"Come on, Duck, you can go faster!" urged AJ from atop the young man's shoulders. They were coming back from a hunting trip, and the boy had gotten tired. Clementine laughed from beside them, shaking her head.

"You wanna go next, Clem?" Duck called to Clementine, craning his neck so he could face her and groaning under AJ's weight. "I'm pretty sure I can still carry you."

"No, thanks," she laughed, waving him off, "I'm really not looking forward to breaking both my legs when you let me fall again."

"Come on, that was one time!" he countered, chuckling at the memory.

"It still hurt like a bitch," she reminded him, rubbing her back dramatically. She remembered the moment vividly: it was three years ago, and they were trying to stop AJ from crying. Duck had the brilliant idea to carry Clem on his shoulders like he had when they were younger. Unfortunately, he lost his footing and Clem plummeted to the ground.

"Okay, fair point," conceded Duck, nodding. He took hold of AJ's sides with both his hands and gently lowered him to the ground. "That's as far as I can go, little man. We're not far from the school anyway."

Pouting, AJ obeyed and fell in behind Clem and Duck, where Louis and Aasim walked silently watching the exchange between them. They'd been walking for an hour, having just found two sizeable litters of rabbits to bring back home. Clem was surprised when Duck and Louis had agreed that taking the rabbits, as opposed to letting them get bigger like Aasim said, was the smarter choice.

"Don't worry, little dude," piped Louis from behind them, "We'll be eating rabbit stew before you know it."

"Amen," cheered Duck, casting a sideways glance at Clem.

She turned to him, gaping, and whispered, "What's with all the camaraderie with Louis?"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, sparing a glance for Louis and Aasim, who were a few paces behind.

"You're being nice to him, for once," she commented, "I thought you hated his guts."

"What can I say? He's rubbing off on me," he shrugged. "Plus, if you're gonna start playing house with him; I might as well try to like him, right?"

"Playing house? What are you, six?"

"Seven, thank you," he corrected, chuckling.

Shortly after, the school gates loomed over them, Tenn sitting at the watchtower. Duck waved his arms at the boy and he called out to Violet, who opened the gates to let the group in. Louis and Clem raised their arms, showcasing their finds for the whole school.

"Dinner is served," said Louis with gusto.

"Dinner will be served when I say it is," Omar put in, taking the rabbits from their hands and bounding off to his cooking station.

"Someone's a little cranky," Louis muttered under his breath, winking at Clem. Though Duck visibly rolled his eyes at the gesture, the girl had the grace to smile back at Louis.

"Maybe he knows we won't be having rabbit for the next few weeks," Aasim suggested, crossing his arms.

"Dude, Clem and I survived without rabbits for years; I think you guys can make it a couple weeks," Duck countered, sitting down at one of the tables. The rest followed suit, Louis getting the spot closest to Clem.

"Kenny's got a point," Louis added, nodding at Duck. "It's not the end of the world not to eat rabbit."

"But it might be the end of our lives," Aasim muttered, frowning.

"Is he always like this?" Duck asked Violet, who sat beside Aasim.

"Most of the time, yeah."

"Hey!" exclaimed Aasim, a small smile tugging at his lips.

They all laughed and transitioned into lighter conversation. Although suspicious of his new attitude, Clem was rather glad that Duck and Louis were getting along. Like the previous days, they kept exchanging small anecdotes as they waited for dinner to be ready, and when it was, they enjoyed a hot rabbit stew.

AJ was the first to finish his bowl, sauce clinging to his cheeks, and he looked at Duck with a devilish grin. Opening his mouth, he let out a belch that silenced all conversation around them. Marlon and Violet chuckled, looking at AJ. Aasim and Mitch shared a look and stifled a laugh. Louis nodded approvingly at AJ and Omar – Well, Omar was just glad people had enjoyed his meal.

