Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help!
Thank you for reading everyone!
To say Danielle was terrified was an understatement. Pete was holding a crying Diana in his arms while Luke scooped the unconscious Clementine into his arms.
Danielle was worried about what to do. Should she continue to follow these people? What if they weren't as nice as they seemed?
"I-I can take the baby…" Danielle hesitantly spoke, her voice small and frightened.
"Are you sure?" Pete asked.
Danielle only nodded. If these people were bad or dangerous, she didn't want to risk them holding Diana in their arms. If she had to make a run for it that would only make things harder.
Pete didn't protest as he handed Diana over to the ten-year-old. He then looked to Luke and said, "Come on… Let's get to the cabin…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I-I mean she just passed out. What if she turns…" Luke asked.
"There's no way I'm leaving these kids out here alone." Pete replied, sending Luke a look.
"She's bit, Pete…" Luke stressed.
"I'm well aware of that boy… But she's also convincing… I don't think she'll turn…" Pete said.
"What if she does?" Luke asked.
"We'll deal with it then…" Pete responded.
Luke gawked at that. "Y-You can't be serious!"
"I am." Pete said.
Luke shook his head in disbelief and retorted, "You're not the one who's carrying her."
"She won't turn." Danielle piped up. "She won't."
Neither Luke nor Pete responded.
Luke could only sigh as Pete spoke after a minute. "Let's keep moving." The young man simply obliged.
The walk is silent, and Danielle is anxious all the way. Soon enough, however, a cabin comes into view. They see a man sitting on watch, a rifle in hand. It takes all Danielle's willpower not to run and hide. How many men were in this group? Many of the men she had met in the past hadn't been kind people…
The girl sticks close to Sam, keeping Diana in a protective grip. The baby's cries had long since stopped and the child was babbling in her arms. They approach the cabin and Luke seems to put Clementine down the first chance he gets, still nervous that the girl might turn.
"I'll go let the others know about our… situation…" Luke said.
Pete gave a nod in response.
The man on watch seems to stand as he notices them, Luke doesn't even get to take a step before the man calls out. "You're back!" However, as he spots the newcomers his tone quickly changes. "Who the hell are they?!"
Danielle flinches from his tone, moving closer to Clementine's unconscious form. She wishes the girl would just wake up.
"Calm down, Nick." Luke tried to calm the situation.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Who the fuck are these people?" The man, Nick asked.
"They're kids, boy. Kids!" Pete said. "Calm yourself down."
"I can see that. The question is why the hell did you bring them here? Do we look like a babysitting service?" Nick inquired.
"They needed help, man... Look... Let me just... go get the others." Luke said.
"I don't care what you do, Luke. You just need to get these kids out of here." Nick scoffed.
Diana begins to whimper again and soon started crying. And Sam started to growl.
"Knock it off boy, you're scaring them." Pete scolds Nick.
Nick seemed to enjoy being intimidating as he took a step closer, "Like I care—"
Sam growled even more causing Nick to back off a bit.
"Unless you want to get bit by the dog, you should care." Pete said.
Nick shot him a glare, "Why the hell did you bring them here?"
"Nick!" Luke called, exasperated.
"What?" Nick huffed.
"Just… Just stop… I'll get the others and… we'll figure something out." Luke said.
"What's there to figure out?" Nick grumbled.
Luke didn't bother answering as he passed Nick and headed into the cabin.
Danielle could feel herself trembling as Nick glared in her direction. She inched closer to Clementine as Sam continued to growl, his aggression at the very least, kept Nick at bay.
Nick gaze then trails to Clementine's unconscious figure on the ground. "What's wrong with her? Was she bit?"
Pete doesn't get a word out before a pregnant woman and a stocky man make their way outside and over to them.
"Who are they? Pete, what were you and Luke thinking?!" The pregnant woman immediately seems irritated to see the newcomers.
"Calm down, Becs…" The stocky man speaks.
"Don't tell me to calm down, Alvin!" The pregnant woman snaps.
"You never answered my question! Is the girl bit?! If she's bit we need to end this now!" Nick exclaims.
"Knock it off, boy! Luke and I will explain everything when he gets back out here!" Pete said/
"And let her turn by then?!" Nick asked.
"She's not gonna turn stop being ridiculous!" Pete said.
"Bullshit!" Nick snapped.
"Everyone just calm down…" Alvin said.
Clementine begins to stir from the ground and soon regains consciousness, hearing the bickering voices around her. It takes a moment for her to process that there are unknown voices speaking around her.
"Look, everything is going to be fine…" Pete said.
"Don't you tell me that! Not with what fuckin' happened." Nick huffed.
