Chapter 4

The Stranger

Clementine

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you guys for 20+ reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

P.S-

I'll be starting school next week, so the chapters will be uploading a little slower, but I'll keep working on them! Humongous thank you to commercial-fisherman-kenny for promoting my story on Tumblr! Thanks sooooo much! :)

And another thank you to my biggest fan, (so she says!) ,warriorcats2468! Your reviews actually motivated me more and more to work on this chapter, so I hope you like it! :3

At first, Clementine thought she had just imagined the knocking at the door. She had to look at Luke to see if he had heard it, too. The man was already on his feet, bolting across the living room. He picked up one of the guns on the wooden table, a Beretta M9, along with his machete. Luke slid open one of the drawers attached to the table and rustled through the contents of it, flinging aside old pieces of paper and a pair of broken glasses.

"Luke...?" Clementine trailed off, eyeing her friend anxiously as he continued going through the items of the drawer.

He finally stopped scrambling through the drawer and pulled out some ammunition, and shoved it into the gun. Grabbing his machete, Luke turned around again and started walking towards Clementine, holding out the Beretta.

"Here, take this," He told her flatly, grabbing her wrist gently and slipping it into her palm for her, "I want you...to stay right here. Do you hear me? Stay right here on the couch. I'm gonna take a look through one of the windows and see what we're dealing with. I'll come right back and tell you if-"

Another knock radiated from down the hall, making Clementine jump. She tried to focus on Luke and what he was telling her, but she just couldn't stop thinking about Carver. How that evil man had come into their old cabin uninvited. She remembered Sarah's horrified face as she cowered underneath her bed, hiding from who would be the reason of so many deaths. Reggie, Carlos, Alvin, Walter...Sarita. It all started with a knock on the door. Was a new enemy just waiting to resurface once Luke opened that door?

Luke stayed silent for a few moments, staring at Clementine worriedly, his brown eyes also holding a hint of sadness. Could he tell that she was thinking about Carver?

"...Clem, do you understand?" His voice was a lot more gentle now as he straightened up, transferring his machete to his other hand as he did so, "I just want you in here where it's safe.I'm sure it's just a survivor lookin' for some help. If it were a bandit, he would've just kicked down the door," He added a small smirk to the end of his sentence, smiling at her reassuringly, "But bandit or not, I'll make sure they go away."

Clementine nodded, holding the gun close to her chest, "Yeah, yeah. Okay..."

Luke gazed at her for a few moments before he turned and bolted out of the room, treading softly on his feet so they wouldn't make a lot of noise on the wooden floorboard. Clementine could feel her heart racing, along with her thoughts. Maybe Luke was right; maybe it was just a needy survivor. Knowing Luke, he would probably give them a few supplies and send them on their way. He was kind like that.

Then, she remembered. They didn't have much supplies right now. Luke had snapped at her in a way that she'd never seen him before. It was kind of scary to see him like that, but it calmed her down knowing that Luke had apologized for saying it. He was known for bottling up his emotions, and moving on quickly from loss and other obstacles. But even Clementine knew that he wouldn't hold them all in for long, and she dreaded the day when he just let all of his bottled emotions spill out. She almost thought he would one day while they were scavenging a truck stop for supplies. Luke told her to see if any food was laying around in the shop, while he tried to get an old car running.

Clementine found some stuff, but not much of it was very filling. She uncovered a few packages of apple sauce, a cold bagel, a half-full bottle of Gatorade, and an untouched granola bar. After she checked to make sure they were good to eat, she shoved them in her backpack and made her way back outside.

There was a loud crash coming from around the corner; instinctively making Clementine press herself against the wall and grab her gun in her pocket. Another crash. She knew that Luke was working on a car, but she was pretty sure that automobiles didn't make that kind of sound when they were being started up.

Fearing that Luke was in trouble, Clementine ran around the corner and raised her gun, holding her finger shakily on the trigger. Luke was still standing next to the car. Or what was left of it. All of the windows except for one were shattered to pieces, the headlights were kicked out, and one of the doors was pulled out. It didn't look like that when they first arrived here.

