Duck's eyes darted in every direction as he lead the group to Nick, taking a much safer way he had stored in memory when he was running from the shed. Unfortunately, he soon found that this path had taken a few moments longer to tread than the one Nick and him had ran on. Duck didn't think of this as misfortune, however, since a delayed reveal of a zombified Nick was exactly what he needed. "You do remember where it is, right?" Luke asked hesitantly, trying his best to sound more on the friendly side than on the pressing side even if he was slightly impatient.

Duck let out a quiet, short sigh as he turned to Luke, offering a small, worried smile. He didn't mean to make Luke impatient and he didn't want to be selfish but he'd rather walk a few more minutes than face the reality than maybe he had left Luke's best friend for dead.

"I do. I'm just trying to avoid walkers. It's just a slight detour. Don't worry,"

"Shouldn't we get to him sooner than later?" Luke asked, only succeeding in spiking slight anxiety in Duck. He wondered if Luke thought he was trying to deliberately double cross Nick, which wasn't the case at all.

"...Nick is safe in the shed. Trust me, I spent time in there too. There's no way he'll be got to in there," Duck said, hoping to ease Luke's worries and stop the questions until they got to their destination.

"Alright. I trust you," Luke said but Duck had a feeling that was furthest from the truth. Duck looked ahead, smiling as he realized it was only slightly further before the shed came into view.

"There it is," Duck said, taking out his hunting knife and turning to the rest of the group. "You guys stay here. Luke and I'll be right back," Duck said in a friendly tone, not lingering his gaze on them any longer for any sort of confirmation before sneaking up on a kneeling walker and stabbing it in the head as Luke killed the other two nearest to the shed. Duck studied whatever carcass the zombie had been devouring, a wave of relief coming over him as he saw it was an animal and in no way human.

"Nick?" Luke called out through the shed door, earning a slight groan in return.

"Nick, it's Duck and Luke. The rest of us are here too. Are you okay?" Duck asked, listening in only to hear silence. Luke put his hand on Duck's shoulder, pushing him behind in an attempt to give slight protection to Duck.

"Stay behind me, Junior," Luke said, making sure he had a tight hold on his machete before opening the door slowly, scanning the area inside for any sign of Nick. A groan came from the concrete floor, revealing a dazed but unbitten Nick that sat up weakly and smiled at them.

"Hey, you guys. You don't happen to have any aspirin on you, huh?" Nick asked, earning only a glare accompanied with crossed arms from Duck and a breathy laugh that could be passed as a relieved sigh from Luke.

"Asshole," Luke muttered, making his way to the man, helping him up the rest of the way and pulling him into a tight hug. It took only a second before Duck heard sniffling coming from Nick. Duck only turned away, making his way back to the group.

"Are they okay?" Clementine asked as she met Duck halfway, earning a warm smile.

"Yeah. They just need a moment,"

"Okay. So Nick's safe?"

"Absolutely. He's just havin' a rough time,"

"As expected," Clementine said, looking to the ground as she did. Duck looked at her expression, noting her far off look in her eyes. Was she thinking of Pete's last moments? Had she seen him die? He desperately wished to know what happened with Pete, wherever her and him ended up.

She never told him, he had realized. This only seemed to alert him to something and made his stomach drop. Why hasn't she told him yet? She tells him everything...

...

Then again, he didn't exactly tell her everything in the shed either. He comforted himself with this thought but still made note to ask her if anything weird happened. He put a finger to the middle of her chest, dragging it up until it hit her in her nose with a smirk on his lips.

She looked startled as she was dragged out of her thoughts by the sudden contact but quickly smiled at him with pure joy as she gave him a little giggle. "Sorry! I got distracted,"

"As long as you're not distracted while kicking walker butt, I don't care. But I might pull you out of whatever you're thinking for now,"

"Thanks," Clementine said, looking past Duck as she spotted Luke and Nick walking towards them.

"Thank you guys for waiting," Nick said as he kept walking towards the group with Clementine, Duck and Luke following close behind.

