Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Clementine ate some of the peaches and beans while she tried to ignore the group behind her. She wasn't alone in trying to ignore the group. Everyone else at her table were doing the same except for Genevieve who had no understanding on what was going on.
"So Clem, who's this Carver guy that they keep mentioning?" Omid asked.
"I have no idea. They just think that I'm working with him." Clementine said.
"I hate to say it… but we might have to leave tomorrow." Christa said.
"Christa, what do you mean?" Sarita asked.
"Those bastards are on the run from some guy… Do you really think that he's going to leave us be?" Christa asked.
"I… no… you're right. You definitely got a point." Sarita said.
"Where do you suggest we go?" Omid asked. "We can't go south, there's nothing left there but the walkers. These guys came from the west, so we can't go that way; otherwise, we'll run into that Carver guy. And if we try to go east, we'll run into more walkers and the damn ocean."
"Then we go north." Christa said.
"We can't. Winter is coming and Genevieve will need to stay warm." Sarita said.
"We don't have choice." Christa said. She looked up when she noticed one of the group members approaching her table. "What do you want?"
"To talk." The stocky man said and he sat down next to Clementine. "I'm sorry about my group. There's someone in that group that I used to love… but she's not been herself… not for a long time." He had a frown on his face.
Christa calmed herself and she said, "So, you don't want to stay with that group?"
"I wish I could leave." The man said. "I'm… I just don't have any backbone… I never needed one. I never was good at confrontation." He turned to Clementine and he said, "You have no idea how much I wanted to help you. I… I didn't like what my group did. I want out… I can tell that you guys are decent people or as decent as you can get these days."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Christa asked with a glare aimed at the man.
"I'll tell you everything about Carver." The man said. All eyes widened and they looked to the man with attentive stares.
"Carver is the leader of Howe's Hardware. It's in Tennessee. He started off as an okay guy… kept us all safe… but slowly… he started to lose himself." The man explained.
"Is he insane?" Sarita asked.
"I don't know. He's ruthless and calculating, so I'm going to say no." The man said. "I was married to Rebecca at the time and we thought that the baby was ours, but Carver was convinced that the baby was his. Didn't find out till later that Rebecca was sleeping with him and me. I was so angry… but what was I going to do. I wasn't going to let that child be raised by that madman. So, I stayed with Bec, but things only got worse. Soon, we decided to leave but even that didn't go right. We had to leave a friend behind and I nearly had to kill someone."
They looked to the stocky man with wide eyes. "Wow… so, that's who were up against." Omid said.
"Thank you… um…" Sarita said to the man.
"It's Alvin." The man said.
"Well, we appreciate it, Alvin. I'm sure your group will give you flak for doing this." Christa said.
"They think I'm talking to you guys to tell you to cool it." Alvin said. "Of course, I know Nick had no right in doing what he did." Alvin sighed and he said, "I better get back to my group."
"Alvin." Christa said before the stocky man got up. "If that Carver guy shows up, you follow us."
Alvin nodded and he said, "Thanks. Won't mind if I bring Sarah with me… she's scared of the group too."
"I don't mind." Christa said. Alvin nodded and he got up from the table to return to his group. Soon, Christa got up and she looked over to Omid. "Stay with Gen for a little while. I'm going to pack up everything for the trip." Omid nodded and took Christa's place in feeding the baby. Christa turned and she headed up the stairs.
Sarita sighed and she said, "I know that Christa is trying to keep us safe, but I don't think Gen's ready to go back out there."
"Yeah… it's not going to be easy doing that with a baby." Gil said.
"I wish we could have spent more time here." Omid said. "I didn't want this to be a permanent spot, but I just wanted Gen to grow up a little more before we headed back out there."
Walter looked to the door and he sighed. "I wonder why it's taking Matthew so long… He should have been here by now." Walter said.
"I wouldn't worry too much. Matty's strong. I'm sure he's fine." Sarita said.
Walter frowned and he said, "I hope so…" He got up from his seat and headed to the door to go outside.
The other five group members finished their meals in relative silence. They didn't spend much time at the table since they were almost done eating. Omid got up first and helped Genevieve from the highchair. He then placed her on the ground and she ran off to play with her toys. Clementine smiled a bit before she got up as well and followed the two. However, Gil stayed at the table with Sarita. He didn't follow Clementine like he normally did.