Then she saw Luke do something she'd never seen before. As if he had lost his mind, he started beating the car with his bare hands. He didn't realize that Clementine was standing right there, and he punched the last window and threw one of the shards in her direction. She slid to the side to avoid the glass, slowly lowering the gun. What the hell has gotten into him?

"Luke!" Clementine exclaimed, putting the weapon on safety and shoving it back in her pocket, "What are you doing?"

Luke didn't stop; either he didn't hear her or he just didn't care what she said. Clementine sighed and walked up to him, grabbing hold of his wrist. The touch caught his attention, and he stopped swinging his fists, but he was still breathing heavily.

"The damn thing won't start," Luke told her in between breaths, not even looking down at the girl, "It would've gotten us to a safe place. I coulda..."

That was the first time Clementine had ever seen him cry. She could tell that the car wasn't the thing that was bothering him. Clementine watched him sadly as he pulled away from her and sat down on the bench in front of the shop, bending down and covering his face with his hands. She didn't really know what to do, since no adult had ever been distressed in her presence. It was usually the other way around, where she would sometimes cry a little whenever she thought about Lee. But this was different.

Luke lost all of his close friends, and didn't even get the chance to avenge any of them. He never showed his emotions, so this was so new to Clementine. She didn't know what to do.

Clementine walked over to the bench and sat down beside him, taking off her backpack and placing it on the ground beside her feet. There was an uncomfortable silence that fell in between them, except for the quiet muttering that Luke was stifling under his breath.

Clementine bent down and zipped open her backpack. She grabbed the Gatorade bottle and held it out to Luke, "I found some Gatorade."

"That's good, Clem." Luke sighed, moving his hands so he could look at the beverage, "Is it good to drink?"

"Yep."

"Good job."

"So..." Clementine let her shoes brush against the cement ground, "No car then?"

"No."

"That's okay. I can walk," she put the Gatorade back in her backpack and was about to close it back up when she spotted something colorful peeking out from underneath the bagel and the apple sauce. Clementine grinned and reached her hand in to grab it. The coloring book.

Luke's eyes widened when he realized what she was holding, "You still have that?"

Clementine nodded, grinning lightly at him, "Yeah, I do. I actually found the time to color all of the pictures," she boasted, flipping through the pages to show him her work, "There was a blank page at the end of it, too. I drew a picture on it. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

Clementine closed the book and put her finger in between the pages at the end, then opened it again. She had to flip through a couple pages before she finally found the drawing. It was a picture of the whole group: Her, Luke, Pete, Nick, Rebecca, Alvin, Carlos, Sarah, Kenny, Sarita, Bonnie, Jane, and Mike. She had also doodled Lee next to her, he was too special not to include in the picture. They were all standing side by side, smiles drawn on their faces. She had drawn it a long time ago, so the paper looked a little dirty.

Luke took the picture from her slowly, examining it as a grin came back on his lips, "Wow, Clem..."

"Do you like it?" Clementine asked, tapping her shoes together nervously. She was half expecting him to get angry and yell at her and say things like 'what is wrong with you? Why would you draw your dead friends?' but his response was completely different.

"It's awesome," Luke told her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I love it, Clem. Do you mind if I keep it?"

Clementine felt her heart flutter at his praise, she nodded, "Sure, you can have it! I knew you would like it."

Luke gave her some sort of a side-hug and ripped the page out of the book, folding it nicely so it would fit in his bag, "That's really somethin', Clem."

Clementine smirked, grabbing her backpack, "Heh, I'm sure you'll throw it away after a while. I know you're not exactly a fan of the past,"

He shook his head, swinging his bag over his shoulder as they started walking back towards the road, "No, I'll keep it forever."

Clementine wished that remembering that moment with Luke would calm her down, but it didn't. It just made her more scared. If anything happened to Luke...

She heard the door creak open. Surprisingly, there were no shouts that followed or the explosions of bullets. It was...quiet. The wind coming from outside rattled the windows gently, and that was the only sound along with the cackling of the fire.