"Would someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on here?" Rebecca spoke up.
"Now hold on, Rebecca." Pete said.
"We got this, don't worry." Nick said.
"Like hell you do. Did anyone even think to ask where they came from? For all we know, they could be working with Carver!" Rebecca said.
"She already told us that she and her friend were attacked. They were split up." Pete explained.
"And she was bit, wasn't she?!" Nick demanded.
"She has young children with her!" Alvin pointed out.
"So what! We don't know who they're working for?!" Rebecca said.
"She's not working for anyone. She said she was separated from her friend." Pete said. "I know Carver is fucked up but why would he have a young girl with a kid and a baby working for him."
"To throw us off obviously." Rebecca scoffed.
Pete shook his head. "I'm sure that's not the case. She said she was separated—"
"What? And you just believed her? You should've put her out of her misery right there." Rebecca said.
Clementine didn't know what they were going on about but as she slowly managed to sit up she spoke, "I'm not wor—"
The girl couldn't get another word out before Nick fired his gun at the ground near Clementine.
"What the...?" Pete quickly shot the young man a glare and snatched the weapon from his hands. "Keep your finger off the trigger, boy!"
At that moment Luke opened the door of the cabin and ran outside to join the rest of the group. "Whoa, whoa, what the fuck?!"
"You idiot! Every lurker for five miles probably heard that!" Rebecca snapped at Nick.
"You're the one tellin' me to fuckin' shoot her!" Nick said.
"Everybody, just calm down for a second!" Alvin said.
"Clementine, you okay?" Luke asked, looking concerned.
"Look… I'm not... I'm not working for anyone. I don't know what you're talking about. Just… Just let us go…" Clementine said. She quickly looked to her crying daughter who was in Danielle's arms. "Dani, are-are you okay? Is Diana okay?"
Danielle only nodded while still holding baby Diana in a protective grip.
"We got a doctor right here, okay? He'll have a look at that bite." Luke said. "Now what the hell is wrong with you people?! Okay, they're just scared."
"We're all scared, Luke. Don't act like we're the ones being irrational 'cause we don't buy this bullshit story." Rebecca said.
"Why are we even arguing about this?!" Nick said.
Before long a man whom Clementine assumed was the doctor came out to join the group.
"Let me take a look." The man spoke.
Clementine hesitated for a moment, but Luke offered reassurance. "It's okay. Go ahead. He's a doctor.
With that, Clementine rolled up her sleeve, allowing the doctor to take a look.
"Damn, that must've hurt." Alvin commented.
Carlos inspects the wound. "Hmm. Whatever it was, it got you good." Carlos muttered. "How exactly did this happen?"
"We were attacked in the woods." Clementine answered.
"You and the children?" Carlos asked.
"Yes…" Clementine confirmed
"How do you know those children…?" Carlos questioned the girl.
"Danielle… she's been with me for a while… and the baby is mine…" Clementine replied honestly.
The doctor's eyes widened, "Your daughter?"
"My daughter." Clementine simply repeated.
"Quite young to have a child..." Carlos said.
"…Stuff happens."
Carlos hummed, "Where is the child's father?"
There is silence for a moment and the man thinks the girl won't respond.
Clementine soon sighs, "He's dead."
"This isn't how we do things, man. When you're bit, you get put down. End of story. I'm not going through this again." Nick spoke, pain in his voice.
"No one's suggestin' that." Luke said.
"We could take her arm off." Pete said, causing Danielle and Clementine to gasp. "I know that worked for a cousin down in Ainsworth. We could try that."
"And leave her with what? She's already missing an arm. It won't do any good. You'll just be makin' it worse for the girl." Rebecca said.
"It's crazy. No one's gonna volunteer to do that." Alvin said.
"I would. If it means saving her life." Pete said.
"Then what? How would we know it worked?" Nick asked.
"Just let Carlos have a look first!" Luke said.
Clementine decided to speak up herself. "You're right. You shouldn't jump to any conclusions. You don't want to do something you're gonna regret."
Pete paused for a moment before saying, "C'mon, the girl doesn't look like much of a handful. We could take her if it comes to that."
The cabin door soon opens and a teen girl peeks out. "Who are they?"
"Sarah, what'd I say? Stay inside." Carlos said.
The girl, Sarah, frowns but obliges and closes the door.
"I don't mean to cause any trouble. I just wanted to find help. But if you let me go, I promise you'll never see me again." Clementine said.
"And where exactly would you go?" Carlos asked.
"To find help somewhere else…if I can. Or treat myself if I have to. I just want to find somewhere safe and do whatever's best for the kids." Clementine said.
