A/N: Finally! It's done! Here it is, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead Game!

It Just Happened

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 19

Deep breath. In and out. Luke had been worrying himself about what he was going to say to Jonathan who arrived just yesterday. He walked into him and his wife at a bad moment and Luke didn't want any drama to be between them. Clementine doesn't know about this either, he made sure to not tell her about yesterday's events when he got home. The last thing he needed was for her to find out about this, especially since it was with someone she already didn't like. Coincidentally, he was working with Jonathan today, so he was hoping to smooth things over with him. All he can do is apologize and get his side of the story told. Hopefully, Jonathan will understand.

Luke walked up to the man, praying that everything goes well.

"Hey." he greeted.

"Hey." Jonathan said back before studying him for a moment. "You were the one who was with Monica yesterday, right?"

"Yes, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about that. I was trying to leave, and I-"

"It's alright, Monica explained everything to me." Jonathan interrupted.

Luke paused for a moment. "She did?"

"Yes. What's the leader's name? Dan?"

"Don." Luke corrected.

"Don, right. Anyway, he told me how Monica thought I was dead. And I assume that's why you two were together?"

"Yes and no." Luke said. "I was there to help her move a couch and when I tried to leave she made her move on me."

"And she kissed you?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes. That's exactly what happened. Had I known that you were alive or around, I would have stopped it. I actually didn't want to be with her because I figured that she needed time to grieve over you before moving on, but I guess that's not the case." Luke told him.

Jonathan smiled. "It's no worries, I believe you." he said. "Has Monica told you where we were when it all started."

"I've asked, but she always avoided the question."

"Figures. Monica and I were on our way to the courthouse to finalize our divorce."

Luke exhaled the weight off his shoulders. He was no longer worried about their relationship. "Divorce?"

"Monica cheated on me before all of this. We fought and I wanted to leave. It took a couple of weeks, but she finally agreed. We never got anything finalized before we realized what was happening, so legally we're still married. I wanted to leave her when all hell broke loose, however she managed to convince me to stay with her. In her words: "It was a sign" that we shouldn't get divorced."

"One hell of a sign."

Jonathan huffed. "Tell me about it. Then, a couple months ago we got into a fight, the fight attracted the walkers, and we both got split up. I did look for her, but obviously, I never found her, leading us to today."

"I see." Luke said. It was a weird feeling; he didn't expect him to be so okay with this. Hell, Luke had a whole fucking spiel he was going to deliver only for him not to use it.

"Listen, don't get worked up about this. Monica and I have always been on the rocks. As far as I'm concerned, we're not together anymore and I don't care who she screws. At least now it's not behind my back."

"Thank you, for being understanding." Luke told him. He was so glad this didn't turn into a huge fight or anything.

"It's not a problem. In a place like this, the last thing I want to do is make enemies with someone who's not an ass."

That got a chuckle out of Luke.

"Jonathan." He held his hand out to Luke.

"Luke." He shook his hand.

The introduction was long overdue, but it was a fresh start from yesterday. Now that the awkward moment was out of the way, they both could work today: Digging holes for more crops.

"Is everyone nice here?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, we're all pretty friendly."

"What about the leadership? Is that good?"

"I guess so. Aside from Don, there's a council that decides on things for us. I'm a part of that, actually, but uh… the council has been kind of rocky lately."

"Should I be worried?"

"No, everything is fine, it's just rocky because of what we're discussing." They were all still debating on capital punishment. Most of them agreed that a life for a life was fair, but no one was completely comfortably with taking a life, in general. All their morals get tested every time they talk about it.

"I see. I hope it works out for you all." Jonathan said.

"Thanks. Honestly, with all the shit that's going on with the council, taking care of Clem, and the situation with Monica; the last thing I needed is a conflict with the new guy." Luke admitted.

"I hear that." Jonathan said back. "Shit, boss man's coming."

Luke looked over his shoulder seeing Don walking towards them.

"Mornin,' Don." Luke said.

"Morning, Luke. I see you've met Jonathan."

"Luke was just explaining how the ropes work in this place." Jonathan explained.

"Good, I just wanted to let you know that I'm working on moving you to a new home."

"I appreciate that Don." he said to him.

"Unfortunately, it's going to take a day or two. I sent my son to look for a small house in the neighborhoods we have." Don told him.

"That's fine." Jonathan sighed.

People are assigned homes based on how big the group is and if there's a family. A bigger family lives in a bigger house while a small family or one person lives in a smaller one. A few of the bigger homes housed people who came here individually or in groups who have no relations with each other in a roommate style home. This was to maximize the use of all the houses close to the farm. Besides the debate of moving the hospital house closer to the farm, everyone has been satisfied with their homes and no one has complained. At least until now. Luke wasn't going to blame the guy for not wanting to live in the same house as his ex-wife.

