Clementine watched as Violet, Aasim, Omar and Molly walked through the rusted gates, a soft chill settling over her skin as they left. She sent a tiny wave goodbye in Violet's direction before slumping onto a picnic bench. Her eyes fell onto AJ and Tenn drawing, their bodies hugging the dirt and their legs swaying gently in the air. The paper was filled with colourful, crazy swirls and the neat lines of detailed portraits. She smirked, Tenn was definitely the better the artist.

It had been ages since she had seen AJ just be a normal kid for once. It was refreshing but at the same time, oh so terrifying. She knew for a fact that you had to take all the little mercies that the world gives you. You would go insane otherwise. But you can't hold onto it for too long before it rips it away from you again. It could be a horde of the undead, it could be a sudden storm, it could even be people. Bandits, murderers, rapists. Factions setting up with the whole idea of rebuilding the world but constantly at each other's throats. On the brink of war.

Her heart panged. She had lost loads of people this way. Omid especially. One moment she, him and Christa were joking about what to call Christa's baby and not even five minutes later Omid was dead. Shot by a thief. The thief had even used her pistol to add insult to injury.

She sighed and for once, she willingly chose to take off her hat. Placing it on the rough wood. She brushed a stray brown curly lock out her eye, tucking it neatly behind her ear. Her attention snapped to Louis as he slid into the seat on the opposite side of the table.

"You took your hat off." He commented absently, gesturing to the object in question with his bony finger, "Must be serious."

Clementine chuckled softly, "I guess you could say that. I'm not gonna lie, I'm worried about what Molly will find."

"I'm sure it will be fine."

She cracked an uneasy, ironic smirk, "Will it though? I'd love to have your optimism, I really would. But it's always the same. Something will go wrong, I'm just not sure what."

Louis' forehead creased and he rested both his arms gently on the table, "You're worried about him," He cocked his head in AJ's direction, "aren't you?"

Her pools of amber softened as AJ tagged Tenn and began running away at his fastest. He was laughing, face more vibrant than it had been in years. She'd do anything to protect it. "Of course I am." She replied defensively, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Slowly, Louis took a deep breath, "He's all you care about-"

"Yeah, I don't see your point."

"You don't care about yourself."

Clementine froze. She averted her gaze from Louis, "Why should I?"

"Clem..."

"Do you know how many people have died because of me?" She asked suddenly, jaw clenched and turning to him. Her voice was strict, leaving no place for arguments. "Loads. More than I can count. I could write a whole fucking list right now but I would run out of paper. Everyone dies and it's always my fault."

Louis watched her silently. Listening intently. She felt Rosie force herself under the table, brushing past her legs. Draping her dirty fingers down, she ran them through the dog's thick bristles. Rosie's tongue lolled out of her mouth in a happy, slobbery grin.

"I'll be damned if I let it happen to him too." She continued. "I lost him twice, I'm not letting it happen again."

The brunette observed as Louis nodded, "I-If you don't mind me asking, what happened? The first time."

"Sure you don't want to hear the second? Because that one is... That wasn't my proudest moment."

Louis shifted, "Why would I want to hear that one?"

Clementine hid her face in her hands, "I'm not a good person," She looked back up, wisps of desperation playing like mist in the corner of her eyes, "and I need at least someone here to know that. Don't see a reason why it shouldn't be you."

"If you insist."

She picked up her hat and stared into the letter sewed on it, "AJ had been taken by bandits, only about nine months after I got him back. They robbed me of everything and beat me to within half-inch an of my life. Broken ribs, broken nose, a black eye. I had to tape my fingers up and everything, it wasn't pretty." She paused, taking the moment to analyse Louis' reaction. His eyes were large, embers of shock fighting with the drops of empathy, "I followed one of their scouts. They were sloppy and he didn't know how to cover his tracks."

She chuckled, "He had his brother with him. A nine-year-old kid, a bit younger than Tenn." Her eyes softened, brows furrowing into sharp straight lines. "I chopped his hand off and let his older brother eat him alive."

Louis went bug-eyed and his mouth hung open, refusing to shut.

"I tortured the older one first, pried out his eye and popped off his knee." Louis looked like he was about to be sick and she didn't blame him, "Like I said," She sounded utterly defeated, "I'm not a good person."

