TWDG//

FOUR

During the remainder of the week, I went back and forth to see Clementine, who with help from Louis, is trying to use one leg with support of "Crutches", which just means two sticks underneath Clem's armpits to help her hobble around. It's been days since we attacked the raiders, and still I'm mourning Tenn, and James...who was killed by Lilly. I can't stop thinking about what would've happened if I just...shot Lilly. But Clem was right; Lilly was hurt, and beaten. I'm still mad, though. I should've just killed her, against Clem's orders. I'm finding it difficult to cope, like I can't sleep well. Clem still sleeps in the infirmary, so I'm all alone. I keep dreaming bad dreams....I'm so sad lately. It makes me sad that a lot of people died to get us here. Or, they died to get Clementine here. Which is sort of the same, I guess. Clementine told me that people died for her, like Lee. Her first protector.
"AJ!" I turn around to see Clementine on her crutches, outside. She doesn't have her jacket anymore, just her tank top, and her old jeans were splayed with blood, so she had to get a new pair, the leg sleeve rolled up over what was left of her leg.
I smile, and run up and hug Clementine. She sets back ajar, and smiles.
"Whatcha doing there, Goofball?" She asks. I shrug.
"Nothing. I've missed you." I said.
"Missed you too." Clementine says. "We need to talk, AJ."
I look up, worried. Clementine nods, and pulls me over to the steps of the school. I sit in one of the steps, as Clementine lowers herself down slowly beside me.
"What's wrong?" I ask, frowning.
"AJ... it's not safe." Clem says.
"What isn't?" I ask.
"The school. They have more raiders on land. That boat, was just a quarter or people who kidnap. They're all gonna come." Clem says, slinging her arm around me.
"What? But... I don't wanna leave..." I say, my voice quivering.
"We're going to have to. I'm sorry, but..." Clementine catches the tear on my cheek. "AJ. It's okay, it's okay. We are all gonna leave together. Okay?"
I nod, and wipe the tear from my cheek. "Okay. I don't want anymore people to get hurt. But how do we leave?"
Clementine shrugs. "Violet and I are gonna talk about it with everyone else, okay?"
I nod. "Okay."
Clementine stands up, leaning against her crutches.
"Clem?" I ask. Clementine faces me. "Where will we go?"
"I don't know." She says. "We'll figure that out."
I frown as she steps away, pushing herself on her crutches.
I bury my head in my hands. It'll be just like when we were always on the road, and we never had a home.

"We need a place to go first" Willy chirped from where he was sitting.
We were in Marlon's old office, talking about leaving.
"We can just...improvise?" Omar said.
"You don't plan to improvise, Omar." Clem said. "We need somewhere to go, like...a community."
"You don't see a lot of those." Violet murmurs. Louis taps Ruby.
"Louis?" Violet asks. Louis grabs a notepad and pen, and scribbles something fast onto the paper. I keep forgetting that Louis can't talk anymore, and it makes me sad.
He hands the pad to Violet, and she reads through it.
"What's it say?" I ask. Violet waves me off, as a sign that she's still reading. Everyone is on edge, as Violet passes the lad to Aasim.
"McCarroll Ranch?" Aasim asks, raising his eyebrows.
"No." Clementine and I said at the same time. Violet looks at us carefully.
"Why not? It's not far" She says.
"It's gone. It got over taken by a siege in Richmond..." Clementine trails off, in thought. I catch her gaze.
"Richmond?" I ask. Clementine looks up, with a smile on her face.
"We could go there." Clementine says. "Violet, you just said McCarroll Ranch isn't far from here, and Richmond isn't far from McCarroll Ranch."
"How do we know it's not affected by the war?" Willy asks.
"It's close, but still quite far." Ruby answers. "It might still be okay."
"And, I have people there I know. People I have kept promises to." Clementine said, and I look at her with questions.
"So...when? How?" Ruby asks.
"When? I say as soon as possible." Violet says, and shock spreads around the room quietly. "And for how? Hmm, I say we should..."
"We can't walk." I say. "It would be too hard if there was a herd, and for Clementine."
"So we drive?" Clem asks.
"Clementine, you crashed the last working car on earth, and besides, do you see a gas station here?" Violet says. "We can talk more about this tomorrow, it's late."
Willy sighs, and stands up. "I can't believe this."
Aasim and Willy walk off instantly, and I walk over to Clementine and Ruby.
"What do we do?" I ask her, worried.
"I don't know, we can talk more about it tomorrow, like Violet said." Clem says, slowly getting up in her crutches.
I sigh, and pat Rosie, who nudges my hand. "Yeah, okay."
"Hey, maybe you should...go to bed, AJ. I'll meet you back at the dorm." Clem says, smiling.
"Where will you be?" I ask.
"Violet and I gotta talk about some stuff." Clem says, and Violet behind her nods. I shrug.
"Sure, meet you there." I turn around.
"Don't wait up for me, AJ." I hear behind me. I nod, and walk out of the room, shutting the door behind me.