The Walking Dead: Red Glasses
Hello again, I hope you are enjoying this so far but I'm not going to leave a huge authors note this time, Straight into the action!
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Actions
(POV change)
%%%%% Time skip/ scene change %%%%%
(Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or anything affiliated with it, it is owned by TellTale Games and Blue Sky Industries)
A House Divided: An Intruder
(Sarah's POV)
"There is something you need to know" Clementine told me, she seemed serious.
I instantly began to worry, I also realised that my dad told her not to tell me anything. He was always like that, very strict.
She told me he was fine, but it was something else that she was going to tell me. Eagerly I waited for an explanation, I was a little nervous about what she was going to say.
She had a look of contemplation, as if she was weighing options. And then she finally looked at me to speak.
"The reason why Pete, Blake and I didn't come back until today is because we were attacked by walkers down by the stream" she told me gently.
"Oh my gosh…" I gasped, "What happened?" I was concerned for the others.
"We managed to get away, I went with Nick but he got separated from me. That's why everyone else is out there looking for him" she explained.
"Everyone will come back, right?" I asked her.
"Probably, they're smart and can take care of themselves" she replied.
I was both relieved and anxious. The way she responded with 'probably' didn't help my fears. I turned away from her and tried to compose myself.
For as long as I can remember I've always been a nervous wreck, I even had to get therapy for it, but now I only had my dad to keep me calm. He always told me to try and think of the best case scenario and take deep breaths.
"I'm sorry, I-I just need to…" I stuttered and sat down.
Thinking about it logically I realised that what she said was true, they were smart, plus my dad was with them so of course they'd come back.
Clem sat down across from me, and I could tell she was concerned for me, after I began to calm down she looked at me with a small smile. I felt better after that.
Smiling back I asked her eagerly, "want to see what I found?"
Getting back up, I went over to the bed and knelled down and pulled a metal object from under it and showed it to Clem.
It was a gun that I that I had found when scavenging under the house.
"Will you show me how to use it?" I requested.
(Clem's POV)
I looked at the pistol with a bit of unease, worried if it was loaded.
"I couldn't find any bullets" she told me, as if reading my mind.
'Well, that's one less thing to worry about' I noted.
I was a little apprehensive about teaching her to use the gun, Carlos definitely wouldn't be pleased, not that I really cared but I didn't want to get Sarah in trouble.
"What if I have to use one?" she asked, trying to convince me.
Her question was a sound one, what if she had to use one someday and didn't know how to handle it? It could mean life or death. Besides she should know how to use one anyway in this sort of world.
I agreed with her, "alright, as long as you don't tell your dad" I added that condition.
"I won't, I promise" Sarah swore to me.
With those words I began to teach her how to use a pistol. She took the pistol and held it with both hands, one hand on the grip and the other covering the trigger guard. Completely wrong way to hold it but it was a start. She also held it close to her face with her elbows too close to her body.
"First, remember it's just a thing" I echoed the same word's Lee told me when he taught me.
"What does that mean?" she asked me with a confused voice.
"Um… I don't know" I told her honestly, I never understood why Lee said that.
"Maybe it means that it's harmless without a person using it?" Sarah theorised.
"… You might be right about that" I agreed with her, she was definitely smart.
Looking at it, Sarah squinted, "I thought it'd be heavier" she remarked.
"I thought that too when I first held one" I told her.
"Ok, what do I do?" she waited her next instruction.
Taking her arms and hands, I repositioned them correctly so that her arms were straightened out but not rigid and her hands were safely on the hand guard of the gun.
"The most important thing is, always aim for the head" I told her the main rule of fighting Walkers.
"Okay" she replied, getting used to the hold of the gun.
"Unless it's a person trying to hurt you" I added.
"Then what do I do?" she wondered.
"Just keep shooting" I told her a little bit too coldly, her face looked a little nervous when I said that.
I mentally face palmed at my tone, not being in bigger groups does that to you.
"What should I shoot?" she asked.
Aiming her gun around she turned back to me and pointed it in my direction, I instinctively ducked for cover.
"Don't do that!" I raised my voice somewhat harshly.
Sarah put her hands up in defence, "s-sorry! Sorry…" she stuttered with an apologetic tone.
I felt a little bad for yelling at her, but I did have a point in doing so.
"I'm sorry, you should be careful when aiming guns at people, even if they aren't loaded" I spoke more calmly.
She nodded silently.
"Maybe I could practice outside" she suggested, "there's that tree" she looked out the window.
She had a smile on her face when she spoke, "hey, Luke's back!" she announced to me cheerfully.
I went to take a look but all I saw was a shadow of a man walk towards the cabin, I was suspicious but Sarah had already left to go downstairs.
I decided to follow her, this could be trouble.
(Sarah's POV)
Walking down the stairs I could see a shadow move past, it looked familiar but I couldn't see properly.
When I got to the wall between Alvin and Rebecca's room and the hallway to the front door I stopped and noticed who the man was, he began knocking on the door and spoke.
"Hello" the deep, scratchy voice echoed through the hall.
Fear was all I felt in that moment, pure and unrelenting fear of being caught.
Clementine came down and stood in front of me, looking at the door.
"That's not Luke" I whispered to her, my breath becoming more unstable.
I looked back and got a good view of him, I remembered him.
"Clem, I think I know him" I panicked, my voice jumping into a higher pitch.
A few more knocks on the door rattled in my mind.
"He can't see me" I warned Clem, "you have to make him go away" pleaded to the younger girl.
"Who is he?" Clem asked me.
