together in Philadelphia."

"So most of us came a hell of a long way," Luke commented.

The group turned as Rebecca came downstairs carrying AJ, who was wrapped in a green blanket until they could find some warm baby clothes.

Carlos had mentioned she was all right to get up and walk now, but it was best if she stayed inside the ski lodge where it was warm. But in all fairness, no one would want to leave and go out into the cold.

"Rebecca." Alvin greeted and went to greet his wife with a kiss. The two sat back down together on the couch which meant Kenny had to get up to make room, but he did not mind. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feel a lot better." Rebecca answered after she sat down and held her baby in her arms. Everyone admired AJ and all his eyes met him. "Anything I miss?"

("Nothing much.")

("Just talking, really.")

("A lot of things.")

("...")

"Nothing much." Clementine shrugged. "We were all just talking about our jobs and where we came from."

"It's nice that we can all learn to get along and get to know each other," Walter said with a small smile.

"I agree." Carlos agreed.

Rebecca slowly rocked AJ back to forth until he was sleeping peacefully. She began whispering towards him to avoid waking him up. "Who's a perfect little man? You are. Who's going to be big and strong when he grows up? You are."

Before long, a couple of eyes averted towards Walter. He was the only one who had not mentioned his home, but they assumed he was from around here somewhere since he and Matthew use to come to this ski lodge quite often.

"Matthew and I, we used to vacation here when given the chance," Walter explained. "I met him in college while living in Phoenix, Arizona." After receiving surprised looks from some of the group, Walter continued. "We would come here to get away from the scorching temperatures and crowded areas."

("It sounded great.")

("How far is Arizona?")

("You were in college?")

("...")

"Sounded like it use to be a great time for you guys." Clementine spoke up. She could still tell he was upset with Matthew's death, but he was getting there slowly.

The group heard a sound from outside, and Kenny grumbled.

"Shit, that blizzard's comin' soon," he announced. "Better go and check that wind turbine."

"I'll go with you." Sarita offered, following Kenny towards the exit of the ski lodge.

"With that storm, it's best we keep the fire going." Carlos suggested, standing up and proceeding towards the fireplace.

"We'll be able to stay warm if we just stay inside," Luke reassured the group.

"I hope so," said Sarah. "I don't like the cold."

"We'll be okay, honey." Carlos assured his daughter as he finished putting another log inside the fire.

It took Kenny and Sarita a couple of minute to return. When they did, their clothes and their hair were covered in snow. That storm was almost upon them.

"It's freezing out there." Sarita stated the obvious as she set her rifle down and sat near the fire to keep warm.

"No kiddin'," Kenny agreed, taking his hat off and brushing the snow out of his hair.

"Looks like we're going to have something that you don't need to cook for dinner tonight if the power goes." Alvin stated with an arm over his wife who was still holding AJ in her arms.

"You're probably right," Walter agreed. "Although I hope we don't lose power."

"Let's just all keep calm for now and wait until the storm passes." Carlos suggested as he took a seat again next to his daughter on the floor. "It might be a while now."

It was mostly silent for the next few minutes as everyone sat in the living room, Carlos's arm around Sarah's shoulders to keep her warm and Alvin doing the same for Rebecca.

"It would be nice to have some Christmas music, y'know?" Luke broke the silence.

"Hell, it would be nice to have any music," Kenny agreed. "Hey Walt, why don't you put us in one of those CDs?"

Walter nodded and went to go put some music on for a while.

("We could continue talking.")

("We could play a game.")

("What can we do?")

("...")

"We could play a game." Clementine suggested, but that was just an idea that popped into her mind.

Sarah lit up like a light bulb. "Like what?" she asked.

"Um...?" Clementine trailed off. "Charades? Poker? Eye-spy?"

"Been awhile since I've played eye-spy," Nick chuckled. "Anyone wanna go first?"

("H.")

("T.")

("F.")

("...")

"Eye-spy with my little eye, something beginning with F." Clementine began.

"The fireplace?" Luke asked.

"Yeah...that was fast." Clementine replied, now wishing she picked something that wasn't obvious.

"Well, it's the only thing that starts with an F," Kenny chuckled. "I'll go next, I guess. I spy something...green."

("The tree?")

("Your jacket?")

("The blanket?")

("...")

"Your jacket?" Clementine guessed.

"Nope, keep guessin'."

"AJ's blanket?" Nick asked.

"Nope."

"The trees outside?" Sarita asked.

"Close," Kenny smirked.

"Oh, I know!" Sarah exclaimed, but not too loudly so she wouldn't disturb AJ. "The Christmas tree!"

Kenny nodded. "That's it. Who wants to go next?"

"I'll go." Sarita spoke up, looking around for a moment to find something to guess with. "I spy something...Red."

"Walter's shirt?" Luke asked.

"That pillow there?" Nick glanced at a little red pillow sitting in the corner.

"Nope." Sarita shook her head to both of their guesses.

"Sarah's glasses?" Clementine guessed.

"Yes, that's it." Sarita answered with a smile. This game was actually getting a little fun. "Who's going next?"

Carlos volunteered, which was a little surprising to everyone since he wasn't really one to participate in games.

"I spy with my eye, something beginning with...D."

Clementine scanned around. What could Carlos be thinking that started with a D?

"The door?" Sarita asked.

"Nope."

"The D on Clem's hat?" Luke asked.

"Yes, that's it." Carlos answered.

("That's not fair.")

("How was I suppose to see that?")

("I can't see that.")

("...")

"Hey, I can't see that." Clementine argued in a somewhat playful way, but at the same time, she felt it was a little unfair.

Everyone chuckled in response. The group continued playing games and talked for a while until night time had arrived and it was time for bed. Life in the ski lodge was turning pretty great so far and if Wellington was real, that would make life normal again. They had to try, no matter what.


Chapter 11 is over, ladies and gentlemen. I know nothing much happened in the chapter, this was just to show character development and get the characters to bond with one another. Next chapter will be the final chapter from A Writer With Mixed Interests and I. Stay tuned.