A/N: Again thanks for all the support guys I always try and get this updated as fast as possible
obsessed naruhina fangirl- I can't ruin it for you on which direction this story's taking, but I appreciate your long reviews and thoughts it really motives me to write more and most of your opinions I do agree with although this story isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows it will be different.
Rebloxic- Your wish is my command, course I'll update! And thanks for the feedback!
Martial Arts Master - I'm Male and I like her too although most people I've spoken to about her found her annoying and a burden on the group. However I fully agree with your opinion on Sarah being made a one sided liability character when there was so much potential beneath the surface. Episode 2 (which was the best of the season by a mile) showed us that by having us teach her how to shoot. The writers of Ep 3 helped to develop her more, but in Ep 4 they completely screwed her character over making our decisions to save and help her useless. It rubbed me up the wrong way as well.
Anyway on we go...
Peering over the lush green stalks of vegetation, Clementine slowly crept over to where she found Sarah curled into a ball in one of the corners of the greenhouse sobbing heavily, her cheek still a painful crimson colour that spread across the cheek of teenage Hispanic girl.
"Hey" Clementine said wearily approaching her, exactly as things had transpired the first time Sarah didn't reply still rocking back and forth like a five year old who had been locked in a dark closet who was trying to retain their sanity, Clementine knew that Sarah meant well and she didn't think she could watch the girl get ripped apart once again. It was simply too painful for her and caused something to switch off inside of Clementine too, something she didn't even know was there.
"I know it hurts but you gotta be tough" Clementine said kneeling next to the girl , Sarah continued to cry, the tears still pouring from her wooden brown eyes
"My Dad never hit me before" she muttered blankly, not looking at Clementine but at the floor, only then she seemed to realise that Clementine was there as she looked up at the younger girl, her eyes popping from her head as she spoke to Clementine in an almost pleading tone...
"I mean even when I was really bad he never hit me"
"Carver's the bad guy here, not your dad, Carver made him hit you and Troy would have been a lot worse" Clementine explained calmly to Sarah.
"Thanks, I know you were only trying to help and I know I should have been quiet when you told me too" Sarah uttered.
Now this was slightly different from what she was saying the first time, did Sarah have a tad bit more respect for Clementine? If this was true then Clementine's plan for the day was improving drastically.
"I shouldn't have said it so meanly..." Clementine responded with her puppy dog eyes...
"No, It was my fault, but... I just don't get why people have to be so mean, you know? I mean even when I'm really mad I don't want to hurt anyone" she explained to Clementine.
"There a lot of people who want to hurt us Sarah, I don't get it either but that's just the way it is now" Clementine said.
"I don't like it, like this" Sarah whined her head drooping to the floor.
"I don't either but I can help you, remember what I told you about shooting people back at the cabin?" Clementine asked.
This invested Sarah's interest but before Clementine could explain, the door to the greenhouse creaked open as Reggie strolled in.
"Don't mess this up" Tavia snapped.
"Yeah, yeah I got it" Reggie reassured her, as Clementine closed her eyes tight as she felt her stomach swirl uncomfortably, yet she had to do this to ensure her stomach would remain simply swirling uncomfortably and not ripped open right in front of eyes. The door closed with a fore boarding thud as Reggie turned the face the two girls, Sarah stood up timidly in his presence as he smiled shyly back at the two girls in front of him.
"Okay girls we have a really simple job today, grab those clippers on the table..."
They did so as Reggie rabbled on, about how to pick fresh leaves from the plants Clementine tried hard not to listen to his endless instructions on how to "clip off the dead leaves for composting..." because she knew what would become of him in less than a hour or two, or would he...?
No, Sarah was still gazing absently mindedly at her reflection in the metal on the clippers, no doubt still scarred by the earlier event, but Clementine didn't expect (after a minute of conversation) to get her up and jolly again and able to complete her task.
"Hey so is she gonna be okay?" Reggie asked of Clementine awkwardly as Sarah's silence and lack of even a nod to Reggie's instructions had him worried about the lack of work she would do, hence landing him into hot water with Carver a position he did not want to find himself in after he had worked so far to get this position, to get out of that pen and finally...