"You're more than welcome to stay with me and Clem until then." Luke offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we got a spare bed and she won't mind. She's got her issues with your ex-wife, too. You'll both get along just fine."

Jonathan chuckled. "I guess I'm coming home with you tonight then."

"Alright, glad that's been settled. Now, both of you get back to work, I'm going to check on everyone else." Don said.

As the leader left Luke and Jonathan to their own jobs, the newest member of the society turned back to Luke as he dug his shovel into the ground.

"So who is Clem? You've said she lives with you, but how do you know her?" he asked.

"She joined my old group a couple years back and now it's just us. It was just us for a while until we found this place last year." Luke told him as he started digging, too.

"I bet you both were happy when you did."

"Grateful, relieved, I could sleep well knowing that we were both safe. It's a nice feeling."

"I'll bet."

"But trust me, you'll like Clem, she's a great friend. I really don't know where I'd be without her."

"She sounds nice. I wish I had someone like that."

"Hey, give it some time and who knows, maybe that person is already here." Luke said.

"Here's hoping." Jonathan said.

Clementine folded up an empty box from the other room in her house. Andie was there with her to help her unpack… well, she brought her guitar over and was playing random chords. They finished their jobs early and left before someone could tell them not to. Clementine mentioned to Andie that she wanted to unpack the spare room that she never used. She and Andie had previous talks about having sleepovers at each other's houses. They haven't done it yet, but it's something they've wanted to do.

"This is such a nice room." Andie said. "I'm surprised you don't use it."

Clementine opened another box. "Damn it, more clothes." she muttered. "I've never had any use for it since Luke and I share a bed. I'm trying to sleep on my own, but it's just nice to have someone next to me."

"There's no rush. I don't blame you for wanting to sleep next to Luke." Andie said.

Clementine paused going through the boxes and looked over at her. "You could help, you know."

"I am. I'm playing music and talking to you about how you enjoy sleeping next to a big, strong, handsome-"

Clementine pulled a shirt out of the box and threw it at Andie to shut her up.

"Alright, I'll help." she laughed as she got up from the bed, placing her guitar against the wall.

She began to help Clementine hang up the clothes in the box. They both began to comment about how cute some of the clothes were and how some were ugly. The two of them really enjoyed hanging out with each other. Even if they don't talk at all when they do, they love the other's company.

"What do you think of this?" Andie asked.

"Eh…" Clementine's head tilted and looked at the shirt that Andie held in front of her body. "I don't know."

"It's too big for me anyway." Andie hung it up. In the closet. "Hey, I found the dress I got you for your birthday!"

"Make sure it stays in its spot. I made room specifically for that dress so I can always find it."

"Awe, the dress gets its own little spot! You must love me."

"Ha, you wish!"

They both laughed as they began to put the clothes away in the closet and dresser drawers. They were making jokes and having fun as they continued to unpack the boxes. Clementine and Andie eventually found the bedding for the mattress and it just so happened to be the last box. Once they made the bed, Andie climbed back on the bed with her guitar and started playing and Clementine sat next to her, listening to the music she was making. Clementine laid down and rested her head on a pillow with her legs on top of Andie's that hung off the bed.

"You better not fall asleep." Andie said to her.

"I'm not the one playing relaxing music." Clementine said back.

"Got any song requests?"

"No, you can play what you want, it doesn't have to be anything."

Andie nodded and continued to play her guitar. It wasn't any song in particular, she was just passing time. Music played throughout the room along with Andie's occasional swearing whispers each time she messed up a note and Clementine's smirks each time she did. They really enjoyed the moments they get to spend together, whether they're sneaking away or hanging out with the rest of their friends, they can always count on each other to be there for the other because that's what best friends do.

"Hey, Clem?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to spend the night at my house?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Come on, it'll be fun!" Andie used a hand to tickle Clementine's stomach, causing the girl to squeal before she got Andie's sides and getting a squeal out of her.

"I'd love to, Andie… but…"

"What?"

"Well... Sometimes… I have nightmares, bad ones, and I…" Clementine sat up and looked down at her lap. "I don't want you to deal with that… deal with me."

Andie placed a hand on Clementine's shoulder. "To be fair, you deal with me all the time and you know I'm always here for you. And if you have one, we can talk about it or I can sing you a lullaby, or make you laugh until you forget about it. Fuck, we could even go on a walk together and stay out until sunrise."

