Stepping Away: TWDG (Book Three, Clementine x Fem!Oc)

From The Gallows (Part 1) | "I got great teachers."

David: We’ll be safer inside! Get in!

We all followed after the man as he made a pathway through the walkers, running into a building and barricading the door behind us.

Javier: That should hold them for now.

David: You two put up a good fight out there.

Gabe: We don’t care what you think.

Mariana bit the inside of her cheek, turning away.

David: Gabriel, do not take that tone with me! Mariana, look at me!

Gabe: You murdered that man! After they let you go. You’re a killer, just like they said.

Emma: You killed Clint!?

Kate: You did that?

Mariana: Why, dad!?

David: You don’t understand. It was them or us! I had to do it! They would never let us go! They still would’ve killed us, sooner or later.

Javier: You screwed up, David! You were completely out of control! Now everyone in town’s going to think you’ve lost your mind.

Gabe: His brains… splattered all over me!

Mariana: I nearly died!

David: You are my son and daughter. I’m doing what any parent would do to keep you safe. You do not get to judge my actions. Do you hear me?

The boy and girl didn’t listen, walking to stand behind Javi instead.

David: Hey, do not walk away from me! When someone speaks to you, you stand up and answer them. Even if you don’t want to.

Javier: David, that’s enough.They’re not little kids! They don’t need that from you.

David: What they need is to learn to keep their opinions to themselves until they understand what the hell they’re talking about. I’m just… I’m trying to protect you both. I lost you once. I won’t let it happen again. Okay?

Javier: We made it through alive. Let’s just be glad about that.

David: We need to check the other entrances. Make sure we’re safe. Gabe, Mariana, wanna help me out?

Gabe: Javi?

Mariana: I don’t know…

David: Gabriel! Mariana!

Javier: Just be careful, both of you. Lot of muertos out there.

David: Mari, Gabe and I will watch each other’s backs.

Clementine: I’ll help too.

Gabe: Okay.

I leaned over to Clementine, whispering in her ear.

Emma: Be careful, okay? David’s not to be trusted.

Clementine: I know, don’t worry.

She patted my hat teasingly before walking off with Gabe, Mariana and David.

Javier: Hey, Clem’s with them. It’s fine.

Emma: Yeah, Kate. Clem will know what to do if things go bad.

Kate: It’s not that. It’s– let’s just… I’m all over the place. I need to focus on something. Anything. Just need to focus. On… whatever.

Javier: Let’s just go upstairs. The further we are from these doors, the happier I’ll be. I just want to get as much distance between us and the muertos as I can.

Kate: Yeah… yeah, okay.

Emma: I know it’s random, but I’m really craving, like, a hotdog right now.

Javier: Huh?

Emma: I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve eaten in the past seventy-eight hours.

Kate: That’s… not good.

Emma: Well, no shit, Kate.

We walked up the stairs, Javier getting the hint I was dropping of distracting Kate by talking about random food we were craving. But when we reached the hallways above, everything went to shit as our eyes landed on the amount of injured civilians milling about, some groaning in pain.

Kate: Oh, my God. This is a fucking nightmare.

Child: Mommy, it’s them!

Kate: I’m just glad Mariana and Gabe aren’t here to see this right now. Fuck, I can’t believe what I’ve done. They’re not gonna trust us ever again, Javi. And I wouldn’t blame them.

Javier: We’ll get through this. Together. We have for years, right?

Kate: But what about these people, Javi? They’re not as lucky as we are.

Emma: Kate, it’s not your fault.

We continued to walk down the hallway, finding a woman crying over a dead body, whispering muffled sobs into their no-longer-listening ear.

Kate: But it is. I did this to them. That hole is there because of me. This is all my fault.

Javier: Listen to Emma. What happened was an accident. A bad one, but still… You didn’t do it on purpose.

Kate: But it’s still my fault. I can’t leave until I make this right. All of this. Let’s fix this. As best we can. Please, Emma, stay until then.

Emma: I have to ask Clem, Kate. But I’m on your side here.

Javier: And you know I’m staying. Let’s make things right.

Kate: I don’t know if it’s actually possible. But I feel a lot better knowing you’re there too.

The man smiled and I couldn’t help but find their dynamic cute. They were in love, and that was pretty obvious. Was I that obvious, too? Oh, fuck…