Chapter Text
Clementine shakingly breathed into Jane’s chest while the woman carried her closer to shore. Puffs of white mist faded into the air within seconds. Louis behind her stumbled while sprinting down the ice, but regained his balance without wavering his speed.
Bonnie hugged herself while trailing behind. Kenny, Mike and Arvo watched as the four made their way over.
“How the fuck did that happen?!” Kenny shouted.
“Louis, get the doors open!” Jane barked. Louis nodded and dashed ahead of them, pushing both doors open into the house. The house was quite large, but clearly unfinished from the inside. Appeared to be in the style of a cabin or lakehouse. He looked around frantically, finding some sort of spot to find warmth.
He turned to his left, his face lit up with relief. Louis looked over his shoulder to everyone else coming closer, “Over here! We can start a fire here!” Louis moved out of the door frame while everyone began pouring in.
“Oh, thank God!” Jane huffed. She sprinted over, Louis moving to the other side of the bench, and sat Clementine down gently onto the chair. Bonnie quietly took a spot next to Clementine, both trembling and shivering like crazy.
“Jesus Christ…” Mike whispered.
“We have to get them warm! They’re gonna freeze to death!” Jane cried, Clementine shivered violently while Jane stripped her jacket off and hung it nearby. She sprinted out of the area to possibly find items for the fire.
Louis roughly ripped his jacket off and quickly placed it around her shoulders. He shuddered from the cold but braced for it. Clementine opened her mouth to protest, but Louis cut her off.
“You can yell at me later. But now’s not the time!” He said. He rubbed the sides of her arms as an attempt to keep her warm. Clementine leaned slightly towards him, her eyes locked with Arvo, who glared at her. His brows furrowed, but he remained unreadable and characteristically quiet.
“He’s just gone… Luke’s fuckin’ gone..” Mike mumbled. He wanted to grip the sides of his head, but AJ was in his arms, disrupting that movement. “We should’ve gone around.”
Kenny gritted his teeth, his hands balled up at his sides, “Goddammit…” He grumbled out of frustration. “Goddammit!”
“The ice… it was too thin. I just…” Clementine mumbled. Louis quietly shuddered from another cold breeze. Mike set AJ down in a box that looked to be good for AJ’s size,
“Once that ice started to go, there wasn’t nothin’ any of us could do…” Mike shook his head.
“You could’ve… You could have helped him…” Bonnie cried towards Clementine. Her face scrunched up with guilt, her eyes set to the floor.
“Don’t say shit like that!” Louis barked, he glared at the woman while continuing to warm Clementine up.
“Don’t listen to her, Clem. This ain’t on you,” Kenny assured the girl. His head menacingly turned to Arvo across the room. The boy’s shoulders tensed up when he locked eyes with the man. “You son of a bitch! This is your fuckin’ fault!” He scowled as he stepped closer to him.
Mike walked forward to intervene, “Kenny, don’t, man!”
“Don’t what?!”
“It’s nobody’s damn fault!”
“The hell it aint!” Kenny shook his head. Clementine sniffled from the cold, leaning closer to Louis while the boy rubbed the sides of her arms up and down. The girl hugged herself, feeling Louis’s body beginning to tremble from the cold.
“You can have a debate about that later; they’re freezing!” The boy gestured to the two girls shivering, “Clementine is freezing! Can we just get a fire started?!” Louis requested, his voice wobbling from stress and panic. Kenny looked over his shoulder to the two of them, his brown eyes switching from one to the other with thought. He turned back to Arvo with a glare.
“Look at this place—” Kenny gestured to the unfinished house, “... Just a stack of fuckin’ toothpicks!” Insulted Kenny to Arvo, “Bet those magical ‘supplies’ are bullshit too.” Arvo’s eyes narrowed at him, the man shoved him, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking.
“What? No speaka de English?” Kenny mocked. Arvo gritted his teeth, his tied hands balled up with bottled up frustration. He looked up to Kenny, returning an angry glare back at him.
“Fuck you.”
