Chapter 6
Cold, that was one of the first things Clementine felt when she awoke, cold and discomfort. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on a metal floor looking into the drivers compartment of a delivery truck that did not looked like it had been cleaned in ages. Thick layers of dust were everywhere, and garbage had been uncaringly strewn on the floor as well as on the dashboard by the former owner. The rest of the interior was in no better state. The seats were worn, and the stuffing bulge out of tears and holes in the old fabric. The radio had been gutted and electrical cables stuck out of it in random directions. The front windows were grimy with age and dirt and there wasn't a metal surface to be seen that wasn't partially rusted. The place also stank of cigarette smoke.
It took her a few seconds before she remembered where she was and how she had got there. They had been very lucky to find this old truck after they had fled from the stream and even more fortunate to find that the doors were unlocked. The walkers had almost caught up to them by the time they had climbed up into the back of the truck and closed the double doors. If they had been forced to flee any further, it wouldn't have ended well. Clementine was in good shape and could outrun the walkers easily. Pete was a different story however.
On the other side of the grimy window Clementine could see a faint reddish light emanating from between the trees in the distance. Before she had fallen asleep there had still been a good deal of day light left outside but now it was almost dark. So, was this the light from a setting sun or a rising one? Had she just slept for one or two hours? Or the entire night?
"How long have we been in here?" Clementine wondered. "I can figure that out later. I need to check on Pete first, see if he's doing better."
The muscles in Clementine's neck was stiff and hurt when she raised her head from the hard floor. Still feeling tired, she yawned and tried to rub the grains of sleep from her eyes before pushing herself up into a sitting position. The action caused the gash in her left forearm to throb painfully and she let out a hiss in response.
"Arm still hurts?" Pete's hoarse and dry voice came from behind her.
Clementine turned around and looked in the direction of the back of the truck and found Pete sitting by the double doors with his back against the wall. It didn't look like he had moved at all in the intervening hours since she had fallen asleep. Even though the lighting in the back of the truck was much dimmer then in the front, Clementine could see the fatigue on Pete's face. There were bags under his eyes and his eyelids drooped as if they wanted nothing more than to close and embrace sleep. One or two hours couldn't have made him look that tired and it became clear to Clementine that it wasn't nightfall outside but early morning. Pete had sat there the entire night awake while she had blissfully slept away the hours.
"Yeah," Clementine answered.
Pete nodded and raised the index and middle finger on his right hand to his mouth. The end of the cigarette between his fingers glowed bright red as he took a deep drag and blew out a thick cloud of smoke. The smell of the smoke was so potent that it stung her nostrils and made her nose wrinkle in revulsion.
"You shouldn't smoke in here," Clementine chided and waved her right hand in front of her face in a vain attempt to clear the air.
"I know, but it helps keep my mind off the pain," Pete said and sucked in another lungful of smoke from the cigarette and blew it out slowly. "If it's any consolation to you the taste is as bad as the smell."
Clementine's eyes moved from Pete's face down to his right leg. Pete had hurt his ankle badly during the fight by the stream when a walker had managed to knock him down. If it wasn't for the adrenaline rush numbing the pain and Clementine supporting him when they fled, he would probably not have made it to the truck. She stiffly stood up and despite the horrible stench walked over and sat down on her knees next to him.
"How's your ankle?" She asked.
Pete didn't answer her immediately but pulled up his right pant leg. Even with the poor lighting, Clementine could see that the swollen skin had turned purplish blue. She didn't know if the ankle was broken or dislocated, but it looked painful.
"Still hurts like blazes if I try to move at all," Pete said. He took another drag from the cigarette, leaned his head backwards until it touched the cool metal wall and blew out a cloud of smoke towards the sealing. "Do you have any water?" he asked once the smoke had dissipated. "Smoking makes me thirsty."
Clementine threw a sideways look to the opposite side of the truck where a small backpack leaned against the wall. She didn't even bother to head over to check it before she answered Pete's question with a shake of her head. She knew that the water bottle inside it was empty and that there was nothing else drinkable in the pack. She knew the entire backpack's content by heart, it belonged to her after all. Her old ragged purple backpack that she had left back at camp when she had heard the bandits confront Crista.
She had found it on the small piece of land in the middle of the stream next to a corpse, or at least what she had at the time thought was a corpse. Clementine had almost cried out in shock when the man had started to cough up blood. She knew that she should have called out to the others that she had found a survivor, but she didn't, because she recognized him. He had been one of the men that had attacked her and Crista. That made it personal and the question of who had attacked these people was superseded by Clementine's need to find out what had happened to her friend.
The man had been shot up almost as bad as the corpses that surrounded them. It was clear to Clementine that he was beyond saving and didn't have long left to live. When she had desperately demanded to know what had happened to Crista the man had ignored her question and instead begged her for water. She had acquiesced to his request in hopes that by granting him that small mercy he would answer her question. He never got the chance to do so however before the walkers attacked. The man was dead now, if not by the walkers then by his wounds, taking the answer she sought with him to the grave.
