TWD Chapter 15 – A fine line.

"Luke!"

The staggering relief and happiness she felt caused her to pull him in to a crushingly tight hug. Tears flowed in to his shoulder as she cried heavily in to him. "Hey, hey. S-sh. Don't cry." Her response was inaudible, so he did his best to comfort her, running a hand up and down her back.

Finally, Olly pulled away and for the first time, since they parted, they both got a decent look at each other. "O-oh god. Who did this to you?" Luke stroked her cheek lightly, causing her to wince, and a horrified expression appeared on his face.

Her eyes looked to the floor, unable to greet his as she spoke. "My dad."

His face quickly morphed in to one of complete shock and confusion. "W- wait... WHAT?"

She sighed. "I believe you've met him before. His name is Joel."

His hand quickly ran through his hair as it took the remainder of his strength to comprehend what she was saying. "I- I can't believe it. He's your... AND HE DID THAT TO YOU?!"

Olly quickly placed her finger to her lips. "Ssh, Luke! Troy might be looking for me and this it isn't what it seems." She gestured to her face.

Luke scoffed. "Looks pretty damn clear to me."

"Well, it isn't and I don't want to spend what little time we have together explainin' it." Olly pleaded, her eyes still glistening from her tears, helping her to resemble a puppy.

He sighed. "You're right." Luke promptly wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Why were you cryin'?"

Olly gulped, wanting to avoid enraging him once again and not wanting to think about that fucker, Troy. "I guess it was just relief that-"

He scowled. "I meant when I grabbed you. You were already cryin'."

She shook her head against his chest as he brought her closer to him. "It was nothing."

Luke paused, before sighing. "If you say so." He replied in defeat. He didn't believe her, that was obvious, but he must have guessed she didn't want to talk about it. "Ya know you're lucky, I almost didn't recognise you with out that hat on."

She smiled to herself. It faltered, however, at the thought of that night once again. She pushed away from him gently, fully taking in his tired eyes. "What happened to you?"

"Well, after getting in a bust up with Kenny tryin' to get that transformer workin', I took a quick walk to clear my head. That's when I heard the gunshots and went to figure out what the hell was happenin'... and then I saw Carver, Bonnie, Troy and... Joel. I didn't see any sense in getting caught too, I would have been no use to you that way. So, I held back. I knew where he'd take you and I took the quickest route I could back to try and help ya'll escape..." Luke's eyes were closing involuntarily as he spoke, he had to keep rubbing them to try and stay awake.

"You haven't slept, have you?"

"I- I couldn't. The threat of a lurker creepin' up at you at any moment does that to a guy."

It was Olly's turn to place a soothing hand on his cheek. "You look awful. You're tired. You need rest."

He shook his head defiantly. "I need to concentrate on getting you, and the others, out of here."

She smiled at him and held his hand in hers, stroking her thumb against his palm softly. "There you go again. Taking everyone's problems in to your own. You need to put yourself first for a change." His remembrance of her echoing words and his flirtatious response from back at the lodge caused a surge of desire to run through him. The close proximity of their bodies didn't help matters. He quickly hoisted her on top of the nearby counter, placing himself between her parted legs as he ran a hand through her hair. One breathy gasp from her was all it took for him to go over the edge. He kissed her furiously, his tongue quickly seeking entrance to the inside of her mouth, which she happily allowed. His hands guided themselves down to her waist, pulling herself right against him, allowing for no space between them. The kiss was so heated and passionate, that they had to stop for breath. Their eyes reached an understanding, as her hand pushed him back slightly.

"I- I should go." Olly panted reluctantly, very aware that nobody knew where she was at this point.

He nodded sadly. They both wished they could have taken that further, but it wasn't possible. He moved away from the counter allowing her space to jump down. His own heart was still racing and his breathing uneven. "I already spoke to Clementine earlier, s- she's gonna help us get out." Olly's puzzled look was his cue to explain. "I asked her to get me one of those walkie talkies Carver uses." Olly was about to retaliate, before Luke continued. "Look, I know it's risky. I know it is! But it's the only plan I got. If Clem gets me one of those walkies, I can keep an eye out for the patrols..."

"... And report them back to us." He nodded. "Okay, I get where you're comin' from. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thank you."

