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

23. Keep Your Enemies Closer

Clementine opened her eyes. It was dark now, but there was enough light from the fireplace to look around. Something had roused her unexpectedly from her sleep. Her first instinct was that Sarah was trying to wake her, as it felt like something had shaken her. But Sarah was still in her sleeping bag, exactly where Clem remembered her being before turning in.

Listening closely, Clementine could hear voices. Looking over the handrail she could see a couple of figures standing by the front door, but she couldn't make out what they were saying from the distance. She headed for the stairs, but stopped when she noticed her backpack sitting by the sleeping bag. Clem quickly slipped it and her hat on, then crept down the stairs as quietly as she could.

Moving through the living area she could see Pete asleep on the sofa. As she neared the front entrance, Clem ducked underneath the dinner table for cover. Moving beneath the table, she could see Christa and Walter standing near the front door as she neared the other end.

"I understand your concern," whispered Walter. "But what you're suggesting—"

"These people are dangerous," insisted Christa in a hushed voice. "I told you what they did to us. We've basically been their hostages and I don't know what they've been telling Clementine, but they've got her so scared she won't even think about leaving them." Clementine grimaced upon hearing Christa's assessment of her.

"But I don't think this is the answer," said Walter.

"Then what?" asked Christa. "These people are being followed and if Carlos stays here, they'll bring whatever they're running from here, just like they did to my home. You need to—"

"He needs to what?" Clementine watched in shock as Carlos stepped into the dim light. "Please, do continue."

"Right now, we just need to talk," reassured Walter in a calm voice. "All three of us."

"Have you just been standing there in the dark, spying on us?" accused Christa.

"Perhaps you'd rather I skulk around behind people's backs like you?" accused Carlos in a biting tone. "Did she mention how her husband tried to kill me just for asking for help?"

"You weren't asking me," asserted Christa. "And you were the one with a man lying in wait to kill one of us."

"Did she also tell you how she gave her girl a gun?"

"To protect herself from the likes of you."

"Look, I don't know what happened between you two before, but whatever it was, there's no reason to make it worse now," insisted a nervous Walter. "Let's just, keep talking."

"I think we're done talking," stated Carlos in a sinister voice.

"What'd ya know, we actually agree for once," retorted Christa through gritted teeth.

"Please, just listen to me." Walter's plea seemed to fall on deaf ears as Christa and Carlos stared each other down, both waiting for the other to make a move. Clementine felt her stomach tying itself into a knot as she watched the whole scene unfold from under the table. A sense of panic shot up her spine when she noticed Carlos was holding something behind his back. It was Pete's revolver.

Clem instinctively removed her backpack and reached into it for her own gun. But feeling around, she couldn't find it. She looked into the bag and realized something else alarming; her gun was missing.

"Let's just sit down, all of us," advised Walter. "Whatever this is, we can still—" Carlos drew his pistol, prompting Christa to draw hers. The pair took aim as Walter placed himself between them.

"Get out of the way Walter!" ordered Christa.

"This isn't your concern!" dictated Carlos.

"You're pointing guns at each other in my home, this absolutely concerns me." Walter found himself awkwardly repositioning himself as Christa and Carlos kept trying to aim past him. "I've given you both food and shelter, the least you can do is listen to me now when I say, please, put your guns down."

"Him first," insisted Christa.

"So you can finally make good on your promise to kill me?" retorted Carlos.

"No one is killing anyone," asserted Walter.

"She's been saying she'd kill us this entire time!" bellowed Carlos.

"Because you fuckers killed the man I love!" yelled Christa.

"Just stop!" commanded Walter.

"She won't stop," growled Carlos.

"And there's only way to stop him." Christa and Carlos sidestepped Walter, guns trained on each other.

"Dad?" Carlos looked up to see his daughter watching the scene from the overlook. "What... what are you doing?"

"Sarah it's... it's okay," insisted Carlos, his voice trembling.

"Why do you both have guns? Why are you pointing them at each other?" asked a panicked Sarah.

"We're..." Carlos found himself at a complete loss for words.

"You gonna shoot someone in front of your own daughter?" mocked Christa.

"Are you?" Clementine emerged from her hiding spot.

"Clementine?" exclaimed Christa. "How long—"

"Since right after you took my gun," concluded an angry Clem.

"Think about how what you're doing will affect them," instructed Walter. "Both of them." Christa and Carlos found themselves focusing on Clementine and Sarah, unable to look away from the girls.

"Ask yourselves, what do you stand to gain from pulling that trigger?" said Walter. "What will you do after that? What will you think when you're standing over the other's body? How will you explain what you did to these two girls? When they ask you, both of them, why you did it, what will you tell them?"

Carlos looked at his daughter, unable to ignore the fear and confusion in her eyes. Christa however found herself struggling to even look Clementine in the eyes, the condemnation of the small girl's angry glare filling her with shame. Turning to Carlos, Christa saw a familiar sense of regret and uncertainty on his face. The pair just studied each other in silence until, finally, they lowered their guns.

Walter breathed a sigh of relief as Sarah bounded down the stairs. She ran across the lodge and immediately threw her arms around her father, sobbing as he put his arm around her.

"It's okay. It's okay," repeated Carlos in a shaken voice. "We weren't going to hurt each other. We were just... arguing."

"You don't do that," cried Sarah. "You don't point guns at things you don't want to shoot. You could have killed her by accident."

"I know sweetheart, I know." Carlos moved his hand up and down Sarah's back in an attempt to soothe her. "I shouldn't have done that. It was a mistake."

Clementine crossed her arms as Christa approached her, the woman's shameful shuffle doing nothing to curb the girl's displeasure with her.

"Here." Christa offered Clementine her pistol back, who took it without so much as a word. "It's probably just better if you hold onto it instead of me."

"I was," noted a bitter Clem.

"Yeah..." conceded Christa in a weak voice. "I should have just left it that way."

"What the hell is going on?" asked a still sleepy Pete as he approached the group. "What are y'all hollering about now?" Pete noticed his pistol in Carlos's hand. "The fuck are you doing with my gun?" Carlos offered it back, which Pete snatched in a flash. "Just who do you think—"

"Pete," interjected Walter as he stepped in between the two. "I think it'd be for the best if we sat down and discussed everything that's happened up until now." Walter turned to the others. "All of us."

"That's gonna be a helluva lot of explaining," noted Pete.

"Let's just start somewhere simple," suggested Walter. "Why are you people out here?" Bright lights beamed in through the front windows, nearly blinding the group.

"Is that..."