I rattled my brain but I couldn't focus, "I… I don't remember" my voice was getting shakier.
More knocks, "hello…?" he repeated.
Bad memories flooded my brain as I began to hyper ventilate.
"Clem… I can't breathe… I ca-can't breathe!" I was beginning to lose my connection to the world around me, everything seemed so surreal.
"Shhh" clementine shushed me, and this brought me back enough to regain some focus.
"Go hide" she told me quietly, while looking around.
"Where?" I desperately asked.
"Find somewhere quickly" she seemed uncomfortable, taking a glance at the front door.
I stayed in place against the wall while Clementine moved down the hall. Going up to the door she held her hand out to try and lock it.
Unfortunately the man just opened the door, and there he stood. He was a tall man with dark brown hair that was greying, he was middle aged, had a moustache, and wore a brown coat that had fur on the collar.
His smile was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen, the man was charismatic but was a horrible person who did horrible things.
Clementine wasn't afraid of him as she looked directly at him with no inkling of fear, something I wish I was able to do.
"Hello there" he spoke politely.
"Hello" she responded, unsure in her tone.
"How are you?" he asked, having a conversation with her.
"Okay, how are you?" she replied.
"Well I'm doing just fine, thank you" he responded kindly.
"My family and I are set up a ways down river, I'm… kinda surprised we haven't run into each other yet" he explained to her, "what's your name?" he asked.
Clementine looked at the man's belt, he had a gun, and I was frightened by the fact but she kept a look of indifference.
"What's your name?" she countered.
"My name is George, honey" he held his hand out.
I almost gasped at that name, the man named George was dead and he wasn't George.
She took his hand, "Clementine" she shook it.
"Pleasure to meet you" he spoke kindly.
I moved into Alvin and Rebecca's room to hide and I heard him come in, I was scared.
'Please leave!' I pleaded repeatedly like a mantra as I tried to stay quiet.
(Clem's POV)
The man was telling blatant lies, that much I could tell, but I was trying my best to be polite with him so as not to anger him. After all, I didn't want to be shot.
And then he invited himself in, "mind if I come in for a bit, Clementine? I've been out all morning and this heat has got me cooked" he gave his excuse.
I was desperate to make him leave, "yes, I do mind" I told him sharply, didn't he know basic manners?
He looked around at the cabin, checking out the fish on the wall to his left and the living room to his right.
"This is a nice place" he complimented, "is there anyone else around?" he asked.
"You don't usually see cabins this big out here" he added.
I wondered what to tell him, I figured it was best to tell him something ambiguous.
"Not at the moment, everyone else went fishing" I told the half-truth.
He examined me, "and they left you here all alone?" he asked skeptically, "they must trust you" he commented.
"I can take care of myself" I replied in a somewhat annoyed way, I hate when people underestimate my skills.
"I'm sure you can" he noted.
He gave a sigh.
"Well, I'll cut to the chase" he began to speak, with his tone being more serious now.
"I'm out looking for my people, seven of them, to be exact. They've been gone a long while and… I'm worried they might've gotten lost" he explained, "Maybe you've seen 'em?".
He then began to list off who he was missing, "a couple of farm boys and an old man… Spanish guy and his daughter…" I then realised who he was looking for.
This must have been Carver.
"Quiet girl, a bit taller than you" he described Sarah.
"A big black guy, this big" putting his hands out to show the man's size, he was talking about Alvin.
"And a pretty little pregnant lady" he spoke of Rebecca.
"That's a lot of people to lose" I pointed out, avoiding his question.
"Tell me about it" he spoke ironically, "this whole damn thing's a pain in the ass" he seemed annoyed.
He walked into the kitchen, checking out the inside carefully before entering.
I walked in after him to see Sarah move out of the room she hid in, going towards the stair.
'I need to stall him' I determined.
He was scoping out the kitchen, the sinks were stacked with dirty dishes.
"Well, looks like a damn tornado ran through here" he pointed it out with a hint of amusement, "must be like, close to ten people with you?" he estimated.
He leaned against the kitchen bar with one arm resting on it, I mimicked him but put my right foot in front of my left to stop me from slipping and then put it behind to fully copy his stance.
I noticed that there was a knife to the right of me on the kitchen top, immediately I got tenser as I feared he would turn it on me.
"I don't ever do the dishes" I said as casually as I could, glancing at the knife every once in a while.
"Hey" he chuckled, "well, believe me, I don't either" he spoke with amusement, and whether it was real I couldn't tell.
'He is really hard to read' I thought, I couldn't find out anything other than a few lies.
He was definitely a threat.
"Just passin' through, or have you been here a while?" he asked me, prodding for information.
"I'm… just passing through" I hesitated, though truthfully I wasn't sure on where I was going.
"Hey, listen kid, I hope you're not one of those nuts headed up north, lookin' for Shangri-La" he spoke with a small bit of distaste.
He wasn't wrong when he said I was headed north, but crazy I was not. Even so, wellington was the best option at the moment.
"Now, I'm not sure why you'd go anywhere after findin' this place" he continued, "hell, I just got here and I already don't want to leave" he shrugged.
'Yeah, you don't know when to leave' I bitterly thought.
"Places like these don't last forever" I spoke truthfully, "even the most secure places fall in the end, so you move to the next place and repeat" I recounted my experience with the Motor Inn.
"I agree, but you can last a long while with a larger group, relatively safe location and lots of supplies" he told me, probably talking from his own experiences.
"I guess" I said simply, I didn't fully disagree with him on that.
