Chapter 5 - Repercussions

It's a dangerous world out there and everyone is looking for protection and whether we find it in the memory of our lost friends and family, or at the end of a rusted blade, in the arms of our sweetheart, or at the end of a barrel, we do what we believe it is best at the moment without actually thinking of the repercussions our deeds might create.

Each one of them was tired, more and more as they got closer to their destination. The way became harder to walk but in the end they managed to reach what seemed, at first, to be their finish line.

"See anything, Clementine?"

While the little girl climbed a bigger stone on the side of the road the others started talking.

"She better see something'. We've been walkin' for a damn week."

"We've got to find some shelter."

"There is a lift or something." Clementine finally announced us.

"Chair lift?"

"Yeah…" Already with his map out, Luke was finally looking a bit more hopeful. "Must be that ski resort."

"There is, also, a building on the mountain."

"What's it look like?"

"It's big."

"That sounds like a good place to spend the night."

"More or less… "Adeline added as she eyes the place. "One too many windows."

"I can also see a bridge."

"Is it passable?"

"I think so."

"We have to cross that bridge."

"Hold on now. We can't all go sprinting across that thing, okay? If we get spotted out there, we're gonna be trapped." And so Carlos and Luke talked for a bit until it was settled for Luke and Clementine to go and check it out before the entire group does. Adeline tried to press the point that she could be of much more usefulness than a little girl but the men wouldn't want to even hear so she stayed behind with Nick and the others.

"What happened between you two anyway? " It took some time for Adeline to register the fact that she was addressed to.

"Me and Luke? "

"Yes…You were like always together… always one step in front of us."

"Nothing happened."

"Yeah… suure. And now you are the one to stay here and he took Clementine."

"Fuck you Nick!" Grabbing her bow she went after them. And she was quite inspired to follow the couple because as soon as she reached the bridge she saw Luke hanging through a hole in the damn thing and Clementine desperately trying to push a lurker away. Adeline could already see the walker in the pink dress. The little girl grabbed some metal piece to hit it, smart as she was she only targeted the head but as soon as the thing got stuck into the thick skull of the walker Adeline knew Clementine was doomed. She could already see the future, Clem just pulling and pulling at the thing only for the lurker to fall on to her, its heavy form keeping the little one at bay as it would feast upon her flesh but no! Drawing her bow she knew she only had one shot. Her arrow flew right besides Clementine's ear to hit the zombie right in to its chest, followed by another three it was truly dead when another pierced the raw and mushy eye it had and touched its brain.

"Fuck you Luke! SEE WHAT I AM SPEAKING ABOUT!"

"Ohh… I can't really… ta-talk… right now."

After shooting the creep after Luke, Adeline grabbed a pole from the bridge and simply went on the edge of the hole where the man was. With the pole over her shoulder she said in an angry tone. "I am in two minds to let you hang for a while."

"Oh… really! I am the bad guy now!?"

"I never said that! All of this guilt you're harboring is all yours… You are just the stupid one right now."

"Clementine could have handled it!"

"Luke…can you really say that in the position you are in?!"

"Fine… fine, give me that damn pole and get me out." In the end she helped him. "Thanks… I guess." Now the girl was waiting for him to catch his breath simply having a defiant pose with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "What? "

"Nothing… let's keep going."

"Adeline…"

"Shh… look there." A man was coming towards them on the bridge.

"Just play it cool… and Adeline… let Clementine do the talking."

"I am not the social type anyway… but Clementine?"

"Yeah… why me?"

"Cause I don't want to get in a fight. You really think he'd shoot a little girl? Just don't make any sudden moves… and Adeline… don't piss him off… I know you're God damn good at that."

"Who's talking?"

"What should I say?"

"I don't know. Ask him for directions."

"Or about the weather if we are at it."

Before Luke could give the woman another annoyed look the man on the other side spoke.

"Well, who are you?" Both her and Luke reached for their weapons.

"Well, who's askin'?"

"I am."

Whispering, Adeline just couldn't hold a comment. "Another funny ass… aren't I glad."

"Shut up!"

"Make me."

"This is actually pretty serious Adeline!"

"No shit Sherlock." Before the couple could continue their unimportant argue Clementine responded to the man.

„ I am Clementine, this is Luke and she's Adeline."

„A trio huh? Clementine, Luke and Adeline." Somehow the plan ‚let Clem do the talking' was good as the stranger started to gain some courage to make a few steps towards us.

„Huh. You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes?"

Another smart comment from Adeline..."I can't vouch for all of us."

