A place to call home

Chapter 12: a place to call home

Ladies and gentlemen, we are brought to the end of the story which is sad because people do not like it when things come to an end, but unfortunately, everything has to end. But you know what they say "When one chapter ends, another begins". Here's chapter 12, folks, enjoy.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Kenny announced to everyone.

Quite a bit of time had passed now. The group had just finished breakfast and was getting ready to leave for Wellington. They all hoped that they would make it safely without any problems. Once the entire group was ready, then they would head out.

Clementine zipped up her jacket and put her backpack on her back. Inside she had her photo of Lee, her drawing of Kenny, Katjaa and Duck, and a couple of snacks and drinks.

Carlos carried all of their medical supplies in his huge backpack and kept a Glock 17 with him just in case.

Alvin had all of their camping supplies in a backpack for when they needed to rest, but at the same time, he would need to protect his wife and their baby.

Walter carried all of their food in his own backpack with a couple of books inside. After all, he did promise to teach Clementine and Sarah some knowledge.

As for the others, Luke, Nick, Kenny and Sarita were armed with rifles and pistols.

"We're ready." Carlos announced, doing a quick check to make sure everyone was here and accounted for, especially Sarah who stood close to him.

So the group walked out of the ski lodge, knowing that if Wellington was a bust, they could always come back here where it was guaranteed to be safe.

Luke and Nick were the two furthest back, and when Luke turned around to take a final look at Moonstar Lodge, he saw something. A redheaded woman was searching around with an AK-47 in her hands, but she didn't seem to notice them. Luke's eyes widened and he turned his attention to the group without being too loud.

"Oh, shit. Everybody, we gotta hustle," he announced.

"What's going on?" Clementine inquired, turning back for a moment to see the red haired woman.

("Who's that?")

("Is she lost?")

("Hey!")

("...")

"Who's that?" Clementine inquired, picking up the pace a little with the others.

"She's with Carver's group." Carlos answered, now worried that Carver had finally caught up to them. He noticed a couple of the group members looking fearful and had to assure them it was fine. "Nobody panic. Let's just head into the woods and keep moving. We'll lose her in there."

Sarah's breathing picked up slightly, but she was trying hard to calm down, especially when Carlos placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. The group went in the opposite direction of the bridge where Matthew was shot and killed and headed into the woods. Luckily, no one ambushed them, meaning that they were all safe.

"It's okay, sweetie, we're okay." Carlos assured his daughter after they were done running. He kept his arm around Sarah for comfort as they walked through the woods. "They don't know where we are, they just happened to find the ski lodge by coincidence. They'll just assume that it's been abandoned for quite some time."

Clementine looked back, but they ski lodge was now blocked off by trees and bushes. They would be safe as long as they kept moving.

"How long should it take to get to Wellington?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure...Kenny has the map." Sarita answered as she turned towards her boyfriend who led the way.

Said bearded man pulled out the map from his pocket and looked at it. "A little hard to tell, but I'm figuring we got at least several days ahead of us."

("It's going to be tough.")

("Should we go back?")

("We can make it.")

("...")

"We can make it." Clementine assured the group as she picked up the pace a little to keep up with Kenny. "All we have to do is keep moving."

(?) They will remember that.

"She's right." Alvin agreed, keeping close to Rebecca who was holding their baby, but she was fine at the moment and could walk under her own strength.

"I think if we travel during the day and only rest at night, we could make it up north sooner than later," Luke spoke up. "What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me." Clementine agreed.

"And me." Carlos spoke up.

"I have no problem with that." Sarita stated.

"So it's settled then," Luke said with a satisfied smile.

The group had been moving for at least an hour now and was making some progress from the woods. Occasionally, a couple of them wood look back to make sure no-one was following them. And so far no walkers had shown up, but that did not mean they were safe yet.

A rustling noise came out from the nearby bushes. Walter pointed his rifle all around, making sure nothing would jump out at them.

The rustling continued and out came a raccoon with her two babies following closely. The mother raccoon looked towards the group for a moment before running away into the woods, her offspring following closely.

"Shit, we used to have to eat raccoon," Luke shook his head.

"I told you they have families!" Sarah piped up, but she was smiling.

("Looks delicious.")

("We have enough food.")

("I'm glad it got away.")

("...")

