I sighed as I walked down the hallway. Clem and Aj right next to me. I tried not to think about the game. 'That question..' it repeated in my head. 'Ever have to kill someone you love?..' I sighed. Nobody was talking. I also remembered Violets question. 'Who's gonna die first?..' I felt bad about my choice. 'Why did I say that.. I should have just stayed silent.' We walked into our room. I noticed there were two bunk beds.
"I'll sleep on the top bunk." I smiled, Clem looked at me with a frown.
"But, your ankle (Y/N). I'll sleep on the top for now until you get better. Alright?" She asked I suddenly remembered my ankle.
"Right, I almost forgot about it. But yeah, we can do that." I smiled, Clem nodded. Suddenly Aj pointed at the door.
"Only way out." He spoke confidently. I nodded.
"Correct! One gold star for you Aj." I smiled, he grinned to himself. Clem walked over to the dresser and put her hat down. I placed my crutches underneath my bed and laid down, I laid out my ankle to give it a break. I smiled as Aj began to look at the colourful box from earlier.
"This box has sooo many colours." He pulled out a few pencils.
"What's your favourite Aj?" I asked, sitting up a bit. He turned to me and showed me a colour.
"Uhhh this one is nice." He looked at it. I smiled.
"That's called Turquoise." I smiled, he looked at the colour again.
"Turcose...?" She tried to pronounce it, Clem chuckled beside me.
"Tur-quo-ise." Clem spoke slowly.
"Turquoise.. I like it." He smiled and placed it back into the box.
"What's your favourite colour (Y/N)?" He asked me. I stood up and limped over to the box. I looked and reached my hand in. Pulling out a (F/C)(favourite colour) Pencil. I showed it to him.
"Oh. That's a nice colour too." He smiled. I nodded.
"Yeah.. it was my grandmas favourite too." I smiled and placed it back into the box. Aj sat down on the chair and began to draw with the pencils.
"Your pretty good Aj. You'll make a great artist one day." I looked at him beginning to draw, he looked up at me.
"What's an artist?" He asked, confused. I smiled.
"It's someone who.. draws and colours a lot. There's many kinds of arts. In this case your drawing, and that's a type of art." Aj looked a bit surprised.
"There's different kinds of art?" He questioned.
"Mmhm. Painting, music, writing.. their all kinds of arts in their own way." I smiled. Aj nodded and began to draw again. Suddenly the door opened and Violet walked in. Me and Clem turned to her.
"O-oh.. shit. I didn't realize Marlon set you up in this room." She spoke. We both watched her walk in.
"I just wanted to grab something.. from the closet." She opened it and Clem walked up to the desk with me and Aj. We all looked at each other awkwardly.
"Where the hell is it.." She groaned. She turned and her eyes widened a bit, she pointed to the box on the desk.
"Oh.." She quickly spoke
"..what?" Clem looked at the desk as if something was wrong.
"That's what I was looking for.. it belonged to Sophie." She told, I frowned, immediately feeling bad. Clem looked at her a bit confused.
"Tenn's sister.. she passed away about a year ago.. Tenn was asking for more art supplies and stuff.. so I was going to.." She took a few steps forward.
"Oh... we're sorry.. we didn't know.." I quickly apologized, Violet smiled a bit.
"Oh no.. no it's fine.. don't worry about it. Honestly it's just been sitting here for the past year and no ones touched it.." She turned to walk to the door.
"If Aj wants to play with it.. it's fine." She finished. I looked at Aj. Clem sighed.
"You should probably give the box back. It doesn't belong to us." She told him. Aj frowned. I gave him a few pats to hopefully cheer him up.
"It's just that Tenn wanted it.. and it's his sisters so.." Violet explained.
"It's okay.." Aj looked down.
"It's fine, I mean you've all done so much for us, so it's totally okay that you want it back." I told her. She nodded.
"Thanks. You can finish your drawing though. I don't mind." She smiled a bit. Aj's eyes lit up and he continued to draw. Violet and Clem began to talk amongst themselves near the bed as I watched Aj draw. Aj smiled at me.
"Hey (Y/N).. your not allowed to look yet!" He whined, he covered the paper with his arms. I fake frowned at him.
"Whattt..! Why notttt..!" I pretended that I was gonna cry. Aj laughed.
"Because it's a surprise. And your not crying, I can tell." He raised an eyebrow at me. I smirked.
