Third person POV.
As Clementine collapsed on the floor, Luke cursed and Lee shouted her name. "Carry her! I can't with my ankle! Please!" Lee begged Pete, not bothering with Luke. Pete nodded, and carried Clementine over to a small cabin. There were already people outside, and more came out.
A pregnant lady, a black guy, more chubby than Lee that's for sure. A guy with a cap, a Spanish guy and and little girl in the back.
All of them were arguing. "Would someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on here?!" The pregnant lady seemed to have yelled. "Now, hold on Rebecca." Pete tried to reassure her.
Clementine was starting to wake up, her vision adjusting to the light. "Did anyone even bother to ask where these two came from?! For all we know they could be working with Carver!"
"Who the fuck is Carver?!" Lee asked, next to Clementine. "He already told us he and her, along with someone else got attacked! Then she was bitten by a dog." Clementine was fully awake now.
"And what? You just believed them? You should've put the girl out of her misery right there! Dog bite my ass!" The lady pregnant, referred to as Rebecca, said.
"I'M NOT WOR-" BANG. Clementine stopped her words as a gunshot missed her. "HEY, FUCK YOU! WHAT THE FUCK!" Lee stepped up towards the guy in the cap, but was held by Pete and Alvin. "Keep your finger off the trigger, boy!" Pete yelled, and Rebecca took away the shotgun.
Luke then came rushing out of the small cabin. "Whoa, whoa! What the fuck!"
"You idiot! Every lurker for five miles probably heard that!" Rebecca said, looking pissed. "You're the one tellin' me to fuckin' shoot her!" The guy with the cap said.
"L-Lee!" Clementine said, traumatized. "Clem!" Lee broke free from Alvin and Pete and gave Clementine a big hug.
"Everybody just calm down for a second!" Alvin said, now walking next to Rebecca.
"Clementine! You okay?" Luke asked the-almost-adult. But Clem was just hiding in Lee's shirt, crying. "It's okay, sweet pea. You're okay."
Clementine then looked at the others, tears still in her eyes. "I-I'm not working for anyone. I don't know what you're talking about. Lee and I just need help." She said, through some hiccups.
Lee looked at the others, his face in a frown. "I just want you people to help Clementine fix her arm, it was NOT a walker. She was bit by a dog. After you fix her, we can go."
"We got a doctor right here, he'll help. He'll have a look at it. " Luke said, smiling a little, he then turned to his group. "Now what the hell is wrong with you people?! She's just scared!" Clementine could be seen with Lee, his shirt soaked with tears.
Rebecca then stepped up. "We're all scared, Luke. Don't act like we're the ones being irrational because we don't buy this bullshit story."
"Why are we even arguing about this?!" The dude with the cap said. "Let me take a look." The spanish guy said. He came towards Clementine and offered his hand. She looked at Luke."It's okay. Go ahead, he's a doctor." He responded. Clementine gave him her arm, and Carlos checked it. "Damn, that must've hurt." She heard someone say in the group.
"This isn't how we do things, man. When you get bit, you get put down. End of story. I'm not going through this again!" Nick said, not liking the thought of Clementine staying, not even for a hot second. "No one's suggestin' that." Luke said, facing towards Nick.
"We could take her arm off." Pete suggested, and Clementine gasped. "Fuck no!" Lee immediately said. "I know that worked for a cousin down in Ainsworth. We could try that."
I looked towards Luke, and gave him my sad eyes. "I'm on your side, kid. No need for a guilt trip." He then turned to face his group again.
A girl opened the cabin door and widened her eyes at bit. "Who's she?"
She asked, Carlos immediately stopped looking at my wound and looked at the girl. "Sarah? What'd I say? Stay inside." The girl looked hurt, and did as she was told.
Lee looked at the group. "We don't mean to be any trouble. I just want you to fix her arm, or at least stop the bleeding. We will be on our way then, and you'll never see us again."
Carlos looked skeptical, and was touching around Clementine's wound. "And where exactly would you two go?" He asked. Lee gulped and stared at the side before answering. "We need to find our friend, Christa. She's out there." Clementine nodded, in pain.
"Forget it, you ain't getting five feet." Nick said, holding a shotgun once again. Who was the dumbass that did that? Luke then placed a hand on his hips and stared at his group. "Look, I may be in the minority here, but my gut tells me she's telling the truth."
Carlos spoke up immediately after that. "It's definitely a dog bite. I'm no veterinarian, but I've spent enough time with kids at the hospital to know what they're like." Lee sighed in relief, and hugged Clementine, careful so he didn't hurt her.
"Okay, can you help her now? Please?" Lee begged. "Come inside." Carlos said, and Lee and Clementine stepped in. Then Luke. Followed by Pete, Alvin, Rebecca, and lastly Nick.
Carlos made Clementine sit on a couch while he gathered the medical supplies he needed. When he came back, he asked Lee to step outside. Clementine gave a concerned look, but Lee nodded. "I'll be okay, sweet pea." And with that, he left.