Clementine felt a range of emotions race through her as she recalled the memory. She felt anger at the walkers for interfering and frustration at the man for not telling her anything. She felt despair at the fact that perhaps her one and only chance of finding out what had happened to Crista had slipped from her fingers. But most of all, she felt doubt about her choice to give away that last of her water to a man who had held Crista at gun point and may even have killed her for all Clementine knew, in return for nothing, instead of saving it for herself and Pete.
Not for the first time she wished that Lee was here. He always seemed to know what to do, whether to be ruthless or merciful. Since his death, Clementine had done her best to emulate him in an attempt to honor his memory. So far though it didn't feel like she was doing a good job of it. Morally it had been right of her to give the man some small comfort before he died. Practically however, it had been a mistake to waste her resources on a man she didn't know and who was going to die anyway no matter what she did.
"Lee, what should I have done?"
"It's been almost a day," Pete said, pulling Clementine out of her thoughts of doubt. He blew out one last puff of smoke then crumpled the cigarette against the metal floor. "The others ain't gonna find us out here. You're gonna have to make a break for it and find them."
"What!" Clementine exclaimed. "But what about you?"
Pete stared down at his swollen ankle and shook his head. "I don't think I can stand let alone walk with this leg. You have to go without me."
"No, we'll both go." Clementine insisted. "You can lean on me like you did yesterday."
"Ain't gonna work," Pete said, shaking his head dismissively. "We'll never make it like that, not with them outside. You'll have to leave me here."
"I can't leave you here alone." Clementine protested.
"Damn it Clem, don't argue with me on this!" Pete snapped in sudden anger. "There is no way in hell that I can make it out of here and back to the cabin with this leg. I'll get us both killed and eaten by them lurkers before we even make it out of this clearing. There is only one way for us both to get out of this alive and that's for you to get to the cabin and lead the others here. Do you understand?"
Pete's sudden outburst had made Clementine wince away from him. She hadn't expected him to get so angry at her. Maybe it was the pain in his leg that made him so hot-tempered, he said it hurt a lot after all. Clementine collected herself and even though she knew it would likely make him even angrier, she considered trying to argue with him to come with her. However, it took only one look at his face for her to realize that he would not change his mind no matter what she said.
She mentally sighed. If only they had had more ammo then maybe she could have convinced him that they could fight their way out, but she had used up all five of her bullets with in less than a minute in the chaos of the walker attack. Without ammunition the only thing the gun in the pocket of her jacket was useful for now was as a bludgeoning instrument and not a very good one. With great reluctance, Clementine nodded her agreement to his plan.
"Good," Pete said, the anger was still in his voice, but it had subsided a bit. "Now help me get to the driver's seat. If there's any juice left in this thing then maybe I can make some noise and give them lurkers something else to think about than chasing you."
Pete reached out his hand to her and she took it. He gritted his teeth and let out a grunt of pain when she helped pull him to his feet. Even though he didn't try to support his full weight on his wounded leg, every step still seemed to hurt him a lot. The short distance to the front of the truck turned into a long and slow agonizing walk for him.
"Son of a bitch that hurt," Pete said with a sigh when he finally sat down in the driver's seat. He reached out his right hand and wiped it against the dirty window in front of him, clearing a small area of grime. "Looks like the sun's almost up," he commented when he peered out through the spot of glass he had cleaned.
Following his gaze, Clementine saw that the red light she had seen when she woke up had turned even brighter, a clear sign that morning was here. She felt her heart swell with hope. Daylight would make it a lot easier for her to see the walkers and find her way back to the cabin.
"Alright, let's do this," Pete said and moved his hand to the truck keys that thankfully still was in the ignition.
"Are you sure about this Pete? What if they break in through the windows? I could try to sneak past them instead, that way you wouldn't be in danger."
"I'll be fine, don't you worry about me kid. You should worry about yourself instead, you're the one who's going to be in danger out there."
He was right about her being the one in most danger, but even so she worried for him. If things went bad, if the dead managed to get in to the truck he would never be able to fight them off, wounded as he was. Realizing that this could very well be the last time she saw him, Clementine leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.
"Thanks Pete," she whispered. She felt her eyes grow moist with tears and a lump forming in her throat, choking her words with emotion. "For saving my life…and everything else you've done for me."
"Don't mention it kid," Pete said and hugged her back.
They stayed like that for only a few seconds until Clementine broke the hug and took a step back from him. She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her right sleeve. The fabric came away slightly damper and a small spot of the brown sleeve had turned a darker shade of the color.
"Listen…" Pete said. "If things don't go the way we planned. If things go bad for me…would you promise to watch out for Nick for me? I love that stupid kid. No matter what you or Ellie may think of him, he's a good boy. He just needs guidance sometimes."
"I'll keep an eye on him and do what I can to keep him safe, I promise," Clem said without hesitation.
"Thank you. You're a good kid Clementine." Pete said with a smile and patted her on the shoulder. "Now get moving, I'll give you ten seconds before I draw their attention. Be careful and whatever you do don't stop, just run."