"Let me seee..!" I began to tickle his side and he bursted out laughing. He tried to push my hands away, but my strength was obviously superior. I stopped after a bit and Aj lightly punched my shoulder. I smiled and he turned back to his drawing. I decided to look through the colours of the pencils since I was bored. Looking at the colours reminded me of home when I was young, and school. Colouring in the art room was one of my favourite things as a kid. I frowned. I truly loved art, but could never do it since it's not that easy anymore. Suddenly Aj's voice cut me out of my thoughts.
"Clem, (Y/N). I'm an artist now!" He called out. I looked at Aj and he revealed his drawing. I looked at it in awe. It obviously wasn't the best drawing ever. But it was still adorable. It was a picture of me, Aj, and Clem. We were holding hands and at the bottom in very messing writing it's said 'Thank you (Y/N), and Clem, for proteking me' I couldn't help but smile right away at it. Violet looked at then quickly looked away.
"I should get back..." She walked over to the box on the desk and began to close it. She turned to the door and opened it.
"Thanks for the box. Your pretty cool Aj." She complimented. I smiled. She smiled back at me and Clem and walked out.
"See ya." She waved a bit. Clem waved back.
"Yeah, see ya." She called out. Violet slowly closed the door behind her. I yawned. I slowly started to inch back to my bed. I sat down and slowly put my leg on a pillow to comfort it. My eyes immediately felt droopy. Clem's talks with Aj slowly faded away as my eyes finally closed, putting me to sleep.
I slowly climbed up the stairs. It was difficult to do with one foot since I was limping, but at least I didn't really need the crutches anymore. Clem was right beside me if I needed help. I smiled as Aj dashed in front of us to the top of the staircase. The sun shined bright and lit up the whole room. We caught up to Aj on the first set of stairs. I leaned on the railing to give my leg a break. I sighed as I put my hand on my bandaged eye. 'This would be a lot easier if I had two eyes.. and my ankle.' I sighed to myself. Aj excitedly turned to us.
"He's gonna let us stay right?" He quickly asked. I smiled and Clem chuckled.
"We'll see buddy." I told him Aj looked at my ankle.
"Well.. he wouldn't make you go out with your ankle like that." He added. I looked down at it.
"Well, were gonna find that out. Let's find his office." Clem told. I nodded. Aj smiled brightly.
"I know where it is! Follow me!" He quickly began to climb up the second set of stairs. Clem looked at me and I chuckled a bit. She helped me up the second set of stairs and we walked into Marlon's office. Tenn was sitting on the floor playing with some figurines. He turned and looked at us.
"Tenn's here!" Aj smiled, sitting down in front of him. I smiled at them both. Tenn turned to me and Clem.
"Hey Clem, Hey (Y/N)!" He greeted. I waved at him.
"Hello Tenn." I smiled. He nodded and turned back to his toys. I limped over to Marlon's desk to take a break again. I watched Aj and Tenn play. Tenn then turned to Clem.
"Thanks for the pencils." Tenn told. Clem bent down to the boys level.
"No problem." She smiled, Aj then picked up one of the figurines.
"Who are these guys..?" He asked, holding one up that looked like a firefighter. I slowly limped over and sat with the group. I looked at the figurine. I smiled.
"Their firefighters." He explained. Aj then picked up the policeman figurine. I frowned.
"That's a policeman. She's gonna save the day!" Tenn excitedly told him, he pushed a little fire truck around. Aj looked at it, still confused.
"But what are they?" He asked Tenn. Tenn stopped pushing his firetruck and looked at Aj.
"They.. they were people that protected us." He explained. I looked down. 'Dad.. mom..' I frowned. Since I grew up with two parents who were police officers (sorry if your parents aren't police officers :p) this conversation really bothered me. Aj turned to me.
"What are they?" He asked me, I looked down at the figurine.
"A.. A lot of them died trying to protect us at the beginning, but.. I'm sure there's one out there somewhere.. you'll meet one one day." I told, I smiled. Aj smiled as well.
"That would be cool." Aj looked at me happily. I smiled and nodded.
"Super cool." Tenn agreed. I chuckled. Aj looked at the figurine again.
"Now give it to me and..-" Tenn began to reach for his toy back, But Aj pulled away from him.
"N-No. he's mine now." He glared at Tenn, keeping the toy from him. Me and Clem's eyes widened at Aj's sudden bad behaviour.
"You don't even know what they are!" Tenn hissed, reaching out for the toy again. Clem sighed, obviously seen enough. She grabbed the toy from Aj's hands.