"Yeah, I'll help her, don't worry" Clementine reassured him firmly, seeing the determined look in her eye filled Reggie with a positive sense of reassurance as he boomed a jolly "Great" in glee. Then (in one of his weirdest bursts of excitement and gratitude) he patted the top of Clementine's weathered cap three times.
Clementine looked up at him oddly.
"Okay, that was awkward, I won't do that again... I'm... gonna go work now" he muttered mortified proceeding to the back of the greenhouse, the one armed man in a very good mood indeed.
Clementine was surprised he had completely overlooked the fact that she said she'd help Sarah, she didn't say anything about doing her own work. Sighing she proceeded towards Sarah almost instantly, noticing someone standing by her, Sarah looked down at the 11 year old girl she had grown so fond off during the past couple of days.
"Here" Clementine began kindly helping her to cut the leaves from her plants and place them into the correct bowls.
The first time Clementine was helping Sarah with this she mentally screaming in frustration about how slow and useless Sarah was at such a mundane task, however seeing the determined outcome anyhow she decided that rather than make this an hour or two of silent work she would use it too her advantage.
"You know what I said about shooting people earlier?" she brought up once again.
"Yeah" Sarah asked nervously not liking where this was going.
"You know to just keep shooting them, not in the head, but anywhere" Clementine explained.
"I don't want to shoot people" Sarah thought aloud.
"You have too Sarah especially if there going to attack you, do you want to die? Do you want your dad to die?" she inquired.
"No!" Sarah shouted panicked, yet Clementine could see her point was clearly made to the bespectacled girl.
"But it would still be scary" Sarah added as an afternote.
"Maybe, If we get the chance I can teach you how to shoot better" Clementine offered in which Sarah's face lit up.
"Yeah! I like that! I just want to help the others, but no one tells me anything!" Sarah puffed letting her frustrations from her chest.
"I know they want to protect you Sarah, but you have to learn, what if something happens and you're alone and in trouble?"
"I tried telling my dad that once, but he said that would never happen..."
"GIRLS ARE YOU WORKING OVER THERE!?" Reggie shouted through the chit chat.
"Yeah" Clementine shouted back as Reggie grew silent, after this Clementine and Sarah conversed in lower tones.
"I can help you Sarah, I can teach you all the things Lee taught me" Clementine told her.
"Whose Lee?" Sarah asked genuinely confused on who he was, Clementine suddenly felt something get trapped in her throat as the memories of Lee came flooding back, but rather than pause and cry, she pulled out the photo of Lee that was glued into her trouser pocket and held it for Sarah to see, pride flooding back into her being.
"This was Lee Everett, he was a convicted murderer" Clementine began.
"H-he killed someone? He was a murderer!?" Sarah squeaked staring at the photo in utter horror.
"But he was the greatest man I ever met" Clementine continued in the same unwavering tone "He taught me how to survive, he taught me how to keep my hair short so walkers wouldn't grab it."
Sarah suddenly found herself inspecting her own bushy hair.
"That's smart" Sarah said.
"Lee liked to use that phrase too" Clementine noted sadly "Before he killed someone he worked as a teacher"
"He must have been super clever then" Sarah mused.
"He was, he taught me all I needed to know" Clementine remembered sadly "We went through so much together" she muttered.
"How did you first meet him?" Sarah asked.
Clementine drew in a deep breath, ready to begin her story all over again in vivid detail,
"My parents left me with a babysitter..."
It was safe to say that nearly an hour and a half later, Sarah was hooked on Clementine's tale, "This is way more interesting than the gurgles" she thought in awe, as Clementine described vividly the characters of Doug, and Carley, Kajtaa, Duck, Lilly, Larry...
She gasped when Doug's demise at the drug store came "But couldn't Lee save them both?" Sarah asked in horror. "No, he could only save Carley we tried to get to Doug but it was already too late..."
"I still say that old man sounded really mean" Sarah commented.
"He was just looking out for his daughter like your dad looks out for you" Clementine explained.
Sarah never thought of that, her face shone with a sense of realism that Clementine had not seen before, filling her in on this tale was a good thing she could tell, she had just reached the revelation on the 's being cannibals which earned her a horrified "They can't have been eating people! That's gross! That's horrible!" response from Sarah, before Reggie interrupted their chat.
"You didn't do any of your work Clem!" he exclaimed as molten white hot panic soared through his veins as he looked at her untouched bowls in comparison to Sarah's that were full to the brim.
There was no time for Clementine to reply, Carver opened the door before she could speak, she gulped, her tale dying in her throat.
"Just came to see how they new girl's were doing..." his mean green eyes swept from Clementine and Sarah standing on one side of the room with full bowls with the empty side of the room with empty bowls, a simple task messed up...
"Reggie" Carver growled.
"Yeah... Hi Bill" Reggie began nervously.
"What the fuck is this?" he spat.
"I... well there new and... me with my arm... it's just not..." he began to babble.
"No, just shut up, shut up, just shut the fuck up" Carver sharply interpreted him, as Reggie deflated into a hopeless heap before Clementine's eyes.
"It was my fault, I promised him I'd help Sarah and..." Clementine interjected quickly knowing it would come to no avail, despite her extended response Carver's response was the same.
"Nah, it ain't your fault" his voice as hard as the grit you found stockpiled at the sides of roads.
He continued to glare at Reggie who couldn't look his leader in the eye.
"Girls, why don't you wait outside me and Reggie need to have a chat here" he instructed them coldly.
Sarah and Clementine shuffled out of the greenhouse silently Reggie's last words to her drifted to her ears "Thanks for the help girls" she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.
The door closed, Sarah began to panic praying something bad wasn't going to occur as Carver scared her to a great degree, noticing her friend pacing off towards the edge of the roof Clementine approached her slowly as Sarah tried to calm down by gazing at the indigo sky and brushes of faint white clouds beyond the endless hills of pine trees.
"Sarah..." she begun before the door crashed open behind her, Reggie was pleading "NO! BILL NO! PLEASE!" Clementine ran forwards as Sarah froze at the sight of this violent encounter, Carver was shoving him mercilessly towards the edge of the roof. "I GIVE YOU ONE JOB AND YOU FUCK IT UP! Carver bellowed as (with a final shove) Reggie went tumbling from the roof and landed with a sickening splat onto the cold grey gravel below. Clearly dead and still as blood oozed from his neck.
Clemetine was still shocked by how fast it had happened as she looked down upon Reggie's lifeless body.
"Weakness, incompetence, it puts us all at risk, remember that the next time your asked to do a job"
Clementine would remember that indeed, she looked back at Sarah as Carver turned to them both.
"Go on downstairs Bonnie's got some stuff for you to do" He instructed Clementine, she already headed off in the direction of the rusty red door, Sarah's eyes were widened in panic but Clementine's stern stare gave her a bit of comfort.
"I mean the world's not all good, Clementine's had a lot of bad stuff happen to her, you need to be strong for her Sarah" she urged herself so even when Carver approached her she tried her hardest to keep a straight face.
Mere feet away, Clementine may have still been shook up but she knew what was coming. She could have saved Reggie, but really she barely knew Reggie, his death shook her but did not destroy her as her new found friends deaths would. Reggie's death wouldn't be in vain, because this would be Carver's downfall.
Murdering an innocent and likeable man because he was "weak" some people in this camp may have agreed with that logic.
Others, like Bonnie would finally see Carver for what he was and this death was what drove her to distrust him in the first place, this distrust and Carver's dictatorship like behaviour would ultimately be his downfall.
As she descended the steps back to Bonnie, she also smiled because when she was speaking to Sarah about her past it didn't feel like she was planning anything, she felt like she could finally and fully open up to a true friend, her sympathy and reaction to her story was all she needed and she liked friends who could listen.
She reached the ground floor, readjusting the cap on her head.
"Here we go" she muttered nervously.
These next events would be the biggest and most risky parts of her plan.