Chapter 3: Rite of Passion
Clementine wasn't as experienced with love as some mammals might think. In her entire life she'd only ever kissed three people, all which were girls, and one which died right after. Her longest relationship was with a tigress named Kat, and even then, that only lasted a few months. With romantic matters, she was a complete novice. Skye was making her feel like she could learn so much and felt a much deeper connection than with Kat. They had been friends ever since she came to live full time in Bunnyburrow four years ago, just as Clementine was beginning to settle down. She knocked on her door one day and decided to introduce herself and Jesse, her boyfriend at the time. The three became inseparable ever since.
She had started crushing on Skye a year later, as they were going on patrol more often and began knowing each other even more. They had shared many stories, and she even talked about Angel, obviously omitting the part where she got bit and miraculously survived the Nighthowler infection. She saw her crush as a traitorous act on her part, as Skye and Jesse were still going steady at the time. If that ever were to be discovered, she feared the worst. So, she buried her feelings, knowing that she'd still be happy being Skye's friend.
When Skye and Jesse broke up, her old feelings resurfaced, as suddenly as getting drenched with a cold bucket of ice. It gave her hopes that she might become something more with the arctic vixen, but she still didn't try to do anything, thinking it to be insensitive to try and make moves on a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend. She never thought it was gonna be Skye herself who made the first move a week later. Now there she was, thinking long and hard about how she was going to pop the question. She must've been standing there for over ten minutes, just staring at the outside of the garage, Judy already out of her view. She shook her head, and began her walk inside, not wanting to keep making Skye wait for her.
She climbed the rope once again, unable to know the sight that would wait for her as she climbed the edge. As soon as she climbed, there was Skye, lying down on the floor looking straight at her.
"Hi!" she said suddenly.
"Aah!" Clementine screamed, letting go of the rope for a moment, sending her back a couple of feet down.
"What in the cheese and crackers is wrong with you?" she asks the fox, now currently looking over the edge.
"I saw you coming," she answered, aloof.
"Still doesn't explain why you had to scare the crap out of me."
"Because I thought it would be fun."
"I almost fell!"
"Come oooon, that's a mild concussion at best if you fall."
"Ugh, I'm killing you when I get up there," she began climbing once again, the face of the vixen now gone. When she finally climbed back, she expected her to be hidden somewhere, but was instead just looking out the window with her binoculars.
"I thought you were going to kill me," she said smugly.
"Eh, it would be too much of a hassle to hide your body, nevermind telling your parents where you went."
"You can just say I got dragged by a bunch of infected, they'll probably believe you."
"Are you seriously giving me ideas for how to hide your body?"
"I'm that confident you won't go through with it," Skye looked back at her with another smug smile.
"Keep being a smartass and see what happens." The girl approached the window, now also wielding her own binoculars.
"You love me too much, Clem. You could never kill me."
"Ugh you sounded like Nick just now."
"Is that bad or good?" she asked worriedly.
"Neither. It's just weird."
"Fair."
"What are you looking for, anyway?" Clem changed the subject, trying to make it less tense.
"It's our last spot to check. That town over there. See?"
With her binoculars, Clem was able to see what Skye was talking about. Beyond the trees of the thick forest was another town with a big clock tower, which was the most visible part of the town.
"That's where the next lookout is?" asked Clem.
"Yup. It's still a bit far so we better hurry up. Let's get back to the ostriches."
Before leaving the room, Clementine opened another cabinet containing some more ammo for her weapons. Skye held the door open for her to go through first.
"Question," said Skye. "Were you wearing those same clothes yesterday?"
"Ugh, they're clean!" Clem defended.
"No judgment," Skye added.
"It's patrol, ya know? We're here to kill savages, not to look fancy."
"You still look nice," she mentioned. Clementine shivered at how well that made her feel. She tried choosing her next few words as calmly and indifferently as she could.
"Uhh, thank you?" As she said this, she was already down on the first floor and on her way out to the garage.
"Miss me, Shimmer?" Clem said, also petting her mount. She unstrapped the ostrich and got on it, Skye mirroring her actions.
They came out through the wall leading to the other side of the path in the direction of their next town, Clem giving a big hop with Shimmer, with Skye in the lead just like at the start of their patrol. The land didn't change much, still thickened with pine trees and snow.
"I think we should go out like Yax," Clem mentioned. She was still thinking about how lucky he was to live for so long.
"From a stroke?" Skye questioned.
"No! From old age. Living a long life." With you. Obviously she did not say that out loud.
"You? Old age? Hah," Skye gave a sarcastic smirk. "No way, man. You're so reckless."
"Look who's talking!" She shot back.
"Whuh? You'll probably die from hypothermia for not wearing anything in your head."
"I am wearing extra warm clothes today!" Clem was enjoying this banter. "You know how you're gonna die?"
"Oooh lemme guess. You're gonna kill me?"
"I already told you that wouldn't work," she said, referencing their past conversation.
"Okay smarty pants, from what then?"
"You like perfume. You might just put Nighthowler perfume on you by accident."
"I am not nearly dumb enough to do that!"
"Even smart people do dumb things from time to time."
"Yeah well I'm not that smart to be in the smart people category." The girls chuckled.