I looked at the knife again, he must have noticed it because he walked over towards me, and my heart skipped when he grabbed it slowly and waved it around towards me.
He moved it a bit, "Where does this go?" he asked me.
'Shoot' I inwardly grunted, there goes that plan.
"Uh… in the drawer there" I pointed to a random drawer in the kitchen, hoping to get him away from me.
I calmed down a little when he actually went and put it in the drawer, then he went past me towards the living room door.
He then stopped.
I was curious as to why he wasn't moving.
"Do you play the guitar?" he asked me.
I realised that he noticed Blake's guitar leaning against the table, I wasn't sure how to respond.
"No… that's my friend's guitar, he's out at the moment" I told him without revealing too much.
I noticed he had a melancholy look on his face, 'why is that?' I wondered.
"What's the matter?" I asked slowly, trying not to pry too deep.
"I knew someone who used to play guitar, he died though, even had the same design as this…" he told me with barely any emotion in his voice.
He closed his eyes in thought, but he didn't say anything as he put on his façade again. He then walked into the living room again, and I felt more fear for Sarah getting caught.
'Maybe the guitar bought her some time' I thought optimistically.
I followed him with a tense movement in my step.
(Sarah's POV)
I heard the bad man walk back my way, I was already at the top of the stairs but I began to panic in the case of him coming upstairs.
"Well this is a real nice place, kinda cosy" he admired the cabin.
Moving slowly I edged toward the room I was in earlier.
"I knew a guy that always wore shirts like this, a doctor" he pointed out.
'Oh no…' I dreaded.
"A real smug son of a bitch, but a smart man, I miss him" he spoke, I didn't like the way he talked about dad.
"What's his name?" Clementine asked.
"Carlos" he replied.
My heart dropped when I heard that, he knew we were here and he knew my dad was with us.
Moving quicker I became less cautious in my steps.
"Well, well… white's in trouble" he noted, he must have been looking at the chess board my dad was playing with.
"Three moves away from checkmate" he deduced, he was smart.
A few steps away from the room and I heard a loud creak, it was the floorboards. And he knew where I was.
"What was that?" I heard him ask Clementine with suspicion in his voice.
I gave up on moving quietly and moved into the room, closing the door, and I could see him through the gap at the last second.
'Hide, hide… HIDE!' I screamed internally, looking for a place to not get spotted.
I looked at the bed and decided to hide under it, best I could deal with. Controlling my breathing as best I could, I tried to stay hidden as I heard footsteps on the stairs.
(Clem's POV)
"I thought you said nobody's here?" he stared at me.
He definitely knew something was up.
"Nobody IS here" I emphasised, thinking quickly to prevent him from going upstairs.
He looked at me and then upstairs at the room with the closed door, something that wasn't closed before.
My lie didn't work as he pulled out his revolver and walked up the stairs, suspicion written in his face.
My eyes widened in horror, 'He's going to find her, I've got to stop him' I panicked.
Following him upstairs he looked at the other doors that were open, and then he opened the door to the room.
He aimed his gun around, looking for someone.
Looking down I noticed where Sarah was hiding, under the bed.
I mentally hoped that the man wouldn't look there, he had lowered his guard and he didn't look under the bed.
"I told you, nobody's here" I told him in the bluntest way possible, crossing my arms and frowning at him.
"Seems that way" he told me simply, he put his gun back in its holster.
He looked at me but I looked away, he walked to the window.
"Didn't mean to be rude" he added, slightly apologetic.
I glared at him while he wasn't looking, and my distrust was reaching its peak.
"Couldn't just leave you here with a good conscience if someone was poking around, right?" he justified his actions, but I knew it was just an excuse.
"Sure…" I said with all my suspicion bleeding out of my words.
He began to walk back towards me when he stopped after taking a single step, he looked down. Crouching down, he picked up an object. I had a feeling that Sarah was moving further under the bed to try and hide better.
The tension was rising and I was barely keeping my cool.
He stood up and gave me a smug smile, I instantly felt bad about this situation.
"Who's this?" his words send chills down my spine as I noticed what he was holding.
The picture I took of Sarah.
'Crap!' I panicked but kept a façade of calmness on the outside.
Taking the photo I stared at it, "never seen her before" I lied as best as I could.
He looked at me and I could tell he didn't believe a word I said. I crossed my arms in defiance.
He then frowned at me, "you have no idea who these people are, do you?" he questioned while dropping his act, his deep voice made his point more clear.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" I feigned ignorance, but it wasn't very convincing.
"Let me ask you this" he proposed, "When you met 'em, how much did they trust you?" he asked a very piercing question.
I had a sorry look on my face for what I replied.
"Well, they locked me up… in a shed" I answered honestly, I felt like I was throwing the others under a bus.
"If people don't trust you, how can you trust them?" his sharp tone made me think even more about the group, I had doubts.
As I was thinking the man let down his guard and looked around.
"Well, I think I've troubled you long enough. I can let myself out" he told me as he turned to leave.
I grabbed his shirt before he left, "Why shouldn't I trust them?" I asked him, scared as to what I might hear.
"When they get back, ask them about George, they'll know what you mean" he told me with a bit of disdain in his voice, he then walked down the stairs. He had revealed that George wasn't his name too.
I was at the railing of the stairs when he was walking towards the front door.
"You have a real good day, now" he told me as he left, words that I felt were the opposite of what was going to happen.
'This is bad…' I thought darkly.
I heard movement come from the bedroom, Sarah was crawling out from her hiding place.
I walked to her to see if she was alright, she did look shaken up.
