Clem tried to give a happy smile back, despite the clearly very mediocre situation. At least they were helping. "I'm sorry about your mom. My mom died too. Same with my dad.. I miss them a lot." She looked down at the muddy, dirty ground. Luke spared a sad glance. Nick winced and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I.. I can't imagine. I'm gonna try and be a bit more sensitive. Thank you, Clem, and.. I'm sorry."
She smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. It happens to everyone."
"It happened to Lee and I. They were good people." Carley spoke up, simply trying to make the man feel better.
"I'm sure I ain't the only one. Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. I hope you guys find what you're lookin' for here." Nick picked up his pace, heading inside the house before anyone else.
"That guy is such a Ben." Chuck said, shaking his head.
"A Ben?" Luke questioned.
"This kid who used to run with us. He was a fuck up, but pretty innocent despite the fact." Molly explained. Luke nodded, but felt like it was wrong to let them assume that was all he was.
"Nick.. Can definitely step over the line. I wouldn't call him a fuck up or a dick though. Just.. Sad. He'll get over it, I've known him since we were kids. He always gets back up, even if it is as slow as a lurker."
Lee was surprised that two guys who had known each other for that long were still alive together. "Really? That's rare nowadays." He commented.
"We got lucky.. His uncle's a cool guy too. He picked us up at our business the day things started goin' south." The group arrived at the cabin. Luke opened the door for them, handing the bowl he was protecting to Christa. She hesitantly took it without a word, following the rest of her group inside the small, wooden abode.
The rest of the cabin group was nowhere to be seen, save for a teenage girl sitting at the stairs, watching the group as they went into the kitchen. Clem noticed her, but said nothing. Carlos was in the kitchen with Pete, washing up. Five bowls of beans sat on the large dining table in the center of the kitchen. A symphony of grumbles came from the group's stomachs- including Christa.
"I'll assume that means dinner is wanted. I'm a damn good cook, but if you have criticism, don't hold any punches." Pete joked, heading for the door. Lee shook his head, stifling a laugh. God, he missed humor like that.. Even Carley found that funny. Clementine smiled at him as he walked out.
"Mind if I join y'all? I haven't eaten yet." Luke requested, placing his bowl down across from where Lee was seating himself. They even had cups of water next to the food, real water! Nearly the entire group licked their lips.
"Not at all. It's your home." Chuck spoke for the group, who were already digging in before him.
"Mm, fuck!~ This is soooo good!" The red hooded girl cooed.
"Either that or you're hungry." Carlos suddenly butted in. Molly ignored him and continued scarfing her plate down. The Spanish doctor gave Luke's shoulder a touch, leaning close to him. Clem and Lee stared skeptically at him, though he didn't notice. He mumbled something inaudible before heading out. "Sarah, what are you doing here? It's time for bed."
"Okay dad.." The female from earliest voice could be heard distantly. Clem had to admit, the idea of another kid her age being here was quite exciting. She began scooping up her food, letting out moans of satisfaction as the sticky beans hit her taste buds.
Lee looked up at Luke as he swallowed, catching the man's eyes on his arm, or lack thereof. "Caught ya staring."
"Sorry.. I've never met anyone with a gnarly stump like that. How did it happen?"
"It's.. A long story." Lee answered hesitantly, continuing to eat.
"It was a shit show." Carley added, rubbing her lovers scruffy, dark hair.
"Uh, yeah, duh." He replied with a sarcastic eye roll. Luke enjoyed their humility.
"A shit show that ended with a walker bite and a chopped arm." Molly said between mouthfuls of food.
"Yeah, pretty much." The ex teacher agreed.
"So.. What Pete said is true?" The southerner wondered. Lee nodded.
"Yeah. But, don't ever test that hypothesis out yourself."
"I'll try not to. How long have y'all been together?"
"Two years.. I think. The newest member was Molly who joined two years ago, same with Chuck and Christa. The rest of us joined in the first three months." The leader explained.
"You're survivors, that's for sure." Luke complimented.
"There used to be more of us. Duck, Kenny, Ben, Katjaa, Lilly, Larry.." Clementine listed, intentionally avoiding-
"...Omid."
Yeah.. Him. The room went quiet, aside from the storm outside and the sound of spoons clanking against glass bowls. Christa pulled out her chair, she had surprisingly eaten most of her food already. She brought the plate to the sink before walking to the living room. She stopped at the door. "Lee, we need to talk. Tomorrow." And then she left. The group looked at Lee, but he just shrugged.
"I'm worried for her.. She seems broken, and broken people get reckless."
"She.. She needs time to heal. It's been a day since her one and only love was killed. He.. He took a fucking bullet for me. I feel awful about it."
"Is that why you're helpin' her? Survivor's guilt?"
