Clemintine was pacing back and forth in the small space while Duck was sitting in a corner of the shed. "I need to get out of here, we need to patch up my injury," she whispered and Duck closed his eyes and sighed.

"I agree but I think some sleep will do us good," He said slowly as Clemintine looked to him.

"Duck, I'm going to patch up my wound, You can go to sleep as much as you'd like," and just as she said that Duck instantly fell asleep and she rolled her eyes. I didn't actually think you'd fall asleep like that! She thought and looked around for a way to get to the house to search for supplies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duck woke up with him in his mother's lap. Katjaa was asleep as the train moved further down the tracks. His mother coughed up blood and he looked at Lee for help for what to do. Lee took a napkin and wiped the blood from his mother's mouth.

"We can't go on like this, we need to stop the train, I think it's time," Lee said as Duck held onto his mom tighter but did not say anything as Lee left for Kenny. Clemintine looked at Duck and Katjaa with a worried expression. Duck kept his eyes shut tight as he heard a groan from Katjaa.

"Mommy?" He asked hopefully. Katjaa didn't answer the boy and slowly opened her eyes for Duck only to see yellow cover the white that was once there. "Momma?" Duck asked as he got off of her and backed away. Katjaa lunged at him violently as she growled

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duck jolted awake to see Clemintine with a walker grabbing a hold on her leg tightly. Just as he was standing up to aid her, it crawled the rest of its way in and trapped Clemintine underneath him. Duck pulled the zombie off of her by its collar and instead led himself into danger he looked to the hammer as Clemintine grabbed it and brought it down on the zombie's head. It turned it's attention to her and Duck pulled it back, causing the zombie to get stuck on an anchor that was hung up but low enough for the zombie to land on its sharp edges. Clemintine walked closer to it and took a few tries hitting it dead center in the forehead before it finally stopped moving. Once she was done, they heard the doors open.

"Holy shit...!"

"What the...?"

Clem shifted the hammer back and forth until it was out of the zombie's head.

"How did that get in here?"

"Kids are tough as nails,"

Duck saw fury in Clem's eyes as she stood up a little straighter "I'm still. Not. Bitten. I never was! And you left me out here to die!" She said as Luke reached up to scratch the back of his neck. Luke looked down at her arm.

"You patched yourself up?" Luke asked in surprise as the rest of his group followed after him.

"Where'd you get that stuff?"

"Did she steal from us?" The pregnant lady from before asked pointedly.

*Take the blame. *Let Clemintine take it

"I did," Duck said "You left her to die, we had no choice, I'm sorry," he said in an assertive tone but his legs shook in anxiety. He barely knew what happened before that walker. Did Clem actually steal from them? Alvin looked at him in confusion. Does he know Clem did it?

"And you think we should trust them?"

"God damnit, don't even start, any of you would've done the same if you were half as tough as these little kids. So just save it," Pete said and they took a breathe of relief when the worst outcome hasn't took place.

"Bring her in, I'll take a look at her arm," Carlos said and they began to walk as Luke stopped them with a question.

"Hungry?" He asked and Clem didn't say a word and continued on. Duck's eyes softened at Luke. He did ask if they wanted food, that's a start. Duck walked a little faster to catch up with Clemintine as Luke followed at his own pace. They made it into the house and followed Carlos into the kitchen as Nick and Luke came in right behind them. After a few minutes, Carlos had begun to correct anything that Clemintine did wrong. Clemintine noticed Nick looked anxious while Luke paced around.

"This might hurt a little," Carlos said as Clemintine hissed in pain

"Ow!"

"How's she look...?" Luke asked Carlos

"Her suturing skills need some work, but otherwise I'd say she'll be fine," Carlos said and Duck smiled from the chair he was sitting in.

"So it wasn't a lurker bite?"

"If it was, the fever would've already set in and her temperature would be through the roof," Carlos said and Nick looked almost angry as he made an exit to the living room. Luke followed him as Clem looked at her arm.

