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estethell · 9 days

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TWD/Telltale - The Walking Dead AU - "Bad People or Good People?" Masterlist

Father Daughter relationship between Daryl and Clementine. Watch as she grows to become even more badass than the two men who taught her how to survive a zombie apocalypse <3

☝️art by @estethell ❤️🖤

Summary:

"Find a group…" are one of the last words Lee says to Clementine. And so, Clementine does. Over and over and over again… until Clementine finds Daryl Dixon and his group at the prison. Whilst it's easy to gain the affection of Daryl, a man who soon becomes like a father to her, other members of the group might have some issues with her… not to mention the looming threat of other people still out there.

Changes Clementine’s fate after telltale's season 1 to fit in with the Walking Dead show, intertwining the stories from mid season 3 and onwards. Clementine is therefore 9 at the start!

(I will try to write with enough details that if you haven't seen or played either of the medias, you can follow along. But I also keep in mind that some have played and seen things multiple times so if something that was canon doesn't make sense immediately, it will in a later chapter <3 )

Chapters:

Glenn || A year after Lee's death, Clementine is on the run from Walkers after a horrible year. Right as she's on the brink of dying, an arrow saves her life.

Daryl Dixon's arrow.

Find a Group || Clementine's introduction to the group does not go as smoothly as Rick had hoped... Already existing tensions surface, and Clementine starts to notice that there might be something going on here at the prison... something involving bad people?

Fever || As Clementine falls unconscious from a fever, the group goes through various debates on Clementine's presence... whilst Glenn and Daryl bond over their care for the girl.

Forgiveness || When Clementine wakes from her fever, she's faced with the Greenes' grieving anger of the death of Shawn Greene... But Hershel's Farm is not the only thing from Clementine's past that is still haunting her.

An Honest Man || When Daryl and Merle return to the prison, tensions are high as both children of the group get offended by their father figures.

How is Daryl Dixon, the least talkative of all people, going to apologise to Clementine?

A Stronger Girl || Whilst fixing cars with Daryl (and Merle), Clementine ponders on whether she should tell the group where to find Ylva's group now that she's finally free of it. In the end, it's the last two people one would think to change Clementine's mind that convince her...

We're the Good Guys, Clem (Part 1) || With Clementine revealing the location of the group after her, Rick makes a risky decision to take some of the group’s fighters to go after them despite the Governor looming on their doorstep. Meanwhile, Merle finds more reasons to provoke Daryl.

We're the Good Guys, Clem (Part 2) || Worried about Daryl as he goes after Ylva's group, Clementine finds herself stuck in her emotions until she cannot keep it together anymore...

We're the Good Guys, Clem (Part 3) || New alliances are made. Tyreese doesn't like what Woodbury seems to be, but Kenny is blind to it all. Rick doesn't like what he is turning into, meanwhile Clementine might have finally found a friend in Carl.

Based on story:

All on His Lonesome (only on AO3 atm, sorry) || At Daryl Dixon's grave, Clementine copes with her father figure's death with the help of Judith Grimes.

AO3 link to AU work (limited access - only those with AO3 account)

my carrd

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estethell · 9 days

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Bad People or Good People? - Chapter 8: We’re the Good Guys, Clem (Part 3)

☝️beautiful art that I had commissioned by the lovely @estethell for this very story ❤️🖤 thank you again!

chapter summary: New alliances are made. Tyreese doesn't like what Woodbury seems to be, but Kenny is blind to it all. Rick doesn't like what he is turning into, meanwhile Clementine might have finally found a friend in Carl.

previous chapter: We’re the Good Guys, Clem (Part 2)

story masterlist

read on Ao3

Word Count: 2556

tag list: @nowandthane @fizzyxcustard If you'd like to be added or removed from my tag list, please let me know

Tyreese wiped away some sweat from his forehead. The sun was scorching hot outside, but this was important work. With the threat of the prison group, Tyreese and some others had been ordered to help Kenny with the fence. The Governor had, apparently, thought Kenny’s suggestions for keeping Woodbury safer ideal, and had given all the supplies necessary almost immediately.