Kenny’s eyes widened, before narrowing with a glint of fury. His teeth gritted, his hands balled up at his sides, practically trembling out of his boiling anger threatening to lash out.
“You fuckin’ commie piece of shit!”
Kenny threw a fist square in the face of Arvo. Knocking the boy down to the ground with ease. The boy yelped in pain as Kenny climbed on top of him preparing another punch.
“Kenny!” Mike yelled.
“Fuck you!” Arvo shouted again. The boy laid defenseless while Kenny continued throwing punches over and over again. Louis’s eyes widened, flinching from every punch that landed. Clementine whimpered softly, leaning closer to Louis while watching the scene helplessly.
Arvo groaned and moaned in pain every time Kenny landed a hit. Why is everyone standing there?? Mike is the only one here who seems in a good state, maybe Louis too! Jane is out looking for supplies, and Clementine and Bonnie are sitting on the bench freezing! There’s no time for fighting!
“You motherfuckin–” Kenny scowled, throwing another punch.
“What the fuck, Kenny?!” Mike cried.
“Piece of–” Another punch. “Shit!”
“Holy shit!” Louis cried.
“Kenny, stop it!” Clementine cried. Louis’ hands slipped away from Clementine, he prepared to get up to stop Kenny from throwing any more punches on Arvo. But he stopped, before he could even stand up; Kenny paused, stopping himself from throwing another punch.
The man slowly turned around to Clementine and Louis, the boy froze, unsure of what to do in this situation. Kenny’s eyes (or eye) widened a little from surprise. His eyes locked with Clementine, visibly relaxing while she looked up at him with growing tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Just stop…” She begged. Louis sat down, the bench creaking underneath him. Clementine felt his warmth coming back when he sat down next to her and continued rubbing the sides of her arms. The jacket she was using was helping a bit, but not enough to keep her warm.
Kenny sat in thought for a second, before pulling his weight off of Arvo and taking a step back. The boy’s face was bleeding, his glasses probably in worse shape. His left cheek was angry red with purple swelling near his eye. Possibly a black eye growing.
He stared at Arvo for a moment before giving Clementine a side glance.
“What? Lose your taste for this sort of thing?” Kenny raised a brow. Clementine tensed, the girl didn’t answer. She only watched Kenny beat Carver to death because he deserved it. After killing Walter… Reggie… Alvin… those unspeakable actions Carver had done to Rebecca long before Louis and Clementine came…
He had it coming. All of it.
But Arvo?
Clementine wasn’t sure if he fully deserved it. Her best friend, Louis, knowing him, would've thought Arvo didn’t deserve all this. He was always the more forgiving one. Sometimes, the more emotional one. He always knew how to calm her down, how to bring that smile back again, always empathetic towards others. Even bringing comfort, that always helps.
But he can’t always be that way, especially in situations like this. Back at the lodge, when Kenny and Luke were arguing, when they met Carver back at the cabin. Louis is special to her. She didn’t know what she would do if he lost him, let alone died. Don’t jinx yourself, Clementine.
The girl snapped herself out of her thoughts when Jane re-entered the room. She held a box of matches in her left hand and a small but stuffed duffle bag in her right. Her eyes widened at the sight of Arvo’s state.
“What did you do to him?” She gasped in shock, her gaze shifted back up to Kenny. Glaring daggers at him as she dropped the duffle bag in front of her. “There’s another one just like it. He wasn’t lying.” the woman growled. Jane paced past Kenny with the box of matches, heading towards the fireplace that Mike stood by.
A can that rolled to Kenny’s foot caught his attention. He picked it up to inspect the metal can with steel grey and forest green. Jane crouched down and pulled out a match, trying to get the fire started.
“You wanna tell me–” Kenny turned around, facing the rest of the group. Glaring daggers back at Jane. “how a can of fuckin’ chili is gonna help a baby?!”
Jane glared back at him, standing up and pausing her efforts, “How is beating a kid to death gonna help anyone?!”
