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It was all a mix of events that scattered due to the adrenaline pumping through Clementine. She was on the balcony, fighting Abel. Punches, stabbing, shoves, kicks, grunts, breaths. She barrelled into him, and the railings broke. But he grabbed her– she felt that grip right before her balance was thrown off and she was sent to the floor below.She blacked out for a moment, she wasn’t sure how long due to consciousness flickering in like an old lightbulb. She did know, though, the pained, yelling strings of swears emitting from the man she had been fighting. She half-laid ontop of him due to how they fell and lifted herself with her arms shakily to peer around, spotting his leg bent disgustingly the wrong way by its joint. She was still hazy and off-balance despite being on the floor. Her head roared with pain and she was pretty sure she had broken or sprained something on the way down by the way her ankle was unnaturally numb.
Two feet walked infront of her. A click. She looked up. The barrel of a rifle aimed at her forehead. Lilly.
Her brows creased as Lilly’s breathing hitched, the woman’s expression emotional and upset while she spat, “Shit, this should be easy.”
The two held eye contact, before Clementine spoke piercingly. She surprised herself with how strong she sounded though her heart raced and her hands trembled.
“You won’t kill me. I know you won’t,” She shook her head slowly.
Lilly only grew more distressed. “Why?”
“We were like family once. You won’t hurt family.”
There was a moment of silence, a pure moment of clarity between the two who had known each other all those years ago. An understanding. Despite being on opposite sides of the war, niether of them could bring themselves to hurt the other in this moment. Because, all those years ago, Clementine was the little girl that Lilly had promised herself to keep safe. All those years ago. And so Lilly’s finger pulled away from the trigger. And then, Violet charged. She heard her yell of battle as she tackled into the much taller woman, the gun turning and shooting into the floor, right in her ear. A loud ringing echoed as she clutched her ears for a moment, then attempted to get up to save Violet.
The same calloused hands grabbed her ankle, throwing her back down. Her face hit the floor as she quickly rolled over to kick at Abel’s face. After two kicks, he screamed. There was blood. She must’ve broken his nose. Either way, he tried to grab her again, and she heard the snarl of Rosie rapidly approaching before his arm was snagged like a chew toy. He erupted into screeches of horror.
The mutt grabbed her arm, yanking her to the floor as she kicked and kicked desperately.
Clementine reeled back, eyes wide at the scene.
She stumbled off in a crawl, and the mutt followed, and she kicked again, and again, wailing out in pain.
She shook off this quickly, blinking away the tears that formed both from this sudden trigger--fighting to remember which reality she was in for a split second--and the smoke that clouded the camp from the fire. She scanned the camp instantly, spotting Violet being yanked off of Lilly by the neck of her jacket, yelling and screaming. Across the fire, though, was Louis.
She felt her heart sink to her stomach in realization, throwing herself from the floor to grab the bow and arrow, then rise up to her feet.
It took no more than two seconds for her to save Louis. Aim, and fire. It took her no more than four seconds to save Violet. Run, vault the obstacle in her way, throw Violet to the side, and take the hit from the bunt of the rifle to her temple. A gasp. She hit the floor, catching her fall for a split moment before she felt consciousness slip away.
Fire. Smoke. Yelling. Gunshots. Horses. Clattering. Darkness.
Clementine sat on the edge of the train, the loud noises of it racing down the train-tracks echoing. She watched the forest edge, filled with brambles, tall grass, and oak trees shedding their leaves. It hummed along with the train peacefully. She enjoyed it thoroughly.
“Hey, sweetpea.”
“Lee?” She looked over her shoulder, her small hands fiddling close together as her guardian slowly settled, sitting beside her. He had a bright smile, glowing skin. Exactly how he looked.
His head tilted slightly at her. “Why the train? You almost always pick the train.”
“I dunno. Maybe it’s because this is where it all started. ‘Cause you taught me how to cut my hair, and shoot, and… all of that.”
“Ah,” Lee gave a lighthearted smile. “You always were a quick study.”
They both fell quiet to watch the forest edge. It was nice to watch it move so smoothly past them, a definitive blur.
“So, what’s on your mind this time?”
Clementine was quiet for a second.
“I don’t know if I could’ve done this any other way,” Her pre-pubescent voice whispered. “But, I had a bunch of people depending on me, and now I’m kidnapped and I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know if I’ll make it back to AJ, or the school. I don’t know if I did the right thing, or if I had the right idea. I don’t know anything.”
