A/N: Thanks for the continued reviews!

Lockdown- That "scene" was awkward to write, but now it's out of the way I think you can establish Luke and Jane are now an item and thanks for the review!

Eggomypeggo- Thanks! I really appreciate that you think I should have wrote season 2, you're kind of reviews keep me motivated and writing and I'm no near out of steam yet.

Maximo- Wow, loads of people are complimenting me regarding the last chapter, but better than season 1? That means a hell of a lot to me, I don't think this fic is as good as season 1, I simply wrote it as what I would change in Season 2 (from episode 3 onwards)

swiftlavignee- Thanks! I'm surprised so many took a shine to this fic as it's my first and I expected it not do as well. But 200 plus reviews? Over 40 favourites? Those figures alone keep me writing and motivated.

obsessed naruhina fangirl- Thank you as always. and I reckon this is our first disagreement as I would save Nick. You made great points for saving Sarah, but I grew to like Nick more (as much as I liked Sarah) as much as I'd regret killing Sarah it would take her a while to adapt and grow in the apocalypse. Whereas Nick (as much as a loose cannon as he is) will have grown loyal to Clementine and is already knows how grim the world really is, I could see him remaining loyal to Clem and protecting her till the end.

I originally planned for this story to be much shorter, I reckon I'm aiming at 50-odd chapters (maybe less) before I finish this. If the rebellion were to succeed I reckon I would add an epilogue. But you'll have to wait and see.

and finally AquaDesintysEmbrace thank you for your review! and the best part of chapter 19 was Tess beating Carver to death, can't wait to see what you've got coming.

"You got everything?"

"You think I'd leave it" Sarah told him, both of them were crawling into bed, during their "dinner" of canned foods that evening they had found new clothing. Folding up their old clothes, Nick was glad to finally get out of his dirty black t-shirt and army patterned trousers that seemed to be getting tighter on him. As he slipped into some some stale (yet cleaner) plain black (yet more loose) jogging bottoms. He also draped himself in a thick blue jacket that could conserve body heat.

The two of them nitpicked through the piles of clothing in the cupboards, eventually Sarah managed to find similar plain black trousers that fit her and put on a green hoodie, "I don't like the colour" she admitted as she placed it on herself.

"Well it ain't about looking cute, this should keep you warm and keep you camouflaged" Nick told her comparing her navy green hoodie, to the lush green vegetation from outside of the cabin. It seemed as though in this... Sarah had even more chance of surviving.

"I guess that makes sense" Sarah told him, as she smiled shyly.

Night fell sooner rather than later, with their stomachs full and with their minds made up to walk back to the hardware store at early morning. Nick and Sarah lay down on the double bed once again.

"Today was a good day" Sarah mused happily to him as Nick looked up to the black celling above him.

"Yeah it was" Nick agreed, his treasured photos all now secure in his shoes. (His Uncle Pete used to store things, mostly money, into his shoes all the time) Nick thought it was stupid and at the time. But seeing as things could fall out of pockets (and caps) he had decided to finally follow his uncle's wise ideas.

"Night" Sarah called out to him.

"Night" Nick grunted back, falling into an easy slumber.

In contrast, Clementine walked into a pen that couldn't have been more awake or alert.

Kenny (as per always) was leading tonight's discussion. Clementine placed herself on her seat, these nightly discussions made her feel like she was the guest on one of those talk shows she used to watch with her parents a lifetime ago...

"... I don't care if she didn't really betray us! You need weeks to recover from childbirth, she can't straight out murder two people!" Russell was ranting to Kenny. Tonight's argument seemed pretty intense, as everyone was leaning further forwards out from their seats. The fire in the centre of the pen, may as well have been symbolic for the fire inside everyone tonight.

"She can do it! If she doesn't we still rebel, we gotta try this time! No more damn deals! Clem and Rebecca have got us into the best position possible here, but now's the time to strike!" Kenny exclaimed clasping his large hands together for extra effect, as Russell merely rolled his eyes.

