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2x4plank · 10 months

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I'm absolutely going out of order going over these episodes but if I don't talk about Season 2 it will kill me.

⚠️This post is very long. It's a commitment to read, so be ready to scroll if you wanna!⚠️

We start with Omid getting shot. I feel like how it played out was pretty realistic. His quiet sneak-in--it made sense. I don't know if I entirely feel bad for Michelle, but I don't feel good about her getting shot neither. And then Christa dies off screen. Maybe not the choice I would've made, but I'ma let it slide--if only because Clementine was trying to be outta there! I love Clementine's lil backpack. I wish she kept it.

I honestly don't dislike Clementine as a protagonist. In fact, I like spending a lot of time with her and letting her have more autonomy in the story. However...it does bring its own set of problems.

The theme of this story seems to be dangerous incompetence--which is a personal pet peeve. There is so much reliance on Clementine and this burden of accountability the adults around her make her take. Like, it was good of Luke and Pete to carry her back. I liked Pete (and then he died real soon after). But then they fumble on locking her in a shed. To die of either illness or the walkers that surround her. And Nick almost shoots her too! It was cool of him to draw the walkers toward him, but like...you're very trigger happy buddy. I never really warmed up to Nick before we turned his head into a salami log. He was on a streak of poor decisions (see: Matthew's murder).

Leaving Clementine to do her own sutures in the cold and rain instead of just having Carlos at the very least fix up the obvious animal bite is really stupid of them. I felt like I was CPS reviewing a case while playing this game, and I'm not even a decade older than Clementine here. So to find out that these adults (with Luke, apparently one of the younger members at 26-27) were okay with leaving her there? That makes me mad! She shouldn't have had to do that.

Then we have Sarah, the tall dork kid, who is willing to help you out because she has more than an ounce of good sense and understands that this is unfair. But then they do her real dirty! She is abused and dies a horrible painful death after being riddled with anxiety and watching her dad get devoured. And then everybody just...forgets about it! Not even a forlorn look at her pair of glasses or whatever remains of her. Wow! That is awful! I completely disagree with those choices. Sarah absolutely deserved better. I mean, I don't really care about Carlos, but Sarah deserved better. Forget Arvo! We need more cute fanart of her.

Then there's Carver. Pretty good and believable antagonist. He has a doctrine that is unfairly and irregularly enforced. Less a ruleset and more of whatever he feels like at the time--which is mostly anger. He does some recon before striking which is also pretty cool. And maybe it would've gone better if Carlos hadn't let two children stay home alone. Ain't that like...Parenting 101? If you're so keen on protecting your daughter, why ya leaving her alone in the apocalypse? Maybe she wouldn't be taking photos if you were there with her. Maybe she would've been better about not opening the door. Don't force children to watch children.

And then Bonnie does the second round of recon, which was really obvious. If I walked around the corner of the lodge and saw some guy looking into the window and acting real surprised to see me...I would probably think they were counting how many people were inside to launch some sort of attack. I knew she wasn't a good person, and that remained true to the very end. Despite her sorry attempts to make amends, she really wasn't nothing. She ruined Christmas! I'm not even religious, but the decorations were so pretty...and she was an agent of its destruction.

Reuniting with Kenny at the Ski Lodge was nice. I felt happy to see him. As I said before, I was absolutely sitting at his table because he is Clementine's secondary dad. As we'll find out later on, he kinda toxic, but I was still loyal to him because...the devil you know, right?! That is literally one of the worst perspectives, don't listen to me, but it's the one I had. And also I felt like he wasn't really going to hurt-hurt the kids, but he did still hurt Clementine emotionally. I felt like he was the best guardian out of the ones presented to us (outside of maybe Rebecca).

The addition of Sarita brought some problems too. They did not flesh her out. She deserved better also, outside of being Kenny's new wife. I know that:

She likes...Christmas.

She found Kenny somewhere.

She thinks his beard got bigger.

She had to listen to Kenny tell his sad backstory before she went to sleep at night.

She got bit on the hand.

Sarita didn't get enough space outside of Kenny--who I still like, for some reason.

Then there's Kenny's other friend, Walter. After watching Breaking Bad, I was not ready to trust this dude. I mean, he mixes peaches and beans for Pete's sake. But he was actually factually nice! Not even taking vengeance on Nick after he shot his bestie--that was a real kindness. And yes, I did tell him. Seems kinda hypocritical considering my position on Ben telling the truth, and maybe it is, but I think he deserved to know and that he'd find out pretty soon otherwise. I felt like it was wrong for Luke to cover for Nick so hard--especially sending Clementine out there to do so, putting her in the line of fire as they so often do. I mean, they're friends...but your friend has a history of going off and killing people with no real reason. I completely forgot where Nick was during the Carver Cult situation, so no more about him. But back to Bill Depot.

We meet some dude named Mike and another one named Jane. They help the crew escape while Kenny absolutely defaces Carver with a crowbar. He deserved it, no question about that. I think it's hilarious how if Clementine just insists, she can stay and watch. "No, you can't watch this guy get massacred. Okay, only if you really want to."

Carver's behavior towards Rebecca is extremely disgusting. This ownership of her is gross and the entitlement towards AJ, regardless of their prior relationship is gross. And while I do not blame Rebecca one bit, it's all Carver's fault, I couldn't help but keep thinking: "If I hadn't got mixed up with this group, this wouldn't have happened to me! I don't even really care about these people!" It was moreover the group's collective incompetence that made me feel that way.

