"Avery's your what!?" The words come out harsher than I had intended them to, stricken by the words that he hastily spit out at me moments before.
The flakes grow thicker, completely reducing our vision to almost nothing as the three of us stand there, almost knee deep in snow and shivering from the cold.
This doesn't make any sense! If Avery is his sister than Carver must have been-
It starts to make some sense now, all of those things Carver said to him back then, something about joining the family again since they ran away from him in the first place only to be hunted down by him in the end. But why would Luke hide something like this from me? Did everyone else know? Surely they must have; they were with him when they escaped Carver the first time.
His head hangs a little, indicating that he feels guilt for not telling me sooner, Nick on the other hand; smirks wickedly.
"I've known it all along too, Avery was a little brat back before-" Luke's eyes cut him off completely with just one menacing glare, shutting up Nick instantly.
The shouts and hollers from the other group grow closer, shadowy figures can be seen from very far away down the dirt road towards us, blinded by the blurring flakes of snow that make it impossible to see. I guess I don't have much time to even think about what I was just told, that seems to be the case in most situations now ever since the outbreak started catching wind.
"Quick, break off into the woods; we can lose them in there." Luke's hushed tone snags both of our attention spans as he veers off completely into the spiraling whirl of white, along with the brittle sticks that snap against our bodies as we make a mad dash inside the heavily wooded, frosty area.
My heart feels numb; I can't tell if it's because of what Luke just said or if it's because it's actually frozen solid.
I swear I can feel almost bits of my flesh freezing up inside my skin.
My breath begins to quickly deplete from the lack of oxygen in these winter temperatures, puffs of white air emit from my lungs as I exhale trying to keep up with the two morons where one decided to run blindly through a forest; as we leave footprints in the festering snow behind us.
Sticks come flying at me from all directions, wildly I wave my arms around trying to brush most of them off while maintaining my speed, dashing through while losing sight of the group that were chasing us.
It feels like we've been running for hours... Even though I know we weren't.
My lungs feel like they're caving in from all of the effort, I've never had a problem outrunning anything; so it must be this sudden freezing temperature drop. Eventually I collapse into a shivering fit on top of the fluffy snow. Everything is so cold, to the point where I can't feel anything anymore.
I can't keep this up, it's getting way too cold, I don't even think we'll make it at this point anymore.
"Shit." Luke mutters, taking his backpack off and frantically un-zippering it, pulling out a large quilt as Nick touches my frigid hands with his and helps me up to my feet; wrapping me up tightly in the warm fuzzy quilt Luke had packed.
"Man, we need to get outta this damn cold, we're not going to last an hour out here at this rate." Nick mutters, not showing any signs of hypothermia what so ever; but then again he was always good at hiding things.
"I know that, do you see any other places we can just run off to right now?" Luke snaps slightly, turning his back to face me while Nick glares darkly at him.
"And here we go." I mutter quietly under my breath, going completely unnoticed by either of them.
"It's your fucking fault for making us run off that god damn road!" Nick spits viciously, glancing over at me with his worried blue eyes, clearly lingering on something.
The shivering now controls my body's movements, all I can feel is the wet slushiness of my own clothes against my body; and I don't have any spares either.
Luke's eyes narrow deeply into his so called friend's, a strange sense of overwhelming emotion hits me hard between these two, whatever they had previously; isn't here anymore.
"Well would you rather risk your chances in here or out there with bandits and Lurkers?"
"What difference does it make; there're still fucking Walkers, walking all over this fucking place."
Not now guys, please not now.
Tempers flare, the testosterone is fairly high between the two of them in this heated argument. Luke kicks over a massive rotten tree stump nearby, breaking it completely over and begins to dig a fairly decent sized hole in the snow underneath the roots of the massive stump.
"Oh what the Hell are you doing now?" Nick, clearly not impressed keeps his arms crossed, and a constant eye on my health.
"Makin' a fuckin' shelter for Clem." He mutters lightly, continuing to paw at the snow as Nick stands there, eyes darting back and forth from me, to Luke.