As they kept trotting, they found another water stream, but one not so cute. This time it was water from the sewers, too disgusting to even admire. Their path also led them to an abandoned playground, and then between a destroyed house, whose middle portion of it had mysteriously disappeared, no debris or anything. More forest awaited beyond that, until they reached a neighborhood with a few houses that could garner some savages.
"Hey, should we check these houses out?" asked Clementine.
"Seems quiet, but we can if you want. I bet they still have some supplies." Skye got out of her ostrich, joining Clementine on her house search. Her first stop was at a trailer home. It was very warm inside, and the furniture was well-kept. There were no traces of a past tragedy.
"What do you know about this place?" questioned Clem.
"Just another evacuated neighborhood. Savages almost never make it out this far, we usually catch them in the outer perimeter." Skye began entering the house, with Clem already inside. One nightstand luckily held medical pills that Clementine happily took.
"These trailers are neat. Nice little portable home," mentioned Clem.
"You think people traveled a lot in these things?" pondered Skye, leaning on the fridge of the house.
"I mean, wouldn't you?"
"If I lived pre-outbreak, hell yeah. I'd go see the whole country."
"Or travel to another country," Clem added.
"Maybe one day we will." Clementine focused on the we in that sentence. Did Skye really want her to come with her to explore the world? Or was it just a general all mammalking thing? She tried not to think too hard about it.
"Hah, keep dreaming," she dismissed her. Goddamnit Clem. She didn't want to say that. She really wanted to say that she would love to explore the country with her or wherever else she wanted to go. She was still too cowardly to do it.
"Jesse talked a lot about going to Pawnada," Skye said, as Clem went out of the trailer home, having looked through everything. "He said there are these huge waterfalls he wanted to see."
"Really? Didn't peg him for a romantic adventurer like that."
"Everybody's got their dream."
Clementine got ready to inspect another house to the left of the trailer home. The first floor was completely done, the only thing present being the support of the house and some of the walls, but everything else was either picked apart or demolished.
"So…what are you doing tonight?" Skye asked. Clementine cursed herself. She had set up her plans at the worst damn time. She would love it if it truly was Skye inviting her somewhere.
"Uhh…I was thinking of inviting Nick to watch a movie? After Judy tells us whatever she wants us to know, apparently. She was really adamant about me coming to their house tonight."
"Oh… you and Nick are good?" she asked, with a face that said she hoped she wasn't crossing a boundary.
"Yeah…" Clem said, not very confidently. She hoped Skye wouldn't pry any further. She didn't.
"What movie are you guys gonna watch? What's Nick into?"
"Wolfis and Viper 2. That's one that's been on my radar for a while. Nick enjoys good bad movies, and I heard that's one of the best bad ones out there."
"Oh, wow. Good luck, then," Skye joked. Clem climbed to the second floor of the house thanks to part of the stairs that were still mostly intact.
"I actually enjoy them too. What about you? What is the mighty Skye doing tonight?"
"Oh well yah girl is going sledding! Some people were thinking of sneaking out."
"Ooh, that sounds fun. Hope it goes through."
"Yeah, me too. I'll really miss you there." Fuuuuuuck, she didn't want to say she was regretting her decision, but she was. Why did she need to be so adorable to her? "You wanna meet up after?" Skye added, startling the red vixen.
"Uhhh y-yeah, sure," she armed herself with courage and said her next words. "Maybe I'll…play guitar for you." Yes! She did it. She flirted back.
"O-okay," it was Skye's turn to get startled, her white fur making it harder to hide her blush. Unfortunately, Clementine couldn't see it due to still being on the house's second floor. As she unearthed a sad note about a child asking Santa for gifts, she moved on to the next cabinet.
"Are you inviting Judy as well or is this a fox-only venue?"
"I'm thinking fox-only. I think he deserves a breather from Judy," she joked, not wanting to explain the true reason she wanted her and Nick to be alone watching the movie.
"Clem, don't you dare speak badly about her. She's the most wholesome mom you could ever have," she said defensively.
"Relax, I'm only joking. In reality, it's Judy who needs a break from Nick and his old-man clinginess."
"The guy's only thirty-seven."
"And also half-deaf."
"Completely hereditary, nothing to do with age."
"You seem to weirdly know a lot about Nick," she eyed Skye suspiciously.
"What can I say, I'm a friendly gal. Mammals just want to tell me things. Also, I don't know that much about 'im. Knowing his age doesn't count 'cause that's like, common courtesy and stuff."
"Yeah, right. When were you gonna tell me you had a crush on him?"
"Oh, now I know the true reason you'll die," she said threateningly. Clementine laughed.
"Killing me won't make him like you more," said Clementine, continuing the teasing train.
"You're absolutely insufferable, you know that?"
"You know you love me."
"Cannot fight you on that." Clementine did not feel ashamed or blushy this time. She enjoyed that, of course, but kept a cool air about it. She didn't want to act too much like a teenager. She wanted to at least pretend she was a mature young adult. Their chatter ended for a bit, with Clem opening another drawer to the side of the snow-covered bed of the second floor, with nothing on it.
"What's Wolfis and Viper 2 about?" asked Skye.
"Ok, so two former commandos, they go rogue to fight bad guys, and I think in this one they fight against Clawsian spies or something."