Genevieve laughed and giggled as she played with the toys in front of her while Omid did his best to play with her. Clementine joined him and she played with the toddler as well. Clementine almost felt like she didn't have to worry about Luke's group.
Omid looked up to Clementine and he said, "You're not the same little girl as I remember." Clementine looked up to see a frown on his face and regret in his eyes.
Clementine shook her head and she said, "No… I guess not." For the first time that she's known him, Omid was being serious. It scared Clementine; he was always sarcastic and smiling. "I am what I had to become in this world."
"I know." Omid said. "It hurts to see you like this. You used to be a happy, go-getting eight year old… and now, it feels like…"
"I'm a survivor, Omid, just like you and Christa." Clementine said.
Omid shook his head and he said, "No, you're not. You're something different. I didn't notice it until that new group came, but now, I see it. I feel like a failure. Christa and I were supposed to find you, so that you wouldn't have to grow up, but we failed."
"If you were to find me, anything could have happened. I like how things turned out. I'm stronger now, and you and Christa are alive. Plus, you both had your baby; she's what's important now. Not me." Clementine said.
"You still mean a lot to us!" Omid exclaimed. "Look, I love Genevieve, but I love you too. You… were like a little niece to me."
"I know you love me. I love you too. You act like my dad. You're always trying to crack jokes, even if they are dry." Clementine said with a smile.
"Dry? Hey, wait a minute. Those jokes are high quality." Omid said with a smirk forming on his face. "They make you and Gen laugh, so that's a victory for me."
"I know. I'm just giving you a hard time." Clementine said.
Omid smiled a bit before he sighed. "You know I wish things were different. I'm not sure what would have happened if Christa and I had found you but… I'd like to think that… maybe she and I could have kept you from this harsh world for just a little longer…"
Clementine sent a frown to Omid. She was about to speak up, but she could hear a whipping sound in the background. "What is that?" Clementine asked.
"Oh crap… that's the wind turbine." Omid said with wide eyes. He got up and ran to the stairs much to Genevieve's dismay.
"It's okay, baby. He'll be back." Clementine said and she picked up the toddler. She tried to comfort the girl by bobbing her in her arms. She could hear the door open from downstairs along with the howling wind from outside, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds.
Clementine turned her head when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "What's going on?" Christa asked.
"Omid went out to check on the wind turbine." Clementine explained. The door to downstairs was opened again and she turned to the stairs.
Omid reached the top of the steps and he said, "The storm has the wind turbine spinning out of control. We need to shut it down."
Christa ran toward Omid along with Sarita. Clementine could hear their footsteps descending the stairs along with the clicking of guns. The howling wind soon stopped when the doors were closed.
"Mama, dada." Genevieve cried.
"Shhh… they'll be back." Clementine said as she rubbed the girl's back. This seemed to calm the infant. Clementine looked up and saw Gil walking towards her. "Hey…" Clementine said.
"Hey…" Gil said. "You're not mad at me, right?"
"No… I'm not." Clementine said. She placed Genevieve on the ground, but the toddler wasn't interested in playing with the blocks anymore. She wanted her parents to return. Clementine could still hear the whipping sound from outside. "I hope they're going to be okay." Clementine said.
"You should be more worried about yourselves." Clementine heard Rebecca hissed. She turned her head and looked to Luke's group. Sarah and Alvin were still at the table, but Carlos, Luke, and Rebecca were walking towards Clementine and Gil. Clementine knew something was up. She could see that Alvin had a disappointed frown on his face while he tried to comfort Sarah.
Somehow, they had armed themselves with handguns. "Wait a minute! How are you armed?" Gil exclaimed.
"Remember when I went to take care of Nick. I grabbed a couple of handgun on the way back up. I was hoping that it didn't come to this, but you never gave us a choice." Luke said.
"You should have died in that shed… maybe then we wouldn't have to do this." Carlos said. All three group members raised their handguns at the two children while Clementine pulled out her handgun which was strapped to a belt that was around her hips.
Clementine aimed the gun at Rebecca's bulging stomach and she said, "Back off now or I will kill her unborn child!"