Reggie was pretty funny. One thing this game is never lacking is in humor, and I liked Reggie...kind of. Course, his cavalier attitude towards imprisonment is not good, but he had been left there. I'm still confused as to how his arm was cut off. Was it really a walker bite, or a punishment? I really felt like he was lying to make Bill Depot look like a better place to be, and as we can see with Lee, amputation doesn't typically work. But maybe it's a time thing and something to do with using sterilized tools.

Clementine being the linchpin in their escape is kinda cool, kinda not. She is the smallest and least likely to get noticed. But they let her out in that bright ass jacket. Get 'er in something darker, at the very least! And of course, I was thinking: "Lee wouldn't let her do this. Lee wouldn't make her do any of this." But Lee did let her sneak through the vents, so...? I don't know.

Mike & Jane are pretty cool at first. Mike is funny, seemingly reasonable, and Jane is strong and collected. That definitely changes pretty soon with catching Luke and Jane fooling around and the introduction of Arvo.

I was completely against robbing Arvo and disagreed with Jane escalating things. She did still rob him of his gun, but not his medicine, but that put Arvo in danger on his return so I understand him being mad at HER about that. But the way he treats Cleemntine no matter what and holds the wrong people accountable really soured me on him. He held Clem at gunpoint first, even though she's not even a preteen in a rainbow sweater.

However, the way Kenny beat on him? I didn't agree with that, nor did I agree with leaving him in the cold. Additionally, the xenophobic names Kenny called him were rude and nonsensical. You're calling him a commie but you want to go to Wellington? A supposed COMMUNE?! Aight.

But Kenny's anger is not unjustified. It's not like Arvo didn't lead a crossfire that put everyone, including the kids in danger. If they weren't shot, they could've died of hypothermia. And in Kenny's eyes, being held up might've led to Rebecca turning.

I didn't want Arvo to be tortured regardless. He was young and there really wasn't any point to beating on him. That is, until the very end--but it's not like Kenny knew what was going to happen.

When Kenny is talking to Clementine alone in that truck, my soul was screaming. I know exactly how she feels, what position she's in, and God it is icky. I still like Kenny for the most part, somehow. I still feel like he was there for the kids, kind of. However, this bouncing off of Clem to make serious decisions after snapping at her, telling her she was at fault for Sarita's death (he did apologize at the very least, which is more than I've gotten most of the time). This isolation and weight Clementine felt is awful. Not to mention he was so consumed by anger at Arvo that he let Clementine sit there freezing and wet for longer than she should've had to instead of finding a log or something. Some of the burdening on Clementine is realistic. Children of color especially are often expected to act more adult than they should, but uh, don't ask me why I know what that feels like. On the other end, some of the decisions Clementine has to make are purely done for story reasons.

The betrayal? I thought it was pretty good. I don't think it came out of nowhere and it riled me up. I know Mike seemed like a nice guy, but his connection with Clementine was shallow. People normally have the common decency to protect kids, but it's hard to tell until you gotta. And he'd been talking to Arvo, seeing how Kenny mistreated him, he wanted to get them away from Kenny. But he was content to take away all the food that could've been used for AJ and Clementine. In the cold. In the snow. He thought less about protecting the most vulnerable and more about taking his favorites with him. And then there's Bonnie!

I knew she couldn't be trusted. She clearly didn't know her place after being part of the reason the crew got kidnapped. And then she pulls that stuff, after blaming Clementine for Luke's death. Saddling the pre-preteen with something else. By the way, I didn't feel much at Luke's death. Maybe he should've got some skis from the lodge. The only thing Bonnie did was give her a cool jacket THAT SHE STOLE FROM THE SKI LODGE!!! I hope she didn't make it. Flaky-like-a-pastry-ass-Bonnie.

Then comes Arvo's shooting of MY BABY! MY LITTLE RAINBOW BABY CLEMENTINE! HE SHOT HER! WITH A RIFLE! A GUN THAT WOULD GIVE YOU TIME TO NOT SHOOT A CHILD! OOH, I WASN'T OKAY WITH BEATING HIM EARLIER, BUT I THINK HE DESERVED A PUNCH FOR THAT!

But then they make you mild with that Lee flashback. Lee is just so concerned with keeping this child safe and comfortable. He really was father of the year.

I'm glad Clementine survived, but then comes another ordeal. Jane v. Kenny. Okay, I was half with Jane. She wasn't completely clean (seriously? you were so willing to give up on Sarah twice), but neither was Kenny. She seemed to want to get Clementine out of a possible volatile environment. But that stunt she pulled? You heard of leaving a baby in a hot car. Now how about LEAVING A BABY IN A COLD CAR TO DIE AT SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES! I wasn't willing to shoot Kenny because I didn't know what Jane did to AJ. "Just trust me," told me nothing. I was certain he wasn't dead, but I still didn't know if he was in danger. So I let Kenny kill her. Guess I'm going with truck freak--at least he won't leave me in a car.

Now, Kenny did make me uncomfortable. Especially with his steep change in emotions, like saying, "Race ya!" after violently killing someone Clementine was close to. Like, I understand why, but still.

Finally, Wellington. Kenny's last good deed. He does what's best for Clementine and AJ without giving Clementine shit about it. He helped her get there and seemed genuinely happy to make sure they'd be safe. That's one reason...I still kinda like this guy!

