Chapter Text
The sound of a rolling chamber filled the car. It was an older model, rusted in some parts and it was fitted with a mixture of different coloured parts that helped it travel long past its expiration date. Before the apocalypse, it would have been sent to the dump years ago, but to Clem, it was a continued blessing.
The teenager, wearing her signature hat that never left her sight, was watching the only other occupant of the car nervously. He had been doing this for a while now.
“Whatcha doing there, Goofball?” Clem asked, keeping one eye on the road.
“Pretending we got bullets,” AJ said, boredom filling his face as he spoke. His mood had gotten worse the last few days, with food running low and no ammo for their only firearm. It wasn’t something she liked to be reminded.
“Well don’t, it’s getting on my nerves.” It was hard to not worry. They were finding less food, fuel and just about anything that could be useful for them. Clem couldn’t help but grimace at the thought. She didn’t like their odds.
“I don’t like goofball,” AJ said, his face stern in a way only the five-year-old could be. Clem couldn’t help but smile, he looked cute when he tried to act mature.
“Aww, I’ve always liked goofball.” She teased, hoping to cheer him up.
“It’s time for you to stop. It’s Alvin Junior.” AJ said, and Clem could tell that he actually meant it. He was growing up, Clem realised. Far too soon for her liking, but in a world like this, he needed to if he hoped to survive. Clem didn’t need to like it, however.
“AJ still works?” She asked, the teasing tone gone from her voice. She always made it a point to treat him not as a burden but as an individual.
“AJ still works.”
Clem smiled before a sudden yawn escapes her lips. She couldn’t help but rub her eyes.
“You’re tired.” Clem's eyes snapped wide open at the words.
“What makes you say that?” She replies, putting on a smile for him to see.
“I know you had another nightmare.” He said annoyed before his face softens. “You don’t need to pretend everything’s fine.”
Clem couldn’t help but curse herself. She hated how weak she was sometimes. Hated how he saw her like that, sweat on her forehead, muttering and rocking around. It was stupid, and she needed to get a handle on it. He was growing up fast enough as it is. She couldn’t risk falling apart on AJ.
“Was it about Lee?” He asked. She could see the concern on his face. For a five-year-old, he was perceptive. Clem focused on the road.
“You shouldn’t need to worry about me. That’s my job.” She said, voice cracking just enough to annoy her. AJ knew that the conversation was over. Clem's nightmares were a touchy subject. No matter how dark the bags under her eyes were, she never spoke about them. AJ had tried to take over watch duty before, but Clem never lets him. She always told him, in that soft way of hers, that he needed his sleep if he wanted to grow as tall as her, if not taller.
Minutes felt like hours as the silence went on, the conversation lingering in the back of their heads. Clem frowns as she looks at the increasingly darkening sky, sharp bursts of light escaping the clouds every few seconds.
“Looks like we’ll need to take shelter. That storm will be here soon.” She says with a sigh. So much for a quiet night.
“Will we need to sleep in the car?” Clem could hear the childlike moan, the tips of her mouth curling. He still was a child at the end of the day.
“I hope not. We’ll see if we can find somewhere for tonight.” She wondered how likely they’d find somewhere to stay. The last town they were in had promise, but then a herd came through and they had to leave it behind. The pair haven’t had any luck since.
“Good. The seats are too hard.” AJ said, crossing his arms and pouting. Clem couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I hear ya kiddo.”
They’d need to find somewhere soon if the low gas meter was any indicator. It took them twenty minutes before they reached any signs of civilisation. The thick forest that had surrounded them for most of the day started to give way, rows of old, rotting single floor buildings started to pass them by, caved in walls and ceilings making it unwise to rest there.
Come on, she thought, give me something I can work with. A few minutes of more useless buildings passed before her prayers were answered. The one-floor warehouse was showing signs of its age, the once vibrant green paint now only a faded caricature of its former glory, but besides the aesthetic, it looked rather welcoming to Clementine's mind. The main door, once used to allow the back of trucks to be loaded with all sorts of items, was undamaged. More importantly, Clem thought was that it looked deserted, by the living and the dead. As she pulled to a stop, Clem saw a regular door just off to the side, the same green as the rest of the warehouse.