"Yeah, it's no problem," Clementine said. As they got closer, Carlos raised an eyebrow at them but turned facing forward and started walking again, trusting his daughter to follow which she eventually had.

"Hey, Duck?" Nick called out after a few moments, catching the attention of the boy before continuing. "Thank you," Nick said, a sincere smile on his face as he did. Duck wasn't sure what Nick was thanking him for but nevertheless, Duck nodded in a bullshit understanding.

"It's no problem," He said, letting silence fall between Nick and him. Clementine and Luke looked Duck's way with different emotions on each face as they did. However, Luke was the one who decided to speak on his thoughts first after Nick let himself drag behind.

"In that cellar, did Nick act weird at all?" He asked, making Duck consider the actions Nick took just hours before now. Duck shook his head, finding nothing of importance coming to mind.

"He got drunk and started getting real personal about his mom and stuff but other than that, nothing," Duck said, saving Nick from any and all embarrassment by not going too into detail of what was said. Luke stayed silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Do you guys still wanna come with us? Don't get me wrong, you two with us is what I would want but I just wanna know if y'all were tryin' to head somewhere else," Clementine and Duck shared a look with one another, seeing if the other would want to answer and when neither of them did, Clemintine looked at Luke.

"We were heading North, just like you guys. It'd be better to travel with others. We've got much more eyes that way. Besides that, if Christa's still alive, she'd more than likely be up there," Clemintine reasoned, returning her gaze to Duck as she said the last part. It was almost as if she were trying to convince him on a subject he truly had no opinion on.

"Who was Christa? If you don't mind me asking," Luke asked.

"A woman we survived with. The men we talked about that ran us out over a weasel? The last we saw of her, she was surrounded by them and, as we ran, we heard a gunshot. It... didn't really sound too good for her but there's still hope," Clemintine explained, sounding unsure herself of how much possibility Christa actually had of surviving that situation.

"Well, if she's alive, I'm sure we'll meet her up there," Luke comforted, pulling out a map as he did. "Alright. If we stay on the path, we'll get there in five days and, in the mountains, it'll be much harder for Carver's group to track us,"

"Five days?!" Rebecca spoke up.

"It's gonna be okay, Bec. We'll be okay and besides, I think this is the shortest way," Alvin said, comforting his wife.

"We have to keep moving. We have no other choice but to do so,"

------------------------------------

Clementine crawled on a big rock, keeping herself low on it as she looked through binoculars.

"Do you see anything?" Luke asked.

"She better see something. We've been walking for a damn week," Alvin muttered.

"I see a bridge and there's a little house beside it,"

"Is the bridge passable?"

"Looks like it,"

"How big is the house?" Carlos asked, making Clementine consider the size before speaking.

"It's pretty small,"

"We could still look for food inside," Clementine looked further, noticing a ski lift.

"There's a ski lift,"

"You see a lodge nearby?" Luke asked.

"...Yeah,"

"Sounds like a good place to settle for the night," Luke responded as Clementine made her way off the rock, handing Luke the binoculars back.

"Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's go,"

"Hold on, now, Carlos. We can't all go at one time. We'll be trapped if we get spotted," Luke reasoned.

"Going around the lake will take too long," Carlos argued, earning a sigh from the farm boy.

"Look, I know. Clem and I will go across, make sure it's safe, then everyone can come, alright?"

"Splitting up is a good idea?" Carlos asked, cautious as he did.

"It's not a good idea but it's better than riskin' all of us,"

"What's the plan?" Alvin asked.

"Clem and I will scoot low and slow and make sure no one's waitin' on the other side," Luke said, smiling as he did.

"And if you guys get in trouble, then what?" Duck asked, twirling his knife into the dirt as he did.

"Duck's right, we can't cover you guys easily all the way back here. What'll you guys do?" Alvin asked.