"Russell thinks were being too hasty with our rebellion. Everyone else thinks that bullshit, me included" Mike told a blank faced Clementine. She had begun to grow to trust the ex-fireman to give her the latest news in a calm manner and not force the news down her throat. Accepting this with a nod she turned back to see what Russell had to say.

"Some of us are going to die! Why can't we just try and dispose of Carver without the need of full on fucking bloodbath!?" Russell demanded of everyone else.

"Look here boy, you haven't suffered like we have. That fucker killed Walter and Alvin! Oh and let's not forget Reggie, Becca, Nick and Sarah, those 12 rebels! and those 9 guards yesterday! And then he stripped us and beat our asses! That fucker has put us through hell and I have no intention of letting me, Sarita or anyone else go through that again!" Kenny was screaming now, he finished his rant panting heavily. Leaving a heavy and profound silence among the pen dwellers.

"Hear, Hear, give the man a medal!" Wyatt finally spoke up.

"His right, we have too dispose of Bill as soon as possible Russell" Shel began, she looked around too see all attention was on her as she continued "I lost my sister to that madman and I happily die just to ensure that no one else suffered like I did. Look, we've accepted some of us will die during this rebellion, but it has to happen Russell, either we die fighting against that madman or die working for him. I know which one I'd prefer" Shel concluded as Kenny smiled.

"Thank you Shel... oh yeah Clementine" he called out, as his eyes locked on her as if she had noticed she was there for the first time.

"Yeah" she said. Unsure of where this was going or if Kenny wanted her to do something.

"Do you remember Vernon and that group from Savannah?"

Clementine look of bewilderment must have displayed to everyone, at the random question that had come out of nowhere. Russell himself outright asked "What the hell has that got to do with anything? You're just changing the subject" he accused Kenny.

"This is between me and her and I want her to know this" Kenny replied.

"What about Vernon and that group?" Clementine interjected quickly as Russell opened his mouth, Before Russell could shout over Kenny. Kenny dived into his explanation.

"You know how they stole the boat we found? Well Shel and Stephanie here said what remained of their group lost the boat, and that Vernon and all of them died" he finished there abruptly, expecting Clementine's response, after a full minute of solid staring she eventually had to ask him "What?" she was supposed to feel.

"What? What matters Clementine is the fucker who ruined our first chance of finding an island is dead! I thought you'd be happy with that news. I know I am" Kenny mused as Clementine continued to stare at him in silence. Vernon had hardly ever spoken to her and she hadn't seen the rest of the group. When she asked Omid and Christa about what happened to the boat, they told her it was stolen from the cancer survivors, Clementine didn't feel anything. She barely knew these people so she couldn't fully hate them for it...

Yet, Kenny seemed too.

"They were nice people! They regretted taking that boat you know?" Stephanie spoke up, standing up for her dead friends. (Especially Boyd, who had always been kind to her and was the main person to fight her corner and convince Roman to give her a second chance after Shel and Becca left). She would not sit here and listen to him being insulted from beyond the grave and not do anything about it.

"Regardless they still stole our boat!" Kenny angrily told them.

"This Vernon guy was the main guy who wanted to steal your boat, Joyce, Clive and Boyd regretted it. As I much as I agree with your ideas Kenny, the fact that you're happy about the deaths of some helpless, elderly, cancer patients, makes me worry about you Kenny" Shel seemed to finish her lecture glaring at Kenny who merely responded with "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I never liked Vernon..."

"Look as charming as this whole conversation is, can we-get-back-to-the-point!" Russell demanded, his thick black brows furrowed downwards in growing fury.

"Our rebellion plan is set in stone" Jane told him from where she and Luke sat next to each other. Their hands were interlinked, yet no one seemed to be paying much attention to them, other than Bonnie. Whose blue orbs would fly back to the new couple, before quickly shifting away, a look of sadness flickering on her freckled face.

"So what do you want to discuss then?" Russell shot at Jane.