Clementine could hear faint voices, but she couldn't interpret what they were saying. The quiet talking went on for about two minutes, and it started to feel too peaceful. She started to loosen her grip on the gun.

I need to go see what's going on, She told herself, swinging her foot off of the pillow. She knew for sure that Luke wouldn't want her walking on her bad foot, and because he ordered her to stay put. But she didn't care; she needed to know what was happening.

Clementine pushed herself off of the couch, flinching as her foot pressed against the hard floor. She clenched her teeth, holding back a whimper as she limped across the room, raising the Beretta once again. It was fairly hard to keep the weapon steady, since her hands were trembling so much. She didn't know what to expect once she turned that corner...

Luke, please be okay...

The voices were a little clearer now, but she still couldn't pick Luke's among them. Taking a deep breath, she pressed herself against the wall that was beside the hallway that led to the front door. Her heart was beating so fast, she almost swore that the people at the door could hear it thumping.

She was just about to force her way into the hallway before a cold hand grabbed her wrist. Without even thinking, Clementine let out a scream and slammed the butt of the gun against the hand that had grabbed her. She fell backwards quickly, but caught her balance before she could plummet to the ground.

"Fuck!"

That was Luke's voice!

She brushed the hair out of her eyes, straightening up. Her heart dropped in relief when she saw Luke bending over slightly, gripping his hand that she had hit with her gun. Clementine must have hit him pretty hard, because he was still spitting curses under his breath as he examined his knuckles.

"Luke-!" Clementine exclaimed, but cut off as she saw another figure walk up behind him. Instinctively, she raised the gun again and aimed it at the stranger. His eyes widened and he froze, staring at her. He was older than Luke, with dirty blonde hair and a mustache. The man wasn't holding a weapon, and he looked pretty flustered as Clementine held the gun at him.

There were another pair of footsteps incoming from behind him, and Clementine watched as a smaller person crept in and paused behind the man. Once he spotted Clementine, he let out a gasp and held onto the bottom of the other man's shirt. A kid?!

Luke finally got over his injury and stood up, gazing at Clementine, then at the two strangers behind him. When he realized what was going on, he put his hand on the top of her gun and lowered it slowly.

"Clem, it's okay. They're just survivors, like I told ya," Luke told her, backing away so he could open the space between her and the pair, "This is Logan and Quinn. They're heading to Wellington, like us."

Clementine glanced at Luke, giving him a short frown. He wasn't one for opening the doors to strangers. Especially since Kenny died. Then, she looked at the pair standing adjacent to her, their anxious expressions slowly fading from their faces as Luke introduced them.

The little boy, Quinn, looked about the same age as Clementine, probably a year younger. He caught her looking at him, and Clementine looked away.

"Uh, hi..." Clementine eyed them, her voice flat, "It's been a long time since we've, uh...seen other people."

Logan nodded, his dark green eyes soft now, "Yeah, us too. This whole area is kinda deserted, surprised we've come across you folks," His gaze sudden wily turned distressed, and he looked at the floor, "There used to be three of us..."

Luke and Clementine exchanged glances with each other, frowning sadly. From the looks of it, these two have been through hell. Logan's face was bruised, and his brown jacket was covered in a mixture of dirt and snow. Quinn's dark brown hair was ruffled and had specks of snow inside of it, and he was wearing a black sweater that was clearly too large for him. It sagged over his arms and the bottom of it almost reached his knees; Clementine guessed that it used to be Logan's.

"They lost their friend," Luke broke the silence, looking down at Clementine, "They've been looking for him for days. Hadn't had sleep since."

"Wow..." Clementine now realized why they looked so overthrown with fatigue. Logan blinked and rubbed his hand against Quinn's shoulder comfortingly.

"Why don't ya come in here and make yourselves comfortable?" Luke offered, gesturing a thumb over a shoulder towards the living room.

Logan gazed at Quinn before nodding, "Yeah, that'd be great."

As they made their way to the living room, Clementine watched them, narrowing her eyes. Before Luke could follow them, she walked up beside him and glared up.