But damn, Clementine has to watch another person she trusted and felt like watched over her disappear. That is very bitter, slightly sweet. I hope they have apples at Wellington.

#twdg season 2 #twdg #twdg spoilers #twdg Jane #twdg kenny #twdg arvo #2x4plank essay post #twdg clementine #twdg sarah #twdg carver

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the-delta-42 · 2 years

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Road to Recovery

Louis tried not to worry too much. Vi and AJ were just out fishing. Not a big deal.

Clementine had just been out fishing too. Said a voice in the corner of his mind.

He shook his head. Clementine was alone, she told Aasim to head back and deliver the fish they caught. Louis found himself thankful that the mess with Richmond and Delta had been dealt with. He was even gladder that they’d managed to sort out electricity with one of those fancy generators. Louis shook his head, taking his thoughts back to the day Clementine vanished.

They’d caught enough fish to last them a couple of weeks, some going for trading for supplies and some weapons. Of course, Louis had flipped when Aasim told them that Clementine was alone. Before anyone had said anything, Louis had taken off toward the fishing shed. When he arrived, Clementine’s hat and leg were lying on the ground, with Clementine nowhere to be seen.

Louis had been in a bad mood for the first month, a couple of her friends from Richmond had visited and tried to help find her, but after half a year, everyone was starting to lose hope.

Louis had fallen into the co-leadership role with Violet, he finally understood the perpetual headache that both Marlon and Clem had mentioned. He’d hoped that Clementine was alive, although he was beginning to have his doubts.

A few people had joined their group, an actual doctor, a woman who’d tended to their wounds, all the while teaching Ruby more medical techniques. Then there was a woman who’d actually come looking for Clementine. Louis hadn’t bothered to remember her name, not when he had more important things to deal with.

A soft knock on the office door made him freeze, before AJ’s voice reached him, “Louis, we’re back. Violet’s got Robin cutting up some of the animals were caught.”

Louis frowned, Robin was an experienced hunter and dealt with the whole skinning and disgusting shit that came with preparing food for cooking. He was a metaphorical ‘gift’ from Richmond, he had a daughter who was the same age as them. Maria had spent a lot of time with Violet. Louis shook his head again, he needed to keep his mind on the present.

“Okay,” Responded Louis, “I’ll be down in a few minutes. Tell Kirsten to help with storing it.”

“You mean Christa?”

“Yeah, her.”

Louis heard AJ hum and walk off. He groaned and ran his hands down his face, if Clem could see him now, she’d be laughing her ass off. He hoped that his hair wasn’t going gray.

RTR

She flinched at the sound of her cell door opening. A small whimper escaped her throat.

“Hello, mouthy.” Jeered one of her captors, “We got a job for you.”

She whimpered, she had a name once, she couldn’t remember it, but she knew she had one. She knew she had friends, before they killed them all. They’d taken great pleasure in telling her that, after feeding them to her.

“Aw, got nothin’ to say?” Sneered the man, grabbing her face, “Well, you shouldn’t have bitten us, then we wouldn’t need to feed you through a straw.”

He dropped her on the ground and kicked her side. She was sent sprawling, her screams not escaping her mouth, unable to get past the stitches. She caught sight of people standing outside the cell, with one of the hunters lying on the floor, bloodied and bruised.

The boot impacted with her side, making her release more muffled screams.

RTR

Richard waited until ‘Lucifer’ was gone. The man had taken to seeing himself as the devil, Richard thought it was just a sign that the man had gone insane when this all started. It was now the middle of the night, and here he was, armed with a knife, going to break out a prisoner who was too scared to go to the bathroom. He just hoped the clothes he’d stolen would fit her.

The guards were easy to dispatch, the real struggle came from getting the girl out of her cell. Richard quietly swore, before knocking her out and leaving the guards to reanimate. ‘Lucifer’ wanted hell anyway. He only hoped the other three had a fucking car ready.

RTR

Louis tried not to groan as the group argued around the table. AJ had mentioned looking for Clem and Omar had, without thinking, said she was dead. With then led to everyone at the table, bar him, Violet and a couple of adults, to weigh in their own opinions.

Thankfully, for Louis at least, a bell ringing made everyone shut up. Louis, Violet and Christa all got up to investigate the noise, Louis picking up chairles as he did.

“We’re not expecting guests, are we?” Asked Violet, making Louis frown.

“Only the Richmond guys, but they’re supposed to be here tomorrow.” Responded Louis, the group of three unaware that the rest of the survivors were following them.

Christa frowned at the sight of five people, one appearing to be huddled against a car, while the other four were trying to climb the fence.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Demanded Violet, aiming a crossbow are the highest of the figures.

“Oh,” Said a red-haired woman, “We thought you didn’t hear us.”

“Who are you?!” Demanded Louis, making the huddled person flinch.

“W-we’re survivors.” Said one, with a Russian accent.

“We need to get in, there are walkers out here.” Said a man with dark skin, as the highest man dropped down and hauled the huddled person to their feet.

“We’ve got her,” Said the man, pushing the person forwards, “She’s from here, isn’t she?”

Louis frowned, before slowly walking towards the person. They were trembling violently and appeared to be rocking themselves back and forth, as if to comfort themselves. The man suddenly grabbed her hair and jerked her head back.