"What the?... Adeline!" It is good everything was a whispered quarrel otherwise the man would have had a laugh.

"I am not an asshole!" Little innocent Clementine with her child like answers, the woman simply loved her because of that subtle note in her words right then.

"Wait... Are you calling ME an asshole?" Luke picked on those as well.

"You folks headed north like everyone else?"

"Everyone else?"

It was supposed to be an ordinary day for Matthew… too bad fate had something else to say. This is what went through my thoughts when I saw him staggering around in pain. His desperate face looking accusable at us, his last gurgles as he drowned in to his own blood and his limb body falling off the bridge. I simply stared at the blood forming on the surface of the waters as he went down with the flow. After a while Luke and Nick's yells finally reached me and with tears in my eyes I simply walked towards the idiots. I didn't even realize until it was too late that I have raised my fist towards Nick's face.

"You gave me a clear shot…" And that was it; I hit him as hard as I could turning his right cheek red.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Luke proceeded in to holding me down as I was ready to continue my punching. I tried to break from his hold only to fall to my knees.

"What's with her?!"

We all know that dangerous man walk among us… what Matthew didn't knew was the fact that the 'friendly faces' where actually hiding one of them. He couldn't have foreseen that a little girl and a couple would bring with them his own death… so the most he could have offered us, as some good willed strangers, was trust. And when we threw it in his face I knew I just broke something important that it is truly hard to get by these days.

Luke, still mad at at the girl deep inside, understood this outburst of hers. If it wasn't Adeline to hit Nick he surely would had done it. As always she gained her composer quickly and was on her way towards the group. They reached a small little cabin just at the end of the bridge but as soon as everyone stopped to take a breath Carlos wanted to talk with Adeline and Luke.

Maybe he read between the glares the couple kept sending one another or maybe he just wanted to talk about Nick, God knows… but Adeline still felt quite numb so she was as on auto pilot the whole time.

"I don't know and nor do I ask about what happened between you two but this has to end. All of these fights between the group will only lead to mayhem." Luke nodded as if taking everything in to account but Adeline was somewhere far away so she nodded as well.

"We can't really do much about it, Carlos… Nick is over the edge and I am worried about him… this might escalate to some serious shit."

"Nick is next on the list to talk about."

"I am not really willing to talk about me Adeline."

"We had sex."

"Adeline!"

"I am tired Luke… and this, as Carlos said, has to end."

"I will let the two of you speak alone after we talk about Nick. The boy as you said is out of control. Luke, as his friend you have to talk to him."

"He won't listen, Carlos. The only one to get to him was Pete."

"Pete is death… we need to find some other way."

"I am on the same page with you here Carlos… but I can' see no way… I don't know." They kept on talking about Nick and other stuff but Adeline stopped listening. Soon Carlos left so the couple fell in to an awkward silence.

"We should at least pretend to be talking, Carlos is eyeing us. "

"What is there to talk about?"

"I said no strings attached!"

"And what was I supposed to get from that?"

"I don't know… that this... wasn't about to turn in to some lovey-dovey shit!"

"Lovey-dovey?! I just… what?"

"You don't know what you want… you just feel guilty."

"No… or yes… "Luke was definitely pretty frustrated and lost.

"Luke… think of it… because this is my logic. You are the leader of this group, these people look towards you for guidance, it is much… yes… but it is the truth. You have to look for the others, not just for me or for this damn relationship that doesn't exist."

"So you created an excuse for me to have a one nightstand."

"Trust me I have my own excuses… I am sorry if this insulted you… I didn't mean it that way."

"But how did you mean it?"

"Luke… don't make me the criminal here. I just appeared next to you almost naked, what do you think was in my mind? love, relationship, a happily-ever-after. Grow up, there are no fairy tales, they weren't before all of this… less chances now with the lurkers around!"

"I never wanted some fairy tale… I just wanted… something normal… If you can't understand that I am sorry then!"

"Luke… God damn it! We are not getting anywhere. We've been at each other throats and I hate it."

"What did you expect… just sex and then all the same?"

"Yes." Luke opened his mouth as if saying something but remained quite dumb looking when he heard that one word.

"What?"

"Yes…"

"What? "

"You heard me Luke… no strings attached meant just that." He simply waved his hand in defeat, if he wanted to say something else didn't matter because they both observed the horde coming… surely attracted by Nick's gun.

By the nightfall they reached the ski lodge Clementine saw. It was pretty secure even with the huge windows… still it gave everyone quite an uneasy feeling. Staying with Clementine Adeline was simply staring at the stars.

