Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help.
"Thanks." Mark said, looking to his now bandaged hand.
"No problem." Clementine said. "I'm glad I could help."
"So… Are you two alone?" Mark asked.
"No." Shawn said. "We got a group with us."
"All here?" Mark asked him.
"Yeah. What about you? Are you alone?" Shawn questioned.
"Yeah." Mark said.
"Sounds lonely." Shawn commented.
Mark shrugged. "I guess it can be."
"I know!" Clementine suddenly said. "Why don't you come with us?"
"Wait, what?" Shawn asked.
"Really?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, of course." Clementine said.
Shawn groaned. "Clem, can I talk to really quick?"
"Sure." Clementine said.
Shawn took her hand, causing the teen's face to heat up. He pulled the girl to the side and out of Mark's earshot. "What are you doing?" He demanded.
"What do you mean?" Clementine asked, pulling her hand out his grip. Her heart was pounding quickly. What was he doing to her…?
"We don't know this guy." Shawn reminded. "You can't just invite strangers to join the group."
"Why not? He seems nice." Clementine said.
"That's no excuse." Shawn said. "We have no idea what he's capable of."
"But he's all alone…" Clementine said with a frown. "How would you feel if it was you?"
Shawn looked to the girl before letting out of sigh, "Alright… We'll see how the group feels…"
"Okay…" Clementine said. "Thanks." She knew that was the best she would get. They couldn't make the decision on their own.
"Right…" Shawn muttered. He was sure the group was going to give him hell for this.
"Dad, can't we leave yet? There's nothing to do here." Duck whined.
They had finished their showers and went back to the front room of the base, waiting for the rest of the group.
"We still gotta wait on the ladies. You know girls take forever to do everything." Kenny said.
"That's sexist…" Clementine said as they entered the room.
Kenny jumped, "I didn't mean anything bad by-" He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Mark. "Who the fuck is this guy?"
"His name is Mark." Clementine said.
"I don't want any trouble." Mark said. "I've been here for a while and heard that there was a group here."
"Yeah." Kenny huffed. "What's it to you?"
"I invited him to join us." Clementine admit.
"What?" Larry asked.
Shawn let out a sigh.
"Clem..." Kenny groaned, "Look, I hate to break it to you, man. But she's a child. She doesn't make the decisions for the group."
"Kenny..." Clementine frowned. "Please... He's alone."
"Who gives a damn?" Larry retorted.
"We can't just leave him here. What if it were you?" Clementine said.
"We have our own group to worry about." Larry replied.
"Please…" Clementine pleaded.
"I have food…" Mark cut in. "A lot of it."
Larry paused, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Kenny looked to Shawn for confirmation, Shawn gave a nod.
"It's true." Shawn said. "He has quite a bit of stuff."
"Alright, let's see it." Kenny said.
"You guys ready to go?" Lilly's voice came, not a moment later.
"Umm… Who's this?" Carley motioned to Shawn.
"Name's Mark." Mark replied.
"He's hoping to join the group." Shawn said.
Lilly scoffed, "I don't know about that. We have enough to worry about as it is."
"I don't plan on being a liability." Mark stated. "I have plenty of supplies. Stuff you guys could probably use."
Lilly fell quiet for a moment before sighing, "Show us."
When they arrived at the storage room, the group was more than surprised at the amount of supplies Mark had.
"Holy shit…" Kenny muttered.
"This could last us for months." Carley said.
Lilly frowned, "Are you the only survivor."
"That's what it looks like." Mark said. "Anyone else that survived probably fled when they got the chance."
"Why didn't you?" Shawn asked.
"The place was surrounded. Plus, there was no way I was going to leave all this stuff." Mark said.
"Fair point…" Shawn said.
"Yet you're willing to share?" Lilly asked.
"Well, I want to get out of here. You guys seem like some okay folks and I'd say it's a pretty fair trade." Mark said.
"Deal!" Kenny said.
Lilly rolled her eyes. "Are you serious, we don't know this guy."
"Hell yeah, I'm serious. Look at all this shit." Kenny said.
"I see it. We can make do on our own, like we have been." Lilly said.
"Yeah." Larry said. "We don't need no handouts."
"You guys don't have to go on the runs. Do you know how much of a risk that is?" Kenny said. "Everytime we go out there, we face the risk of not coming back."
"And we appreciate it." Katjaa said. "We really do, Ken."
"Obviously she doesn't." Kenny grumbled, motioning towards Lilly.
"Guys, stop fighting." Clementine said. "The drug store is eventually going to run out of supplies. If you guys don't want to leave the motor inn, then this is our best bet."
The group knew the teen's words were true.
"Okay…" Lilly said. She suddenly shot Mark a glare. "Don't make me regret this."
"I don't plan to." Mark said.
The men gathered the supplies and started packing their vehicles with it. Clementine offered to help, but Kenny and Shawn claimed it was too heavy for her.
"You just stay close to Kat." Kenny had said.
Clementine knew arguing was pointless. She was just tired of being treated like a little kid.
After taking out several walkers outside, they finished putting the supplies into the cars.
Then the group headed back to the motor inn.