Louise froze, before rushing forward and stopping in front of the fence, to make sure his eyes weren’t tricking him.

In front of him was Clementine, bloody, bruised, her hair past her shoulders, an eye and ear missing, and with her mouth sewn shut.

“C-Clementine?” Whispered Louis, making her start breathing violently, her eye darting around. Muffled screams, whimpers and pleads could be heard from her. Louis dropped chairles, before opening the gate and pulling Clementine inside. Her muffled screams getting a fraction louder. As soon as Louis released her, she dashed to the fence and curled up into a ball with her arms covering her head.

“What the fuck have you done to her?” Demanded Violet, as Christa slowly approached Clementine.

“That wasn’t us.” The woman protested, weakly.

“I’m finding that hard to believe.” Snarled Louis, glaring at them.

“A, a group had her.” The Russian, “We found her.”

“When you say we, are you talking about that group,” Demanded Christa, looking away from Clementine, “or yourselves?”

There was silence, AJ looking over at them, before focusing on Clementine.

“…That group.” Said the dark-skinned man.

“Mike!” Snarled the apparent leader of the group.

“What? They’re going to find out anyway, we might as well be honest now, instead of later.” Said the dark-skinned man, Mike.

“He’s got a point, Richard.” Said the woman, “Even if Clementine doesn’t recognise us, they’re still going to want to know how we knew where she was and how we got her out.”

“Shut up, Bonnie.” Snarled Richard, glaring at her.

“What do you mean, recognise you?” Asked Violet, glancing toward Clementine.

“She probably saw them while they were torturing her.” Dismissed Louis, as the Russian inched forwards.

“We knew her, that why we take her.” Said the Russian man, making everyone look at him.

Everyone stopped and stared at him, bar Christa who was trying to coax Clementine towards her.

“You knew her?” Demanded Violet, glaring at him.

“Don’t say anything, Arvo.” Hissed Richard, as Mike slowly put more distance between himself and the group.

“We knew her from another group.” Said Bonnie, slowly making her was towards them, “The same group that AJ’s parents were in.”

Louis quickly glanced back towards the school, internally groaning when he was the rest of the group.

“Clementine said everyone in the group died.” Argued Violet, glaring at them suspiciously.

“We left.” Said Bonnie, quickly.

“After Arvo shot her.” Muttered Mike but was still heard by everyone.

Arvo froze when everyone looked at him, before he saw a boy, around eight or nine, aiming a pistol at him. Louis didn’t flinch at the pop behind him or Arvo’s head snapping back when the bullet hit him.

Everyone started at the dead man, before looking at AJ.

“Dude, seriously.” Groused Louis, walking over to him.

“They took and hurt Clementine.” Said AJ, aiming at Bonnie.

“Is that how Clementine’s raised you?!” Demanded Bonnie, before noticing the gun was being pointed at her, “We didn’t take part in any of the stuff they did to her.”

“Why wait so fucking long, then?” Snarled Violet, pointing the crossbow at Richard.

“We had to be sure.” He tried to bluff, before a groan from Mike cut him off.

“Richard wanted to trade her to you in exchange for protection, the rest of us felt guilty.” Admitted Mike, making Louis see red. He grabbed Chairles and stormed out of the gate, before bringing the makeshift club down on Richard’s head. Christa finally managed to get Clementine to come towards her, and quickly guided her towards the school.

“Amanda, we’re going to need your help with her.” Said Christa, making Amanda and Ruby head towards the school.

AJ was torn between watching Louis smash Richard’s head in and going after Clementine. Violet nudged him towards the school, just a Louis stopped bringing Chairles down on Richard’s head. He then turned to Bonnie and Mike.

“Leave.” Snarled Louis, glaring at the pair, “And don’t even think of coming back.”

Mike and Bonnie shared a brief look, before turning and running into the nearby forest. Louis took some deep breaths, before looking down at Richard’s corpse. He glared and sneered at it, before walking back towards the school.

RTR

Amanda rummaged around the draws, while Ruby tried to calm Clementine.

“Clem, please, it’s me.” Pleaded Ruby, “It’s Ruby.”

The panic hums from Clementine, and the violent thrashes in an attempt to escape showed that Clementine didn’t recognise her.

“Clementine?” Asked AJ, alerting the two medics to his presence.

Clementine froze, before turning her panic-stricken eye to AJ. Allowing Amanda and Ruby to restrain her and start cutting away the thread that kept her lips sealed together. Clementine tried to break free of their grip. Amanda cut the final thread, nodding to Ruby to release Clementine’s jaw.

The shrill, ear-piercing scream had them stepping back. Clementine scrambled away from them and towards the corner of the room and curling up into a ball. Soft pleads and whimpers escaped her, her arms covering her head as she violently rocked back and forth.

AJ waited a moment, before approaching Clementine.

“C-Clementine?” Asked AJ, making her stop.

She looked at AJ, “AJ?”

Ruby placed her hand over her mouth, Clementine’s voice sounded so broken. AJ nodded, before Clementine surged forward, grabbed him and curled around him. Soft sobs started to fill the room, Clementine buried her face in AJ’s hair.

Louis stopped at the door, staring at Clementine, her sobs turning into wails. Louis felt his chest tighten; he could vaguely see AJ in Clem’s arms. He glanced at Ruby, silently asking if he should approach. Ruby looked at Amanda, before giving a hesitant nod. Louis took a deep breath, before slowly walking up to Clementine. Her wails seemed to get louder as he got closer to her.