“This is your fault, and you damn well know it.” Bonnie accused Kenny, hugging herself from the cold while she continued to tremble. Clementine beside her stopped shivering violently, thanks to the help of Louis trying to warm her up while waiting for Jane to start a fire. But those efforts might not help long enough for the girl to not die from hypothermia.
Kenny’s gaze returned to the ground, like guilt flickered in his eyes (or eye). They all stayed quiet for a moment. Clementine leaned against Louis for warmth, also providing him some too. The boy had his arm wrapped around his friend, sitting underneath the jacket that was draped over her shoulders so his hand doesn’t go numb.
“I’m tyin’ him up.” He said, turning to Arvo who continued to sit on the ground in pain.
“Fine,” Jane said. She crouched down in front of the fireplace, turning her head to Mike, who stood near her and beside AJ. “Mike, help me get this fire started.”
“Are you okay?” Mike asked gently, Arvo didn’t answer, as he was being escorted by Kenny. He frowned, turning to the others, “He’s hurt real bad.”
“Seems like it..” Louis mumbled.
“Mike?!” Jane called.
The man sighed, “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He paced over to Jane to help her with the fire. Louis and Clementine silently watched Kenny tie Arvo to a beam under the stairs. The two exchanged tired glances, Louis peaked over his friend’s head to the fireplace, which was struggling to be lit up.
Clementine locked eyes with Arvo, the boy glared back at her furiously. His jaw tensed and his brows furrowed. “Hold on,” Louis whispered in her ear. He gently pushed her away, letting her sit on her own beside Bonnie. The girl gripped onto his jacket once the chill came back, now without his comforting warmth.
Louis stood up from the bench, the boy’s hands trembled from the harsh cold without his jacket. Leaving him with his T shirt with a faded band he didn’t recognize and a grey long sleeve undershirt. And with his cargo pants that he kept, finally starting to fit him after constantly refusing to get new pants. And just simple sneakers he found before all this.
He crouched down next to Jane, who was touching her pockets for a feel of something. “Fuck.. where’d it go?”
“You got a light?” Mike asked the woman. Jane shook her head in disappointment,
“I thought I had matches.” Jane replied. Louis snapped his head behind him after hearing a “pst!” sound. Clementine, who had his jacket draped over her small frame, pulled out a nail file from her pocket. It sat flatly on her palm, she leaned over and extended it closer to the boy.
Louis moved forward on his knees to grab from her hand, inspecting it before turning back to Jane. “Will this help?” The woman looked over to him, noticing the familiar item.
“Where’d you get that?” She asked skeptically, recalling that she hadn’t even talked to him the night that she left.
“Clem had it.”
Jane smirked, giving Clementine a side glance, “She kept it.” The woman took the nail file from the boy’s hand and grabbed a rock. She struck the rock against the nail file a few times, sparks igniting before catching onto the wood. The first flame rose to life, then spread all over the logs as it grew in light and warmth.
The boy lifted his hands to feel the warmth, he sighed in relaxation before turning to Clementine. The girl began to stand up slowly, her back hunched from the freezing cold. Louis hopped onto his feet, making his way over to Clementine. He gently guided her towards the fireplace just closer, a hand resting on her upper back.
“I can walk, you know,” She deadpanned as the two sat down near the fireplace. Louis shrugged, a sheepish smile on his youthful features. They both were the closest to the fireplace, their backs facing the embers.
The girl’s eyes narrowed, noticing her best friend’s teeth were chattering from the cold. She scooted to him, closing the gap as much as she could, with their sides pressed up against each other. Louis stared at her with confusion before she pushed over his jacket off her shoulders and tried sharing it with him.
Not sure what to do, he simply just wrapped his arm around her shoulders while she simply leaned closer to him. The rest of the group joined and sat around the fire. Jane moved to the bench and sat by Bonnie, who was slowly warming up and not shivering as much anymore.
Kenny sat near the wall where it would turn into a corner. Sitting at least 10 feet or so from Arvo. Then Mike sat across from Bonnie, sitting on the other side of the fireplace. Clementine’s eyelids felt heavy, they slowly closed and her body finally started to relax. Her head leaned over towards Louis, resting on his shoulder. Clementine felt the weight of the boy’s head rest on top of hers, his cheek pressed against her hat.