"Oh because that's going to keep her so warm. That's great that you were here to come up with this wonderful idea; too bad nobody else was alive to witness this." Nick turns around, kicking a large snow drift against the huge rotten stump that Luke was 'fixing' up for us to sleep under if worst comes to worst.
Luke's patience wears thin, so thin in fact that he doesn't even bother to say or do anything because he knows it's true; everyone else is gone besides us.
"Will you watch where you're fuckin' kickin'?"
"Make me." Nick dismisses Luke's temper, turning around and trudging through the snow to make some distance between the two of them; before Luke grabs a hold of him and beats him senseless. Disappearing into the thicket of trees and snow, Luke doesn't even bother to hunt him down; leaving him be to simmer down a little.
Is it such a good idea to be splitting up right now? We lost everyone as it is from splitting up...
I sigh; you've got to be kidding me right now. I'm dealing with a bunch of immature grownups who have finally reached the end of their breaking point.
The cold doesn't die down either, luckily it's still day time so we can at least see a bit of what we're doing and so far the other group hasn't shown any signs of following us here too.
I continue watching Luke feverishly work at the stump's makeshift hole underneath it, clearly that's all he's focused on right now as well. He pulls off his machete and starts hacking away at the frozen, loose thin roots that dangle around the edge. Tucking some packed snow around the dirt on the inside.
"If we can't find a place nearby or somethin', this will have to do." He huffs as he continues working at his little project which should keep the three of us nice and warm, combined with the two blankets we have.
It actually looks quite cozy, the stump acts as a wind barrier but if the snow changes direction we're screwed. I wouldn't mind trying to sleep here if push comes to shove.
"I like it." I smiling shyly as I sit on one of the fallen logs nearby while he continues to work, grinning as well.
The flakes completely stop falling after a few more minutes of dead silence, the sun warms up a bit of what damage the snowfall has done, but it's still slightly cold to the touch when the wind rustles around.
It must have been what feels like an hour or two since anyone spoke, Luke stops digging, pleased with what he created as he glances up at me flashing me a big grin.
"There, now we can continue movin' and if all else fails; at least we still have this stump." Picking himself up off of the ground he walks slowly over towards me, clearly his sweater is soaked through but he continues to keep on smiling.
I can't help but feel only sadness, Kenny and Carlos did that suicide run only to keep us safe; but why? Were they just tired of living, did they give up all hope? Why did they risk everything for just two idiots and a girl?
"Everythin' alright, kiddo?"
Luke takes a seat next to me on the log, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and gazing down at me waiting for a response.
What do I say? 'Sorry that I'm the reason everyone died?' It's true; if I had shot Claire sooner Rebecca and Carlos still would have been here.
Silence lingers between the both of us, nothing but the slight breeze rustling the tree branches, and the occasional distant Lurker that stumbles around aimlessly in the snow before dissolving under the blowing loose flakes, making a quick mental note of where not to step each time one of them vanishes under the powder.
"Clem?" He asks again after waiting a bit, pulling me a little bit closer towards him.
Every muscle in my body is drained completely, the blanket keeps me warmer than I would be without it on but it's still freezing outside in the open. I have been curious lately about Luke's past, not before this all happened but why they were running away from Carver in the first place.
"I'm fine; I'm just, wondering why you never told me why you were escaping Carver in the first place way back when." My voice trails off, noticing his attitude go from content to discomfort in a matter of seconds.
He hesitates, scrunching his face up as if he's thinking about what to say, or if he should even say it.
"I didn't want you to worry, you were young at the time and we all had enough to deal with. But it started out like this; dad didn't want nothin' to do with weaklings- people who couldn't do much as it is. Mom couldn't be in control of her division when he started the 'safe zone' so he forced me into it. I was dealin' with issues I couldn't even handle myself, and with him barkin' orders at me to 'teach those slackers a lesson' I just had enough. I rallied some of the outcasts who hated his enforcement rules and late at night we broke out without anythin' detectin' us whatsoever. He must have gotten Avery to do my job and taught her what to do if she's runnin' the damn thing now." His eyes glaze over intensely, reliving some of the pain and trauma he had to endure.
