CHAPTER 7

Clementine felt herself thrust out of sleep. Confused, she threw the blanket back over her head, hoping to get more rest. Upon hearing noises, she jolted awake. She listened intently. It sounded as if items were being thrown about downstairs. The actions sounded deliberate, instead of accidental. Fear momentarily froze her as her mind concluded that bandits were inhabiting the first floor of the house. She took a moment to shake off her terror, and forced herself out of bed.

Her mind cleared from the shock, although it remained somewhat foggy with sleep. Clementine then noticed Kenny, slumped asleep against the far wall. She had known that Kenny would be too tired to stay up. Christa had taught her a few of the side affects of blood loss.

Her plan, at the moment, was rather simple. She just had to wake Kenny, grab AJ, and get out of here. She stepped slowly and cautiously across the floor, trying to avoiding making any noises. She picked AJ up from his make-shift crib and put a finger gently on his lips when he cried softly. She rocked him for a minute, and he closed his eyes. She continued towards the wall to alert Kenny. Before she could wake him, a large noise blared through the house. It sounded as if a rather hefty object was knocked over. AJ wailed in response to the large sound, waking Kenny and summoning whoever was downstairs.

Kenny's one eye snapped open. "What are you doin' up, Clem?" he asked, voice thick with the leftovers of sleep.

Before the girl could explain, the two of them heard footfalls sprinting up the stairs. Kenny scrambled to his feet and threw his pistol at Clementine. She nearly dropped it. AJ was still crying in her arms, providing a trail for the bandits to follow. She rocked him quickly, hoping to silence his cries. However, she knew the damage was already done.

Within a minute, a Caucasian man kicked the door open and walked towards Clementine and AJ, pistol in hand. He was dressed warmly and sported a blue baseball hat that covered his brown hair. The man had two lackeys by his side. The first was an Indian man. He had rather handsome features, although they were contorted by the dangerous scowl that lined his face. His other friend was a younger Asian woman. Although she seemed tough, her dark eyes held a glimpse of gentleness.

"Hey there." the Caucasian man said. He sounded as if he was talking to friends, instead of people he planned on robbing.

His lackey stepped forwards menacingly. He was holding a baseball bat and was pounding it into his hand.

"Like to play a game?" he asked, his dark eyes cold.

The man in the hat groaned. "Come on, man. These are are pals. Be polite."

Although the girl knew that they were just putting on a show to seem threatening, she still was scared. Who could know what these strangers are really like? Bandits had proved themselves time and time again to be dangerous. Despite her fear, she forced her face into an emotionless mask. She didn't want to let them see what she was truly feeling.

"How 'bout you get the fuck out of here before I rip your damn throats out!" yelled Kenny. He slid in front of Clementine, and put an arm in front of her protectively.

Clementine whispered his name through clenched teeth. He can't do this now, she thought. She believed that some fights weren't worth starting, and that this was one of them. The only thing his threats would do is escalate the situation. However, he gave no indication of hearing the warning and fear in her voice. In fact, he gave no indication of hearing her at all.

The man in the hat spoke up. "Chillax, old man. We just wanna have some fun."

"Shoot this fucker, Clem!" Kenny ordered.

Clementine was unsure of what to do. She knew hostage situations weren't exactly Kenny's thing, but she didn't have much experience either. She also wanted to avoid a confrontation, but that already seemed impossible. After debating it for a moment, she shakily rose her gun. In retaliation, the man in the hat raised his.

He eyed Clementine and allowed his eyes to drift towards AJ. His lips pulled upwards into a grin. "That doesn't look like fun to me. I can tell you and this girl here have a lot of fun."

"What the fuck are you sayin'?" Kenny questioned. His eye was flashing and his arm was no longer slung in front of Clementine. Instead, his cut-up hands were by his side, balled up into tight fists.

"Kenny! Calm down!" Clementine heaved, beginning to panic.

The woman spoke up. "Shut the hell up, kid!"

"Calm down, Martha. Loosen up. We're gonna tear this place up! They can be our partners in crime. And you know, I'm just saying those two obviously had some fun, what, ten months ago?" the first man continued.