Lee sympathetically murmured, “Oh, I know that feeling. You know I was.. Uh.. making it all up as I went along, right? Couldn’t say that, of course…” He paused. “...with… you being so little.”
“I noticed when I got older,” She shrugged, glancing sideways, then back forwards. “But it always seemed like you knew the right thing to do.”
“Well I got lucky. That counts for a lot.”
“I’m gonna need some now.”
“...You wanna tell me what you’re up against?”
Clementine picked at a hangnail, eyes blinking lightly at the blood that started while she spoke. “I’m with a new group now. And I’ve been in.. so many. But they always fall apart, from the inside or from the outside. And I’ve always promised myself that I wouldn’t do it again. I wouldn’t let it happen to AJ either,” She took a sharp breath while Lee listened politely. “But I really like this one. It’s.. different. New. It’s nice to be around people my age. It… almost feels like home.”
Her gaze strayed to look to her left, watching the traintracks rapidly pass. Her guardian only shifted. “That’s a good thing. It’s hard being alone.”
“But, they were in trouble. Some bad people are attacking us. They steal kids. They had done it before, before I got there, and when I took over with Violet, we decided we’d fight them off. We wouldn’t let it happen. But in that process, I got taken. So did Omar, and Aasim, and Mitch. I don’t know what I’ll do from here. If I’ll escape with the two of them, or if the others will save me, or.. Or if I’ll die there.”
Lee leaned a bit more towards her. “I’m not worried.”
Clementine only perked up in confusion, staring at him. “What?”
“Whatever trouble you’re in, you’ll get your friends out of it. You’ll get out of it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know you’re a survivor. The Clementine I know is gonna fix it. I really believe that.”
The little girl only paused in thought as Lee encouraged her. Helped her ground herself. She sighed. “If I made it this far… then yeah. I guess. But.. that’s what everyone says, right? Before they stop surviving?”
Lee reached a hand out to place it over Clementine’s. “You lived when a lot of other people couldn’t. Through conditions a lot of others didn’t go through. As a kid, too.” Then he looks off, as if distant. He continues nonetheless. “Never give in, Clem.”
Her body groaned with effort as the cart startled after hitting something, she wasn’t sure what, or where. She could barely open her eyes due to how much her body screamed for her to wake up. To move. It was like she was paralyzed. Aasim reached out a weak hand to grab hers, a way of support. Her eyes hazed, and her eyelids felt too heavy to keep open.
“...Imagine what AJ will do when he sees you back at the academy. What Violet and Louis will do when they see you thriving, fighting to live your own life.”
Clementine only responded with a helpless whimper, pulling her hands into her face while she felt tears well up. Fear. Anxiety. Feelings she felt commonly, but was hoping to never feel again once she stayed at Ericson’s School of Troubled Youths. Yet all she had felt for the past 2 weeks was an endless feeling of doom. Lee’s hand rubbed her back, urging her to look over with a deep frown.
“Oh, sweetpea, you always get like this before or durng something big. You got exactly like this when you got shot by the Russian kid, or when you were about to get back AJ,” He soothingly rubbed circles on her back. “Remember how scared you were? You used that fear to keep living. To keep fighting. You survived both of those things, didn’t you?”
She’d only shift closer to Lee, leaning into his shoulder as she pulled her hands down pathetically. “That was different. There weren’t people depending on me, not like they are now.”
“I know. It’s harder when you have more to lose. But having people you care about, it’s a good thing, too. Friends, a boy who thinks the world of you, a kid who’d follow you to the ends of Earth. It means you have people fighting beside you. Because of you.”
A comfortable silence was held. Lee pushed up to his feet, causing Clementine to sit back upright.
“Come see me again, when you’re out. Out and safe. Sound good?” He gazed behind him for a second. “And, hopefully, we can talk about happier things from there.”
“I meant what I said. All of my friends, they’re fighters. We’ll make it out, and we’ll survive,” Then, she pursed her lips from a sudden tightening of her heart, her hands fidgeting awkwardly. “I’m just… talking myself up to it.” Her voice drawed off in embarrassment.
“To think, when I cut your hair, I was just following the advice of an old, drunk train-hopper that we met only an hour ago…” He sighed, as if thinking of the old times. Of the better times. “But you, you have a knack for surviving. You kept all of those other kids safe and determined to keep it that way. You’re a leader, Clem, and a natural at that too.”
She took a shaky breath, hands clenched together. “I miss you. So much. I wish you were here.”
“I miss you too, sweetpea,” He rubbed her head, then walked to the other traincart door. “But we’ll have to make due with these moments.”