"You saw what he did to Kenny." He added subtly after finishing his story, gazing off into the distance watching the Lurkers trudge on through the snow far away from us with difficulty.
That's right, Carver wasn't in the right mind to begin with way before this started. Trying to take control is one thing, but manipulating others to do your business is another.
I lean my head against his shoulder, the familiar scent lingers on his clothes still, slightly pressing against it lightly while he breathes in deeply, smiling a tiny bit and holding onto me for a few more minutes surrounded by this freezing new world the blizzard had left behind.
Nick hasn't been back yet in a long time, he stormed off a few hours ago; I wonder if he's okay. Luke's been trying not to think about him, but I know he has and I know he knows it's getting to me as well.
As much as I enjoy spending time with Luke right now in this moment, I can't help but feel that Nick's still angry about what happened. I remember in the cabin that he kept hiding tiny pieces of paper and around Luke he was even more hostile than he ever was. Maybe it's about time we go ahead and look for him.
Carefully, I manage to get up and stand upright, unwrapping myself from the blanket and handing it to Luke who looks confused, but stuffs it back into his bag anyways.
"You're not thinkin' about lookin' for him are you?" The tone in his voice seems a bit hurt, which doesn't make sense to me at all considering they're supposed to be friends.
"Aren't you his friend? He needs us Luke; he's by himself." Quickly I move towards the faded footprints that were originally Nick's and begin to follow them, leaving Luke a few feet behind me.
"Wait up then, Clem." Sounding less amused than ever, he eventually hauls himself up off of the log and follows along after me.
It feels like an eternity, stomping through the snow that's almost up to my knees as Luke sticks behind me with his machete in his hand, I don't understand where he could have disappeared to; there's literally nowhere else to go.
Minutes glaze by slowly, nothing leads to where he could be, besides heavy thickets of fallen trees coated in snow with bushes taller than me everywhere. This could take longer than I had hoped.
"There's a frozen lake around here somewhere, maybe he went there?" Luke finally gives out a helpful suggestion as to where he could be, other than just 'I don't care.'
That could be a start, maybe there was something there that he wanted; or Claire's little gang captured him. I hope it's the first one.
Fewer and fewer Lurkers are wandering around this frigid wasteland, their scent is dulled by the crisp, snowy scent of winter which I'm not complaining about; smelling melted Lurkers is the worst thing out there.
Eventually we reach the lake in a far distance, the thick trees make it impossible to even see the damn thing with little to no leaves left on their branches, there's at least a million pine trees covered in snow lining the area around the lake so I can't tell how big it is; or if there's any cabins nearby where he could be inside of.
"We should split up; but keep in sight so that way we can find him." I offer, Luke agrees quietly in case Claire's group is still out here still, looking for us.
Carefully, I make my way down the path alone, splitting up with Luke for a minute or two to search out the area in case Nick's nearby. I still have my revolver hidden inside my pocket along with that small screwdriver, the rest of my stuff I managed to lose along the way.
There's literally no sound, besides the wind whistling through the trees and my own thoughts inside my head.
He couldn't have gotten far; Luke said that usually when he was mad he'd sit at the edge of the lake and watch the water. And if it was frozen he'd usually walk along the edges of it.
It was dead silence for a long time up until the part where I heard Luke hollering across a field's worth of trees towards me, waving his arms frantically above his head trying to grab my attention. Instantly I start dashing towards him, tripping a little in the snow before finally;
it happened.
A rotting arm reaches out from below one of the snow drifts, grabbing my leg tightly and pulling me down towards the solid frozen ground. I let out a scream in confusion before the diseased thing starts trying to sink its teeth into my leg; quickly I pull out the screwdriver, stabbing it repeatedly in its disgusting, decaying eyes as the crimson liquid pours out from the sockets, staining the snow with a nice dark red color. Falling limp, I kick the body away, regaining my balance and hunched over; panting and trying to catch whatever breath I have left.
"Holy shit," The words feel rough against my throat, my heart pounds furiously with adrenaline as I glance up to see Luke standing there; paralyzed at what just happened.
