-
You've all been walking so long the sun has finally risen.
You're so tired.
Your fatigue reminds you of the morning after you met James, carrying AJ's frail body back to the school. Things were different then. Part of you would even say they were easier, but you know you shouldn't compare the situations. Not like this.
You're bitten. It's definitely different now.
Clementine is slung against you, her leg dragging against the ground and axe in her free hand as you both trail after AJ.
In your bad arm, you're holding her knife, though even the slightest odd movement makes you bite your tongue to stop a cry of pain.
All around you are sounds of eerie growls and snarls of zombies.
As you all walk amidst the trees you can even see some wandering yards away from where you all are. Thankfully they don't see any of you, honestly, you don't know if any of you could handle more of them attacking you.
You and Clementine look at each other, and she can't even manage a smile as she peers up into your low eyes. She looks exhausted, a sheen of sweat on her forehead and dark rims around her eyes. You know she's going to lose too much blood if you don't deal with her leg soon.
You look away at the thought, your eyes catching AJ's ahead of you. He turns his head back around, his shoulders slumping as he walks with the gun in his hands.
"Hey. We love you," Clementine speaks up, picking up on his sadness too.
He slows to a stop at her words, prompting you both to do the same. Your body isn't sure whether to thank you for the brief stop or ache even worse.
"Don't ever forget that, kid. We love you so much," you say softly, meaning it with every fiber of your being.
You can feel Clementine tremble in your hold. She's only spoken to you once, and that was when you accidentally fell along the way.
-
"Y/n please, I need you," she whispers, her voice wavering and cracking in pain as she mutters the words.
You pull her closer to you without a word, and your smile doesn't go unnoticed as you lean your forehead against hers.
The entire world feels like it's slowly crashing down onto you, but your eyes can't seem to look away from Clementine's shaking figure, oddly enough, that's the only thing that's causing you pain right now. And the pain coming from your shoulder would've been hard to miss, but as Clementine's hands rub the sides of your face you start to wonder if she was a healing balm to all your pains and worries.
With her, it's so easy to forget.
"I'm sorry Clem," you mutter, stroking the side of her face with your thumb. "But I'd always rather it be me than you both. I'm so sorry you both have to see me this way."
She lets out a heartbreaking sob in your lap, hiding her face in the crook of your neck as she does her best to contain herself. You push her back with no ill-intent, just enough to see her face once more, and oh, you fucking crumble when you see it; Tears run down her face seeming to no end, her eyes dark and the only emotion you recognize in them is pain, her eyebrows furrowed and her bottom lip pouting and trembling as she tries her best to stop another sob from escaping her.
"None of that, now, c'mon." You tilt her head up slightly to meet your gaze. You give her the softest and widest smile you can manage, and that only seems to make her expression even worse. "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispers.
She seals her words with a kiss. The salty taste of her tears is forgotten when you feel the passion she puts behind the kiss, her lips pushing against yours with a bruising force you've never felt from her before.
It's brief, but it means everything.
You know some things aren't meant to last forever, especially not in a world like this, but you can't help but think how much you would've loved to spend forever with these two.
-
AJ turns around, breaking you out of your thoughts. He stares up at you with his eyes that seem so innocent, despite everything, a swirl of light browns that seem to glow with the rising sun.
He smiles, "I love you guys too."
You both smile back.
The sound of crows flying away next to you all jerks you back to your alert states, eyes wide as you watch them disappear into the trees.
You're the one to pull Clem forward this time, repeating her mantra, "Keep moving forward."
AJ nods and starts walking again, but quickly comes to a stop at a clearing. "Look! James' barn!"
You both walk up to his side, staring at the barn ahead. It looks like a sanctuary as the golden rays of the sun peek up behind it. Maybe if you didn't know what once lurked inside you'd be more relieved to see it.
"It's empty now. We'll be safe in there," AJ says with relief hidden in his words.
You may be safe in there. But then what?
You swallow harshly. Your throat feels oddly dry, your skin prickles with an odd sensation that makes you want to shed out of your sweaty skin. You can't help but think part of your exhaustion might also be from the bite.
You shiver at the thought.
A twig harshly snaps, making you and Clementine look past AJ. Fear envelops your body when you see the zombies have finally caught up to you all. It might've been okay if it were just them, but when you look to the left you see more zombies emerging from the trees.
"Run! Now!" you yell to AJ who's frozen in shock.
He doesn't hesitate with your command.
You and Clementine rush along. She only pulls apart from you to kill a zombie on her side, and you can tell she's using up all the power she has left as she struggles to pull her axe from its head.
AJ kills any zombies that don't get close to either of you, but still too close for comfort. The sounds of gunshots ring through the air.
You kill a zombie approaching you and rush back over to her, keeping her stable as she finally rips the axe away. She takes a few deep breaths to center her head that feels worryingly light as you both catch up to AJ.