Clementine nodded and headed for the double doors. She opened them a crack and peered out. There were still a few walkers scattered around the clearing but far fewer then there had been. Fortunately, the walkers had left a wide-open space between themselves and the truck in the hours since they had lost interest. If she could sneak across the gap before they noticed her, she would be almost halfway to the edge of the clearing. From there she was confident that she could make a run for it and be past the walkers before they could close the gaps between themselves and surround her. Assuming of course that there weren't more walkers hidden amongst the trees she would be in the clear.
Clementine had however learned the hard way that things rarely went as planned. She had been in situations like that to many times over the past years, but most of those times she had had someone to help her out of them. If things went bad now, if she got cornered, there would be no one to save her. The thought was a scary one and it didn't help that there was so much riding on her making it. She couldn't afford to fail.
She slung on her backpack, took a deep slow breath to calm herself and slowly opened the doors wider. Sticking out her head, she took another quick look around just to make sure that no walkers had been standing out of view right outside or next to the truck. Seeing none, she stepped out and quietly shut the doors behind her.
"Good luck Clem," she heard Pete whisper right before the doors closed.
Moving slowly at first, Clem stayed low and took extra care not to step on anything that could make a noise and give away her presence. Fortunately for her, most of the walkers either had their backs to her or were to faraway to see her clearly. The majority of them did little more than stand around or walk a few short steps before stopping, which was normal walker behavior when they had nothing to chase. Knowing that she was on the clock and seeing that they were unlikely to notice her, she moved faster.
She had almost reached the halfway point she had hoped to be at when the truck engine let out a long series of clicking noises. As one, every single walker turned and began shambling in the direction of the sound. The moment she saw them move Clementine started to run. As Pete had planned, the noise from the truck was loud enough to distract the walkers from the sound of her running footsteps, most of them never even knew she was there. Those closest to her however was not so distracted by the sound that they didn't notice the running child in their midst.
Clementine pushed the first walker – an armless man – that got close to her to the ground and managed to duck under the arms of the second one that reached out for her. Seeing her path being blocked further ahead by seven walkers coming out of the woods as well as several more coming from her right. She changed direction and ran to her left. Walkers were converging on her from almost all directions now.
Straight ahead of her were five more walkers moving in a shuffling gait towards her. Clementine saw that the two in the middle were spaced just far enough apart that she could get between them if she hurried. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Clementine headed for the gap. It was a dangerously close call. Clementine felt several dead fingers brush against her right shoulder when she passed between the two walkers. As soon as she was five steps past them, she changed direction again and headed straight for the woods.
There were two more walkers coming in from her left, but they were to slow and to far away to block her path. She passed the tree line and saw more walkers shambling towards the clearing, attracted by the noise from the truck. Most of them didn't even notice her and those who did were easily avoided.
Once she was in the clear, Clementine slowed down her running to a jog. She needed to reach the cabin fast, but she couldn't afford to exhaust herself in case she needed to run away from more walkers. It didn't take her long to find her way back to the small overgrown path she and Pete had taken the day before. Thankfully it was free of walkers.
As she made her way back towards the stream, she cautiously cast her eye around the forest looking for any sign of life. Nick seemed convinced that Carver had been the one behind the massacre by the stream, if he was right then Clementine did not want to carelessly run into the man or any of his people.
It didn't take her long to reach the stream. She stopped right before she crossed the tree line and took a moment to catch her breath and observe the horrible scene in front of her. With all the walkers she and the others had killed yesterday, the place looked grislier than ever. Clementine scaned the area for several more seconds, but to her great surprise and relief there wasn't a single walker in sight. She had known that they had drawn most of the walkers away when they fled, but they had made so much noise that she had expected that more would've shown up by now.
She hurried to the other side of the stream, taking care not to go near any of the fallen walkers just in case one of them wasn't truly dead, but just lying still and waiting for a careless victim to get close. She crossed the water quickly by jumping on the stones so that she wouldn't get wet or disturb anything that could be lurking under the surface. As she walked passed the spot, she noted that the man who had asked her for water was gone.
"He can't have gone far. He's probably around here somewhere close by."
The thought made her uneasy and she threw a quick look around but didn't see him anywhere. Once she was back on the path she started jogging again. By the time she saw the cabin she was panting for breath, the muscles in her legs burned with exhaustion and she had a painful stitch in her side. Clementine slowed down to a halt shortly before she reached the kitchen door. She spent a few precious seconds catching her breath before she opened it and stepped in. Carlos and Rebecca were sitting at the kitchen table with expressions of worry on their faces. At the sound of her entering they both turned to look at her.
"Clementine!" Carlos exclaimed in relief and rose from his seat. "Are you alright, where have you been?" He threw a quick look out the window and his face grew concerned again. "Luke's not with you?! Where are the others? What happened?"
"Where's Alvin?!" Rebecca all but shouted, her voice filled with worry.
