On the previous chapter we discover Carver's past story.
Now Clementine's gonna start her training to become the future leader.
But how is the Cabin's group gonna react to that.
We're about to find out.
Chapter 5- Basic training.
Clementine woke up with a new perspective. She was laying on her bed thinking about the previous night.
She now truly respected Carver, she found out that Carver was nothing more than a father and husband who lost everything when the walkers appeared, he and Clementine were not so different after all. They both lost the ones they loved, they both made a mistake that might or might not be the cause of their loved ones death and they both had to start all over.
And Bill rose to the occasion and became the leader of this community. Now it was time for Clementine to get rise to the occasion.
Suddenly a knock on the door was heard.
It was Bonnie "Wakey wakey city mouse, it's time to go to work." Bonnie said on a friendly tone.
Clementine got off the bed and opened the door, just to find the smiling ginger.
"There you are city mouse, are you ready to work?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes, what are we doing today?" Clementine asked.
"Well first we're gonna go fill up some magazines at the armory." Bonnie said.
"Again?" Clementine asked with a bored voice.
"Well those magazines aren't gonna fill themselves. But I see your point city mouse, sometimes I wish I could do more." Bonnie said "But anyway follow me."
So with that Clementine followed Bonnie.
On their way to the armory they saw everybody doing their respective jobs, Wyatt was was doing his guard post with Vince and (they were both armed with AK-47's), they saw clementine and happily waved at her, clementine answered by waving back.
They continued walking until Clementine spotted George, who approached her with a friendly smile.
"Good morning George." Clementine greeted.
"Hi there Clem." He greeted as well "How'd you sleep?"
"Well enough, the beds are far better then in the PEN." Clementine said.
"I can't agree with you more, I fell sorry for those who still sleep on it… I'm looking at you Bonnie." He said eyeing Bonnie,
Bonnie smiled at that "It ain't exactly a suite's bed, but I've sleep on worst places on my younger days."
It was truth, a few years back when Bonnie was addicted to heroin, she sometimes would wake up in some alley way, sometimes with her pockets empty. But now a days that was nothing but ancient personal history, on this new world ancient history matters nothing, what mattered was if you could survive or not, if you had what it takes to push it to the limit.
But then George's expression changed from happy to a concerned one "I saw you going to Carver's office yesterday night."
Clementine didn't expected that "You did?"
George knew why Clementine was sad, he was present when she found Omid and Christa on the bathroom of the gas station, in fact he was the one who dig their shallow graves and buried them.
He had never seen Clementine like that, she looked completely devastated, but now she looked far better, it made George wonder, what happened on that office?
"Yesterday you were devastated, but now you seem better." George said.
"I needed to talk to someone about… them, and Carver was the best one." Clementine said.
"Let it looks like he was able to cheer you up. Hope you don't mind me askin' what he told you?" George asked curious.
"Sorry but I can't tell you… It's a secret." She said.
"Well whatever he told you, I'm glad that made you happy." George said with coming back to the happy expression "Make sure you keep that secret safe."
"I will." Clementine nodded.
Then suddenly and angry voice could be heard on the back.
"Hey George!" It was Troy and Luke was with him, but he wasn't angry.
"Instead of chit chat, how about you come here and help defend this fence!" Troy shouted again.
"Come on Troy, lay off." Luke said.
"Mind you own goddamned business Luke!" Troy snapped at him.
George let out a frustrated sigh "Dipshit, can't do anything right on his own!" He cursed under his breath "Alright troy I'm comin'!"
"Hurry the fuck up!"
"I gotta go help this asshole, see you later then Clem." George said before leaving.
After that, Clementine and Bonnie went back on their way towards the armory, but on their way, they found Shel and her little sister Becca. Shel was nice and she always tries to help everyone (Clem included), but Becca seems to have a problem with everyone (especially Clem and Sarah), in Becca's mind, she saw Clem as nothing but a little girl who couldn't do anything right, when in reality Becca wasn't as good as she claimed to be, Clem usually ignored her but sometimes she just wished that she could just punch her in that mocking face of her.
They eventually reached the armory, inside was Reggie.
