Clem's POV
The sun shone brightly as it glistened over AJ's soft, beautiful brown skin. I held him in a tight embrace as he let out little sniffs and whimpers every so often. It was a warm morning, and we were sat on his bed as I gently swayed him back and fourth. He was in a lot of pain. Not physically, but mentally.
"Clem," he cried, small tears trickling down his face like a river of sadness.
"Shhh," I softly rubbed his back and whispered to him, "I know kiddo, it's hard. I know."
~Flashback~
The walkers were piling into the school grounds. The children began to freak out as they watched with wide eyes that their defences were being pushed down by the dead. Quickly, they grabbed as many weapons as they could. AJ grabbed his small gun and began shooting with no hesitation. One by one the walkers fell down. Clementime, Louis, Violet, Maroln and Assim were quick to also help out.
Louis began taking out walkers with his horror movie-like weapon, the nails drawing blood from their already dead faces. An arrow whizzed through the air as Marlon shot an arrow into a monster's head, immediately ending its life as the dead. Panic began to rush over them as the creatures flooded in. Assim knew they couldn't take all of them down with only six of them helping.
"Hey guys! Get your asses over here and help!"
Children ran out of the school with weapons and began to take out walkers too. After a lot of fighting, all of the walkers were nearly dead. Soon enough, they were. Well, at least, that's what they thought.
"I think that's it! Great job everyone," Marlon turned around to look at everyone with a small grin on his face.
That was when they heard it; the blood curdling scream coming from the front of the gate. The kids' head whipped around to see one boy, struggling to fight off a walker.
"Tenn!" AJ yelled, quickly raising his gun and firing at the walker on top of his friend.
Violet ran over to him, worry plastered on her face. AJ ran too, closely followed by Clementine, Marlon and Louis. Louis quickly slammed the gate shut whilst Marlon yelled at the others to start putting the defences up, trying to distract them from the current situation. The kids began throwing the walkers' bodies over the broken fences before trying to figure out how to fix them.
On the other side of the yard lay Tenn on the floor, cuddled in Violet's arms. He looked panicked, breathing rapidly. Violet shook her head as she looked down at his arm. A bite.
"No," she whimpered.
"It got me," he whispered. "It got me."
"Tenn," AJ watched the situation, small tears beginning to roll down his round cheeks.
The rest of the children just stared at him in horror. They'd all experienced what it was like to gave someone in their group who had been bit, and it never ended well. Clementine; she had to shoot Lee. Louis and Marlon; they watched their friend turn. Violet; she had to shoot her favourite teacher. And AJ; he just watched Tenn on the verge of death.
"I'm sorry," Tenn whispered, resting his head on Violet's arm.
"This isn't happening," Marlon said under his breath as he watched the situation.
"Please, don't let me become a walker," Tenn pleaded, looking down at his bite. "Please, just shoot me."
Words a ten year old should never say.
"No!" Violet and AJ exclaimed.
"Remember the pact we all made?" Tenn questioned, looking up at everyone. "Ae agreed that if someone got bit, we'd shoot them."
"Tenn we can't just shoot you," Louis added in, his voice choking a little.
"Please, you have to. It's the best for everyone."
Clementine looked at him with sympathy. She remembered what happened to Duck. She remembered what happened to Lee. She remembered what happened to Sarita.
"He's right," the girl spoke, shocking everyone.
"Clem, no!" AJ yelled at her angrily.
"Listen to her," Tenn gave a weak smile to her.
"Tenn, I'm so sorry," she began, "I know how hard this is. No one wants to shoot you, but we can't get rid of your arm. I don't want to sound heartless, but it's what's best."
Silence fell over the group. AJ stared at Clem in anger. That was his best friend. His best friend! How could Clem even consider that? Without hesitation, he pushed Clem back, yelling at her about how awful she was. "I hate you!"
"AJ, don't be mad at her," Tenn told him as AJ crouched down to him, tears streaming down his face.
"You can't die! You can't!"
"I'm sorry, AJ. I'm sorry everyone. But please, just get it over with now. I'll miss you all."
"I'll do it," Violet volunteered.
Tenn said his good yes to everyone before Violet carried him off to behind the school. She placed him on the ground before slipping her hand in her back pocket and pulling out her gun. "I'll miss you so much, Tennessee."
"I'll miss you too, Violet. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
And with that, Violet closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
~End of flashback~
"He's gone, Clem. He's really gone."
AJ was the same age now when I shot Lee. I was glad that he didn't shoot Tenn, that would have been too much for him.
"It's gonna be okay, kiddo, it's gonna be okay. You'll get through this, you're one tough cookie."