"We'll turn back if it gets hairy,"

"And what if you can't turn back? What if you get trapped or held hostage and we're none the wiser?" Duck questioned, uneasiness creeping into him as he analyzed Luke's plan more and more. It wasn't too thought out, he noticed. There were many holes for mistakes and many ways they could end up dead due to the poorness of the plan. Luke considered this for a moment before smiling at Duck and handing him the binoculars Clemintine had used previously.

"You can keep an eye on us. All you gotta do is increase the zoom a little bit. If your judgement is sayin' were in trouble, you move out with someone," Luke said, trying to ease Duck's concerns in the slightest. Besides an all too familiar feeling in his gut, Duck accepted this, taking place where Clementine was previously and increasing the zoom until he could see the start of the bridge and imagine Clemintine and Luke there clearly.

"We'll signal you guys in ten minutes. Just look for a light on the other end and if Duck says somethin's happening, someone go with him. The rest of you stay,"

"I'll go too," Nick said, deflating as Luke shook his head.

"No. If you want, you can go with Junior if he says we need help," Luke said, being met with only silence as Nick sunk back.

"Be careful," Duck said, mainly looking at Clementine as they walked towards the bridge and he took his position. He scanned the area around the bridge as Clementine and Luke made their way at the start of the bridge, trying his best to catch any hint of danger that he could before they fell into trouble.

"Hey, Duck?" He heard his name being called out and slowly turned to find a weary, timid Rebecca looking back at him. "I just wanted to say thanks. You've been really helpful this whole way and I'm really sorry for being rude to you and Clementine when you both showed up. This whole time we've been on the move, you just... You've been trying to make me comfortable and I know it's probably only because of the baby but... It means a lot to Alvin and me. Thank you,"

Duck stayed in stunned silence for a moment, searching for the correct response to all she had just said. "Yeah.... It's no problem, really. I just want your baby to be born and alive..." Duck said, trailing off and hesitating with sharing his reasoning. After a few moments, Duck found whatever courage he could and looked at her with a lopsided smile. "Christa.... She uh... She had a baby but... It died.... I want yours to have a better chance," Duck said, remembering just how heart broken Christa became once the baby died. It was devastating and Duck didn't have enough heart to elaborate anymore.

Rebecca's face was sympathetic as she looked at him before offering him a sad smile. "Thank you, Duck. You're a brave little boy,"

"Not really. I wouldn't describe myself as that," Rebecca only looked away from him after his response. She looked as if she wanted to say something but chose not to as she turned on her heel and sat back next to her husband. Despite the slight awkwardness, Duck felt a little more comfortable with Rebecca after her apology. Perhaps he can give his own later, seeing as he reacted unruly just as much, if not more.

"Oh god!" Nick said under his breath as he stared over at the bridge, grabbing his hunting rifle and bolting in the direction Luke and Clemintine headed. This only made fear pierce into Duck's heart as he abandoned the binoculars and ran after him.

"Don't worry, guys! Nick and I'll be back shortly!" He said, calming whatever members stood in caution and running after Nick. Despite hearing the group's footsteps following them after a few moments, he didn't slow down as he tried to catch up with Nick and ran through every scenario in his head. Who would be hurt? What happened that he didn't see? Are they in trouble? Is someone wounded? Bitten? Duck thought of everything he could do in a situation as he ran across the bridge, slowing down as Nick had. His eyes widened when Nick drew his gun. The situation didn't call for that, did it?!

"Don't shoot!" Clementine's shrill scream faintly made its way to his ears.

"Don't-" Duck tried to repeat for Clementine, only to be drowned out by shot of the rifle. If almost felt like time slowed down, Duck not really wanting to see what happened but watching the man choke on his own blood, falling off the bridge anyways. Clementine wouldn't say what she did if things were going wrong and if they were, it'd be for a good reason, like if someone was too close to the enemy and the chance of shooting an ally was too great.

Duck didn't really know what to expect as he followed Nick and drew closer to them. "Did I hit him?" Nick asked, not noticing a pissed off look that Luke gave to him nor did he notice Clementine's shaken one.