"I want to talk more about that boat plan Kenny and Clem had" Jane answered as she looked over to Kenny and Clementine. Clementine decided to explain.

"Well... we were in Savannah and we tried to find a boat, but all of them were already gone. We found one... but that got stolen as you just heard about. Our plan was too find an island, because walkers can't swim, we thought we could find a true safe haven on a small island with no walkers" Clementine informed Jane. Back in Savannah she was too keen on finding her parents to focus much on the plan, but now she was older and understood more (aided with Christa and Omid's knowledge).

Jane's brows lifted in surprise, "Thinking far ahead, that might be a really good idea to reboot" she stated.

"What?" Sarita inquired.

"Look, if something goes wrong here and this Wellington place you guys keep going on about, turns out to be overrun or some fantasy, then what?" she asked of the group as the looked down, without an answer.

"I don't think we need to think that far ahead Jane" Luke told her softly.

"There's every chance, that even if we do take this place over. It might eventually fall. And then our plan is to get to Wellington and if we make it there and things are shit, then what? There's every chance something like that could happen" Jane told them as she ruffled her hair before continuing "But this finding a boat plan, seems like a good Plan C. Wellington is in Michigan right? So when we get there..."

"There are lakes" Kenny said as his eyes brightened "Freshwater lakes and loads of small islands, we could easily find a safe haven there and there has to be a few boats somewhere!" he exclaimed. He was getting excited over this prospect, Clementine supposed that this was a better thing to get excited about than the death of a elderly man he didn't like.

"This is brilliant! Why didn't you speak up before!?" Kenny asked in awe to Jane, who simply turned shrugged him off. "Let's just say I'm feeling talkative, but I've seen groups crack before. Mainly because they don't have an aim, other than just surviving, people need to think ahead if you're going to survive this" Jane explained proudly. Admittedly she had wondered around aimlessly for months before she stumbled across Howard's Hardware, but now, with Luke's by her side and watching the group work together... her hope in humanity and actually finding salvation was returning.

"Yeah, I hate to break this up, but we haven't even executed Plan A yet, so before we get to Plan Z, can we please get back the fucking point!" Russell nagged as Kenny rounded on him.

"The plan is set in stone like Jane said, what more is there to discuss?" he asked of the hot headed man. Russell's pointed a single finger at Sarita.

"What, me?" Sarita asked, she was as confused as everybody else.

"What's the deal with my girl?" Kenny growled as Russell began to explain.

"Okay Kenny so I agree with you, we fuck shit up and shoot everyone we see. But can she?" he asked again gesturing at Sarita, as Sarita froze and looked at Kenny with wide eyes.

"What do you mean? Sarita here had to kill that rebel, she can damn well kill a few assholes now" He told Russell yet to his surprise, Sarita shook her head violently "Kenny... I... I'm not like you" she uttered sadly, her gaze finding the floor.

"What? Sarita... baby..." he cooed softly, ducking his head to meet Sarita at eye level, as she bowed her head to the floor "Sarita, if you can kill that rebel. I know you have it in you to shoot some assholes" he encouraged her softly as she shook her head once again.

"I... never shot a person before" she admitted quietly.

"Sarita, I need to know you have my back" He told her, yet Sarita looked up angrily as she muttered harshly "You keep saying just because I killed that rebel that I can now automatically kill everyone I meet!? It's not that straightforward Kenny!" she was panting in rage now as she collapsed into her hands, sobbing lightly as Kenny pulled her closer.

"Sarita... I... I'm sorry. I just... I didn't think that through. Okay? It's just I have to know if some fucker was about to shoot me, or Clementine or anyone here. Would you be willing to pull the trigger to save us?" he begged of her as she looked up with her shiny black marbles of eyes.

"I... I know I'd do anything to save you... but... pushing someone to their death is one thing... but I cannot imagine myself shooting people so causally" she shivered as Kenny pulled her to his chest "You're going to do it Sarita. You are. I know you can..."

As Kenny continued to encourage a still upset Sarita, Luke also spoke up "Look, I ain't too comfortable with killin' people like that either" he admitted to the group as Jane rounded on him.