Kenny was slowly inching his way inside the Governor’s inner circle, and Tyreese wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Glancing to the side, said man was planting a kiss to Sarita’s cheek. He was a stark contrast to the man Tyreese had first met; the man who punched the Governor in the face.

He’d never do anything bad to Sarita though. Everyone knew Kenny would do anything for her and Sarita’s niece. The devotion he had for them made it seem like they’d known each other for years. Yet… apparently, they’d only known each other for two months.

“Here yeh go,” Kenny said. He handed Tyreese a zipped up bag of lunch Sarita had packed for the men working there. As Kenny handed the rest out, Tyreese continued to watch him.

The smile on Kenny’s face seemed fake. It always had. Like he was a politician trying to gain favor with the others. But Kenny was the opposite of a politician, and it all came off as… rather creepy. At least to Tyreese and his sister. No one else seemed to react to it.

“Very nice of her,” Tyreese said quickly.

Stood outside of the walls of Woodbury, taking a break for some nicely packed lunch seemed almost laughable. Yet here they were, pretending Woodbury was such a safe haven that a lunchbreak wasn’t dangerous.

Woodbury just felt… surreal. Sasha had been right about that.

“Where’d you get the idea from?” Tyreese asked, gesturing to the wired fence they were adding. The walls of Woodbury were already safe…

Well, that had been everyone’s hope, until the prison group had infiltrated the place.

“Some farm.” Kenny crouched down beside the small holes they’d drilled through the metal walls earlier. Through them, wires were going to be threaded that were attached to generators inside.

They were creating an electric fence. Difficult to pass, and easy to fry some Walkers that got too close.

“They had it all ‘round their property,” Kenny had continued. Then his face turned sour, an angry look appearing on his face. “They were freaks.”

Tyreese grew silent, watching as Kenny double checked any work that was done. If he’d only seen the idea once, then he was no expert. But the Governor was pretending he was.

The Governor was pretending Kenny was a lot of things lately. It was weird.

Their relationship was weird.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…” Kenny simply replied at first. But something dark overtook him suddenly: “Just thinking ‘bout all them things I’ll do to anyone who even dares to come close to Woodbury.”

Those words made Tyreese grow quiet once more. He wanted to trust the people here, but from the deluded civilians who thought life would go on like it did post outbreak, to the completely deranged anger that Kenny showed, to the tightly knit soldiers that spoke in hushed whispers behind Tyreese’s back and into the Governor’s ears…

This place was mental.

As if he could sniff out any type of disloyal or unsure thoughts, the Governor appeared behind Tyreese. “How’s it going?” he asked casually, planting a smile on his face. Walking with his hands behind his back, he glanced with his one eye at Tyreese as he rounded him to approach Kenny.

“Good, sir,” Tyreese was quick to reply, before going back to his work, lunch untouched.

“Just got a few more feet left, then we can start attaching the wires,” Kenny added.

“Good. Good,” the Governor hummed. “This was a great idea. We’ve got to do all we can to keep our enemies out.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation, only Tyreese’s hammering interfering with the silence.

“You say you’d been at the prison, right?” Tyreese glanced up at the Governor’s words. He stood, nodding his head. “And you say they had, what, at the most three strong men to fight?”

Tyreese wordlessly nodded his head. “And a baby, a kid-“

Upon the added information, Kenny had turned his head in surprise - but the Governor had raised a hand to stop Tyreese from talking more.

“Yes, very good. And tell me…” The Governor moved in closer. “Was there a little girl?”

“What?” Tyreese asked.

“Was there a little girl with them? Around ten years old?” the Governor asked.

Shaking his head no, Tyreese’s eyes grew suspicious. But not as suspicious as the Governor’s.

A long pause followed. The Governor moved in closer, invading Tyreese’s personal space. Suddenly, any hint of a fake smile was gone, and Tyreese tensed up as the true Governor showed its face for the first time.

“We’ve got people watchin’ them,” the Governor spoke menacingly quiet.

“Okay.” Tyreese spoke with a hint of a question, unsure what was being referred to.

The Governor suddenly smiled and patted Tyreese’s arm with a strange, forced chuckle. “Kenny,” he said, still staring straight at Tyreese, and staying right there in his personal space. “Do you think the men can finish without you?”