"Interesting words, considering you look like a kid yourself." Carlos replied.
"I'll do whatever I can to protect them." Clementine said. "And I'm eighteen."
Carlos only hummed in response.
"Look, I dunno what the hell took a bite outta her, but still... she's just a kid. Worst case, she turns and we can deal with it." Pete said.
Carlos gets up and returns to the group.
"So? What do you think?" Alvin asked the doctor.
"Was it a lurker?" Nick asked.
Carlos sighed, "A bite like that... could be anything."
"So she is bit! Just let me shoot her now!" Nick said.
"I won't turn! I swear I won't." Clementine said. This wasn't the first time she had been bit. Still, she was hesitant to tell the group this, nervous of how the group would react, they were already being hostile.
"Bullshit…" Nick said.
"Please…. I wouldn't lie about this…" Clementine said.
"And how do we know that? We don't even know you." Nick said.
"I wouldn't take the chance to put Danielle and my own daughter at risk if I knew I would turn. But I won't." Clementine said.
"…Only one way to find out." Carlos said.
"How?" Pete asked.
"We wait." Carlos said.
"What?!" Rebecca asked.
"By tomorrow morning, if the fever's set in, we'll know if she's gonna turn. In the meantime, we can lock her in the shed." Carlos finished.
"What about my arm? It needs to get cleaned, and stitched, and bandaged." Clementine spoke.
Luke agreed. "The girl is in bad shape, Carlos."
"We have all that stuff inside the cabin." Alvin said. "We could probably get by with..."
Rebecca interrupted him, "Alvin, please..."
"But, yeah, we can't do nothing." Alvin quickly said, clearly shut down by his wife.
Carlos looked Clementine over and then looked to the children. He couldn't help but feel guilty about the idea of Clementine dying. He would hate to leave her baby parentless. Even the thought of separating Clementine from her daughter bothered him but he wouldn't want to risk the girl turning and killing her only child.
"Wh-What if you fix my arm and I stay in a separate room…. That way there's no risk." Clementine said.
"It doesn't eliminate the risk. It's too risky to allow you into the house. I'll treat your arm the best I can, but you'll have to stay in the shed. If you haven't turned by the morning, we'll let you out." Carlos said.
Nick furrowed his brows, "Carlos what the hell are you doing? If that's a lurker bite—"
"I'm not willing to leave a baby parentless. If what she says is true, then we have to take a chance." Carlos said.
"Wh-What about my daughter, and Dani…?" Clementine asked. "They need me."
"We'll look after them until morning." Carlos said.
Clementine started to protest. "But—"
"I can assure you, no harm will come to them…" Pete spoke.
"…Okay…" Clementine felt conflicted about letting them look after the children, but she knew this was the best she would get. They didn't trust her about not being able to turn and she didn't know what else to do.
"The dog will stay in the shed with you." Carlos said.
Clementine only nodded in response. "Dani, look at me… You take care of Diana… Everything is going to be okay…"
Danielle looked frightened and unsure, but she did her best to trust Clementine's judgement.
"Take her to the shed. I'll check the children for bites." Carlos said.
"Just...please… don't hurt them." Clementine pleaded.
"We won't." Carlos said.
Luke motioned for Clementine to follow him. "I'm sorry. It's the best we're gonna get."
Clementine knew he was right.
Pete offers the rifle to Nick, and he grabs it out of his hands. "Finger off the trigger, son."
Nick scoffed. "I ain't your son."
Luke cut in, "Don't be like that, man."
"It's alright. Boy's got his mom's temper." Pete brushed it off.
"Come on." Nick ordered to Clementine.
Nick and Luke began to lead the girl to the shed, Clementine making sure Sam followed.
Rebecca protested in the distance. "This is just a waste of time. You'll see. And when she turns, I ain't gonna be the one cleanin' up the shed."
Clementine looked to over her shoulder to Danielle and Diana before speaking to Luke. "Please take care of my kids…Don't let anything bad happen to them."
"I promise you we won't. Look… just hold out the best you can. We'll see what we can do in the morning." Luke said.
The group reaches the shed; Luke opens the door and exchanges a sad glance with Clementine. She walks into the shed and Luke closes the doors behind her.
"Why are we doing this? It's so fucking dumb." Nick said.
"Because it's safer this way. And I'd rather be sure." Luke replied.
"Yeah, but safer for who?" Nick asked.
Clementine could hear their voices fade and could only assume they had walked away.
"I can't believe this…" The girl took a deep breath to calm herself. "You're gonna be fine, you're gonna be fine."