"I'm more interested in this than I thought I would be," said Skye, which gave Clem an excuse to keep going.
"Alright, so the young one, Viper, he's a trained ninja, and he's a complete badass."
"How old was he in the first one?"
"Umm, I think he was…ten?"
"Wait, how many movies did they make of this?"
"Uhh, I think they made four?"
"Jeez"
"Nick actually saw the last one in theaters," Clem mentioned. "Ain't that crazy?"
"Yes. Do you think anybody out there is still making movies?" As Skye said this, Clementine moved on to the houses on the right side, which were more kept together but underneath more snow. Only a small part of the first floor was visible on one of the two houses.
"Has to be," Clem replied confidently.
"How do you know? I mean, what if they're all just like us? Surviving day by day."
"Well, I write new music so…someone must have a camera." Clem climbed to the second floor of the half buried house, containing another fancy bed, its sheets still in place.
"Speaking of cameras, did you know people used to film sex? They called it porn and sold it to people."
"I'm not ten, Skye, I know what porn is. I was alive before the pandemic started."
"Well, I was and I didn't know about it."
"Guess you didn't go on the internet much."
"What's that?" she questioned innocently.
"You're fucking joking. You don't know what the internet is?"
"My parents were heavily religious, Clem. They only gave me like an hour of screen time for cartoons a day, and it was cartoons that they handpicked."
"Sheesh. Well, the internet was this thing you had on all your computers and phones, and porn was all over it. Even free. You didn't even have to buy it."
"You're kidding right? All of that footage is gone now? The horror!" she screamed dramatically.
"Who even taught you that?"
"Yax, who else?"
"Ugh, that dirty old man."
"I kept some of his magazines. Makes for interesting…material, if you know what I mean," she smiles seductively.
"I do not want to know about what you do at night, please," Clem covered her ears in shame.
"I'm fucking with you. I'm not that perverted."
Now in silence, Clementine explored the house. Most of it was picked already, as expected, until she found a trading card from her favorite comic series, Pig Hero 6. The card described the titular hero, a pig robot.
"Ooo, I don't have this one," she muttered, stashing the card in her jean pocket.
"Wait wait wait back up a second. I just realized something you just said," Skye moved closer towards her. "There are original Clementine songs? Why haven't you played any for me?"
"Well I-I don't know."
"Come ooon, you gotta play one for me tonight! Please?" she pleaded. It was the eyes. Clem could not refuse those eyes. She still stood strong.
"Mmph, I'll think about it."
With this, they were done exploring this area. Clementine went straight to Shimmer and got on top of her, waiting for Skye to do the same with her both girls were on, they moved on, still traversing through snow-covered streets. She could see huge fences that separated the houses on both sides of the street. The power lines still stood strong, only slightly crooked due to the change in environment. Even cars were barely visible, the cold white dust surrounding most of them. There was one advantage to the white, and it was in its power to further accentuate every color, including red.
When Clementine saw red on the ground, she came to a halt, forcing Shimmer to stop dead in her tracks. It was the body of a wild ostrich, completely ravaged and without any meat on its person, creating a pool of blood around it that melted the snow below it, leading to some visibility in the pavement.
"Shit," said Clem, getting off of her bird once again to inspect the corpse closer.
"What the fuck? Ugh that smell." Skye gagged, putting her paws on her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. "How many savages do you think did this?"
"More than one," she said sullenly. "Where the hell are they?"
"Let's go find them," said Skye, her pistol already unholstered and ready to go. There were red tracks in the snow that led to a wide building, with a big sign that said "MARKET". At this point, Clementine also got out her pistol, ready to fire at whatever came in her path. Slowly and surely, they approached the building.
It didn't take long to hear them, prompting another silent curse from the red fox. They were screaming inside, multiple savages. She couldn't determine yet what their species were. She hopes most of them are bunnies, as they're the easiest ones to kill.
"How the fuck did they get in there?" asked Skye, defeated. She did not want to deal with savages today, and Clementine shared in that sentiment.
"More importantly, how do we get in there?" The door was barred from the inside, so it would be impossible to try and open it. From the corner of her eye, she noticed an open window to it…with more blood underneath it and on its bottom wall.
"Skye, this way," she whispered, climbing the window. Right in front of her there was a good hiding spot, a book rack that only contained a few old magazines from ten years ago. Right in front of her was the first savage of the day, a runner rabbit wearing a brown trench coat, eating some of the remains of the ostrich. Clem slowly approached it, wanting to kill it from behind. With quickness to her, she grabbed the savage mammal around his neck and pierced it profoundly, waiting for its life to vanish. The body now rigid, she took out the knife and dropped the body on the floor.
"It's down," Clem said, a bit shaken. It was always uneasy to deal with them.
"That's one. Let's see if we can get around to the back of the supermarket"
"Good idea."
Going right, Clementine could see an open window and a blue door. She approached the blue door, but it was locked. She then opted to see if she could open it from the other side by climbing the window. Easily enough, she climbed the window and found another way into the room, opening the blue door for Skye. Inside it were a few more ammo drops and medicine. They continued to the supermarket. The next door they needed to cross was blocked by something. Clementine started pushing on it, until the door gave out and she fell on the floor.