"Oh, hi guys." Reggie greeted the duo smiling.
"Mornin' Reggie, so what are we doin' today?" Bonnie asked.
"Same thing as always, we're filling up magazines." Reggie said.
For the next 45 minutes, the trio filled gun magazines with bullets, from pistols to automatic weapons.
Clem knew the importance of this job, but she just wished that she could do more than this, she knew she could do more.
She wanted to help the adults fortify the fence, she wanted to go on watches and on more supply runs, she also wanted to learn how to fire a riffle despite her size.
But at the end of the day Carver was the only one who truly understood he and the only one who looked at her with equal eyes, the rest still saw her as a little girl.
But that was hopefully about to change.
"So Clem, George told me that you were sad yesterday." Reggie said.
"City mouse found out she lost two of her friends." Bonnie told Reggie with a frown.
"Oh, I'm sorry Clem, I know how that fells." Reggie said "I had a group once Clem, but… it didn't work out, they all died on a raid to our camp." He started telling the story "After that I found this community and it's been my home since then. But anyway, how are you felling now?"
"I went to talk to Bill about it, I fell much better now." Clementine said.
"I'm glad to hear that Clem, I'm glad to know that Bill helped you with your problem, even if he's being a little bit of a hardass lately." Reggie admitted.
"He's just looking out for the group." Clementine said giving Reggie a slight glare.
"I know Clem, but I just feel like he's been too rigid lately. He's not like the Bill I first knew years ago." Reggie tried to justify himself.
But Reggie was right about that. Bill used to be way more relaxed before and he sometimes even let the workers rest, or take a day off. But not anymore.
Food and supplies were and are still an abundance in the community, but nothing lasts forever, and when the supplies around the area became more difficult to find, Bill decided to do a policy on the distribution of food.
The workers would only get the amount of supplies that corresponded to the amount of work they do. And there were no more easy rest, no more "Day's off", everyone had to work the same, no matter the age or condition there were in.
And this policy was actually well received with most of the workers. They knew the importance of their work and this actually helped speed up the velocity of the workers. With that they where able to fortify the fence a lot faster and better and they were starting to work on the solar panels up on the community's roof.
But this policy also had it's share of non followers, and those were Luke, Nick, Carlos and Marie.
Luke didn't agree with the way Carver ran the community, they both have opposite ideas on how to ran it. While Luke was the typical cool guy who thinks that everyone should have the same amount of food despise their different amount of work (obviously that would never work entirely).
Nick basically agreed with what Luke says. Plus he was lazy.
Carlos didn't like the fact that this policy included her daughter, Sarah obviously couldn't work the same rate as the others.
Marie was kinda like Nick, but she simply didn't like the changes.
Clem could try to understand their reasons, especially Carlos's because of Sarah's "condition".
But the rest just sounded like Little children nagging about them not having the latest toy or like some elderly people who couldn't take criticism or change, or even like some drunken lazy bumps who didn't want to work, but they wanted to get paid either way.
It wasn't really too hard for Clem to understand that in order for a group to survive for a long time it needed a strong and fair leader, because in this new world the good guys were always the ones who endangered the others and also they were the ones who would never made it out alive.
"I think he's been pretty fair with his new policy." Clementine said, defending Carver's point.
Bonnie nodded "I agree with you Clem, it's just sometimes people, have a hard time accepting changes."
"I just miss, how things were before, things were far easier." Reggie said.
"Things can't always be easy." Clementine said.
"Still, it's better to be here then outside." Bonnie said.
With that, for the next 20 minutes they worked in complete silence, there really wasn't anything else to talk about.
After that Bonnie's talkie buzzed "Hey Bonnie, you in there?" The voice of Tavia called.
"Loud and clear, what is it?" Bonnie asked.
"Take Clementine to the fence, close to the comic shop." Tavia said.
"What for?" Bonnie asked.
"Just bring her here!" Tavia scold at Bonnie for questioning her.
Bonnie sighted "Alright, we'll be in there in a second" Bonnie said before shutting the talkie off.
"Looks like my job here is done." Clementine said.
