Clementine started to slowly rise but was pulled back down by Vi. "Clem, can we trust him? People change, and lately that hasn't been good change."
"Jesus is a good man, trust me. He used to help a group and I from before. Saved our lives."
Violet was uncertain of what to think, but she trusted her girlfriend more than anyone. "Alright. Don't let your guard down. I still have your back if he tries anything," the blonde uttered.
"And that's why I love you."
Clementine slowly stood to her feet, a small smile creeping from her face when she scanned the figure. "Jesus, oh my god I can't believe it's you!"
"Good to see you, too," he responded. Jesus moved closer to the brunette, Violet gripping her cleaver even harder, waiting for him to make any sort of move. Deciding it was safe, Louis also stood up and approached the three.
"Holy shit! A knight. Ya know, the people I know refer to me as a ninja. Bet we'd make an awesome team," the boy joked.
"For a ninja, it was pretty easy spotting you in that coat of yours," Jesus smirked. That brought out a laugh from Violet and Clem.
"Jesus, this is Louis, known to joke around a lot more than is good for a person." Louis waved and gave a boyish smile. "And this is, Violet, my girlfriend." Clem turned to her with a radiant smile plastered across her face.
"It's my pleasure to meet you all," Jesus replied.
"It's nice to meet you, too. So people call you Jesus?" Violet questioned.
Jesus lifted his helmet and flaunted his beard. "It's really Paul. My friends call me Jesus."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Vi stated.
"So, who have you been with this whole time? I'm assuming this is your camp?" Clementine asked as she crossed her arms.
"I think you know the guy. Javi. And of course, his family too. This camp was ours. Only needed it for a few days to wait out some walkers."
"J-Javi? He's.. with you? I thought he and his family took off after Richmond became a warzone, and you left for your old group," Clementine uttered with bewilderment.
"Well you know, time went by and we eventually had to meet back up. We have a small community a few miles away from here."
Holy shit... Javi's still around here? It's been years. And Kate? Gabe? They're all.. alive?
The brunette came back to reality. "How have you all been, considering the shit this world is now," she queried, her voice still in disbelief.
"I'm sure you've had your fair share of it. Killing walkers, problematic situations with other groups. I guess that goes for the usual now."
"I hate to interrupt this little reunion, but it's starting to get dark, and walkers seem to be multiplying," Louis mentioned, alerting everyone else. He grasped ahold of Chairles again, ready for round two with him.
"He's right. I should be going. I'll tell Javi and the others you're back. Here, take this," Jesus stated. He handed Clem a walkie-talkie. And just like that, the man with the horse vanished into thin air.
Clementine stood still for a while, not knowing what to think or how to feel. Her old group was still alive and functioning- something she did not expect. "Shit, we got walkers coming. Let's finish them off and head back," Violet informed while running up to a walker and slicing her cleaver in its head and using her foot to kick it off.
Clem came up behind a walker approaching her girlfriend, kicked it down, and stabbed it through the head. Vi smiled and gave her a small nod. After the trio killed the surrounding walkers, they traveled back on the path to the school.
"Jesus," Lou said aloud. "Wish I had a cool name like that." He abruptly stopped and fell into a ninja stance - feet planted, hands at the ready. "Ninja Lou at your service," he uttered in a low, dark voice.
Clementine softly chuckled, and Vi did her full-body eye roll that always made Louis' day. "Trying to butcher your name even more, Lou?" the blonde teased with a sly smirk.
"That sounds like jealousy. But fine. If you're in danger, don't expect Ninja Lou to show up and save the day."
"Yeah, expect me to," Clem cut in. Her and the blonde exchanged smiles while the dreadlocked boy kept to himself.
"So Clem, how do you know Jesus? I know you said he helped you before, but how do you really know him?" Violet questioned while scanning ahead for any sign of dead life possibly roaming around.
"The guy he mentioned, Javi, and I were trying to reach a place called Richmond," she started off.
"The baseball star?" Lou questioned.