"Are you okay?" I checked on her.
"I-I'm fine, where is he?" she asked me with an anxious tone.
Looking out into the distance from the window, I could see the man walking out into the forest.
"He's gone" I comforted her with that knowledge.
"What if he comes back?" she told me with a fearful voice.
That was something I couldn't answer.
'You guys better get back soon' I hoped for the others' return, because that guy would definitely come back.
%%%%% with the cabin group %%%%%
(Normal POV)
Following the small footprints was not very difficult for the group, the ground was fairly dry and there was no wind so the tracks stayed relatively untouched.
It still took the group a good twenty minutes to finally get to a clearing where a shed lay surrounded by 4 undead standing idly.
"This is probably where Nick is holed up" Blake pointed out quietly in the bush, trying not to alert the walking corpses.
"Let's go" Rebecca began to move but Pete held a hand out, she was perplexed at this.
"Hold on" he said, "we can't just shoot them because it'll make too much noise, we gotta do this quietly" he informed her.
"We have two crossbows so that will take out half of them, but it will take some time to reload for a second shot" Blake told Pete.
"That's if you don't miss, if we want to do this as stealthily as possible we have to take them out as quick as we can and as accurately as we can" Carlos pointed out.
Pete out a hand to his chin, thinking.
"We could take turns firing while the other reloads… wait a sec!" Pete spoke in surprise, looking out at a moving brush.
It was Luke crouching down with Alvin at his side, taking notice they looked over at the group and held a hand to signal them.
A sigh came from Rebecca "thank god he's fine", she was relieved.
Pete signalled them to make their way over to them which they saw, and followed the order.
"Pete, Blake, you're back" Luke acknowledged them.
"What's goin' on, why are you all out here?" Luke asked, "I thought we said we'd be back by noon" he reminded them.
"It's not safe out here" Alvin told them, anxious about Rebecca presumably.
"We're out here to get Nick, Clementine returned without him but she said he was in that shed" Pete drew attention to the shed.
"You saying he's stuck in there?" Luke asked seriously.
"Yeah, but we can't get in without attracting undue attention" Pete explained.
Luke looked at the situation, taking it in and formulating a plan.
"If you guys can take out at least two of them I can get the others with my machete, quick and quietly" he suggested.
"We were planning on doing that first part" Blake told him.
"You sure you can take the others out?" Carlos asked cautiously.
"Carlos, you have seen me fight Lurkers before" Luke reminded the Hispanic doctor.
"I just want to make sure we don't lose anyone" Carlos voiced his concern.
"I appreciate it, but first thing first we gotta get Nick outta there" Luke turned his head to the four bumbling corpses.
"Ready when you are" Blake aimed his crossbow.
"You take the first shot, once they start moving it will be harder to hit" Pete advised the younger boy.
"I can hit a moving target" Blake replied somewhat annoyed.
"Just take the damn shot" Pete finally told him.
"Yes, sir…" he answered sarcastically, taking aim and holding his breath.
He pulled the trigger to the weapon and the wire that held the bolt pushed forward and made the sound of metal colliding with metal, the bolt flew through the air and hit a zombie in the temple. The now dead corpse fell to the ground, attracting the other undead's attention.
Pete fired his crossbow and the bolt penetrated the middle of a Lurker's forehead, and it dropped like a ton of bricks.
Luke was now on the advance as the Walkers took notice of their fellow undead, he unsheathed his machete and held it tightly in his right hand. He took a hard swing at the nearest one to him, a clean slice to the neck that cut through the remaining skin, muscle and bone protecting it, it fell to the ground.
The last one tried to make a grab at him, he threw it away from him and the monster fell on the ground. Luke finished it off with a quick blow to the back of the head, exposing the brain and really dark blood.
Luke flicked his machete to clean off some of the blood, it didn't get it all but it was better than nothing.
"It's clear, c'mon" Luke waved his hand.
The group got up to head toward the shed, Pete leading the charge toward the shed.
"Good shootin'" Luke complimented Blake.
Blake nodded, a little proud smile on his lips, and continued to the shed.
Pete knocked on the door of the shed, "Nick, if you're in there I'm coming in" he warned his nephew.
There was no immediate answer, so Pete and Luke pushed against the door in a combined effort. The door flew open easily and illuminated the dark room.
"Nick?" Pete called out in a worried tone.
Over on the floor was a shadowed figure, it drowsily got up which put the others on edge.
Stepping into the light with a hand shielding their eyes the figure was revealed. It was Nick, who looked tired, as if he had just been rudely awaked.
"What took you guys so long?" Nick quipped in a half whisper, he was drowsy.
"God damn it son, don't worry us like that" Pete chuckled in relief, walking up to his nephew and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Good to see you're okay" Luke smiled at his friend, happy to see him alive.
"I'm not going down that easy… Where is Clementine?" Nick suddenly asked.
"She's back at the cabin with Sarah, she's fine" Carlos told him, stringing his rifle away on his back.
Nick sighed in relief.
"You really got the whole lot of you out lookin' for me, huh?" Nick was surprised by this detail.
Rebecca scoffed, "Not just you, we also came out to find Alvin and Luke, who came out to look for Pete, the Kids…" Blake frowned at kid comment, "and your sorry ass".
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to be a burden" Nick grinned at her smart remark.
Carlos came up to him and examined him, "how long has it since you've had something to eat…" Carlos coughed a little, "you reek of alcohol" he noted.
"Only had a glass, enough to keep me alive" Nick told the doc.