The very loud sound of the cabinet dropping on the floor didn't just startle Clementine as she fell, but it also alerted the animal already lurking in that space. Suddenly, a boar savage came around from the corner, directly in front of Clementine.
"Oh shit."
The boar didn't waste time running towards her with the intention of killing her. A beer bottle had fallen on the floor and Clementine grabbed it, throwing it hard against the boar, shattering it. This disoriented the boar, giving Clem the opportunity to land a perfect stab on his head, killing him instantly.
"You good?" Skye asked.
"Yeah."
"Nice throw, by the way," she complimented, her breathing also a bit winded from their encounter.
"Thanks." Clem replied. With her flashlight, she started rummaging around the area looking for supplies.
"The way we came in was barricaded," said Skye. "How did that runner get in here?"
"Yeah, that's a good question."
"What's the most infected you've taken down on patrol?"
"Gotta be the one I had with Nick a year or so ago. It was like…I dunno, a dozen? What about you?"
"I killed about twenty once. It was a group passing through."
"Fuck…" she was glad Skye had been okay. Dealing with a massive group of savages like that probably wasn't easy. "Maybe we'll get you a new personal record today."
Clementine spotted another small open window above a table, also with blood running down from it. She guessed that's one of the ways some of the savages were able to get through.
"Skye, through here," she motioned the girl to join her, both of them climbing the window. It led to an open area with another building that seemed to also be part of the market. They spotted more savages right away.
"More runners," Clementine relayed. There were two of them, separated by a car in the middle of the area. "Let's keep it quiet."
Without saying anything to the other, Clementine went towards the right for one of the savages and Skye took the left path to kill the other one. Clementine waited until Skye was in position and looked at her through the window of the car between them. They both looked at each other through one of the broken windows and nodded. In unison, both vixens took the savages' necks and stabbed them, causing as much silence as possible. Clementine went back to the start of the path, noticing another Savage by one of the walls of the market. With her same strategy, she took it from behind and stabbed it.
Skye was seemingly also busy with another infected by the other side of the building, managing to keep the stealth. Now both were inside the second building, most of its contents now sacked and looted. Unfortunately for them, more savages awaited inside. They were all bunnies, which posed less of a challenge for the two strong vixens. As a team, they cleared the remaining two infected with the same ease as before, with Clementine stabbing one in the neck and Skye doing the same to the other one.
"That all of them?" asked Skye.
"Yeah. Looks like it."
"We still gotta get the ones in the supermarket," Skye lamented.
"Let's keep circling the building. There's gotta be a way in."
Now outside again, Clementine observed her surroundings to see what path she could take into the main building of the supermarket. She spotted a delivery truck blocking the path forward, identifying that as their next obstacle to get through. Skye approached it.
"Clem, help me up there? I wanna look around." Skye pointed at the truck, wanting Clementine's help to get to the top. She put her pistol back into the holster and pressed her back against the body of the truck, putting her paws together so that she could use it as a boost.
" Alright, go ahead." With this, Skye put her left foot on Clementine's paws, and with a push from Clem, Skye was in the top. She tried not to take a look at her backside as she was climbing. Get it together, Clem. As the time passed, she couldn't keep on denying or hiding her attraction. Skye took a moment to look around the area.
"Umm… there's a hole in the roof over there." Skye began positioning herself on her stomach on the top of the truck, offering Clem a hand so that she could climb as well. With a small jump, she grabbed her paw, Skye pushing her above.
"Look, see?" Clementine saw where she was pointing, and it was true. There was a hole on the roof, the problem was getting to it.
"Alright. Let's figure out how to get in there."
The other side had another truck, much bigger than the one they were standing on, which could be a good place to get to in order to get to the roof. Clementine dropped down into the snow on the other side, already trying to figure out how to get on top of the other truck. She could see that there was a spot below where she could pass through to the other side of the truck, and with no second thoughts she took it.
"Through here," she called to Skye, already following her steps. The space below the truck was spacious enough to comfortably move through.
She was coming out safely from the other side before a savage female rabbit jumped down from the truck and grabbed her, pinning her to the ground.
"Clem!" Skye screamed, dragging herself faster to help the girl. Meanwhile, Clementine was defending herself from the slashes that the rabbit was trying to inflict on her, thankfully covering herself with her jacket so that they don't reach her skin. She grabbed the rabbit's face and successfully pulled her away from her with a push of her legs, with Skye finishing her off with two gunshots, staining the snow with more blood. Skye went ahead and helped Clementine stand up.
"Are you clean?" she asked erratically, checking for any wounds on her body.
"Yeah. Just banged up." She cleaned herself from the snow and some of the blood that got on her from the savage.
"Please die of old age and not because you're infected," Skye pleaded. Hearing that was very ironic to Clem. "I really don't wanna have to shoot you in the face," she added.
"Heh. Deal." Now clean and calm, she got back to it. "See any way to that roof?"
"Not sure."
Clem noticed there was a clear path to get on top of the truck. Using some of the boxes conveniently piled up to the side, she climbed to the top of the cabin where the driver's seat was. The trailer was not attached to the truck, so she needed to leap to the trailer. It was a safe distance, so she made the jump very easily. The hole in the roof was right in front of her. Naturally, Skye followed right behind her.