"We got plenty of food, we'll be all right." Clementine reassured, but deep down, she was somewhat glad that the raccoon got away. She remembered seeing one in her tree house just before the apocalypse began.

"Let's keep moving." Carlos ordered, turning back towards the direction they were heading in.

Hours of being on the road passed and soon night fell. Luke, Nick, and Alvin gathered firewood and stocked up, while Walter and Kenny kept the guns in check.

"I'll keep watch for a while." Alvin announced, picking up a rifle and taking a seat just near the outside of their camp.

Clementine sat down near the fire and rubbed her hands together. She was a little cold, but not as bad as it would have been a few weeks back.

Kenny took a seat next to her after keeping check of the guns. "How you doin', Clem? Looking forward to making it?"

("I can't wait.")

("I hope it's there.")

("Yeah.")

("...")

"I can't wait." Clementine answered, rubbing her hands together for a little while to keep warm. "I hope Christa will be there too."

"It would be nice to see her again," Kenny nodded in agreement. "How long ago did you say you two got separated? A month or two?"

"Around five or six weeks, I think." Clementine answered, having to think for a moment. She was certain Christa was alive.

Christa was smart, and she wouldn't be alive anymore if she weren't. No way could she have died.

Kenny sighed. "I'm sorry that happened to you, darlin'. But we'll see her again, I know it."

"I bet she'll be even more surprised to see you than me." Clementine admitted with a teasing smile. If she found Christa again, she could not wait to see her face when she saw Kenny, that's if she remembered Kenny behind that beard of his.

(?) Kenny will remember that.

Kenny laughed. "We could tell her I'm a ghost," he said playfully, nudging Clementine.

"I know walkers exist, but ghosts?" Clementine chuckled before sighing and looking up towards the stars. "Do you have any thoughts what Wellington's like?"

Kenny sighed and looked up as well. "God, I hope it's safe," he muttered. "Maybe it's barricaded somehow, or just has a ton of guards. We won't know until we get there. But I promise you, Clem, we'll be safe."

"Safe." Clementine repeated that word that she heard one too many times. "I hope so. I imagined Wellington to be like a small town where life was normal again. People were happy; people didn't need to worry about the outside world anymore."

"You keep that imagination, and hope that it's real," Kenny praised, giving the little girl a smile. "Well, I think we should get some sleep, Clem. We've got a long journey ahead of us in the morning."

Clementine looked around and saw that members of the group were beginning to turn in as well, so it was probably a good idea. Slowly, Clementine got down onto her side and rested her head in her arms, wondering what the future what hold for her and her friends when they reached Wellington. Would it really be there? Would it be somewhere safe? They had to keep going, no matter what. It was their only option left now.

Ten days later

Ten days had passed since the group had left the ski lodge and since then, they had done nothing but kept moving through the woods. Along the way, a couple of the group like Luke and Nick were beginning to have doubts, but there was no going back now after coming this far.

"Alright, I'm startin' to think this is all bullshit for real," Nick whispered to Luke in hopes that Kenny wouldn't hear them.

Unfortunately for him, Kenny was actually standing right in front of him, walking next to Sarita, and had heard every word. He turned around and glared at Nick.

"Why are you so damn negative all the time, Vanilla Ice?" he barked rudely. "We gotta be close by now, I just know it!"

"Dad, look! I see something!"

Sarah's voice caught the attention of everyone, and looked where she was pointing.

Just above a hill slope they could see the top of the building? Was it Wellington? Did they finally make it? Before anyone could question, Kenny went pacing up the hill, Clementine followed, and soon the rest of the group followed them up towards the hill. When they got to the top, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

Standing before them was a huge building structure. A metal wall went down to the left and right for miles and in the center was the entrance made by metal containers. This had to be it.

Kenny's smile rose as he turned back towards Clementine and placed his hand upon her shoulder.

"We did it, Clementine. Just like I said we would," Kenny breathed. He turned around and faced the rest of the group. "Well, come on, y'all! What are we waitin' for?"

The group quickly got out of their daze and began to follow Kenny and Clementine over to the entrance of the building, but a gunshot cut them off, causing some of the group to gasp out.

"That's far enough," a woman's voice rang out. "Drop your weapons and approach the gate, please."