Louis crouched down in front of her, he hesitantly reached out for Clementine’s shoulder. Her wails suddenly stopped, small whimpers replacing them. Clementine slowly raised her head, her remaining eye stopping on Louis. Louis flinched at the complete and utter terror in her gaze.

“Hey, Clem.” Whispered Louis, quietly hoping she wouldn’t freak out. Clementine stared at him, AJ’s head nestling under her chin. She started trembling, which prompted Louis to open his arms to her. Clementine stared at Louis, as if she was waiting for him to disappear. After a minute, just as Louis started to lower his arms, Clementine surged forwards and buried her face in his chest.

“That was unexpected.” Muttered Amanda, frowning, “Normal torture victims will try to avoid physical contact with others.”

Louis opted to tune the two out, focusing on Clementine, while also making sure AJ didn’t suffocate between them.

RTR

Louis quietly cleaned an old colt .45 that Clementine had gotten hold of shortly after she lost her leg. One of her favourite jokes was that it could kill anything. Which, taking current events into consideration, wasn’t wrong. They’d managed to get Clementine to rest, with her initially panicking at the suggestion of being separate from AJ and Louis. Christa had blindsided them when she managed to get Clem to calm down.

Louis was thankful that the ‘keep Clementine calm’ group had another member, but he was at a loss for how Christa, a stranger, was able to do it.

Javi and Gabriel, two people from Richmond, had arrived, along with the goods they were trading. Of course, they’d been told that Clementine had been found, which then led Gabe wanting to see her, which led to an argument, which led to why Louis was cleaning a gun that hadn’t been used in little over half-a-year.

He’d just finished rebuilding the gun, when the door slowly opened. Aasim poked his head in and looked around, before spotting Louis.

“Clementine’s awake.” Was all he said, before Louis shoved past him.

Louis stopped as he entered Clementine’s room, Ruby was nervously glancing between him and the door.

“I just came to give her some food.” Said Ruby, before Louis spotted a wet spot on the floor, “W-what did they do to her?”

Louis shrugged, before approaching the bed, “Where did she go?”

“Either under the bed or into the closet.” Answered Ruby, “S-she screamed, I jumped and when I looked, she was gone.”

“I take it the wet spot is the food?” Asked Louis, ducking down to look under the bed.

“Some of it.”

Louis couldn’t see Clementine under the bed, before looking at Ruby, “What do you mean ‘some of it’.”

“She was standin’ there when I came in, Amanda said to give her small portions, since her stomach might’ve shrunk.” Ruby looked down, “Amanda also said that she might’ve less control over her ‘bodily functions’ after what they did.”

Louis frowned, folding his arms, “What’d they do?”

“Well,” Ruby nervously glanced towards the closet, “maybe we should see to Clem first.”

Louis paused, before nodding and gently opening the closet door. No one appeared to be in there at first glance, before he noticed a pile of sheets and towels that looked like they were trembling.

“Clementine?” Asked Louis, making the pile freeze.

Louis slowly reached out to the pile, gently moving the top fabric to the side. He almost reared back at the look of terror on Clementine’s face.

“It’s okay, Clem.” Soothed Louis, slowly crouching down in front of Clementine, “You’re safe.”

Clementine let out a small whimper, before Louis gently pulled her towards him. Little by little, Louis gently led Clementine out of the closet and towards the bed.

“We may have to see about getting restraints.” Louis’s head whipped in the direction of the door, where Amanda was standing. Clementine’s breathing sped up, as she started to struggle against Louis.

Not wanting to cause her any more distress, Louis released Clementine, who scrambled back to the closet.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Louis glared at Amanda, as Javier shimmied his way into the room.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, looking around them.

Louis tried not to scowl at him, he glanced toward the closet Clementine had retreated into. Javi followed his gaze and wandered over to the closet.

“Clem?” Whispered Javi, slowly reaching his hand out to her.

Clementine’s eye darted between Javi’s hand, face and bat. Javi noticed, quickly removing the bat and throwing it behind him. The bat clattered behind him, making Clementine flinch. Louis silently watched as Javi quietly murmured to her. The former baseball play stood up and quietly made his way over to Louis.

“I’m going to see about getting either Lingard or Eleanor to come here,” Muttered Javi, “Both are familiar with Clem, so they might make some further progress.”

“She knew Ruby, and she still freaked out.” Whispered Louis, scowling at Javi.

“What did she first do when she recognised you?” Asked Javi, making Louis freeze.

“She looked at us.”

“Like she wasn’t expecting to see you.” Finished Javi, frowning. He walked over to his bat and left the room, gently guiding Ruby and Amanda away from the room.

Louis sighed through his nose, before turning and walking over to the closet to try and coax Clementine out of hiding.

RTR

Louis watched Clementine take impossibly small bites of the piece of bread Eleanor had given her. Louis didn’t want to admit it, but Javi had been right. Having someone Clementine knew previously treat her had helped with her recovery.

“Clementine, you need to take bigger bites than that.” Said Louis, gently encouraging Clementine to eat more.

Clementine hesitantly took a larger bite, wincing as she swallowed. Louis gently grabbed her hand. She gave him a small hesitant smile. Louis gave her a smile of his own. Over the past three months they’d managed to get Clementine to leave the room and walk around the grounds. Christa had been working on helping Clementine to adjust to shooting and operating with only one eye. Louis glanced at the colt in the holster on Clementine’s thigh.