"A walk does sound nice." Clementine admitted. The stars, the moon, the calm, cool night; it seemed like a great way to clear her head.

"Please?" Andie asked with a smile on her face. "I have nail polish and I have no clue on how to use it." she added in a bribing tone.

Clementine smiled back at her, chuckling at that last comment. "Alright, fine!"

"Yes!"

"I just need to ask Luke first, then we can go to your house."

"When does he get home?"

"I don't know, I think it should be soon." Both girls heard the front door open and close followed by two men talking. "Or now." Clementine said as she hopped off the bed and left the room with Andie right behind her. "Luke?"

"Hey, kid. Come to the living room real quick, there's someone I want you to meet."

Clementine smiled lightly when she saw Luke, then it faded when she saw the man next to him. She wasn't scared or anything, she just didn't know who he was and she was curious.

"Who's this?" She asked as Andie stood beside her.

"This is Jonathan, he arrived yesterday. John, this is Clementine and her friend Andie." Luke said.

Jonathan shook Clementine's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, both of you." He shook Andie's hand as well.

"John needs a place to stay for a day or two. I told him he could room with us until Don finds him a permanent place." Luke explained. "I hope this is okay?"

Clementine was surprised. Luke never brought anyone over, then again, neither has she… well, until today. "Yeah, it's fine… just unexpected."

"I don't want to intrude if you're not okay with it. Luke said you would be." John said to her.

"No, really, I'm okay with it. I'm more curious to know why Luke said it would be." Clementine turned her attention to him.

"Because you both have your issues with the same person." Luke told her.

"Monica's my ex-wife." John explained.

Both Clementine's and Andie's eyes widened and their mouths fell agape at the news.

"Seriously?" Clementine asked in shock. "Holy shit… but wait, Monica said that you were her husband."

"Monica cheated on me before everything started. On the day we were supposed to get divorced, the dead started walking around. She may think we're still together, but I'm done with her." John told her.

"So she's annoying, a drama queen, and a liar. Fucking hell, what is her deal?" Andie asked. She was just as surprised as Clementine.

"Even after being married to her, I still don't know." John said.

The room filled with light chuckles then Clementine remembered what she needed to do. "Hey, Luke, is it alright if I spend the night at Andie's tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. You know the drill: stay safe and don't do anything stupid." Luke said before making eye contact with Andie then back at Clem. "And I mean that to the both of you."

"Will do. Thanks, Luke!" Clementine said as she and her friend headed towards the door. "See you tomorrow!"

Luke waved bye to her as the front door shut. He was happy that she was doing normal things like sleepovers, but then he realized that this was the first time she's done something like this. She's never slept over at Andie's, or away from him, this was new. As happy as he was, it was unexpected. On the bright side, Luke could hang out with someone else for the night.

"I've got some good whiskey that I stash from Clem, do you want some?" Luke asked, his thumb pointing back towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, sure." John huffed as he followed Luke. "You know, when you told me about Clementine, I wasn't expecting, you know, a girl."

Luke pulled two glasses out of the kitchen cabinets. "Clementine tends to act more mature than her age, I guess I forgot about that part." He reaches on top of the fridge and grabs a whiskey bottle. It's in such plain sight that Clementine doesn't see it. Hell, it was only six months after they moved in when he saw it. He never told Clem, it was nice to sneak a sip when he needed it.

"Did she come with the swears or did you teach them to her?" John asked as he came around to the other side of the bar.

"She came with them." Luke said. "Although the group we were in wasn't… healthy…" he poured the whiskey. "I think it's when she began saying them. Our group fell apart in front of us, we were lucky to get out alive."

"And what about her? Was she always with you? You know, since the beginning?"

"Nah, she wasn't with me. She had it kinda rough at the start, so I guess that's why she acts the way she does most of the time." Luke gave John his glass of whiskey. "She's a good kid, she's got a heart under that cold, tough front."

They both took a drink then Luke saw movement in the background.

"Oh shit, I forgot to ask. You're not allergic to cats, are you?" Luke asked.

"No, why?" John asked back.

Luke gestured his drink over to the cat sitting on the window sill.

"You guys have a cat?" John smiled.

"Her name is Boots, she's Clem's. Me and a couple of the other guys found her and her siblings in the woods. Mom was eaten by a lurker, so we took them in and gave them out to people to take care of them."

"Is she an indoor cat?"

"At the moment, yeah. I'd like to get her to be an outdoor one, though. That way she could hunt on her own."

"And let me guess, Clementine won't let you?" John said.

"I'm… working on changing her mind." Luke admitted.

John chuckled. "I wish you luck with that."