(Keep gun)

(Drop gun)

Clementine dropped her Glock 17, and everybody else obeyed her order and dropped their weapons, too. Carlos stood in front of his daughter in a protective manner and Rebecca held her baby close with Alvin standing in front of her.

The group walked slowly and stood in front of the large red metal gates. The woman whose voice was heard over the intercom appeared then. She spoke into a walkie-talkie and turned her attention.

"Hi, I'm Edith," she introduced herself. "Welcome. May I have your names, please?"

Everyone decided to introduce themselves to the stranger.

("I'm Clementine.")

("I'm Carley.")

("I'm Lilly.")

("...")

"Hi." Clementine greeted, deciding to be honest. "I'm Clementine."

"I'm Carlos, this is my daughter Sarah."

"I'm Alvin; this is my wife Rebecca and our son AJ."

"Hello. I'm Sarita."

"I'm Luke, and this is Nick."

"I'm Walter."

"And my name's Kenny."

Edith seemed to repeat all of these names in her head, and she seemed to think for a while.

"Is this Wellington?" Clementine inquired, wanting to make certain they were in the right place, but what else could this fortress be?

"Many people call it that," Edith nodded once.

"Well, what do we have to do to get in?" Kenny questioned.

"You're all in luck, we have just enough room for every one of you," Edith replied with a smile. "We were over-capacity until recently when a group decided to give the outside world a shot."

"Really?" Luke asked with a shocked expression.

"Why would they want leave if they were staying here?" Carlos inquired, a curious eyebrow raised.

Sarah stood behind him and by the looks of it; she could not wait to get inside.

"The people who left were with us since near the beginning, said that they had families," Edith explained with a remorseful look.

"What's going on?" a new voice chimed in. Another woman appeared at the window, a woman who was very, very familiar to both Clementine and Kenny. Clementine gasped in shock.

("Holy shit!")

("I thought you were dead.")

("Christa!")

("...")

"Christa!" Clementine gasped. Kenny stood beside her.

Christa immediately whipped around. "C-Clementine? KENNY?"

"You know these people?" Edith inquired.

Without answering, the gates opened, and Christa ran out and knelt in front of Clementine, placing her hands on the child's shoulders. "Oh my God...I can't believe you're both alive!"

Kenny chuckled. "Good to see you, too."

Christa stood up and looked at the rest of the group. She turned to Edith and said, "Let them in."

Edith nodded and beckoned for the group to come inside. Clementine, Kenny and Christa all smiled as they made their way inside.

The group was even more surprised to see the inside. Small buildings in the size of their old cabin were along the walls, huge restaurants with stocked up food, medical buildings and a weapons buildings. People were walking around, looking clean, well-fed, and happy. Everyone looked around in shock at how wonderful this place looked. Luke looked like he was going to pass out, so Alvin placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

Kenny nudged Nick and smirked at him. "You believe me now?" he nearly scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah," Nick waved him off, still gazing in awe at all of his surroundings.

"This place is s-o-o-o-o cool!" Sarah chirped, beaming and turning around to look at Carlos.

Edith escorted them to one of the empty buildings and held the door open for them. This is where they were going to be staying.

("Is this real?")

("Wow.")

("Pinch me.")

("...")

"Wow." Clementine still looked surprised, looking down the path where a playground was nearby with young kids playing.

"Why don't you all pick out your rooms and settle in for a bit?" Edith suggested when they were inside the building. "We can introduce you to the community in a little while. Unless you're willing to do that now?"

"We would like to settle in first, thank you." Carlos said, speaking for the rest of the group.

Edith nodded and she left to go back to her guard position. Christa decided to stay with them to make sure they were settled.

Most of the group headed upstairs to choose their rooms, but Clementine and Kenny stayed downstairs so they could catch up with Christa.

It was incredibly rare to see Christa smile after the deaths of Omid and their baby, but now she was smiling widely. She wrapped her arm around Clementine's shoulders and pulled her in for a quick hug. "I'm so glad I found you, Clementine. So tell me, what happened while we were separated? How did you find Kenny?"

"Her group came to the ski lodge Sarita and Walter and I were stayin' at," Kenny explained. "They were running away from some maniac, I think. Right, Clem?"

"Yeah, that's right." Clementine nodded but at the moment, she wanted to ask the most obvious. "Christa, what happened to you after I distracted the bandits? One of them chased me but walkers got him. And I found the other one dying a couple of days later."