When she entered the hole, she was met with what seemed like a small conference room, with a round table of about 12 people and a plastic board with markers. So far, she didn't hear any infected. She went to a cabinet below a TV, and found some alcohol.
"This is a good find," she said.
"That'll come in handy if you hurt yourself," said Skye. For once, she didn't try to tease back.
"Yeah." She stuffed the bottle in her backpack. Skye moved a wheeled rack out of the way from the door to exit the office, spotting something on the other side.
"Spores. Masks on."
"Got it." Clementine obeyed and put on her gas mask. Technically, she didn't need to use it, but no one in Bunnyburrow knew that she was immune to the infection, besides Nick and Judy. It hurt her a little that she couldn't tell Skye, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She might tell her, eventually. With both masks wielded, the two vixens opened the door. Skye grabbed her shoulder before heading out.
"Remember. I don't wanna have to shoot you in the face." Her voice was stern, but her eyes were soft. She meant it.
"Aww, that's so sweet." With that, Clementine was out, the first thing she noticed being an entire wall of overgrown Nighthowlers, stuck to the wall in a bizarre shape. It always made her uneasy to see it.
"All these spores mean they've been here for a while," suggested Clem. "Keep your eyes peeled for older infected." She really didn't want to fight with any Stalkers, or worse, Howlers and Bloomers, but nothing ever goes perfect for her.
"Is this part of the supermarket?" Skye questioned. It didn't seem like they were on a floor that used to sell anything.
"I don't know. I think we're above it?"
"Let's get to the ground floor."
They inspected part of that area, which was an office workplace, complete with old food and coffee machines, which suggested it was the break room. After going through that they went back to the entrance, going instead to the other side of the door that contained a broken piece of wall they could slide through. After sliding through it, she could see a wall of pictures of mammals, with 'Employee of the Month' written underneath each one. To the right of that was another set of rooms contained in a wide hallway, probably separate offices for the different workers there. The silence in that room was very tense. Even parts of the wall started to decay due to the high amount of Nighthowlers stuck to them. They reached an area that resembled a main kitchen where the employees could probably cook their own lunches. Sadly, no food remained, but she did find a few rags she could use to make bandages.
She could see another way to move forward, once again a narrow path in between two walls, both walls covered in deep purple. She could only take one step on the other side before the floor started crumbling.
"Oh shit!"
"Clem!"
She tried to grab on to Skye to go back to her side, but it was too late. With their paws still holding each other, the floor gave out, sending both Clementine and Skye sliding down into the lower floor, with Clementine falling on her back, and Skye flat on her stomach, with a big block of wood falling on top of Clem, sticking her to the floor. Right away, Skye knelt to her side, helping her push the block away, when they heard the titular clicking of an enemy howler.
Almost on instinct, Skye turned with her pistol at the ready, pointed directly at the rabbit Howler's head. She didn't shoot yet, hoping that she didn't need to waste another bullet and it could just go away. Both Clem and Skye stood incredibly still, hoping not to make another sound that would alert it. The howler was so close it almost touched the mouth of the pistol. They weren't quiet enough. When the howler got ready to strike, Skye gave it two clean shots to the head, once to take out its protective blooms, and another to fully kill it. After the deed was done, she began helping Clementine again. The block was heavy, but nothing that the two of them couldn't carry together.
With the block slid off of her, Skye quickly helped her up, now running to cover. There were more Howlers waiting on that floor. Clementine could see two in her direct line of vision, but wasn't sure if they were all of them.
"Fucking Howlers," said Skye. "Here we go. Keep extra quiet."
The girls moved in unison once again towards each of their respective targets, with Clementine moving towards the howler to the left. Taking out a howler with stealth tended to be trickier, as their sense of hearing was far more advanced than a runner or a stalker's. Seeing those ugly mugs of theirs was never exciting for the red vixen.
The place they had fallen into was definitely what a supermarket looked like, with many shelves that used to sell medicine or other goods now emptied out, save for some empty boxes that remained in some of the stalls. The howler Clementine was hunting was precisely behind one of the shelves. She moved at a sure pace, quietly, to keep herself unknown to the unsuspecting howler in front of her. With her reliable dagger she briskly penetrated the howler's neck, his suffering squeals only heard for a few seconds before unceremoniously dropping on the floor. Skye seemed to have finished her own howler before going over to her side, hiding behind one of the shelves.
It was not over for them, as they heard more howlers in front of them. She couldn't see a single one of them, unnerving her. Carefully, she moved gently towards the sound of the savages, covered by more empty shelves in front of her. Skye followed close behind. Passing through some shelves she finally noticed the howler, now walking towards the area they fell through, annoyingly making Clementine follow it. It felt really good when the howler was caught and the entirety of her knife disappeared onto its mouth, killing it.
"These blind motherfuckers make my skin crawl," Clem mentioned.
"Let's make sure the rest of the building's cleared, and then get the fuck out of here."
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
'Pawston's Pharmacy' was plastered on one of the store walls, letting them know that was the name of the old store they were currently in, and the store they wanted to be the most far away from right about now. Clementine was already fed up by everything happening, and there really wasn't a good moment to really mention anything about her romantic feelings for Skye. She needed to finish this patrol, and fast.