"Yeah looks like you'll be working on the fence." Reggie said.
"I hope it's not the usual nail delivery." Clementine said.
"We'll see city mouse, maybe they'll have something different for you to do." Bonnie said.
With that they exited the armory and went to the fence.
On the fence there were people working and guarding the fence.
Clementine recognized those people.
Pete, Alvin and Nick were working on the fence, nailing wooden planks and also the windows of the stores.
On the work of watching the workers, were Luke, Alvin, Troy and Russel armed with the signature AK-47.
The duo was greeted by George "Hello again Clementine. So are you ready to work?"
Clementine smiled and nodded.
George then turned to Bonnie "You can go now Bonnie, I got her."
"Well then, see you later city mouse." Bonnie waved before leaving.
"So what am I doing today?" Clementine asked.
"Bill called me, he says he wants you to start helping on the fence." George said.
"Like what?" Clementine asked.
"Well he says that he wants you to start helping the workers fortifying the fence." George said.
This was exactly what she wanted, it wasn't exactly something super important, but It was a beginning. She know that she could trust Carver, it would be only a matter of time before she would start making important decisions.
"What should I do?" Clementine asked.
"Talk to Alvin, he'll teach you everything." George said.
With that Clementine went to see Alvin who was hammering some nails to a wooden board.
When Alvin noticed Clementine, he stopped hammering and smiled at her.
"Hello there Clem, I heard that you're working with us today."
"I am." She nodded "What should I do?" Clementine asked.
"It's simple." He started by grabbing a wooden board "You grab the board, then you grab your hammer and nail, and you nail the board to the fence, like wise." He says before nailing a board to the fence, demonstrating it.
"Think you can do this?" Alvin asked.
"I think I can." Clementine said.
"Well then you can start, if you need any help just ask." Alvin said.
With that Clementine began the first step to becoming a more useful worker.
Although she had to admit the job was harder than it looked. First of all her size didn't exactly help her, some of the boards were just as big as her, so she had to hols them with two hands.
So Alvin helped Clementine, while she nailed the boards, Alvin would hold them.
It worked, but it slowed down Alvin's work and it also made Clem realize that her age was not her only weakness, it was also her size and her lack of strength.
Time seemed to fly with work, before Clem could realize it was almost lunch time. But then something caught her attention.
The noise from the hammering attracted some walkers to the fence, they were starting to bang on the fence.
The fence was solid enough, but it wasn't the sturdiest, for the fence was shaking a bit.
"Shouldn't we do something about them?" Clementine asked.
"It's just a few walkers Clem, not nearly enough to knock the fence." Russel assured Clem.
"It's just, the fence isn't the sturdiest, I don't fell safe." Clem said.
"You have nothing to worry about, we're keppin' an eye out and if they knock the fence we'll be right her to gun them down Clem. But right now there's no point on wasting bullets." Russel said.
This calmed Clementine down, but she still feel like something should have been done, she would remember to talk to Bill about this.
After a while Tavia came in "Clementine, we've got work for you at the green house."
"Again?" Clementine asked with a bored tone.
Tavia sighed "Yes Clem, I know it's not what you wanna do, but they need you're help there, and I'm just doing as told." Tavia justified.
"It's alright I understand." Clementine said "Thank you for your help Alvin."
"No problem Clem, but remember if you keep practicing, then one day you'll be strong enough to lift and nail those boards by yourself."
With that Clementine was escorted by Tavia to the greenhouse.
When they arrived inside was Sarah, Marie, Shel and Becca.
When shel, Marie and Sarah noticed Clementine, they smiled and waved at her, while Becca simply sneered and went back to her job.
"Hey Clem how are you today?" Shel asked.
"I'm better." She admitted.
"That's good, Luke told us what happened yesterday." Shel said "I just wanted to say that if you need anything, you just need to ask."
"Thank you Shel, I really appreciated." Clementine smiled.
Becca glared at Clementine.
"So what am I doing today?" Clementine asked.
"We're doing the usual, picking up berries, oh and we're also planting some plants today, I guess you could do that today." Marie said.