“Oh, yeah. I don’t see why not,” Kenny replied from behind the Governor’s back, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

Only then did the Governor turn and leave Tyreese be. A strangely relieved sigh left him, having been unaware that his chest had tightened so much he hadn’t been able to breathe.

That was weird… right? Did the Governor just threaten him by accusing him of potentially lying? Tyreese and the others were only in there briefly, they hadn’t met everyone… At least, he didn’t think so…

“Walk with me,” the Governor asked, throwing an arm around Kenny’s shoulders before the man could reply. “Who was it you traveled with again…? Lee and Clementine?”

“Yeah.” As they moved further away from Tyreese, he heard less and less of their conversation, but kept staring at them.

“And you came from… Hershel’s farm?”

“Yeah, we did. Was the first place we got to when me and the wife decided to get outta town.”

“Interesting… Tell me more.”

…

Rick steered the car down roads not yet tainted by the lack of maintenance in this new, dark world. He sat back in his seat, relaxed. It was quiet. They had succeeded on a mission. And now the only threat they had to deal with was Woodbury.

All should be well.

But it wasn’t.

Where Daryl had sat earlier was just an empty seat. No one had sat down in the front, both Glenn and Daryl stuffed in the back. No one spoke. No one even looked at each other.

Rick didn’t have to use his police instincts to know that the atmosphere in the car was… his fault.

Both the men, clearly fond of Clementine, were being forced to lie to her. On top of that, they were forced to lie to the rest of the group too. Rick doubted whether Glenn would keep this from Maggie, but beside that, he knew no one else was going to find out.

Not for a while at least, and hopefully never.

He knew Glenn was going to stay true to Rick’s request to keep this quiet. Glenn was in line with Rick’s hatred for Woodbury. They were seeing eye to eye on a lot of things lately.

But Daryl…

Those three bodies and the very obvious evidence of a group leaving, albeit it away from the prison, were all facts that Rick should openly tell his group - especially Clementine.

But…

What good would it do? Clementine might want to follow, meaning some people would leave with her. That would mean leaving the rest even more vulnerable to Woodbury’s threat. And that meant endangering Carl and Judith.

Selfish? Maybe… Or he was just trying to be a good leader.

For the first time in a long time, Rick wasn’t quite sure about Daryl’s loyalty. As he glanced back at the archer, perched awkwardly in the back with knees hitting the front seat uncomfortably, Rick was unsure what to do…

This was not a democracy. There were threats left and right.

But was it right to keep things from others just to keep people safe?

Far down the road, the prison could be seen already. They were almost home, and Daryl called it in through the Walkie Talkie.

But there was something else there.

Something along the road, waiting…

His mind revealed Lori, standing in an innocent white dress, watching him… Judging him for what he had become. For what he was doing. Lori, the woman who whispered in his ear about Shane’s bad intentions; Lori, the woman who loved Rick unconditionally; Lori, the mother to his children.

But she was gone.

And he had but one child.

But no, he had two.

But…

Lori would have disagreed with Rick’s behavior. Lori did disagree with Rick’s behavior. She hated dictatorships.

The world was not right, she would say, if there are dictatorships ruling over people, lying and manipulating. Thinking only on how to make them do what their leader wanted of them…

Rick was doing just that.

Was he doing it for the right reasons…?

…

“I heard what you told Michonne.”

Much to Clementine’s surprise, Carl was the one stood in the doorway to her cell. She had holed herself up in there since hearing back from Daryl and breaking down to Michonne. Whatever Michonne had told the others about it had apparently made them leave Clementine alone. She wasn’t really complaining about that. The solitude had been great to calm herself down again and to do something to get her mind off it all.

Drawing had been what she had been up to. Just aimlessly scribbling and coloring.

She had been two drawings in by the time Carl had come to her cell.

“Merle said we should leave you alone, but…” He shuffled inside the cell, long brown hair sticking out from his hat in various places and angles.

Surprised, Clementine had perked up from her spot on the floor. “He did? Why?”