Clementine looked up at Kenny and saw his face contort with rage. She didn't exactly understand the last part, but she knew it had to be a pretty bad insult. Kenny took a few strong strides towards the bandits. She didn't believe he would do this. They can't threaten people that are armed! They can't attack on the off-chance that the bandits are bluffing!

"Calm down," Clementine repeated. Still, however, Kenny continued towards the man.

"You better shut your fuckin' mouth right now!" he spat. Clementine watched in terror as Kenny jabbed his finger into the man's chest.

"Name's Nate, by the way. You're rude though. You didn't even ask."

Kenny raised his hands, presumably to strangle Nate.

"I'll shoot her. I'll shoot the girl!" Nate threatened, still maintaining a cool demeanor.

Kenny lowered his hands, although it was obvious that holding back was killing him. "Get the fuck outta here. That's your last warning, Nate." he growled.

Nate scratched his head in mock thought and dropped his gun. "Hmm. Nah. The two of you, go to the other side of the room. And put the gun down, kid." He twirled his gun around in his hand and smiled, satisfied as the man and the girl retreated. Clementine obeyed and lowered her gun once she made it to the other end of the room.

"You seem like a cool guy, Kenny, is it? I don't care if little girls are your thing. She's okay, I guess. She'll grow up to be a strong six."

Kenny looked like he was ready to lunge towards the man. "Don't you fuckin' say that! If you even think of touching that girl, I'll fuckin' end you!"

"I wouldn't say that to the man with the gun, Kenny." Nate responded calmly.

Clementine reached to grab Kenny's arm as he went to go forward. He shook his head and stepped back.

"Come on, Kenny" she whispered. "You have to calm down."

"I can't let these people hurt you." he responded simply.

Clementine sighed. "Just don't do anything stupid."

Martha's voice rang out. Kenny and Clementine stopped their conversation to stare at the woman.

"What the fuck are you doing, Nate? Either shoot the people or take some shit and get out of here!" she exclaimed.

"Fine. Fine. You all love to suck the fun out of things, don't ya? I actually wanted to sit down and have a nice drink with these people. Guess it's too late for that."

Nate proceeded to pace slowly around the room. He seemed so casual as he twirled the pistol in his fingers and whistled. His eyes settled on the supply bags.

Kenny continued his yelling when he realized what Nate was eying up. "You guys are trash, you know that? Those are our fucking supplies! If you steal that, you're killin' two kids, dammit!"

"Oooh. What do we have here?" Nate asked rhetorically, ignoring Kenny. He squatted down and shuffled quickly though one of the bags.

The man with the bat spoke up again. "Shut the fuck up, old man. You think we care about you or your kids?"

"I think you'll care when we murder you sonsofbitches."

Martha rolled her eyes. "And how exactly do you expect to do that, Einstein?"

"Like I said, I'll rip your damn throats out."

Martha smirked. "Sounds like a great plan, doesn't it John?"

Nate, meanwhile, smiled and stood up, satisfied by all the supplies he had discovered. He cleared his throat dramatically. All eyes shifted towards Nate. He remained silent for a few moments, obviously enjoying the tension that filled the room. The corner of his lips turned upwards into a psychotic grin.

"Say, Martha, should we just kill these folks and take all their stuff?"

Clementine stared at Martha, chilled by fear. Martha's eyes widened in surprise, for she was obviously uncomfortable with being put on the spot. She stammered for a moment and then hung her head down to the floor.

She doesn't want to kill us, Clementine realized. At least one person was bluffing. The girl figured if they played their cards right, they could make it out of here with few losses. She looked up to Kenny, hoping to silently communicate with him. However, she could tell he had other plans.

Clementine followed his gaze. His eyes were focused intently on Nate. She heard Kenny inhale shakily. Suddenly, he busted away from Clementine and sprinted to the center of the room.

Martha responded meekly to Nate. "We don't have to kill them, do we? This isn't a game. They-"

"Kenny! Don't!" she screamed, cutting off Martha. Unfortunately, it was too late. Kenny had already lunged on top of the armed-man.