For the next hour while the other were doing the usual picking berries and clipping dead breeches, Clementine was doing something new, she was planting and watering the plants. Marie explained the right way on how to do it. Apparently Marie used to have a garden back in the day, where she would plant and grow vegetables in order to put some food on the table and also get a little extra money for the house bills.
With Marie's instruction Clementine correctly panted the plants. First she placed the plant inside an empty vase, then she filled the vase with dirt until the plant's root was completely buried, then she grabbed a watering can and started watering her plant and the other plants.
Once again Clem was glad to be doing something different, normally it would be the adults that would be doing this job, it wasn't exactly the most important job, but still she knew if she kept working then she would be starting to make important decisions alongside Bill.
While Clem was distracted with her green work, an argument was about to take palce.
While Becca was doing her job pretty well, Sarah once again like always was having a difficult time doing her job and this time she was shaking a bit.
And this was annoying Becca big time.
"Could you stop shaking and do your job properly, it's getting on my nerves!"
"S-sorry, I'm just trying to do a good job." Sarah said nervous.
"Yeah well guess what? You're still doing a horrible job, I can't believe you can't even the simplest job right!" Becca said angrily.
Clementine was getting tired of hearing her complains and she was getting angry of her always picking on Sarah, she wasn't just gonna stand there and let her friend getting bullied.
"Leave her alone Sarah!"
She looked at Clementine with a glare "Mind your own goddamn business!"
"I'm not just going to stay here and let you pick on Sarah for no reason!" Clementine glared back.
"For no reason?! How is it my fault that she's always acting like a baby!"
Before things could spiral more out of control, Shel decided to intervene.
"Stop with that Becca!" She scold "Sarah hasn't done anything wrong."
"But that's exactly what I mean, she hasn't done anything! I'm sick and tired of working with people who act like little kids!" Becca said.
Sarah was sad and Clementine could see that she was on the verge of tears.
So Clementine took her hand and whispered "Just ignore her Sarah, you're doing the best you can, like we all are."
These words didn't heal all the wounds but it helped band aid "Thanks you Clem."
But then Becca said something that caught Clementine's attention.
"I don't know why should I even bother with them, they probably never had to do anything to survive out there!"
Clementine glared at her "You don't know anything about me."
"Oh really? Well let me tell you what I know, I know that you're nothing but a big baby who somehow got Bill's sympathies!" Becca said angrily "I really don't know what Bill sees in you, it should be me going out on supply runs not you!"
"Because Bill knows me, and because he knows what I can do." Clementine said "What can you do, have you even fired a gun before?"
Becca glared at her "Have YOU?"
"I had to kill someone dear to me!" Clementine told.
This caught some people by surprise, because Clem had never told that to anyone.
But Becca was not impressed "Oh your such a baby! Besides I bet that you caused his death!" Becca teased.
This hit a nerve, Clementine lost control she grabbed the nearest vase "SHUT UP!" She hissed before trowing at Becca.
The vase didn't hit her (Becca was able to duck in time).
Shel, Marie and Sarah were shocked, they never had seen Clementine acting that way.
Becca on the other hand was furious "You bitch!" She hissed before charging at Clem.
Before anyone could react Becca punched Clementine on the face and then got on top of her and started slapping her face.
Clementine put her arms on a defensive position trying to block Becca's strikes.
Before anyone could stop them, a voice loud as a thunder did.
"YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF!"
Becca stopped slapping Clementine when she realized who it was.
It was Carver standing on the entrance with a glare on his face scanning the scene.
Becca and Clementine got off the floor (Clementine was bleeding form her nose)
"What's going on here?" Carver asked with a raised brow.
"She started it!" Both girls replied at the same time.
Carver noticed Clementine's bloody nose "Why were you hitting Clementine?"
"She threw a vase at me!" Becca said.
Carver then noticed the broken vase "Is that true Clementine?"
"She started it!" She replied crossing her arms.
Carver had enough "I want you two in my office right now!" Caver said.
The girls knew that there was no point on fighting, so with a sigh they head towards the office.
When they arrived Carver was already there.
"You two take a seat." He sternly said.
The girls did so.