"Why?"

Clementine slumped, "I wanted to find AJ but... I took it too far." Louis went to open his mouth, "Don't... Please..."

Louis bit his tongue and she smiled at him sadly.

"I don't think AJ ever forgave me. According to him, they never laid a finger on him. I..." She choked, "I warned him not to go in the basement and the first thing he does when I turn my back? He goes into the basement and-and all I see is his shaking hands and horrified look and I can see it in his eyes. He's scared of me. Scared of what I did." A lone tear escaped out her eye and dribbled down her cheek, she wiped it away in a hurry, praying that Louis didn't see it. Didn't see her sign of weakness. "I-I don't want to see that look again."

"For the record," Louis said, a sincere smile on his face, "I don't think he is scared of you."

"You don't get it. He's not scared of this me, he's scared of the other me. The one where I look in the mirror and don't recognise the person staring right back. I don't ever want to be that person but... It happens anyway." Her empty gaze fell onto the picnic table, "Violet's seen a brief flash of it."

"What 'bout Vi?" Ruby interjected, sliding beside Clementine. Sparks of confusion played across her feature. "What'd she see?"

"Oh nothing.-"

"Me naked," Clementine said suddenly, cutting off Louis, "On accident, o-obviously." She quickly attempted to recover, stammering.

Ruby smirked, "I don't think Vi was complainin'."

Clementine flushed red, "What do you mean by that?"

"You are incredibly dense, anyone ever tell you that?" Ruby deadpanned. The redhead grinned and shook her head, "Anyway, I came over to check your stitches. I think you may have ripped one or two out."

Clementine looked down, "I don't see any blood."

"You wouldn't. You're wrapping that jacket around your waist and on top of the bandages."

She deflated, noticing how Louis had gotten up and sulked away from the table. Probably still processing what she had said, "Do we have to?" She pleaded, turning to face Ruby.

The other girl sighed and sent her a disapproving look, "Why don't want me to check? It'll leave an ugly scare if you've ripped some out."

"Wouldn't be my first. I'll add it to the fifteen others."

Ruby's jaw clenched, "Forget I asked then."

She winced at the bitterness in her voice and watched as Ruby marched away. It hadn't been her intention the annoy fiery redhead, she just didn't want to waste any more of the school's incredibly limited medicinal supplies. The soft chill of the inky blue night cast an oddly shaped and moving shadow on the ground. It was erupting from somewhere past the school's gate. She frowned, wondering what it could be.

She slipped her hat back on and stood with mild difficulty. The bullet wound throbbed in protest at her movement. Hastily, she hobbled over to the gate, resting a hand on her stomach. Her fingers curled around a bar but she could see nothing in the mysterious black of the night. It was simply too dark. The blazing amber in her eyes squinted suspiciously and she pulled out her knife. She unlocked the gate, hearing AJ come up on her side.

"What're you doing?" AJ asked, cocking his head to look at her.

"There's something out there, I just don't know what. You coming with?" She responded, pushing open the gate and cringing at the ear-splitting sounds of it grinding against the concrete.

AJ nodded, "Always."

She smiled at him and stepped through the open gate. "Don't go too far, we're just gonna do a quick search around. Tell me if you find anything."

"Got it." The boy confirmed, brushing past her. She watched for a little bit as he inspected the ground. The forest was thick, the bark was rough to touch and the leaves had begun to fall. Autumn had snuck up faster than she had expected. Crisp leaves crunched under the weight of her pitch-black combat boots as she moved further into the forest, blade pointed forward.

A hustling sound dug into her ears and she snapped her head to look in its direction. A tree branch was wobbling up and down like it was a cartoon. Her mouth formed into a thin, straight line. "AJ," She said, stern and demanding, "Get back inside." She flinched, hearing another cluster of dead leaves, closer to her this time.

In the corner of her eye, she saw AJ nod and begin walking through the wide-open gate. Suddenly, something landed on her, pushing her onto the ground and sending her knife sprawling. She brought her hands up to cover her face, protect it, and blocked punch after punch. In the short window of opportunity that presented itself, she brought her fist into contact with the attacker's cheek. She watched as the figure toppled off her and into the dirt. She scrawled onto her front and her eyes met AJ's. "Get the others!" She commanded.