Clementine and Duck looked at each other and both raised an eyebrow. At the same time, they both burped in response to AJ, warranting laughs from all the other kids at the table except for Ruby. She stood up with an annoyed huff and bounded off to the admin building, muttering about bad manners.

For the following days, their meals were much the same as that one, filled with laughter and joy. Unfortunately, a week later, trouble came in the form of heated arguments.

"I told you we should have let those rabbits go!" Aasim was yelling at Duck in the principal's office. Marlon, Clementine, Louis and Violet stood silently to the side, watching the argument unfold with no clue what to say or do.

"Then we get fish," Duck suggested, throwing his arms in the air. "We can live without rabbits for a while."

"I already told you this afternoon," Aasim said irritably, closing his eyes. "The fish traps were destroyed by something or someone. We're not eating tonight without another solution."

"Damn it, we're gonna figure this out, Aasim," Duck replied, his fist slamming on the coffee table by the right side of the room. "We always do."

"Do we?" retorted Aasim, tilting his head mockingly. "I don't know about you, but not having a sustainable food source for twelve people isn't something we can just brush off! It's not a problem you can solve by firing your rifle at it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" inquired Duck angrily, his brow knitting closely and his eyes red from exhaustion. They'd had a long day so far.

"What I mean is, we're gonna have to solve this situation unless we want dead children on our hands," said Aasim bluntly, crossing his arms.

"Okay, that's enough!" Clementine snapped, bringing their attention to her. Despite her small height, her demeanor made her look more menacing than she was. "We're not losing more children!"

Aasim and Duck exchanged a look, but it was Marlon who spoke up. "Alright, we're listening. How do you propose to not lose more children?" he asked, looking at the rest for support. They all stared at Clementine, who huffed in annoyance and turned around, examining the map of the grounds.

"So the hunting grounds and fishing hut are out," she muttered, her eyes darting from one spot to the other. When she found her solution, her face lit up. "That's it!"

"Pardon?" Louis said, looking at Clementine with a raised eyebrow. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"The train station," she said simply, pointing at it on the map.

"That's outside the safe zone," Violet pointed out, gesturing to the dotted red line surrounding the perimeter on the map.

"And extremely overrun," Marlon added, crossing his arms. "Do you know how big of an explosion you guys caused back there?"

"We're aware," Duck said from behind him, standing next to Clem and looking at the map. "You do know grenades explode, right?" he teased her, smirking.

"I know, dumbass," she replied, rolling her eyes. "But there was a shit load of food there, it's possible there's still some left."

"Are we really talking about leaving the safe zone?" Marlon asked from behind them. "It's not safe…"

"I think the name gives that away, Marlon," Violet retorted, sitting on the principal's desk. "I don't know, Clem. It might be a dead end…"

"But it might not be," she replied. Aasim and Marlon shared a worried look and Clementine huffed. "You said it yourself, we need the food. And if there's food in that station, we need it more than ever."

"I'm with Clem on this one," Louis put in, nodding. Duck took note of that, studying the freckled boy closely. "We might not make it through this week if we don't do something."

"No way, we have to find some other way," Marlon blurted, shaking his head vehemently.

"Seriously, dude?" Louis replied, crossing his arms. "Do you have any better idea?"

"It's not that, but you have to think about the last time we went out of the safe zone."

"That won't happen this time!" he retorted, frowning. "Clem and Duck can hold their own better than any of us," he added, nodding and smiling at Clementine. Blushing, she looked away and grinned. Rolling his eyes, Duck slammed his hands on the desk.

"So, what's it gonna be?"

Violet, Marlon and Aasim shared a look. After a moment of silent conversation, they all nodded in agreement to the plan. "Now, who's going on this mission?" Duck asked, clapping his hands together

"I say we leave it to chance," Louis said, grabbing a paper from the desk and writing all their names. "I say three people ought to do it, right?"

"That's actually very smart, Lou," Clem put it, offering him a reassuring smile.