Clementine's sweaty brow creased in confusion. Why would she know where Alvin were? And why did Carlos think that Luke would be with her? Weren't they in the house? Then it clicked, and she understood. Alvin and Luke must have gone out to look for them when they didn't return yesterday and for some reason they hadn't come back. As if that wasn't bad enough, the fact that Carlos asked her where the others were meant that Ellie and Nick hadn't managed to make it back to the cabin either. This news made Clementine more than a little scared.
"Are they still alive? Did they run into Carver or whoever else had killed all those people? Or did the walkers get them?"
"Clementine," Carlos said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You've been gone the entire night. Where have you been? What happened?" He repeated more serious this time.
"We got swarmed by walkers down by the stream. Me and Pete got separated from the others, I don't know what happened to them. We've been stuck in an old truck in the woods all night."
"My god," Carlos said. "Where's Pete? Why isn't he with you?"
Clementine was about to answer when the door she had just passed through flew open with such force that it hit the wall with a bang and made the three of them jump. Clementine's surprise quickly turned into relief at the sight of Ellie and Nick stumbling in. Both of them were red faced, covered in sweat and breathing hard. Ellie leaned herself on the counter for support and Nick doubled over with his hands on his knees. Thankfully, neither of them looked hurt.
"Ellie!" Clementine cried out in joy and rushed up and hugged her friend, almost knocking her down in the process.
Ellie hugged her back. "I knew you'd make it," was all she managed to say before Carlos and Rebecca was on them.
"Are you two alright? Are you hurt?" Carlos asked.
"Did you see Alvin and Luke?"
"Ouch, not so loud," Nick complained and clutched his head with his right hand as if their talking gave him a headache.
Nick's reaction was a bit confusing to Clementine since Carlos and Rebecca hadn't raised their voices that much, yet Nick acted as if they had shouted right into his ears. It was only then that Clementine notice that Nick had a backpack on that he hadn't had the day before when they left the cabin. She wondered where he got it from.
"We're fine," Ellie answered for the both of them. She let go of Clementine and focused her full attention on the adults. "We're not hurt, just tired and hungry. What's this about Luke and Alvin?"
"When you didn't return yesterday they went out looking for you early this morning and they haven't come back," Carlos said.
"Shit," Nick cursed, straightening himself up to his full height. "We have to go find them quick. We need to leave this place, Carver's in the area."
"What?!" Rebecca exclaimed and there was no mistaking the utter terror in her voice.
"You saw him?" Carlos asked, he too sounded scared.
Nick shook his head. "No, we didn't see him. But there's a dozen body's down by the stream that's been shot almost to pieces. It looked like something he would do."
"If you didn't see who did it then maybe it's not him. Maybe it's another group." Rebecca suggested.
"Whether it's him or not doesn't matter," Carlos said, crossing his arms over his chest. "If there is a gang of killers in the area it's too dangerous for us to stay here any longer. Nick's right, we need to find the others and leave."
"Me and Pete knows these woods best, we'll go look for them," Nick said. He looked around the room and only now did he notice that his uncle wasn't there. Nick tensed and with a tone of barely concealed fear asked, "Where's Pete?"
"He's not here Nick," Rebecca answered. "Clementine was about to tell us where he is when you burst in."
All eyes in the room turned to Clementine. Seeing the expectation, worry and fear on their faces Clementine quickly said, "he's alive, but he's hurt his ankle and can barely walk. He's trapped in an old truck not too far from the stream, but it's surrounded by a large group of walkers. He told me to leave him and get help."
Both Rebecca and Carlos let out sighs of relief at the news that Pete was alive, and Ellie whispered something that Clementine couldn't hear. The relief that flooded Nick's face at her words quickly changed to one of determination. "We have to go get him," he said and headed for the open door.
Clementine was about to follow him when Carlos spoke up, "Now hold on a minute Nick."
Nick whirled around, his face twisted in irritation. "We don't have time to argue about this. I'm going," he snapped.
Just as when he had argued with Ellie the day before, Carlos grew stern in the face of Nick's anger. He opened his mouth to retort when something completely unexpected happen.
"I'm coming with you," Rebecca proclaimed.
Those four words was enough to silence the room and make every eye turned to stare at the pregnant woman. Rebecca answered their stares with steely determination. She stared back at each of them in turn without blinking, daring anyone of them to question her decision.
"Rebecca-" Carlos started to say.
"My husband is still out there. Get. The. Guns," she bit out with such fierceness that it silenced Carlos instantly and to both Ellie's and Clementine's astonishment he left the room without another word. Rebecca's eyes followed him as he left, turning her back towards the others. Once the door closed behind him, Rebecca's shoulders sagged slightly. "I told them not to go. Dammit, Luke," she murmured to herself, the fierceness now gone from her voice. Clementine wasn't sure, but to her ears it sounded like Rebecca was on the verge of tears and that the only thing holding them back was pure willpower.
Carlos quickly return carrying a rifle in one hand and a gun in the other. The handle of another gun stuck up out of his pants right next to a small light green bag that was strapped to his belt. He handed the rifle and the gun to Rebecca who took them without a word and headed for the door where Nick was waiting for her. She past the rifle to him and with quick steps the two left in the direction of the path to the stream. Clem and Ellie were about to follow them when Carlos turned to face them.