Waiting for the cruel freeze to pass.
*****
The sun was long gone, night time was creeping up. The blue in the sky was darkening behind the clouds. The fire remained lit to life, giving its warmth to the other members of the group. The wood crackled from the heat, the shivers and disappeared from hours ago.
“Let me take a look at you, kid.” A deep male voice said from across the room. Clementine stirred from the noise, her eyes fluttered open groggily. She laid on her side, using one of her hands as a pillow. From the warmth of the fire, her trembling had stopped.
“Jesus…” The male voice muttered again. The voice appeared to be coming from Mike, who seems to be checking in on Arvo. The boy stayed silent however. “He coulda killed you. The fuck is wrong with him?”
“You’re up,” a female voice simply said. Clementine moved her eyes upward to see Jane sitting on the bench, AJ laid next to her securely in the box Mike set him down in. “Kenny and Louis are out back, trying to get some stupid truck started.” she added. She moved off the ground and sat next to the open spot between her and AJ.
“Here,” Jane handed her a can of food, her voice softer than usual. “You should eat something.” Clementine’s stomach grumbled, she couldn’t remember the last time she actually ate something. Was it back at the lodge?
“You okay?” Mike asked Arvo quietly.
Arvo’s lips folded to a straight line, “Thank you.” he mumbled. She moved her eyes back to the can Jane gave her and began scooping out the can of food. It appeared to be chilli.
Jane stared at the ground, her shoulders slumped, “I can’t believe he’s gone,” Clementine turned to her after she spoke. The woman blinked back tears, “I lost people before but… It just hasn’t felt this… this shitty in a while.” the edges of her lips were curved downwards. Last time she remembered this feeling… was from Jaime’s death. Now, that Luke’s gone, it’s almost like competing with that “funny” feeling.
“He cared about you, too, Jane. I know he did,” The 11-year-old girl said quietly. She knew it from the start. Luke cared about his people, even went across the state to find them after Carver took them. One of the greatest people she’s ever met.
Her eyes saddened, and her brows curved upward, “Goddammit…” she groaned, she looked down to avoid looking at Clementine. Her hand on her head, don’t cry here. Not now. It’s too late.
“I shouldn’t have come back. I knew this would happen. I knew it. It always does,” She grumbled, her teeth gritted in frustration. Clementine’s eyes narrowed, if she knew, then why did Jane come back? If she really knew death was going to happen again, it always does, but why’d she come back? For Luke? For her?
“Why’d you come back then?”
Was what she really wanted to say, instead, she simply patted Jane’s shoulder as the woman blinked back tears, “We’ll be okay. Trust me.” The girl assured. Jane sighed. They sat in silence for a heartbeat.
“If you say so.”
********
The snow crunched under his feet, his fingers brushed the sides of the house while his eyes stayed locked on the excavator. Louis looked over to see Kenny facing towards a red truck just a few yards away. The man scoffed, smirking in approval while inspecting the red truck. It had a long truck bed on the back, in the front, it had two seats in the front row with 2 cup holders and an arm rest.
The second row had a full row of three seats. The windows were tinted, so it was quite hard to see. The dim almost-night light didn’t assist.
“This will work.” Kenny grunted. Louis jogged over next to the grown man, gazing at the truck.
“This? How do we know if it works?” The boy’s brows furrowed. “Who knows how long this thing has been out here for. Could be dead frozen.”
“Hey! Let’s not be a debbie downer here. This–” Kenny tapped the review mirror, “is potential. We gotta get movin’ if we want AJ to live, right?” Louis nodded in response. “I’ve been through this before.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. Got a train workin’ that could go all across Georgia. Was an absolute treasure in disguise, I tell ya.” Kenny answered.
“Clem said she got to ride a train.” Louis pondered. Kenny nodded. It wasn't the greatest day of his life. (in fact, has to be the worst)
“With a little luck we can get this fixed up and be outta here by nightfall,” Kenny continued, “That house ain’t gonna help much and this vehicle isn’t in bad shape.” added Kenny.
