Chapter Text
Destroyed.
That's how she felt. She remembered the words. But she didn't have time to do anything about it. All she could do was sit on a fallen tree trunk in an area far from the city.
Her heart felt as if it weighed a ton, her face was swollen and her eyes were burning with tears.
... Where to now?
The sun had already risen above the horizon. But it didn't seem to shine as brightly, and the tears prevented her from seeing properly. The landscape around her seemed to react the same way. The wind whipped up the grass and only the sound of it howling reached her ears.
She felt empty. That's how she felt. She knew it was all her fault, and maybe that was what hurt the most. She knew it should be better. She looked down. The gun was in her hands.
"You have to do this, sweetheart."
| No, no, no! |
| [Kill Lee] |
| Exit |
"No, no, no! Come on. Get up, please!" Clemenine begged
"I can't." Lee affrimed
She shook her head in denial, no, no! She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her blouse again.
And...
...
She looked at the horizon for a few seconds, she just watched the sun rise while the breeze gently caressed her face, two silhouettes in the distance caught her eye.
He watched them silently for a few moments. Then they waved and her eyes widened as she recognized them.
Maybe all was not lost. Maybe she had another chance, maybe it was time to start again.
...
Her head was hurting, she opened her eyes slowly and had no idea where she was. She lifted her upper body with some difficulty and felt a sharp pain in her ribs on her right side. Her whole body was sore, as if she had been severely beaten. She soon sat down on the edge of the bed.
The sunlight gently streamed in through the window and illuminated what she discovered to be some kind of dormitory, with another bunk bed on the opposite side. The furniture and some drawings on the wall indicated that this must be the room of some child or teenager.
Apart from the birds singing outside, the room was completely silent and that's never good, not in an unfamiliar environment. Concern began to take over as she looked around.
'AJ!!!' Clementitne screamed in her mind
She remembered the little boy who was always with her. The sudden absence of the little boy made her jump to her feet, but the lack of strength in her legs made her fall to her knees, which caused a wave of pain to rush to her brain. She couldn't scream but she clenched her teeth as hard as she could, she didn't want to make a sound in unfamiliar territory.
It was then that the memories started to come back. He was at a train station looking for food with AJ. When the Walkers showed up and they had to escape. In the midst of their escape, they ended up overturning the car in a ravine and her memories only went so far. She didn't have time to put on her seatbelt, unlike the kid, and maybe that's why she was in so much pain.
He leaned on the bed and got up with difficulty. Her legs were shaking and her breathing was heavy, a little ragged. He reached the bookcase that now served as a support and was soon at the door, when he heard voices coming from the other side alongside footsteps.
Her heart raced at the same moment, she was in no condition to fight or flee, she was trapped. A quick check of her pockets revealed that they had taken her two knives and the pistol she was carrying, shit! She quickly leaned against the door.
"I can't believe Marlon has brought another person, she brings a horde of Walkers to our doors and he still rescues her." A female voice grumbled, sounding quite annoyed.
"Stop being so mean, we have to help each other, the more people working together the better." A male voice said more calmly .
“We need to take care of ourselves, this is a mistake." The female voice stated.
"You're just jealous because she's prettier than you." A second male voice pointed out with Laughter following the comment, Clementine could hear the footsteps getting closer.
"What? Shut up, Mitch." The female voice told him to shut up
"Ouch, no need for that." The so-called Mitch laughed
“Who knows, maybe you'll stop being so funny.” the female voice said annoyed.
The footsteps seemed to be only a very few meters from the bedroom door, Clementine needed to think fast because she would be badly outnumbered, but what the hell!
“I'm going to check on our visit, I'll meet you in the cafeteria.” The female voice declared.
Clementine leaned against the wall behind the door as much as she could, controlling her breathing as much as she could, she had to be discreet and hope they didn't kick the door open. The doorknob turned and for a second she wondered why the hell the door was unlocked, but the silhouette that protruded from the floor in front of her caught her attention, whoever it was was a thin person, as thin as she was.
As soon as a few steps were taken, Clementine threw herself as hard as she could at the person entering the room.