"Girls, I need you two to stay here," he said. This caused Ellie to let out a groan of annoyance and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Please listen," he continued with a note of urgency. "I need you two to look after Sarah. We can't take her with us to the stream. If she sees what has happened down there…well, you can imagine how she'll react."
Clementine nodded in understanding. The little she had seen of Sarah's anxiety problem was enough for her to know that if Sarah saw all those dead bodies, she would either freak out or – as Carlos had put it the day before – cease to function. The search party couldn't look for the others and look after a panicking Sarah at the same time.
"Yeah, we get it," Ellie sighed. "I'll stay and watch her, you'll need Clem to lead you to Pete."
To Clementine's surprise, rather than accept Ellie's suggestion, Carlos hesitated. His brow furrowed, and his eyes moved between the two as if he was evaluating his options. Either he didn't trust Ellie to watch Sarah or he didn't want to drag Clementine out into the woods again…or maybe both. After a few moments of silent pondering he asked, "Clementine, you said that the truck wasn't far from the stream, correct?"
Clem nodded. "Yeah, there's a half-overgrown trail on the other side of the stream. It'll lead you straight to the truck."
"Then we don't need you with us," Carlos said, looking very relieved. "You'll stay here and help Ellie watch Sarah where it is safe.
Clementine didn't really know how she felt about Carlos's order. On the one hand she was glad that she didn't have to go back out into the forest and risk being shot or eaten, but on the other hand she also felt that she should go and help them reach Pete since she owed him her life. This feeling of obligation was one she was sure Ellie shared with her and Clementine expected the older girl to protest being left behind in the cabin now that she didn't need to be, and she wasn't disappointed.
"If Clem's staying here then I'm going with you," Ellie proclaimed.
"No," Carlos countered.
"Clem can watch Sarah for a few hours without my help," Ellie pointed out, her frustration with Carlos growing.
"No," Carlos repeated.
"Why are you so damn set against me going?" Ellie snapped, her patience finally runout. "I killed more than half a dozen stalkers yesterday, I can handle myself!"
"That is why I need you here." Carlos looked pained as he said the words, as if he didn't want to ask what he was about to of her. "You know how to defend yourself, both of you do. Please, if Carver or whoever else it was who killed all those people find this place while we're gone, I need you and Clementine to keep Sarah calm and safe."
From the expression on her face, Clementine could tell that Carlos's plea as well as his admission of her skills had caught Ellie by surprise. For the next several seconds Ellie was silent. She stared down at the floor boards and chewed on her lower lip, clearly conflicted as to what to do. Finally, she looked up at Carlos and with a groan said, "fine, I'll stay and watch her."
"Thank you," Carlos said with relief. "Sarah is upstairs. Just…distract her until we return and don't tell her anything. Stay inside and don't open the doors for anything. I'll be back with the others as soon as I can." And with those last words said he hurried for the door.
"What a fucking mess," Ellie sighed after the door had closed behind Carlos with an audible click.
Clem nodded in agreement. Things had gone from good too bad in the span of a single afternoon and now looked to be heading towards catastrophic. Clementine hoped that everything would turn out alright and that Pete and the others would make it back safe and sound. But her experience over the past two years told her that that was unlikely, and she had a terrible gut feeling that someone was going to die.
With a light shake of her head she dispelled these dark thoughts from her mind and tried to think about something more pleasant. She was about to suggest that they head upstairs to check on Sarah when she felt a sharp twisting pain in her stomach that made her wince. She put her hand against it as it let out a loud growl.
"Hungry?" Ellie asked
"Yeah, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday," Clem answered as another stab of pain came from her stomach.
"Me neither," Ellie admitted. "Nick and I found some food yesterday, but we never got around to eating any of it. I'm running on fumes right now."
Without thinking, Clementine looked over her shoulder to the cabinets where the group stored their food. The temptation to go over there and take something to eat was strong, but she knew that the members of the group weren't allowed to just take food whenever they wanted. Their stores had started to run low even before Clem and Ellie showed up. With great reluctance, she turned her eye away from the cabinet and back to Ellie.
"We should go upstairs and see how Sarah is doing," Clementine suggested.
"Just a sec," Ellie said, staring hungrily at the cabinets. She walked over and opened one of them. She inspected its contents for a few seconds before she took out two small cans of beans and a bottle of water. She placed the cans and bottle on the counter. She opened one of the drawers and took out a can opener as well as two spoons.
"Ellie, I don't think we're aloud to take that," Clementine said.
"You're hungry, aren't you," Ellie said, it was a statement not a question. With the opener she quickly cut up the lids and stabbing one spoon down into the content of each can. She picked up a can in each hand and held one of them out to Clementine and said, "here, eat up."
Clementine hesitated for only a second before she took the proffered can and shoved a spoonful of beans into her mouth. Like the beans she had found at the abandoned campsite, these didn't taste much, even so she chewed them eagerly, swallowed, then took another spoonful. Since neither she nor Ellie had eaten anything since dinner the day before, she hoped that the others would not get angry at them for taking food this one time when they found out. Besides, the cans were open now and couldn't be sealed again, better to eat up before they went bad, right?