Kenny turned and looked down to Louis, “Hey, uh, can you get Clem? I’ll need some help with working on the truck.”
“What? She’s still recovering. And I would like to help once in a while,” Louis raised a brow. “And give Clemmie a break… If I’m not being lazy.” he muttered the last bit.
“Quite frankly, I trust Clem with working a car more than you. No offense. Unless you know how cars work.” Kenny’s eyes narrowed. Louis pouted, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Just silence. He closed it.
“Okay, fine. I… don’t,” he huffed. “I’ll go get Clem…” He whined while he spun on his heel towards the house. He noticed a pale woman with ginger hair tied back in a ponytail step out of the back door. Her boots clicked against the wood as she shifted to the side and sat down.
Bonnie.
She hadn’t spoken since Luke died. Not a single word. The snow crunched under his feet while he reached the steps. His gaze tilted to Bonnie when he stopped at the first step. The woman’s pale eyes flickered towards him before looking away. Distant.
His brows furrowed before returning back to the door just a few steps up. He climbed up the steps and twisted the ice cold doorknob, pushing the door open and entering in. Shutting the door behind him. He walked down the hall from the back door and turned to the fireplace.
Clementine was up and didn’t appear to be shivering much, Louis sighed in relief. Mike brushed past him, Louis could see the tension in his jaw and noticed his fists were balled up. Softly grumbling something under his breath.
“... Can’t take this shit anymore,” Mike grumbled in fury. Louis glanced over to Arvo, who remained tied to the stairs. His face was full of bruises and cuts from Kenny punching him hours earlier. Louis was sure Kenny broke that poor boy’s nose. He had a ugly cut on the left side of his lip and his lenses looked like they were on the verge of shattering.
Louis felt kind of bad.
Even after everything Arvo did.
Louis looked over to see Clementine awake and well, sitting next to Jane and AJ. His eyes widened for a split second, then he sighed in relief. “Thank god you’re okay.”
The girl looked over to him, making eye contact, “Hey, Louis.” The boy strode over to her, the warmth of embers nearby hugged his figure.
“Are you feeling better?” The boy asked.
“Yeah. Sorta..”
The boy scratched his head with uncertainty, “Uhm… So, uh… Kenny– Kenny wanted to uhm…” the boy mumbled, what did he say again? Clementine stared at him, waiting for Louis to continue. “Oh right! Kenny wanted to know if you’re able to help him with the truck out back.”
“Why?”
“He wants to get moving to Wellington, the vehicle isn’t in bad shape– at least it doesn’t look like it. But he wants us outta here by nightfall.” Louis added.
“Really? Now?” the girl raised a brow. Louis shrugged with the same amount of disappointment.
“Yep. I wanted to help, but he trusts you more, so uh. Yeah.” Louis sighed. Clementine shook her head, grumbling something under her breath as she got up.
“Sure.”
Louis grabbed her coat off the hanger, it appeared to be dry, mainly. Clementine glanced at AJ, the baby slept peacefully, seeming that he hasn’t had much trouble unlike everyone else. “We’ll watch him,” Jane said. Though, it might just be her mainly watching him.
Clementine stood up, Louis slipped the sleeves through her arms and helped on the jacket, the girl zipped up her jacket to the top. “Louis, I can put on my own jacket.”
“I know. But can’t I be a gentleman to my best friend once in a while?” That word felt funny to his tongue, best friend. Why does it feel weird when he says it? Is he mispronouncing it? He’s been feeling funny for the past week or so (Goodness, it’s been a week?!) towards Clem. He’ll have to ask Kenny or someone else about it. He certainly can’t ask Clementine, that’ll just make it weird!
“Clem,” Jane spoke up, she paused with clear hesitation. “just… just be careful." the girl nodded and walked away. Leaving Jane and Louis alone with AJ. Louis sat over onto the bench with Jane, sitting between her and AJ.
