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

54. The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

"It's so cold," spoke a shivering Clementine.

"Just hold onto me," instructed Christa as she pulled Clem closer.

"What... what are we going to do now?"

"I... I don't know Clem."

"This... this is all Sarah's fault," realized a bitter Clem. "If she hadn't told on us, we would have escaped."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Thinking about it now, it was a pretty reckless plan. Shooting our way out of here."

"But if it worked we wouldn't be here right now."

"No, we'd be out in the cold rain on a dark night right now. Looking for something that might not even be there anymore."

"I... I wish we were back at the cabin right now."

"Me too." Clem tightened her grip on Christa.

"Christa, when Felicity said she'd do anything, she meant sex, didn't she?" Christa sighed in response. "She didn't want to, but she was so hungry, she'd do sex with them if they gave her food."

"Yes Clem," answered a reluctant Christa. "That's what it sounded like."

"That's what Mick did with Sarah. He wanted a kiss, but it was the same thing. Making someone do something they didn't want to do because they were hungry."

"Yeah, and that was wrong too."

"And, Consuelo did it to Mick."

Christa looked down at Clem. "What?"

"I think Mick had to do sex with Consuelo, to get food for Matt once," explained Clementine. "Mick was always afraid of her, and Matt said he did something once to get food, but he could never do it again."

"Jesus Christ..."

"That's rape isn't it? That's the horrible thing Byron warned me and Sarah about when he told us not to take food from the guards," realized Clem. "Christa, if a man rapes a woman, will the woman have a baby?"

Christa took a deep breath. "Maybe. It depends on a lot of things, but, it can happen."

"So, if someone rapes me—"

"No one is going to rape you," assured Christa as confidentially as she could.

"If they did, that means a baby might grow in me," realized a horrified Clementine.

"No, you're too young for that to happen Clementine."

"Am I?" asked a trembling Clem in disbelief. "Nobody cares that I'm a kid anymore."

"It's literally impossible Clem. You have to be a certain age before you could ever have a baby. And you're not old enough. And people don't want to have sex with children, okay?"

"You're sure?"

"Yes, again, you need to be a certain age. Think about it, Mick didn't want to kiss you, did he?"

"No."

"And you said they were talking about Bridget and Sarah, but they didn't talk about you, right?"

"Matt did. But he said he'd rather wait for me to get older than go near Sarah."

"Exactly. You're not old enough for people, good or bad, to want to do something like that with you. I'm sorry I even told you about it, I just... I just wanted you to know why Mick was doing that to Sarah, but you'll be fine. You hear me? Nobody wants to have sex with children."

"Nobody?" repeated Clem.

"No one." Clem wanted to believe that, but something nagging the girl in the back of her mind wouldn't allow it.

"What about a pedophile?" Christa looked at Clem in shock.

"Where did you hear that word?" asked a frightened Christa.

"Byron said he felt like a pedophile when he had to search me." A horrible feeling swept over Clementine as she realized something. "They... they're people who want to touch kids? Aren't they?"

"Clementine..."

"Not just touch them. They're people who... who want to have sex with kids, aren't they?"

"They're incredibly rare Clem. And I don't think anyone here is a pedophile."

"Lloyd is!"

"Who?"

"The old man with the weird voice. He's a pedophile."

"Why do you think that?" Christa put her hands on Clementine's cheeks and gently tilted her head upwards. Even in the dark, Clementine could see the overwhelming concern on Christa's face. "Clementine, just tell me what happened."

"When he searched me, he did it really slowly, and it felt like he was, squeezing me as he did it."

"Did he touch you anywhere the other guards didn't?"

"No. But he said he'd get me food."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him no." Christa breathed a sigh of relief. "If I had said yes, he would have raped me, wouldn't he?"

"We don't know that."

"Yes we do, that's what happens here," cried Clementine.

"God, I shouldn't have told you about any of this," spoke Christa with great regret.

"Why not?" asked an indignant Clem.

"Because now it's all you can think about. I should have waited to tell you, or just—"

"If I didn't know this, and somebody did want to rape me, I wouldn't even know it until it was too late."

"No one is going to rape you Clem," assured Christa.

"You don't know that," sobbed Clementine.

"I know no one is going to do that right now, okay? I'm right here with you. You're fine," assured Christa in a calming voice as she rubbed the back of Clem's head.

"But—"

"No, just relax. Breathe," instructed Christa. "I'm going to do everything I can to keep you safe. Just remember what I told you. If you think something is going to happen, make a lot noise. One of these assholes always seems to be close, and as bad as they are, even they probably wouldn't look the other way for something like that."

"Probably?" repeated a shaken Clem.

"And tomorrow I'll think of something Clem. I'll figure something out. If I got to scream to everyone in this place about how there's a nine-year-old terrified about being raped just to find one who cares enough to do something about it, I will. But right now, you should just get some sleep." Christa gripped Clementine as tightly as she could, moving her arm up and down the girl's back, trying to calm her.

"Christa," spoke Clem. "Is this why you never wanted to look for other people?"

"It's one reason." Clem found it hard to relax. The horrid sights she witnessed today, their hopes of escape gone, and now a whole new danger she had never even thought about haunted the girl as she closed her eyes.

Clem fidgeted for a while before finally settling in place in Christa's arms. Lying there, Clem found fatigue gradually overtaking her, slowly dulling her mind until she couldn't really focus on her troubles anymore. Just as Clem thought she could finally get some sleep, she felt a strong hand cover her mouth. Her first instinct was Christa was trying to wake her, but then she felt a strong arm wrapping around her own arms.

Clem watched in horror as she was plucked right out of Christa's grip. Someone lifted her right off the ground and started carrying her in the direction of the warehouse. Clementine tried screaming, but the hand covering her mouth made that impossible. She tried to break free of her captor's grip, but whoever holding her was too strong. She tried kicking her legs in desperation, but they failed to connect with anything.

As she was pulled past the loading door, Clementine caught one last glimpse of Christa sleeping, before the door slid shut, leaving Clementine helpless in total darkness.