Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here

Reunited

Clem walked ahead of Duck her hands firmly in her pants pockets. Her backpack was now tightly strapped on her back. The guards were kind enough to return both her and Duck to their rightful belongings, via Carver's orders.

The  kids  stood  by  as  their  bags  were  tossed  at  their  feet  before  the  men  walked  away.

She had been stuck in her head since Duck had relayed the information on what they were supposed to do. Even now, she shivered knowing that a sniper was trained on both them and if they were to step out of place.

Her  mind  raced  with  how  they  could  get  out  of  the  position  they  were  in.  She  kept  her  thoughts  to  herself  for  the  time  being.  She  figured  it  was  the  best  choice  in  case  Duck  didn't  approve  of  what  she  was  thinking  of  doing.

A  sudden  itch  formed  at  the  nape  of  her  neck,  so  she  scratched  not  realizing  that  there  was  small  bumps  forming  there.

Duck  glanced  over  to  his  friend  from  time  to  time.  Her  face  was  bruised  and  beaten,  her  lip  slightly  swollen  and  her  cheek  just  as  red  as  it  was  when  she  first  got  slapped.  He  knew  she  was  in  some  form  of  discomfort,  but  he  also  knew  she'd  never  tell  him  that  she  was.  So  he  didn't  bring  it  up,  he  never  did.

Clem  sighed,  scratching  her  neck  again  after  a  few  more  seconds.  The  sensation  was  starting  to  get  irritating,  and  the  more  the  scratched  the  worse  it  seemed  to  get.  Once  again  she  forced  her  hands  into  her  pocket  hoping  to  ignore  the  itch  until  it  went  away.

A  slight  breeze  wisped  through  the  air  making  both  children  shiver.  They  were  almost  there,  a  couple  more  feet  and  they'd  be  in  the  presence  of  the  people  they  were  sent  to  betray.

Somehow  Clementine  ended  up  slightly  in  front  of  Duck,  not  that  the  boy  really  minded.  He  figured  she  wanted  to  get  out  of  the  cold  air  as  soon  as  possible.  The  drop  in  temperature  was  becoming  more  and  more  evident  as  the  days  ticked  by. 

Winter  was  approaching.

Duck trailed behind the girl his hands wrapped tightly around his backpack straps. He sighed, Clementine hadn't spoken a word. For  the  most  part  she  was  always  silent  so  naturally  someone  wouldn't  notice,  but  he  did.  He  knew  she  was  lost  in  her  head,  stuck  in  her  thoughts.  It  was  something  she  did  often.

Knowing  Clem  he  knew  she  was  trying  to  think  of  someway  out  of  their  situation.  If he were being honest with himself the thought of deceiving a group of people that were obviously running for whatever reason didn't sit right with him. After getting a fragment of what Carver was like he could see why they were running, and to put them back in that position...

A tugging at his long shirt sleeve caught  his  attention. He looked down slightly  to  see  Clementine, who looked back at him with the softest glance.

She  said  nothing,  opting  instead  to  pointing  to  the  ski  lodge  in  front  of  them.

"We're  here."  Duck  felt  disgusted  looking  at  it.  Clem  stared  blankly  at  the  building  working  up  the  energy  to  take  the  next  few  steps  forward.

She  took  a  deep  breathe  before  stepping  forward  leading  the  way  for  Duck  to  follow.

He  did  slowly.