Sam whined a bit, looking to her with what she would think was concern.
"It's okay, boy. We're okay…" Clementine reassured both the dog and herself. "We'll get through the night and we'll be just fine…"
Clementine decided to look around to see if she could find anything useful. She soon found a hammer and figured she would hold onto it for her protection.
The girl sighed as she took a seat.
Sam sat beside the girl.
"…Now we wait…" There wasn't much else to do.
Upon bringing the children into the cabin Carlos checked them over for bites, the adults noticed how panicked Danielle became and how the girl immediately shut down after. They couldn't help but worry for the little girl. When anyone offered to take Diana, Danielle would only clutch onto the baby and shake her head. So, the group figured they best give the girl some space.
A while passed before Luke Pete and Nick entered the cabin.
Noticing Danielle awkwardly standing by the door, Luke spoke.
"Hey, kiddo… You hungry?" Luke asked Danielle.
The child only remained silent, holding a now sleepy Diana in her arms.
"I can get you and the baby something to eat."
Danielle still didn't respond. She was worried about Clementine, and she didn't trust any of these adults.
"Here… How about you take a seat on the couch and—"
Danielle walked over to the couch and simply obliged. She began trying to soothe Diana to sleep. Luke watched the child for a moment with concern. He couldn't imagine what type of things the poor girl had seen, or what kind of things she had been through.
"House meeting in five minutes." Carlos called.
"That's...that's great." Alvin grumbled.
"It won't take long. There's a few things we need to discuss." Carlos said.
Alvin sighed. "Fine."
Luke made his way to the kitchen and within a few minutes the rest of the group had gathered there as well.
"Where's Sarah?" Pete asked.
"She's got her book. She doesn't need to be a part of this." Carlos said.
"What do we even need to talk about? We should just send them on their way." Nick said.
"It's too risky. We can't just let them go." Rebecca said. "We don't know who they're with."
"Not this again…" Pete sighed. "They already said no one."
"And we can't just believe it 'cause they say it!" Rebecca said.
"What is there to talk about? She's already in the damn shed." Nick said. "I don't even know why we put her there. She's just gonna turn."
"She already said she won't." Luke said.
"And we should just take her word?" Rebecca scoffed. "Your trusting nature is gonna get you killed one day."
"Right. This doesn't make any sense. It's just stupid." Nick said.
"Look, she's in the shed. She can't hurt anyone." Pete said.
"What if she does turn? What do we do then?" Nick asked.
"Then it looks like we're stuck with two little kids. There's no way we can send them back out there. Especially when one of them is a baby." Luke said.
"Well, I'm not gonna be the one looking after them. I don't even know why you brought them here." Nick said.
"We couldn't just leave them to die." Luke said.
"They may be good as dead already. The girl in the shed is bit for fuck's sake." Nick said.
Carlos cleared his voice, grabbing attention. "All we can do is wait until morning. By then we'll see if a fever has set in."
"This just seems like a bad idea…" Nick said.
"Well, nobody has any better ones." Luke replied.
"I'm going to treat her arm." Carlos told the others.
"Are you really going to use supplies on her?" Rebecca scoffed.
"I'm going to do what is best for those children. And that is to give their mother a fighting chance." Carlos said. "We'll keep an eye out on the children… And I'll check in on the girl in the shed… I'll treat her arm and beyond that, all we can do is wait."
The others sighed but could only nod in agreement.
Luke had figured bringing them back would cause issues amongst the group, but he didn't want to leave them to die. He just hoped he had made the right decision.
Clementine jumped when she heard the shed door open. Sam growled a bit, but the girl shushed the dog.
A figure soon came into view and Clementine noticed that it was Carlos.
"Let me see your arm." The doctor spoke.
Clementine obliged, allowing him to see her arm. After a moment of silence she asked, "The kids… are they okay?"
"They're fine. How long have you been on your own?" Carlos asked. "It can't be easy raising two kids out there, especially with one being a baby."
"My friend was with me before. We got attacked." Clementine said.
"Can I ask this friend's name?" Carlos asked.
"Carley."
"The people who attacked you- did they give a reason why?" Carlos questioned.
"They were just sick people..." Clementine replied.
Carlos nodded his understanding. "I'm sure there are a lot of sick people out there."
"Trust me. There are." Clementine nodded.
"I can only hope you're not one of them." Carlos said.
"What?" Clementine was taken aback by those words.
"You claim you won't turn. I can only hope you're not just saying that and putting us at risk…" Carlos said.
"I wouldn't do that. What would my point be?" Clementine asked.
"Sick people don't need motives." Carlos said.