"Okay.. that's enough you two." She scolded. Aj stood up, clearly upset. My eyebrows furrowed.
"It's not yours anymore." He growled. Tenn stuck his tongue out at him.
"Aj." I glared at him. He crossed his arms. Clem returned the toy back to Tenn. Tenn smiled and grabbed it from her.
"It's mine." Aj glared at Clem. She crossed her arms.
"No Aj. That's not how things work, you can't claim something that doesn't belong to you buddy." I told him. He looked away with his arms crossed.
"Ugh fine." He frowned. I sighed and stood up. Clem looked at Tenn. Tenn smiled and hugged the toy.
"Thanks.." he thanked her. Clem nodded. She then looked at the door.
"Do you know where Marlon is?" Clem asked him. Tenn shook his head and stood up.
"I don't know.. he should be around.. I can go find him." Tenn told her, Clem smiled at him.
"Thanks Tenn, that's very nice of you." I told him. He nodded at me and walked out he door to find him. I leaned against the desk again. Aj then noticed something on the dresser. He pointed to it.
"Look!" He spoke, running over. Clem followed him and I slowly limped over.
"What is it Aj?" Clem asked. Aj picked up a picture off the dresser and looked at it. I glanced over the small boys shoulder and immediately smiled. It was a picture of Louis and Marlon. They had sports jerseys on and had their arms wrapped around each other. I smiled, I couldn't look away from the picture.
"It's a picture.. of Marlon and Louis.. their so little.." Aj told, Clem smiled at it as well.
"Just like you buddy." I messed with Aj's hair and he giggled grabbing my hand. Clem chuckled.
"Yeah.. they must have known each other for a long time.." She looked at the picture again. Suddenly the door creaked open a bit. I jumped a bit, and we all looked towards the door. Weirdly, nobody had walked in yet. I felt a bit nervous. 'Maybe the wind blew the door or something?' I thought as we all stared at it.
"Marlon..?" Clem called out. Suddenly the door was busted open. It was Rosie, the dog. She saw us and immediately took a defensive aggressive stance. Clem immediately started backing up. Rosie started to growl and walk towards us.
"S-Stay back.." Clem stuttered, I could tell she was scared. I stood in front of her protectively and glared at the dog as we all backed away from it. I froze when we were stopped by the desk behind us. I looked at the dog and I got ready to defend myself, Clem, and Aj if needed. Suddenly Marlon walked in, a worried expression on his face.
"Woah..! What the hell is going on?" He asked, he noticed Rosie and immediately bent down to calm her down, he stroked her head which seemed to calm her down.
"Hey hey.. it's okay girl..shhhh.." Rosie stayed close to Marlon as he pet her, he looked up at us with a 'sorry' look.
"You said dogs brought back bad memories... I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so scared of them.." Marlon told Clem, I looked down. I slowly slid away from in front of them and Rosie growled at me. My heart quickened.
"Hey, Rosie. Sorry about that.. both of you." Marlon apologized. I nodded at him, making sure to stay away from Rosie. Marlon noticed this and frowned at me.
"I promise, she not as scary as she seems.." he turned to Rosie and whistled, he pointed his finger to the floor.
"Sit Rosie." He ordered, Rosie obeyed, and sat down on the ground. I looked at her in awe. 'She's.. so well trained...' I thought, Marlon turned to us.
"She? She's harmless. She just need to get to know you is all.." He calmly told us, he offered a hand to me and Clem.
"I'll show you." He smiled. Clem looked suspiciously at his hand. I smiled and placed my hand into his, I took a few steps forward and Rosie growled. Marlon whistled at her.
"Hey. Rosie. Enough." He ordered, Rosie whimpered and listened. He smiled and slowly brought my hand down to Rosie's level. I began to sweat.
"Get down to her level.. let her get your sent.." he explained, Rosie began to sniff my fingers. I smiled a bit. She then licked my hand and I chuckled at the feeling of it. Marlon smiled at me and let go of my hand. I stood up fully and Rosie wagged her tail when I looked at her.
"Good. Now whistle and tell her to lay down." Marlon told, I nodded. I whistled and pointed to the ground.
"Rosie, lay down." I spoke. She slowly laid down. I smiled. Marlon then turned to Clem.
"Your turn." He offered his hand. Clem looked at Rosie then back at Marlon. I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She looked at me.
"Do you trust me?" Marlon asked Clem. Clem looked at Marlons hand. She sighed.
"Okay.. I guess." She placed her hand into Marlons and he helped guide her down. Rosie sniffed her hand and licked it as well. Clem quickly stood up. Marlon smiled.