The thirteen-year-old boy gazed at AJ, listening to the crackles of the fireplace. Mike came back with a rag, he strode to the stairs and began treating some of Arvo’s cuts from Kenny beating him a few hours ago.
A small little whimper came from beside him.
Louis looked over to see AJ’s tiny face scrunching up in frustration, he gazed towards Mike and Arvo, they– or Mike at least, was speaking too loud. “This is bullshit,” Mike grumbled, “He’s gonna kill you! Goddamnit..”
AJ whined softly, “You guys couldn’t talk any louder??” Jane huffed. Mike and Arvo appeared to ignore her as they continued speaking without much volume change. AJ let out a tiny cry, then got louder. Louis flinched from the drastic change of volume.
“Shit— uh– shoot!” he hissed, “Uh- d-don’t cry!” AJ only continued to wail. He looked around, panicked. The boy lifted the newborn into his arms to calm him down, just like how Clem taught him. He rocked the baby in his arms, AJ’s cries slowly died down and he finally relaxed. Snuggling into Louis’ chest, AJ slowly opened his eyes, scanning the boy thoroughly.
He has brown eyes. Dark brown eyes, just like Rebecca. AJ has Rebecca’s eyes. How can this little guy be, in any way, Carver’s son? He was clearly Alvin’s; he looks just like him!
“Hey, kid,” Jane said, the boy turned around stiffly. The woman nodded towards a doorway to another room. “This might be better.” she said, striding over to the next room. Louis stood there, dumbfounded, he glanced back at the door Clementine walked out of. Then followed Jane not long after.
The boy followed the woman across the house, AJ cooed in his arms, nestling deeper against the boy’s chest. Louis couldn’t lie, this kid was hella adorable, and he grew on Louis faster than he anticipated. He wondered if this was how his parents felt.
Before he screwed everything up.
He strode to another room from one side of the house to the other. Before he knew it, he was in a room facing the front of the house. Having a perfect view of Clementine and Kenny while working on the truck. Louis took a spot a few inches away from Jane, cradling AJ in his arms. The boy gazed at the scene.
Kenny and Clementine appeared to be speaking to her with a grim but serious expression on his busted features. His hands on his waist, Clementine looking up at the man and listening intently. The boy squinted, reading the movement on Kenny’s lips. Ever since he was about 7, he somehow gained the skill of lip reading without sound. None of his family knew about it back then, how could they expect a cocky, arrogant, rich little boy to be THAT aware of his surroundings?
It was harder to read Clementine’s lips however since she wasn’t facing him.
Clementine’s lips…
Whoa, what the hell?! That’s gross, Louis! Snap out of it! The boy snapped his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again, his freckled cheeks flushed from that thought. Time to focus!
You shouldn't have done that to Arvo.
I know. I know, Clem, but Luke--
I don't care. You can't do that.
Jesus, Clem, you know me. You know I'm not like that!
You scared me! You scared all of us, Kenny!
It won't happen again. That's a promise. What happened... it's over. But AJ needs us now. We gotta stick together on this thing, alright? Come on, let's see if the truck's gonna go.
How can someone move on that fast?
“Louis,” Jane’s voice cut through the silence, making the boy gaze towards her.
“Yeah?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but paused hesitantly. Letting out a sigh, “I’m worried about Kenny. And Clem. Especially Clem,” Jane confessed.
Louis raised a brow, sure he was worried about Clementine sometimes, but why now? Because of… the lake? “What, why?” asked Louis.
“I wanted to… uh. Take precautions. You know about Kenny,” The woman glanced at the duo outside. Kenny was working on the car while Clementine sat in the driver seat idly, “He’s not uhm… doing so well.”
Louis turned back to Clementine and Kenny as they continued working on the car, “That makes sense,” Louis nodded slowly, “I would go mad too if I lost my family and friends that violently.”
“I guess,” says Jane, “But he’s in a dark place. Clementine is getting there.” she stated, causing Louis to snap his head towards the woman in surprise.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Louis babbled, “I-I mean, I get Kenny not doing great but Clem?? I don’t think Clementine is getting there at all!”