"I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't put Danielle or my daughter through that." Clementine said.
"So you say." Carlos mumbled.
"I know you don't believe me. But I won't turn." Clementine confidently spoke.
"You sound fairly confident." Carlos noted.
"Because I know I won't." Clementine said.
"And how is it you know that…?" Carlos questioned.
"I just do." Clementine said.
Silence fell for a moment. Carlos pressed his hand against her forehead and scoffed, "You have a fever."
"It would have been a lot higher if I was going to turn." Clementine said.
The doctor couldn't disagree. The girl did in fact only have a low grade fever. He remained wary however.
"What makes you so sure that you won't?" Carlos asked.
Clementine sighed and motioned to her leg. The doctor took the hint and rolled up her pants leg. His eyes grew wide, and he even gasped.
"I know I won't turn because I've survived it before…" Clementine said.
Carlos said nothing else. He simply tended to her wound and gathered his materials to leave. He paused at the door and finally spoke. "I guess we'll see how things turn out in the morning."
The baby was crying. Danielle hated hearing her cry. It always made her want to cover her ears until the loud wailing stopped. Sometimes she did just that: covered her ears until Clementine managed to calm Diana down. But Clementine wasn't here right now… she was in a shed- injured… Danielle knew she had to step up and be a protector for Diana. She knew the baby was scared, that she probably missed her mother. Danielle missed Clementine as well. And Carley… poor Carley.
She couldn't help but think how unfair life was.
She shook her thoughts away and tried to focus on calming baby Diana. It was late. She didn't know what time it was but the last thing she wanted was to make anyone in the house mad. She was sure they were as pleased to hear the baby's cries as she was. "Diana, please… please stop crying…"
She didn't.
"Is that a baby?"
Danielle jumped at the sudden voice but didn't respond. She kept her focus on trying to calm the crying child in her arms.
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I was just curious..." A teen girl spoke, looking both curious and anxious at the same time. "I-I haven't seen a baby in forever! Is she your sister?"
Danielle was still hesitant to respond but the girl didn't seem to take the hint that the younger wasn't wanting to talk.
"I'm Sarah. What's your name?" The girl asked.
At this point, Danielle sighed.
"Umm...is there anything I can do to help?" The girl asked. "Or maybe Rebecca can get her to stop crying. She's gonna have a baby soon. Maybe she needs a bottle or a diaper change?"
Danielle was surprised that the girl continued to speak to her. The older girl seemed... off. This girl was older than her but clearly acted more like a little kid than she did.
When Danielle still didn't answer Sarah spoke again, this time with a question. "Umm… where's the baby's mommy? I thought there was another girl with you."
The word mommy only seemed to work baby Diana up more and her cries increased.
Danielle sent Sarah a look, fighting the urge to glare at the girl.
"Sarah..."
It was now Sarah's turn to be startled as Rebecca approached the teen from the stairs.
"You should be in bed, honey." Rebecca said.
"But I'm not tired." Sarah practically whined.
"Still, you know how your dad feels about you roaming the cabin at this time at night… besides you need your rest, honey." Rebecca said.
"Aww…" Sarah sighed, "I wanted to help out my friend."
"Your friend?" Rebecca basically scoffed, sending Danielle a cold look causing the child to shrink back a bit. "Do you even know her name?"
"I… No… but I figured we could be friends…" Sarah said.
Rebecca softened her gaze and tone as she spoke to Sarah, "Look they're probably not staying long and I just don't want you to be hurt when they leave."
"Oh…" Sarah frowned then said to Danielle, "I hope you stay…"
"Don't get your hopes up about that… It might be for the best if they move on…" Rebecca said causing Sarah to frown more. "It's late and she probably wants to put the baby to bed."
"Right… umm… goodnight…" Sarah said before starting back up the stairs.
"Wait…" Danielle spoke, almost too quiet to be heard.
Sarah paused on by the staircase.
"Danielle… my name is Danielle." The child spoke in a small voice. "People call me Dani."
"Nice to meet you, Dani." Sarah smiled.
"You too." Danielle asked.
With that Sarah headed back upstairs.
Rebecca waited until she had left before speaking. "Don't mind her. She gets like that sometimes."
Danielle looked to the woman with suspicion for a moment before going back to shushing the baby in her arms.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Rebecca asked the small child.
Danielle truly did not. She just tried to replicate the methods Clementine used to calm Diana though clearly it was not working.
Rebecca watched her for a moment. She noticed how the girl seemed to be struggling to calm the baby. The woman soon sighed, and Danielle was surprised by her next words, "Here. Let me try…"
Danielle seemed to be struggling with the baby and Rebecca seemed to notice.