Clementine was glad that the trip had gone smoothly. Not only that, but they had managed to get some supplies and find a new group member.
Maybe things were starting to look up.
When they returned to the motel, Katjaa had checked on Clementine's bullet wound after seeing the girl painfully clutching her arm.
"It's not bleeding; you'll probably be sore for a few more weeks." Katjaa said.
"Okay…" Clementine said.
"How do you feel?" Katjaa asked.
"I'm fine…" Clementine replied. The girl was quiet for a moment. "Katjaa, can I asked you something?"
"Sure, sweetie." Katjaa said with a smile.
"Umm…" Clementine swallowed, feeling a bit nervous.
"What is it, Clem?" Katjaa urged the girl to go on.
"I… Earlier… When I was with Shawn, I… I felt weird…" Clementine said.
"Weird?" Katjaa asked in a serious voice. "What do you mean?"
"Not in a bad way…" Clementine clarified. "I… My heart was pounding… and I kept getting butterflies, like I was nervous…"
Katjaa smiled, "I see…"
"I never felt like that before around him." Clementine said.
"It sounds like you have a crush." Katjaa said.
"A what?" Clementine asked, blushing a bit.
"You like Shawn…" Katjaa said.
"Oh no…" Clementine shook her head.
"It's okay… Crushes aren't a big deal…" Katjaa said. "They go away just as fast as they come."
"Okay…" Clementine said. "Please don't tell anyone…"
"I won't. It's between us, sweetie." Katjaa said.
"Thank you." Clementine said.
The next day was completely awkward for Clementine. The girl's mind was busy. She had noticed how flustered she now felt whenever Shawn was around her.
She tried to ignore it, to say it was nothing. But deep inside her, she knew that wasn't true.
"Clementine and Shawn sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g." Duck teased.
Clementine's eyes widened and she quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard the boy, "Stop it... How do you even know about that?"
"I heard you and mommy talking." Duck answered. "You like Shawn. You like Shawn."
"Shut up." Clementine said. "I don't."
"Then why are you blushing?" Duck asked.
"I'm not!" Clementine claimed.
"But-"
"There's a bug on you!" Clementine exclaimed.
Duck immediately jumped, "Get it off, get it off."
"If you promise to never talk about this again." Clementine said.
"I promise!" Duck said.
Clementine reached to Duck's shoulder, pretending to grab the bug that was never there. "It's off."
Duck sighed in relief. "Thanks. You saved me."
"Don't break your promise." Clementine said.
"I won't." Duck said. The child went back to coloring.
Clementine stood up and walked away. She let out a sigh. Thinking about Shawn just confused her so much. She tried to focus on other things, but to no avail.
Maybe she needed some advice, but who would she talk to?
The girl was lost in her thoughts; she didn't notice Carley approach her until the woman spoke.
"You like Shawn?" Carley's voice made the teen jump.
"W-What?" Clementine stammered.
"It's pretty obvious." Carley giggled, "You've been watching him for a while."
Clementine's face immediately went red.
"No need to be embarrassed it's normal." Carley said.
"It's weird… I don't know how to act around him…" Clementine said.
"I wouldn't worry too much." Carley said.
"It's hard not to…." Clementine said.
"I know. But crushes come and go." Carley said.
"I guess…" Clementine said.
"It'll be alright." Carley assured her.
Clementine only hoped so.
Her feelings didn't change, in fact the more she was around Shawn, the stronger those feelings became. Shawn was always so nice to her, but he thought of her as a kid. She didn't know what to do.
"Lilly…" Clementine called to the woman as the two looked over their food rations for the day.
"Yeah, Clem?" Lilly asked.
Clementine hesitated for a moment, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What's up?" Lilly questioned.
"Well… I … How do you know when you're in love?"
"Love?" Lilly asked. "Why are you asking me that?"
Clementine lowered her head, not answering.
Lilly raised a brow, before sighing. "Is it Shawn?"
Clementine nodded.
"You're not in love." Lilly told her.
"How do you know?" Clementine said.
"There's no way. Puppy love maybe. But I'm sure it's just a crush…" Lilly said.
"It's so weird around him…" Clementine said.
"Want some advice?" Lilly asked.
"Yes please?" Clementine nodded.
"I say forget about him. You're still a kid. It wouldn't work." Lilly simply said.
Clementine didn't respond.
"I know it's not easy, but... you're only going to get your heart broken..." Lilly said.
Clementine frowned, feeling a bit hurt by those words. "But..."
Lilly cut her off. "It'll be better that way. Don't get your hopes up. He's an adult and you're not. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it a fact."
Clementine sighed.
"Try to forget about the crush…" Lilly said.
Clementine knew that was easier said than done.
As time went on Mark became an accepted part of the group, for the most part anyway.
Lilly and Larry tended to have spats with him every so often, but Lilly tended to have spats with most of the group members and Larry was of course on her side because that was his daughter.
Lilly seemed to have a problem with Kenny in particular, both of them wanted to be in charge. And when things didn't go their way everyone around them paid for it.
Clementine was getting sick of the fighting, and she felt completely guilty when the two adults fought over her. Kenny had taken the role of a father figure for Clementine, but she was also extremely close with Lilly.