“Do you want to talk about when happened there?” Asked Louis, running his thumb over Clementine’s knuckles.

“No.” Whispered Clementine, after a moment, “I’ll probably tell you at some point, but right now, I want to forget it.”

Louis hummed lacing their fingers together, “AJ took out a walker earlier, it was tangled up in a trap we set up.”

“Did we lose anything?”

“No, the trap was pretty much mangled, but it’s repairable.”

“That’s good.”

Louis sighed through his nose, watching as Clem scratched the buzzcut she now sported. They found Clementine needed some stitches on her scalp and her hair was so matted it needed to be cut off. Louis thought Clementine looked cute, but he always thought Clem looked cute.

“We’ve got your room all set up, so we can go back to having our hospital room.” Said Louis, making Clementine tense, “We can move you in there when you’re ready.”

“I” Said Clementine, “I don’t think I’m ready to sleep on my own yet.”

Louis’s smile fell a little.

“C-can I sleep in your room with you, please?” Asked Clementine, quietly.

Louis stiffened, before swallowing. He gave a small nod, making a relieved smile appear on Clementine’s face. Louis smiled back, his eyes drifting down to some bandages on Clem’s arm.

“How’s your arm?” Asked Louis, making Clem look down.

“It’s getting better.” Shrugged Clem, glancing down at her arm, “Eleanor said the skin should grow back, since they didn’t do it properly.”

Louis swallowed, gently squeezing Clem’s hand, “I love you, Clem.”

Clementine shyly looked down, absently wetting her lips, “I-I l-love you too.”

Louis gave her a small smile and gazed at her.

“I-I think I need to go to Christa now.” Mumbled Clementine, getting up and hobbling away from the table. Louis’s smile fell, sadly watching Clementine walk away from him. He got to his feet and headed back inside the school.

RTR

Christa held Clementine’s shoulders as she threw up into an empty pot. The older woman gently rubbed Clementine’s back. Clementine, after she finished vomiting, clapped her hands over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her sobs and wails. Christa gently lowered both Clementine and herself to the ground.

“Breath, Clem.” Murmured Christa, “In through the nose and out through the mouth.”

Clementine heaved air in and out. She slowly became aware of her surroundings.

“It’s going to be okay.” Soothed Christa, carefully moving Clementine’s head to her shoulder, “You’re going to be alright.”

“No, I’m not.” Sobbed Clementine, “T-they’re going to know, a-and they-they’ll-”

“They won’t throw you out, Clem.” Dismissed Christa, firmly, “They love and care about you.”

“No, no,” Wailed Clementine, “T-they, they’ll t-think t-t-that-”

Christa gently held Clementine’s head to her chest.

“They won’t throw you out, Clem,” Soothed Christa, “They’ll understand.”

Clementine hiccupped, trying to muffle her sobs.

Christa pulled Clementine towards her as gently as possible. Not for the first time, Christa wished Omid, Kenny or Lee were still alive.

RTR

Bonnie silently watched Mike feed the fire.

“Do you think we did the right thing?” Asked Bonnie, making Mike look up at her.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Dismissed Mike, leaning forwards.

“We took her to Lucifer.” Argued Bonnie, “We did nothing as he…broke her.”

“But we also broke her out.” Argued Mike, “And that got Arvo and Richard killed.”

“But both of them took part in his ‘activities’.”

Mike poked the fire with his stick, “I didn’t like it either, but arguing who did and didn’t do what isn’t going to help us.”

Bonnie sighed through her nose. She glanced at the radio she’d kept from her time with Carver. She’d managed to get a hold of Shel and Becca, the two had been travelling with the rest of their group from before they joined Carver.

RTR

Clementine gasped as she woke up, accidentally waking Louis.

“Clem?” Yawned Louis, looking around for her. He spotted her curled up, under the piano. Her arms were over her head and her breathing sounding like a saw cutting through wood. Louis stumbled out of the bed and towards her.

“Clem?” Whispered Louis, reaching his hand out to her.

“No, no.” Whimpered Clementine, curling into a tighter ball, “Not again, please.”

Louis paused, before gently taking her hand, “Clem. Clem!”

Clementine’s head snapped toward him, freezing as soon as she saw him. Louis gently pulled her to him, carefully picking her up and walking toward the make-shift sofa. Louis gently rubbed his hand up and down her back. Clementine let out small hiccups, her fingers tightly gripped Louis’s shirt.

Clementine took several deep breaths, swallowing her sobs, before speaking quietly, “They raped me.”

Louis jumped as Clementine spoke. He subconsciously tightened his grip around her, as she continued to speak, “T-they would beat me, starve me. They sewed my mouth shut because I would scream at them and bite them. They tried to flay me a-and they-they.”

Clementine swallowed, “They would force me to eat other people, t-they said t-that they’d killed you and AJ a-and f-fed you t-too me.”

Louis swallowed, everything suddenly clicking into place, why Clementine froze when she saw him and AJ, why she seemed so comfortable around the two of them. Why she didn’t want to be away from either of them.

Louis gently scooped her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. Clementine stiffened, hearing Louis’s heartbeat. She slowly relaxed, swallowing the sobs appearing in her throat.

“I, I think I’m pregnant.” Murmured Clementine, “A-and I don’t know what to do.”