"Clem, I found the door," said Skye, already pushing a cabinet that was covering said door. Clementine went in to help. It was heavy, but nothing the two strong vixens couldn't handle. The door now free to open, Skye went in first, locating something useful and going to it. The place seemed to be the worker's office, containing computers and clear-view windows to the other side, with machines for credit card payment.
"I'll make you a present," said Skye.
"I'll take a present."
The snow vixen was holding a crystal bottle with some liquid inside and a rag above it. Clementine's eyes shined as she recognized the object immediately. Skye offered it to her, and she took it with gusto.
"Careful with that," Skye advised.
"I'm a pro," Clementine boasted.
More screams of savages were heard to the other side of the wall.
"Ugh, we're not done," she cursed.
Climbing the open window, Clementine fell into their next area, a much more open space, with its roof destroyed in the middle, letting in the white light of the snow outside. The place was not short on savages, which pissed Clem off. She could see at least two runners and one howler. They took off their masks and got ready to kill them.
"We got some numbers here," whispered Skye. "Let's get the runners first."
The closest runner they could find was behind a wide shelf, which gave them a safe spot to kill it stealthily. With the prowess she showed throughout the day, she took out the runner in a matter of seconds. Moving further into the area she could now see a few more runners and howlers. She stopped thinking too much about it and just decided to kill whichever went in her path. Luckily for a runner, he was next, warranting a swift choke and stab from Clem. While Skye took care of some of the runners to the rightmost side of the area, Clementine was going to handle the two clickers, who were now sandwiching her. She couldn't decide which to try to kill first. She opted for the one on the left, throwing a rock to the other side so that it would look away. As soon as they heard the rock and turned, Clementine made her move, stabbing it in the throat. Next up was the other howler that was a few meters away from her. She circled around so that the moving howler would be standing away from her, and as usual she quickly took him out, shattering its skull open. She was filled with a lot of brain matter at this point. She was gonna have to take a shower today.
While Skye did her best at killing a few of the runners, a few more remained, hidden behind more shelves. Another howler approached her premise, standing directly above the destroyed ceiling. Skye motioned Clem to keep going for the others as she went on to take out that clicker. Clementine now went inside the warehouse of the store, which contained another runner walking directly toward her. With a quick movement, she hid behind one of the racks, waiting for it to walk in front of her. When she saw the rabbit runner's legs, she swiped at one of them with her dagger, making him fall, which led her to finish him off with a stab to the forehead. That was the last one.
"Any still moving?" Clementine asked.
"Uhhh, nope. That's it. You know what? I'm impressed with us. We're really kicking ass."
"Yeah," Clem said enthusiastically. "The guys are not gonna believe our numbers."
"Okay," Skye stretched her limbs. "Let's go to the next lookout, and take a fucking break. We earned it."
"Agreed."
"Wait, do you see a way up?" Skye said, looking at the open ceiling. Clementine tried opening a security gate to no avail. It was either through the ceiling or nowhere.
"It won't budge."
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," Skye said, determined. "You're just gonna hurl me up through that hole in the roof." Sometimes she wondered if Skye had a few screws loose.
"Oh, okay. Sure thing," Clem said sarcastically.
"Do you have a better idea?"
Clem looked towards a broken AC unit, a light turning on in her brain.
"As a matter of fact, I do," she said smugly. "There's a cable underneath that AC. Maybe we can get it and use it to climb to the top."
"Well, look at you, junior detective."
"Shut up and help me with this, would you?" she said, already trying to get the cable from underneath the AC. Skye complied and lifted up the unit in a few seconds, giving Clem enough time to gather the rope.
"Here we go. This should hold us." With precision, she aimed at one of the exposed vents on the roof, the only thing from that part of the roof that stayed together.
"Get over!" She threw the rope at the vent, successfully going around it. "Fuck yeah."
She put the end of the rope back in the AC to hold it.
"Ok, looks good," Skye gave it a few pulls to make sure it was safe. "Here I go." With her full weight put on it, the AC unit faltered, threatening to let go of the rope.
"Wow you're heavy," joked Clem.
"It's gotta be this damn winter coat. I'm usually ten pounds lighter in the summer."
"Aww, but I love your white fur," Clem pouted, still teasing the dangling vixen.
"I'll give you a sample of it whenever I shed some of it."
"I will never get rid of it."
"You're so gross, girl."
"Hey, you started it."
Their conversation over, Clementine began climbing the rope, with the AC only budging a little for her.
"Careful when you get up here. It's pretty windy," warned Skye. She was not lying. A very striking wind hit her in the face as she got up onto the exposed vent, freezing her snout. The wind was getting pretty rowdy, which might mean that a blizzard was coming. Clementine wasn't very excited at the prospect of that.
"Over here," called Skye, leaning on one of the roof walls. She skipped over it and slid through the rooftop, falling back at the entrance where the pool of blood and eaten ostrich was located. Clementine did the same.
"Storm's really picked up," Skye said, the screaming winds howling around them. They approached their ostriches.
"How far are we from the lookout?" asked Clementine.
"It's just past the next town."
"Following you."
Clementine could see nothing in front of her except for Skye. She hoped she knew where she was going, because she sure as hell had no clue where they were. The fog was incredibly thick. She hopes Nick, Judy and Gideon are holding up better. It was even hard for poor Shimmer to advance in such a cold climate.
