𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
[ a house divided; part five ]
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Walter sighed as they walked out of the lodge, "I'm sorry about that. I used to be a teacher. And I remember what it's like to be caught in the middle of two cliques. I suspect they'll find common ground soon enough. It may take a little time, but that's just how these things work. Everything will be fine. Listen, relationships are like any machine. You don't throw them out when they break down. You get your hands dirty and you grease the wheels. What do you say? Will you help me work on them?"
Clem smiled, "Me and Kassidy wanna stay with you guys."
"He's my dad. We share a special type of bond. So yeah, we're staying."
"Then stay you shall. I know that'll please Kenny."
"I missed him," Kass murmured.
"And he missed you, I can assure you. They say the world is over, but I'll tell you a secret: it's not. People are more political now than they ever were before. In the end, we can't change the world. All we can do is continue to learn from each other; to empathize and use our heads. "All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal." Steinbeck. Have you read him? Well, we have plenty of time to catch you up on your reading. My partner Matthew is amassing quite the literature collection. I think you'll like him. In any case, the point is: as long as we have our wits about us, we can always make the right choice. Right?"
"Right." Clementine looked down in guilt. Maybe that guy on the bridge was Matthew.
Walter frowned, "What's the matter? Is there something you want to tell me? You can talk to me. There's almost nothing you could tell me that would surprise me. I can promise you that."
"I'm worried about your friend... We think that–"
Walter cut her off, "Don't worry. Matthew will be back soon and everything will be fine."
"Hey kids, what you up to?" Kenny asked, walking up to them.
Walter grinned, "Oh we're just discussing politics."
"The hell?"
"Well, since you're from Florida, I thought you would know all about that stuff," he quipped.
Kenny chuckled, "Man, I'll tell you. One thing I like about the apocalypse is not having to deal with that shit anymore! I came out just to check the perimeter before the storm hits us. Wanna help me out?"
"Sure," Walter replied.
They walked around back, to see a woman peeking in the window of the lodge. They looked at the stranger, surprised as Kenny aimed his rifle at her, but Walter put his hand on his shoulder, telling him to put the gun down, which he did.
"Miss?" Walter called.
The woman jumped slightly and got scared once she saw them, "Please, do you have any food? My family's out there and we're starving!"
Walter smiled warmly, "Come on inside and we'll give you some food."
Kenny widened his eyes, "You're just gonna let her in like that?!"
"This woman needs help, we can't just let miss...?" he trailed off, asking her name.
"Bonnie."
"We can't just let Bonnie go back to her family without any food. Right?"
Kass glared at the woman, sizing her up. "We should check her for weapons."
"She may be lying," Clem added.
Bonnie gasped, "I swear, I'm not! That storms gonna be on top of us and we have nothing. Please, I won't be a burden."
"Alright, stay here and I'll get you some food," Walter went inside to grab some food. they stayed in silence for a second until Bonnie spoke up.
"I...I have two kids like you two. How old are you?"
"I'm eleven," Clem replied, crossing her arms.
"And I'm fifteen. I think."
Kenny looked back at me and answered, "Yeah, fifteen."
Bonnie smiled and looked at Clem "Well, I would've thought older than that."
Just then, Walter came back with a box of food and handed it to her.
"This is too much, mister," she said, surprised.
He only smiled, "We've got plenty. Don't worry about us. Just get back to your family and be safe out there."
Bonnie nodded, looking down at her feet, "Well, um... Thanks, you too." She started walking into the woods, hopefully not to see her again.
Kenny sighed, "Kids, why don't you get to bed. Me and Walt are gonna talk for a bit."
Clem and Kass walked back into the lodge and into the kitchen "Who the hell was that?" the latter asked.
"I don't know. But I don't think that woman was telling the truth."
Kass looked at her friend worriedly, "You think she was with Carver?"
The younger girl shrugged, "I'm not sure. I guess we'll have to find out."
"Let's just hope we don't find out the hard way."
She nodded in agreement when they heard someone calling their names quietly. They looked to see who made the noise– it was Luke and Oliver. "Don't freak out, okay?"
Luke waved them over, "We have a problem. That guy on the bridge was Walter's friend."
Ollie handed them a picture of the men, arms hanging over each other's shoulders. Oh no.
"I kinda figured that out already," Clem said.
Kassidy agreed, but there was something else on her mind. "But where's Nick?" she asked.
Luke replied, "He's asleep. I don't think he knows yet. Let's just keep this to ourselves cause who knows what the hell Walter's gonna do once he finds out."
"We can't tell no one," Oliver explained.
"But what if he figures it out anyhow?" Kass asked him.
"Well, then we're fucked. But, y'know, we'll just...we'll deal with it then. You still have that knife in your backpack? Cause if that was Matthew's, Walter will put two in two together," Luke said to them.
"It's in Clem's bag, with everyone else's," Kassidy answered.
"Go get rid of it. If I see Walter, I'll distract him and watch out for Nick," he said just as Nick walked up.
"I'm right here. What's up?" he questioned.