"Good. Now tell her to lay down in her bed." Marlon told. Clem nodded and whistled, pointing to Rosie's bed.
"L-Lay down Rosie." Clem stuttered. Rosie listened and walked over to her bed and laid down, Aj looked at her in awe, obviously he never had seen this before.
"So cool!" Aj grinned, I smiled at him.
"See? Not so hard.." He spoke, Clem nodded a bit.
"Yeah.. that was... pretty cool.." I smiled at Clem, glad to see her overcoming her fears.
"She's really well trained... she was the headmasters dog back when this place was still functional.... but, when the world went to shit.. he bailed. All the adults did. Left us to fend for ourselves.." Marlon explained, he looked at the headmasters photo on the wall and me and Clem followed. It was drawn all over with swears and such.
"Wow.. that's horrible.." I frowned, my heart ached.
"What a dick." Clem remarked, I sighed at her comment, but to my surprise Marlon just laughed.
"Pfft, understatement of the century.. now it's just us kids left.. and I would like if you, (Y/N), and Aj were a part of that." He smiled, I couldn't help but smile as well. 'This place already feels like home to me.. I'm glad that he seems to be letting us stay..' I told myself Marlon walked behind his desk. Me and Clem turned to him
"All three of you are plenty capable, and we need that." He complemented. I smiled.
"This is our current plan for gathering food.." Marlon began, he opened a handmade map and turned it to us. I looked at it. There was a green house, hunting grounds.. and.. a safe zone..? 'Safe zone.. what's that..' I thought. Marlon continued,
"We are... starting to run short. It's getting harder and harder to feed everyone in this school..." He explained, Clem looked at the map and pointed at the part that was labeled 'Traps'
"What's the trap area?" She asked.
"Hunting grounds. Louis built some traps out there to catch game.. he and Aasim are set to go check them today." Marlon explained, Me and Clem nodded and Clem pointed to another area, this one was labeled 'Greenhouse'
"The greenhouse.." Clem started, Marlon was quick to speak up on this one.
"Uh Yeah.. don't get too excited about that one.. we used to maintain it real well. Had plenty of vegetables growing... but it became overgrown, upkeep was.. impossible.. yeah we keep away from that now." Marlon told us. I pointed to the trees near the hunting grounds.
"There's a lot of forest huh.. never thought there was that much." I looked at it, stunned.
"It's how we kept ourselves from unwanted attention for so long. Well, for the most part anyway." Marlon shrugged, Clem pointed out the rest of the map, but the safe zone marking was what was really bothering me. After Marlon explained about what happened at the train station I pointed to it.
"What's with the Safe zone...?" I asked.
"Ah I was just about to explain that. Everything inside these lines is the safe zone. It's been getting smaller and smaller over the years and food had become more scarce." He explained, I looked looked at him weirdly.
"Okay.. then why not go outside it? I'm sure finding food will be a lot more easier. Especially over places you haven't covered." I told, Marlon shook his head at my suggestion.
"..We can't. Every time someone goes outside the safe zone bad stuff happens. People die or disappear... I just.. I could really use the help.. (Y/N).. Clementine.. taking care of these kids.. it's not easy.. I'm worried that if I don't fix our food situation...- I.. I can't lose anyone else." He frowned, I felt empathetic towards him, since I truly knew the feeling of losing someone. Especially someone you love or that your close to.
"We're not gonna let that happen. We promise." Clem reassured him, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded.
"I know how you feel Marlon. And me and Clem will do our best to help you out." I added. Marlon nodded.
"Thanks Clementine, and you too (Y/N).. I really appreciate that.. I really do." He smiled at us. I nodded confidently.
"Everyone's counting on me to step up. Be the leader they need me to be.. I really want to be that for them.." he looked out the window then turned back to us.
"You, (Y/N), And Aj are three more mouths to feed.. but maybe you can help me feed the rest." Marlon told us. We nodded.
"What do you need from us?" Clem asked, Marlon pointed to the map again.
"Louis and Aasim are heading to the hunting grounds looking for rabbits. Well Aasim will anyway.. Louis.. I'm just hoping he shows up honestly..." He pointed to the hunting area, he then pointed to the old shack.
"Violet and Brody are going up river to do some spear fishing. Hopefully those two get along long enough to get some work done..." He explained. I nodded.
"Both teams could use some extra hands." He told, Clem thought about it for a bit.