She turned her body so that one leg was sitting criss-cross, a smile on her face. “Thank you, Lee. Talking to you always makes me feel a little better.”
Clementine hazily looked around to the loud, unintelligible voice of one of the raiders. They gripped her by the back of her shirt and dragged her alongside the three other boys from Ericson. She looked around, taking sight of Lilly. Spite roared inside her as her brows furrowed. But, in classic Clementine fashion, she stayed silent. She scanned the surrounding area– a river-shore and the huge boat.
This must be the Delta.
She tried to pull back. To not give in. Hissing something out that she doesn’t remember, but was immediately met with another harsh knock to her temple, being sent quickly into a semi-conscious state.
Lee looked over his shoulder. “I meant to ask..” He smiled. “How’s the boy?”
“Oh, he’s good, Lee. A fighter. You’d like him.”
“I bet,” He turned his body all the way. “You teach ‘im to shoot yet?”
Clementine only managed out a chuckle, eyes widening humorously. “You have no idea.”
“I guess the world got pretty hard since I left it… a kid growing up in that is bound to be hardened too,” He put his hands on his hips. “You’re in my shoes now, raising a kid. You think you got a handle on it?”
As she thought about it, Lee continued to ramble. “It can’t be easy. Wanting to give him a childhood but knowing what it takes to survive now. It was easier for me, living in a world that was just changing. But you’re living in one that’s changed completely. You doin’ okay?”
She sighed dramatically, exclaiming. “Oh my god, you wouldn’t believe how much of a challenge he is. Sometimes, he’s just trouble, and he has no idea how fast he’s growing up.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.”
Clementine stared quietly at him, taking a breath that felt heavier than anything she’d ever felt. She looked down to the ground, the dirt that passed as the train never stopped. She looked back at him. Then, in what was only a few seconds, she pushed herself to her feet and ran into Lee’s arms, who very quickly embraced the little girl with a mournfully ducked head.
The train horn set off.
She felt Lee step back from her. Her eyes fluttered open to his awed whispers.
“Wow… just… wow. Look at you now. Just look at you.” At his glowing remarks, she laughed lightly, straightening up while he continued.
“This group you like, they better not live in a city. You know how I feel about cities.”
“They don't. No one goes into the cities anymore,” Pause. “It’s an old boarding school, miles from anywhere, deep in a forest. With… no adults at all.”
“No adults?”
“It works, swear.”
He then raised his brows, reaching a hand out to touch her slightly overgrown bun that was swooped to the side. “And I thought I told you to keep this short.”
“Um, you have no idea how hard it is to find scissors that won't give you tetanus by one wrong move these days,” She laughed with an eyeroll. “I promise to see if I can find any scissors in the school when I get back though.”
He smiled brighter, seemingly settled with this, as he backed up into the shadows of the train cart. “You’ve got people that need you.”
And he turned. To leave again.
“Goodbye, Lee.”
Clementine groaned in pain, rousing fully to the noise of one of the raiders slamming on a cell door next to her, yelling at a familiar voice that spat out profanities and swears of rage. Her ears rung, but eventually, she distinguished the voices.
“You fucking assholes! You’re pathetic! PATHETIC!”
“Shut your ass up before I cut your tongue out, you hear me?!”
“TRY IT!”
The teen leaned out to watch, unlike Aasim, who had cowered to the back of the cell with alert eyes.
“Motherfucker…” The woman whispered, before she drew her gun and aimed presumably at Mitch. “You wanna test me, huh, fool? You wanna see how quick I can pop yo ass?”
“Mitch,” Clementine spoke with a surprising rasp, most likely due to the smoke. “Just be quiet for God’s sake.”
He’d grumble unhappily, but she heard his footsteps back up in what was most likely a way of submitting to the pissed off raider. However, her eyes immediately shot over to the girl who had managed to calm the firecracker of the group.
She scowled. “You. Lilly was waitin’ for you to wake up. Keep your mouth shut while I get her, got it?”
Clementine only held a stare with the woman, dead silent. When she first arrived to Ericson, she was quiet. It was her way of intimidation, or to read out a situation. In this situation, it was both. The raider only walked off, her brows furrowed due to her silence. Once she was far enough, Aasim managed out to the light. She directed her attention to him while Mitch went back to quietly slurring the boat.
“Where’s Omar? Is he in there?” She tried to peer over his shoulder, but Aasim only shook his head.
“They took him to suture the bullet wound so he doesn’t die,” He shifted on his heels. “Nothing more than that though. I guess they need the soldiers that badly to be using medicine on us.”