Doubt bubbled up deep down. No, no, Clementine isn’t going to a dark place..!
…Is she?
His eyes narrowed, when was the darkest Clementine has been? The sounds of hard flesh being beaten flashed in the back of his head. That’s one. She did voluntarily watch Kenny beat the hell out of Carver. “Whose baby is it?” Eh… that WAS really surprising of her to say that, pretty rude but not that dark. Louis can’t think of anything else.
Kenny on the other hand… Louis could list more.
“I mean she’s slowly getting to Kenny’s state, it’s worrying me,” Jane stated again. “Her being around him longer will only just make her unstable. It’s already clear to me.”
“She’s not unstable!” Louis defended, “She’s my best friend! I can tell if she’s unstable or not, and she isn’t.”
“I get what you’re saying, but I’ve already tried warning Clem…” Jane mumbled, “She’s the closest to Kenny, I thought she’d understand but… she didn’t,” she continued, “I hope I can get this across for you since Clem seems to trust you. Clementine doesn’t realize what she’s falling into if she continues to let Kenny boss her around.”
“So… you want me to gaslight my friend into thinking Kenny’s a horrible person?”
“God, no, Louis!--”
“Then what is it?” Louis frowned, his voice hardening as he swallowed down an irritated groan despite his soft tone due to the sleeping baby in his arms. How does Clem have the patience to deal with her? She’s getting on his nerves from just trash talking about their friend!
“Of course, I can’t defend his actions. Especially after what has happened over the past week. But I can defend the fact he really is a good person deep down, just broken,” Louis shook his head in sorrow, his dreadlocks smacking his face familiarly. “Please, Jane. I can’t bear to manipulate my friend’s feelings towards Kenny, I won’t! If that's what you wanted, then you have to look for someone else. But I’m not letting anyone mess with her like that!”
Jane stared at him with surprise, before changing features. It was unreadable to him, calculating? Thinking?
“Kenny’s a loose cannon. Clementine isn’t, she’s a really smart girl.. And.. and I don’t want Kenny getting into her head, she can take care of herself, I can tell,” Jane continued, “Just… Keep an eye on the both of them, okay? I know you care about both of them, so… yeah.”
Never had Louis ever wanted to just yell straight at her face in his life.
The boy nodded, swallowing down his urges of anger, “Right. I… I will. For Clementine’s sake, and Kenny’s.” Louis mumbled. He shifted AJ’s position as he leaned back against the wall. Watching Clementine and Kenny in silence as they worked on the car. Louis would take his time in yapping, like he always would but right now? He can’t even think of something to talk about. Not even in front of Jane.
Just get to Wellington, where we’ll meet Christa again, if we will. And get AJ somewhere safe.
******
As she walked inside, she could hear AJ’s small cries, but in a different spot this time. As she looked to her right, she could see Louis with AJ in his arms. Rocking him lightly while Jane sat across from him. She couldn’t explain it or why but she felt all warm and fuzzy inside seeing Louis trying to calm AJ.
“Hey,” Jane greeted.
“Hi Clemster,” Louis smiled. Clementine smiled back and politely waved at the both of them.
“Mike and Arvo wouldn’t shut up, so we moved AJ here.” Jane explained simply, the young girl nodded as she slipped into her spot closest to Louis as a small box for AJ sat between them and Jane.
“Goddammit!” Kenny yelled in frustration, making Louis flinch noticeably. The boy instinctively snapped over his shoulder, only to see Kenny working on the truck.
“I’ve seen that look before,” Jane muttered. Louis looked away from the girls to roll his eyes while biting back a groan of annoyance.
“I’ve seen it, too. A few times…” Clementine shrugged. It wasn’t abnormal to see Kenny with that look, she saw it back when Lee was still around. It hasn’t changed much. The stranger had a similar look, but it looked calmer instead, scarier than Kenny’s will ever be.
“I know Kenny’s a nice guy, Clem,” Jane continued.
“Do you, Jane!? It’s clear you don’t think so!” Was what Louis wanted to say, but he bit his tongue anyway. Clementine sat in silence next to him, staring into her lap numbly.
