TWDG//

FOURTEEN

I lay in bed thinking about what Clementine was saying.
"What I'm talking about is love."
Love.
Like Javi loves his nephew. Like Clementine loves me. Except she said it in a pressing tone, like there was a more stronger love to exist.
I wake up to Gunner yelling.
"Wake up! Wake the fuck up!"
I groan, and sit up, yawning. Willy grumbles from where he's sleeping. The door opens, and I jump.
"Get up, Javi wants to fucking talk." He says, and laughs. "And tell your Mum that I want to talk to her."
I frown as he closes the door. I slowly rip off the bandaid from the side of my head, the blood sticky on the pad. I gasp, and move my hand over a small bump on my head. Blood.
I grab a qtowel from the ground, and press it to my head. I pull on my socks and sneakers, and gab another bandaid from the drawer to cover my cut. Willy was also getting ready, slipping on his boots.
"Are you gonna tell Clem he wants to see her?" Willy asks.
"No. That man is creepy." I said.
"Good idea." He answered. We walk out onto the hallways, to see Clementine also wobbling around in her crutches. We all head downstairs, where I see Louis, Aasim, Omar and Ruby.
Javi stands at the front with Gabe, and Willy and I sit next to eachother in the couch.
"So. As Aasim tells me, the whole point of you guys in the road was to get to Richmond. Now that's you can't go to Richmond, or really go back to Ericson, what will you do?" Javi asks.
Everyone is silent.
"We don't know." Violet whispers.
"Why don't they stay here?" Says a man from behind us. I turn around to see a man, with a trimmed beard. "Nice to see you, Clementine."
"Jesus!" She cries, and uses her crutches to go over an hug him. "You're alive!"
"Of course I'm alive, Clementine."Jesus smiles.
"I agree with Jesus; We need more people helping." Gavin says.
"I say we throw them out. You know, who gives a fuck?" Gunner says. "Except for this one" Gunner nudges Clem as she sits down. Clem glares at Gunner.
"Yeah, we need em'." Lawson says. "Now can I leave? I gotta fucking hunt."
Javi nods.
"I guess you guys should stay." He says, smiling. "Except you guys all need to pull you weight."
"Except for Clem" I said. Javi looks at me. "She only has one leg. She's not a capable as she was before."
Gabe nodded. "We found something for Clementine."
Javi brings out a metal limb; A leg.
"A prosthetic?" Clem says, taking the leg in her hands.
"Yeah, you know, to help" Javi says. "Gabe, why don't you out it on her?"
Violet tenses up as Gabe leans down, and pulls up Clem's jean sleeve to reveal her still bandaged stump. Gabe places the hole of the leg underneath the stump, and ties the strings around, so it's secure.
"There." Gabe says, grinning as he stands back. Clementine pushes herself us, and as she does, the jean sleeve falls down. For a second. I almost forget she doesn't have a leg.
"Wow. I missed that feeling." Clem says, nudging her crutches with her leg.
"And now you can pull your weight." Violet smiles as Clem sits down. "Nice."
I smile at Clementine.
"Now you have a leg" I say.
"Hey! Javi! I need a fucking person to help me!" I hear Gavin yell from outside.
"AJ, why don't you go?" Javi suggests.
"Be careful, AJ." Clem says, as I stand up and move outside.
...
"So, happy your Mum has a leg, now?" Gavin asks, as he slings the rope over the tree to set up the trap.
"Yeah, it's sort of normal now." I say.
"Good." Gavin mutters. "The other day, when that bullet grazed me? I just want to say thank you for, you know, giving a shit. I know you only held a jacket to my stomach, but a lot of people in your position wouldn't fucking bother to help their attacker."
"Uhm, it's okay." I say, surprised. "I'm sorry for hitting you in the nuts."
Gavin laughed. "That's okay. I know I probably would've laughed if I wasn't the person being sackwacked."
I laugh too.
"Okay, that should be able to grab a few rabbits" He says, standing up and looking at his snare. "Maybe you could help me with the crops?"
I nod as he leads me around the side of the cabin where plants and flowers of any type were growing in mounds of dirt.
"Here, water the carrots and potatoes." Gavin hands me a bucket full of water. The weight is heavy in my hands, but I steadily water the plants a good amount.
"Hey, kid, I have to warn you." Gavin says, looking up from where he was tugging roots from the ground.
"About what?" I ask.
"Gunner's sick. Real fucking sick." Gavin says, pointing to his head. "In the head. I know you probably wouldn't know what this means, but you gotta keep away from him. You being a boy won't stop him from perverting on you. And keep your Mum and your friends away from him."
I nod.
"You know what I'm talking about, AJ?" Gavin asks.
I shake my head. "I understand the warning, but I don't understand why."
"Good, you don't need to." Gavin wipes the bead of sweat from his forehead. "Let's head inside. Good job today."
"Thanks." I smiled.
...
"Hey you!" I hear a voice behind me as I walk towards my room. I turn around. Gunner. I back away. "I thought I told you to bring your Mum to me!"
"You didn't say that. You said to tell her to see you. Not to bring her." I said, crossing my arms.
"What's the fucking difference!" He yelled. He starts to stomp down the hall. My heart races. No one else is around. I flinch as he comes close and slaps me. The impact brings me to the ground. I hold my sore cheek, and scramble to my feet.
"Fuck off!" I yell, as I back myself into a corner.
"No." Gunner says walker toward me. I take shallow breaths.
"..But you gotta keep away from him..."
I scowl angrily, and connect my fist to his jaw.
"Fuck!" Gunner yells. I ram my body weight into him, and Gunner topples to the ground. I begin to kick the side of him, Gunner screaming and yelling.
"AJ!" Clementine yells. I stop to see Clem walking down the hall, the prosthetic leg still stiff and wrong used. I step away from Gunner.
"What's going on here?!" Javi yells. Clem grabs me and pulls me further away.
"This kid is a fucking phsycho!" Gunner gets to his feet, clutching the side of his stomach. "Just starting beating me!"
"For good reason, rapist." Willy said, who had now entered the hallway. "I'll bet you were going to wrong him."
"What are you talking about?!" Gunner yells. "I'm not a fucking--"
"Yes you are." Gavin says.
"Is this true?" Javi asks me. I look at Gunner, who was fuelled with rage. I shrug.
"He cornered me, and hit me because I didn't tell Clementine to see him." I looked at a scared Clem. "It was self defence."