"I told you not to shoot!" Luke said, his tone a promise of an argument soon.

"What? Who was that guy?" Nick asked, making Duck mad as he continued avoiding the problem at hand and, apparently, being the cause of Clementine's discomfort.

"He was going to help us,"

"How do you know that?"

"I'm sure that Luke and Clementine would know more about the situation than you would. You just up and shot a guy! From where I was standing, nothing about him looked like he was drawing on them," Duck argued.

"Oh, now you're on their side? I'm sorry, but you weren't even watching them. You were chit chatting with Rebecca,"

"I was listening to her apology! She was being sincere and I couldn't be half paying attention with that! She'd never forgive me!" Duck started to defend himself, feeling guilt well up inside despite his reasoning. He reevaluated his stance, knowing he did wrong as he remembered just what happened.

"And hey! We weren't even in trouble! I don't blame Duck, you're just trying to get the spotlight off of yourself!" Clementine yelled at him, a glare present on her face as she had. Duck could see in her eyes she was absolutely furious that he was pulled into this and felt as if maybe she was being blind to the fault he had to be responsible to.

"Everyone shut up! We will discuss this once we get over the bridge!" Luke said, turning on his heel promptly and daring anyone to continue the argument on the way.

"I just don't see why you kids always gotta defend one another! You don't even see how you or your boyfriend have done wrong. You're always in the right, huh?" Nick started back up again after the entire group made it across the bridge, the rest of the group whittnessing the fight and opting to remain quiet as the four of them sorted it out.

"No, I'm not saying he's right all the time. He can be selfish and loose his temper almost everyday but we weren't in trouble and the fact is that you shot that man that wasn't going to be anything but nice to us!" Clementine argued, her patience wearing thin herself as Nick kept the argument going.

"We don't think we're perfect! Hell, Clementine does shit that I can't stand all the time but you know what? She hasn't done anything wrong! I'm sorry, Clem, but I will admit I was a little bit wrong for getting distracted!" Duck rambled, sneaking his apology to her in one breath. This made Clementine whip her head around to him with a glare that could've killed him right there. If he didn't realized he fucked up, the hitch of breath he heard from Sarah was all he needed to know.

"Oh my god, Duck, everyone will get distracted sooner or later!" Clementine said, her anger evident in her face as she spoke. Duck looked away from her, opting to remain silent the rest of the time, knowing she had already taken charge of this argument and his interjections were in no way needed.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that that shot rang out for miles and will attract walkers," Luke said, returning the blame to Nick as he did and rightfully so.

"And how was I supposed to know you didn't want me to? You gave a clear shot!"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe if you listened to me saying no?"

"I couldn't hear you!"

"But I could hear Clementine! And I had even tried to repeat her!" Duck said, coming to Luke's defense.

"Oh yeah? How well? And why didn't you say it quick enough?"

"She sounded pretty quiet because of the wind but I still heard her!"

"He wasn't going to hurt us and the fact you shot him before Duck could say anything... You're trying hard to make Duck take the blame, huh?" Clementine said, quiet but with the same spark of anger in her voice.

"I know what I saw," Nick said, sticking to his guns as he did.

"Do you think he was with Carver?" Carlos asked, hoping to diffuse argument by dividing attention to a question instead.

"I don't think so. He was gonna help us but he fell over,"

"He fell off the damn bridge?!" Alvin asked

"When you're shot in the throat, balance isn't really on your mind," Luke said.

"We've gotta keep moving,"

"I can't. I need a minute," Rebecca said, sitting on a log and taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Duck asked with a normal tone, the only thing giving away that he was worried being his pursed lips and knitted eyebrows.

"I'm fine, Duck. Just need some rest," Rebecca assured, letting herself relax on the log as she did.

"Fine..." Carlos paused before looking at Luke. "Can I talk to you alone for a moment?" He asked, his tone anything but a question as he said it and moved to a more private area to have his conversation with Luke. It was tense for a moment before Alvin walked up to Clementine and Duck with a friendly smile.