"I wish you wouldn't have done what you did,"

"She was hurt and you weren't helping," Duck argued and Carlos immediately came with a retort

"Because we considered you both a threat, which you were, maybe you still are," he said and Duck's breath hitches a little but he bites the inside of his cheek, he's got his dad's temper, that's for sure.

"No, I'm not," Clemintine said

"We put you in that shed out of concern and safety for our loved ones. And then you escaped and persuaded my daughter to steal from us," Carlos said with a hostile tone in his voice

"Hey! Clemintine didn't steal from you!" Duck said and Carlos turned to him

"I know for a fact that you were not in this house, jr." Carlos said

"Duck is fine, thank you," Duck said but Carlos paid no mind to him and turned back to Clemintine.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but there are a few things you need to know about my daughter," he paused to see if he had both Clemintine and Duck's attention "She isn't like you. You may not get that initially but once you're around her for a while you'll understand, if she knew how bad the world is... What it's really like out there... She would... Cease to function, she's my little girl, she's all I have left and I would ask that you both stay away from her," He directed the last part more to Duck than Clemintine but Duck didn't catch onto that

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Clemintine said and Duck looked at her as his eyebrows knitted together. Don't apologize for that, Clem...

"It's okay, you're forgiven, just don't make anymore mistakes," he said as he walked out and Clemintine moved to sit beside Duck. She folded her hands in her lap and Duck took the hand that wasn't connected to her hurt arm and held it. Clem smiled and Duck copied her actions.

"Heya, I brought you guys some food if y'all are hungry," Clemintine turned to him, seeing two bowls in his hands and smiled. He set down the bowls in front of them while he sat across from them. Duck let go of Clemintine's hand. Duck started eating as soon as Clemintine did. "That's gonna leave on hell of a scar," he said, directing his attention to her dog bite

"It doesn't bother me, I can live with it,"

"Wow. Nice," Luke said and Duck chuckled quietly. They continued eating as Nick came in, he stood in the doorway for a second and then walked up to Clemintine.

"Hey, look. I just wanna say I'm sorry for... Well for being a dick out there," Nick said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I got a bit agro and that was definitely not cool,"

"Nicks been known to go off every once in a while, don't hold it against him," Luke said

"I don't care as long as he doesn't do it again," Duck said earning a look from Clemintine.

"Duck, be nice!" She said, returning her attention to Nick. "You were just protecting your friends, I get it, and Duck does too. He knows a thing or two about trying to protect someone, even if he doesn't have to," Clementine said. Duck felt her eyes baring a hole in his flesh but didn't give in to her. He didn't want to look into her golden eyes at that moment.

"I didn't mean to be so harsh, it's just that, we had a bad experience once," Nick said, looking down at his feet as if it had suddenly became interesting. The room grew quiet as Clemintine looked between Luke and Nick.

"...If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Clemintine asked. Nick sat in the closest seat that was unoccupied with sad eyes.

"Nick lost his mom. We took care of someone who got bit," Luke spoke for Nick.

"It was my fault," Nick said, blaming himself for the death of a loved one. Clemintine was instantly reminded of Lee but she kept a hold of the conversation in front of her, not letting her thoughts take hold of her.

"It was no one's fault," Luke said slowly. "We thought we could control it but we couldn't and she turned and his mom was standing right there and she got attacked," Luke wrapped up without anymore interruptions.

"Anyways, I hope you guys understand," Nick said, standing up from his seat.

"We do. Yeah," Clemintine said, speaking for both her and Duck. A smile graced Nick's lips as he turned to walk out of the kitchen. Clemintine started eating again

"So, what's your plan?" Luke asked the two. Duck put down his spoon to answer.

"I'm thinking about moving on, I'm sure you all don't want us here. Then again, that's just what I'm thinking, I haven't seen what Clem's thinkin," Duck said, letting his eyes finally skim over to Clemintine. He wasn't looking for an answer but he had gotten one shortly after she was done with her next spoonful.

"Yeah, I don't want to be a burden and neither does Duck. I'm sure three- and soon to be- four kids, would be a hassle," Clemintine said.

"You guys are welcome to stay here if you want. She can let herself heal up and you can think things over. Both of you," Luke said with a warm smile.