"One of them tried to shoot me, but they missed, and I kept running," Christa began. "I tried to find you, and I eventually assumed that the worst had happened. I found another map to Wellington and I just kept walking. I was lucky; I was the last one they let in before they were over-capacity."

("I missed you.")

("I thought you were dead.")

("I'm glad you're all right.")

("...")

"I'm glad you're all right." Clementine admitted with a smile. She was glad to have them both back. "I met up with my friends after we got separated. A dog bit me, but Carlos fixed my arm, he's a doctor. There was another group member but he died. We met with Kenny and we all headed here together."

(?) Christa will remember that.

Christa seemed partial with that answer. "Well, I'm sure you and your friends are going to enjoy it here."

"Hell, I already am!" Kenny piped up. "We're at a place where we can finally feel safe, and I'm glad for that."

"Me, too." Clementine agreed as she lowered her head for a moment. If only Lee was here.

Before long, the rest of the group came into living that was big enough to fit three couches inside. They joined with Clementine, Kenny and Christa.

"I get the top bunk," Luke teased Nick, poking his slightly younger friend on the shoulder.

"The hell you do!" Nick argued, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Clementine couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes at the two men.

"This place is amazing." Carlos told Christa. "We are very grateful to be here where it's safe."

"I'm glad about that," Christa nodded as the group sat down.

AJ began to wail in Rebecca's arms, meaning that he was probably hungry. Rebecca and Alvin hoped that this place had some baby formula.

"Do you guys stock up on baby formula?" Rebecca inquired as Alvin looked into one of their bags to see how much they had left.

"We only got two bottles left." Alvin added, handing the bottle of milk to his wife.

"We have plenty," Christa reassured them. "I'll be right back."

She walked off and returned a couple of minutes later with a box filled with baby formula, handing it over to the married couple.

"So, what does everyone think of this place so far?" Kenny questioned everyone.

"I think it's wonderful." Sarita was the first to speak after she took a seat down next to Kenny.

"I think this is a great place." Carlos agreed.

"I think this place this amazing." Clementine said astounded. She could not believe she was finally in a place where they would no longer have to fear the outside world.

All of the rumors she had heard of a safe place before were immediately disputed, there was such a thing after all. Clementine couldn't help but think of Lee and her parents, desperately wishing that they were all here.

"I think we'll settle in quite nicely here," Walker spoke up, looking around the somewhat large house and looking satisfied.

("It's over now.")

("I still can't believe it.")

("We're safe now.")

("...")

"We can finally be safe now." Clementine stated with a relieved and grateful smile across her face. "No more walkers, no more bandits. We're going to be okay."

(?) Everyone agrees with Clementine.

"I think so, too, Clem," Luke nodded in agreement, smiling back at her.

The group was thankful that they no longer had to go through periods of an agonizing mental hell. People who promised to keep their loved ones safe (for example, Carlos and Kenny) could actually fulfill that promise. Clementine was extremely glad that the group could finally get along without breaking down.

Wellington was now their place to call home.

The end. The group has made it to Wellington where they can live freely and peacefully, and Christa is alive and well. Thank you all for reading, and special thank you to A Writer With Mixed Interests for writing this story with me.

Assassin's Creed Master out.

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead is owned by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, and Telltale Games.

Melissa Hutchison voice of Clementine

Scott Porter voice of Luke

Brian Bremer voice of Nick

Andrew "Kid Beyond" Chaikin voice of Carlos

Louisa Mackintosh voice of Sarah

Shay Moore voice of Rebecca

Dorian Lockett voice of Alvin

Gavin Hammon voice of Kenny

Julia Farmer voice of Sarita

Kiff VandenHeuvel voice of Walter

Rebecca Schweitzer voice of Edith

Mara Junot voice of Christa

Dave Fennoy voice of Lee Everett

Cissy Jones voice of Katjaa

Max Kaufman voice of Kenny Jr. "Duck"

Roger Jackson voice of Charles "Chuck" and The Stranger

Mara Junot voice of Christa

Owen Thomas voice of Omid

Trevor Hoffmann voice of Ben Paul

Nikki Rapp voice of Lilly

Nicole Vigil voice of Carley

Adam Harrington voice of Andrew "Andy" St. John