Both Kenny and Lilly had opposing opinions on what Clementine should and shouldn't be allowed to do. Whenever Clementine wanted to go on a run, Kenny would often tell her she couldn't go. And it didn't help that most of the group backed him up.
Clementine didn't want to be treated like a child. She was determined to prove just how capable she was on tomorrow's run, which despite Kenny's and Shawn's protest, Lilly had given her the okay to go on.
But the next day, to her surprise, Kenny, Mark, and Shawn were gone by time she had woken up. Clementine felt angry and hurt. She didn't understand why they had just ditched her. She spent the rest of the day "keeping an eye on Duck", which she really figured was Katjaa's excuse to make sure she stayed at the motor inn.
When Kenny, Mark and Shawn had returned Clementine demanded to know why they ditched her.
"It's dangerous out there, you know that, darling." Kenny responded.
"But I can help. I'm not a child." Clementine said.
"I beg to differ." Kenny scoffed, turning to walk away.
"Don't be mad, kiddo." Shawn gave the girl a pat on the head. "We didn't do anything fun out there."
Clementine flushed a bit before quickly sending him a glare. She noticed Mark send her an apologetic look.
"I didn't think they'd just leave like that…" Mark admit.
"It's okay, Mark. It wasn't your fault." Clementine said, shooting Shawn another look.
Shawn only shrugged in response.
Clementine headed over to where Kenny had gone, catching up with the man. "Kenny, we need to talk."
"Do we?" Kenny asked.
"Yes." Clementine said in a serious voice. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped treating me like a little kid."
"Uh-huh." Kenny responded, without looking to the girl.
"You're not even listening to me." Clementine huffed.
"Course I am." Kenny said.
Clementine frowned. It was obvious that he wasn't paying attention.
She followed him to the RV, where Lilly was up keeping watch.
"How'd it go?" Lilly asked.
"Good, considering we didn't die." Kenny said.
Lilly ignored the last part. "Well that's good."
"They left me." Clementine told the woman with a frown.
"Why is that?" Lilly asked Kenny.
"It's too dangerous. No child needs to be out there." Kenny stated.
"I'm not a child." Clementine argued.
"Yeah, you are. Last time I checked, fourteen was still a kid." Kenny said.
"I'm fifteen, almost sixteen." Clementine corrected.
"Big difference." Kenny grumbled. "The fact of the matter is, it's not safe. You don't need to be out there."
"Kenny, you can't rule over everything she does." Lilly said. "You're not her dad."
"Yeah, well, her parents aren't around. Someone's gotta take charge of her." Kenny said.
"She can handle herself." Lilly said. "You can't make a call on what she chooses."
"You don't even care what happens. She could die out there and you don't give a damn!" Kenny snapped.
"Of course I care." Lilly argued. "But she deserves a chance to show she can help. She's proven to be capable more than once.
"Whatever. Once again I'm the bad guy all because I'm trying to keep people safe." Kenny said. "This is fucking bullshit."
Clementine frowned as she watched Kenny storm off.
"Don't worry about him." Lilly said. "You know he can't tell you what to do. He's not your dad."
"I know…" Clementine said. But he was the closest thing she had to one at the moment.
Clementine suddenly felt a sadness gripping at her heart at the thought of her parents. She missed them more than anything, and seeing everyone else with their families only made that worse.
The teen walked back to her room and stayed there for the rest of the day.
"Clementine..."
Clementine looked around at the suddenly call of her name. She knew that voice.
"Clementine." Came the voice again.
It only took the teen a moment to realize she was in her house again.
"Sandra?" Clementine called. She searched for her friend. Walking through the hallway, her feet were moving on their own, she stopped once she reached her bedroom. The door was closed. Clementine's hand hovered over the door, heart pounding.
"Clementine!" Sandra sounded like she was in trouble.
Clementine quickly opened the door. "Sandra!"
Her friend was sitting on the bed, a small smile on her face.
"Sandra?" Clementine slowly entered the room. "Are you okay?"
Sandra was silent for a moment before speaking, "We're waiting for you."
Clementine was confused by those words. "What?"
"Me... Your parents... Everyone else..." Sandra said. "We're waiting for you..."
"Waiting? Waiting for me to what?" Clementine asked.
"To join us." Sandra replied.
"J-Join?" Clementine stammered. "Join you?"
"We're waiting for you to become like us." Sandra said.
Clementine jumped as the door suddenly shut behind her. Sandra moved from the bed and Clementine took a step back.
"You're going to die. You're going to die and become like us!" Sandra suddenly turned into a walker, jumping towards Clementine with a growl.
Clementine screamed.
Clementine woke up with a gasp, she couldn't stop herself from trembling. She missed her family.
It hurt knowing that there was a chance she would never see her parents again. Sure the group was kind and all, they looked out for her, but they weren't her mom and dad.
Clementine felt tears come to her eyes, she would give anything to have her parents back. Anything at all.
Days flew by and things didn't go any further uphill.
Clementine felt alone again, she had no one to talk to. She couldn't stop thinking about her family. She missed them more than anything.
