𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ━ 𝐭𝐰𝐝𝐠

[ 033 ]

𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

[ a house divided; part five ]

━━━━━━━━━━

Walter sighed as they walked out of the lodge, "I'm sorry about that. I used to be a teacher. And I remember what it's like to be caught in the middle of two cliques. I suspect they'll find common ground soon enough. It may take a little time, but that's just how these things work. Everything will be fine. Listen, relationships are like any machine. You don't throw them out when they break down. You get your hands dirty and you grease the wheels. What do you say? Will you help me work on them?"

Clem smiled, "Me and Kassidy wanna stay with you guys."

"He's my dad. We share a special type of bond. So yeah, we're staying."

"Then stay you shall. I know that'll please Kenny."

"I missed him," Kass murmured.

"And he missed you, I can assure you. They say the world is over, but I'll tell you a secret: it's not. People are more political now than they ever were before. In the end, we can't change the world. All we can do is continue to learn from each other; to empathize and use our heads. "All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal." Steinbeck. Have you read him? Well, we have plenty of time to catch you up on your reading. My partner Matthew is amassing quite the literature collection. I think you'll like him. In any case, the point is: as long as we have our wits about us, we can always make the right choice. Right?"

"Right." Clementine looked down in guilt. Maybe that guy on the bridge was Matthew.

Walter frowned, "What's the matter? Is there something you want to tell me? You can talk to me. There's almost nothing you could tell me that would surprise me. I can promise you that."

"I'm worried about your friend... We think that–"

Walter cut her off, "Don't worry. Matthew will be back soon and everything will be fine."

"Hey kids, what you up to?" Kenny asked, walking up to them.

Walter grinned, "Oh we're just discussing politics."

"The hell?"

"Well, since you're from Florida, I thought you would know all about that stuff," he quipped.

Kenny chuckled, "Man, I'll tell you. One thing I like about the apocalypse is not having to deal with that shit anymore! I came out just to check the perimeter before the storm hits us. Wanna help me out?"

"Sure," Walter replied.

They walked around back, to see a woman peeking in the window of the lodge. They looked at the stranger, surprised as Kenny aimed his rifle at her, but Walter put his hand on his shoulder, telling him to put the gun down, which he did.

"Miss?" Walter called.

The woman jumped slightly and got scared once she saw them, "Please, do you have any food? My family's out there and we're starving!"

Walter smiled warmly, "Come on inside and we'll give you some food."

Kenny widened his eyes, "You're just gonna let her in like that?!"

"This woman needs help, we can't just let miss...?" he trailed off, asking her name.

"Bonnie."

"We can't just let Bonnie go back to her family without any food. Right?"