"Alcohol dehydrates you" Pete said in a scolding way, probably not approving of Nick drinking in a situation like this.
Nick sighed, "Anyway, we better get back before more Lurkers come 'round".
"That, I agree with" Luke spoke as he began walking out the door, "let's go".
The others began to leave when Carlos turned to noticed that Blake on the floor collecting a jar, he frowned at the sight.
"What do you think you're doing?" Carlos spoke in a deep, disapproving tone.
Blake fumbled the jar in his hands in surprise, "Oh, ah… Carlos, it's not what you think" he began explaining.
"And what am I thinking?" Carlos squinted, not trusting him one bit.
"That I'm taking this alcohol for drinking purposes… which I'm not, I don't have fond memories with it" Blake deduced, and bent down his head a little in thought.
"Then what are you taking it for?" Carlos grilled him.
"you'd be surprised at what people will trade for alcohol, especially in this day and age, every bit of comfort counts" Blake remarked dryly, "also, it is very flammable so it helps for making fire bombs… not very effective on the walking dead, but it does help as a distraction" he shrugged.
Carlos looked him over again before softening his expression, "You do make a good point, but if I see you drinking that, or find out that you gave any of that to Clementine or my daughter you will have hell to pay" Carlos gave a clear threat to discourage the boy.
"O-of course!" Blake stuttered a bit, Carlos was pretty intimidating when he wanted to be.
"Alright, we should get moving now" Carlos suggested, leaving the shed.
"Coming" Blake replied as followed with the jar in his hand, slipping it into the pocket of his jacket.
Further up ahead the group was making their way to the cabin, Pete and Nick were closer together having a conversation.
"Look, Uncle Pete…" Nick began.
"What is it?" Pete was curious.
"I'm sorry for giving you hell earlier, on the way to the river and these last few weeks, I just… I really miss Mom and I didn't really care too much about what others thought, which has caused some trouble, and I wanted to apologise" Nick spoke with complete sincerity.
"I miss her too, but you can't beat yourself up over something like your behaviour after something like that… at least you are trying to move past it and make things right" Pete explained to him.
"I just thought that if something happened I should try and make things better, and not have an argument be the last conversation we have" Nick sighed.
Pete nodded solemnly in agreement, "that's something no one wants to have on their minds, but I couldn't hate you, you are my nephew after all".
"Yeah, I don't hate you either… you just give me such a hard time" Nick added with a small hint of frustration in his last words.
Pete looked like he was remembering something.
"I know I treat you sternly sometimes but I'm doing it for your own good, when your piece-of-shit father left I had to play the role of someone who keeps you in line, keeps you from making the wrong decisions" Pete explained.
"Which means I couldn't just be nice all the time, if I did that, then you might have gotten the wrong idea and thought you could get away with everything and I don't want that…" he continued.
"Yeah, I understand" Nick looked down a little, thinking.
"As long as you know I'm trying to do my best here" Pete nodded while walking ahead with the group.
Alvin and Rebecca were also having a talk, having seen each other for the first time in hours.
"Are you alright Bec?" the bigger man asked his wife, concerned for her.
"Alvin I'm fine, I'm just glad to have you back" She smiled at him, showing a more sensitive side.
A few seconds passed as they walked down the path to the cabin, the early winter air was cool and had the smell of old leaves from the previous season, "Look… we need to talk about something" Alvin suddenly spoke out, breaking Rebecca's immersion into the environment.
"What about…?" She was a little apprehensive, and a little nervous of what she didn't know, she could only guess the worst.
"It's about the kids, you need to go a little easier on them, I've talked to the boy, Blake, he's a decent kid and so is Clementine" Alvin was serious about it but not harsh, he never spoke harshly if he could help it.
"Are you still going on about that?" Rebecca answered with a bit of annoyance, but also relief, "I've told you how I feel about them…"
"Yeah, I know, you don't trust them… But the boy came out here to look for Nick, so he can't be all that bad, and from what I've heard the girl stayed behind to look after Sarah" he pointed out, "look, what I'm saying is that you can't be so harsh on them, they've probably been through some horrible things and I can sympathise with that" he gave his point of view.
Rebecca took a second to give a response, thinking it over in her head, "We've all been through some terrible things Alvin, and just because someone else may have been some tough experiences doesn't mean they are automatically trustworthy…" She spoke with a tone that said she was trying to make a point.
"I know that, and I'm not asking you trust them straight away, but just to at least try and be less hostile with them, that's all I'm asking" Alvin told her.
She was taking in what he said, and she frowned a little, "… fine, I'll try to be friendlier with them, but if they do anything that warrants distrust I won't be defending them" she conceded in a reluctant way.
"I wouldn't expect you to… Let's get back to the cabin, it's not safe out here for you or the baby" Alvin gestured to his wife to start moving a bit quicker.
"Alvin I'm fine, really" Rebecca smiled a bit at her husband, always trying to protect her, one of the many things she liked about him.
He smiled back at her and they moved with the group toward the Cabin.
Carlos and Blake were just now catching up to them; Luke was at the back waiting for them, "Come on" He waved at the two, telling them to pick up the pace.
"Sorry, we just had to talk about something" Carlos told the younger man, saying that last part offhandedly.
"Y-yeah, you didn't have to wait up for us" Blake stuttered a bit, still a bit nervous about being caught with the whiskey.
"It's no big deal, I just wanted to make sure you two got back alright" Luke spoke to the younger boy with a hand wave, letting him know it's alright.
A silence passed over them for a few seconds before Luke breathed a heavy sigh, "I saw what happened at the river… Jesus, it looked more like a slaughter than anything else…" Luke told the two of them, trying to get it off his chest.
"Yeah… It was horrible, much more violence than was needed…" Blake looked down.
The thought of the river still shocked him.
"Does it look like Carver's work?" Carlos asked Luke in a serious tone, Blake was listening intently.
"Honestly, I know he is violent but it seemed too random, not methodical shots, just pumping bodies full of lead… I don't think it is his work, I hope not… maybe us leaving really tipped him over the edge?" Luke sounded uncertain in his words, something that wasn't heard much as Luke seemed to always have a firm understanding of things.
"Why would y'all leaving push this man over the edge?" Blake spoke up, but he wasn't too assertive in his tone, more afraid of what he'd hear.
"Look, we'll explain this later, here isn't a good place to have a discussion… besides, It is a long story" Luke didn't seem too happy about what was going to be talked about.
"Alright, I understand" Blake assured the older man, he was a little disappointed in the answer he got.
"Let's just get back, Sarah must be worried sick by now" Carlos spoke with a hint of concern in his voice.
"That reminds me, where's Clem?" Luke was curious.
"She's back at the Cabin with Sarah" the younger boy told him.
Luke cocked an eyebrow at Carlos, "You left the two of them alone?" he asked.
"Like I told Blake, I trust Clementine enough to look after Sarah" The doctor spoke tersely.
Luke shrugged his shoulder, trusting Carlos' judgement.
The three of them all walked with the group, each of them on their way to the Cabin.
%%%%% back at the Cabin %%%%%
(Clem's POV)
A good twenty minutes after the man left passed and we had gone downstairs to the living room and sat on the couch, it was silent and we both had a lot on our minds, actually I think we both had the same thing on our minds.
'Where are the others?' I'm sure that's what we both thought.
I was anxious about that man returning, he obviously was looking for the others and he was going to come back, presumably with more people and more guns. I felt that we had to warn the others about him.
"We need to find the others" I broke the silence and hopped off the couch, heading toward the kitchen.
"We can't go outside!" Sarah spoke to me, and she said it like it was a law that had to be followed.
I turned to her, "We need to tell them about that man who came here, they might be in danger if he comes back" I rationalised.
"I know that, but it's dangerous…" She was reluctant and spoke softly.
"We need to do something, and it is dangerous just sitting here waiting for something to happen…" I told her gently, trying not to stir her up.
"… alright, I'm coming" she agreed with me after looking down for a few seconds, she stood up and followed me.
I opened the door and walked through, only to see the others were already opening the backdoor. A wave of relief rushed through me as I saw that they were unharmed, and that Nick was alright.
"Sarah" Carlos spoke with what sounded like relief as he hugged his daughter, he held on for a few seconds and let go.
"Clementine" Nick spoke to me, he seemed happy to see me.
"Hey Nick" I greeted him with a small smile on my face, I too was happy to see him.
The rest were coming in, Alvin, Rebecca, Pete and Blake, they were all safe and unharmed.
I noticed Sarah had stepped back and was looking down, "A man was here" She revealed to the group as all of them turned to her.
"What?" Carlos had raised his voice a little, he looked concerned.
I couldn't blame her for wanting to tell them straight away, I was going to do the same, but I couldn't help but feel as if certain people were going to be angry at me.
"What did she say?" Rebecca spoke up in disbelief.
"Someone came to the cabin" Sarah was very nervous and spoke quickly.
"What?" Rebecca was anxious about that.
"Clementine talked to him" She blurted out.
This was where I felt that people were going to get mad, I felt like she was throwing me under the bus but I knew she didn't mean to.
"And you just opened the door for him?" Rebecca was incredulous.
Just like I thought she was angry with me, but her anger seemed suppressed, like she was actively trying to stay calm.
"Calm down Rebecca" Luke spoke to the lady.
"Calm down? I am calm! You calm down!" she raised her voice and didn't speak very calmly.
"Both of you just shut it, we don't know anything yet" Pete raised his voice to get both of their attention and they listened to the oldest man here, staying quiet.
"I didn't open the door, he just came in" I told her bluntly while keeping my cool.
"She's telling the truth" Sarah defended me, I felt a little better knowing that.
Carlos looked shocked, "Did he say his name?" he asked, and "did he say what his name was?" he repeated to make sure I heard correctly.
"He said his name was George, but I knew that that wasn't his name when he left" I told the truth.
"George…" Rebecca mumbled under her breath, the name must have been familiar to her.
Alvin seemed a bit shocked to hear the name as well.
"Look Clem… Just tell us what he looked like… did he sound different? How old was he?" Carlos spoke calmly and reasonably as he listed different questions, trying to jog my memory.
"His voice was gravelly…" I told the Hispanic man.
"Like how?" He asked for more details.
"I don't know… Kind of deep and scratchy" I gave my best description, I could see that Blake was looking on in thought.
"He talked about you, dad" Sarah said to her father, "You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?" she spoke with clear concern and anxiety in her voice.
I wondered if she had seen Carlos hurt someone in the past.
"Of course he won't, Sarah, alright?" Luke spoke gently to the girl trying to assure her, "Your dad's the nicest man I know, which is why he's not gonna do anything crazy or… not nice, right?" He emphasised that last part at Carlos, trying to send a message.
Carlos put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, trying to comfort her and get her attention.
"You know these are bad people, sweetie" he told her seriously, "They will do or say anything to hurt us".
"Did it seem like he was coming back?" Blake spoke up for the first time since he got here.
