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Cards of The Past

Clem smiled at Louis's suggestion. "Yeah, we play sometimes. We actually have tons of board games and stuff in the hall closet if you guys are up for it." She pointed behind her to the closet down the hall as she explained.

Louis smiled, "Great. We only had the one deck of cards back at the school, so we mostly played card games for fun." He shuffled the cards as he spoke.

Violet unfolded her arms and leaned closer to the table to make it easier to play. "So we playing war?" She asked the boy across from her.

Louis nodded and started to pass out the cards. "The only game there is. And the winner gets to ask Clem a question."

Clem shot him a look at that.

"What? I wanna get to know you, we both do." Louis told her as if it was as simple as that.

Clem rolled her eyes. "Okay...and what if I win?"

"Then you get to ask us one." He explained. "It's only fair."

Clem nodded then turned her attention to the younger boy. "You wanna play too AJ?"

AJ seemed hesitant to answer at first but then decided on a response. "Can I...just be on your team?"

Clem smiled at that. "Sure." She patted the spot next to her for AJ to come and sit next to her. "How about you flip the card and I'll handle the questions?"

AJ nodded excitedly as he made his way over to the girl with the baseball cap. He sat down next to her, creating a buffer between her and Violet, which Clem was kind of glad for. It was easier to focus when she didn't have to worry about accidentally touching the blond next to her.

Once everyone was situated they all flipped over a card, AJ flipping the card over for Clem. Said girl looked at everyone's cards seeing as how Violet had the highest with a queen of hearts.

Violet smiled, "Way ta go me!" Then her smile faded as she thought about her question. "So, how did you guys meet? You and Luke don't really look related and AJ...well...he doesn't look much older than five."

Clem's smile slightly faded as she remembered the events that had occurred with the cabin group. She cleared her throat. "Well...I met Luke when I was eleven. I had just been attacked by a dog when he and another man named Pete found me. They took me back to their group and we stayed together after that."

"And AJ?" Louis asked for Violet wanting to know just as much as her, his curiosity spiked.

Clem looked to the five-year-old next to her before continuing. "AJ's parents were actually part of Luke's group. I got to know them a bit. They were nice people...for the most part." She paused at that last part remembering how Rebecca had been a bit hostile towards her in the beginning. " His dad was killed by some asshole who had held us all captive at one point."

Violet flinched at that, remembering how some of the kids at the school had been taken and held captive, namely Minnie. "And his mom?"

Clem's expression saddened. "She didn't make it." She said. "After giving birth...she just...lost to much blood. Then we were attacked by a group of Russians." She stared Violet in the eyes, a serious expression now on her face. "I saved AJ's life."

"Damn." Said Louis, already not believing what this girl had been through.

Clem hadn't even scratched the surface of her past memories. What she had already confessed was light compared to some other tragedies she had faced. For the second part of her life, everything seemed to be either black or white. Nothing ever seemed to be just okay anymore. Her life went from one extreme to the other. Things either went really good or really bad, the latter usually being the case. Decisions could happen in an instant, sealing your fate, and sometimes it comes down to that split second decision that you have to live with for the rest of your life. Clem had made plenty of those. Deciding to go with Nick instead of Pete, rescuing Sarah from the trailer park, shooting Rebecca, saving Luke from the lake, going with Javie to save Gabe and David. She had seen so much war and bloodshed, and most times it always seemed to be her fault one way or another. She couldn't help but blame herself for all the deaths she had seen. Kenny, Pete, Rebecca, Sarita, Sarah, Carlos, Alvin, Walter, Jane, Omid, Christa, and most importantly...Lee.