"Hey, how far away are we?" Clem asked again.
"A few minutes out."
"Ok"
Clem felt exhausted. Everything had gone relatively smoothly, but something about today was very draining for some reason. She had this pain in her chest that told her something was going to happen, and she hated that feeling. This storm was not helping. She put her hoodie up, hoping to keep some of her heat before heading to the next lookout.
"This is getting worse," Clem mentioned. "Should we turn back?"
"We won't make it. We're almost there."
The wind was rowdier and rowdier, the storm even making some of the tallest trees shiver. Shimmer wasn't doing much better, going at a slower trot. Clementine cursed herself as the flying snow covered both her and her mount from head to toe. Shimmer began hissing.
"I know, girl, I know. Just a few more minutes, keep going. Skye, how much further?" An answer didn't come.
"Skye?" she asked, now more alarmed. She couldn't see her anymore, so she was freaking out. She was just there, what the hell could've happened? She passed through an open trailer, and tried calling for her again.
"Skye!"
Once again, no response. The noise of the storm was ringing in her ear, making her struggle to keep herself together. She tried not to freak out, so she just kept going. Skye would turn up. Sooner or later she would.
The road wasn't in a straight line anymore.
"Skye, where are you?" She kept calling for her, but Skye never answered back. She was scared. Cold and scared. She couldn't have possibly lost her now. Not now. It was too early. They were supposed to live together on a farm until they died of old age. This is not how it was supposed to go!
"Clem!" Light returned to Clementine's face as she finally saw the white vixen in front of her.
"Oh thank god. Where the hell were you, you were worrying me!"
"Sorry, I guess I didn't see you weren't with me anymore. I won't do that again."
"It's alright. Let's just get some shelter."
Soon enough, they finally got their much desired shelter, successfully escaping the terrible storm. The place seemed to be an old library.
"I'll get the door," Skye said, shutting the sliding door of the library.
"Have you been here before?"
"Rode by it. Never inside."
"Let's make sure it's clear."
Clem, already feeling much better in the warmth of the building, and knowing that Skye was okay, got out her pistol to check for any savages. So far, nothing of the sort was heard. She came upon a wooden door with a metal chain.
"Someone locked this place up," Clementine said. "There's something back there. I think I see a bed"
"You think we got a squatter? It doesn't feel like anyone's been here in a while."
"Could be a possibility. Let's stay alert."
Clementine wandered into another location of interest. She broke the window towards one of the rooms in the library, going inside.
"What's going on here?" The room was filled with machines and all kinds of electronic materials.
"This stuff has got to be Yax's!" Said Skye.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, nobody else would tinker with this shit. But why would he hide it from me?"
Clementine went towards a board, which had a dangling collar on it, saying 'Yax Yakster' with a number below it.
"Hah. Definitely Yax's place." She flipped the pendant over, noticing a very familiar shape.
"Yax was a firefly?" Clementine asked, surprised.
"He served with Gideon," Skye mentioned.
"I had no idea."
"Yeah. They got into some real dark shit." Skye opened the wooden door of the room to the left of the board with the firefly pendant. The place seemed to be the kids section of the library, with many toys and books for them.
"Like what?" Clem asked, also going inside.
"He said he blew up a checkpoint. Killed three soldiers, and two civilians."
"Shit…"
"He also told me that he and Gideon slowly tortured some FEDRA general? I don't know, I don't buy Gideon doing that." Clementine gave Skye a side eye. If she thought that, she clearly did not know the kind of person Gideon was.
"He could do worse."
"What do you mean?"
"He and Nick…" she hated breaking her spirits, but no one was a saint in this world. "...they did a lot to survive, after the outbreak." Skye was silent. They kept moving.
Despite the darkness that shrouded the room, the space was very cozy, with many objects and furniture that belonged to Yax. He had made this place his own. She admired that. Clementine approached a workshop and saw a polaroid picture sitting on it. She took it and was surprised at what she saw.
"Oh my god. It's Yax and Gideon!" Both mammals were side by side in the picture, with Gideon on the left and Yax on the right, smiling at the camera, with Yax making a rock symbol with one of his paws. "They looked like babies here." She put the picture on her backpack, planning to show it to Gideon later. He might appreciate having that back as a memory of Yax.
"There's gotta be a generator around here," said Skye, rummaging around the area for the source of energy. Clementine saw that they were on the other side of the chained door, and she went to take a closer look. To the right of the door, she finally saw what they were looking for. She gave it a few pulls, and it finally started working.
"Woah. Impressive work bench, Yax," said Skye. "I bet you could mod your gun with this, Clem."
"Hmm, good idea. Let's see." She looked at the materials in the workbench, trying to figure out what was the most useful at that moment. She decided to attach a compensator to reduce the recoil, which would help a lot in high stakes situations. "That's good for now."
"Oh, hello. Clem, look at the floor," said Skye, looking at a light below the floorboards. "There's more stuff down there."
"You see a way down?"
"Not here."
Clementine followed the light. All of the floorboards had gaps that allowed her to look into them, so it was easy to track where the light went and where it stopped. She followed it until she wandered into a bookshelf, with some of the light passing through as well.
"Found it. Help me move it, come on." Skye went to her aid, both girls moving the shelf out of the way, revealing a secret passageway that led to a flight of stairs.