"Eh, I'll get her around… eventually." Luke said. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention me and Monica to her. I don't want her to get involved. Kid'll have my head."

"Noted. Don't want to lose my only friend to the girl he's living with."

"Nah, she's a good kid, but the last thing you want to do is piss her off." Luke told him. "You know, I love the Clementine, I do, she's like a sister to me, but sometimes she's kind of a brat."

"I hear that. Monica's crazy. She once yelled at a fast food worker because they forgot to put ketchup in the bag. I was afraid to take her out to eat after that."

"God, that must have been embarrassing."

"It was... Needless to say I never went back there, and neither did she. Love is crazy I guess. What about you? Got any exes?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely."

"Any crazy ones?"

Luke chuckled to himself before he started his story. "Yeah, I got one. Back when it was just me and Clem we ran into a woman." Luke started before taking a sip of his drink. "Her name was Melissa and we both hit it off."

"So far, so good. So what happened?"

Luke smirked. "Alright so get this, Melissa got jealous of Clementine, mind you Clem was eleven at the time, and she tried to get her killed. She and Clem went out one day to scavenge for supplies because I was sick, and what she did was she locked Clem inside a suitcase and ditched her."

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

"Then after she left her to die, she came back to me and told me that she was eaten by a walker, then lightly suggested that we have sex."

"Wait, so this chick legit attempted to kill a child in order to get into your pants?"

"She never got the chance to. I was so heartbroken thinking Clem was dead, I couldn't just get over it and have sex with her, you know. It wasn't even a day later when she suggested that we end it all together."

"No way, are you serious?"

"Yeah. Thank god, Clementine managed to get back in time. Melissa attempted to kill Clem again, I saved her life, but got shot in the side. Melissa thought she killed me so she turned the gun on herself." Luke finished the story.

"God damn."

"Tell me about it... She was a phenomenal kisser, I will tell you that."

John huffed. "Women."

"Only the crazy ones." Luke added.

The two men clinked their glasses before downing their drinks. He hasn't had a conversation like this in a while, just talking about women and their exes. It was his turn to feel how things were starting to go back to normal. If there was something he could get out of this conversation, it's that he's grateful that Clementine isn't crazy.

Don managed to find a house with two other men living in it with an extra bedroom and they were more than happy to get a new roommate. Even though Jonathan stayed with Luke for one night, John has invited Luke over more often to hang out with him and his roommates after work. It was good for him to get out of the house, even Clementine was happy that he made friends. Hanging out with Clem was one thing, but it was completely from hanging out with buddies from work. He got to talk about all kinds of shit with them, even stuff that he knew would worry Clem.

Clementine's noticed that Luke has been happier since he started hanging out with the guys. He wasn't depressed before or anything, but she knows that things have kind of been in a rut for him, so it was good for him to make friends. Things felt so normal, Clementine had her friends she hangs out with, and now Luke has friends, too. Aside from the broken fences and the walkers getting in, everything was good, almost relaxed. All they had to do was keep the farm going, work on getting the electricity back up, and survive.

"Hey."

Clementine walked out to the backyard and sat next to Andie who was sitting on the steps watching the kids playing as she picked the already peeling, blue nail polish off her fingernails. It was her day to babysit.

"Hey." Andie said back.

"How's watching the kids?" Clementine asked as she handed her a granola bar.

"It's going well. They're not as bratty, so it makes this job easier."

Clementine looked at the kids playing in the backyard. All of them running around, playing with sticks, and a slightly deflating ball. It was dull; kind of sad, really.

"Do you think we should get them a play set or something?" Clementine asked.

"A play set? Like a big one?" Andie asked.

"I don't know, maybe. I just think they'd rather have something to play on."

"We can look later this week and see if we can find something. It would be nice to get a swing set or a slide or something." Andie said. "What are you doing here?"

"Monica is trying to tell me that I don't know what I'm doing, that I can't take care of myself and I should stop acting like it." Clementine sighed. "Do you want to trade jobs?"

Andie smirked. "Clem, you're my best friend and I'd do anything for you, but I'm not going over there."

"Can I stay over here then?"

Andie nodded. "Yeah sure."

"Thanks. By the way, I managed to catch the twins this morning before the went fishing, they wanted the five of us to get together again."

"Another party?"

"Maybe, but they just want us all to get together and play games at our clubhouse." Clem clarified.

"Alright I'm down, when is it?" Andie asked.

Clementine shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, we both left for work before we could talk about the details."

"Well, we can meet with them after work today."