"Let's go do some spear fishing!" Clem announced. Aj looked exited. I looked at the map again.
"Mm. What if you and Aj went to fish, and I helped out with hunting? That way everyone can get a bit more help." I told them. Clem looked worriedly at my foot.
"But, your ankle (Y/N).." Clem pointed out, I brushed it off.
"It's okay Clem, I'm already feeling better. Like I said I recover pretty quick. I'll be okay." I reassured her.
"Well.. Alright. But be careful." I nodded.
"Don't worry Clem. I can handle myself." I confidently smiled, she smiled and Marlon handed me the map. I took it and opened it.
"Take this, wouldn't want you getting lost. Especially since your going by yourself with the guys." I nodded.
"Thanks." I thanked him and folded it back up and put it in my pocket. I then turned to Aj and Clem.
"See you on the other side?" I smiled. She nodded.
"Definitely." She smiled.
"But to all of you. Remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you all to come back in one piece." Marlon reminded us. I nodded seriously, but part of me still felt weird with this safe zone confining us, but I brushed it off.
"So that means we can stay?" Aj asked excitedly, since that's all he really wanted, I chuckled and so did Marlon.
"What? Did you think I was gonna throw you out?" He smiled, Aj looked at the ground.
".. Maybe." He frowned, Marlon smiled at him.
"As long as we got enough to eat, your all welcome here." He decided, I was honestly so glad that we would get a break to relax and feel normal. But part of me felt like it wouldn't last. I frowned.
"Go get him Aj." Marlon raises his hand up and Aj high fived it. Clem smiled at him.
"Alright. Let's get going." Clem told me and Aj. I nodded and followed her out of Marlon's office.
I walked beside Louis, I was a little slow due to my ankle but I could handle it. I looked around at the scenery and the trees. I smiled as the hot sun fell on my face.
"Hunting grounds are usually clear of walkers. Sometimes they get caught in the snares and shit though. If you see a ribbon on a tree, traps are nearby." Aasim explained, he pointed to a tree with a ribbon on it. I looked up at the snare.
"So watch where you step-"
"Please. I think I can handle myself. I'm basically a ninja." Louis spoke. He then struck a ninja pose. Aasim rolled his eyes.
"Skilled in the craft of martial arts..." Louis continued. He then winked at me. I chuckled.
"Please! You call yourself a ninja? You must first get the power from your superiors." I joked, raising an eyebrow at him. He chuckled.
"Okay, but who said your older than me?" He remarked.
"Pfft. Being older doesn't matter.. what matters is that you have experience.." I struck my own ninja pose and Louis laughed.
"Okay okay! You got me there." He smiled, I smiled back at him. Aasim groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Oh my god." He mumbled to himself.
"Anyway we got work to do. Not all of us have the privilege of being Marlon's lap dog." Aasim continued, Louis acted surprised.
"Ohhh ouch.. someone's a little jealous!" Louis elbowed my arm. I chuckled.
"In my defence, I totally get things done.. I just prefer to think of survival as a.. day-to-day task.. so you know.. don't sweat the technique." Louis explained. I put my hand on my chin in thought.
"I guess I agree.. but what about everyone else..? We have to work as a team.." I asked him.
"Well I mean, sure, yeah, sometimes." He told me. I nodded. Aasim turned to him.
"You act like you're the only one with a strategy. I play the long game. You have to have plans B, C, and D." Aasim told. I nodded.
"Of course. Your right, if you don't have any backup plans, survival is going to be a lot more difficult and you might get killed quicker." I agreed, suddenly the all familiar sound of walkers hit my ears. My eyes widened. I tried to listen to where the sound was coming from but Louis began to talk again.
"Okay, but what if you don't make it that far.-"
"Shhh. Be quiet for a second." I interrupted him. Everyone stopped walking and listened. I looked around towards the sound and looked at Aasim. We nodded at each other and began to follow it. My heart beat quickened, as I hoped it to be one walker, and not a whole group. But I got my knife out to fight if needed.
{A/N}
Hey guys! So this is just part one of the Louis part. Next will be Violet! The base chapter will be the same but there will be more Violet stuff in it, so I hope you guys enjoy it! The next Louis chapter will come out after Violets, so be ready! I might post Violets in a couple of days (though I do have a project I need to do as well so it might not happen.) only because it's gonna be similar but with more Violet interactions. But we'll have to see. Anyways thank you guys for reading and if you celebrate it..
Happy Easter! 🐣🥚 🎉🐥🐰
-Author