“What do you think?” AJ asked, the beginnings of hope catching his voice. Clem could tell what he wanted her to say. Well, it seemed like a good spot, so long as the inside was as nice looking as it looked on the outside. It wasn’t like there was anywhere else to go to.
“Let’s do it. Keep an eye out for me.” Clem decided as the pair left the confines of the car. AJ stayed right beside her, eyes peeled for any sign of trouble. Clem already had her knife out before they reached the door, twisting the handle and pushing it open, waiting for any signs of movement as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. After a minute of silence, they pressed forward into the warehouse. It didn’t take long for her to see how empty the place was, it obviously had been stripped clean of anything of value, the only remnants were empty shelves and a few plastic tables strewn about. A glance to the warehouse door told her immediately that they couldn’t open it, meaning that the car would have to remain outside.
Despite that, Clem couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over her. They had a clear line of sight on any potential threat that could enter and they could easily place the tables against the only door in. It may not hold against any of the living, but it could stop any of the dead. This’ll work, she thought.
“Looks like we have a place to stay after all goofball,” Clem said, patting said goofballs head, earning her a swipe of playful annoyance, before the two went to get the bags they had left in the car.
Clem's ears pricked up as they left the building, the sounds of moving water reaching her. Moving towards the back, she soon saw the steady river, hiding behind the few trees in front of it and the small dip in the earth that had previously hid its existence to the teenager.
“Looks like there’s a river nearby,” She called back to AJ, a plan already formed in her mind. “Go get the net, there may be fish travelling down the current.”
Clem couldn’t believe how quickly their luck had changed for the better. Whilst all they could do was plant the net in the river and give it some time, it was a nice change from the usual food scavenging. She wasn’t expecting a great result, the net being too small for her liking and a few holes that were starting to grow in size, but they had gotten lucky before.
The pair walked steadily down the dip, Clem holding the net in her hands whilst AJ stayed ahead of her, his hand not far from his side. When they reached the edge, Clem took her shoes and socks off, before rolling up her trousers and wading into the chilly water with one corner of the net in her hand and AJ, who stayed on the bank, holding the other end. It didn’t take her long to get the net in a good enough position to catch fish, though Clem enjoyed it nonetheless. She always liked keeping herself busy with work and whilst her mind never wandered, it had quickly become a comfort for her. She couldn’t take her time, not that she would have done normally, as she could feel the current growing in strength and if she wasn’t careful it would drag her down.
As she waded back to the shore, the net firmly in place, Clem could see that AJ was distant. Normally he would have kept watch over the surrounding area, but it was clear as he stared off into the distance that something was on his mind.
“Everything alright AJ?” Clem asked as she got to shore, keeping her tone light, her eyes noting how the storm was right on top of them and looking worse by the second. The initial silence that greeted her started to fill her with concern, about to ask again when the boy spoke. “Clem, do you think we’ll ever find a place to stay? I mean, not just for the night.”
Well, that was unexpected. Clem gave him a curious look, hands crossed as she thought about what to say. They had gone over this a number of times already. “I don’t know, anywhere that’s worth staying would already have people. And most people aren’t too friendly to strangers.”
“I know.” It was clear to Clem that that wasn’t the answer he had been hoping for. “Then why ask?”
AJ struggled to speak, whether he was struggling to find the right words or not, Clem didn't know. She could see how he balled his fists by his sides, looking to the ground as he spoke as if he were afraid of what he said. “I just don’t like having to move around all the time. What if something bad happens? What if something bad happens and I can't help you?”
Clem's heart broke as she listened, realising then why he was acting up these past few days. She quickly wrapped him in a deep hug, AJ not resisting, wanting so desperately to shield him from the world that he was born into.
“AJ, nothing will happen to me, I promise you,” Clem swore when she finally released him, looking at her child straight in the eye. “And if something does happen, then we’ll handle it, just like we always do.”
She could see that AJ wasn’t fully convinced, AJ giving her only a half-hearted nod of understanding before responding,“...Ok.”
Clem gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, ruffling his hair a little as she stood up, AJ groaning and wiping his forehead. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”
After drying her feet and returning her shoes and socks to their natural resting place, the two started to head back, the beginnings of rain starting to hit them and rapidly gaining speed. At Least that’s what they would have done if it weren’t for the shouting.