"Let me see her…" Rebecca urged.
Danielle seemed hesitant.
"I won't hurt her…I might be able to calm her down." Rebecca said in a gentle voice.
"…Okay…" Danielle slowly agreed.
Rebecca took the baby into her arms and hushed her. It took a little while but eventually, Rebecca managed to calm the baby. "There you go… It's okay…"
"…She misses Clem…" Danielle said.
"…I'm sure she does. I think it's normal for babies to get separation anxiety when it comes to their parents… Especially their mothers…" Rebecca said. "…How old are you, sweetie?"
"Almost eleven…" Danielle said.
"Would've guessed younger…" Rebecca replied.
Danielle only shrugged in response. Rebecca figured the child got that a lot.
"How about we get you two something to eat? I'm sure you're hungry." Rebecca suggested, her tone much kinder than before.
Danielle was a bit hesitant but didn't protest. The meal presented to her, and Diana was a simple bowl of oatmeal, but the girl wasn't complaining. She ate her share while Rebecca fed baby Diana.
As scary as Rebecca had seemed before Danielle wondered if maybe the woman was as bad as she had come across outside.
The woman stuck with her after dinner, helping her get situated on the couch, offering a blanket, and even helping put the baby to sleep. Yeah, the lady's bark was definitely bigger than her bite.
When morning came Clementine had yet to sleep. The girl was worried about Diana and Danielle. She just hoped they were okay.
The girl found herself pacing back and forth while Sam every so often would try to get her attention by rubbing against her leg until she would pet him. She was sure the dog could sense her anxiety.
Her fever was much higher than before. She knew that, but it wouldn't kill her. Still, she worried about the reactions. She continued pacing, unsure how her exhausted body was still able to keep moving, but feeling the moment she stopped she would probably collapse right there.
The girl was so lost in thought she barely noticed Sam start growling nor did she hear the shed door open.
She jumped, clearly startled when a familiar voice spoke out. "Clementine? Kid... You… okay?"
Clementine had been expecting Carlos to come to check in on her, however, it was Luke who was there. "Luke?"
"Yeah...You look like hell..." Luke said, noticing how pale and tired she appeared.
"Thanks." She sarcastically remarked. "I feel like it too."
"But... but you're alive." Luke said.
"Yeah. I am." Clementine said.
"I guess you were right…" Luke said. "You… You really didn't turn…But how?"
"It's… not something I can explain… I really don't know…" Clementine said.
"Well… it's amazing. There's so many people just…. But you…. you didn't turn…." Luke said. "Just…. Holy shit…."
"How's my baby?" Clementine said. "And Danielle? How are my kids?"
"They're fine… Honestly, I think Rebecca took a liking to your little one, she was helping Danielle out with her last night…" Luke explained.
"That's good, I guess…" Clementine said. "She seemed pretty cold though… I wouldn't have expected that."
"She's just…on edge." Luke said.
"I guess we all are." Clementine sighed.
"Well… Carlos is inside waiting to check on you." Luke said. "…You uh, hungry?"
Clementine slowly nodded. "Actually, yeah… I am."
"After you," Luke said allowing her to step out of the shed first. They made their way into the cabin.
As she entered the house, she noticed Danielle and Diana snuggling on the couch. Clementine couldn't help but smile a bit. Sam took a seat at the door and stationed himself there almost like a guard dog.
She slowly approached them and placed a light hand on Diana's head, stroking her baby's hair.
Danielle's eyes seemed to flutter open, and she looked to Clementine. "Clem,"
"Hey, kiddo. I told you everything would be okay…" Clementine said to the girl, offering her a smile.
"Are we leaving now?" Danielle asked.
"Not yet… Go ahead and get some more rest." Clementine said.
Danielle nodded and slowly allowed her eyes to fall shut.
Clementine leaned over to kiss Diana's head and whispered, "Mommy missed you, baby girl.
"Come on. Carlos will take a look at your arm in the kitchen." Luke motioned for the girl to follow.
Clementine obliged. Once in the kitchen, Carlos motioned for the girl to sit on a stool. Carlos inspected Clementine's wound. Luke paces and Nick bites his fingernails.
"This might hurt a little." Carlos said.
"Ow!" Clementine winced a bit.
"How's she look?" Luke asked.
"I'd say she should be fine." Carlos replied after a moment.
"So she's not gonna turn?" Nick asked.
"If she was, she surely would have turned by now." Carlos replied.
Carlos bandages Clementine's arm.
Nick leaves the room and Luke follows him.