Everytime she did she was haunted by horrible nightmares. Depression was setting in full force. She felt like she was sinking in a hole with no one to pull her out. She wouldn't lie and say she didn't think about taking the easy way out... but she pushed those thought to the back up her mind for the sake of the group.
The girl made her way outside, unable to force herself to sleep. She stood outside for a while, enjoying the silence.
The girl was brought back to reality when she felt a raindrop hit her face.
She didn't know how long she had been out there, but she hadn't even realized it was raining.
The rain grew harder quickly.
Clementine jumped when she heard a door open.
"It's really pouring out here." Came a voice. Shawn.
The girl felt her heart start pounding.
"Whoa, kid, what are you doing out here?" Shawn asked her.
"I... I needed some air." Clementine said, trying to keep her voice normal.
"Air? In this weather?" Shawn shook his head. "You're gonna get soaked out here." Shawn's hand touched the girl's cheek, gently brushing her wet hair. "Come on, I'll take you back inside."
"N-No. I'm okay, I-"
Shawn cut the girl off, "Relax... We gotta get you dry or you'll catch a cold."
Clementine didn't bother to protest any further.
Shawn led Clementine inside.
They could hear the roar of thunder outside.
"The rain's getting harder." Clementine commented.
"Yeah. So much for going on watch." Shawn shrugged.
Clementine watched as Shawn reached for a nearby towel.
"Here, we should dry your hair or you'll catch a cold." Shawn said.
Before she could say anything Shawn was using the towel to dry her hair.
Clementine's cheeks flushed.
Soon Shawn pulled back and frowned, "Are you okay? You face is flushed. I hope you're not catching a fever."
"I'm fine!" Clementine said rather quickly. "I'm okay..."
"You sure?"
"Y-Yeah." She nodded.
"Alright. You should get some rest." Shawn said.
"Okay." Clementine said.
"Night." Shawn said to her.
"Goodnight." Clementine replied.
She let out a sigh when Shawn was gone. She was well aware of her crush at this point, yet her feelings still confused her. Ever since that day at the base, she blushed everytime he was around her, she couldn't even look Shawn in the eye anymore. She couldn't understand why she felt this way. It was obvious Shawn only thought of her as a kid.
The thought made her feel a bit sadder. Clementine let out a sigh and climbed into the bed, trying to sleep, with no luck.
The next morning the sky was so clear it was hard to believe how hard it had stormed the night before.
Clementine felt her face heat up with the embarrassment of seeing Shawn again. She was so nervous.
When she went outside, the group was already having breakfast. Clementine sat down, trying her best to act normal.
"Morning Clem." Shawn greeted.
"G-Good morning…" Clementine said back.
"How'd you sleep?" Shawn asked her.
"Okay…" Clementine replied.
"That's good to hear." Shawn said.
"Yeah…" Clementine said.
He was talking like nothing happened. Clementine realized he didn't feel in the least bit awkward. Clementine felt silly feeling this way when Shawn didn't feel anything for her. He only thought of her as a kid.
The girl looked up when she felt a hand on her forehead. Shawn's hand… he was feeling her forehead.
"You're flushed again, you sure you didn't catch a cold?" Shawn asked.
"I-I'm sure." Clementine squeezed.
"Clementine likes Shawn!" Duck suddenly blurted out.
Clementine's face went red.
Kenny looked to Clementine with wide eyes, Shawn also looked surprised.
Everyone went silent for a moment.
"What?!" Kenny exclaimed.
Clementine wordlessly stood up.
"Clem?" Shawn called.
The girl ignored him as she turned her back and ran for her room. She hadn't wanted Shawn to know about her feelings. She knew it would only burden him.
Shawn frowned as the girl ran off.
"I can't believe this…" Kenny grumbled. "What does she see in you."
Shawn raised a brow at that. He couldn't be offended though. He was too worried about Clementine.
"I should talk to her." Shawn said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lilly asked. "Maybe you should just leave her alone for a while."
Shawn shook his head. "I have to talk to her."
"Okay…" Lilly said. "Just… Be careful…"
"I will…" Shawn replied.
Clementine laid in bed, a million thoughts running wild in her mind. The girl heard a knock on her door and tried to ignore it.
"Clem?" Shawn spoke. "Can I come in?"
"Go away... Please..." Clementine said.
The was no answer for a moment and she thought he had done as she said, but suddenly she heard the door open and someone enter the room.
"Clementine, I want to talk to you." Shawn said to her.
Clementine kept quiet.
"Please?"
"What is it?" Clementine asked, sitting up to look at the young man.
"Is it true?" Shawn asked, getting straight to the point. "What Duck said?"
Clementine fell quiet again. She didn't want to answer that. Wasn't it obvious enough.
Shawn let out a sigh after a few moments and started to leave.
"Yes..." Clementine muttered.
Hearing her words, Shawn halted and turned to her once more. "What?"
"I like you... I really like you, Shawn." Clementine admit.
Shawn frowned. Walking towards her bed, he took a seat. "I'm sorry, Clem..."
Clementine didn't want to hear it. She knew what he was going to say...
"I really am sorry." Shawn continued. "I care about you. And I like you too, but not like that."
Even though she had already known it, hearing him say that made her want to cry.
"W-Why?" Clementine whimpered. She felt her heart breaking in her chest.
"You're just a kid." Shawn said.
Clementine didn't respond.
Shawn offered her a kind smile, he felt terrible doing this to her.
"I want you to be happy, Clem..." He took her, placing a hand on her head. "I don't want to hurt you..."
"You won't..." Clementine said. But it hurt right now.
"You've got a lot of growing up to do, Clementine." Shawn told her. "You're still just a little girl."
Clementine felt absolutely broken by his words. "I want to be alone…"
Shawn couldn't blame her. "Okay…"
Shawn turned and walked away and Clementine felt her heart break again.
She heard the door shut as she buried her head under her pillow.
The echo of Shawn's word hung thick in the air and she cried until she had no tears left to shed. She had just experienced her first heartbreak from someone she really liked.
Clementine had tried her best to act indifferent the next day, but it was hard.
Despite getting revenge by putting bugs in Duck's bed, she still felt hurt.
And as satisfying as it was hearing Duck scream like a girl because of her little prank, she was too sad to be happy.
She tried her best to appear normal, but deep down her depression was only worse than it had been before.
She didn't want the group to worry about her, but Clementine was starting to wonder what the point of going on was.
Seeing everyone else with their families, only made it worse. Larry's protectiveness over Lilly reminded her of her own father, and seeing Duck with his parents, made her miss her mom and dad even more. Sure Kenny and Katjaa made her feel like a member of their family, but they weren't the same as her real parents.
It would be so easy to just be with her family again... The girl quickly shook that thought away.
She couldn't do that... The group cared about her... Even if they only thought of her as some stupid kid.
Clementine bit her lip. She was fed up with being treated like she couldn't do anything. It was time for her to grow up. Shawn's words were proof of that. Either that on she had to leave...
Perhaps the group would be better off without her. She wouldn't be a burden any longer. And if leaving meant, taking her own life, so be it... Her parents were waiting, Sandra was waiting, but something was stopping Clementine.
She knew she wasn't the only one without a family. Carley didn't have anyone here, nor did Mark... And Shawn... Well, she had saw what happened to Shawn's family first hand. If they had the strength to keep going, Clementine needed to find that strength too.
Unfortunately, things didn't stay good. As the weeks turned into months the supplies, that had been so much at the time, started to run out. The group was forced to take on more hunting runs.
The group members started to clash more. Lilly and Kenny couldn't get along for even five minutes. It seemed like the two feuded over every little thing.
Clementine and Lilly did their best to ration food whenever they handed it out.
Clementine was starting to feel bad, knowing that somedays there wouldn't be enough food for everyone. There were many times when she would offer her own share up which concerned the group. The girl obviously wasn't eating properly, and it was clear to both Lilly and Carley that she wasn't sleeping well.
The girl's personality had taken a complete turn from her usually positive self to a gloomy teen, who was completely withdrawn and kept to herself.
"Thanks for waiting for me." Clementine said.
"No problem. I wasn't going to let them take off on you…again." Mark said.
Clementine appreciated that. At least a couple people didn't treat her like a kid.
They paused for a moment when they noticed a walker eating something.
Mark raised his gun to shoot the walker.
Clementine raised a hand, "We can take him out quietly. Save that ammo for food."
Mark nodded in agreement. Drawing a knife from his pocket, he crept up on the walker and stabbed it in the head.
"Damn… What'd it get this time?" Mark grumbled as Clementine checked what the walker had been eating.
Clementine furrowed her brows, "I think it's a rabbit." She said, cringing a bit at the thought.
Well, that's another meal lost. I still can't believe we went through all that commissary food in three months! It seemed like so much at the time." Mark said.
"Yeah... Well, we have a pretty big group. I guess we didn't think about how fast we'd go through it..." Clementine replied.
"When I accidentally grabbed for Carley's rations the other night, I thought she was gonna take off my hand!" Mark said.
"I think everyone's on edge. People have a hard time functioning when their hungry." Clementine said.
"Yeah, you're right... You've been helping with the rations; you know for sure how much food we have?" Mark asked.
"Not much... Probably a week's worth at the most..." Clementine admit.
"Kenny's not happy about this whole set up... You know with Lilly handling the rations. And having a kid help her... No offense."
"He's just worried about his family. I get it." Clementine said.
"You think him and Shawn are having any more luck than we are?" Mark asked.
"Hopefully." Clementine said.
"Speaking of Shawn, how are things between you two?" Mark asked.
Clementine frowned she didn't want to talk about Shawn. "Fine." Clementine tried to avoid him as much as she could. It was better that way, because she still couldn't bring herself to look at him without her heart aching.
"Well, that's good..." Mark said. He knew things were far from fine, but Clementine obviously didn't want to talk about it. "You know, between the lack of food and Kenny and Lilly fighting all the time, things are getting pretty tense back at the Motor inn. And Kenny keeps talking about taking off if he can get that RV running." Mark said.
"I know..." Clementine said. Kenny had offered her to join them when they took off. Hell, it wasn't an offer, he had decided himself that Clementine was tagging along, claiming she was his responsibility.
"Can't blame him, though- did you hear Larry going off on him last night? What's the old guy's deal anyway?" Mark questioned.
