p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" "So can I be the one to teach him how to shoot," Nia asked Omid as they talked about the things Omid Jr would have to learn, making conversation on the trek back to the rest of the group. Clementine and Lee walked with them through the abandoned small town, or rather small village. It would be hard to picture more than 20 people having lived there. In the town was one gas station with one pump, an old one-room schoolhouse, a dilapidated building that advertised itself as "The best goods in town!" made for the only goods store, and no more than 8 houses, all seemingly built before building regulations were a thing. There was also a clinic of sorts, the fallen, wooden sign labeling it "What the Apothecary Carries." This is the building the group was leaving as they made their back to the house they had left Carley and Christa in. They had not been expecting to find anything, but it seemed that not only had the clinic been a legitimate source of medicine, but it had also yet to be picked clean. Perhaps this was why their spirits were high enough to joke about the incoming miracle, and who would teach him to kill./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Oh, come on," Omid argued playfully. "That's definitely father-son activity. Besides, you're a terrible shot."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Better than you, old man."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Yeah, right," Omid said with a snort. "You couldn't hit a walker if it grabbed your hand and aimed for you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""And yet I still have more kills than you," she said, sticking out her tongue./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Classy, Nia. Clementine's more mature than you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Clementine's more mature than both of you," Lee said./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""And a better shot," Clementine added. /p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"The four of them laughed, though the fact that it wasn't a lie did sober Omid and Nia. Clementine had been forced to grow up a lot since this all started. And while Nia was young herself when this all started, she could not imagine being 8 years old, watching monsters tear into people or having to shoot a stranger or seeing your parents turn into the very thing that's been hunting you. Clementine had, as of yet, not been forced to pull the trigger on a person, but when Nia looked at the little girl, she knew that Clementine could do it. She found herself happy that Clementine was on her side./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Omid, however, didn't find Clementine's abilities comforting at all. A kid shouldn't have to know these things, and yet, in the world they lived in, it was inevitable if they were going to survive./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""How do you do it," he had asked Lee one night as they kept watch together. "How do you tell her to aim for the head, and then still make her smile after?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Lee ran a hand over his face and looked up into the night cloudy night sky. "I won't pretend it's easy. When the darkness is closing in, and monsters and people start to look the same, you start to feel like all hope is lost."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""Gee, Lee. That's helpful." Omid shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away, but Lee took him by the shoulder, and pointed at the sky./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""It can seem hopeless," he began again. "But if you just hold on, and survive a little longer, that darkness will give way to light." The clouds were no longer covering the moon, which shined in its full brilliance. Stars dotted the night sky, twinkling in the dark. "Your kid is gonna be looking to you and Christa for hope," Lee said. "The only way for you to fail them is to forget that things will turn around, that day will come, and that even in the night, there are stars lighting the way."/span /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Omid took a breath and shook the memory away. He had to keep it light if he was gonna keep everyone's hopes up. And he knew just the way./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""I'll just let Christa teach him to shoot then. I've got more manly things to teach him anyway."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Like what," Nia asked./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""How to keep his hair as pretty as mine!" Omid runs a hand through his short, slightly greasy hair and bites his lip. "Gotta stay cute in this house."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Oh boy," Nia said. "I hope he takes after Christa."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Me too," Clementine added./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Hey!" Omid placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. And once again, the group was full of laughter as they approached their new -temporary- home./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Oh, come on," Omid argued playfully. "That's definitely father-son activity. Besides, you're a terrible shot."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Better than you, old man."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Yeah, right," Omid said with a snort. "You couldn't hit a walker if it grabbed your hand and aimed for you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""And yet I still have more kills than you," she said, sticking out her tongue./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Classy, Nia. Clementine's more mature than you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Clementine's more mature than both of you," Lee said./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""And a better shot," Clementine added. /p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"The four of them laughed, though the fact that it wasn't a lie did sober Omid and Nia. Clementine had been forced to grow up a lot since this all started. And while Nia was young herself when this all started, she could not imagine being 8 years old, watching monsters tear into people or having to shoot a stranger or seeing your parents turn into the very thing that's been hunting you. Clementine had, as of yet, not been forced to pull the trigger on a person, but when Nia looked at the little girl, she knew that Clementine could do it. She found herself happy that Clementine was on her side./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Omid, however, didn't find Clementine's abilities comforting at all. A kid shouldn't have to know these things, and yet, in the world they lived in, it was inevitable if they were going to survive./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""How do you do it," he had asked Lee one night as they kept watch together. "How do you tell her to aim for the head, and then still make her smile after?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Lee ran a hand over his face and looked up into the night cloudy night sky. "I won't pretend it's easy. When the darkness is closing in, and monsters and people start to look the same, you start to feel like all hope is lost."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""Gee, Lee. That's helpful." Omid shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away, but Lee took him by the shoulder, and pointed at the sky./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""It can seem hopeless," he began again. "But if you just hold on, and survive a little longer, that darkness will give way to light." The clouds were no longer covering the moon, which shined in its full brilliance. Stars dotted the night sky, twinkling in the dark. "Your kid is gonna be looking to you and Christa for hope," Lee said. "The only way for you to fail them is to forget that things will turn around, that day will come, and that even in the night, there are stars lighting the way."/span /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Omid took a breath and shook the memory away. He had to keep it light if he was gonna keep everyone's hopes up. And he knew just the way./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""I'll just let Christa teach him to shoot then. I've got more manly things to teach him anyway."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Like what," Nia asked./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""How to keep his hair as pretty as mine!" Omid runs a hand through his short, slightly greasy hair and bites his lip. "Gotta stay cute in this house."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Oh boy," Nia said. "I hope he takes after Christa."/p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Me too," Clementine added./p
p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Hey!" Omid placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. And once again, the group was full of laughter as they approached their new -temporary- home./p