Louis froze, before resting his cheek on Clementine’s head.

“We’ll figure something out, love.” Whispered Louis, laying both Clementine and himself down onto the sofa.

RTR

Clementine sat up and looked around her. She was in a cabin somewhere, there was a fire going and a polaroid camera sat on the floor in front of her.

“You’re still awake.”

Clementine turned her head and froze. Sarah nervously tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Everyone else is asleep.” Said Sarah, sitting down across from Clementine.

“You’re not.” Retorted Clementine, scratching her head.

“Rebecca and Alvin snore,” Said Sarah, looking at her hands, “they’re very loud.”

Clementine let out a small giggle, “AJ’s the same.”

“You must sleep like a log.” Giggled Sarah, “You came to visit again.”

Clementine sighed through her nose, “Things have been really difficult lately. I’m wondering if I’m a danger to everyone around me.”

“You’re not.” Dismissed Sarah, “You constantly put yourself in the line of fire to get others to safety. If anything, you’re a danger to yourself at the behest of everyone around you.”

“Is that a new word, Sarah?” Smirked Clementine, looking around the cabin, “God, what am I doing?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Sarah, tilting her head.

“I’m talking to a dead girl, who’s a figment of my imagination.” Groaned Clementine, running her hands down her face.

“What’s wrong with that?” Asked Sarah, leaning forwards.

“Because it’s all in my head and it’s not real!” Snapped Clementine, “It’s just my fucked-up mind torturing me with the people I’ve killed!”

“You didn’t kill me, Clem.” Said Sarah, “You were the only one who thought about saving me. You did your best to protect everyone you care about, even if it’s likely to kill you.”

Clem removed her hand from her eye and looked at Sarah. Tears were running down her face.

“That doesn’t change that fact that your group is dead because of me.” Said Clementine, her voice cracking, “I left Pete to be devoured, I failed to save Alvin from Carver, I distracted your dad which got him shot, I didn’t find Nick in time, I failed to save you, I got Rebecca killed by forcing her to walk before she recovered, I failed to save Luke on the lake, and I let Kenny kill Jane.”

Sarah stared at Clementine, “Everything you just said was wrong. It wasn’t your duty to protect or save anyone. Everyone knew that they may die, to varying degrees, but our deaths aren’t on you.”

“Then why do I feel like it’s my fault?” Demanded Clementine, “Why do I feel like I could’ve done more? Why do I hate myself for feeling happy knowing something that you can’t experience? Why do I feel like I’ve failed everyone who’s had fucking faith in me?!”

“Survivors guilt.”

Clementine turned her head to the doorway. Rebecca stared at her, before slowly walking towards them.

“Sarah right, Clementine.” Said Rebecca sitting next to Clem, “We all knew we might die, but it was worth the risk. I got to hold my baby; I was able to make sure would be safe after I went.”

Clementine swallowed, allowing Rebecca to pull Clem toward her. Her eye burned, before the dam broke and Clementine sobbed into Rebecca’s chest.

RTR

When Clementine woke up, Louis was curled protectively around her, she sniffed and rubbed her eyes. Seeing Sarah and Rebecca again, even if they were just part of a dream, had helped calm her mind. Sighing, Clementine carefully wriggled out of Louis’s hold and started to get dressed. She swallowed, she needed to do this. It’d been three months. She was going to find it difficult, but if she was going to survive, she needed to overcome her fear.

Swallowing, the first thing Clem did was check the time, before heading out to the watch tower. Ruby was on watch, if she recalled correctly, she probably needed some sleep. Clem slowly hobbled her way over to the ladder attached to the watch tower. With unsteady hands, she hauled herself up the ladder. Ruby froze at the grunting sound coming from the ladder, immediately ruling out a walker, considering the amount of curses coming from them.

“Aasim?” Asked Ruby, as Clementine’s head appeared over the edge.

“No.” Grunted Clementine, hauling herself onto the deck, “That fucking hurt.”

“No shit,” Snapped Ruby, rushing Clementine into a sitting position, “You’re still recovering from having your bones broken.”

Clementine laughed, making Ruby pause, “I thought I was out of shape.”

Ruby scowled, before looking out towards the forest, “Why are you up here?”

“I thought you needed relieving.” Shrugged Clem, getting comfortable, “And I was awake and didn’t want to be left to my thoughts.”

Ruby sighed through her nose, glancing back at Clem, “Well, I ain’t going anywhere.”

Clementine folded her arms and looked over the treetops, “Anything happen before I got here?”

“A couple of walkers got stuck in a tree, kinda like how you got stuck in that apple tree you found on the grounds.” Chuckled Ruby, getting a wry smile from Clementine.

“You mean the one where Louis was too busy staring at my ass to help me get down?”

“Yeah, just before you got the colt.”

Clementine leaned back in her makeshift seat. Wincing as her back cracked.

“Amanda wanted me to talk to you about some of the activities you’ve been getting into,” Said Ruby, after a moment of silence, “She wanted me to give you some big ol’ speech about how it’s important to recover before ‘reclaiming’ your body. She, uh, also wanted me to ask when your last period was.”

Clementine was silent, before drawing her remaining leg up to her chest, “A couple of months ago.”

“So, after you were brought back.”

“Yeah.”

Ruby let them sit in silence for a while, before nervously breaking it, “I, uhm, I take it that Louis has been helpin’ in that department?”