Carlos washes his hands in the sink. "I helped you for the sake of your children. Don't think that means I trust you… I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but there are a few things you need to know about my daughter…"
"Your daughter?" Clementine echoed.
"That's right… My daughter… Isn't like other children… You may not get that initially, but once you're around her for a while, you'll understand. If she knew how bad the world is... what it's really like out there... she would... cease to function. She's my little girl. She's all I have left, and I would ask that you stay away from her." Carlos said.
"You mean she doesn't know what's going on out there?" Clementine asked. "How bad the world is."
"No… And she doesn't need to know." Carlos said.
Clementine was shocked to hear that. "That's insane. She has to grow up at some point. You can't just hold her hand forever. You have to tell her—"
"YOU do NOT know what she needs!" Carlos snapped before lowering his voice. "Rebecca was worried you might be working with someone else. That your being here was no accident. I guess we'll find out, but one thing I know for sure, you are not to be trusted."
Carlos started to walk away but paused in front of the door and looked back. "Stay away from my daughter." With that, Carlos leaves.
Luke soon reentered the room, and notices Clementine looking quite glum. "You okay, Clementine?"
"Yeah… I… Would it be okay, if I use the bathroom…?" Clementine asked.
"Sure, it's right upstairs." Luke directed her to the restroom and Clementine stood from the stool.
She exited the kitchen and headed over to the stairs, as she made her way upstairs, she could hear Rebecca and Alvin arguing,
"It makes me feel like a fucking idiot when we're not on the same page." Rebecca said.
"We ARE on the same page!" Alvin replied.
"Not out there, we weren't! Not about the girl! I saw you get soft!" Rebecca huffed.
Clementine knew immediately they were talking about her. She headed into the bathroom and did her best to ignore the conversation, but these walls seemed quite thin.
"She's a mother, Bec! She has kids." Alvin said.
"And we have our own child to think about!" Rebecca snapped back.
"What do you want me to do, Bec? Put a bullet in her?" Alvin asked.
Clementine flinched at that. She quickly decided to hurry in the bathroom and get back downstairs. She knew she wasn't wanted here and maybe the sooner she left the better.
"I want you to think about our family FIRST." Rebecca replied.
"It's all I think about. So don't give me any shit." Alvin said.
"Yeah. Well sometimes I don't see it." Rebecca scoffed.
Silence fell and Clementine finished her business. She washed her hand clean surprised by the running water before exiting the bathroom just as Rebecca voiced, "I need some air…"
"That man sometimes, I swear!" Rebecca nearly bumped into Clementine who was just leaving the restroom. "Looks like you're alive afterall…"
"Yeah… Um… I heard you helped keep an eye on the kids… Thank you…" Clementine said.
"No need…" Rebecca stopped her. "Since you're alive that means you can take your kids and leave."
"I plan to…" Clementine said.
"Good… We've wasted enough time and supplies on you. The sooner you go, the better." Rebecca said.
Rebecca shoots Clementine a look as the girl exits the bathroom before brushing past her and entering.
Clementine can hear the sound of running water followed by the woman's muffled voice swearing. "Damn it... Just need to have this baby and...oh, god. Let it be okay and... let it be his."
Clementine's eyes widened but she slowly made her way downstairs, knowing she had heard something she wasn't meant to hear.
The girl started back to the kitchen, but not before checking on Danielle and Diana once more. She noticed Sam eating a bowl of something, she figured Luke had fed him.
She returned to the kitchen with a sigh. As she did Luke motioned to a seat at the table. "Hey, uh... made you some food, if you're hungry."
"Oh…Thank you…" Clementine said.
"And don't worry, we made sure your kids got their fill of food." Luke said.
Clementine and Luke sit at the table, and she starts eating.
"That's gonna leave of hell of a scar." Luke said.
"I'm used to scars…It's better than losing it." Clementine said.
"You could say that again." Luke said. "…How did you lose you arm anyway…?"
"It was… an accident, I guess… A group reacted trying to save me… Resulted in this." Clementine said.
"Damn…I'm sorry to hear that…" Luke said.
"I'm just happy I didn't lose my other arm today." Clementine said. "Or my life."
Nick soon entered the room, almost as if cued, "Hey, look... Um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for... well, for being a dick out there. I got kinda aggro and that was definitely not cool."
"Nick's been known to go off every once in a while. Don't hold it against him." Luke said.
"Yeah, I guess we all have our moments." Nick said.
"You definitely had one out there." Luke pointed out.
"You were just protecting your friends. I get it." Clementine said. "I'm just glad things didn't escalate…"
"I didn't mean to be so harsh. I just... we had a bad experience once." Nick said.
