A/N: Thanks for all the support guys!
Rebloxic- Thanks for the continued support and reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Obsessed naruhina fangirl- Still loving your reviews and I'll agree with you there I never liked Becca much anyhow and I felt like (if I kept her around) her views and angry outbursts would hold Shel back, however with Becca gone this leaves a lot of routes for me to develop Shel's character (and she's got Stephanie as her support)
AquaDestinyEmbrace- Yep Carver's a psycho and I'm glad his coming across this way. A villain but one with a lot of cunning.
P.S. I thought there'd be a lot of Tavia hate as I'm shaping her up to be the third jerk after Troy and Carver, but I guess that will come in time.
Now, on with the chapter...
"So were salvaging from this scrap" Stephanie explained as she lifted a rotting can into the still air "Just nitpick around that pile on the table and if you find any goods, put into onto a separate pile on the floor to your right"
"Okay" Clementine said to show she understood as she extended her small hand and took a chunk of rotting, jutted metal from the pile of junk "What do we do with useless scarp?" She asked as she held the useless metal in her hands.
"Just chuck into that bin over there" Stephanie said pointing to a small black bin in the corner of the room, Clementine took aim and threw the metal with force, the useless chunk of scarp landed inside of the bin almost perfectly with a clang.
"Nice shot kid!" Stephanie complimented with a small smile as her hands dug back into the scarp pile, this sudden kindness made Clementine feel wary and she wondered if this was a false front and if her kindness would simply be blown back in her face as it had with Tavia, why else would Bill send her to work with Stephanie? If Stephanie was being kind to her it was too simply to gain more information from her.
She was a spy for Bill no doubt.
Clementine kept her lips sealed, but barely three seconds had passed when Stephanie's strong aqua eyes found Clementine's hazel one's once again.
"For a girl who can look Bill in the eyes and not flinch you're surprisingly mute" she commented.
Clementine didn't reply, Stephanie sighed as she chucked a piece of scarp into the bin behind her before muttering "You know you don't have to be this way around me, I know what happened to Becca wasn't your fault"
"Well everyone else seems to think it is" Clementine snapped at last, forgetting her earlier rule of silence.
"I know they do, but I know what Bill's like and I've wanted to leave this camp for a while now, but Shel always convinced me to stay... but now that's Becca's dead, maybe she'll see some sense..."
"Just stop trying to be my friend" Clementine spat, this woman was defiantly putting on a front, Carver wanted to know if she was still planning to escape no doubt.
"Why would you say that? I'm trying to help you here kiddo and let you know I'm on your side" Stephanie told her as she found a useful pocket knife in the scarp pile, Clementine watched her place it onto the floor to the right of her. As she finished this Clementine spoke, "I know Carver's using you to spy on me, just like he used Tavia to spy on me" she told the young woman whose wide bright blue orbs shrank to silts when Tavia's name was mentioned.
"That fat bitch is Carver's lapdog, I swear to you I'm not" Stephanie pleaded of Clementine.
"I don't know you so how can I trust you?" Clementine demanded of her.
Stephanie paused and thought about how to get this girl on her side, eventually she smiled as a plan formulated in her mind "Okay then I admit it, I am a spy for Bill and I'm going to tell him that you're planning to escape" Stephanie mused as Clementine's gazed at her sceptically.
"Tell him then, I don't care" Clementine said, as she found a small rusted red hammer in the scarp pile, as she placed that to the floor she heard Stephanie speak "Well even if I do tell on you, it really can't get worse for you, I mean you're in the pen and all, Carver may know you have a plan but he won't act until you act. Do you get what I'm saying? and for the record I'm not really's Carver's spy"
Clementine thought about this woman's words carefully, Carver could have Clementine shot dead in a second if he wished, he'd be willing to push aside a "deal" with a powerless eleven year old to secure the future of his community. Yet he hadn't done that yet. The illusion of the "deal" still hung around the hardware store, if Clementine had any chance of escaping she needed as many allies as she could muster and in all honesty Stephanie had a point. At this point it couldn't really get any worse, spy or none spy.
"Okay fine, I don't care if you tell Carver or not but I'm planning on getting out of here" Clementine admitted to the young woman as her face broke into a huge smile.
"I knew it! Wyatt and Eddie were telling me earlier how you saved them from the walkers and you and Bonnie get on like a house on fire. Trust me kid we're not all Carver's puppets here, we have minds of our own" Stephanie informed Clementine to her delight.
"That's what I was hoping for" Clementine muttered as cool as a cucumber.
"I mean I know it can be hard to trust people but... you need someone to have your back in these times" Stephanie told her as she looked nervously at the door, Clementine could tell she wanted to say something outrageous without being overheard, eventually (deducing that nobody was leant against the door listening in) Stephanie spoke...
"I mean fuck Carver, his a psycho, I wanted to leave here I really did but the last time I tried to leave a group I didn't trust... it went badly"
"What happened?" Clementine asked intrigued.
"Me, Shel and Becca were at an old diner, with a guy called Roman. We caught someone trying to steal from us, so we decided to kill the guy and after that things got worse, I just... had to get out of there! I took some supplies and tried to high tail it outta there"
"You got caught didn't you?" Clementine predicted already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, Roman caught me and locked me in the back of a truck. He wanted to kill me just like we did to the guy before and he wanted Shel to do it. But..." (she smiled warmly at this) "she didn't, her and Becca drove away in the RV they had. After that I had to beg for forgiveness and Roman spared my life... but if Shel hadn't driven away in the first place I know I'd be dead. I could never repay her for saving my life" Stephanie's eyes were on the celling, before she quickly regained her composure.