“Yeah,” Murmured Clementine, “I don’t know why or how we started, but it makes me forget about… t-that place.”

Ruby was silent, before she carefully got to her feet, “There’s someone down there.”

Clementine quickly hobbled to her feet, internally thanking Willy for finally fixing her leg while she was gone. She unholstered the colt from her hip, looking down at the singular person walking around the gate. He stalked around it for a few seconds, before unknowingly stepping into the moon light. Clem froze when she saw ‘Lucifer’ trying to get into the school.

“That’s him.” Whispered Clem, her hands shaking.

“They said he had dozens of people, why aren’t they here?” Questioned Ruby, looking down.

They heard him grunt, and snarl at the gate. Clementine frowned, before letting out a short whistle. ‘Lucifer’ suddenly look up, giving Clem and Ruby a good look at his face. The walker continued to try and get to them, Clementine glanced over at a salt lick that somehow got up on the watch tower, after a memorable bet between Louis and Aasim.

“Wanna give it a headache?”

Ruby looked at Clem, before looking at the salt lick. A minute later, the two girls shuffled towards the edge with the salt lick.

“Okay, on three.” Said Clementine, as she and Ruby started to swing the salt lick, “One. Two. Three.”

They watched as the salt lick fell to the ground, impacting the walker’s head. They watched blood pool around it’s remains, before looking at each other.

“Nailed it.”

RTR

Louis yawned, his arm falling against the seat. He patted around, trying to find Clementine. His eyes snapped open and looked around. Louis jumped to his feet and hurriedly rushed out of the room. Aasim looked up from the site map he was examining with Willy when Louis rushed past the door.

“Any idea what his problem is?” Asked Aasim, getting a shrug from Willy.

Louis barrelled through the front doors, almost skidding to a halt when he saw Clementine quietly talking to Christa. Relief filled Louis, as he slowly walked over to the women.

“I told Louis last night,” Said Clem, her hands wrapped around her coffee cup, “I also spoke to Ruby. She thinks that, if I am pregnant, Louis is the father.”

She was quiet, before looking up at Christa, “How did you know it’d work?”

Christa sigh, “For a long time, Clem, after Omid died, I hated you. I travelled around alone, I kept moving and avoiding large groups. On my travels, I found Kenny, what was left of him anyway.”

Clementine swallowed, her mind flashing back to Kenny’s death.

“I decided to search him,” Continued Christa, “I was hoping for bullets, but I found a picture. Of you and your boy. I was so angry, that someone I hated got what I lost. Then I saw the note at the bottom of it. Did you know Kenny wrote your age down?”

Clementine shook her head, neither had noticed that Louis was standing near them.

“I saw your age and all that anger I had towards you vanished, I felt horrible for how much hate I had towards a child, who’d lost more than I did.”

“I didn’t lose more than you.” Objected Clementine.

“Clementine, you lost your whole family, both your birth and found. You saw your reanimated parents, had to execute Lee, get put through the shit I did after Omid died, found and lost Kenny and all the shit that you were forced to go through before you found this place.” Listed Christa, “And that’s only the stuff I know about!”

Clementine swallowed, “I kept getting people killed. A couple of days after I woke up her, two people died, another day or so after that, two more people died. After we got separated, I got two entire groups killed. I tried to leave AJ with the Garcia’s in Richmond.”

“Why didn’t you?” Asked Christa, placing a hand on Clementine’s arm.

“He followed me, for a good few miles before I noticed him.” Said Clementine, “I was so angry, I want him to be safe, to have a family. And he just said that he’d always be safe with me.”

Louis felt his throat tighten.

“I never told him that I was going to end my own life,” Confessed Clementine, “he unknowingly saved my life. He’d been doing that everyday before we arrived at Ericson’s.”

Clementine’s voice cracked, “A-and when t-those people said they’d fed him to me, I felt like I’d failed in the one fucking purpose that I had.”

Clementine choked back tears, as Louis slid into the seat next to her. He quietly wrapped an arm around Clem, gently pulling her towards him.

“We’ll deal with them, Clem.” Murmured Louis, glancing at Christa, “We’ll find them and deal with them.”

“You don’t have to.” Muttered Clementine, after she got her breathing under control.

“We want to keep you safe from them.” Said Louis, making Clementine look up at him.

“No, you don’t have to,” Reiterated Clementine, “His walker tried to break through the gate last night, so Ruby and I dropped a salt lick on his head.”

Louis and Christa shared a look.

“Well, that explains your good mood this morning.” Remarked Christa, getting a snort from Louis.

“Should we give the two of you a trophy?” Joked Louis, as Clementine adjusted herself and got comfortable against his chest, “Walker kill of the year sound good to you?”

Clementine giggled, listening to Louis’s heartbeat. Her giggle died down, slowly thinking on her condition, “I can’t remember my full name.”

Louis looked down at her, before frowning, “Well shit, I can remember my own either.”

Clementine sighed through her nose, “It probably doesn’t matter anymore, we don’t use them anymore anyway.”

Louis silently pressed his lips to Clementine’s temple. Clementine quietly made a not to find a pregnancy test on a future supply run. She’d made progress, but she was still on the road to recovery. She absently became aware of AJ climbing into the seat on her other side and curling into her. Clem knew she might never fully recover, but as long as she had her boys, she felt she’d be fine.

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