They both smiled before they heard the fence enclosing the backyard break. Their heads turned to see a walker get in the new hole. All the kids panicked and ran back towards the house to get as far away from the fence as they could. Andie muttered a swear as she and Clem ran towards the walker. Clementine kicked its knee to send it down and Andie stabbed its skull with a knife. Clem quickly checked the hole to make sure there were no more walkers.

"Clear." Clementine turned back to the kids. "Are you guys okay?"

She got an abundance of yeses and yeahs then turned to Andie pulling her knife out of the walker skull.

"I'm going to find the twins so they can patch up the fence, don't tell the moms. We'll tell them later when the day's over so they don't worry." Andie said. "Where are they fishing?"

"The pond."

"Thanks, Clem." She said before she left.

Clementine looked back at the children, then to the dead walker. They were all so scared, but she couldn't blame them, she was only eight when this started. She remembered how terrified she was, damn if Lee hadn't found her… Lee. Wait a minute.

Clementine looked back at all the children. There wasn't that many, only twelve kids. "Who's the oldest?"

"I am! I'm eight!"

They don't know how to kill walkers, none of them do. She can't always be there to keep the kids safe, neither can Andie or any of their parents. She may have been a year older when she first learned how to kill walkers, but if they don't learn, then it could cost them. No family deserves to lose a child. Seeing her parents as walkers was hard for her and she didn't want that to happen to the parents with their kids.

"Okay, raise your hand if you are six or older."

Clementine watched as five out of the twelve kids raise their hands. It wasn't a lot of them, but now is a good time as any to teach them about walkers and survival.

She knows that Luke worries about the broken fences up by the farm, she does, too. While this fence broke because it was old and a walker managed to break through it with its weight, a broken fence is still a broken fence that could mean more walkers getting in and doing damage. Her mind went back to what Rodney said: they're the ones running this place in the future... and they are that future... and so are these kids.

"Alright, kids. Gather around and take a seat." As they did so, Clementine's eyes darted around the backyard for something they can use. A gun was out of the question, they just needed something sharp. Her eyes fell onto a toolbox by the side of the house. She made her way over to it and soon came back to the kids with a screwdriver in hand.

"Clem?" A familiar boy raised his hand.

"Yes, Michael?"

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Clementine breathed in deep, bracing for the reactions as she set the screwdriver down by the walker body. "Well, I think it's time for you all to learn about the walkers. Do you all think you're ready for that?"

All of the kids nodded, even the younger ones. This is great! First, she needed to cover the basics.

"Okay, who knows what this is?" Clementine pointed to the dead walker.

A few of the kids raised their hands and she called on one of the younger ones.

"Monsters."

"Yeah, they're monsters. What else do we call them?" She pointed to a different kid.

"Walkers."

"Yep, a lot of us call them walkers." Another kid had their hand raised.

"My daddy calls them a bad word."

The kids start laughing, it even got a chuckle out of Clem. "Well, believe me, they are that too, but don't go around and start swearing, okay?" While what she was doing might be considered debatable to some of the parents, she was way more terrified of what the moms would do if they found out that she taught them swears. They would kill her, then kill her again when she came back as a walker.

"As I said before, a lot of us call them walkers." Clementine kicked the walker with her foot. "Does anyone know how someone turns into a walker? There are two ways."

More hands went up and she called on one of the kids.

"A bite."

"Yes, if you get bit you can turn into one. It won't be immediate, but it will happen eventually. What's the other?"

Another hand. "If you die?"

She exhaled before nodding. She heard the tone of voice from the child and how sad the kid sounded. "Now, I don't want to scare any of you kids, but this is our life now. I wish all of you could have a normal childhood, but to hopefully have that one day, you all should live to see that day."

Clementine studied their faces. Maybe they weren't ready? No, they were ready. It's like she said: this is their life. Besides after Rodney, most likely one of these kids will be the next leader. They'll be the next council, the next generation, they need to know how to survive. Regardless of what their parents might say, this information is key. She can handle pissed parents at the expense of their survival.

"So who knows how to kill a walker?"

A few seconds passed by before the oldest raised his hand. "You need to hurt its head, right?" He sounded unsure. If the only time he's seen someone kill a walker was when she and Andie did it today, then they all need this lesson.

"Yes, that's basically it. To kill the walker you need to specifically destroy the brain. If a person dies, then they'll come back if the brain is still intact. So today, I'm going to teach you how to kill a walker the most efficient way possible." Clementine pulled out her knife then lifted the dead walker up in front of her. Despite being dead and mostly bones, the walker was kind of heavy. "So what you want to do is first kick the walker's knee as hard as you can."

The children watched in awe as Clementine kicked the dead walker's knee and her dropping it to the ground.