I can't even imagine how helpless Luke must've felt, watching it all happen from far away. I should be more careful, and actually pay attention to the ground; since after all I was making mental notes on where Lurkers fell in the distance.
Eventually I reach Luke, and almost instantly he wrapped his cold arms around me.
"Shit Clem, you scared me. I couldn't even help if you got grabbed-"
He was cut off by slowly pulling away from me and gazing down at the ground in shock. There was a little trail of blood leading a little ways down off of the path from the corner of his eye, along with scuffled footprints in the snow. He quickly starts heading down without saying another word, following the blood path until he disappears behind a few trees and bushes and instantly drops to his knees.
There lies a body, sitting neatly against a tree. A body wearing a brown cap, a navy blue and white long sleeved shirt, messy short black hair; and terrified blue eyes. Mangled and bloody, with his eyes wide open, and a look of pain and misery spread across his restless face.
My legs give out from beneath me; Nick was everything to me as much as Luke was. Seeing him like this really does a number on me, and what happened between the two of them. Maybe now Luke finally realized how much of a jerk he truly was being.
"Who did this...?" Unable to peel my eyes off of Nick's body, my voice comes out dark and dangerous, gazing up at Luke's unaffected facial expression.
He then kneels down, feeling around his body for any other signs other than just open wounds where he was stricken by something heavy, he doesn't seem to be rotting either, and there're no visible bites. This looks like the work of Claire's group.
Nick... Just like that, he's gone.
My mind jumps to that night where he scared the shit out of me in the kitchen, that conversation we had and my curiousity jumped at the piece of paper he was writing on. Something was there that he didn't want me to see before, for all I know he left it back at the cabin to rot away and for someone else to find.
He checks his pockets, pulling out his bloody screwdriver and a few crumpled up pieces of paper; handing both of them to me silently.
I guess he didn't forget it after all.
Confused, I take his offering, sticking the other screwdriver in my pocket, and rolling the pieces of paper around between my fingers. If Luke handed it over to me without saying anything then he must have known about it beforehand, I pondering the question; deciding on whether or not I should read them right now with Luke standing right there if it's anything that I think it is.
"Later, open them later. We need to get back to that-" He was already cut off by the sound of tree branches snapping nearby, grabbing his attention completely and causing hostile emotions to flare around the cold, October weather.
Shit
Luke's eyes dart from where the snapping noise was to where I'm standing. Carefully he manages to undo his machete from his backstrap, his soft dark eyes lock onto mine, as if they're telling me to turn around and run back to the stump; alone.
"Go." He quietly whispers, loud enough for me to hear, clearly we're being watched. But the question is, by who, and how many weapons they have if it's who I think it is.
If I break for it I might get shot, or better yet end up dead.
Frozen with fear I stay where I am, Luke grips the machete tightly, turning around and charging at where the noise came from, hacking and slashing through the thick bushes until a couple people with vests and huge coats pop up with weapons and bullets.
"GO! RUN BACK!" I've never heard Luke bellow that loud before in my life, without second guessing anything I book it down to where we came from. Bullets whiz by, each of them missing me by a few hairs while I dash out of the crossfire, and continue sprinting up the tiny hill towards the stump burrow that Luke had made.
The gunfire is faint, but well heard throughout the quiet forest. Lurkers manage to pop up from beneath the loose snow, stumbling and snarling around as they manage to rise to their feet and head in the same direction I had just ran from. Luckily I made it safe and sound inside the burrow, wrapped up in that blanket that I had taken from the cabin.
Please tell me you'll be alright, Nick's gone, now I really can't afford to lose you too.
A few Lurkers stagger along pretty close to where I am, completely unnoticing me as they continue to trudge through the dense snow towards the gunfire that's still going on.
Carefully, I reach inside my pocket to pull out the tiny papers, unravelling them only to notice that they're ripped up and I'll have to piece them together. And by the looks of it; three tiny pieces isn't enough to put together the full message.
Somebody must have taken a few pieces, but why?