They ate in silence, quickly emptying the cans of their content and washed it down with water from the bottle. "Man, that felt good," Ellie said with a sigh of contentment when she had drained the last of the water. "I'm all set now. Shall we go?"
Clementine answered with a nod and they left the kitchen for the living room. As they walked past it on their way to the stairs, Clementine noted that the chess board they had played with the day before was still on the small table, the game pieces standing in the exact same position they had left them. When they reached the top of the stairs they turned right, and Clementine opened the door to Sarah's room only to find it empty.
"Sarah?" Ellie called out.
"I'm in here," Sarah's muffled voice came from the room furthest away from them, the only other bedroom on the second floor. Closing the door behind her, Clem walked to the room Sarah's voice had come from with Ellie right behind her. She turned the handle and slowly opened the door.
"Say cheese," Sarah's cheerful voice came from inside.
Clementine had just enough time to see Sarah holding what looked like an old camera before a white flash blinded her. Taken completely by surprise, Clementine's heart skipped a beat and she took a step backwards and bumped into Ellie who let out a curse. White stars twinkled in Clem's eyes and she had to blink several times in order to clear her vision.
"I found it under the house," Sarah said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had just jumped scared them. "There was all kinds of old stuff down there."
The camera in Sarah's hand made a whirring sound and produced a small rectangular picture. Sarah took it and held it up for inspection. Seemingly satisfied with the result, she smiled and held it out for them to see.
"It's so cool right?" she asked when Clementine took the proffered picture.
Whiles the fact that the camera still worked after all this time was cool, it wouldn't however be the word Clementine would use to describe the two girls in the picture, surprised would be a lot better. The Clementine in the picture had a wide-eyed look on her face. The Ellie who stood behind her on the other hand looked like she was sleepwalking. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and her eyes were almost closed.
"Yeah, really cool," Ellie said sarcastically. She unslung her rifle, bow and makeshift quiver and placed them in the corner of the room.
"Sorry," Sarah said. "I just wanted to show you guys that it still worked. Hey, I know how to make it up to you. Let's take some pictures together of the three of us."
Clem and Ellie exchanged a look. Ellie shrugged, a gesture that Clem interpreted as a why not. Clem had nothing against this idea either, Carlos had told them to distract Sarah and this was a good way to do so, besides, it could be fun.
"Sure," Clem answered for the both of them.
"This is going to be great," Sarah said, beaming with joy.
What followed was several minutes of the three of them taking turns taking pictures of the other two. it started out pretty normal as picture taking goes with arms over shoulders and smiles. This quickly devolved into the three of them making increasingly silly grimaces like sticking out their tongues, puffing out their cheeks, making pig noses or faces of shock and horror at an imaginary monster that was just out of frame. Ellie was by far the best of the three at making faces and more then once she made the other two burst out into laughter. Clementine's personal favorite was when Ellie stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and crossed her eyes.
"This is the best," Sarah said gleefully as she flipped through the small stack of pictures they had taken. "Come on, lets show them to dad and the others. Oh, they're going to be so surprised." With barely contained excitement, she headed for the door.
"Sarah wait," Clem called out to her.
Sarah, who had her hand on the door knob stopped in her tracks and half turned to look at them. "What?" she asked.
Carlos had told them not to tell Sarah anything. Clementine could understand the reason for keeping Pete's injury and the massacre by the stream a secret, that information would just upset her. How Carlos expected them to distract Sarah from the fact that she, Ellie and Clementine were alone in the cabin however, Clementine had no idea. Perhaps Carlos had hoped that they would be able to occupy Sarah long enough for him and the others to get back before she notice that they were gone. Well, they had managed to do that…for a few minutes. But it could take hours before Carlos and the others got back, Clementine was sure they couldn't waylay her that long without her finding out that the cabin was empty.
It became clear to Clementine that they had to tell her that the others were out. To do otherwise would only delay the inevitable and hurt Sarah's feelings and perhaps even fracture their new friendship. Clementine nervously bit the inside of her cheek, she didn't know how Sarah would react to the news that her father had left without telling her, not well she suspected. Taking a deep calming breath, she said, "your dad isn't here."
"Dad's not here?! Where is he?" Sarah asked.
Clementine wracked her brain for an answer. Should she tell the truth and risk upsetting Sarah or try to distract her with a lie like Carlos had told them to? Clementine wasn't sure what lie she could tell about Carlos and the other's whereabouts that would be believable enough that Sarah would buy it. Sarah was more than a bit ignorant and naïve when it came to her surrounding and the state of the world, but that didn't mean that she was stupid. If the lie wasn't believable enough, she would see right through it.
"Lie or truth, what should I do Lee?" Clementine wondered.
Lee had lied to her a few times she knew, not many, but a few. She remembered that she had felt hurt and betrayed whenever she had caught him in a lie or found out he had lied. She knew now of course that he hadn't done it to hurt or betray her but to shield her from trauma so that she could stay happy and innocent just a little bit longer.