Carver started "I'm very disappointed with you two, especially you Clem, because I know that you're smarter than that."
Clementine heart drop when she Carver said that.
"She started, she's always saying that I'm useless and that I'm nothing but a baby." Clementine said.
"Because it's true." Becca replied.
"Shut up!" Clementine hissed.
"Fuck you, you threw a fucking vase at me!" Becca hissed back.
"Enough!" Carver shouted which caused the girls to quiet down.
"I don't know what was the caused this fight and frankly I really don't care" Carver started "If we're going to survive the next generation needs to be stronger than the previous one, and this doesn't look good on any of you."
He turned to Clementine "Whatever reason you had Clem, you at the end of the day destroyed a plant that gives us fresh supplies, and that's inexcusable."
He then turned to Becca "In this community we're all on the same side and we all need each other in order to survive, so fighting with another member for whatever the reason, it's completely forbidden."
"Is that understood?" Carver asked the two of them.
They both nodded.
"Good. I don't wanna see this happening again, you two will draw a line in the sand and forget about what happen today. I don't wanna see anymore fights and I don't wanna see anymore destruction of supplies. And next time this happen you'll be sleeping on the Pen for the next three months." Carver said.
Once again the two nodded.
"Good. You can leave and get back to work." Carver said.
The two girls got up, only to be interrupted again.
"Not you Clementine, I need to have a word wit you." Carver said.
With that Becca left and Clementine remained seated.
"Now that we're alone, I want you to tell me what happen?" Carver calmly asked
Clementine started from the beginning "She was picking on Sarah and I had to intervene."
"Was Sarah not doing her job correctly?" Carver asked.
"You know that Sarah can't work the rate as the others." Clem tried to justify.
But Carver didn't looked convinced "Sarah should work the same speed as the others by now, I blame Carlos if he didn't cuddle her so much, she would be doing supply runs and wielding a gun by now."
"But Becca just makes things worst, how can Sarah ever gain confidence if she's always being criticized?" Clem pointed out.
"Becca may be short tempered and stubborn, but she's a good worker and she's not afraid of using a gun or to give someone a piece of her mind." Carver stated "That's exactly what the next generation needs Clem. Strong kids raised the right way, like you and Becca." Caver continued "But I know that's not how you lost your temper."
Clementine looked down "She said something that angered me."
"What did she say?" Carver asked.
"She talked about Lee." Clementine vaguely said.
"Explain." Carver continued.
"She blamed me for his death." Clementine finally revealed.
Carver sighed "We've been trough this Clementine, you know better than to lose your temper like that." Carver said "last night, we had that conversation, I though that everything was said."
"But it still hurts." Clementine said.
"You shouldn't have told Becca about Lee in the first place, people will use anything in order to bring you down. So let me give you a piece of advice Clem, never tell anyone about your past." Carver advised "Is that understood?"
Clementine nodded "I understand."
"Good." Carver said "Before you leave, I need to speak to you about something else."
"What is it?" Clementine asked.
"Why didn't you fight back, when Becca was on top of you?" Carver asked.
"Because..."
"Because you don't know how to fight with your bare hands." Carver finished Clementine's sentence. "Am I right?" He asked (but it was more of a statement).
"Yes." She nodded.
"We're gonna need to change that darling." He said "You can't always rely on weapons to save your life, if you find yourself in danger, and you're completely out of bullets, then your bare fists will be your only means of protection."
"Then how can I learn?" Clementine asked.
"My old man told me a few things about hand to hand military combat, but I can only teach you those techniques once you master the basics and get some muscle." He explained "Go talk to Johnny, he told me that he used to do fighting sports, he'll teach you the basics."
"Got it." Clementine nodded.
"I'm glad I can count on you." Carver smiled "Go see Carlos, he'll fix your nose."
With that Clementine walked out of the office and went to the emergency center of Howe's.
Inside Clementine saw Carlos patching a worker's wound.
Carlos noticed Clementine entering "Oh it's you Clementine, take a seat, I'll be with you in a minute."
Clementine did just that, she took a seat and waited.
After a minute or so, Carlos had just finished patching the worker's wound.