She sighed. "I really should go. I don't need to get myself in any more trouble with these assholes." Olly walked over to the door, opening it very slightly. "Oh and Luke... Try and get some sleep, you seriously look like shit."

He chuckled slightly. "Well thanks a lot, Oliver." They shared another smile before Olly cautiously exited the store, looking both ways for Troy the bastard. When she didn't spot him, she made a beeline for the main warehouse. The fact it had grown dark had not escaped her attention.

She didn't get far before a disgustingly arrogant voice called her back. "Hey! Where the fuck did you get to?!" Olivia cringed at the shriek that emanated from Troy who was quickly gaining on her. The entrance to their 'prison' wasn't too far away. Maybe she could make a run for it? It was too late though. Troy had already grabbed her arm and pinned her against the wall. "So, you gonna tell me?!" Olly thought about calling for help, but she didn't want to seem weak. Instead she opted for trying to push him off her, but this only made him tighten his hold.

"I tried to get the fuck away from you! I'm pretty sure attempted rape isn't in your job description!" The famous 'death glare' wasn't having its usual affect as Troy just seemed to laugh it off. His arm was squeezing against her neck making it difficult for her to breath, let alone talk. His other arm was pushing against her stomach which she consciously tried to wriggle away from, obviously afraid he'd lower it.

"You're gonna play nice with me, darlin'. If you don't, this'll only get worse and Carver has already said when Joel isn't around... I can deal with you... any way I like." He finished the breathy sentence next to her ear and when he was greeted with a shiver of disgust, he allowed an evil smirk that genuinely frightened her. Her fears came to light when a hand began drifting downwards.

"Hey! What d'ya think you're doing, Troy?!" Olly breathed a staggered sigh of relief at the sound of her Dad coming up the path. "Carver left her to me! I'm the only one who deals with her!"

Troy scoffed. "Yeah, that was until she fuckin' kicked me in the balls!" Joel stormed over to him, his well muscled chest making Troy look like a puny ant. His towering form caused Troy to let go off Olly who quickly began coughing her guts up.

"Carver has already warned you about the women here Troy... I suggest you be careful from now on. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot more to deal with than some sore genitals." Instantaneously, Troy went from 'hard man' to tiny mouse at the threat. A tiny mouse that quickly scampered off, leaving behind a wheezing red head and a furious looking father. "What d'ya think you're playing at?!" Joel had now squared up to his daughter who was still trying to catch her breath.

"M-me? Are you s-serious?"

"Where the fuck where you?! Carver is furious!"

Olly contemplated telling him. Maybe she could trust him? But then memories of how he had betrayed Carlos and the others flooded her mind. She didn't want to put herself or her dad in that position. "I was just trying to get away from that fuckin' creep."

Joel sighed, allowing him to calm slightly. "You should have come to me. Troy's a piece of work but he wouldn't have touched you if were with me."

Olly shrugged and tried to act indifferent. "How do I know YOU wouldn't have hurt me again?" The question was a façade but there was truth behind it. How could she trust him?

The question had been unexpected and it was apparent it had angered him. His jaw was tightly clenched and his eyebrows bore a fixed scowl. "You need to get moving. Let's go." Joel shoved her in front of him ever so slightly and instantly caused Olivia to feel guilty.

"I am grateful... I don't know what he would have done if you hadn't come." He didn't reply and the silence was deafening. It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance that Olly had been trying to reach before it was promptly opened and immediately everyone's eyes turned on hers. In the centre lay a fire surrounded by most of the group. The only people who weren't around it were the strange woman who hadn't spoke a word, Reggie, Carlos, Alvin and... Clementine?

The shutter door was quickly closed behind her with a giant clatter, causing her to look back at the disappearing form of her Dad.

"Olivia! Are you okay?" She nodded at Nick who was offering her a seat beside him. "Guess what?! Luke's here!" Nick gushed over the news excitedly whilst everyone else seemed to be trying to shush him.

Olly sat on the seat prompted and nodded her head. "I know. I've already seen him."

Worried eyes glazed over her, obviously concerned that she wasn't more excited by the news. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rebecca, the first to voice their suspicions.