Carlos then handed Clementine a piece of cloth. "You might wanna hold onto that tight." Clementine widened her eyes and placed it in her mouth. Without warning, Carlos poured some peroxide on Clementine's let out a cry, and bit down on the cloth she received. After that cooled down, Carlos started with the stitches.
Clementine didn't cry as hard, but it was still pretty painful. Luke stepped inside the living room as Carlos was done.
"Luke, I need you to bandage her up. I have to check up on Lee." "Sure thing." Carlos left.
Clementine's POV.
"Hey, uh, Clementine.." Luke started saying as he grabbed the bandage. "I'm sorry for giving you shit back then, it's just that… we had a bad experience once." He began to bandage me up, and I nodded. "It's okay, I don't blame you. We all have had bad experiences."
Luke nodded, sadly. Nick suddenly came in, still holding his rifle. He looked skeptical about me being here, but he placed his gun down. He was biting one of his nails on his fingers. "So, it wasn't a lurker bite?" Nick asked, seeming a bit concerned. "Nope." The brown haired man said. Nick huffed in annoyance and stormed out of the room.
Carlos came in as soon as Nick left, and the doctor looked back for a second, but made no comment. "Lee is fine, his foot is swollen but should be fine by morning. Luke, I need a word with Clementine." Luke got up, and nodded. "Yeah, okay." and with that, he exited the room. Carlos was facing his back at me, and I was worried. What is he going to tell me?
"Since it seems like you will be staying here for a while," he started saying. What? When did I say that? Unless, Lee.. "There is something you should know about my daughter."
I looked confused. "Uh, okay.." I whispered. "She's my little girl. She's all I have left, and I would ask that you stay away from her." Carlos kept his back facing me. My head was so confused. Then it clicked.. She's the girl that was looking out the door. She seems innocent enough..
"But.. doesn't she need to grow up sometime?" I tried asking, but he immediately faced me, a menacing look on his face. "You do NOT know what she needs!"
"Rebecca was worried you might be working for someone else. That your being here with Lee was no accident. I guess we'll find out, but one thing I know for sure - you are NOT to be trusted." As he was leaving, he turned to face me.
"Stay away from my daughter." and with that, he left. Luke came from behind him, a bowl of food on his hands. "Hey, uh.. Brought you some food if you're hungry." My stomach, as if on cue, growled. I blushed a little and smiled at him.
He handed me the bowl, and I sat down on the couch. He grabbed a small chair, and sat almost in front of me. I took a spoonful, and brought it in my mouth. It was amazing, it was the best thing I've tasted in weeks. I felt a bit awkward, since Luke was staring at me while I ate, but I didn't let it stop me.
After a minute, I swallowed what I had in my mouth and looked at him. "Has Lee eaten yet?" He smiled at me and nodded, "Yeah, sent Nick to serve him a plate. Don't you worry." He then concentrated his stare on my arm. "That's gonna leave one helluva scar." I smiled a little. I haven't really noticed how Luke was… cute? Not that I had the time, anyway. I was too busy almost dying. "It doesn't bother me, I can live with it." I took another spoonful.
Luke chuckled, "Wow. Nice." I couldn't help but blush. I hope he didn't see. Nick entered the living room. His face looked dark, I almost couldn't see any part of his face. He slowly approached me and I couldn't help but feel awkward.
"Hey, look. Um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry, for, well.. For being a dick out there." He scratched his neck, looking towards the side. He then stared at me. "I got kind of aggro, and that was definitely not cool." I took a glance at Luke, and he seemed to notice. "Nick's been known to go off every once in awhile. Don't hold it against him." Should I forgive him? I mean, he almost killed me..
"I guess we all have our moments." I sighed a little, and looked at Nick. "I mean, you were just protecting your friends. I understand." I placed the spoon in the bowl. "I didn't mean to be so harsh.. We just don't take strangers lightly."
I nodded, and Nick sat next to me on the couch. After a moment of silence, Luke spoke up. "Nick lost his mom, We took care of someone who got bit." Nick then interrupted, "It was my fault. I.." I saw where this was going..
"It was no one's fault. We thought we could control it, but… we couldn't. But then she turned and his mom was standing right there and she got attacked.. There was nothing we could do about it." Nick held his eyes closed. "I know how that feels.." I commented, and placed my arms around him.
Nick sniffled a bit, and I broke the hug. He stood up, "...Thanks." He smiled, and left the room. I continued to eat, and Luke was still staring.
I gathered my courage and.. "Why do you keep staring at me?" I asked, he chuckled and shook his head a bit. "I guess I'm used to starin' at pretty things." I almost dropped the spoon out of my fingers, I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. "Oh, um.. t-thank you?" He laughed, which made my face feel worse. I was never given a compliment, aside from Lee.
"I'm bein' honest, though. You're a cute little thing." I glared at him, "I am not a 'little thing'! I'm almost nineteen!" I saw Luke smile, and nod. "Yeah, I recall you sayin' that to me and Pete before." I took another spoonful. After I swallowed, I faced him. "How old are you?" He seemed to be thinking about it, and then he smiled brightly at me.
