Clementine was staring at the bonfire, watching the can of beans heating up. Beans. That is basically everything she had been eating for the last…well, ever. There was chatter around her, but she did not have the energy to really pay attention to anything but getting lost in the tin can. The quiet night was interrupted by Luke stumbling through the makeshift door. She lifted her hat to offer her friend a smile, but the usually happy man walked right past her and waved to the group. ''Nick, Pete. I got something I need to discuss with y'all''
Her attention shifted from the can on the fire to the three men, now standing in the corner of the room. She tried to listen in on their hushed conversation, but to no luck. From what she could tell it was a heated argument.
''What do you think they are talkin' about?'' The warm Southern accent of her friend and pseudo-guardian Bonnie got Clementine's attention and made her smile. She turned her head to the woman and offered a small shrug before responding. ''Whatever it is, Luke does not trust us to know it.''.
''That's typical of them'' Clem's eyes wandered over to the source of the comment. It was Rebecca, who was sitting next to her husband with a similar can of beans in her hands. ''He thinks he's the leader of this little team. Best chances is that this has something to do with Bill. I just hope for Luke's sake that it isn't a stupid plan''
''While Luke and Nick may be…rash sometimes, I know my brother will be the voice of reason. He always has been'' Nina countered. Despite of Rebecca's rather spiteful comment, Nina wanted to keep tensions down. This was something Clementine appreciated a lot.
''I'm just saying that now we know who she trusts and not.'' Rebecca reasoned before falling quiet again. ''Sorry.''
Clementine frowned a little and began thinking about the words she just heard. Could it be that Luke did not trust them? Why not Nina? Why not his girlfriend Bonnie? The question bothered her a lot, because she always thought of Luke as one of her closest friends in this entire warehouse. ''Hey Clem, don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll let us know what's going on.'' Bonnie said with a reassuring smile.
The night slowly crept up, and Clementine went to bed, as she had an early shift the following morning of patrolling with Bonnie. In the middle of the night, her eyes darted up. Her hand immediately grabbed her weapon and she stood up. In the distance was mumbling. Loud mumbling. She slowly crept toward the noise while keeping her own noise down. What she saw first confused her. A large group of her friends standing by the exit to the room, and everyone was wearing warm clothes. She saw Alvin, Rebecca, Carlos, Sarah, Reggie, Nina, Pete, Nick and…Luke! Her hands gripped her weapon and she pointed it at them. She had no evidence of anything yet, but it was highly suspicious activity. ''What is going on here? Are you leaving?'' She finally spoke up while her weapon was pointed at her friends.
Luke looked up surprised, then sighed ''Dammit. You weren't supposed to see this, Clem.'' He sighed. Clementine knew Luke well enough to realize what was going on. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth and spoke. ''You are going to leave! Why?'' Her voice was shaky. She was scared and alone. Her friends had betrayed her.
Luke shook his head ''Look Clem. Things have been quite heated between Bill and me, and I just need to go. I can't stay here. I couldn't tell you because I did not want to put you in any danger. Surely you also see what Bill is doin' to citizens here. I know you ain't blind.''
Clem lowered her gun. She thought about it. ''Why not Bonnie as well? She recued me, took me here''. She was conflicted. On one hand she wanted to leave now that she had the chance. On the other hand, she couldn't just leave Bonnie behind, right? She was the one who brought her here and kept her safe. Now that she had seen them, there was no real going back. She was faced with two options. Abandon Howe's and start a new life and leave Bonnie or report most of her closest friends. None of the options were great and she hated the spot she had been put in. She began thinking. What would Lee have done? It was the motel all over again. Lee wanted to leave, because she was told not to stay in one place for long. Yes, Howe's was safe, but for how long? She had made her decision. After lowering her gun completely, she stepped over slowly and spoke. ''I want to join you, however I want Bonnie to come too.''
Luke let out a relived sigh and nodded. ''We'll pick her up on the way''. The group started to walk with her in the middle of the pack through the store. Clementine saw very few other people, thankfully. The beaming exit sign was in sight, and so was Bonnie's sleeping quarters. They did not stop by Bonnie as promised. They went instead went straight past. This made Clem confused. ''Hey, Bonnie sleeps in here, remember?'' She stopped the two people behind her who was Luke and Nick.
''She's not coming, let's go'' Nick said in a dismissive tone and tried to push past Clementine. He was stopped by the girl.
''What do you mean she isn't coming? You promised" Clementine stared at the two men. The rest of the pack had stopped as well.
''Luke, this is stupid. We don't have time for this just tell her the truth'' Nick grumbled.
Hesitantly, Luke nodded. ''We can't bring her. She is too loyal to Bill. Please, Clem. She will slow us down and we need to move, now! Someone's gonna see us''
Clementine did not like this at all and she brought out her gun again and shook her head. ''Fine, I will get her then'' She said and turned to the bunkers and got ready to run. ''BONNIE!'' She yelled right as a gun was fired right next to her, stopping her in her tracks. ''What are you doing, shooting at her?!'' It was Luke's voice. Through the ringing in her ears, she head the argument start behind her before she was yanked by her shirt and pulled along.
She started hearing more voices. Angry voices. Confused and terrified, she finally found her footing and began running along with the group. Looking back she saw Bonnie exiting her bunker and looked at her with a disappointed and hurt face before the exit door broke their eye contact.
Clementine ran and ran and ran. She heard the guns behind her. ''Always keep moving, always keep moving, always keep moving'' She repeated the words under her breath as she ran in the forest. She found herself running though the forest. No way but forward now. Absolutely no way she was going back to that store. Although younger than everyone, she was no fool. She knew what happened if you crossed Bill. She was now on the run. She, along with her friends was now hunted.