"I... had a run in with Troy the bastard. I'll be oka-"

"Is that what that was about?" Kenny questioned and he received a slightly irritated nod in response.

"Don't worry about me. We need to worry about Luke. He says he has a plan... and where is Clementine?!" Olivia, obviously feeling uncomfortable being the centre topic, changed it with obvious concern for the missing girl.

"Yeah, he ran us through with it and... Rebecca says she's with Carver." Mike spoke carefully from across the circle, evidently afraid of setting her off.

"And we're cool with that?!" Olly's eyes promptly glazed over each person, panic setting in.

"Of course we ain't 'cool with it'. There isn't anything we can do about it until we've figured a way outta here." Kenny's booming voice reflected worry as much as her own which allowed her to relax ever so slightly. "Luckily, I have a plan. All we need to do is make a lotta noise, attract that oncoming herd and let them tear up the place!" Looks of disbelief crossed everyone's faces which only seemed to annoy the man more. "We all know what happened this morning! I don't know what that sonuvabitch is gonna do next!"

With that, the shutter door shrieked open once more, the figure of a small girl coming in behind it. Olly smiled with appeasement, but seemed to be the only one even paying attention.

"So you wanna ring the dinner bell for a herd of walkers to show up? How is that better?" Mike quizzed, unbelieving.

Exasperated, Kenny replied. "'Cause this place'll be fuckin' chaos when that thing hits. No one'll be payin' any attention to us. And that's when we go. That's our opening. We just gotta figure out a way to draw 'em to us." Whilst Kenny had been ranting, Clem had placed herself in a seat beside Mike and offered a smile to Olly before staring over at the woman who seemed more antisocial than Olivia had ever been. She must have been through a lot... or maybe she really did just hate everyone.

"Your friend here wants to get us killed by lurkers before Bill can do it." Rebecca turned to Clementine, a sarcastic tone present in her voice.

Of course Kenny didn't like that. "What is it with you?" Olly often thought the same.

"That's what it sounds like to me."

"Maybe Luke could help us... he's outside." The red head turned to the little girl, remembering what Luke had asked her to do. "He wants a radio to help keep an eye on the guards."

Rebecca mustered a smile. "Thank you! That's the plan I vote for."

Clem's surprised voice cut in. "You know about Luke?"

Mike was the first to respond. "He flagged us down when Troy had gone lookin' for Olly." Uh oh. Hopefully he didn't know about... "Told us his plan... mentioned he'd talked to you both"

"If Luke can tell us what's going on with the guards, we can use that to pick a good time to escape." Rebecca outstretched her hand as if to emphasise it was a good plan.

"Who knows when that'll be. There was a girl back at Crawford that used church bells to send walkers all over the city. We just need something really loud." Because it's that simple Kenny...

"The P.A system Carver is always using is quite loud." Sarita weakly suggested from her hunched position beside her lover.

"There's some speakers outside the building... pointed towards the parking lot. I saw 'em when we were walking out to the work. Troy's always standing next to them." Just Mike mentioning that man's name made Olivia visibly shudder.

"I saw the controls. They're in Carver's office." Clem pointed out which Rebecca quickly agreed with.

"She's right. It's all controlled in Bill's office. There's a switch in there that'll turn them on."

"This is stupid. Luke said-"

"No, girl! This is perfect! We just gotta get into his office."

"Still with the name thing Kenny..."

He ignored her and turned to Rebecca. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"'Cause Olly's right. It doesn't change anything. This isn't a discussion about how to do it, it's a discussion about whether it's stupid. And it's still stupid. The sensible thing is to get Luke the radio and wait for an opening." Rebecca pleaded as best as she could, but Kenny was stubborn.

"You're real difficult to deal with sometimes."

"Rebecca is right, Kenny! We need time to figure a way outta here with out reacting harshly. I've seen Luke... you've seen Luke! He's in no shape! He needs sleep! This is not time for rash action."

"Oh, I'm sorry... here I was thinking that you might want to get outta here. Was daddy's beating not enough?"

The shocked expressions of the group met the man, Olivia's most of all. It didn't stay there long before it promptly changed to one of pure hatred. "You best watch yourself Kenneth-"

He scoffed. "Or what..."