Clementine just shrugged in response. Larry was okay to her. He never went off on her like he did to everyone else.
"I know Lilly thinks he's getting weaker, but the guy's all muscle. He's a walking piledriver. I know I wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with him!" Mark said.
The two stopped again, stopping a bird on a branch of a tree.
Mark quickly aimed his gun at the bird.
"Think you can hit it?" Clementine asked.
"I can try." Mark said.
They knew one bird wouldn't be enough to feed the group, but hell, they were desperate.
Mark took the shot, missing. "Damn..." He said as the bird flew away.
"Well that sucks..." Clementine sighed.
"Yeah..." Mark agreed.
"We should-" Clementine was cut off by a sudden scream.
"Shit!" Mark swore. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know..." Clementine said.
The two exchanged looks before they began running towards the noise. Eventually they stopped and were surprised to find two teen boys, maybe a few years older than Clementine, and a man on the ground, foot stuck in a bear trap.
Mark and Clementine exchanged looks of horror as the noticed the man on the ground.
"Jesus Christ…" Mark muttered.
Two teen boys looked to Clementine and Mark and one of them started to panic, "Oh shit! No. No…. Please don't kill us! We just want to help our teacher! We'll leave, I swear!"
"Are you guys okay?" Came Kenny's voice, as he and Shawn arrived at the location.
"Holy shit…" Shawn said, seeing the man whose leg was stuck in the bear trap.
The man on the ground let out another yell. "Get it off! Get it off, God Dammit, get it off me!"
"Travis, maybe they can help!" Spoke the taller teen.
"These might be the same guys that raided our camp and… We barely got away from that!" Travis replied.
"What guys?" Mark questioned.
"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here?" Kenny demanded, obviously confused.
"We're not going to hurt you." Clementine said. "We want to help."
The taller teen looked to the younger girl. "Mr. Parker said we should stay off the streets! We were trying to be careful but-"
He was cut off as Mr. Parker let out another pained groan.
"Guys, this is fucked up. We've gotta help 'em." Mark said.
"PLEASE!" The taller teen pleaded.
"Ben, shut up!" Travis snapped. "My dad was Special Forces; I know what I'm doing!
Ben ignored his friend, "Just see if you can get him out! After that you can leave us or whatever! I don't care! Please!"
"We got to help them!" Clementine said, sending the three men in her group a pleading look. "Please?"
Shawn let out a sigh. "Okay… We'll do what we can."
"Thank you." Mr. Parker said. "Thank you so much."
"Fine, but we gotta hurry." Kenny said.
Mark gave a nod and knelt down to check the bear trap. His brows furrowed, "Guys, this trap's been altered. There's no release latch."
Clementine jumped when she heard sudden snarls coming from the woods. She quickly reached for her gun.
"…Oh, no." Travis muttered, also spotting the walkers.
Kenny huffed, "Shit! Walkers! It's now or never, guys."
Shawn frowned, trying to get the trap to release.
"It's not going to work." Mark said.
"Please… get me out of this!" Mr. Parker begged frantically.
"Quiet down." Shawn said. "I'm trying to help you."
The injured man nodded and tried his best to quit down.
"Mark, get the boys back! Kenny, keep those walkers off of me!" Shawn said.
Mark nodded. The two teens moved back and Clementine, Kenny and Mark started shooting at approaching walkers.
Shawn begin trying to break the chain, but it was no use. After a couple moments of trying to free the man, Shawn realized there was only one way to get this man out. His heart dropped.
"Shawn, do something!" Clementine called, noticing Shawn's hesitation.
Shawn sent the man an apologetic look, "I'm going to have to cut you out."
"No no no! Try the trap again! Anything, please!" Mr. Parker panicked.
"Try to cut the chain!" Travis said.
"That's not working." Shawn replied. Raising the axe, he was carrying, he brought it down onto Mr. Parker's leg causing the man to scream.
Clementine gasped. The girl quickly clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see.
Kenny glanced over to the now frozen teen and swore. "Fuck…" He couldn't help her now, he just continued shooting while making sure to keep an eye out for her.
Mr. Parker continued to screamed each time Shawn brought down the axe.
"Let's go, let's go!" Kenny ordered.
Shawn didn't say anything, he just kept his focus on the task at hand. Trying his best not to stop due to the man's screams. He had to keep repeating in his mind that he was helping this guy. He was helping him.
Eventually Shawn had completely severed the man's leg.
The man looked to his bleeding stump before his eyes rolled back into his head.
Mark and Travis quickly approached.
Travis grew pale at the sight. Throwing a hand over his mouth, he moved away and started throwing up.
"Shit. Is he…?" Mark asked.
"I think he passed out." Shawn said.
"If he's alive, grab him and let's go!" Kenny said, approaching Clementine, he placed his hand on the terrified teen's shoulder, "It's alright. Let's get out of here…"
Clementine nodded.
Mark quickly grabbed the unconscious man, following after Kenny.
Shawn looked to where Travis was, his eyes growing wide, "BEHIND YOU!" He called to the teen.
"TRAVIS!" Ben yelled, trying to go towards his friend.