Before I could answer Sarah had pulled out a photograph, "he saw a picture of me" she admitted.
He turned to her with a frown on his face, "A picture? What were you doing taking pictures" he raised his voice at her, she looked down in shame.
I felt sorry for her, getting yelled at by her father.
"Carlos" Luke raised his voice with blatant disapproval.
"What?" He replied in an irritated way.
"You need to calm down, all right? You're scaring you daughter" Luke told him seriously, trying to calm Carlos down.
"I took the picture, it's my fault" I spoke up and took the blame for taking the picture, as it was my fault in the first place.
"No, I asked her to. It's my fault" Sarah denied that and spoke to her father, taking away the blame and putting it back on her.
I really didn't want to get her in trouble but she was insistent, so I couldn't do anything.
"Sarah…" Carlos sighed with a bit of disappointment in his voice, he didn't seem too angry anymore.
Sarah shied her look away from him, probably in shame.
"What do we do?" Nick asked Carlos, taking his attention from Sarah.
A few tense seconds passed before the Hispanic man sighed in reply to Nick, "He was scouting…" he began.
The Cabin group had all become dead silent and listened intently, "We got lucky, He wasn't expecting to find us" He continued.
"Clementine must have surprised him, if she hadn't been there…" Carlos paused, you could hear the nervousness in his voice, he was thinking of Sarah.
"Well, he was too smart to stick around, but he'll be back with the rest, we don't have much time" He announced to the group, I think he was signalling for a pack up.
"The rest… what do you mean?" Blake asked the doctor, he was still in the dark as well as I was.
"He scouts out places by himself, looking for more people to join his community, a camp back up north not too far from here and then brings in his lackeys to bring them with him, whether they want to or not" Carlos told the younger boy.
While Carlos was speaking to Blake, Luke had told the others to pack up as Alvin went out the kitchen door first.
"Alvin wait…" Rebecca walked after her husband.
"We better get started too" Pete told his nephew.
"Yeah" Nick seemed more on edge, this Carver seemed to change the mood of the group, was he really this bad?
The uncle and nephew duo left the kitchen, I could hear some rustling about in the house, and they were in a hurry.
Carlos had turned to his daughter with a hand on her shoulder. He had leaned down a bit and had a look of serious concern.
"We have to leave now sweetie, before he comes back with more bad guys" He spoke to her softly, "but it's gonna be okay" He assured her.
"Okay, let's just go get your things" He told her and stood up.
He spoke to her like a young child, I wasn't sure I agreed with the way he spoke, but I didn't say anything to upset him or Sarah.
"Who is George?" I interrupted Carlos.
He seemed stunned at the question before he frowned, "I can't tell you the details Clementine, you should ask Alvin, he was a friend of his…" He sighed.
I was a little annoyed that I still wasn't being given the full picture, but at least he gave me a lead.
"Look, I don't know what he told you but William Carver is a dangerous man, and he is very smart... we were lucky to escape him" he warned me with a grave tone, further solidifying my distrust for Carver.
I could see Blake in the background, and he clenched his fists and made a face that looked like he had seen a ghost.
'How do you know Carver?' I thought, his reaction had confirmed my suspicion that Blake knew the man somehow.
"Look, I'm sorry to involve you, but now that he's seen you, you'll be safer with us" Carlos had accepted me into the group, something I would be more thrilled about in different circumstances.
Carlos turned his head to Blake, "I think it would be best if you stay with us as well, that wound is going to need supervision and at least you'll be safe under our watch" he suggested.
Blake took a second to respond, "Y-yeah, sure… thanks" he seemed out of it, not focused on the conversation at hand.
"We have to leave" Carlos said with finality as he left the kitchen with Sarah.
"Alright, the two of you grab your stuff, let's hit the road" Luke said to both me and Blake who were the last ones left in the room.
I nodded to Luke, "Welcome to the club" he said ironically as he left to get his things.
I smiled ironically at the statement as well, "Are you okay?" I asked Blake, wanting to see what he said.
"Yeah, I'm fine… c'mon let's go" Blake had already strung up his guitar back into its case, the case seemed bigger than most, I had realised that was because it had a backpack strapped to the side of it.
His words didn't convince me of anything, but I knew that now wasn't the time to start asking questions.
'Later' I determined, that's when I'll ask him.
With that I had gotten my bag that was in the living room and packed my stuff, or whatever was left of it, into it.
%%%%% with Carlos and Sarah %%%%%
(Normal POV)
The two of them were in their room upstairs. Carlos had packed up pretty quickly as he didn't have much beside clothes and some other essentials like toiletries.
Sarah was slowly packing away her stuff, she had her head down in thought, she could think straight.
"Sweetie, we need to hurry up" her father tried prompting her to speed up, gentle in his tone.
Shaking her head she regained a bit of focus, "Dad… I'm sorry" she muttered, a very evident layer of apologetic shame in her voice.
"Sarah… I'm not angry with you, you couldn't have known that he was coming…" he told her, "it was about time we had to go anyway, we were running low on supplies" he tried comforting her.
"But… those bad men aren't going to get us are they?" She spoke anxiously, fearing the worst.
"No Sarah, they aren't… I promise you, I won't let them" he swore to her.
"Thank you" Sarah nodded with a soft smile, she had full confidence in her father's words, and she finished packing her things which included a few books she liked including 'The Gurgles'.
She had noticed that she still had the pistol she found earlier under her jacket, her hands shook a little, scared that her father was going to find it. She took it out and quickly hid it in her backpack, a small purple one, before zipping it shut quickly.