"Anyway eventually we had to leave the diner and one by one our group started dying, eventually it was just me and Roman and eventually we found Bill's place here. God, I couldn't believe it I saw Shel and Becca again, even if Roman was furious at them for driving away and Becca was angry at me for stealing in the first place... it was a reunion I dreamt about for months but actually living it..." she smiled as her closed as she savoured the memory "It was probably the best moment in my life, back then Bill was like a God to me"
"And now his a psycho to you?" Clementine reminded her, cutting off her happy memory.
"Roman went off on a supply run and never came back" Stephanie stated sadly as her eyes found the floor, "It wasn't just Roman others never came back too, since then Bill started to lose it... he...became obsessed with protecting the group and rooting out those that were a burden, but now Roman's gone and now Becca's... just gone, I used to get along with her so well, barely an hour ago she was alive and now..." she muffled a sob at this point before ploughing on "...I mean who knows who will be next?" Stephanie asked of her.
"Carver's dangerous" Clementine summarised.
"That's true, but I just want to know why you made that deal with him" Stephanie asked Clementine in curiosity, Clementine couldn't tell her about the future, however she could argue her logical viewpoint "My group needs to rest and recover, Rebecca will give birth any day now, the others are injured, I know Carver's dangerous but if he can hold the community together then that just gives us more time to plan to break out of here" Clementine explained to her.
"Nice, hopefully he doesn't kill half of your group by the time you have an escape plan" Stephanie joked without any humour in her voice.
"I know, but maybe you and some of the others can help" Clementine asked using her best puppy dog eyes on the woman, as Stephanie's brows lifted upwards in sympathy. "Kid, I'm already on your side and I'll try to convince Shel as well, I'm sure she doesn't blame you in the slightest, but God knows what Bill's telling her. But I promised I'd repay the favour, she saved my life now I'll save her's by getting her out of here" Stephanie summarised as Clementine grinned, again she was gathering more allies.
"Thank you Stephanie" Clementine said sweetly.
"Sure thing kid, or can I call you Clem?" she asked.
"Sure" Clementine replied.
For the next few hours they got on with there work, by the time Clementine's back and bum were sore Stephanie's walkie talkie came to life and a nasally male voice flew across the room "Hey Steph! Come to me in 5, get the girl back to the pen as it supper time for em!" he commanded.
"Sure thing Stan" Stephanie replied placing the walkie talkie on the now empty table as she stood up. "Well doesn't time fly Clem?" she quizzed of the younger girl, as she stretched her arms.
"Yeah" Clementine answered not really paying attention, her thoughts locked on what awaited her back in the pen and the oncoming herd tonight.
"Just keep quiet, especially tonight with that herd coming, that pen isn't as secure as the rest of the store" Stephanie warned her.
"I'll try and tell the others that" Clementine said.
Stephanie smiled warmly at her, before she faced the door ahead of her "Still with the herd coming tonight I don't why Stan would want..." she paused suddenly realising she was in a room with a little girl and not her usual friend Shel.
"Stan wants what?" Clementine asked intrigued.
"Nothing... just... it's another reason I wanna leave this place and just be thankful you're a little girl" Stephanie's told her, yet her eyes were shifty as she folded her arms across her chest in a defensive manner, this defiantly raised Clementine's awareness of what was really going on in this camp.
"I'll be off then" Clementine said heading towards the door of the stuffy room.
"Yeah and remember Bill put us together because he thought we wouldn't get on, don't tell anyone what we've been saying or they'll get suspicious if you know what I'm taking about?" Stephanie quizzed of her.
"I get it, we can't be friends in front of other people" Clementine explained fully understanding the situation.
"Smart girl, you keep silent and I'll keep on batting my eyelids, we'll have them all fooled" there was a childish excitement in Stephanie's voice that was infectious and made Clementine feel like she was in on a big secret too.
"Yeah" Clementine whispered, as she turned to the door, before she could open it, Stephanie caught her shoulder.
"By the way, this fell out your pocket, I thought it would mean a lot to you so I scooped it up under Bill's nose"
Clementine was truly thankful when Stephanie handed her the torn photo of Lee that she treasured, realising this gesture meant she had another friend and ally she thanked Stephanie one more time before departing towards the pen, securing the photo deep into the depths of her pocket and checking it was there every two to three seconds as a silent female guard quickly lead her towards the pen.
Clementine was thinking again... not about the pen but on about Stephanie's friend Roman. The one who had gone missing, along with many others. Her mind connected the dots as she thought about the bodies back at the river, shot and torn to pieces. Was that really the work of simply Johnny, Bonnie, Troy and Carver? She'd have to ask Bonnie if she had the chance, either way her mind flashed to Arvo's group and possible other bandits roaming the forest.
How safe was it out there? Walkers could be handled, but people... people were always different.
Yet as she entered the pen, the gathering herd outside made her shudder due to their sheer numbers and their groans and moans they were making, the majority of the group stood huddled by the small fire conversing in low voices over something that sounded urgent. Checking that her photo of Lee in her pocket one more time, she proceeded forwards.
Hoping that for once that the news would be good.
Although she hugely doubted that.