“Dunno,” Carl replied with a shrug. Both seemed to be talking about different things; whilst Clementine had been surprised that Merle had asked the others to leave the girl alone, Carl was more confused by why solitude was what people thought Clementine needed.

He shifted to sit down next to Clementine, glancing at the drawings. But his eyes weren’t very interested in her art, shifting to her waist instead: “You get your gun from someone?” he opted to ask instead.

With a nod, Clementine took it out from its holster. Daryl had found that holster for her, even spent some time trying to shorten the strap so it would fit her child waist. She placed the gun in front of her.

Carl watched it for a while before taking out his own gun, placing it next to hers. “I killed my mom with it.”

It said a lot about this world that Clementine didn’t shift away from Carl in horror at those words.

Silence filled the cell instead.

“I killed Lee with mine,” Clementine whispered.

Two children sat alone in a cell, broken by what had happened to both, forced to do the unthinkable at a despicably young age.

“Sorry,” Carl had said quietly.

“Sorry,” Clementine repeated earnestly.

And suddenly, all of the fiendish feelings that Clementine had gotten from Carl since the beginning was gone. Suddenly, Carl reached over to place a hand on her shoulder - a brotherly gesture that made him look ten times older than he was, ready to protect her from any future horror.

“You’ve got friends in us too,” Carl said, trying his best to be a little supportive concerning the apparent disappearance of Ylva’s group.

Clementine nodded her head, but didn’t offer a smile at his words.

The children tucked their guns away again, before Carl gestured to the drawings. Without words, Clementine had offered Carl a blank piece of paper and some pens, before both simply… began to draw. Sitting next to each other to keep the other one company, they did this in silence for a while.

They had forgotten how nice it was to have someone closer to their own ages to talk to. How nice it was to just… be themselves, to have someone understand how shitty this all was for them.

They’d feel much better in each other’s companies than without from that moment on.

…

“Daryl.” Rick’s voice was a command. Glenn left them alone to find Maggie, or Clementine, whilst Daryl stayed put outside in the scorching sun. Rick shut the car door behind him, then approached Daryl, eyes darting at everything everywhere but at Daryl… until he came to a halt only a few feet away from the man.

Never in his life would Rick invade Daryl’s personal space to make a point. Despite any bad feelings or ill wishes that appeared between the two, Rick knew to give Daryl that space. It was important to Daryl, and Rick didn’t dare ask why - too worried, in all honesty, to hear how bad the reason might be. Daryl was his friend after all. He respected that distance even now.

“I wanna talk ‘bout what just happened.”

Daryl didn’t reply in any other form but a single, strained, nod.

“You know it’s important we keep our focus on the Governor-“

“This why we lyin’?” Daryl interrupted, his eyes narrowing into a glare. “’Bout someone’s friends? How would you feel if we lied ‘bout your family dyin’.”

It was no question. It was a point made. A point that was a touchy subject too.

Rick bit back some unkind words, lips thinning into a straight line, as he looked away. Composing himself, Rick pushed the anger, grief, and sadness away to offer Daryl an understanding nod.

“I know,” was Rick’s reply, spoken through a strained pair of lips. “You think I like lying? You think this is what I wanna do?” Daryl remained quiet, eyes narrowing into slits of mistrust, and Rick took a breath to calm himself. “They’re gone. We have no reason to follow. But we have all the reason to defend against the Governor, who is literally on our doorstep. You get it?”

“Then I go with the girl,” Daryl had quickly replied.

That had been Rick’s fear, and it showed as he was quick to shake his head. “Yer one of my best warriors, Daryl. I can’t lose you.” He paused then added: “We can’t lose you,” for emphasis.

“The tracks’ll be gone if we wait,” Daryl said, biting his lip. His gaze had drifted away from Rick, his head hung low. His voice, too, was quieter.

Rick was getting through to Daryl. “I know…”

“Ye’d have less difficulty leading if ye just spoke the truth,” Daryl snapped. With those words said, Daryl turned and marched off.

But something told Rick that Daryl wasn’t going to tell anyone they’d lied. That despite what he wanted to do, he understood Rick’s reasoning. Still, it didn’t feel right to force a good man to become bad.

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