"Hey, do you guys have any snacks for 'Bec? She's dyin' over here,"

"Alvin, I told you, I'm fine," Rebecca assured her husband but it didn't seem it worked as Alvin still looked hopeful.

"I'm sorry, I'm out," Clementine said.

"Clem carries the stuff for both of us. I don't have anything either, unfortunately,"

"It's okay, Duck. You've shared whatever you had with Becca this whole way. I wouldn't accept any more of your snacks anyways," Alvin said with a smile. "Thank you for doing that stuff for her, by the way,"

"No problem. I get that she needs a little more for both to survive," Duck said, offering a smile of his own though he was sure it probably looked awkward.

"That man we were talking to on the bridge said he had food in the station. Said he'd share," Clementine said.

"Do you wanna take a look?" Alvin asked.

"....Sure," Clementine said, pausing. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to go in there alone or not. The man seemed nice but then again, a zombie could've snuk in there as they were talking. There was always a possibility and she had lost her hammer in the river under the bridge.

"Do you want to? I could go," Duck said and Clementine looked him up and down. He still had two weapons, his knife he favored and a handgun for backup.

"Alright," Clementine said, making her way to talk to Nick while leaving Duck to search the little house for her.

Duck opened the door to the house, scanning the interior for any walkers before looking for food. The first thing that caught his eye was a survival knife on the counter. He grabbed it, pocketing it to give to Clementine when he got out of here. He noticed she was in desperate need of a weapon that didn't get too stuck in a skull beforehand and tried to give her his handgun but she had refused. She seemed to favor close range. He then saw a chest and knelt down to it. He tried to unhinge the middle latch to no avail. It must've been locked.

He didn't see a key on the counter and assumed the man Nick shot probably had it. Duck cursed in his mind as that thought came along. Amazing decision on Nick's part. He took the survival knife and his hunting one, seeing which would be better to open the chest and have the least probability of breaking in the process.

The survival knife was longer and much sharper than his hunting one, making it one of the easiest choices but it was supposed to be for Clememtine. Duck then thought that he could give Clementine his hunting knife if the survival broke. It would only leave him with a gun that would ring out sound for miles but at least Clementine would have a close range weapon other than that dull hammer.

He pocketed his hunting knife, sliding the survival knife between the lock and pulling at hard as he could until it made a loud metal clink, signifying that he broke the lock open. He lifted the trunk's lid, seeing two cans of what he assumed to be pears with some books and magazines. Duck was tempted to go through the magazines in hopes to find one he used to own pre-apocolypse only to have that thought disappear as the door opened, showing Clementine coming through and closing the door quietly behind her.

"Find anything?"

"Two cans of... Something and some magazines," Duck responded, handing Clementine a can. She paused for a moment before putting the cans in her backpack.

"I can carry them in the meantime. Find anything worth reading?" Clementine asked, making Duck blink surprised she asked and blush. Her knowing he wanted to check them out made him feel rather embarrassed. Reading wasn't exactly top priority in this situation but he couldn't help but want to keep one thing, comic book or 'real' book, he didn't care. "You wanna take one? Nobody's really gonna read them if you don't,"

"I don't know...."

"Come on. You literally talk my ear off on your old magazines and books if I get you started,"

"I have a lot to talk about, sue me," Duck said, making Clementine give a small laugh. She took a pile of them and searched, laughing at the mixture of different genres.

"I already see some I know you won't want," She said, throwing some of the magazines back in the chest. "Those are inappropriate but I don't know. Maybe you'd be reading it at your age anyways. How old are you? 13? 14? I know you're the older one,"

"Mom would actually have killed me. Fuck you,"

"That's mean," She said, a teasing smile on her face as she did. She seemed to love his social suffering when she caused it. "Okay, now we're getting to the magazines you used to read," She smiled up at him as she handed the stack to Duck. His face lit up as he caught sight of the cover.