“Well, I’m grateful. It’s their fault for immediately injuring one of their recruits upon the raid,” She scoffed.
Mitch added in, in pure Mitch-fashion, “Fuckin’ stupid ass bitches…”
While Mitch continued to grumble, the two started thinking of the many possibilities that came with this kidnapping. What could happen. What their legacy was. Death? Military? Maybe safety? Aasim cleared his throat.
“You were out for like… twenty minutes. Since we got here. Lilly already talked to me and Mitch. She’s.. She’s scary, Clem. You gotta be careful.”
“I know. That’s what I plan to do.”
“And, listen, Clem,” Aasim grew incredibly sincere, holding the bars as he leaned forward. “I know you know how to survive. I’ve put my trust in you since you saved my ass on the first day, and I will continue to do that unless you give me a reason not to. So.. so don’t give me a reason to.”
Clementine stayed silent. She took a deep breath and nodded before beginning to wander around the room in search of any way out. She looked under the bed, around the corners. She eyed up the walls, littered with scratches and tallies. Finally, before Lilly was to come, she looked at the doors. Any weak points. Any way to scratch off the lock. Nothing.
Aasim was watchful, but silent. Then, very quietly, began to mimic what she was doing. Checking the room for anything he could find. She heard Mitch follow suit, still muttering about how pissed off he was.
Alas, their searches were interrupted by the footsteps of they-know-who. Aasim quickly retreated to the back, Mitch fell quiet. Clementine only stopped where she stood, looking slowly to the door as Lilly stopped infront of it. There were three others, the same raider who had threatened Mitch, which had Omar in her grip, and a ginger who had to be no older than 20. A ginger who looked hauntingly like a picture she had seen before in Ericson.
The raider opened the door, pushing Omar inside, and then shut it quickly. Lilly continued to stare at Clementine.
“Minerva. Open the door.”
Minerva.
Her mind echoed the name. Her eyes flicked to Aasim, who put his hand over his mouth as if fighting emotions. Mitch whispered a spitting remark, but thankfully, kept his tongue.
“Yes ma’am.”
Minerva moved forward at this command, crouching down to open the door via the pole you had seen while examining the room. Lilly entered slowly. Clementine’s eyes trailed her. The person she knew since she was only eight. The Yin to her Yang. Important to each other’s future, forever entwined in one another, similar yet opposite.
As she continued walking forward with her pistol aimed square at her face, she spoke demeaningly. “Normally, for all the trouble you caused, I’d shoot you and toss you overboard…” A tilt of her head. “But I’m genuinely impressed.”
“You managed to organize these idiot kids into a fighting force, and successfully put up some real good war-method defenses. On top of that, you killed two of my most experienced soldiers.”
She lifted her chin. “I’d bring a prize like you back to the Delta, it might make this clusterfuck of a mission worth it. A young girl like you… capable, intelligent… that’s too valuable to take out.”
Clementine bit her tongue, staring down Lilly with pure hatred. Biting back her remarks with clenched teeth.
“You remember my father, right, Clem?” Her eyes narrowed, but she only turned to sit on the stiff bed. As she directed her pistol away, Minerva moved forward with a loosely aimed crossbow. “Well, he was a military man, and when I was a kid, he had all sorts of rules. He hated waste. It was his biggest peeve. If I left a light on in a room, he’d flip his shit. Even after his rants about electricity bills, I couldn’t remember to hit the switch.”
“...So?”
“So one day, he let our power get cut. He loved illustrations to show the consequences of our actions. No more TV, no hairdryer, no more ice-cream sandwiches, just pure darkness and a miserable family. My father had his faults, I admit, but he taught me how to lead by example and its effectiveness.”
Clementine lost her temper, stepping forward as she uncrossed her arms in exclamation. “So that’s what this is? A fucking lesson?-”
Minnie rose her crossbow, halting the other in her tracks. She glanced between the two of them, her heartrate skyrocketing more than it already had, before she slowly retreated back to her corner. Lilly stared Clementine down… then raised her hand, having the gingerette lower her weapon only slightly. She maneuvered her pistol, flicking it to Clementine’s left. Unhappily, she obliged while the latter continued, “I want to tell you a story. Let’s call it.. The Parable of the Twins,” Minnie’s gaze tightened.
“Two girls were taken from their home and brought to a new place to live. They had to leave their friends and family behind, and that was sad, and they shed a lot of tears…” Her voice mockingly grew pitying, before going back to its usual tone. “But the new place was a good place, with lots of corn and pigs. Food. Hot showers. Clean clothes. Beds. Trained with guns and how to use them. The people were nice to them, and only asked for them to help defend this place. You see, this place had a lot of enemies, killers, and thieves who wanted what they had. They needed help fighting, or they’d lose everything they built.”