"Yeah. His group and I ran into Jesus along the way. Told us Richmond had been taken over by a group called The New Frontier. They were bad people led by Joan, one of their leaders. Before I met Javi, I was taken into The New Frontier; I didn't have a choice." The girl lifted her left sleeve and revealed the brand.
"Shit, Clem." Vi muttered. "How did I not see this before when we.. you know."
Clementine recalled the time the two had together, forcing herself to not smile in front of Louis at the thought or she'd never hear the end of it. "I mean it's pinkened a lot since then. Plus it was kinda dark, and you weren't really focused on my arm."
Violet heavily blushed. "I suppose," she stated, still wishing she had noticed it before. It looked like it must have hurt a lot.
"Ouch," Louis stated.
"I know. They made people get them to show their commitment to the group. Luckily, I got out of there. I left Javi to go find AJ, but.. I came back because the entire city was surrounded by a herd of walkers. I met back up with Javi and got involved with a bunch of shit-."
"Clem, there's this thing. It's called 'long story short'," Louis informed in a jocular manner.
Clementine playfully shoved him with her shoulder and continued. "Javi and his group took over Richmond with the help of Jesus. They changed it into a well-functioning community. That was before it turned back into a warzone. I left to find AJ."
The brunette's eyes brimmed with tears from the poignant memory of it all. She tried to fight it off, but the tears just started to fall out uncontrollably. Violet pulled her into her arms, gently rubbing her back. "It's okay, Clem. He's safer now, with Tenn and his parents," she comforted.
"Oh, AJ.." Clementine weakly forced out. After a few sniffles, she gradually pulled back from Violet's arms. "I'm sorry. I know I can't be breaking down all the time from a single thought of him, but it just hurts so bad. I don't know how to move on."
"You don't have to apologize," Violet pointed out. Holding onto Clem's hand, she stated, "it's hard to let go of the people you love. It takes time. It's always going to hurt when you think of him, but as time goes on, the thought of him will hurt less and less. I promise."
"You're right. Thank you for that. I really needed to hear it."
Eventually, Clem knew that they had to get back, and forced herself to refrain from letting out more tears. Louis was watching out for walkers while the girls had their moment, but he was still there for Clementine if she needed him.
"You okay?" Violet whispered.
"Yeah, I'm okay now. Let's keep moving."
~~~
It was almost dark now, and the three still weren't back at the school yet. "Hey, Clem, didn't you say there was a boy you knew back then. You know, the one you totally didn't like," Lou said with a wink.
"Gabe, yeah. And like I said, he was a huge dork, but he was good company I guess. It was nice being around someone my age."
"Be honest. Did he have dashing good looks like me?"
"Oh my god," Vi sighed. It really did never end.
Clem decided to play along with Lou. "Definitely not."
"You're feeding his ego, you know," the blonde stated, glancing at Louis and waiting for him to make some dumb comment like always. It was like that the entire trip back to the school.
~~~
"Hey! I see them!" Willy shouted. He climbed down from the watch tower and opened the gate. Aasim, Ruby, and Omar all ran up. "What the hell took you guys so long? We were about to go out and search for you!" Aasim yelled.
"Honey, calm down. I'm sure they have a good reason," Ruby informed. "Right?"
"They better," Omar chimed in.
"Actually, we do. Clem ran into another one of her acquaintances at the camp we found," Louis shared. The other kids were all surprised.
"Oh.." Aasim said, scratching the back of his head. "Are they.. nice?"
"Yeah. His name is Jesus. Said he has a small community a few miles away. I think it would-"
Clementine was cut off by Willy.
"Oh no, we are done with groups. Look what happened last time! We lost Mitch, Brody, Marlon, Sophie, Minnie! We can't go through that again!"
"Willy, part of that was caused by Marlon. He's the one who killed Brody and got us involved with the Raiders in the first place," Violet declared.
"Yeah, and we lost Marlon 'cause AJ shot him in the head!" Willy expressed in anger.