Sarah was nervous about leaving the Cabin, she had thought of the place as home, even if they were only there for a month. She took one last look around before picking up her backpack, slipping it on her back, moving to the door where her father was waiting.
"Let's go" Carlos told his daughter, a sound of definiteness in his voice, like they weren't coming back ever.
Sarah went out the door and shut it behind her, leaving the room to the darkness.
Pete and Nick were just coming out of their room, "dammit, where's my watch?" Nick had said from down the hall.
"Are you missing something?" Carlos inquired.
"Yeah, my watch, I had it in here and now it's not" the younger man seemed to be a little irritated he was looking in a drawer in the middle of the hall.
"Are you sure it was in there?" Pete asked his nephew, "You sure it isn't in the room?" he continued.
"Yes I'm sure" Nick looked at his uncle with a look of certainty, "dammit" he muttered under his breath.
Carlos put his head down in thought, "I think I might know who has it" he sighed.
"… Clementine?" Pete wondered.
"Yes, I wouldn't put it past her" Carlos said offhandedly, Sarah gave her father a quizzical look.
"Why would Clementine take it?" Sarah asked her father, she wasn't sure on his judgement.
'She wouldn't steal it, right?' she thought to herself.
"I don't know, maybe to have some way to tell the time?" Carlos took a guess at her motives.
"It doesn't matter, I'll go tell her to give it back" Nick had begun to walk down the stairs.
"Nick" Pete spoke up.
"I'm not gonna get mad at her Pete, I'll ask nicely" Nick replied just as quickly as he was asked.
Pete raised an eyebrow, "that's different" he noted.
"What's different?" the Hispanic man asked.
"Normally he'd be up in arms over someone stealing his things, although it may be because Clem's a kid…" Pete mused.
"Probably… let's get moving" Carlos had tapped Sarah's shoulder, getting her attention.
"Alright" She followed, as did Pete.
%%%%% with Alvin and Rebecca %%%%%
Alvin silently packed away his things along with his wife, in the background they could hear the movement of people coming down the stairs.
There was an unspoken tension in the air, Rebecca had slowed down her packing up and put her head between her hands, shaking her head.
"God damn it…" She whispered with a clear tone of sadness in her voice.
Alvin stopped and looked at her, and he had a gentle look, one that said 'It's going to be okay'.
"Bec… I'm not letting that bastard get to you" He declared, "I'll die before I let that happen" he added, he was being sincere.
"That's what I'm afraid of Alvin, that he'll find us and kill you…" Rebecca didn't feel any better when he said that.
He took a hold of her hand and looked her in the eyes, "He won't kill me, I'll make sure of that…" he looked down in thought.
A few moments silence.
"I don't blame you for what happened to George" Rebecca spoke, shocking Alvin.
"… I wish there was a better way…" He sighed in regret.
"You did what you had to… the nerve of Bill to use his name" Rebecca spat.
"I know…" he kissed her on the forehead and sat back up, he put a juice box into his bag and zipped it up.
Rebecca finished packing her stuff hurriedly, "I'm ready" she spoke.
Alvin nodded in agreement "let's get as far from here as possible, I'm sure he won't be that persistent" he spoke optimistically.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right" Rebecca smiled a little.
He always managed to find a way to cheer her up, even when she was angry. That was one of the many reasons she married him, because he always tries to make others feel better even at his cost, he was a kind man and she loved him for it.
%%%%% in the kitchen %%%%%
Nick had returned to the kitchen and walked up to Clementine, "Hey Clem" he got her attention.
"Yes?" she was curious.
"Did you take my watch?" He cut straight to the point.
"Uh, what watch?" She stuttered, keeping a poker face.
"Clem, you took a watch from the drawer upstairs, I want you to give it back okay?" He didn't believe her lie for a second, he was calm.
Clementine had a guilty look on her face as she took her back off her back and rummaged through it, pulling out a wrist watch and giving it to Nick.
"I'm sorry" She apologised.
Nick shrugged, "Nah, it's fine, it's just that Pete gave it to me and I don't want to lose it, besides you couldn't have known it was mine, could have belonged to the previous owners" he suggested, he didn't seem upset at all.
"Just try not to steal from people you just meet, okay?" Nick grinned a little.
Clementine lightly chuckled, "Well… you guys didn't give me much choice" she pointed out.
Nick looked down a little, "sorry about that" he seemed a little guilty himself.
"Its fine, we're past that now" Clementine alleviated some of that guilt, though she had subconsciously scratched at her bitten arm.
Luke had walked into the room, along with everyone else, it had only been ten minutes since they began to pack up, and they had made excellent time.
"Has everyone got everything they need, food, water and things like that?" Luke took charge once more.
A few murmurs amongst the group which consisted of 'yes' and 'yeah', confirmed the question.
"Alright, let's hit the road" Luke noted and walked out the door, and the rest followed suit.
Clementine looked at the outside, and she wondered where Christa was, and whether she would find her along the way. She also wondered about Blake, and his connection to this William Carver, and about her friendship with Sarah. But one thing was certain to her.
There was a long road ahead of her, and all of them.
Alright, there is another one done, took a while but I got it finished. Sorry, I've been hammered with assessments lately (and procrastinating by watching anime, playing video games etc.) but I have a few weeks of vacation so I can finally catch up.
Heads up for my Pokémon readers, Rise of Darkrai a Pokéshipping story will be the next story updated.
On another note, I have a secret project I'm working on, it will be another long runner of a fanfic but I'll work it out.
As always, leave constructive criticism, read and review.
Until next time.