Down the line

11 - Vivid

CLEM'S POV

"They say the older you get the wiser you get but you just seem to stink this room out even more every time I come in here." I complain to my brother. He sat in his usual chair and chuckled.

"I'm so sorry I just happen to be a decaying corpse now." He rolls his eyes and as usual I pass him a cup of hot coffee and I sit down on the loveseat off to the side.

"You know...Lee comes out today." I look around the room. I had brought up the terrible subject.

"It's really been that long?" Luke takes his eyes away from the steam coming off of the warm beverage and looks into my eyes.

"2 years today...seems funny to think about it." I shake my head and chuckle lightly in disbelief. I couldn't believe it.

It barely even seemed like a few weeks since Josh had gone. 2 years of being on my own. Only my son and daughter kept me going. Even my brother motivated me to live on sometimes.

"You know I saw you speaking to Craig the other day." Luke slowly grins at me. I think he had the wrong idea.

Craig was just some guy a few years older that had spoken to me a few times. There was nothing of it. He wasn't... Josh.

"That's nothing. He's just a friend." I truthfully tell him. Now I felt guilty for even speaking to the poor guy, what if he did think the little old widow wanted some sort of relationship?

"Don't you think Josh would want you to be happy?" He questions before sipping on the drink. The majority of my contact with people involved them usually taking a gracious sips of the beverage I have made them.

"Josh wants me to be happy. Not be with other guys. You tell me you're still a married man. Therefore that means I am still a married woman." I argue. He still wore his wedding ring. I still wore mine. Although I also wore Josh's ring around my neck on a chain. It touched my chest, making me feel safe.

"Alright, I understand. You know I do." Luke decides not to get too deep into the conversation. Although he begins to do it without realising.

I finish off the warm drink before he starts to talk.

"You know, the both of us we started off with a large amount of people and then suddenly it shrunk to both of us. Then it grew again and now it's back to the point where we're alone." Luke sighs. I knew he remembered all of the events before Wellington.

"Remember when you locked me in a fucking shed?" I begins to laugh. He shakes his head and does the same.

"Now that...was a long time ago." He lifts his head up and smirks.

I peer down at my fore arm and look at the scar. It was still there, just as I'd expected. I hadn't seen a dog for a long time. Maybe there still was dogs just...they weren't domesticated. Who knows?

"I can't believe you didn't believe me, you asshole." I tease trying to boost my mood.

"I believed you, doesn't mean Carlos did." He tilts his head slightly which makes me laugh.

"We've been through a lot Luke, maybe too much." I finally sigh coming to the realisation. I knew that everyone I once knew was dead.

Molly showed up, I doubt Christa is still alive. I doubted anyone was still alive. Even to this day I still remembered the infamous Lee Everett. I wish he was here, he would find a woman he loved here, maybe he would have kids. He would have been a perfect father. God father to my children. But I also missed my parents, I still remember the day they said goodbye.

"Clem, are you alright?" Luke snaps his fingers in front of my face and I end up snapping out of my daze.

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine." I lie as I reminiscence.

I shudder at the memories. But they were in the past now. The same goes for Josh's death. I missed that man so fucking much even though he was so....harsh towards the end. But I try to think he didn't mean it, he was just stressed.

"FREEDOM MOTHERFUCKERS!" A muffled voice shouts from outside the rooms. It seemed to be coming from outside reception.

"Mmm, I wonder who that is." Luke rolls his eyes and I follow.

"Only I can imagine." I sigh. I wanted to stay up here with Luke, instead of greeting my son. I had no intention of seeing him.

No intention at all.

"Maybe we should at least make our way down there. I'm sure Lewis will be there as well we could speak to him. I feel so clammed up in this room." Luke complains looking around. I catch a glimpse of his rusting machete balancing on the wall with two nails.

"Really? You really want to have a possible chance of seeing my asshole son that beat you to shit." I place my hands on my hips, I couldn't imagine that Luke would actually want to.

"Well actually I wanted to go and see MY son." Luke argues back. I raise my eyebrows a little.

"You're part of my family you know, so my dysfunctional family is your dysfunctional family." I scowl the man who attempts to reach for the artificial leg on the other side of the room.

"Sorry Clem, but this just...with Nick gone I basically have nobody." He sighs, still trying to reach for the artificial limb. I walk over and grab it, I couldn't put up with his struggles.

"That's a lie. You have me, you have the boys, April, how about Gordon? Harrison? Any of your old work friends you could hang around with. You used to play poker with them, remember?" I try to remind him of the good times. The times when he used to go outside. I needed to remind him that he wasn't alone.

"It's just not the same. I've never really fitted in here, you know that Clem." He begins to attach the prosthetic.

"I don't know that, you're just being an idiot now. Look just get up and let's go see our fucked up children." I manage to smile at my joke as I lift him up out of chair. He wobbles slightly before getting use to the balance.

"You know...we're just as fucked up." He smiles back.

"Yeah...but..." I begin. I couldn't think of anything to counter with. He was right.