You all look around in a panic, watching as what basically looks like a herd approaches from both sides of the barn.
You'll be sure to thank James later.
"Move! Go, AJ, run!" Clementine forces out, groaning in pain.
He hesitates, his eyes flickering from you to her.
"We're right behind you, kid," you say determinedly.
He nods and runs forward to the barn doors.
As you and Clementine pull each other along you stumble to the ground from a rock, a groan of pain escaping your chest. You feel so tired. Part of you wants to stay on the ground, to fall into the comfortable embrace of sleep, maybe then you'd have a chance to have some rest with your aching bones.
Not yet. You can't run away just yet, not without taking care of them first.
You force yourself up with Clementine's help and a gunshot sounds inches away from your head, and you flinch, watching a zombie meters away fall to the ground at your feet.
"C'mon, we can make it!" AJ yells from the door, lowering his gun with anxious eyes as he watches you both.
Each step feels like ten pounds of bricks is dragging you down, but you both manage to get to the door. As you both walk in, AJ shoots any zombies that were hot on your trail, threatening to come through the doors with you.
You shut the door quickly.
You and Clementine lean your weight on it, holding back against all the zombies that try and burst through. Each thud against the door makes you feel dizzier, your head pounding as your boots dig into the dirt, trying to keep yourself upright.
"We need something to stick between the handles," you hear Clementine faintly say through the bangs against the door.
Before you can even react AJ's rushing over and grabbing a rake. He jams it through the handles.
You put your arm around Clementine and you both step back from the door. She grabs her axe and tries to put some of her weight on it, noting how you can barely hold her up. Just as you feel relief wash over you it's immediately snatched away when the zombies start breaking through the sides of the barn.
"We need to get those pen doors closed... before they get through," you force out, each word you utter feeling like nails being dragged along your throat.
You aren't sure what happens next but you feel like you're flying. Then your body crashes into the hard ground. You faintly hear a shout as your head hits the ground, you aren't sure if it's your own or theirs, but it echoes for a few moments regardless.
Something lands on top of you shortly after, knocking the air from your lungs as you force your eyes open.
You see Clem on top of you, her eyes glossy with tears as she stares down at you.
"Hey, I'm okay," you say tiredly, sitting up.
You regain the air in your lungs as you push yourself back, Clementine crawling along after you as you lean against some hay toward the back of the barn. The cries of pain she lets out as she crawls next to you break your heart.
She tries to get up, and painfully fails as she's sent back to the ground.
You shakily get up, your body swaying for a few moments but ultimately standing regardless. AJ looks from you to Clem worriedly, but his face hardens as he reaches behind himself. He pulls out his gun and reaches it out to Clementine, "Cover us."
She stares up at you both momentarily in shock as you pick up the axe off the ground, your eyes looking into hers reassuringly. She wants to cry at the sight of your face, exhaustion wearing on your features, the way your eyes are slowly losing the warmth they hold.
She has to trust you both, and she does.
She takes the gun and you're both off.
AJ closes the first door and you go for the next. A few zombies manage to break in and you deal with one while Clem shoots the other two.
"Shit, AJ! Over there!" she yells just as you yank your axe out of the zombie's head.
You spin around and see him struggling to push the door. You stumble over and cut the rope holding the pen door open, and just as you do a zombie breaks in. AJ quickly shuts the door before either of you could do anything.
You get out of its reach with a huff.
Some zombies break through near the front, the last door you both had to close. A shot rips through the air as Clem shoots one, but the sound of the gun clicking follows shortly after.
You glance at AJ and nod at him with determination, and you both rush toward the zombies. Every move you make is draining, but you hold out even as your body seems to weigh you down. Your resolve only lasts a few moments, but it's enough for you to take out two of the four zombies.
You can't even pull the axe out of the second one's skull, no matter how hard your body tries. Instead, you fall to your knees, gasping for air that there didn't seem to be enough of.
AJ finally gets the last door shut after killing two more zombies. He places his hands on his knees and catches his breath.
"Good job, kid," you breathily whisper as you fall back towards Clementine.
"You did great, AJ," Clementine says with a forced smile, the pain obvious on her face. You grab her hand in yours, feeling like you were getting bitten all over again when you feel how cold it is. You're sure yours feels the same because she tenses, her grip on you tightening almost painfully.
"Now what?" he asks, turning back toward you both.
She keeps her eyes on him. "You need to find a way out of here."
He looks around anxiously, then his eyes brighten as if he has an idea. He looks up, "We can climb up there. The monsters can't reach us up there."
He steps in front of you both, his voice tense with a slight edge of panic, "Let's go. Easy climb! C'mon."
Neither of you moves as you glance at Clementine's leg, then the bite on yours.