Sarita's hand reached over to Kenny's arm in an attempt to sooth him. "Kenny..."

Olivia smirked darkly. "No, I want to know what he's got to say about my Dad."

"How about... HE'S AN ASSHOLE?! What ever happened to 'I'm going to kill him' and 'Of course I want to leave."

Olly rose from her seat. "My dad is not the problem here! Okay?! What he did to me is between me and him! NOBODY ELSE."

"What if he hurts Clementine next, huh?! What are ya gonna do?!"

"He won't!-"

"Stop. We can do both." All eyes turned to Clementine who was desperately trying to get the discussion back on track. "Even if we bring the herd to us it's probably good for Luke to be able to tell us where they're coming from."

"That's a plan I can get behind." Already Kenny seemed to have forgotten the little pissing match, but Olly was still fuming. It had occurred to her that they had no idea of the truth, but it was not anybody's business to be bringing up her own scars. "Okay so we get that turd a radio-"

"Don't even call him-" Olly's attempt at interrupting fell on deaf ears.

"-he keeps us posted on the herd's movements. We fire up the PA thing and bring the walkers to roll over this place."

Managing to cool down enough, Olly sat back down but never once stopped glaring at Kenny. "Then what, Kenny? We gonna punch our way out?"

"We get some guns and shoot our way out! I don't know! Whatever we can! We improvise."

Olly laughed aggressively. "This is brilliant. Fuckin' flawless. I could make a fuckin' book out of all these flawless plans by Kenneth."

"Listen cheesecake, I don't see you steppin' up to make these plans."

Rebecca interrupted calmly. "I figured out what your problem is... you don't think things through. If the end of the plan is to just stroll through a herd of walkers, then you should know from the jump that there's no way it's ever going to work."

"Actually... I do it all the time." Everyone turned around to see the woman, who had previously not said a word, leering over everyone.

"First words I ever hear you say, and it's just some crazy, stupid shit." Mike spoke questioningly.

"Hush. What do you mean exactly?" Sarita hunched forward, awaiting a response.

"When you cover yourself in their smell, rub the walker guts all over you... they can't tell you from one of them. Trust me, I've walked through herds before. It works. You just have to keep calm and make sure you're good and covered."

"Lee figured it out."

Kenny's eyes quickly darted over to Clementine's, who seemed to be lost in thought. "What?"

"It's how we got out of the Marsh House. Lee covered me in and we walked right through." Clem's sad eyes trailed to the floor at the memory and Olly quickly gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. This can't be easy for her.

"Really? Huh. Holy shit. Good one, Lee. All right, what are we waitin' for? Let's get that stupid radio!"

"Hey! What about Luke? He still needs rest! We don't even know how to get in the stockroom!" Olly stood defiant, just as Kenny did now.

"I got a plan for that, too. Com'on kid. Gonna need your help."

Olly turned around to the young woman, shocked. "What?" Clem looked at the red head sorrowfully, before following after the woman.

"Where the hell she'd come from?" Kenny whispered to Rebecca and Mike before slightly turning to Olivia. "More useful that some anyway."

She scowled at him. "Bite me."

At the sound of the woman's voice, everyone moved to join her by the fences. "We just need to use the winch... she can just climb up from there. Then just drop into one of the skylights over the stockroom. There are shelves and stuff for you to land on, so... you probably won't fall to your death."

"Great." Clem mumbled to herself, not feeling any comfort by the woman's speech.

"That thing breaks all the time. Unless something's changed, it won't support much weight." Rebecca scowled, her arms crossed tightly.

"Is this really the best plan we got?! I mean, I know Luke asked her to be the one to get the damn thing but..."

"She's the only one who can do it." The woman reasoned and unfortunately, Olly knew she was right.

"Up and at 'em, Clem."

"Don't push her, Kenny."

Clementine sighed. "It's okay. I can do it."

Kenny smiled at her thankfully. "That's my girl. We gotta get that rope down. Mike, you wanna boost her up?" Mike moved in to position and suddenly Clem was being hoisted on to his shoulders.

"Hey Clem!" The little girl paused to look in response to Olly's call. "Be careful.."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "You tell me that every time. I know."