“I bet Carver was a nice guy too, once,” The mention of Carver from Jane’s lips made the girl flinch, shooting her eyes up at her meanwhile Louis frowned. “Probably had a nice job, and a nice, pretty wife,” she said, “And one day, he caved some kid’s face in and realized he could sleep at night,” Jane’s tone was clearly targeted towards Kenny. It was clear she didn’t like him one bit.
Clementine could tell Kenny didn’t really like Jane either.
“My daddy always had a half dozen wrecks he was fixin' up. He was a mean son of a bitch. But he taught me respect. Girl like Jane could learn a thing or two about that.” Kenny had said.
“Feels like another Lilly situation to me.” Kenny had grumbled under his breath.
It’s not as clear, but she was sure he didn’t even like Jane at all either. Clementine wasn’t surprised that Jane would openly talk trash about her friend like that. She has talked trash about basically everyone. The group, AJ, Louis, probably her behind her back at some point.
“Kenny isn’t Carver,” Louis spoke up defensively, “I actually felt safe around him unlike Carver,”
“Kenny just made a mistake,” Clementine backed up.
“All I’m sayin’ is, start thinking about what happens if you’re wrong,” Jane said. Clementine turned her gaze to Kenny as she listened to Jane’s voice, “You two’ve known each other for a long time; longer than Louis, maybe,” nodding to Louis, “Sooner or later, you’re gonna have to decide how much that’s worth.”
Louis jumped when AJ started to cry in his arms, causing the girls to direct their attention to the baby, “I think it needs food, or… something,” Jane guessed.
“AJ is not an it. AJ is a he,” Clementine corrected sassily, carefully taking the baby from Louis’s arms. The boy’s arms dropped into his lap tiredly as he watched Clementine rock AJ, listening to his cries go away in almost an instant. AJ, just like before, stared up into Clementine’s face. Scanning her face with curiosity as the conversation continued.
“Seems like you’ve done that before, too,” Jane commented fondly, giving a soft smile.
“It’s not rocket science,” Clementine shrugged.
“I feel like I’d drop it,” Jane sighed, “HIM. My bad.” The two kids looked at one another with confusion and another with concern.
“Okay… We’ll be in charge of holding AJ,” Louis confirmed. The boy picked up the bottle of baby formula, shaking it; before sighing in disappointment. “We don’t have much left.” Clementine frowned, Jane’s eyes narrowed.
“I was running with some people a long time ago, down near DC,” Jane started. Louis looked away, tuning out of the conversation while Jane continued speaking to mostly Clementine.
“Some guy got trapped in the middle of a crosswalk. Can't remember his name. He used to call me Mary Jane,” Jane continued. Louis cracked a smile, letting out a small chuckle. Jane shot him a glare with no malice, “He was a douchebag. Anyway, the dick got stuck under a car hiding from a dozen walkers. One after another, they went down there trying to save him,” Jane sighed in irritation from that day. “Lost four people before we got him out.”
Louis had completely tuned out, focusing on Kenny trying to activate the car. Clementine had put AJ down in the box earlier. He watched Kenny try activating the car, the first time the engine started, it sounded like it was dying out already. The second time, it had more energy, stayed out longer before dying again.
Damn it… He saw Kenny's mouth say. “Third time’s a charm..?” Louis mumbled quietly. The engine started again, after a few seconds, the engine finally started up normally. The boy’s face lit up as he stood up.
“Like she was—”
“Kenny got the car started!” Louis beamed, accidentally interrupted the conversation.
“Yes!” Clementine hissed in excitement. She watched Mike sprint out there by the truck, clearly caught the noise. Louis scooped AJ gently in his arms, making sure the baby was comfortable.
“I need to bring the little guy just in case,” Louis said, already answering both the girls’ shared questions. Clementine nodded as she spun on her heel towards the front door, Louis following close behind. Jane glanced back outside of the window before following not far behind them.
********
”North is south, right is left
When you’re gone.”
Lost in the woods — Frozen 2