"Oh my god! I used to own this one! Dad always used to read this with me! It was one of the first ones I've read!" Duck said, his eyes shining as he picked that one out of the stack and put the rest back.

"Want me to keep it in my bag?"

"If... If you don't mind!" Duck said, his smile failing slightly as he stumbled but returned immediately. She was sure that it wouldn't go for a few hours either but she wasn't complaining. She stashed the magazine in her bag, not really looking at whatever superhero presented itself on the cover and turning promptly towards the door.

"Let's go, Duckie," She said, opening the door and trusting Duck to close it behind himself as he followed her. He looked back to the log Rebecca sat on as Alvin talked with Clementine and caught sight of Sarah, looking bored as she looked at a bug in the ground and waited for her father to stop talking with Luke and Nick, who had joined them apparently.

"Hey," Duck said, kneeling down to sit with Sarah as he did. "How are you two doin' over here?"

"Rebecca and I were just talking. Did you and Clementine find food? You guys took a long time, I hope it wasn't hard to find,"

"No, no. Clem and I found two cans of food. She's got it in her bag for later," Duck responded, giving his best smile to them as he did.

"Good. I hoped you guys would," Rebecca said, fanning herself. "It's kinda hot out here, don't ya think?"

"I think that's just part of the pregnancy, Becca. It feels a little chilly to me," Duck said.

"Did you find anything else?" Sarah asked Duck, making him wonder if mentioning the magazine was important or not.

"Not really. Just a magazine,"

"Did you keep it?"

"There's a whole stack in there, actually. If you want, we could check it out,"

"Didn't you already do that?"

"Yeah but not with you," Duck said, giving her a smile and enjoying the surprise on her face before she smiled at him shyly. He got up, offering her his hand to help her up as she accepted.

"I'll be with Duck if dad asks where I am," Sarah said to Rebecca as she waved them off.

"Yeah, I'll tell him. Go on,"

"Tell Clem if she asks to," Duck said as he led Sarah inside the little house. "It's kinda dark but the window gives light. There's a ton of stuff here," Duck says as he kneels at the trunk, taking the stack he and Clementine looked through not too long ago.

"I don't know many heroes,"

"That's okay. Clem says she knows a lot because of me, so you've got an expert on your hands!" Duck said excitedly as Sarah looked at the comics of heroes she could recognize.

"My dad loves reading the X-Men series,"

"Yeah, my mom was more familiar with the Avengers. You know, like Captin America?"

"Oh! Yeah! And Thor, right?"

"Yeah! And Spiderman!"

"I absolutely loved Spiderman!"

"You did?!" Duck said, excitement welling up inside of him as a bright smile made its way to his face. When he started talking to Clementine, she barely knew anything, since her parents didn't want her watching any sort of violence. But Sarah, as sheltered as she is, seems to know a lot more than his partner before he spoke to her. She seemed to find his reaction funny as this pulled a laugh out of her.

"Yeah! And-" Sarah was cut short as the door opened, showing Carlos as he gave a forced smile Duck's way before speaking.

"We have to leave. A group of walkers are coming. It's too dangerous to stick around," Carlos explained, waiting for Duck and Sarah to exit before he did himself.

"We're headin' up!" Luke announced, taking his lead of the group. Duck sped up his walking speed, almost a near jog before he finally caught up to Clementine after feeling like Caelos wanted him away from Sarah, what with the feeling of his stare.

"I got you something," He told her as he fished the survival knife out of his back pocket. "I found it in the house. I thought I should give it to you,"

"Thank you," Clementine said, tucking it in her back pocket as she did.

——————————————

Luke and Carlos crouched at the side of the lodge, waiting for the rest of the group to climb up the hill and surveying whether or not there was anyone up there that could be dangerous.

"What're you guys waiting for?" Rebecca asked, tired from all the climbing they had to endure.

"We have to be careful,"

"I'm done being careful," She responded.