"Not all walkers will collapse to the ground like this, but they should be at a level where you can kill them, and that's exactly what you do next." Clementine took her knife and stabbed the back of the dead walker's head. "And that's all there is to it. The six-to-eight-year-olds, come up here. I want you to practice how to do this. The rest of you, pay close attention, okay? You'll practice when you're older."

The five kids stood up and Clementine picked up the screwdriver from the ground and gave it to the oldest. He stared at the weapon in his hand before he looked back up at her.

"Clem…" he started. "I… I don't know if I can do this…"

She understood. "Hey, it's okay. If you're not ready, you're not ready. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"No, I want to, just… Can you do it again? I want to see you do it again."

"Of course."

Clementine pulled the walker body up in front of her and proceeded to slowly demonstrate how to kill it. Kick the knee, then stab the head when it's down. "See, that's all there is to it." She said as she pulled out her knife.

The eight-year-old waved his hand for her to come near him. Clementine leaned down next to him and he whispered in her ear. "I'm scared."

Clementine pulled away slightly. "Hey, that's okay, too." She smiled. "Do you want to know a secret?"

The kid nodded.

"When I was learning how to use a gun for the first time, I was scared, too. I didn't want to hurt anyone with it, but I ended up saving someone's life and that was a good feeling. Maybe one day, you'll do that, too." she whispered to him.

The eight-year-old nodded as he took a few steps back. "Okay, I'm ready."

Clementine nodded then pulled the walker body off the ground and held the body in front of the child. "Now remember: Kick the knee then stab the head. It's already dead, you don't have to worry about it attacking you. Just make sure you move to the side so it doesn't fall on you."

The kid took a deep breath then looked at Clementine. She gave him a reassuring look and the kid kicked the walker's knee as hard as he could then darted off to the side as Clementine immediately dropped the walker to simulate the real thing. The kid jumped slightly at the thud, but quickly recovered and used the screwdriver in his hand to stab the dead walker.

"You did it!" Clementine praised the kid. "See, that's all there is to it."

The child pulled the screwdriver out of the dead walker's head and looked at the weapon in his hand. She couldn't read his face.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked. "How do you feel?"

"I feel… good… safer." A smile spread across the child's face. "I want to do it again!"

Clementine couldn't be happier at that statement; he felt safe, that's all she could ask. Clem picked the walker up again then nodded at the child, giving him the okay to attack. He more confidently kicked the walker in the knee and stabbed its head once Clementine dropped it to the ground.

"Nice job!"

The kid pulled the screwdriver out of the walker's head. "That was kind of fun!"

"I wanna try!"

"I wanna try, too!"

"Okay, okay, one at a time." Clementine went to the second oldest and taught her the same technique, she caught on pretty fast, and so did the other kids who Clementine allowed to try. The five kids she was teaching were able to understand how the knee trick works and they were able to execute it well, the other kids who were younger were able to see how the trick is done and they all seemed to understand what to do. Clementine continued to practice with them. She was doing her best to simulate a real walker, but she made sure that they all know that real walkers will attack them and while slow, can be fast if not careful enough. Honestly, she felt accomplished. She would actually volunteer to babysit the kids if it meant she could teach them how to survive.

"CLEMENTINE!"

She dropped the walker body, startled by the shout of her name, and turned to the door to the house. Monica was standing in the doorway watching a child stab a walker's head with a screwdriver with not only Clem supervising it, but encouraging it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Before Clementine could answer, Monica marched over to her and grabbed her forearm and began pulling her away from the children.

"You are in a lot of trouble!"

"Will you keep it down? You'll attract more walkers."

Monica didn't listen, instead, she continued to pull her into the house, and towards the front door.

"I'm watching the kids! Andie's not back yet." Clementine told her.

"At this moment they're safer alone than they are with you! I'm taking you to see Donald!" Monica continued.

"What for?"

"For teaching young children how to kill someone!"

"I was teaching them how to kill walkers, I told them-"

"I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth. I always knew you were trouble."

Monica walked Clementine towards the leader's house, not loosening her grip on Clementine's arm. Clem didn't know what to think. She didn't think that teaching kids how to survive and fight walkers was notify-the-leader worthy. At most, she'd figured she'd get in trouble with the parents, but this was blowing it way out of the water. It was ridiculous! She wasn't excited to talk to Don about this. The last time they talked was when he interrogated her and Luke about the shack. Clementine wasn't worried about Don's opinion on her or Luke, at least not completely worried. She's had a couple bad dreams about that meeting not going so well and it ending badly. However, she didn't know what he'd do about the current situation, but hopefully he'd see her side.