"What's he got down here?" Skye wondered.
"Well it's obviously a sex den. That's why he didn't tell you about it."
"I hope it's a sex den, for his sake. He was so lonely, man. It's probably like a giant TV he didn't wanna share."
Now down into the lower floor, she could see a double door, with some plants visible on the other side. With no preamble, she opened it.
"Oh my god. It's weed." Clementine said. The room was filled with cannabis, growing both on pots and upside down through a seemingly intricate tubing system. Skye's eyes glimmered, until she realized it couldn't be smoked.
"That's a lot of dead weed. This explains a lot."
They kept exploring the unending garden, looking for any plant that could be worth saving. On top of a cabinet, Clementine saw some tapes and went to read them.
"Hey he's got some videotapes!" Skye exclaimed, going over to look at them. "Dong of the wolf? Smash Brandy's Cootch? Wait, is this what I think it is?"
"It's porn, Skye."
"Holy shit. Ew," she said, realizing how gross it was to be touching that without any gloves.
On another rack, she saw a pile of smoking objects like bongs and pipes. Yax was very ready to get high as a kite everyday. She even saw the most bizarre bong yet.
"Skye, hahaha, it's a gas mask bong."
"Ugh. God he was so smart."
On another rack where some plants were, she spotted a jar containing some cylindrical shapes. She took it to inspect it a bit closer. They were rolled up cigars, ready to be smoked. A parting gift from Yax.
"Oh, here we go," Skye approached, appreciating the view of the blunts.
"You think it's still good?"
"Does weed go bad?"
"Let's find out."
As Clementine began uncapping the jar, Skye began feeling at home, taking her backpack off and putting it on the floor, looking at Clem expectantly. She was taking a while to do the task.
"You having a hard time," Skye asked.
"No, I got it. Ugh, fuuck." It was really screwed tight. She really was embarassing herself.
"Give me that." Skye swiped it out of her paws, also trying to uncap it. It was also hard for her. With a few more grunts, she gave up.
"Ugh, fuck it." She threw it hard against the ground, shattering it.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Clem asked sincerely, a smile on her face.
"I opened it didn't I? It's what matters." She kneeled, picking up a blunt, handing it to Clem. She put it on her snout to smell it.
"Smells good." She handed it back to Skye as they both sat down on a sofa.
"We're gonna be stuck here for a while, right? We might as well." She got out her lighter and ignited the weed, puffing up a big amount, and then expelled the smoke satisfyingly. She offered it to Clementine.
"Totally trapped," Clem grabbed it, also sucking up some of it.
"Can I ask you a question?" she said, softly.
"I don't know, can you?" Clem exhaled her smoke, already feeling the effects of the cannabis. She handed it back to Skye.
"Scale of one to ten. One being absolute trash, and ten being life-altering. How would you rate our kiss from last night?" she looked at Clem with hungry eyes, making her feel small under her gaze. She took a moment to answer.
"Why are we still talking about this?" She had an idea. She had an inkling of an idea that maybe, just maybe, Skye also felt the same. She couldn't be completely sure. She didn't know if she was misunderstanding the signals. Skye passed the smoke back to her. "You said it was a mistake."
"Did I say that, though?" she looked away. She didn't know what was happening. Was Skye confessing to her? Clem was planning to do it later that night, but it seemed like she was getting a few steps ahead of her.
"What are you doing?" She needed to be sure. She couldn't just go out on a whim and confess as well. As far as she knew, it was Skye being Skye, a smug girl who loved to mess with people.
"I asked you to rate our kiss," she said, getting closer to her. Clementine also moved closer, their snouts a fair distance from the other.
"I don't know…" she answered truthfully. She had no idea what answer Skye expected.
"I'd give it a six," Skye said.
"A six?" said Clementine, feeling insulted. The blunt was rotated once again, ending up on her hands. "Wow."
"Like, a solid six. There were a lot of people around."
"Yeah, but six?"
"Now I really wanna know how you'd rate it," Skye said playfully. Clementine thought about what to say once again.
"I don't think you actually wanna know."
"You're infuriating." She got closer.
"Yeah?" Clementine did as well. "Have you met you?"
"You make me wanna go back outside into that blizzard," she said, in almost a whisper. She got closer once again.
"Then what is stopping you?" Clementine whispered, now the closest she's ever been to the girl excluding last night. Just like at the start of their patrol, they shared a silent moment together, looking at each other longingly, both wanting to make the first move.
"This better be better than a six," Skye said daringly. Clem was smiling widely now. She flicked the blunt away and pounced, grabbing Skye's face with both paws and kissing her.
Their lips exploded in each other, an unrelenting passion that they didn't know they had. They were both confident enough to share each other's tongues already, forgetting all the shyness from the day before. All of the awkward looks, the uncertainties. They all washed away instantly as they gave themselves to the pleasure of each other's mouths. Skye even went the extra mile and began giving her slow love bites on her neck in between kisses, wanting more and more from her. They licked and licked until there was not a place that went unexplored in their cavernous teeth-filled walls.
As the girls shared their much needed love for each other, somewhere else in the storm, an angry vixen had begun her onslaught upon the fox who had ruined her life.
Abby had found Nick Wilde.