Shawn quickly grabbed Ben, stopping the boy. "We gotta get out of here, kid." Shawn knew they couldn't help the poor boy.
Travis wiped his mouth and look to the walkers that were closing in on him. Backing up, the boy clumsily tripped and soon after met his fate.
"NOOOO!" Ben yelled.
The group hurried back towards the motor inn. Clementine only hoped that the injured man would survive. He clearly wasn't doing well and she knew, they didn't have the supplies to keep the man alive. There was a high chance that he would bleed out.
"Come on! Come on!" Kenny ordered as the group arrived at the motel.
"Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" Shawn called.
"Shit. What the hell are they doing?" Lilly huffed.
The gates were quickly opened as the rest of the group rushed over, immediately asking questions.
"What happened?" Katjaa asked.
Mark motioned to the man he was carrying, "Where should I put him?"
"Who the hell are they?!" Larry demanded, looking at the strangers.
"What's going on?" Carley asked.
"Get him into the truck I'll see what I can do." Katjaa told Mark.
Mark gave a nod and with Ben's help, he placed the unconscious man in the truck.
"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked.
"Jesus, Ken, I…I…I don't know." Katjaa said.
"What the hell?! You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!" Lilly yelled.
"Hey, you wanna calm down for a fucking minute?
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Larry growled at Kenny in defense of his daughter.
"No, I don't! I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea?!" Lilly replied to Kenny.
"He would have died, if we left him!" Clementine said.
"So what?!" Larry retorted.
"We are not responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! WE have to focus on OUR group! Right here. Right now." Lilly said.
"Well, hang on! We haven't even talked to these people yet! Maybe the CAN be helpful!" Carley said.
"Come on, Lilly. These are people! People trying to survive just like us. We've gotta stick together to survive!" Mark added.
Lilly shot him a glare, "The only reason you're here is because you had food. Enough for ALL of us. But that food is almost gone, we've got maybe a week's worth left, and I don't suppose you guys carrying any groceries are you?!"
"Um…No." Ben said.
Mark shook his head in annoyance, "Fine. You guys fight it out then. Welcome to the family, kid."
"Is this really necessary?" Clementine asked. "Why do you guys always have to fight."
"Clementine, go play with Duck." Kenny said.
Clementine rolled her eyes, "I'm not a kid, Kenny."
"I'm not going to argue with you, darling." Kenny said. "Go."
"Don't tell her what to do?" Lilly said.
"Why not? I'm the only one who's actually looking out for the kid." Kenny responded.
"That's not true and you know it." Lilly said.
"It is." Kenny huffed.
"Just because we don't treat her like a little kid doesn't mean we don't care about her." Lilly said.
"Exactly." Larry said. "She can handle herself. The girl doesn't need anyone babying her."
"I'm sick of you undermining me." Kenny said. "And you guys have her going against me now."
"You're not her dad, so stop acting like it." Larry said.
"Please, stop fighting!" Clementine said.
"It's no use, Clem. Why don't you talk to the new kid, see if we can trust him?" Shawn said, whispering the last part to her.
"Okay…" Clementine sighed. She walked to Ben and said, "They'll probably be doing this for a while… Let's go sit down…"
"I… I uh-" Ben stammered.
"Just come on…" Clementine said.
The boy nodded and followed after her.
"You know, you like to think you are the leader of this little group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship!" Kenny snapped at Lilly.
"Oh, come on. You're being dramatic! Everything always turns into a power struggle between you two. I'm not gonna be a part of that." Carley said, rolling her eyes and walking away.
"Hey, I didn't ask to lead this group! Everyone was happy to have me distributing the food when there was enough to go around but, now that it's running out, suddenly I'm a goddamn Nazi!" Lilly replied.
"I'm going to have to agree with Kenny here." Shawn spoke up. "You might be in charge of the food, but it doesn't make you in charge of people's lives.
Lilly sent Shawn a glare as Kenny stormed off.
"I don't see any of you stepping up to make the hard decisions! My girl's got more balls than all of you combined." Larry said.
"Dad, please. Why don't you go help Mark with the wall?" Lilly sighed. "You think this is easy for me? Because it's not. Everyone's starting to hate me now… You know what, you handle the rations today, Shawn. Since you think you can do some much better than me."
"I never said that, Lilly." Shawn said.
"I don't want to hear it." Lilly said. "Here's today's food rations, there's not enough for everyone.
Shawn accepted the food with a frown, knowing Lilly wasn't going to take no for an answer. He'd make sure the kids were fed first of all, then he would go from there. He quickly spotted Duck who was coloring, Clementine was sitting beside the child. Shawn wanted to talk to the girl, she'd been avoiding him for the past few months, but before he could head over he notice the teenager stand off and make her way towards Katjaa, not ever sparring him glance as she passed him.
"I'm Clementine... And you are?" Clementine asked the teenager boy.
"Ben... Ben Paul. The man over there is Mr. Parker. He was the band director at my school. We all came down from Stone Mountain for the playoffs... when... when everything happened." Ben replied.
"Tough..." Clementine commented.
"Yeah..." Ben frowned. "I, uh... I keep wondering if I could have done something to help, you know? Some kind of... I don't know... Something."