Clementine shifted unhappily, her brows furrowing as her mind ranted off about how stupid ths was. How the twins wouldn’t tell it this way. But she stayed silent. It was her best way to keep anything from happening, except for Lilly’s continuing rambles.
“One of the girls saw that this was a place worth fighting for, and her tears dried. The other twin could not forget her old home, though. She stirred up trouble, rejecting gifts, opportunities, all of that rebellion against a good place. She convinced her sister to steal a raft and make it down the river… but... well, they didn’t get far,” Her gaze drew tauntingly to Minerva. “What happened then, Minerva?”
A pregnant silence filled the boat, only filled with the buzz of the boat and the water it floated on. Minnie’s eyes welled up with indignant tears.
“I killed her.”
From the four teens on the boat, three fell into outrage.
“Shit, Minnie, how could you!?” Aasim exclaimed, his hands pulling up behind his head. During this all, he had snuck into the light to watch what was going on with Omar, who gave a pathetic “..What?”
Mitch hit the door, probably trying to peer out.. “What the fuck!? Is that true?!”
“Your own sister? Why would you do that?” Lilly mockingly asked.
Clementine saw Minnie swallow her spit and anxiety, her voice cracking. “She was twisting my head with her bullshit and lies.”
“And?”
“I made a mistake. I needed to show my loyalty to the place I called home.”
Lilly stood up calmly. Clementine was too stunned to speak. “Like it or not, Clem, you’re one of my people now. What is to be asked is.. Are you to be the first twin, or the second one?” Before she could muster up an insult, a spitting remark, or a glare to cut through anything, Mitch began to yell, slamming against the bar-door.
“You fucking assholes! You made her do that! What the hell did you all do to Minnie! You’re fucking sick! All of you! Disgusting ass bitches!”
“You better back away from the door!” The raider yelled back, as Clementine glared deeply into her eyes. Mitch breathed heavily, trying to contain his anger, most likely.
“I’ll be the one to burn down this boat, with or without me and-or you in it.” The words slid out before she could keep herself silent. She had been burning with so much fury she didn’t even notice the way her hands had balled up into fists.
Lilly rose her brows, impressed with this threat, as she rose to her feet.
“I’m kind of surprised, Clementine. Why without me in it?”
“Because, who are you without what you have? You might as well just be dead.”
“...Smart-ass,” She admitted, before narrowing her eyes. “But I’m gonna show you now that I’m not fucking playing.” She turned her head to the door, then looked back. “Pull the mouthy one out of the cell.”
Lilly stepped forward, causing Clementine to walk backwards against the wall, helplessly listen to Mitch fall back into louder, antagonistic remarks while the woman she had known spoke powerfully.
“It seems he didn’t get the moral of the story. We’ll have to help him understand.”
It only got louder with Mitch, who was screaming loud enough that you’d think fifty walkers would be on the doorstep.
“YOU BITCH! EVERYTHING! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! GET– GET OFF ME!” The sound of clanging metal echoed as Aasim and Omar stood, wide-eyed, watching the scene from a front-row seat. Clementine could only listen, until she couldn’t, and he was dragged out into view of her as he kicked.
“FUCKING.. STOP! GET OFF ME! FUCK.. FUCK! FUCK! DON’T FUCKING DO IT! STOP–” He thrashed about, but the woman pinned him down with her knee on his spine, continuing despite his arguments. “GET! OFF! YOU! BITCH!”
“Don’t make this hurt more than it has to. Just breathe.”
“SHIT– SHIT! NO! FUCK YOU!”
Clementine wasn’t sure what the hell possessed her. Maybe it was the way Mitch had spoken up. Maybe it was the memory of what Lilly had done to Doug. Maybe it was having to face someone who she had seen as no more than a misguided survivor, someone she had enough closure about. Maybe it was the fact she had survived longer than Lee ever had gotten to. Or Kenny. Or Luke. Or Jane. Or anyone. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to, or what changed in her plan. But all she knew was she charged forward, despite the crossbow aimed at her...
It fired.
Right into the flesh her cheek and lips like a fish hook.
It should’ve killed her, or maybe not. It should’ve done something. Should’ve killed her. Should’ve killed her.
She hit the floor.
Should’ve killed her. It should’ve killed her.
It killed her. It had to have just killed her.
It had to have.