"Will everyone else be okay with it?" Clemintine asked, seeking approval of herself and her friend.

"They'll just have to deal with it," A silence passed. The only sound being the chewing of food from Duck and Clemintine. "...So... Where are your parents..?" Luke asked, making them both go stiff. Their scars weren't exactly new but it was new enough to make words catch into their throats.

"Well, other people took care of me..."

"...and my mom and dad took care of me, until..."

"Hey, I shouldn't of asked,"

"...My parents left to Savannah and left me with a babysitter and they never came back,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Luke said, clearly uncomfortable with his question and the fact that he got a somewhat lengthy answer.

"This man found me and took care of me. We met up with other survivors, that's where I met Duck, and we all tried to make it but it didn't work. His name was Lee, he taught me how to survive... He taught me and Duck how to shoot a gun,"

"I guess I should say where my parents are too," Duck said

"You don't have to," Clemintine assured but Duck gave her a hand motion, saying that it was fine.

"You did it. Anyways, when we were trying to escape a group of bandits, my mom and I got trapped under a walker... It wasn't until later we found out she was bit. I tried to take care of her, but I couldn't. She turned in the train... and almost got me, but this guy named Ben shot her. As for my dad, he tried to be a hero. Lee dropped a walkie talkie, the only lifeline to knowing where Clem was, and he felt guilty I guess. This woman named Christa got it but was too short to get back up on the roof from the hole she was in and my dad went in to save her and... he didn't make it out," Duck finished. He wore a sad smile as he did, hiding his true emotions. A creak of the kitchen door opening stopped any new conversations from forming as Pete walked in.

"I hate to interrupt but I'm standing watch out there and I can't help but notice this place is lit up like a goddamn beacon in the middle of the woods," He said

"Yeah, we should turn in anyways,"

"Get your winks in while you can cause we're going fishing at first light. A couple of fresh brookies for dinner? Mm, wouldn't that be nice?" Pete said. Like got up to leave the kitchen and Pete looked torwads he two and smiled, earning a smile from each in return. He exited the kitchen as well, following the example of Luke. The two ate a couple more bites of their food before another person entered the kitchen.

"Oh, you're still here," A female voice called, making them both look up to see Rebecca. She made her way across the kitchen to the sink and made work of something before speaking again. "I wouldn't get comfortable," she said. Kenny's short temper erupted in Duck again as he managed to keep quiet, knowing Clem would only get mad at him if he said something out of line.

"Who's baby is it," Clemintine said with a smirk. Duck couldn't help the smile that etched his face as Rebecca stopped what she was doing.

"Excuse me?"

"If it's not Alvin's, whose is it?" Rebecca got closer to the duo.

"You shut your fuckin mouth,"

"I won't tell,"

"I knew you were gonna be a fuckin problem,"

"And I knew you were gonna be a fuckin whore," Duck said as he dared a glance at Rebecca. She was glaring at him with hints of surprise on her face.

"You got what you came for so go," Rebecca said as she left. Clemintine wanted to say more but this time, Duck was the voice of reason, even as his voice of itched to degrade the woman more.

"We need to go to sleep. We've got a safe enough place to do so," Duck said. Clemintine nodded and stood, walking into the living room, seeing there were already pillows and blankets on the couch and easy chair.

"I'll take the chair," Clem said but Duck protested, saying she deserves the couch.

"You have an injury, take the couch,"

"But it's healed and your taller, you need more room, you need to take the couch,"

"But you're not completely healed and I'm short enough to fit on a chair,"

"Stop you bickering and choose one," A voice behind them said, causing them to run to one as if they were in trouble for something. When they looked, it was Pete. It seemed he had startled Clem into taking the couch and Duck into taking the chair. "Now that's settled,"

"No fair!" Clem whined and Duck stuck his tongue out just as childishly at her. They laughed at each other as Pete made his way upstairs. Clemintine and Duck continued to make funny faces and laughed with each other, trying to keep the other quiet as to not wake the sleeping household.

Very late. Please excuse my tardiness. I'm sorry! I really do want to finish this book and make another one but with season three if Duck was alive. I need to finish this first though...