Olly laughed lightly. "Cheeky. I want none of that lip." She winked at her before allowing Mike to move the girl closer to the rope. It didn't take much for Clem to reach up and tug the rope down. Once the winch was freed, Clem began her ascent up with Mike pulling it down. Clementine had almost made it before the sound of the gates being unlocked echoed through out. "Shit, he's coming back. I gotta let you go! I can't stand here! Grab something!"

Olly's disbelief turned in to panic as Clem quickly searched for something. Everyone had already scarpered in the hopes of looking natural. The sound of clattering metal sounded as Clem hit the ladder, that being the only thing she could grab on to. Mike quickly ran off, leaving Olly alone.

"Get over here!" Mike called behind him, a sense of frenzy emanating from him. She obeyed quietly, believing Clem wouldn't fall.

The gates fully opened, revealing Carver and Troy. Troy acting as his designated bodyguard, assault rifle in hand. His gaze quickly landed on Olly, a smirk plastered on his face, knowing it would affect her.

"You all have five minutes to get into bed! Another hard days work will follow tomorrow and you all need to be up and out of bed early. And this time... I'm going to be keep an extra special eye for any disappearing acts." Carver's attention turned on the red head as he spoke the last line as menacingly as he could manage. Olivia responded in kind. "Now get to bed. Troy will be checking up on you after those five minutes are up." With that, he turned and left the compound, Troy close on his heels, allowing Olly to let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding.

"Well let's hope Clem makes it back in time."

"Way to point out the obvious, Kenny." Olly replied sarcastically, causing him to scowl in return.

"I'll wait beside the wall for her to come back." Mike offered and Olly nodded.

"I'd do it myself but I don't really trust myself to catch her with the beating I ended up with yesterday."

He nodded. "It's okay, I got it." With that, Mike moved in his designated position whilst everyone else clambered on to their 'beds'.

"Hey Olly."

"What is it Nick?" She tried not to sound frustrated, but it was difficult with Nick sometimes and she was so tired.

"How was Luke? You got to see him. He okay?"

Olivia physically smiled at the mention of him. To her, Luke was her personal beacon of hope and the only lot she had left... but he had been in a rough state. "He... didn't look great. This is what I meant about sticking around just a little longer. Luke is in no shape for this shit."

"Yeah... we shouldn't do anything if he isn't ready. But if Clem gets that radio and Luke gets the plan underway, we'll have enough time to rest when we're out."

"Will we? What if shitface Carver comes after us again? Luke might never get a proper opportune moment to sleep and if he doesn't sleep... he'll get sloppy and-"

"-You really care about him, don't you?" Nick's question didn't sound much like a question, so Olly just sighed in response.

A few seconds later, a cough sounded from the ladder and Olivia shot right up. She could see Clem being put on the ground by Mike and relief washed over her. "Best get in bed. Troy'll be back any minute." Clem nodded to him before doing as she was bid.

"You okay, Clem?" Olivia asked quickly, receiving a smile in response.

"I told you I would be." The girl's confident grin let Olly know she had the walkie talkies. Kenny soon joined in on the congratulations, a shinier glimmer of hope coming through.

Maybe for now, for just one night, she could rest easy? No nightmares? She knew where Luke was and Clementine was safe. Was that enough?

Okay, first of all, I apologize for this being so delayed and it not being all that great. I've been immensely tired recently and then I figured I might as well wait for the last episode to release so I can plan how this story is going to go... Honestly I think it made it worse. I don't see how a happy ending can be made from the end of this game with out making it dishonest.

If you haven't seen or played the last episode yet, I won't spoil it for you, but it killed me! I seriously cried over 5 times and one moment in particular made me cry for 10 minutes straight. If you've seen the episode, you might be able to guess what part I'm talking about. I get very emotionally invested in games and this game had a serious impact on me. I literally spent the rest of the day yesterday curled up in a ball. Some stuff that happened I really didn't see coming and I take my imaginary hat off to Telltale's for giving me this experience. I have a few ideas for how this story is going to go, but none for how it will end yet. Also, I'm going on holiday over the weekend and some of next week and I'll have no internet. I might still write a little whilt on holiday but I can't guarantee it.

If you guys have seen the episode, I hope you're all coping. If you haven't, good luck for when you do.