What Lee had done to Clementine, Carlos was still doing to Sarah even though she was much older. Ellie had expressed her opinion that Carlos was being overprotective and there was truth in that, but Carlos also knew Sarah better then she and Ellie did. He knew that Sarah would never be able to handle the new grim reality they lived in the same way Clem, Ellie and most other people had, that it would break her mind and spirit. No, it was better to lie or give her a half-truth then let that happen.
"He's just-"
"Pete hurt his leg out in the woods," Ellie cut in before Clem could finish her lie. "Your dad and the others went out to fix him up and help him back here."
"Is it bad? Is he going to be okay?" Sarah asked anxiously.
Clementine saw Sarah's hands starting to shake, and her breathing became short and quick to the point that she feared that if Sarah didn't calm down, she would start hyperventilating. "He'll be fine. Don't worry," Clementine said, keeping her own voice steady, hoping that it would help to reassure Sarah that there was nothing to worry about. "Your dads a good doctor and he has the others with him. Trust me. They'll be back soon, don't worry."
"Okay…okay…I just need to…" Sarah trailed off still breathing unsteadily.
Sarah turned away from them, sat down on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest and slowly rocked back and forth. Staring down at the floor in front of her, she took a long deep breath and slowly let it out, then she repeated the process. It looked to Clementine like she was performing some kind of calming exercise.
With Sarah focusing on her breathing, Clementine poked Ellie in the side with her elbow to get her attention and leaned in close to the older girl. "Why did you do that?" she whispered so Sarah wouldn't hear her. "Carlos told us not to say anything that could upset her."
"I didn't think she would take it this bad," Ellie whispered back. "I only said that he's injured his leg for fucks sake. Besides, it's not like she wouldn't have noticed that Pete was hurt when he got back!"
That was true, there was no way Sarah wouldn't notice Pete walking with a limp, if he could even do that much. For all Clementine knew he would need to walk with crutches the next couple of weeks. Yeah, Sarah would have to be blind not to notice that. Carlos had most likely hoped to break it to her gently before she saw Pete's injured state, hens why he had told them to not say anything. Whether it would have been better to let Carlos tell her himself or not was moot now. She knew and they had to deal with it as best they could.
Clementine walked over and sat down in front of Sarah, who looked up at her approach. Clementine gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Ellie sat down next to Sarah and put her arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Sarah's eyes wandered between the two and after another moment of silence her lips broke into a small smile.
"Feeling better?" Clementine asked.
"Yes…sorry," Sarah answered, her breathing now almost back to normal.
"You don't have to apologize," Ellie said. "It's not your fault."
"I know," Sarah said, her smile fading. "It's just…I don't want you to hate me. The other girls where we lived before didn't like me. They thought I was a big baby. After a while they didn't even want to talk to me."
"We don't hate you and we don't think you're a baby," Clem said. "I think you're a good friend. Yesterday with you was one of the best days I've had in years."
"Yeah," Ellie agreed. "We had a lot of fun."
"You think so?" Sarah asked. Clementine nodded and Sarah's smile returned wider than before. Sarah stared at her for a few seconds, then her eyes flickered to the bed before returning to Clementine. "I found something else under the house I think you'd like. Do you want to see?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah," Ellie and Clem said in unison.
Sarah got up, walked over to the bed, got down on her knees and reached in under it. Both Ellie and Clem got to their feets and waited with curiosity as Sarah retrieved her find. After a few seconds of searching with her hand, Sarah rose back up and to both Ellie's and Clem's surprise held up a gun.
"Could you show me how to use it?" Sarah asked them. "I couldn't find any bullets."
Clementine felt her jaw drop and she stared dumbfoundedly at the older girl. Sarah, who had just had an anxiety attack from hearing that Pete had hurt his leg wanted them to teach her how to shoot a gun! The very suggestion sounded ludicrous to her ears. Guns were made to hurt and kill people, they were not toy's to be played with, especially not by someone who frequently had shaking fits.
Clementine was about to gently point this out to Sarah when a thought struck her. Lee had taught her how to shoot with a gun and it had ended up saving her life more then once. Perhaps it would be better if Sarah knew how to use a gun so that she wouldn't accidently shoot herself or someone else in the group if – god forbid it ever happened – she ever ended up in a situation where she had to use one. And since the gun they were going to use to train with didn't have any bullets she wouldn't be able to hurt herself or them.
Ellie's lips widened into a mischievous smile when she heard the suggestion. She clearly relished the idea of teaching Sarah how to protect herself, especially since Carlos had expressly forbidden her from doing so. "Sure," Ellie said with barely concealed glee. "As long as you don't tell your dad or the others, I'll show you."
"I won't, I promise," Sarah answered.
"And you won't say anything either, right Clem?" Ellie asked.
"It'll be our little secret," Clem promised. "If Carlos ever finds out about this, he'll go ballistic."