"Hey, Clem." Clementine turned to see Rodney with a wheelbarrow full of apples. "And... Monica. What are you ladies up to?"

Clem could hear it in his voice. He was confused about what was going on.

"Rodney, I need to have a word with your father and Luke about Clementine's behavior." Monica told him

"Uh…" his eyes shifted to Clem, completely confused about what was going on.

"Rod, please?" Clementine asked annoyed.

Rodney sighed, he could sense her annoyance. "Yes, ma'am."

Monica walked Clementine to the house and went inside.

"Sit." She told her as she shut the door behind her, finally letting go of her arm.

Clementine rolled her eyes as she took a seat at the dining table. "What do you think this is going to accomplish?"

"I just want to make it clear that you, and potentially your other friends, are a danger to this community."

"Because I was teaching children how to survive?"

"They are too young for that, and you need to be worrying about getting with one of the boys."

"Why?"

"Our population is dying, you kids are our last hope!"

"I am not a kid!"

"You're thirteen, it's important that you find a man to eventually keep the population up. I'm surprised that we aren't having more children."

Clementine huffed as she shook her head. She couldn't believe this what she was saying. Clem was personally giving love a break ever since Rodney turned her down, but seriously? She's a teenager, having a baby was the last thing on her mind.

The front door of the house opened, Don and Luke walk in confused at seeing Clem and Monica sitting at the table. Clementine was thankful that they were finally here, now they could get this over with.

"Does someone want to explain what's going on?" Don asked. "Both Luke and I have a lot to do, so if this isn't important…"

"Oh, it is." Monica said as she looked at the girl across from her. "Clementine did something extremely out of line and extremely harmful. Care to tell them what you did?"

"I didn't do anything wrong." Clementine defended herself.

"Clem…"

"Luke, I'm serious, I didn't do anything." she assured him.

"Monica, what exactly happened?" Don asked as he and Luke took a seat at the other chairs at the table.

"Well, Clementine ran off to visit her friend Andie who was watching over the kids. I do not trust those girls together so I came over to check on the children, and I caught Clementine teaching the children how to kill those dead things outside. She was literally using a dead walker and having them practice killing them like a psychotic maniac!"

Both the men turned their heads to Clementine, waiting to hear her response to what was said.

She sighed. "I did go over to visit Andie. We both were in the backyard watching the kids then a walker broke through the fence. We killed it and she went off to tell the twins so they could fix it. The oldest kid there was eight and I learned how to kill walkers with a weapon when I was nine."

"Were you teaching them with a gun?" Don asked.

"No, I taught them how to kick a walker down and kill it with a screwdriver; it's the quickest and easiest way for them to do so, and I used the dead walker so they could have something to practice with."

"Clem, did you ask their parents if you could teach them?" Luke asked.

She shook her head reluctantly. "No, but I knew that they'd say no if I did ask. Besides, I only let the children who were six and up practice with the walker. It was only five of the kids who were actually "killing" it." Clementine said, using her fingers to air quote. "I mean, the ones who were under six watched, but only so they could get an understanding. I did my best to make sure they understood what I was teaching them."

"Just curious, what else did you teach them?" Don asked.

"What a walker is, how someone becomes a walker, and that to kill a walker you have to destroy the brain. Then after I explained it, I taught the older ones how to kill one."

"I see." Don said as he leaned back in his chair.

"I just felt like they needed to know, just in case something happened." Clementine said.

"And nothing would happen, and nothing is going to happen. You were extremely out of line and you are a dangerous person to this community." Monica looked at the men who were silent about this. "Well?"

Luke tapped the table a couple times, trying to think of something. "Uh, Clem, you learned how to use a gun when you were nine right?"

"Yeah?"

"So when was the first time you used it to actually kill a walker?"

"That night." Clementine remembered how she saved Molly in Crawford. Lee probably would have shot the walker too, but she still saved her.

"I'm gonna take Clem's side on this." Luke said.

"Oh, of course you would." Monica said to him.

"Well, something about the kids learning how to survive this world by another kid who grew up in this world sounds right to me." Luke explained.

"Well, Donald? Please tell me that you are going to do something about this!"

The leader pinched the bridge of his nose thinking about the situation.

"Clem, I do think you should have told the parents about teaching their kids how to kill the dead." He said.

"I know."

"But you are right: they do need to learn eventually, and given your experience with walkers, especially from helping us deal with the heard, I trust that you knew what you're doing."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"That's all I need to know. I'd appreciate it if you went and told the parents what they did today, they should know."

Clementine nodded.

"Wait, you're going to let her go?" Monica asked.