"I know, Becca, but we've gotta. Don't want you to die," Alvin reassured his wife as she gave a slight pout. He walked along the side of the lodge, looking into the windows as he passed. "It does look empty though,"

"I'll check around front,"

"I'll go with,"

Duck looked over the edge of the deck, trying to see if he could find anything as Clementine came up behind him. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah. A very very long hike won't put me down," He responded, a little winded but still joyful as he looked at her. "How about you?" He asked, a boyish smile taking place with a new look in his eyes that she had yet to identify even as he's had it too many times to be a coincidence.

"I'm fine. A little tired but I'm okay,"

"Once we get in the lodge, maybe we can find someplace for you to take a nap," Duck said, letting a comfortable silence take place before it was ruined by an all too familiar voice.

"It'd be nice to know if anyone's out there," Luke said, joining Clementine and Duck. "One of you wanna go and look if you can see anything from that skydeck?"

"Wanna do rock, paper, scissors?" Duck asked, hoping Clementine would go on her own. He didn't exactly wanna be in charge of checking for stalkers.

"No. I'll go," She said, heading towards the ladder and letting Duck and Luke follow her.

"It'll be easy, just don't look down," Luke said as she started to climb. "I'll catch ya if you fall," He shouted up to her then looked at Duck with his arms in a catching position. "You know, when I was young, my friends and I used to jump off of places as high as that,"

"That sounds stupid," Clementine shouted down, taking Luke by slight surprise when she could hear him.

"I used to do that too!" Duck said, loud enough for Clementine to hear.

"Well, I already knew you're stupid!"

"Never said I wasn't, sweetness!" Duck said in mock, knowing before she said anything that he'd probably get punched for even uttering that pet name in her direction once she got down.

"Don't call me that," Clementime muttered, making it up to the deck and pulling out Luke's binoculars. "I'm up here!"

"Great! You see anything?" Luke shouted, waiting anxiously for Clementine's answer. Before she did, however, shouting could be heard back at the lodge's back entrance. Luke gave Duck a fleeting look before bolting in the direction of the chaos, leaving Duck to look up at where Clementine was.

"I see lights!"

"Clementine! Something's going on, can you get down here?" Duck said, a hurrying tone in his voice as he did. It didn't take very long for Clem to process what he said and climb down as fast as she could without tripping. He waited for her, grabbing her wrist and crouching down as soon as he could, making sure she was dragged down with him to hide. "We could run right now. We don't have to get in the conflict," Duck whispered to her and, after reasoning with himself that there were both people chasing them and some sort of conflict happening, it'd be a lot safer to just ditch them.

"Duck, we can't leave them. We have to help!" She whispered back to him, a worried look that said she didn't want to leave their new group just yet. Duck went through a small argument in his mind. He had a decision to make: He could leave this group and drag Clementine along, having her angry at him for an undetermined period of time or help and possibly get killed in the process.

It was an easy choice for him and he was about to take a firm grasp on Clementine before he saw her face that dared him to touch her. He gave a defeated sigh.

"Fine. Grab your knife,"

"We aren't unsheathing that until we're certain,"

"Just put your hand on the handle then," Duck said, following his own advice as he did but grasping his handgun firmly behind his back. He kept his crouching position, making his way slowly up the hill and on the deck.

"Who are you?! Are you trying to rob us?!" He heard a woman shout, followed by Rebecca defending herself and a series of jumbled voices, each arguing or defending of one's respective group until a certain voice stood out of the crowd, making Duck's heart jump at just how familiar it sounded. He wasn't going to falter just yet.

Duck took a firmer grasp on the gun, making his way cautiously through his group with Clementine following close behind. Duck pushed past the last person carefully, his muscles going slack and his breathing shallowing. His eyes dilated, his hands shook, forcing him to move it from his gun so he didn't shoot himself and his heartbeat increased as a tidlewave of emotions coursed through him. His mouth felt dry as he auidbly took in a breath before willing himself to speak.

"...Dad..." Duck said in a shuddering breath, his voice breaking as tears made themselves known, stinging his nose.

A/N: Alright! Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned!