A/N: Loving your reviews as always guys and the decision made last chapter seems to reflect on many of you as being a bad one and yes for this chapter there will be a ton of fireworks.
However I imagine that Clementine is... In Carver's words (or near enough) "one of those people who can make the tough decisions that weaker people wouldn't be able too" so her choice may be out of character but if she had the choice to save everyone to ally with Carver than I reckon she would do it for the group.
However this next chapter was a blast to write, (in terms of arguments and relationship changes and all that) and all you guys stay awesome!
Clementine walked back to the pen, her gut sinking with each step she took closer to the shutter she could see her friends around the small campfire.
She doubted they would be her "friends" after she revealed herself that she betrayed them.
But to her it had to be done. If they went ahead with the radio plan then how the hell was she meant to convince them it was a bad idea?
"Guys, this isn't gonna work we should wait..."
Luke had tried that method and it failed and even if she knew what "storm" was coming. She doubted she could save Sarita, Carlos in the mass confusion of that herd and even if she did, maybe someone else would end up with a bullet in their neck or be ripped to shreds by the walkers. Even with the knowledge of everything that was going to happen ,walking through the herd and surviving was pure and utter luck as the chaotic events exploded around her happened to fast for Clementine to control.
She wasn't superwoman, she couldn't run around the herd and kill them all, while carrying 10 people on her back. She may have been tough but at the end of the day she was an 11 year old girl, she had her limitations.
The female guard opened the shutter as Clementine walked into the pen, shed forgotten to speak to the guard, her mind was too preoccupied on her own actions, the more she tried to convince herself it was the right choice, the stupider it seemed.
She had entrusted a psychopath, given him a promise he would not stick by. By the dark glint in his eye he could see that he would disregard her promise in a heartbeat if he wanted too. Besides, there was no consequence for him if he broke the promise, whereas for Clementine... she shook her head as she strolled towards her group around the fire. When this came out they'd accuse her of saving herself over them (her friends), yet that was the polar opposite to what Clementine was trying to achieve.
She'd never be able to explain the truth to them, that she had seen the future, that she had seen what would happen to them all if they agreed to this seemingly sensible radio plan. Yet she would have to argue logic here, think like Carver... (a scary thought) slowly but silently she took her empty seat around the fire, her gut twisting , gazing into the flickering orange flames, the heat failing to warm in the slightest as she shook like a leaf...
"What have I done, What I have done?" she thought to herself.
"...this place will be fucking chaos when this herd hits..." Kenny was ranting towards the rest of the pen dwellers, Clementine noticed that Jane was still by herself.
"Your friend here wants to get us killed before the lurkers can do it" Rebecca told Clementine directly, Clementine felt herself squirm in her seat, lying to Luke was hard, but sitting here in front of everyone... it was agony. Rather than add suggestions to the group discussion she sat on the edge of her garden chair simply waiting for Carver to come in with Luke caught... he wondered if he would be the one who told everyone that she was the traitor.
He was taking too long, as discussion switched to Luke and how they could sneak him a radio "You know about Luke?" Clementine felt inclined to ask, (so she didn't appear too suspicious in her silence) in which Mike nodded. "Flagged us down when Troy wasn't looking, mentioned that he'd spoken to you..."
"Shit! What's he doing here!" Kenny suddenly exclaimed peering at the shutter, Clementine felt her heart leap to her throat, she didn't need telling about who "he" was but she knew exactly what was about to unfold, steeling what inner courage she had at this moment she turned to face the shutter.
Carver strolled in leisurely, as if he did this everyday, he was flanked by Troy to his left and Tavia to his right, both of them were wearing the same smug expressions that Carver had mastered. He stopped a few meters short of the fire "Evening folks' just thought I'd come to check how y'all getting on" He boomed merrily to the group, Clementine could feel the tension in the air skyrocket, everyone knew nothing good for them had happened if Carver was happy.
"What do you really want Bill?" Rebecca snapped at him when no one else spoke.
"Ah, Rebecca my sweet thing, ain't this place brilliant look we got beds and food and water, all to raise our kid..."
"Don't try to sweet talk me Bill, what are you here for?" she asked him firmly again, a look of pure hatred burning in her black coal pits of eyes.
Bill smiled at her, a smile that suggested he was toying with them all, when he next spoke his voice was one of feigned innocence "Like I said I just wanted to know what you people were... talking about" he said.
"Ain't none of your business Bill" Kenny spoke up mocking Carver's first name with a pronounced poison on his tongue.
"I believe it is my business Kenneth, besides you wouldn't happen to be talking about..."
Clementine saw him, Luke beaten and bloody being dragged forwards by his arms by two guards, Carver grabbed him by the scruff of the next as he moaned slightly, as every pen dweller (excluding Jane) gasped at the scene.
"...This" he spat before throwing Luke at their feet, as the younger man grunted in pain. Carlos was on him in a heartbeat inspecting his wounds, to Clementine she may have been angry that Carver had (already) broken the terms of the deal by hurting Luke. However his wounds were equal to those he received the first time he was battered, but he would recover with time.
He wasn't dead, that's what mattered.
"How did you know!?" Rebecca shrieked in shock at Carver.
"Well you see here my sweetie, somebody in this pen saw common sense and brought this whole Let's sneak a radio to Luke thing to my attention. This person is the reason I didn't shoot Luke on sight, so you should be thankful that you're here and I plan for you all to stay here for a long, long time"
The shadows of the orange fire danced across his face, making him look the ever more sinister as he turned to leave them.
"WHO TOLD YOU!?" Kenny asked desperately of Carver, but the leader of the community didn't even turn to face him.
"You all have a nice evening now" he muttered in the same sly tone he had used back at the cabin before he left, he kept on walking as Troy and Tavia closed the shutter behind him with a demoralizing clunk.
"HEY! HEEEEEY! WHO TOLD YOU!" Kenny called after him.
"His not going to answer you Kenny" Rebecca snapped irritated, mainly because their master plan had just fallen right in front of their eyes.
"Is Luke okay?" Nick asked of Carlos as he bent down to inspect his best friend over 20 years.
"There's some obvious bruising and some damage to the ribs, but other than that, this should heal with time" he reassured Nick who sighed in relief.
"Now Luke's been beaten to shit and our escape plan is in tatters all because someone fucking told on us!" Kenny shouted each word growing louder in an uncontrollable rage, Clem gulped this was not something she wanted to face.
"Kenny, we don't want to start a witch hunt" Sarita said to trying calm her boyfriend down.
"We have too Sarita, some fucker is a snitch around here and I ain't sleepin' tonight till I know who it is!" He yelled going off on one.
"Carver could have just been messing with us, maybe they just found Luke by chance" Nick spoke up as he inspected over his friend.
"Oh no... someone grassed all right..." Luke grunted from where he stared at the floor, blood dripping from his lower lip, he finally looked up at everyone who was watching him carefully.
"I know I was hidden well and then Troy and Tavia come in scouting the damn store saying he could be in here! And... bang, they find me! They were defiantly tipped off and we need to know who tipped them off!" Luke told the others, Clementine simply found it amazing that he and Kenny shared common ground for once.
"Yes, Thank you Luke finally somebody speaks some sense" Kenny told him as the two shared a some-what friendly smile.
"And how exactly are you planning on getting this person to confess?" Rebecca asked sceptically.
"Don't you want them to be caught!?" Kenny demanded of her.
"Of course I do! Whoever sold us out to Carver has left me and my baby here! I want more than anything to catch this traitor but I'm just pointing out that it's going to be difficult" Rebecca explained to him.
"I reckon I got a pretty good idea on who grassed on us" Kenny growled before turning sharply to Mike "So Mike, anything you want to say?"
"Kenny!" Sarita warned him, this came to no avail.
"You are not serious, you think I want to stay in this shit-hole?" Mike asked of him, as Kenny scoffed.
"Well, we barely know you Mike and you'd have the most reason to do this" Kenny accused him.
"I just want to get the work done, I don't want to frame nobody!" Mike yelled in his defence, for Clementine this was getting difficult to watch.
"I don't believe you Mike" Kenny growled, this was about to get ugly, luckily for Clementine, Nick noticed it too and swept in for the rescue.
"Look, maybe if we think about it guys, Carver said he'd kill Luke if it wasn't for someone telling on him" He began.
"Are you saying you support whoever did this!?" Rebecca squeaked angrily.
"No, I just..." Nick began hastily before he found his deep voice once again "I'm just saying, whoever did it may have had their reasons and maybe those reasons were stupid and uncalled for... but they did it too protect us" he summarised calmly.
Clementine found it Ironic that the trigger happy, village idiot was the one speaking the most sense here, however she suddenly realised why Nick would say such a thing, no doubt he was thinking about killing Matthew on the bridge, his actions had been stupid and uncalled for... but he did it too protect the group.
He could relate.
"Oh, I see trying to ease your conscious aren't you boy?" Kenny began as Nick paled considerably.
"What... no... I was just saying..." Nick began to stutter not liking how all eyes found him in an accusing manner.
"You did shoot that man on the bridge Nick, I know you want to protect the group but your decisions are usually rash, I know this sounds harsh but I am certain that you told Carver about the radio" Carlos said, a damming verdict on Nick, however before he could defend himself Sarita spoke up.
"What... shooting a man on the bridge? Matthew!?" she came to the conclusion with a shocked gasp.
Everyone was waiting, slowly but surely Nick nodded as Sarita burst into a chorus of pained sobs.
"... I didn't mean too... I mean... It looked like he...he... was about to shoot my friends..." Nick babbled haplessly, his eyes whizzing around to every observing face, Sarita looked up at him with a new sense of loath in her darkened eyes.
"SHUT UP YOU STUPID MAN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" Sarita roared at him with an unexpected rage flaring inside of her, causing Nick to shrink into himself, he never felt so pathetic or worthless in his whole life as his mouth slowly shut like a dying fish.
"Well if you shot Matthew there ain't a doubt in my mind that you're the idiot who told Carver our whole plan" Kenny concluded a dark glint in his eye and he sat there glaring at Nick.
"I fucked up when I shot Matthew, I really did! But... I swear I didn't tell Carver any of this!" he pleaded of them in the same desperate apologetic tone he had used with Walter.
"You don't sound too convincing Nick" Carlos accused him.
"You... didn't... did you?" Luke asked him.
"What!? No! You know I wouldn't Luke! You know me best! Why would you even say that!?" he demanded, getting very defensive, no doubt Luke's doubt and lack of faith in his friend is what hurt Nick more than Kenny's fists, or Sarita's harsh insults could.
"So, it was you then..." Kenny said standing up. Clementine felt sick but if she didn't speak up now, Nick would take the fall for something she had done. She had to come clean, but this only made it worse that she wasn't even suspected in this "crime" Nick and Mike had been given most of the stick and now she would have to bear the brunt of it.
"Kenny stop! It wasn't Nick!" Clementine yelled her heart beating at a million miles of hour as she stood in front of Nick, shielding him with her arms outstretched.
"I know you want to protect him Clementine, but Nick needs to learn the consequences for rash actions" Carlos snapped, as Sarah buried her face in her hands as she tried to control her breathing.
"I don't want to see this!" she squeaked as Carlos placed a comforting arm around her.
"Get out the way Clem" Kenny instructed.
"No it wasn't Nick!" Clementine persisted.
"We know it's him...!" Kenny began but he never finished as Clementine shouted over him.
"It wasn't Nick! I know that... because... it was me"
The fire crackled on as an uneasy silence fell over the pen, Clementine felt beads of sweat roll down her forehead, she couldn't bear it, but she had to do it, she store Kenny back into the eye and tried hard not to blink.
"Clem... you don't have to cover for him" he muttered eventually his jaw slack.
"No" she said firmly still looking at him "I did it, I told Carver where Luke was I made a deal with him that if I told him where Luke was, then he or any of his guards wouldn't kill any of us here" she told him.
"And you believed a promise Bill would make!?" Rebecca asked in disgusted disbelief, this was going to get nasty...
"It was all I had Rebecca" Clementine said.
Well, if she had improved anything all glares were off Nick as she knew she was in the hot-seat right now.
"Clem... how could you? I thought you'd agreed to get those radio's" Luke asked of her, again pulling his trademark Puppy dog face...
"What... Clem... you've doomed us all... do you know that!?" Kenny shouted, a rage blinding him as he charged towards the girl, thankfully Sarita managed to crash into him and calm him down "KENNY YOU CAN'T HIT A LITTLE GIRL!" She screamed.
"JUST BECAUSE SHE'S A LITTLE GIRL! DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO HER!"Kenny roared.
"LOOK AROUND YOU!" Clementine finally shouted back anger coursing through her veins, these people hadn't seen the future, they hadn't seen what she had seen.
"REBECCA'S ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH ANY DAY NOW! DO YOU REALLY THINK WE CAN DO THAT OUT THERE!? WHERE ARE WE GOING TO FIND FOOD HUH!? AND WATER AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES, WE ALL NEED TO HEAL UP AND WAIT! YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE MY DECISION BUT I MADE IT FOR THE GOOD OF THE GROUP!"
She panted as her rant ended as quickly as it had started.
"Well you've just doomed the group" Rebecca snapped her antagonistic tone returning to her voice.
"I can't bear this I need to go to bed, I hope this is just a bad dream" Sarita moaned massaging her forehead.
"Yeah c'mon hon, we'll all enjoy our comfortable beds thanks to a certain someone" Kenny snapped shooting Clementine a glare fuelled with hatred.
She averted her eyes to the floor.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted, now stay the hell away from my daughter" Carlos told her angrily as he helped Sarah to bed, she exchanged a quick glance with Sarah as the rest of the group turned away from her, no doubt giving her the silent treatment, she sighed as they all moved away from her, she knew this decision would be unpopular. But she would suffer a bout of loneliness to save everyone's lives.
Well she thought she was alone, that is until she heard a deep voice behind her.
"Hey Clem?"
It was Nick, he looked at her with his deep blue eyes of his.
"I just wanna say, I don't blame you and thinking about it, maybe it is for the best you did make some valid points I mean what if Rebecca does give birth?" he asked of her.
"I know" she replied.
"I bet you thought I was stupid and first and hell I still am I reckon but..." Nick began.
"Were the one's here that would go to extreme lengths to protect the group and that's why you understand the choice I made. So thank you Nick" she said sweetly.
Nick rarely smiled, so when he did you knew it was genuine.
"No problem and thanks for saving my lousy ass by telling everyone, I'll make it up to you, I swear" he said beaming as he departed to his own bed, both of them were in the shit as of now, although it was nice to have a friend.
Especially at a time like this.