Aasim hit Willy in the stomach. "Dude!" he uttered.
"You leave AJ out of this, or maybe you'll be the one to end up with a bullet in your head!" Clem yelled. Everyone stopped arguing and stared at the girl in shock. She didn't mean it. It's just the poignant reminder of AJ that brought it out.
"Sorry, uh, Clem," Willy apologized, his head looking down at the ground sheepishly.
"Why don't we all get some sleep and talk about this tomorrow," Omar stated. The kids exchanged weird looks, but they all walked back into the school, no one saying a word.
Violet and Clem walked into their dorm. Clementine sat on the bed, and Vi did the same. The blonde pulled her girlfriend in close, wrapping her arm around her waist. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked in an attempt to comfort her.
"I didn't mean to lash out at him. It's just him talking about AJ like that."
"I know. He wasn't right to do that, but he didn't mean it."
"I know."
"How about we get some rest. I think we both could use it," Violet said softly.
"Okay, but one more thing."
"Yeah?"
Clem turned and pressed her lips against Vi's unexpectedly. It was one of their long, passionate kisses that sent electricity running through their skin. She finally released once the two were desperate for oxygen.
"Heh, what was that for?" Violet questioned with rosy cheeks.
"I love you, and I don't know what I'd do without you."
That made Violet blush even more. "I love you too, Clem."
~~~
The sun appeared above the horizon, indicating it was now morning. The girls groggily woke up, got dressed, and walked to the front of the school.
Nothing had transmitted through the walkie-talkie yet. It was probably for the best since it seemed the thought of going was debatable amongst the group. Clem called down everyone to discuss whether or not they should trust Jesus and visit his community.
"I think this could be a break for us. I know Jesus, and I know Javi. They're good people, trust me. We barely have anything as it is, we need supplies. I believe Jesus, and I want to check it out," Clementine affirmed, giving her input.
"She's right. We have to at least talk with them. If we don't, sooner or later we'll be forced out of this school in search for supplies," Vi added in agreement.
"My vote's with Clem and Violet," Louis shared.
"This Jesus guy, you said it's been years since you've seen him?" Aasim mentioned dubiously. "What if he's lying about this "community", and we'll be right back where we were with the Raiders?"
"Yeah. We fought our asses off to survive and for what? To go up against another community?" Omar butted in.
"I need you guys to trust me on this one. If we don't-"
"Clementine, are you there?" The walkie had gone off. Clem snatched it and immediately responded. "Right here."
"Good. I know it's been a while between us, but I was wondering if you would like to come take a look around our community. We grow our own crops, there's fresh, clean water to drink, and there's plenty of space.
Clementine pondered for a moment, examining each of the kids' faces. She took a moment to respond, but she knew what she had to do.
"Yes! That would be great."
Aasim and Ruby scoffed, and Omar and Willy got up and left. After what the kids had just been through, she understood why they wanted to avoid it, but this was a chance they indispensably had to take.
"Alright. Shall I pick you up at the camp?"
"I think I remember where it is. Sure."
"See you then."
Clem placed the walkie-talkie back down on the table. She sure as hell hoped she was right about Jesus. She was. She had to be. The girl smiled at the thought of seeing Javi again. Gabe and Kate, too.
The rest of the kids, besides Violet, left to find something to do around the school, seeming how the discussion was over. "Clem, can I talk to you for a sec?" Vi asked, her arms crossed.
"Of course." She grabbed Clem's hands and took a deep breath. Her girlfriend noticed the worried look painted on her face and took no time to question it. "Hey, what is it?"
"I just.. the thought of you going alone.. it scares me. I know you can handle yourself, but I can't help but wonder what could happen to you out there."
Clementine tightened her grip on Violet's hands. "Vi, I'll be okay. I promise. I'll be back before you know it."
"You better be."
Clem embraced Vi warmly, keeping her close in case this really would be the last time they'd see each other. They both felt so safe in each other's arms.
Nothing would ever change that.