"Oh, uh, it's nothing, man. I just wanted to check and see if you're okay," Luke responded.
"You comin' to tuck me in?" Nick teased.
Luke laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Somethin' like that."
"That's totally what he was coming to do, bro," Oliver said sarcastically, nodding.
Kassidy sighed, shaking her head before showing him the photo of Walter and Matthew.
"Oh, Jesus. Oh, God," Nick panicked.
"Godammit... Hey, Nick, shut the fuck up," Luke warned.
"I can't, man. I can't."
"Do not fucking blow it," Luke pointed at him.
"Blow it?" Nick questioned. "It's over, I have to tell him, Luke."
"What? No! You... Hey, Nick, you cannot do that. Are you fuckin' nuts?" Luke huffed in annoyance.
"He'll be pissed, Nick!" Oliver warned.
He shook his head, "I got to. I can't live with that on me."
"Luke's right. You can't tell him," Clem said.
"What?" Kassidy hissed.
"Listen to Clem and Ollie, okay? It's fucking crazy," Luke sighed.
"Jesus. I can't handle this," Nick sighed, turning away.
"Look, Clem, Kass, just go do that thing. All right?" Luke asked.
they went to where we put our stuff in and Clem reached into her bag but found nothing.
Clem gasped slightly, "It's gone..."
"What? What do you mea-?" That's when she saw Walter on the front porch, holding something.
Oh no.
Clem and Kass slowly opened the door to see Walter holding Matthews's knife, turning it in his hand while smoking a cigarette. "Walter?..."
He didn't respond, he just continued to turn the knife.
"Walter, just put the knife down," Clem shuddered.
"Did I tell you that Walter is practically my brother, a brother which I never had? I gave him this knife on his thirtieth birthday, right when this all started. I know he's dead. Just tell me who did it. Was it that kid, what's his face, Nick?"
"It was him," Kassidy was quick to respond, "He didn't mean to."
Clem lightly nudged her arm.
Walter didn't say anything again for a minute, he just threw his cigarette, "Is he...a good man? Or is he one of those fuckers that kill people, rape the woman and take whatever they please?! Tell me!"
The girl were taken back by his sudden outburst. Kassidy nodded, "Y-yes, he is. He's a good man Walter... He saved my life."
Walter only sighed. Just then Nick walked out and saw Walter, looking in shock as he held Matthew's knife.
Ollie almost immediately followed in suit. "Shit," he hissed.
"Oh, Matt. He always likes to go alone. I told the stubborn idiot that something like this would happen, but he never listened. No, Matt always knew best."
"What's going on?" Nick asked.
"You need to tell him," Kass told Nick.
"Tell him what?"
"What happened on the bridge," Clem answered quietly.
Walter turned to face them with the knife in his hand, gripping it tightly. He looked at Nick with hard eyes "Tell me what you did. Just tell me, son. Tell me what happened."
"From a distance, it looked like anyone! I...I thought he was holding my friends at gunpoint! I-"
Walter was gripping the knife tighter, so much so that Kass thought he might break it.
"...I shot him. I didn't know if I hit him not and I did and-"
He got a little closer to him, as Kass and Clem stepped back from him.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?!"
"I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Walter," Nick pleaded.
"No! Don't- please, just-... Don't touch my brother. He's sorry!" Ollie begged.
Walter looked at this point, ready to kill Nick. He looked down at Ollie then the knife and threw it away. Suddenly, the windmill started going much faster than it normally should. Kenny and the rest came out of the house and looked at the windmill.
"Oh shit! The storms got it spinning out of control! We need to shut it down before walkers show up."
"Nick, go get the guns!" Carlos ordered.
Nick ran inside to grab the guns. He came back and handed all of them a gun. Kass and Clem got pistols while everyone else got rifles, including Oliver. The windmill suddenly picked up speed very quickly.
"That thing's a fuckin' dinner bell!" Kenny exclaimed.
They all ran to it and once they reached it, they heard another noise coming from the lodge.
"The hell was that?!"
Just then the lights went out inside and outside the lodge.
Kenny huffed, "Oh, for God's sake, the damn transformer went! I could use a hand."
Luke nodded, "I'll go with you."
"Me too!" Sarita and Kass exclaimed at the same time.
Kenny just shook his head , denying, "No, it's too dangerous. The rest of you, get this shut down! Come on, Luke!"
"I'm coming," Oliver stepped up.
"No-" Kenny started.
"Nah, he's fine. Go on, Ollie," Nick said to them and all three of them ran off.
When they left, Kass and Sarita got closer to the door and opened it to see a bunch of controls and switches.
"Um, does anyone know how this thing works?" the teen asked.
Carlos and Sarita shrugged.
"Fuckin aye'," Kass muttered out.
Clem stepped forward, "Let me see what I can do."
Carlos nodded, "Okay. Nick, Sarita, scan the trees with me."
They left and Clem walked up next to Kass. "I can't see a damn thing. You got your lighter?"
Clem reached into her back pocket and pulled out her lighter. She ignites it and got better lighting. Clem reached to touch a red button but Kass slapped her hand away.