“What the...?!” The person exclaimed.
As soon as the person hit the ground, Clementine quickly got on to their back and threw a few punches at the back of their head, but they only had time to defend themselves with their arms over their head. Clem quickly put her arm around the person's neck and locked it with her other arm, trying to apply pressure immediately.
From the moans and gasping breaths, she realized that she was immobilizing the girl who had come talking down the corridor. Her movement was limited, she needed to keep her within reach.
“Where's AJ?” Clementine loosened her grip a little so that she could be answered.
“Who the hell is AJ?!” The girl's speech came out choked.
“The boy who was with me, come on, speak up!” Clem demanded answers from the girl
For a moment, Clementine lost her balance and that was the gap for the girl to turn her body, causing her to fall on top of Clementine.
“Is this how you give back after being saved, hum?” The girl joked
“I... Look, I...” Before he could reply. Clem felt an elbow hit her in the stomach, the pain increased and air escaped from her mouth. She felt her breathing falter a little, but when she felt a hand press down on her ribcage, the scream was inevitable. Not all the concentration in the world would help her keep the girl immobilized, she rolled onto her side in agony, feeling as if she had been stabbed.
"Are you calmer now?" The girl was still panting and looking visibly stressed by the situation.
Clem couldn't say anything, she just squirmed, God, it hurt. Her breathing was labored and slightly ragged, she had to take deep breaths to try to calm down, the pain was gradually subsiding.
The girl just watched her as she lay curled up on the floor, waiting patiently while Clementine got herself together. She noticed that the girl looking at her was blonde, a little shorter and thinner. She was wearing a denim vest over a blue shirt and jeans that ended in a pair of boots.
“Wh-who are you?" Clem still struggled to communicate.
“I'm one of the people who saved your ass from roasting to death in that car and I'm already regretting it.” The blonde joked again
“Wasn't there anyone else in the car?” Clem managed to sit up, her hand still resting on the sore spot on her rib.
“You were all bent over the windshield, the door was already open, maybe your friend got away.” The blonde told Clem, shrugging.
Why would AJ do that? She couldn't believe he'd left her behind. Maybe it was better not to think about it, his mind was too confused.
She got up with even more difficulty, leaning on the bed, when the girl helped her up and then sat down on the bed.
“T-thank you,” she replied a little awkwardly, she had just attacked that girl and yet she had helped her.
“Not at all. Maybe you should rest more, you're in no condition to be wandering around. I helped tend to your wounds, I saw how you were and the fact that you're still breathing is a miracle.” Clem stared at the blonde as she spoke.
She felt her face flush at the thought of having her clothes taken off to treat her wounds, and instinctively wrapped her arms around her chest.
The blond seemed to find her embarrassment amusing. A few seconds later, Clementine pulled herself together, she needed to focus!
“I need to find AJ,” Clem said in frustration.
“You can't even stand up, don't be stubborn.” The impatient blonde's tone already indicated her mood.
Then a few seconds of silence fell between them. Clementine seemed to ponder the blonde girl's order, she couldn't afford to go out looking for AJ, perhaps it would be better to recover first.
“Look, you stay there and I'll come back later to check on you, just don't go having another outburst.” The blonde affirmed
The blonde was already heading for the door without waiting for an answer, and Clementine thought again as she saw her walking away.
"Thank you...”
“Huh?” The blonde turned to Clementine.
"For saving me, it must have been complicated with all the Walkers." Regret was written all over Clem's face after realizing that she had just strangled someone who had risked his life to save her.
"Thank Marlon, it was his idea." The blonde's voice was indifferent, she clearly noticed Clementine's intentions but didn't seem to care. The girl was already passing by the door frame when she stopped and, without turning around, looked over her shoulder.
"By the way, my name is Violet."
"Clementine." That was the only thing Clem managed to say before Violet left her sight.
She lay back down on the bed. Did people really still help each other out there? She had spent so much time running away and being antagonized that she had forgotten that not all humans were treacherous.
Maybe Violet and her friends were good people, maybe this time it would work out, maybe she wouldn't need to run away anymore, maybe...
It was time for a new beggining.