"You wouldn't!" Rebecca said as she backed away from Clementine. She could hear gunfire in the background. It must have been Christa, Omid, Walter, and Sarita. However, she couldn't hear the whipping sound from earlier; they must have turned off the wind turbine.
"You aren't giving me any choice." Clementine said. Carlos and Luke also started to back down with glares aimed at the girl.
"Crazy bitch… what kind of person aims a gun at an unborn child?" Luke snapped.
"You also put a knife against my daughter's throat." Carlos said. "I guess you're the true monster of this world."
"No, you three are and so was Nick." Gil snapped. "No wonder Clementine was so cold when I met her. With psychopaths like you guys around, it's only natural that she would have to put up a tough front so she could avoid getting hurt."
"Shut up!" Carlos hissed.
"This has nothing to do with you kid." Luke said. "We just need to talk to Clementine." He turned back to the girl. "Put the gun down or I will kill that baby of yours." Luke said and he aimed his handgun at Genevieve. The toddler instinctively hid behind Clementine, but Clementine knew that Luke would have a clear shot regardless.
Clementine had no choice. She had to back down. The last thing she wanted to see happen was for Genevieve to die or get hurt. She tossed the gun aside and a victorious smirk formed on Luke's face. He grabbed Clementine by the arm and placed her at gunpoint. "You know… I should kill you for what happened to Nick. He was a good guy… and you got him killed." Luke hissed. "Maybe this ought to teach you a lesson." Luke said and he aimed at Genevieve.
"No!" Clementine exclaimed as she fought to free herself from Luke's grasp. The shot was fired, but something rushed over in front of Genevieve and took the bullet. It was Gil.
"AHH!" Gil exclaimed and he fell to the ground. He coughed and groaned in pain while the group members watched on with some horror in their eyes. Genevieve cried while Clementine looked to the boy.
"Gil!" Clementine exclaimed. She noticed that the shot had hit his leg which meant that it wasn't a fatal wound. Clementine also noticed that the gunfire from outside had stopped. Hopefully, Christa and Omid could stop the three hostile group members.
"The gunfire has stopped." Carlos said. "Keep her at gunpoint, Luke."
"I intend to." Luke said. He had no remorse in his voice for what happened to Gil. It made Clementine hate the man more than she already did.
She heard the doors open again which was followed by several pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs. It was too many for it to be her group. She looked over and saw a new person reaching the top of the stairs. "No…" Carlos muttered.
He was joined by several other men along with Christa, Omid, Sarita, and Walter. She had a good idea on who the man was; he had to be Carver. Clementine could feel Luke's grip loosen. She bit down on Luke's arm which made him yell out in pain and loosen his grip completely. She grabbed her handgun and ran to the stairs. "Little bitch!" Luke exclaimed and he fired at Clementine. The girl weaved and the bullet hit the window.
She ran up the stairs while hearing Genevieve's cries intensify along with some arguing from downstairs. She got to one of the windows upstairs and dropped down to the ground below. She had no idea how she was going to get her group out of Carver's clutches, but she would have to find a way to succeed.
She circled around the building and was careful in making sure that she wasn't spotted. "Hey Clem." She heard someone whisper. She turned and aimed the gun at the individual. "Easy… it's just me." Matthew said. He didn't looked good. There was a bandage wrapped around his arm and it appeared to be soak with blood.
"Matthew…" Clementine said and she lowered her gun. "What happened to you?"
"That asshole… I think his name was Nick… he shot at me… barely made it out of there alive." Matthew explained.
"I need help." Clementine said.
"I noticed. That guy has our group. What are we going to do? There's not many options." Matthew said.
"Christa said you knew where the emergency exit was. Can you get to it from outside and help our group escape?" Clementine asked.
"I think so." Matthew said. "But how are we going to do that. That guy who's the leader… he's going to notice people leaving."
"I'll distract him." Clementine said. She turned and ran to the wind turbine. She dealt with wind turbines before. All she would need to do is turn it back on and Carver's people would come back out. It would give Matthew the opening he needed.
…To be continued.
A/N: Wow, this chapter was exciting… Alvin is planning to betray Luke and company, Gil is shot, and Carver has come. But anyway, as you can tell, Alvin is a bit OOC.