"Around twenty-six." I muttered an "Oh.." Damn, he's too old for me. Not that I liked him anyway.
I nodded at him, taking his answer in. "Anywa, what's your plan? It's just you and Lee." I stared at him, "Carlos mentioned something about me staying, so I guess Lee said something about staying. You don't mind, right?" I asked, my heart beating a little faster than usual. "No, I don't mind, You're more than welcomed to stay here, as long as you want." I smiled widely at him, but then remembered the rest. "Will the others be okay with it?"
Luke had a sly smirk on his face, "They'll just have to deal with it." I giggled at his response, and nodded. A pause of silence passed, and Luke asked yet another question.
"So.. what happened to your parents?" My heart sinked. "It's been a few years since the outbreak started, I'm just curious." He saw my face look down and he immediately took it back. "Hey.. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." I shook my head and wiped a tear that had escaped my eye.
"My parents left on a trip to Savannah, and I was left with a babysitter. Kind of dumb, because I was around thirteen at the time. But, I sneaked out sometimes to my friends, and they just wanted me to be safe. Anyway, I remember my babysitter telling me to pack as much food in my bag, and to get up in my tree house. I hadn't used that thing in a while, I was so weirded out." I chuckled, remembering. "She didn't tell me why. She just said, 'Don't come out here until your parents come. You'll be safer there. I'm going to look for help, okay?'" I mimicked her voice a little. "But… she barely made it. She was attacked, and I couldn't do anything. A few hours later, this man came to my yard. He was asking for help. I was so scared.. I didn't want to get out. When he got in my house, I contacted him. I told him who I was, and he said he was.. Lee." Luke widened his eyes a little.
"He brought me with him, he didn't want me to be on my own. I accepted. We ended up across more people.." I explained everything that had happened, from the time people tried to feed us humans, to where we were attacked by bandits, more deaths from our group, us finding more people when we were at the train, and to me running away to the strange man who lied about my parents.
"Wow.. Clem, you've been through a lot." I nodded, sadly. "I'm lucky to have Lee. I don't know what I would do without him" Luke gave me a hug, and I let out some sniffles. I then randomly let out a laugh. "I see you've caught up with my famous nickname." He laughed, "Well, I WAS going to call you Fruity, but I figured you wouldn't like that." I laughed, and punched him in the arm, not too hard.
"My friend Christa called me that, once. I ended up calling her Chris for a week. She hated it." Luke laughed, "Seems like you had some good friends." I smiled, "Yeah."
"Anyway, it's gettin' late, we should probably hit the hay. I'll give you my bed, you can share with Lee if you don't mind. We don't have spare beds." I nodded, "Okay, you don't mind, right?" The brown haired man shook his head. "Go on, you must be really tired." I got up, and grabbed the empty bowl. "I'll take that." said Luke, and I smiled at him. "Thanks for everything." I kissed his cheek, having to be on my tiptoes as he was too tall. I saw a bit of pink in his cheeks before I left.
I got inside Luke's room, and Lee was already inside. "Hey, sweet pea. You feelin' all right?" I gave him a hug. "I'm okay, my arm kind of hurts but Carlos said it'd get better in a few days. How about you, how's your ankle?" I asked, breaking the hug and taking a seat on the bed. It was quite comfy.. "My ankle is better, I can walk properly." He said, and also took a seat next to me. "We should get some sleep, honey." I nodded, "Yeah, I'm exhausted."
Lee undid the bed, and I layed down, under the covers. "Sweetie, you don't mind me sleeping here right? I can always sleep on the floor." I sat down when he said that, I shook my head. "Lee, come on. You're like a dad to me." Lee smiled, and he nodded. I layed back down and immediately fell asleep.
Third Person POV.
Luke had watched Clementine leave to his room, his heart beating faster. She had kissed his cheek.
Could she get more adorable? He thought to himself. Then, out of nowhere, Nick appeared in the room. "Welp, Luke, it seems as if it's your time to get laid." Luke instantly widened his eyes at his comment, had he been listening AND watching the whole time?
"You asswipe! The heck?" Luke then said, slapping Nick's chest. Nick just laughed, "Damn, you're falling for her. Just remember to have a condom with ya at all times, alright? We don't want another baby on the way." Nick stated, laughing his ass off.
Luke couldn't believe him, but he gave in and started laughing as well. "Okay, well she is cute.. Adorable.. Hot if you will." Luke confessed, he couldn't help but blush. "One word comes out of your mouth, and you bet your ass that I'll get you back!" He then threatened. Nick put his hands up in defense. "Whatever, have a good night!" Nick started walking away, but reached in for something and tossed it at Luke.
Tissue papers. Luke immediately blushed. "Don't make a mess in the couch, cause I noticed a few stains last time." He laughed and left before Luke could do anything.
Jerk, Luke thought. He gathered a blanket, and a pillow and fetched it on the couch. He then blew out the candles.
He looked at the tissue box.
I guess this couldn't hurt.