"Not you as well, you of all people should know what assholes these guys are" She snapped.

"Look, I'll do it! But I won't like doing it! I just think it's wrong and makes us stoop to their level!" he quickly ushered out to Jane. Eager not to upset her, as they had just gotten so close.

"Luke, you're a nice guy and I don't want you to lose the morales you have. But were better than them, because we'll make their deaths quick. It's not a cruel thing to do, it's necessary. Besides we'll be giving them a much more quick and merciful death than they would ever give us" she concluded as others agreed with her point.

"Yeah, we just need them outta the way. We don't strip them down, and beat them and make them work to death" Mike said, backing up Jane's point as Luke gave an uncertain nod.

A sudden rattling at the shutter, turned all heads as Troy and Stan stood there. "STEPHANIE! JANE! YOU'RE REQUIRED FOR A JOB UP FRONT!" Troy roared at them. Jane stood up with a sour look on her heart shaped face.

"They may as well say, we'd like a fuck now. It's kinda obvious to everyone" she muttered, but before she could stride forward, Luke stood up next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this, not anymore" he said with a longing, as she shook his hand loose.

"Relax and don't get jealous big guy. This will be the last time that fucker touches me I promise it" she told him softly, she quickly planted a kiss on his cheek and muttered "I'll see you later" as she walked over to the shutter. Stephanie hot on her heels.

Stephanie was in deep thought. Wondering if she... yes... she would have too. The more she thought about it however. The more her stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots. But she had decided that earlier that day, that she had to do it.

It would be the final nail in the coffin for Carver and the thing that would drive everyone still sitting on the fence over to the pen dwellers side, despite the massive damage this would do to her. This was a sacrifice she was willing to take, in order to ensure their victory.

As they left the pen Luke sat back down again with a lost look on his face.

"Well... get in there bro!"Eddie told him clasping him back, as Luke smiled shyly.

"Thanks, I'm lucky to have her" he mused to a beaming Eddie.

"So... when did this start?" Shel asked in curiosity, she was smirking slightly, but she always loved it when people got together.

"Well... today in the greenhouses, it was a kiss and nothing more" Luke lied. No way, would he ever admit to anybody, he had been caught by Rebecca having wild sex with Jane.

Before Eddie could probe him further on the matter, one guard yelled from behind the shutter "GET TO BED YOU LOT!" which sent the pen dwellers slowly from their seats and into their bunks. Clementine had been rather silent this time round, but glad in the knowledge that the group were no longer relying on an 11 year old to make all the plans for them. Jane was proving a great asset to the group, now that she had dropped her cold exterior. If Jane believed this rebellion could work. Clementine believed it could too.

Crawling into her bunk she closed her eyes. As the others slept on. She was ready. She was eager to get out of this bunk and out of this pen and for the first time in a long time, actually reside in a safe haven and live happily.

Even if the community fell later on due to walkers or bandits. Overthrowing this community would be a memory she could treasure for the rest of her days.

Clementine would beat William Carver.

Nick had no nightmares that night, instead he found his eyes slowly opening, as his eyes adjusted to the pitch black of the night of the room around him. Seems like he had woken up too early, which felt odd. He still felt groggy as if he...

He realised then, that a pair of smaller hands were shaking his torso. Lifting his head from the pillow he could hear Sarah hissing at him in urgency "Nick... Nick..."

"What" he grumbled stupidly, his eyes still half open.

A sudden crash from downstairs made him bolt upwards, as she muttered "I heard them banging on the door..." she squeaked at him.

From downstairs he could hear the footsteps of several people, he felt his gut turn to ice.

"The door was locked for a reason. Check the damn cabin!" came a muffled, male, voice. But a deep one... one Nick recognised as...

"Shit" he muttered aloud.

It was that guy. Steve. Those bandits who were at the trailer park had found their way here.

And Nick could hear them rapidly stomping up the wooden stairs of the cabin, right towards their room...