The first three go along together, evealling a part of the message:
What the Hell am I even doing, writing this shit down. Look, Clementine, I'd give anything to make sure that you're safe. There I said it. Why can't I just tell you in person how I feel? Fuck it, just fuck it all, I don't give a shit anymore; I love you. I fucking, love you. And-
The rest of it is completely smudged and ripped off, so there's four pieces to this letter; and Nick only had three on him.
Tears stream down my cheeks, trying to muffle the silent tears with the blanket as I put the pieces away in the front pocket of my bag.
I always knew something was up with him, the way he acted around Luke, the furious bottle chugging he did, why would he drown himself in alcohol just to keep himself silent? Did Luke say anything to him that made him do this, or did he do this before and that's what he did to cope with things like this? I'll never know, and honestly I hope Lee is looking after him along with everyone else...
The firing stops instantly, that could only mean one thing; Luke's dead too.
The tears continue to flow even harder, not just for the loss of Nick, but the loss of Luke as well. I never intended to be alone, I couldn't even imagine being all by myself in this world of abomination. And now that I have no one left to continue on living with, do I even deserve this right to live at all?
Once again, the shots start up again, I'm assuming because of the Lurkers that were headed towards the direction. Maybe, just maybe Luke survived and is holding out somewhere.
Should I leave the stump and look around for him? Am I even prepared to find him dead like Nick...? He told me to come here if anything bad happens, so maybe I should wait...
I'm actually quite warm in here, despite the fact that there's snow compacted tightly together and it's cold on my bare skin if I touch it.
The late afternoon sky slowly begins to diminish into dusk, within a couple hours it'll soon be night, I can already feel the temperature beginning to drop. Maybe I should keep waiting here for him.
Already, as if my prayers were heard; I hear the sound of steadily crunching footsteps across the crisp, soft snow coming towards me. It's not zigzagging, and there's no shuffling sounds to indicate that it's a stray Lurker, maybe its him...
My heart thumps, it could also be them as well.
"Kiddo?" His dark brown eyes meet mine and a wide smile spreads across my face, he returns the favor by taking out the other blanket he had and crawling down inside the burrow beside me.
Darkness folds over the sky, limiting our vision to just a few inches in front of our faces and for once the forest was silent, no Lurkers, no gunfire, just pure peaceful silence.
Luke wraps himself up in the blanket he brought, as I shift myself against the thick roots of the tree, making some room for him in this surprisingly huge hole.
Should I ask what happened..? I'm curious how he even got out of that alive...
"Luke," carefully I begin to search for the words to use, I don't want to upset him.
He turns his head towards me while his body lays stretching out.
"Yeah, kid?"
Panic seeps in, now that I have his attention if I say the wrong thing...
"How did you- I mean-"
"How did I escape? I knew those people, so they let me go easily. But, the Lurkers showed up. Things got messy." He forces out an assuring smile even though I can barely see it in the night.
"Oh, but, if they knew it was you then why chase us?" The words just naturally slip out, I hope he forgives me.
He stays silent for a long time, unable to answer that question.
"I... I don't know Clem, I really don't." He admits, resting his head against a small rock and gazing up at whatever stars he can see through the medium sized hole that leads down into the ground.
Does he truly mean it? Why am I even questioning him, he would never lie to me, and he will protect me, just like he promised.
The sweet silence is like music to my ears, for once I'm not concerned about anything lurking in the forest like I usually am. A nice, gentle snowfall starts up again; causing Luke to turn on his side facing me as he's bundled up in his blanket, resting his face inches away from mine to shield himself from the stray snowflakes that find their way in here.
"Night, kiddo. A lots happened today; we need this." He smiles once more before closing his eyes gently and minutes after breathing heavily.
Feeling a little cold, I loosen my blanket a little so I can easily turn if I can't get comfortable, nuzzling up against Luke to keep warm. The icy touch of his frozen skin against my burning cheeks tingles greatly, I hope it's enough to keep him warm.
I really do miss Nick and I wish he was here to experience this with us; I know it was Claire's group who killed him, but why? Kenny and Carlos, it must have been me that Kenny wanted to protect after years of losing loved ones, but Carlos didn't have to run in there like that... So much has happened in these past three days; and it's just down to Luke and I.