"We've all had bad experiences." Clementine said.
"Nick lost his mom. We took care of someone who'd got bit." Luke explained.
"It was my fault. I—"
Luke stopped him "It was no one's fault. We thought we could control it, but... we couldn't. And then she turned and his mom was standing right there and she got attacked... There was nothing we could do about it."
Nick looked to Clementine and said, "Anyway. Hopefully, you understand."
"I do… Bad things have happened to everyone." Clementine said.
Nick nodded, rubbing his neck sheepishly before making an exit.
"So, since you're pretty much on your own and you have those kids to look after, what's your plan?" Luke asked.
"Not much a choice. I'm thinking about moving on." Clementine said.
"Well, you're welcome to stay here if you want. You can let yourself heal up and take some time to sort things out." Luke said.
Clementine nearly scoffed. "Really? Cause I don't think everyone else would be too happy about that."
Luke shrugged. "They'll just have to deal with it."
"Don't think that would turn out great… But I'll think about it…" Clementine said.
"Fair enough..." Luke said. "…So…what happened to your parents? If you don't mind me asking. I mean, I assume what happened to them is what happened to just about everyone's parents. You're just so young... didn't think you could've made it on your own for so long, but maybe you did."
"They died." Was the girl's short cut answer.
"I was just curious on how you made it this far." Luke said.
Clementine sighed. "I just tried to stay with good people and not do anything dumb."
"Hey, I'm sorry, I... I shouldn't have asked." Luke said.
"My parents went on vacation but they didn't get to come back. They left a voicemail and… it sounded really bad…" Clementine said.
Luke frowned at this. Wow. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I… I lost my folks too…"
"Yeah… I met up with other survivors and we all tried to make it, but... it didn't work." Clementine added.
"What happened to them?" Luke asked.
"The same thing that happens to everyone." Clementine said.
Luke found himself lost for words, only able to mutter out a soft, "Wow…"
Pete entered the room during their moment of awkward silence and greeted, "Clementine, morning to you."
"Good morning, Pete…"
"I hope you got a couple winks in. I know that shed probably wasn't the best place to sleep." Pete said.
"I'm just glad you guys finally believe me…" Clementine said.
"Never said I didn't before." Pete said. "Nick and I are gonna head out, set up a few fish traps. Luke, you got watch while we're out. We shouldn't be too long."
"Sounds good." Luke said.
"Anything I can do?" Clementine asked, waiting to help in some way.
"I'd say you should catch up on some more rest… It's been quite the night for you." Pete said.
"Yeah, Pete's right. I'm sure your exhausted. Plus, your kids definitely missed you." Luke said.
"Thank you guys… For everything." Clementine said.
Luke leaves to go take watch. Pete smiles at Clementine before leaving as well.
Clementine continues to eat, and Rebecca soon enters the room and goes to the sink.
"Oh. You're still here. I wouldn't get comfortable, if I were you." Rebecca said. "Maybe you fooled everyone else, but not me."
"Look, I don't want to fight with you… You don't need to talk to me like that." Clementine said.
"Or what? You can't pull some shit on me. I'm not my husband." Rebecca replied.
"You should watch your language if you're going to be a mom." Clementine huffed.
"You should watch your ass if you know what's good for you." Rebecca retorted.
"We just needed some help." Clementine said.
"Well, you got it. Now go." Rebecca said.
"We won't be here long. Believe me." Clementine said.
"Good because you're wearing out your welcome. You got what you came here for. Now go." Rebecca hissed before leaving the room.
If looks could kill Clementine was sure that woman would have killed her faster than any bite ever could.
After eating Clementine made her way back into the living room just in time for Diana to wake up. She took the baby into her arm and rocked her.
"Mama?"
"Mommy's here baby… I got you… Everything's going to be alright. We're going to be alright." Clementine said to the child.
She had so much on her mind, and her next thing was figuring out where they would go from here…
Clementine lay down on the couch holding her daughter close. She thought for a while about what her next move should be. She always tried to do things in the best interest of the children, and a warm cabin was exactly what they needed right now… but she knew that half of these people didn't want her here. Things were so complicated right now… she just didn't know what to do. She decided to try to put her racing thoughts at ease and get some rest. Eyes fluttering shut, she kept her daughter close to her, almost feeling calm enough to fall asleep.
Almost… maybe it was a habit for her to be on edge or it was the fact that she and Carley often stayed up to keep watch. She was so used to having her guard up that she didn't know how to let it down. And a tiny voice in the back of her mind screamed at her for having the audacity to fall asleep in a house full of strangers.
To say the least, Clementine did not end up getting much sleep at all.