So he went on to check on Clementine.
Clem, had a bleeding nose and some bruises on her face, but it was nothing too serious.
While Carlos was healing some of her wounds he decided to speak.
"Sarah told me what happened." He started "I want it to thank you for standing at my daughter's side."
"Me and her are friends and friends protect each other." Clementine simply stated.
"I'm glad to hear you saying that Clem, but not everyone is willing to get a bloody nose over a friend" Carlos said.
"Well I am, Sarah was in trouble and I had to intervene." Clementine said.
Carver was now taking some of Clementine's swelling down "That girl is nothing but trouble."
"Who?" Clementine asked.
"Becca. She is one of the most troublesome child I have ever seen." Carlos said.
Clementine couldn't agree more "I don't know why she act that way."
"I have asked Shel the same question and even she doesn't seem to know." Carlos said "It's hard to imagine those two being sisters, they have nothing in commune."
"Shel is nice and Becca is just mean." Clementine agreed.
"I hope Bill does something about this, he's becoming hash nowadays." Carlos said "He used to be far more kinder before."
"I think Bill is just looking out for what's best for the community." Clementine said, a bit annoyed with Carlos comment.
"His intention may be good, but his way of doing things is wrong, what he's suggesting is that Sarah learns how to use a gun and starts to go out there and endangering her life on the process, I won't allow that." Carlos said.
"Sarah doesn't need to go on supply runs, but she could do other jobs, I think that would be good for her." Clementine said.
Carlos let out an annoyed sigh when Clementine said that "Clementine, you may have helped my daughter but that doesn't give you the right to tell me how I should educate her."
Clementine realized that Carlos wasn't going to listen to her, so she just decided to drop the conversation.
After a while Carlos managed to stop the bleeding and reduced the swelling "There, that should be better."
"I already fell better, thanks." Clementine said.
"The bruises should heal in a few days, just make sure to stay away from fights." Carlos said "Now I guess it's almost dinner time, so I suggest you go to your room."
It was indeed getting dark out there so Clementine said goodbye to Carlos and went to her room, inside she spotted her daily rations, that are given to the workers everyday, but she also noticed something new as well.
It was a pair of gym dumbbells (they weight about 2 kg each).
And there was a note with them:
She read it "For the next months I want you to lift those two dumbbells 50 times every day after supper, when your muscles become stronger you'll double that number, I also want you to go see Johnny about those fighting lessons, I already talked to him and he's more than happy to teach you the basics (you'll be having lessons with him two times a week). Make sure to train hard, if you do, then you'll become the strongest leader of them all.
Sign Bill."
Clementine smiled at the letter, she couldn't wait to become as strong if not stronger than Bill, but for that she needed to be patience and she needed to train hard.
So with that she finished her meal (Which was a can of beans and a small bowl of berries).
Then she did what would become her daily training, she picked up the weights, one in each hand and started to lifting them. It wasn't as easy as it seemed, for her size these weights were a bit heavy and by the time she had reached 40 her forehead was dripping with sweat so were her armpits, but with some motivation from Bill's letter she was able to finish the 50 lifts. And after that she went to sleep.
In the next morning.
Clementine woke up with her arms sore, which was expected after the lifting that she did the day before.
After stretching her arms she heard someone knocking on her door.
"Hey Clementine open up." Said the person who was knocking on the door.
Clementine recognized the voice.
She opened the door and there she found Johnny looking at her with a big smile.
"Hey Johnny." Clementine greeted.
"Good morning Clem." Johnny said "I had a call from Bill and he told me to teach you some of the basics in hand to hand combat."
"Great, I can't wait." She said excited "But where are we going to train?" she asked.
"On the training yard."
Clementine was confused "Since when did we had a training yard?"
"Since a few hours ago. Y'see Bill told me and a few workers to grab all the exercise equipment and´move it all to an empty yard that has been only used to build and fortify the continuing fence." Johnny explained "So now anyone can work out, including you."
"Can we go there now?"
"Sure, just follow me Clem." Johnny said.
With that Clementine followed him towards this new training yard.
