Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

15. Fun & Games

"What's home base?" asked Sarah.

"How about the couch in the living room? That's pretty much the middle of the house." Clementine and Sarah exchanged glances, then hastily moved towards the door. "And you got to hide in the cabin. No going outside," reasoned Clem as they descended the stairs .

"I'm not supposed to go outside anyway," said Sarah. "How long do I have to hide?"

"Until I count to ten."

"What? That's not enough time to find a good hiding spot."

"You'll just have to think fast," smirked Clem.

"Come on. It's more fun if you get more time, because then you can find a really good hiding spot. And it's more fun for the seeker too if you have to really look for someone." Clementine considered Sarah's argument. "How bout thirty?"

"Twenty," suggested Clem as a counter offer.

"Okay, but no counting fast. It's got to be one Mississippi, two Mississippi."

"Fine." Clementine sat down on the couch and covered her eyes.

"And no peeking. You—"

"One Mississippi." Clem's count was followed by a surprised yelp from Sarah and some very frantic footsteps. Clementine listened closely over her own counting, hearing Sarah run about the room in a panic. It was around ten Mississippi she heard Sarah running up the stairs. At sixteen the footsteps came to an abrupt stop. Clem smiled to herself as she neared twenty, already knowing Sarah was upstairs meant it would be all too easy to catch her.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Clementine hopped off the couch and moved to the stairs. She took great care in ascending the steps, not wanting to alert Sarah to her presence prematurely. As she reached the top she noticed the door to the spare room was wide open. Clem crept along with great care, ready to pounce. She stopped just outside the threshold and prepared to strike.

Clementine charged into the room, ready to tag Sarah. But much to her disappointment the room was empty, except the chair Pete broke and a now boarded up window. Clem turned around just in time to see the door slam in her face. Too late she realized Sarah was hiding on the other side of the open door.

Clem pushed the door open and ran outside. Sarah was already flying down the stairs as Clem ran after her. By the time Clem reached the staircase, Sarah had already leapt over the handrail to skip the last few steps and threw herself onto the couch in a triumphant belly flop.

"Safe!" announced Sarah as Clem reached the bottom of the steps.

"Shit," swore the defeated nine-year-old.

"Clementine!"

"Oops."

"You shouldn't say that."

Clementine felt guilty about what she said, but only briefly. "Why not?" asked Clem.

"What?" answered a confused Sarah.

"Why can't I say shit?" challenged Clem, smirking as she did so.

"Because, my dad says people who use words like that don't have anything worth saying."

Clementine pondered this characterization and, after a swift internal deliberation, decided on a response. "Bullshit." The girl giggled as Sarah looked at her in a disapproving manner.

"Little girls shouldn't talk like that," lectured an annoyed Sarah.

"It's just a word, isn't it? It's not hurting anyone," reasoned Clem. "You could say shit too if you wanted."