"Clementine look up there… you see it?"

"No."

"That long tail… come on, it is visible."

"I think I see it."

"That is the Big Dipper."

"Ohh."

"What are you two girls doing?"

"Adeline was showing me how to find the North Star."

"Until you interrupted us."

"Sorry…"

"Ok… now go at the tip of the Big Dipper."

"Yes…"

"Now follow my finger."

"Ok…"

"Now that, in straight line is the Little Dipper… And the last star at its tail is the North Star."

"I see it!"

"Good Job, Clementine. You wanted to say something, Luke?"

"Well, it'd be good to know if anybody's actually after us. Could probably get a better view from up top. You'd have an easier time getting' up there. You feel like taking a look?" Adeline raised her head towards the huge thing and her hair stand up all at once… "It'll be like climbing a treehouse… You know, just a really tall treehouse... made of iron."

"Finally you trust me with something and it is this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am afraid of heights."

"Are you kiddin' me?"

"No… I get all dizzy and sick… I fucking hate heights."

"Come on… Clementine wait here." With his hand over her shoulders they made their way towards the thing.

"I'd rather be bit by a lurker than this…"

"Go on… it's not that bad."

"I hate you!"

"The feeling is mutual." Adeline already made her first step up the thing.

"Ha-Ha… I hate you so damn much right now I can't believe you'd do this to me." Throwing words here and there was Adeline's way to keep her attention away from the few meters she'd already made. "You knew about it and now you're taking it out on me aren't you, you damn asshole. You realized it back at the apple tree!" She didn't stop the babbling so she could contain the fear clawing at her heart right now, she spoke so fast that Luke only got a few words here and there but enough to make him laugh.

"I'd catch you if you fall so quit whining… Probably."

"I HEARD THAT YOU ASS!"

"Just climb the damn thing." As he said the last word her foot slipped, she was fast to grab the iron stair with her hands but she froze in place unable to do anything. "Whoa, whoa… You are fine. Just look at me, Okay? You're fine!"

"I am not fine… I am damn sure not moving one inch… here is where I'll DIE! Because of you!"

"Just look at me!"

"I am not MOVING!"

"All right, just- just slow down. Just for a second, okay?"

"Fuck…"

"Look at me okay… If you fall it will be just like before… with the Apple tree." She finally looked down, and what she saw just shocked her for a second, she felt like she is having a bad hangover right now, her head hurts and her stomach is all twisted up in a knot in her throat… but she looked at Luke and realized that he'd catch her and so the trembling, she didn't even realize she had, stopped, she took a deep breath and wanting to say something to the man, something like a thank you or something sweet not what actually came out of her mouth anyway she kept going. "Shut up! You are going to attract all the god damn walkers on us!"

"You have been yelling this whole time!"

"I didn't say it wouldn't be a good idea to attract the walkers on YOU… I am safe here."

"Just climb."

Up on the thing she could finally relax. The view was beautiful but she couldn't really see it right away. The forest was peaceful at night and the stars raining down were breath taking. The only thing she ever saw were the stars anywhere she went. That is why she hated the city she was living in before, in her other life, stars are scarce when the pollution and light hid them.

"See anything?" Now taking out the binocular Clementine lend to her she went over the rail to look around.

"I can see the bridge!..."After a much more thorough look she finally saw the small lights moving around… "Fuck! Luke I think someone followed us…Luke?" And he was gone. After a few lose insults and not so nice commentaries Adeline managed to climb down only to see the group entering the lodge. She followed them inside only to realize that the place wasn't as empty as they hope to be.

"We're cool, okay! Hey, hey, we're cool, we're cool."

"Everyone calm down!" So Adeline missed the discussion so she had to get the short part about putting their weapons away from Alvin. When she saw Luke unsheathing his machete she knew they have already made a decision. She laid her bow as well, keeping the dagger she had concealed at her back.

It was hard to let go and give in to trust when the world doesn't allow it anymore, not as if it ever allowed it to begin with but humans can choose to blame the outbreak for all of this pain and not themselves if they want to. It was nice for Adeline to finally meet actual people that don't try to 'survive' but to actually live for the moment with their loved ones, it was nice to see Clementine actually smiling not forcing herself to do that fake little curl of her lips, it was nice to have a little break from everything else. The woman after a few hours there went back to the entrance, where their weapons where and under Walter's eyes she took out her blade and laid it there. You'd believe that was a way to show her gratitude to the man but no… she didn't even knew he was watching her; she simply wanted to get away from the thing for at least a few moments.