"Uh, thanks," he stuttered, flustered. Rolling her eyes, Violet took the pieces of paper from his hand and mixed them in her closed hands.

"Let's see who's going on this suicide mission," Marlon said reluctantly, taking the first piece of balled up paper.

"I can't believe I have to stay here like an idiot," Duck complained, stacking three chairs together and sitting down on the couch outside the admin building with a huff. Louis plopped himself on the armchair beside it and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm here too," he assured him.

"No offense, but that's not very reassuring, Louis," Duck replied. Clementine, Violet and Aasim had left the school an hour earlier. AJ had insisted on going with Clem, and with Duck's approval, he joined her with the promise to keep her safe.

"Okay, ouch," said Louis, propping his feet up on a coffee table. "Don't worry, Violet won't let anything happen to Clem," he reassured the boy.

"That's not what I'm worried about."

Duck looked over the courtyard, the dim light of the setting sun casting huge shadows on the admin building. On the table by the watchtower, Tenn was drawing absently, the tip of his tongue out in concentration. Mitch and Willy were playing with the older boy's pocket knife, trying to get as many spins on their hands as they could. Marlon and Brody had retreated to the admin building, claiming they wanted to get some rest after a long day.

Louis was shuffling a deck of cards, flipping some of them onto the couch absently. Duck looked him up and down, wondering just what Clementine saw in this guy. He decided not to dwell on the why, and instead cleared his throat.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," he said, catching the freckled boy's attention.

"Sure, shoot," Louis encouraged, setting the deck on the coffee table.

"What's your deal?"

"I think you'll have to be more specific than that, Ken," Louis teased, testing the waters with the nickname. Though it bothered him, Duck didn't seem to respond to the shortening of his first name.

"What's your role in this community of yours?" Duck gestured to their surroundings as if to make his point. "Every group has its tasks divided by the people's strengths, so what category do you fall into?"

If Louis had been expecting that question, which he hadn't, his answer took a while to reach his lips. He frowned, searching for the meaning behind the boy's words, and coming up empty. "Uhh," he stuttered, his eyes darting to the admin building momentarily.

"I mean, Marlon's the leader, Omar's the cook, Violet's the badass loner – every group has one of those – so which one are you?"

"I see myself as a multilayered person," Louis responded, having formulated his answer somewhat. "If you ask anyone, though, I'll mostly fall into the jokester category."

"I have no doubt in that," Duck said, leaning back on the couch. "I have noticed that you don't really take shit seriously around here."

Louis frowned, looking down. For some reason, his palms were sweaty and he was once again out of words. It wasn't like Louis to be left speechless, but the line of questioning had become quite serious suddenly.

"I prefer to look at life like a series of moments, rather than a grueling experience you have to survive."

"How so?"

"Well, I believe the only thing any of us has is this moment," Louis explained, eager to share his philosophy with Duck. "And once it passes, it's gone. So why waste it surviving when you can be living."

"Some would say surviving is living now," Duck suggested, raising an eyebrow. No matter how much Clem had begged him to go easy on Louis, he had to admit it was rather fun to watch his expression waver at every loaded question. But this time, Louis was prepared.

"Perhaps, but the world can't get much worse than it already is," he replied, shrugging. "We might as well enjoy our time here."

Duck nodded, weighing the boy's words. They did hold a truth to them, hard as it was for him to admit it. He stayed silent for a while, crossing his arms in the process and examining the receding sun in the horizon kissing the treetops. A bright orange hue lit up the sky, giving the impression that it was warmer than it actually was.

"So what do you think of Clem?" he asked suddenly, startling Louis.

"What about Clem?" he stammered, avoiding the smug expression that had settled on Duck's face.

"Dude, I'm not a dumbass," Duck reminded him, "I know you've got a thing for her. Everyone does."

"I don't–," Louis trailed off, frowning. "Alright, you got me."

