My big brother Luke (The Walking Dead Game)

10 - School

I roll over on the mattress to see Luke with his eyes closed. He was spread out and looked relaxed. I had just woken up from the best nights sleep I have had for a long time. I stand up and stretch before looking out the window and seeing a few people walking around, this place could be huge for all I know.

I look through the sheets of paper on the desk that Harrison had told us about. I wasn't very good at reading, I had the reading age of an 8 year old since I haven't been to school since then. I try to decode the letters on the page but some of the words I had never seen before.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Luke shot up out of his sleep and looked at me. I just shrugged and he got up and opened the door.

"Hey buddy, just wanted to check in" It was Jamie.

"Hey, just...finished sleeping" Luke admits opening the door revealing me stood by the window holding the sheet of paper with a blank face.

"What you got there Clem?" Luke asks walking over to me.

"The protocol thing" I say handing it to him. Jamie invites himself in and we all huddle around the sheet of paper.

"Do you want me to explain this to you?" Jamie asks pointing to the sheet.

"That would be helpful" Luke smiles

"So this is what happens here at Wellington. You probably know about the jobs and the schools."

Me and Luke both nod.

"So church is every sunday unless called otherwise. Don't get too scared its not religious or anything its more of a report on how Wellingtons doing and what's going on in the community. We get a set amount of rations that you must collect from the reception every Monday. It usually consists of canned goods and occasionally we will call everyone around for fresh meat. Friday is track day, now most people hate this but Turner insists we do it." Jamie explains

"Track day?" I look at him confused.

"We do a lap of the premises for fitness. Its not that nice but its better than not being able to run away from the face chewers. By the way what job did you take?"

"Patrol" Luke says.

"Ouch, that's a lot of long nights. I'm a collector, so is Anna. We take a vehicle out and take everything we can from the houses and other various building. This means we collect food, clothes, electrical parts, mattresses, furniture, wood we even pulled up carpet once." He explains

"I've been to a place like that before. It didn't end well for them" I say thinking about my times with Lee.

"Where was that?" Luke asks.

"Crawford. They were strict and practically got more people killed than helping them. One infected got in and the whole place turned." I tell my story and they stand there listening.

"Well Turners a good guy. I don't think he would let anyone suffer unless he really did have to turn someone away. Even if he did he probably wouldn't let them leave without giving them supplies." Jamie defended Turner. It was true, Turner did seem like a good guy.

"So when do I start work?" Luke asks curiously.

"You should report to the patrol centre by reception at around 10am. They'll tell you what you're doing."

"What about me? What about school?" I was excited about school. It seemed like a good opportunity.

"Oh shit, yeah school. You best get moving, school starts at 9am. You need to head down the stairs and turn right out the door. Everyone lines up from there. You best be going kid" he pushes me towards the door.

"Do I need anything?" I ask in a panic

"Just yourself" Jamie replies

"You're going to be okay, I'll be here when you come home. I think." Luke says as he bends down to my level and gives me a tight warm hug. I hug him back.

"Cya later then I guess" I start to walk away and wave. I had no idea where I was going.

"Bye sis" Luke calls as he waves and smiles.

I walk down the stairs of the building and I pass a tall blonde woman who was walking up the stairs she nods at me and I awkwardly nod back not sure how to respond. My people skills weren't exactly the best around. I walk out of the door and turn to the right just as Jamie had instructed when I saw a group of children all under the age of 16 lining up or running around. There was about 12 of them.

"Hey look a new kid" a girl shouts as several people run towards me. I turn pale.

"What's your name?" A kid a few years younger than me asks.

"Clementine" I say nervously

"That's a weird name" a child from the back announces. I feel embarrassed I didn't want to be here anymore.

"Ignore them" A tall scruffy haired boy says to me smiling.

"I'll try" I say laughing

"I'm Josh Turner" he holds out his hand for me to shake, he seemed a lot older than he probably was.

"Clementine Everett" I shake his hand in return.

"Want to come to class?" He asks gesturing for me to walk forward.

"Do I have a lot of choice?" I giggle

"Not really, dad wants us to do education as usual" he laughs at his comment.

"Dad?"

"The big guy in the office, he seems scary but he's soft inside. That's my dad" he smiles and walks inside the small shed like building that was now known as the Wellington school.

I sat next to Josh at the back of the classroom since he was the only one I knew slightly from a few seconds of interaction. The supposed teacher started handing out exercise books with peoples names on them she hands me a new book and tells me to write my name on the front.

I pick up the pen that was in front of me and struggle at writing my name. I write like a five year old as I try to spell Clementine as I remember it written.

"Struggling?" Josh asks as he smiles at the mess I've made at the front of my book.

"I'm fine" I lie as I attempt to cover it up.

"Its okay, you probably haven't been to school for a long time. When was the last time?"

"I was 8"

"There we go then, its not your fault. I'm sure you've had bigger things to worry about, such as the walking dead" he turns as smiles at me and I laugh back.

"I guess"

School only lasted for 2 hours which was a relief compared to the usual 6. We did some handwriting and began to pass around a book and read a line out each, it was embarrassing as I struggled more than I'd expected.

I walked back to the room me and Luke had been provided. I opened up the door and nobody was there. I sat in our empty room and looked at the rucksacks we had brought still full of fizzy drinks and chocolate and pull out a chocolate bar. I open it up and look out of the window and see a walker in the far distance. I remember I don't have to worry about that anymore, even if a herd did hit like at Howes this place was hundreds of times more built than that place.

I took a bit out of the chocolate bar and feel it melt in my mouth. It was a beautiful taste.