They soon saw the source, the small raft descending down the river with speed. Upon it, two distant figures were struggling against the increasingly dangerous current, the simple oars doing little to slow them down. Clem could already tell that the raft wouldn’t last long and she was proven right only seconds later when the raft rammed head-on into some rocks. It caved in on itself, the planks erupting with sudden force and the two figures falling into the river, hidden from view.
Despite her instincts telling her to get back to the warehouse, Clem found herself rooted to the spot, her body holding her in a prison of her own body. She couldn’t help but watch the river, trying in vain to see the fallen rafters.
Minutes passed by with no sign of the strangers, only the rapid current that continued to thunder down the riverbed. Clem knew then that they were gone, taken by the river. Despite herself, Clem felt a wave of sadness for the strangers. Whoever they were, they didn’t deserve to drown. No one did.
She started to walk back with her head down, her moodsombre, only to stop as she realised that AJ hadn’t moved with her. Clem looked back, confused at his hesitation, about to call to him when a figure suddenly burst out from the river, only slightly further down from them, with a great cry of breath.
She was obviously female, Clem notes as she took her in, dragging Clem quickly realised her female companion on the raft. The woman remained motionless apart from the efforts of the woman dragging her to shore. Both of them were unsurprisingly drenched to the bone, their clothes anchoring them down. Their hair clung to their faces, the standing girl's hair long enough to pass her shoulders, whilst the other less conscious girl had cut hers short particularly on the sides. Both of them, however, had fiery ginger hair. It was obvious that they were related.
“Clem,” AJ whispered, tugging at her arm repeatedly. It was then that Clem remembered that they were watching them in plain sight and she was stupid enough to not leave when they first saw them.
“I know. Stay low, get back to the car.” She finally said, snapping back into reality, her body finally obeying her as she quickly started to lead AJ away, fish be damned. But as they started to move, Clem's eyes focused back on the girl, who had been desperately trying to wake up her family. The Stranger was busy helping the fallen girl, trying in vain to get her to stand up, as her companion struggled to move in her apparently delirious state. It didn’t help Clem that the conscious girl looked up to see them moving, her eyes going wide.
“Wait! Please!” Clem heard, ignoring the cry as she turned back and quickened her pace, gently pushing AJ ahead of her whilst keeping their speed. The rain was hammering down on all of them and Clem was shivering like she had just been pulled back into the river. A look behind her revealed that they had been followed, the ginger-haired stranger carrying the other girl, who was now simply deadweight in her arms, as she struggled to catch up with them. “Don’t leave. My sister, she needs help.”
Why did this have to happen Clem thought bitterly as she stopped briefly to shout back to the sisters. “I can’t help you.” Not like that stopped the conscious sibling, now holding her sister on her side with her arm wrapped around her shoulder, who kept walking towards them. It was obvious to Clem how desperate they must be. Despite herself, Clem couldn’t fully turn back and continue running from them, something within her stopping Clem in her tracks. Right now it was a feeling she hated.
“Please, just for tonight.” The ginger pleaded, tears mixing in with the rain that thundered down, now only a few steps away from Clem and AJ. She could clearly see Clem's hesitation when she spoke up again, “You won’t see us again.”
Clem could feel her hand clutch the handle of her knife tightly, unsure whether to frighten them off with it. Indecision clouded her mind, Clem, for once unable to make a decision. It was something she wouldn’t want to feel again that was for sure.
“Clem?” A familiar voice said to her, and it was hard for Clem to hear him at all under the pounding rain. Her eyes looked down to see AJ looking back at her, pleading. She knew immediately what he wanted to do, a part of her surprised by his decision. Clem relied on her instincts when it mattered and for some reason or another, her instincts told her something that she never thought would happen with strangers.
The girl's body stiffened when Clem quickly approached them, a look of determination and focus etched onto her face. Confusion quickly changed to gratitude when Clem took the unconscious girls other arm and started to lead the pair up the hill.
“Thank you.” The Stranger said, looking at Clem with such warmth and vulnerability that Clem couldn’t help but get embarrassed about. Clem merely nodded in recognition before she responding.
“Only for tonight.” There was no arguing with Clem either, and the stranger knew it. She wouldn’t have argued even if she thought she could, more than happy for the help this strange girl and her apparent child was showing her sister and her.
For Sophie, she could live with only one night.