A new Dawn (Clementine x Louis)

Chapter Eleven - New old Allies

Louis stepped forward, his hands folded together.
"I want to say something. There may have been some hard times between us Omar, but you were one of my closest and best friends... I... I will miss you brother..."
Clementine's eyes stung, tears welling up for the hundredth time. She was standing next to two freshly dug graves, two figures were lying in them. Omar looked peaceful now, they had washed his face, covered his wounds with a new shirt and laid his hair around the bullet wound. It looked like he was sleeping, his facial features relaxed as if nothing had happened. The other person was Carl, they had found the man in his room, stabbed into the head in his sleep. His emotional part of tribute was finished already, Omar's was nearing its end as well. Clem looked up, ready to contribute.
"You didn't deserve to die Omar... Y...you could have lived for so long, found love, died when you were old. If it wasn't for me, all of this would have come true. I'm sorry. We will avenge your death, no matter the cost..."
Her voice failed her, she was just in too much pain at the moment. Her boyfriend laid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his warm chest.
"I am the reason he died, Lou. It's all my fault...", she whispered, guilt and grief anchored in her words.
"Don't say that Clem, without you, we would all have died ages ago. It's not your fault, you didn't do any wrong...", Louis told her.
He met her gaze and she saw the anguish in his eyes.
"Don't take the blame on yourself. You are the strongest and wisest girl in this universe, but you couldn't have done anything to save him. He died as a free man, he's in a better place now."
They stood there for a long time, thinking of all the times Omar had saved their asses, made them laugh or just comforted them, making them feel better. It was a great loss for the whole group, everyone was mourning.

They said their last goodbyes to the men and lowered some fresh flowers into the graves. After filling them up, they sat at the big table, unsure of what to do next. Clementine had made her point, she wanted to avenge her fallen friend and get all the others to safety.
"We have little fuel left, it may be enough to get us to Bloomingdale but then we would be stuck there. We should try to reach it by foot, we won't be as visible to the Delta troops as well then.", Adrian explained.
Clem looked at him, she was angry at this man, angry at him for not trying to save Omar, for not saying goodbye, being a total jerk the day before. Frank disrupted her thoughts by saying: "That's true, we should hide the vehicles, lock them and take the most needed supplies with us."
He turned back to Clementine.
"I know it's hard for you, it is for all of us, but we need to keep moving forward."
She watched him and nodded, she knew he was right, this entence had helped her in her life many times before.
-We need to let them pay for what they did to Omar... And all the others, I hope they are OK. AJ knows how to protect himself but he's still little... My goofball, don't you worry, Clem is on her way to get you out of there.-, she told herself.
"Lets do it that way then. Pack what we need and get ready to march off today. Lets get our friends back."
Clementine's determination had awoken again, fueling her with new energy. She stood up from the chair she was sitting on, ready to give her life while saving their friends.
"Adrian, you take care of meds, Frank, you look for weapons and ammo, Anne, get all food available, Louis and I will take care of the rest."

After the three left the yard, Louis pulled Clem into a corner, worried out of his mind.
"I saw this look in your eyes Clem, I know you want revenge, I want it too, but it's not the right way! You scare me, do you know that? You looked like you would be ready to die during our mission, don't do that... I love you, and I don't want to lose anyone else who is close to me, especially not you..."
Clementine's heart was growing heavy in her chest, her anger and lust for revenge had fizzled out. She cupped Louis' cheek, her honey gold eyes observed his face.
"Lou, I...I'm sorry. It's just... I don't know what to feel anymore. When AJ and I were on the road, I tried to suppress my feelings because I thought they would make me weak. When we arrived here and I met you I knew that I couldn't do that for any second longer. And now... It's all coming back, all the feelings I bottled up deep in my heart, every death of a close person, every danger we face, it brings me to the verge of madness. And this constant pressure on my shoulders, leading the group, protecting it... it's so hard to concentrate..."
Louis grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. What did you focus on when you were on the road?"
"Survival... but I just can't anymore."
"Then don't..."
She met his gaze again, her eyes filled with sadness and concern.
"What should I do then?"
The boy reached for her other hand, grabbing it in the same manner like the other.
"Concentrate on me, on us... Look at you right now, aren't you focused at the moment?"
She smiled, her mood lifting slowly.
"You are right, I will try that.", she stated.
"Then I will give you a little memory to practice that on."
Louis leaned down and kissed her, putting all his love and passion into it. Clem's heart warmed up and so did her cheeks, the electrical and tingling feeling of faith and affection surged through her body. The world around them seemed to blur out, leaving them in their own secret dimension of love. Clem knew that she looked as red as a tomato when they parted, but she did not mind. Louis looked just the same, his hair was a mess, he was as red as Clementine felt.
"You know you look even cuter when you are ashamed.", he commented on her trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Come on now prince charming, we've got some work to do.", she answered while putting on her old tattered hat, hiding her hair beneath it.

(A.N: Yessss, she's back! That's the Clem we love!)

The sun was at it's peek when they started to make their way to the Delta, following the street that was leading south west. They passed only small houses and a little ranch, none of them inhabited either living or dead people, nothing stopped them from continuing. While they were walking, Clem and Louis held hands, both in a euphoric state of love. They told each other about their time before the outbreak, funny stories that made their day. Clementine was focused, the tip Louis had given her was working. All her negative feelings were now replaced by the positive feeling of safety. Their giggling and laughter made even the adults smile, they hadn't seen such a cute pair in a long time.
"Look at them, that's how we were in the past...I'd love to be this young and carefree again...", Frank sighed while putting his arm around Anne.
"You old romantic, did you forget how we two met?", she asked him while slapping his shoulder.
"I wouldn't forget that, waking up in hospital next to you was the best thing that could have happened to me ever."

It took them eight hours to reach Bloomingdale, the night was falling already when they reached the first houses.
"Shit, it's getting dark, we should find somewhere to rest.", Frank noted, pointing at a big complex at the end of the road.
"Looks like a school, we could try that out."
"Lets try it, we have no other option. I know this place, we shouldn't stop.", Clem agreed, remembering her time with Lee in Savannah she started to speed up her pace.
The group followed, watching her back for any walker or human that might attack them. Without difficulties they reached the big doors, standing in front of them and realizing that this way was blocked. The doors were boarded up from the inside, denying the entry. Clementine examined the building, seeing the many windows on the front.
"Let's see if there is a window that's open or not boarded up, we'll climb in from there."
"Good thinking."
Adrian was the one to discover a small bathroom window, apparently too high for the people inside to have boarded it up. With a swift motion he reached for his knife, punching a hole in the glass with its butt.
"Quick, before walkers get here.", he advised while giving them a lift.

Inside was no light, forcing Louis to pull out his flashlight.
"Those are the last batteries I have, lets hope this pays off."
A small circle of light flashed trough the room, revealing a children's bathroom, painted in every color of the rainbow, and the door leading further into the school. Clementine sneaked forward and opened the door slightly, only to look through.
"I can't see anybody, lets go on.", she said, opening the door and stepping through.
Suddenly a bright light blinded her, the sound of many people getting audible and a voice calling: "Stop right there, drop your weapons and hold your hands in the air!"
"Oh not again!", Louis mumbled angrily, stepping out of the room with Frank, Adrian and Anne.
A tall and bearded man stepped forward, a baseball bat in his hand, he seemed to be the men's leader.
"We don't want to hurt you, just tell us who..."
He stopped, shocked by whom he was seeing. Clementine recognized the voice in the same moment the man recognized her.
"Clem, is that really you?"
"Javi??!"