"I.. I guess. I care about Christa, I've trusted her ever since the day we met her, and even more after she helped with Lee's operation, but.. Yeah, survivor's guilt makes sense." She looked at her hands, cracking a smile. "I think I've been through this before, actually.. Doug, during those first three months. He was someone who died because of my foolishness. If it wasn't for me, he might still be here."
"Hey, I thought we got over that? Your demon for mine." Lee placed his hand over hers, holding onto her tightly. She smiled, looking deep into his eyes.
"We did.. It's just hard to rid yourselves of demons, I guess."
Luke decided to start a new topic. "I certainly got my fair share. I started up a shitty business in selling.. Oh god.." He was beginning to turn red, getting an intrigued look from Molly and Clem.
"Selling what?" The eleven year old badass questioned.
"Spill it, bud. We've given you more than enough answers." The blonde parkour specialist ordered, a dumb smirk on her face.
Luke finally caved.. "..I sold 'sex potions'." He waited for the group to stop snickering at the ridiculous name to continue. Clem just winced and rolled her eyes. "Nick and I, after college, we invested in some liquor company. I thought it would be a good idea, and my old man was a stickler for hard work."
"Did you have a slogan? Because, I already don't want any." The used to be homeless man asked.
"Yeah, you see it was a really fucking stupid one too. 'Your balls will thank you', some shit like that. That was forever ago. We ended up crashing the business to the ground in a week."
"Gee, I wonder how that happened." Chuck humored the man, interested in how this tale ended.
"Oh that's simple, Nick and I got drunk on our supply. We thought, 'We were drunk when we thought it up, we'll work better wasted.' We did not."
The group was actually giggling for once in forever. Luke had a big grin on his face as Clementine called him gross. "I'm fully aware, Clem."
Pete entered the room following the laughter, holding up a lantern. It seemed to have gotten darker outside and inside. "I like the sound of laughing, haven't heard it in a while."
"You're telling us." The ex reporter replied, smiling honestly for once this week.
"Well, it's time for bed. Tomorrow morning, me and Nick were thinking of going fishing for some brookies, have fresh fish for dinner. Anyone interested in coming with?"
"I wouldn't mind going!" Clem volunteered, still not done with her food. Everyone else was finished at this point.
"Yeah, I think I'll go too. I could use some fresh air with the new people, and my favorite niece." Molly said, giving Clem a noogie before heading for the living room.
"Gotcha. The rest of you should stay here and make friendly with the group." Pete advised, heading for the door. "Goodnight!" The group reciprocated his parting words.
"Alright then.. Clem, we'll be in the living room, come in as soon as you're finished, okay?" Lee ordered, kneeling down to her after putting away his dirty dish. "Goodnight, sweet pea."
"I know. Goodnight, Lee." He gave her a peck on the cheek, his full beard tickling her face before he stood up and left. Clementine focused her attention on the food, there wasn't much left but she was a growing girl, and in this case she was starving. She was alone, but that didn't bother her much. Pete left the lantern in here so there was at least a little light. As she finished up her food, she heard the back door open. She turned around to see a pregnant woman glaring at her.
"Oh, you're still here." She wickedly pressed, walking towards the door. Clem ignored her. Rebecca paused before turning to the girl.
"I hope you know that I don't want you here."
Clem sighed and gave in. "I'm just a little girl."
"You and your group. You can't pull your invasion shit on me." Rebecca spat back.
"Think what you want, we're good people." Clem scooped up the last of her beans, chewing slowly on them as she avoided eye contact.
"I don't care what you say, Carver's people claim the same thing."
"I don't even know who that is."
"Sure." Rebecca rolled her eyes, about to leave for the living room. A light bulb went off inside Clem's head, a certain sentence that would establish her dominance over the queen Bee who made herself seem so tough. But should she say it?
Choices:
A: Is that baby REALLY Alvin's? (You have no evidence that it isn't)
B: You should probably think about being nicer to me.
C: Let her go.
Relationships (Clementine):
Nick appreciates your apology. He sees you as quite mature and will make an effort to be more cautious around you. 6/10
Lee is glad to see you being nice, but he wouldn't have cared if you were rude. 10/10
Carley is glad you're growing up right. 10/10
Christa was happy to eat, but she's suspicious of this new group. She thinks you're just as sweet and gullible as you were a year or two ago. 8/10
Chuck appreciates your kindness and forgiveness. 10/10
Molly would have personally gone for something more insulting. 10/10
Luke is glad to see you're friendly towards people, even after they've made mistakes. 7/10
Pete heard you were friendly to his nephew. He won't forget that. 8/10
Carlos seems nice, if not a bit.. Suspicious. 5/10
You still barely know Sarah. 5/10
Alvin seems nice, but you've barely spoken to him. 6/10
Rebecca sure as hell doesn't like you now, what's a little dominance establishing gonna do? 2/10
((QOTC: If you had to have one Walking Dead character as a father, one as a mother and one as an uncle, who would they be? Father Louis, mother Clementine and uncle Chuck please and thank you.))