"What was that for?!"
"Don't just start pressing buttons!" she warned.
Kass held the lighter and Clem read the labels on the buttons. She saw a key and picked it up. She stuck the key in and pushed it and the windmill stopped turning.
Carlos and Nick met back up with them when they heard groaning noises coming from the woods. "Somethin' ain't right," Nick said warily.
"Yeah..." Carlos and Kassidy agreed when they the saw walkers in the distance.
Carlos looked around, "We don't have a lot of ammunition."
"Make every shot count then! Aim for the head!"
They started shooting at the walkers and Kass turned to see more of them coming from behind.
Clem gasped, "Everyone, get back to the Lodge!!!"
They split up and ran toward the lodge. Kass tried to run but there was a small horde of walkers blocking hey way. She shot at them until the gun ran out of bullets.
Clem came up and unloaded onto the walkers. They had almost made it to the lodge when something grabbed Clem's leg. She kicked and squirmed, trying to get free from the walker's grasp until Kass ran up and shot the walker with a rifle. She helped Clem up and ran ahead, seeing Nick being grabbed by a walker.
Kass saw Walter on the front porch, holding his gun and aiming in his direction. She thought he was gonna shoot Nick, but instead he shot the walker off of him. Nick looked at Walter surprised and thankful, but quickly shook it off and ran back over to Carlos.
"Girls, get inside!" Carlos ordered.
They ran inside the lodge and saw Rebecca standing around in the living room, "Clem, Kass, you okay?!"
Her next words were cut off by the sound of automatic assault rifles firing. They definitely didn't have those types of weapons.
"What the hell?" Alvin questioned.
They walked over to the window and saw people coming out of the woods. Carver with that Bonnie woman and one ugly-looking man in a camo jacket.
Rebecca gasped, "Carver..." she trailed off.
Carver and his group surrounded Carlos, Nick, Walter, and Sarita. Carver stood in front of Carlos and punched him in the face.
"Dad!" Sarah immediately shot up and ran out the door.
"What is she doing?!"
Sarah ran to her dad and hugged him. Carver pointed toward the house and his group walked to the house, Carlos and the others being held at gunpoint.
They quickly ran upstairs and hid. Carver's group tied up Carlos and the others by the kitchen counter. Carver grabbed Carlos and dragged him away from Sarah, punching him in the stomach.
"I'm gonna ask you one time! Where's Rebecca?!"
"Go to hell!" Carlos spat.
Carver scoffed, immediately grabbing his hand and breaking a finger. Carlos screamed in pain as Sarah exclaimed, "Please stop! Don't hurt my daddy!"
"Rebecca! Our baby needs a safe place! I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep it safe, with or without you! So show yourselves and the girls you got with you!"
"We need to go down there!" Alvin protested.
Rebecca shook her head, "What no! Where the hell are Kenny, Ollie, and Luke?!"
"Becca, you need a doctor! For our baby!"
Clem nodded, "He's right, Carlos will die!"
"Listen, I'll go find them. Keep 'em distracted for me," Kass spoke up.
"But he'll kill Carlos!"
Carver grabbed Carlos by the hair and had his knife on his neck.
Kass shook her head, "No time to argue! Once I find them, we'll come up with something! Go now, I'll be fine."
"Be careful," Clem reminded her.
"You too," she smiled and snuck her way over to the backdoor as Rebecca stood up and revealed herself to Carver.
"Bill, please! Just stop," Rebecca pleaded.
Carver let Carlos go and they walked down to him. Carver got close to Rebecca and put a hand on her cheek, "You alright, sweetheart?"
"Fuck you, Bill!" she spat.
"Please, let us go. We did nothing wrong," Walter pleaded.
"Shut up," Bonnie hissed.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and one of Carver's men fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his head. Carver, Bonnie, and another man took cover behind the pillars.
"I can't see who's shooting!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"Me either!"
Carver looked around, "Watch them!"
Carver walked up behind Walter and dragged him to the window. He pushed him and Walter sat there for a minute until he turned to face Carver and got shot, right in the head. Sarah screamed and Clem was too scared to say anything. "That was for our man! Now here's what's gonna happen. If you don't stop shooting, I'll drag more of your friends out and put a bullet in them! Your choice!"
Another shot was fired.
"Wrong move!" Carver went up to Alvin and grabbed him. Clementine knew Kenny or whoever was not gonna stop shooting, so she ran to Carver, trying to help Alvin. But Carver hit her in the stomach. She fell to the floor coughing and he picked her up, holding a gun to her head "Is this what you want? Cause I'm fine with killing little girls unless you give up!"
He waited for a few moments until the front door opened. It was an angry Kenny and Kassidy, and a shaking Ollie with their hands up. Troy and Bonnie walked over and tied them up.
"Alright, round them up, and let's get home."
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A/N: I knew straight away that we couldn't trust Bonnie. Like– the sus bitch was literally peaking in the windows like a creep lmao. What did you guys think of Bonnie when we first saw her? But, anyway, we've finished episode two!!!