She felt something grab a chunk of her hair and before she knew it, her face had been slammed into the ground. Groaning and feeling the familiar warmth of blood trickle out like a leaky tap, she shot a leg out and caught the attacker in the leg. Her elbow connected with the mysterious person's jaw and she flung them off her. Quickly, she got to her feet and took the little break to analyse the other's appearance. They had dark skin, much darker than her caramel skin and they had beady brown eyes. A white bandana was wrapped around her head like a cobra and thick black bush of hair sprouted out from within the containment of the fabric. A sniper rifle was perched on the woman's back, scope glinting in the dark of the night.

Clementine watched as the woman crawled to her feet. She cocked her head as the radio attached to the woman's chest buzzed to life and Lilly's voice crackled and fuzzed-out of the small electronic device. "Dorian, status report. Over."

Dorian, as she had just learned, lowered her head to meet the radio, "That girl you shot, boss, she's still alive and she spotted me. Over."

She glared at Dorian during the booming silence, waiting for Lilly's voice to come back.

"Get back here," She could hear the calculated coldness and frustration in Lilly's voice, "You are really stubborn, Clementine. Over and out."

"Well," Dorian said, looking at her, "You heard the lady. I should get goin'."

"You're not going anywhere." She snarled, beginning to march up to the woman.

Dorian laughed and the sound was grating. It was like a witch's laugh. She pulled the rifle off her back and held it in her talons, aiming the barrel at her. She switched the safety off. "And who has a gun? My orders aren't to kill ya but I won't hesitate."

Clementine froze. Caught like a deer in the headlights. Her jaw clenched shut and she grounded her teeth together. The volleying beats of her heart battered against her ribcage. All Dorian had to do was pull the trigger and she would be dead. Slowly, she put her hands up and backed away, her boots sliding against the loose dirt.

Dorian smirked, "Tha's a good girl."

Clementine sneered as the woman walked away, keeping the gun trained on her. It didn't take long for her to lose sight of Dorian, who had shouldered through the sturdy underbrush, submerging herself in shadows. Dorian was gone and Clementine deflated, annoyed at herself. She had let her escape. A small "fuck..." dribbled out her mouth.

Footsteps approached from behind her in sudden succession, blending to form a whirlwind of heavy gallops. Louis brisked past her, "What happened?"

"A scout." She responded, letting it hang into the air, "We should be on high alert from now on and no unnecessary risks."

"Who put you in charge?" Mitch. Of course, it was Mitch. She turned around, ready to lay a verbal smackdown on the asshole when Louis interrupted her.

"Give it a rest. Do you have any better ideas?"

Mitch glowered, "How do we know she isn't making this shit up?"

Clementine scowled at him and pointed at the thin line of blood dripping from her nose. "I didn't do this to myself, jackass. Quit trying to find a reason to kick me out early, it isn't working."

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her bleeding nose.

"We should get back inside. There's no safe zone anymore... I don't think there ever was."

"Hopefully Vi and the others will be back soon, I'm getting worried," Tenn said, his voice meek, quiet and nervous.

"Me too..."


"So Clementine is still alive?" Carver asked, his voice jumping out of the large radio. Lilly paced with no direction. Just doing laps around the small room, the metallic twinge of the boat wafting into her nose. She planted her hands onto the desk.

"Yes." She growled, "I don't know why. I shot her in the gut and they're all kids!"

"Don't underestimate them." Carver warned, "They may be young but they made it this far after all. I ain't gonna lie, Clementine has impressed me."

Lilly paused, "How can you be impressed?"

Carver chuckled. "She's a survivor. I respect that. There is one thing I must ask, however."

"Go ahead, Sir."

"Was there a kid with her? Should be around... five."

"Yes."

"Good, he's your top priority."

"Really?" Lilly stammered, "But-but he isn't even old enough to fight!"

"You've misunderstood me." Carver responded, "If you had a child, it'd be natural to want them back."

She went bug-eyed.

"Bring him back and if there is one scratch of harm on him..." His voice was low and dangerous, enough to get his point across, "Well, I don't have to say it, do I? Lieutenant?"