AJ swallows dryly, "Please... try."
You try first, but no matter how much force you try to use to push yourself up, it's all in vain as you slide back down. You aren't sure what to feel. There's so much of nothing and everything racing through your brain right now.
All you know for certain is you can feel your body getting weaker by the second.
Clementine tries to get up, and fails. Your heart breaks as she slumps back against you with a whimper of pain.
AJ looks purely shocked, shaking his head in defiance, "You can't give up! You can't give up! I need you guys."
"I'm so sorry kiddo," Clementine mutters tiredly, her eyes sad as she stares up at him.
"This is just what happens sometimes," you rasp out.
He shakes his head upsetly, "But... but it wasn't supposed to happen to you guys!"
Just as you're about the speak the world goes dark again.
-
It feels like your eyes open just as quickly as they shut.
You're in your old room. Wait... you're in your old room? You look around with wide eyes, blinky rapidly as if you'd awake from whatever state you were in.
It doesn't work.
You try to calm yourself with heavy breaths, blinking back tears at the sight of your old home. Your room looks just like it used to, untouched, toys scattered over the floor, pictures on the dresser, drawings and random posters pinned to the walls. You look down and realize you're wearing one of your favorite sweaters, your legs swaddled in soft, fuzzy blankets.
You don't know what day it is. But it must be a good one.
A soft knock makes you jerk your head up, and your eyes widen when you see your mom standing at the door. You feel frozen as she walks over to you with a soft smile, her eyes scanning you bundled in the sheets.
You quickly push away the sheets, diving for her at the foot of your bed.
She staggers back slightly but gives a watery chuckle as she wraps her arms around you.
Her laugh sounds the same.
"I missed you so much," you croak out, letting the tears that gathered at the corners of your eyes finally fall as you squeeze your eyes shut, burying your head into the crook of her neck.
She pulled you deeper into her embrace, making a breathless sob finally escape your mouth.
"I know you do, honey. I missed you too."
She was warm. Oh god, she was so warm you'd have thought you'd been cold your entire life until she wrapped her arms around you again, like you were dealing with hypothermia and didn't realize it until you came around her. She looked just how she used to, not having aged a day since you last saw her.
But she looked healthier, happier.
She didn't have that bullet in the center of her head or those lifeless eyes that made your soul want to leave your body. She was just... herself. Alive in all that she could be, the way you had imagined she'd be, it was perfect.
"Never leave me again. Okay?" you whisper brokenly as you pull back to look up at her, in hopes that she'd agree, that she'd let you stay with her forever and mean it this time.
She shakes her head sadly, tears now falling down her cheeks. She brushes your hair out of your face, lovingly stroking the side of your face.
"You need to go back, hun. They're waiting for you, just like you waited for me."
"No! I can't go without you again. Not when you- I can't," you said selfishly, wanting to fall to your knees.
She held you up though, like she always had, when there was no reason to keep pushing she was there, telling you to get back up and keep going, to do it like she knew you could.
"You can. You have them with you now. They need you like you needed me, and you know you need them too," she says with a slight glare, letting you know it wasn't up for debate.
You wanted to shake your head and laugh, to tell her she hasn't changed, that she was that same after all these years.
But instead, you swallowed your lingering pain, struggling with the lump in your throat and you nodded determinedly.
This wasn't the end. Not yet, at least.
You felt the room around you fading faster than you saw it, and you gripped onto her tighter, not sure if you were ready. The look on her face told you she knew what you were thinking, and her reassuring grin was enough for you to manage a heartbreaking one right back.
"I love you, mom."
"I love you too, Y/n."
-
You wake up with a groan, something rumbling beneath you.
You try to see through your blurry vision, confusion swarming you with the utterly painful sensation in your leg and the familiar sight of the walls of your van.
"She's awake!" you hear someone shout, their voice muffled despite them being feet away from you.
They crouch down to your body slumped against the wall, their hands holding your face.
You can make out Violet's purple jacket and blonde hair even through the fog clouding your vision, and you can see the faint glimmer of tears in her eyes as they catch in the light.
"Y/n- shit, shit, shit. Please don't die on me. You'll be okay, just stay with me, okay?" she strains.
Your body protests. You can feel yourself slipping back into the comforting pull of relief.
"Vi? Where did y- how... where's Clem? AJ?" you slur out.
She says something else.
It's something you don't get to hear as your eyes flutter shut once more, pulling you back into the depths of darkness.
________________
Y'all the urge to kill everyone off is so strong 😭
This chap kinda got stalled cause I wanted to watch the finale of RDC's playthrough, so my bad
This chapter was a crazy one for me because there's so many ways I could end this rn- A big part of me wants to change the ending fr. Either way, next chapter is the last one and I can't thank y'all enough who stuck around to the end <3
- Junebug :)