On their way, they were spotted by Wyatt who was o his guard duty. When he spotted the duo he went to talk to them.
"Mornin' dudes." Wyatt said.
"Morning Wyatt." Clementine said.
"Hey Wyatt. How's the guard duty?" Johnny asked
"It's… pretty boring dude, I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be here and all that good shit, but sometimes I just wish things weren't so boring, I wish for some excitement." Wyatt admitted "But anyway, enough about me and my crazy shit. Where are two dudes going?"
"We were just headed for the training yard." Johnny said.
"Good for… Wait a second, we have one of those?" Wyatt asked confused.
"Yeah we do." He confirmed.
"Since when?" Wyatt asked.
"Since pretty recently actually, we just finished putting everything together." Johnny explained.
"wow, that's cool dude, maybe I'll pass trough there some time." Wyatt said.
"Can't you come with us?" Clementine asked.
"I'd love to Clem, but y'know, Bill's orders are like… super important." Wyatt said trying to find the right words.
"Well if you ever wanna train or workout, then you know where to go." Johnny said "But anyway, me and Clem really gotta go."
"Well then I see you dudes later." Wyatt said. "Hey Clem, before you go I got a question?"
"What is it?" Clementine asked.
"Can I wear your cool hat someday?" Wyatt asked with his voice full of hope.
Clementine let out a laugh and shook her head "Not a chance."
"Oh well, it was worth asking." Wyatt said before going back to work.
Later Clementine and Johnny finally arrived at the training yard.
The yard itself was pretty much like the PEN, it was an outside type space, with one big fence around the space (just like the PEN), plus there was no ceiling or covering for eventual rain. But the main thing that made it different from the PEN was the fact that there were no beds. Instead the beds were replaced with gym equipment.
There were various gymnastic instruments, such as tree bench press with one big weight on top, two hammer strength machine, various dumbbells of various weights on the floor, tree hyper extension benches, two peck deck machines, two leg extension machines and also two incline bench presses with also one big weight on top.
Clementine was impressive with the amount of equipment.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" Clementine asked.
"Everything was in store in one of our hardware believe it or not, I guess Bill had this idea before." Johnny explained.
"So what are we doing?" Clementine asked.
"You won't be using any of the machines today, you'll use them when you get stronger." Johnny explained "Today I'll just be teaching you the basics, so just focus on me ok?"
Clementine nodded.
So Clementine was now training with his friend Johnny and now newly made trainer under Bill's orders. He was now teaching Clem the basics of hand to hand combat, he taught her the traditional and most basic fighting stance (the one were you have both arms in front of your face and one leg on front and the other in the back), he also teach Clementine on how to properly trow a punch without hurting her knuckle, he also made her do some jogging around the yard and she also ended up lifting some small weights.
At the end of it all Clementine was now trowing punched at Johnny's hands (for some time now).
Until the radio called "Johnny you in there?"
It was Tavia.
"I'm here Tavia what's up?"
"Is Clementine there with you?" Tavia asked.
"Yeah she is." Johnny confirmed.
"Just so you guys know, it's almost supper time, so get to it." Tavia informed.
"Thanks Tavia." Johnny said before shutting the radio off.
"Is the training done?" Clementine asked.
"For today it is, but we'll continue training in two days." Johnny said.
"How have I done today?" Clementine asked.
"You were great Clem, you honestly did better than most beginners do." Johnny praised "But never stop training, if you keep doing it then you'll never stop getting stronger."
"I'll never stop." She promised.
"Well then, I guess we should grab some supper." Johnny said before leaving with Clementine.
Bill's office
Bill was at his office alone, looking at his community and workers high above them all, like big brother looking at all his followers.
This was honestly something that Bill loved to do when he had nothing to do, he loved to see his community from his office like a proud falcon, he loved to see everything going smooth and perfect, but at the end off the day he knew that trouble was present everyday and it came in many shapes and sizes, and most of the times Bill couldn't see those problems with his naked eye, but then again at the end of the day Bill had eyes and ears everywhere (again like big brother).
His concentration was broken when he heard a knock on his door.
He wasn't expecting anyone "Who is it?"