"She didn't do anything wrong here if anything she did something good for those kids." Don told her.

"Those kids will gouge their eyes out or kill each other because of what she did!" Monica exclaimed.

"I made sure that they knew that the screwdriver wasn't a toy." Clementine said.

"Oh, I'm sure you did! Because it looked like they enjoyed stabbing the walker in the head."

BANG!

Rodney burst through the door, it slamming against the wall. He breathed in deeply, Clem could tell he was running. "Dad! Something happened at the kids' house!"

"What happened?" His father demanded.

"Walkers! The fence was broken when the twins and Andie got there!" Rodney told him.

"Are the kids okay?" he asked.

"Yeah… Yeah, actually…" Rodney sounded surprised. "The kids, they killed the walkers. Andie and the twins watched them kick their asses, it was… I can't even believe it!"

"So, they're all okay?" Clementine asked.

Rodney nodded, huffing out a smile. "They're with their parents now, Andie and the twins are fixing the fence, but they fought off walkers, I didn't even know they knew how to do that!"

Clementine felt proud. They actually killed walkers, they protected themselves, and they were okay! She taught them how to do so, and they did it!

"I'll be down there in a bit, Rod. Thanks." Don told his son. Rodney left and Don turned back to the three at the table. "Well, I think that settles it."

"I agree. Nice job, kid." Luke said.

"But-"

"Look, Monica. It's fine." Luke said. "Clementine was in the right to do so and I trust her teaching kids how to kill walkers. The kids are alive and well, and chances are that she saved them today and in the future in case something like this happens again."

Monica stared at him, then her eyes moved to Clementine who smiled up at Luke for defending her, then her eyes moved back to him.

"I get it now. You wouldn't sleep with me because you're sleeping with her."

"Hey, woah!" Luke stood up slowly before repeating himself. "Woah!"

"Wait, you slept with her?" Clementine asked as she stood up as well. "When were you two a thing?"

"Clem, we're not a thing, we were never a thing. And I swear on my life that I am not sleeping with a thirteen-year-old girl."

"That's not what your kiss said." Monica said back.

"Hey, you kissed me!" Luke corrected.

"You kissed her?" Clementine asked.

"Can't you hear the jealousy in her voice, they're obviously together!" Monica said to the leader.

"I'm not jealous, you're fucking crazy!" Clementine said to her.

"Will the three of you settle down! Please!" Don exclaimed. "Monica, I've known Luke and Clementine for a good while now, and I trust that Luke would not do anything to harm Clementine."

The two silently breathed out a sigh of relief. Since the last time they were in this room they were talking about the shack, it's reassuring that he trusts them and their relationship.

"Do you know that for a fact?" Monica asked him.

Don brought a hand to his face. "Luke, Clementine. You both can go back to work. Monica and I are going to continue this conversation."

They both nodded as they left the room. Even after they closed the front door, they could hear Monica talking about what had just happened. Luke took a deep breath to recover from the serious accusation thrown at him. Thankfully, the leader was on his side, but the accusation revealed to Clem that he had been hanging out with Monica. Clementine stood with her back to him, arms crossed. He knew she wasn't happy.

"How long?" she spoke.

"How long what?" Luke asked.

"How long were you two dating?"

"Clem, we were not dating."

"Then fucking explain!" Clementine turned to face him.

"She was walking late at night when I got done with the council meeting and I offered to walk her home, then we started walking together."

"That sounds like you were dating!"

"I never wanted a relationship with her. She made the move on me and I declined, especially after her ex-husband found her making out with me."

"When were you going to tell me?" Clementine asked. She watched his mouth open as if to say something but closed it. "You weren't going to tell me? Were you?"

"I didn't want you to know, Clem, because I knew you'd be like this."

"Like what?"

His arms went up in the air then back down trying to find the words to explain. "All... pissed and you wouldn't listen to a word I say-"

"Why would I not be upset about this? You knew how much I didn't like her."

"She was nice at first and I thought you were overreacting about her."

"Am I overreacting about her now?" Clementine asked. "Or what about Melissa? Are you going to not listen to me like when she fucked with us?"

"Hey, don't you bring that up! I was sick that day and recovering from what I thought was a loss."

"You almost died!"

"You almost did, too!"

"Hey! Luke!" Johnathan called from the barn. "We need you, get your ass over here!"

Luke turned back to Clementine. "We'll finish this later tonight."

Clementine huffed in anger. "Fine." then she turned and left.

A/N: Chapter 19 done. Shit's about to go down next chapter, I promise you that! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also I posted a new one-shot called Delicate if you want to read that. I got to sleep now, so night!