Taking this as a sign that the lesson would begin, Sarah turned to face the window and raised the gun with both hands in what she apparently thought was the right way to hold it. Clementine mentally shook her head at what she was seeing. If the gun had been loaded and Sarah pulled the trigger right now the recoil would have smashed the gun into her face and break her glasses.
"Okay, what do I do?" Sarah asked them.
"The first thing you need to remember is that it's just a thing," Clementine said, feeling a wave of nostalgia at reciting Lee's words.
She closed her eyes and saw in her mind's eye one of her best memories. She remembered how Lee held up the weapon to her and told her those words. How he showed her how to stand and quickly hold her breath before she shot. The memory was so vivid that it almost felt like she was back on the train, the floor vibrating under her feet and Lee's hands over her ears. His muffled voice telling her where to aim the weapon – that felt so big and heavy in her small hands – so that the bullet would hit true and shatter the green bottle in front of her.
"The hell does that mean?" Ellie's voice broke in.
The older girl's words savagely ripped Clementine out of her precious memory. She opened her eyes and found herself once again back in the bedroom with Ellie and Sarah. The two older girls were looking at her expectantly with questioning eyes. Flat-footed by Ellie's question, Clementine tried and failed to think of a good answer. She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and shame when she realized that she had never really thought of what Lee's words had actually meant.
"I…um…don't know," Clementine confessed. "It's how I was taught."
"Oooookay…" Ellie said, sounding more than a little awkward. Perhaps in an attempt to alleviate Clementine's embarrassment or out of sheer curiosity, she asked, "so, what was step two?"
"Look down the top through the notch and line up the site at the end with your target," Clementine answered. "Then hold your breath before you pull the trigger."
"That's right," Ellie nodded with approval. Taking this as a sign, Sarah lined up the gun with her right eye and took a theatrically deep breath. Ellie turned to look at Sarah and with a raised eyebrow said, "But before that though we should get your stance and posture right. If you shot that thing now, you'd get a black eye or worse."
Several seconds later after a few quick instructions and corrections from both Clementine and Ellie, Sarah stood in the weaver position. During this time, they also told her that she didn't need to take such a ridiculously deep breath before she fired as well as warning her of the kickback that would come if she fired a loaded gun. Sarah took all this information in strides.
"Okay, what should I shoot?" Sarah asked once the two had finished explaining and taken a step back from her.
Sarah turned on her heel and pointed the gun at the wall to her left, then without warning she spun around one hundred eighty degrees and aimed the weapon straight at Clementine. For the second time in less than an hour Sarah managed to catch Clementine by surprise and caused her heart to skip a beat. Even though Clementine knew that the gun wasn't loaded, the sight of the barrel less than a foot from her face kicked her survival instinct into gear and she ducked to avoid a bullet that would never come.
"Don't do that!" Clementine shouted in fright.
"S-s-sorry, I'm so sorry," Sarah stammered fearfully, her eyes wide. She took a step back and raised the gun, pointing it at the ceiling.
"Okay," Ellie said. She reached out and gently took the gun away from Sarah. "Now might be a good time to tell you about gun safety. One of the most important things you got to learn when handling a loaded weapon is that you don't point it around at your friends. When you're not aiming it at a target, point the gun downwards towards the ground in an angle so that you can't accidently shoot either yourself or anyone else and also keep your finger off the trigger like this," she said. She demonstrated by pointing the gun towards the floor and keeping her index finger up on the slide and away from the trigger. "When you're not using it, make sure the chamber is empty and keep the safety on like this," Ellie angled the gun so that Sarah could see her flip the safety switch.
Sarah nodded to show that she understood. "Maybe it would be better if we practice outside?" she suggested. She walked up to the window and peered out of it at the surrounding area below.
"That's not a good idea. It's not safe outside," Clementine said, her voice still a bit shaky. She thought about the dead bodies down by the stream and Carlos's fear that Carver or someone else might find the cabin whiles he and the others were gone. Clementine had no intention of helping them find this place by making noises outside.
"There's that tree over there," Sarah mumbled to herself, not seaming to hear Clementine's cautionary words. Before Clementine or Ellie could repeat the warning, Sarah let out a cry of delight that almost made Clementine jump in surprise. "Hey, Luke's back!" And before the two other girls could react, Sarah hurried out of the room and down the stairs.
Clementine moved up to the window and looked out, but by then Luke was out of view and all she could see of him was his shadow moving over the grass. From behind her she heard Ellie head for the corner, pick up her rifle and leave the room at a quick pace. With even the shadow now out of sight, Clementine turned away from the window and hurried after the others out of the room.
When she was half way down the stairs, she found her path blocked by Ellie. The older girl had stopped and was staring with worried eyes at one of the windows. Following her gaze, Clementine at first saw nothing and was about to ask Ellie why she had stopped, but the air that would have formed the words caught in her throat when she saw a man walk past the window.
A cold shiver of dread went up Clementine's spine. Sarah had been wrong, it was not Luke that had returned, nor was it Alvin or any other members of the group. Carlos's fear had been realized, a stranger had found the cabin and was heading in the direction of the front door.
