Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

75. Three Little Words

"Go ahead, it's okay," assured Sarah.

"I... I waited for Lee to fall asleep, and then I took my radio back. When I called my friend, he told me he already found my parents, and said he tried to tell me yesterday, and when I told him Lee wouldn't let me have my radio, he said it must be because he doesn't want me to find my mom and dad, because he just wants to keep me to himself and..." Clementine started choking up.

"And I believed him. Lee always took care of me, but I believed someone I never met before because I was stupid."

"You're not stupid Clementine. You just wanted your mom and dad back."

"But they were gone, and I should have known better," insisted a guilt-stricken Clem. "And because I didn't, that man took me away from Lee, and he got bitten trying to save me from him. It's my fault he died. I killed him, after he saved my life like a hundred times."

"How'd he get bitten?"

"I don't know, I just know he wasn't bitten before I left."

"So, you went to meet this man?"

"I met him in the yard of the house we were all staying in."

"And then you left with him?"

"No, I asked him about my parents first, and he said they were waiting for me at the Marsh House. Then I asked him how did he know they were my parents when I never told him their names or what they looked like, and when he didn't answer right away, I knew he was lying to me."

"So, what did he do when you told him he was lying?"

"I didn't tell him that, I was afraid too. I just told him I wanted to say goodbye to everyone before I left, so I could get back in the house. But, he wouldn't let me."

"What did he do?"

"He grabbed me, and covered my mouth so I couldn't scream. I tried to get away, but he was stronger than me."

"What... what did he do to you?"

"He locked me in a room, and started asking me weird questions, like what I liked to eat, and when my birthday was, and what my favorite color was."

"Why?"

"I don't know, he was crazy. He said the jacket I was wearing belonged to his son, and that I could keep it if I stayed with him. I said I just wanted to leave, but he said I couldn't because it was too dangerous. I used his radio to tell Lee where I was, and he locked me in a bathroom. Lee did find me, but by then he was already dying, because of me."

"I... I don't get it. Why do you think it's your fault Lee died?"

"If I never talked to that man, Lee would still be alive right now," explained a tearful Clem. "None of that stuff ever would have happened."

"But, you didn't want to go with that man, and it sounds like you did everything you could to get away. He made you come with him."

"But I shouldn't have talked to him to begin with."

"Why not?"

"I should have known better than think someone would just help me for no reason."

"But, isn't that what Lee did?"

"He..." Clem found herself speechless.

"And isn't that what Christa has been doing?"

"And it's what Omid did," added Clem. "And... what you did."

"People are supposed to take care of kids," explained Sarah. "It's not stupid to think that people would want to help you."

"But not everyone does," noted a bitter Clementine.

"Yeah, that's true," conceded Sarah. "But that makes them wrong, not you."

"I still shouldn't haven't trusted that man though. I should have trusted Lee and Christa when they tried to warn me about him."

"Well, he never should have lied to you in the first place. I'm so sorry you didn't find your mom and dad Clem."

"I did find them," spoke a somber Clem.

"So, that man wasn't lying?"

"He was lying, but I found them anyway," explained a weeping Clem. "They were walkers. Right outside the hotel they were staying at. They probably died right after everything went wrong. They're probably part of the herd that's behind us right now."

"Oh God. Clem..."

"I just wanted to see them one more time, but not like that," sobbed Clementine.

"I just wanted to tell my dad I loved him one more time," wept Sarah. "He tried to hug me, but I was afraid of him. But... I still loved him."

"The day my mom and dad left for their vacation, my mom told me she loved me, and I didn't say I loved her back because I was mad at her that day, because I wanted to come with them on vacation and I didn't understand why I couldn't," bawled Clementine.

"I... I should have told her I loved her. I... I should have told Lee I loved him too. He did everything for me and I never even told him I loved him. I didn't tell Omid either, or Christa. I'll probably never even get another chance to tell her that—"

"Clementine," whispered Sarah in a quiet voice.

"Yeah?" answered a miserable Clementine.

"I love you."

"Wuh... what?" muttered a stunned Clem.

"I love you." This was the first time Clementine could remember someone saying this to her since the world changed, and it was coming from someone she had only known for a couple of weeks.

"I... I... I love you too." Clementine tightened her hold on Sarah, and Sarah responded in kind. So closely entwined with each other now that Clementine couldn't even feel the cold air anymore, just the warmth of Sarah's body. And as she shut her eyes, the doubt and fear that had so often loomed over Clem finally seemed to evaporate from her mind, leaving the small girl with a fleeting moment of peace before drifting off to sleep.