Even though it was pretty obvious to start with, hearing the confirmation come from Louis's lips made Duck purse his lips. They heard a whimper from Mitch and Willy's direction and saw Willy sucking on a bloody finger and the blade lying on the ground beside him. With a concerned expression on his face, Mitch rushed into the admin building looking for Ruby. Louis turned to Duck again and sighed.

"I don't know what you're expecting me to say," he said warily, looking Duck in the eye.

"I want you to tell me what you're trying to achieve here."

"What else would I be trying to achieve?" Louis asked incredulously. "I really like her, and sometimes it feels like she might like me back," he added, cringing under Duck penetrating stare. Instead of beating him to a pulp, Duck grimaced and sighed.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Excuse me?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think she might feel the same way about you," Duck conceded, fidgeting with his hands. "Not that everyone else hasn't noticed yet. She's just as obvious as you."

"She is?" Louis inquired curiously, thinking back to all the conversations he'd held with Clementine and looking for the 'obvious' signs. As he did, he absently started flipping the cards onto the table, smiling when one landed right side up.

"Unfortunately, yeah."

Duck looked at Louis, thinking about the possibility of Clem actually liking him back. For eight years she had been his little sister, and he'd always gone out of his way to protect her. But this time, he couldn't really protect her anymore. She was almost a grown woman , damn right capable of making her own decisions, thank you very much.

"Okay, listen," he said, pulling Louis out of his reverie. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but here goes: she has made it perfectly clear that I am not to meddle in her personal life, as much as I'd like to."

"Alright, that sounds like her," Louis said, nodding along.

"But I want you to promise me that whatever you do, you will never hurt her in any way, shape or form," he added, catching a card mid air and flicking it at Louis.

Louis raised his hands in defense and nodded, "I swear to god, I'd never do that," he promised, crossing his heart. "It's not that often that I find someone I like that might actually like me back."

"I can imagine," Duck teased, raising an eyebrow mockingly.

"Fair point, I'll give you that one."

"But just so you know, if you do end up hurting her," he said slowly, making Louis gulp. "Your legs are not the only body part I'll be breaking, you hear me?"

Flinching, Louis nodded vigorously. "Loud and clear," he said.

"Besides, if you did hurt her, I think you should be more scared of what she does than me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Trying to lighten the mood, Duck extended his hand to Louis, who shook it. The sun had already set beyond the treetops, leaving the sky an empty void of stars. The full moon loomed above them, an ever watchful eye in the sky, as they both picked up the cards and started flicking them at the table. Duck didn't know if this was such a good idea, but for Clem's sake he'd try to make it work.

Barely twenty minutes later, they heard Omar's booming voice come from the watchtower. "Louis! Kenny! They're back!"

Both teens dropped the cards and rushed to the gate, seeing four figures emerge from the shadows of the trees. Louis opened the gate while Duck trained his rifle behind Clem and the others, looking out for threats. When they were all inside, he helped Louis close the gate back up and went to Clementine. Before he could, AJ's small shape darted to him, wrapping his small arms around Duck's legs, muttering something unintelligible.

It was then that he realized that both Clem and Aasim were carrying duffel bags. Confused, he looked at Clem for answers. She nodded at him and opened her bag, displaying for the rest a staggering amount of cans and other containers, filled with food.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, grabbing some of them and examining the labels. This would keep them fed long enough for the fishing traps to be set back up and the rabbits to return.

Hearing the commotion, Brody and Marlon rushed out of the admin building and ran to them. "What's all the ruckus?" Brody exclaimed

"We got food!" Aasim said, opening his own duffel bag and handing it to Marlon.

"Great job, guys," Marlon said, patting Violet on the back, who frowned.

"What's wrong?" Duck asked, seeing her expression. Before she could answer, Clem tapped him on the shoulder.

"There's a problem."

"What problem?"

Violet and Clementine shared a look, pursing their lips. In the end, Clementine spoke again, "We ran into someone."