"It's Rebecca."
"Come in."
With his authorization Rebecca entered the office.
"Hello Rebecca it's good to see you, please have a seat." Bill said smiling.
"Thank you Bill." She said before taking a seat.
"So Rebecca, this is unexpected, you haven't been to this office ever since that time you turned the speakers loudly with one of the announcement records." Bill said remembering that specific time.
Rebecca let out a small giggle "Thankfully there weren't many walkers back then."
"Well that's true, but I'm sure that you didn't just came here to talk about the past." Bill said.
"Obviously." Rebecca said.
"You obviously have a problem, so let's hear it." Bill said.
Rebecca stayed still for a moment and took a deep breath "I wanna talk about, the changes you've been making recently."
Bill's smile turned into a frown "What about them?"
"I think you should..." Rebecca tried to say but she was stopped by him.
"I'll tell, what I said before a hundred times to Luke." He started "The tougher times get, the tougher I gotta be with everyone, the moment I become soft, it's the moment where this community will have it's days count." He continued "I knew since the moment I made this decision that some of you wouldn't agree, but if my decisions help more people than it harms, so it doesn't matter how fucked up they are."
"Who said that?" Rebecca said (she knew that those weren't just Bill's words.
"My father, he's the reason I became what I am today." Bill said "He always told me to make sure that my decisions would help more people than it harm, and that the guilt would disappear."
"You're not understanding Bill, this isn't just about your decisions, it's about the sheer fact that you made some decision that you knew that would affect the community, without even asking for a second opinion."
It started to become clear to Bill "So that's why you're here, you want a "political" job." He said.
"All I'm saying is that, everyone should have a saying on what should chance." Rebecca said with conviction.
"So you want a democracy?" Bill asked.
"In other words, yes." Rebecca said.
"Let me explain one thing to you Rebecca." Bill explained "Democracy might of worked in the old world, but in this new world, a community where everyone as a different opinion, it's nothing but a recipe for disaster." Bill continued "What a community really needs is a strong leader, who values the community and it's workers more than anything."
"You're sounding just like a dictator." Rebecca said glaring a bit at him.
"I'm nothing like one. In order for the community to survive, I'll have to make sure that the new generation, becomes stronger than the last one." Bill said "Clementine understands that."
"Clementine is still a little girl, no matter how much you try to change her." Rebacca said with her arms crossed.
That stubbornness and the way she wasn't afraid of telling him a piece of her mind to him, it really reminded him of his deceased wife (in fact she kinda looked like her in some way).
"You know something Rebecca, you really remind me of my wife in many ways." Bill said.
Rebecca was surprised "You have a wife?"
"I had one, and we had a son as well." Bill said.
"You had? What happen?" Rebacca asked.
"They both died, two weeks after this world turned to shit… I wasn't present, that's the short story." Bill told her.
"I didn't know you were a husband and a father, why didn't you told us about that?" Rebecca asked.
"Because I'm no different from everyone, we all have lost a loved one, my backstory doesn't' matter." Bill explained.
"And you say I remind you of her?" Rebacca asked confused.
"She was pretty much like you in personality, she was never afraid to give her opinion or speak her mind." Bill said.
"That's funny because Alvin never liked that aspect about me." She said.
"How long have you and Alvin, been together?" Bill asked.
"We've been together for ten years now." Rebecca said.
"That sure is a long time, you've got no children?" Bill asked.
"We've always wanted to, but Alvin and I never really had the time, plus Alvin has some difficulty with on having kids." Rebecca explained.
"I see..." Bill thought for a moment "Tell you what, I'll think about your suggestion, in fact I may even a new… secretary to make some new announcements." Carver said before putting his hand on top of Rebecca's hand and lightly squeezing it.
Rebecca noticed it, but she didn't pulled back "I'd like that." She simply said.
One thing was sure, things were about to change, for the best or for the worst.
I am soo sorry guys, for taking so long to write this, I've been drown in school work and exams and I also have been working on my other stories.
But now I'm on my summer vacation and I'll try to write the next chapter as fat as I can go.
So like always don't forget to review.