"I'm sure you did all you could..." Clementine reassured.
"I wish..." Ben replied. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"Katjaa will do her best to fix him up..." Clementine said.
"Alright." Ben muttered.
"I'll go see if I can help..." Clementine said.
Ben only nodded.
Clementine stood up and made her way over to Katjaa. "How's he looking?"
"Not so good." Katjaa said. "Can you give me a hand real quick?"
"Of course." Clementine said.
"Just apply some pressure here while I try to close this up… You know, I thought I was starting to get used to this…sewing up people's injuries…But, I mean, cuts and bruises are one thing, but, this man has no leg." Katjaa said.
"We couldn't just leave him." Clementine said.
"Yeah. I know…" Katjaa muttered. "You guys did the right thing… The right thing is just… scary sometimes."
The two fell silent. Clementine continued to help Katjaa with whatever she needed.
Clementine didn't know how much time had passed as they worked on the man, but in proved to be in vain, as the teen check for a pulse unable to find one.
Katjaa tried to revive the man, with no success.
Clementine wanted to cry. She had expected it, but it didn't make it any easier. It was stuff like this that made her wonder what was the point in trying to survive, when all of them would end up like this anyway...?
"Ken! Shawn! Come here, please." Katjaa called.
Kenny and Shawn approached shortly after.
"He didn't make it, did he?" Kenny asked, already knowing the answer.
"He… lost too much blood." Katjaa said.
"Dammit! I'm getting sick of this shit." Kenny said.
"Ken, come back." Katjaa called to her husband. "There's nothing-"
"Give him some time. It's been a rough morning." Shawn said. He glanced over to Clementine who was wearing a frown on her face. "You okay, kid?"
Clementine shook her head, before walking away without a word.
Katjaa frowned at the teens reaction, looking back to Shawn. "That man you brought…I tried, but he was never going to survive."
"I figured…" Shawn said. "I guess we just hoped he would somehow have a chance."
"What about the other kid?" Katjaa asked.
Shawn shrugged. "Lily w-"
Suddenly Katjaa was grabbed from behind. Shawn's eyes grew wide and he quickly started to yank Katjaa away from the walker that had once been Mr. Parker.
After getting the walker off the woman, Shawn struggled with the creature for a while. He was surprised by the strength of the walker, as he tried to keep it from biting him, until Carley finally shot it.
"You okay?" Carley asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." Shawn said.
"Why'd ya bring him here in the first place, asshole?!" Larry spat.
"Dad, Calm down." Lilly said.
"You're gonna get us ALL killed!" Larry continued to yell.
"Katjaa, are you okay?" Clementine asked the woman, looking concerned.
"I'm fine, dear." Katjaa said once she calmed down a bit.
"Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!" Kenny snapped at Ben.
"What?" Ben asked.
"He was bitten and you didn't say a goddamn word!" Kenny growled.
"What? But he wasn't bitten! I swear!" Ben said.
"Well your "not bitten" friend here came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" Kenny told him.
"What?! Wait, y'all don't know?" Ben asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny demanded.
"It's not the bite that does it! You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. It's gonna happen to ALL of us." Ben said.
"We're all infected? Everyone?" Clementine asked.
"I- I guess so. I don't know… All I know is that I've seen people turn who I KNOW were never bitten. When I first say it happen, we were all hiding out in the gym. Everybody thought we were finally safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher I think, I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them. Someone went in the girls' room the next morning and…" Ben trailed off.
"Back off!" Everyone turned in surprise at Carley's sudden shout.
"Woah, lady, relax! Me and my brother, we… we just want to know if ya'll can help us out." A man spoke from outside the wall. "Can y'all spar a little gas?"
"I said back off!" Carley yelled, aiming her gun at the two unknown men.
"…Carley…" Lilly muttered.
"Are you armed?!" Shawn asked.
"Yeah… for protection… Dead could be anywhere." A second man spoke.
"But, uh, I think you've got the upper hand here." Said the first man.
"Clearly..." Kenny grumbled.
"We don't want any trouble. I'm Andy St. John. This is my brother, Dan. We were out looking for gasoline." The man, now introduced as Andy said. "Looks like you folks got the motel locked down which is fine, but if you could spar any gas we'd be much obliged."
"Why do you need gas?" Carley demanded.
"Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity…" Dan replied.
"Our generators run on gas. Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If ya'll be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade." Andy added.
"How are ya'll doing on food? We got plenty at the dairy." Dan informed them.
"Shawn, why don't you and Mark check the place out, see if it seems legit?" Lilly suggested.
"I'm going with you. I got your back if anything seems fishy." Carley said.
"I'll go too." Clementine offered.
Kenny shook his head. "You stay here..."
Clementine started to protest. "But…"
"Kenny's right. We don't know what we're dealing with… We'll let them check it out." Lilly said.
Clementine's face fell. "Okay…"
"So, uh, what are y'all thinking?" Andy asked.
"You got a deal. We'll bring SOME gas to your dairy. In exchange you give us some food to bring back. We'll see how it goes from there." Shawn replied.
Andy nodded. "Sounds fair. A couple gallons should power one of our generators for a while."