"Do you trust these people that much to just let them in?" Clementine hissed at him, keeping her voice low so they wouldn't hear her.

"Hey," Luke muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "They look pretty beat up, I just thought we could give 'em someplace warm to stay for a bit. Then, we'll send them on their way. Okay? They seem like nice people."

Clementine shrugged, "Of course they look nice. I'm sure Carver looked friendly when you first met him, too."

Luke didn't say anything, instead he turned away and sighed. She shouldn't have mentioned Carver; she didn't mean to strike any of Luke's nerves. Hopefully he wouldn't yell at her again...

Luke's eyes shot open and his gaze bolted down to her leg, "Shit! I forgot! Here, let me help ya."

Clementine didn't resist as he placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her into the living room. It was a lot easier to walk with Luke's help.

Logan and Quinn were already sitting side by side on one of the couches. Luke helped Clementine sit down on the one across from them.

"I'll go get you two something to eat," Luke started, turning towards the kitchen.

"No, no, it's fine." Logan piped up, "We have enough food. Thanks, though."

He gave the man a nod before sitting down next to Clementine. Quinn pressed up closer to Logan, staring at them warily.

"Sorry, I didn't even introduce ya to my friend here," Luke gave Clementine a pat on the back, "She's Clementine."

"Hey there, Clementine." Logan gave her an awkward wave, "Quinn here hasn't seen a kid his age for a long time."

Clementine didn't like looking at Quinn. He looked just like Duck. She could feel all of their stares on her as she avoided Quinn's gaze.

"So, uh..." Luke broke the silence once again, as if he could feel Clementine's tension, "What made you decide to head up to Wellington?"

Logan kept looking at Clementine for a few moments before he turned his head towards Luke, "The third person in our crew...Jason, had a lot of information about the place. He thinks that his relatives might be there, so we kinda tagged along with him. Figured it would be a safe place."

Luke nodded, "Yep, that's why Clem and I are goin'. She had a friend named Christa and..."

Clementine turned away and looked at the fire, feeling a pang of sadness as she thought of her lost friend. Luke sighed guiltily and didn't finish his sentence.

"So this...Jason. What did he look like? We could keep an eye out for him for ya if you'd like." Luke said, changing the subject.

Logan smiled, "That'd be real nice of ya, Luke. Well, last time I saw him, he was wearing a black coat and a scarf. He has blonde hair like mine, and a beard. He also had a silver pistol with him, just in case he ran into any walkers while he went out looking for supplies."

Clementine expected Luke to say something like 'I hope you find him' or 'I'm sure hes fine'. But he didn't say anything. She had to turn and look at him to even make sure he was still sitting next to her. He looked utterly horrified.

"Luke...?" Clementine murmered, staring at her motionless friend.

"Was your friend by the river?" Luke blurted out, leaning forward.

Logan looked taken back by Luke's question. Even Quinn looked flushed. The pair exchanged glances before Logan nodded slowly, his eyes wide. Clementine stared at Luke as he stood up, wiping his face.

"Sorry, sorry." Luke told them, his tone shaky, "I haven't seen him. Clem, come with me real quick. I think I heard something outside."

Clementine knew he was lying, and he was just making up a believable excuse so he could tell her something. She sighed and stood up, feeling Luke grab hold of her arm and basically drag her out of the room. Something about Luke's behavior was making Clementine's blood run cold. He finally pulled her into the hallway and made sure they weren't being listened to. Clementine stared at him, trying to figure out what was making him so stressed.

"Clem, I...I did something really bad." Luke whispered, his brown eyes intense.

Clementine backtracked to everything that Luke had done, but none of his actions seemed that bad. What was he talking about?

"What do you mean?" Clementine inquired, echoing her own thoughts.

Luke sighed and turned away so his back was facing her. He placed his hand over his eyes and paced forward, slamming his fist into the door. Clementine jumped, startled by his sudden outburst. She was about to ask him what was wrong before he turned around to face her again.

"I killed Logan's friend."